Aug. 13: Spain signals support for UN-led mission to stabilize Gaza

UN chief puts Israel ‘on notice’ for sexual violence blacklist; Hamas to be added for first time

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech at the opening of the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, on February 24, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has placed Israel “on notice” for possible inclusion in the UN’s “blacklist” of countries and groups credibly suspected of committing patterns of sexual violence in armed conflict.

The “blacklist” refers to the formal annex naming such parties in the UN’s annual Report on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. In the current draft of the 2025 report — seen by The Times of Israel and set to be published in the coming days — Israel is not listed in the annex, but Guterres cites “grave concern” in the main body of the document over allegations of sexual violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinians in multiple prisons, a detention facility, and a military base.

In a letter sent yesterday to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, Guterres warns that Israel is on watch and could be included in next year’s annex. He writes that refusal to grant UN inspectors access has made verification difficult, but says there is “significant concern” over documented patterns of abuse.

The draft also places Hamas in the annex for the first time. The terror group was not blacklisted last year, with the UN citing insufficient evidence directly linking it to reported assaults and calling for further investigation. Hamas’s inclusion follows recently published reports documenting systematic sexual violence both during the October 7, 2023, massacre and against hostages in captivity.

In the letter to Danon, Guterres lists steps Israel must take to avoid blacklisting, including issuing directives against sexual violence, creating enforcement and disciplinary systems, investigating every credible complaint, securing commanders’ personal commitments, and granting the UN free access for monitoring and humanitarian aid.

Among the allegations cited by the UN — which include multiple accounts of the rape of Palestinian male detainees — is the reported assault of a detainee during his transfer to the Sde Teiman facilities, established after October 7 as a preliminary holding site for captured Hamas members and other suspected terrorists. Military police later arrested nine soldiers in connection with the incident, on charges including aggravated sodomy.

In a response to Guterres’ warning shared by his office, Danon rejects the allegations as “unfounded” and based on “biased publications,” demanding Israel’s removal from any consideration for listing, sanctions on Hamas for systematic sexual violence, and an amendment to the report to further reflect Hamas’s October 7 atrocities and what he calls the absence of evidence of a pattern of such crimes by Israeli forces.

A spokesperson for Danon tells The Times of Israel that blacklisting could prompt sanctions or other punitive measures, noting that other listed parties, which include ISIS and Al-Qaeda, have a years-long record of systematic sexual violence — a record they said was in no way comparable to Israel’s, making Guterres’ consideration “absurd” and “grave.”

48 hours on, IDF mum on why it targeted Al Jazeera journalist when he was with 5 others

A woman carries a poster showing Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif, whom Israel says was a Hamas operative, left, and Mohamed Qreiqeh, who were killed in an airstrike in Gaza, during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 11, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)

Roughly 48 hours since the IDF strike that killed prominent Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, the IDF remains mum on why it chose to target him when he was with five other journalists who were also killed in the blast on a tent near Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

Since the strike, the IDF has doubled down on its assertion that Sharif was an active Hamas operative, pointing to documents it released last year that listed Sharif as the head of a rocket-launching squad in 2019 and a member of the elite Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion.

However, it has not released any information on the five other journalists killed with Sharif.

As of midnight Tuesday-Wednesday, the IDF had yet to respond to a query on the matter submitted 24 hours earlier.

Al Jazeera said the Sunday strike killed its correspondents Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqea, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal. Freelancer Mohammad al-Khaldi was also with the group and lost his life in the strike.

Man sentenced to 10 years for firing shotgun at upstate NY synagogue while shouting ‘Free Palestine’

FILE - A menorah stands outside the entrance to Temple Israel, December 7, 2023, in Albany, New York. (AP Photo/Maysoon Khan)

A New York man is sentenced to 10 years in prison for firing a shotgun at a synagogue in Albany in December 2023. The shooting was an early example of violence directed at Jews following the October 7 attack and subsequent Gaza war.

Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, is sentenced for charges including conspiring to illegally straw purchase a firearm, obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs with a dangerous weapon, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, the Department of Justice says.

Alkhader, a resident of the nearby city of Schenectady, took an Uber to Albany’s Temple Israel on December 7, 2023, shortly into the Gaza war and during Hanukkah. When he arrived at around 2 p.m., he approached the synagogue’s front entrance and fired the shotgun into the air twice while shouting “Free Palestine.”

He tried to fire a third time, but the weapon jammed. He then attempted to tear down an Israeli flag outside the synagogue before being arrested, the Department of Justice says.

“Mr. Alkhader’s violent actions were fueled by hatred for individuals simply because of their faith. That hatred caused tremendous terror within the Temple Israel community – and the Jewish community as a whole – as they were preparing for the first night of Channukah,” says Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli of the FBI Albany Field Office. “We hope this sentence can play an important part in the community’s continued healing process, but can also serve as a notice that violence, especially borne from hate, will not be tolerated.”

Another suspect in the case, Andrew Miller, lied to a gun store in Albany to purchase a shotgun for Alkhader. Miller was sentenced to 14 months in prison, the Department of Justice says.

Arab diplomat confirms Egyptian mediators held talks with Hamas on reviving hostage negotiations

Egyptian mediators held an opening round of talks with Hamas in Cairo on Tuesday aimed at reviving hostage negotiations that blew up on July 24, an Arab diplomat confirms to The Times of Israel, adding that talks will continue on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s discussions were largely preliminary and did not delve into specific details of the framework that the sides will try to advance.

Despite assertions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel is no longer interested in a partial deal, the Arab diplomat says that a similar framework to the one previously discussed will likely be what the mediators try to advance — a 60-day truce that subsequently turns into a permanent ceasefire once the sides agree on the exact terms.

The diplomat says that the mediators would like to broker a comprehensive deal that immediately ends the war and secures the release of all 50 of the remaining hostages at once, but that will be more difficult to do in a short time period, as Israel is demanding that Hamas completely surrender by giving up its control of Gaza along with its weapons.

Hamas says senior leader Khalil al-Hayya has arrived in Cairo

Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya during an interview in Istanbul, April 24, 2024. (AP/ Khalil Hamra, File)

Hamas announces that senior leader Khalil al-Hayya has arrived in Cairo for talks on reviving mediated ceasefire-hostage negotiations with Israel.

Hamas official Taher al-Nono says in a statement that the terror group’s meetings with Egyptian officials will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and “end the suffering of our people in Gaza.”

The trip by al-Hayya, who is Hamas’s chief negotiator, comes after comments he made earlier this month implicating Cairo in the ongoing Gaza humanitarian crisis, which infuriated the Egyptians.

Asked why he previously claimed Rafah was ‘last Hamas stronghold,’ PM insists he only referred to battalions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) travels to Rafah, on the Gaza-Egypt border, to visit IDF troops, July 18, 2024. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

In the i24 interview, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pressed on why he’s framing Gaza City as Hamas’s “last true fortress” when he used the same rhetoric to describe Rafah before Israel launched a major offensive in the southern Gaza town last spring.

The premier claims that he was referring to the last organized Hamas battalions that were then located in Rafah.

In fact, he told CBS in February 2024, “We’ve already destroyed 18 of the 24 Hamas terrorist battalions. Four of [the remaining ones] are concentrated in the Rafah. We can’t leave the last Hamas stronghold without taking care of it.”

Netanyahu tells i24that Hamas transitioned to “guerrilla warfare,” after which Gaza City became the terror group’s final stronghold. He says the IDF will evacuate the civilian population before going in and clearing Gaza City. The IDF will then proceed into the refugee camps in central Gaza and the Mawasi area, which he characterized as a smaller Hamas stronghold that will be easier to dismantle once the Gaza City stronghold is defeated.

Critics have warned that Netanyahu is repeating the same strategy in Gaza City that the IDF used in Rafah, which allows many of Hamas’s operatives to evacuate with the civilian population and to simply move the “stronghold” to other locations.

New Zealand leader says Netanyahu has ‘lost the plot’ over Gaza

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reacts as he speaks during a press conference in Sydney on December 20, 2023. (David Gray/AFP)

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost the plot” as the country weighs whether to recognize a Palestinian state.

Luxon tells reporters that the lack of humanitarian assistance, the forceful displacement of people and the annexation of Gaza were “utterly” appalling and that Netanyahu had gone way too far.

“I think he has lost the plot,” adds Luxon, who heads the center-right coalition government. “What we are seeing overnight, the attack on Gaza City, is utterly, utterly unacceptable.”

Luxon said earlier this week New Zealand was considering whether to recognize a Palestinian state. Close ally Australia on Monday joined Canada, the UK and France in announcing it would do so at a UN conference in September.

Ahead of Wednesday’s parliamentary session, a small number of protesters gathered outside the country’s parliament buildings, beating pots and pans. Local media organization Stuff reported protesters chanted “MPs grow a spine, recognize Palestine.”

Inside, Greens parliamentarian Chloe Swarbrick is removed from parliament’s debating chamber for a second day in a row after she refused to apologize for a comment insinuating government politicians were spineless for not supporting a bill to “sanction Israel for its war crimes.”

The government votes to suspend her after she refuses to leave. She calls out “free Palestine” as she exits.

“Sixty-eight members of this House were accused of being spineless,” House speaker Gerry Brownlee says. “There has never been a time where personal insults like that delivered inside a speech were accepted by this House and I’m not going to start accepting it.”

Temperatures begin to soar as Israel set to bake in record heat

Israelis cool off at a swimming hole in the Golan Heights on August 12, 2025. (Michael Giladi/ Flash90)

Temperatures in Israel are heating back up as a record-breaking heat wave looms over much of the country.

Data from the Israel Meteorological Service shows that the mercury has already climbed to 35º C (95º F) in Jerusalem and 37º C (99º F) south of the Dead Sea before many have even had a chance to grab a cup of coffee.

