Aug. 15: Herzog says settler violence ‘certainly not the way of Torah and Judaism’

PA ministry names man killed in settler riot in Jit as Rasheed Seda, 23

The Palestinian Authority health ministry identifies the 23-year-old shot dead during a settler rampage of the northern West Bank village of Jit earlier tonight as  Rasheed Seda.

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عصابات المستوطنين اعدمته بدم بارد خلال هجومهم على قرية جيت شرق قلقيلية.. pic.twitter.com/j1gySBxZ3z

— نزال (@Nazzal36) August 15, 2024

Hostage talks still ongoing, Qatar says, as source says progress made today

The meeting between the Israeli negotiating team and the Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators that commenced earlier today in Doha is still ongoing and will continue tomorrow, says a statement from Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari.

A source familiar with today’s hostage talk summit in Doha tells The Times of Israel that the sides made progress today.

“The mediators are resolute in their commitment to move forward in their endeavors to reach a ceasefire in Gaza that would facilitate the release of hostages and enable the entry of the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” says al-Ansari.

Smotrich calls Jit rampage ‘criminal anarchist violence,’ says attackers don’t represent settlers

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also a minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of settlement affairs, says tonight’s storming of the Palestinian town of Jit “are not connected in any way to the settlement enterprise or to settlers.”

“They are criminals who should be dealt with to the full extent of the law by law enforcement authorities,” Smotrich says.

“We build and develop the settlements in a legal and stately manner, back the IDF in its struggle against terror, and strongly disagree with any display of criminal anarchist violence that has absolutely nothing to do with love of the land and settlement of it.”

Smotrich’s reaction is markedly different from his reaction last year to a similar settler rampage in the West Bank town of Huwara. Days after that incident, he triggered an international outcry by saying Huwara “needs to be wiped out” and that “the State of Israel should do it.”

Hamas: Any deal must lead to a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza

Hamas politburo member Husam Badran says the Palestinian terror group contends that any negotiations with Israel must be based on a clear plan to implement what was agreed on previously, as talks are held in Doha.

Badran reiterates in a statement published by Hamas that any deal should achieve a complete ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a return of hostages, a return of displaced Palestinians and a hostage exchange deal.

IDF arrests Israeli who took part in settler riot, probes death of Palestinian

The IDF says troops detained one Israeli civilian who participated in the “grave” attack carried out by settlers on the West Bank Palestinian village of Jit this evening.

The suspect has been handed over to police.

The military also says it is looking into the death of a Palestinian amid the attack, and has launched a joint investigation with the police and Shin Bet.

According to the IDF, after dozens of settlers began to rampage in the village, troops and Border Police officers were dispatched to the scene. The troops used riot dispersal means and live fire in the air, while taking the Israelis out of the village.

“The IDF condemns events of this type as well as the rioters, who harm security, law and order, and divert the IDF and the security forces from their main mission of thwarting terrorism and protecting the security of the residents,” the military says.

Hostage activists hold ‘Last Chance March’ in Tel Aviv to urge hostage deal

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and supporters hold a protest march calling for a hostage deal, in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Relatives of hostages held in Gaza and hundreds of their supporters rally to push Israel’s leadership toward an agreement that will free captives in Gaza, amid the high-stakes talks in Qatar aimed at reaching a deal.

Taking to the streets in Tel Aviv for a procession dubbed the “Last Chance March,” protesters demand that negotiators dispatched to Doha keep going until a deal is sealed, arguing that time is running out for the 115 hostages still being held in Gaza after more than 10 months of war.

“To the negotiating team – if a deal is not signed today or in the coming days at this summit, do not return to Israel. You have no reason to return to Israel without a deal,” says Yotam Cohen, whose brother Nimrod Cohen is a hostage in Gaza.

“Itzik was kidnapped alive from Nir Oz and seen alive 52 days later,” Danny Elgarat says about his brother. “If he’s not alive today, his blood is on the hands of those undoing the talks.”

Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza outside the Defense Ministry Headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

‘Those responsible will be caught’: Netanyahu, Herzog denounce West Bank settler rampage

President Isaac Herzog (R) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attend a Jerusalem Day holiday ceremony at the capital's Ammunition Hill, May 18, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

The prime minister and president both issue strong condemnations of the rampage by masked settlers who torched homes and cars in a West Bank town tonight, resulting in a Palestinian killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says he views the incident “with severity,” but frames the actions as an attempt to fight terror, rather than as terrorism in of itself, saying: “Those who fight terrorism are only the IDF and security forces, not anyone else.”

The PMO adds: “Those responsible for any crime will be caught and prosecuted.”

President Isaac Herzog issues a statement saying he “strongly condemns” the riot.

“This is an extreme minority that harms the law-abiding community of [settlers] and the settlement movement as a whole, in addition to harming the global reputation of Israel during a particularly sensitive and difficult period,” Herzog laments.

“This is not our way and certainly not the way of Torah and Judaism. Law enforcement officials must act immediately against this dangerous phenomenon and bring the lawbreakers to justice.”

US pans Israel for advancing first new West Bank settlement since 2017

The US lambasts Israel for advancing the first new settlement from scratch since 2017.

The Defense Ministry office controlled by far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich has designated a plot of land for a new community southwest of Jerusalem and west of Bethlehem.

“This administration has spoken out against Israeli actions that undermine territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state, something like this would certainly be that,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says during a press briefing.

“Every single one of these new settlements would impede Palestinian economic development and freedom of movement and undermine the feasibility of a two-state solution.”

“The Israeli government settlement program [is] inconsistent with international law. We oppose the advancement of settlements in the West Bank, and this would certainly be an example of that,” Patel adds.

Lapid condemns settler riot, claims some in government back such acts

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams the settler riot in the West Bank’s Jit as “a terrible moral low,” after a Palestinian was killed — unknown by whom — and homes and cars were torched by a masked mob that was then removed by security forces, with no reports of arrests.

Lapid claims that some government members are giving backing to such incidents, predicting that if that doesn’t change, “this will only get worse.”

“This has nothing to do with Judaism,” he says.

Cabinet set to okay state ceremony marking a year since Oct. 7, put Miri Regev in charge

Transportation Minister Miri Regev arrives at a special government conference on Jerusalem Day at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, on June 5, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ministers are expected to decide on Sunday to put Transportation Minister Miri Regev in charge of organizing the state ceremony marking a year since Hamas’s October 7 attack.

According to a draft decision prepared ahead of the upcoming cabinet meeting and which Hebrew media reports say is expected to pass, the state will hold an official ceremony marking the anniversary on October 7, 2024.

Minister urges swift action against rampaging settlers, says actions contradict Jewish values

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a Knesset committee in Jerusalem on April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel urges the Shin Bet and other law enforcement bodies to “act immediately to eradicate the phenomenon of grave nationalistic crime that took place this evening against innocents in the village of Jit,” after masked settlers torched homes and cars.

One Palestinian was shot dead and another was seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Authority. It is unclear by whom they were shot.

Arbel, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, says the action “go against the values of Judaism, are a moral and human low point, and harm the State of Israel and the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.”

Jordanian man sabotages Florida power facility, private businesses over alleged support for Israel

A Jordanian man living in the United States is accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at a central Florida solar power facility and vandalizing multiple private businesses over their perceived support for Israel, local prosecutors say.

Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, 43, of Orlando, was arrested last month, and a federal grand jury returned an indictment against him last week on four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility, according to court records. He faces up to 60 years in prison. A judge ordered Hnaihen to be detained pending trial during a hearing yesterday.

