April 18: Palestinian Authority, Hamas slam US for vetoing UNSC motion on statehood

UNRWA chief accuses Israel of trying to end agency’s operations in Gaza, West Bank

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) chief Philippe Lazzarini attends a press conference by the United Nations secretary-general and Egypt's foreign minister, following their meeting at the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo on March 24, 2024. (Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

UNITED NATIONS – The head of the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is accusing Israel of trying to end its operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Philippe Lazzarini is urging the UN Security Council to safeguard his agency’s critical role as the relief agency for Palestinians, while accusing Israel of banning it from delivering aid to Gaza.

Since the war began, Lazzarini says, 178 personnel from the agency known as UNRWA have been killed. More than 160 of the agency’s premises, which were mostly used to shelter Palestinians, have been damaged or destroyed, killing more than 400 people.

“We demand an independent investigation and accountability for the blatant disregard for the protected status of humanitarian workers, operations, and facilities under international law,” UNRWA’s commissioner general says.

Israel has alleged that 12 of UNRWA’s thousands of workers participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war, and that many more of its Gaza-based workers have ties to terror groups. Lazzarini pledges to implement recommendations and strengthen safeguards to ensure UNRWA’s neutrality.

Algeria grants $15 million in exceptional funding to UNRWA — state TV

Algeria has given the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees a $15 million exceptional fund, Algerian state TV says.

EU leaders back new sanctions on Iran drone, missile producers after attack on Israel

An Iranian military truck carries an Arash drone past President Ebrahim Raisi (L) and army officers during a military parade as part of a ceremony marking the country's annual army day in Tehran on April 17, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders have agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile producers over Tehran’s unprecedented weekend attack on Israel, EU chief Charles Michel says.

“We have decided to put in place sanctions against Iran, it is a clear signal that we wanted to send,” the European Council president says after an EU summit in Brussels.

Israeli envoy: UNRWA aims ‘to indoctrinate Palestinian children to idea of destroying Israel’

At a UN Security Council meeting, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan charges that “one of UNRWA’s primary goals is to indoctrinate Palestinian children to the idea of destroying Israel.”

“The time has come to defund UNRWA,” Erdan adds.

G7 finance chiefs pledge ‘close coordination’ on Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON — Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrial democracies condemn Iran’s attack on Israel and pledge to continue work on “all possible avenues” to harness frozen Russian sovereign assets to aid Ukraine.

In a joint statement issued after a meeting Wednesday, the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors say they will “ensure close coordination of any future measure to diminish Iran’s ability to acquire, produce, or transfer weapons to support destabilizing regional activities.”

US lobbying other UNSC members to block Palestinian statehood bid to avoid using veto

PA President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a United Nations Security Council concerning meeting concerning issues in the Middle East, at UN headquarters, February 20, 2018 in New York City.(Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP)

Recognizing that blocking the initiative would expose it to criticism abroad by proponents of the move who say it helps actualize the two-state solution that the US purports to support, the Biden administration quietly tried to convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to shelve the UNSC bid, a Palestinian official told The Times of Israel, confirming reporting in the Axios news site.

Abbas rebuffed the US efforts, though, amid long-held frustration in Ramallah over what it views as Biden’s failure to sufficiently pressure Israel and refusal to follow-through on promises to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem and the PLO diplomatic mission in Washington.

Recognizing that Abbas would not heed its call, the US has worked to convince other Security Council countries to either abstain or oppose the Palestinian statehood bid, so that it isn’t forced to use its veto, the Palestinian official said.

US leads group of 48 UN members in condemning Iranian attack on Israel

The Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, with the lights of missile interceptions visible in the night sky, early on April 14, 2024, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel. (Social media/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The United States leads a group of 48 countries at the United Nations in condemning Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.

In a joint statement, the countries note the attack “could have caused significant damage and loss of life.

“We further condemn the fact that the weapons launched at Israel violated the airspace of several regional states, putting at risk the lives of innocent people in those countries, and appeared to traverse airspace near holy sites in Jerusalem,” the statement says.

“We welcome the efforts to avert a further immediate escalation of violence in the region, following the successful coordinated efforts to defend against Iran’s attack.”

The statement also denounces Iran for seizing an Israeli-linked ship near the Strait of Hormuz, urging the immediate release of the vessel and its crew.

“We note that Iran’s escalatory attack is the latest in a pattern of dangerous and destabilizing actions by Iran and its militant partners that pose a grave threat to international peace and security,” the countries add. “We call on all regional parties to take steps to avert further escalation of the situation and demand that all council resolutions be fully implemented. We will strengthen our diplomatic cooperation to work toward resolving all tensions in the region.”

Warning sirens sound in town near Lebanon border

Warning sirens are activated in Metula, near the border with Lebanon, indicating a rocket attack on the northern town.

Israel said unlikely to strike Iran before end of Passover

A crater is seen near a taxiway at the Nevatim Airbase, following an Iranian ballistic missile strike, April 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel appears unlikely to carry out a strike on Iran before the end of Passover, a US official tells ABC news while acknowledging the timing could change.

The Jewish holiday begins Monday evening and runs through April 30.

The network also quotes Israeli sources saying Israel twice readied for and then dropped plans to strike Iran this past week, in response to the Islamic Republic’s missile and drone attack early Sunday.

US agreed to Israel’s plan for Rafah in return for not carrying out large Iran strike – report; US denies it

Palestinians line up for a meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, December 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Egyptian officials tell a Qatari outlet that the US has accepted Israel’s plan for an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in return for not carrying out a large strike in Iran in response to Tehran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack.

A US National Security Council spokesperson says the story isn’t true and such a plan has never been discussed.

“The American administration showed acceptance of the plan previously presented by the occupation government regarding the military operation in Rafah, in exchange for not carrying out a large-scale attack against Iran,” an unnamed official tells Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The Egyptian officials tells the outlet that preparations are underway so that Egypt can deal with any possible impact of the planned operation.

Four Hamas battalions are believed to be stationed in Rafah along with over a million civilians sheltering there after fleeing fighting in other parts of the Strip. Rafah is also thought to be where Hamas leaders are hidden, possibly along with Israeli hostages.

Prime Minister Benjamin 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.

Katz welcomes EU decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s drone, missile producers

Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomes the decision by European Union leaders to impose new sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile producers over Tehran’s unprecedented weekend attack on Israel.

“I congratulate the EU countries on the decision to impose sanctions on Iran,” Katz writes on X. “This is an important step on the way to defanging the snake – and thanks to all our friends for their support and assistance. Iran must be stopped now before it is too late.”

IDF says aircraft hit Hezbollah sites, fighters in south Lebanon

Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah sites and operatives in southern Lebanon overnight, the military says.

In Khiam, the IDF says, fighter jets hit two buildings used by Hezbollah and other infrastructure.

In Kafr Kila, an airstrike killed two Hezbollah operatives, the IDF adds.

במהלך הלילה מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מטרות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב אל-חיאם.
בין המטרות שהותקפו, מספר תשתיות טרור בשימוש הארגון לצד שני מבנים צבאיים נוספים.
בנוסף, כוחות צה"ל ביצעו ירי להסרת איום במרחב>> pic.twitter.com/LIERkMhCzI

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 18, 2024

Police find missile, launcher in Lod kindergarten as part of criminal investigation

Police say they found a missile and launcher in a kindergarten during a criminal investigation in the central city of Lod.

The weapon — a portable unguided missile — was found during a targeted search of the facility, police say.

Sappers have ensured that there is no risk to public safety.

מטול וטיל לאו בגן ילדים: שוטרי לוד פשטו יחד עם מג"ב על גן ילדים בעיר וחשפו אמצעי לחימה רבים@hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/O4OVHqjJN1

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 18, 2024

19 remain hospitalized day after Hezbollah drone attack on northern border town

A drone fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon hits a a community center in the northern border community of Arab al-Aramshe on April 17, 2023 (Screen capture X: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Nineteen of the wounded from yesterday’s explosive drone attack from Lebanon on the northern town of Arab al-Aramshe are still hospitalized at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

All the victims are suffering from blast or shrapnel injuries, or both. One is in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

Three are in serious but stable condition and are also in the ICU. The rest of the wounded are in good to moderate condition and are in the surgical and orthopedic wards.

According to Dr. Michael Wiess, head of the hospital’s trauma unit, five of the injured underwent surgery yesterday.

Government allocates NIS 1.7 billion for education in the south

A bullet-shattered window of the entrance to a kindergarten is seen in Kibbutz Be'eri on Oct. 11, 2023 (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

As part of the NIS 19 billion ($5 billion) plan approved by the Knesset yesterday to rehabilitate the war-ravaged southern communities, NIS 1.7 billion ($447 million) has been allocated for education, the Education Ministry announces.

The funds will be allocated to Sderot, Eshkol Regional Council, Shaar Hanegev, Sdot Negev and Ashkelon area.

They are all regions surrounding the Gaza Strip that were heavily affected by the October 7 assault by Hamas-led terrorists.

