ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 424
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
![Motorists drive past a billboard showing named Iranian ballistic missiles, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web", in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)](https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/04/AFP__20240415__34PF684__v2__HighRes__TopshotIranPalestinianIsraelUsConflict.jpg "Motorists drive past a billboard showing named Iranian ballistic missiles, with text in Arabic reading \"the honest [person's] promise\" and in Persian \"Israel is weaker than a spider's web\", in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)")
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
An Israeli air force officer says Jordan allowed Israeli fighter jets into its airspace to shoot down missiles and drones launched by Iran early Sunday, NBC News reports.
“In order to address something that comes from the east, we need to fly somewhere that is east of Israel,” the official says. “This was done with coordination.”
The report says Jordanian and Israeli fighters were coordinated by the US military, in what is thought to be the first time Israel and Jordan fought side by side.
The Pentagon says additional fighter squadrons moved into the Middle East before the weekend are remaining there.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, says Air Force fighter jet squadrons in the region as well as Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea participated in the effort to take out Iranian missiles and drones early Sunday.
The USS Carney and the USS Arleigh Burke, both Navy destroyers, shot down missiles from the sea.
Asked about IDF chief Herzi Halevi’s promise that the Iranian strike “will be met with a response,” Ryder says any response is up to Israel to decide.
“We don’t want to see escalation, but we obviously will take necessary measures to protect our forces in the region,” he says, adding that the US will also “take necessary measures to protect Israel.”
Pressed on whether such a response would be counterproductive to stability in the region, he says the US will “stay in close consultation with our Israeli partners, as we have done throughout the weekend. Again, we don’t seek wider regional conflict.”
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog says he is concerned about Israel possibly targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, but that International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of Iranian facilities will resume on Tuesday.
Iran closed its nuclear facilities on Sunday over “security considerations,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi says. While they reopened on Monday, he kept IAEA inspectors away “until we see that the situation is completely calm.”
“We are going to resume tomorrow,” Grossi tells reporters in New York. “This has not had an impact on our inspection activity.”
Asked about the possibility of an Israel strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Grossi says “We are always concerned about this possibility.” He urges “extreme restraint.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports that an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a home in Hanin, outside the city of Bint Jbeil in the south of the country.
According to the report, the explosion was louder than normal, and could be heard throughout the Nabatiyeh region of southern Lebanon.
Unverified accounts online claim the blast was heard in Tyre, some 22 kilometers (13.5 miles) away.
Pictures published online show a large plume of black smoke from the alleged strike.
Dozens of activists, reportedly including families of hostages held in Gaza, have gathered at the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank to block what they say is an expected overland shipment of aid bound for the Strip.
The protest is organized by Tzav 9, a right-wing group opposed to allowing aid to reach Gazans while hostages kidnapped from Israel on October 7 remain captive.
Tweets shared by the group claims that the group managed to catch police off guard and successfully blocked the crossing, which is controlled by Israel but mainly used by Palestinians.
Portugal is not ready to recognise a Palestinian state without a concerted EU approach, Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro tells Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is trying to rally support for the move.
Montenegro, who took office in March, says his government will wait for the European Union and the United Nations to work out a common position on the issue before advancing.
“We don’t go as far as other governments do with regard to recognizing the state of Palestine,” he tells a joint news conference in Madrid.
“We believe that this understanding should be built on a multilateral basis within the European Union and the United Nations.”
Both leaders condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel over the weekend and call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“The events of this weekend reaffirm what we have been advocating for months now,” Sanchez says.
“Two paths open up before us. One leads to an escalation of war that could lead us to the abyss, and the other involves demanding a ceasefire from all parties to then immediately launch a peace process,” he adds.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in (SPNI) Israel calls on the public to object to legislation in the works that aims to rebuild Israeli towns in the Gaza periphery, arguing that its creation of a new government-dominated planning committee and subcommittee for the area is “draconian” and gives hardly any voice to the public.
At an emergency Zoom meeting attended by 120 people, including many residents of the Western Negev, SPNI spokespeople say there are enough existing planning committees to oversee the rehabilitation of the area, which was heavily damaged after Hamas terrorists overran southern Israel on October 7.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi appears to be the first Jordanian official to publicly confirm that Amman assisted Israel in intercepting drones during the weekend attack from Iran.
“Whatever objects that go into our skies, violate our airspace, that we believe pose a danger to Jordan, we will do whatever within our means to to end that threat and that’s what we did,” Safadi tells CNN.
“What happened was a sign of how dangerous the situation can deteriorate unless we deal with the cause of all this tension, which is the Israeli aggression of Gaza and the continued absence of a political horizon,” Safadi claims.
The IDF and Israel Police are investigating the killing of two Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank earlier today.
In a statement, the IDF says it had received reports of a Palestinian suspect who attacked a “Jewish shepherd” near the settlement of Gitit.
“A violent confrontation developed there between Palestinians and Israeli citizens. IDF forces were dispatched to the scene and worked to disperse the confrontation,” the military says.
“During the incident, two Palestinians were killed. From a preliminary investigation, it appears that [their killing] was not by IDF forces,” the statement adds.
Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal, where the IDF says Hezbollah operatives were gathered.
Another building used by Hezbollah was struck in Tayr Harfa, the military says.
Troops also shelled an area near Chebaa with artillery to “remove a threat,” the IDF adds.
In an English-language video statement, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the Iranian attack on Israel has “created new opportunities for cooperation in the Middle East” and that “Iran will face the consequences for its actions.”
“Over the weekend, Iran launched a large-scale attack on Israel. Over 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, armed drones and rockets were fired from Iranian soil — as well as Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon — towards the State of Israel,” he says.
“Across the skies of the Middle East — a coalition was activated to counter this attack, marking the start of the IDF’s Operation: ‘Iron Shield,'” Halevi continues.
“The Israel Defense Forces — together with the United States Central Command; the British Armed Forces; the French Armed Forces, and other partners — operated together in real-time — in the air, on the ground, and at sea,” he says.
“Defense systems were activated; the threats were intercepted — and Iran’s attack on Israel failed. Operation Iron Shield proved the strength of our iron-clad cooperation.”
Halevi says he thanks “all our international partners who stood up to Iran’s aggression. Iran’s attack has created new opportunities for cooperation in the Middle East.”
We are closely assessing the situation. We remain at our highest level of readiness. Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly. The IDF remains ready to counter any threat from Iran and its terror proxies as we continue our mission to defend the State of Israel,” he adds.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry asked Israel to publicize his conversation yesterday with Foreign Minister Israel Katz, an official with knowledge of the conversation tells The Times of Israel.
Shoukry, who spoke to Katz after calls with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Iran’s FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, asked Israel not to respond to Saturday’s attack by Iran.
The two also discussed Rafah, and Egypt promised to continue working to free the hostages.
Shoukry pledged to continue working to strengthen bilateral relations, according to the official.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud ministers during a private meeting earlier today that Israel will respond to Iran’s weekend attack, but must do so wisely and not from the gut, according to Kan public broadcaster.