“Targeting and attacking businesses for perceived beliefs is unacceptable,” US Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger Handberg says in a statement.

According to court records, Hnaihen began going to businesses at night while wearing a mask in June and smashing the front doors. Prosecutors say Hnaihen left behind “warning letters,” which were addressed to the United States government. The letters laid out a series of political demands, culminating in a threat to “destroy or explode everything here in whole America. Especially the companies and factories that support the racist state of Israel.”

Near the end of June, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, Florida, investigators say. He spent several hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays, officials say. Two more copies of the warning letter were also left behind. Officials estimate the damage to be more than $700,000.

Following a multi-agency investigation, Hnaihen was arrested July 11 on local charges after another warning letter was discovered at an industrial propane gas distribution depot in Orlando, officials say. He was transferred to federal custody after his indictment.

Israel arrests alleged accomplice in Monday’s terror attack in West Bank’s Qalqilya

Israeli forces today arrested a resident of the West Bank’s Qalqilya who was allegedly part of a terror cell that seriously wounded an Israeli man in the city this week, the IDF, police and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.

The Israeli man, in his 60s, was shot on Monday by Tariq Daoud, 18, near a car repair shop in Qalqilya, with IDF troops rescuing him and taking him to an Israeli hospital. Daoud himself was tracked down and shot dead shortly after the attack.

Interrogated by the Shin Bet, the man arrested today has tied himself to the attack and said he provided the intelligence about the Israeli man being at the car repair shop, the statement says.

Israeli pilot who bombed Yemeni port says it’s a message to all enemies, including Iran

Israeli Air Force pilots who took part in the bombing of Yemen’s Hodeida port last month say the images of the massive fire there that raged on for days in response to a Houthi drone that killed a civilian in Tel Aviv is a message to all the Jewish state’s enemies in the region, including Iran.

Speaking anonymously to the Kan public broadcaster, with his face partly covered, one of the pilots says: “If it wants, the State of Israel can quickly send warplanes to any place in the world, to any place in the Middle East. We aren’t afraid of anything, we know how to carry out any mission.

“I think this is a message to all our whole region, that Israel can, in less than 24 hours, reached any place and do damage that is determined by us. I think that more than seeing that port in flames, I think this conveys a message to all our enemies in the Middle East.”

Asked about Iran, he answers: “That’s closer [than the Yemeni port].”

Palestinians say man killed as settlers rampage in West Bank’s Jit; unclear by whom

A Palestinian man in his early 20s was shot and killed during a settler rampage of the northern West Bank village of Jit earlier tonight, the Palestinian Authority health ministry says.

It is unclear who shot the Palestinian.

Some 50 masked settlers participated in the rampage, torching at least four homes and six vehicles.

An Israeli official says Border Police and the IDF arrived and cleared them out, and no settlers are currently in the town.

There are no reports of any arrests.

פלסטיני בן 22 נהרג מירי במהלך ההתפרעויות בכפר ג'ית הסמוך לשכם – הסיבה עוד לא ידועה@Doron_Kadosh @hod_barel https://t.co/VfVdWqPEv6

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) August 15, 2024

Dozens of settlers torch homes, cars in Palestinian village in West Bank

A home torched by masked settlers in the Palestinian town of Jit in the West Bank, August 15, 2024. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Roughly 50 masked Israeli settlers have invaded the Palestinian village of Jit, torching at least four homes and six vehicles, an Israeli security official tells The Times of Israel.

Following the publication of photos from the attack in the northern West Bank village, Labor party chairman Yair Golan tweets: “Messianic Jewish terrorism is determined to ignite the territory and force a difficult and unnecessary regional campaign on Israel.”

As is almost always the case in such incidents of settler violence, there are no reports of any arrests.

גורמי ביטחון: עשרות רעולי פנים יהודים הציתו מבנים וכלי רכב פלסטינים בכפר ג'ית בשומרון. עד כה, דווח על ארבעה בתים ושישה כלי רכב שניזוקו בהצתות. כוחות צבא ומג"ב הגיעו למקום כדי לפזר את המתפרעים. אין עצורים@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/RzYopm1Gby

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 15, 2024

כ-50 ישראלים רעולי פנים נכנסו לכפר ג'ית והחלו להצית רכבים@Doron_Kadosh @hod_barel pic.twitter.com/EB0uPKSzjS

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) August 15, 2024

AG, officials press Netanyahu to form Gaza inquiry as only way to prevent ICC arrest warrants

Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (left), announces he is seeking arrest warrants from the court’s judges for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh (ICC); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a video address, May 20, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirms reports that has held a meeting at his office with senior ministers and diplomatic, defense and legal officials to discuss how to deal with the threat of arrest warrants that could potentially be issued against him and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Criminal Court.

Netanyahu’s office says Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara pushed for the formation of a state commission of inquiry to examine the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

“But even in her opinion, there is no certainty that forming such a commission will lead to the cancelation of the request to issue the warrants,” it says. “Therefore, several additional options were discussed in the meeting.”

Professional officials were united in pushing for the formation of an independent commission of inquiry as the only way to prevent warrants from being issued, according to Channel 12.

The network says the arrest warrants can be issued at any time starting August 26, when the prosecutor is set to file his response to various reservations, but cites unnamed Israeli estimations that they could come in mid-September.

While the discussion ended without an immediate decision, the Ynet news site reports that Netanyahu may announce a government commission of inquiry in the coming days, citing unnamed Netanyahu associates.

A government commission of inquiry is distinct from a state commission of inquiry, which is the most independent type of panel capable of probing government conduct. Netanyahu vehemently opposes forming such a panel to investigate the government failures on and before October 7 — it is unclear whether it would also examine the Gaza humanitarian conditions — since its members would be appointed by the Supreme Court chief justice, a role currently filled in a temporary capacity by Uzi Vogelman, seen as adversarial to the premier.

Netanyahu’s office claims the Ynet report is “fake news” and that no decision has been made, even though the report didn’t say a decision has been made.

Hezbollah insists it will hit back for Israel’s killing of its military chief, dismisses US envoy’s visit

Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem says US envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Beirut Wednesday, at which Hochstein urged a Gaza deal and the prevention of wider escalation, was “for show” and that the visiting official “brought nothing.”

“The Americans want to say they are doing something but there is a vacuum,” Qassem tells Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel, claiming that Hochstein offered “no substantial suggestions.”

Qassem reiterates that Hezbollah will hit back at Israel for the killing of its military commander Fuad Shukr in a Beirut airstrike two weeks ago: “The retaliation is a decision, and this decision will be implemented,” he says.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported earlier Thursday that the government gave initial approval for the recruiting of 1,500 additional soldiers, ostensibly to deploy in southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Resolution 1701, the Security Council resolution passed at the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War which barred any armed forces except the Lebanese Army from deploying south of the Litani River. In practice, Hezbollah has ignored the resolution.

Israel has repeatedly demanded that Hezbollah withdraw to north of the Litani since the terror group began attacking Israel after Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacre, and has vowed that Hezbollah will be forced back by either diplomatic or military means.

IDF negotiator said to give PM report saying hostages’ lives in mounting danger, urges flexibility

Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, head of the IDF Central Command, in Tel Aviv, May 13, 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Ahead of today’s talks in Doha, Major General (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s point man in the negotiations for a hostage-ceasefire deal in Doha, gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a document setting out details regarding the status and conditions of the hostages held in Gaza, a report claims, drawing a denial from the premier’s office.

The document reportedly warns that the remaining living hostages face a “growing threat” to their lives the longer they spend in Hamas captivity, and urges flexibility in Israel’s negotiations to take this mounting danger into account.