Each local authority is to formulate its own educational rehabilitation program, depending on its needs, in conjunction with the Education Ministry, the notice says.

The additional funding is in addition to the regular, yearly educational budget allocated to communities.

The educational renewal program is to be implemented over four years, and includes:

• NIS 977 million ($257 million) for pedagogical, education and therapeutic programming around resilience.
• NIS 200 million ($53 million) for the recruitment of teachers, consultants and psychologists.
• NIS 25 million ($6.5 million) for administrative staff.
• NIS 261 million ($68 million) for construction and renovations of educational facilities.
• NIS 236 million ($62 million) for afterschool programs and other activities.

Health, environment ministries issue warning over high levels of air pollution

Hazy weather over Tel Aviv amid high levels of air pollution, April 18, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)

The Health Ministry and Environment Ministry issue a warning to the public that air pollution is extremely high in all parts of the country today. The air is expected to clear considerably this evening.

The very poor air quality is a result of dust blowing in from North Africa.

Those at higher risk healthwise, including people with heart disease and lung disease, the elderly, children, and pregnant women, are warned against physical activity outside. The general population should also try to limit outdoor activity as much as possible.

IDF: Hamas’s head of interrogations in Beit Hanoun internal security killed in airstrike

Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released by the military for publication on April 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The head of interrogations in Hamas’s internal security in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun was killed in an airstrike this week, the military and Shin Bet announce.

Yousef Shabat also served as an officer in the intelligence division of Hamas’s military wing, in its Beit Hanoun Battalion, according the IDF.

“This elimination significantly damages the organization’s investigations department,” the joint statement says.

In a separate recent incident, the IDF says it carried out an airstrike on a vehicle with at least 10 gunmen in it, killing them. It says the strike followed “accurate intelligence” on the operatives.

Overnight, fighter jets struck a mortar launcher in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, used to launch projectiles at troops operating in the Gaza Strip, the IDF says.

Also over the past day, the Air Force struck dozens more targets across Gaza. The military says the sites included observation posts, buildings used by Hamas, operatives, and other infrastructure.

Israel ‘badly miscalculated’ severity of Iranian response to Damascus strike – New York Times

An image grab from a video taken early on April 14, 2024, shows the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, with the lights of missile interceptions visible in the night sky, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel (AFP)

Israeli officials miscalculated the severity of Iran’s response to the April 1 strike on a building in Damascus in which several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed, The New York Times reports.

“The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official,” the outlet says.

Two generals were among those killed in the alleged Israeli strike on what Iran said was a consulate building in the Syrian capital.

The outlet says that US officials were angered that they had only been informed a few minutes ahead of the Damascus strike, and that its significance had not been conveyed.

Two Israeli officials tell the Times that plans for the strike began two months before it was carried out.

The outlet says the plan was then approved by the war cabinet on March 22.

The newspaper says it viewed internal defense records that outlined potential responses by Tehran, and none of them predicted an attack on the scale seen over the weekend, when Tehran fired over 300 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel.

According to the report, Israeli intelligence initially expected Iran to fire a maximum of 10 surface-to-surface missiles at Israel. Last week, they increased the estimate to 60 to 70 surface-to-surface missiles, the report says, noting that this also turned out to be a misjudgment.

Hezbollah says two members killed in Israeli strikes on terror group

The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.

They are named as Ali Hamada, from Doueir, and Muhammad Shami, from Kafr Kila.

The announcement comes after the IDF said it killed two Hezbollah operatives in an airstrike in Kafr Kila overnight.

Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to 280.

Family of missing 10-year-old Haymanut Kasau calls for volunteers to join day of searches

Haymanut Kasau, 9, who went missing on February 25, 2024, from a Jewish Agency absorption center in Safed, northern Israel. (Courtesy)

The family of Haymanut Kasau, who has been missing from the northern city of Safed since February 25, calls for volunteers to join them today for a day of searches for the girl.

Yesterday was her 10th birthday.

Buses have been arranged to take volunteers to and from Safed from all around the country.

The child was last seen in security footage at 7:45 p.m. on February 25 handing out municipal election leaflets outside a Jewish Agency absorption center where she has lived for the past three years since immigrating with her family from Ethiopia.

She is 1.20 meters (3’11”) tall and is slim with dark hair and dark eyes.

She was wearing pink pants, a black skirt and a white shirt at the time of her disappearance.

אני יודעת, עוד רגע פסח וניקיונות וקניות ומה עכשיו לנסוע לצפת?! ואני בכלל במאבק להצלת החטופים אבל הכל קשור בהכל. זה אותו מאבק לשלמות המדינה, לסולידריות, לאמפטיה. יש אי שם ילדה עם משפחה נטושה במדינה שצריכה להגדיר מחדש מה חשוב לה. מחפשים את היימנוט! מחר יום ה' הסעות מכל רחבי הארץ pic.twitter.com/xw9xMbW7Mg

— נעם דן noam dan (@DanNoam26949) April 17, 2024

China, Indonesia call for Gaza ceasefire: ‘Would also fully support Palestine’s membership in UN’

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, right, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their bilateral meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 18, 2024. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP)

The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta.

Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi tells reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and a two-state solution.

“I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi says, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN.”

The meeting took place on the second day of a six-day tour during which Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.

Wang blames the United States for holding up ceasefire resolutions at the UN.

“The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year and caused a rare humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century. The United Nations Security Council responded to the call of the international community and continued to review the resolution draft on the ceasefire in Gaza, but it was repeatedly vetoed by the United States,” Wang tells reporters.

The US vetoed a number of proposed Security Council resolutions because they didn’t tie a ceasefire directly to the release of hostages held in Gaza or condemn the devastating October 7 Hamas attack that prompted the war, but then allowed a resolution to a pass with an abstention in late March.

American officials have argued that the ceasefire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a ceasefire.

“This time, the US did not dare to stand in opposition to international morality and chose to abstain. However, the US claimed that this resolution was not binding,” Wang says. “In the eyes of the United States, international law seems to be a tool that can be used whenever it finds useful and discarded if it does not want to use it.”

Palestinian with alleged Islamic State ties arrested on suspicion of planning imminent terror attack

Border Police officers detained a Palestinian man allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State jihadist movement, who planned to carry out a terror attack in “the immediate time frame.”

The suspect was nabbed in the West Bank town of Beitunia, close to Ramallah, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet, police say.

Police say the suspect attempted to flee when they reached his home, and was arrested as he tried to grab the gun of one of the officers.

He was handed over to the Shin Bet for further interrogation.

Shipping giant Maersk: Operations to, from and in Israel are functioning as normal

A truck driver with his vehicle makes his way past containers with the logo of Danish shipping giant Maersk and Maersk Sealand stacked at a transshipment station in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on January 23, 2024 (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Danish shipping company Maersk says its Israeli operations have not been disprupted.

“At this time, all Maersk operations to, from and within Israel are functioning as normal without disruption,” the company says in an advisory to clients on its website.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea last November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the war between Israel and Hamas, which began with the terror group’s devastating October 7 assault on southern Israel.

The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Agriculture Ministry says it seized 130,000 eggs being smuggled from West Bank

Eggs seized by inspectors in an undated photo released by the Agriculture Ministry (Courtesy)

Inspectors have seized some 130,000 eggs that were being smuggled into Israel from Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, the Agriculture Ministry says.

It is believed that the eggs were destined for distribution in markets and supermarkets across the country, the ministry says.

The eggs had been stamped with counterfeit watermarks to alleviate suspicions.

The seizure comes days ahead of the Passover festival in which eggs play a significant role — not only as part of the Seder, but also as a crucial ingredient in many recipes so that they are compliant with the holiday’s dietary restrictions.

The ministry says that eggs that aren’t farmed under clear protocols may pose a danger to health, and says the seized items were sent to be destroyed.

Reuters photographer wins World Press Photo award for image of Gazan woman cradling niece’s body

Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem wins the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip.

The picture was taken on Oct. 17, 2023, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where families were searching for relatives.

Salem’s winning image portrays Inas Abu Maamar, 36, sobbing while holding Saly’s sheet-clad body in the hospital morgue.

The jury of the Amsterdam-based World Press Photo Foundation says Salem’s winning image is “composed with care and respect, offering at once a metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss.”

“I felt the picture sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip,” Salem said when the image was first published in November.

“People were confused, running from one place to another, anxious to know the fate of their loved ones, and this woman caught my eye as she was holding the body of the little girl and refused to let go.”

The announcement of the award comes in the wake of outcry last month when the Associated Press won a Pictures of the Year International award in the Team Picture Story of the Year category for its photo essay “Israel and Hamas War,” which includes an image showing a half-naked Israeli woman, identified as Shani Louk, lying seemingly unconscious face-down in the back of a pickup truck filled with armed Gazan men on October 7.

Sirens in northern border towns warn of suspected drone attack

Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the northern border, warning of a suspected incoming drone attack.

Yesterday, 14 soldiers and four civilians were wounded as an explosive drone fired from Lebanon struck a community center in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe.

