April 16: Israeli security officials said to believe food, aid in Gaza will last only another month

Jewish actress Michelle Trachtenberg died of complications from diabetes, says examiner

Michelle Trachtenberg appears at The Art of Elysium's Ninth annual Heaven Gala in Culver City, California, on January 9, 2016. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP, File)

US actress Michelle Trachtenberg died in February as a result of complications from diabetes, New York City’s medical examiner says.

The office says in a statement that it has amended the cause and manner of death for the 39-year-old Jewish star following a review of laboratory test results.

Trachtenberg, who was known for “Gossip Girl,” ” Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Harriet the Spy,” was found unconscious and unresponsive in her luxury apartment tower in Manhattan in February.

Officials at the time said no foul play was suspected, and the medical examiner’s office had listed her death as “undetermined.”

Trachtenberg’s family objected to an autopsy, which the medical examiner’s office honored because there is no evidence of criminality.

Her representative doesn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PM holds meeting on hostage talks as Hamas gets, studies Israeli proposal, rejects disarmament

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits troops in Gaza, April 15, 2025 (Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment this evening regarding the 59 hostages being held in Gaza, together with his hostage negotiating team and senior defense officials, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

The premier “instructed the continuation of measures to advance the release of [the] hostages,” says the PMO in a statement.

Hebrew media reports that the consultation was held via phone, and included Shin Bet head Ronen Bar despite an escalating feud between him and the government, which has fired Bar but remains in his role due to an interim High Court order.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official tells AFP that the group is still preparing its response to an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“The movement’s response is still in preparation, and we affirm that there is no room for any partial deal,” says Mahmoud Mardawi, insisting that the group’s “weapons will not be subject to any negotiations.”

The Israeli military said earlier today that the ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip is aimed at continuing to ramp up pressure on Hamas to bring the terror group to agree to a hostage deal, while also preparing the ground for a potential major offensive, though such an operation has not yet begun.

The current operation is being carried out slowly, both to ensure the safety of troops and guarantee that hostage talks can continue, said the IDF.

The military has set no deadline for when the major offensive would begin, and it would be decided upon by the political echelon.

4 rescued as boat sinks in Sea of Galilee

A boat that had been carrying four people sinks in the Sea of Galilee after police rescue its passengers on April 16, 2025. (Israel Police)

Marine police in northern Israel have rescued four people from a boat that sank in the Sea of Galilee, says a police spokesman.

None of the four — two adults and two children — are injured in the incident.

Passengers put on their life jackets once the boat began sinking, at the behest of its owner.

Law enforcement says the owner simultaneously called the police and fired a distress flare from the sinking boat, helping officers to locate him.

Yemen’s Houthi media reports heavy US airstrikes on Sanaa

Yemeni rebel media says more than a dozen airstrikes have hit the Houthi-held capital Sanaa today, blaming them on the United States.

Rebel-held areas of Yemen have endured near-daily strikes, blamed on the United States, since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on March 15 in an attempt to end their threats to shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which they claim is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

“Fourteen airstrikes carried out by American aggression hit the Al-Hafa area in the Al-Sabeen district in the capital,” the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reports.

It also reports strikes blamed on the United States in the Hazm area of Jawf province.

Yemeni official said to hail US attacks as heralding ground op that will defeat Houthis

An official associated with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which opposes the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who hold much of the country, is quoted by the Kan public broadcaster as saying the recent stepped-up US attacks could pave the way to the Islamists’ defeat.

“The American attacks are wearing them out and laying the groundwork for a bigger move,” the unnamed official is quoted as saying. “There is a unique opportunity to eliminate the Houthi regime via a ground maneuver by local forces. The key is taking over the port city of Hodeidah in Western Yemen. That is their beating heart.”

Kan also cites an unnamed official in the Saudi royal family as urging US cooperation with the Yemeni government regarding a ground offensive.

ICC demands explanation from Hungary about refusal to enforce Netanyahu arrest warrant

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP/Denes Erdos)

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague requests an explanation from the Hungarian government for its refusal to enforce the international arrest warrant issued by the tribunal against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his recent visit to Budapest.

According to the court’s statement, the request was made under Article 87(7) of the Rome Statute, which allows for proceedings to be initiated against states that fail to cooperate with the court, “thereby preventing the court from exercising its functions and powers under the Statute.”

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, accusing the Israeli leaders of directing attacks against Gazan civilians and of using starvation as a method of warfare by hindering the supply of aid to Gaza during the current conflict with the Hamas terror group.

The ICC claims that Hungary violated its obligations by refusing to detain Netanyahu despite an official request sent by the court to Budapest on April 3, the day the premier landed in the country.

Shortly before meeting with Netanyahu in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that Hungary would be withdrawing from the ICC.

The ICC gives Hungary until May 23 to provide its submissions in response.

Soccer star Haaland holds video call with freed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov

Released hostage Omer Shem Tov returning to his home in Herzliya, March 1, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)

Norwegian soccer superstar Erling Haaland holds a video call with released Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov.

In a video posted on Instagram by Shem Tov, Haaland is seen smiling and asking the former Gaza captive, who was freed by Palestinian terrorists in February, how he is doing.

“Thank you so much for calling me,” Shem Tov says, adding that he’s doing “amazing, thank God.”

“I really appreciate what you are doing and I really like you… it’s amazing, I’m so excited.”

ארלינג הולאנד, כוכב נבחרת נורווגיה ומנצ'סטר סיטי, שוחח עם שורד השבי עומר שם טוב | תיעוד@lianwildau
(צילום: מתוך אינסטגרם) pic.twitter.com/sD9nUrC2p4

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 16, 2025

Anti-Israel groups file arrest warrant for Sa’ar in UK, accusing him of Gaza crimes

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at the Israel embassy after his meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, April 3, 2025, in Paris. (AP/Nicolas Garriga)

An arrest warrant is being sought by two anti-Israel legal nonprofits in the United Kingdom against Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, accusing Israel’s top diplomat of overseeing crimes in Gaza during the ongoing war with Hamas.

“Sa’ar cannot walk freely in London while innocent Palestinian civilians are buried under rubble. His role in the killing of Gaza’s civilians demands accountability,” says Dyab Abou Jahjah, founder of the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation, which has filed the arrest warrant alongside the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN.)