He says Iran should have to wait nervously not knowing when the attack might come, just as it made Israel do the same, Netanyahu reportedly told the Likud ministers.
A senior Israeli official tells Kan that Israel will respond to Iran and that it is only a question of when and where.
The network says Israel committed to updating the US ahead of any strike in order to provide time for American troops in the region to prepare for Iranian retaliation.
The commitment came following anger in Washington that Jerusalem did not give it a proper heads up before striking a consular annex of Iran’s embassy in Damascus, killing several IRGC generals.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani about increasing efforts of the Muslim world to stop attacks by Israel, Erdogan’s office says.
The two leaders discussed Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the humanitarian situation, as well as bilateral relations, regional, and global issues, according to the statement his office tweets.
Erdogan stated that it is vital to restrain Israel immediately and act with common sense to prevent the tension from spreading across the region, the statement says.
US President Joe Biden has made clear publicly and privately in his call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he does not want to see a regional conflict, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says.
“He is certainly not looking for a war with Iran and I am confident that Prime Minister Netanyahu is aware of the president’s concerns,” Kirby says during a briefing.
US House of Representatives Majority Leader Steve Scalise calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his support for however Israel decides to respond to the Iranian attack on Saturday, according to Netanyahu’s office.
Scalise also updates Netanyahu on a series of measures the House will take in the coming days against Iran and in support of Israel.
Netanyahu tells the Louisiana Republican that Israel will “do whatever is necessary to defend itself.”
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says Iran’s weekend strike against Israel highlighted that unlike Tehran, Jerusalem is not internationally isolated and has allies prepared to come to its defense.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the US hopes to hold a follow-up meeting later this week to the virtual one held earlier this month, with top Israeli officials regarding a potential IDF invasion of Rafah.
The sides were supposed to hold an in-person meeting in Washington, but that appears to be up in the air, following the weekend strike by Iran on Israel.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, speaking after Israel fended off Iranian drone and missile strikes, says she told her Israeli counterpart that the conflict must not spread to the region.
“We are clearly pushing for de-escalation and we need to make sure that the conflict doesn’t extend to the region. So that is why I’ve been clear to my counterpart in Israel — please take the win, and make sure that we can work together to bring back peace in the region,” she tells reporters in Ottawa.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby forcefully rejects reports that Iran provided warnings to the United States ahead of its weekend strike on Israel.
Kirby tells reporters that the United States did exchange messages with Iran, but that there were never any messages regarding Iran’s timeframe or targets for its attack.
At his press conference, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari tells Israelis: “We are in a war on multiple fronts. The threats change in their scale and frequency.”
“In accordance with that,” he says, “instructions [to the public] change too. The instructions could change in the coming days as well, and we will continue to update you immediately.”
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press statement says Nevatim Airbase is running as usual following the Iranian missile and drone attack.
He says the “attack was foiled almost without [any of the projectiles] entering Israeli airspace.”
He says the damage caused to infrastructure at Nevatim was “minor.”
He says four missiles struck the base: one near a runway, two in open areas, and one near a building, causing slight damage to it.
He says repairs will be made in the coming days.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an assessment on the “necessary civilian operations” that need to be taken ahead of the IDF’s offensive in southern Gaza’s Rafah, his office says.
The Defense Ministry says the meeting focused on the “evacuation of the civilians from Rafah, and the expansion of the methods to bring food and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas is the barrier to a ceasefire in Gaza, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.
Israel moved in a “significant way” to submit a reasonable proposal in the ongoing hostage talks, Miller says during a briefing.
“There’s a deal on the table that would achieve much of what Hamas claims it wants to achieve, and they have not taken that deal,” Miller says.
“The bottom line is that they have rejected it, and if they did accept it, it would allow for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza of at least six weeks, which would benefit the Palestinian people whom they claim to represent. It would also allow us to continue improvements in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
“The bottom line is Hamas needs to take that deal, and they need to explain to the world and to the Palestinian people why they aren’t taking it because it is Hamas right now that is the barrier and the obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza,” he says.
Far-left, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have blocked a highway leading to three Chicago O’Hare International Airport terminals, temporarily stopping vehicle traffic into one of the nation’s busiest airports, and causing headaches for travelers.
Protesters linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 around 7 a.m., a demonstration they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers. Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area was also snarled for hours on Monday morning, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down both directions of the Golden Gate Bridge and stalled a 17-mile (27-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 880 in Oakland.
O’Hare warned travelers on the social platform X to take alternative forms of transportation, with car travel “substantially delayed this morning due to protest activity.”
Videos posted to social media showed some travelers exiting vehicles and walking alongside the highway, wheeling suitcases behind them.
While individual travelers may have been delayed, operations at the airport appeared near normal with delays of under 15 minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Inbound traffic toward O’Hare resumed around 9 a.m.
Dozens of protesters were taken into Chicago police custody, according to Falaneh. Police did not immediately have further details.
Protesters say they chose the location, in part, because O’Hare is one of the largest airports. Among other things, they have called for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Following up on earlier reports about increasingly steep Hamas demands regarding a hostage deal, Channel 12 says Hamas is now prepared to release fewer than 20 hostages in return for a six-week truce. In return, it is seeking a high number than in the past of Palestinian security prisoner releases, including more with blood on their hands.
The report further states that Hamas wants an international guarantee in the first phase of the deal that Israel will halt the war, and an IDF withdrawal, and the return of northern Gazans to their homes.
The report quotes an Israeli official saying that the Hamas response underlines that Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar does not want an agreement, and is seeking an escalation of regional conflict.
Ariel Porat, the president of Tel Aviv University, announces that the institution will not fire a lecturer who had eulogized terror convict Walid Daqqa on her personal Facebook page.
In a letter dated Sunday and addressed to MK Yosef Tayeb, head of the Knesset’s Education Committee, Porat writes: “The university administration condemned Dr. [Anat] Matar’s conduct. However, it also added that she had done nothing illegal, and we therefore do not intend to sack her.”
“Put another way: by law, in the State of Israel, free expression also covers pronouncements that are infuriating, hurtful, and insensitive, whether you like it or not,” says Porat in the letter, which was subsequently sent to TAU students and faculty.
The university president says he received “with shock” Tayeb’s summons to a Monday committee hearing on “campus incitement” following Matar’s post, given the myriad problems facing Israeli society during the Gaza war.
“In this state of affairs, you have no shame in convening a Knesset discussion on an insignificant post by a single lecturer who represents only herself,” writes Porat.
“Are your eyes too shut to see the absurdity of this? Even war flaring up with Iran hasn’t made you cancel the session.”
Porat says he is abroad and will therefore not attend the “outrageous and illegitimate” committee meeting.
“Like other university presidents, I am fundraising to help, first and foremost, our reservists, our students, to whom we owe so much” writes Porat.
Matar, a philosopher of language, had provoked controversy after she called Daqqa a “dear friend” upon hearing of his death.
Daqqa, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, died from cancer on April 7 after 37 years in Israeli captivity. He had been involved in planning the 1984 abduction of soldier Moshe Tamam, who was killed by his kidnappers.