According to a Channel 12 news report, the document includes details regarding those hostages who were murdered by Hamas on October 7 and their bodies abducted, those who were murdered by their captors in Gaza, those who were killed inadvertently by the IDF in the course of its operations in Gaza, and those who are alive.

The document reportedly specifies, as follows, the deteriorating conditions in which the hostages are held, and the growing risk to their lives: “There has been an ongoing worsening of the conditions in which the hostages are held as regards their: isolation, sanitation and medicines, especially as regards the harsh conditions underground.

“The more that time passes, the greater the threat to the hostages’ lives,” it adds.

“In light of this,” the document states, “significant consideration should be given in the negotiations to the negative impact of the time the hostages are spending in captivity.

Furthermore, “In light of this, the place for flexibility should be found in the framework of the negotiations.”

Alon, in his document, also reportedly warns that the current “chaos” in Gaza exacerbates the hostages’ situation:”The chaos on the ground [in Gaza] stemming from Hamas’s difficult situation does not work only to Israel’s benefit; it makes the hostages’ conditions harsher, and makes it harder for us to know how they are and what is happening to them.”

Netanyahu’s office responds to the report, claiming Alon did not present the premier with any document, and that Netanyahu “gave the negotiation team a mandate that was agreed upon by all security chiefs and the negotiating team.”

It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Ex-NBA journeyman who signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv: ‘Bomb go off, I’m gone’

Milwaukee Bucks' Patrick Beverley during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball series against the Indiana Pacers, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Former NBA All-Defensive Team member and recent Hapoel Tel Aviv signee Patrick Beverley says he trusts current and former teammates who have told him that playing in Israel is safe, but will not stick around if a bomb goes off.

During a recent episode of his The Pat Bev Podcast, his co-host Rone points out the plethora of footage online depicting Israel as a warzone.

Beverley says he was in touch with an American who played basketball in Israel during the previous Gaza war in May 2021 and that he was still relaxing on the beach.

“I haven’t got knowledge of any not safe places in Tel Aviv right now,” the former NBA journeyman says.

Beverley says the American player also told him that every apartment has a bomb shelter but that he uses his for hanging up clothes. “He was like, ‘Yo, it’s paradise. I went to the beach every single day, six hours a day. I had no bad experience.'”

Beverley shares that he was accused of taking “blood money” after signing with an Israeli team. He stresses that the only factor in his decision was basketball.

“I’ve got family members and homies [who] die in Chicago every single day who no one even speaks about. But when I make a decision like this to go play basketball… everyone [becomes] the smartest expert of what’s going on in the world,” he laments.

Pressed again whether he’d continue playing in Israel if a bomb goes off nearby, Beverley responds, “Safety is important. Bomb go off, I’m gone.”

Beverley goes on to tout the contract he signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv. After his co-host makes a joke, Beverley quips, “Not all Jewish people are cheap. The guy who gave me this contract — he was pretty generous.”

Asked whether he read up on the conflict before making the move, the point guard responds, “I know who the alliances are — meaning who is who’s homie and who’s not. That makes me sleep a little bit better at night.”

“They like Black people over there?” Rone asks him.

“I don’t know. Who does?” Beverley responds.

Asked whether he’d go to Gaza, Beverley tells his co-host to “chill.”

Senior coalition member says current situation similar to final days of previous government

A senior coalition member is quoted by Channel 12 news as saying the current situation is similar to the final days of the previous government in 2022 before it fell.

A day after the opposition managed for the first time to defeat a coalition bill in the Knesset plenum, the unnamed source says: “Things are non-functional and are very reminiscent of the final days of the previous Bennett-Lapid government.”

That power-sharing government, led by Naftali Bennett and then Yair Lapid, brought together ideologically diverse parties that had a razor-thin majority in the parliament to send Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc to the opposition. Immense pressure put on right-wing members of that coalition caused a few to withdraw their support and send the country to elections that propelled Netanyahu’s bloc to power with 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Now, increasingly frequent and significant rifts are coming to the fore between coalition factions, especially with Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

IDF says jets struck Hezbollah sites, several rockets fired at northern Israel

Israeli fighter jets struck several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun and Ayta ash-Shab in the past few hours, the IDF says.

Several rockets were also fired from Lebanon at northern Israel this evening. The IDF says some were intercepted by air defenses and others impacted open areas, causing no injuries.

מטוסי קרב תקפו בשעות האחרונות מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים יארון ועייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, כוחות צה"ל תקפו בארטילריה במרחב דיר מימס שבדרום לבנון.

בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בגליל העליון בשעה 18:21 על חדירת כלי טיס עוין, מדובר בזיהוי שווא>> pic.twitter.com/rbjxDU8bMe

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 15, 2024

Dead ex-hostage whose photo was aired by Hamas today is Ofir Tzarfati

Ofir Tzarfati. (Courtesy)

The hostage whose body’s photo was published today by Hamas is Ofir Tzarfati, his mother confirms in a statement issued by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Tzarfati, 27, was shot and wounded as he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7. On November 27, the IDF declared that he was confirmed dead, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza and he was laid to rest in Kiryat Ata.

Hamas published the image of his body today in an apparent effort to tie it to the terror group’s claim that its guard recently shot dead a male hostage, though the IDF was quick to note that the photo was of a hostage whose body was recovered from the Strip last year.

In the statement, Richelle Tzarfati says: “I am choosing not to look at the photo Hamas published and to remember Ofir as he was — a perfect, handsome, smiling, happy man, and not like Hamas decided to do today via deplorable psychological warfare.”

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of slain Hamas captive Ofir Tzarfati, speaks to the crowd at a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on May 11, 2024. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

She adds that the most important thing right now is for a deal to be sealed to return the remaining 115 hostages.

IDF says it has killed 17,000 terror operatives in Gaza since start of war

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military has killed more than 17,000 terror operatives in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.

He says in a press conference that the IDF’s “significant fighting” and achievements harm Hamas’s ability to regroup and recover.

“We are determined to continue this,” he says.

Regarding Hamas’s recent claims that its guards killed a hostage and wounded two others, Hagari says that the terror group is “spreading manipulative messages about the hostages, as part of its attempts to use psychological terror, in order to sow fear and terror among the public.”

IDF ‘prepared with peak readiness in attack and defense’ amid threat of Iran, Hezbollah attack

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military has increased its readiness in recent days as potential Hezbollah and Iranian attacks on Israel loom.

“In the past week, we have improved and increased our readiness and preparedness. We continue intelligence gathering and attack efforts in the skies of Lebanon, and in all the fronts, all the time,” Hagari says in a press conference.

“We are prepared with peak readiness in attack and defense, and we will act in accordance with the instructions of the political echelon,” he says.

“The Air Force, the Northern Command, the Intelligence Directorate, the Operations Directorate and the Home Front Command, all of them, work around the clock in defense and attack,” Hagari continues.

He says that there are no changes to instructions for civilians as of yet. “If there is a change we will update immediately,” Hagari says.

Israel says French, UK top diplomats will visit tomorrow to discuss avoiding conflagration

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, right, shakes hands with his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne as they pose for a picture before a meeting in Jerusalem, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The foreign ministers of France and Britain will visit Israel tomorrow and meet Foreign Minister Israel Katz to discuss efforts to prevent a regional escalation, Katz’s ministry says in a statement.

The tripartite meeting between Katz, David Lammy and Stephane Sejourne is also set to touch on efforts to reach a hostage deal, with Katz set to tout the need to impose harsh sanctions on Iran over its nuclear, missile and drone programs, and to declare its Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.