Temperatures in interior parts of the country and the West Bank are expected to approach a sizzling 50º C during the hottest parts of the day, particularly around the Sea of Galilee.

According to the IMS, temperatures at Arbel will top out at 48º C (118º F), marking the country’s top temperatures, while a station at the Qasr al-Yehud pilgrimage site in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley is expected to bask in 49º C (120º F) temperatures.

Other areas are expected to be nearly as hot, especially from the Hula Valley and the Sea of Galilee in the northeast down to the Arava Desert in the south. The Jerusalem and Tel Aviv areas are expected to swelter with forecasts hitting the upper 30s Celsius (95-104 Fahrenheit).

The Health Ministry has recommended that people limit their time outdoors and in the sun and take other necessary precautions to avoid heatstroke and other weather related illnesses.

The scorcher is expected to slacken slightly tomorrow before breaking over the weekend, though temperatures will still be relatively high for the season.

Ramping up fight, Katz accuses IDF chief of working with government critics to bypass hierarchy

Defense Minister Israel Katz (right) and new IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) meet with the IDF General Staff Forum, March 5, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says in a statement that he is keeping military staffing decisions under his close watch, ratcheting up a brewing brawl with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

“After the events of October 7, there is no longer an army that is not under supervision,” he says in a “clarification” published by his office.

Katz on Monday clashed with Zamir over a meeting the top general had on senior appointments in the military, subsequently slapping down the proposed promotions.

“In accordance with the law, I am the one who decides on approving promotions from the rank of colonel on up, and the IDF chief is meant to recommend various options,” he says in the statement.

“Therefore, a procedure was established for prior consultation between the defense minister and the chief of staff, a procedure that must be carried out in an orderly manner and in preliminary discussions, as has been done since I assumed the position of defense minister,” Katz says.

“The attempt to change the procedures we decided on, perhaps on the recommendation of anti-government advisers stirring the pot, and to replace them with an attempt to create facts on the ground in ad hoc meetings, will not succeed,” he adds.

Despite Katz’s claim, there appears to be no law that authorizes the defense minister to be in charge of approving promotions in the military.

There is, however, a “General Staff order”– a top-tier military protocol — from 1992 (which was updated in 2020), stating that for promotions of colonel and above, the chief of staff is the “appointing authority” and the defense minister is the “approving authority.”

The approving authority is defined in the military protocol as the official authorized to approve the promotion of an officer after it has been agreed upon in a staffing discussion.

The order also states that “the appointment of officers in the IDF will take place after holding an appointments discussion. The decision in the appointments discussion will be made by the chairperson of the discussion and will be passed on for approval by the approving authority.”

The Kan broadcaster reported Tuesday that Zamir had held consultations with several former high-ranking army officers, including ex-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Operations Directorate Israel Ziv and ex-IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu, all of whom have been critical of the government.

Sweltering Sodom breaks overnight heat record, weather service says

The Israel Meteorological Service says the Dead Sea area and Negev experienced record-setting temperatures overnight.

According to the IMS, the mercury at the Sodom weather station near the Dead Sea evaporation pools only fell to 36.6° C (97.8° F) overnight, the highest daily minimum ever recorded in Israel.

The previous record was 35.5° C (95.9° F).

Eilat and Yotvata also experienced record-setting lows, only cooling to 35.8° C (96.4° F) and 33.7° C (92.7° F) overnight, the IMS says.

Temperatures in Sodom are currently at 37° C (99° F), with Jerusalem now the hottest place in the country at 39° C (102° F).

Israel says 320 trucks of assistance let into Gaza, picked up by aid groups

Damaged trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza are parked next to the border with the Gaza Strip near the Kissufim crossing in southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Nearly 320 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip yesterday through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities (COGAT) says.

According to COGAT, some 320 trucks’ worth of aid were also picked up by the United Nations and other international organizations from the Gaza sides of the crossings yesterday to be distributed.

Additionally, three tankers of “UN fuel entered for the operation of essential humanitarian systems” entered Gaza, COGAT adds. It also says it facilitated the entry and exit of aid workers rotating in and out of Gaza.

The UN has said 600 trucks of aid need to be distributed each day at minimum to feed the Strip’s roughly two million people.

Haredi leaders planning large protest outside prison where draft dodger suspects held

Hundreds of yeshiva deans and prominent rabbis are expected to attend a major demonstration outside the Beit Lid military prison on Thursday to protest the arrest of several ultra-Orthodox men who evaded conscription.

The protest appears to mark an escalation in the Haredi community’s self-declared “war” against the military’s efforts to increase enforcement against draft dodgers, which has led to a series of smaller protests outside the prison in recent days.

The protest is announced in the Yated Neeman and Hamodia newspapers, mouthpieces for the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions that make up the United Torah Judaism party, respectively,  and is being organized by Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of Degel HaTorah. UTJ is currently leading efforts to advance legislation exempting the Haredi community from mandatory military service.

Lando, who has repeatedly told yeshiva students to ignore draft orders, visited brothers Rafael and Baruch Yitzhakov at the prison last week, telling them the “entire Haredi community stands behind you” and urging them to “be strong and hold firm,” according to his spokesman. The IDF said the visit was made without proper authorization.

Afterward, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, head of the Slabodka Yeshiva, arrived at the prison alongside members of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages. They were initially denied entry but were later allowed inside “to avoid unnecessary confrontations,” according to the military.

For the past year, the Haredi leadership, including Lando, has rejected any attempt to find a compromise to draft at least some of the ultra-Orthodox youth to the military after the High Court ruled last year that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to the Haredi community were illegal.

Ben Gvir urges Netanyahu to axe IDF chief amid spat with Katz

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should replace IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir if the military leader does not immediately dismiss his advisers.

“When you see the people closest to the chief of staff, it’s clear why he’s digging his heels in against our plan to occupy Gaza,” Ben Gvir says in a statement, adding that Zamir is surrounded by figures who favor “surrender.”

“If [Zamir] does not immediately announce that he is replacing his far-left political inner circle, I call on the prime minister to replace him immediately with a candidate who strives for victory, not one who, with his advisers, is working to undermine the political leadership,” he continues.

Ben Gvir’s remarks follow a Kan broadcaster report last night identifying Zamir’s “inner circle” as a group of former senior officials, including ex-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former head of the IDF’s Operations Directorate Israel Ziv, and ex-IDF spokesman Avi Benayahu, all of whom have been critical of the government. Benayahu has denied consulting with Zamir.

Iran security chief in Beirut says Tehran will ‘stand by’ Lebanese

Ali Larijani, center, head of Iran's National Security Council, gestures as Hezbollah supporters throw rice to welcome him outside Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, August 13, 2025. (AP/Bilal Hussein)

Iran’s top security chief says Tehran will continue to provide support for Lebanon after Beirut ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

“If… the Lebanese people are suffering, we in Iran will also feel this pain and we will stand by the dear people of Lebanon in all circumstances,” Larijani, the head of Iran’s National Security Council, tells reporters after landing in Beirut.

Dozens of Hezbollah supporters gather along the airport road to welcome Larijani, who briefly steps out of his car to greet them as they chant slogans of support.

In Lebanon, Larijani is scheduled to meet President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as well as parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is part of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” — a network of armed groups in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, that have carried out numerous attacks against Israel. Tehran is thought to have armed the group with missiles and other weapons used against Israel from southern Lebanon.

— with Times of Israel staff

Deputy FM visits South Sudan as government weighs moving Gazans there

MK Sharren Haskel in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on June 28, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90/ File)

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel will hold a series of meetings today in South Sudan, marking the first official visit to the East African country by an Israeli government representative.

According to a statement from Haskel’s office, the deputy minister will meet with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, as well as the country’s foreign minister, speaker of the parliament and other senior government officials. Kiir has served as the country’s president since its founding in 2011.

“While the international community is focused solely on Gaza, South Sudan is facing a real humanitarian crisis and the threat of genuine famine that is claiming the lives of many refugees from the war in Sudan,” Haskel says in the statement, urging “all hunger experts in the international community and in the media to come here and see with their own eyes what happens when there is a real famine.”

Last night, it was reported that Israel is in talks with South Sudan over the potential resettlement of displaced Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip — a move prompting humanitarian concerns given South Sudan’s own fragile conditions.

Haskel’s meetings will focus on “deepening cooperation in the fields of health, education, technology, agriculture, and energy; advancing joint initiatives in civil and security development; strengthening regional cooperation; and exploring options for Israeli humanitarian aid in light of the challenges the country faces due to the war in neighboring Sudan,” according to the statement.

Haskel will also visit a trauma center established by Israel in the country’s capital, Juba.

“I am proud of the Israeli initiatives helping this young nation in health, agriculture, energy, and food. I thank the government of South Sudan for its support of Israel,” Haskel adds.

Former military spokesperson denies advising IDF chief to cross defense minister

Avi Benayahu speaks on Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on February 3, 2024. (The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Former military spokesman Avi Benayahu denies a report by the Kan public broadcaster claiming he was part of an “inner circle” advising IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, amid escalating tensions between Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“I am not advising the chief of staff and am not part of any ‘secret inner circle,'” Benayahu says on X.

“The report is not true. I made this very clear to the reporter who spoke with me. I honestly told him that I met Zamir once in his office in the presence of the IDF spokesperson for a background conversation, and that I spoke with him only twice by phone,” he says.

Benayahu takes aim at the author of the report, saying he believes that the item by Kan last night “was leaked to a respected diplomatic reporter who is less familiar with matters concerning the chief of staff and his office, and it was apparently intended to ‘pave the way’ for an announcement issued this morning by the defense minister’s office about ‘anti-government advisers’ (what is that?) advising Zamir.”