Since October 8, Hezbollah has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Germany’s foreign minster: G7 must respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel

(From L) British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly speak during the G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, on April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli / POOL / AFP)

The G7 must respond to Iran’s attack on Israel, Germany’s foreign minister says, adding that measures were being discussed with her counterparts at a meeting in Italy.

“We are also discussing further measures here at the G7, because of course there must be a response to this unprecedented incident,” Annalena Baerbock tells reporters on the island of Capri.

She adds, however, that “there must be no further escalation in the region, that would be fatal for its people.”

The G7 nations — France, Germany, Italy, the UK, the United States, Canada and Japan — are expected to call for individual sanctions against people implicated in Iran’s missile supply chain, according to an Italian diplomatic source.

European Union leaders agreed Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile producers over the weekend attack.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, has said it would soon impose new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone program and said it expects allies to follow with parallel measures.

Baerbock and Britain’s foreign minister David Cameron visited Israel yesterday, where they called for calm amid fears Israel will retaliate to the unprecedented attack by Iran, which caused little damage after most of the projectiles were intercepted.

Cameron urged the G7 to adopt new “coordinated sanctions” against Iran, which he accused of being “behind so much of the malign activity in this region.”

The G7 ministers were discussing the Middle East situation, followed by a session on the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Rambam Medical Center drills scenario of mass casualty event from missile hit on apartment building

A drill at Rambam Medical Center simulating a mass casualty event resulting from a missile hitting a residential apartment building, April 18, 2024 (Rambam Medical Center)

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa holds a drill this morning simulating a mass casualty event resulting from a missile hitting a residential apartment building.

Rambam is northern Israel’s only level-1 trauma center, meaning it offers comprehensive and specialized care for traumatic injuries.

The drill, scheduled prior to this week’s unprecedented attack by Iran, was conducted in cooperation with the IDF Home Front Command and Magen David Adom emergency response services.

The drill simulated the evacuation of 100 casualties to the hospital, requiring the immediate clearing out of the emergency department for their arrival. The hospital also transferred some existing noncritical patients to other hospitals.

Those with light injuries or suffering from extreme anxiety were taken to an appropriate sheltered area for treatment. The moderately and severely wounded were taken to imaging and surgery.

The drill required exact synchronization among all departments and personnel and the maintenance of open routes for unhindered movement throughout the hospital.

Rambam set up its massive underground hospital at the beginning of the war and is ready to transfer all patients and staff to it with several hours’ notice. The hospital says it and the Home Front Command are prepared for a situation in which a strike on a single apartment building could escalate to a wider war.

EU’s Borrell: Sanctions system needs to be widened in wake of Iran attack on Israel

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron (L), European Union foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell (3rd-L), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (4th-L), French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (4th-R), Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly (2nd-R), Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (R), Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (3rd-R) and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (2nd-L) attend the G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, on April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli / POOL / AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says there needs to be a review to improve the sanctions system in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel.

“We will have to review the system” of sanctions “in order to enlarge it and make it more efficient,” Borrell tells reporters on the island of Capri, where the G7 is holding a meeting.

He says that since July 2023 there have been limits on exports to Iran by European firms of “the components that allow the production of these kind of arms.”

“So we will increase it,” he says.

“The important thing is the implementation of our decision,” he adds.

He also calls for restraint from Israel, saying the region is “on the edge” of war.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, has said it would soon impose new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone program and said it expects allies to follow with parallel measures.

Iran’s drone and missile attack, launched in response to a deadly strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate widely blamed on Israel, has ratcheted up already sky-high tensions with the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza.

Suspected Iranian spy ship returns to port amid concerns of potential Israeli strike – report

A suspected Iranian spy ship is en route to Iran as the country braces for a potential strike by Israel, Bloomberg reports.

The outlet says the Behshad set sail from its position near the coast of Yemen on April 4 then stopped broadcasting its location until April 18, when it reappeared near the Strait of Hormuz.

Bloomberg says the ship’s signals indicate it will reach Iran’s Bandar Abbas port later today.

The Behshad is registered as commercial cargo ships with a Tehran-based company the US Treasury has sanctioned as a front for the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines.

The vessel has been in the Red Sea since 2021.

It arrived there after Iran removed the Saviz, another suspected spy base in the Red Sea that suffered damage in an attack that analysts attributed to Israel amid a wider shadow war of ship attacks in the region.

Iran previously described the Saviz as aiding in “anti-piracy” efforts in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In March, Tehran warned the US against targeting either ship.

Iran launched more than 300 missiles, drones, and rockets at Israel over the weekend, saying it was retaliation for an allegedly Israeli strike on April 1 on a site in Damascus that Iran said was a consular building, which killed two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and several other officers.

Nearly all of the Iranian projectiles fired at Israel were intercepted, but a girl was seriously injured.

Minister demands UN envoy ensures Gaza hostages have matzah, wine for Seder night

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage Meir Porush arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Ahead of next week’s Passover holiday, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush writes to United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland demanding that he work to provide the hostages in Gaza with matzah and wine for the Seder night.

“Unfortunately, not all of the people of Israel will be able to celebrate the Seder night according to the tradition of their forefathers,” the ultra-Orthodox minister writes.

“133 of our brothers and sisters are not with us and are held captive by the terrorist organization Hamas, which has held them by violent force since the murderous attack on Simchat Torah – October 7, 2023.”

If they are not returned home by the holiday, “we strongly demand that you work to bring [them] matzah and wine… so that they will be able to celebrate the holiday, even symbolically, in the expectation that this will raise their spirits and allow them to endure their difficult situation until their speedy release,” he says, calling such a move “a basic humanitarian requirement.”

Most Israelis perceive their physical, mental health as worse than before war – survey

The results of a survey conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel’s second-largest health maintenance organization, shows that most Israelis perceive their physical and mental health as worse now than it was before the war.

The survey was conducted at the end of March among a representative sample of more than 1,000 Israelis ages 20-75 from all over the country and belonging to all four of Israel’s HMOs.

The survey measures the self-reported health status of Israelis six months into the war that began with the murderous attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, and compares it to data collected earlier in 2023.

A Maccabi survey from before the war showed that 61 percent of the public considered their overall health to be very good or excellent. The new survey indicates that the percentage is down to 46%.

Data from before the war showed that only 8% of respondents reported that their overall health was moderate or very bad. Now 17% of people feel this way.

Thirty-five percent of the public with chronic diseases report a worsening of their illness. Israelis of lower socioeconomic status with chronic illnesses report more of a decline than those with above-average incomes.

Mental health has declined too. At this point, only 37% of Israelis feel that their emotional state is very good or excellent, whereas before October 7, 61% described their mental health that way.

A quarter of Israelis say they sought help from a mental health professional since October 7.

Half of the country’s citizens say they are sleeping less well and there has been a 20% decline in the number of Israelis making sure to live a healthy lifestyle.

Thirty-four percent of respondents report that during the war they have delayed or canceled a pre-scheduled doctor’s appointment. Twenty percent delayed or canceled an important medical screening appointment such as a mammogram or colonoscopy.

A breakdown of the figures indicates that more women than men perceive a decline in their physical and mental health. People ages 20-49 are faring worse than those aged 50 and older.

Lufthansa extends Tehran and Beirut flight suspensions, says planes will avoid Iranian airspace

Lufthansa aircrafts parked at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, September 2, 2022. (AP/Michael Probst)

German airline giant Lufthansa extends its suspension of flights to and from Tehran and Beirut to the end of April and says its planes will continue avoiding Iranian airspace.

“Our flights to Tehran and Beirut are cancelled up to and including 30 April and we are still not using Iranian airspace until the same date,” a spokesman for the airline says.

Revolutionary Guard commander: Iran could review its ‘nuclear doctrine’ amid possibility of Israeli strike

This photo released November 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility near Natanz, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)

Iran could review its “nuclear doctrine” amid Israeli threats after Tehran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack, says a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“A review of our nuclear doctrine and politics as well as considerations previously communicated is entirely possible,” says Ahmad Haghtalab, the IRGC commander in charge of nuclear security.

Tehran has long claimed its nuclear program was for civilian purposes. Israel has accused Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, and has said that it will not allow it to happen.

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight from Saturday into Sunday morning in its first direct attack on Israeli territory.

The barrage came in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on what Tehran said was an Iranian consular building in Damascus, that killed seven IRGC soldiers, including two generals.

Israel and its allies shot down the vast majority of the drones and missiles and the attack caused only one injury, but concerns about a potential Israeli reprisal have nevertheless stoked fears of all-out regional war.

Indian crew member from Israel-linked ship MSC Aries seized by Iran returns home

This image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on April 13, 2024 shows Iran's Revolutionary Guards rappelling down onto a container ship, MSC Aries, near the Strait of Hormuz (Video screenshot)

An Indian woman who was a crew member on the MSC Aries container vessel seized by Iran on April 13 has returned to the country, India’s foreign ministry says.

The ministry says that its mission in Tehran is in touch with 16 other Indian crew members still aboard the vessel, which was seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The crew members are in good health and in contact with their family members in India,” the ministry says in a statement.

