April 24: Trump says US going to expand Abraham Accords

Lebanese media say 8 wounded as Syria responds to artillery fire blamed on Hezbollah

Lebanese official media says eight people were wounded in a drone attack in a border village, as Syria said it responded to artillery fire from Lebanon.

Eight Syrian refugees were wounded and taken to the hospital in the northeast area of Hermel after an “explosives-laden drone blew up” in the border village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali, Lebanon’s National News Agency says.

The Lebanese army sent reinforcements “after gunfire was heard,” the report adds.

Syrian state news agency SANA, carrying a statement from an unnamed defense ministry source, says Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group had launched artillery shells at Syrian army positions in the Qusayr area of Homs province, near the Lebanese border.

“Our forces immediately targeted the sources of the fire,” the statement says.

“We are in contact with the Lebanese army to evaluate the incident and stopped targeting the sources of fire” at the Lebanese army’s request, the statement adds.

Lebanon and Syria’s defense ministers signed an agreement last month to address border security threats after clashes left 10 dead.

Earlier in March, Syria’s new authorities accused Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanese territory and killing them.

The Iran-backed terror group, which fought alongside the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, denied involvement, but the ensuing cross-border clashes left seven Lebanese dead.

Lebanon and Syria share a porous 205-mile (330-kilometer) frontier that is notorious for the smuggling of goods, people and weapons.

Netanyahu offers condolences on passing of Pope Francis after days of silence

After four days of silence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally offers terse condolences on the passing of Pope Francis.

“The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis,” he writes on X. “May he rest in peace.”

The State of Israel expresses its deepest condolences to the Catholic Church and the Catholic community worldwide at the passing of Pope Francis. May he rest in peace.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 24, 2025

President Isaac Herzog offered condolences on social media hours after Francis died on Monday, but the Foreign Ministry briefly posted, then deleted, its own condolences with no explanation.

The pontiff’s relationship with Israel and many Jewish leaders deteriorated after October 7, 2023, as he failed to pin the blame sufficiently on Hamas, and seemed to equate the terror group’s assault on Israeli towns with Israel’s military response.

Israel is not sending a senior official to Francis’s funeral, which takes place on Saturday, making do instead with its ambassador to the Holy See.

State Department policy planning director Michael Anton to be US lead in technical talks with Iran

US State Department policy planning director Michael Anton will be the lead representative for the Trump administration in technical nuclear talks with Iran that will begin on Saturday in Oman, his office confirms.

Anton was a spokesman for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term and served in the same office during former US president George W. Bush’s administration, but he doesn’t have a background in nuclear science.

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff will also be present for the first round of technical talks in Oman on Saturday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce says during a press briefing.

Before that meeting, the International Atomic Energy Agency will be sending a team to Iran to prepare for those talks. The IAEA will likely be tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program if a deal is reached.

IDF, police say they foiled drug smuggling attempt on Jordanian border

The IDF and police say they foiled a drug smuggling attempt on the Jordanian border this morning, arresting two Eritrean migrants.

The two are also suspects in two murder cases currently being investigated by Tel Aviv police.

The pair attempted to flee once they were spotted by soldiers and border police, but were soon caught.

Security forces seized ropes and drugs from the suspects and detained them for questioning.

FM Sa’ar praises Paraguay’s designation of IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah as terror groups

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar applauds a decision by Paraguay to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.

Sa’ar commends the South American country and President Santiago Peña for the “landmark decision” in a post on X.

I commend Paraguay and @SantiPenap for the landmark decision to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
Iran is the world’s leading exporter of terrorism and extremism, and together with its terror proxies, it threatens… https://t.co/OzWACbWcno

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) April 24, 2025

“Iran is the world’s leading exporter of terrorism and extremism, and together with its terror proxies, it threatens regional stability and global peace,” says the foreign minister.

“More countries should follow suit and join the fight against Iranian aggression and terrorism,” he adds.

Peña reopened his country’s embassy in Jerusalem last December and condemned Hamas “criminals” in a speech at the Knesset during the same visit.

“We were with you, we are with you, we will stay with the people of Israel forever,” the Paraguayan president told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the ceremony for the embassy reopening.

At anti-war protest, former Meretz chair Zehava Galon says Israel’s far-right is asset to Hamas

Former Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon speaks at a rally against the Gaza war in Tel Aviv's Habima Square on April 24, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Zehava Galon, former chairwoman of the left-wing Meretz party, calls the ongoing fighting in Gaza a “political war” before a crowd of anti-war protesters in Tel Aviv.

“The fighting in Gaza has one reason and one reason only — Netanyahu’s coalition,” the ex-politician says from onstage at Habima Square, as demonstrators boo the premier’s name.

“We won’t have security so long as the coalition of deatheaters remains in power,” she says. “We need to end the political war, the fighting which serves people whose political fuel is the conflict!”

She calls Israel’s far-right an asset to Hamas, “just as the right views Hamas as an asset.”

She also brings up escalating violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank, telling the crowd to “ask why soldiers are being sent to serve as security for settler pogroms in Susya.”

Susya is one of several Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills that have been targeted in an increasing number of extremist attacks by Israeli settlers.

The crowd begins to chant, “Down with the occupation!”

Despite a small group of counterprotesters, the protest ends peacefully. No arrests were made throughout the evening.

Report: Government slated to spend $33 million financing foreign yeshiva students in Israel

Illustrative: Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz addresses students at Ponevezh Yeshiva on September 03, 2015. (Yaakov Naumi/FLASH90)

The government is slated to spend NIS 120 million ($33 million) financing the studies of overseas yeshiva students, double the NIS 60 million ($16.5 million) allocated out of coalition funds in the 2025 state budget, according to a new report.

Citing data provided by the Israel Hofsheet religious freedom advocacy group, Channel 12 says that the expanded budget will subsidize 15,000 foreign yeshiva students — some 4,500 or so of whom will study in full-time seminaries for married men, known as kollels.

These foreign students will also be eligible for discounts on property taxes, daycare subsidies and other benefits, the network adds, noting that while foreign students are provided with time-limited visas which do not allow them to work, yeshiva students from abroad are not subject to such restrictions.

Asked for comment, the Education Ministry tells Channel 12 that expenditures on these foreign students amount to NIS 65 million ($17.9 million) and are intended “to strengthen the relationship with Diaspora Jewry and to encourage immigration to Israel.”

“With all due respect, Israel has so many urgent needs, and bringing 15,000 Yeshiva students here just isn’t one of them. More than 100 million shekels will be better [off] spent on Israeli reservists and our families,” Israel Hofsheet executive director Uri Keidar tells The Times of Israel in a statement via WhatsApp.

Critics have described the annual spending bill, which was passed late last month, as an evasion budget — with Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak recently arguing that its allocation of NIS 1.27 billion ($351 million) for yeshivas “is unequivocally encouraging evasion and is an incentive not to work.”

In response, Haredi politicians have countered that their community contributes significantly to Israeli society and have complained of being “delegitimized” and accused their critics of engaging in “incitement.”

The budget also included NIS 75 million ($20.7 million) for women’s seminaries, NIS 28 million ($7.7 million) for programs to prevent Haredim from dropping out of yeshivas and NIS 8 million ($2.2 million) for “coordination and liaison bodies” — a reference to groups that arrange military exemptions.

On Tuesday, the Vaad HaYeshivot (Yeshiva Committee), an ultra-Orthodox organization connected to some of the community’s top rabbinic leaders, issued an appeal to Haredi Jews with Israeli citizenship living abroad to take steps to ensure they are not drafted to the IDF when they come to Israel to study in yeshivas.

In an English-language message, the group warned that yeshiva students no longer enjoy a legal exemption from conscription. To make sure that they avoid any military entanglements, the committee advises students to approach their local Israeli consulate to change their status to “children of emigrants.”

Under such a status, they are allowed to study for up to four years in a yeshiva in Israel while retaining an exemption from mandatory service.

Last April, an interim order by the High Court of Justice barring the government from providing funds to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas for students eligible for IDF enlistment went into effect, ending the transfer of subsidies for tens of thousands of full-time students. (Israeli rabbis have since raised nearly $100 million in the US to cover the shortfall.)

Netherlands sees record number of antisemitic incidents in 2024

People take part in a protest rally against antisemitism in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

A record 421 antisemitic incidents were documented in the Netherlands last year, marking an 11% rise over the previous all-time high, according to the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), a Dutch Jewish watchdog group.

CIDI describes the findings as evidence of “an antisemitism crisis, which requires crisis management measures.”

Antisemitic incidents have risen to record levels around the world since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its war against Israel.

The most significant incidents of the year followed a Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer match in Amsterdam last November, when hundreds of Israeli fans were targeted in a series of violent attacks throughout the city. Dozens of people were injured in the coordinated assault, and more than 60 were arrested.

CIDI urges the government to adopt a comprehensive strategy that includes stronger online enforcement, banning hate groups, and cutting support to institutions that discriminate against Jewish individuals.

Netanyahu stresses need for Israel-US dialogue on Iran to visiting US lawmakers

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the importance of shared discussion on dismantling Iran’s nuclear program with a bipartisan delegation of US congress members, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

In a meeting with the American lawmakers, Netanyahu emphasizes Israel’s “ongoing efforts to advance a framework for the release of hostages; the importance of dialogue with the US administration to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is completely dismantled; and the IDF’s determined campaign to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the Gaza Strip,” says the PMO.

The delegation, led by House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, participated earlier today in Holocaust Remembrance Day events and “expressed unequivocal bipartisan support for Israel and its actions against terrorist organizations and the Iranian axis,” according to the PMO.

The meeting was attended by seven additional congressmen and the deputy US Ambassador to Israel, while Israeli participants included National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, senior PMO officials, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also met separately with the group.

Trump: We’re going to expand Abraham Accords; We’re well on our way to Iran deal

US President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

Asked whether he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, US President Donald Trump responds, “Maybe for the Abraham Accords.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reiterates his claim that additional countries will normalize relations with Israel through brokering from the US. “We are going to be filling it up very rapidly… A lot of countries want to come into the Abraham Accords.”