The Kan report said that Zamir had held consultations with several former high-ranking army officers, including ex-chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Operations Directorate head Israel Ziv, and Benayahu, all of whom have been critical of the government.

On Wednesday, Katz accused Zamir of an “attempt to change the procedures we decided on, perhaps on the recommendation of anti-government advisers stirring the pot.” He said that “an attempt to create facts on the ground in ad hoc meetings will not succeed.”

European powers tell UN they are ready to reimpose Iran sanctions by end of August

This handout photograph taken and released by the German Federal Foreign Office on June 20, 2025 shows Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy (R) and Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (2nd R) greeting Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) prior to a meeting on Tehran's nuclear program, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva (Handout / German Federal Foreign Office / AFP)

Britain, France and Germany have told the United Nations they are ready to reimpose United Nations-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP.

The letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council says the three European powers are “committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon” unless Tehran meets the deadline.

The foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threaten to use a “snapback mechanism” that was part of the 2015 agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions. The United States withdrew from the accord in 2018 at the urging of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. China and Russia were also signatories to the deal.

All three European countries have stepped up warnings to Iran about its suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” foreign ministers Jean-Noel Barrot of France, David Lammy of Britain and Johann Wadephul of Germany say in the letter.

The letter sets out limits that the ministers say Iran has breached, including building up a uranium stock more than 40 times the permitted level under the 2015 deal.

“The E3 remain fully committed to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis caused by Iran’s nuclear programme and will continue to engage with a view to reaching a negotiated solution,” the ministers write in the letter, sent Tuesday and first reported today by the Financial Times.”We are equally ready, and have unambiguous legal grounds, to notify the significant non-performance of JCPOA commitments by Iran… thereby triggering the snapback mechanism, should no satisfactory solution be reached by the end of August 2025.”

‘Leftist murderers of Jews’: Hostages’ families’ banner in Tel Aviv defaced with graffiti

A banner hung on a Tel Aviv bridge advocating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza is defaced with graffiti decrying “leftist murderers of Jews,” the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The banner, hanging on a bridge overlooking the Yarkon River, calls for activism “until the last hostage” is freed.

The graffiti, in black spray paint, also condemns “leftist apostates.” It refers to “The leftist massacre,” a likely reference to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The graffiti also includes an acronym referring to God’s help that is traditionally written in the headers of religious documents.

שלט של מטה משפחות החטופים בגשר הירקון הושחת @AnnaPines_
צילום: שימוש לפי סעיף 27 א' pic.twitter.com/ArIICUUQz1

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 13, 2025

The banner belongs to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of most of the 50 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza. The organization has consistently rallied for a ceasefire deal to free the hostages, at least 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

“The hostages’ families received the news [of the graffiti] with deep shock. The hostages are not a political tool,” the forum says in response, according to Kan.

Zamir approves outline for Gaza City offensive, IDF says

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with top officers on August 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has approved the general outline for the military’s upcoming major offensive to conquer Gaza City, the IDF says.

The military says the “main concept for the IDF’s offensive plan in Gaza” was discussed during a meeting Zamir held this morning with the General Staff Forum, along with other officers and Shin Bet representatives.

“During the discussion, the IDF’s actions so far were presented, including the offensive in the Zeitoun area that began yesterday,” the military says, confirming that the IDF has begun new operations in the Gaza City neighborhood.

“In addition, the main concept for the plan for the next steps in the Gaza Strip was presented and approved, in accordance with the directives of the political leadership,” the IDF says, referring to the government-ordered offensive against Hamas in Gaza City, which is not set to begin immediately.

Zamir had reportedly pushed back against the plan to take over the city, and has feuded recently with Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The IDF says Zamir in the meeting “emphasized the importance of improving the readiness of the forces and preparedness for reserve call-up, while carrying out refreshers and providing breathing room [for the soldiers] ahead of the upcoming missions.”

Education minister warns school start could be delayed unless funding found for security

A few students go back to school in Tel Aviv following a country wide teachers strike over a cut in their wages, May 6, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Education Minister Yoav Kisch warns that the September 1 opening of the school year could be delayed if money is not found to pay for security.

“Without security for educational institutions, the school year will not open,” he tells a Knesset Education Culture and Sports Committee meeting, according to a Knesset spokesperson.

According to Kisch, the economic damage from keeping kids at home for even one extra day would cost more than the required security budget.

“The budget is supposed to be agreed on between the Finance Ministry and the National Security Ministry,” he says. “The responsibility lies with [them].”

Senior defense officials: Katz is ‘politicizing the army’ in spat with IDF chief – report

L-R: Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Northern Command chief, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and Operations Directorate chief, Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen on the Syria border, July 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Senior defense officials accuse Defense Minister Israel Katz of working to “politicize the army” in his spat with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Army Radio reports.

Katz has lashed out publicly at Zamir, claiming the IDF chief worked with anti-government “pot-stirrers” to improperly change the military’s hiring process.

The remarks reported by Army Radio, which it attributes to “a number of senior officials in the defense establishment,” reject that claim and say Zamir acted appropriately.

“The defense minister is trying to politicize the army and IDF officers,” the station reports the officials saying. “No prior defense minister did this so blatantly. IDF appointments need to be made according to the chain of command and the command hierarchy.”

The officials reportedly go on to say that if a commander “knows the defense minister or [the right-leaning] Channel 14 are the ones who appointed him, what is he supposed to think?”

Katz’s stance is “likely to have broad implications for the whole career officer corps,” the officials say. “Appointment of officers by the minister could turn the IDF into a police force.”

The officials also claim Katz’s attack is motivated by his disagreements with Zamir over ultra-Orthodox enlistment and the planned conquest of Gaza City. It says Zamir does not intend to resign because of those arguments.

Subject of October 7 documentary slams decision to remove film from Toronto festival

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Noam Tibon sits on the rooftop of the Aish headquarters in Jerusalem, August 7, 2024. (Ethan Freedman/Times of Israel)

Following the Toronto International Film Festival’s decision to cancel the screening of a documentary about the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, the subject of the film calls the decision “absurd and delusional.”

“The Toronto Film Festival has succumbed to pressure and threats, and has chosen to silence and erase October 7,” says retired IDF Major General Noam Tibon. “My message to the festival management: The truth cannot be erased. The atrocities committed by Hamas cannot be erased or denied.”

On Tuesday, the prestigious festival canceled the screening of the documentary, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” reportedly due to legal issues connected with the use of footage from Hamas terrorists in the film.

“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” is a documentary about how Tibon went to Kibbutz Nahal Oz on the morning of October 7, 2023, and saved family members and others from terrorists. Tibon’s story has been featured on the US news program “60 Minutes,” and his son, journalist Amir Tibon, whose family Noam saved, has written a book about the story.

“The festival management’s claim that the film cannot be screened because ‘permissions to use’ the footage of the Nukhba terrorists were not obtained is absurd and delusional, and constitutes further harm to the victims,” Tibon says.

Iranian former FM threatens to exit nuclear treaties if Europeans reimpose sanctions

Members of the Iranian Basij paramilitary force march as a domestically built missile is displayed during a parade in Tehran, Iran, January 10, 2025. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s former foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, says Iran’s parliament “has its finger on the trigger to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty” if three European countries follow through on their threat to impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The threat, reported by Iran’s semi-official Defa Press, comes after Britain, France and Germany told the United Nations this week that they are ready to reimpose UN-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP.

The foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threatened to use a “snapback mechanism” that was part of the 2015 agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions.

Mottaki, a lawmaker who served as foreign minister from 2005 to 2010, says that if the E3 invoked the snapback mechanism, the country’s parliament would approve a bill to withdraw from the 2015 agreement within 24 hours.

Israeli defense giant Elbit inks $1.64b weapons deal with unnamed European country

This undated handout photo published by Elbit Systems on September 12, 2023, shows the new Skylark 1 eVTOL drone. (Elbit Systems)

Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems says it has secured a $1.64 billion deal with a European country for the supply of its long-range precision strike artillery-rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles.

As part of the five-year defense contract, the unnamed European country has ordered a suite of AI-powered unmanned aerial combat systems, including personally operated drones for tactical and operational use.

The contract is for the supply of Elbit’s long-range precision artillery rockets, and defense products equipped with its advanced intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, known as ISTAR, as well as communications and signal intelligence systems. It also includes the delivery of advanced electro-optical and night-vision systems.

2-year-old dies of measles in outbreak’s first fatality

The Health Ministry reports the death of a 2-year-old boy who contracted measles.

The unvaccinated boy had been hospitalized and was on a life-support system for several weeks.

Since a measles outbreak began in Israel about three months ago, 503 patients have been diagnosed, of whom 187 are active patients.

Most of the patients diagnosed recently are from the Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh areas.

As of today, 12 children are hospitalized, all under the age of 6. Three are in intensive care, and one is on life support. Ten of these children are unvaccinated, and two cases are still being investigated.

The ministry urges parents to complete their routine vaccinations, especially the measles vaccine. Vaccination status is available in the digital vaccination registry on the government’s website. Additional information and instructions can be found on the ministry’s website.

An 18-month-old unvaccinated toddler who died of measles in Jerusalem in 2018 was Israel’s first recorded measles fatality in 15 years. The girl was one of three Israelis who died of measles during the 2018-2019 outbreak.

FM says Israel ‘will not allow’ two-state solution, rejecting allies’ recognition plans

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at a briefing to journalists in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. (Shlomi Amselam/GPO)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar vows that Israel “will not allow” the implementation of the two-state solution, and urges countries that wish to see a Palestinian state established to “do so within their own territory.”

