Aug. 14: Trump says he’d like to see Israel allow foreign journalists into Gaza

Toronto film fest to screen Oct. 7 doc initially nixed over ‘copyright concerns’

Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey speaks during the 2025 Canada's Walk Of Fame Induction Gala held at Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 14, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Jeremy Chan/Getty Images/AFP)

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announces that it will screen a documentary about the October 7 onslaught, reversing a decision announced earlier this week to cancel the event over what it claimed were copyright concerns stemming from the fact that the filmmakers did not receive permission from the Hamas terrorists whose clips are featured in the film.

The documentary in question is “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” which tells the story of Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who set out to save his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and his son’s family as they were attacked by Hamas-led terrorists at their home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the Gaza border. The film was created by Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich.

In a joint statement announcing the decision to screen the film after all, TIFF CEO Cameron Baily and Avrich say they had “heard the pain and frustration expressed by the public” following the initial decision to scrap the film.

“We have worked together to find a resolution to satisfy important safety, legal, and programming concerns. We are pleased to share that The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue will be an official TIFF selection at the festival this year, where we believe it will contribute to the vital conversations that film is meant to inspire,” the statement continues.

“In this case, TIFF’s communication around its requirements did not clearly articulate the concerns and roadblocks that arose and for that, we are sorry,” it adds.

Please see the following statement from TIFF and the Filmmaker regarding The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue. pic.twitter.com/e3Peik2es1

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 15, 2025

In night’s second reported attack, settlers said to hurl Molotov cocktails at Palestinian village

Settlers reportedly hurled Molotov cocktails at homes, vehicles and property in the Palestinian village of Atara in the central West Bank.

It is the night’s second reported settler attack, coming shortly after another one in the southern West Bank village of Susya that left several people injured.

مستوطنون يهاجمون المنازل ويحرقون مركبة في قرية عطارة شمال رام الله pic.twitter.com/nnC8lGEmz4

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 14, 2025

Several Palestinians wounded in reported settler attack in southern West Bank

Several Palestinians were injured in an overnight reported attack by Israeli settlers in the southern West Bank village of Susya.

Footage from the scene showed a bloodied man before he was reportedly evacuated to the hospital along with his wife, who was also wounded in the attack.

There are no reports of arrests, which are highly rare in such incidents of settler violence that have been taking place on a near-daily basis throughout the West Bank.

Massachusetts man sentenced to 26 months for threats to synagogues, Israel consulate

A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison after he threatened to bomb synagogues and kill Jewish children in a series of calls he placed to two local houses of worship and the Israeli consulate in Boston after Israel and Hamas went to war in 2023.

John Reardon, 60, has been sentenced by US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston to 26 months in custody after pleading guilty in November to charges related to what prosecutors said were dozens of violent and antisemitic calls and voicemails he placed to Jewish institutions beginning on October 7, 2023.

Reardon’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment. But in court papers, she argued for a nine-month sentence, saying mental health issues led Reardon to commit a crime that was “terrifying, deeply hurtful, and will cause lasting fear in the victims.”

He was charged in January 2024, as the US Department of Justice began to warn of a growing number of antisemitic threats nationally following the onset of the war.

Prosecutors in court papers said Reardon in a voicemail left with a synagogue in Attleboro, Massachusetts, on January 25, 2024, said that “you do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s OK for people to commit genocide against you.”

Prosecutors said Reardon also threatened to bomb Jewish places of worship and said that by “supporting the killing of innocent little children, that means it’s OK to kill your children.”

Prosecutors said he then called another synagogue in Sharon, Massachusetts, and left a threatening voicemail. He also called the Israeli consulate in Boston 98 times over several months, saying in one call it was “time to prepare the furnaces again,” according to prosecutors, a reference to the Nazis’ systematic extermination of Jews in the World War Two Holocaust.

Germany calls on Israel to ‘stop settlement construction’ in West Bank

Germany “strongly” objects to an Israeli plan to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank, calling on the government to “stop settlement construction” in the territory.

Berlin “strongly rejects the Israeli government’s announcements on thousands of new settlements in the Israeli-occupied areas of the West Bank,” the foreign ministry says in a statement.

Turkey latest to condemn Israeli settlement plan, says it breaches international law

Turkey condemns Israel’s settlement plan aimed at dividing the West Bank and cutting it off from East Jerusalem, the Turkish Foreign Ministry says, adding the decision is a violation of international law.

“This step… totally disregards international law and United Nations resolutions; targets the State of Palestine’s territorial integrity, the basis for a two-state solution, and hopes for peace,” it says in a statement, reiterating that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is the only way to achieve lasting peace.

Hundreds of Haredi protesters clash with police outside jail holding draft dodgers

Hundreds of members of the Jerusalem Faction, Slonim Hasidic sect and other ultra-Orthodox groups clash with police outside the Beit Lid military prison, where several yeshiva students arrested for draft evasion are being held.

מאות מפגינים מתקדמים לכיוון הכניסה למחנה בית ליד ומתעמתים עם המשטרה https://t.co/3HRoKjJmiq pic.twitter.com/OLnwq1IsZH

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) August 14, 2025

Top Israel banks post soaring profits off loan holders’ high interest rates amid challenging war period

A man stands at a cash machine of the Israel Discount Bank in Jerusalem, on July 1, 2013. (Nati Shohat/Flash 90)

Israel Discount Bank posts record results for the three months ending in June, as the country’s third-largest lender continues to cash in on high interest rates and fees paid by mortgage and loan holders during the challenging war period.

In the April to June period, Discount Bank saw its profit jump 7% relative to the same quarter in 2024, to NIS 1.12 billion ($331 million). Discount says the “strong performance was largely driven by an increase in revenues,” fueled by a rise in net interest and fee income.

Discount’s net interest income in the reported quarter soared by 10% from the first three months of 2025 and by 1.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, fee income grew by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter and by 10.3% year-on-year.

The country’s largest banks this week reported another quarter of hefty profits that defy economic challenges of local businesses and households that grapple with high mortgage and lending rates charged by the lenders amid the 22-month-long war with the Hamas terror group.

Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s two largest banks, saw its second-quarter profit surge 15% year-on-year, from NIS 2.3 billion ($680 million) to NIS 2.6 billion ($770 million), as net interest income grew by 3.7% bolstered by growth in the credit provided to households and corporate customers.

Bank Hapoalim, the country’s largest bank, reported a profit of NIS 2.5 billion ($740 million) in the second quarter of 2025, up 14% year-on-year, as the lender benefited from an increase in financing income and fees, alongside strong credit growth.

Ben Gvir filmed visiting, threatening jailed Palestinian terror convict Marwan Barghouti; PA outraged

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (left) speaks to jailed Palestinian terror convict Marwan Barghouti in his cell in footage released on August 14, 2025 (X screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has visited the prison cell of prominent Palestinian terror convict Marwan Barghouti and issued a threat, footage published on social media shows, drawing an outraged reaction from the Palestinian Authority.

Barghouti, 66, who has been incarcerated since 2004 after being sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years for his role in the murders of five civilians during the Second Intifada, is nevertheless popular among Palestinians and regarded as a potential successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He is a senior member of the PA’s ruling Fatah party. Palestinians have long sought his release, including through hostage deals, but Jerusalem has resisted the notion of freeing him.

Visiting his cell alongside Israel Prisons Service chief Kobi Yaakobi, Ben Gvir is filmed telling Barghouti: “You won’t win. Whoever messes with the Nation of Israel, whoever murders our children and women — we will wipe them out. You should know this, [this happened] throughout history.”

בן גביר ביקר היום בכלא הביטחוני גנות – במהלך ביקורו פגש השר באחד האגפים המבודדים את הארכי מחבל מראוון ברגותי, המרצה 5 מאסרי עולם.

השר העביר לו מסר תקיף לעיני המצלמות: "מי שיתעסק עם עם ישראל, מי שירצח לנו ילדים, מי שירצח לנו נשים, אנחנו נמחק אותו. אתם לא תנצחו אותנו״ pic.twitter.com/MKQv8jjYdt

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) August 14, 2025

The video is the first image of Barghouti released in years, and his family tells Al Jazeera that he looks “different” and as if he’s suffering from hunger. They claim he could be “executed” at Ben Gvir’s order.

Jailed terror convict and Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti (C) is accompanied by Israeli prison guards after a hearing at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, January 25, 2012. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad)

Hussein al-Sheikh, Mahmoud Abbas’s deputy, condemns the video as “the height of psychological, moral, and physical terrorism practiced against prisoners, and a violation of international and humanitarian conventions and norms.”

“This represents an unprecedented escalation in the occupation’s policy against Palestinian prisoners, necessitating the immediate intervention of international organizations and institutions to protect them.”

EU says Israeli settlement plan breaches international law

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says an Israeli settlement plan is not in line with international law, calling on Israeli authorities not to move ahead with it.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced that work will start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem.

“The decision of Israeli authorities to advance the E1 settlement plan further undermines the two-state solution while being a breach of international law,” Kallas says in a statement. “The EU reiterates its call on Israel to halt settlement construction.”