The meeting and the trips aren’t initially confirmed by the UK and French ministries, though Sky News cites a diplomatic source saying Lammy will indeed fly in tomorrow.

The British Foreign Ministry does provide a statement from Lammy saying the UK is urging partners in the Middle East to “choose peace.”

“We are at a crucial moment for global stability. The coming hours and days could define the future of the Middle East,” Lammy says, reiterating his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “The UK will continue to use every diplomatic lever to bring about a ceasefire.”

Bennett runs into IDF chief Halevi, a day after calling for his ouster

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett encountered IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi today, a day after Bennett said Halevi and all the senior military and political leadership should go home following the failures of October 7.

Bennett is filmed next to Halevi — who was appointed by the power-sharing government led by Bennett and then Yair Lapid — as the former premier’s son Yoni enlists to an elite unit in the military.

אחרי שנפתלי בנט קרא אתמול להחליף את ההנהגה הביטחונית שמונתה בתקופת ממשלתו: הבוקר הוא פגש את הרמטכ״ל הרצי הלוי בלשכת הגיוס בתל השומר, כשהגיע ללוות את בנו יוני שמתגייס הבוקר ליחידה מובחרת של צה״ל pic.twitter.com/RHQHPJJFyf

— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) August 15, 2024

IDF units, police, Haifa hospital hold maritime drill simulating war with Lebanon

A sailor in the Navy's 914th Patrol Squadron is seen aiming a gun aboard a vessel amid a drill near Haifa, in a handout image published August 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

This past week, the Haifa Naval Base carried out a joint drill with several other units and a hospital, simulating war in Lebanon.

Participating in the joint drill were the IDF’s 146th Division, the Home Front Command’s Search and Rescue Brigade, and the Oded Reserve Infantry Brigade, as well as the Israel Police and Rambam Hospital.

It was the latest in a series of drills which the military says are part of its efforts to increase readiness amid heightened tensions on the northern border.

The drill simulated “defense and attack scenarios in the northern maritime arena,” including defending the maritime border, evacuating wounded under fire, and other emergency situations, the IDF says.

US Treasury imposes sanctions targeting Houthi, Hezbollah trade

The United States has issued sanctions targeting Houthi and Hezbollah trade networks, the US Treasury Department says, as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran and the Iranian proxies.

The department says in a statement that it targeted companies, individuals and vessels accused of being involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil and liquefied petroleum gas to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of a Houthi financial official’s network.

US says Iran attack may come soon and with no warning, but no definitive info

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the US doesn’t know if and when an Iran retaliatory attack against Israel might occur, but that it does have information that it could come with little or no notice.

“We have information… that an attack could come with little or no warning, and certainly could come in coming days, and we have to be ready for it,” Kirby says in a phone briefing.

“I can’t sit here and tell you for sure that there’s been a decision [by Iran] to change their mind [about attacking Israel], and I can’t tell you for sure, if they attack, what that is going to look like, or even when it would occur,” he adds.

“We know that Iran has made some preparations. We believe that should they choose to attack, they could do it with little or no notice… We don’t want it to come to that,” Kirby says.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden said he expected Iran to hold off on its attack if a ceasefire is reached between Israel and Hamas.

Kirby: Israel has realized almost all war goals, US will help guarantee Oct. 7 won’t recur

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says Israel has achieved “the vast majority” of its military objectives in the war against Hamas.

Kirby says Israel has killed thousands of Hamas fighters and decimated the terror group’s leadership at all levels, dramatically reducing its military capabilities.

He acknowledges, though, that Hamas still has active fighters and is still able to use tunnels to move around and store weapons.

“Hamas is not just a military organization. It is also an ideology, which still does not believe in the existence of the State of Israel, an ideology which continues to persist in the warped idea that what happened on the 7th of October ought to be able to happen again, so we’re going to continue to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against that threat,” Kirby says in a phone briefing.

White House official says Hamas participation in Doha talks in line with past rounds

Echoing comments made by an Arab official to The Times of Israel yesterday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby downplays Hamas’s stated declaration that it wouldn’t attend today’s hostage talk summit in Doha.

The terror group said it would instead be in touch with mediators immediately afterward, urging them to coax Israel into agreeing to its latest ceasefire proposal from last month.

“In the past, it has worked very similar[ly] to how it’s working in Doha today, where mediators will sit and discuss, work things out, and then those mediators will be in touch with Hamas, and then Hamas leaders in Doha communicate directly with Mr. Sinwar for final answers,” Kirby says in a briefing.

“The process that is playing out in Doha is very much keeping with the process that has played out in the past,” he adds.

US lauds ‘promising start’ to hostage talks in Doha, says they’ll continue tomorrow

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House, April 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The hostage talks will likely continue in Doha tomorrow, as a lot of work remains before an agreement can be reached between Israel and Hamas, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says.

In a phone briefing with reporters, Kirby says that talks are moving forward today in Doha, with CIA director Bill Burns and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk representing the US and currently meeting with representatives from Israel, Qatar and Egypt.

“Qatar and Egypt are, in turn, mediating with Hamas,” Kirby says. The terror group has refused to formally attend the summit, but says it is staying in touch with mediators.

Kirby says that the mediators managed to “narrow some gaps” in the lead-up to today’s meeting in Doha. He reiterates that today’s meeting is focused on discussing the implementation of the deal, as the framework has already been agreed on by both sides.

“Today is a promising start,” he adds.

Gantz accuses Netanyahu of dawdling on war decisions; Likud: It is Gantz who blocked key moves

This combination photograph created on May 30, 2024 shows (L) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 12, 2024, and (R) Minister Benny Gantz on May 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel and Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz issues a video statement urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal as quickly as possible in order to bring home the hostages and let tens of thousands of northern evacuees return to their homes, accusing the premier of dilly-dallying due to political considerations.

“At first, you hesitated on maneuvering [in southern Gaza], then you hesitated on moving the effort to the north, and for months you hesitated to move forward with a hostage outline out of fear for the fate of the coalition,” Gantz claims while touring the northern kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar.

“It is time for you to stop tending to the fate of the government, and only tend to the fate of the country,” he adds. “For once, be brave.”

In response, Netanyahu’s Likud party contends that “the protocols will prove that Gantz is the one who opposed decisions that were critical for the security of Israel, including decisions regarding dramatic military actions” while Gantz was in the decision-making war cabinet before leaving the wartime coalition in June.

Likud claims that the recent assassinations of several terror chiefs are a testimony to the “change of reality” following Gantz’s departure, concluding that “those not contributing to the struggle for victory and the return of the hostages would do better if they at least didn’t do damage.”

National Unity fires back, saying, “Netanyahu knows well why he is trying to alter protocols and refusing to form a state commission of inquiry that will expose the truth: Who was afraid to launch a ground maneuver, who delayed the entry to Khan Younis, and who didn’t want at first to enter the Philadelphi Corridor.”

France lauds Lebanon’s ‘self-restraint’; Lebanese PM: ‘Can only be patient and praying’

France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne says he hopes for continued non-escalation from Lebanon after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut last month.

In a meeting with Lebanese caretaker premier Najib Mikati, Sejourne expresses appreciation for “self-restraint in this difficult period” in the region, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA.

“We can only be silent, patient and praying in this difficult period,” NNA also cites Mikati as saying following the meeting.

PA’s Abbas tells Turkish parliament he will go to Gaza even if it costs him his life

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech at Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on August 15, 2024. (Photo by Turkish Presidental Press Service / AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tells a special session of the Turkish parliament that he will travel to Gaza even if it puts his life as risk.