“A Palestinian state in the heart of the land of Israel would indeed be a solution — a solution for those seeking to destroy us. We will not allow that to happen,” Sa’ar says in a Jerusalem briefing to journalists from the Newsmax network as well as other US outlets, according to a statement from his office.

“If large countries like France and Canada wish to establish a Palestinian state within their own territory, they can — they have plenty of space. But here, in the land of Israel, it will not happen,” the minister says.

His remarks reference several Western allies, including Paris and Ottawa, that have recently confirmed or floated plans to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state next month, in part as a means of pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and work toward a long-term peace framework.

“The establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 lines, with its capital in East Jerusalem — a short distance from here — would place Israel’s population centers in grave danger and push Israel back to indefensible borders,” Sa’ar says in the meeting, claiming that “such a move would be suicidal.”

In July, the Knesset passed a non-binding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank.

With her office locked by justice minister, AG working from another spot in same building

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting in the Knesset, Jerusalem, November 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

After Justice Minister Yariv Levin abruptly changed the locks on her office, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has set up shop in a different part of the same Tel Aviv building, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Baharav-Miara’s relocation comes after Levin instructed his driver to change the locks on an office the two officials share in the government complex in the city center. The switch was Levin’s latest attempt to kick Baharav-Miara out of the workings of the government.

Last week, the cabinet voted to fire her after forming a special committee for that purpose. The High Court froze that decision immediately, instructing the government not to block Baharav-Miara from performing her responsibilities in any way.

A chorus of critics accused Levin of violating that order by changing the locks.

Now, Kan reports, the attorney general is working in an office in the international law branch of the Justice Department. The office is located in the private section of the building, not the government section. That separation means Levin and Baharav-Miara are not likely to cross paths, Kan reports.

The offices where she is working are due to move to Jerusalem at the end of the month. Parties who have petitioned the High Court to challenge Baharav-Miara’s firing are now asking the court to order Levin to allow her to access the office, Kan reports.

Palestinian reported shot to death during West Bank altercation with settlers

A Palestinian man was shot to death in a clash with settlers near the West Bank town of Duma, Palestinian news outlets report.

Hebrew-language outlets had reported earlier on fighting in the area south of Nablus, with two Israelis injured by stones.

Palestinian media names the slain man as Thameen Dawabshe, 35, citing the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank Health Ministry.

Official PA news outlet WAFA quotes Duma’s mayor saying that the clash erupted in response to earthworks on village land carried out by Israelis in recent days.

A video purportedly from the incident appears to show a man with a rifle open fire as a group of Palestinians near him. At least two gunshots can be heard in the short clip.

A Palestinian was killed after being shot by Israeli settlers in the village of Duma, southern Nablus. pic.twitter.com/vjfwyuLZf3

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) August 13, 2025

There is no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.

Likud to vote on readmitting Gideon Sa’ar five years after he bolted the party

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar attend a plenum session on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Likud Central Committee is scheduled to vote this evening on a merger with the coalition’s New Hope party, bringing its chairman, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, back into Likud five years after he quit over differences with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to the Ynet outlet, Sa’ar’s return is opposed by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who reportedly views him as a potential rival within the party.

New Hope joined the coalition last September and in March, Sa’ar signed an agreement to dissolve the faction into Likud. Those decisions followed consistent polls showing his party would fail to clear the electoral threshold if it ran solo in the next election.

The Likud-New Hope agreement will require the scrapping of an August 2021 resolution barring members of New Hope from serving in Likud, the two parties said in a statement in March.

The statement added that once approved, New Hope’s roughly 2,400 members will be registered as Likud members and its lawmakers will be afforded similar status to other Likud MKs and ministers. According to a copy of the agreement cited by Hebrew media outlets, Likud will also cover roughly NIS 1.5 million ($409,000) of New Hope’s debt.

Sa’ar will also no longer be able to vote how he chooses on the coalition’s contentious legislation to overhaul the judicial system.

The Likud-New Hope statement said New Hope’s dissolution would take effect for the next election, currently scheduled to take place in 2026. In that election, the statement said, Sa’ar will choose a candidate to get the highest-ranked reserved spot on Likud’s electoral slate, which is mostly determined through a primary.

Ynet reported that Sa’ar will likely select Minister Ze’ev Elkin — a onetime Likud power player and Netanyahu confidant who left the party with Sa’ar in 2020 to found New Hope, after Sa’ar unsuccessfully challenged Netanyahu for Likud’s leadership.

Upon leaving Likud that year, Sa’ar said that the party had fostered “a cult of personality” around Netanyahu and become a “tool for the personal interests of the person in charge, including matters relating to his criminal trial.”

Man found dead in Ramat Gan apartment, police investigating

A man in his 30s was found dead in an apartment in Ramat Gan this morning, police say.

Law enforcement officials are investigating the circumstances of his death and have transferred his body to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute. They have not said if foul play is suspected.

According to Ynet, the man’s family had informed police several days prior to the discovery of his body that he had severed all contact with them.

Coalition, lacking majority, postpones vote to extend call-up of IDF reservists

MK Boaz Bismuth, chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, leads a committee meeting at the Knesset, Jerusalem, on August 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A vote to extend emergency call-up orders for reservists in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has been postponed once more after the coalition failed to secure a majority, according to Hebrew media reports.

“We just prevented in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee an increase in the burden on reservists by blocking the proposal to extend emergency call-up orders for them,” says Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, the Yesh Atid chair, in a statement. “Once again, the coalition has no majority. Israel has a non-functioning and illegitimate minority government.”

Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben Ari adds: “They want to draft 300,000 reservists to retake Gaza, but they couldn’t find enough MKs to secure a majority in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee vote, so the vote was canceled.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition currently has 60 members, short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, after the departure of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party and MK Avi Maoz last month.

The vote is expected to be postponed until next week, with the opposition promising near-complete attendance, while coalition absences, including recently ousted chair MK Yuli Edelstein, continue to hamper proceedings, according to Hebrew media reports.

The coalition failed in a similar vote in May before subsequently pushing it through.

Eilat, Kiryat Shmona melt as extreme heat broils parts of country

People on the beach in Tel Aviv on August 13, 2025. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)

The extreme northern and southern tips of Israel are baking under extreme temperatures nearing the upper 40s Celsius as a record-torching heat wave settles over much of the country’s interior.

Israel Meteorological Service data shows the temperatures in the southern resort city of Eilat hitting 47.9° C (118.2° F). In the country’s far north Galilee panhandle, the mercury climbs nearly as high, hitting 46.5° C (115.7 ° F) in Kfar Blum, south of Kiryat Shmona.

The same temperature is recorded in the Jordan Valley kibbutz of Gilgal in the West Bank.

Temperatures in other parts of the country are in the low 40s Celsius, with much of the humid coastal region experiencing relatively crisp readings in the 30°-35°C (86°-95° F) range.

The Israel Electric Corporation is quoted telling Walla that demand for power is up some 10% under the blistering scorcher.

The extreme heat is expected to continue climbing in many areas for several more hours and will stick around for one more day before easing over the weekend.

Man accused of killing stone-throwing Palestinian in West Bank fight is off-duty IDF soldier — army

The man accused of killing a Palestinian man near the West Bank village of Duma earlier today is an off-duty IDF soldier, the military says.

The IDF said the victim, identified by the Palestinian Authority health ministry as Thameen Dawabshe, 35, threw stones at the off-duty soldier and an Israeli civilian.

According to the IDF, the incident took place during “civilian engineering work” near Duma. “Dozens of Palestinian terrorists hurled stones at an off-duty IDF soldier and an Israeli civilian who were at the location,” the military says.

Official PA news outlet WAFA quotes Duma’s mayor as saying that the clash erupted in response to earthworks on village land carried out by Israelis in recent days.

35-year-old Thameen Khalil Reda Dawabsheh succumbed to his wounds after being shot by colonists during an attack on the village. pic.twitter.com/cHfdUg4Unl

— WAFA News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) August 13, 2025

The IDF says that the soldier initially fired into the air in response to the stone-throwing. “The terrorists continued to hurl stones, and in response, the soldier responded with live fire to remove the threat. A hit was identified,” the military says.

“Following this, the terrorists attempted to snatch the soldier’s weapon,” according to the military.

The military says that upon receiving a report of the incident, additional troops were dispatched to the scene.

The soldier and the civilian were lightly injured by the stones and were treated at the scene, according to the IDF and medics.

Lebanese leader warns visiting Iranian official against arming Hezbollah, meddling in country

No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing, President Joseph Aoun told top Iranian security official Ali Larijani, his office says, days after the Lebanese cabinet approved the objectives of a US-backed roadmap to disarm the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group.

During a meeting in Beirut with Larijani, secretary of Iran’s top security body, Aoun warned against foreign interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs, saying the country was open to cooperation with Iran but only within the bounds of national sovereignty and mutual respect, according to a statement from his office.

“The friendship we seek with Iran must be with all Lebanese, not through one sect or component alone,” Aoun said.

He added that recent language used by some Iranian officials had not been helpful, and reaffirmed that the Lebanese state and its armed forces were solely responsible for safeguarding all citizens.

IDF defends targeting of Al Jazeera journalist, claims some others killed were also terrorists

Protesters hold pictures and signs denouncing the killing of Al Jazeera journalists during a vigil in Ramallah on August 11, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

The military says it took “many measures” to mitigate civilian harm in a strike on Sunday that killed prominent Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif — who has been accused by Israel of being an active Hamas terrorist — alongside five other journalists.

Al Jazeera said the strike killed its correspondents Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqea, along with cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal. Freelancer Mohammad al-Khaldi was also with the group and lost his life in the strike.