????????BREAKING: The #HindRajabFoundation and the @GLAN_LAW network a.o. have filed for an arrest warrant in the UK against Israeli FM Gideon Sa’ar for war crimes in Gaza, including the siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital and the torture of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh.
For more info ⬇️… pic.twitter.com/hfvzwwfUcj

— The Hind Rajab Foundation (@HindRFoundation) April 16, 2025

The foreign minister “has no intention to shorten his trip or to change his plans in any manner,” the Foreign Ministry tells The Times of Israel in response to the warrant, which according to the nonprofits was filed with the UK’s Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecutions.

“The charges focus on [Sa’ar’s] role in the siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza,” which led to “the abduction and torture” of hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh, claims GLAN on X.

Israel detained Abu Safiya along with nearly 240 others during a raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza in December 2024, alleging that Hamas was using it as a command center.

The IDF said it suspects Abu Safiya of being a Hamas member.

During a private visit to London, Sa’ar met yesterday with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and the two discussed Iran’s nuclear program as well as negotiations to free hostages from Gaza, according to the Israeli readout.

Report: Senior Israeli security officials believe food, aid in Gaza will last only another month

A UN staff member stands in front of humanitarian supplies for Gaza stored at Egyptian Red Crescent warehouses storing aid for Gaza, in the Egyptian border town of El-Arish, on April 8, 2025. (Photo by Benoit Tessier / POOL / AFP)

Senior officials in Israel’s security establishment believe that the humanitarian supplies and food in the Gaza Strip will only last another month or so, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The report says this was the reason for Defense Minister Israel Katz’s announcement this morning — which he quickly walked back amid political backlash — that the government would soon reallow aid flow into the territory.

Jerusalem argues that withholding aid is a central measure in pressuring Hamas to agree to a hostage deal.

Kan says top IDF brass are discussing how to let aid in without it reaching Hamas. It says the security apparatus is contacting civilian groups that could potentially hand out humanitarian aid as part of a future deal.

IDF razes West Bank home of Hamas member involved in soldier’s killing

IDF troops demolish the home of a Hamas operative who killed a soldier in the West Bank town of Burqin, on April 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

During operations in the West Bank town of Burqin today, the IDF says it demolished the home of a Hamas operative involved in the killing of a soldier in the summer.

Hammam Hashash was part of a joint Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad cell that set off two explosive devices against army vehicles in Jenin on June 27, killing Capt. Alon Sacgiu and wounding 16 other soldiers.

Hashash was killed by IDF troops in July.

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

Qatar sends aid, military vehicles to Lebanese army amid fallout from Israel-Hezbollah war

Qatar is sending scores of military vehicles to the Lebanese army and a new, $60 million donation to help it pay salaries to officers as Lebanon recovers from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group’s latest war with Israel, the two Arab countries announce.

The statement by Qatar and Lebanon says 162 military vehicles will be sent to the Lebanese army to help the military “carry out its national duties to preserve stability and control the border.”

Gas-rich Qatar has been a main backer of the Lebanese army since an unprecedented economic crisis engulfed the country in late 2019. Qatar was first sending food aid for the military while cash donations began in 2022.

Hezbollah launched its own attacks on Israel, unprovoked, a day after the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, 2023, with the Palestinian terror group’s onslaught in southern Israel.

After 14 months, a US-brokered ceasefire halted the Hezbollah-Israel war, which caused destruction that will take $11 billion to rebuild, according to the World Bank.

Since the November ceasefire, Lebanon has elected a new president and prime minister, who have both promised to carry out reforms.

NY woman indicted for manslaughter for car crash that killed mom, 2 kids on way home from synagogue

A flipped Audi pictured at the scene of a deadly collision in south Brooklyn on March 29, 2025 (X screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

A US woman is formally indicted with reckless manslaughter and other charges for a New York car crash that killed a Jewish mother and her two children late last month.

Miriam Yarimi, 32, allegedly killed Natasha (Sara) Saada, 34, and her daughters Diana, 8, and Debra, 5, while they were walking home from synagogue in Brooklyn on March 29.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office says in a statement that Yarimi was arraigned today in the Brooklyn Supreme Court on an indictment charging her with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, and other related counts.

“This horrific fatal crash was one of the worst I’ve seen in over 25 years as a prosecutor. It wasn’t an accident. This defendant’s unconscionably dangerous driving wiped out a family,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez says in a statement. “The consequences of her flouting traffic laws and commonsense were disastrous, and we will now seek to hold her fully accountable for this criminally reckless behavior.”

Yarimi, also Jewish, is being held without bail and faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.

The statement contains new information about the car crash that shocked New York City and local Jews.

Video surveillance showed Yarimi drive through a red light a block before the crash, narrowly avoiding other vehicles, before speeding through another intersection and plowing into the family.

Yarimi’s Audi was traveling at around 68 miles (110 kilometers) per hour in a 25 mph zone, and the engine was at full throttle, indicating the gas pedal was likely pressed to the floor, the indictment says.

TikTok wigmaker Miriam Yarimi has been charged with manslaughter after fatal crash kills mom and two kids in Brooklyn

Yarimi was driving on a suspended license when she lost control and plowed into a crowd pic.twitter.com/hpR6H8MHJm

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) March 31, 2025

After striking the family, the vehicle rolled over, stopping around 130 feet (40 meters) away.

The mother and her daughters were killed at the scene, while the woman’s son suffered skull fractures, brain bleeding, and needed a kidney removed.

Government urges High Court to withdraw injunction freezing Shin Bet head’s ouster

The government submits a message to the High Court of Justice demanding that it rescind the injunction issued earlier this month temporarily freezing the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Hebrew media reports.

The opinion is filed as an addendum to a legal opinion filed by a lawyer for Boaz Miran, brother of Gaza hostage Omri Miran and a member of the hawkish Tikva Forum.

The government argues that delaying the implementation of the firing “deals a critical blow to the fulfillment of the goals of the Shin Bet.”

It cites the recent revelation about the head of the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division being recorded saying he authorizes arrests without evidence, as well as the recent arrest of a Shin Bet member suspected of leaking classified material to politicians and journalists.

This raises the possibility of “actions committed in conflict of interest, with miscarriage of justice, using draconian measures for purely personal purposes,” the government alleges.

“The continuation of a situation in which a failed security agency head, whom the government has unanimously vote no-confidence in, continues to serve under an interim judicial order, is a governance anomaly and is a danger to national security. Every day, the danger is growing and the damages of the situation accumulate.”

Netanyahu meets families of 5 hostages believed to be alive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with the families of five hostages today, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

At the premier’s office, Netanyahu met the relatives of David and Ariel Cunio, Nimrod Cohen, Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David, who are all currently held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza and believed by Israel to be alive.