IDF says reservist found dead near Sea of Galilee, in suspected suicide

An IDF reservist officer was found dead in the Switzerland Forest near the Sea of Galilee earlier today, in an incident of suspected suicide.

The IDF says the Military Police has launched an investigation into the death of the combat officer, the findings of which will be submitted to the Military Advocate General for review.

During the ongoing war, the military has seen a rise in suicides among soldiers, with 18 suspected cases this year alone.

Extremist Haredi sect members burn IDF conscription orders, briefly try to break into military prison

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis, including Degel HaTorah party spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando, attend a rally against the arrest of draft-dodging yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid, August 14, 2025. (Courtesy/Daniel Nefoussi)

As the car of Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party, leaves this evening’s prayer rally for detained draft evaders outside the Beit Lid military prison, members of the hardline Jerusalem Faction scream “no to quotas and no to targets,” expressing opposition to any compromise on the issue of enlistment.

As the car of Rabbi Dov Lando leaves this evening’s prayer rally for detained draft evaders outside the Beit Lid military prison members of the hardline Jerusalem Faction scream “no to quotas and no to targets,” expressing opposition to any compromise on the issue of enlistment. pic.twitter.com/OnK7HtJVV1

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) August 14, 2025

After attempting to push their way through a line of police guarding the Beit Lid military prison, members of the hardline group burn and rip up conscription orders. They then begin dancing and chanting anti-army slogans.

“We won’t give up on even one Haredi,” protesters yell outside the prison. “Gevalt!”

Only moments after attempting to push their way through a line of police guarding the Beit Lid military prison, members of the hardline Jerusalem Faction burn and rip up conscription orders. They then begin dancing and chanting anti-army slogans. pic.twitter.com/5ZViFLW7uC

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) August 14, 2025

Residents complain about noise, disruption amid daily Haredi protests outside nearby military prison

Speaking to The Times of Israel, residents of the neighborhood surrounding the Beit Lid military prison complain that Haredi demonstrators have been disrupting their lives all week, making noise late into the night.

“They walk through our streets after the protests, spit and yell and blow shofars,” says resident Roni as he watches the protest. “There are small children here.”

Israel reportedly planning media campaign against Qatar and Turkey

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli attends a conference organized by his ministry, March 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Diaspora Ministry is considering rolling out an international media campaign against Qatar and Turkey, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Qatar has hosted many of the negotiations over an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal, and is a key mediator in the talks alongside Egypt. Turkey has also played a role in the diplomatic efforts.

Efforts are underway to restart negotiations after they fell apart last month.

Both countries are also vocal supporters of Hamas, and Qatar has funded Hamas and served as a home for its leadership.

Hadas Maimon, an official in the Diaspora Ministry, is preparing a potential campaign against the countries at the request of Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, the Kan public broadcaster reports, citing an anonymous source close to Chikli.

Chikli has been an outspoken critic of Qatar on social media, but similar campaigns against the country have been blocked in the past by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other authorities, Kan reports.

Qatar criticized Israel while:

*Hosting Hamas murderers and rapists in luxury hotel suits.

*It has promoted inciter Qaradawi, who preached the murder of innocent people with suicide bombing, for years.

*It leads global Jihadist propaganda through Al Jazeera channels.

*It… pic.twitter.com/X5MoLnraa1

— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) January 24, 2024

Top Netanyahu aide Urich to be able to meet PM again starting Monday, as court ends restrictive conditions

Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich attends a hearing at the Lod District Court on May 22, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court declines to extend the restrictions on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide Jonatan Urich, meaning that starting Monday, he will be allowed to once again meet and work with the premier.

Urich has been under restrictive conditions for months for his suspected role in the so-called Qatargate case, in which several Netanyahu aides are suspected of having been in contact with Qatari agents and of having conveyed pro-Doha messages under the guise of messages from the Prime Minister’s Office, all while being employed by Netanyahu’s office.

Judge Menachem Mizrahi says police have failed to convince him that suspicions against Urich have strengthened to a level that justified the continued restrictions after such a long time. He says no sufficient evidence has been presented for the allegation that Urich intended, directly or indirectly, to harm national security through his alleged contact with foreign agents.

The judge further says Urich’s work with Qatari officials isn’t illegal since the Gulf state isn’t regarded as an enemy under Israeli law.

He also criticizes the police investigative unit for initially refusing to hand over the entire investigation material.

The state can still appeal the ruling.

At Haredi rally, Yesh Atid MK assails ‘parasites’ reading psalms against the IDF

Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern, right, attends the scene of an ultra-Orthodox rally against the arrest of draft-dodging yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid, August 14, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern arrives at the ultra-Orthodox anti-conscription rally at the Beit Lid military prison to “see for myself the people who say that if they go to the army, they will be going to hell.”

“They’re parasites,” the former chief of the IDF Personnel Directorate tells The Times of Israel. “They are reciting psalms that we read against our enemies, but saying them against the army.”

‘We’ll take you apart’: Participants in Haredi protest attack journalists

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis at a rally against the arrest of draft-dodging yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid, August 14, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Attendees at this evening’s ultra-Orthodox protest against conscription attack journalists, pushing them back as they attempt to film the rabbis.

“If you go back [to where you were], we’ll take you apart,” they scream at a photographer after shoving him away, demanding the press respect the rabbis.

Sitting behind a sign stating “All of Haredi Judaism stands behind you,” the rabbis recite psalms for the yeshiva students incarcerated in the Beit Lid military prison for draft evasion.

Attendees at this evening’s ultra-Orthodox protest against conscription attack journalists, pushing them back as they attempt to film the rabbis.

“If you go back we’ll take you apart,” they scream, demanding the press respect the rabbis. pic.twitter.com/wakVkNN6sL

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) August 14, 2025

‘Trump, please save us’: Extremist Haredi sect takes part in rally backing arrested draft dodgers

A member of the extremist ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem Faction holds up a sign calling on US President Trump to 'please save us,' at a rally against the arrest of draft-dodging yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid, August 14, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Representatives of the extremist Jerusalem Faction show up at this evening’s rabbinic rally against the arrest of yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid.

As police and representatives of the mainstream “Lithuanian” non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodox community — who called the protest — attempt to keep the extremists out, they scream slogans such as “Free the hostages,” and “To jail and not the army.”

One young man screams that United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni is a traitor, presumably for not taking a hard enough line on the issue to satisfy the hardline group.

The rally is attended by around 100 rabbis and hundreds of other protesters.

As the members of the Jerusalem Faction sing and yell, rabbis begin to gather outside of the IDF prison, where ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers are being held following their arrests.

One protester holds up a sign calling on US President Trump to “please save us.”

IDF intel chief during Oct. 7 appears to blame failure to prevent attack on Shin Bet

Then-Commander of the IDF Military Intelligence Aharon Haliva at a conference of the Gazit Institute in Tel Aviv, November 4, 2022. (Gideon Markowicz/Flash90)

Aharon Haliva, who served as the head of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Directorate during the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, appears to blame the Shin Bet intelligence agency for not reacting more quickly to the onset of the invasion.

In a recording aired by Channel 12 news, Haliva repeats his contention that had he been woken up during the preceding night, he would have endorsed the existing assessments of other intelligence officers — meaning, the prevailing assessment that Hamas wasn’t actually planning a large-scale attack. He says anyone who says differently is a “liar.”

But he adds that the agency “that should have gotten one agent up that night was the Shin Bet. Where were you, Shin Bet, with all of your billions?”

Haliva, who announced he was stepping down in April 2024, was the first senior defense official to resign over his failures leading up to October 7.

In the recording, which will air in its entirety tomorrow evening, Haliva also laments the breakdown of discipline in the IDF and says it has become a “bordello.”

The network does not elaborate on the circumstances of the recording.

Trump says he’d like to see Israel allow foreign journalists into Gaza

US President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office to mark the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, August 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump says he would like to see Israel allow international journalists into Gaza.

A reporter asks Trump in the Oval Office whether he will “pressure Israel to allow journalists into Gaza to cover the humanitarian efforts that the US is pursuing.”

“I’d like to see that happen,” Trump responds.

It’s unclear what US-led humanitarian efforts the reporter is referring to, as the US has only indicated to date that it supports expanding the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Trump:

I would like to see journalists going into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/F8t57S8nW6

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 14, 2025

Still, Trump says, “I’d be very fine with journalists going in. It’s a very dangerous position to be in if you’re a journalist, but I would like to see it.”

Israel has come under fire as it has dismissed information issued by Hamas-run authorities in Gaza, while not allowing foreign journalists into the Strip, except when closely escorted by the military.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had directed the military to allow more journalists into Gaza, but he appeared to simply be referring to an expansion of those military escorts through which reporters are not able to freely and independently operate.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah tunnels in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it struck several Hezbollah tunnels in southern Lebanon a short while ago.

The presence of the tunnels was a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, the military adds.

