The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.

Herzog condemns ‘atrocious’ antisemitism at Columbia University, calls for strong preventative measures

President Isaac Herzog calls the “atrocious antisemitic actions” at the week-long pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University “deeply disturbing.

“We need a ‘Leap of action,'” Herzog writes on X, formerly Twitter, quoting Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

“Firm and strong action must be taken to prevent antisemitism on campus,” continues Herzog. “American academia must wake up to the threat, a clear and present danger to academic freedom and to the very lives of Jews on campus.”

Hezbollah claims to have downed IDF drone over south Lebanon

The Hezbollah terror group claims to have downed an Israeli military drone over southern Lebanon.

In a statement, it says the Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over the town of Aaichiyeh.

If true, this would be the third Israeli UAV, and second Hermes 450 model, shot down by Hezbollah during the ongoing war.

The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.

Rockets launched from Iraq at US military base in northeast Syria, security sources say

At least five rockets were launched from Iraq’s town of Zummar toward a US military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

The attack against US forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against US troops.

Gallant speaks to IDF chief about preventing US sanctions on Netzah Yehuda, will soon speak to Blinken

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi this evening on ways to prevent the United States’ planned sanctions on the army’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, his office says.

“I expect the American administration to go back on its intention to impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion,” Gallant says in remarks published by the Defense Ministry, warning that the planned move will set a “dangerous” precedent.

Gallant also spoke with US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, and is due to speak with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken shortly, the ministry says.

Gallant instructed Israel’s defense establishment to “act at all echelons in order to make clear to the American government the importance of supporting IDF operations, which are carried out subject to international law,” the statement continues.

In additional remarks, Gallant says Netzah Yehuda, which has been deployed to Gaza recently following months on the northern border, is operating “in accordance with IDF values ​​and according to international law, and any event that deviates from the procedures is handled accordingly.”

“The commanders and troops of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion are operating at the front of the fighting, since the outbreak of the war, they have been working to drive away Hezbollah forces on the northern border, to thwart terror elements in Judea and Samaria, and these days are working to dismantle the Hamas brigades in the Gaza Strip, while risking their lives,” he says.

“Any attempt to vilify an entire unit casts a heavy shadow on the actions of the IDF to protect the citizens of Israel and thwart terror elements. Harm to one battalion is harm to the entire defense establishment, this is not the way to behave with partners and friends,” Gallant says.

Until late 2022, Netzah Yehuda had been stationed permanently in the West Bank, where it was at the center of several controversies connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians.

White House condemns antisemitic actions of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University

Pro-Palestinian activists protest outside Columbia University in New York City, on April 20, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)
Pro-Palestinian activists protest outside Columbia University in New York City, on April 20, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

The White House condemns the pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked New York City’s Columbia University over the past week, leading the school’s campus Orthodox rabbi to urge Jewish students to stay away from campus for the time being.

“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous – they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates tells The Times of Israel.

“Echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms,” Bates says.

WATCH: IDF publishes footage of strike on Hezbollah operative in building used by terror group

Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah operative at a building the IDF says is used by the terror group in southern Lebanon’s Kafr Kila.

The IDF publishes footage of the strike.

TV reports: Netanyahu slams ‘false leaks’ by hostage negotiating team members, tells them to quit

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

At the start of today’s war cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly castigated unnamed members of Israel’s hostage negotiating team for leaking false information about the efforts to return the hostages, and told them to quit if they were not prepared to accept the decisions of the political echelon.

In near identical quotes carried by Channel 12 and Kan TV, Netanyahu reportedly said at the meeting: “The false briefings from the negotiating team harm the efforts to return the hostages. They spread despair among the families of the hostages. They have led Hamas to toughen its positions. And they are false.”

The prime minister reportedly added: “If there is somebody in the negotiating team who is not prepared to accept the decisions of the political echelon, and wants to generate false, anonymous headlines for political purposes, they should show some decency and not be here.”

Israel’s negotiating team has made repeated trips to Paris, Cairo and Doha in a so-far unsuccessful effort to follow November’s weeklong truce, in which 105 hostages were freed, with a deal in which the remaining 129 hostages abducted on October 7 and still held in Gaza would be released.

The team is headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and IDF Major-General Nitzan Alon.

Netanyahu’s reported comments come three days after Channel 12’s Uvda (Fact) investigative program broadcast interviews two unnamed members of the negotiating team, who claimed that Netanyahu appears to be indifferent to the fate of the hostages and has undermined efforts to reach a deal with Hamas to secure their release.

“I can’t say that without Netanyahu there would have been a deal, but I can say that without Netanyahu, the chances of making a deal would be better,” said one of the two.

In this handout photo, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (R) speaks with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on October 28, 2023, during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

According to the Kan report, Netanyahu has also previously accused Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of leaking material from meetings in which only he, Gallant, Barnea, and Bar were in attendance. “Everything leaks,” he reportedly said at the conclusion of another recent meeting. “I know it’s not the head of the Mossad or the head of the Shin Bet, so who else can it be?”

Netanyahu leveled his accusation against Gallant at the end of a cabinet meeting in which Gallant had participated by telephone, but after he was believed to have hung up. It prompted amusement at Gallant’s expense among some Likud ministers, said the report, which did not make clear whether Gallant had indeed hung up the phone.

A related, unsourced report by Channel 12 says Israel is dismayed by the prospect of Hamas leaders leaving Qatar, as the Gulf state faces increasing pressure over its influence with the terror group in the indirect hostage-for-truce negotiations with Israel.

The report says the Hamas leaders are contemplating relocating to Turkey — whose president Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh at the weekend — or Algeria.

It says Israel regards Hamas’s presence in Gaza as giving mediators Qatar potential leverage over the terror organization, which would not otherwise be the case.

