Hamas says that it has asked the US-backed Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to accept a peace plan for Gaza after its leader met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner in Egypt.
In a statement, the group says it called on the Board and mediating countries to “compel the occupation to implement all its obligations under the first phase, end all violations, halt killings and incursions, [and] approve the roadmap for the second phase” of the US-brokered ceasefire plan.
The leader of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, says that his recent visit to the USS Lincoln was “awe-inspiring” and hails the crew’s “resilience” following reports of concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard the ship.
In a statement CENTCOM posts to X, Cooper says while prolonged service at sea is “uniquely challenging and tough,” he notes that the Lincoln had the lowest number of mental health cases of the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers, and praises the carrier’s leadership for prioritizing mental health and crew resilience.
Senior academics in zoology, ecology, and biology appeal to Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman to retract her support for a moat of crocodiles to be created around the Ketziot Prison in southern Israel, near the Egyptian border.
The idea for the jail, which primarily holds Palestinians, is the brainchild of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
However two weeks ago the Jerusalem District Court imposed a temporary injunction freezing the transfer of the crocodiles following a petition filed by the Let The Animals Live animal welfare group.
In today’s letter, the academics call on Silman to revoke her decision to change the classification of crocodiles held in captivity from “protected wildlife” to “managed wildlife,” and to order a complete ban on the use of wild animals a tool for threatening humans or guarding facilities.
“We feel a deep sense of shock at the horrifying notion that wild animals would be used as a tool for intimidation in the State of Israel in the year 2026,” they write. “The question of who those prisoners are is irrelevant. The question is who we are, what we want to be, and how we want to be perceived by ourselves and the world.”
The 35 signatories note that Silman’s stand contradicts the professional opinions of experts within her own ministry, as well as other bodies such as the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
Former Labor Party MK and Knesset speaker Avraham Burg has joined a fledgling left-wing, Arab-Jewish party ahead of the upcoming Knesset election.
Burg will be given a spot behind the two leaders of the Makom Lekulanu (“A Place for Us All”) party — Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green, according to Hebrew media reports.
Makom Lekulanu has also been in talks with representatives from Arab-majority parties about a possible merger in order to prevent a scenario where it does not cross the electoral threshold — a likelihood in a crowded field.
Speaking to Haaretz, Burg insists that Makom Lekulanu will not waste votes, claiming that those who are considering supporting the new party are those disillusioned by the existing options and interested in true Arab-Jewish partnership.
Roland Friedrich, the West Bank director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), has issued a statement asserting that Israel is taking over buildings he says belong to the agency in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem — a charge the Jerusalem Municipality denies.
According to the UNRWA statement posted last week: “Personnel associated with the Jerusalem Municipality have in recent days entered UNRWA facilities without authorization, including the school compound, health center, and community services office.”
Friedrich claims that the premises were forcibly entered by breaking locks, and that contractors working on behalf of the municipality have begun carrying out work at the sites, which he says violates international law protecting UNRWA property.
In late 2024, Israel passed legislation banning UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory, including East Jerusalem. Following the legislation, Israel shut down UNRWA schools in the Shuafat refugee camp and other parts of East Jerusalem, leaving several hundred students without educational institutions.
The Jerusalem Municipality rejects the allegations, telling The Times of Israel that “these are not UNRWA properties, but privately owned properties for which the municipality has signed a usage agreement. According to the owners of these properties, UNRWA itself unlawfully took control of them and did not pay [rent] during this period. The municipality intends to open educational institutions at the site for the benefit of residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.”
A delegation of senior American officials intends to go to the West Bank village of Qusra in the next few days, where violent settlers have besieged Palestinians residents, to see for themselves what’s going on there, Channel 12 reports.
The US has reportedly asked that senior Israeli defense officials join them at the village south of Nablus, to explain what is going on there, and how they plan to tackle the broad spiraling phenomenon of Jewish settler violence. US envoy Jared Kushner is due in Israel tomorrow, though there was no suggestion in the report that he is set to join the trip.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last week condemned the violent settlers at Qusra as “Israeli terrorists.”
As of earlier today, settlers were near but not inside the village, where residents said the IDF had been deployed but was still not allowing them back to some homes.
The TV report says the IDF has given Israel Police “dozens of photos” of those who invaded the village and carried out violence there, so that the police will track and arrest them. However, the police have said that the IDF’s material does not specify what the photographed suspects did, and thus does not constitute a basis for arrest.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, in November 2024, barred the administrative detention of Jews suspected of violence and terrorism, and subsequently ordered the release of such suspects. Two weeks ago, he boasted that he had ceased signing off on administrative detention orders for Jews, while confirming that he has continued to sign them for West Bank Palestinian suspects, and has introduced their use against Israeli Arabs.
The TV report said the Shin Bet is working to compile enough material to charge the suspects in the Qusra attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is threatening legal action against an initiative seeking to bring Israeli citizens back in order to vote in the October 27 national election.