‘We will not give up,’ says Nova massacre survivor at annual Healing Concert in Tel Aviv

Nova Tribe Community co-founder Nimrod Arnin, a survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre on the Nova rave who lost a sister in the attack, speaks with other event organizers behind him at the annual Nova Healing Concert in Tel Aviv, August 14, 2025. (Eclipse Media)

At the second annual Nova Healing Concert in Tel Aviv, Nimrod Arnin — a bereaved brother, Nova survivor, and one of the founders of the Nova Tribe Community — takes the stage with a powerful address in memory of the victims of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

“678 days in which time has stood still,” Arnin says, recalling the Nova festival massacre that claimed 378 lives.

“The memory refuses to fade. And life goes on. Sometimes it feels fragile, sometimes it feels like we are victorious… and even when the darkness seems absolute, we remember one sentence that is not simply words, but a promise: we will dance again.”

Arnin highlights the Tribe of Nova’s work to support survivors, released hostages and bereaved families through retreats, memorials, community gatherings, hotlines and healing programs.

He also urges the return of the 50 hostages still in Gaza — including 15 from the Nova community.

Arnin’s words culminate in a moment of silence for the fallen, as he closes with a vow: “We will not give up. We will not be silent. We will not stop dancing.”

Report: 9 Haredim arrested for draft evasion since last week, one at the airport; 7 still in custody

Nine ultra-Orthodox draft evaders have been arrested since last week, Channel 12 news reports, as masses of Haredim protest tonight again outside of the Beit Lid military prison, where the detainees are being held.

One draft dodger, the network says, was arrested as he was about to board a flight at Ben Gurion Airport to go abroad with his family. His lawyer tells the channel that the man did not receive a draft order and did not know he was evading conscription.

Two of the nine who have been arrested have since been let go, leaving seven still in the custody of the Military Police. The arrests took place in Tel Aviv, Kiryat Ata and Yehud, Channel 12 reports, and no arrests have taken place in Haredi cities.

Iran said to have hacked former justice minister Shaked’s phone during 12-day June war

Ayelet Shaked attends International Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony in memory of Holocaust survivor Meir Grant, in Herzliya, January 27, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Iran hacked a phone belonging to former justice minister Ayelet Shaked during the Islamic Republic’s 12-day war in June, Hebrew media outlets report, as part of Tehran’s ongoing effort to spy on and hack current and former Israeli officials.

Iran tried several times to hack the former Yamina party leader’s phone, and succeeded in getting her to click a link that allowed access to her phone, Channel 12 news reports, without citing a source. The Shin Bet informed her of the hack about two weeks later.

The Ynet news site, citing unnamed associates of Shaked, says the hack only compromised Shaked’s Telegram account, which contained nothing of interest.

Around 2016, former Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman reportedly warned Shaked, who was then justice minister, that Iran was spying on her.

Iran is also trying to spy on other officials, including ministers’ aides, and today the Shin Bet sent new protocols to officials not to click on unknown links and other practices, Channel 12 reports.

Shaked left political life in 2022.

5 anti-government activists arrested as they block Tel Aviv highway; 12 apprehended in Haifa rally

Activists against the government and in favor of a hostage deal block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway during a protest ahead of what they brand as a week of heightened protests around the country against the decision to expand the war in Gaza.

That week begins with a strike on Sunday attended by many firms and bodies.

Police later say five demonstrators have been arrested, and that the road has been opened.

פעילי מחאה חוסמים את נתיבי איילון בקריאה לשחרור החטופים: "שריקת הפתיחה לקראת שבוע המחאה שצפוי להתחיל בראשון"@AnnaPines_ @YCiechanover
קרדיט: דנור אהרון pic.twitter.com/UcKgWivaIA

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 14, 2025

In Haifa, police have arrested 12 anti-war activists, saying they brandished posters against Israel’s war conduct that “might disrupt public order,” didn’t adhere to the police’s demand to disperse, and ignored cops’ instructions.

UK says Israel’s new E1 settlement plan is flagrantly illegal and ‘must be stopped now’

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks to MPs during a statement on Israel and the war in Gaza in the House of Commons, in London, on May 20, 2025. (House of Commons / AFP)

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy says Israeli plans to develop a settlement project that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from east Jerusalem mark a breach of international law and must be stopped immediately.

“The UK strongly opposes the Israeli government’s E1 settlement plans, which would divide a future Palestinian state in two and mark a flagrant breach of international law. The plans must be stopped now,” Lammy says in an emailed statement.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Wednesday that he plans to approve tenders to build more than 3,000 housing units in the highly controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank, saying the move “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.” He said Thursday that the plan is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

UN urges Israel to stop advancement of new West Bank settlement plan

The United Nations calls on Israel to reverse its decision to start work on a long-delayed settlement plan that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.

“It would put an end to prospects of a two-state solution,” Dujarric tells reporters.

“Settlements go against international law… further entrench the occupation.”

IDF troops sent home early due to heat will be given an extra day before return to Negev base

Soldiers evacuated from the Sayarim training base in the southern Negev Desert this morning following power outages amid a searing heatwave will only return to base on Monday instead of Sunday, the military says.

The troops were let off early to their weekend furlough because of the blackouts, which left the trainees in 48°C (118°F) without air conditioning for hours. Normally, the soldiers would be sent home on Friday.

The military says that the troops who have remained on base to guard it over the weekend are in air-conditioned rooms — where the power issues have been fixed — and that there has been an increased supply of food, cold water and trucks full of ice to the facility.

Temperatures exceeded 40°C (104°F) in locations throughout the country today.

Liberman, Likud MK castigate Haredi MK Gafni’s comparison of government to Roman Empire

Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman slams senior Haredi politician Moshe Gafni for treating the IDF like an “enemy,” after the Degel HaTorah faction chairman compared Israel’s treatment of yeshiva students to that of the Roman Empire.

Addressing a conference of the Yeshiva Students’ Committee in Kibbutz Hafetz Haim, Gafni declared that the government’s “current war against the Torah world is reminiscent of the Romans,” who “fought against the Jewish people to prevent them from learning Torah.”

In response, Liberman tweets that “Gafni turns the IDF into an enemy, [MK Meir] Porush threatens civil war, and [United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak] Goldknopf dismisses the pain of religious Zionism. The draft dodgers fight everyone: the state, the army, Zionism — just not the real enemy: Hamas.”

Speaking with the Haredi news site Kikar HaShabbat earlier this week, Porush warned that the conflict over ultra-Orthodox enlistment could escalate into “civil war” if legislation is not passed regulating military service exemptions for yeshiva students.

Degel HaTorah, along with Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, make up the United Torah Judaism party. UTJ and fellow ultra-Orthodox party Shas have been pushing hard for the passage of a bill enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service.

Last month, Goldknopf sparked widespread outrage when he said it’s none of the Haredi community’s concern if other Israelis are dying while fighting in a war, while they refuse to join.

Speaking with the religious Zionist Makor Rishon weekly, Goldknopf, whose party recently left the coalition over its failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from the mandatory draft, was asked about the high number of members of slain soldiers from the national-religious community and answered: “Their pain will be with them and our pain will be with us. Don’t bring me your pain and pass it on to me. Let’s decide that everybody has their own burden.”

Likud MK Dan Illouz similarly slams Gafni, calling the comparison a “disgrace.”

“While Hamas burns babies alive, you liken the poor defenders of Israel risking their lives for all of us to the bitter enemies who burned Jews to prevent Torah study,” he says. “Shame on you, take your words back.”

In video to Trump, 6 ex-hostages and widow of slain captive warn new Gaza plan endangers abductees

In an English-language video, six former hostages and the widow of a hostage murdered in captivity urge US President Donald Trump to bring about the end of the war in the Strip, warning him that Israel’s new plans to greatly expand the offensive put the remaining captives at risk.

The former captives are Naama Levy, Ohad Ben Ami, Doron Steinbrecher, Sasha Troufanov, Arbel Yehoud and Iair Horn, in addition to Michal Lubanov, the wife of Alex Lubanov, who was kidnapped alive and murdered by his captors in August 2024, with his body returned to Israel days later.

”President Trump, you have the power to make history, to be the 'President of Peace' who ended the war, ended the suffering, and brought every hostage home.”

Hamas captivity survivors, together with the wife of a hostage who was murdered in captivity, have released a powerful… pic.twitter.com/SaJ89A4ygV

— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) August 14, 2025

Report says aid spilling from Gaza trucks due to IDF not letting NGOs fasten it properly

Humanitarian aid trucks seen at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. (Flash90)

Massive amounts of humanitarian aid are spilling off trucks in Gaza because the IDF is not allowing organizations to properly secure the cargo, Haaretz reports.

Israeli soldiers at the Kerem Shalom Crossing rush aid workers to quickly load cargo onto trucks that are regularly delayed for hours at a time. Because the food isn’t tied down well and aid seekers are given ample time to identify the route being used, aid has become easy to loot when the trucks reach areas where civilians are waiting.

The poorly secured aid also leads to large amounts of it spilling over, as the roads used by aid groups have been badly damaged by the war.

