April 5: After Trump’s Hormuz threat, IRGC says it’s planning ‘new Persian Gulf order’

Police clash with some 100 ultra-Orthodox rioters trying to break into Jerusalem’s Tomb of the Kings

Police officers clash with some 100 ultra-Orthodox rioters who tried to break into Jerusalem’s Tomb of the Kings, Israel Police says.

One of the rioters was arrested, while three officers were lightly injured, Israel Police says.

IRGC says it’s preparing for ‘new Persian Gulf order,’ Hormuz will ‘never return to its former state’

Illustrative: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) fast attack craft Shahid Raeisi (P313-8) during joint naval military drills between Iran, Russia, and China in the Gulf of Oman, March 15, 2023. (Iranian Army office / AFP)

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy is preparing for a “new Persian Gulf order,” it says, after US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not open the Strait of Hormuz

“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its former state, especially for the US and Israel,” the IRGC Naval Command writes on X.

“The IRGC Navy is completing operational preparations for the Iranian authorities’ #declaration_plan for the new Persian Gulf order,” it adds.

Home Front Command says IDF determined to find four people trapped under rubble in Haifa

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper (right) at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa, April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Shai Klapper says the military is acting with “determination” to locate the four people presumed trapped under the rubble at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa.

“Earlier this evening, a missile was fired from Iran at Haifa, this was a direct hit by a missile on a multi-story building. This scene is a complex one. This complex scene requires advanced rescue operations. The Home Front Command’s search and rescue units, together with emergency organizations, have high expertise in operations of this kind,” Klapper says at the scene.

“We intend to act with determination, professionalism, and thoroughness until the trapped are found,” he says.

Klapper notes that an early warning was issued and sirens sounded in Haifa amid the attack.

“I am aware that this campaign is ongoing and challenging. Nevertheless, adherence to the guidelines and staying in protected spaces saves lives,” he adds.

IDF probes failure to shoot down Iranian missile that hit Haifa building as search for missing 4 continues

Home Front Command search and rescue forces work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

More than five hours after an Iranian ballistic missile struck Haifa, the IDF Home Front Command search and rescue forces continue to operate at the scene in search of four people presumed to be trapped under the rubble.

The military says the rescue forces are using “advanced rescue equipment and various technological means to locate the trapped individuals as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force is investigating the failure to shoot down the missile that struck the residential building. Attempts to intercept the missile were made, but air defenses failed to knock the projectile down, according to the military.

UNIFIL warns Israel, Hezbollah that attacks near its positions could risk return fire

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy drives near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on March 23, 2026. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions “could potentially draw return fire.”

In a statement, UNIFIL says it is “extremely concerned” about attacks from both sides “carried out from near our positions, which could potentially draw return fire.”

It urges them to “put down their weapons and work seriously toward a ceasefire.”

Facing criticism from his own party, Netanyahu U-turns, says spokesman to be replaced in coming days

After criticism from both the opposition and his own party for keeping on his embattled spokesman and chief of staff  Ziv Agmon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he will be replaced in the coming days.

Agmon had offered to step down after racist comments about Moroccan Jews were leaked to the media, but Netanyahu said earlier this evening that he would remain in his role until a replacement was found.

Netanyahu says on X that Agmon’s replacement, Ido Norden, is in the onboarding process and will begin in the near future.

Norden, the author of a book about Israel’s “deep state,” has served in the Bank of Israel and Israel’s Innovation Authority.

Palestinian media reports three dead, several hurt in Israeli strike on Gaza City

Palestinian media reports three dead in an Israeli strike in Gaza City this evening.

Several others were wounded in the strike, the reports say.

The IDF confirms to The Times of Israel that it carried out the strike, but does not immediately provide further details.

Likud MK issues rare rebuke of Netanyahu over choice to keep spokesman despite racist remarks

Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party voice rare criticism of their party leader after he announced that his spokesman, Ziv Agmon, would remain in his position despite a slew of racist remarks that he had made about Moroccan Jews.

Agmon had offered his resignation after his derogatory remarks about Likud lawmakers of Middle Eastern, or Mizrahi, descent were leaked to the press, but Netanyahu announced earlier this evening that Agmon had apologized and so would keep his job.

But the announcement appeared to catch Likud lawmakers off guard, with several breaking rank and issuing a rare rebuke of the premier.

“You cannot spit in our faces and tell us it’s raining,” fumed MK Eli Revivo, who was derided by Agmon as a “retarded Moroccan.”

“Anyone who chooses to keep him in his circles or as his envoy thinks like him, period,” Revivo declared of Agmon. “I will continue to fight the fight of Likud voters to ensure that such a person does not remain in any position of influence today or in the future.”

“Ziv Agmon is not worthy of serving alongside the prime minister… even if he apologized,” fumed MK Nissim Vaturi, whom Agmon had called a “baboon.”

“Ziv Agmon’s conduct cannot be normalized, not even temporarily,” MK Moshe Saada likewise warned. “He acted correctly by apologizing and taking responsibility, but he cannot serve in a symbolic and representative public role, not even for a day, even after apologizing.”

High Court raises wartime limit on Western Wall, Temple Mount worshipers from 50 to 100

The High Court of Justice rules to raise the number of people allowed to gather at the Western Wall and the Temple Mount amid the ongoing war with Iran from 50 people to 100, following petitions filed by religious leaders over the past day.

The petitions were filed against the backdrop of an interim ruling issued by the court on Saturday that allowed 600 people to gather for an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv despite the Home Front Command restrictions against large gatherings during wartime.

The move to allow the protest infuriated ultra-Orthodox leaders and coalition lawmakers, who accused the court of operating on a double standard as holy sites in Jerusalem remained closed to the vast majority of worshipers during the week-long Passover festival.

In its ruling, the court says it will continue to hold hearings on the matter in the coming days and orders the IDF Home Front Command and Israel Police to explain why there is not currently a policy in place that allows for “balancing security needs with the right to freedom of religion and worship.”

Syria’s al-Sharaa calls Emirati counterpart after violent anti-Israel protest outside embassy in Damascus

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa called his Emirati counterpart earlier today to reassure him that Damascus wants to maintain good relations with the UAE, despite a violent protest outside its embassy.

Dozens of Syrians gathered on Friday in front of the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Damascus. Some attempted to storm the building and online videos showed demonstrators tearing down the UAE flag.

The Syrian presidency now announces that al-Sharaa has since called UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to stress “the depth of the brotherly relations” between the two countries and promised to build on them.

According to participants, the protest had been organized to denounce Israel’s adoption of the death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of carrying out deadly terror attacks.

Israel and the Emirates signed a peace treaty in 2020, under the guidance of US President Donald Trump.

Four people still unaccounted for, feared trapped, hours after missile strike on Haifa residential building

Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Four people are still unaccounted for and believed to be trapped under the rubble at the site of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa, Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy tells reporters at the scene.

“We are focusing all efforts on the four family members who are supposed to be here, using all means at our disposal,” he says.

Levy also says that the warhead of the ballistic missile that struck the residential building may not have exploded upon impact, “and therefore we evacuated several buildings, so that in the unlikely case that the missile explodes, nobody will be hurt.”

“Our sappers are handling the case,” he adds.

Former lawmaker Colette Avital, 86, injured by police during anti-government protest last night

Colette Avital, chairperson of the Center Organization of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, at a reception in Krakow, Poland, on January 26, 2025, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. (Zev Stub)

Among those injured last night by police during an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv is retired lawmaker and diplomat Colette Avital, who formerly served as Israel’s consul-general in New York.

The 86-year-old former Labor MK is set to undergo a CT scan tomorrow, after a policeman forcefully shoved her to the ground, causing her to hit her head on the pavement, according to several politicians close to the former diplomat.

News of her injury has sparked shock among current and former opposition lawmakers, including Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, who rebukes police chief Danny Levy for neglecting to apologize for the incident.

“Who is the policeman who saw such a dangerous threat in her that he pushed her?” Lapid writes on social media after speaking with Avital. “Will someone explain to me how the chief commissioner has still not called to ask how she is and apologize?”

Avital was shoved at a hundreds-strong protest at Habima Square last night, which law enforcement violently broke up soon after it exceeded 600 participants, leading to clashes between police and demonstrators. Seventeen protesters were detained during the dispersal.

Netanyahu slams High Court for allowing ‘left-wing’ protest while restricting Western Wall prayers

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026. (Shalev Shalom/POOL)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins the clamor of coalition and rabbinical protest against the High Court of Justice for allowing a 600-strong anti-war protest in Tel Aviv last night, while prayers at the Western Wall are limited to a few dozen participants.

Netanyahu complains about the court-ordered departure from Home Front Command wartime security and safety restrictions for a “left-wing” rally, while prayer at the Western Wall remains subject to Home Front constraints.

“While Jews are restricted during the holiday from praying at the Western Wall, the High Court of Justice has approved a left-wing demonstration in Tel Aviv,” the prime minister complains in a post on X.

“Freedom of protest is important, but freedom of prayer is no less important. During wartime, the only authority determining security arrangements is the Home Front Command,” the premier writes.

Opposition politicians immediately hit back.

“Netanyahu continues to incite during wartime. While survivors are still being searched for among the ruins in Haifa, the only thing that brings Netanyahu out of his bunker is the attempt to divide the nation and incite against judges,” declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid. “If Netanyahu is so against protests, why hasn’t he condemned the Haredi draft dodgers who protested this morning against enlistment at the IDF Induction Base?”

Responding on X, Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz posts that “the war we are all in is against Iran and not against the High Court of Justice, which made a decision in accordance with the guidelines of the Home Front Command. Enough sowing despair and division among the people during wartime!”

In a post on X, The Democrats chairman Yair Golan claims that Netanyahu is “in a panic,” due to his worsening domestic political position. “Like a dog returning to its vomit, Netanyahu is back to inciting against the High Court and against ‘the left.'”

Earlier today, Justice Minister Yariv Levin called on the government to ignore the High Court of Justice’s “illegal” and “reckless” decision, urging the cabinet to instruct law enforcement to enforce Home Front Command restrictions on public gatherings in defiance of the court ruling.

The High Court issued an interim order on Saturday allowing up to 600 people to attend an evening anti-war protest in Tel Aviv and up to 150 attendees in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Kfar Saba, respectively, despite Home Front Command regulations imposed due to the risk of missiles from Iran. In the decision, judges accused police of selectively enforcing the restrictions, which cap outdoor public gatherings at 50 people.

Saturday’s ruling applied only to that evening’s protests, rather than to all protests going forward.

Police violently dispersed the Tel Aviv protest, deeming that it had exceeded the court’s 600-person limit.

Lapid: Netanyahu proving that Israel’s ‘biggest racists’ can be found in his office

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of tolerating bigotry after he announced that he had asked his embattled spokesman Ziv Agmon, who offered his resignation after racist comments he had made about Moroccan Jews were leaked to the press, to remain in his position until a replacement is found.