The premier described to the families “the various efforts being made to bring the hostages home, and emphasized both his personal commitment and that of the Israeli government to securing the return of all the hostages — both the living and the fallen,” according to the PMO.

Lebanese army says it arrested Palestinians, Lebanese involved in firing rockets at Israel

The Lebanese army announces that it has arrested Palestinians and Lebanese operatives responsible for launching rockets at Israel from southern Lebanon on March 22 and March 25.

The military says its forces seized equipment and a vehicle used during the firing of the rockets. It further states that operations to arrest additional suspects are ongoing.

Netanyahu said set to hold security discussion with embattled Shin Bet chief

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Kobi Gideon/ GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to participate in a security discussion that will take place over the phone this evening, reports the Ynet news outlet, citing unnamed sources within the Prime Minister’s Office.

The invitation follows the cancellation of last night’s security cabinet meeting after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that he would not attend if Bar, whom the government is moving to fire, was invited.

The far-right minister’s refusal to attend the meeting came amid a wave of coalition criticism of the security agency head after reports of an investigation into a leak of classified information from a Shin Bet agent to journalists and a cabinet minister.

The canceled security cabinet meeting was reportedly scheduled to discuss the ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip as well as developments in the negotiations to free the remaining 59 hostages from Hamas.

Video shows Hamas supporters being removed from anti-Hamas protest in Gaza

Palestinians protest against Hamas and for an end to the war in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya, April 16, 2025. (Screenshot: X; @hamza198708)

Videos from Gaza show several Hamas supporters being kicked out of a protest in the northern Gaza Strip’s Beit Lahiya against the terror group and in favor of ending the war.

In the videos, they are seen carrying signs saying, “Beit Lahiya is with the resistance,” a term referring to the terror organizations in the Strip.

Shortly afterward, a dispute breaks out between them and other participants in the protest, and they leave the scene.

????شاهد| أهالي بيت لاهيا شمال قطاع غزة يطردون عناصر من حماس حاولت رفع شعارات مؤيدة لحماس في المظاهرات pic.twitter.com/FkIwhAWOPp

— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) April 16, 2025

???? شاهد | حماس برا برا … مسيرات في بيت لاهيا شمال قطاع غزة للمطالبة بإنهاء حكم حماس pic.twitter.com/w9iNe3Uitc

— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) April 16, 2025

???? مسيرات ضخمة في شمال القطاع تطالب حـ0ـاس بإيقاف الحرب @hamza198708

هذه المظاهرات لا تنقلها الجزيرة pic.twitter.com/Ih1nuGBNCl

— المرصد العسكري ⧨ (@Military_OSTX) April 16, 2025

IDF: 3 Israeli civilians crossed into Gaza, troops returned them to Israel

Three Israeli civilians crossed the border into the Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.

Troops dispatched to the scene located them and returned them back to Israel, the IDF adds.

24 Germans and their families have been evacuated from Gaza, Berlin says

The German government says it has evacuated a group of 24 Germans and their close family members from the war-battered Gaza Strip.

“After months of being stuck in Gaza, a group of 24 Germans and their family members were able to leave Gaza today in close coordination with the Israeli authorities,” a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry says.

Nine members of the group are understood to be German citizens, while the rest are Palestinian family members.

The group was taken by bus through Israel and the West Bank to Jordan, where they will take a flight to Germany, the spokeswoman says.

Foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner earlier told journalists that “roughly two dozen” Germans were leaving the territory.

Today’s evacuation is the third carried out by Germany since the closure of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024.

In total, the German government has enabled almost 700 Germans and their family members to leave Gaza since October 7, 2023.

‘Can you get me out of here?’: Family okays publication of part of clip of hostage Braslavski

Hostage Rom Braslavski speaks in a propaganda video published by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on April 16, 2025. (Screenshot/Telegram)

The family of hostage Rom Braslavski approves for publication a shortened and blurred version of the video published today by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.

In the video, the hostage appeals to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release him and addresses US President Trump, asking: “Where are you?” He also describes his physical and mental condition as difficult, and speaks about the ongoing bombings in Gaza.

Addressing Netanyahu, he demands: “Can you get me out of here?”

Based on the content, the footage was filmed in recent weeks.

Hostage Rom Braslavski speaks in a propaganda video published by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on April 16, 2025

Iran ‘not far’ from nuclear bomb, says head of UN atomic agency

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses Iranian government officials in Tehran on April 15, 2025. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Iran is not far from having an atomic bomb, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog is quoted as saying in a Le Monde interview published today, just hours before a visit to Tehran.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi says Iran still has a way to go before getting the bomb, but adds: “They’re not far from it, you have to acknowledge.”

Grossi likens the development of a nuclear weapon to a jigsaw puzzle, adding that Iran “has the pieces and they could eventually put them together one day.”

Grossi is due in Iran later today for talks with senior officials.

The UN watchdog was tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that fell apart after Donald Trump withdrew from it during his first term as US president.

US adds shipping companies, oil tankers to Iran-related sanctions

The United States slaps new sanctions targeting shipping companies and oil tankers under its Iran-related sanctions program, according to the US Treasury Department website.

Warrant: Arsonist targeted Josh Shapiro’s home because of Jewish governor’s ‘plans for the Palestinians’

A charred piano, left, is visible inside the Pennsylvania governor's official residence after a man was arrested in the alleged arson that forced Gov. Josh Shapiro to flee in the middle of the night on Passover, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (AP/Marc Levy)

The search warrant for the suspect in the arson attack targeting Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence on the eve of Passover reveals that the assailant chose the location because of the lawmaker’s views on the Palestinians.

The revelation, first reported by PennLive, further indicates that the suspect was motivated by antisemitism, given that Shapiro’s position has no control over US foreign policy.

Nonetheless, suspect Cody Balmer called 911 after carrying out the attack and let officers know that Shapiro needs to know that he, Balmer, “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

The warrant also quotes Balmer as having said that Shapiro needs to “stop having my friends killed” and “our people have been put through too much by that monster,” adding that he appeared to be reading off a script during the 911 call.

“You all know where to find me. I’m not hiding, and I will confess to everything that I have done,” Balmer said in the call to policy about an hour after the arson attack.

State police say in the warrant that Balmer targeted Shapiro “based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine” and because of Shapiro’s Jewish faith.

When Shapiro was being vetted as a potential US vice presidential candidate, he faced significant criticism from far-left members of the party over his views on Israel, even though they were to the left of other contenders who weren’t Jewish.

UAE denies reports it is involved in talks about land offensive in Yemen

The United Arab Emirates denies reports that it is involved in talks over a land offensive in Yemen.