Israel does not have absentee voting, with the exception of diplomats and emissaries posted around the world. But returning citizens can vote as long as they are in the country and registered.
The AID Coalition organization is running an initiative called “Fly and Vote” aiming to help coordinate travel for Israelis looking to return for the election.
The Likud sends a letter threatening to appeal against the organization to the Central Elections Committee, accusing it of operating illegally and in contradiction to the laws surrounding party financing.
The organization asserts that it “does not endorse any candidate or party” and says it does not cover any travel costs.
Studies have suggested that a majority of Israelis who consider moving abroad tend to be more left-leaning politically, likely fueling Likud’s attempt to thwart the effort.
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner met with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.
Kushner was joined by Board of Peace senior envoys Nickolay Mladenov and Tony Blair, as well as top diplomats from the Mideast mediating countries: Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
Kushner used the meeting to lean on Hamas to begin implementing the Board of Peace’s disarmament plan that it agreed to on July 30, the Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries says.
Hayya told Kushner that Hamas remains committed to the plan, but will only implement it if Israel upholds its end of the bargain, noting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public rejection of the proposal, the diplomat says.
Kushner sought to assure Hayya that the US-controlled Board of Peace will lean on Israel to halt strikes in Gaza and gradually withdraw from the Strip once Hamas begins handing over its weapons, the diplomat adds.
Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will conduct no withdrawals until Hamas has been completely disarmed, though, a Board of Peace source has told The Times of Israel that the premier has shown more flexibility privately.
While Board of Peace officials had touted an initial halt on Israeli strikes in Gaza — which followed Hamas’s July 30 acceptance of the disarmament plan — IDF strikes in the Strip picked up again over the past week.
Kushner, during today’s meeting, pressed Hamas to cease shows of force throughout the Strip, which have included the deployment of armed and uniformed Hamas members on the streets of Gaza, the Arab diplomat says.
He also urged the Hamas delegation led by Hayya to allow for a smooth handover of governing authority in the Strip to the new Palestinian technocratic government overseen by the Board of Peace, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), the diplomat says.
While the Board of Peace is hoping to conduct the first handover of weapons from Hamas to the NCAG in the coming weeks, the Arab diplomat says that is unlikely to take place before the end of the year, as the International Stabilization Force, tasked with assisting in the process, is still in the very initial phases of training.
Moreover, the diplomat expressed skepticism that Netanyahu will allow for any significant progress of the Board of Peace disarmament plan before the October 27 Knesset election. There will then likely be an additional one- to two-month lull in progress, as the next Israeli government is set up.
Kushner is next slated to travel to Israel, where he will meet with Netanyahu tomorrow, the diplomat says.
In addition to halting strikes in Gaza and pushing for Israeli withdrawals in the event that Hamas begins disarming, Kushner will also lean on Netanyahu to fulfill humanitarian-related commitments that were made as part of the October 2025 ceasefire.
These include allowing 600 trucks per day of aid into the Strip and allowing the repair of critical infrastructure throughout the enclave.
Additional Israeli authorizations are also needed to allow for the deployment of the ISF in Gaza and the establishment of a pilot humanitarian zone that the Board of Peace wants to establish on the ruins of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Police announce the arrest of four people following a brawl in Savyon, reportedly including mob boss Yossi Musli, who was under house arrest.
Hebrew media outlets report the brawl took place outside Musli’s home in the affluent Tel Aviv-area suburb, and that a bloodied switchblade was found nearby with drops of blood leading back to the house.
Magen David Adom medics say a roughly 40-year-old man was rushed to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer in serious condition after he was stabbed in the brawl. Police say the wounded person is among the four who are in custody.
Reports indicate that Musli, 50, is not the person who was wounded.
Musli was arrested last month on suspicion of involvement in a spate of grenade attacks on branches of the Japanika fast-food chain.
He was later released to house arrest. On Thursday, the Tel Aviv District Court granted police’s request to keep Musli under house arrest in Savyon for 45 days.
The order allowed Musli only a limited number of phone calls a day, and forbade him both to “contact dozens of parties” and use the internet whether via app, computer, or phone, police said at the time.
Investigators believe the attacks on Japanika came amid warming ties between the Musli-rival Jarushi crime syndicate and the fast-food chain’s owner Barak Abramov.
Five Arab countries together with Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia on Sunday condemn Israel’s rejection of US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.
In a joint statement, the countries including Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, say the rejection threatens Trump’s intensified efforts to end war in Gaza.
“Israel bears responsibility for disrupting peace efforts in Gaza and the Palestinian territories,” the statement reads.
“These positions amount to a direct repudiation of the Comprehensive Plan, jeopardize its implementation, and fundamentally undermine the collective efforts undertaken to achieve a just and lasting peace,” the statement adds.
Israel’s rejection of the plan — announced last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — “directly threatens to derail the extensive efforts exerted by US President Trump to bring an end to the war in Gaza and establish the conditions for lasting peace.”