“Netanyahu has once again proven that the biggest racists in the country are in the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s a shame and disgrace. Unparalleled wretchedness,” declares Lapid.

Netanyahu said that he had accepted Agmon’s apology and that he had never heard any racism from Agmon.

Lebanese media reports Israeli strike in town east of Beirut

Lebanese media reports an Israeli strike targeting an apartment in the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

The strike was reportedly carried out by an Israeli Navy vessel.

صورة للشقة المستهدفة في عين سعادة pic.twitter.com/mujMp6qZT7

— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) April 5, 2026

Report: Downed US airman couldn’t make contact at first because he was concussed; US destroyed own rescue planes to avoid Iran taking them

This handout photo, provided by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official website Sepah News on April 5, 2026, shows smoke billowing reportedly from the site of a smashed US aircraft in central Iran. (Sepah)

Quoting unnamed, apparently Israeli sources, Channel 12 offers specific details of how the rescue of the second US F-15 crewmember played out, including high drama when the two main US rescue plans got stuck in the sand and were blown up by American bombs.

The weapons systems officer was unconscious and lightly concussed from his landing, and therefore was unable to make initial contact with US forces after ejecting and landing in Iran on Friday morning, the report says.

At noon, Israel time, he made contact from the highest point he could find to avoid being captured.

He then walked 10-12 kilometers (6-7.5 miles), hid in a crevice, and on Friday night sent a specific location, the report says.

Israel refrained from attacking in that area and helped with specific intelligence, the sources said. This contradicts American accounts, which say Israel provided only general intelligence assistance.

Over Friday and Saturday, Israel was asked by the US to assist in ensuring air supremacy in the area, and attacked “relevant targets.”

Ahead of the rescue, the Americans took control of some kind of mini-airfield or agricultural field and secured it, according to the report. Two US C-130 planes with Little Bird helicopters landed there.

The helicopters then flew to extricate the crewman from his hiding place and returned with him, in “exhausted” condition, to the secured field.

When the aircraft were taking off, there was “real drama” when the C-130s got stuck in the sand and were unable to lift off. Three lighter aircraft were called in and they evacuated the crewman and the rest of the 90-strong rescue team, the report says.

US warplanes then blew up the C-130s, as later seen in Iranian propaganda pictures, so that they would not fall intact into Iranian hands.

Netanyahu asks spokesman who made racist remarks about Mizrahi Jews to remain in office

Ziv Agmon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman, holds up a phone for the premier during a video call with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdallah in December 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks his embattled spokesman, Ziv Agmon, who offered his resignation after racist comments that he had made about Moroccan Jews were leaked to the press, to remain in his position until a replacement is found.

“I have received Ziv Agmon’s apology,” Netanyahu says in a statement released by his office. “The remarks attributed to him should not have been said, and it is good that a clear apology was issued for them.”

Israel, says Netanyahu, “is facing serious challenges, and responsibility requires stability and functional continuity.”

He says he has never heard any racism from Agmon.

“Based on my deep familiarity with his work, professionalism, and loyalty to the state, I asked him to continue in his role until a suitable replacement is found,” says Netanyahu.

Agmon, who is also Netanyahu’s de facto chief of staff, referred derogatorily to Likud lawmakers of Middle Eastern, or Sephardic, descent, calling MK Nissim Vaturi a “baboon” and MK Eli Revivo a “retarded Moroccan,” and said that “it’s unclear how these people get elected to the Knesset.”

He also called Netanyahu “finished” after Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023.

“On the night of the Passover Seder, we open the door and say: ‘Let all who are hungry come and eat,'” says Netanyahu in his statement. “These words remind us that a strong people is one that stands firm on its principles, but also opens its heart, forgives, and shows compassion.”

“The statements were made. The apology was given. The public has heard,” says Netanyahu.

“Now the responsibility of all of us is to put this matter behind us and move forward together, for the sake of Israel’s security and the unity of the people.”

‘They got lucky’: Trump says Iran shot down the F-15 with a shoulder-fired missile

A US Air Force F-15EX Eagle II aircraft taxis ahead of a flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, March 9, 2026. (US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Conrad)

Elaborating on his earlier interview with US President Donald Trump about the rescue of two US airmen shot down over Iran on Friday, Barak Ravid of Channel 12 and Axios says Trump told him that the Iranian military downed the F-15, with its two-man crew, using a shoulder-fired missile. “They got lucky.”

“We rescued the pilot [on Friday] quickly, in daylight,” Ravid quotes Trump telling him. “That’s something that isn’t generally done. We are better at night operations. There was a lot of shooting in the first rescue operation.”

Turning to the case of the weapons system officer, Trump, as quoted by Ravid on Channel 12, said that the crewman gave a short, unusual message over his radio after ejecting from the aircraft. “He said: ‘God is good.’ We suspected that maybe the Iranians had captured him, because that sounded like something a Muslim would say.”

“We suspected that the Iranians were sending us fake signals and that it was a trap. In the end, we managed to confirm that it was really him. People who know him also said he is a very religious guy,” Trump went on.

Trump further said that “thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” using what Ravid described as a loaded term to refer to members of the Iranian military. “Even the population was looking for him. They offered people a bonus if they captured him.”

But the crewman managed to hide in a crevice in the mountainside. The US located him with technological means, Trump said.

“Other countries would not have endangered 200 soldiers and 10 aircraft for one soldier. But we did it,” Ravid quotes Trump saying.

Trump told Ravid that Israel helped “a little bit” in the rescue operation, but most of it was American. The Israelis “have been good partners. They have been great and brave people. We are like a big brother and little brother,” Trump said.

Ravid quotes unnamed American officials saying Israel’s assistance was with intelligence on the general area where the rescue operation unfolded, and not specifically regarding the crewman.

“The two crew members were spread apart by a couple miles,” Ravid quotes a US defense official saying. “Hundreds of IRGC soldiers were everywhere.”

He also quotes Israeli officials saying the Israeli Air Force conducted one strike to prevent Iranian forces from reaching the area.

Flouting wartime restrictions, over 1,000 men gather in Bnei Brak for address by top Haredi rabbi

Around 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men gather in Bnei Brak for a Passover holiday event, despite Home Front Command restrictions on gatherings during wartime, on April 5, 2026. (Daniel Nafusi)

Despite Home Front Command restrictions on the size of public events during wartime, over a thousand ultra-Orthodox men attend a holiday gathering in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak headlined by Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Knesset’s Degel HaTorah party.

A spokesman for Rabbi Lando insists that at the event, held at the Machnovka yeshiva, “both the rabbi and the audience are situated in protected spaces.”

According to Home Front Command guidelines, gatherings in central Israel can be held with up to 50 people if there is access to a nearby shelter.

In a statement, the Israel Police say that an initial request for a permit for an outdoor event was rejected and that after learning of this evening’s underground event, where there was no “immediate danger,” law enforcement “immediately” entered into dialogue with organizers and “at this stage, the event is beginning to disperse.”

Rabbi Lando’s mass event is being held only a day after Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni accused the High Court of Justice of issuing an illegal ruling, after the court handed down an interim order effectively forbidding law enforcement from forcibly dispersing anti-war protests of fewer than 600 attendees at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, and fewer than 150 attendees in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Kfar Saba.

In the decision, judges accused police of selectively enforcing the restrictions.

Iran’s Ghalibaf to Trump: You’re dragging US into ‘living HELL’; region will burn

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (center), flanked by Lebanese officials at the funeral of slain Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine in February 2025. (AFP)

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a hardliner with whom the US is negotiating, says that the Middle East “will burn” because US President Donald Trump is following the commands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” writes Ghalibaf in English on X, an apparent response to Trump’s threats earlier today that Iran will “be living in Hell” if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz.

“Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes,” he says, after Trump repeated threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges.

The former IRGC officer with whom Trump says the US is in contact has been responding on X in English to Trump in a similar style to the president, copying his language and repeating tropes about Israeli control over US foreign policy.

Hamas slams Israel’s ‘unacceptable’ push for group’s disarmament under Board of Peace plan

The spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, Abu Obeida, says that Israel’s attempt to raise the issue of Hamas’s disarmament in a “crude manner” is unacceptable, after the Board of Peace presented a staggered disarmament plan to the terror group last month.

“What the enemy failed to achieve through tanks, it will not achieve through negotiations,” Abu Obeida says, accusing the world of “double standards” for “demanding concessions only from Palestinians.”

The Hamas spokesperson further demands that “mediators must pressure Israel to uphold its commitments under the October 2025 ceasefire deal before discussing the second phase,” of the agreement, which, according to the White House plan, includes the disarmament of Hamas.

Trump: We’re in ‘deep negotiations’ with Iran, but not going to ‘leave in the middle’ of war

US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2026. (AP/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump tells Channel 12 that he is not going to “leave in the middle of the war,” and also says that his administration is in “deep negotiations” with Iran to reach a ceasefire.

He says that his top Middle East envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are the point men for ongoing contacts with Iran. Two sources briefed on the talks tell the outlet that there are two channels of communications — one through Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediation, and the other through direct text messages between Witkoff, Kushner, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The foreign ministers from the mediating countries are trying to get the sides to agree on a series of measures that will enable Trump to push off his deadline. They held phone calls yesterday with Kushner and Witkoff, say the sources, which did not have the desired result.

Trump tells Channel 12 that he believes “there is a good chance” that a deal will be reached before his deadline on Tuesday, “but if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there.”

Asked whether he is concerned about harming civilians in Iran whom he wants to rise up and topple the regime, Trump says that “they are living in fear.”

“They are afraid we are gonna leave in the middle of the war, but we are not going to leave,” he says.

Man from Bedouin town Segev Shalom killed in suspected stabbing in nearby Ofakim

A man from the southern Bedouin town of Segev Shalom has been killed in Ofakim, a nearby Jewish city, in a suspected stabbing.

The 36-year-old man was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene of the crime by Magen David Adom paramedics.

Officers from the Ofakim police station have launched an investigation into the incident. No arrests have yet been reported.

Home damaged in Hezbollah drone strike in Shomrat, but no injuries reported

Rescue services work at the scene of a Hezbollah drone strike in Shomrat, northern Israel, on April 5, 2026. (Israel Fire and Rescue Service)

Damage was caused to a home in the northern community of Shomrat by a Hezbollah drone impact, rescue services say.

No injuries are reported.

The IDF said that a second drone launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee was intercepted.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah command centers in Beirut, gas stations across Lebanon

The Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah command centers in Beirut, along with gas stations owned by the terror group elsewhere in Lebanon, the military says.

The Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs were targeted today following fresh evacuation warnings for the area. The IDF says Hezbollah had used them to plan attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.

The military says that in recent days it struck two more Al-Amana gas stations, a fuel distribution company that is owned by Hezbollah and has been under US sanctions since February 2020.

Since the fighting began in the war with Iran, the IDF says it has struck more than 15 Al-Amana gas stations.