The denial comes after media reports, including in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, that the US, alongside Gulf Arab allies, are discussing the matter.

‘No to terror, yes to peace’: New protest against Hamas reported in northern Gaza

Media outlets in Gaza report a protest against the war and against Hamas in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of participants hold signs reading “Stop the aggression,” “We want to live in freedom,” and chant “No to terror, yes to peace.”

In recent weeks, sporadic protests against Hamas have taken place in Gaza, despite reports of Hamas attempting to detain and harm demonstrators. Many of the protests have occurred in Beit Lahiya.

#عاجـــــــــــــل… شمال قطاع غزة ينتفض من جديد ..
.
الان من مدينة بيت لاهيا
.#اوقفوا_الحرب pic.twitter.com/KwJShFW4pm

— الناشط حمزة المصري (@hamza198708) April 16, 2025

Poll: Cuomo holds lead over Israel critic Mamdani in Democratic NYC mayoral race

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at the New York City District Council of Carpenters while campaigning for mayor of New York City, March 2, 2025. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo maintains a significant lead over Israel critic Zohran Mamdani in the race to represent the Democratic Party in the New York City mayoral elections, a poll shows.

Cuomo is courting Jewish voters by speaking out against antisemitism in the US and supporting Israel, while Mamdani, a harsh critic of the Jewish state, has alarmed Jewish groups by surging to second place in polls.

The election will use ranked choice voting, a system that allows voters to choose their top five candidates in June’s Democratic party primary. In the mostly Democratic city, the winner of the primary will likely win the November general election, although incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is running as an independent.

A Siena College poll finds that 34% of voters favor Cuomo as their first choice, followed by Mamdani with 16%. Jewish New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and Jewish former city comptroller Scott Stringer are tied at six percent.

The survey also plays out ranked choice votes. The system eliminates the last-place candidate through nine rounds of counting. At the final round, Cuomo leads Mamdani 64% to 36%.

The poll surveyed 811 registered Democratic voters in the city on April 7-10.

Netanyahu discusses hostages, Gaza war with visiting congresswomen

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) meets with US Senator Joni Ernst (L) and Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz in Jerusalem, April 16, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Senator Joni Ernst and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, says the PMO.

The premier discussed with Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, and Schultz, a Florida Jewish Democrat, “the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the hostages, as well as the military campaign in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas and preventing any future threat to Israel,” according to a readout from the PMO.

Netanyahu thanks the congresswomen for their “personal and bipartisan support” for Israel throughout the war, according to the statement.

In November, Ernst rejected and publicly criticized a proposal by Senate Democrats to block arms sales to Israel.

Schultz authored a bill approved by the House of Representatives in September to gain federal funding for a Jewish history museum to combat antisemitism and raise awareness for American Jewry.

IDF says it target Hezbollah member in Lebanon drone strike

The IDF says it carried out a drone strike earlier today in southern Lebanon’s Hanine, targeting a Hezbollah operative.

Lebanon’s health ministry reports one dead in the strike.

‘He’s aged 10 years’: Family horrified at clip of hostage Braslavski, lack of contact from authorities

Rom Braslavski was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from the Nova desert rave. (Courtesy)

Tami Braslavski reacts with fury to news that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has published a video of her hostage son, Rom Braslavski, noting that she found out about it from the news rather than from state officials.

“Horrifying! A shame for the State of Israel. Shocking that I need to see it on Telegram like everyone. Not [IDF hostage point person] Nitzan Alon, not [government hostage point person] Gal Hirsch, not [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], nobody’s phoning us,” she is quoted as saying by Ynet.

“I don’t even recognize my son. He has aged 10 years. This isn’t my Rom. He’s tough, and he looks terrible. If they broke Rom, they’ll break everyone,” she charges.

Addressing Netanyahu, she adds: “His son [Yair] is sitting in Miami and drinking a Margarita on the beach while my son is underground, and he doesn’t have time to call to update me? They know there’s a video and can’t even find the time to talk to me?”

Rom’s brother Amit also assails the government on Instagram for its lack of communication, lamenting that “we are abandoned every day anew with shocking and shameful conduct.”

Despite the extensive media comments on it, the family hasn’t approved the publication of the video itself or screenshots of it.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad releases video showing hostage Rom Braslavski

Rom Braslavski was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, from the Nova rave (Courtesy)

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group releases a video showing hostage Rom Braslavski, who is being held by them in Gaza.

Based on the content, the footage was filmed in recent weeks.

Braslavski, 21, an off-duty soldier, was abducted from the Nova music festival as he was working as a security guard at the event.

Shin Bet official held for leaking secret info is released to house arrest

Shin Bet official “Aleph,” who was detained for leaking classified information as part of a newly publicized national security probe, is released to house arrest for a week under supervision, Hebrew media reports.

After the Justice Ministry’s Department of Internal Police Investigations reportedly agreed to his release, Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court judge Sharon Danieli writes that the suspicions against him, in the current circumstances, aren’t severe enough to justify his continued arrest.

Over 10% of members of UK Jewish umbrella group sign letter urging end to Gaza war

Thirty-six members of Britain’s main Jewish umbrella group sign a public letter criticizing Israel’s continuation of the war against Hamas in Gaza, accusing Jerusalem of implementing harmful policies to appease the government’s far-right flank.

The members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which includes a total of over 300 members, write that “our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out.”

In a letter published in the Financial Times, they argue that “the last 18 months of heartbreaking war have shown us that the most successful way of bringing the hostages home and creating a lasting peace is through diplomacy.”

They claim the ceasefire deal signed in January had sufficient international guarantees to ensure Israel’s future security, and brand the war’s renewal last month as “the ‘Itamar offensive,’ so-called as it was Itamar Ben Gvir’s condition for returning to the coalition, thus enabling the Israeli government’s budget to be passed within the tight deadline needed to avoid an election.”

The letter blames Israel for the killing of hundreds of Palestinians since then, including 15 killed while in an ambulance convoy, in an incident in which the IDF has acknowledged acting in error.

“This most extremist of Israeli governments is openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, strangling the Palestinian economy and building more new settlements than ever,” they go on, also condemning a renewed judicial overhaul legislative push.

“Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to,” the signatories say, adding that they stand with the hundreds of thousands who campaign for the hostages and an end to the war in weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

“We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the “day after” this conflict when reconciliation can start. As we mark the festival of freedom with so many hostages still in captivity, it is our duty, as Jews, to speak out.”