“I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership,” Abbas says in an address applauded by Turkish lawmakers.

“I will do that. Even if this would cost my life. Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child,” he adds.

Abbas, who has added a visit to Turkey after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, says the Palestinian people will stand tall and not accept a solution that keeps Gaza and the West Bank divided, as they have been since 2007.

“Gaza is ours as a whole. We don’t accept any solution that would divide our territories,” he tells the parliament. “There cannot be a Palestinian state without Gaza. Our people will not surrender.”

Abbas, who heads the Fatah movement, a rival to Hamas, already visited Turkey at Erdogan’s invitation in early March.

Israel sanctions 18 oil tankers allegedly used by Iran’s Quds Force to finance Hamas, Hezbollah

In a rare move, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has imposed sanctions on 18 oil tankers that Israel says are used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force to finance the Hezbollah and Hamas terror groups.

“As part of the economic campaign led by the defense establishment against the terrorist organizations, among them Quds Force, Hezbollah and Hamas, the defense minister has imposed sanctions on 18 tankers involved in transporting oil belonging to the designated terrorist organization Quds Force, the sale proceeds of which are used to finance and strengthen the terrorist organizations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas,” the Defense Ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) says in a statement.

“The oil originates in the Iranian regime’s allocations to Quds Force, which transports the oil in tankers under a legitimate facade, in an effort to circumvent international sanctions in the context of terror financing, using methods that constitute a violation of maritime safety and environmental laws, in order to sell the oil to a wide range of countries,” the statement says.

NBCTF says the sanctions “expose a key financing axis of the Quds Force terrorist organization and its proxies” and are “another layer in the efforts of the Israeli defense establishment to broaden the damage and disruption to the terror financing axes of Iran and Quds Force, as part of the broad campaign against the terrorist organizations, among them also Hezbollah and Hamas.”

It is unclear how much of an effect Israel’s sanctions will have on Iran’s alleged scheme.

Authorities issue warning as mosquitoes with West Nile virus found in Rehovot, Modiin

The Environmental Protection Ministry reports that mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus have been caught in Rehovot and Modiin-Maccabim-Reut.

The ministry instructs all authorities to further expand their monitoring and pest control efforts, both in urban areas and in uninhabited regions.

It asks members of the public to protect themselves to reduce the risk of mosquito bites.

The number of patients diagnosed with the virus has risen to 847, according to the Health Ministry.

A total of 61 people who were diagnosed with the virus have died since the outbreak began in June.

Infected mosquitoes transmit the West Nile virus to humans. The virus does not spread from person to person.

About 80% of people infected with West Nile virus show no symptoms. About 20% may experience varying degrees of symptoms, including fever, headaches and body aches.

Less than 1% of those infected will have possible rare complications such as acute inflammation of the brain or meningitis.

The risk of significant illness is higher among the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

IDF says it razed over 50 tunnels in Gaza-Egypt border area in past week

IDF troops search for tunnels along the Philadelphi Route, the Egypt-Gaza border area, in a handout image published August 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

More than 50 tunnels discovered along the Philadelphi Route, the Egypt-Gaza border area, have been demolished by combat engineers over the past week, the IDF says.

The military does not detail how many of the tunnels crossed into Egypt.

Tunnels along the Philadelphi Route are believed to be used by Hamas for smuggling arms into the Strip.

‘We’ve been cast aside’: As housing subsidies end, thousands of evacuees return to Gaza border towns

Some 3,700 people from communities near the Gaza border area are returning to their homes today following the government’s decision to no longer pay for their accommodations in hotels, the Tekuma Authority says in a statement.

The final date for state-funded accommodations is August 15 following several extensions of the accommodation period, says a spokesperson for the Tekuma Authority, which is the government’s arm for rehabilitating the Gaza border area.

The return follows the High Court of Justice’s decision to reject a petition by some residents of Sderot, who argued in it that they are too traumatized to return to the city, where terrorists murdered dozens of people on October 7.

One of the petitioners, Binyamin Pinchasov, tells i24News that he and the other petitioners feel abandoned.

“It’s like we’ve been cast aside, it’s like we don’t exist, nobody takes care of anything for us,” he says.

Out of the 3,700 individuals, 1,900 are from Sderot and the others belong to local regional councils, including Sha’ar Hanegev (730) and Eshkol (400). Residents of those locales have also petitioned the High Court of Justice, which has not intervened against the decision to end their state-funded accommodations.

The bulk of the population of Sderot, a city of about 30,000 residents, is back home and has been living there for months. Currently, only about a dozen severely hit communities, including Be’eri, Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz, remain evacuated with government-funded accommodations as their communities undergo renovations and reconstruction.

“The return of residents to their homes in accordance with a cabinet resolution from June 16 is being done after prior notice and in the absence of security threats preventing the move,” Tekuma Authority says in a statement.

After Hamas airs image of hostage’s body, IDF says his remains were recovered last year

After the Hamas terror group published an image of the body of an Israeli hostage a short while ago, the IDF says that the remains of the hostage in question had been returned in a special operation last year.

“This is a hostage who was murdered and his body was returned in an IDF and Shin Bet operation at the end of November,” the military says, adding that the family of the hostage was updated by IDF representatives.

The IDF does not name the hostage.

The development comes days after Hamas’s military said members of the terror group assigned to guard Israeli hostages killed a male captive and seriously wounded another two female hostages. The IDF said it could neither confirm nor deny the claim.

Hamas today said its guard shot the hostage dead out of revenge and against the terror group’s protocols.

Drone and over 25 rockets fired by Hezbollah at north, no casualties — IDF

More than 25 rockets and a suspected drone were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel in the past hour and a half, according to the IDF.

At around 2:10 p.m., a suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down over the Golan Heights, the military says. Sirens had sounded in the area amid the incident.

A short while later, the IDF says five rockets launched from Lebanon struck open areas near Kibbutz Shamir in the Upper Galilee.

At 2:29 p.m., a barrage of 20 more rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle area, with the IDF saying most were shot down by air defenses and others struck open areas.

There were no injuries in the attacks.

Australian orchestra cancels concert with pianist who said IDF targets journalists

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cancels a concert by a pianist over his onstage remark about the killing of journalists in Gaza, and then reportedly calls the cancellation “an error.”

The move follows remarks by the pianist, Jayson Gillham, during a solo performance on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, where he dedicated a musical piece to “the journalists of Gaza,” adding a comment about “targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were traveling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets.”

The Orchestra pulls Gillham from a concert planned for Thursday in response to this, but later cancels the concert altogether, citing security reasons. Australia’s ABC broadcaster quotes an unnamed spokesperson of the Orchestra as describing the decision to pull Gillham from the concert as an “error.”

In a statement after the concert’s cancelation, the Orchestra writes that it “maintains that a concert platform is not an appropriate stage for political comment, we acknowledge Jayson’s concerns for those in the Middle East and elsewhere.”

Gillham and the Orchestra are in contact with each other about rescheduling the concert, ABC reports.

Dozens of journalists and people described as such have died in Gaza, allegedly as a result of Israel’s actions against Hamas there. The IDF denies that it targets journalists. Some of the deceased journalists were later shown to have served in terrorist organizations or have significant ties to them.

Gillham is on record as saying at his solo performance Sunday, “The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world.”

Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham has been banned from performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after he made comments about the IDF targeting journalists in Gaza…

“Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than one hundred Palestinian… pic.twitter.com/OYij35xafP

— Pelham (@Resist_05) August 14, 2024

Baby from central Israel hospitalized with meningitis

An 11-month-old baby from the Central District is hospitalized in intensive care due to meningitis, caused by an infection of the Haemophilus influenzae type B bacterium, the Health Ministry reports.