The Israel-linked vessel was seized days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for what it said was an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus.

Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian this week seeking the release of the Indian crew members.

Iran’s foreign ministry said that the MSC Aries was seized for “violating maritime laws,” adding that there was no doubt the vessel was linked to Israel. MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime. Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.

Former IAF defense chief: Iran is a ‘superpower’ in missiles and drones — but not defense

Left: F-35i fighter jets are seen at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, in an undated handout photo. An Iranian ballistic missile shortly before impact in southern Israel, early April 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces; Screenshot: X)

Experts say Israel would have little trouble hitting targets inside Iran should it decide to retaliate directly for the unprecedented drone and missile salvoes of Saturday night, citing Tehran’s obsolete air force and indigenous air defense systems based on aging Russian models.

Iran is a “superpower in tactical ballistic missiles and UAVs,” says Brigadier General (res.) Zvika Haimovich, former head of IAF Aerial Defense.

Its air defenses are another matter, built largely around Russian S-200 and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems or a range of locally produced equivalents such as the Bavar-373, Khordad, Raad, Sayyad and Talash as well as old American and Russian warplanes, some of which date from the 1970s era of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

Similar systems gave been deployed in Syria since 2015, giving Israeli pilots years of experience in dealing with them.

“Our air force and coalition air forces flew in this environment. They know how to deal effectively with this system,” Haimovich says. “I will give them respect, but that will not be the main challenge dealing with Iran.”

Sidharth Kausha, a research fellow at the Royal United Strategic Institute in London, says the main challenge for the Israel may not be evading Iran’s surface-to-air missiles, but being able to successfully strike military bases in western and southern Iran which require the use of penetrating bombs.

Kausha says Israeli aircraft, such as the stealth F-35 jets, which could evade Iran’s air defense networks, typically carry smaller ordnance. But against deeply buried targets larger munitions may be needed, which would mean they may have to be carried externally on aircraft such as the F-16 — making these more detectable to radars. For safety, pilots might be more likely to launch them from further away.

“The Iranian air defense network is certainly not impenetrable to these aircraft, but this raises the risk of losses and the Iranian capacity to, at least in theory, intercept some incoming standoff munitions increases,” he says.

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight from Saturday into Sunday morning, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on what Tehran said was an Iranian consular building in Damascus.

Israel and its allies shot down the vast majority of the drones and missiles and the attack caused only one injury, but concerns of Israeli reprisal have nevertheless stoked fears of all-out regional war.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Gallant to IAF pilots who shot down Iranian missiles, drones: ‘Our work is only going to increase’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks to fighter jet pilots at the Tel Nof Airbase, April 18, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)

Speaking to fighter jet pilots who participated in the operation to counter Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says “our missions are not going to decrease” and that “the State of Israel needs to know that it has freedom of action to do what it wants.”

“Our missions are not going to decrease, they will only increase. This reality that we are being attacked from seven different arenas is complex, and it will challenge us and accompany us,” he says.

“The State of Israel should know that it has freedom of action to do what it wants, thanks to the fact that the Air Force creates defense, and what you did last Saturday is a very impressive thing,” Gallant tells the pilots.

“This gives us the ability to know that when we react, we’ve got insurance, that what is decided is what is carried out. This gives great confidence to the Israeli public and to the decision-makers in the State of Israel,” he adds.

US, Israel holding virtual follow-up meeting on Rafah

WASHINGTON — Top US and Israeli officials are holding a follow-up virtual meeting this morning to discuss a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, a US official tells The Times of Israel.

The US side in today’s meeting will be led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, while the Israeli side will be headed by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Council chair Tzachi Hanegbi.

The first virtual meeting was held on April 1 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heeded US President Joe Biden’s request to create the forum.

Washington is looking to use these meetings to convince Israel to pursue alternatives to a wide offensive in the southernmost Gaza city that it has said it plans to launch.

Israel has said it will only move forward with the offensive after evacuating the over one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, establishing mechanisms to ensure that their humanitarian needs will be provided, and coordinating with Egypt.

The US is largely unconvinced that Israel will be able to pull off such a large-scale evacuation in a manner that ensures the safety of the civilians in Rafah.

Instead, it is pushing for Israel to pursue more targeted operations against Hamas leaders in Rafah while coordinating with Cairo in order to secure the Egypt-Gaza border, creating an underground wall to prevent weapons smuggling and choke off the remaining terror elements in the area, a second US official tells The Times of Israel.

US announces new sanctions against Iran after strike against Israel

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announces a series of sweeping sanctions targeting leaders and entities tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran’s defense ministry and its missile and drone program following last weekend’s missile and drone attack against Israel.

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and two entities that it says enable Iran’s UAV production and testing as well as proliferation to actors that work on behalf of the IRGC.

The Treasury Department is also sanctioning five companies that provide or purchase steel production materials to Iran’s Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), a US-designated entity.

It is also sanctioning Iranian automaker Bahman Group and three of its subsidiaries, “which have continued to materially support the IRGC and other designated entities,” the State Department says.

The US Commerce Department is simultaneously imposing new controls to restrict Iran’s access to technologies, the State Department adds.

The UK is concurrently imposing sanctions targeting several Iranian military organizations, individuals and entities involved in Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile industries, the Treasury Department adds.

“Let it be clear to all those who enable or support Iran’s attacks: The United States is committed to Israel’s security. We are committed to the security of our personnel and partners in the region, and we will not hesitate to take all necessary action to hold you accountable,” US President Joe Biden says in a statement announcing the sanctions.

“As I discussed with my fellow G7 leaders the morning after the attack, we are committed to acting collectively to increase economic pressure on Iran. And our allies and partners have or will issue additional sanctions and measures to restrict Iran’s destabilizing military programs,” he says, pointing out that his administration has already sanctioned over 600 individuals and entities tied to Iran.

UK sanctions Iranian military entities including army General Staff and Revolutionary Guard navy

An Iranian military truck carries parts of a Sayad 4-B missile past a portrait of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a military parade as part of a ceremony marking the country's annual army day in Tehran on April 17, 2024. (Atta Kenare / AFP)

LONDON — Britain has placed sanctions on Iranian military entities, including the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, an official notice shows.

The measures follow Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had said on Monday that the Group of Seven (G7) nations was working on a package of coordinated measures against Iran.

The British sanctions target 13 entities or individuals in total, according to the notice.

IDF wraps up central Gaza raid, says 100 terror sites destroyed, 40 operatives killed

IDF troops operate at the entrance to a tunnel in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout image published April 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it has wrapped up a pinpoint raid against Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, during which troops destroyed more than 100 sites belonging to terror groups, killed some 40 operatives, and expanded the east-west corridor held by the army.

The operation, carried out by the 401st Armored Brigade and other troops under the 162nd Division on the outskirts of the Nuseirat camp, was aimed at clearing the area of Hamas operatives, destroying its infrastructure, including a tunnel network that allowed passage from Nuseirat to Gaza City, and expanding the Netzarim corridor.

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.

Amid the operation near Nuseirat, the IDF said it destroyed two rocket manufacturing plants, one belonging to Hamas and the other to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, among a total of around 100 sites.

The military says it also demolished 17 tunnel shafts, part of at least five separate underground networks. Rockets and launchers were also discovered and destroyed during the operation.

Some 40 gunmen were killed amid the fighting, including in airstrikes, the IDF said. Ahead of the offensive, a series of airstrikes were carried out in the area.

The 162nd Division has now mostly been withdrawn from Gaza. The division’s Nahal Brigade continues to be the sole unit in the Strip, operating in the Netzarim corridor, where the IDF says troops have killed more than 1,000 gunmen in the past three months.

Nahal is due to be replaced in the Netzarim corridor by a reserve brigade, to allow all of the division’s forces to prepare for future operations, including planned offensives in Rafah and central Gaza.

Houthis claim launch of 14 operations in two weeks as far out as Indian Ocean

The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, claims the group has launched 14 operations in two weeks in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and even reaching the Indian Ocean.

“There is no danger to maritime traffic related to (ships linked to) European countries that are not heading to Israel,” he adds in a televised speech.

Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched repeated drone and missile strikes against Israel and in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November in support of Palestinians, as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Israel anticipates arrival of US ship set to build pier off Gaza coast

Israel anticipates the arrival of the first US JLOTS ship, slated to build a pier off the coast of Gaza, to arrive at Ashdod Port on Saturday, according to assessments seen today by The Times of Israel.

Jerusalem also expects the Turkish portion of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to set out to Gaza on April 22 or 23, and to arrive off the coast three days later, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel, though this is seen as tentative.

The flotilla has already suffered a series of delays.

One of the 12 organizations involved in the coalition is the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which organized the 2010 flotilla in which a deadly fight broke out on the Mavi Marmara between IHH members and IDF commandos.

Antisemitism watchdog wants Meta to keep ban on term ‘shaheed’

The Meta (formerly Facebook) logo marks the entrance of corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on November 9, 2022. (Josh Edelson/AFP)

A prominent watchdog on antisemitism condemns the recommendation by the oversight board of Meta Platforms to allow the Arab-language term shaheed, or martyr, to be used on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.