In a statement responding to the letter, the Board of Deputies notes that it “represents the diverse constituencies of the UK Jewish community” and acknowledges “that around 10% of our Deputies signed this letter and that potentially others would associate themselves with it.”

It adds: “Others would no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation and the need to ensure that they are prevented from ever repeating the heinous crimes of 7 October.”

“This diversity is not unlike the politics of Israel itself, whose rambunctious democratic culture sees a fierce exchange of views about these excruciating life and death issues,” the statement notes.

“Within this diversity, however, there is much unity. The UK Jewish community as a whole wants to see the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas. We want to see Hamas, Hezbollah and the other terrorist proxies of Iran prevented from ever being able to repeat 7 October. We want to see aid flowing into Gaza so that its civilian population can rebuild their lives. And we want to see definitive progress towards lasting peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider Middle East.”

Ex-hostage Noa Argamani is included in Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025

Rescued captive Noa Argamani addresses an event to mark over 500 days since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, DC. (Leigh Vogel)

Former hostage Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped by Hamas-led terrorists in October 2023 and rescued in a daring IDF operation last year, is included in Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People of 2025, alongside major world leaders and Jewish figures such as actor Adrien Brody, Anti-Defamation League head Jonathan Greenblatt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

“The video of Noa Argamani on Oct. 7, 2023, is forever seared into my soul,” writes former US second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, on her entry on the Time website. “She was joyfully dancing with so many others at the Nova music festival when Hamas launched its brutal terrorist attack. As she was kidnapped into Gaza on a motorcycle, her harrowing expression became a symbol of the pain and trauma Jews worldwide, myself included, continue to feel.”

He notes Argamani’s partner Avinatan Or, who is still captive in Gaza, as well as her “extraordinary courage and humanity in speaking out” for their plight.

“My wife Kamala Harris and I stand with Noa in fighting for the release of all the hostages. We cannot give up until every one of them is home,” Emhoff writes. “Noa’s advocacy has illuminated Hamas’s extreme brutality, but more importantly, her bravery has embodied Jewish resilience and strength even in the worst moments. She is living proof to the world that, despite everything, ‘we will dance again.'”

Also on the list are US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, billionaire Elon Musk, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Argentine President Javier Milei, and new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Report: 400 Hezbollah operatives and their families have left Lebanon over safety concerns

People pose for a picture on a burnt Hezbollah rocket launcher in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on November 27, 2024, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (Mahmoud Zayat/AFP)

The Saudi Al-Hadath channel reports that 400 field commanders from Hezbollah recently left Lebanon along with their families and relocated to South American countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil, citing a source at the Argentine embassy in Lebanon.

This move is due to concerns about being monitored as part of the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure following the ceasefire agreement with Israel in November.

There is no official confirmation of the report from any official Lebanese source or Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has ties in South America with criminal organizations, particularly around drug trafficking, which constitutes part of the organization’s income.

Iran’s Pezeshkian says he’s hopeful for nuclear deal with US

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

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says he hopes a deal can be reached with the United States, as the two countries prepare for a second round of nuclear talks this weekend.

“We would naturally welcome the conclusion of an agreement” with the US, Iran’s official IRNA news agency quotes Pezeshkian as saying during a cabinet meeting.

IDF says Gaza operation aimed at pressuring Hamas to return to hostage deal; major offensive on hold

The Israeli military says it is not dragging its feet in the Gaza Strip and is continuing to ramp up pressure on Hamas to bring the terror group to agree to a hostage deal, but is not moving ahead with a major offensive yet.

Such a major offensive, which is intended to defeat Hamas on the battlefield, would likely cause the ceasefire-hostage negotiations to completely collapse, according to the military.

The IDF has set no deadline for when the major offensive would begin, and it would be decided upon by the political echelon.

Additionally, the IDF says its plans, including concerning the call-up of reservists, have not been adjusted due to a wave of letters published by reservists and veterans, calling for the release of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the war.

Meanwhile, the IDF says its current operation against Hamas is intended to continue pressure on the terror group, while also preparing the ground for a potential major offensive. The current operation is being carried out slowly, both to ensure the safety of troops and guarantee that hostage talks can continue, it says.

The military expects that as long as the operation goes on, and more territory is captured, troops will encounter more “friction” with Hamas operatives, who are currently being pushed back and largely not engaging Israeli forces.

So far, since Israel resumed its operations in Gaza on March 18, the IDF estimates that it has killed 350 members of terror groups, including 40 senior Hamas political officials and mid-level military wing commanders. Over 1,200 targets have been struck during that time, according to the IDF.

A major focus of recent airstrikes in Gaza has been Hamas governance officials, including members of the terror group’s politburo and its police force.

The IDF has identified that these strikes, along with the blockade on humanitarian aid entering the Strip, have resulted in increased pressure by Palestinian civilians against Hamas, taking place in the form of protests in the streets of Gaza.

The military says there is no starvation in Gaza, and there is enough food to last the population for now. The IDF says it does not want there to be starvation in Gaza, which would harm its legitimacy to act against Hamas.

Another focus has been on destroying Hamas’s already depleting weapon stocks. Hamas has been attempting to rearm itself, while mostly avoiding fighting with troops at this stage. The IDF says it seeks to remove as many weapons as possible now, before entering a potential major offensive.

The military has also vastly expanded its buffer zones along the Gaza border — comprising around 30% of the Strip — which Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that the IDF will hold permanently.

In the south of the Strip, the military has been establishing the Morag Corridor, cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis. In the area, the IDF has already discovered several major tunnels connecting the two cities.

After the military completes operations inside Rafah, 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.

The buffer zone elsewhere on the border with Gaza has also been expanded from several hundred meters to around 2 kilometers in most areas. Troops are currently working to expand the buffer zone in Gaza City’s eastern neighborhoods of Shejaiya, Daraj, and Tuffah.

Half of the Netzarim Corridor, just south of Gaza City, is also being held by the IDF, up to the Salah a-Din road. At any point, the IDF says it can recapture the western half of the corridor and bisect the Strip again.

2 American tourists lightly hurt after stones thrown at tourist bus in West Bank

Two American tourists are lightly injured after assailants threw stones and a paint bottle at a tourist bus near the West Bank village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, according to an IDF statement.

The IDF says that the injured women received medical treatment at the scene.

IDF and police forces say they arrived quickly and launched a manhunt for the attackers.

Trump calls Harvard a ‘joke’ university that ‘teaches hate and stupidity’

Tents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (Joseph Prezioso / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump renews his attack on top university Harvard, whose federal funding and tax-exempt status he has threatened to remove over its refusal to submit to wide-ranging government oversight.