Referencing the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, Trump says the US is having “very serious meetings.”

“There are only two options. One option is not a good option at all,” he says, referring to a potential military option that has been threatened if Iran pursues a nuclear weapon.

But Trump indicates that might not be necessary because “we’re doing very well on an agreement with Iran… that one is well in its way.”

“We could have a very, very good decision, and a lot of lives will be saved,” Trump adds.

Netanyahu aide, Israeli officials slam ICC decision to leave arrest warrants in place

A source close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with other Israeli officials, condemns the decision by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague not to rule on a request by Israel to suspend its international arrest warrants against Netanyahu and previous Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The decision “highlights the injustice done to Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister, when the Court issued absurd warrants without having the authority to do so,” an aide to the prime minister tells The Times of Israel in a statement.

“Israel expects the [ICC] to cancel the warrants immediately,” the source adds.

Israel won a procedural victory when the ICC ruled in favor today of an appeal by Israel against an earlier decision by the court which rejected Israel’s ability to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, sending the case back to the Pre-Trial Chamber to reconsider Israel’s argument that the court shouldn’t have jurisdiction over Israeli leaders.

The Appeals Chamber said, however, that it is not ruling on Israel’s request that the arrest warrants be suspended while the jurisdiction issue is worked out, arguing the issue was not directly connected to the matter of jurisdiction, and saying that was for the Pre-Trial Chamber to determine.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar writes on X in response to the ruling that “The [ICC] warrants were issued unlawfully. They are null and void.”

We said it from the start: The International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) doesn't have, and never had jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants against Israel's Prime Minister and its former Minister of Defense. Israel is not a member of the ICC and is not party to the "Rome…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) April 24, 2025

“We said it from the start,” says the foreign minister, that the ICC “doesn’t have, and never had jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister and its former Minister of Defense. Israel is not a member of the ICC and is not party to the Rome Statute,” which allows for proceedings to be initiated against states that fail to cooperate with the court.

Sa’ar acknowledges that the ICC Appeals Court “instructed the Court today, to do what it should have done from the start: to make a determination with respect to jurisdiction. On this topic, there is only one correct answer: the Court has no jurisdiction over Israel.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, says that the ICC “operates as a political tool serving Israel’s enemies” and that “the UN remains disgracefully silent in complicity.”

“The decision to revisit the question of jurisdiction exposes the lack of legitimacy behind the political arrest warrants. When international institutions punish democracies and ignore terrorism, they harm not only Israel but the very values on which the free world is built,” says the ambassador in a statement from his office today.

“Israel will continue to defend itself, in coordination with its partners, and will not remain silent in the face of such hypocrisy,” he concludes.

Report: Israel fears US moving fast toward a ‘bad deal’ that won’t close down Iran’s path to the bomb

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks alongside US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images via AFP)

Israel is deeply concerned that the US is closing in on a “bad deal” with Iran that will not meet Israel’s stated essential conditions for ensuring the regime cannot attain nuclear weapons, Channel 12 reports.

The report says Israel believes the negotiations ordered by President Donald Trump with Iran, led by envoy Steve Witkoff, are “very, very advanced,” and that the US is not sharing enough information with Israel on key specific issues. This, despite an ostensibly deep ongoing dialogue between Witkoff and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the report says.

The TV report, which quotes unnamed diplomatic, political and security sources, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and a senior IDF officer who cannot be named held an urgent consultation this week on the issue.

It says that during their telephone conversation on Tuesday, Netanyahu told Trump that he “does not rule out a diplomatic approach” but only on condition that the resulting deal would “leave no trace” of Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump confirmed that this is the American intention, the report says, and that the 60-day deadline he had set for a negotiated resolution remains in force, Channel 12 adds.

While this exchange eased Israel’s concerns “a little,” the TV report says, the security establishment remains very concerned about where the negotiations are headed. On the one hand, the US leadership is publicly declaring that Iran will not get nuclear weapons, but in contrast, “real progress” is being made toward a nuclear deal in a way that is “deeply disturbing,” the report cites unnamed experts as saying.

The third round of US-Iran talks, mediated by Oman, is set for Saturday. A technical, expert-level meeting, at which the sides are reportedly scheduled to begin drafting a framework for an agreement, was initially set for yesterday but later also moved to Saturday, Tehran announced on Tuesday.

Trump reportedly sprung the news on Netanyahu that he was initiating the talks with Iran when the prime minister was summoned to the White House on April 7. Netanyahu said in a Hebrew statement the next day that he and Trump “agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons. This can be done by agreement, but only if the agreement is a Libya-style agreement,” whereby those responsible “go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision with American execution. That is good.”

Witkoff indicated after the first round of talks that Washington would be satisfied with a cap on Iranian nuclear enrichment and would not require the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear facilities. A day later, he backtracked and said that any agreement would require the Islamic Republic to “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (left) in Paris, France, April 17, 2025. (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP); Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. (Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool Photo via AP)

Yesterday, as satellite pictures emerged showing the regime fortifying buried nuclear facilities, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump was determined to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon, and would prefer to do that by negotiations as opposed to military means. However, Rubio said the US would be willing to see Tehran have a civilian nuclear program as long as it was not enriching uranium.

Over 1,000 people join anti-war protest in Tel Aviv

Protesters rally in Tel Aviv against the continuation of the war in Gaza on April 24, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Over a thousand demonstrators are rallying tonight in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square against the ongoing war in Gaza.

“The people demand an end to the fighting!” chant protesters, many holding pictures of Hamas-held hostages, as well as Gazan children killed during the fighting.

Police earlier this week tried to hinge their approval for the protest on the condition that demonstrators refrain from displaying signs with hostages and Gazan children, but backtracked later the same day.

Rula Daoud, a protest organizer with the Jewish-Arab “Standing Together” movement, decries the police’s since-rescinded demand.

“They said it was forbidden for us to wave signs… the political police of [Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir are trying to censor criticism of the war and the government, and hurting freedom of expression,” she tells the crowd.

ICC Appeals Chamber rules lower court must hear Israel’s challenge to jurisdiction

Exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rules to return Israel’s challenge on the court’s jurisdiction over the country to the lower chamber, saying it failed to sufficiently address Israel’s arguments that it is entitled to challenge the court’s jurisdiction.

Israel filed challenges to the jurisdiction of the ICC over its nationals last year, after prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in May.

But the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I ruled against Israel, saying it was too early to consider such arguments.

The Appeals Chamber rules that the Pre-Trial Chamber had an obligation to consider Israel’s challenge to the jurisdiction, and that the chamber’s reasoning that it was too early was poorly constructed.

The Appeals Chamber says, however, that it is not ruling on Israel’s request that the arrest warrants be suspended while the jurisdiction issue is worked out, arguing the issue was not directly connected to the matter of jurisdiction, and saying that was for the Pre-Trial Chamber to determine.

Israel has argued in its filings to the ICC that the entity known as the “State of Palestine,” which became a member of the court in 2015, never had the right to refer jurisdiction over Israeli nationals to the ICC since the Oslo Accords explicitly deny the Palestinian Authority jurisdiction over Israeli citizens.

PLO votes to create vice president role, paving way to appoint successor to PA’s Abbas

The Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, votes to establish the position of vice president, potentially paving the way to appoint a successor to Abbas.

“A vote was held to create the position of vice president,” Rizq Namoura, a member of the PLO’s central council, says in an interview with Palestine TV, adding the vote was “almost unanimous” in favor of establishing the post, a first for the organisation.

Palestinian analyst Aref Jaffal says the new role was created to pave the way for someone to succeed Abbas, 89.

“This position was created precisely to arrange for Abbas’s successor, as there are many things the Palestinian situation requires,” Jaffal, the director of the Al-Marsad Election Monitoring Center, tells AFP.

“The Palestinian political system is already miserable, so I believe that all these arrangements are a prelude to creating a successor to Abbas.”

Despite voting to establish the position of vice president, the PLO has yet to select anyone for the role.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.

PM’s cabinet meeting gets underway as Mossad chief heads to Doha for talks with Qatari PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet meeting has begun, the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting comes as Mossad chief David Barnea heads to Doha to discuss hostage talks with Qatar’s prime minister. According to Israel Hayom, members of the negotiating team asked Netanyahu to bring Barnea back to a leading role in talks.

The cabinet meeting also comes days before the third round of US-Iran nuclear talks.

Court extends house arrest of Qatargate suspects Urich, Feldstein by two weeks after examining new evidence

Eli Feldstein (left,) a former spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law); Likud spokesman Jonatan Urich speaks at a Central Elections Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 3, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Tel Aviv District Court has overturned a decision to release Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close aide Jonatan Urich and former spokesman Eli Feldstein from house arrest.

The Rishon LeZion Magistrate’s Court had ordered their release on Tuesday, despite the state’s request to extend their house arrest by 21 days. The decision was then suspended for 48 hours to allow police the opportunity to appeal the decision.

In appealing the decision, police presented the court with new evidence against the pair, who are key suspects in the so-called Qatargate scandal involving ties between them and Qatar.

According to Channel 12, the evidence dealt with the means by which money was allegedly transferred to the suspects by Qatari elements.

The court, upon receiving the evidence, agreed to extend Urich and Feldstein’s remand by two weeks.

The report adds that police investigators are expected to travel to the US in the coming days to question Jay Footlik, an American pro-Qatar lobbyist suspected of having assisted with the money transfers.

Police find lion cub, said to be in poor health, inside abandoned house in central Israel

An illegally held lion cub discovered by Israeli police in the central city of Tira on April 24, 2025. (Israel Police)

Central District police have found another lion cub while searching an abandoned house in Tira, a law enforcement spokesman says.

The lion cub is the fifth to have been discovered by Israeli authorities since the start of the year, and was tied up and being held in “harsh conditions,” police say.

Police also detained a 28-year-old suspect for questioning in connection with the illegally held animal.

The discovery is the most recent development in the Israel Police’s ongoing pursuit of an animal smuggling ring, responsible for trafficking several monkeys and lion cubs into Israel via Jordan and Egypt.