“The gas stations were used to refuel trucks transporting weapons and terrorists, and generated profits for the Hezbollah terror organization amounting to millions of dollars to fund its activities,” the army says.

צה"ל תקף בביירות מפקדות ותחנות דלק ששימשו את מחבלי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

צה"ל ממשיך להעמיק את הפגיעה בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בביירות.

צה"ל תקף בימים האחרונים שתי תחנות דלק של חברת "אלאמאנה", שנשלטו על ידי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה ושימשו כתשתית כלכלית משמעותית לפעילות טרור.
תחנות הדלק… pic.twitter.com/jSXTmXkBkQ

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 5, 2026

In visit to southern Lebanon, Zamir says military, political echelon will meet goal of disarming Hezbollah

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (center) is seen in southern Lebanon, April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the ongoing ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon will advance Israel’s goal of disarming the terror group, but that there also needs to be “moves led by the political echelon.”

“The IDF is inflicting severe, extensive… blows to the Hezbollah terror organization. This includes its operatives, command and control, terror infrastructure, military capabilities, weaponry, its financial capabilities, and more. Hezbollah has over 1,000 terrorists eliminated, and the number will continue to rise. The damage to Hezbollah will continue to intensify,” Zamir says during a visit to southern Lebanon today, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

Zamir says that the entire area south of the Litani River “has become a kill zone in which Northern Command forces and the Air Force are systematically striking Hezbollah operatives, until it is ensured that the entire area up to the Litani River is cleared and demilitarized of threats to Israel and northern residents.”

“Regarding the war objectives at this time in Lebanon, the IDF is establishing a forward defensive line to strengthen defense and push the threat away from northern communities. We will remain on this line as long as required,” he says on the IDF’s planned buffer zone.

Zamir says the IDF is working to “suppress and reduce” rocket fire from Lebanon, but “this will take time.”

“The objective of disarming Hezbollah is defined as a supreme goal; this is an ongoing objective that existed before the current campaign. The current campaign will advance it,” he says, adding that the military will advance this objective “based on the IDF’s operational achievements and through moves led by the political echelon.”

Three people missing, believed to be trapped under rubble after Haifa missile strike

Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile in Haifa, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Rescue services say they are searching for three people who are missing following the Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa.

“Firefighters, together with the Home Front Command, are focusing on the search for three unaccounted-for people,” the Fire and Rescue Service says.

The three are believed to be trapped under the rubble.

A fire and rescue service official at the scene says the missing are two elderly people and a child.

Trump extends deadline for Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz by additional 24 hours

US President Donald Trump gestures after speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/ Alex Brandon, Pool)

US President Donald Trump extends his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by an additional 24 hours.

“Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” he writes on Truth Social, without elaborating.

This is the third time he has pushed off his ultimatum for Iran to reopen the strait or face an intense US bombing campaign of its energy sites.

The first ultimatum was for five days, but he extended it by 10 more days late last month. The latter deadline was then supposed to expire on Monday before Trump’s latest delay.

Trump has threatened to blow up Iran energy sites if Tehran doesn’t reopen the strait, while also pushing the Islamic Republic to agree to a US proposal to end the war under which it would give up its enrichment program — something Iran has refused to do to date.

Zelensky meets Syria’s Al-Sharaa, Turkish foreign minister in Damascus to discuss regional security

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Al-Sharaa and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Zelensky says they discussed “the situation in the region and the prospects for changing it for the better,” and that there is “strong interest in exchanging military and security experience.”

According to the Syrian readout, the meeting “emphasized the importance of ensuring the security of food supply lines, contributing to strengthening stability amid international tensions.”

Top Syrian officials joined the meeting including Syria’s foreign and defense ministers, intelligence chief, and military chief of staff.

التقى فخامة رئيس الجمهورية العربية السورية أحمد الشرع، ووزير الخارجية والمغتربين السيد أسعد حسن الشيباني، الرئيس الأوكراني فولوديمير زيلينسكي ووزير الخارجية التركي السيد حقان فيدان، بحضور وزير الدفاع اللواء المهندس مرهف أبو قصرة، ورئيس جهاز الاستخبارات السيد حسين السلامة، ورئيس… pic.twitter.com/tgLlzHbPwW

— وزارة الخارجية والمغتربين السورية (@syrianmofaex) April 5, 2026

Rambam hospital: Man, 82, and woman, 78, undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in Haifa missile strike

An 82-year-old man, seriously wounded by the Iranian ballistic missile strike in Haifa, is being treated at the Rambam Health Care Campus, the hospital says. A 78-year-old woman, in good condition, is undergoing medical evaluation.

Six people in good condition were also evacuated to the Bnai Zion Medical Center Emergency Department, the hospital says.

Hezbollah drone strikes home in Shomrat, northern Israel, rescuers say

A Hezbollah drone struck a home in the northern community of Shomrat, according to rescue services.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene “following initial reports of a drone impact,” the Fire and Rescue Service says.

According to the IDF, a second drone launched from Lebanon was intercepted.

Footage shows one of the Hezbollah drones flying over the Western Galilee.

A Hezbollah drone struck a home in the northern community of Shomrat, according to rescue services.

Firefighters were dispatched to the scene "following initial reports of a drone impact," the Fire and Rescue Service says.

According to the IDF, a second drone launched from… pic.twitter.com/OjB1HGDFm6

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 5, 2026

Arab parties clash over delayed unity framework, but deny reports of breakdown in talks

Leaders of the Arab parties celebrate after signing an agreement to work towards a Joint List in Sakhnin, January 22, 2026. (Courtesy of Hadash-Ta'al)

Tensions between the Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash over delays in presenting a unity framework have slowed efforts to form a joint election run, though both parties say talks are continuing and dismiss Hebrew media reports that a weekend meeting in Nazareth ended in an “explosive” breakdown.

A Hadash source says the central source of tension between the parties is Ra’am continuing to drag its feet on presenting a unity framework — the sole commitment made by the Arab factions, following a January summit in Sakhnin when the Islamist Ra’am, communist Arab-majority Hadash, secularist Ta’al, and nationalist Balad signed an agreement to work toward running together in the next election, set for October.

According to reports, Abbas has held up talks for months over his demand that the bloc be formed as merely a technical alliance, which would split back into separate parties immediately following elections, to allow him the option of joining a governing coalition separately.

The source says that the delay is a negotiation strategy for Ra’am, whose “main goal is to join any government established.”

At the same time, the source says that “such disagreements are natural” and that another meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

Ra’am MK Yasir Hujeirat similarly tells The Times of Israel that reports of a deadlock or impasse are false.

“This was the first meeting. There will be additional meetings to continue the discussion. Negotiations, like any negotiation, are not a smooth process. What matters is the interests of Arab society,” he says.

Israel won’t leave Lebanon until Hezbollah threat thwarted, IDF chief tells Nahariya mayor

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) meets with Nahariya mayor Ronen Marelly, in the northern city, April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir tells the mayor of the northern border city of Nahariya that the military will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat of Hezbollah is removed.

“We hold the area and will not leave it until the direct threat to you is removed. This is at the top of our priority list,” Zamir is quoted as saying by the IDF.

The IDF chief also met today with the civil defense squad of the border community of Shtula.

Settler attack on East Jerusalem village lightly injures 3, Palestinians and activists say

Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in East Jerusalem earlier today, Palestinians and left-wing activists tell The Times of Israel.

The settlers descended on the village of Nuaman from a nearby illegal outpost that was erected about a month ago, and which residents of Nuaman say is inhabited by several youths.

An activist speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity says that the group of left-wing activists who arrived in Nuaman today to assist the villagers approached the outpost, located about a kilometer away, and spoke briefly to the settler youth residing there.

The sides parted without incident, but around half an hour later, the settler youths launched an attack on the Palestinian village, the activist says.

Sharif Darawi, a resident of the village, tells The Times of Israel that settlers followed him into the wooded area surrounding Nuaman and attacked him with stones and pepper spray.

Three people are said to have been lightly injured by the pepper spray.

According to testimonies from residents and activists, police arrived at the scene after about half an hour and arrested two Palestinians.

In response to a request for comment, the Israel Police tells the Times of Israel that “this was an incident stemming from an ongoing land dispute in the area between Arabs and Jews.”

“Forces on the scene separated those involved, and four suspects were arrested –  two Arabs and two Jews,” the police add.

The attack is unusual in that it took place in East Jerusalem, within the city’s municipal boundaries.

עדויות על תקיפת מתנחלים – הפעם באופן חריג במזרח ירושלים. קילומטר מנועמאן, כפר ששייך לשטח המוניציפלי של ירושלים בסמוך להר חומה, הוקם לפני כחודש מאחז. לפי תושבים ופעילים, זה בגדול אוהל עם דגל בראש גבעה שמאוכלס בנערים בני 14-15. לפי התושבים, לא מדובר בתושבי הר חומה –> pic.twitter.com/0VKXfpmcT1

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) April 5, 2026

Sirens warning of drone infiltration from Lebanon sound across Western Galilee

Sirens warning of a drone attack from Lebanon sound across the Western Galilee.

The alerts are activated in Acre and surrounding communities.

Ben Gvir urges High Court to allow worshippers to visit Temple Mount, Western Wall despite wartime restrictions

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir urges the High Court of Justice to allow “small groups” to ascend the Temple Mount and worship at the Western Wall despite wartime restrictions limiting public gatherings.

He issues the statement hours after Jewish religious leaders petitioned the High Court to relax the limits on attendees, as both Jerusalem holy sites remain closed to the vast majority of worshipers.

Amid the Iranian missile threat, the IDF Home Front Command is restricting outdoor public gatherings to 50 people.

Today’s petition was filed in reaction to an interim order handed down by the High Court last night that obliged police to allow anti-government protests to take place, so long as they did not exceed 600 people in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, and 150 people in Haifa, Jerusalem and Kfar Saba.

The move infuriated ultra-Orthodox leaders and coalition lawmakers, who accused the court of operating on a double standard as holy sites in Jerusalem remained closed to the vast majority of worshipers during the week-long Passover festival.

Ben Gvir calls last night’s decision — which applied solely to last night’s protests — “problematic and not right.”

He further says there must not be “one law for the Square, and another for the Mount,” referring to Habima and the Temple Mount, respectively. As such, he demands judges permit “small groups” to go to the Temple Mount and Western Wall.

Contrary to Ben Gvir and other coalition members, critics of the government accuse police — not the justice system — of selective enforcement, claiming officers regularly break up demonstrations but have refrained from doing so when it comes to non-political gatherings.

Last night, police violently dispersed the anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv soon after it exceeded 600 people, arresting 17 protesters.

Serious risk of Haifa building collapsing after direct missile strike, firefighters say

Firefighters operate at the scene of a direct missile strike on a residential building in Haifa, on April 5, 2026. (Haifa Fire and Rescue Service)

A residential building in Haifa that sustained a direct impact of an Iranian ballistic missile is at risk of collapsing, firefighters say.