“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Trump says on his Truth Social platform. “Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”

The US federal government said Tuesday it was freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University after the prestigious institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to overhaul its admissions, hiring, and disciplinary processes, made largely in the name of combating antisemitism.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Shin Bet official held over classified leak will be freed to house arrest, reports say

Shin Bet official “Aleph,” who was detained for leaking classified information, will be released to house arrest today, Hebrew media reports.

“Aleph” is set to be moved to house arrest following a court hearing after the Justice Ministry’s Department of Internal Police Investigations agreed to his release, reports say.

Report: Lebanese army arrests members of Hamas in Lebanon

Palestinian children who fled with their parents from their houses in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, gather in the backyard of an UNRWA school, in Sidon, Lebanon, September 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

The Saudi Al-Hadath channel reports that the Lebanese army arrested Hamas operatives in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon — Ain al-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared — and that a senior Hamas official requested a meeting with the head of Lebanese army intelligence.

The report has not been officially confirmed by the Lebanese army.

The reason for the arrest is unclear. However, earlier, Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke with the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun regarding the exposure of a terror cell that had manufactured rockets in Jordan and was allegedly linked to Hamas.

Jordan stated yesterday that the members of the cell who were arrested had trained in Jordan.

IDF troops kill terrorist who carried out West Bank shooting attack in January

A weapon found on the bodies of terrorists killed by IDF troops near Jenin, in the West Bank, April 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist, one of the perpetrators of a deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq in January, was killed by Israeli forces near Jenin this morning, the military says.

Mohammed Zakarneh, from Qabatiya, was one of three gunmen who opened fire on civilians in al-Funduq, which straddles Route 55, a major east-west highway used by thousands of Israelis and Palestinian drivers daily.

The attack on January 6 killed off-duty police officer Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein and civilians Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz.

The IDF says that members of the police’s Yamam counterterrorism unit, along with IDF troops, attempted to arrest Zakarneh, who was hiding in a cave near the village of Misilyah this morning after the Shin Bet security agency provided intelligence on his whereabouts.

During the operation, the troops exchanged fire with Zakarneh and two other gunmen hiding in the cave, the military says. The forces fired shoulder-launched missiles amid the exchange.

Zakarneh and a second Islamic Jihad gunman from Qabatiya, Marouh Khazima, were killed. The IDF says Khazima had been released from Israeli jail in the November 2023 ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas and had been wanted for terror activity.

The military says troops found several weapons and other military equipment on their bodies. Several more terror operatives who were aiding the two were also detained, and they were found to be carrying handguns, the IDF adds.

The other two terrorists who carried out the al-Funduq shooting, Qutaiba al-Shalabi and Mohammed Nazal — members of Hamas — were killed by Israeli forces in Qabatiya on January 23.

IDF says drone strike killed Hezbollah Radwan force member in southern Lebanon

A member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force was killed in an Israeli drone strike earlier today in southern Lebanon’s Qantara, the IDF says.

Qantara is located some 7 kilometers from the Israeli border.

Lebanon says one killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s health ministry says an Israeli strike in south Lebanon killed one person, a day after a similar raid killed two.

“The drone strike launched by the Israeli enemy on a vehicle in Wadi al-Hujair killed one person,” the ministry says in a statement, referring to an area around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border.

The ministry also says a 17-year-old wounded in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon’s Aitaroun a day earlier had died, bringing the toll in that raid to two dead.

The Israeli military had said the strike killed a Hezbollah operative.

Iranian FM says uranium enrichment ‘nonnegotiable’ as Washington demands halt

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

TEHRAN, Iran — Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that Iran’s enrichment of uranium as part of its nuclear program was “nonnegotiable” after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff called for a halt.

“Iran’s enrichment is a real, accepted matter. We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is nonnegotiable,” Araghchi tells reporters after a cabinet meeting.

11 said killed in early morning strikes in Gaza

People walk past a puddle of water by a tent shelter erected near the rubble of a collapsed building in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City on April 15, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Gaza’s civil defense agency reports that Israeli airstrikes in the early morning killed at least 11 people, including women and children.

The toll cannot be independently verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

A predawn airstrike in Gaza City killed 10 people, including several women and children, according to civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

He says the strike targeted the home belonging to the Hassouna family in the Al-Tuffa neighborhood of Gaza City.

“Our teams transferred 10 martyrs and several wounded to Al-Shifa hospital after the Hassouna family’s home was targeted,” Bassal says.

In a separate attack, a child was killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, rescue teams say.

Israel says its strikes only target Hamas and other terror groups in the Strip. It has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Katz clarifies Gaza aid won’t resume yet, only in future when civilian mechanism is built

Defense Minister Israel Katz clarifies that Israel has no intention of resuming humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at this stage.

“As I mentioned in my statement, Israel’s policy is clear and no humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza,” he says.

He says preventing aid from entering Gaza is “one of the main tools” used to pressure Hamas, “in addition to the other steps that Israel is taking.”

“It is a shame that there are those who try to mislead,” Katz says, referring to right-wing lawmakers who immediately attacked his announcement.

“In the current reality, no one is going to bring any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and no one is preparing to bring in any such aid,” he says.

“I emphasized that regarding the future, a mechanism for using civilian companies must be built, to not allow Hamas access [to aid] in the future.”

Hostage families: Katz’s Gaza plans ‘a fantasy,’ Israel choosing territory over hostages

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum labels Defense Minister Israel Katz’s plans in Gaza “a fantasy,” calling out what it describes as empty words.

“They promised the hostages above all else. In reality, Israel chooses to seize territory over hostages. They promised to open ‘the gates of hell.’ In reality, they are quietly preparing the renewal of humanitarian aid,” the forum says.

“The time has come to stop the false promises and slogans. It is impossible to continue the war and at the same time release all the hostages,” the forum states, adding that the only way to free the captives is an agreement that releases them all in one go in exchange for ending the war.

Liberman casts planned renewal of aid to Gaza as ‘surrender’

Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 31, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman labels Defense Minister Israel Katz’s announcement that Israel intends to renew aid to Gaza as surrender.

“At a time when our hostages are starved in tunnels, residents of the south are running to bomb shelters during a holiday, the government of Israel surrenders again and intends to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. This cannot be allowed to happen,” Liberman writes on X.

Ben Gvir decries renewal of aid to Gaza as ‘historic mistake’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he will do everything in his power to stop the “historic mistake” of allowing aid into Gaza, shortly after Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Israel intends to renew the flow of assistance through civilian companies.