“The word Shaheed is an honorific term for murderers. The recommendation by Meta’s Oversight Board could be seen as giving a green light for the glorification of murder,” Sacha Roytman Dratwa, the CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, says in a statement.

The statement follows the recommendation two days ago by the board at Meta Platforms, the company owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, among other services, to drop the ban on the term following a yearlong review.

At present, Meta removes any posts using “shaheed” in referring to people it designates on its list of “dangerous organizations and individuals,” which includes members of Islamist terrorist organizations.

“We call on Meta to disregard this deeply problematic recommendation and continue to remove the word shaheed which is overwhelmingly used to glorify terror and bloodshed, Roytman Dratwa says.

“Meta has been operating under the assumption that censorship can and will improve safety, but the evidence suggests that censorship can marginalize whole populations while not improving safety at all,” Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt says in a statement.

Israeli strike on Haniyeh’s family contributed to hostage talk deadlock — official

Onlookers look at the remains of the car in which three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike in al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City on April 10, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

WASHINGTON — An Israeli strike last week that killed three of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s children and four of his grandchildren contributed to the ongoing deadlock in hostage negotiations between the terror group and Israel, a senior Arab official tells The Times of Israel.

The strike came at a critical point in the negotiations before Hamas was slated to provide its response to the latest proposal crafted by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the senior Arab official says, noting that the terror group went on to subsequently harden its demands.

Drone, missile alert sounding again in towns near Lebanon border

Sirens are sounding again in a number of communities close to the northern border, warning of a suspected incoming drone and missile attacks.

Drone alert warnings are sounding for the second time today in largely evacuated towns including Arab al-Aramshe, Ya’ara, Hanita, Gornot HaGalil, Goren, Eilon and Adamit.

Missile alert sirens are also sounding in Arab al-Aramshe.

Since October 8, Hezbollah has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Red Alert [17:56:54] – 7 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Eilon, Hanita, Gornot HaGalil, Idmit, Ya'ara, Goren, Arab al-Aramshe#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/ohJiH4VuOp

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) April 18, 2024

Cost of 25-kilo sack of flour in Gaza down from NIS 1,800 at peak of war to NIS 95 — reports

Some two weeks after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew all of its maneuvering ground forces from Gaza, and a day after photos of Palestinians enjoying the beach caused a buzz in Hebrew media, reports point to signs of life returning to normal in areas including the north of the Strip, Gaza City, and the southern city of Khan Younis.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli defense Ministry unit responsible for liaising with the Palestinians, shares a post showing market scenes in northern Gaza.

Market scenes in northern Gaza yesterday, April 17 pic.twitter.com/bI4DTWMLwa

— COGAT (@cogatonline) April 18, 2024

Photos from Gaza markets show stalls with a variety of vegetables in stock including tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, onions, along with staples such as eggs, spices and flour.

Channel 12 quotes Gaza photographer Ayman Amriti as saying that the price of a 25-kilogram (55-pound) sack of flour has come down from NIS 1,800 ($475) at the peak of the war to NIS 95 ($25) — though most people are struggling financially.

A carton of 30 eggs is reportedly now being sold in Gaza for NIS 38 ($10), down from NIS 10 ($2.50) per egg a month ago.

The Channel 12 report adds that meat, snacks, and watermelon is also available in Gaza.

COGAT said earlier this week that 23 bakeries currently operating in Gaza are producing some three million pita breads every day.

Defense Ministry, IDF: NIS 29 million in cash seized by troops in Gaza ‘forfeited’ to the state

Cash seized by the IDF in the Gaza Strip is seen being counted before being deposited at the Bank of Israel, April 18, 2024. (Defense Ministry)

The Defense Ministry and IDF say they have seized a total of NIS 29 million ($7.6 million) in cash in the Gaza Strip, and “forfeited” it to the state.

The cash was seized from Hamas strongholds and homes of terror operatives, during the IDF’s ground operations in Gaza, the ministry says.

Today, NIS 12 million ($3.2 million) was deposited at the Bank of Israel, adding to another NIS 17 million ($3.5 million) seized and forfeited since the beginning of the war.

The ministry says there are additional sums of cash, which are still undergoing a “deposit process.”

Earlier this year, the IDF said it had captured NIS 20 million ($5.3 million) in cash in a Hamas tunnel.

Report: Shin Bet has told Israeli Eurovision singer not to leave hotel room in Malmo next month

Eden Golan, Israel's 2024 Eurovision contender. (Ran Yehezkel/EBU)

Israel’s representative to Eurovision, Eden Golan, recently met with Shin Bet representatives ahead of her trip to Sweden for the competition next month, according to Hebrew media reports.

Channel 12 News reports that Golan and her team were advised not to leave their hotel rooms aside from performances and official events during their visit to Eurovision host city Malmo.

The Swedish city announced yesterday that it has heightened security for this year’s song contest, which faces protests over Israel’s participation during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Authorities vowed “visible” measures, including police with submachine guns and reinforcements from Denmark and Norway around the event, which is slated for May 7-11.

UN’s Guterres says Gaza war, Iran’s attack on Israel could devolve into ‘full-scale regional conflict’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres listens during a UN Security Council meeting at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres paints a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel could devolve into a “full-scale regional conflict.”

Guterres also says that the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, has created a “humanitarian hellscape” for civilians trapped in the coastal enclave.

“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation — in words and deeds,” Guterres tells a high-level Security Council meeting, with several foreign ministers present, including from Jordan and Iran.

“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable — a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved,” he says, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”

Iran launched more than 300 missiles, drones and rockets at Israel over the weekend, saying it was retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike on April 1 on a site in Damascus that Iran said was a consular building, which killed two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and several other officers. Nearly all of the Iranian projectiles fired at Israel were intercepted, and there was little damage.

Guterres condemns both the consulate attack and the flurry of drones, saying that the latter constituted a “serious escalation.”

“It is high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation,” he says. “It is high time to stop.”

IDF: Fighter jets struck south Lebanon Hezbollah cell after it was spotted by Golani troops

Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah cell in southern Lebanon earlier today, after it was spotted by troops of the Golani Brigade, the IDF says.

The IDF says the Golani troops, using a drone, identified several Hezbollah operatives entering a building in the town of Blida and called in the strike.

The military also says that suspected drone alerts that sounded earlier in the Western Galilee were false alarms.

לוחמי חטיבת גולני זיהו מוקדם יותר היום באמצעות רחפן, מספר מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
המחבלים היו במבנה צבאי במרחב בליידא שבדרום לבנון שלאחר הזיהוי נתקף על ידי מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר.

בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו לפני זמן קצר על חדירת כלי טיס עוין במרחב הגליל המערבי >> pic.twitter.com/lPqFoY3ed4

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 18, 2024

Palestinian soccer union calls for sanctions against Israel at FIFA congress

File: The Palestinian national soccer team's midfielder (#06) Oday Kharoub points to the number 110 on his hand, as he displays support with the people of Gaza, during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group C football match between Hong Kong and Palestine at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha on January 23, 2024. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)

A proposal from the Palestine Football Association proposal to 211 FIFA member federations calls for “appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams,” according to FIFA documents released late last night, a month before the May 17 meeting.

The motion claims “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and cites FIFA statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.

“All the football infrastructure in Gaza has been either destroyed, or seriously damaged, including the historic stadium of Al-Yarmuk,” the Palestine FA writes, claiming support for the congress motion from the federations of Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen.

The latest call to punish Israel soccer will not be supported by FIFA, and is unlikely to make progress because Israel can expect global backing including from the 55-member European soccer body UEFA it joined 30 years ago. A cooperation deal also was signed last week between Israeli officials and the South American soccer body CONMEBOL.

Palestinian soccer cites the example of Russian teams being banned from international competitions by FIFA and UEFA during the military invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022.

Israeli national and club teams have continued to play in UEFA competitions since the October 7 attacks by Hamas that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, though home games were played in neutral Hungary and Cyprus for security reasons.

At the Paris Olympics opening in July, Israel will play in the men’s soccer tournament, and took part in the tournament draw last month. Israel was drawn in a group to play Mali, which is a Muslim-majority nation, Paraguay and an Asian team yet to be decided.

The Palestine FA says in its proposal to FIFA: “There is a good chance that some football associations will refuse to play against Israel.”

‘We must stop Iran now before it’s too late’: Israel lauds new US sanctions on Iran’s IRGC

Foreign Minister Israel Katz thanks US President Joe Biden for his “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” after Washington announced a series of sweeping sanctions targeting leaders and entities tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran’s defense ministry and its missile and drone program.

The sanctions come after Iran launched more than 300 missiles, drones and rockets at Israel over the weekend, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike on April 1 on a site in Damascus that Iran said was a consular building, which killed two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and several other officers.

Britain also announced today that it has placed sanctions on Iranian military entities, including the General Staff of the Armed Forces and IRGC Navy.