Daqqa later expressed regret for his actions and renounced violence. He became a writer and came into contact with several Israeli intellectuals.
Matar, a longtime leftwing activist, began exchanging letters with Daqqa after founding the Israeli Committee for Palestinian Prisoners, alongside his wife, Sanaa, in the early 2000s.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, in a statement from the Nevatim Airbase, says the Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel “will be met with a response.”
“Iran wanted to harm the strategic capabilities of the State of Israel — that is something that had not happened before. We were prepared for the ‘Iron Shield’ operation — preparation that brought Iran to also meet air superiority,” he says.
“Last Monday, we saw what was being organized, and we think that the State of Israel is very strong and knows how to deal with it alone, but with a threat so numerous and so far away, we are always happy to have [the United States] with us,” Halevi says.
“We are looking ahead, we are considering our steps, and this launch of so many missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs into the territory of the State of Israel will be met with a response,” he adds.
Nevatim was hit in the Iranian missile attack, with the IDF reporting minor damage to infrastructure
The name of the IDF operation to counter the Iranian drone and missile attack on Saturday is named “Iron Shield,” the military says.
Germany’s Lufthansa has suspended its regular flights to and from Tel Aviv, Erbil, and Amman, up to and including Monday. Flights to Beirut and Tehran will remain suspended until at least Thursday.
KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Dutch arm of Air France says.
Britain’s easyJet on Sunday paused operations to and from Tel Aviv. The carrier said in an emailed statement to Reuters that it will temporarily pause operations to and from Tel Aviv until April 21.
Wizz Air says it had cancelled most of its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Saturday through Monday.
Finnair has suspended operations in Iranian airspace until further notice, which may cause longer flight times on flights from Doha. A spokesperson said the Finnish carrier will reroute over Egypt, resulting in delays of a “few minutes.”
An SAS spokesperson said flights between Copenhagen and Bangkok fly partially over the region and one flight had to reroute on the night between Saturday and Sunday.
Iberia Express says on social media (X) that it would cancel flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday.
United Airlines cancelled Sunday and Monday planned flights from Newark to Tel Aviv, it says in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Air Canada warned of long delays and cancellations on its Israel flights, and cancelled flights to Tel Aviv on Monday and Tuesday.
Israeli settlers have shot dead two Palestinians in a clash near the northern West Bank village of Aqrabah, the Palestinian Red Crescent reports.
An Israeli security official tells Army Radio that the Palestinians were likely killed by the settlers, appearing to confirm Palestinian media reports.
Deadly settler violence has seen another uptick in recent days following what the IDF says the murder of an Israeli teen by Palestinian terrorists over the weekend.
US President Joe Biden talks for the first time about the Iranian attack on Israel on Saturday night.
“Iran launched an unprecedented aerial attack against Israel. And we mounted an unprecedented military effort to defend Israel. Together with our partners, we defeated that attack,” Biden tells reporters in the Oval Office, ahead of a meeting with the visiting Iraqi prime minister.
He adds: “The United States is committed to Israel’s security.”
Biden also stresses: “We’re committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent the conflict from spreading beyond what it already has.”
![Motorists drive past a billboard showing named Iranian ballistic missiles, with text in Arabic reading, 'The honest [person's] promise,' and in Persian, 'Israel is weaker than a spider's web,' in Valiasr Square in central Tehran, on April 15, 2024. (ATTA KENARE/ AFP)](https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2024/04/AFP__20240415__34PF68M__v1__HighRes__IranPalestinianIsraelUsConflict.jpg "Motorists drive past a billboard showing named Iranian ballistic missiles, with text in Arabic reading, 'The honest [person's] promise,' and in Persian, 'Israel is weaker than a spider's web,' in Valiasr Square in central Tehran, on April 15, 2024. (ATTA KENARE/ AFP)")
The United Arab Emirates did not participate in the interception of Iranian missiles and drones that were simultaneously launched at Israel over the weekend, a senior Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The official says reports of broad Arab participation in thwarting the Iranian strike alongside Israel, US, the UK, France, and Jordan are exaggerated and inaccurate.
The UAE embassy in Washington does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There have also been reports of Saudi participation in the interceptions, but Riyadh has not confirmed its involvement.
Opposition Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman says that the US recognizes Israel has no alternative but to hit back at Iran for its Saturday attack, and that Israel must seek “maximal coordination” with the US in doing so.
Liberman tells Channel 12 Israel was only able to repel the Iranian missile and drone attack with the help of the Americans — including US interceptions, and crucially, US intel and early warning capabilities.
He says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited him for a security briefing, but that the timing has not yet been finalized. He says he will of course attend, given that this is “a time of war.”
He urges Netanyahu not to talk endlessly about Israel’s planned response, as the prime minister has done about the planned IDF operation in Rafah. “Stop talking,” he says. “First act, then talk.”
Consumer prices in Israel in March increased at a faster rate than forecast, the Central Bureau of Statistics says.
The consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, increases by 0.6% in March slightly above analysts’ expectations of between 0.4% to 0.5%. That’s after the February CPI monthly figure of 0.4%
The March print brings annual inflation over the past 12 months to 2.7%, up from 2.5% in February, and 2.6% in January. The government’s annual target range of inflation is between 1% to 3%.
In March, increases were seen in the cost of cigarettes, which were up 7.1%, clothing and footwear rose 2%, culture and entertainment increased 1.5%, and housing prices edged up 0.6%, according to the statistics bureau. These were offset by notable declines in the price of fresh vegetables and fruits which fell 3%.
Rents on renewal of contracts rose 2.7% in March and rents on contracts for new tenants went up 2.6%.
Back in January, the Bank of Israel cut its base lending rate for the first time in almost four years, to support households and businesses as the economy was getting battered, due to the Hamas war, and as the inflation environment was easing.
Since then, the central bank has left interest rates unchanged at 4.5%. Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron said last week that as long as regional tensions stabilize, and inflationary pressures ease, the central bank could return to a path of lowering borrowing costs. At the same time, Yaron cautioned about risks that could fuel inflationary pressures including, higher government spending due to the developments of the war, a weaker shekel, and global oil prices.
In an unsourced report, Channel 12 claims the war cabinet has made the decision to hit back “clearly and forcefully” against Iran for its missile and drone attack on Saturday night.
The response will be designed to send the message that Israel “will not allow an attack of that magnitude against it to pass without a reaction,” the report says. The response will also be designed to make plain that Israel will not allow the Iranians to “establish the equation” they have sought to assert in recent days. This appears to be a reference to Iran’s warning that future Israeli strikes on Iranian territory, including its international diplomatic premises, will henceforth again be met by Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel.
The report says Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi believe it is necessary for Israel to respond, but without harming the US-led coalition that helped Israel defend itself against the Iranian attack.
The report says Israel does not want its response to spark a regional war. It further says that Israel intends to coordinate its action with the US.