Police officers transferred the lion, in reportedly poor health, to the Nature and Parks Authority for further examination and treatment.

Footage from Gaza shows injured child in rubble, reportedly following Israeli airstrike; IDF looking into incident

A child injured in a reported Israeli airstrike in Gaza on April 24, 2025. (Screen capture/X)

Footage from Gaza shows an injured child among rubble, reportedly following an Israeli airstrike.

Osama Abu Rabee, a journalist in Gaza, published footage showing a wounded and bleeding child among the rubble of a building on Al-Yarmouk Street in the center of Gaza City.

The body of a man can be seen behind the child, who is calling for help.

Abu Rabee also claims that there are additional bodies of children on the scene of the strike.

According to reports from Gaza, the building was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

The Saudi Al-Arabiya channel reports that seven people were killed in the strike.

The IDF says it is looking into the incident.

Mossad chief en route to Doha for meeting with Qatari PM on hostage deal efforts

Mossad chief David Barnea has taken off for Qatar, an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel.

According to Walla, he will meet Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss ongoing efforts to reach a hostage deal in Gaza.

The meeting appears to mark Barnea’s return to involvement in the hostage negotiations after he was replaced as lead negotiator by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s orders.

Dermer has been heavily criticized since assuming the role — publicly by hostage families who have accused him of blocking potential deals and privately by other members of Israel’s negotiating team who have reportedly said he doesn’t work with the necessary level of urgency.

No hostages have been released since Dermer took over the helm.

IDF chief says military will soon expand Gaza offensive unless there’s a hostage deal

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with officers in the southern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir tells officers in the Gaza Strip today that if there is no hostage deal in the near future, the military will significantly expand its offensive against Hamas.

“We are continuing with the operational pressure and tightening the ring around Hamas as needed, and if we see no progress in the return of the hostages, we will expand our activities to an intense and even more significant move, until we reach the defeat [of Hamas],” Zamir says.

“Hamas is responsible for the start of this war. It now holds the hostages cruelly and is responsible for the difficult state of the population in Gaza. Hamas is mistaken when it comes to our abilities, intentions and determination, just like [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah and his top command,” he adds.

Family of hostage Omri Miran releases clip from Hamas propaganda video

A still image of a Hamas propaganda video released on April 23, 2025, showing hostage Omri Miran. (Screenshot)

The family of hostage Omri Miran approves the publication of a segment from a propaganda video released by Hamas yesterday.

“Today I turn 48 years old,” says Miran, whose birthday was on April 11, indicating that the video was filmed recently.

“This is the second birthday that I’m marking here — I can’t say ‘celebrating — in Hamas captivity,” he continues.”I’m no longer happy, after a year and a half. I miss my daughters very much, and my wife, and all my family and friends.

The content of the video is likely dictated by Miran’s captors.

“The situation here is very hard, it’s very hard for us,” he says. “Thank you to all the protesters, to all the people who want us to return home in peace. Do everything, everything so that we can return home now, as fast as possible.”

He directs his next remarks to freed hostage Keith Siegel, with whom he was held for part of his captivity.

“I want to ask Keith, my friend who was released, and all the other hostages who were already released, to go out to protest, to speak to the media, so that the entire country understands, so that everyone understands, how hard and terrible the situation is here,” says Miran, stressing that the hostages live “in constant fear” of IDF strikes.

“Only a deal, now, will bring us home,” he says, appealing to US President Donald Trump for assistance, as he is “probably the only person in the world strong enough” to make another deal.

Bereaved Oct. 7 survivor, released hostage perform at March of the Living ceremony

Released hostage Agam Berger and Kibbutz Be’eri survivor Daniel Weiss perform at March of the Living on April 24, 2025. (Yossi Zeleger/March of the Living)

Bereaved Kibbutz Be’eri survivor Daniel Weiss and released hostage Agam Berger perform onstage at the official ceremony for the March of the Living, with Berger playing a 150-year-old violin saved during the Holocaust.

Weiss, whose father was killed protecting the kibbutz on October 7 while his mother was murdered in Hamas captivity, plays guitar and sings “Oh guardian of Israel, guard the remnant of Israel,” which he also sang under the entrance to Auschwitz on Wednesday. Berger’s violin piece is the haunting melody from “Schindler’s List.”

The pair, backed by members of the official IDF Rabbinate choir, play the songs to the subdued applause of the crowd.

At the end of the performance, members of the delegations cry, “Bring them home now!” As they sit in the pouring rain at the ceremony, which is shortened due to the inclement weather.

After several survivors lead the crowd in singing ״Hatikva,״ IDF Cantor Shai Abramson and survivor Sarah Weinstein sing the Yiddish song “Oyfn Pripetchik” onstage during a lightning and thunderstorm.

Holocaust survivors stand in the pouring rain at the March of the Living ceremony on April 24, 2025. (Yosi Zeleger/March of the Living)

World Court to hear UN General Assembly request for advisory opinion on Israel’s UNRWA ban

The entrance to a UNRWA boys school in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz, November 7, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold hearings next week on the UN General Assembly’s request for an advisory opinion on legislation passed by the Knesset banning the operations of the highly contentious UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Starting Monday and lasting for five days, 38 countries will plead before the court in The Hague, as well as Palestinian diplomatic representatives, officials from the UN itself, the League of Arab Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union.

The Knesset passed legislation last year prohibiting the UNRWA from functioning in sovereign Israeli territory, which under Israeli law includes East Jerusalem, and prohibited state agencies from having any contact with the UNRWA, making it, in theory, far harder for the organization to operate in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel has described the proceedings against its legislation as a “distorted process” whose outcome was “predetermined,” and will not be presenting its arguments in oral pleadings before the court.

It did, however, file a written submission to the ICJ in which it detailed what it said were the connections of UNRWA employees to Hamas and terror activity, including testimony from a freed Israeli hostage that she was held by the terror organization in a UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip.

The UNGA request for the advisory opinion, which is not binding, asked the ICJ to give its opinion on Israel’s obligations “as an occupying Power and as a member of the United Nations” regarding UN operations, “including its agencies and bodies.”

On Wednesday, Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected a petition by the Adalah and Gisha civil rights organizations to halt the enforcement of closure orders issued by the Education Ministry on April 6 against six UNRWA-operated schools in East Jerusalem, which have a total of 800 enrolled Palestinian students. The orders are set to take effect on May 7 and 8.

Implementation of the new law by Israeli authorities has, however, been patchy, with the UNRWA still able to provide some services in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Netanyahu calls Modi to express condolences over Kashmir terror attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express Israel’s condolences over Tuesday’s terror attack in Kashmir that left 26 dead.

According to the Israeli readout, Modi thanks Netanyahu and emphasizes that the allies “stand shoulder to shoulder in the vital campaign against murderous terrorism.”

They also discuss ways to advance the creation of a logistics corridor running from India to Europe through Saudi Arabia and Israel.

IDF issues evacuation warning for Beit Hanoun, Sheikh Zayed neighborhood in northern Gaza

The IDF issues an evacuation warning to Palestinians residing in Beit Hanoun and the Sheikh Zayed neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying the warning comes in light of sniper attacks on troops and other activity by terror groups in the area.

Palestinians are called upon to head for Gaza City.

#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة بيت حانون والشيخ زايد
🔴هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الهجوم!🔴
⭕️في ضوء تنفيذ عمليات قنص وأنشطة إرهابية انطلاقًا من المنطقة المذكورة ضد قوات جيش الدفاع سننفذ هجومًا قويًا يطال المنطقة التى يتم استخدامها لتنفيذ تلك العمليات… pic.twitter.com/NVMVUm84do

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 24, 2025

IDF acknowledges it accidentally shelled UN facility, killing staff member in Gaza last month

The Israeli military acknowledges that troops mistakenly shelled a United Nations facility in central Gaza last month, killing a UN worker.

Until now, the IDF denied it had struck the UN guesthouse in Deir al-Balah on March 19.

The IDF’s high-level General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war, is looking into the event.

The mechanism’s initial findings were presented today to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and UN representatives, the military says.

According to the findings, on March 19, an IDF tank operating in the area fired a shell at the building, following a “suspicion of enemy forces in it.” The investigation has found that the building was not identified by the tank crew as belonging to the UN.

Zamir has instructed the head of the mechanism, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even, to conclude the probe in the coming days and present the full findings to the UN representatives.

The IDF says it “regrets this serious incident and continues to conduct thorough review processes to draw operational lessons and evaluate additional measures to prevent such events in the future.”

“We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the family,” the military says.

72% of US Jews disapprove of Trump’s performance so far, poll finds

Jewish community leaders and other community members hold a rally calling on New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul to protect immigrants against US President Donald Trump's deportation plans, on the steps of City Hall in New York City on February 18, 2025. (KENA BETANCUR / AFP)

JTA — Nearly three-quarters of American Jews disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president and most dislike how he is handling antisemitism in the United States, according to a new survey.

But American Jews are less disapproving of Trump’s handling of antisemitism than they are of his overall performance, according to the survey, published by the nonpartisan Jewish Electorate Institute.

The survey was conducted by the Mellman Group, led by Jewish Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, in mid-April and included 800 registered Jewish voters.

“American Jewish voters are deeply distressed about the direction in which Donald Trump is taking the country and oppose many of his key policies,” Mellman, who also founded the advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel, says in a statement.

The survey found that 72% of American Jews disapprove of Trump’s job performance, including 67% who strongly disapprove, while 24% approve of the job he is doing, including 16% who strongly approve. Some 5% weren’t sure. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5%. The results roughly map to what is known about how American Jews voted in November’s election.

Trump scored poorly among Conservative, Reform and unaffiliated Jews. But among the one in 10 Orthodox respondents, he fared far better: More than 71% approve of the job he is doing while fewer than 20% disapprove.

Trump has taken a number of controversial actions — including freezing billions of dollars in funds to universities, arresting non-citizen student activists and revoking student visas — in the name of fighting antisemitism. The survey does not ask about those specific actions, but it does ask whether American Jews approve of how he is handling antisemitism.