“President Biden has called on all G7 partners to take the same path,” the foreign minister writes on X, formerly Twitter.

“This is our opportunity to form a global front and a regional coalition against Iran, together with the US, the EU, and moderate Arab states, to stop the serpent’s head that threatens global stability. We must stop Iran now before it’s too late.”

Drone alert sirens sounding again in northern border towns

Hostile aircraft intrusion sirens are sounding again in a number of towns on the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Sirens are sounding in largely evacuated towns including Eilon, Hanita, Zarit, Even Menachem, Gornot HaGalil, Adamit, Shtula, Ya’ara, Goren, Arab al-Aramshe and Shomera.

A short while ago, the IDF said that hostile aircraft intrusion sirens that sounded in the area were a false alarm.

🚨 Large Red Alert [18:55:38] – 11 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Eilon, Hanita, Zarit, Even Menachem, Gornot HaGalil, Idmit, Shtula, Ya'ara, Goren, Arab al-Aramshe, Shomera#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/FKjp4tdXAu

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) April 18, 2024

Netanyahu calls for unity amid ‘existential threat’: ‘Nations disintegrate first from within’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with Mossad chief David Barnea, April 18, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a call for unity amid the ongoing war in Gaza and the “overall threat” from Iran, during separate meetings today with the heads of Israel’s security agencies.

“The internal split needs to disappear now because we’re under an existential threat — and in an existential threat, we join forces,” he says.

Netanyahu and Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea discussed various regional developments, including the importance of securing the release of over 100 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza since October 7, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Afterward, Netanyahu met with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar for a working meeting, the statement adds.

“We are also committed to defeating the terrorist axis in Gaza, both to free the hostages and to repel the overall threat coming from Iran. These are huge tasks that require two things: the first thing it requires is determination, the second thing it requires is unity,” the prime minister says during the meeting with Mossad officials.

“Nations disintegrate first from within. Not from external pressure, but first of all from the internal division,” he adds.

IDF: Troops recover drone that crashed in central Gaza

Illustrative: An IDF soldier with a Skylark drone during a drill at the Tzelim army base, August 5, 2013. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The IDF says that a drone that crashed in the central Gaza Strip this week due to a technical fault was recovered by troops.

“The parts of the aircraft were collected and returned to Israel,” the army says.

It adds that the incident was investigated and “lessons were learned.”

IMF revises down growth forecast for MENA region to 2.7% from 3.4% on Gaza war, Red Sea trade disruptions

DUBAI – The International Monetary Fund says Middle East economies will grow at a slower pace this year than it previously projected as the war in Gaza, attacks on Red Sea shipping and lower oil output add to existing challenges of high debt and borrowing costs.

The IMF revises down its 2024 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to 2.7% from 3.4% in its October regional outlook. That would be an improvement from 1.9% growth in 2023.

The downward revision was driven by conflicts in Sudan, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as oil production cuts by Gulf countries weighing on activity.

“Assuming these factors ease in 2025, growth is forecast to strengthen to 4.2%,” the IMF says.

“Uncertainty in high and medium-term growth is forecast to remain below pre-pandemic historical averages.”

Within MENA, oil exporters are seen faring better, with the IMF projecting 2.9% growth this year, up 1 percentage point from last year.

“The voluntary oil production cuts – most notably by Saudi Arabia – are expected to continue to put a temporary damper on growth this year,” the IMF says, adding that “higher-than-projected oil production will boost growth” for other, non-Gulf hydrocarbon producers.

Senior Arab official: Flak from US lawmakers pushed Qatar to rethink mediator role

File: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at Lusail Palace, in Doha on February 6, 2024. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Criticism of Qatar by a growing number of US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle contributed to Qatar’s decision yesterday to announce a re-evaluation of its role as mediator in the long-stagnant hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, a senior Arab official tells The Times of Israel.

While clarifying that the majority of Qatar’s frustration is directed at the Israeli government, which has led much of the criticism against Doha, the official notes that recent remarks from Congress members also played a role in the decision to re-evaluate the mediation role.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have for months argued that Qatar could be doing more to pressure Hamas in the hostage negotiations, either by threatening to kick the terror group’s leaders out of the country or by freezing their assets.

However, a pair of government officials revealed to The Times of Israel last month that Qatar’s emir had actually proposed expelling Hamas’s leaders shortly after October 7, but was told by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to first focus on trying to leverage Doha’s contacts with the terror group in order to negotiate a hostage deal.

Doha — along with the US and Egypt — was successful in late November, brokering a seven-day truce that freed over 100 hostages. But the talks have failed to bear fruit since, leading to mounting criticism of Qatar and its ties to Hamas.

Senior Democratic lawmaker Rep. Steny Hoyer called earlier this week for the US to re-evaluate its ties to Qatar if Doha fails to pressure Hamas in the negotiations, and a group of Republican lawmakers submitted legislation aimed at stripping Doha of its coveted status as a major non-NATO ally.

Qatar asserts that it is merely a mediator without the ability to pressure the sides and that only Israel and Hamas are responsible for whether or not there is an agreement.

In announcing its decision to re-evaluate its role as a mediator, Qatar’s prime minister did not provide a timeline, though some analysts speculate that Doha is unlikely to abandon its position.

PA envoy: Full UN status for Palestinians would ease ‘historic injustice’

Ziad Abu-Amr, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, departs the room during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

Full UN membership for the Palestinians would help alleviate the “historic injustice” suffered by generations, a senior Palestinian Authority official says ahead of a Security Council vote on the membership bid.

The vote is expected to take place at 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), according to Malta, which holds the council’s rotating presidency.

“Granting Palestine full membership at the United Nations will lift some of the historic injustice that succeeding Palestinian generations have been subjected to,” the special PA envoy, Ziad Abu Amr, tells the Security Council.

“It will open wide prospects before a true peace based on justice.”

Any request to become a UN member state must first earn a recommendation from the Security Council — meaning at least nine positive votes out of 15, and no vetoes — and then be endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly.

The United States is expected to use its veto power, having stated that the UN is not the venue for recognition of a Palestinian state, which must be the result of a peace deal with Israel.

PA President Mahmud Abbas launched a membership application in 2011, but it never came before the Security Council for a vote. The General Assembly then voted to grant the Palestinians observer status in November 2012.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Israeli envoy slams UN reviewing Palestinian Authority membership bid as ‘immoral’

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan slams the fact that the United Nations Security Council is even considering granting full membership to the Palestinian Authority as “immoral.”

“Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states. Peace-loving — what a joke,” Erdan says ahead of the vote set to take place at 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), according to Malta, which holds the council’s rotating presidency.

Erdan charges that granting full member status to the PA would “reward the supporters and perpetrators” of Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

“The child murderers and rapists of Hamas,” he says, “are watching this meeting and they are smiling.”

“How many times has this council met to discuss ways to advance the release of our hostages held in Gaza? How many times? Not even once,” Erdan asks during the Security Council session.

“How many condemnations has this council issued against Hamas for their heinous October 7 massacre? Zero.”

“How detached from reality can this council be to dedicate its time and resources to support a resolution so disconnected to the reality on the ground. To a resolution that will have zero positive impact for any party. That will cause only destruction for years to come and harm any chance for future dialogue,” he says.

The United States is expected to veto the membership bid.

AFP contributed to this report. 

Sirens sound again in northern towns; 3 rockets reportedly land in open areas

Missile alert sirens sounded again a short while ago in northern towns near the Lebanon border.

Rocket alert sirens sounded in largely evacuated towns including HaGoshrim, Beit Hillel and Ma’ayan Baruch.

Channel 12 reports that three rockets fired from Lebanon landed in open areas near Beit Hillel.

There are no reports of casualties in the attack.

Red Alert [20:16:33] – 3 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Ma'ayan Baruch, HaGoshrim, Beit Hillel#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/8NU6M3bqmP

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) April 18, 2024

Hundreds protest near Kirya in Tel Aviv calling for hostage release deal

Hundreds demonstrate in Tel Aviv for a general strike and hostage deal on April 18, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Hundreds of protesters led by a handful of hostages’ family members are gathering outside of Tel Aviv’s Kirya military base and demanding an immediate hostage deal.

The demonstrators plan to march to the headquarters of the Histadrut labor federation and call for a general strike in hopes of pressuring the government into negotiating a deal with Hamas to return over 100 hostages it has been holding in Gaza since October 7.

One of the protest’s leaders Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker is held captive in Gaza, has risen to prominence in recent weeks for her outspoken criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The march is taking place at the same time as a larger rally organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which aspires to political neutrality.

Miri, one of the chant leaders at the demonstration, tells The Times of Israel that the march to the Histadrut headquarters is a “true protest” designed to put pressure on the government, and says that she feels the Hostages’ Square rally does not push hard enough for a negotiated deal for the hostages’ return.

PMO holds ’emergency’ debate amid fears ICC could issue arrest warrants for PM, others over alleged crimes in Gaza – TV report

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, April 17, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Israel is increasingly worried by the prospect of the International Criminal Court in The Hague issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza, Channel 12 reports.