In response to a query by The Times of Israel as to why the IDF chose to target him when he was with five other journalists in a tent near Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the military issues the following response:

“On Sunday, the IDF struck a terrorist from the Hamas terror organization in the northern Gaza Strip. Prior to the strike, many measures were taken to reduce the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information.”

“Terror organizations in the Strip systematically violate international law, cruelly exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terror activities,” the army adds.

A military source tells The Times of Israel that, in addition to Sharif, the strike targeted several other “incriminated terrorists,” meaning verified members of terror groups.

The source does not elaborate on how many of the five other journalists were also allegedly terror operatives, or which of them were.

Top West Bank cop and far-right politicians visit illegal hilltop outpost

The top Israeli police official in the West Bank accompanied far-right politicians on a visit to a newly erected illegal outpost in the territory yesterday, according to settler activist Elisha Yered.

Yered posts on X that he met with West Bank District Commander Moshe Pinchi alongside National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har Melech at Maale Tidhar in the southern West Bank.

Pinchi, in uniform, Ben Gvir and Son Har Melech are pictured sitting in a makeshift hut while meeting with settlers from the outpost.

The visit was part of a larger tour throughout Gush Etzion, a cluster of West Bank settlements south of Jerusalem, amid tensions between settlers and security forces in the area. The outpost was founded a month and a half ago, according to the tweet by Yered, who was arrested two years ago on suspicion of involvement in the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian during clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.

To reach the outpost, one must “climb a rough dirt path that a four-wheel drive can barely navigate. But the national security minister, Itamar, did so today… to express his uncompromising stance in support of the hills,” Yered writes, referring to settler extremists known for violence against Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

“This is what a minister who promotes true right-wing policy and supports settlement with all his heart looks like!” Yered continues, adding that Ben Gvir promised in the meeting to address settlers’ complaints regarding “inappropriate conduct” by police, whom he oversees.

כדי להגיע לגבעת מעלה תדהר – נקודת התיישבות אסטרטגית שהוקמה לפני כחודש וחצי כדי לחבר את מזרח ומרכז גוש עציון, צריך להעפיל בשביל עפר משובש שבקושי רכב 4 על 4 צולח אותו. אבל השר לביטחון לאומי איתמר עשה זאת היום יחד עם חה"כ לימור סון הר-מלך, ואפילו הביא עמו את קציני מחוז ש"י כדי לבטא… pic.twitter.com/J5ZzPHiBLq

— אלישע ירד (@ElishaYered) August 12, 2025

Pinchi, who is known to support the interests of West Bank settlers, was appointed to his current role by Ben Gvir in September 2024, after serving as his security secretary. While still in his former role, the officer reportedly instructed police to refrain from using force against far-right rioters who broke into an IDF army base in late July.

Ankara, Damascus accuse Israel of destabilizing Syria

Turkey’s foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart are warning Israel not to stir up chaos in Syria, demanding an end to all external interventions aimed at destabilizing the war-torn country.

“Certain actors are bothered by the positive developments in Syria,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says after talks with Syria’s Asaad al-Shaibani in Ankara, referring to Israel and Kurdish YPG fighters operational in northeastern Syria.

“Israel is currently one of the biggest actors in this dark picture,” he says of its ongoing military incursions since the overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad late last year.

“The emergence of chaos in Syria… appears to have become a priority for Israel’s own national security,” he adds.

Standing next to him, Shaibani also warns against efforts to foster chaos in Syria.

“We’re facing new challenges that are no less dangerous than those we encountered during the years of war, foremost among them are repeated Israeli threats… through airstrikes,” he says.

“We are also confronting multiple foreign interventions, both direct and indirect… (that) push the country toward sectarian and regional strife,” he adds without giving details but warning against “any reckless attempts to exploit events here.”

Spain signals support for UN-led mission to stabilize Gaza

Spanish troops take part in the exercise Resolute Warrior of the NATO Multinational Brigade in Adazi, Latvia, on November 14, 2024. (Photo by GINTS IVUSKANS / AFP)

Spain signals support for French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal of an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilize Gaza, calling it “one of the tools” that could bring peace to the region.

Macron said on Monday that such a UN mission would be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians and working in support of unspecified Palestinian governance. He said the UN Security Council should work on establishing the mission, while France would also work with its partners.

“The proposal… is one of the tools that can help achieve peace and security in Gaza and the Middle East, as is the work of UNRWA as the UN agency for aid to the Palestinian people,” the Spanish ministry says in an emailed reply to questions from Reuters.

“This force must be a step towards building the two-state solution,” it adds, referring to the idea of bringing peace through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry says a temporary UN mission could ultimately contribute to a successful transfer of power to a Palestinian state administration.

Israel Railways says it’s slowing trains down due to extreme heat, warns of delays

Passengers at the Haifa central train station, November 10, 2024. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Israel Railways announces that it has imposed an 80-kilometer-per-hour (50 mph) speed limit on some of its train routes today due the extreme heatwave that is causing some of the rails to expand.

The operator says the move will cause some delays and urges the public to check for updates.

A record-breaking heat wave was expected to send temperatures to nearly 50ºC (122ºF) in some parts of Israel, with the eastern parts of the country set to swelter under the hottest conditions.

South Sudan denies it’s in talks with Israel to resettle Gazans

South Sudan denies that it is in talks with Israel to allow Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to resettle there.

A statement from the African country calls recent reports of such moves “baseless” and says they do not reflect the policies of South Sudan.

???? Statement Refuting Plans to Resettle Palestinian Nationals in South Sudan ???? pic.twitter.com/VO4epP8bPr

— South Sudan Government (@SouthSudanGov) August 13, 2025

Police say they arrested Palestinian man planning to carry out attack near Ra’anana

Police say they have arrested a Palestinian man from the West Bank who was planning to carry out a terror attack in Israel.

The man was found after several hours of searches in a building site in the central city of Ra’anana.

Police release a video showing officers detaining and cuffing the man at gunpoint.

Police say he will be taken for questioning.

דוברות המשטרה :

שוטרי מחוז מרכז עצרו כעת באתר בניה ברעננה, בתום סריקות מבצעיות, תושב איו"ש בחשד למעורבות בתכנון עבירה בטחונית

שוטרי מרחב שרון בשילוב לוחמי יס"מ המרחב ניהלו בשעה האחרונה סריקות מבצעיות אחר תושב טול כארם החשוד בכוונה לבצע עבירה בטחונית בשטחי ישראל. pic.twitter.com/OpBcRSZXt3

— יוני בן מנחם Yoni Ben Menachem (@BwMnhm) August 13, 2025

Bulgarian police investigating Holocaust memorial vandalism in Burgas

The Monument to the Saviors of Burgas Jews, vandalized with stickers, August 8, 2025 (Alef)

Police in Burgas, Bulgaria, are investigating the vandalism of the city’s Holocaust memorial last week, prosecutors say.

The Monument to the Saviors of Burgas Jews, dedicated to residents who helped save their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis, was plastered on Friday with stickers bearing the image of Hristo Lukov, the leader of Bulgaria’s pro-Nazi legionnaires before 1944.

The stickers were deliberately placed over the monument’s inscriptions, obscuring its message of gratitude and remembrance, says the Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation, known as Alef.

The defaced monument, located just meters from the Burgas Municipality building, has reportedly remained in this state for several days.

“This is a disgrace to Burgas and to Bulgaria,” Alef said in a statement, calling for immediate cleaning, restoration of lighting, installation of security cameras, and a formal investigation.

Police are working to find the perpetrators, says the Burgas Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Israel’s electricity use breaks new record for 4th consecutive day under searing temperatures

A man jumps in the water as people cool off in the Ein Lavan spring, amid a heat wave, in the outskirts of Jerusalem Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Electricity usage breaks all records for the 4th consecutive day as Israel swelters under a prolonged heatwave.

Israelis used more than 17 megawatts for the first time, after breaching the 16 megawatt level for the first time yesterday, according to the Independent System Operator for the electricity industry, known by its Hebrew acronym Noga.

At 3:15 p.m., electricity use hit 17,287 megawatts.

“Extreme heat waves are no longer an unusual event, but a reality that will return in the years to come. We are preparing in advance, along with full coordination with electricity producers, smart management of the system and ensuring continuous supply,” says Noga’s director Shiki Fisher.

At least 123 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, Hamas authorities say

Medics carry casualties of reported Israeli strikes in the Saftawi neighborhood west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The IDF carries out a series of strikes in Gaza, killing 123 people over the last day, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week.

Israeli planes and tanks bombed eastern areas of Gaza City heavily, residents say, with many homes destroyed in the Zeitoun and Shejaiya neighborhoods overnight. Al-Ahli hospital says 12 people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Zeitoun.

Tanks also destroyed several houses in the east of Khan Younis in south Gaza too, while in the center Israeli gunfire killed nine aid-seekers in two separate incidents, Palestinian medics say. The IDF did not comment.

Eight more people, including three children, have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Gazan health ministry says.

Israel disputes the malnutrition and hunger figures reported by the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

The death toll figures also are not verified.

Israel says it avoids trying to harm civilians, but notes that Hamas is using tunnels under civilian areas and is deeply embedded in homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.

6 countries carry out Gaza aid airdrops

Palestinians run as a military aircraft drops parcels humanitarian aid in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on August 9, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Belgium, France, and Italy airdropped 119 pallets of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip today, the IDF says.

Each pallet contains around one ton of food.

Israel re-adopted a policy of allowing aid airdrops on July 26, amid mounting international criticism over the hunger crisis in Gaza. But airdrops are only able to deliver a small fraction of what can come into Gaza by land. They also pose safety risks for the civilians who can be hit by the packages from above.