Most — 56% — do not approve, while 31% do approve of how Trump is handling antisemitism. The remainder aren’t sure. A large majority of Orthodox respondents approved of his efforts to fight antisemitism, while a plurality of Conservative respondents disapproved. A majority of Reform and unaffiliated respondents also disapproved.

The survey also found that 33% of respondents aged 18 to 29, a demographic encompassing most college students and recent graduates, approved of Trump’s actions on antisemitism, while 52% disapproved.

In addition, 71% oppose Trump’s orders allowing the government to deport people without a court hearing, while 23% approve. Large majorities also opposed other Trump domestic policies, such as his broad tariff regime, cuts to the federal government and actions to penalize law firms. More than 60% of Orthodox respondents approved of the deportations but were more split on other domestic policies.

The survey did not ask about whether American Jews approve of how Trump is handling US-Israel relations or the Israel-Hamas war. The survey also didn’t ask whether American Jews approve of his decision to open negotiations with Iran, a move that runs counter to Israel’s preferences.

Sa’ar: ‘Regrettable’ that Bank of Israel won’t consider proposal to cancel 200-shekel note

After the Bank of Israel rejects his proposal to cancel the 200-shekel banknote in order to harm Hamas finances, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says it is “regrettable” that the central bank won’t even participate in a discussion of economic measures it could take against the Gaza terror group.

“After the Bank of Israel rejected a previous proposal to completely cancel the use of 200-shekel banknotes,” says Sa’ar, “the bank decided to reject a new and reasoned proposal to cancel the series of 200-shekel banknotes that was introduced into the Gaza Strip. This was done within a few minutes, without discussion and without any real explanation.”

He says the central bank is obligated to immediately examine any proposal relevant to the country’s security.

Trump decries Harvard as ‘antisemitic, far left’ amid fight over funding freeze

US President Donald Trump bashes Harvard as an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution,” as the prestigious university battles his administration’s funding freeze in court.

“The place is a Liberal mess,” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform, also complaining that it has admitted students “from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart.”

Harvard is suing the Trump administration over its decision to halt more than $2 billion in funding to the university ostensibly over pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campus protests over Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, sparked by the deadly October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.

March of the Living closing ceremony suspended due to heavy rain

The March of the Living ceremony that was scheduled to take place in Auschwitz-Birkenau this afternoon at the end of the march itself has been suspended due to heavy rain, reports say.

It is unclear whether it will resume later, should the rain let up.

Rejecting Sa’ar’s request, Bank of Israel says it won’t cancel 200 shekel note

Responding to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s request that it take the 200-shekel note out of circulation to cripple Hamas’s finances, the Bank of Israel says it has no plans to do so.

“The governor has not yet been presented with a sufficiently well-founded professional justification for canceling any banknote,” the central bank says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

“The proposals put forward on the subject by various parties do not meet any professional standard, there is no feasibility for their implementation, and they were not presented in an orderly manner to the governor and were not coordinated in any way with the Bank of Israel.”

“We emphasize that the NIS 200 banknote in circulation, like the other banknotes and coins, continues and will continue to be used as usual,” says the central bank.

IDF, Border Police say they arrested terror cell head in West Bank’s Balata refugee camp

Undercover Border Police officers and IDF troops say they arrested the head of a terror cell in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata near Nablus, following precise intelligence provided by the Shin Bet.

According to a joint statement, the suspect was apprehended after a brief exchange of fire. A second wanted man involved in terrorist activity was also detained during the operation.

Security forces say violent riots broke out during the arrest, prompting them to respond with live fire.

There were no reports of Israeli injuries.

Sa’ar asks Bank of Israel to take 200-shekel note out of circulation to harm Hamas finances

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asks Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron to take the 200-shekel note out of circulation to cripple Hamas’s finances.

“It is within our power to deliver a strategic economic blow to the murderous terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, without resorting to foreign partners,” writes Sa’ar in a letter distributed by his office.

According to experts, says Sa’ar, Hamas boasts a stockpile of billions of shekels in cash, with which it pays its members and recoups them as “taxes” on merchants.

A volunteer team of experts estimates that 80% of the Hamas treasury consists of 200 shekels notes, he writes.

Canceling 200-shekel bills, or at least the series that was transferred to Gaza, says Sa’ar, “will dramatically harm Hamas’s economic capacity, will create significant difficulties in paying salaries to its operatives, will harm its ability to recruit additional terrorists to its ranks, its ability to acquire ammunition and logistical supplies, maintain governance functions and buy the loyalty of its supporters.”

Given demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza and the group’s ongoing financial straits, Sa’ar argues, “such a heavy economic blow could make a substantial contribution to achieving the war’s goals — eliminating Hamas as a military and governmental entity and returning the kidnapped to their homes.”

Visiting Auschwitz, ex-hostage Keith Siegel reflects on ‘collective fate’ of captives and their families

Released hostage Keith Siegel at Birkenau during the March of the Living on April 24, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Released hostage Keith Siegel walks into Birkenau, ahead of this afternoon’s March of the Living ceremony, and says he feels very grateful to be given the opportunity to join the event with other hostages’ family members, released hostages and bereaved families.

“It creates a bond even before you meet people more in depth, because of the experience we experienced, all of us, on October 7 and before October 7, it’s something that gives me a feeling of collective fate,” says Siegel.

Two of the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza are Gali and Ziv Berman, who grew up in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where Siegel, a dual American-Israeli citizen, has lived for decades.

“The kibbutz was much larger on October 7 than when we came in 1983,” he says. “Very often we’d see each other in the dining room before the kibbutz grew and was privatized. Meals were a daily social event, everybody knew everybody. So I know Gali and Zivi, his brothers and his parents. Today we’re at day 566 that the hostages have been in captivity.”

While in captivity, Siegel spent time with hostage Matan Angrest, who he last saw on February 20, 2024.

“That’s a long time,” he reflects.

He also spent time with hostage Omri Miran and another hostage, each separately, both known to be alive.

“I need to do anything I can to bring them home, to participate in the effort to bring the hostages home, to bring about the agreement, the deal that brought me home, me and 33 hostages, released in the last deal,” says Siegel.

Siegel and one of his three daughters, Ilan, walk along the train tracks of Birkenau, for the final ceremony of the March of the Living.

US government texts dozens of Barnard College employees asking if they’re Jewish amid antisemitism probe

Dozens of current and former employees at Barnard College have recently received text messages asking them if they’re Jewish, which after initial bewilderment have turned out to have been sent by the US federal government as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to probe the extent of antisemitism in the Columbia University affiliate, according to American media reports.

According to reports by the New York Times and the Intercept, one question asked respondents to tick all that apply: “I am Jewish”; “I am Israeli”; “I have shared Jewish/Israeli ancestry”; “I practice Judaism”; and “Other.”

“While working at Barnard College, were you subjected to any of the following because you practice Judaism, have Jewish ancestry, are Israeli, and/or are associated with an individual(s) who is Jewish and/or Israeli?” read one of the questions, sent out by the administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Respondents were given some 10 options, from “unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions” to “antisemitic or anti-Israeli protests, gatherings or demonstrations that made you feel threatened, harassed or were otherwise disruptive to your working environment,” the report says.

Jewish sociology professor Debbie Bechar tells the Times that she found it “a bit terrifying” that the administration “wants to know who the Jews are through some text message and Microsoft Office form.”

Bechar says there have been group chats in which anxious staff members wondered if the texts were real: “Clearly, it made everyone scared. I’ve been getting text messages from my former graduate students and other faculty members — I still am — asking what they should do.”

In a follow-up email sent to Barnard faculty and obtained by the Times, Barnard’s general counsel Serena Longley acknowledged that the college shared staff members’ personal contact information with the EEOC — which she said was legally entitled to receive the information due to the ongoing probe into the school — in order for it to send out the survey, but that participation was “voluntary.”

According to The Intercept, the general counsel assured staff that going forward, they will be informed ahead of time if the college is required to once again share their personal information with the Trump administration.

‘Vladimir, STOP!’: Trump issues rare rebuke over deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv

US President Donald Trump voices frustration over deadly Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as he pushes both sides to agree to a ceasefire.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV,” Trump says on social media in a rare rebuke directed at Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”

Ex-hostage Gadi Mozes says he’s drawing strength from taking part in March of the Living

Freed hostage Gadi Mozes and his daughter Moran visit Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the March of the Living on April 24, 2025. (Jessica Steinberg/The Times of Israel)

Released hostage Gadi Mozes and his daughter Moran walk into Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the March of the Living.

“The Holocaust is a Holocaust and October 7 was a disaster,” says Mozes. “We were hit hard, as a family, as a society, as a place, physically and emotionally.”

Mozes says that being on the March of the Living with the other families gives a lot of strength.

“There are 59 hostages and 14 from our kibbutz,” he says. “And that is more important than anything else.”

Spanish government reneges on deal to purchase Israeli ammunition after internal pressure

The Spanish government has unilaterally cancelled a contract to purchase ammunition rounds for its police force from an Israeli firm, a government source says, ceding to pressure from its hard-left junior coalition partner Sumar.

Spain, a long-time critic of Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank, pledged in October 2023 to stop selling weapons to Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza and last year widened that commitment to include weapons purchases from Israel.

However, on April 17, as Spaniards geared up for the Easter holiday weekend, the government filed paperwork confirming the deal on the government tenders website.

The purchase, worth 6.6 million euros (NIS 27.3 million), includes the acquisition of more than 15 million 9-mm rounds from Israel’s IMI Systems, owned by Elbit Systems and represented in Spain by Guardian LTD Israel.

The decision drew a sharp rebuke on Wednesday from coalition partner Sumar, with one of the groups within Sumar, Izquierda Unida, threatening to withdraw from the minority coalition government.

The Interior Ministry responded that it had been advised by the state attorney that breaking the contract would mean paying the full amount without receiving the shipment.

A government source says today, however, that it has decided to stick to its October 2023 commitment not to provide Israeli companies with arms or revenue flows “and nor will it do so in future.”