Even satellite images from space manage to spot long trails of flour extending from the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Full Haaretz story: Dates Are 'Luxury' – and Other Ways Israel Hinders Aid Trucks From Reaching Starving Gazans – Israel News – https://t.co/UItU9r0kuS pic.twitter.com/uh2JxBG0Gb

— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) August 13, 2025

The poorly secured aid is one of several issues identified in the Haaretz report on continued Israeli restrictions on aid.

COGAT’s response to the article does not address the claim regarding Israeli restrictions on properly fastening aid to trucks.

The Times of Israel reached out to a COGAT spokesperson on Tuesday, asking for a response to the report, but has yet to receive a reply.

Thousands attend annual Nova Healing Concert in Tel Aviv, in memory of Oct. 7 rave massacre

A stand commemorating the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre at the Nova rave, at an annual Nova Healing Concert in TEl Aviv on August 14, 2025. (Stav Levaton/Times of Israel)

The second annual Nova Healing Concert kicks off in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, drawing thousands in a powerful show of resilience and remembrance.

Organized by the Nova Tribe Community Association — a community formed to support survivors of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre at the Re’im-area Nova rave, as well as bereaved families of the over 360 victims — the event marks nearly two years since the deadliest single day in Israel’s history, in which some 1,200 were killed in total in the attack on southern Israel and 251 were taken hostage.

Israeli artists, including Infected Mushroom, Yuval Raphael and Captain Hook, are performing, joined by survivors of the October 2023 festival.

For many, the gathering is as much about healing as it is about music. Survivor Joy Cohen tells The Times of Israel that events like this are an essential part of the grieving process.

“It makes me feel very hopeful,” she says. “Everyone who has gone through the worst of the worst can come together and share light.”

“And most importantly,” she adds, echoing the Nova community’s motto, “we will dance again.”

Some 120 ton of food airdropped into Gaza today by aircraft from 6 countries, IDF says

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

Each pallet contains around one metric 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.

Government’s treatment of yeshiva students reminiscent of Romans, senior Haredi MK claims

A screenshot from a video of United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni speaking at a conference of the Yeshiva Students' Committee in Kibbutz Hafetz Haim, August 14, 2025. (Courtesy/Moshe Gafni's office)

The government’s “current war against the Torah world is reminiscent of the Romans,” who “fought against the Jewish people to prevent them from learning Torah,” senior ultra-Orthodox politician Moshe Gafni declares at a conference of the Yeshiva Students’ Committee.

“We will not allow this to happen, and we will fight with all our strength,” the Degel HaTorah faction chairman pledges, predicting that the “Torah world will not only continue and remain strong — it will grow even more, and it will be the one leading the Jewish people.”

Arguing that “the Jewish people cannot exist without Torah students,” Gafni insists that many of those currently advocating for the conscription of Haredim to the army aren’t really interested in IDF manpower issues and “just want us to leave the coalition” — a move Gafni’s United Torah Judaism has already made.

“It’s not that we love this partnership — it’s a partnership in which we don’t see our partners fighting for us,” he adds, claiming that the “traditional public… is with us.”

Degel HaTorah, along with Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, make up the United Torah Judaism party. UTJ and fellow ultra-Orthodox party Shas have been pushing hard for the passage of a bill enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service.

UTJ quit the coalition after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by then-Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which it argued had violated the terms of a compromise reached in June. They were quickly followed by Shas, while quitting the government, remained part of the coalition.

US avoids commenting on Israel’s new settlement plan, says West Bank stability ‘in line’ with Trump’s goals

The US State Department issues a vague statement stressing the importance of “stability” in the West Bank in response to queries from reporters regarding Israel’s plan to advance the highly controversial E1 settlement project aimed at further burying prospects for a two-state solution.

“A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with the Trump administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” says a statement from the State Department.

“We remain focused on ending the war in Gaza and ensuring Hamas will never govern Gaza again, freeing the hostages, including the remains of two Americans, and facilitating the delivery of critically needed humanitarian assistance,” the statement continues, indicating that the US is less focused on developments in the West Bank than those in Gaza.

“We refer you to the government of Israel for more information,” the State Department adds, continuing its policy of largely avoiding criticism of Israel.

UN: 13,000 Gazan kids hospitalized for malnutrition in July; almost no aid trucks reached their destination

Palestinian children suffering of malnutrition wait at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 24, 2024, after they reportedly were given permission by the Israeli army to leave Gaza (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that nearly 13,000 children were hospitalized in Gaza throughout July due to acute malnutrition.

Of these, 2,800 — or 22% — suffered from severe acute malnutrition.

OCHA doesn’t specify the age of the children.

The report also states that the World Food Programme collected 1,012 trucks carrying 13,000 metric tons of food from Gaza’s border crossings during July. However, only 10 of these trucks reached their intended warehouses inside the Strip, while the rest were “offloaded en route,” according to the statement. It is unclear whether this refers to organized theft or to looting by crowds.

The UN further reports that following Israeli measures allowing the entry of more aid in early August, the price of sugar in Gaza dropped from hundreds of shekels, peaking at NIS 600 ($180) per kilogram at one point in the last few months, to NIS 30-40 ($9-12) per kilogram as of August 10.

Report claims mediators proposed 48-hour ceasefire in Gaza, Israel refused

Saudi TV channel Al Arabiya reports that mediators, as part of the talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, have proposed a 48-hour humanitarian pause. This is on top of the existing 10-hour daytime pauses in the Strip.

According to the unsourced report, which has not been confirmed by any other outlet, Hamas agreed, but Israel refused, and the mediators’ pressure continues.

IDF chief says military victory depends on good cooperation with political leadership

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a handover ceremony for the head of the Military Colleges at the Glilot base, August 14, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says that “victory on the battlefield” does not only require military strength, but also cooperation between the army and the political leadership.

The remarks come after Zamir reportedly objected to the government’s plans to capture Gaza City (although he has since green-lit them), and after a public clash with Defense Minister Israel Katz over the IDF chief’s decision to make senior appointments.

“At any time, but especially during wartime, the connection between the political echelon and the military echelon is a central axis for national security,” Zamir says at a handover ceremony for the head of the IDF’s Military Colleges.

“Mutual trust and full cooperation are the key to success. Victory on the battlefield does not depend only on military strength, but also on inter-echelon cohesion. Only in this way will we ensure victory, and also the resilience of the state on the day after,” he says.

Zamir says that the IDF’s offensive in Gaza “will lead to the collapse of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities” and that “the campaign will end when we can ensure our security and our future.”

At the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Dan Noyman takes over as head of the Military Colleges from Maj. Gen. Nimrod Aloni, who has been in the role for the past two years.

Aloni also heads the Depth Corps, which will be handed over to Maj. Gen. Dan Goldfus at a later date.

Aloni is set to retire from the IDF after 37 years of service.

Netanyahu visits new Haredi Border Police unit, tells them ‘no contradiction between Torah and service’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, visits a new Border Police company for ultra-Orthodox men, August 14, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a recently established Border Police company for ultra-Orthodox men, which combines combat service with maintaining an ultra-Orthodox way of life, telling members of the company that “there is no contradiction between Torah and service.”

In a video released by his office, Netanyahu — accompanied by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel Police chief Danny Levy and Border Police Commander Brik Yitzhak — tells the soldiers: “You, in my eyes, are trailblazers. And it is important to understand — there is no contradiction between Torah and service. We are working to remove that contradiction, and you are the ones making it happen.”

“I am very glad to hear that you are able here to maintain an ultra-Orthodox, religious way of life. That is very important — that is the whole point. The goal is to continue holding both the sword and the Torah,” he adds, referring to Judaism’s foundational text.

Netanyahu praises the soldiers, who “came from all parts of the country,” saying: “We want to expand this, add more forces, and bring in your friends.”

In a statement from the premier’s office, Ben Gvir tells the soldiers: “This is how we truly integrate the ultra-Orthodox into our security forces — without trying to create division and hatred.”

He adds that “if the dilemma is between your life and the life of a terrorist, your life always comes first. You are taking part in a historic mission… defending and fighting for our land.”

The visit comes amid growing public opposition to blanket draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, in light of the IDF’s manpower squeeze during the ongoing war in Gaza and the heavy reliance on reservists. The army has said it requires 12,000 new soldiers, 75% of them combat troops.

Netanyahu has recently insisted he is working to recruit the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF, rejecting claims he is delaying the process to appease Haredi political allies. The two Haredi parties quit the government last month after rejecting a proposed bill regulating military enlistment in their community.

After feuding, Katz and Zamir meet to okay Gaza City takeover, vow to ‘act as one fist’

Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other military and defense officials meet at Katz's office in Tel Aviv, August 14, 2025. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz held a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other military and defense officials a short while ago, during which he was “presented with the principles of the plan to implement the cabinet’s decision to take control of Gaza City,” Katz’s office says.

Katz is quoted in the statement as saying that “the State of Israel is determined to defeat Hamas in Gaza, release all the hostages, and bring the war to an end.”