Protesters march with coffins in Ra’anana as they call for a hostage deal

Coffins representing what will happen to the Hamas hostages without a deal for their release are displayed at Ra'anana Junction on April 21, 2024. (Avishai Reisner)
Coffins representing what will happen to the Hamas hostages without a deal for their release are displayed at Ra'anana Junction on April 21, 2024. (Avishai Reisner)

Protests and rallies for the return of the hostages from Gaza continue Sunday night, as the country prepares for the first night of Passover.

In Ra’anana, protestors march with coffins to make the point of what could happen if the government does not make a deal to bring the hostages home.

One protestor says their march was taking place 30 years after Benjamin Netanyahu marched at the same junction with coffins in 1994, accusing then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin of “killing Zionism” with the Oslo Accords.

As the Ra’anana gathering carries the coffins across a main road, they also hold banners that read, “Without the hostages, there is no Israel.”

In Tivon and Jerusalem, protestors set empty seder tables in their town centers, calling for the release of the hostages.

“If they don’t have a seder, we won’t have a seder,” protestors in Tivon say.

War cabinet said to discuss post-war Gaza governance as pressure mounts to present plan

The issue of how Gaza will be governed once Israel’s war with Hamas reaches an end is scheduled to be discussed by Israel’s war cabinet this evening in more detail than it has been in some time, Channel 12 reports, although Channel 13 alleges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked the discussion from taking place.

According to Channel 12, the pressure on Israel to create an alternative to Hamas in the Gaza Strip is mounting, both from the outside and from within Israel’s political echelon, which is why the war cabinet is expected to discuss the issue.

A contradictory report from Channel 13, however, alleges that Netanyahu failed to respond to an appeal from war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz to discuss the issue of post-war Gaza, and so the issue has been pushed off again.

Earlier today, Gantz called for Israel to work with the US and other regional allies to build a plan for the day after the war in Gaza, saying that “the regional coalition led by the United States that has proven itself against Iran, must be part of our action plan for a strategic reversal in the Middle East, and part of the day after in the Gaza Strip.”

The war cabinet is also attempting to find new angles from which negotiating parties can approach hostage deal talks after Hamas rejected all previous offers, Channel 12 reports, adding that the meeting is the first time the war cabinet has convened to discuss the hostages in almost two weeks.

The discussion also focused on the impact that the continuation of fighting will likely have on the success of any efforts to reach a deal with Hamas for the hostages’ release.

US considering sanctions against other IDF units for alleged rights violations – source

Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The US is considering sanctions against other Israeli military and police units alleged to have committed human rights violations against Palestinians in addition to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which the Biden administration will be designating this week, two US sources tell The Times of Israel.

The State Department has been probing Netzah Yehuda and some of the other units in the Israeli security forces for well over a year, due to alleged human rights violations.

In the case of Netzah Yehuda, the IDF in December 2022 decided to move the infantry unit made up largely of ultra-Orthodox nationalists out of the West Bank so they would no longer be in contact with Palestinians. But no steps were taken to hold specific soldiers accountable for the repeated incidents of misconduct against Palestinians that ran rampant in Netzah Yehuda, a US official says, explaining the unprecedented decision to move ahead with sanctioning an Israeli military unit.

The practical impact of the sanctions may be limited, though. They will bar Israel from using US military aid to purchase weapons for Netzah Yehuda, but Israel could still use its own funds to purchase weapons for the beleaguered battalion, a second US source says.

However, as with the sanctions that the US began imposing against violent settlers, the US source predicted that other Western countries would follow Washington’s lead in targeting units that rights groups have found to repeatedly and unjustly target Palestinians.

While much of the focus is on conduct taking place in the West Bank, the source speculates that probes will also be opened into units operating in Gaza, given the flood of videos that IDF soldiers have posted on social media throughout the war against Hamas that show them violating the IDF’s code of conduct.

Israeli soldiers from Netzah Yehuda Battalion and family members attend a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, on May 17, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

The US source notes that the Biden administration is differentiating between its disapproval of Israel’s actions in the West Bank while continuing its robust support of Israel more broadly, including through the $14 billion aid package approved by Congress over the weekend.

The Walla news site, which broke the story on the impending US sanctions, notes that this was not an issue of Israel being singled out by the Biden administration. Around the same time that the US began probing Netzah Yehuda, it also started investigating a special forces unit in the Australian army over allegations that it had carried out human rights abuses in Afghanistan. But unlike the IDF, the Australian army took significant steps against the unit, including the criminal prosecution of one of the unit’s soldiers.

The sanctions are being levied under what is known as the Leahy Law, which prohibits providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice. Sanctioned units are also banned from participating in joint military drills with the US Army.

While the State Department looks into thousands of allegations of Leahy Law violations each year, it created a special panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum that exclusively vets allegations against the IDF and Israel Police due to the political sensitivity of the issue.

ProPublica reported last week that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat on the panel’s recommendation regarding Netzah Yehuda for months ostensibly concerned about the political ramifications of the move.

However, the US official says the administration was not avoiding this week’s announcement and was long planning on tying it to the State Department’s human rights report, which will be released this week.

Gantz asks Blinken to reconsider decision to sanction IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reconsider the reported plan to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, his office says in a readout of the conversation.

Not only will sanctioning the largely ultra-Orthodox battalion harm Israel’s international legitimacy as it fights the Hamas terror group in Gaza, but there is no justification for the US to do so, Gantz told Blinken.

The Israeli judicial system is strong and independent, the former IDF chief of staff said, adding that all IDF units are subject to the IDF’s code of conduct and orders in accordance with international law.

The two also discussed the urgent need to work together with regional partners and put together a plan for the day after the war in Gaza, while also placing pressure on Hamas to return the hostages.

IDF chief Halevi approved plans for ‘continuation of the war’ at Southern Command HQ

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) attends a meeting at the IDF's Southern Command Headquarters in Beersheba, April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) attends a meeting at the IDF's Southern Command Headquarters in Beersheba, April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved battle plans at the Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba earlier today.