The Fire and Rescue Service says a blaze erupted at the scene, and “there is a serious concern of a building collapse.”

Four injured people have been evacuated from the scene. The fire service says that it is carrying out scans “under complex conditions due to the possibility of trapped individuals.”

Medics say four injured, including one seriously, in Iranian missile strike on Haifa building

Heavy damage can be seen to a residential building in Haifa following an Iranian missile strike on April 5, 2026. (X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Four people are injured, including one seriously, after an Iranian ballistic missile struck a residential building in Haifa, medics say.

Magen David Adom says it is treating an 82-year-old man who was seriously injured by a heavy object, along with three others in light condition who were hurt by the blast and shrapnel.

Four others are treated for acute anxiety, MDA adds.

הירי מאיראן לצפון: גבר נפצע קשה ותינוקת נפצעה קל בזירת הפגיעה בחיפה, הרס רב נגרם לבניין pic.twitter.com/muXoLeZLl6

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) April 5, 2026

At least two wounded, including one seriously, in Haifa missile impact

At least two people are wounded, including one seriously, at the site of an apparent direct Iranian ballistic missile impact in Haifa.

Magen David Adom is treating a man in serious condition and an infant who was lightly hurt.

Haifa residential building sustains heavy damage in latest Iranian missile attack

Heavy damage was caused to a residential building in Haifa following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack, according to rescue services.

The IDF is investigating whether the damage was caused by a direct missile impact.

Another missile fired from Iran at the south was likely intercepted, according to the IDF.

Heavy damage was caused to a residential building in Haifa following Iran's latest ballistic missile attack, according to rescue services.

The IDF is investigating whether the damage was caused by a direct missile impact.

Another missile fired from Iran at the south was likely… pic.twitter.com/77crCeJtUa

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 5, 2026

Rescue forces responding to reported impact in Haifa after Iranian missile attack

Rescue forces are responding to reports of an impact in Haifa following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Iran fired missiles at both northern and southern Israel in the latest attack.

IDF says Hezbollah military equipment found in a school in southern Lebanon

The military says it captured military equipment belonging to Hezbollah at a school in southern Lebanon.

The cache found by the Golani Brigade included uniforms and other military gear, along with graduation certificates from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and RPG operational manuals, the army says.

The IDF says the troops also found packages sent from Iran to “Shiite villages in Lebanon.” The military does not disclose what was in the packages.

Next to the school, the IDF says the troops found another cache, which included numerous weapons.

כוחות צוות הקרב של חטיבת גולני, בפיקוד אוגדה 36 ממשיכים בפעילות הקרקעית הממוקדת להרחבת מרחב האבטחה.

הכוחות איתרו בתוך בית ספר ציוד רב של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה הכולל: ציוד צבאי ומדים של ארגון הטרור, תעודות סיום הכשרה של יחידת 'כוח רדואן', מדריכי הפעלת רקטות 'RPG', רקטות קרקע-קרקע… pic.twitter.com/6dDoEMJ92T

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 5, 2026

Sirens expected in northern, southern Israel as new Iranian missile launch detected

A new ballistic missile attack from Iran has been detected by the IDF.

Sirens are expected to sound in both northern and southern Israel in the coming minutes.

IDF says reserve brigade deployed in southern Lebanon to widen ground offensive

IDF reservists of the 8th Reserve Armored Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued by the military on April 5, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has further expanded its ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, with a reserve brigade being deployed to carry out “targeted operations.”

Reservists of the 8th Armored Brigade, operating under the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division, are working to “expand ground activity to protect residents of the north,” the IDF says.

The military says the reservists killed several Hezbollah operatives in close-quarters combat, including a cell that intended to fire anti-tank missiles at the forces.

The reservists also captured weapons during raids on Hezbollah sites, the army says.

The IDF says that elsewhere in southern Lebanon, the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, operating under the 146th Division, directed airstrikes on two cells of Hezbollah gunmen.

United Airlines extends suspension of Tel Aviv route until at least September 7

A United Airlines flight lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, March 31, 2025 (Yossi Aloni/ FLASH90)

United Airlines extends the suspension of nonstop flight services from New York to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport through at least September 7, as Israel’s airspace remains closed to foreign airlines amid the war with Iran.

The US carrier previously put the Tel Aviv route on hold through June 14. Last week, US rival Delta extended the suspension of its New York and Atlanta routes to Tel Aviv through September 5.

“United flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended,” the airline says in an e-mailed statement. “The current schedule shows Tel Aviv flights canceled through at least September 7.”

“We look forward to resuming flights when it’s safe to do so,” the airline adds.

Israel’s airspace has been shut to most commercial traffic since February 28. In early March, Ben Gurion Airport partially reopened for limited inbound and outbound flights permitted to operate solely by Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia, Israir and Air Haifa to repatriate Israelis stuck abroad and help travelers inside the country leave.

Right-wing MKs demand full IDF occupation of Lebanon up to Litani River, ‘evacuation’ of locals

IDF vehicles move at a position in southern Lebanon by the border with northern Israel, on March 27, 2026. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP) /

Eighteen hawkish lawmakers belonging to the Likud, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism parties write an open letter to members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet rejecting the IDF’s apparent plan for a new buffer zone in southern Lebanon and instead demanding the “occupation and full control” of territory as far north as the Litani River, and the “evacuation” of the local population.

The lawmakers, led by Likud MK Amit Halevi, call on the government to “not approve the occupation of only a narrow strip” of land near the border, but to instead set goals “that will bring about a fundamental change in Lebanon, including the full occupation until the Litani River and the complete evacuation of the population.”

“Being satisfied with a few kilometers would be a historic missed opportunity that would return the threat to the residents” of the north, they say, arguing that recent briefings by the IDF “indicate a desire to limit the objectives of the campaign.” If this is the case, they say, the cabinet must reject the IDF’s operational plan.

“In contrast, occupation and full control up to the Litani and beyond in the eastern sector will constitute a real lever against the Lebanese government for the elimination of Iran and its sympathizers and may lead to long-term peace,” they insist. “This is a shorter, safer and more effective border line than the current border, and it is our duty to position the IDF forces on this line.”

The lawmakers further argue that “all Shiite villages in southern Lebanon are indisputably controlled by Iran and its partners and are part of an array that poses an existential threat to Israel.”

The letter is signed by, among others, MKs Ariel Kallner (Likud), Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) and Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit).

A senior military official said Friday that while the Israel Defense Forces aims to significantly weaken Hezbollah and remove the threat the terror group poses to residents of northern Israel, the prospect of fully disarming the group was unrealistic and not a “required goal” of the army’s ongoing ground offensive.

The remarks came as the military said it was set to present to the political leadership its plan to establish a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, which would involve demolishing Lebanese villages near the border and setting up army posts several kilometers inside the country.

The official said that to fully disarm the terror group, it would require the IDF to conquer all of Lebanon, something that it does not plan to do.

El Al extends cancellation of regular flight schedule until April 18

Israel’s flagship carrier El Al cancels its regular flight schedule through April 18, citing current restrictions on operations at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport amid the ongoing war with Iran.

In accordance with guidelines by state authorities, scheduled flights planned to depart through April 18 are canceled, as an emergency flight schedule is currently in effect, the airline says.

As part of the emergency flight schedule, El Al is operating a limited number of flights to several central gateways, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome and Athens.

Flights departing from Ben Gurion Airport to these destinations are permitted to carry a maximum of 100 passengers as of midnight. Arriving flights to Israel from these gateways are operating without passenger quantity restrictions.

“Due to the limited number of available seats, passengers awaiting assignment are being accommodated based on priority according to the original ticket issue date, with priority given to exceptional humanitarian medical cases,” El Al says.

Ticket sales for departing flights from Israel are closed through April 18. Sales for inbound flights are available for purchase, subject to seat availability, the airline says.

Trump to Fox: I’ll ‘take over’ Iran’s oil if no deal; US sent guns to protesters via Kurds, who ‘took’ them

US President Donald Trump says he is considering “taking over” Iran’s oil if a deal isn’t reached soon, in a phone interview with Fox News.

NEW:

"If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil," President Trump told me.

President Trump added that he believes he'll be able to get a deal with Iran by tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/a7EDL6hQUJ

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 5, 2026

“If they don’t make a deal and fast, I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” Trump tells a Fox News reporter, adding that he believes Washington can reach a deal with Iran by tomorrow.

The phone call takes place shortly after Trump warned on Truth Social that the US will attack power plants and bridges in Iran today, calling on Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

In the same interview, Trump says that after the Iranian regime’s bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters earlier this year, the US attempted to arm Iranian protesters by sending them guns through Kurdish militia forces, but the effort failed because the Kurds kept the weapons.

“We sent guns to the protesters, a lot of them…And I think the Kurds took the guns,” Trump says.

Transportation Ministry planning to raise passenger limit to 100 on outbound flights

Airplanes depart from the Ben Gurion International Airport during the US-Israel war with Iran, March 16, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The Transportation Ministry plans to increase the number of passengers allowed on departing flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to a maximum of 100 people.

Starting at midnight, an additional 20 passengers will be allowed on departing flights, up from the previous limit of 80 on each flight. Of the 100-passenger limit on outbound flights, 20 seats will be allocated for humanitarian cases.

The emerging framework is still not final and may be updated based on security assessments and decisions by the relevant government authorities.

The number of takeoffs and landings at Ben Gurion Airport is still restricted to one per hour as the country’s airspace remains virtually closed to regular commercial air traffic amid the ongoing war with Iran.

If the security situation continues to improve, the Transportation Ministry is expected to increase the frequency of flights to two flights per hour in the coming days.

Trump to Israeli TV: We were afraid downed US airman had been captured, was trying to lure us into ambush; says Israel helped a little

The US was concerned that the Iranians had taken its downed navigator hostage, and were forcing him to try to lure American rescue forces into an ambush, US President Donald Trump tells Channel 12, hours after the missing service member was rescued.

The airman said “God is good” on his encrypted communications device, leading rescuers to suspect he was being held and made to speak, Trump tells the Israeli outlet. It took several hours for US forces to determine that the colonel, being a religious individual, was speaking of his own volition.

Trump says that Israel helped a little in the rescue.

He calls Israelis “very brave,” and says the relationship is like that of a “big brother and little brother.”

Trump also says that he believes it is still possible to reach a deal with Iran before he carries out his threat to “bomb everything” on Tuesday.

Citing ‘public safety,’ Levin demands government ignore High Court ruling allowing wartime protests

Insisting that the cabinet “has no choice but to act to prevent the very clear danger to human life and public safety,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin calls on the government to instruct law enforcement to enforce Home Front Command restrictions on public gatherings and ignore the High Court of Justice’s “illegal” and “reckless” decision to allow protests on a larger scale than permitted under current regulations.

The High Court of Justice issued an interim order yesterday allowing up to 600 people to attend the main anti-war protest in Tel Aviv, and 150 attendees in Jerusalem, Haifa and Kfar Saba on Saturday evening, despite the Home Front Command regulations imposed due to the risk of missiles from Iran.