“It’s a shame we don’t learn from our mistakes. As long as our hostages are dying in the tunnels, there is no reason for a gram of food or aid to enter Gaza,” Ben Gvir writes on X.

Ben Gvir calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz not to go through with the move, which would “harm our ability to defeat Hamas and return our hostages safely.”

Katz says Israel will renew aid to Gaza via civilian firms to prevent Hamas theft

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel intends to resume humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but only via “civilian companies,” so the food and equipment does not reach the Hamas terror group, which rules the territory.

Israel’s policy in Gaza, Katz says in a statemen, entails “first and foremost, making every effort to bring about the release of all the hostages within the Witkoff framework, and building a bridge toward defeat of Hamas in the future.”

He says Israel’s policy also includes “stopping humanitarian aid, which undermines Hamas’s control over the population, and creating an infrastructure for the distribution [of aid] through civilian companies in the future.”

Katz says the IDF continues to strike Hamas operatives and its infrastructure, to evacuate Palestinian civilians from combat zones, to carry out massive strikes ahead of ground operations, and to destroy buildings that pose threats to Israeli troops.

“So far, hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated and tens of percent of the territory has been added to the security zones,” he says, referring to Israel’s expanding buffer zone on the Gaza border, which now includes some 30% of the Strip.

“The pressure on Hamas to carry out the deal is heavy and the tension between it and the local population is increasing,” he says, adding that Egypt has for the first time set “the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza” as a condition “for a comprehensive deal and for ending the war.”

Former Shin Bet official pans Chikli, defends Shin Bet probe: What would happen if agency didn’t address every leak ‘excessively’?

Former Shin Bet official Ilan Segev blasts Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli for accepting classified information from Shin Bet official “Aleph” and defends the organization’s investigation of the affair.

Segev tells 103FM that the Shin Bet was not exaggerating in its treatment of “Aleph,” stressing the importance of responding seriously to classified leaks.

“What do you think would happen if the Shin Bet didn’t address with ‘excessive’ severity every leak of one kind or another?”

Segev describes Chikli walking around like a “puffed-up peacock with sunglasses” at the official’s custody extension hearing yesterday, which the minister attended in solidarity with “Aleph.”

WHO members agree to landmark deal on tackling future pandemics

A handout photograph taken and released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 16, 2025 shows Co-chair of the negotiations and French ambassador for Global Health Anne-Claire Amprou (L) and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus after a consensus on the Pandemic Agreement at the WHO headquarters. (Christopher BLACK / World Health Organization / AFP)

GENEVA, Switzerland — Years of negotiations culminate with countries agreeing to the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding the mistakes made during the COVID-19 crisis.

After more than three years of talks and one last marathon session, weary delegates at the World Health Organization’s headquarters finally sealed the deal at around 2 a.m. (0000 GMT).

“Tonight marks a significant milestone in our shared journey towards a safer world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says.

“The nations of the world made history in Geneva today.”

Five years after the emergence of Covid-19, which killed millions of people, devastated economies, and upturned health systems, a sense of urgency hung over the talks, with new threats lurking — including H5N1 bird flu, measles, mpox, and Ebola.

The final stretch of the talks also took place under the shadow of cuts to US foreign aid spending and threatened tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Labor MK Merav Michaeli announces birth of third child

Labor MK Merav Michaeli welcomes her third child, Noa, with comedian and media personality Lior Schlein.

Michaeli writes on X that her newborn daughter is “another good reason to fight for the country that is now also hers.”

Michaeli and Schlein also have two sons, Uri and Alon, born via surrogacy.

קבלו אותה – נועה, אחות לאורי ואלון. מישהי לדבר איתה בלשון נקבה, ועוד סיבה ממש טובה להילחם על המדינה שעכשיו היא גם שלה. pic.twitter.com/hb8dqmAxoM

— Merav Michaeli מרב מיכאלי (@MeravMichaeli) April 16, 2025

IDF says it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon overnight

Last night, the IDF says it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese media reported a series of strikes near the town of Ramyeh, close to the Israeli border.

Netanyahu visited Gaza without Shin Bet escort yesterday, report says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits troops in Gaza, April 15, 2025 (Haim Zach/GPO)

During yesterday’s visit to the northern Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not accompanied by a representative of the Shin Bet security service, as he has been in past tours, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Usually, a Shin Bet representative responsible for the area the prime minister was visiting would accompany him and give him an assessment.

In response to the report, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “This was a military visit and not a Shin Bet visit.”

The absence of a Shin Bet officer came on the same day as a gag order was lifted on a classified leak affair, in which a Shin Bet official was detained for leaking information to politicians and journalists on the agency’s probes into the October 7 massacre, and into the possibility “Kahanism” taking root in the police force.

The development further increased tensions between the political echelon and the country’s security and judicial system, already at boiling point with the government’s moves to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

Netanyahu shared a post by his ruling Likud that accused Bar and Baharav-Miara of turning the service into a “private militia.”

IDF, Shin Bet say Hamas commander who took part in 2014 Nahal Oz infiltration killed

The IDF and Shin Bet announce that a senior Hamas commander who took part in a 2014 infiltration into Israel that killed five soldiers, was killed in a strike in Gaza City a few days ago.

Mahmoud Ibrahim Hassan Abu Hisirah had served as the right hand of the commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade, Izz ad-Din Haddad, according to the military, including during the war and during the preparation for the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

On July 28, 2014, during the IDF’s Operation Protective Edge, Abu Hisirah, as a member of Hamas’s Nukhba force, infiltrated Israel with other terrorists via a tunnel from Gaza, and attacked an army post near Nahal Oz, killing five soldiers.

The attack killed Sgt. Daniel Kedmi, Sgt. Barkai Ishai Shor, Sgt. Erez Sagi, Sgt. Dor Deri, and Sgt. Nadav Raymond.

Lebanese president outlines plan to disarm Hezbollah, says IDF harming process

Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Lebanese Parliament/AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says all weapons in Lebanon must come under exclusive state control in 2025, and describes his plan to do so through direct coordination with Hezbollah in an interview with the Qatari-backed New Arab outlet.

“The decision has been made to place all weapons under the state,” says Aoun, adding, “The execution will happen through dialogue, which I believe must be bilateral between the presidency and Hezbollah.”

Aoun is committed to avoiding internal conflict while pursuing the agenda, which could greatly weaken Hezbollah’s longstanding military and political power in the country, saying he recently told US deputy Mideast envoy Morgan Ortagus, “We want to remove Hezbollah’s weapons, but we will not ignite a civil war in Lebanon.”