The IDF says the “assessment of the situation and approval of plans for the continuation of the war” was attended by the head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman and other officers.

IDF reserve officer succumbs to wounds sustained in Hezbollah drone attack in northern town last week

Maj. (res.) Dor Zimel, who was critically wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on April 17, 2024, and succumbed to his wounds on April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Maj. (res.) Dor Zimel, who was critically wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on April 17, 2024, and succumbed to his wounds on April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A reservist officer critically wounded in the Hezbollah drone and missile attack on the northern border community of Arab al-Aramshe last week has succumbed to his wounds, the military says.

He is named as Maj. (res.) Dor Zimel, 27, a deputy company commander in the Etzioni Brigade, from Even Yehuda.

Another 13 soldiers and four civilians were wounded in the attack on April 17, during which Hezbollah launched two anti-tank missiles and an explosive-laden drone from Lebanon, targeting a community center in Arab al-Aramshe where soldiers were gathered.

Zimel had been evacuated to Galilee Medical Center in critical condition and suffering from a severe head wound that caused brain damage.

The hospital’s team fought for his life in the intensive care unit until a medical committee had no alternative but to declare him brain-dead.

Two soldiers injured in the same event are still hospitalized at Galilee Medical Center. One is 51 and in the neurosurgery ward in moderate to serious condition after undergoing neurosurgery. A 29-year-old is hospitalized in moderate condition in the surgical department.

The rest of the injured from that event have been either discharged or transferred to other hospitals.

Amid unrest at Columbia University, campus rabbi urges Jewish students to stay away until it’s safe to return

Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside Columbia University in New York City on April 20, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)
Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside Columbia University in New York City on April 20, 2024. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)

Following days of unrest and anti-Israel action at Columbia University in New York City, the university’s orthodox rabbi sent a message to Jewish students urging them to stay away from campus until it is deemed safe again, CNN reports.

In a message seen by CNN, the rabbi condemned the “terrible and tragic” events of the last few days.

Recent events “have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” the rabbi wrote.

“It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” the message continued. “It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school.”

The current unrest at Columbia began when the university asked the police to dismantle a “Gaza solidarity encampment” set up by students on the grounds of the university.

More than 100 people were arrested as the encampment was dismantled, and anti-Israel protests have been ongoing since then.

In Passover message, Netanyahu vows imminent ‘painful blows’ on Hamas to increase pressure to free hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in a video message to the Israeli public on April 21, 2024. (Roi Avraham/ GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in a video message to the Israeli public on April 21, 2024. (Roi Avraham/ GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to “land additional and painful blows” on Hamas over Passover in order to increase pressure on the terror group to free the hostages.

In a pre-passover video message shared online, Netanyahu frames the current conflict in Biblical terms, citing the rabbinic dictum that “in every generation, they rise to destroy us” and stating that the absence of the hostages over the upcoming holiday “only strengthens our determination to bring them back.”

“Unfortunately, until now, all proposals for the release of our hostages have been outright rejected by Hamas,” he says, pushing back against growing domestic criticism that he has not done enough to secure their freedom.

“Instead of retreating from its extreme positions, Hamas builds on division within us, it draws encouragement from the pressures directed at the Israeli government. As a result, it only tightens its conditions for the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu asserts. “Therefore, we will land additional and painful blows on it – and it will happen soon.”

“In the coming days we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve our victory,” he says.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu stated that “there is a date” for the IDF’s long-delayed ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but, according to CNN, he reportedly decided to delay the much-anticipated offensive after Iran’s recent missile and drone strike against the Jewish state.

Ben Gvir accuses Gantz of harming Israel’s security while serving as defense minister

File - National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 15, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
File - National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 15, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accuses war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz of causing harm to the State of Israel after Gantz told reporters that “ministers who harm the security of the state should not sit in the cabinet,” in an apparent dig at his fellow lawmakers.

“The person who harmed the security of the State of Israel, who drove the concept of containment and surrender to Hamas, endangered Golani’s soldiers, brought in workers from Gaza, opened the checkpoints in the West Bank, shut down the emergency response teams, and hosted [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] in his home, is Gantz,” Ben Gvir says, referencing Gantz’s time as defense minister between 2020-2022.

“In my opinion, someone like him should not sit in the cabinet,” the ultranationalist minister adds.

IDF wraps up 50-hour operation in Nur Shams refugee camp: 10 soldiers hurt, 14 Palestinian gunmen killed

IDF troops operate in the West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp, in an image published April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops operate in the West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp, in an image published April 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has wrapped up a 50-hour-long operation in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp, adjacent to Tulkarem.

Amid the raid, troops killed 14 gunmen in clashes, detained 15 wanted Palestinians, discovered and destroyed dozens of explosives, and captured weapons, according to the military.

Nine soldiers and one Border Police officer were hurt during the clashes. They were listed in good and moderate condition.

Palestinian media initially reported that the commander of a local Palestinian Islamic Jihad wing in Tulkarem was killed amid the raid, although reports now say that Muhammad Jaber, known as Abu Shuja’a, did not actually die. He is purportedly seen in footage at the funerals of other gunmen.

Hamas in Lebanon claims responsibility for Upper Galilee rocket barrage

Hamas’s Lebanon branch claims responsibility for a rocket barrage earlier today on the Upper Galilee.

In a statement, the terror group says it launched 20 Grad rockets from Lebanon at an Israeli army base near the town of Shomera.

There were no reports of injuries in the attack.

Gantz: Those who harm Israel’s security should not sit in government

National Unity chair Benny Gantz gives a video statement on April 3, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
National Unity chair Benny Gantz gives a video statement on April 3, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

In what appears to be a dig at several of his coalition colleagues, National Unity Minister Benny Gantz states that “ministers who harm the security of the state should not sit in the cabinet.”