The source says the Israeli company will be denied permission to import the defense material by the Spanish authorities on “public interest” grounds, the Interior Ministry will rescind the contract, and government lawyers will respond to any subsequent legal claims.

Lebanon tells Iranian envoy to stay out of country’s domestic affairs

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry tells Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, not to interfere with the country’s internal affairs, after he criticized efforts by the country to disarm Iran’s ally Hezbollah, according to Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya.

The ambassador was summoned to Beirut for a meeting with Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Hani Chemaitelly, said Al Arabiya, citing a statement from the ministry.

Youssef Raggi, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister, said yesterday at a meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo that Lebanon “reject[s] any foreign interference in our internal affairs. We support positive neutrality, mutual respect for sovereignty, and shared Arab interests.”

From my statement at the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers:

We in #Lebanon reject any foreign interference in our internal affairs. We support positive neutrality, mutual respect for sovereignty, and shared Arab interests. pic.twitter.com/LUA1C3ipow

— Youssef Raggi (@YoussefRaggi) April 23, 2025

On April 18, Amani wrote in Arabic on social media about the disarmament of Hezbollah, as “a clear conspiracy against states.”

إن مشروع #نزع_السلاح هو مؤامرة واضحة ضد الدول. ففي الوقت الذي تواصل فيه الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية تزويد الكيان الصهيوني بأحدث الأسلحة والصواريخ، تمنع دولا من تسليح وتقوية جيوشها، وتضغط على دول أخرى لتقليص ترسانتها أو تدميرها تحت ذرائع مختلفة. وبمجرد أن تستسلم تلك الدول لمطالب…

— مجتبی امانی (@mojtaba_amaani) April 18, 2025

“At a time when the United States of America continues to supply the Zionist entity with the latest weapons and missiles, it prevents other countries from arming and strengthening their armies,” he wrote, adding that Iran is “fully aware of the danger of this conspiracy and its threat to the security of the peoples of the region. We warn others not to fall into the trap of the enemies.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Sunday that disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group is a “delicate” matter whose implementation requires the right circumstances, warning that forcing the issue could lead the country to ruin.

On Friday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said the group “will not let anyone disarm” it, as Washington presses Beirut to compel the Shiite terror group to hand over its weapons.

Sa’ar meets with bipartisan group of US lawmakers in Jerusalem

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar meets a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in Jerusalem.

“We will never again be a defenseless nation. Israel will not allow anyone, including the so-called ‘international legal institutions’, to undermine our basic right to self-defense,” Sa’ar writes on X. “We thank our friends from the US, our greatest ally, for their support!”

Jeffries is joined by Democrats Gregory Meeks of New York, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Marilyn Strickland of Washington, Greg Landsman of Ohio, and Laura Friedman of California, and Republican Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa.

Honored to host a bi-partisan delegation headed by House Minority Leader @RepJeffries, on Holocaust Remembrance Day. We will never again be a defenseless nation. Israel will not allow anyone, including the so-called 'international legal institutions', to undermine our basic right… pic.twitter.com/5P8OrY4HuC

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) April 24, 2025

Sources say 2 Palestinians injured in overnight settler attack; no Israelis arrested

A fire burns at the Palestinian village of Bardala, April 24, 2025. (X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Settlers entered a Palestinian village in the northern Jordan Valley last night, buildings were set on fire, and two were injured by gunfire, according to a Palestinian resident, offering new details about the incident.

A group of settlers entered the Palestinian village of Bardala in the northeastern West Bank last night around 10 p.m., according to a security source speaking with The Times of Israel. The source says the settlers assaulted residents, set structures on fire, and opened fire at Palestinians. Later on, IDF forces came and opened fire to disperse the settlers and the Palestinians.

Footage from the night shows several buildings ablaze. Mahyoub Foqahaa, a resident of Bardala, tells The Times of Israel that two young men from the village sustained light injuries to their legs from gunfire by the settlers and were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Foqahaa adds that several Palestinians were detained briefly but not arrested. No Israeli suspects have been detained in connection with the incident. So far, no response has been received from the IDF.

Colonos sionistas perpetraron esta noche un pogromo contra la aldea de Bardala, en Cisjordania, donde quemaron las cosechas a los agricultores palestinos para forzar a que abandonen sus tierras y así poder robárselas.

Si fuesen árabes quemando casas de judíos, sería portada en… pic.twitter.com/UZ90ypCJl7

— Daniel Mayakovski (@DaniMayakovski) April 24, 2025

Herzog says hostages’ freedom is ‘universal human imperative,’ calls on world to work for their release

President Isaac Herzog greets Holocaust survivors and released hostages at the start of March of the Living on April 24, 2025. (Chen Schimmel/March of the Living)

Speaking in Hebrew after his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda at Auschwitz, President Isaac Herzog notes that half of the Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust were Polish.

“In just six years, on the soil of occupied Poland, one of the most magnificent Jewish communities in history — Polish Jewry — was almost entirely destroyed by the Nazis, their helpers and collaborators,” says Herzog, adding that both he and his wife are descendants of that community.

The topic of Polish collaboration during the Holocaust is the main source of strain in Israel-Poland ties.

Herzog says that while the world vowed “Never again” after the Holocaust, “dozens of Jews again yearn within a cage, thirsting for water and for freedom as 59 of our brothers and sisters are held by terrorist murderers in Gaza, in a horrific crime against humanity.”

“The return of the hostages is a universal human imperative,” he says, “and I call from here upon the entire international community to mobilize and put an end to this crime against humanity.”

Herzog stresses that after the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023, when more Jews were killed than on any other day since the Holocaust, Poland stood by Israel and its right to defend itself. He refers to the lessons of World War II and the allies who stood together against the forces of evil and says there is the same need to do now as Israel faces attacks on multiple fronts, led by the Iranian “octopus of terror.”

“Iran threatens global stability and the nations of the world must stand together to stop it.”

High Court hands PM extension until Sunday to file affidavit in response to Shin Bet chief

The High Court of Justice grants a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to file his affidavit in response to that of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar on Sunday, in the framework of petitions against the government decision to fire Bar last month.

The court had instructed Netanyahu to file his affidavit by today, but the prime minister’s lawyers requested an extension due to Bar’s own delay in filing his court statement, as well as scheduling difficulties for Netanyahu’s lawyer.

Mayor causes uproar by using Holocaust day speech to decry ‘atrocities’ in Gaza, ‘lust for revenge’

Hod Hasharon Mayor Amir Kochavi attends a convention of newly elected mayors and heads of local councils, in Ashkelon, November 27, 2018. (Flash90)

In a Holocaust Remembrance Day speech, Hod Hasharon Mayor Amir Kochavi declares that “Jewish morality” dictates that Israelis “must not remain silent in the face of atrocities committed against people of other nationalities in the world, even if they are committed in our name.”

Noting that Hamas is still holding 59 hostages in Gaza, Kochavi says that “the lust for revenge, blood and destruction has not brought back to us the dead, nor the living.”

His remarks draw immediate criticism, both on social media and from coalition and opposition politicians.

“The embarrassing words of the mayor of Hod Hasharon are a spit in the face of Holocaust survivors — those who immigrated to the Land of Israel, established a state and survived the terrible massacre committed by ‘other peoples,'” says Culture Minister Miki Zohar — adding that he has “no doubt that the vast majority of Hod Hasharon residents repudiate these outrageous statements.”

“On Holocaust Remembrance Day, while 59 hostages languish in the hell of Gaza, the mayor of Hod Hasharon, Amir Kochavi, incites against the IDF and actually sides with the terrorists,” tweets Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman of the opposition, calling on Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, “whose party Kochavi is affiliated with, to condemn his words immediately.”

In a post on X, Kochavi decries the “ugly spin” being shared by his critics, stating that the condemnations “are intended to make people forget that there are 59 hostages who have been held captive by Hamas for 565 days by the prime minister on whose watch they were kidnapped.”

“They must be returned now, in one fell swoop. The dead for burial and the living for rehabilitation. Anything else is a distraction,” he writes.

זה מה שבחר להגיד אמש ראש עיריית הוד השרון אמיר כוכבי בטקס הרשמי של העירייה ליום הזיכרון לשואה: ״אל לנו להחריש מול זוועות כלפי בני לאומים אחרים בעולם – גם אם הן מתבצעות בשמנו״. (עמית סגל) pic.twitter.com/NaklfqkZrl

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) April 24, 2025

At March of the Living, Polish leader says lesson from Holocaust relevant to wars in Ukraine, Mideast

Polish President Andrzej Duda (right), President Isaac Herzog (center) and Michal Herzog attend March of the Living at Auschwitz on April 24, 2025. (Chen Schimmel/March of the Living)

At the start of the March of the Living, marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, President Isaac Herzog and Polish President Andrzej Duda offer statements at the concentration camp’s education center.

Duda, speaking in Polish, recounts the history of Auschwitz as a Polish village conquered by the Nazis in World War II, where they initially imprisoned Poles to use them in slave labor, but then gradually began using as a site of extermination.

“This place is hugely important not only for Jews but also for us, Poles,” says Duda, citing an estimate that more than 140,000 non-Jewish Poles perished at Auschwitz. “First and foremost, more than a million people were murdered here, people with Polish citizenship, Polish Jews.”

Duda says the March of the Living is a “demonstration of the manifestation of life and remembrance, as well as a dramatic call of never again, no more, no more hatred, no more chauvinism, no more antisemitism.”

“When the Nazis tried, led by ethnic hatred, a wild wish of destruction, to destroy the Jewish nation, we call it the Holocaust, but it was nothing less than a wild wish of destruction, of murder,” says Duda. “It failed thanks to the strength of life, to the will to survive by many members of the Jewish nation, those who wouldn’t give up until the very end in order to defeat the Nazis.”

Duda says he and Herzog spoke about the importance of Auschwitz as a place of remembrance, and a warning for the world that is especially significant now given the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

“They pose a threat not only to the peace of our countries, but also to world peace,“ says Duda, adding that Poland hopes for a permanent peace in Ukraine “without any further Russian aggression.”