Israeli Paralympic medalist awarded NIS 30,000 after being refused disabled seat on train next to ultra-Orthodox man

Roni Ohayon of Israel, right, competes during the women's goalball quarterfinal against Canada at the 2024 Paralympics, Sept. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP/Thomas Padilla)

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court awards Israeli Paralympic athlete Roni Ohayon NIS 30,000 in damages after she was refused access to the disabled seat she had paid for on Israel Railways because an ultra-Orthodox man would not sit next to a woman, Channel 12 reports.

In the incident that occurred in 2023, Ohayon, who is blind and accompanied by a guide dog, had bought a ticket for one of the designated disabled spots on a train.

A disabled ultra-Orthodox man was taking up three of the four spots and refused to move his belongings to allow her to sit next to him, because she is a woman.

A train inspector sided with the man and Ohayon was told to sit in a regular seat, even though she had specifically paid for the disabled seat.

The court found that she had been grossly discriminated against because of her gender.

Speaking to Channel 12, Ohayon, who won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris games in goalball, says that her aim is “to bring about a real change that will ensure that in the future other women, with or without disabilities, can sit where they choose without experiencing discrimination.”

Turkey, Syria sign defense cooperation MoU after Ankara talks

The defense ministers of Turkey and Syria sign a memorandum of understanding on military training and consultancy after talks in Ankara, Turkey’s defense ministry says.

The neighbors had been negotiating a comprehensive military cooperation agreement for months, after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in December.

Zamir speaks with US military chief, new head of CENTCOM

US Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper speaks at an event at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir spoke yesterday with the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, and the new chief of CENTCOM, Adm. Brad Cooper, the Israeli military says.

“During the conversations, they discussed the strategic situation across the various arenas and emphasized the importance of cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the IDF,” the statement says.

Zamir also congratulated Cooper on entering the role.

“The IDF will continue to strengthen its ties with the United States Armed Forces out of a commitment to reinforcing regional stability and enhancing coordination between the militaries,” the military adds.

Canada police ask public for help catching Victoria synagogue vandal

Police in Victoria, Canada, have asked the public for help in identifying the suspect who vandalized the city’s Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue earlier this month.

On Saturday, August 2, the 160-year-old synagogue was vandalized with a screed against Jews on an outer pillar, saying “Jews are evil! Because Genocide is evil!”

“In the future, Palestinians will get their revenge against you child-killing Jew monsters,” the inscription in black ink said. The words were quickly removed.

A White man with gray hair and a red bicycle was caught on security cameras outside. However, security forces have not yet found and apprehended him.

We've released CCTV footage from which the suspect's image was captured & continue to ask for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect.

The investigation is being led by our General Investigation Services (GIS) section, in collaboration w/ our Hate Crimes Coordinator.… https://t.co/Fbm0Upr6uY pic.twitter.com/jRdmhXhJX5

— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) August 11, 2025

“We are horrified and heartbroken by this act of hate,” the synagogue wrote on its Facebook page following the attack. “Antisemitism has no place in Victoria, and we call on our neighbours and civic leaders to join us in condemning this act.”

Opened in 1863, the progressive Conservative-stream synagogue is the country’s oldest in continuous use.

Likud meets to readmit Sa’ar to party amid pushback from those who remember his harsh words against Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar during a debate in the Knesset on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv Expo ahead of a vote by his ruling Likud party’s Central Committee on a merger with the coalition’s New Hope party in a show of support for New Hope chairman and former rival Gideon Sa’ar.

Sa’ar’s return to the Likud has prompted some internal pushback, including by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who reportedly views him as a potential rival within the party.

According to the Ynet news site, MK Tally Gotliv railed against Sa’ar, stating that he does not deserve a reserved spot on the party’s electoral list after bolting it five years ago and later saying “terrible things about the prime minister.”

Video of her remarks showed attendees responding with boos and jeers. Entering the hall, Sa’ar was met with hugs by attendees.

New Hope joined the coalition last September and in March, Sa’ar signed an agreement to dissolve the faction into Likud. Those decisions followed consistent polls showing his party would fail to clear the electoral threshold if it ran solo in the next election.

Sa’ar left Likud in 2020 to found New Hope, after unsuccessfully challenging Netanyahu for Likud’s leadership. Upon leaving Likud that year, Sa’ar said that the party had fostered “a cult of personality” around Netanyahu and become a “tool for the personal interests of the person in charge, including matters relating to his criminal trial.”

מהומה במרכז הליכוד בעת הדיון על חזרת סער: טלי גוטליב יוצאת ב-260 קמ"ש נגד גדעון סער בזמן שהוא נכנס למצודת זאב pic.twitter.com/Lb8tw9Jt4P

— סודות הנגב (@News_Secrets_of) August 13, 2025

Hamas officials said to tell Egyptian mediators they are keen to return to ceasefire talks

A man reacts as medics transport casualties of reported Israeli strikes in the Saftawi neighborhood west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hamas expressed its keenness for a speedy return to Gaza ceasefire negotiations during a meeting with the Egyptian intelligence chief in Cairo as mediators push for talks, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV says.

IDF says it killed elite Hamas Nukhba member who took part in Oct. 7 assault

A member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught and participated in the kidnapping of three soldiers was killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces.

Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin served as the deputy commander of the Nukhba company in Hamas’s Central Jabalia Battalion, according to the military.

On October 7, 2023, Baqin invaded Israel and attacked an army base next to the Erez Crossing that serves the Coordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip, a unit that is part of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

Baqin was involved in the abduction of soldiers Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer and Tamir Nimrodi from the base, the IDF says. The bodies of Sherman and Beizer were recovered by the military from north Gaza after they were killed in captivity as a result of an Israeli strike. Nimrodi remains held in the Strip.

The IDF adds that during the war, Baqin was involved in advancing numerous attacks against troops operating in Gaza. A strike directed by the 215th Artillery Regiment on August 7 killed him, according to the IDF.

צה״ל ושב״כ ממשיכים לחסל מחבלי נח'בה בארגון הטרור חמאס: חוסל מחבל אשר לקח חלק בחטיפתם של החיילים רון שרמן ז"ל, ניק בייזר ז"ל ותמיר נמרודי

צה"ל ושב"כ, בהובלת פיקוד הדרום, תקפו וחיסלו בהכוונת חטיבת האש 215, ב-7 באוגוסט 2025, את המחבל עבדאללה סעיד עבד אלבגין, ששימש כסגן מפקד פלוגת… pic.twitter.com/nOSSWJHvNP

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 13, 2025

Likud approves Sa’ar’s return to party

The Likud Central Committee votes to approve a merger with the coalition’s New Hope party, bringing its chairman, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, back into Likud five years after he quit over differences with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Addressing Likud Central Committee members, Sa’ar says the Shechiyanu blessing, thanking God for having “granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this moment.”

Addressing the Central Committee, Netanyahu says that Israel will “continue until complete victory” in Gaza and says that both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority want to destroy Israel and are only separated by their methods.

Iran president dismisses Israeli PM call for uprising as a ‘mirage’

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian giving an address on the anniversary of the death of the country's former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at the latter's mausoleum in Tehran on June 3, 2025. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hits out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for Iranians to rise up against their government over power and water shortages.

Netanyahu’s video message yesterday came as Iran grapples with persistent water and electricity shortages amid spells of hot weather.

It also came just two months after a 12-day war between the arch-foes, which began with Israel’s unprecedented attack on Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure and scientists.

In his remarks, the Israeli premier called on Iranians to “take risks for freedom,” “take to the streets” and demand accountability from the Iranian government.

He suggested bringing Israeli water experts to provide “cutting-edge technology and know-how” to Tehran.

In a post on X, Pezeshkian hits out at Netanyahu.

“The regime that deprived the people of Gaza of water and food wants to bring water to the people of Iran? What a mirage!” says Pezeshkian.

A regime that deprives #Gaza of water and food now says it will bring water to Iran?
A MIRAGE, NOTHING MORE. https://t.co/1Mqvg71FrB

— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) August 13, 2025

Labor MK urges PM to order Smotrich to release more than NIS 1 billion in PA funds

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on August 6, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Labor MK Gilad Kariv pens a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging the premier to direct Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to release over 1 billion shekels ($300 million) that he has been withholding from the Palestinian Authority since May.

Israel collects clearance revenues on the PA’s behalf and is supposed to transfer them to Ramallah on a monthly basis.

Following the May decision by the UK to sanction him and fellow far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Smotrich stopped making the transfers, which make up a majority of the PA’s budget, and accordingly, have Ramallah once again teetering on the brink of collapse.

In his letter to Netanyahu, Kariv notes that the decision by Smotrich has been taken without any cabinet discussion or input from the security establishment and is in violation of Israel’s agreements with the PA.

The withholding of the funds severely harms the PA’s ability to provide services to millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and to continue security cooperation with the IDF, Kariv says. “The main beneficiaries of this harm are radical and jihadist elements, including the murderous Hamas organization, who seek to consolidate and deepen their hold and activities” [in the West Bank].

The risks posed by Smotrich’s decision “is written on the wall, and turning a blind eye to it is a dramatic omission that requires sobering up and immediate action,” Kariv adds.

After being readmitted to Likud, Sa’ar says he set aside differences with PM to save Israel from destruction

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, July 29, 2025. (Sivan Shachor/GPO)

Addressing the Likud Central Committee, newly readmitted party member Gideon Sa’ar declares that it is “good to return home.”

After October 7, the opposition had to decide “whether they would exploit this terrible and historic event and the difficult war that followed it for political gain, or whether they would mobilize to strengthen the State of Israel at a fateful time,” he says, thanking God for the opportunity to “strengthen the Israeli government and the State of Israel during these critical moments.”

Following “a long series of conversations” with the prime minister, Sa’ar began to understand his strategy to “dismantle the Iranian axis” and decided to join the government, he continues, asserting that the day will come when “we will be able to proudly tell our grandchildren and great-grandchildren about the decisions that saved the State of Israel from the danger of destruction.”