Speaking with reporters in the Knesset ahead of the start of the Passover holiday tomorrow evening, the war cabinet member and former IDF chief of staff insists that “critical discussions to advance the goals of the war must take place, even on Shabbat and holidays.”

Just as soldiers do not get a break on the battlefield, neither should the country’s leaders, he states, calling on his fellow politicians to “set a personal example, and certainly not engage in division or attempts to pass laws and decisions that harm our security and political interests.”

Israel’s focus should be on partnership and not on “favoring a sector or a group,” he continues, adding that “the freedom we gained as a people in the Exodus was only lost during periods of division between us.”

While Israel has had achievements on the battlefield, both in the south and along the Lebanon border, it is important to be honest with the public and admit that “we have not yet completed our goals,” he says, adding that Israel is approaching a “decision point” as to how to proceed militarily in the north.

“I appeal from here to the evacuees, who will also celebrate the Seder night outside their homes, and I promise – we see you, we recognize the enormous difficulty and your great courage. We will work to bring you home safely, even before the start of the next school year,” he states.

In what appears to be a threat aimed at Hamas’s top leadership in Qatar, Gantz states that “Hamas terrorists, brutal murderers, should know that they are not immune anywhere — not in tunnels, not in luxury hotels.”

Turning to the day-after in Gaza, Gantz asserts that “the regional coalition led by the United States that has proven itself against Iran, must be part of our action plan for a strategic reversal in the Middle East, and part of the day after in the Gaza Strip.”

IDF says fighter jets struck south Lebanon buildings where Hezbollah operatives were gathered

Israeli fighter jets struck two buildings in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab a short while ago, where the IDF says Hezbollah operatives were gathered.

The IDF says additional Hezbollah sites were hit in Naqoura and Majdal Zoun.

Two rockets were fired earlier today at the Rosh Hanikra area, with the IDF saying it shelled the launch site and later hit a Hezbollah position in Qotrani in response to the attack.

 

In visit to IDF outpost, Knesset Speaker Ohana fired weapons at shooting range without approval

Knesset speaker Amir Ohana in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on December 25, 2023. (Sindel/Flash90)
Knesset speaker Amir Ohana in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on December 25, 2023. (Sindel/Flash90)

During a visit to an IDF outpost in the West Bank on Thursday last week, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana fired several weapons in a shooting range, despite not being cleared to do so by the military, Channel 12 reports.

Ohana was visiting the Yakir Outpost to meet with the IDF reserve soldiers stationed there and was accompanied throughout by Chief Reserve Officer Brig. Gen. Benny Ben-Ari.

After receiving an overview of the outpost’s activities and speaking to the soldiers, Ohana was brought to the firing range. According to the report, he then went against the IDF’s orders and fired both a MAG and Negev machine gun, as well as a grenade launcher.

Following the incident, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said that “the visit was planned and coordinated in advance,” but that the “shooting at the range was not included in the scope of the approved visit, and was carried out against orders.”

The statement added that the incident is under review.

IDF says troops shot Palestinian woman who tried to stab soldiers at Jordan Valley checkpoint

The IDF says troops shot a Palestinian woman who attempted to stab soldiers at a checkpoint in the Jordan Valley a short while ago.

No troops were hurt in the incident at the Beka’ot Checkpoint.

The assailant was “neutralized,” according to the IDF.

IDF: We’re not aware of US plans to sanction Netzah Yehuda Battalion

Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Israeli military says it is unaware of plans by the United States to sanction the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

“If a decision is made on the matter, it will be reviewed,” the IDF says.

The battalion, part of the Kfir Brigade and made up of largely ultra-Orthodox troops, is currently deployed to the Gaza Strip front, following months on the Syrian border.

It had previously been stationed almost permanently in the West Bank, where its troops were involved in a series of controversial and violent incidents.

The IDF in a statement says the troops are “now participating in the war in the Gaza Strip, with courage and professionalism, while maintaining the values ​​and spirit of the IDF and the principles of international law.”

“Over the past few years, the battalion’s troops have been at the core of operational activities around the clock, to maintain the security of the citizens of the State of Israel, alongside being a leading battalion in the integration of ultra-Orthodox troops in the IDF,” the statement continues.

Related: Israel aghast as US said poised to sanction IDF unit with history of abuses

Regarding the controversial incidents, the army says that “the IDF is working and will continue to work to investigate every unusual event in a focused manner and in accordance with the law.”

Some 50,000 Israelis have flights cancelled, leaving them unable to travel for Passover holiday – report

Passengers at the departure hall in the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on April 14, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Passengers at the departure hall in the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on April 14, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Some 50,000 Israelis have had their flights cancelled in recent days, leaving them unable to travel for the upcoming Passover festival, or stranded abroad and unable to return for the holiday, Channel 12 reports.

The outlet says that numerous airlines have scrapped flights amid Israel’s war against Hamas and Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend.

Multiple carriers have still not returned to full service having suspended or reduced operations in the days following the October 7 onslaught by Hamas.

The outlet says that Swiss, United, KLM, Air Canada and Easyjet are not flying to and from Israel, with some of them having scrapped flights at short notice.

The Passover holiday, set to begin tomorrow evening, is usually one of the peak periods in the Israeli travel calendar for both incoming tourists, and vacationing Israelis.

Palestinian media reports airstrike in Rafah

Palestinian media report an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

It is unclear if there are casualties in the strike.

The IDF does not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sirens warn of suspected drone attack on northern border communities

Sirens warn of a suspected drone attack in a number of communities close to the northern border for the second time in a number of minutes.

Sirens in northern border towns warn of suspected drone attack

Sirens warn of a suspected drone attack in a number of communities close to the northern border.

The towns have been largely evacuated of civilians since Hezbollah began near-daily attacks on northern Israel since October 8.

Khamenei thanks Iran’s armed forces for attack on Israel, calls on them to ‘learn the enemy’s tactics’

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him meeting with politicians and government officials in Tehran on April 3, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him meeting with politicians and government officials in Tehran on April 3, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei thanked the country’s armed forces for their attack on Israel last weekend, Iran’s official news agency reports.