The war cabinet is scheduled to meet again tomorrow, the report notes, and Home Front command regulations have not been changed, indicating that an Israeli attack is unlikely to take place today.
Israeli fighter jets struck additional buildings the IDF says are used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The IDF says the Hezbollah sites were hit in the villages of Markaba and Majdal Zoun.
Troops also shelled areas near Jabal Blat with artillery to “remove a threat,” the army says.
Earlier, five rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Hanita area. The IDF says the projectiles hit open areas, causing no injuries, and that troops are shelling the launch sites.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller issues a statement condemning the alleged murder of 14-year-old Israeli Benjamin Achimeir, while demanding an end to the spate of retaliatory settler violence that has been unleashed against Palestinians in recent days, with impunity for the attackers.
“We strongly condemn the murder of 14-year-old Israeli Binyamin Achimeir and extend our sympathies to his family and friends,” Miller says.
“We are also increasingly concerned by the violence against Palestinian civilians and their property that ensued in the West Bank after Achimeir’s disappearance, resulting in dozens of injuries, property damage, and the killing of two Palestinians, 25-year-old Jihad Abu Aliya and 17-year-old Omar Ahmad Abdulghani Hamed. We strongly condemn these murders, and our thoughts are with their loved ones,” Miller continues.
“The violence must stop. Civilians are never legitimate targets. We call on the authorities to take measures to protect all communities from harm, and we urge Israel and the Palestinian Authority to do everything possible to de-escalate tensions,” he adds.
The Netherlands says it will reopen its embassy in Tehran tomorrow after closing it for two days for safety reasons.
It adds in the statement that it does not exclude a new closure of its embassy: “The security of the representation continues to be closely monitored, making a new closure possible in the near future.”
Yesterday, the Dutch government advised against all travel to Israel due to the uncertain security situation following overnight airstrikes by Iran.
Iraqi lawmakers have postponed voting on a bill that includes the death penalty or life in prison for same-sex relations – a measure that diplomats from Western countries said could have serious consequences for Iraq’s political and economic ties if it goes through.
Parliament was in session today, with the bill – an amendment to an anti-prostitution law – second on its agenda.
It imposes life imprisonment or the death penalty for anyone engaging in same-sex relations or anyone who swaps their wife with someone else’s for sexual purposes.
It also bans promotion of homosexuality and violations are punishable by at least seven years in prison.
Two lawmakers in the session say the vote was postponed over time constraints and that some disagreements remained over proposed amendments.
Currently, mainly Muslim Iraq does not explicitly criminalize gay sex, but loosely defined morality clauses in its penal code have been used to target LGBT people.
Parliament was in session to vote on the bill just hours before Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on a trip focused on pushing for more US investment.
More than 60 countries criminalize gay sex, while same-sex sexual acts are legal in more than 130 countries, according to Our World in Data.
When Uganda in May 2023 enacted a law that includes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, the World Bank halted new lending to the East African nation and the US announced visa and travel restrictions against Ugandan officials.
Top Russian security official Nikolai Patrushev has discussed the rising tensions in the Middle East with National Security Council chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, Russian news agency Interfax reports.
It cites the Russian Security Council as saying that Patrushev noted the need for all parties to show restraint to prevent further escalation of the conflict
Earlier today, the Kremlin said it was extremely concerned about the escalation of tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s mass drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend.
The French foreign ministry says it has summoned the Iranian ambassador to condemn the Iranian attack on Israel.
“He was reminded, with the greatest firmness, of France’s condemnation of the attack,” the ministry says in a statement, adding that France was working with its partners to de-escalate the situation and calling on everyone to exercise restraint.
The Belgian foreign ministry says it had also summoned the Iranian ambassador to condemn the attack on Israel.
“This attack endangers regional stability and the population, and takes us further away from peace. I call on all parties to exercise the greatest restraint,” Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib says in a statement.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in their call that Israel has no choice but to respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack over the weekend, Axios reports.
In a swipe at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, war cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot says talk of “total victory” in Gaza is “misguided.”
Eisenkot has made such comments before but the latest criticism against Netanyahu who regularly claims that Israel is on the cusp of “total victory” is made at a conference.
Israel’s challenge is “to complete what was defined as the war’s aims and to end the war in such a way that when we’ll look back on it in 15 years, we’ll be able to say that our country and the IDF were able to stand firm,” says the ex-IDF chief. “Therefore, anyone who is asking for total and quick victory is misguided.”
Eisenkot hails Israel’s military capabilities in thwarting the weekend attack from Iran. However, “we’ve been exercising huge military capability for six months now, and still fail to return the 133 hostages.”
Iran does not want increased tensions but will respond immediately and more strongly than before if Israel retaliates, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tells his British counterpart on Monday, according to Iranian state media.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would soon speak with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on how to prevent escalation in the region after Iran’s drone and missile attack.
Overnight Saturday-Sunday Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for what it said was an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
British military jets helped shoot down the drones.
The Wall Street Journal cites US and Western officials who anticipate that Israel will respond quickly to Iran’s attack, possibly as soon as today. However, the officials say they hope that both Iran and Israel will be able to come away from the ordeal being able to claim victory enough to give them an off-ramp away from further escalation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to invite Opposition leader Yair Lapid to a security briefing following Saturday evening’s Iranian missile attack despite sending out invitations to two other heads of opposition parties.
After Iran on Saturday launched a large wave of around 300 attack drones and missiles from its territory toward the Jewish state, Netanyahu invited New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar and Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman to update them, news site Walla reports.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, a source in Yesh Atid confirms the report, stating that that “Netanyahu’s office didn’t try to set up a meeting.”
A spokesman for Liberman says that he had been invited but “no date has been set.” A spokesman for Sa’ar says that the former cabinet minister was likewise invited but the meeting had been canceled due to a scheduling issue on Netanyahu’s side.
A spokesman for Netanyahu does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Netanyahu and Lapid spent Monday sniping at each other, with Lapid calling the prime minister “an existential threat” and Netanyahu countering that Lapid “chose to stay abroad this week while Israel was attacked.”
In response, Lapid called for National Unity ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot to help bring down the government during a speech in the Knesset plenum.
A small Israeli military drone crashed in the West Bank city of Nablus earlier today, the IDF says.
The drone, a Skylark model, was on a reconnaissance mission when it fell out of the sky for as-yet-unknown reasons.
According to the IDF, there is no fear of information leaking from the aircraft.
The “sky rider,” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps.
The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.
Many such comparatively inexpensive UAVs have crashed in hostile territory over the years.
The war cabinet has wrapped up its meeting scheduled to discuss Israel’s response to Iran’s attack.
Channel 12 reports that several options were discussed, with each of them being a “painful” retaliatory response against Iran but one that doesn’t spark a regional war.
The war cabinet also is aiming to choose a reaction to Saturday night’s Iranian missile and drone attack that won’t be blocked by the US, the network says.
Israel has reportedly decided to delay its much-anticipated military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after Iran’s weekend missile and drone strike against the Jewish state.