The countries call for “sustained and active US engagement to ensure and enforce Israel’s full compliance with the commitments and arrangements envisaged under the Comprehensive Plan and its Road Map, and to prevent further obstruction of their implementation.”
Israel therefore bears “direct and full responsibility for any consequences resulting from its continued rejection, obstruction, delay or non-compliance, including any resulting deterioration of the situation on the ground and disruption of ending the war in Gaza.”
“The ministers further call upon the Board of Peace, with the active support and engagement of the United States, to take immediate and concrete measures within its mandate to uphold the integrity of the Comprehensive Plan and prevent any party from obstructing its implementation,” the statement adds.
The Kol HaNeshama synagogue in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood was vandalized overnight Friday-Saturday, the congregation says.
Several youths breached the synagogue grounds, broke a window, entered through it and tore a Pride flag in the main sanctuary, “damaging a work of art that hangs there,” the congregation says in a statement.
Kol HaNeshama’s Rabbi Debi Shou-Haim tells The Times of Israel that there were no members of the congregation in the synagogue at the time of the attack, which security camera footage placed at about half past midnight early Saturday.
The congregation filed a complaint with police, which on Saturday sent a detective to take prints and view security camera footage, she says.
A still frame from the footage, published online by the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, shows at least three youths breached the synagogue grounds.
Police say that “upon receiving the report, police launched an investigation, in which several actions are being carried out and all lines of inquiry are being examined.” The police decline to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
בלילה בין שישי לשבת, בשעה שבה התפרץ בריון להיכל התפילה של בית הכנסת הרפורמי במנהטן, התפרצה חבורת צעירים בריונים לאולם התפילה של קהילת "כל הנשמה" בירושלים, אחת מהקהילות המוכרות והמובילות בעולם היהודי הליברלי.
באישון לילה הם ניפצו את הזכוכית, נכנסו אל תוך אולם התפילה, השחיתו… pic.twitter.com/A4Y4e1KOBD
— גלעד קריב (@KarivGilad) August 16, 2026
Kol HaNeshama, one of about 50 progressive Jewish synagogues in Israel, has long suffered anti-Reform animus, including two similar acts of vandalism in 2023.
“Vandalism and violence won’t dim our light,” the congregation says. “We hope enforcement authorities quickly find the criminals and bring them to justice.”
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who directed the progressive Judaism movement before entering Knesset, calls the vandals “incited hooligans” and accuses the government of “fostering gratuitous hatred and delegitimization of liberal Jewish denominations.”
He also notes that the vandalism at Kol HaNeshama took place at roughly the same time an assailant attacked a congregant and a guard at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue, one of the largest Reform synagogues in the world.
The man who allegedly disrupted Shabbat services at a New York City synagogue, striking a congregant and a guard, called Jews “swine” after being detained, The New York Post reports.
Larry Montes, 46, from the Bronx, is arraigned on hate crime charges for the Friday night incident at the Central Synagogue.
An assistant district attorney says that, after Montes was arrested, he told police that the disruption and alleged assaults were motivated by religious animus toward Jews.
Montes interrupted the service by “screaming,” charging toward the front of the service, and smashing two candleholders worth around $10,000 each, the report says.
After being arrested, he called the congregants “swine” and “fake Jews” in statements to police, the assistant district attorney says.
He struck a 63-year-old woman in the face, knocking her to the ground and slicing open her lip, and headbutted a guard.
A woman identifying herself as the victim, Michele Anenberg-Poma, posts a photo showing her cut lip and a slice on her arm on social media.
“You will not punch out our Jewish light. You will not stand and cause harm to our eternal light,” she writes. “We will continue to sing our prayers of peace, love, and joy while protecting the voices that lead us each week.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir publicly advocates for killing “30 to 40” people in targeted strikes on Gaza each night, apparently referring to Hamas operatives and other enemies of Israel, in comments that have been widely shared today in Arab media outlets.
Ben Gvir made the statement while speaking to former Palestinian Islamic Jihad hostage Rom Braslavski, in the inaugural episode of the ex-captive’s “October 8” podcast, which was published last night.
“It’s no secret, I disagree with the prime minister,” Ben Gvir said of Israel’s reduced operations in Gaza amid an international push to move ahead with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. “”I think we should carry out targeted assassinations in Gaza, taking down 30 to 40 every night,” he said. Not just those who pose an immediate threat. No, there are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.”
Ben Gvir is a member of the security cabinet, but he does not have power over the military and cannot order strikes on Gaza. But, after operating for decades within Israel’s far-right fringe, he is now among the most influential people in the country.
Speaking on the podcast, Ben Gvir also advocated for mass emigration of Palestinians from Gaza — a proposal that international lawyers say could amount to ethnic cleansing — and resettlement of Gaza by Israel.