Saturday’s ruling applied only to that evening’s protests, rather than to all protests going forward.

In the decision, judges accused police of selectively enforcing the restrictions, which cap outdoor public gatherings at 50 people.

Writing to National Security Council interim chairman Gil Reich, Levin states that the court’s ruling was “made in complete contradiction to the professional position of the Home Front Command,” arguing that “this is primarily a professional issue of risk management” and “not a legal issue.”

Levin goes on to assert that the court has a record of dangerous rulings, blaming it for the 2021 Meron disaster, in which 45 people were killed in a crush at the hilltop gravesite of a second-century sage in northern Israel — arguing that the court had stymied government plans to improve safety, despite the fact that a State Commission of Inquiry had found several senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responsible.

“I believe that the Cabinet has no choice but to act to prevent the very clear danger to human life and public safety,” Levin says, adding that any breach in restrictions would snowball and “seriously harm public discipline in all matters relating to compliance with Home Front Command guidelines.”

“I believe that a proposal for a resolution should be presented to the cabinet, whereby the police and all relevant entities will be instructed to uphold the Home Front Command’s directives as given, including regarding gatherings and demonstrations. This is in response to the reckless decision of the High Court judges, which constitutes a serious deviation from the court’s authority and an illegal intervention in security considerations,” he writes.

UAE defense ministry says it has engaged over 500 missiles from Iran since war’s start; 13 killed

The United Arab Emirates has engaged a total of 507 ballistic missiles, 24 cruise missiles, and 2,191 UAVs from Iran since the war began, the country’s Defense Ministry says on X.

UAE Air Defenses engaged 9 Ballistic Missiles and 1 Cruise missile and 50 UAV’s.

The Ministry of Defense announced that on April 5, 2026, UAE air defense systems successfully engaged 9 Ballistic missiles and 1 Cruise missile and 50 UAV’s launched from Iran.

Since the onset of… pic.twitter.com/SsEkEB3Oox

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) April 5, 2026

The attacks have so far resulted in the deaths of two military personnel, one Moroccan civilian contracted with the military, and 10 civilians — mostly foreign nationals — the ministry says, adding that a total of 217 people have been injured.

No new fatalities or injuries have been reported in recent hours, the post adds.

Six lightly hurt in Hezbollah rocket attack on Deir al-Asad, in northern Israel

Police are seen in Deir al-Asad after a Hezbollah rocket attack left six people lightly wounded, on April 5, 2026. (Israel Police)

Six people are lightly hurt after a Hezbollah rocket launched from Lebanon struck the northern town of Deir al-Asad, medics say.

Magen David Adom says the six suffered minor injuries from the blast, and several others were treated for acute anxiety.

Zelensky arrives in Syria for defense-focused meeting with al-Sharaa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made his first visit to Syria to hold a meeting with his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa, two Syrian sources tell Reuters.

The talks are linked to defense in light of the regional war, says one of the sources, a government adviser.

Lebanese health ministry says four dead, 39 hurt in Israeli strike on south Beirut

Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a crowded neighborhood south of Beirut, Lebanon, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

An Israeli strike on south Beirut has killed at least four people and wounded 39, the Lebanese health ministry says in a preliminary toll.

The strike hit near Lebanon’s largest public hospital, where an AFP team later saw around 20 people leaving the facility, some in tears, as smoke rose from the area and Israeli warplanes were heard overhead.

The area lies adjacent to Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

The IDF said earlier that it had begun a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut. The strikes come after the IDF reiterated its evacuation warning for the entire Dahiyeh, as well as issued a warning for a specific building that it was set to bomb.

‘Deeply concerning’: UK’s Starmer pans London music festival over planned Kanye West appearances

Ye, the US rapper formerly known as Kanye West, leaves federal court during the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs in New York, June 13, 2025. (AP/Larry Neumeister)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he is concerned about planned concerts in London by US rapper Kanye West, who has a history of antisemitic outbursts and released a song called “Heil Hitler.”

The disgraced 48-year-old hip-hop star — now known as Ye — is due to play three nights at the Wireless festival in London in July as part of a European comeback tour.

Starmer tells The Sun newspaper it is “deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”

He adds that “antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly.”

Event sponsor Pepsi told The Independent news website yesterday that it had withdrawn its sponsorship. Parent company PepsiCo does not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

The planned appearances, announced by festival organizers on social media last month, have prompted criticism from Jewish organizations and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

And West’s European tour has already proved controversial, with the mayor of Marseille in France saying he is “not welcome” for a concert there in June.

West has expressed regret over his antisemitic rants, which he blamed on his bipolar disorder.

In May 2025, he released a song called “Heil Hitler” to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

The song was banned by major streaming platforms.

Defense Ministry halts arms purchases from France, citing ‘pattern’ of actions that ‘harmed Israel’s security’

Anti-Israel protestors gather outside the Eurosatory exhibition, a global event for Defence and Security, in Villepinte, outside Paris, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Masha Macpherson)

The Defense Ministry has halted all defense procurement from France in response to French measures that have “harmed Israel’s security,” including prohibiting Israeli aircraft from using French airspace to assist with fighting Iran, a spokesperson for the ministry says, confirming recent reports in Hebrew media.

The spokesperson outlines an “ongoing pattern” of actions by France that “have harmed Israel’s security and the operational capabilities of its defense industry,” the most recent of which is the “prohibition on Israeli aircraft carrying munitions intended for operations against Iran from overflying French airspace.”

Paris has not publicly confirmed reports that it made such a prohibition.

“France is actively obstructing the transfer of munitions to Israel, which is engaged in operations against Iran – a country whose ballistic missiles are capable of reaching European cities, including Paris,” the spokesperson says, repeating claims by Israeli officials that Iran possesses such capabilities.

“The French prohibition was imposed despite prior coordination, despite clear explanations that the munitions were intended solely for Iran, and despite the understanding that this effort is critical for European security as well,” the spokesperson continues.

The spokesperson cites additional grievances, including France’s prevention of “dozens” of Israeli defense companies from exhibiting at the 2024 Eurosatory defense show in Paris and the 2025 Paris Air Show, freezing of export licenses to Israel, and leading a United Nations initiative last year during which Paris and other European nations recognized a Palestinian state.

In response, Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. Amir Baram “has decided to reduce all defense procurement from France to zero,” replacing these purchases with domestic procurement or purchases from “allied countries,” as part of a broader strategy “to build full defense autonomy, without relying on unreliable countries,” the spokesperson says.

The ministry, along with the National Security Council, has informed French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin that “we do not intend to hold a meeting with her, and that there will be no new professional engagement with the French military,” the spokesperson adds.

Girl, soldier killed in Israeli strike in south Lebanon; building near Beirut hospital heavily damaged

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says a 4-year-old girl and a soldier are among seven people killed in an Israeli attack on the town of Kfar Hatta near the coastal city of Sidon.

The Israeli military had called on the entire town late Saturday to evacuate. There is no immediate comment on the deaths from the IDF.

Kfar Hatta hosts many displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon.

NNA also says a three-story building in Beirut’s Jnah neighborhood that was filled with residents sustained “severe damage” in an Israeli strike.

The strike came without warning, soon after an earlier one that came with advance notice, AP reports.

The building is about 100 meters away from Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the largest public medical facility in the country.

Casualties were rushed to nearby hospitals but there was no immediate word on their number.

Girl injured in Bnei Brak strike makes slight improvement, hospital says

There is a slight improvement in the condition of the 11-year-old girl who was critically wounded during an Iranian ballistic missile attack on central Israel last week, Sheba Medical Center says.

Thirteen other people were also injured to various degrees, including her brother, who is now in good condition, and her father, who was released from the hospital.

The three, from Tel Aviv suburb Bnei Brak, were apparently not in a shelter at the time of the missile strike.

The girl’s father, a Magen David Adom volunteer, applied first aid to his daughter before medics arrived, then lost consciousness, one of the first responders told Channel 13 news.

“The girl remains in critical condition in our intensive care unit, where she is still in a coma, with her life still in danger,” a hospital spokesperson says. “We are fighting for her life.”

Senior IRGC oil dealer killed in Israeli strike, IDF says

A senior commander in charge of dealing in oil for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on Friday, the military announces.

The strike killed Mohammad Reza Ashrafi Kahi, whom the IDF identifies as “a senior commander in the IRGC’s oil headquarters who served as the head of commerce at the headquarters.”

The military says the IRGC’s oil HQ “enables the continued activity and military buildup of the IRGC through profits from oil sales, while bypassing international sanctions.”

The IDF says the targeted commander “managed the commercial activity of the oil headquarters, estimated at billions of dollars each year, and advanced the development of the military capabilities of the IRGC and its proxies of the Iranian terror regime across the Middle East,” including Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas.

Last week, the chief of the oil HQ, Jamshid Eshaghi, was killed in an Israeli strike.

Netanyahu to Trump: We all ‘salute you’ on rescue of downed US airman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video address on April 5, 2026. (Screen capture / GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates US President Donald Trump on the rescue of a US pilot after he was shot down over Iran last week.

“All Israelis rejoice in the incredible rescue of a brave American pilot by America’s dauntless warriors,” says Netanyahu in an English-language video. “This proves that when free societies muster their courage and their resolve, they can confront seemingly insurmountable odds and overcome the forces of darkness and terror.”

He says that the rescue “reinforces the sacred principle: no one is left behind. This is a shared value demonstrated time and time again in the history of both our countries.”

Netanyahu invokes his own experience, and that of his brother Yoni, in hostage rescue operations: “As a nation that repeatedly carried out daring rescue operations, and as someone who was wounded in such a mission and lost a brother in the Entebbe rescue, Israelis and I, we know what a bold decision you took.”

“President Trump, Donald, my dear friend, once again your decisive leadership brought another great victory to America,” he says, concluding, “I salute you! We all do!”

I congratulate @realDonaldTrump on the rescue of a brave American pilot by America’s courageous warriors.

All Israelis rejoice in this remarkable operation. It proves that when free societies act with courage and determination, they can overcome the forces of darkness and… pic.twitter.com/hgBLFWjYzE

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 5, 2026

‘Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards’: Trump threatens to blow up Iranian power plants, bridges

US President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump warns that the US will attack power plants and bridges in Iran today, calling on Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz in a brief and expletive-laden post on his Truth Social account.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” writes the president.

BREAKING: Trump:

Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!

Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. pic.twitter.com/jzIHXepVRN

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 5, 2026

Trump says airman was ‘seriously wounded,’ was rescued as Iranian military closed in

US President Donald Trump says the airman rescued from Iran this morning was “seriously wounded” and was brought out as Iranian soldiers were closing in on him.

“We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran. The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close,” he says on his Truth Social platform.

Trump, who announces that he will speak to the media from the Oval Office tomorrow, describes the rescued officer as a “highly respected Colonel.”

“This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen! The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran,” he says.