He also calls on them to “ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy’s tactics.”

“How many missiles were launched and how many of them hit their target is not the primary question. What really matters is that Iran demonstrated its willpower during that operation,” Khamenei says.

Iran launched more than 300 projectiles at Israel, comprising 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles. The IDF said 99% of them were intercepted, and a young girl was seriously injured by falling shrapnel.

Sister of Hamas chief Haniyeh indicted for incitement to terror, identifying with terrorist group

A picture of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh found during a raid on the home of his sister, who lives in the southern community of Tel Sheva, April 1, 2024. (Israel Police)
A picture of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh found during a raid on the home of his sister, who lives in the southern community of Tel Sheva, April 1, 2024. (Israel Police)

A sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is indicted on charges of identifying with a proscribed terrorist organization, and incitement to terrorism.

The indictment against Sabah al-Salem Haniyeh, 57, a resident of the southern town of Tel Sheva, charges her with having sent two WhatsApp messages to dozens of her contacts, including Haniyeh himself, “praising, encouraging and supporting” Hamas’s actions on October 7 when it slaughtered some 1,200 people, kidnapped 253 more and perpetrated mass atrocities in southern Israel.

On October 10, she sent a message to two WhatsApp groups, one of which had 116 members and the other with nine members, telling them to pass around a prayer which would help “destroy the enemy.”

The prayer called on God to “Scatter them and separate them and…. destroy them and destroy their buildings… and bring their end near and cut off their lives and let them be busy with their corpses and take them away… O God count them in number and kill them and do not leave any one of them. O God, do in their slaughter and keep us away from their evil.”

For this message and another message sent on October 9 she is charged with two counts of identifying with a terrorist organization, which carries with it a three-year prison sentence were she to be convicted, and three counts of incitement to terrorism which carries a five-year prison sentence.

The indictment is filed to the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court and the State Attorney’s Office requests that the court order Sabah al-Salem Haniyeh to be held in detention until the end of the legal proceedings against her.

Labor chief calls for dismantling of IDF unit with history of abuses said to be targeted for US sanctions

Labor Party chair MK Merav Michaeli announces that she will step down from the party leadership, at a press conference in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Labor Party chair MK Merav Michaeli announces that she will step down from the party leadership, at a press conference in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Labor chair Merav Michaeli calls for the government to dismantle the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion following a report that the United States is preparing to sanction the combat unit with a history of abuses against Palestinians.

The sanctions are “an acknowledgment of the reality and an understanding that Israel’s conduct in the territories cannot continue,” she states, explaining that “the violent and corrupt conduct of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion and those around it has been known for years, and nothing has been done to stop it.”

“Two years ago, the US established a team to investigate the battalion. The political and military echelons cannot pretend they did not know about it,” she adds, arguing that “instead of wising up and dealing with the situation, we get yet another dose of denial and foot-dragging, lies and covering up the bitter reality” — directly leading to the sanctions.

“Netzah Yehuda is an IDF battalion that should have been disbanded many years ago. Most of the ultra-Orthodox who serve in the IDF do not serve in it today. This is a regiment of ‘hilltop youth’ and those who see just religion as an excuse to attack Arabs,” Michaeli continues.

The sanctions are reportedly a response to alleged human rights abuses committed against Palestinians in the West Bank by the unit’s members.

Responding to War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz’s statement that the unit is “an inseparable part of the Israel Defense Forces,” Michaeli counters that “automatically defending” it “casts a heavy shadow over the entire IDF.”

Hamas-run health ministry raises Gaza death toll to 34,097

Rescue workers search for survivors under the rubble of a building hit in overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 21, 2024 (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Rescue workers search for survivors under the rubble of a building hit in overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 21, 2024 (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

At least 34,097 Palestinians have been killed and 76,980 injured in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war on October 7, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

The figures cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. They include some 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Two hundred and sixty IDF soldiers have been killed in the army’s Gaza ground operation.

Iran’s Raisi to make official visit to Pakistan from Monday

Handout picture of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on April 2, 2024. (Iranian Presidency/AFP)
Handout picture of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on April 2, 2024. (Iranian Presidency/AFP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will make an official visit to Pakistan from Monday to Wednesday, Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs says.

During the visit, Raisi will meet the president and the prime minister of Pakistan, chairman of the Senate and speaker of the National Assembly, according to the statement.

IDF: Palestinian gunmen in West Bank open fire at Kibbutz Meirav over the Green Line

Palestinian gunmen in the northern West Bank opened fire at the Israeli community of Kibbutz Meirav, the IDF says.

There are no injuries in the attack, but slight damage was caused to one of the homes.

Meirav lies close to the Green Line, which separates Israel from the West Bank. While Palestinians periodically carry out shooting attacks against Israelis in the West Bank, shooting attacks from the West Bank into Israel are less common.

The army says troops are blocking roads and scanning the area for the suspects.

Amid searches in the town of Jalbun, from which the attack was carried out, Palestinians hurled an explosive at the troops, the IDF says.

There are no injuries in the incident.

Lapid slams Netanyahu over reported US plan to sanction IDF unit with history of abuses

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on April 15, 2024 (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on April 15, 2024 (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over reports that Washington plans on sanctioning the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has a history of abuses against Palestinians.

Calling the American sanctions a “mistake” that must be corrected, Lapid declares that “the source of the problem is not on the military level but at the political level.”

“The world understands and knows that [National Security] Minister [Itamar] Ben Gvir does not want the police to enforce the law in the West Bank and [Finance] Minister [Bezalel] Smotrich is not opposed to Jewish terrorism and extreme settler riots,” he says. “The result is serious harm to Israel’s status as a nation of law and another serious erosion of our international status.”

“The soldiers of the IDF and its commanders,” he continues, “are the first to be harmed by the reckless policy and political failure of the government.”