It says three ministers and several government legal experts held an ’emergency discussion” at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday regarding how to fend off the feared imminent issuing of such arrest warrants.

The meeting was convened after information reached Jerusalem indicating that such warrants could be issued in the near future, the report says.

Netanyahu also raised the concern in his meetings this week with Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

At Tuesday’s discussion, with the participation of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, it was decided that Israel would also seek assistance in other influential international diplomatic circles to try to thwart the effort, the report says.

Jerusalem reportedly fears the arrest warrants would be sought on the basis of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with countries that claim Israel is breaching international law and the 4th Geneva Convention said to be leading the effort.

Ashkenazi chief rabbi calls for unity at Tel Aviv’s Hostages’ Square: ‘We all want to see them home’

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau speaks during Tel Aviv rally organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Tel Aviv, April 18, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau calls for unity between Israelis of all political and religious stripes, at a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages’ Square.

“There is no right, no left, there is no religious, traditional or secular. We all want to see them home,” he says. “We are all united in worry, love and care.”

Under the banner of “unity” and “solidarity across divides,” the mass rally draws notably more religious Israelis than past Hostages and Missing Families Forum demonstrations, and includes a number of speakers from the national religious camp.

Hezbollah publishes video showing strike on IDF air control base on Mount Meron

Hezbollah targeted the Israeli military’s sensitive Mount Meron air traffic control base in an anti-tank guided missile attack yesterday.

A video published by the terror group shows a missile striking a radar system atop the mountain in northern Israel.

The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack.

Hezbollah has attacked Mount Meron, which is located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, several times amid the ongoing war, launching large barrages of rockets at the mountain, as well as guided missiles at the base that sits atop it.

Hezbollah targeted the Mount Meron air traffic control base in an anti-tank guided missile attack yesterday. A video published by the terror group shows a missile striking a radar system atop the mountain in northern Israel. The IDF said there were no injuries in the attack. pic.twitter.com/Vg7zvmnxiO

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 18, 2024

At UN Security Council, Iran warns Israel against ‘further military adventurism’

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

UNITED NATIONS – Iran says that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests,” during a United Nations Security Council session.

“In case of any use of force by the Israeli regime and violating our sovereignty, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate a bit to assert its inherent rights to give a decisive and proper response to it to make the regime regret its actions,” says Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

The statement comes amid a vote in the Security Council to grant full membership status to the Palestinian Authority.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

US State Department: Situation in Gaza still dire, Israel needs to do more

Palestinians pack their belongings in a truck as they leave their home in the city of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on April 18, 2024. (AFP)

The humanitarian circumstances in Gaza are still dire and Israel needs to do more to allow more aid into the strip and coordinate with aid agencies on deconfliction, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel says.

“There has been some measurable progress that we’ve seen when it comes to humanitarian aid getting into Gaza,” Patel tells a press briefing. “But the circumstances within Gaza continue to be dire and more absolutely needs to be done. The crisis that we’re seeing demands rapid expansion of these efforts.”

Israel has faced mounting pressure from the international community, including its closest allies, over the low amount of humanitarian aid being transferred into the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has warned of looming famine.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

‘How can we drink four cups at the Seder, when we have hostages taken in their pajamas?’ – Chief Rabbi Lau

Dina Guedalia (left) and Iris Haim, speaking on April 18, 2024 at a unity rally for the hostages in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square. (Screenshot)

Hostage family members speak at a unity rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, with participation from 60 different non-profit organizations.

Two of the first speakers are Iris Haim, mother of hostage Yotam Haim who was accidentally killed after 70 days of captivity, and bereaved mother Dina Guedalia, mother of Sgt. First Class Yosef Malachi Guedalia, who fell in battle on October 7.

Guedalia fought in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the neighborhood for the younger kibbutznikim, where Yotam was taken captive. The two mothers met while speaking at a religious girls’ school in Jerusalem.

“Iris and I, Yotam and Yosef, we are from the same village,” said Guedalia.

Haim said their family was supposed to meet up on October 7 to see Yotam, a heavy metal drummer, perform in Tel Aviv.

“I, Iris, a woman, with a son playing music on Shabbat, and Dina, a religious woman, and we’re one family, I have a lot of love for those like me and those who are not like me,” said Haim. “Be heroes too, we started and you continue. Look beyond and find what unites you, each one in their place and home.”

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau calls upon the crowd to hear the words of Iris, to understand that everyone wants the hostages home, that “we are one nation, even though others need to remind us sometimes.”

“How can we drink four cups at the seder, when we have hostages taken in their pajamas, in their slippers from their homes?” says Lau. “It is our obligation to bring them home, and to think of them all.”

Shelly Shem-Tov, mother of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, says that as a resident of Herzliya, in the country’s center, she never met with people outside her community before October 7.

“I didn’t really understand about rockets hitting a home in Sderot or the Gaza border communities until Omer was taken hostage, and I want your houses to be safer and my friends in Judea and Samaria, that you shouldn’t be frightened for your lives all the time, we want a place that will be safe to live, we need to be shoulder to shoulder,” says Shem-Tov.

Hebrew University professor arrested on suspicion of incitement for questioning Hamas Oct. 7 atrocities

Illustrative: Students at Hebrew University in Jerusalem protesting against Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, an Arab-Israeli professor who was accused of incitement against Israel amid the war in Gaza, March 17, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

An Arab Israeli professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been arrested on suspicion of incitement after questioning Hamas rapes and other atrocities during the October 7 attacks and saying Israelis are “criminals” and “should be afraid.”

Officers bring in Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a criminologist and law professor, for questioning at a police station in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a senior lecturer at the university, was first suspended after appearing in a March 9 interview with the podcast Makdisi Street, in which she said Zionism should be abolished and called into question the rapes and other atrocities committed by Hamas.

Hadash MK Ofer Cassif sharply criticizes Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s investigation, saying police “arrested Shalhoub-Kevorkian solely because of her statements. So that there is no doubt: Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian did not deny the [October 7] massacre and did not question the atrocities committed by Hamas (and even if she did, there’s nothing criminal about that). Her statement that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is a legitimate statement, and would only be considered forbidden in a dictatorial regime.”

Elchanan Felhaimer, the chair of the National Union of Israeli Students, welcomes the arrest and says he hoped it will influence how academics express themselves on hot-button issues.

“Students throughout Israel led by the National Union of Israeli Students have been crying out for a long time to stop the incitement. It’s the appropriate thing that in our home we know how to deal [with such incitement] in the right way so as to eradicate this disgusting phenomenon,” Felhaimer says.

US confirms it will block Palestinian effort to obtain full member status at UN

The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

WASHINGTON — US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel confirms that Washington will veto the UN Security Council resolution being brought to a vote later today aimed at granting the Palestinian request for full member status in the international body.

Patel says during a press briefing that there wasn’t unanimity among committee members as to whether the Palestinians had met the criteria necessary to be defined as a state.

Moreover, the State Department spokesperson says the Palestinian Authority needs to undergo significant reforms before it can assume statehood responsibilities.

The Biden administration has long opposed Palestinian efforts to unilaterally secure statehood status at the UN, arguing that the goal should be achieved via direct negotiations with Israel.

More recently, US officials have noted that such efforts at the UN harm efforts it is actively pursuing to achieve a two state solution through a broader regional initiative that would start with a hostage deal, following by a permanent end to the war, Arab involvement in the rebuilding of Gaza with assistance from a reformed PA, a Saudi normalization with Israel and a bolstered Mideast front against Iran.

Israel prepared for Gaza flotilla from Turkey, though officials hope it’s delayed indefinitely – report

Security officials have been preparing for the arrival of the first ships from Freedom Flotilla Coalition, expected to leave Turkey this weekend in an attempt to reach the shores of Gaza and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, according to Channel 12 news.

Without citing sources, the report says that although Israel is prepared for all scenarios, officials hope that the flotilla will be delayed indefinitely.

The Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), which organized the 2010 flotilla in which a deadly fight broke out on the Mavi Marmara between activists and IDF commandos, is leading the 12 organizations in the coalition.

Pro-Palestinian activists from 12 different countries are expected aboard the three ships, two of which will carry aid to Gaza, the report adds.

They will hold a news conference tomorrow to announce details of the plan.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Rocket alert sirens sounding in Ashkelon for first time in weeks

Rocket alert sirens are sounding in the southern city of Ashkelon, for the first time since April 4.

The rockets come a few minutes after sirens also sounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, warning of incoming missile fire, amid ongoing exchanges of fire on the border with Lebanon throughout the day.

Red Alert [22:01:30] – 1 Alert:

• Western Lakhish — Ashkelon – North#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/b2NfkjWXrl

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) April 18, 2024

IDF: Rocket fired at Ashkelon from Gaza struck open area; no injuries or damage

One rocket was fired from the northern Gaza Strip at the coastal city of Ashkelon.

According to the IDF, the rocket struck an open area. There are no reports of injuries or damage.

It marks the first attack on Ashkelon in two weeks.