Oman says it’s discussing opening of Hormuz with Iran

The Omani Foreign Ministry says on social media that deputy foreign ministers and experts from Muscat and Tehran met to discuss “a number of visions and proposals” to ensure “smooth transit” through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman has often served as a mediator between the US and Iran in the past.

Saturday’s meeting came two days before US President Donald Trump’s renewed deadline for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz was due to expire.

Trump had warned of “devastating consequences” if Iran doesn’t comply by Monday.

Kuwait reports heavy damage on oil facilities from Iranian drones

Kuwait’s state-run Petroleum Corporation reports that fires have broken out and there is “severe material damage” at some operating units after Iranian drone attacks on energy facilities.

KPC says in a statement that teams are working to contain the fires at affiliates Petrochemical Industries Company and National Petroleum Company.

In a separate incident, KPC earlier said a fire broke out in its Shuwaikh oil sector complex, which houses the oil ministry and KPC headquarters, after a drone attack.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claims responsibility for attacks on petrochemical plants in Kuwait, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Rescue of American airmen sign of close cooperation with Israel, Katz says

Defense Minister Israel Katz says the rescues of two American airmen whose fighter jet was downed over Iran on Friday are a sign of the US and Israeli militaries’ ability to work together in the Iran war, even when complications arise.

“This is another expression of the close cooperation between Israel and the United States, even in the most complex moments,” he says in the first high-level Israeli comment on the rescue of the second airman this morning, which Katz says he “commends.”

Israel is not known to have played any direct role in the rescue missions, the second of which involved dispatching special operations troops to a mountainous area of Iran, where they managed to locate and spirit out the officer.

However, defense officials said the search-and-rescue operation was assisted by Israeli intelligence.

The Israeli Air Force also postponed strikes in areas of Iran where the search efforts were taking place, an Israeli official said earlier.

Katz says Iran will “pay painful prices” and its national infrastructure will “collapse” if it continues to fire missiles at Israel.

“As we have stated: as long as missile fire toward Israeli civilians continues, Iran will pay painful prices that will erode and collapse its national infrastructure,” he says, following an assessment with military officials.

He also defends the decision to order Israeli Air Force strikes on petrochemical facilities in southern Iran.

“The petrochemical industry has generated approximately $18 billion over the past two years for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terror organization, and directly serves Iran’s missile production industry,” Katz says.

Eight arrested over fiery settler rampage in West Bank village

Police have arrested eight individuals suspected of partaking in a settler rampage through a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank last night.

The suspects, whose ages range from 13 to 48, are accused of setting fire to Palestinian residents’ homes and two chicken coops in Qusra, as well as badly injuring a 32-year-old man employed in the village. He was left with a serious head injury and taken to the hospital for further treatment.

The suspects were arrested near the site of the attack last night, police say, as part of an ongoing investigation into the incident. Police seized an army-grade M16 assault rifle from one of the suspects.

Critics say police have largely turned a blind eye to increasingly brazen settler violence in the West Bank, and even when arrests are carried out, rarely result in indictments.

Toxic leak ruled out after missile strike near factories

Firefighters say there is no hazardous material leak after an Iranian ballistic missile struck an industrial zone south of Beersheba.

The Fire and Rescue Service says the missile hit an open area in the Neot Hovav industrial zone, with the shockwave and shrapnel causing minor damage to a factory building.

“As of now, there are no known casualties. Concern over hazardous materials has been ruled out,” the service says.

The industrial zone is home to a toxic waste dump.

IDF says it killed Hamas gunmen nearing troops in Gaza

The IDF says it killed armed Hamas operatives who posed a threat to Israeli troops stationed in the northern Gaza Strip last night.

The military says it identified the cell of Hamas gunmen who were “operating in proximity to IDF troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip, in a manner that posed an immediate threat to the forces.”

“Immediately upon identification, the IDF carried out a targeted strike and eliminated the cell to remove the threat,” the IDF says.

Gazan authorities previously reported four people killed in a strike in northern Gaza.

Second Iranian missile toward Beersheba seemingly intercepted

The second Iranian missile fired at southern Israel a short while ago was likely intercepted, according to preliminary IDF assessments.

The first missile struck an industrial area south of Beersheba.

No injuries are reported following either attack.

Tel Aviv man shot while attempting to stab cops

Police say they arrested a man who tried to stab two security personnel in a parking lot near a police station in south Tel Aviv this morning.

The suspect, a resident of the city in his 50s, took a knife to a municipal patrolman outside the station, then attempted to stab a police commander, law enforcement says.

Officers neutralized the man by shooting at his legs. He was taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

Police say they seized the knife from the suspect’s possession and are probing the circumstances of the attempted stabbing.

Iranian missile hits Negev industrial zone for third time

An Iranian ballistic missile struck the Neot Hovav industrial zone south of Beersheba a short while ago, according to rescue services.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

It marks the third missile to hit the industrial zone during the war.

Sirens are currently sounding in the area again due to a second Iranian missile attack within minutes.

Latin patriarch celebrates Easter mass in largely empty Holy Sepulchre church

Worshippers conducting services on easter Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, April 5, 2026. (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrates Easter mass at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Footage disseminated by the Patriarchate Press Office shows Pizzaballa presiding over the rituals with several clergy, but without the large crowds normally present for Easter rites.

On March 29, Israeli police prevented Pizzaballa and another priest from entering the church for a private mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday, stating that all holy sites in the Old City were closed for security reasons. The move sparked outrage and Israeli authorities eventually agreed to allow Christian clergy to celebrate the Holy Week rituals without the public.

Several worshippers tried to make their way to the Holy Sepulchre, but were kept at a distance by security forces enforcing IDF regulations, according to AFP.

“How can you tell me I cannot go to church, it is unacceptable,” one Catholic from Tel Aviv told AFP.

While the Old City usually bustles during Easter and Passover, with pilgrims and tourists flocking to its alleys and visiting both Christian holy sites and the Western Wall, the area has been largely empty today due to the war with Iran.

While preparing to attend the mass, Father Bernard Poggi laments the situation, telling AFP that while he understands security needs, “it seems to be more and more that there’s an unevenness in how the laws are put into practice.”

Earlier today, the Passover priestly blessing ceremony was held in a covered area by the Western Wall with a few dozen people, instead of the usual tens of thousands.

Second Iranian missile launch at south reported

Another ballistic missile launch from Iran toward southern Israel has been identified by the IDF.

Civilians in the south are instructed to remain in bomb shelters.

Missile strike reported near Beersheba

Medics and rescue forces are responding to reports of an impact near Beersheba following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on southern Israel.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Iranian missiles fired toward southern Israel, IDF says

The IDF has detected a ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Netanyahu says Israel protecting worship, in Easter message after Holy Sepulchre uproar

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wishes “a blessed and joyful Easter” to Christians in Israel and abroad, stressing that Israel’s commitment to the freedom of worship is “unwavering.”

“Christians are persecuted across the Middle East, in Syria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Turkey and beyond,” he writes on X. “But in our region, Israel alone protects our Christian community which is growing and prospering.”

His message comes a week after Israeli police officers stopped the top Catholic figures in the region from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday services, citing safety regulations during the ongoing war with Iran. After global condemnation, Netanyahu instructed the police to find an arrangement with the heads of churches in Jerusalem that would allow limited prayer services, which the sides succeeded in doing that evening.

“In this land where the story began, as missiles are fired at our capital, the holy city of Jerusalem, and as the US and Israel stand firm against the Iranian regime and its terror proxies,” he writes in English, “we continue to steadfastly protect the freedom of worship for all faiths, especially at this sacred time.”

“Even under fire, our commitment is unwavering: to defend life, to safeguard liberty, and to ensure that every believer can pray in peace.”

Hezbollah appears to step up fire on north

Rocket alerts have sounded in the upper Galilee several times in quick succession in the last 15 minutes as Hezbollah appears to step up fire on northern Israel after an overnight lull and relatively calm morning.

No injuries have been reported in the recent attacks, which have targeted the community of Meron and areas closer to the Lebanese border.

Israel says 165 Hezbollah rockets hit UN positions in Lebanon during war

Around 165 rockets fired by Hezbollah during the current round of fighting landed inside or next to United Nations posts in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military says.

On Friday, a Hezbollah rocket struck a UN Interim Force in Lebanon base in Odaisseh, wounding three members of the observer force, including two seriously, according to Israel. UNIFIL did not comment on the origin of the blast.

“Throughout the war, the Hezbollah terror organization has exploited its proximity to UNIFIL positions and posts to advance terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” the IDF says in a statement.

It says that “approximately 165 rocket launches fired by the Hezbollah terror organization have been identified as having fallen within or near UNIFIL positions.”

The IDF adds that during the fighting, it continues to maintain coordination with UNIFIL forces in the area.

‼️REVEALED: ~165 of Hezbollah’s rocket launches have landed inside or adjacent to UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah systematically violates international law, while endangering international forces and harming UN personnel.

The IDF continues to maintain coordination… pic.twitter.com/fyPXIB1n8z

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 5, 2026

Last week, two UNIFIL troops of Indonesian origin were killed in an explosion in southern Lebanon, which Israel blamed on roadside bombs it said were placed by Hezbollah. That came days after another Indonesian soldier was killed when a projectile exploded near one of the group’s positions. According to a UN security source, the peacekeeper was killed by Israeli fire.

Iran says abandoned Isfahan-area airport used in ‘foiled’ rescue operation

This handout photo provided by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official website Sepah News on April 5, 2026, shows smoke billowing from the wreckage of US aircraft apparently used in the rescue of a downed American airman. (Sepah)

Iran’s military says the US operation to rescue a missing airman from a downed American fighter jet used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province.

“The so-called US military rescue operation, planned as a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan under the pretext of recovering the pilot of a downed aircraft, was completely foiled,” says Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the military’s central command, Khatam Al-Anbiya.

He adds that “two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed” during the operation.

On social media, Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf presents the rescue of a US airman who had been shot down on Friday as a pyrrhic win for America.

If the United States gets three more victories like this, it will be utterly ruined. 👏 pic.twitter.com/jutDghVrjz

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 5, 2026

According to The New York Times, the planes were blown up by the US to keep them from Iran’s forces after issues getting them off the ground.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the planes were MC-130Js, specially equipped transport aircraft meant for covert insertion and extraction missions. Each costs over $100 million, the paper reports.

IDF triples warning time for rocket attacks on Eilat to 90 seconds

An impact site in Eilat after an Iranian missile targeted Eilat, March 14, 2026 (Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90)

The IDF Home Front Command says it will be extending the warning time for missile attacks on the Red Sea resort city of Eilat to 90 seconds.

The move means that those in Eilat, Kibbutz Eilot, and the nearby Shachoret industrial zone, will have a minute more than previously to seek shelter from attacks. Eilat has been targeted recently by Iran and the Houthis in Yemen with ballistic missiles, as well as drones.

The Home Front Command says it has been “conducting continuous learning and improvement processes and is constantly working to enhance the response for the citizens of the State of Israel.”