The IDF was set to begin issuing evacuation orders on Monday, CNN reports, citing two unnamed Israeli sources. Those plans have been placed on the backburner.
The Kan public broadcaster reported the same thing last night, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party issued a denial.
Netanyahu has several times claimed to have approved plans for a Rafah operation and more recently said that a date has been decided for the launch. But hours later, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin that no date had been set as the IDF was still working to finalize its plans for how it will evacuate some 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party declares that it is no longer bound by coalition discipline after the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties expressed opposition to an expansion of his authority.
“Over the last few hours, the representatives of the ultra-Orthodox factions informed Minister Ben Gvir that they will not allow the transfer of the Real Estate Enforcement Division to the National Security Ministry,” the party says in a statement blasting what it claims is a deal Haredi lawmakers made with their Arab colleagues to tank the transfer “in exchange for their support for the conscription law.”
“Minister Ben Gvir and the members of the Otzma Yehudit faction informed the chairman of the coalition that as of today, the Otzma Yehudit faction is not bound by the coalition’s discipline, and until the authority is transferred, it will vote as it sees fit,” the party says.
The statement is likely referring to recent media reports that the ultra-Orthodox Shas party would reach out to Arab lawmakers to help pass legislation to maintain yeshiva students’ draft deferments — a report denied by Hadash party chief Ayman Odeh. Haredi media reports that ultra-Orthodox MKs’ opposition to giving Ben Gvir more authority stems from his opposition to legislation relating to so-called “kosher phones” that they support.
Last week, the government announced that Ben Gvir would assume responsibility over a unit that enforces building regulations which has until now been under the auspices of the Finance Ministry.
The move is part of the coalition agreement signed between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party when the government took power in late 2022.
The Knesset is set to vote to approve the transfer during a plenum session this afternoon.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) says its forces destroyed four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen yesterday, acting in self-defense.
CENTCOM adds in a Red Sea update that Houthi fighters launched an anti-ship ballistic missile toward the Gulf of Aden from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen on Saturday and that there were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships.
Britain rejects an assertion by Iran that it provided advance notice before attacking Israel, a spokesman for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday that Iran gave neighboring countries and Israel’s ally the United States 72 hours’ notice it would launch the strikes.
“I would reject that characterization,” Sunak’s spokesman tells reporters. “And more broadly we condemn in the strongest possible terms their direct attack against Israel.”
The US has also rejected Iran’s claim.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s weekend stay at the Jerusalem home of American billionaire Simon Falic may constitute the receipt of a prohibited gift, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel states, calling for state legal authorities to probe the matter.
In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shlomit Barnea-Farago, the Prime Minister’s Office legal adviser, Hiddai Negev states that beyond the ethical issue of a prime minister staying at a foreigner’s home in Israel, Netanyahu’s actions may have violated the prohibition for public servants to accept gifts.
“Accommodation and lodging services in a spacious villa, provided without consideration, may amount to a prohibited gift and a violation of the rules regarding the receipt of benefits,” the watchdog group says in a statement. Moreover, “it is not appropriate for the Prime Minister of the State of Israel to live in the private home of a foreign resident” during a war in which tens of thousands of his countrymen are displaced and his own government-funded residences remain empty.
Netanyahu’s stay “raises serious questions regarding the need to maintain the three residences” at public expense, writes Negev.
According to media reports, Netanyahu spent the weekend at the gated luxury mansion on Jerusalem’s Caspi Street owned by American billionaire Simon Falic, which reportedly has a nuclear shelter.
Iran on Saturday night launched a large wave of around 300 attack drones and missiles from its territory toward the Jewish state.
UK’s low-cost carrier EasyJet announces that it is temporarily suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel.
“Due to the evolving situation in Israel, EasyJet has taken the decision to temporarily pause operations to and from Tel Aviv until the 21st of April,” says EasyJet spokesperson Andy Cockburn in emailed comments. “Customers on affected flights have been contacted directly via SMS and email via the details provided at the time of booking.”
“The safety and security of our passengers and crew is always EasyJet’s highest priority,” he adds.
The move comes shortly after EasyJet resumed its operations to and from Israel at the end of March amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group.
On Sunday, Israeli airlines said operations were returning to normal as the country reopened its airspace after more than 300 projectiles were fired by Iran at Israel overnight Saturday to Sunday. Meanwhile, some foreign airlines, including Swiss International Air Lines, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and United Airlines, canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv.
The Weizmann Institute of Science is the beneficiary of a NIS 400 million ($107 million) grant from the Gutwirth Fund to establish a new medical science school “to train the next generation of physician-scientists,” the institute announces.
The program, a joint initiative with the Sheba Medical Center, plans to accept some 40 students each year who will earn a dual MD-PhD at the end of their studies and clinical training. The initiative is expected to open registration for prospective students by the end of this year and begin formally in October 2025, the start of the next academic year.
“Training new physician-scientists as part of this program will provide a significant boost to Israel’s public health sector… The program will strive to redefine the framework of medical education and to advance biomedical research and its application in Israel. In practice, it will shape the role of physician-scientists in a new era of research-based medicine and will allow its graduates to move smoothly between clinical practice and biomedical research,” the announcement says.
The donation from the Gutwirth Fund is one of the largest in Israel’s history, the press release notes.
A bill regulating the annual pilgrimage to Mount Meron in northern Israel passes its first reading 23-0 in the Knesset plenum, with an eye toward preventing a repeat of a 2021 crush that killed 45 people.
The legislation allows Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush to determine a maximum number of attendees, requires permits to stay overnight at the complex and limits the number of bonfires to one primary lighting event — with additional bonfires requiring permission from the minister in order to maintain public safety.
Forty-five men and boys were killed on April 30, 2021, in a crush at the hilltop gravesite of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron during the annual Lag B’Omer celebrations, after 100,000 worshipers, mostly members of the ultra-Orthodox community, crowded into the holy site despite longstanding warnings about the safety of the complex.
A state commission of inquiry into the disaster last month named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as one of those personally responsible for the tragedy, leading the Likud party to dismiss the commission’s findings as a “political weapon” against him.
Despite Netanyahu’s rejection of the report, Porush promised to implement the commission’s recommendations ahead of the coming Lag B’Omer pilgrimage in May. However, due to the short period between the report’s release and the holiday, the legislation is being advanced as a temporary measure.
Humanitarian aid getting into the Gaza Strip has increased by a large amount in the last few days, White House national security spokesman John Kirby says, adding the United States needs to see that aid sustained.
“The aid has increased and quite dramatically in just the last few days,” Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC. “That’s important but it has to be sustained.”
More than 2,000 trucks have been able to get in, about 100 in the last 24 hours alone, Kirby says.
Israel has ramped up efforts to deliver aid to the territory in light of growing international warnings of a humanitarian crisis and potential famine, including opening a new land crossing into the enclave’s north.
It has recently taken steps it says are aimed at facilitating the transfer of far more food and other necessities into the territory, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying the plan is to “flood Gaza with aid.”
The IDF says it is continuing a pinpoint operation against Hamas and other terror groups in the central Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of the Nuseirat camp.