Even before Sa’ar rejoined the government last September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already started making overtures regarding the New Hope party chairman’s return to Likud, he adds, framing the merger as the “unification and strengthening of the national camp” ahead of “a historic struggle against the broad international attempt to force Israel to establish a Palestinian state.”

“Who will be able to lead the people and the state in this campaign against the establishment of a Palestinian state other than the national camp, the Likud led by the Prime Minister?” he asks. “Yair Lapid? Yair Golan?”

Sa’ar dismisses media coverage quoting his previous criticisms of Netanyahu, instead recalling when they “worked together shoulder to shoulder.”

Thanking Netanyahu for his trust, he says that “anyone can look back, but usually what can be changed is the future.”

“With God’s help, we are strengthening and will continue to strengthen the national camp” ahead of the next national election, he concludes.

Anti-Israel groups announce mass march in New York City on Saturday

Anti-Israel socialist protesters in New York City, June 5, 2024. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

An array of activist groups announces a mass march to protest against Israel in New York City on Saturday.

Organizers say more than 200 groups from around the US are backing the protest, and the activists are busing in participants from six states and Washington, DC.

The march is a protest against the “devastating hunger crisis that worsens daily” in Gaza, a statement from the organizers says.

The groups claim that tens of thousands are expected to attend. The figure is likely inflated, but the march is shaping up to be the largest anti-Israel protest in the city in months.

The march will begin at the New York Public Library, next to Bryant Park, at 2 p.m.

Leading groups signing onto the protest include far-left outfits such as the People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America and CodePink, Arab-led groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab American Association of New York, as well as the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace and student groups.

There has been a decrease in major anti-Israel street protests in New York in recent months, but activists have begun a series of regular rallies ahead of the United Nations General Assembly that will take place in the city next month.

In southern Lebanon, IDF chief says he has approved plans for ‘conquest of Gaza’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks with officers at an army post in southern Lebanon, August 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military “approved plans for the conquest of Gaza,” during a visit to southern Lebanon today.

It is unclear if Zamir is referring to Gaza City or the entire Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government instructed the military to prepare to capture Gaza City, and only later on, other remaining Hamas strongholds in the Strip.

“This morning, we approved plans for the conquest of Gaza, and now we are in Lebanon. At the same time, we are operating in Syria, Yemen, Judea and Samaria (West Bank), and monitoring events in Iran. We are in a multifront war,” Zamir says during the visit to an army post in southern Lebanon, according to remarks published by the IDF.

Deputy FM makes first official visit to South Sudan amid reports Israel wants to send Gazans there

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel announces on X that she has arrived in South Sudan, “the world’s youngest country,” as part of Israel’s first official delegation to the African nation.

In her post, Haskel says she met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Foreign Minister Monday Semaya Kumba and other officials, signed a diplomatic memorandum of understanding, and visited an Israeli trauma center that she says “saved dozens of children’s lives.”

The visit comes amid an Associated Press report claiming Israel has discussed resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in South Sudan — an assertion the country’s government has rejected as “baseless,” saying it does not reflect official policy.

The AP said such talks were linked to a broader Israeli push to encourage mass emigration from Gaza during the ongoing war with Hamas.

Arrived in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, on Israel’s first official delegation.

Met with President Salva Kiir Mayardit, FM Monday Semaya Kumba, Deputy FM Equator Bona Malwal Madur, and Speaker Nunu Kumba.
Signed a diplomatic MoU and visited an Israeli trauma center… pic.twitter.com/NUIq6UbiWG

— Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) August 13, 2025

Sa’ar slams Toronto festival for cancelling Oct. 7 film: ‘They would have asked Hitler for copyright on Auschwitz footage’

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemns the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on X for canceling the screening of “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” a documentary about the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

“Toronto International Film Festival just cancelled the screening of a film about the October 7 massacre because there was no ‘legal clearance’ from Hamas for their GoPro massacre videos,” Sa’ar writes. “This festival would have asked Hitler or Goebbels for copyright on Auschwitz footage… This vicious and sickening decision must be cancelled immediately!”

The film, directed by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich, tells the story of Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who set out to rescue his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and family during the Hamas-led attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which left over a quarter of the southern community’s 400 residents dead or taken hostage. The documentary features footage recorded by Hamas operatives during the attacks.

TIFF cited legal concerns for the cancellation, saying the filmmakers had not obtained “legal clearance” for the footage and requested indemnification to mitigate potential risks.

Additionally, the festival organizers cited a fear of anti-Israel protesters disrupting the festival as part of the reason for the cancellation.

Toronto International Film Festival just cancelled the screening of a film about the October 7 massacre because there was no “legal clearance” from Hamas for their GoPro massacre videos.
This festival would have asked Hitler or Goebbels for copyright on Auschwitz footage.
Of… https://t.co/oVLTFAtlWt

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 13, 2025

At Northern Command handover ceremony, generals say enemy will never again be allowed to entrench themselves on border

Outgoing chief of the Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin speaks at a handover ceremony, August 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin ends his tenure as chief of the Northern Command after three years, handing over the reins of the unit to Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the former commander of the Home Front Command.

At the handover ceremony, Gordin says that “for many long years, we allowed the threat of a terror organization to grow and entrench itself on our northern border; this is an operational and strategic mistake, mine and my predecessors’, a grave mistake that must not be repeated.”

“A mistake which, as a result of it and due to the great risk to the residents, the State of Israel evacuated tens of thousands of residents from their homes for their protection. And now, with this severe threat removed, we are commanded to ensure that no other threat grows in its place,” he says, referring to Hezbollah.

Gordin says that the military’s directive must be to “maintain the good security situation in the north and to thwart any threat that tries to form from the north or the east.”

Milo says Israel’s “security reality” in the north of the country is “fragile.”

“We are required to continue, preserve and deepen the achievements of the war, to shape a safer and improved security reality, to maintain freedom of action, and to complete the return of all northern residents to their homes in safety,” he says.

Zamir says IDF operations in the north have created a new balance of power

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a handover ceremony at the Northern Command, August 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking at the handover ceremony at the Northern Command, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says “IDF operations in all sectors, and in the northern sector in particular, have created a new balance of power and have enabled Israel to currently ensure a stable and lasting security reality and the ability to properly prepare for future challenges.”

“The voice of the IDF is heard loudly and without interruption. This is a clear message that we are conveying to our people, and also to our enemies: the IDF is strong, proactive, attacks and destroys threats already in their early stages,” he says.

“This is a new reality that we are implementing not in words, but in actions,” Zamir adds.

Knesset debate on Haredi draft exemptions erupts in anger over spike in IDF suicides

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest outside the army recruitment offices in Jerusalem. August 13, 2025.(Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Amid a troubling rise in IDF suicides, a Knesset debate on the ultra-Orthodox draft evasion law erupted in shouts earlier today as reservists sharply criticized politicians over unequal military service rules.

“This time, respect us! Do you know what I’ve gone through in combat?” one reservist yelled at the attending ministers, recalling friend Eliran Mizrachi, a reservist with post-traumatic stress disorder who took his own life in June 2024 after being ordered to return to combat in the Gaza Strip. “Listen to us!” he pleaded.

“Every day, someone dies,” he continued. “Stop everything — my brothers are killing themselves!”

“It could be your son!” he added, directing his words at the ministers.

The outburst highlights mounting frustration among reservists amid ongoing concerns over mental health and the pressures of service.

Official says Israel won’t consider partial hostage-ceasefire deal

A senior Israeli official dampens speculation that Israel and Hamas could return to the partial ceasefire-hostage release deal outlined by US envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Israel does not intend to renew talks on a partial deal. The only issue on the table is the release of all 50 hostages with Israel’s conditions for ending the war, including disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza,” a senior official tells Channel 12.

However, a senior security official is quoted as telling concerned hostage family members that the political conditions are not realistic.

“We were making serious progress toward the Witkoff proposal, but the briefings from the senior officials about a comprehensive deal harmed the talks on the Witkoff proposal,” the official says.

“Now the conditions that the cabinet decided on for ending the war can not realistically be implemented. Hamas agreed to disarm, but it’s impossible to completely demilitarize Gaza,” he says.

Israel said in talks with 5 countries over taking Gazans

A woman displays the Somaliland flag as people queue to cast their votes during the 2024 Somaliland presidential election at a polling station in Hargeisa, Somaliland, November 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdirahman Aleeli)

Israel is in talks with five countries — Indonesia, Somaliland, Uganda, South Sudan and Libya — about the potential resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Channel 12 reports.

“Some of the countries are showing greater openness than before to accepting voluntary immigration from the Gaza Strip,” a diplomatic source tells the outlet, naming Indonesia and Somaliland in particular. However, no concrete decisions have reportedly been made.

Somaliland is a breakaway region of Somalia that is reportedly hoping to secure international recognition through the deal.

The report comes alongside claims from The Associated Press that Israel had discussed resettling Gazans in South Sudan — an assertion the African nation’s government has rejected as “baseless” and not reflective of its official policy.

In an interview with the i24 news channel last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support for the mass emigration of Gazans — a policy endorsed by US President Donald Trump earlier this year — saying Israel is in contact with “several countries” about absorbing displaced civilians from the war-torn territory.

“I think this is the most natural thing,” Netanyahu said. “All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their doors to them. What are you preaching to us for? We’re not pushing them out — we’re enabling them to leave… first of all, [leaving] combat zones, and also the Strip itself, if they want to.”

Pressed on why the process has not progressed, Netanyahu replied: “You need receiving countries. We are talking to several countries — I won’t detail them here.”