“I see all of Gaza as ours,” said Ben Gvir in the interview. “Settlements not just in Gush Katif [Israel’s settlement bloc in Gaza, which was evacuated in 2005] but throughout Gaza, encouraging as much emigration as possible, sending them to their countries, and for the terrorists, no emigration, nothing, just to kill them one by one.”
Israel and Honduras have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen defense cooperation between the two nations, Israel’s Defense Ministry announces.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry says that Defense Minister Israel Katz and Honduran Defense Minister Enrique Rodríguez Burchard signed the MOU during a meeting in Israel alongside senior officials from the defense ministries of both countries.
“The MOU signed today constitutes a significant milestone in strengthening defense relations between the two countries and establishes a framework for long-term cooperation based on shared interests and values,” the statement says.
“The Honduran delegation received a briefing on the security and operational challenges Israel has faced in recent years, including key lessons from the multifront war and from contending with evolving and emerging threats in the region,” the ministry adds.
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner will meet in Egypt with Hamas leadership as he pushes a peace plan, sources from Hamas tell AFP.
“Mediators informed Hamas that US envoy Jared Kushner will hold a meeting with the Hamas leadership, in the presence of Egyptian and Qatari officials, before Kushner travels to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” says one of the Hamas sources, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.
The IDF says the two strikes in the Gaza Strip within an hour today targeted two terror operatives who were advancing attacks.
A member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was targeted in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, and a Hamas operative was targeted in Nuseirat in the Strip’s center, according to the military.
“The terrorists advanced terror attacks and were struck in precise aerial strikes to remove the threat,” the army says.
Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, who heads the Central Elections Committee, rejects a request to reconsider his decision from earlier this month banning workers and party observers in the polls on October 27 from sharing information about who has voted, a longstanding practice that has been utilized mainly by right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties to maximize voter turnout.
Instead, Sohlberg decides that “in the name of transparency and election integrity, polling station turnout data will be provided to the public” at least four times on election day and this data “will be equally accessible to all candidate slates, enabling them to work on encouraging voter turnout without exposing information regarding the identity of those who voted,” the committee says in a statement.
“This data will consist solely of aggregate numbers that do not allow for the identification of whether a specific person voted, thereby balancing the need to allow parties to encourage voter turnout with the obligation to protect the privacy of Israeli citizens and the integrity of the electoral process,” it explains.
US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner talked with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi today about the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire, Sissi’s spokesperson says.
The meeting in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein “emphasized the need for all parties to fulfill their obligations under the Gaza Strip ceasefire agreement” reached in October 2025, says spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennawy in a statement.
Earlier a Hamas official told AFP that a meeting is being arranged between the Hamas negotiating delegation, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, and US officials during Kushner’s visit to Egypt this week, to discuss obstacles related to the agreement.
Iran’s military announces that it is offering a bounty equivalent to $30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers, with the reward doubled if carried out by a woman.
Army chief Amir Hatami claims the plan was drawn up following “the large number of requests” to participate in the financial support, according to the IRNA state news agency.
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami does not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami says, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
“Courageous Iranian women who carry out such an action will receive double the reward,” he adds.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet with Economy Minister Nir Barkat ahead of tomorrow’s Likud primary, stating that “there is no need,” Channel 13 reports.
Netanyahu is reportedly looking to settle scores with internal critics such as Barkat during the primary.
Last week, Channel 12 reported that Barkat co-led a failed attempt to replace Netanyahu through a no-confidence vote immediately following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. The network claimed that Barkat led the effort with fellow Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, who left the ruling party last month to form the rival Unity party along with fellow Likud rebel Gilad Erdan.
The reported 2023 move, had the pair pulled it off, would have allowed for a constructive vote of no confidence, meaning the Knesset would vote to install a new prime minister without needing to dissolve parliament and call an early election.
However, Likud lawmakers were unable to agree on who would lead in his place, while Netanyahu caught wind of the intraparty coup attempt and coordinated with select Likud MKs and ministers to put a stop to it.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defense issues an alert warning of potential danger in Jazan province before quickly issuing another alert saying that the danger had passed, according to posts on X.
The Saudi civil defense agency first issued an alert warning of “potential danger” in southern Jazan province along the border with Yemen that has been targeted by Yemeni rebels recently.
“A warning has been issued by the National Early Warning Platform in the Jazan Province to alert of a potential danger,” read the statement by the agency.
It then issues an all clear.
In a second strike today, the military says it targeted a terror operative in the central Gaza Strip a short while ago.
Palestinian media reports that the strike in Nuseirat injured several people.
Further details are expected to be provided by the IDF later.
Adm. Brad Cooper visits the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed aircraft carrier.
The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the US war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Extended deployments of carriers — which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board — have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members.
“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released yesterday.
Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement.
A news crew from the Israeli i24News channel says it was attacked while filming about antisemitism last week in Northern Ireland.