According to health records, the baby was not vaccinated against the bacterium as part of routine vaccinations.

The Haemophilus influenzae type B bacterium can cause meningitis, sepsis (blood infection), and pneumonia. The symptoms of the disease include fever, headaches, vomiting, and confusion. The complications of the disease can lead to permanent damage to the nervous system, resulting in developmental delays, seizures, and deafness.

The vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type B is given as part of the pentavalent vaccine, within the routine vaccination program for infants and children. The vaccine also protects against four other diseases: diphtheria, a bacterial infection that affects the throat and can lead to breathing problems, heart failure, and death; tetanus, a bacterial infection that causes painful muscle stiffness and can be fatal, commonly known as “lockjaw;” pertussis (whooping cough), a highly contagious respiratory disease known for uncontrollable, violent coughing; and hepatitis B, a viral infection that can lead to chronic liver disease.

The vaccine is available at all maternal and child health clinics nationwide.

The ministry emphasizes the importance of routine vaccinations against infectious diseases, some of which can lead to severe complications and death. Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) can be contagious. It spreads through close contact with an infected person, such as through coughing, sneezing, or sharing utensils. Bacterial meningitis is serious and requires prompt medical treatment.

Firefighters battling blaze in north sparked by Hezbollah rocket attack

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze sparked by a Hezbollah rocket attack near Kibbutz Shamir in the Upper Galilee, August 15, 2024. (Israel Fire and Rescue Service)

Firefighters are battling a blaze in an open area near Kibbutz Shamir in the Upper Galilee, sparked by a Hezbollah rocket attack.

Hezbollah says it launched a barrage of rockets at the community in response to recent IDF strikes in southern Lebanon that wounded civilians.

White House says Iran has not withdrawn from threat to attack Israel

WASHINGTON — The White House reiterates that all sides should attend Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha in order to get a deal implemented, urging Israel and Hamas to compromise and saying progress is still possible in the coming days.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby, in an interview on CNN, also says information shows Iran has not moved off its threat to attack Israel, including potentially through proxies. The US is watching the situation closely and is prepared, though “hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” he says.

Halevi tells paratrooper recruits that IDF won’t allow Hamas to remain in Gaza

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to new conscripts at the Tel Hashomer base in central Israel, August 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi tells new conscripts of the Paratroopers Brigade that the military will not allow the Hamas terror group to remain in the Gaza Strip.

“After what happened on October 7, we will not allow Hamas to have this presence and capabilities in the Gaza Strip, and we are very determined,” he says.

Ceasefire-hostage talks begin in Doha, official says

DOHA, Qatar — Talks aimed at achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release deal have begun in Doha, an official briefed on the talks tells Reuters.

Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea is expected to join his US and Egyptian counterparts and Qatar’s prime minister for the new round of talks.

Hamas officials have not joined the talks. However mediators planned to consult with Hamas’ Doha-based negotiating team after the meeting, the official says.

Israel’s delegation includes Barnea, head of the Shin Bet security service Ronen Bar, and the military’s hostages chief Nitzan Alon.

CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk represent Washington at the talks, convened by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel also in Doha.

Rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona, Upper Galilee communities

Incoming rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns in the Upper Galilee.

Sirens are activated in Shamir, Amir, Manara, Margaliot, Sde Nehemia, and Kfar Blum.

???? Large Red Alert [14:29:22] – 11 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Shamir, Kiryat Shmona, Amir (×2), Manara (×2), Margaliot (×2), Sdeh Nechemia (×2), Kfar Blum
Population in the area: 119,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/ccL8d33isA

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

Hamas says guard killed hostage out of revenge, acted contrary to terror group’s ‘ethics’

The spokesman for the military wing of Hamas says a guard who shot dead a hostage acted out of revenge and against the terror group’s protocols.

The IDF has not been able to confirm or deny the claims made by Hamas — that its guards on two separate occasions shot dead a hostage and seriously wounded two other female captives.

Hudhaifa Kahlout — known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida — the spokesman for the Al Qassam Brigades, provides an update on Hamas’s investigation into the killing of a hostage.

He says on Telegram that the investigation found that the guard “acted in revenge, contrary to instructions, after receiving news of the martyrdom of his two children in one of the enemy’s massacres.”

“We stress that the incident does not represent our ethics,” Abu Obeida says, adding that the protocols for guarding prisoners will be “tightened.”

IRGC military adviser dies following injuries sustained in unspecified airstrike in Syria

A military adviser from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Aerospace Force has died following injuries sustained in Syria over recent weeks, the semi-official Fars news agency reports.

“Colonel Ahmadreza Afshari was martyred due to injuries sustained from aerial bombardment from the coalition violating Syria,” top Revolutionary Guard Commander Hossein Salami says. No precise date is given for the strike, but Iran media said Afshari sustained his injuries between late July and early August.

The announcement indicates that Afshari was transferred to Iran some time in the past two weeks for treatment.

Both Israel and the US have carried out airstrikes in Syria against Iranian assets and Iran-backed militias in recent months.

Syrian state media reported last week that four soldiers were wounded by an Israeli strike in central Syria near Homs, citing a military statement that also mentioned “material losses.”

The strike came nearly a week after a reported Israeli attack on a Hezbollah convoy crossing from Syria into Lebanon.

Iranian media publishes a photo of brigadier General Ahmad Reza Afshari, head of the missile and drone unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who was killed by israel in Syria.#Syria #Israel #Iran #IRGC pic.twitter.com/w7avo0tlkE

— 33CC????????❤️ (@33SHAWN1) August 15, 2024

Hostile drone sirens sound in Golan Heights, Upper Galilee

Sirens warning of incoming hostile drones activate in Golan Heights and Upper Galilee communities.

Sirens sound in Kela Alon, Sha’al, and Neot Mordechai.

Red Alert [14:09:46] – 3 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Neot Mordechai
• Northern Golan — Kela, Sha'al
Population in the area: 1,500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/WBCqOnSlD1

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

El Al inks deal with Boeing for up to 31 737 MAX planes to replace short-haul fleet

The Boeing 737-Max airliner. (Boeing)

El Al and Boeing confirm a deal for Israel’s national carrier to purchase up to 31 737 MAX aircraft to replace its aging short-haul fleet.

According to the deal, El Al would purchase 20 units of the new model for $1.5 billion, with the option to add 11 more for an extra billion dollars.

The aircraft are expected to begin in 2028 to replace the airline’s current 737-800 and 737-900 fleet.

“This is a significant milestone for El Al, which will allow us to offer our customers the most advanced service and technology experience in the industry,” El Al CEO Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia says, according to a statement. “The implementation of the long-term procurement plan, which began with the purchase of additional 787 Dreamliners earlier this year and culminates in the current deal, once again demonstrates our commitment to the Israeli public and the state.”

“EL AL has a central role in ensuring open skies for Israel. The implementation of our strategic plan — which aims to expand the fleet, increase the value proposition for customers and increase capacity and seating — will ensure a strong and growing company for many years to come,” she adds.

Boeing president and CEO Stephanie Pope says the airline manufacturer is “honored” to have the Israeli carrier as a customer.

“We know El Al depends on the versatility and reliability of Boeing airplanes, and we look forward to delivering the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner jets that will reshape and grow the airline in the coming decades,” she says.

Hamas says over 40,000 killed in Gaza since start of war

Palestinian children walk past a mural at a makeshift displacement camp set up on a roadside in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 13, 2024 (Eyad Baba/AFP)

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll since the terror group launched its October 7 attack on Israel now stands at 40,005.