Responding to a report says the Biden administration is slated to announce sanctions against Netzah Yehuda, Ben Gvir on Saturday stated that if the Defense Ministry would not “back up the battalion as required,” he would work to absorb it into the border police.

The sanctions are reportedly a response to alleged human rights abuses committed against Palestinians in the West Bank by the unit’s members.

Prosecutors close probe into decade-old police brutality allegation against far-right MK Almog Cohen

File: Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen at the Knesset on November 22, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
File: Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen at the Knesset on November 22, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The State Attorney’s Office informs far-right MK Almog Cohen of the Otzma Yehudit party that the investigation into suspected violent conduct by Cohen during his service as a Yasam riot police officer has been closed.

“After examining the evidence, it was found that the evidentiary material does not provide any foundation to put him [Cohen] on trial,” the State Attorney’s Office says.

In October 2022, Cohen posted a picture of police officers arresting three men lying prostrate, face down on the ground with a caption insinuating that he was one of the three officers.

The post caused Cohen problems, however, since it appears to have been from an incident in 2013, when Cohen was still serving in the police, in which police officers severely beat and abused several Arab protestors following a demonstration against a government development program in the Negev region.

A complaint was filed around the time of the incident but closed when the officer in question could not be identified. After Cohen’s post, the complainants came forward again and the attorney general ordered the case reopened. The Lahav 433 investigative unit questioned Cohen over the incident in January, leading Otzma Yehudit leader and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to denounce the attorney general for “political persecution.”

Ben Gvir says following the closing of the case that it should never have been opened and alleged it was reflective of tactics in the law enforcement agencies to intimidate Otzma Yehudit members.

Jewish activist calls for top London cop to quit after officers said his kippa ‘provoked’ anti-Israel crowd, threatened to arrest him

A screenshot from video released by the Campaign Against Antisemitism shows a London Metropolitan Police officer threatening a Jewish man with arrest because his presence is "antagonizing" to pro-Palestinian demonstrators at an anti-Israel march in London, April 13, 2024. (X video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A screenshot from video released by the Campaign Against Antisemitism shows a London Metropolitan Police officer threatening a Jewish man with arrest because his presence is "antagonizing" to pro-Palestinian demonstrators at an anti-Israel march in London, April 13, 2024. (X video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A British campaigner against antisemitism has called for the head of London’s Metropolitan Police to resign after he was told that he’s too “openly Jewish” to approach an anti-Israel march last week.

“The Met has dented the confidence of Jewish Londoners and for that reason we feel that Sir Mark Rowley has to go,” Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, writes in London’s Sunday Times.

“He’s lost control of the streets and he needs to either resign or be removed. How else is this going to change?” Falter says.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley in London, on September 17, 2022. (Carl de Souza/Pool via AP)

The charity Campaign Against ­Antisemitism released a video late on Thursday which showed a police officer preventing Falter, its chief executive, from crossing a road in the capital because of the protest on April 13.

The officer was videoed telling Falter he feared his presence could prompt a “reaction” because he was “quite openly Jewish.”

Later in the video, another officer is seen telling Falter that if he did not agree to be escorted from the area, he would be arrested.

Falter said he was walking through London after attending a synagogue and was not part of “any protest or counterprotest.”

In an initial apology, the Metropolitan Police said that Falter’s presence could be seen as “provocative,” but it later retracted the statement and issued a new apology.

Rocket sirens sound in northern border towns

Sirens sound in several communities close to the northern border, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Most of the northern border communities have been largely evacuated of civilians since the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group launched almost daily attacks on October 8.

WSJ: Biden, US officials watched with ‘mounting alarm’ as scale of Iran attack became clear

People gather around a component from an intercepted ballistic missile fired by Iran on April 14, 2024 that fell near the Dead Sea, April 20, 2024 (AP Photo/Itamar Grinberg)
People gather around a component from an intercepted ballistic missile fired by Iran on April 14, 2024 that fell near the Dead Sea, April 20, 2024 (AP Photo/Itamar Grinberg)

The Wall Street Journal reports that US President Joe Biden and security officials watched with “mounting alarm” as the scale of Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel became clear last weekend.

“This was on the high end, I think, of what we were, what we were anticipating,” a senior official says of the moments the size of the Iranian barrage became clear.

An unnamed official tells the newspaper that it was “unclear until all was said and done” whether Israel’s missile defenses and the coalition of countries involved in shooting down projectiles, had succeeded.

The report says the US was confident that their plan could handle around 50 ballistic missiles, but was deeply concerned when it became clear that over 100 had been fired.

The outlet says that as it became clear in the run-up to the attack by Iran that something was going to happen, a team of US military personnel was secretly sent to Tel Aviv to work at “a missile defense operations center.”

The newspaper also says that plans were drawn up for Saudi and Jordanian planes to defend their airspace if necessary.

Iran launched more than 300 projectiles at Israel, comprising 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles.

Israeli lightly injured by explosive device as he tries to remove Palestinian flag near West Bank settlement

An Israeli civilian is lightly injured as a result of an improvised explosive device near the West Bank settlement of Kochav Hashahar, medics say.

The man was trying to remove a Palestinian flag on the side of Route 458 when the device exploded, footage shows.

The Rescuers Without Borders emergency service says the man was treated at the scene for minor injuries and declined to be taken to a hospital.

WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE

IDF says jets hit Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon overnight

Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah targets in three separate areas of southern Lebanon, the military says.

The IDF says one of the strikes targeted a Hezbollah operative at one of the terror group’s sites in Tayr Harfa.

Separate strikes hit a Hezbollah observation post in Odaisseh and buildings used by the terror group in Khiam, the army adds.

Medics say troops killed 2 Palestinians trying to attack soldiers near Hebron

Israeli troops stand guard near the scene of a shooting, near Hebron in the West Bank, April 21, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/ FLASH90)
Israeli troops stand guard near the scene of a shooting, near Hebron in the West Bank, April 21, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/ FLASH90)

IDF troops killed two Palestinians who attempted to carry out a shooting and stabbing attack near Hebron in the southern West Bank.