“The IDF is mobilizing all forces and preparing with great strength to implement the cabinet’s decision. We will act as one fist until the mission is completed,” he adds.

The meeting comes after Katz and Zamir publicly clashed earlier this week over the military chief’s decision to make senior appointments in the IDF, which the minister said was done without consultation.

Girl, 4, dies after being forgotten in car in northern Negev amid heatwave

A 4-year-old girl has died after being forgotten in a closed vehicle for an extended period of time amid a scorching heatwave, the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service says, adding that it is a “shocking case.”

The incident happened near the Bedouin community of Ararat an-Naqab in the northern Negev.

According to MDA, the girl was brought, unconscious and without vital signs, to a clinic in the nearby Arara, suffering from heatstroke and burns on her body. Medics tried to resuscitate her but were forced to pronounce her dead.

Report: Trump may visit Israel next month, depending on developments in Gaza truce talks

People walk next to a sign with portraits of US President Donald Trump (L) and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in central Jerusalem on May 7, 2025. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

US President Donald Trump is weighing a visit to Israel next month, contingent on progress in negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the Ynet news site reports, citing American and Israeli officials.

“The president will visit Britain in September, and it’s possible he will stop in Israel, but it’s not certain and not finalized,” a US official tells Ynet.

According to the report, the chances for a visit “depend on developments in the talks on a ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza. Trump would like to come to Israel if the negotiations succeed.”

An Israeli official confirms the potential trip, telling the outlet that “indeed, there are feelers about a possible visit by Trump” while stressing that there is “nothing concrete yet. It’s something that’s still up in the air.”

Trump is scheduled to visit the United Kingdom on September 17–19 at the invitation of King Charles III.

The Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry do not immediately respond to Times of Israel requests for comment on the report.

Mediators have been working in recent days to revive prospects for a ceasefire after the most recent round of talks last month ended in an impasse.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government subsequently approved a plan to seize Gaza City in October, creating a two-month window for a potential revival of — and breakthrough in — talks. Netanyahu also declared this week that Israel will not accept any partial agreements, but only a comprehensive deal that frees all hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.

Khamenei has resolved to back new nuclear negotiations with Western powers — sources

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a ceremony commemorating Iranian military commanders and scientists who were killed in Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June, in Tehran, Iran July 29, 2025. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his top clerics have reached a consensus to resume nuclear negotiations with Western powers, viewing them as vital to the Islamic Republic’s survival, insiders say.

Iran’s foreign ministry does not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hostage Forum asks Jerusalem mayor to change name of ‘Gaza Road’ to ‘Hostages Street’; city refuses

Barricades are seen near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apartment on Azza Street in Jerusalem, June 14, 2023. (Amy Spiro/Times of Israel)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issues a plea to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to change the name of the capital’s Azza Road to “Hostages Street” until the all the captives return home from the Gaza Strip.

Azza Road — pronounced and spelled identically to the word for Gaza in Hebrew — is named after the Gaza Strip since it marks the direction toward the Strip from Jerusalem’s Old City. It has also become the site of countless anti-government protests in recent years, since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resides there.

“Changing the name would carry a clear moral message in the heart of the nation’s capital: Until everyone comes home, life in Israel cannot continue normally,” the Forum writes in its letter to the mayor. “The new sign would remind the city’s residents and passersby every day about the supreme duty of returning all the hostages — the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for dignified burial in Israel.

“It is a symbolic yet significant step that would express solidarity with the families, boost public and international awareness, and send a message of unity and solidarity.”

The Forum says its request comes ahead of Sunday, when much of the Israeli economy will grind to a halt in a general strike in solidarity with the hostages and in protest of a new plan to conquer Gaza City rather than negotiate a deal to bring home the 50 abductees held by Palestinian terrorists, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The municipality says a short while later that, despite identifying with the families’ pain, it won’t change the name due to the rich history of Gaza in Jewish scripture since the days of the Bible.

Jerusalem Municipality: Greek Patriarchate’s bank accounts frozen due to tax debts on properties not used as houses of worship

Gold and chandeliers in a Greek Orthodox section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

The Jerusalem Municipality’s reason for freezing all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem is that the latter ignored letters from the city about its tax debts, the municipality says, responding to a query by The Times of Israel.

“Administrative enforcement measures were taken against the Greek Patriarchate because it failed to settle its property tax debts for assets not used as houses of worship,” a statement by the municipality’s spokesperson office says. “This was done despite efforts at dialogue and engagement with them, and in light of their ignoring letters from the municipality demanding payment.”

According to the spokesperson’s office, the city acted “in accordance with the law” and in light of its “responsibility to take such steps when debtors fail to settle their obligations.”

Earlier today, the Patriarchate suggested that the dialogue regarding the matter was ongoing and that the municipality acted despite reassurances that no such unilateral measures would be implemented.

The dispute between the municipality and several churches that hold property in Jerusalem has been going on for several years.

A decades-long agreement between the churches and the State of Israel had prevented the municipality from collecting property tax from Christian institutions.

However, in 2018, the city decided that the exemption for churches applies only to properties used “for prayer, for the teaching of religion or for needs arising from that” — excluding activities serving pilgrims such as guesthouses and coffee shops — and began to seek to collect bills for tens of millions of shekels.

At the time, then-mayor Nir Barkat froze the bank accounts of several churches in Jerusalem, which in response shut down the iconic Church of the Holy Sepulchre for three days in protest.

The municipality backed down only after intervention from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since then, tensions have resurfaced several times between the municipality and church authorities over specific properties or activities.

“As religious bodies, the churches fulfil vital roles by maintaining educational, welfare, and charitable institutions that serve the local population whether Christian or not,” reads the statement from a group initiated by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos, Protecting Holy Land Christians, which also works with the heads of other churches in the city.

“Because of this, historically, the churches have never paid municipal or governmental taxes for church properties whether during the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian, or Israeli rule.”

Qatar, Egypt, Palestinian Authority and others condemn Smotrich’s new West Bank settlement plan

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference announcing his plans to approve more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim on August 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s approval of 3,000 homes in the E1 area of the West Bank is met with international condemnation.

Qatar, which has mediated between Hamas and Israel in efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, condemns Smotrich’s actions as a “blatant violation of international law.”

Egypt says it “strongly condemns” the step, calling it a “blatant breach and flagrant violation of international law, relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and international conventions.”

Cairo’s Foreign Ministry denounces Smotrich’s “extremist statements,” saying they “serve as a new indication of Israeli deviation and arrogance” and tying them to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remark earlier this week in favor of the expansionist idea of “Greater Israel.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says the move shows that Israel “seeks to appropriate land owned by Palestinians in order to prevent a two-state solution.”

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson, calls on the United States to pressure Israel to stop settlement building.

Ahmed al Deek, a political adviser to the PA foreign ministry, tells The Associated Press that the approval is a “colonial, expansionist and racist move” that “falls within the framework of the extremist Israeli government’s plans to undermine any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state on the ground, to fragment the West Bank, and to separate its southern part from the center and the north.”

Breaking the Silence, a left-wing Israeli rights group established by former IDF soldiers, criticizes Smotrich, accusing him of encouraging West Bank settlement activity while the world’s attention is on the Gaza war.

“This land grab and settlement expansion will not only further fragment the Palestinian territory, but will further entrench apartheid,” it says.

IDF establishes team to help troops suffering from record heat wave

A soldier from the 810th Mountains Regional Brigade operate in southern Syria, in an IDF handout photo released on July 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military says it is working on a response for troops suffering amid a heatwave, with the chief of the IDF Technology and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Mishel Yanko, establishing a “special team to handle the matter.”

According to the IDF, ahead of the heatwave, the chief safety officer of the Ground Forces, Col. Nir Yogev, directed the army to reduce the amount of training and make “the necessary adjustments” for the scorching weather, which has exceeded 40° C (104° F) in locations throughout the country.

“Due to the heatwave, malfunctions have accumulated; wherever a malfunction is reported, a team is dispatched to assist,” the army says.

Yesterday, the Sayarim base in the southern Negev Desert, near Eilat, suffered power outages, leaving trainees in 48° C (118° F) without air conditioning for hours.

The IDF says it has since evacuated most of the soldiers from the base, and before their departure, they were all moved to classrooms where the air conditioning was working.

To secure the base, the military says it has left behind a company of troops who are stationed in air-conditioned rooms where the electricity was repaired.

Despite this, Army Radio reports that soldiers at the base continue to seek medical attention at the base’s clinic for suspected heatstroke, and that there is no running cold water.

The army claims that ahead of the heatwave, the Technology and Logistics Directorate made “extensive preparations to provide additional support on the matter,” with IDF bases being bolstered with electricians and teams responsible for handling malfunctions.

Upgrades are being carried out to the air conditioning at Sayarim and at army bases in the Jordan Valley, which experienced similar high temperatures, the IDF says.

Troops operating in the Gaza Strip have also been supplied with kits that include a portable air conditioner and generator. There have been no complaints of malfunctions coming from troops in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, the military adds.