The figure cannot be independently verified and includes more than 16,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle as of July. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Hamas blasts PA after its forces allegedly detonated explosive device before it could blow up IDF troops in Jenin

Following reports that Palestinian Authority forces detonated an explosive device in Jenin before it was likely meant to hit Israeli troops yesterday, Hamas issues a statement this morning blasting the PA for cooperating with Israel against Hamas in the West Bank.

“The continued work of the PA’s security apparatus in the West Bank against the resistance of our people, and its escalating campaign to pursue the fighters of the resistance, confiscate their weapons, and dismantle explosive devices and ambushes set up to strike [the IDF] during its continued incursions into the West Bank, are in perfect accordance with the Zionist occupation,” the statement reads.

“The supposed role of the [PA] security services is to protect our people in the face of the ongoing crimes of the occupation. We are still in the battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood. This is a historic and fateful time for our cause,” Hamas writes, using the name with which it designates the October 7 attack.

Jenin, in the northern West Bank, is under the control of the Ramallah-based PA, ruled by the Fatah party, which is strongly opposed to Hamas. The terror group and other Islamist factions have, however, established a strong grip over the city and the surrounding area, and have significantly curbed the PA’s influence there.

The IDF declined to comment on the matter.

A short time ago, Palestinian Authority forces detonated an IED in Jenin that was likely meant for Israeli troops. The blast could have caused significant damage to Israeli military vehicles or troops on foot. pic.twitter.com/SM107dmwEC

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) August 13, 2024

PM denies report he spoke to Trump about ceasefire-hostage talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies a report that he had spoken the previous day with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about ceasefire and hostage talks.

“Contrary to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak yesterday with former president Donald Trump,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office says.

The report, in Axios, cited two US sources. One source said Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this was indeed what the former president told Netanyahu. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Egypt, the United States, and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for today.

El Al reports record quarterly profits as international airlines cancel services

El Al Airlines' Boeing 737s are pictured on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, March 10, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Israel’s national airline El Al reports record profits in the second quarter of 2024, as it is one of the few companies still flying to and from Israel, with several international firms canceling their Israel services due to the ongoing war in Gaza and spiraling regional tensions.

El Al says it earned $147.4 million in profits, compared to the first quarter, when it earned $80.5 million.

The company has upped its prices.

Kan reporter Shaul Amsterdamski writes on X that he invited El Al CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia to speak about the record-breaking profits on his evening radio program, but the company rebuffed him, saying it was not giving interviews.

“I asked why. They responded that it was what was decided. They know how to charge crazy prizes. They know how to speak off-record. To speak on record to the public, that’s a no,” he writes.

PM’s son Yair posts image comparing AG to North Korean dictator

Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, posts an image on his Instagram story appearing to equate Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

The post includes two images of Peter Parker, played by Toby Maguire, one without glasses next to an image of Baharav-Miara, then an image of him putting on his glasses next to an image of Kim.

Yair Netanyahu is known for his provocative online presence and has faced legal action over his social media activity.

Several of his posts disparage the judiciary and accuse it of overreach.

Over 100 US rabbis call on PM to ink hostage deal to allow Jewish people to heal

Illustrative: Relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza protest for their release, outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2024. (Flash90)

A group of more than 100 US rabbis urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a hostage deal, stating that returning the hostages is key to healing the Jewish people.

“We urgently call upon the Israeli Prime Minister and all relevant parties to finalize the deal on the table — outlined by President [Joe] Biden and endorsed by Qatar, Egypt, and the UN Security Council — and to bring much-needed relief to those suffering,” the statement reads.

“We can’t start healing as the Jewish people in Israel and the global diaspora until our brothers and sisters are home. We are compelled by the mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuyim to take decisive action and ensure the safe return of all 115 hostages,” the rabbis add.

According to a statement by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, rabbis who signed onto the statement include Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi of Central Synagogue; Rabbi Rachel Timoner, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim; Rabbi Bini Krauss, head of school at SAR Academy; Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, senior rabbi at B’nai David- Judea; Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky, rabbi of Ansche Chesed; Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, rabbi of Kehillat Jeshurun, among others.

Some 40 far-right activists try to enter Gaza Strip to hold prayer service

Some 40 far-right youths tried to break through the Gaza border to conduct the morning Jewish prayer service, Hebrew media outlets say.

The group was caught trying to enter the Strip near the Erez border crossing and taken for questioning by security forces, the reports say.

“We were honored to take part in an attempt to hold Shacharit prayers inside the Gaza Strip, with the belief that Gaza is part of the Greater Land of Israel and from the clear understanding that only settlement can be considered a victory,” a statement by the unnamed group carried by Kan news reads.

“And only a Jewish Gaza will remove the threat of rockets, return the hostages from Gaza, and bring security to the south and country as a whole,” the worshipers say in a statement.

Hostile drone sirens sound in northern communities

Incoming hostile drone alerts are activated in northern communities.

Sirens are sounding in Hanita, Gornot HaGalil, Arab al-Aramshe, Goren, Eilon, Adamit, and Ya’ara.

Red Alert [11:11:52] – 7 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Hanita, Gornot HaGalil, Arab al-Aramshe, Goren, Eilon, Idmit, Ya'ara
Population in the area: 7,300#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/ZZHiRZzrt7

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

IDF orders evacuation of Khan Younis neighborhood after rocket attacks

The IDF issues a new evacuation order for Palestinians in the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip, following recent rocket attacks.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a list of the zones that need to be evacuated.

The announcement calls for Palestinians in the Khan Younis suburb of al-Qarara to evacuate to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone.

The IDF is currently carrying out an offensive in Khan Younis.

Before the raid, the IDF issued evacuation orders for other areas of Khan Younis. It has since issued several more evacuation orders in the area.

#عاجل ‼️ الى جميع السكان المتواجدين في بلوكات 38, 39, 41, 42 في حارات القرارة 3 والسطر:

⭕️على خلفية اطلاق قذائف صاروخية بشكل متواصل من قبل حماس والمنظمات الارهابية من مناطقكم، سيعمل جيش الدفاع بقوة ضد تلك العناصر الإرهابي فوراً.

⭕️من أجل أمنكم، انتقلوا فوراً الى المنطقة… pic.twitter.com/1Enb9Lt9q0

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 15, 2024

Rocket sirens sound in Upper Galilee kibbutz

Incoming rocket sirens activate in Kibbutz Malkiya in the Upper Galilee.

Red Alert [10:51:56] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Malkia
Population in the area: <500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/0Llm0SIWo5

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

Protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, demand government reach hostage deal amid talks in Doha

Protesters march down King George Street in Jerusalem demanding an immediate deal to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, August 15, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Lizzy Shaanan)

With hostage-ceasefire talks resuming in Doha today, hostage families and their supporters hold rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem urging the government to reach a deal to free the captives held in Gaza.

Women’s activists march down King George Street in Jerusalem, chanting that the blood of dead hostages is “on the hands of the government.”

Outside the ruling Likud party’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, activists hold a banner reading: “Abducted alive, abandoned to their deaths. Deal now.”

IDF: Gunmen killed, over 30 Hamas sites targeted in Gaza airstrikes over past day

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on August 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Dozens of gunmen were killed and sites belonging to Hamas and other terror groups were destroyed amid operations in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the IDF says in a morning update.

More than 30 Hamas sites, including booby-trapped buildings, tunnels, and weapon depots, were targeted in airstrikes across Gaza, according to the military.