The president addresses growing success in asserting the authority of the Lebanese military over the Iran-backed Shiite militia, saying “We have reached the point where the [Lebanese] army is carrying out its missions—south of the Litani, north of the Litani, and even in the Bekaa—without any obstruction from Hezbollah.”

Aoun suggests Hezbollah members could be integrated into the Lebanese army, while also pushing back against US pressure on Lebanon to suppress Hezbollah, urging Washington to shift their focus onto Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus, center, and US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa A. Johnson at the presidential palace in Baabda, in east of Beirut, Lebanon, April 5, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

“I told Ortagus that Israel’s presence in the five disputed points gives Hezbollah a pretext to keep its weapons,” says Aoun, referring to five strategic points where IDF troops have remained in Lebanon since a November ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israel says these positions are crucial for protecting Israel’s northern residents amid ongoing conflict with the terror group.

Auon rejects the possibility for normalization with Israel in the near future, saying “The Americans know there can be no negotiations with Israel at this stage.”

According to The New Arab, Auon also says that French President Emmanuel Macron has offered to assist Lebanon and Syria in efforts to demarcate their land border, including the Shebaa Farms area, a major flashpoint of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

While the disputed area, a key strategic vantage point for military forces, has been under Israeli control since the IDF captured it from Syria in the Six Day War, Macron offered to assist negotiations “by providing French archival records that affirm Shebaa Farms’s Lebanese identity.”

In lesser known intel leak, Shin Bet agent said on trial for almost scuttling hostage rescue op

Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan raises his hands in celebration as he is escorted from an IDF helicopter on arrival at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Against the backdrop of the investigation into a Shin Bet agent who leaked classified intelligence, Channel 12 reports on another such incident that took place in the agency, which led to the arrest of a different employee.

The latter employee is suspected of having shared with two of her relatives the details of the IDF’s planned operation to rescue four Israeli hostages from Gaza in June of last year.

That information made its way onto a small Telegram channel several hours before the operation to rescue Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 was carried out.

The group was small, so the information did not reach Hamas or the wider Israeli public before the operation went ahead.

After the security establishment got wind of the leak, the Shin Bet worker was arrested and barred from meeting with a lawyer for four days. She was indicted and remains under house arrest, as her trial is ongoing.

Report: Autopsies reveal some of medics killed by IDF in ambulance incident were shot in the head

Paramedics transport out of an ambulance some of the bodies of Palestinian first responders, who were killed a week before in Israeli military fire on ambulances, into Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 30, 2025. (AFP)

Some of the Gaza medics killed by Israeli troops last month in an incident now being probed by the IDF were shot in the head and chest, autopsy reports obtained by The New York Times reveal.

The autopsies were performed earlier this month by the head of the forensic medicine unit in the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, and they were reviewed by a forensic pathologist in Norway, NYT said.

The autopsies said that the slain 14 men were all wearing their Palestine Red Crescent or civil defense uniforms in part or in whole at the time of the incident.

Eleven of the men had gunshot wounds, including six who were shot in their chests or backs and four who were shot in the head, according to The Times, which said that most of the victims were shot multiple times.

One man had several shrapnel wounds and two others had injuries potentially related to an explosion, the autopsies said, adding that several bodies were missing limbs or body parts, with one man’s body severed from the pelvis down.

The bodies had decomposed after being buried by Israeli troops, so pathologists were unable to definitively determine whether they were shot at close range or whether their hands had been tied beforehand, as a Red Crescent spokesperson has asserted.

The IDF acknowledged earlier this month that it had initially given a false account of the incident in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

The army still asserted that at least six of those killed had been posthumously identified as Hamas operatives, denied that any of those killed had been executed, and said troops had not attempted to hide the incident but rather had informed the UN of the location of the grave they had buried the medics in.

After the incident came to light, the military had initially said the vehicles were without headlights or emergency lights, were uncoordinated, and arrived on the scene shortly after a group of terror operatives. As such, the IDF said soldiers deemed them “suspicious” and opened fire.

The New York Times subsequently published a video that appeared to show the emergency vehicles were clearly marked and had their emergency lights on when the IDF opened fire.

Palestinians have accused Israeli forces of attempting to cover up the incident by burying the bodies in a mass grave.

Rubio discusses situation in West Bank and Gaza with visiting Jordanian PM

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met earlier today with Jordanian Prime Minister and Defense Minister Jafar Hassan.

The pair “discussed opportunities to expand economic cooperation and increase investments between the United States and Jordan,” a US readout with little substantive information says.

“They also discussed the situation in Gaza and the West Bank,” the State Department adds, noting that Rubio thanked Hassan for “Jordan’s cooperation with the US in advancing regional security.”

Highly appreciative of the commitment and support of @SecRubio and the United States of America for Jordan’s security, economic modernization vision and development programs.

The friendship between our two countries is based on our long-shared principles and common interests in… pic.twitter.com/Tu0UYI8Lhq

— جعفر حسّان (@JafarHassan) April 15, 2025

UK maritime agency reports incident east of Yemen’s Aden for first time in months

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations says that it has received a report of an incident 100 nautical miles east of Yemen’s Aden, the first report by the agency in the area in months.

Labor MK pens letter to Pennsylvania governor to express solidarity after Passover arson attack

Labor MK Gilad Kariv leads an Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Labor MK Gilad Kariv pens a letter to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to express his solidarity with the fellow Jewish lawmaker after his residence was targeted in an arson attack on the first night of Passover.

“Passover, which commemorates the Jewish people’s liberation and the triumph of spirit over oppression, serves as a powerful reminder of our mutual responsibility to stand firm against any attempt to harm Jewish life — whether on an individual or communal level,” writes Kariv, who serves as chairman of the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee.

“The attack on your home, which could have ended in tragedy, was not only an assault on a public servant — it was an assault on the values of freedom, tolerance, and religious faith,” Kariv adds.

Edan Alexander’s father to PM: How do you plan on freeing the last hostage without ending war?

Adi Alexander, father of Hamas hostage Edan Alexander, speaks at a hostage deal rally in New York, December 1, 2024. (Hostages Families Forum)

Asked for his message to Israeli and American leaders amid the latest standstill in hostage negotiations, the father of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander tells NewsNation’s Morning in America, “I wonder when President Trump will lose patience with the situation.”

“He gave a lot of credit to Prime Minister Netanyahu to restart this war. And to Prime Minister, the question still remains, the same one: How do you plan to get the last hostage out without ending this war and without committing to the second phase of this deal?” Alexander says.