The army says it has also prepared for fires, and equipped forces ahead of time with water tanks and fire-retardant materials.

Senior official: Mossad chief’s trip to Qatar was not focused on hostage deal, but it did come up

A picture shows a moored dhow with the Doha skyline in the background on a hot and humid summer day on August 6, 2025. (Karim JAAFAR / AFP)

A senior Israeli official denies that the purpose of Mossad chief David Barnea’s trip to Doha was to discuss negotiations toward a hostage and ceasefire deal, saying that Barnea’s meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani was for Mossad-related purposes.

Nonetheless, the official adds that Barnea told the premier any partial hostage deals “are off the table.”

“The head of the Mossad traveled to Qatar on matters related to the Mossad, and not regarding the negotiations for a hostage deal,” the official says in a statement.

“Still, the head of the Mossad clarified in the meeting that a partial deal is off the table,” the official says.

Mediators have been working in recent days to revive prospects for ceasefire negotiations after the most recent round of talks last month ended in an impasse. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government subsequently approved a plan to conquer Gaza City.

Hezbollah head thanks visiting Iranian security chief for help confronting Israel

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem met with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani and thanked him for Tehran’s ongoing support in confronting Israel, the Lebanese terror group says.

In the Beirut meeting, Qassem hailed Larijani “for the ongoing support to Lebanon and its resistance against the Israeli enemy,” Hezbollah says.

He also thanked Iran for its support for Lebanon’s “unity, sovereignty and independence,” and emphasized “the brotherly relations between the Lebanese and Iranian people.”

Recent statements from Iranian officials in support of Hezbollah keeping its weapons have angered Lebanese government officials, who tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm the terror group by the end of the year.

Jerusalem freezes Greek Orthodox Patriarchate’s bank accounts over tax dispute

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, center, at the Church of the Nativity during Christian Orthodox Christmas Eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, January 6, 2023. (AP/Nasser Nasser)

The Jerusalem municipality has frozen all bank accounts belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, according to a statement from a group founded by Theophilos III, the Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem.

“On Wednesday, August 6th, the Jerusalem Municipality unilaterally decided to freeze the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s bank account. It is our understanding that the reasoning behind this decision is related to the issue of Arnona,” property tax, the statement says.

The dispute between the municipality and several churches that hold property in Jerusalem has been going on for several years.

A decades-long agreement between the churches and the State of Israel had prevented the Jerusalem municipality from collecting property tax from Christian institutions.

However, in 2018, the city decided that the exemption for churches applied only to properties used “for prayer, for the teaching of religion or for needs arising from that” — excluding activities serving pilgrims such as guesthouses and coffee shops — and began to seek to collect bills for tens of millions of shekels.

At the time, then-mayor Nir Barkat froze the bank accounts of several churches in Jerusalem, which in response shut down the iconic Church of the Holy Sepulchre for three days in protest.

The municipality backed down only after intervention from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since then, tensions have resurfaced several times between the municipality and church authorities over specific properties or activities.

“As religious bodies, the churches fulfil vital roles by maintaining educational, welfare, and charitable institutions that serve the local population whether Christian or not,” reads the statement from Theophilos’ group, Protecting Holy Land Christians, which also works with the heads of other churches in the city.

“Because of this, historically, the churches have never paid municipal or governmental taxes for church properties whether during the periods of Ottoman, British, Jordanian, or Israeli rule.”

According to Protecting Holy Land Christians, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is now unable to pay salaries to its clergy, teachers, and staff.

Other churches face similar disputes. A court case brought against the Armenian Patriarchate by the Jerusalem municipality is set to be discussed in September.

Mossad chief reportedly meets PM of Qatar for talks about hostage deal

Mossad chief David Barnea speaks at the INSS International Conference, February 26, 2025 (INSS)

David Barnea, the director of the Mossad, is in Doha for meetings with the prime minister of Qatar over a ceasefire and hostage deal, Channel 12 reports.

The report comes as Israel, Hamas and mediators between the two sides are making efforts to restart negotiations after the last round of talks ended in an impasse in July. Afterward, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government approved plans to invade Gaza City.

This week, Israel, Hamas, the US and a few Middle Eastern countries are meeting to discuss a deal that could end the 22-month war and free the 50 hostages terror groups are holding in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

Channel 12 reported yesterday that Israel was considering sending a negotiating team to Doha.

Today, a Saudi newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that Hamas told Egypt it is offering to withdraw its fighters to agreed-upon locations and “affirm its commitment to keep hostages alive,” in exchange for Israel pulling its own troops back, ending the war and dropping any plans to occupy Gaza.

Channel 12 reports that in his meeting with Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani, Barnea was to emphasize that Israel is not bluffing with its plan to conquer Gaza and intends to do so unless there’s progress in the talks to free hostages.

Last week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly met the Qatari prime minister in Spain to discuss a deal to end the war.

Human Rights Watch: Israeli strike on Iran’s Evin Prison was ‘apparent war crime’

The visitors' room at Evin Prison in Tehran, damaged on June 23, 2025, by Israeli airstrikes, seen on July 1, 2025. (AFP)

Human Rights Watch alleges that an Israeli airstrike on a notorious Iranian prison was “an apparent war crime,” while also accusing Tehran of harming and disappearing prisoners after the attack.

Israel struck Evin Prison in Tehran, one of Iran’s most notorious detention facilities for political activists and dissidents, on June 23, during its 12-day war with the Islamic Republic.

The strikes during visiting hours hit Evin Prison’s main southern entrance, another northern entrance and other areas of the complex, destroying buildings that had medical facilities and prison wards.

The Iranian authorities initially said at least 71 people were killed during the airstrike, among them civilians including inmates, visiting relatives, and prison staff. Iranian media later raised that number to 80.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin has previously stated that “within the prison compound, intelligence activity was carried out against Israel, including counterespionage,” and that the strike had been carried out “in a pinpoint manner, to avoid harm to those uninvolved.”

Human Rights Watch says the attack was “unlawfully indiscriminate” and that there was no evidence of an advance warning or a military target before striking the prison complex, which it estimates holds over 1,500 prisoners.

“To make matters worse, Israeli forces put at grave risk prisoners who were already victims of Iranian authorities’ brutal repression,” says Michael Page, the rights group’s deputy Middle East director.

Human Rights Watch says prisoners were subject to “ill-treatment and violence” both as they were being taken out of the prison following the attack and as they were returned. The group says some of the prisoners have disappeared, including Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmadreza Djalali, who is at risk of execution. The rights group says Iran has refused to give it any information about his whereabouts.

Calls to Iranian authorities are not immediately returned on Thursday, a public holiday in the country. The Israeli military also does not respond to an immediate request for comment on the Human Rights Watch reports.

Amnesty International has also called for a war crimes probe into the Evin strike.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Police arrest two grandchildren of Rabbi Dov Lior for throwing things at cars

Former Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

Police this morning arrested two grandchildren of Rabbi Dov Lior, ages 12 and 19, for allegedly chucking objects at cars passing on a street near the right-wing religious Zionist leader’s Jerusalem home.

The two were taken in for questioning at the Shalem police station in East Jerusalem, according to police.

“In the morning, a report from a passerby was received on the police hotline about objects being thrown from a house yard at vehicles driving on a street adjacent to the a-Tur neighborhood in Jerusalem,” the police say in statement.

Members of Lior’s family told Israel  National News that the two had been throwing “water balloons and objects” at drivers as a prank while staying at their grandfather’s home.

Lior is the former chief rabbi of the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, next to Hebron.

Smotrich: Netanyahu backs my West Bank policy, ‘is letting me create the revolution’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference announcing his plans to approve more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim on August 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports his controversial plan to build thousands of homes for Israeli settlers on a piece of land that would connect East Jerusalem to the large West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim.

“He backs me up in everything concerning Judea and Samaria, and is letting me create the revolution,” Smotrich says in an address to an event in Maale Adumim organized by the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization representing local authorities in settlements.

Smotrich, who holds a junior ministerial position within the Defense Ministry that gives him wide say over settlement construction, says the approvals in the long-frozen E1 settlement project are a response to a wave of Western countries that announced or floated plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations next month.

“Today, anyone in the world who tries to recognize a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground,” he declares. “Today we are writing a historic chapter in the story of the redemption of the people of Israel in their land.”

The E1 project has been particularly contentious for decades because it would create a physical link between East Jerusalem, which Palestinians have viewed as a future capital of their state, and Maale Adumim. Critics argue that it would bisect the territory of a future Palestinian state.

The project has been discussed for decades but never moved forward, in part due to international pressure.

Smotrich boasts that “after twenty years of delays… the traffic jam has been broken [and] the E1 plan is underway,” adding that the government is “fulfilling the promise and connecting Maale Adumim with a strategic, security and demographic connection, which ensures our united capital for generations.”

Thanking US President Trump and Ambassador Mike Huckabee for their backing, Smotrich says that they are “men of truth with a clear and distinct moral voice that is not confused by the hypocrisy of the West.”