Duda says he spoke with Herzog about the Iranian threat to Israel, and about the Gaza war “that began with a Hamas attack on Israel.”

“I expressed hope that we will succeed in ending it, and that the hostages held by Hamas will be able to return home.”

Syrian leader has expressed interest in normalizing ties with Israel — report

Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, on March 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)

New Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says that Damascus, “under the right conditions,” seeks to normalize ties with Israel, US Congressman Cory Mills tells Bloomberg after meeting with the president in Syria on Friday.

Mills says he held talks with Sharaa about the conditions for removing US-imposed economic sanctions, as well as peace with Israel, according to the report.

Sharaa told Mills during their meeting that Syria is interested “under the right conditions” in joining the Abraham Accords — the series of normalization agreements that US President Donald Trump’s previous administration negotiated between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others.

According to Mills, Sharaa is also open to clarifying how he plans to address the presence of foreign fighters still operating in Syria and offer guarantees to Israel, which remains deeply distrustful of the Syrian leader and opposes any easing of sanctions.

Syria’s new Islamist-led leadership has pushed for the US and Europe to fully lift sanctions so the country can kickstart an economy decimated by more than a decade of civil war.

Mills, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, and US Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, both landed in Damascus on Friday to meet Syrian officials, the first visit by American lawmakers to the war-ravaged country since Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power by an Islamist-led rebel offensive in December.

Mills met with Sharaa, who is still under US and UN sanctions for his previous ties to al-Qaeda, on Friday night, during which the two discussed US sanctions and Iran during a 90-minute meeting.

Mills told Bloomberg that he will bring Trump a letter from Sharaa, without providing details on its contents, and that he will brief the US president and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz after his trip.

“I am cautiously optimistic and look to maintain open dialog,” Mills tells Bloomberg.

Huckabee at Holocaust Remembrance event: Israel is ‘everything we hope the world will be’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attends a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, April 24, 2025. (Amos Luzon, KKL-JNF Photo Archive)

In his first public appearance as the new US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee tells attendees at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, “I come to bring blessing, and stand with you, because you are everything we hope the world will be.”

Speaking at an event organized by the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) honoring Jews who risked their lives to save fellow Jews during the Holocaust, Huckabee says he “believes in the book, and I believe that those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.”

“I do not understand antisemitism or the hatred that history has inflicted upon the Jewish people,” Huckabee says. “The animosity toward them makes no sense; it is irrational, baseless, and directed at those who have done no wrong. The only explanation is that, from the time God chose the Jewish people and this land, they have represented His love for the world and His presence on this planet. Those who hate Him naturally direct their hatred toward those who most clearly represent Him.”

Tech CEO indicted on pedophilia charges, accused of raping several children

The State Attorney’s Office indicts cybersecurity CEO Itay Levy on pedophilia charges after he was arrested by police earlier this month.

Levy, who ran the Kernelios cybersecurity firm before getting ousted over the charges, is suspected of raping several young children, all between the ages of four and 12, over the past two years.

During a search of his home in Modiin, police investigators found that he had taken sexually explicit photos and videos of minors, then saved them to his phone. A Justice Ministry spokesperson says the evidence shows Levy would sneak into his victims’ rooms at night as they slept.

“The defendant approached them, rolled up the hems of their undergarments, looked at their lower bodies, including their buttocks and genitalia, masturbated, and in some cases reached sexual gratification,” the spokesperson says.

According to Maariv, Levy assaulted a total of nine children, many of whom were close to him. Since he preyed on minors, there is a ban on publishing any information that could lead to the identification of the victims.

20 Hasidic men enter Palestinian village overnight, hurl stones at Palestinians

A security official tells The Times of Israel that 20 Breslov Hasidim entered the Palestinian village of Kifl Haris in the northern West Bank last night without coordination with authorities.

The site is occasionally visited by Jews due to the belief that the tomb of the biblical prophet Joshua is located there.

The Hasidic men are documented throwing stones and leaving the area after a few minutes. No Palestinian injuries have been reported. The IDF has not issued an official response.

20 חסידי ברסלב נכנסו אתמול בלילה לכפר הפלסטיני כיפל חארת' במערב השומרון ללא תיאום. במקום יש ביקורים מתואמים של יהודים עקב טענה להימצאות קברו של יהושע בן נון בכפר. החסידים תועדו מיידים אבנים ולאחר דקות ספורות עזבו את המקום. לא ידוע על פצועים פלסטינים באירוע. (צילום: עוהוד חפש) pic.twitter.com/kK4oZKpx7k

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) April 24, 2025

WATCH: March of the Living begins at Auschwitz

Polish President Andrzej Duda (left), President Isaac Herzog (center) and Michal Herzog arrive at Auschwitz on April 24, 2025, before the start of March of the Living. (Chen Schimmel/March of the Living)

The annual March of the Living is taking place at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration and death camp in Poland, featuring President Isaac Herzog, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Holocaust survivors, former hostages who were held in Gaza, relatives of hostages, and thousands of others who came from all across the world to honor those who perished in the Holocaust.

The march is being livestreamed.

Released hostages and hostages’ family members participating in the annual March of the Living, at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, April 24, 2025. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Weeping, mother of freed hostage says Auschwitz reminds her of captives’ plight

Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of freed hostage Omer Shem Tov, speaks to media at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on February 23, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

Shelly Shem Tov, mother of released hostage Omer Shem Tov, says her instinct to come to Auschwitz for March of the Living was correct.

“I was right to come here and hear the stories and see the pictures and the exhibits, of mounds of eyeglasses,” says Shem Tov.

She weeps, says she is thinking about how hostages were taken captive by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023, their glasses taken away from them so that they couldn’t see.

“Or a mother who told her child to hide in a closet during the Holocaust just as they did on October 7,” says Shem Tov.

“People are crying from the tunnels, ‘Save me, save me.’ Omer came back out, others are still calling. We must return them home and repair our nation.”

‘Same kind of torture’: At March of the Living, ex-hostages, relatives of captives draw parallels

Released hostages and hostages' family members stand outside Auschwitz’s crematorium at March the living on April 24, 2025. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Former hostages held in Gaza and captives’ family members gather outside a crematorium at Auschwitz at the start of March of the Living.

Releases hostage Eli Sharabi stands with his brother Sharon Sharabi.

“We will never forget or forgive,” says Sharabi, adding that he is at Auschwitz with hostages’ relatives, released hostages and bereaved families.

“The land of Israel is a reminder that the Jewish nation will last forever. We sanctify life, not death. And the unwritten contract between the State of Israel and its citizens is to bring back the 59 hostages now to their homeland and for burial in their land,” he says.

It is the second year in which hostages and relatives of abductees have come to Auschwitz for the March of the Living.

Michael Kupershtein, Holocaust survivor and grandfather of hostage Bar Kupershtein, says the Germans wanted to kill all the Jews, and this same hate caused children, women and men to be murdered on October 7, 2023.

His wife, Faina Kupershtein, says her grandson is going through almost the “same kind” of torture that Holocaust survivors experienced.

Tzili Wenkert, grandmother of released hostage Omer Wenkert, recalled that when she was a baby her family had to survive a ghetto in Romania.

“We immigrated to Israel in 1965 and had two sons there, and I never dreamed something like this could happen,” says Wenkert of the October 7 attack.

Netanyahu to visit Azerbaijan in May, will discuss Syria, Abraham Accords with its leader

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 24, 2018. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Baku in the first half of May to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, two sources tell The Times of Israel.

They will discuss talks between Turkey and Israel over Syria, which Azerbaijan has mediated.

They will also discuss plans to formally connect Azerbaijan with the Abraham Accord framework and various initiatives, and to strengthen bilateral ties as well as trilateral ties with the US.

Earlier this month, Aliyev met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the same day.

In March, US special envoy Steve Witkoff flew to Baku to meet with Aliyev.

Danon with UN ambassadors at Auschwitz: Israel will ensure Never Again holds true

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon leads a delegation of UN ambassadors participating in the annual March of the Living ceremony at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, April 23, 2025. (Courtesy of Danny Danon’s office)

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon is attending the annual March of the Living event commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp together with a delegation of UN ambassadors, according to Danon’s office.

“We are not marching only to mourn the victims and commemorate their memory — we are marching to warn the world about the devastating consequences of hatred and antisemitism,” says Danon shortly before the march, adding that “every step here is a choice — to remember, to bear witness, and to carry the memory forward.”

“Today we are a strong people. We have seen that hatred still tries to harm us everywhere and at all times. This time, we have a state, we have an army, we have the capabilities to defend ourselves — and that is exactly what we will do,” adds the ambassador in a video statement.

“We will strike anyone who threatens us. When we say Never Again — we mean it.”

More than 30 UN ambassadors departed from New York to Poland on Tuesday to take part in today’s 37th March of the Living.

Led by Danon, the delegation’s itinerary has included visits to several key Holocaust-related sites in Poland, such as the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish Quarter in Krakow, and the Krakow Ghetto, and the group will continue to Israel after the Poland leg of the trip.

Last night, Danon spoke about the lack of global outrage after the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, nearly 80 years after the viciousness of the Holocaust during World War II.

“What followed was silence all around the world,” he said. “Jewish people are not victims of history, we are its authors.”

CENTCOM chief to return to Israel today for meetings with security chiefs on Iran — official

United States CENTCOM chief Gen. Michael Kurilla and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir hold an assessment, April 3, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

United States Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, head of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), is expected to land today in Israel for meetings with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

The meetings will deal with Iran, among the other regional conflicts Israel is involved in, says the official.

The third round of talks between Washington and Tehran on Iran’s nuclear program will take place on Saturday. US President Donald Trump has threatened that Iran would be bombed if it does not accept a deal.

Kurilla was at the IDF Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv at the beginning of the month to meet Zamir.

The US moved Israel into CENTCOM’s area of responsibility in 2021. This shift has allowed for deeper coordination between Israel and its regional partners under the US security umbrella through the improvement of direct communications.