The changes will take effect within the coming day, the military says.

Last month, the Home Front Command announced a similar move in dozens of communities on the Lebanon border.

No injuries reported after Hezbollah attack on Galilee, Golan

Several rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago were intercepted or hit open areas, according to the IDF.

Sirens had sounded in Safed and surrounding towns in the Galilee and in Katzrin and nearby communities in the Golan Heights.

No injuries are reported.

Sephardic chief rabbi renews attack on High Court at Western Wall

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man behind a closed door of Jerusalem's Old City, largely empty due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)

Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef doubles down on his criticism against the High Court of Justice, saying Israel’s top tribunal “only understands lawlessness” after it issued an injunction telling police to allow protests to take place and criticizing the lack of enforcement against large religious gatherings.

In a short speech at the end of the Passover priestly blessing at the Western Wall, Yosef endorses Western Wall Heritage Foundation head Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz’s appeal to Home Front Command to reassess the security guidelines for the Jewish holy site, saying the army “understands matters of safety.”

“He didn’t go to the High Court because they understand lawlessness in the name of freedom of protest,” Yosef adds.

“We turn to the professionals who truly understand pikuach nefesh,” Yosef says, referring to the principle of placing safety over religious obligations. “The High Court does not understand pikuach nefesh, the Home Front Command does, and here we declare that the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Chief Rabbis will act according to the instructions of the Home Front Command, because we know what safeguarding every Jewish life means.”

Last night, Yosef called the court “an enemy of Judaism” over its ruling.

IDF says strikes target Hezbollah bastion near Beirut

The IDF announces that it has begun a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

According to Lebanese media, several strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh.

The strikes come after the IDF reiterated its evacuation warning for the entire Dahiyeh, as well as issued a warning for a specific building that it was set to bomb.

فيديو – الغارة الإسرائيلية التي استهدفت الضاحية الجنوبية بعد الإنذار الإسرائيلي الأخير pic.twitter.com/rwIeIWZOMq

— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) April 5, 2026

Gazans say four killed in Israeli strike

An Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians near Gaza City’s Darraj neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, local health authorities say.

The Israeli military does not immediately comment on the incident.

Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire agreed last October, which halted two years of full-blown war.

The Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, says Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the ceasefire began, though it does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The figures cannot be independently verified.

Israel says four soldiers have been killed in attacks by Gazans over the same period.

Hamas is required to disarm under the US plan ending the war, but the terror group has refused to do so, holding up implementation.

Lebanese president defends bid for talks with Israel to stop offensive

Damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on April 4, 2026 (AFP)

In a televised Easter address, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun defends his decision to seek negotiations with Israel to stop airstrikes and a growing ground incursion by troops into the south of the country.

Responding to journalists’ questions, Aoun says Israel has not yet responded to Lebanon’s demand for a ceasefire as a precondition for entering full negotiations.

But he says that talks are the only way to end Israel’s military campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, fearing it will leave the country in ruins.

“It may be that Israel wants to operate in southern Lebanon as it does in Gaza, but our duty is not to drag it into doing what it does in Gaza,” he says. “Negotiations are not surrender. Gaza is destroyed and more than 70,000 have been killed, and only afterward do they negotiate. We have no choice but to negotiate to stop the tragedy in Lebanon.”

He adds that he is calling on countries to intervene to stop what he describes as “this madness,” referring to Israel’s strikes.

Israel launched its military operation in response to Hezbollah rocket fire, which the Tehran-backed terror group resumed last month in response to the war in Iran.

Aoun also aims oblique criticism at Hezbollah for sowing internal discord and dragging Lebanon into the war, saying anyone who “harms civil peace is serving Israel, and that is worse than the Israeli attacks.”

On the expelled Iranian ambassador, who has refused to leave the country, the president says that “he is not an ambassador; he is at the Iranian embassy without an official role.”

Rocket alerts sound in Safed, Golan Heights

Rocket sirens are sounding in the northern city of Safed and surrounding communities, as well as in the Golan Heights city of Katzrin, the IDF says.

The alerts are seemingly triggered by Hezbollah fire coming from Lebanon.

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout longest ever, monitor says

Iran’s internet blackout, first imposed well over a month ago, is now the longest nationwide shutdown on record, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

“Iran’s internet blackout is now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country, exceeding all other comparable incidents in severity having entered its 37th consecutive day after 864 hours,” NetBlocks says in a tweet.

In another tweet, the monitor notes some countries had experienced intermittent or regional-level shutdowns over longer periods, while North Korea was never connected to the global internet at all.

Smoking package triggers hazardous materials scare at airport

Hazmat officials examining a suspicious object at Ben-Gurion International Airport on April 5, 2026. (Fire and Rescue Service)

Firefighters are working to remove a suspicious package found this morning at Ben Gurion Airport, thought to contain hazardous material after it began emitting smoke.

Airport employees have been evacuated from the area to prevent contact with the potentially dangerous object, the Fire and Rescue Service says.

Officials in the fire service’s Hazardous Materials Unit have identified the substance and are working to remove it from the area.

Footage shared by the agency shows two firefighters in hazmat suits appearing to investigate the object outside the airport, in an area cordoned off by barricade tape.

The incident is under control and has not caused any injuries, the agency adds.

IDF said to reject police claim they told cops to break up Tel Aviv protest

Cops disperse a protest against the government and the ongoing war with Iran, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, April 4, 2026. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Military officials reportedly say they played no part in ordering the forceful dispersal of last night’s anti-war protest in Tel Aviv, despite police insisting that the demonstration was broken up with the army’s backing.

Speaking to the Haaretz newspaper, several IDF sources reject police claims that officers broke up the rally at Habima Square only after receiving the go-ahead from a Home Front Command official at the scene.

Police said in a statement last night that cops began to disperse protesters following a “situation assessment with a Home Front Command representative” in which it was determined the demonstration presented “a tangible danger to human life.”

According to the report, the Home Front Command representative at the scene did not take part in the police decision to disperse the crowd and even refused to officially back the move.

Instead, the official offered input solely on issues of safety, including ensuring protesters receive a warning ahead of missile fire and can take shelter during air raid sirens.

The unnamed sources further express frustration to the outlet that police are “selectively enforcing” army guidelines, cracking down on protests while allowing other public gatherings, including those of a religious nature, to take place without interruption.

High Court judges expressed a similar sentiment in an interim order handed down last night, which called the apparent disparity “difficult to reconcile.”

Wartime limits keep most away from Priestly Blessing at Western Wall

Jewish worshippers take part in the traditional Priestly Blessing during the Passover holiday in an indoor section along the Western Wall in Jerusalem, after prayers were limited to 50 participants due to the ongoing war, April 5, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Priestly Blessing rite takes place at the Western Wall in Jerusalem with only a few dozen attendees in a covered area, in a wartime departure from a holiday ceremony that generally draws tens of thousands to the Old City plaza.

With the Home Front Command restricting the size of gatherings, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the Israel Police, and the Jerusalem Municipality said last week that the service would include just 50 attendees, with others forced to watch the ceremony via live broadcast.

Among those attending in person are Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and Chief Rabbis Kalman Ber and David Yosef.

Limits on gatherings and restrictions on religious rites have come under scrutiny in recent days. Last week, senior clergy were blocked from pre-Easter Christian services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, setting off an international firestorm; on Saturday, the High Court of Justice ordered police to protect the rights of protesters to gather even during wartime, but did not extend the protection to worshipers.

Minutes before the priestly blessing ceremony was about to begin, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation called for the Home Front Command to ease limits restricting attendance at the Western Wall plaza.

“I find it difficult to understand why the right to protest is perceived as more important or more urgent than the right to pray,” foundation head Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz said.

“The Western Wall is the beating heart of the Jewish people,” he added. “If the security reality permits hundreds of people to gather in public squares for demonstrations, all the more so it should allow Jews to assemble at the Western Wall Plaza.”

At the Holy Sepulchre, Catholics and several other Christian denominations are marking Easter, with no public attendance and only a limited number of clergy.

Iran says five killed during US rescue op, claims several US aircraft downed

Iranian media reports that five people were killed in strikes during the US operation to rescue an airman whose fighter jet was shot down on Friday.

At the same time, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say several American aircraft were destroyed during the US mission, according to Tasnim news agency.

“During a joint operation (Aerospace, Ground Force, Popular Units, Basij and Police command), enemy aircraft were destroyed,” the group says after Iran’s police command claimed an American C-130 plane had been downed in the south of Isfahan.

The spokesperson of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of the Iranian armed forces, said the downed aircraft included a C-130 military transport plane as well as two Black Hawk helicopters.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s army also said it had downed an Israeli drone in the same province.

Iran’s state-run media has repeatedly distributed false claims of downed US and Israeli aircraft during the war.

According to a New York Times report, US forces blew up their own C-130 transport planes after they got stuck on an airfield and did not want them to fall into Iranian hands.

Egypt works phones with Witkoff, top Iranian diplomat in bid to calm fighting

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held separate calls to discuss proposals for regional de-escalation with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and others in the region, the ministry in Cairo says in a statement.

Araghchi confirms the call in a statement on Telegram.

Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan have emerged as active intermediaries in the crisis, with Islamabad recently hosting a meeting to discuss regional de-escalation and proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

No injuries after Iranian missile attack on Haifa

No injuries are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack, the third today and the first after some six hours.

According to the IDF, the missile that triggered sirens in northern Israel was intercepted.

IDF denies Hezbollah claim it struck Israeli Navy vessel

Hezbollah claims to have targeted an Israeli Navy vessel off the coast of Lebanon using a cruise missile last night.

The terror group says “a direct hit was confirmed” on the ship, 68 nautical miles off the Lebanese coast, “after hours of tracking the target.”

The IDF says it is unaware of the incident.

Iran resumes fire at northern Israel

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting northern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Abu Dhabi petrochemical plant shut after hit by falling debris

Authorities in Abu Dhabi say that operations at the Borouge petrochemicals plant have been suspended due to fires that broke out after debris from an interception hit the facility.

No injuries are reported, and the extent of damage is being assessed, the emirate’s media office says.

Iranian drones cause ‘significant’ damage to Kuwait water, energy plants

Kuwait says drone attacks from Iran caused “significant” damage to a water desalination plant, 2 power plants and the Kuwait City offices of the country’s finance ministry.

Kuwait’s Electricity Ministry says the attack resulted in two power generation units being taken out of service.

No casualties are reported in the attacks.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation reports a drone attack on the KPC headquarters including an office complex for government ministries. Kuwait has expelled #Iran regime ambassadors for much less, e.g. in 2017. This is a direct attack on government buildings. pic.twitter.com/DIGQlhaGbe

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) April 5, 2026

In Bahrain, the kingdom’s BAPCO Energies petroleum company says an Iranian drone set fire to one of its storage tanks.

The fire has been extinguished and no injuries are reported, Manama says. Teams are assessing the extent of the damage.