According to a statement from the news network, reporter Yonatan Raveh and videographer Nadav Abas were filming in Belfast and interviewing locals as part of a documentary on rising antisemitism in Europe.
When a man realized that the crew members were from Israel, he tried to grab their camera equipment and then became belligerent and angry, the TV station says.
The man, who appears in the video to be intoxicated, threw a glass at Abas, causing a gash on the back of his head that was treated at the scene.
https://x.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/2088950064051859935
Pope Leo uses his weekly Sunday address to call for an end to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, amid a surge of attacks by extremist settlers.
“I renew my appeal for an end to the repeated violence against the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank,” the pope says, without mentioning specific confrontations or attacks.
“I urgently ask the international community to take action so as to advance the two-state solution, for a fair and lasting peace,” the Pope adds after noon prayers at his Castel Gandolfo residence outside Rome.
His comments come after residents of Taybeh, the West Bank’s only Christian village, had appealed to Leo for help amid settler attacks threatening members of the community.
Iran’s parliament has approved a bill that would criminalize interviews and other communications with media deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic, including US or Israeli media and outlets financed by either country, Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported.
Under the bill, which must still be reviewed by the Guardian Council before it can become law, interviews or participation in discussions with such media would be banned and violations punishable by six months to two years in prison.
Interviews with other foreign media would require notification to the intelligence ministry, while contact with foreign embassies, offices of foreign organizations or other non-Iranian institutions without notification and written permission from the foreign ministry would be punishable by a fine and deprivation of certain social rights.
The bill would also harden penalties for economic crimes committed under the direction or supervision of foreigners, ban providing information to foreigners without intelligence ministry approval, and restrict scientific cooperation with foreign institutions outside an approved list.
Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery was sentenced this month to 15 years under that law over allegations that included giving interviews to media deemed hostile and providing photographs to US and Israel-linked organizations.
The IDF carried out a strike targeting a terror operative in the southern Gaza Strip a short while ago, according to the military.
Palestinian media reports that the strike hit a tent in the Khan Younis area, injuring several people.
The army does not say whether the target posed a threat. Further details are expected to be provided by the IDF later.
#عاجل
مصابون في استهداف طائرات الاحتلال خيمة نازحين بالقرب من جامعة الأقصى غربي خانيونس pic.twitter.com/JXGWjFuasP— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) August 16, 2026
United Nations representatives arrived at homes in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, that had been blocked by settlers over the past week, bringing residents food and water, according to videos and accounts from the homeowners who spoke with The Times of Israel.
The homeowners say the UN representatives brought a water tanker with them, but security forces did not allow it to remain at the site, which remains a closed military zone.
נציגים של האו"ם – ככל הנראה מיוניצ"ף – הגיעו לבתים בקוסרה, הביאו מים ואוכל לבעלי הבתים. לפי התושבים הביאו גם מיכלית מים אך הכוחות לא התירו להם להשאיר אותה pic.twitter.com/K0wn0YmEwY
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) August 16, 2026
The IDF has not commented.
A Hamas delegation has begun a meeting with Egypt’s spy chief Hassan Rashad in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein to discuss ways to advance the implementation of a postwar plan for Gaza, an official from the Palestinian terror group tells AFP.
A delegation led by Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Egypt on Saturday evening, ahead of a visit by Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner to the region.
The Hamas official says talks will cover “the latest developments in the negotiations and the efforts being made to compel Israel to abide by the agreement, which includes the 15-point roadmap, and to begin its implementation.”
“The delegation will brief Egyptian officials on Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, and Hayya will emphasize the movement’s commitment and readiness to implement the agreement as soon as Israel announces its commitment to it,” he says.
Another Hamas source tells AFP that a meeting is being arranged between the Hamas negotiating delegation, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov and US officials during Kushner’s visit to Egypt this week, to discuss obstacles related to the agreement.
Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Al-Hayya in Egypt last October.
The source adds that contacts were underway with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators “to compel Israel to abide by the agreement.”
Kushner is visiting Egypt and then Israel this week in a bid to bridge gaps in the Gaza plan.
Hamas indicated in late July that it was ready to hand over its weapons to a nascent technical committee set to govern Gaza, as part of a 15-point plan that it said it was accepting and that was subsequently rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Police raided a pre-wedding henna party in the northern Arab city of Umm al-Fahm last night, footage shows, the second police action against marriage celebrations in the Arab community in as many days.
The raid came as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir touted the Friday night detention of an Arab bride and groom whose wedding convoy allegedly disrupted traffic in southern Israel.
The video from Umm al-Fahm shows guests at the henna lying face down between overturned chairs as officers move around them.