Troops of the Nahal Infantry Brigade, 401st Armored Brigade and other forces under the 162nd Division have killed numerous gunmen, destroyed buildings used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, seized weapons, and located rocket launchers, the army says.
Nahal troops are also operating in the so-called Netzarim corridor, a strip of land running from the border with Israel near Be’eri to the coast.
The corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City and north of Nuseirat, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south.
The IDF says troops killed some 15 gunmen in the Netzarim corridor over the past day.
The annual beach season opens, with the Environmental Protection Ministry pledging to continue supporting coastal authorities in their attempts to keep shores clean and to encourage visitors not to bring disposable plastic onto the sands.
The ministry says beaches received the highest cleanliness score last year since measurements began 19 years ago, with 90.9 percent defined as clean during at least 70% of the period of January to September. Surveys were not carried out for the last quarter of the year because of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
As part of the clean beaches program, inspectors visit selected stretches of beach twice a year. The program applies to beaches that are not officially for bathing but are nevertheless used by visitors.
The Interior Ministry is responsible for beaches registered for swimming.
Border Police officers killed a Palestinian who allegedly hurled an explosive device at forces and captured a wanted man during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus this morning.
Police in a statement say the undercover officers reached the wanted man’s home, where his wife claimed he was not home. The troops then used a military dog to locate the man in the area and detain him, police say.
During the operation, police say riots erupted during which a Palestinian hurled an explosive device at the officers. Police say the undercover officers opened fire at the suspect, killing him. Another rioter was shot in the leg, it says.
The slain Palestinian was named by media reports as 17-year-old Yazan Shtayyeh.
In another incident amid the raid, police say troops opened fire at a vehicle that accelerated toward them and refused calls to halt. The driver was wounded.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on National Unity ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot to help bring down the government, saying that they would have more influence on policy in a new coalition.
“The way to influence is helping us overthrow this government. And we will form a government and in this government they will have much more influence. Benny Gantz may be the prime minister. There is no citizen who would not welcome Eisenkot as Israel’s defense minister,” he says.
Arguing that Gantz and Eisenkot’s positions are being ignored by the current leadership, Lapid says that by helping to tank the government “they can really affect the destiny of this country in a positive, substantial and profound way.”
Even if the National Unity party left the government, as its former partner New Hope recently did, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition would still have enough seats to remain in power.
Earlier this month, Gantz called on Netanyahu to “agree on a date for elections in September,” an appeal rejected by the prime minister. According to recent polls, nearly three-quarters of the Israel public want Netanyahu to resign against the backdrop of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, with half the country also preferring early elections for the Knesset.
Germany summons the Iranian ambassador, a day after Tehran summoned the German, French and British envoys over their countries’ response to Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel.
“I can inform you that the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the foreign ministry this morning and that the talks are currently taking place,” a spokesman for the ministry tells a regular government press conference, without specifying what issue would be raised.
A number of people have been injured in a stabbing at a church in Sydney’s west, police authorities say, days after a deadly stabbing spree in the city.
Officers arrested a male and he is assisting police with inquiries, a police statement says.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on the prime minister to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after security forces begin preparations to dismantle the illegal Gal Yosef outpost in the West Bank.
“Defense Minister Gallant’s decision to evacuate and destroy buildings on the Gal Yosef farm where 14-year old Benjamin Achimeir was murdered, even during the week of shiva [mourning], represents terrible obtuseness, moral confusion, security folly, and a violation of the dignity of the dead,” Ben Gvir says.
“Instead of establishing and approving more farms and expanding Jewish settlement, we surrender to the enemy,” the far-right minister says, declaring that “the time has come for the prime minister to consider replacing Minister Gallant.”
Achimeir went missing after setting out in the early morning hours of Friday from a farm near the unauthorized West Bank outpost of Malachei Shalom to go shepherding, according to the IDF. He was later found dead in what the IDF and Shin Bet security agency designated as a terror attack — resulting in an extremist settler rampage in several Palestinian villages and violent clashes.
According to Hebrew media, police and representatives of the Civil Administration have begun confiscating equipment at the illegal farm in preparation for its demolition.
Qatar Airways has resumed its scheduled services to Iran, the airline says in a post on social media platform X.
The airline has resumed its scheduled services to Iran, including 20 weekly flights to four gateways — Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan.
A Portuguese-flagged cargo ship, the MSC Aries, was seized by Iran on April 13 for “violating maritime laws,” Iran’s foreign ministry says, adding that there is no doubt the vessel is linked to Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the freighter in the Strait of Hormuz days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route.
“Iran strives to create a safe shipping environment in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf. The vessel was diverted into Iran’s territorial waters as a result of violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities,” spokesperson Nasser Kanaani says.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that a Guards helicopter boarded the MSC Aries and took it into Iranian waters.
MSC, which operates the Aries, confirmed Iran seized the ship and said it was working “with the relevant authorities” for its safe return and the wellbeing of its 25 crew.
MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, Zodiac said in a statement, adding that MSC is responsible for all the vessel’s activities. Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
The Israeli military renews warnings for Palestinians in Gaza not to return to the embattled territory’s north, a day after Gaza hospital officials said five people were killed as throngs of displaced residents tried to reach their homes in the war-torn area.
The military has reduced the number of troops it has in Gaza and has said it has loosened Hamas’s control over the north, but Israel is still carrying out airstrikes and targeted operations in the area against what it says are reorganizing forces.
Arabic-language military spokesman Avichay Adraee writes on X, formerly Twitter, that Palestinians should stay in southern Gaza, where they have been told to shelter, because the north is a “dangerous combat zone.”
People appear to be heeding the new warning, especially after the violence on Sunday.
Hospital authorities in Gaza said that five people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to travel north to their homes. The Israeli military has had no comment and the precise circumstances behind the deaths are not immediately clear.
Thousands of vehicles were blocked for hours today by anti-Israel protesters on a highway near the Dutch city of Utrecht.
An angry motorist stepped out of his car. Unlike many other motorists on the A27, the man’s complaint was not about the road blockage. “That slogan they’re chanting? ‘From the River to the Sea?’ That’s a call for genocide. Are you going to allow it?” the man asked a policeman.
The officer gave his standard answer: “We will intervene when and if the disturbance is deemed no longer manageable.”
The blockage was part of a global initiative known as A15 that aims to disrupt commerce to raise awareness to what organizers say is a “genocide” in Gaza. The protesters scattered after three hours.
Multiple participants in the protest interviewed by The Times of Israel said they were opposed to Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
“The Jews that came there after 1948, I don’t think they should be there,” said Emmie Vronk, a 23-year-old Dutch-born social worker.
A 26-year-old man who identified as Cena (he declined to give his last name), a leader of the protest and member of the Rolling for Palestine local activists’ group, said: “Jews have no more right to form a Jewish state in Palestine than Christians or Muslims. Only indigenous Palestinians belong there.” He is “an Afghan who “has Dutch citizenship.” He declined to say whether that means he’s Dutch, repeating the unusual formulation.