Trump and Huckabee understand “that a Palestinian state would endanger the existence of Israel” and that the West Bank is “an inseparable part of our land, the one that God promised to our father Abraham and gave to us thousands of years ago,” Smotrich says.

Trump and Huckabee do not appear to have commented specifically on Smotrich’s E1 announcement. Netanyahu likewise has remained mum on the step.

Smotrich appeals to the prime minister to “apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, to forever remove from the agenda the idea of dividing the land and to ensure that by September the hypocritical leaders in Europe will have nothing to recognize.”

Protest group demonstrates against ‘evasion law’ outside Likud MK Bismuth’s home

Members of the Brothers and Sisters in Arms protest group hold a demonstration outside of the Tel Aviv home of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, pledging that they will not allow him to pass an “evasion law” exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

In a tweet, the group accuses the Likud MK of being “a puppet on a string” appointed to his position in order to advance the legislation, which had been held up by previous chairman Yuli Edelstein amid a spat with Haredi politicians and what the military has called an urgent manpower shortage.

“Let it be clear: Someone who refuses to meet with reservists who are acting against draft evasion but meets with representatives of 80,000 young ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers is signaling to the public that reservists and their families are not of interest to him,” the group states.

While Bismuth has met with groups representing reservists, he has declined to meet with Brothers and Sisters in Arms, demanding that it first repudiate previous calls for reservists to refuse to volunteer for service.

Prior to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, the group, which rose to prominence as part of the wider protest movement against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, said that reservists should not volunteer if the controversial legislation limiting the courts’ authority was passed.

הפגנת אחים לנשק מול ביסמוט הבוקר

צילום אדר איל pic.twitter.com/r0DeBImVtE

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) August 14, 2025

Responding to Bismuth’s conditions, Brothers and Sisters in Arms earlier this week issued one of its own. The Israel Hayom daily reported that the group demanded that he explicitly state that he did not support exempting tens of thousands of yeshiva students and that he not meet with Haredi party representatives nor rabbis who called on their followers to ignore draft orders.

Addressing his committee on Tuesday afternoon, Bismuth told lawmakers that he had held “dozens of meetings” since being appointed to head the committee last week in “an effort to hear all the voices in Israeli society and to conduct the discussions here in cooperation, together.”

Police commander indicted for allegedly hiring paramour as personal assistant

Cdr. Avi Cohen, a senior officer commanding Jerusalem's David Region, was charged with breach of trust on August 14, 2025, after allegedly hiring a policewoman with whom he was romantically involved as his personal assistant. (Israel Police/Screenshot)

State prosecutors file an indictment against Cdr. Avi Cohen, a senior police officer formerly stationed in Jerusalem, accusing him of hiring as his personal assistant a former officer with whom he had a romantic relationship.

He is charged in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court with breach of trust and obstruction of justice.

According to prosecutors, Cohen, while serving as commander of the David Region in the Jerusalem District, began a romantic relationship with a younger female officer who had been conscripted into the police.

When she was later discharged from the force, Cohen allegedly recommended she be re-recruited under his command and work as his personal assistant — which prosecutors say is a blatant conflict of interest that he concealed from his superiors.

She began working in the position in September 2024, but within a month rumors began to swirl around the relationship. An anonymous letter was sent regarding the alleged conflict of interest, which was then picked up by local media.

Fearing legal repercussions, Cohen allegedly deleted the texts between him and the younger officer, leading prosecutors to accuse him of obstructing justice on top of the initial allegations.

“The defendant’s actions, and the conflict of interest he was involved in… significantly harmed police officers’ trust in their commanders, as well as public trust in the police,” prosecutors write in the indictment filed today.

War crimes likely committed by both sides in Syria violence targeting Alawis, UN says

War crimes were likely committed by both Syrian government forces and fighters loyal to the country’s former rulers during a major outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria’s coastal areas that culminated in a series of March massacres, a UN team of investigators says in a report.

Some 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were reported killed during the violence that primarily targeted Alawi communities. Reports of violations continue, according to a report by the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry.

The incidents in the coastal region were the worst violence to hit Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last year, prompting the interim government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa to name a fact-finding committee.

More recently, sectarian violence broke out in the Druze-majority Sweida in southern Syria, a conflict that drew in Israeli intervention.

IDF evacuates training base after power outages in scorching heat

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in images released on June 1, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF evacuated a training base in the southern Negev Desert this morning after the facility suffered power outages amid a record-setting heatwave, the military says.

Soldiers at the Sayarim Base — close to Eilat — which houses the Border Defense Corps school, endured temperatures of 48° C (118° F) without air conditioning for hours yesterday due to the blackouts.

The IDF says it expedited the release of the trainees for their weekend furlough, sending them home this morning instead of tomorrow, as the power issue has not yet been fixed on the entire base.

The army says that to secure the base, it has left behind a company of troops who are stationed in air-conditioned rooms where the electricity was repaired.

Employees of Airports Authority to be allowed to take part in Sunday general strike

Airport union chief and Likud party member Pinchas Idan arrives to the Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 5, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

The chair of the Israel Airports Authority employees’ union will allow workers to take part in Sunday’s general strike in support of Israeli hostages and to protest the planned invasion of Gaza City, Ynet reports.

The decision by Pinchas Idan means employees of the country’s airports, including Ben-Gurion International Airport, will be able to join staff from dozens of local authorities, companies and universities that are allowing workers to join the strike.

How the decision will impact flight schedules is unclear, Ynet reports. August is a particularly busy time for travel in and out of the country.

The strike was called by hostages’ families to protest the government’s decision to widen the war in Gaza rather than negotiate a deal to return the abductees.

Earlier this week, the Histadrut labor federation declined to join the strike, saying it has “no practical outcome.”

US, Russia said to consider West Bank-style future for Ukraine occupation – report

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) greets US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff prior to their talks in Moscow on August 6, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP)

The US and Russia may be looking to Israel’s control of the West Bank as a model for ending the war in Ukraine, according to a report in The Times.

The British outlet reports that, according to “a source close to the US national security council,” the scenario would involve Russia having security and economic control over the areas it currently occupies, while formally they remain part of Ukraine.

“It’ll just be like Israel occupies the West Bank,” The Times quotes the source as saying. “With a governor, with an economic situation that goes into Russia, not Ukraine. But it’ll still be Ukraine, because… Ukraine will never give up its sovereignty. But the reality is it’ll be occupied territory and the model is Palestine.”

The Times reports that the idea was raised in a meeting between Russian officials and Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s chief envoy. Witkoff has also led US efforts to free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and reach a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly denies the report as “total fake news and sloppy reporting by The Times, who clearly has terrible sources. Nothing of the sort was discussed with anyone at any point.”

Israel has controlled the West Bank since conquering it from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. Since 1994, the Palestinian Authority has governed daily life in Palestinian population centers there, and the territory is also home to around 500,000 Israeli settlers. Palestinians and much of the international community say Israel is illegally occupying the territory.

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to meet and discuss the war on Friday in Alaska.

After outcry, Toronto film fest says it wants to reinstate pulled October 7 documentary

'Bibi Files' director Alexis Bloom (center) and producer Alex Gibney (right) with Toronto International Film Festival's longtime documentary programmer Thom Powers, September 9, 2024. (Robert Sarner/Times of Israel)

The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival says he is working to get a documentary about the October 7 massacre back on the big screen, apologizing after the movie was pulled from the festival schedule, which sparked a large outcry.

“My intention was to screen ‘The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,’ which is why I extended the invitation for the film to participate in this year’s festival,” Cameron Bailey says in a statement. “Given the sensitive and significant nature of the film’s subject, I believe that it tells an important story and contributes to the rich tapestry of perspectives in our lineup – stories that resonate both here at home and around the world.”

“I remain committed to working with the filmmaker to meet TIFF’s screening requirements to allow the film to be screened at this year’s festival. I have asked our legal team to work with the filmmaker on considering all options available,” he says.

Bailey rejects claims that the film was being censored as “unequivocally false.”

Please see the following statement from TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey regarding The Road Between Us. pic.twitter.com/Qg9D7p3KEZ

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 13, 2025

“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” tells the story of Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who set out to save his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and his son’s family as they were attacked by Hamas-led terrorists at their home on Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023.

The movie features footage taken from the cameras of terrorists, who filmed their atrocities as they marauded through Israeli communities. On Wednesday, figures connected to the film said they had been told it was pulled due to ostensible copyright concerns stemming from the fact that the filmmakers did not receive permission from the Hamas terrorists whose clips are used.

The decision to pull the screening drew protests from Israel’s Foreign Ministry as well as The Canadian Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

In the statement, Bailey requests “patience and understanding as we navigate this complex landscape.”

Over 85,000 travelers said expected at Ben-Gurion today as airport nears prewar numbers

Illustrative: Travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport on July 21, 2025. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

Over 85,000 passengers are expected to pass through Ben-Gurion airport today, the highest number of travelers since before war broke out some 22 months ago, Channel 12 news reports, citing the Airports Authority.