اقتحمت الشرطة الإسرائيلية سهرة حناء للعريس الشاب محمود مصطفى عفن محاميد في حي الشاغور بمدينة أم الفحم بالقنابل الصوتية وأجبرت المدعويين كبارا وصغارا على الانبطاح أرضا وروعت الأهالي وعكرت أجواء فرحهم من أجل " مصادرة "نرجيلة" و"تناول الحلويات"، وفق مصادر محلية. pic.twitter.com/YNVOLBooOL
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) August 16, 2026
According to eyewitnesses cited by the Arab48 news site, police appeared suddenly, threw stun grenades, demanded guests get down on the ground, and searched them without finding anything suspicious. The officers reportedly helped themselves to sweets and confiscated a hookah before leaving. No arrests are reported.
In response to a query police say, “The actions documented in the video were carried out following the suspicion that firearms were used.”
Officers “acted to investigate the suspicions and locate the weapons,” police say, adding that “the Israel Police will continue acting resolutely and uncompromisingly against the occurrence of gunfire at weddings.”
The statement does not say whether any firearms were found or otherwise contest the eyewitnesses’ account.
Arab wedding ceremonies often feature celebratory gunfire into the air, though there have been communal efforts to put an end to the practice.
Ali Adnan Barakat, an attorney who sits on the Umm al-Fahm municipal council, says in a statement on the henna raid that “the intimidation of the guests, disruption of their security and ruining their joy at a social event is condemnable and must not go unpunished.”
If there was no legal basis for the raid, then the officers’ conduct “requires investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law… especially in light of the extremist approach led by Ben Gvir,” says Barakat.
Last night, the minister posted a brief video on X that showed a bride and groom — both in their wedding attire — being led into the Ayarot police station in southern Israel on Friday night.
The couple had “created a wedding convoy on Negev roads and deliberately caused congestion and traffic disruptions,” Ben Gvir said.
זה לא כניסה לחופה…
חתן וכלה שיצרו שיירת חתונה בכבישי הנגב וגרמו לפקקים במכוון ולהפרעה בתנועה, עוכבו על ידי שוטרי מרחב רותם לתחנת עיירות. pic.twitter.com/IzwNFeSuMW— אמברגו (@embargo1news) August 15, 2026
The post drew some criticism online, with veteran Arab MK Ahmad Tibi writing: “This isn’t enforcement. This is a police force that wants to turn even an Arab wedding into a zone of fear and intimidation.”
After Ben Gvir’s post disappears from his feed, he denies having deleted it, and tells right-wing radio station Galey Israel to “check if X removed it.”
The social network does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli marathoners have taken the team gold at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, beating out second-place Germany by 34 seconds in the men’s race.
Gashau Ayale leads the pack for the Israeli runners, winning an individual bronze with a time of 2:09:21, just 10 seconds off the course record set by winner Amanal Petros of Germany.
Ayale’s teammate Tadesse Getahon crosses the finish line 10 seconds behind him, good enough for fifth, and Haimro Alame snags eighth place. The rest of the team finishes 12th, 22nd and 35th, snagging a combined time of 6:28:37.
انجاز رياضي من الدرجة الأولى
ذهبية للمنتخب الإسرائيلي في الماراثون ببطولة أوروبا لألعاب القوى
واصل عداؤو الماراثون الإسرائيليون تحقيق الإنجازات، بعدما أحرزوا اليوم الميدالية الذهبية للمرة الثانية على التوالي والثالثة في تاريخ الماراثون الاسرائيلي ، اثر تصدّر العدائين… pic.twitter.com/4hbGgK0OB2— إسرائيل بالعربية (@IsraelArabic) August 16, 2026
The medals mark Israel’s first at the weeklong games, which end today.
Israel has won the men’s marathon twice before at the European championships in 2022 and in 2025. Ayale was in the team all three times.
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards told the White House that the hardline group backed the Tehran regime in its negotiations with the US for a ceasefire deal, via a secret backchannel between the IRGC and Trump administration, Axios reports, citing three unnamed sources.
According to the report, US officials feared that talks with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were liable to be undermined by the IRGC, which is thought to be the most powerful group behind Iran’s leadership.
In May, then-director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reached out to Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, who has close ties to the IRGC, to attempt to find out the position of its leader, Gen. Ahmad Vahidi.
A few days later, Barzani arranged a phone call with Vahidi, during which the general assured him that the IRGC backed Araghchi and Ghalibaf. “I fully support them and this is also the position of the IRGC. We prefer to solve this crisis through negotiations,” he is quoted as having said. His message was quickly passed to the White House via Gabbard.
The Trump administration sought to expand Barzani’s role by having him host direct talks between the US and Iran in Erbil, Iraq, but the Iranians declined due to fears that representatives would be targeted by Israel, which was thought to have a strong intelligence presence in Kurdistan, the report says.
Barzani recently made an offer to the White House to restart talks, Axios reports.
Two Israelis and 10 Palestinians were injured in clashes in Hebron overnight, according to competing accounts from the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian Red Crescent.
According to the IDF, troops were dispatched to an Israeli settlement inside the divided city overnight, following reports of gunfire in the area.