Stefan Mijgens, 46, was among the stranded motorists. He identified with the protesters’ message against war in Gaza but found it “unfair that we are made to suffer,” as he was late for a meeting.
The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for a blast that wounded four Israeli troops on the Lebanon border overnight.
In a statement, Hezbollah says it placed several explosive devices on the border inside Lebanese territory, in an area across from the northern Israeli community of Adamit.
The IDF said earlier that four soldiers were hurt, one of them seriously, as a result of a blast during operational activity on the Lebanon border.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief says the Middle East stands “on the edge of the cliff” and calls for de-escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
“We’re on the edge of the cliff and we have to move away from it,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tells Spanish radio station Onda Cero. “We have to step on the brakes and reverse gear.”
Borrell says he expected a response from Israel to the unprecedented aerial attack by Iran but hopes it will not spark further escalation.
Warning sirens have sounded in Western Galilee communities in northern Israel over a suspected drone infiltration from Lebanon.
The Home Front Command says the incident is over, without offering details.
Responding to Yair Lapid’s statement that Netanyahu and his government “have become an existential threat,” the ruling Likud party accuses the opposition leader of hypocrisy and criticizes him for spending the weekend abroad while Israel was attacked by Iran.
“Lapid, who signed a shameful surrender agreement with Hezbollah and preferred to stay abroad this week while Israel was attacked, is not the man to preach,” Likud says in a statement referring to a US-brokered maritime deal with Lebanon signed by the then-prime minister Lapid in 2022.
Lapid was in the US at the time of Saturday night’s surprise attack, after holding meetings with American officials.
Likud states that Netanyahu “recognized the Iranian threat decades ago and since then has been leading the global campaign against it.”
Hitting back, Lapid issues a statement of his own and doubles down on his criticism.
“Israeli deterrence in Lebanon collapsed when Netanyahu allowed Hezbollah to set up tents inside the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, unlike Lapid, who reached a maritime agreement despite Hezbollah’s opposition,” Lapid’s office states — a reference to tents set up by Hezbollah operatives on the Israeli side of the Blue Line between the two nations last year.
“As for Iran — if Netanyahu worked all these years on the Iranian issue, how did they become a nuclear-threshold country and send hundreds of drones and cruise missiles to attack the State of Israel?”
Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight.
The IDF says the targets included rocket launch posts, buildings used by the terror group, and other infrastructure in Seddiqine, Matmoura, Labbouneh, and Ayta ash-Shab.
Troops also shelled areas near Ayta ash-Shab with artillery to “remove threats,” the army adds.
Tehran is calling on Western nations to “appreciate Iran’s restraint” towards Israel after its largescale attack on the Jewish state in response to a deadly strike on Revolutionary Guards generals attributed to Israel at the Iranian consulate compound in Damascus.
“Instead of making accusations against Iran, [Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the… war crimes committed by Israel” in its war against Tehran-backed Hamas in Gaza, says Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.
The spokesman adds that Western countries “should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months.”
Western governments have condemned Iran over its unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, which Tehran insists was an act of “self-defense.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warns Iran not to launch another attack on Israel but says the Israeli government must also contribute to cooling tensions.
“Everyone agrees that the way in which Israel managed to successfully repel this attack… is really impressive,” says Scholz.
“That is a success that should not be given away, and therefore our advice is to contribute to de-escalation.”
The Kremlin calls for de-escalation in the Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented weekend attack on Israel.
“We are extremely concerned about the escalation of tensions in the region and we call on all countries in the region to exercise restraint. Further escalation is in no one’s interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters.
The European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) says it “strongly condemns” the behavior of an audience at the European Youth Forum (YFJ).
“During the closing plenary of the Level Up! event, held in the hemicycle of the European Parliament, some participants took advantage of a moment of transition to disrupt the ceremony, shouting ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘Ceasefire Now’ and accusing Israel of committing genocide,” EUJS says. “Most of the plenary started clapping, including the moderators and various board and staff members of the YFJ. Moreover, after requesting the floor, a participant taught the entire hemicycle how to say ‘Free Palestine’ in sign language.”
When the head of the EUJD delegation protested, “the crowd started booing and insulting her, accusing her of ‘hate speech’ and labelling her as a ‘fascist Zionist.'”
“In a space where everyone should have felt safe, Jewish students, once again, felt threatened. Some members of the EUJS delegation started crying and others were shaking,” it said.
“The incident that occurred today was a public humiliation for the EUJS President and EUJS as a whole. This happened within the walls of the European Parliament.”
It calls for a strong condemnation by the YFJ of the “appalling and intolerable” incident.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government “have become an existential threat to Israel,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, accusing them of destroying Israeli deterrence.
Addressing the press ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset — held this week despite the legislative recess — Lapid states that both Israel’s friends and enemies “smell weakness” from the current government.
“I was in Washington last week, in meetings with the entire administration. They are shocked by this government: by the lack of responsibility, by the lack of professionalism, by the mismanagement,” he says.
Lapid alleges that while the United States has lived up to its commitment to Israel’s security, Netanyahu has not.
“All that is left of Mr. Security” are “ruins from Be’eri to Kiryat Shmona, violence by Jewish terrorists who have become out of control, and a complete loss of Israeli deterrence,” he adds.
Four IDF soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, as a result of a blast on the Lebanon border overnight.
The military says the incident took place during “operational activity.” The activity was being carried out by troops of the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance and elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.
The cause of the blast that wounded the soldiers in the western region of the border with Lebanon is still under investigation.
One soldier was seriously wounded, two were listed in moderate condition, and another was lightly hurt. The troops were taken by helicopter to a hospital.
Hard-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slams the shuttering of the education system yesterday in light of Iran’s threat to strike Israel, stating that it was unjustified.
“The decision to close the education system was a mistake, it led to panic and there was no justification for it — the finger was too light on the trigger,” Smotrich tells Army Radio, pledging to ensure “that there is a response” to Iran’s weekend attack against Israel.
“I will make sure that we do what is necessary to ensure our security,” he promises.
Turning to Gaza, Smotrich calls for continued Israel control over the coastal territory, warning that allowing local autonomy would lead to terrorism.
“There are 2 million Nazis in Gaza who want to slaughter, rape and murder every Jew. If a local population rules there it will be a terrorist organization,” he says. “We currently have to rule there operationally and militarily until we can develop moderate local forces to take over.”
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron urges Israel not to retaliate after Iran’s drone and missile attack, saying it should “think with head as well as heart” because Tehran’s strike was a near-total failure.
“I think they’re perfectly justified to think they should respond because they have been attacked, but we are urging them as friends to think with head as well as heart, to be smart as well as tough,” Cameron says.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency says it keeps recommending caution in the airspaces of Iran and Israel and around 100 nautical miles surrounding Israel.
EASA, as the agency is known, says in an emailed advisory it is closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and its impact on civil aviation.
Britain will consider more sanctions against Iran, foreign minister David Cameron said on Monday, following its drone and missile attack on Israel.