In the incident at the Beit Einun junction, the army says one Palestinian tried to stab a soldier, and simultaneously, another suspect opened fire at them.

The IDF says troops returned fire at both attackers. According to medics, they were killed.

No soldiers were hurt in the attack.

Satellite images appear to show precise damage to Iranian air defenses in alleged Israeli strike Friday

Iran International publishes what it says are images of before and after the alleged Israeli strike on Friday on air defenses near an Iranian nuclear site.

The satellite images appear to show that the damage was very precise.

Iran International is an opposition outlet, critical of the Iranian government.

The alleged Israeli strike overnight Thursday-Friday on Iranian air defenses near the Natanz nuclear site used a high-tech missile that was able to evade Iran’s radar systems, in a move “calibrated to make Iran think twice” before launching another direct attack on Israel, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

Two Iranian officials said the strike hit a Russian-made S-300 air defense system. They told the newspaper that Iran had not detected intrusions into its airspace from drones, missiles or aircraft.

Two unnamed Western officials cited by the newspaper said the missile aimed to show Tehran that Israel is able to dodge and neutralize its defenses.

2 attackers ‘neutralized,’ no Israeli injuries in shooting near Hebron – reports

There were no Israeli injuries in the attack near the West Bank city of Hebron, and the two gunmen who tried to attack soldiers have been “neutralized,” according to Hebrew-language media reports.

One of the attackers approached the troops and attempted to stab them, while the second opened fire, reports say.

The attackers were “neutralized” on the scene. There is no word on their conditions.

IDF: Initial reports of a shooting attack near Hebron

The Israel Defense Forces says it has received initial reports of a suspected shooting attack near the West Bank city of Hebron.

The military says it received reports of of gunfire near the Beit Einun interchange.

 

Far-right MK: Netzah Yehuda battalion should get the Israel Prize — not sanctions

Far-right MK Avi Maoz blasts a reported US plan to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion and calls on Israel to instead award the prestigious Israel Prize to the ultra-Orthodox battalion ” in recognition of their work for Israel’s security.”

“As the father of a son who served in the Netzah Yehuda battalion on a regular basis, including five months of reserve duty in Judea and Samaria from the outbreak of the Gaza War, I am filled with contempt for those who want to impose sanctions on this wonderful battalion,” he writes on X, formerly Twitter.

The MK’s comments come after the Axios news site reported that the Biden administration is planning to announce sanctions against the battalion for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“To impose sanctions on Netzah Yehuda is to sanction all IDF soldiers,” he charges.

The battalion has been at the center of several controversies in the past connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, including the 2022 death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.

Iran preparing to receive shipment of Su-35 Russian fighter jets — report

A September 26, 2019 file photo shows a Russian Su-35 fighter jet taking off at Hemeimeem air base in Syria. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
A September 26, 2019 file photo shows a Russian Su-35 fighter jet taking off at Hemeimeem air base in Syria. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Iran is preparing to receive a shipment of the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia to the Isfahan air base targeted in an alleged Israeli strike overnight Thursday-Friday, according to unconfirmed reports.

A week after Iran fired a massive barrage of drones and missiles towards Israel in response to an alleged Israeli airstrike on a building near Tehran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1, Qatari-owned outlet Al-Arabi Al-Jadid reports that Russia intends to deliver 12 of the fighter jets “soon.”

There is no official confirmation of the report.

Iran currently has mostly Russian MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets that date back to the Soviet era, as well as some Chinese aircraft, including the F-7.

Some American F-4 and F-5 fighter jets dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution are also part of its fleet.

Report: Israel used air-to-surface missile called ‘The Rampage’ in Iran attack

Illustrative: An Israeli F-16 fighter jet fires a 'Rampage' air-to-ground rocket in an undated photograph. (Israeli Military Industries Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries)
Illustrative: An Israeli F-16 fighter jet fires a 'Rampage' air-to-ground rocket in an undated photograph. (Israeli Military Industries Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries)

The missile used in the alleged Israeli attack on a military base near the Iranian city of Isfahan overnight Thursday-Friday was a locally-developed air-to-surface missile dubbed The Rampage, according to a Hebrew media report.

The Kan broadcaster reports that The Rampage was identified from photos and also matches the extent of the damage caused in the attack.

The 4.7-meter (15-foot) rocket can also travel at supersonic speed, making it difficult to detect and intercept using air defense systems such as the Iron Dome.

Israel has not officially commented on the strike, while Iran has downplayed the incident and insisted that only three small drones — and no missiles — were involved in the attack on Isfahan.

The Rampage, which weighs over half a ton and was unveiled in 2018, was designed to penetrate into and destroy protected areas, like bunkers, according to its manufacturers, Israeli Military Industries Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.

The Kan report comes hours after The New York Times said that the alleged Israeli strike on Iranian air defenses near the Natanz nuclear site had used a high-tech missile that was able to evade Iran’s radar systems.

The report cited officials as saying that the move was “calibrated to make Iran think twice” before launching another direct attack on Israel.

Bill to force TikTok to divest from Chinese parent company or lose US market moves ahead in Congress

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press after the House passed a major aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and also voted to ban TikTok at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 20, 2024. (Drew Angerer/AFP)
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press after the House passed a major aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and also voted to ban TikTok at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 20, 2024. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that would force the wildly popular social media app TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be shut out of the American market.

US and other Western officials have voiced alarm over the popularity of TikTok with young people, alleging that it allows Beijing to spy on users. It has 170 million in the United States alone.

These critics also say TikTok is subservient to Beijing and a conduit to spread propaganda. China and the company deny these claims.

The bill, which could trigger the rare step of barring a company from operating in the US market, now goes to the Senate for a vote next week. It passes the House with strong bipartisan support, by a margin of 360 to 58.