As the troops arrived, they identified a “confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians, which included stone-throwing between the sides, the army says.
One of the Israelis opened fire into the air amid the clash, and two Israelis were injured by the stone throwing, according to the IDF.
“Later, Palestinian suspects gathered around the soldiers and attempted to attack them. The troops fired at two suspects and arrested several additional suspects,” the military says.
The Red Crescent says the settlers were accompanied by soldiers as they attacked Palestinians.
Bassam Jabari, a Hebron resident who was at the scene and spoke with The Times of Israel, says settlers approached Palestinian homes around midnight, threw stones at homes and cars, and also attempted to set cars on fire.
He says that several Palestinians who came out of their homes were shot by IDF troops. Those shot included his brother and nephew, he says. A video of the aftermath of the incident shows blood covering the ground as a man is loaded into an ambulance.
The IDF says that the incident is under further investigation.
The investigation is probing whether Palestinians tried to grab one of the soldiers’ guns during the later clash, according to a military source.
Jabari’s brother was taken to a Palestinian hospital. His nephew, he says, was taken by soldiers in a military ambulance to a hospital in Jerusalem.
It is unclear why he was taken there, though he may be considered a suspect in the incident.
Jewish visitors were allowed to use prayer books atop the Temple Mount this morning, marking the latest crack in a status quo arrangement banning Jews from worshiping at the sensitive compound.
Arnon Segel, a right-wing journalist and activist seeking to expand Jewish religious freedom at the site, posts a picture of men praying on the Temple Mount while reading from siddurim, books of Jewish liturgy. Towels can be seen on the ground in front of the men, indicating the inclusion of prostration in ritual worship on the esplanade, which was the home of the two ancient Jewish Temples.
“Still no explicit permit but a first try to make sure the Middle East doesn’t lose its mind over this,” Segel posts, calling the event “historic.”
According to Haaretz, citing Segal and an unnamed activist, police allowed the visitors to ascend the site with the prayer books.
הבוקר בהר הבית: יהודים מתפללים עם סידורים. עדיין לא היתר גורף אבל ניסוי ראשוני במטרה לוודא שהמזרח התיכון לא יוצא מדעתו בגלל זה. היסטוריה pic.twitter.com/MduyD0YKmm
— ארנון סגל (@arnonsegal1) August 16, 2026
Once completely proscribed due to Muslim sensitivities about the compound’s status, Jewish prayer has been increasingly allowed by police, including public displays. Until now, however, worshipers were limited in their ability to bring in liturgical items beyond single sheets of paper, which were first allowed in January, according to Haaretz.
Police say in a statement carried by the outlet that the compound is managed “in accordance with the instructions of the political leadership, standard practices at the site and based on an operational assessment.”
Footage provided to The Times of Israel shows what appear to be settlers riding near homes on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Qusra that had been besieged by Israeli extremists setting up an illegal outpost in the area.
In the footage, an ATV is seen traveling on dirt roads a few hundred meters from the homes, in an area that has been declared a closed military zone.
חזל"ש להיעדר המתנחלים מהאזור – הם שוב נצפו pic.twitter.com/W2lUkm9crI
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) August 16, 2026
The ATV is of a type used by extremist settler groups setting up wildcat outposts across the West Bank.
A Qusra resident who lives near the besieged homes had earlier told The Times of Israel that no settlers had been seen in the area for several hours. The army cleared the outpost late last week as pressure grew over the settlers blocking Palestinians from leaving their homes.
Greek authorities say they have arrested a 35-year-old Israeli national on suspicion of starting a wildfire on the island of Crete, as the country battles a seasonal spurt of deadly blazes.
The man, who is not named, is accused of lighting a barbecue in a forested area near the town of Rethimno on Crete’s northern coast, despite a burn ban being in effect across the island, according to the E-Kathimerini news site.
According to Walla, authorities suspect that embers from the barbecue were carried by high winds from the guesthouse where he was staying, sparking the fire.
He is accused of negligent arson.
Firefighters managed to get the blaze under control after four hours, according to the report.
In the past few hours, soldiers have been stationed outside the besieged Palestinian homes in Qusra, south of Nablus, preventing Israeli settlers from returning and blocking them, Yusuf Hassan, a resident of one of the homes, tells The Times of Israel.
The residents of two homes on the outskirts of Qusra had been unable to leave their homes since August 9, sparking an IDF operation late last week in which the army temporarily relocated the families in order to remove the settlers. The Hassans and members of the Abu Ridi family staying in a house next door were later allowed to return.
However, Hassan says soldiers have prohibited him from leaving his home due to a closed military zone order issued for the area, essentially leaving the siege in place. He adds that he fears that as soon as IDF troops leave the area, the settlers will return and once again block the home.
For the past three days, soldiers have been staying in a building next to one of the besieged homes to keep settlers from returning, though it’s unclear to what extent they have truly kept away.