Asked whether the government would consider more sanctions on Iran, Cameron tells the BBC: “Yes, absolutely. We already have 400 sanctions on Iran. We put in place a whole new sanctions regime at the end of last year, which is proving very effective.
“We’ve sanctioned the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in its entirety, and we’ll continue to look at what further steps we can do,” he adds.
He also says Britain will keep under review whether it should proscribe the IRGC.
France will do all it can to avoid further escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, President Emmanuel Macron says.
“We are all worried about a possible escalation,” Macron tells BFM TV and RMC radio in an interview, urging Israel to aim to isolate Iran rather than escalate the situation.
Donald Trump goes to court today as the first US ex-president ever to be criminally prosecuted, a seismic moment for the United States as the presumptive Republican nominee campaigns to retake the White House.
The scandal-plagued 77-year-old is accused of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels to shield his 2016 election campaign from adverse publicity.
The so-called hush money affair is only one of four criminal cases hanging over Trump and some legal observers suggest it is the least serious.
But the real prospect of Trump becoming a convicted felon — and potentially facing jail time — throws an unprecedented wild card into an already unpredictable election.
The right-wing populist is running on dark vows of “vengeance” against Democratic President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020.
Trump has said he will take the stand in the case, which gets underway from 1330 GMT, an unusual and often risky move for defendants.
France will step up security around Jewish schools and synagogues, partly as a response to the current Middle East crisis between Israel and Iran, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says on social media platform X.
“As Passover approaches and given the current international situation, I have told local officials to significantly step up security at places visited by our Jewish compatriots, especially with regards to synagogues and Jewish schools,” he writes.
At an overnight UN Security Council session, Israel envoy Gilad Erdan said: “The mask of Iranian deniability has been removed. No more hiding and no more bluffing. No more shirking of responsibility. Iran has attacked Israel from its own sovereign territory, publicly and proudly. The mask is off.
“Iran, the number one world sponsor of terror, has exposed its true face as the destabilizer of the region and the world… Right now is when the world must stop ignoring Iran’s crimes and take action,” he said.
He added that “all of the terror groups attacking Israel are tentacles of the same Shiite octopus — the Iranian octopus,” and urged members to “impose all possible sanctions on Iran before it’s too late.”
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone making its way toward Israel from the east, the military says.
The IDF says the drone was tracked throughout the incident, and no sirens sounded in Israel as there was no threat to civilians.
Drones have been launched at Israel by an Iran-backed group in Iraq several times amid the war in Gaza.
European shares look set to track Asia’s negative lead after a weekend dominated by news of escalating tensions in the Middle East and fears of a wider regional conflict.
The flight to safety began with talk last week of an Iranian strike on Israel and, after a raid with some 300 drones and missiles, the focus now turns to Israel’s reply.
Gold and the US dollar were firm, though the erstwhile safe-haven yen sank to a three-decade low — a reminder that market participants are still treating the Middle East primarily as a risk, albeit a growing one, while interest rates remain the main theme.
Going some way to keeping that risk capped, US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the US will not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran.
US forces, supported by US European Command destroyers destroyed more than 80 one-way attack drones and at least six ballistic missiles aimed at Israel from Iran and Yemen last night, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) says.
This includes a ballistic missile on its launcher vehicle and seven UAVs destroyed on the ground prior to their launch in areas controlled by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, CENTCOM says in a post on X.
Eighty UAVs would account for nearly half of the 170 drones that the IDF said were fired by Iran at Israel.
“CENTCOM remains postured to support Israel’s defense against these dangerous actions by Iran. We will continue to work with all our regional partners to increase regional security,” the US military said.
Supporters at former US president Donald Trump’s re-election rally last night were filmed shouting, “Genocide Joe” — a chant that has largely been used by far-left critics of US President Joe Biden over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
It was unclear why the Trump supporters were using the phrase, though, animosity toward Israel has increasingly crept into circles on the far-right as well.
Regardless, Trump responded to the chants by saying, “They’re not wrong.”
It wasn’t clear what was meant by this, either. Trump has been critical of certain elements of Israel’s prosecution of the Gaza war but has also urged Jerusalem to “finish the job.”
US President Joe Biden convened a call earlier today with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to discuss last night’s Iran attack on Israel, the White House says.
Biden “discussed the urgent need for the House to pass the national security supplemental as soon as possible,” the White House adds.
The package has been held up by Republicans over opposition to provisions regarding Ukraine and immigration. The supplemental includes more than $14 billion in security aid for Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Iran’s attack on Israel in separate calls with Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian and Turkish counterparts today, the US State Department says.
Blinken reiterated in each call that the US does not seek escalation and will continue to support Israel’s defense.
A Chicago city councilwoman denies having celebrated last night’s Iranian drone and missile attack after a degree of uproar from local Jewish community leaders.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez had tweeted “Free Palestine” shortly after Iran’s widely reported strike had begun.
An hour later, Israel’s Consulate in Chicago tweeted, “We condemn in the strongest terms this Chicago Alderwoman’s celebration of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel.”
“This is the same Alderwoman behind the highly controversial ‘ceasefire’ resolution. We see a pattern – not aiming for peace, but for Israel’s destruction,” the Israeli consulate added.
Four hours later, Rodriguez-Sanchez tweets, “I’ve been saying Free Palestine for decades and especially the last few months. I do not celebrate war or the loss of human life in any way.”
“I just got off a plane to see people again trying to demonize me for saying something basic. Same people who have been cheering on a genocide.”
“I hadn’t seen the news about the attacks when I tweeted, I had just watched a video of Gaza with a father sobbing holding his dead child. This moment is immensely tragic and it’s sad that there’s people choosing to create so much more hate,” she adds.
Meanwhile, the Free Press news site publishes footage of far-left activists in Chicago chanting, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
The Democratic Majority for Israel and the Republican Jewish Coalition have issued a joint statement condemning last night’s missile and drone attack by Iran against Israel.
The two groups say they “rarely see eye to eye. But today we are united in condemning Iran’s unwarranted, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attack against Israeli civilians—Jewish and Arab.”
They call on Congressional leadership to approve a security aid package for Israel. One has been held up on the Hill for months due to Republican opposition to its provisions regarding Ukraine and immigration.
“History will not forgive the failure of Congress to act. Let’s get it done!” the two Jewish groups say.
The IDF has decided to lift the Home Front Command restrictions it had put in place shortly before last night’s Iranian missile and drone strike.
The announcement comes several hours after the army declared that the restrictions would remain in place until Monday at 11 p.m.
Schools will be allowed to reopen, though this will only have a limited impact as most are currently on Passover break. However, the directive also covers daycares, universities, school trips and camps, which were originally supposed to operate tomorrow. It is unclear whether many of them will still be able to do so, given that the IDF announcement came shortly after midnight.
The updated guidance means that the restriction on gatherings of more than 1,000 people has been lifted, allowing sporting events and concerts to go as originally planned.
Restrictions on gatherings and educational activities that have been in place since October 7 for those near Israel’s northern and southern borders will remain so, the IDF says.