Former hostages to attend March of the Living alongside Holocaust survivors

Holocaust survivor Irene Shashar, left, and released Gaza hostage Agam Berger at Auschwitz on April 23, 2025, a day before March of the Living. (Yossi Zeliger/March of the Living)

Former hostages who were kidnapped in the October 7, 2023, onslaught will take part today in the March of the Living at the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau alongside Holocaust survivors.

Ori Megidish, who was rescued in an IDF operation, and soldier Agam Berger, who was released in a deal earlier this year, visited the site yesterday alongside Berger’s mother and Holocaust survivors Irene Shashar and Gita Kaufman.

Rescued Gaza hostage Ori Megidish, left, with Holocaust survivor Gita Kaufman at Auschwitz on April 23, 2025, a day before March of the Living. (Yossi Zeliger/March of the Living)

President Isaac Herzog has also arrived in Poland and will take part alongside his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in the march, which is set to start at 2 p.m. Israel time.

Iran’s envoy to Lebanon claims Hezbollah pager that injured him was in his office as protective measure

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office on November 17, 2024, shows him (R) talking to Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani who was injured in Beirut in Israel's September pager attacks, in Tehran on November 17, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in the Israeli detonation last year of thousands of pagers and communication devices held by Hezbollah operatives, claims he was not personally carrying the device and that the pager was located in his office, causing him to be wounded in the blast.

In an interview yesterday with Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, Amani says the device was meant as a protective measure. He describes a heightened state of alert during the war, particularly after Israel’s April 2024 strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus. He says the pager’s presence was intended to ensure communication could be maintained during power outages or network failures.

He adds: “The crime of detonating pagers in Lebanon by the Zionist enemy did not distinguish between the young and the old.”

However, the operation only detonated devices that were part of a shipment order by Hezbollah and meant for its operatives.

Police appeal court decision to free Netanyahu aides from house arrest in Qatargate probe

From left: Jonatan Urich, Eli Feldstein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Composite: Flash90)

The police file an appeal against the Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court’s decision to release the two central suspects in the Qatargate scandal, Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, from house arrest.

The court suspended implementation of its decision until today, and the police ask the Lod-Central District Court for a further extension until it issues a ruling on the appeal.

The police argue that Urich and Feldstein — both aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspected of involvement in a scheme to spread messages on behalf of Qatar while Feldstein allegedly received money originating in the Gulf nation — pose a danger to national security if they are released from house arrest, and that there is a risk they will obstruct the investigation and interfere in the course of justice as well.

‘Never again means now’: Trump issues Holocaust day statement, lamenting post-Oct. 7 antisemitism spike

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he participates in a ceremonial swearing in of Paul Atkins as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the Oval Office of the White House, April 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump has issued a proclamation for Holocaust Remembrance Day marked today in Israel, declaring that “never again means now.”

“We honor the blessed memories of the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were viciously slaughtered by the genocidal Nazi regime and their collaborators — one of the bleakest hours in human history,” the statement says. We also remember the Roma and Sinti, peoples of Slavic and Polish ancestry, persons with disabilities, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, persons targeted based on their sexual orientation, and countless other innocent victims of this tragedy.”

“The price to humanity of the lives lost during the Shoah can never be fully grasped or understood. Yet, even in the wake of the Holocaust, a self-determined Jewish homeland rose from the ashes as the modern State of Israel,” it continues.

“Sadly, our Nation has borne witness to the worst outbreak of anti-Semitism on American soil in generations. Nearly every day following the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Jewish Americans were threatened on our streets and in our public square — a reminder that the poison of anti-Semitism tragically still exists. For that reason, my Administration is proudly upholding the basic truth that anti-Semitism has no place in a civilized society,” Trump adds, detailing steps he has taken, including working to deport foreign students accused of leading such sentiment.

“We are also steadfastly committed to investigating and swiftly punishing all anti-Semitic discrimination in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” he says, referring to anti-Israel protests in Ivy League universities that have sometimes featured antisemitism and support for terror.

“During these Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, we reflect upon the dark affront to human dignity posed by Nazis. We cherish the eternal memories of all those whose lives were lost to the deadly scourge of anti-Semitism. Above all, we vow to never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust. We declare that never again means now.”

Teenage suspect in France attack on rabbi sentenced to 16 months in prison

Rabbi Arié Engelberg, chief rabbi of Orleans, France, giving an online sermon (Screenshot/Arié Engelberg, YouTube)

A teenager who attacked a rabbi in a central French city is sentenced to 16 months in prison by the juvenile court, after a long day of hearings in which he denied responsibility.

The attack took place last month as Rabbi Arie Engelberg was walking with his nine-year-old son from a synagogue in Orleans, about 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) south of Paris.

After the teenager was arrested, he told investigators that he was Palestinian, but later said during a hearing that he was Moroccan and 16 years old.

According to his lawyer, the teenager arrived less than a year ago in France, where he has no family.

He is given a 12-month sentence for the attack, as well as additional time in prison for other cases, including refusing to undergo police testing while in custody and possession of illegal narcotics after being found with two grams of cannabis resin.

He has been ordered to remain in detention, Orleans public prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren tells AFP, adding that the teenager has also been banned for five years from the Loiret department where the assault occurred.

“We have encountered a person who has denied any responsibility,” says the rabbi’s lawyer, Isabelle Abreu, criticizing the minor’s attitude of “denying everything” after several hours of a closed-door trial.

Accompanying Engelberg to the hearing is Andre Druon, president of the Jewish community of Orleans, who says the attacker “blamed everything on the rabbi” during the hearing.

“The attacker expressed no form of regret or compassion,” Druon says after the hearing.

“I have a community and a family to take care of, we have no choice but to move forward, and we do so with our heads held high,” Engelberg says, recalling that he defended himself against his attacker.

Netanyahu asks High Court for extension in filing affidavit in response to Shin Bet chief

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the courtroom in the Tel Aviv District Court before the start of a hearing in his trial, April 22, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requests that the High Court of Justice grant him an extension until Sunday to submit an affidavit in response to claims made by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in a filing earlier this week.

The court’s deadline for submitting the affidavit is today.

Bar himself requested on Sunday a one-day delay in submitting his affidavit, which the court begrudgingly approved while scolding him for the late timing of his request.

Netanyahu’s lawyers assert in their request that Bar filed the confidential part of his affidavit after the deadline given to him, and that the prime minister should therefore get an extension since he too received Bar’s submission late.

The prime minister’s attorneys add that the lawyer preparing the affidavit, Zion Amir, is currently in Poland on the March of the Living event there for Holocaust Remembrance Day and will only return to Israel tomorrow.

In Bar’s affidavit, he accused Netanyahu of pressuring him to help the prime minister postpone his testimony in his criminal trial, against Bar’s professional opinion, and of asking him to use the Shin Bet to act against anti-government activists involved in legitimate political protest. Bar also alleged that it was “made clear to him” that he was expected to be loyal to the government even if it defies a High Court of Justice ruling.

600 Syrian Druze clerics said set to visit Israel tomorrow for pilgrimage, including overnight stay

Druze clerics stand near the border, as they wait for buses carrying members of the Syrian Druze community to cross from Syria in the village of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights in northern Israel, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved the entry of 600 Syrian Druze clerics into Israel tomorrow to celebrate the holiday of Ziyara at the tomb of Nabi Shuaib in the Lower Galilee, the Walla news site reports.

This would mark the first time Syrian Druze visitors are permitted to stay overnight in Israel. They will return to Syria the following day.

In March, Katz authorized a similar visit for 60 clerics, who met with the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, Sheikh Muafak Tarif, and visited the sacred site.

The IDF’s Northern Command is expected to heighten its readiness during the visit and will oversee the crossing of the clerics across the border, according to the report.

Lebanon receives $250 million World Bank loan to ease power problems

The World Bank has granted Lebanon a $250 million loan aimed at helping alleviate persistent power cuts worsened by the war between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, the country’s finance ministry says.

Even before the conflict, Lebanon had for years been struggling with a severe shortage of imported fuel and poor infrastructure.

Following the conflict, however, the World Bank said it would need around $11 billion for reconstruction and recovery.

Lebanon has previously said it received preliminary approval to increase a World Bank reconstruction loan to $400 million from $250 million. The loan is part of a $1 billion reconstruction program, with the remainder of the financing to come from international aid.

Israeli strike targets terror operatives in northern Gaza command center, IDF and Shin Bet say

The IDF and Shin Bet say an airstrike in northern Gaza’s Jabalia a short while ago targeted a group of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives at a command center used by the terror groups.

Palestinian media reports that the strike targeted Jabalia’s former police station, and that at least nine people were killed.

According to the IDF, the site was used by the terror operatives to plan and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians and troops.

The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including the use of a “precision munition, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”

“The terror organizations systematically violate international law while taking over civilian infrastructure, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terror attacks,” the military adds.

Transgender icon Dana International to get Independence Day honor, sparking right-wing backlash

Dana International, Israel's 1998 winner, in her iconic feathered dress, on display at an exhibit open for Eurovision 2019. (Courtesy)

Singer Dana International, a pioneer of Israel’s LGBTQ community who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998, will light an Independence Day torch next week, sparking backlash from right-wing conservative groups who have urged a boycott of the ceremony.

The transgender artist will receive the honor alongside American conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, whose participation in turn has drawn backlash from LGBTQ rights groups. Also lighting torches will be ex-hostage Emily Damari, Olympic medalist and bereaved father Oren Smadga, IDF officers and others.

Dana, 56, whose real name is Sharon Cohen, won Eurovision with the classic “Diva.” The song’s producer, DJ Offer Nissim, was offered to light a torch this year and refused, the Walla news site has reported.

Dana initially refused as well, but ended up announcing yesterday that she is accepting the honor. She said she had agreed with the organizers, who initially focused on her solely as a cultural figure, to emphasize her status as an icon of liberty and liberalism.

In a statement accompanying her decision, she has said she “hopes we’re doing the right thing, and I want to see up close who this Shapiro is” — referring to the US pundit, who has expressed anti-LGBTQ views.

Ben Shapiro is seen on the set of ‘Candace,’ on April 28, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/ Getty Images)

A pair of right-wing groups has written a letter to the ceremony organizer, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, demanding that the singer be excluded from the ceremony.