Some 43,700 travelers are expected to head abroad, while over 42,000 others are forecast to fly in, the station reports.

The number will reportedly mark the highest daily total since summer 2023, when passengers numbers recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

According to a 2024 report on Ben-Gurion operations, 2.8 million international passengers passed through the airport in August 2023, nearly double the 1.5 million who flew in or out of Tel Aviv in August 2024. (1.7 million passengers passed through in July 2024.)

The airport saw over 100,000 daily passengers move through its gates in August 2019, but numbers fell off sharply over the next two summers due to the COVID pandemic.

Houthis claim overnight missile attack from Yemen

The Houthis in Yemen take responsibility for this morning’s ballistic missile attack on Israel, claiming to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport.

The IDF reported earlier that it shot down a missile from Yemen, with no sirens sounding, “according to protocol.”

Aid groups seeking to operate in Gaza castigate ‘politicized’ Israeli vetting process

Damaged humanitarian aid for Gaza seen scattered on the ground next to the Kissufim crossing in southern Israel, Wednesday, August 13, 2025. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

A statement signed by dozens of aid groups claims that Israel is refusing to let a number of international NGOs distribute aid in Gaza, leaving millions of dollars worth of food and other assistance sitting in warehouses and putting future aid operations at risk.

The statement blames a set of what it describes as onerous registration requirements put in place by the Defense Ministry in March, claiming that the procedure is motivated by politics, unlawful and dangerous.

“Under these new rules, registration can be denied on the basis of vague and politicized criteria, such as alleged ‘delegitimization’ of the state of Israel,” the statement reads.

According to COGAT, the Defense Ministry body coordinating the entry of humanitarian goods and workers into the Strip, groups wishing to operate in Gaza must formally register with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, submitting lists of employees for security screenings, among other requirements.

The aid group statement claims that applicants must provide sensitive information about employees, as well as lists of private donors, warning that ” NGOs have no guarantees that handing over such information would not put staff at further risk, or be used to advance the government of Israel’s stated military and political aims.”

According to the groups, those who haven’t registered have been told they may be forced to shut down operations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem within 60 days. It alleges that the process is designed to push out internationally recognized aid groups in favor of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and airdrops of aid parcels.

In response, COGAT says the registration requirement is designed to “safeguard the integrity of the humanitarian system while preventing the infiltration of terrorist elements into the aid mechanism.”

“The refusal of some international organizations to provide the information and cooperate with the registration process raises serious concerns about their true intentions and the possibility of ties between the organization or its employees and Hamas,” a COGAT statement reads.

According to COGAT, 20 groups have complied with requirements and are bringing in aid every day.

Hamas reportedly tells Egypt its will pull back fighters and ‘keep hostages alive,’ if Israel ends war

A Saudi report says the Hamas terror group presented Egypt with demands for a possible ceasefire Wednesday, including written guarantees from Israel that it halt any possible designs on taking over Gaza, but apparently not the release of hostages.

According to al-Arabiya, Hamas demands that Israel agree in writing to permanently end the war and drop any plans to occupy Gaza, backed by international guarantees.

The group is offering to withdraw its fighters to agreed-upon locations and “affirm its commitment to keep hostages alive,” in exchange for Israel pulling its own troops back, the report says, citing unnamed sources.

Hamas negotiators arrived in Egypt this week for talks aimed at getting moribund ceasefire and hostage release negotiations back on track.

Israel says 380 trucks of aid entered Gaza Wednesday

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza move along the border with Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Wednesday, August 13, 2025. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Nearly 380 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip yesterday through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities (COGAT) says, a slight uptick from the 320 trucks reported to have entered a day earlier.

According to COGAT, some 400 trucks worth of aid were also collected by the United Nations and other international organizations from the Gaza sides of the crossings yesterday to be distributed.

Another 119 pallets of aid — about 4-6 trucks worth — were airdropped by Jordan, the UAE, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and France in Gaza yesterday, according to the IDF.

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

Additionally, COGAT says that “tankers of UN fuel entered for the operation of essential humanitarian systems” yesterday.

Palestinian children and their families evacuated from Gaza for medical care arrive at Rome’s Ciampino military airport, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)

COGAT also says it facilitated the exit of some 140 patients and their caregivers out of Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing to Ramon Airport in southern Israel for medical treatment abroad.

Sizzling Sodom topples overnight heat record, set night before

Jewish men swim in a garbage receptacle-turned-pool in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit on August 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Blistering overnight conditions near the Dead Sea appear to have broken the record for hottest overnight temperatures recorded in Israel, set only a night earlier.

Israel Meteorological Service data shows that temperatures at the Sodom weather station in the southern Dead Sea evaporation pools only dropped to 38° C (100.4° F) at 5 a.m. this morning before starting to climb again.

The figure beats the previous night’s minimum of 36.6° C (97.8° F), recorded at the same station, which the IMS said yesterday had been the highest ever daily low in the nation’s history.

The record before the current heatwave had been 35.5° C (95.9° F), according to the IMS.

Temperatures over Thursday are expected to climb into the upper 40s Celsius (~115° F) in parts of the West Bank and Negev desert, including Eilat.

Other areas that experienced extreme heat on Wednesday, such as Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Sea of Galilee, will see some relief, with the mercury forecast to top out in the mid-to-upper 30s Celsius.

The cooling trend is expected to continue into the weekend.

Gazan arrested at West Bank checkpoint on suspicion of attempting stabbing attack

Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian from Gaza at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the West Bank on suspicion of attempting a stabbing attack.

The suspect pulled out a knife when stopped by the security forces upon approaching the checkpoint on foot, after which they tackled him and he threw the blade aside, according to police.

The suspect was then arrested. There are no reports of injuries.

It’s not immediately clear how the suspect exited the Gaza Strip.

Military says Yemen missile successfully intercepted

The military says air defenses successfully intercepted the ballistic missile launched from Yemen, which did not set off warning alerts.

IDF says air defenses working to intercept ballistic missile from Yemen

The Israel Defense Forces says that it has identified a ballistic missile fired from Yemen, which air defense systems are working to down.

Smotrich announces tenders for 3,401 housing units in long-frozen E1 settlement project: ‘Burying the idea of a Palestinian state’

File: An Israeli settler looks at the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim from the E1 area on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. (AP/Sebastian Scheiner)

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces that he plans to approve tenders to build more than 3,000 housing units in the highly controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank, saying the move “buries the idea of a Palestinian state.”

The project has been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition from the international community, who fear the new settlement neighborhood would block a contiguous, viable Palestinian state.

“Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government,” Smotrich says in a statement.

“After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best – building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel,” says Smotrich who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the West Bank civilian issues.

The potential construction of a new neighborhood for the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the so-called E1 zone has long been cause for alarm in the international community. It would divide the West Bank into northern and southern regions and prevent the development of a Palestinian metropolis that connects East Jerusalem to Bethlehem and Ramallah, which the Palestinians have long hoped would serve as the foundation of their future state.

However, according to the Peace Now settlement watchdog, the approved plans are not for the original E1 plan, but rather a separate neighborhood of Ma’ale Adumim.

“The 3,300 housing units in Ma’ale Adumim represent an increase of about 33% in the settlement’s housing stock — an enormous expansion for a settlement whose population has been stagnant at around 38,000 for the past decade and has experienced net out-migration. The tenders are for a large neighborhood that will connect Ma’ale Adumim’s built-up area with the industrial zone to its east,” Peace Now says.

Hamas health ministry says 8 died of malnutrition complications in Gaza in past day

Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution center in Gaza City on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Eight people, including three children, have died over the past 24 hours due to complications from malnutrition, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

The figures bring the total number of hunger deaths to 225, including 106 children, since the start of the war, according to the Hamas office, whose figures have not been verified.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric says in a briefing that 53 “validated child deaths from malnutrition have been reported,” since the start of the year, including 39 under the age of 5.

Israel has taken steps since late last month to surge aid into Gaza after imposing a 78-day blockade and subsequently only allowing limited amounts into the Strip.

Jerusalem has denied accusations that it has used starvation as a weapon of war and has exposed that several widely disseminated photos of malnourished-looking children were of individuals suffering from other diseases.

While there are indications that the steps are gradually easing the crisis, aid groups long warned that impacts of a hunger crisis are difficult and take time to reverse once in place.

Dujarric says the entry of goods has improved the market situation in terms of both prices and availability, with sugar prices dropping from $175 to $12 per bag over the past two weeks.

However, severe cash shortages are preventing families from being able to buy food, water and medicine.

Israeli strikes have destroyed the banking system in Gaza, and cash is only available on the black market where those seeking it have to pay fifty percent commission fees. While digital banking services were increasingly used during the previous ceasefire, Israeli restrictions aimed at preventing Hamas from accessing funds through this mechanism have led to a significant reduction in its use.

While Israel said 320 trucks of aid were offloaded from the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, Dujarric says half of the 15 requested UN missions to collect food and fuel were either cancelled, denied or impeded by the IDF.