Former Eshkol regional council head says he survived October 7 massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri thanks to IDF

Demonstrators protest for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, Tel Aviv, April 18, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former Eshkol regional council head Haim Jelin says that he survived the October 7 massacre at his home on Kibbutz Be’eri thanks to the army unit that saved them, and if he is alive, he has to fight for the unity of the nation.

“Politics doesn’t believe in unity, it doesn’t know how to take responsibility, so we must all make the deep changes that will come from the heart,” said Jelin.

“Every teacher in their class, every doctor in their clinic, the street cleaners, the rabbis in their synagogues, the corner storeowners, the bus drivers, the nation will do this, the power is in our hands.”

Jelin shares the podium with Hagay Lober, father of Staff Sergeant Elisha Yehonatan Lober, who fell in battle in Gaza, who says this night has brought him more comfort than any other night since his son was killed.

“There are people who don’t love the word, ‘now,’ but I love it,” says Lober. “For me, a bereaved father, the word ‘now,’ for me, it is a call for immediacy — for bringing home the captives and destroying our enemies.”

“We will dance here again in the renamed Released Hostages Square,” says Lober. “We will celebrate a Passover of freedom, we’ll celebrate with them, now.”

‘We’re not like the Nazis’: Netanyahu reportedly bickered with German FM over ‘famine’ in Gaza

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, April 17, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

A conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Germany’s foreign minister yesterday over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip reportedly heated up when Annalena Baerbock charged that Israel is “heading towards famine in Gaza.”

Channel 13 reports that when the Baerbock offered to show Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer “photos of hungry [Gazan] children on my phone,” Netanyahu told the German official, “Come and see the pictures of the markets in Gaza, the beaches in Gaza, there’s no famine there.”

The report comes as photos circulating on social media show stocked market stalls and Gazans enjoying a hot day on the beach, after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew all of its maneuvering ground forces from the Strip two weeks ago, prompting displaced Palestinians to attempt to return to their homes.

Baerbock reportedly recommended that Israel stop circulating the photos of life supposedly returning to normal in the Palestinian enclave “as they don’t portray the real situation in Gaza. There is hunger in Gaza.”

At this point, Netanyahu is said to have raised his voice and insisted, “It’s real. It’s reality. It’s not like what the Nazis staged, we’re not like the Nazis who produced fake images of a manufactured reality.”

According to the Channel 13 report, the German foreign minister responded, “Are you saying that our doctors in the field in Gaza aren’t telling the truth? Are you saying that the international media is lying?”

Baerbock arrived in Israel yesterday for a flying visit in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel overnight Saturday-Sunday, in which it launched some 350 attack drones and missiles at the country.

Germany urged Israel to show restraint in the aftermath of the attack, warning that any additional direct hostilities with Iran could send the Middle East spiraling into an all-out war.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Jordan lobbying to prevent Israel from using its airspace for Iran strike – officials

File: A Jordanian Air Force aircraft carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians on the Gaza Strip sits on the tarmac at an undisclosed location in Amman on March 10, 2024. (Ahmad Shoura/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Jordan’s King Abdullah asked US President Joe Biden during a call over the weekend to urge Israel not to use Amman’s airspace in a counter-strike against Iran, three officials familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.

Given how critical the Hashemite kingdom has been of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Jordan was arguably the most notable member of the US-led coalition that joined the IDF in shooting down the over 300 missiles and drones Iran fired at the Jewish state on Saturday night.

But Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi subsequently insisted that Amman will protect its skies, “regardless of where those drones are from — from Israel, from Iran, from anybody else.”

On top of that public warning to Israel, Jordan has also been privately sending messages to Jerusalem through the US and other countries asking that it take a different route if it goes ahead with plans to strike Iran, a senior Arab diplomat, an Israeli official and a Biden administration official tell The Times of Israel.

While it is unlikely that Jordan would actually shoot down an Israeli drone, missile or plane that entered its airspace, Amman fears that allowing such a strike to go ahead, particularly after helping thwart the Iranian attack, will expose it to retaliation from Tehran, the officials say.

Following Iran’s strike, the Islamic Republic threatened the Hashemite kingdom that it would be hit next if it acted against Iran.

Israel could go through Syria in order to strike Iran, but the quicker, more practical route would start through Jordan, given that it holds diplomatic ties with Amman and given that Jordan is less likely to tip off Iran that an attack is incoming.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

NYPD arrest protesters at Columbia University who set up pro-Palestinian encampment on campus

NEW YORK — New York police arrest protesters at Columbia University who had set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

Several students involved in the protest say they were also suspended from Columbia and Barnard College, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of US Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat. The congresswoman had questioned Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, about the school’s targeting of pro-Palestinian protesters at a hearing yesterday.

Protest organizers say Hirsi also was among those arrested.

The students have been protesting on campus since yesterday morning, demanding the school divest from companies they claim “profit from Israeli apartheid” and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Shafik issues a statement saying the school had warned protesters yesterday that they would be suspended if the encampment was not removed. School officials made the decision today to call in police and clear out the demonstrators.

NYPD arrest pro-Hamas protesters after they set up an encampment outside Colombia University.

One of them screams at officers:

“Why are you doing this to me?”

pic.twitter.com/7gABXow4lt

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 18, 2024

“The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies,” she writes. “Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations, including a written warning at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday notifying students who remained in the encampment as of 9:00 p.m. that they would face suspension pending investigation.”

NOW: Hundreds of students have occupied the west lawn in front of Butler Library at Columbia University as university staff clear out the encampment on the east lawn following the mass arrest of student demonstratorspic.twitter.com/FYGWfyQmAC

— katie smith (@probablyreadit) April 18, 2024

Shafik also says the university tried through several channels “to engage with their concerns and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse.”

Protest organizers decry the university’s actions.

“We demand full amnesty for all students disciplined for their involvement in the encampment or the movement for Palestinian liberation,” Rosy Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the Institute for Middle East Understanding, says in a statement.

Secular, religious women join forces at Tel Aviv rally for Gaza hostages

Moran Zer Katzenstein, chair of the Women Wage Peace movement, and religious leader Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi onstage at rally in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, April 18, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Moran Zer Katzenstein, chair of the Women Wage Peace movement, and religious leader Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi speak to a crowd of thousands in Tel Aviv’s Hostages’ Square at a rally for the Hamas-held captives.

The two women onstage reflect the religious diversity of the crowd, which consists of a mix of secular and religious Israelis gathering in Tel Aviv a few days ahead of the Passover holiday.

“In addition to prayer, the Torah says that we must make an effort. Each one of us should check what effort we are making to return the hostages now,” says Zer Katzenstein, a secular Israeli.

Mizrachi, a prominent leader in the Israel’s Orthodox sphere, focuses on the women who suffer from Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, either as internal refugees from the Gaza Envelope or hostages in the Strip.

“They will stand towards the open door, anticipating that this night will be different from all other nights, that this night, we will finally be joyful,” she says, speaking of the women affected by the unprecedented massacre.

US vetoes UNSC resolution on Palestinian statehood after 12 countries vote in favor

Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during a Security Council meeting on a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinians as a full UN member state, at United Nations headquarters, April 18, 2024, (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The US follows through on its pledge to veto a Security Council resolution to grant the Palestinians full-member status at the UN.

Twelve countries voted in favor, passing the threshold of nine required to force a US veto. The countries that supported the measure were Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Russia, South Korea, Mozambique, Malta, Japan, Guyana, France, Ecuador, China and Algeria.

The UK and Switzerland abstained on the resolution.

The Biden administration has long opposed Palestinian efforts to unilaterally secure statehood status at the UN, arguing that the goal should be achieved via direct negotiations with Israel.

More recently, US officials have said such efforts harm the administration’s active pursuit to achieve a two state solution through a broader regional initiative that would start with a hostage deal, following by a permanent end to the war, Arab involvement in the rebuilding of Gaza with assistance from a reformed PA, a Saudi normalization with Israel and a bolstered Mideast front against Iran.

FM Katz thanks US for opposing UN Security Council motion: ‘No rewards for terrorism’

Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz thanks the US for vetoing a Security Council resolution aimed at granting full member status to the Palestinians at the UN.

Katz says the initiative would have amounted to a “reward for terrorism” just six months after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

The foreign minister also blasts the Security Council for having failed to condemn Hamas since the attack.

“There will be no rewards for terrorism. Israel will continue to fight until the fall of Hamas and the release of all 133 Israeli hostages,” Katz tweets.

Palestinian Authority rails at US for vetoing statehood bid at UN

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority condemns the United States for vetoing a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, calling it an “aggression” that pushes the Middle East towards an “abyss.”

The US policy “represents a blatant aggression against international law and an encouragement to the pursuit of the genocidal war against our people… which pushes the region ever further to the edge of the abyss.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s office says in a statement.

The statement also calls the US veto “”unfair, unethical and unjustified.”

Hamas denounces US for vetoing UNSC recognition of Palestinian state

Hamas strongly condemns America’s position in preventing recognition of a Palestinian state by using its veto at the UN Security Council, a statement from the Palestinian terror group says.