Protesters lock Levin’s gates after he shut AG out of her office

A lock placed the garage of the building where Justice Minister Yariv Levin lives in Modiin on August 13, 2025 (X/ used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Demonstrators locked the gate to the building where Justice Minister Yariv Levin lives in the central city of Modiin, in an apparent act of protest after Levin’s driver locked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara out of a joint office.

Residents soon broke open the chains; however, the incident saw security for Levin stepped up, Channel 12 reports.

“Anarchists decided that it was legitimate to lock the entrance to a building parking lot where Minister Levin lives, the parking lot is not just his but serves all the residents of the building,” says a statement from his office.

A picture from the scene shows the lock had a note saying: “The key is with Levin’s driver.”

On Tuesday, Levin locked Baharav-Miara out of an office, his latest attempt to kick her out of the workings of the government. Last week, the cabinet voted to fire her after forming a special committee for that purpose. The High Court froze that decision immediately, instructing the government not to block Baharav-Miara from performing her responsibilities in any way.

Ultra-Orthodox protest for jailed draft dodgers with display mimicking hostage demo

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest outside army recruitment offices in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. The pictures in the posters, mimicking those of Hamas-held hostages, are of arrested draft-dodgers with text urging their release. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Several ultra-Orthodox demonstrators set up a protest installation outside the IDF’s draft center in Jerusalem that mimics the displays set up for the hostages in Gaza.

The demonstrators set up yellow chairs with pictures of Haredi youths jailed for draft evasion. Chairs with photos of the hostages taken to Gaza have been a mainstay of hundreds of demonstrations for their release.

Haredi leaders have announced two separate demonstrations outside the Beit Lid military prison in central Israel tomorrow to protest the arrest and detention of several ultra-Orthodox men who evaded conscription to the Israel Defense Forces, a week after the community declared “war” against the military’s efforts to increase enforcement against draft dodgers.

Lebanese PM tells top Iran official Hezbollah will not be allowed to have arms, warns against interference

In this handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency, Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meets with Iran's head of the National Security Council Ali Larijani and a delegation at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

No group in Lebanon is permitted to bear arms or rely on foreign backing, its president tells a visiting senior Iranian official after the cabinet approved the goals of a US-backed roadmap to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

During a meeting in Beirut with Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s top security body, Joseph Aoun warns against foreign interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs, saying the country was open to cooperation with Iran but only within the bounds of national sovereignty and mutual respect.

Larijani says the Islamic Republic supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and does not interfere in its decision-making.

“Any decision taken by the Lebanese government in consultation with the resistance is respected by us,” he says after separate talks with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, whose Amal movement is an ally of Hezbollah.

By “resistance,” Larijani was alluding to the Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah, which was founded in 1982, grew into a “state-within-a-state” force better armed than the Lebanese army and has repeatedly fought Israel over the decades.

“Iran didn’t bring any plan to Lebanon, the US did. Those intervening in Lebanese affairs are those dictating plans and deadlines,” says Larijani.

He says Lebanon should not “mix its enemies with its friends – your enemy is Israel, your friend is the resistance…I recommend that Lebanon always appreciate the value of resistance.”

Netanyahu assails ex-security chiefs, says IDF had abandoned its commitment to ‘victory’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement during an event hosted by Newsmax in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Ronen Zvulun / POOL / AFP)

Speaking in Hebrew during opening remarks at an event hosted by the Newsmax news outlet in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that over the years, the Israel Defense Forces had abandoned its commitment to “victory,” and that some former senior military officials caved to global pressure and embraced unsuitable political solutions over military success.

“We have achieved great victories… against Hamas, against Hezbollah, against the murderous Assad regime in Syria, against Iran, and also in other arenas,” Netanyahu says. “We did this because we fought together… the IDF, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet — each in its own field, each in its own sector and in close cooperation — did outstanding work under the guidance of the political leadership.”

Netanyahu then turns to address unnamed “former officials who once led Israel’s security branches,” recalling that he had served alongside or worked with many during his 18 years as prime minister and held “great appreciation” for their bravery and sacrifice.

“But something happened when they left service,” he continues, “And it didn’t happen on a personal level—it happened on a systemic level. Gradually, over these years, one word disappeared from the lexicon of the Israel Defense Forces, and that word is ‘victory.’”

He vows to restore that ethos: “We are bringing that word back, because without it there is no meaning to our existence here. Either we win, or those who seek to destroy us will win. We are winning.”

According to Netanyahu, this loss of focus “eroded [the] confidence” of some security veterans, pushing them to seek “an alternative” in the face of global opinion, namely the mounting international calls for Israel to end the war and for a Palestinian state to be established. “The global tide is essentially calling on us to lose ourselves — to embrace some illusion… the mirage of a Palestinian state whose entire purpose is to destroy us,” he says.

“In the search for an alternative to victory, this idea emerged — what they call a ‘political solution,’ which is nothing more than another term for defeat and surrender. That will not happen. That will not be.”

He accuses those “who stopped believing in victory” of being drawn into “extreme political movements that undermine the very spirit of combat… the willingness to fight to the bitter end and to victory, based on the belief that it is wrong and will yield nothing.”

“I deeply regret what has happened to these people, whom I greatly respected during their service,” Netanyahu concludes. “I will not give up on victory. The people of Israel will not give up on victory.”

Last week, 19 former senior Israeli security officials issued a joint video message with a call to end the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel has racked up more losses than victories and that the fighting has dragged on for political reasons rather than strategic military need.

Two die of heatstroke amid record temperatures

Men cool off with water in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, amid a heat wave on August 13, 2025. Photo (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Two people die of heatstroke amid a soaring, prolonged heatwave, medical officials say.

In the southern resort city of Eilat where temperatures hit  48.8 degrees Celsius (119.8 degrees Fahrenheit), a 70-year-old man collapsed with heatstroke and later dies, the Yoseftal Medical Center says.

In Rishon Letzion in central Israel, a man in his 60’s also collapsed with heatstroke and died. A Magen David Adom team was unable to revive him.

Two children from Gaza to take part in ceremony of European soccer Super Cup

Mascots hold a banner which reads 'Stop killing children, Stop killing civilians' on the pitch ahead of the 2025 UEFA Super Cup final soccer match at the Friuli stadium, in Udine, Italy, August 13, 2025. (Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

European soccer’s governing body says two children from the Gaza Strip will take part in the medals ceremony after the Super Cup match tonight between France’s Paris Saint-Germain and England’s Tottenham Hotspur.

The Super Cup is the annual early-season match between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.

“12-year-old Tala is a young Palestinian girl with fragile health who was transferred to Milan to receive appropriate medical care, as the adequate equipment was lacking in Gaza after the start of the war,” UEFA says.

“Tala will be joined on the podium by 9-year-old Mohamed, who lost his parents during the war and was severely injured following an airstrike. Due to the seriousness of his condition and his young age, Mohamed and his grandmother were fortunate enough to leave Gaza and were welcomed in Milan, where Mohamed is currently undergoing medical treatment,” the statement says.

The two were also part of a group of nine children who are refugees in Italy from Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Gaza and Ukraine participated in the opening ceremony, displaying a banner “STOP KILLING CHILDREN – STOP KILLING CIVILIANS.”

The move comes after UEFA was criticized this week for a tribute to the late Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pele,” after European soccer’s governing body failed to reference the circumstances surrounding his death this week.

The Palestine Football Association said that Al-Obeid, 41, was killed by Israeli fire targeting civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Israel denied any involvement.

Netanyahu: Israel at forefront of fight against ‘savagery’ and ‘barbarism,’ Hamas narrative embraced on US campuses

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement during an event hosted by Newsmax in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Ronen Zvulun / POOL / AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails Israel’s fight against “savagery” and “barbarism,” condemning what he calls pro-Hamas sentiment on American college campuses and alleged atrocities committed against the Druze minority in Syria last month.

During his opening remarks at a Jerusalem event hosted by the Newsmax news outlet, Netanyahu says that “some have fallen victim” to Hamas propaganda — “to these lies, and have followed them, and swallowed hook, line and sinker” — echoing criticism he voiced at a press conference for foreign media earlier this week.

Despite Hamas’s record of brutal acts of terrorism, he says, many students on American campuses “are siding with Hamas” by embracing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel movements.

Addressing prominent American lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz, who is present in the audience, Netanyahu asks: “Can you say something in their defense right now? No. Yeah, I figured. Neither can I, because I think it’s atrocious.”

Netanyahu stresses that “most Americans [recognize] that Israel stands for the same values as America,” adding: “They recognize that we are fighting the barbarians at the gate.” He also thanks US President Donald Trump for being “a great ally.”

“It’s not only the savagery of Hamas and the Iranian terror axis. In Syria, just a few weeks ago, we stopped the savage massacre of the Druze,” Netanyahu continues, referring to last month’s deadly attacks in and around the southern Syrian city of Sweida, a Druze stronghold, where sectarian clashes with local Bedouin drew in Syrian regime forces and IDF intervention.

“They went into their town of Sweida, and they butchered the men,” Netanyahu says, without clarifying which assailants he refers to. “They raped the women, the nurses, and then shot them. They burnt babies, and they added a few things,” Netanyahu says.

Referencing a widely circulated video purportedly from the attack, he continues: “You saw it live, and you have to see it to understand this. I mean, you see a Druze civilian wounded, lying on the ground. And one of these fanatics, these unbelievable savages, they go in, knife the guy, tear out his heart, and then eat it. The victim has his heart eaten while he’s still alive. This is savagery. This is barbarism. This is what Israel is fighting on behalf of Western civilization, on behalf of civilization.”

“But we now have to muster all the forces that seek to defend our common civilization against this mutilation of the truth that threatens our common future,” Netanyahu concludes.