Over 100 hospitalized with war injuries in past day

The Health Ministry reports that 108 people were hospitalized with injuries sustained as a result of the conflict with Iran and Hezbollah over the past 24 hours, almost all of them with light injuries.

The tally includes two people listed in moderate condition, the ministry says.

A total of 138 people are currently hospitalized due to the war, which began on February 28. Over 6,800 people, including both soldiers and civilians, have been treated in hospitals for war-related injuries over that time, the ministry says.

The ministry does not give a breakdown of the causes of casualties, which may include indirect injuries, such as people injured while trying to reach shelters, as well as those directly wounded as a result of missile fire.

Hezbollah fires rockets at Galilee in first attack in over 12 hours

Several rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Galilee a short while ago, in the first Hezbollah attack on northern Israel in over 12 hours.

According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted while others were allowed to strike open areas, “according to protocol.” The rockets triggered warnings in Yesod Hamaala, Lehavot Habashan, and Gonen.

No injuries are reported.

It marks the first attack from Lebanon on Israel since around 8 p.m. last night, when the military said several drones launched by Hezbollah at the Galilee Panhandle were intercepted.

Sirens also sounded before midnight and this morning in the Western Galilee, but according to the IDF, both incidents were false alarms.

Iran executes two convicted of trying to steal arms during January protests

Iran executed two men convicted of attempting to storm a military facility and access an armory during unrest in January, Iran’s Mizan news outlet says.

The men, identified as Mohammadamin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast, were among a group of four in the same case who faced execution, according to rights group Amnesty International.

Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the sentences for the two defendants who were among “rioters who sought to commit mass murder” by trying to steal weapons and military equipment, adds the outlet, a mouthpiece for Iran’s judiciary.

Last week, Iran executed 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, convicted in the same case stemming from nationwide anti-government protests repressed by the Islamic Republic in the biggest crackdown in its history.

Israel says it struck 120 targets in Iran, including air defenses threatening planes

The Israeli Air Force hit over 120 targets relating to Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones, and air defenses in the past day, the military says.

According to the IDF, the targets hit in western and central Iran included ballistic missile facilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, drone storage and launch sites, and air defense systems.

“The destroyed defense systems posed a threat to Israeli Air Force aircraft, and their destruction preserves the Israeli Air Force’s air superiority in the skies over Iran,” the military says, attaching footage of some of the strikes.

צפו בתיעוד מעין הטיל: ביממה האחרונה חיל-האוויר תקף יותר מ-120 מערכות הגנה אווירית וטילים של משטר הטרור האיראני במרכז ובמערב איראן.

בין המטרות שהותקפו: אתרי מערך הטילים הבליסטיים במשמרות המהפכה, אתרי אחסון ושיגור כטב"מים ואתרי הגנה אווירית.

מערכות ההגנה שהושמדו היוו איום על… pic.twitter.com/9qcqGtMsXk

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) April 5, 2026

Report says downed airman had to make ‘daring move’ to meet rescuers in Iran

The Wall Street Journal reports that a downed airman who was injured when the fighter jet he was in went down in Iran, had to perform a “daring move to meet his rescue team,” without specifying.

American MQ-9 Reaper UAVs shot at Iranians attempting to capture the downed US airman during his approximately 36 hours in a mountainous region of Iran before his rescue, the paper says, citing officials and people familiar with the operation.

Iran had offered a reward for anyone who found the officer, who had ejected from a downed F-15E fighter jet on Friday.

According to the Journal, dozens of aircraft provided cover for the commando unit that swooped in to scoop up the airman, though forces did not encounter significant resistance on the ground, the paper says.

Planes carrying airman, commandos out of Iran got stuck during daring rescue — report

The New York Times reports that two transport aircraft spiriting a rescued airman and commandos out of Iran got stuck inside the country and had to be blown up, with three new planes sent into Iran to take the airman and soldiers out.

The military then blew up the transport planes so they would not fall into Iran’s hands, the newspaper reports.

Images from inside Iran suggest that the planes got stuck at a temporary airstrip set up by the US military in a remote part of the country.

Reported images of the forward airbase in Iran used by US forces to successfully rescue the downed US F-15 WSO.

A pair of C-130s were destroyed before final departure after they became stuck. pic.twitter.com/AtSeUBM9pd

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 5, 2026

According to the New York Times, hundreds of special operations soldiers took part in the rescue mission. The paper reports that the rescued airman, a weapons officer, was flown to Kuwait for treatment after his rescue.

Drone alerts sound briefly on northern border in false alarm — IDF

Sirens that sounded a short while ago in the Western Galilee, warning of a suspected drone attack from Lebanon, were a false alarm, according to the IDF.

The alerts were activated in Rosh Hanikra, Betzet, and a nearby industrial area. Minutes after the sirens sounded, the Home Front Command gave the all clear.

Trump confirms rescue of downed airmen in Iran, says one injured

US President Donald Trump confirms that US airmen shot down over Iran Friday were rescued, calling the mission to get back the navigator Saturday “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” in a message on his Truth Social network.

Trump says the unnamed crew member was injured but “will be just fine,” describing him as “SAFE and SOUND!”

The soldier was stuck in “the treacherous mountains of Iran” and was rescued as enemy forces closed in on him, he writes.

“At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him,” he writes, also confirming the rescue of the pilot of the F-15E a day earlier.

“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” he writes. “The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies.

Second airman in downed jet rescued in Iran — report

A US airman downed in Iran has been rescued, Axios reports, citing three US officials.

According to the outlet, the navigator was rescued “by a specialized commando unit with a high volume of air cover.” All of the forces have left Iran, Axios reports.

The officials say the US Air Force carried out airstrikes against Iranian forces as the IRGC raced to capture the airman and prevent his rescue.

The pilot of the F-15, which was shot down on Friday, was rescued hours after the plane went down, in an operation in which Iranian forces hit a US helicopter.

Both crewmen had contacted US forces using a communications system after going down, Axios reports.

Report: Crew member of downed US fighter jet located in Iran; rescue mission ongoing

Citing an unnamed US government official, Al Jazeera reports that the missing crew member of a US fighter jet that was downed over Iran on Friday has been located.

The official tells the Qatari news outlet that the rescue mission is still ongoing, and the crew member has not yet left Iranian territory.

UAE air defenses respond to missile, drone attacks after Iran said it would target ‘aluminum industries’

Emirati air defenses are responding to missile and drone attacks, the United Arab Emirates’ defense ministry says Sunday, as Iran said it was targeting “aluminum industries” in the Gulf nation.

“UAE Air Defences … are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats,” the ministry posts on X, providing no details about the origin of the attack.

Iran’s army said it was targeting “aluminum industries” in the UAE and US military infrastructure in Kuwait, the official IRNA news agency reports.

Satellite firm Planet Labs to indefinitely withhold Iran war images at request of US government

Satellite imaging firm Planet Labs says it will indefinitely withhold visuals of Iran and the region of conflict in the Middle East to comply with a request from the US government.

California-based Planet Labs announces the decision in an email to customers and says the US government had asked all satellite imagery providers to indefinitely withhold images of the conflict region.

The restriction expands upon a 14-day delay on imagery of the Middle East that Planet Labs imposed last month, a move the firm said was meant to prevent adversaries from using it to attack the US and its allies.

Planet Labs says it will withhold imagery dating back to March 9 and that it expects the policy to remain in effect until the conflict ends.

Military uses of satellite technology include target identification, weapons guidance, missile tracking and communications. Some space specialists say Iran could be accessing commercial imagery, including pictures obtained via US adversaries. Satellite images also help journalists and academicians studying hard-to-reach places.

Planet Labs, which operates a large fleet of Earth-imaging satellites and sells frequently updated images to governments, companies and media, did not respond to a request for further comment.

The Pentagon says it does not comment on intelligence-related matters.

Planet Labs says in its email to customers that it will switch to a “managed distribution of images” deemed not to pose a risk to safety. Under a new system, Planet Labs will release imagery on a case-by-case basis for urgent, mission-critical requirements or in the public interest.

“These are extraordinary circumstances, and we are doing all we can to balance the needs of all our stakeholders,” the firm says.

Kuwait says Iranian drones strike oil sector complex, power, government sites

Kuwait Petroleum ​Corporation says a fire broke out in its Shuwaikh oil sector complex, which houses the oil ministry and KPC headquarters, after a drone attack, the Kuwaiti state news agency reports.

Kuwaiti state media, citing the finance ministry, says an Iranian drone hit an office complex for government ministries, causing significant material damage but no casualties.

Two power generation units were also taken out of service after Iranian drones targeted two power and water desalination plants, causing significant damage, Kuwait’s electricity and water ministry says.

No injuries were reported in any of the incidents, according to Kuwaiti state media.

There is no official comment from Iran.

Sirens expected in northern Israel as new Iranian missile launch detected

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting northern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Kuwait says working to intercept incoming drones and missiles

Kuwait’s military says its air defenses are working to intercept missiles and drones fired towards the Gulf nation’s territory.

“Kuwaiti Air Defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone threats,” the Kuwaiti army posts on X, adding that any explosions heard were air defense interceptions.

Iranian missile lands in open area after sirens sound in southern Israel

The ballistic missile launched by Iran at southern Israel a short while ago was allowed to hit an open area “according to protocol,” according to the military.

No injuries are reported.

Sirens expected in southern Israel as new Iranian missile launch detected

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Palestinian said seriously hurt in settler attack on village near Nablus

A man has been badly injured by Israeli settlers during a rampage tonight in West Bank villages near Nablus, Palestinian media reports.

In Qusra, a town south of the city, dozens of settlers are said to have set fire to residents’ homes and two chicken coops.

They beat a 32-year-old man, Zahran Muhammad Shanableh, who is employed in the town, according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency.

Paramedics with the Palestinian Red Crescent reportedly found the man with a severe head injury.

Settlers also set fire to several homes in Jalud, a smaller village just west of Qusra, according to the reports.

Another HORRIFIC night in the West Bank.

Dozens of armed Israeli settlers are carrying out a pogrom now in the village of Qusra in the West Bank, setting fire to two chicken farms and houses. pic.twitter.com/ye9itXkl2G

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 4, 2026

Trump claims ‘many of Iran’s military leaders’ killed in ‘massive’ Tehran strike, does not elaborate

US President Donald Trump says, “Many of Iran’s military leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely, are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran!”

He makes the claim in his latest Truth Social post, which includes footage of a strike in Iran.

He does not elaborate on the details of the strike or its targets.

Many of Iran’s Military Leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely, are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran! President DONALD J. TRUMP

(TS: 04 Apr 16:37 ET)​​​‍​​‌‍​​‌‍​​​​​​​‌‍​​​​‌‍​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​​‌‍​​​​‌‍​​​​​​‌‍​​​​​​​​​‌‍​​‌‍​​‌‍… pic.twitter.com/tD59eIoVVY

— Commentary: Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) April 4, 2026