US President Joe Biden has stated he will sign the legislation. He reiterated his concerns about TikTok in a telephone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping early this month.

Likud minister slams reported US plan to sanction IDF unit as ‘absurd and unacceptable’

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi joins a chorus of Israeli lawmakers in criticizing reported US plans to announce sanctions against an IDF battalion for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Israel is at war, the IDF is on the frontline, and the United States, our great friend, who has said it supports us in defeating Hamas, imposes sanctions on a unit or soldiers from a unit in the IDF?!,” Karhi posts on X, formerly Twitter.

Having served himself in the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has been at the center of several controversies in the past connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, Karhi calls the reported plan “absurd and unacceptable.”

“As a Netzah Yehuda graduate, I salute all IDF soldiers, and Netzah Yehuda soldiers in particular, who risk their lives for the people of Israel. One must not fall into the hypocritical honey trap of the BDS and its metastases,” he writes.

The Likud minister’s comments come after the Axios news site reported the planned sanctions, quoting sources who said the move would ban the battalion and its members from receiving any US military assistance or training.

Quentin Tarantino said to drop ‘The Movie Critic’ as his 10th and final film

File Quentin Tarantino, right, and wife Daniella Pick pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
File Quentin Tarantino, right, and wife Daniella Pick pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

Quentin Tarantino has dropped ‘The Movie Critic’ as his 10th and final film, apparently as he was unhappy with the script, as first reported by Deadline.

The acclaimed director, who has spent extended periods of time in Tel Aviv in recent years with his Israeli wife Daniella Pick, has said that he will only solo direct 10 films.

There are no immediate reports on a replacement for Tarantino’s much-anticipated final movie.

Report: Finance Ministry considering tax hikes to fund ongoing Gaza war

The Finance Ministry is considering wide-ranging tax hikes in the coming months in order to fund the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, according to a television news report.

The increase under consideration, according to the Kan broadcaster, would apply to both VAT and income tax, in addition to tax hikes already included in the most recent amendment to the 2024 budget.

“If the war expenses continue at this rate, we’ll have no choice but to raise taxes,” senior officials are quoted as saying in the report.

The report comes days after ratings agency S&P Global cut Israel’s long-term ratings to A-plus from AA-minus amid heightened confrontations with Iran over the past week and the already elevated geopolitical risks for Israel.

Trump postpones first campaign rally since trial began, due to bad weather

Supporters of former US president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are asked to move to a shelter as a storm moves in before Trump was due to speak, at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, April 20, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP)
Supporters of former US president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are asked to move to a shelter as a storm moves in before Trump was due to speak, at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, April 20, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called off a campaign rally on Saturday evening — the first since his New York criminal trial began — due to bad weather.

“We want to make sure that everybody is safe above all and so they’ve asked us to ask people to leave the site and seek shelter,” Trump says in a phone call broadcast at the outdoor venue where many of his supporters had gathered under heavy dark clouds.

“There seems to be some thunder and lightning and it’s a pretty big storm. So if you don’t mind, I think we’re gonna have to just do a rain check. I’m so sad.”

Kremlin: US military aid to Israel is ‘road straight to escalation’; Medvedev slams package as ‘Russophobia’

The Russian Foreign Ministry says US House of Representatives’ approval of security aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will “deepen crises throughout the world.”

“Military assistance to the Kyiv regime is direct sponsorship of terrorist activity,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova writes on Telegram.

“To Taiwan, it is interference in China’s internal affairs. To Israel, it is a road straight to escalation and an unprecedented rise in tension in the region.”

The House passed a $95 billion legislative package with broad bipartisan support providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry says that approval of security aid to Ukraine “will make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and result in the deaths of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kyiv regime.

Peskov is quoted as saying by Russian news agencies as saying that provisions in the legislation allowing the US administration to confiscate seized Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine to fund reconstruction will tarnish the image of the United States.

Russia, he says, will enact retaliatory measures.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, writing on the Telegram messaging app, says the approval of US aid for Ukraine was expected and grounded in “Russophobia.”

“We will, of course, be victorious regardless of the bloodsoaked $61 billion, which will mostly be swallowed up by their insatiable military industrial complex,” writes Medvedev, one of Russia’s most vociferous hawks as deputy chairman of the Security Council.

 

Palestinian reports: At least 14 people killed in IDF raid in West Bank

Palestinians gather next to an ambulance following an IDF raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West bank on April 20, 2024. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Palestinians gather next to an ambulance following an IDF raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West bank on April 20, 2024. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)

The Palestinian Red Crescent says at least 14 people have been killed in an Israel Defense Forces raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

The IDF said earlier today that troops had killed 10 operatives during the counter-terrorism operation, which it said started on Thursday.

“So far, our crews have evacuated 14 martyrs from Nur Shams camp to the hospital,” the Palestinian Red Crescent says.

There is no immediate statement from the IDF on the PRC report.

Residents contacted by AFP say there is no electricity in the area and food is running short, but nobody is being allowed to enter or leave.

Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seizing 253 hostages.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 450 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.

Israel to summon envoys of some countries that voted for full Palestinian UN status ‘for protest talks’

Israel will summon ambassadors of six of the 12 countries that voted for full Palestinian UN membership “for a protest talk.” a foreign ministry spokesman says in a statement.

“The ambassadors of France, Japan, South Korea, Malta, Slovakia and Ecuador will be summoned tomorrow for a demarche, and a strong protest will be presented to them,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein writes in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“An identical protest will be presented to additional countries,” he notes, without specifying why all of the countries in the UN Security Council that voted in favor of the resolution — including China and Russia — were not mentioned in the statement.

The US vetoed the Palestinian membership bid on Friday, while the UK and Switzerland abstained.

“The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors: A political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognize a Palestinian state – six months after the October 7 massacre – is a prize for terrorism,” he adds.

 

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