“What has Dana International done for the State of Israel?” Naama Zarbiv, head of the anti-feminist group Shovrot Shivyon, tells Walla. “They’re bringing her because she’s transgender. What will she say? That she underwent gender-changing surgery? That she encourages children to do? Is this what we’re honoring?”

Zarbiv says the pick likely came to “balance out” the choice of Shapiro, but claims it shows “confusion” and “contradicts reality, biological logic and traditional values.”

She has sent the letter to Regev along with Michael Puah, chair of the Bocharim Bamishpacha—Choosing Family organization, citing the recent rollback of transgender rights in the US and UK.

Meanwhile, Itamar Segal, editor of the ultraconservative Olam Katan weekly, has penned a scathing op-ed for Israel National News urging a boycott of the torch-lighting ceremony.

“A man, a singer who decided he is a woman, an Israeli ‘pioneer’ of one of the biggest insanities humanity has ever known. Anyone who knows the phenomenon up close and understands what it means… knows how crazy, how bad it is,” he writes, saying transgender people are like chametz (leavened bread) during the festival of Passover, “which needs to be eliminated from the land so it is not seen or found.”

Large forest fire now under control after 20 hours, Fire Service announces

View of the damage caused from a large fire which broke out near moshav Ta'oz, April 23, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Firefighters have gained control over the fire near Beit Shemesh after some 20 hours, the Fire and Rescue Service says.

“The incident is under control… [and] will be over in the coming hours,” says Fire and Rescue commissioner Eyal Caspi after a situation assessment.

The service says in a statement that over 100 teams aided by firefighting planes are working to put out five remaining points of fire, noting that all affected communities have gone back to normal and all roads have been reopened.

It says around 2,500 acres (10,000 dunams) of land have been burn. A short while ago, KKL-JNF estimated the number at 1,700 acres.

Israel comes to standstill as Holocaust Remembrance Day siren blares across country

People walk next to a billboard showing a yellow Star of David that reads "Jude," Jew in German, resembling the one Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany, during the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Ramat Gan, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israelis nationwide stand in silence as a two-minute siren commemorates the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Drivers stop their cars and get out, and people halt in the middle of the street.

Ceremonies will then begin across the country as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Estimated 1,700 acres burned in brush fires; efforts to put them out continue

Some 7,000 dunams (1,700 acres) of land have burned in the brush fires near Beit Shemesh and Rehovot, according to an estimation by KKL-JNF Jewish National Fund.

KKL-JNF says its staff are assisting firefighting efforts to put out the blazes and block them from spreading into new areas.

It urges the public to stay away from the Eshtaol Forest, Tzora Forest, Burma Road area, Beit Meir area and Hakdoshim Forest (Forest of the Martyrs).

Israel set to grind to a halt with siren commemorating Holocaust victims

People stand still in Jerusalem as a two-minute siren is sounded across Israel to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 18, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel will come to a standstill in 30 minutes, with a two-minute siren commemorating the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The siren will kick off nationwide ceremonies as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Labor union chief threatens general strike if government defies court rulings

Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David attends a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza outside the Defense Ministry Headquarters in Tel Aviv, September 1, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Arnon Bar-David, the head of the powerful Histadrut Labor Federation, threatens to again call a nationwide strike over what he perceives as danger to democracy due to the actions of the government, saying his “red line” would be refusal to adhere to High Court of Justice rulings.

The Histadrut has called two strikes since the current hardline government was formed. One was part of unprecedented nationwide protests against the March 2023 firing of defense minister Yoav Gallant who had warned of the dangers of steamrolling the judicial overhaul plan through the Knesset, leading to the pausing of the legislative blitz and to the temporary reversal of the dismissal.

The other was a short-lived strike in September following the murder of six hostages by their terrorist captors in Gaza, as part of demonstrations against the lack of a comprehensive hostage deal.

In an interview with the Maariv daily, Bar-David says that while he isn’t looking to call a strike over any minor thing, “when I felt democracy was in danger, I called a nationwide strike twice.”

“Democracy is still in danger and under attack every day, and the justice system and the security establishment are those who suffer the blows,” he says, referring to government clashes with the Shin Bet security service and with prosecutors and Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara.

“My red line is failure to comply with court rulings,” he says. “If this happens, we will head toward anarchy. If needed — I won’t hesitate to announce a strike.”

The High Court has issued a temporary injunction against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing of Shin Bet hed Ronen Bar, and some ministers have been boycotting him since and urging the premier to avoid communicating with him.

Bar-David says he has “excellent” ties with all political parties, including ministers in the ruling Likud, except Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

“They lost me with the judicial overhaul. What government ministers tell me in private about Bibi, they won’t dare to say in the media,” he says, using the premier’s nickname. Bibi lost me with the overhaul and even more so with the current war. Unlike in the past, he hasn’t tried to contact me and there is nothing going on between us, and he knows why.”

Anti-Israel protesters at Yale hurl bottles at Ben Gvir

Anti-Israel protesters threw objects at visiting National Security Itamar Ben Gvir at Yale University, chanting at him as he briefly exited the building he was in and went back in, footage shows.

Ben Gvir’s office says the objects were water bottles, and that nobody was hurt.

It says the far-right minister made a V sign toward the protesters, as the footage shows an aide waving an Israel flag before Ben Gvir and his team reenter the building during his US visit.

BREAKING: Pro-Hamas protesters attempted to attack the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir at Yale University pic.twitter.com/dw1Zo3Ya84

— The Uri (@uricohenisrael) April 24, 2025

Dozens of firefighting teams still battling brush fires; 6 planes join them

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire which broke out near Moshav Eshtaol, April 23, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Rescue services continue to battle large brush fires raging since yesterday in the area of Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, after working all night to keep them away from communities in the area.

The Israel Fire and Rescue service says 71 teams are taking part in the effort, and six firefighting planes are taking part in a mission to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading or renewing in places where it has been extinguished.

Despite several communities being briefly evacuated yesterday, no residents have been hurt in the blaze, and only minor damage has been caused to property, the statement says.

Two firefighters have been hospitalized after inhaling smoke.

Nine killed, 63 wounded in Kyiv missile attack: emergency services

At least nine people were killed and more than 60 wounded in a missile attack in Kyiv early Thursday, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service says.

“Russia has launched a massive combined strike on Kyiv. According to preliminary data, nine people were killed, 63 injured”, including six children among those hospitalized, the service says in a Telegram post.

Residential buildings have been damaged in the strike, and “the search for people under the rubble is underway”, it adds.

13 reportedly killed in overnight IDF strikes throughout Gaza

Thirteen people were killed overnight in Israeli strikes throughout Gaza, according to the Kan public broadcaster, which cites unspecified reports from the Strip.

The IDF hasn’t immediately commented on the strikes.

דיווחים בעזה: 13 הרוגים בתקיפות חיל האוויר ברצועה לפנות בוקר@migansh5 pic.twitter.com/j808VAq1yr

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 24, 2025

Former South Korea president Moon Jae-in indicted for corruption

People watch a live broadcast of South Korean President Moon Jae-in's New Year's speech at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korea’s prosecutors say they have indicted former president Moon Jae-in on corruption charges related to the employment of his son-in-law at an airline.

Moon was “indicted for corruption for receiving 217 million won (USD 150,000) in connection with facilitating the employment of his son-in-law at an airline”, the Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office says in a statement.

The case adds to the political drama gripping South Korea, which is facing elections on June 3 after Yoon Suk Yeol was stripped of his presidency for imposing martial law briefly.

Moon, who served as president from 2017 to 2022, was known for pursuing engagement with North Korea, including brokering talks between Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump during his first term.

According to prosecutors, Moon’s son-in-law was appointed managing director by low-cost airline Thai Eastar Jet, “despite lacking any relevant experience or qualifications in the airline industry.”

The airline, which was effectively controlled by a former MP from Moon’s party, had given Moon’s son-in-law the job in a bid to win favours from the then president, prosecutors say.

With Moon’s indictment, two former presidents of South Korea are concurrently in the cross-hairs of justice.

Disgraced ex-president Yoon is currently facing trial on insurrection charges over his December 3 martial law decree, which lasted only around six hours as it was voted down by opposition MPs.

At least two killed, 54 wounded in Kyiv missile attack — mayor

At least two people were killed and more than 50 wounded in a missile attack in Kyiv early Thursday, the city mayor says, revising an earlier casualty toll.

“Two people were killed in the capital,” Vitali Klitschko says on Telegram. “54 people were injured. 38 of them, including 6 children, were hospitalized.

Settlers reportedly torch Palestinian home and adjacent agricultural lands in Jordan Valley

Palestinian media reports that Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank torched a home and adjacent agricultural lands in the Palestinian village of Bardala.

Locals say ambulances and firetrucks trying to reach the scene have been blocked by Israeli authorities.

مستوطنون يحرقون أراضي ومنازل في قرية بردلا بالأغوار الشمالية بالضفة الغربية pic.twitter.com/gUmjJLSnv1

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) April 23, 2025

Trump: ‘I think we have a deal with Russia,’ but Zelensky the hold out

US President Donald Trump says he thinks Russia has agreed to a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky now the holdout.

“I think we have a deal with Russia. We have to get a deal with Zelensky,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office. “I thought it might be easier to deal with Zelensky. So far it’s been harder.”

PM accuses Shin Bet of ‘persecuting right-wing activists’ in post ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day

Amid his continued push to oust Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the domestic security agency of “persecuting right-wing activists.”

In a post on X right before the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu shares a recording of a conversation between the head of the Shin Bet’s Jewish Division and a senior police officer in the West Bank, during which the former discusses wanting to use a controversial practice to detain a suspect without charge.

The conversation ends with the police officer, Cdr. Avishai Muallem, telling the Shin Bet agent that “you have nothing on [the suspect].”

The recording comes several weeks after the release of an earlier tape of the Shin Bet official and Muallem — who is suspected of ignoring Jewish nationalist attacks to curry favor with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — generated outcry over the agent’s description of radical settler youths as “shmucks,” leading him to suspend himself.