The IDF says that in southern Gaza’s Rafah, troops under the 162nd Division killed more than 20 terror operatives by directing airstrikes.

Further north, in Khan Younis, troops with the 98th Division directed strikes against several Hamas operatives at a weapons depot. In another strike in Khan Younis, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative responsible for rocket launches was killed, the IDF says.

Meanwhile, in the Netzarim Corridor of central Gaza, the IDF says that several cells of gunmen were killed and a weapons depot was destroyed in strikes directed by the 252nd Reserve Division.

5 rockets fired from Lebanon at north; rocket strikes open area near Kissufim

A barrage of five rockets was fired from Lebanon at the northern border community of Ma’ayan Baruch a short while ago.

According to the IDF, some of the rockets were shot down by air defenses.

Meanwhile in the south, one rocket was fired from Gaza at the Kissufim area. The IDF says that the rocket struck an open area.

There are no injuries in the attacks.

Rocket siren sounds again in Kibbutz Kissufim

Incoming rocket sirens activate in Kibbutz Kissufim, near the border with the Gaza Strip, just over an hour after a previous alert in the community.

Red Alert [09:23:49] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Kissufim
Population in the area: <500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/smCbLbB52b

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

Rocket sirens sound in northern communities

Incoming rocket alerts activate in the northern communities of Kfar Yuval, Ghajar, and Maayan Baruch.

Red Alert [09:12:00] – 5 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Kfar Yuval (2nd alert), Ghajar, Ma'ayan Baruch (2nd alert)
Population in the area: 5,400#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/6xEfELiFS4

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

IDF says it shot down drone over Western Galilee early this morning

A drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over the Western Galilee overnight, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in several communities amid the incident at around 3:40 a.m.

The IDF publishes footage of the interception.

לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו בהצלחה כלי טיס בלתי מאויש שחצה משטח לבנון, בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו במהלך הלילה במרחב הגליל המערבי. pic.twitter.com/23FI6zjaAO

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) August 15, 2024

Security cabinet set to meet in ‘the pit’ at 9 p.m. — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi follow Israel's strike in Yemen from the IAF operations room at the Kirya Headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 20, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

The security cabinet is set to meet tonight in Tel Aviv at 9 p.m., in the underground command room of the Kirya military headquarters, the Ynet news site reports.

The cabinet will meet in “the pit,” as the underground command room is known, one week after its last meeting to drill for a potential emergency situation, Channel 12 news reported.

Last week’s meeting was the first time such a conference had been held there since the night of April 13-14, when Iran launched some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, almost all of which were intercepted.

Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border kibbutz

An incoming rocket alert is activated in Kibbutz Kissufim, near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Red Alert [08:00:19] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Kissufim
Population in the area: <500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/0fBdkqDYxv

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 15, 2024

PM’s office requesting Gantz pay back cost of trip to UK and US while he was in war cabinet

This combination photograph created on May 30, 2024 shows (L) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 12, 2024, and (R) Minister Benny Gantz on May 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel and Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has demanded National Unity chair Benny Gantz return NIS 70,000 ($19,000) to the state treasury to cover a trip to the United States and the United Kingdom he took when he was a minister in the government in March, according to Channel 13 news.

Citing a letter sent to Gantz from the Prime Minister’s Office, Channel 13 reports Netanyahu is demanding the return of the funds because he did not approve the trip.

The report cites government policy that the prime minister must approve ministers’ overseas travels.

In response to the report, Gantz’s office says the trip, when he met senior US officials in Washington including Vice President Kamala Harris, was important to preserving Israel’s security.

“We suggest that the prime minister and his officials work to return the hostages and northern residents home with at least the same determination and obsession as his pursuit of getting back the cost of Gantz’s trip,” the statement says.

The Prime Minister’s Office says: “Before his trip, it was made clear to Gantz and his office that this was a private trip, and the Prime Minister’s Office will not cover the costs. We are now requesting that Gantz return the money for his trip to the state coffers.”

The PMO was said to refuse to help coordinate the then-war cabinet minister’s trip, exposing Gantz to potential legal troubles in the UK, including lawsuits and arrest warrants relating to the war in Gaza, Channel 12 reported at the time.

NYT: Israel has achieved all it can militarily against Hamas in Gaza

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on August 14, 2024 shows soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip. (IDF/AFP)

Israel has accomplished all that it can militarily in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, and the terror group is unable to plan or carry out a massacre on the scale of October 7, US officials tell The New York Times.

But the officials say they will never be able to completely eliminate the terror group, and that an agreement is needed to secure the release of the living and dead 115 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

“Israel has been able to disrupt Hamas, kill a number of their leaders and largely reduce the threat to Israel that existed before October 7,” Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the former head of US CENTCOM, tells The Times, adding that Hamas has been “diminished.”

“Hamas is largely depleted but not wiped out, and the Israelis may never achieve the total annihilation of Hamas,” Ralph Goff, a former senior CIA official who served in the Middle East tells The Times.

Yaakov Amidror, a retired IDF major general, disagrees and tells the newspaper that Israel still has gains to be made on the ground in Gaza.

“If Israel evacuates its forces now, within a year, Hamas will be strong again,” he claims, adding that the military needs another two or three months in central and southern Gaza, before shifting to “intelligence-based raids and strikes” for a year to eliminate the rest of the terror group.

IDF says airstrike hits armed men during Nablus counterterrorism raid

The IDF confirms it carried out a drone strike on two armed men it said threatened troops operating in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The military says troops carried out a counterterrorism operation in the area, returning fire and hitting terrorists who threw explosives at them.

In addition, IDF and Border Police troops secured the entry of Jewish worshippers to Joseph’s Tomb.

2 Palestinians said killed by Israeli drone strike in West Bank’s Balata camp

Two Palestinians were killed and another four wounded by an Israeli drone strike on the Balata camp in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian media reports.

Sirens sound in Western Galilee due to suspected hostile aircraft

Air raid sirens have been activated in numerous communities in the Western Galilee, with the IDF’s Home Front Command reporting a suspected enemy aircraft along the Lebanon border.

Trump and Netanyahu reportedly hold call about Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal

Former US president Donald Trump (left) hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Florida, July 26, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, Axios reports, citing two US sources.

One of the sources is quoted saying the aim of the call was for Trump to encourage Netanyahu to agree to the mediated deal with Hamas, but it’s not clear what in fact the former US president told the premier.

The news site says Netanyahu’s office did not deny the call, while Trump’s campaign declined to comment.

The call was held a day before negotiations are set to resume Thursday in Doha, which is being cast by some officials as the last potential chance on the near horizon to secure a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and free the hostages seized during the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Columbia University president resigns amid criticism over her response to anti-Israel protests

Columbia University President Nemat Shafik testifies during a US House Education Committee hearing about antisemitism on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 17, 2024. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president whose campus became an epicenter of unrest this year following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, has resigned weeks before the start of the school year.

Shafik’s resignation, tendered Wednesday, comes after widespread, sustained criticism of how she handled pro-Palestinian protests that convulsed the Ivy League university since October 7.

“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” Shafik writes in a message to the Columbia community. “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”

Shafik, an economist, says she’s taking a role with the British government, resuming work that she had done before being taking the helm at Columbia just 13 months ago.

White House says Biden and Harris received national security briefing on Mideast

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris walk on the tarmac after welcoming Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan, who were released from Russian captivity, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on August 1, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt / AFP)

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were just briefed in the situation room by their national security teams about developments in the Middle East, the White House says.

“They were updated on US military efforts to support the defense of Israel. They were also briefed on continued diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tension and to bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to a conclusion,” the White House adds.