A Qusra resident who lives relatively close to the besieged homes tells The Times of Israel that no settlers have been seen on the hill since last night and that IDF troops are patrolling the area.
In recent months, an outpost called Tel Talpiot was established several hundred meters above the homes, at the top of the hill.
Palestinians say attacks on homes in the area were launched from the outpost even before settlers began blocking the homes at the edge of the village.
Iran’s judiciary says it executed a man convicted of running over and injuring several police officers with his car during anti-government protests in January.
“Shahram Sadeghi, sentenced to death for having carried out an operational action in support of the Zionist regime and the United States, was executed this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website says.
Sadeghi ran over several police officers with his car on January 8 in Karaj, west of Tehran, wounding seven of them, Mizan adds.
The number of executions carried out by Iran has risen since the start of the Middle East war, which broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
A large number of the executions have been linked to the protests.
Police say they are investigating an incident in which an explosive device is thought to have been thrown at a residence in south Tel Aviv, amid a rash of suspected gangland attacks involving grenades.
The incident is being treated as a domestic criminal matter, police say in a statement. No injuries are reported.
According to authorities, neighbors reported hearing an explosion near an apartment building in the Kiryat Shalom neighborhood of the city early Sunday.
“There is damage at the scene,” the police statement says.
Hebrew media reports connect the incident to an ongoing feud between the Jarushi and Musli crime syndicates, which has been blamed for dozens of similar attacks on homes and businesses in central Israel in recent months.
Romania’s defense ministry says a Spanish F-18 fighter jet pilot on a NATO air policing mission to Romania shot down a drone illegally breaching its national airspace, the fourth unmanned aircraft the country has shot down this year.
The NATO state shares a 614-kilometer (382-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach its airspace over the last four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
The ministry does not specify the origin of the drone, but says its radars detected it entering the country from neighbouring Moldova, some 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of the southeastern Romanian city of Galati.
The ministry says fragments appear to have fallen in an uninhabited area between two villages.
Earlier this year, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment block in the city of Galati during an overnight attack on neighboring Ukraine, injuring two people.
The Israel Defense Forces says it killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanon town of Deir al-Zahrani yesterday.
The statement from the IDF does not acknowledge claims of overnight strikes in southern Lebanon, after Lebanese media reported heavy explosions in the Ali Taher ridge area for a second day in a row.
The IDF says the Saturday morning strike on Ali Muhammad Fakhr al-Din came in response to a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in the pre-dawn hours Saturday that seriously wounded three soldiers.
Lebanese media reported that the Deir al-Zahrani strike on Saturday morning killed two people.
Al-Din, also known as Abu Hassan Alaa, is identified by the IDF as a “senior commander” in Hezbollah’s Badr regional division. The regional unit is tasked with the area north of the Litani River.
The IDF says that as part of his role, Hassan Alaa took part in numerous attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Eleven people were killed in Israeli strikes Saturday in response to the drone attack, according to Lebanese media, including civilians.
The IDF announced earlier that among those killed Saturday was Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a battalion commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, who was hit in a strike in the town of Ansar.
With fighting threatening to ramp up in Lebanon and Gaza, Defense Minister Israel Katz appears to promise retaliatory strikes in both locations following attacks on troops.
“No account on any front will remain unsettled,” Katz offers in a terse post on X. “We will forcefully defend our soldiers and citizens.”
His comments come after overnight reports of strikes in southern Lebanon, following an attack on troops early Saturday in which three soldiers were wounded. Israel has not confirmed the reports.
Earlier Israeli strikes killed 11 in Lebanon, according to local authorities on Saturday.
In Gaza, an IDF tank was struck by a Hamas explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, in what the military said was a violation of the ceasefire in the enclave. No troops were injured in that incident, which came days after Israel resumed strikes in the Strip following a week-long lull.
Hurricane Lala approaches Hawaii with strong winds and heavy rain, leaving more than 40,000 utility customers without power across the state as the National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening” conditions.
The poweroutage.com website showed 42,889 customers without power as of 2:14 p.m. HST (0014 GMT today) in Hawaii, including 31,792 on the Big Island and 7,203 in Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
An advisory from the hurricane center at 2 p.m. HST predicted 10 to 20 inches (25.4 to 51 cm) of rain on the Big Island, and possibly up to 25 inches there, as well as 8 to 12 inches in eastern Maui and 4 to 6 inches in western Maui.
“This rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the center says.
Hawaiian Electric warned customers to expect “possible extended outages, potentially overnight,” as the storm system made its way westward across Hawaii. On the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island, utility crews are assessing a 42-mile (67.6 km) span of transmission lines after fallen trees knocked down multiple poles and structures, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Darren Pai told TV station Hawaii News Now.
Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrikes in the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, where three soldiers were seriously wounded by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah last night.
The reported strikes come hours after residents of the Upper Galilee were notified by local authorities that explosions are expected to be heard due to IDF activity in Lebanon overnight.
Israeli strikes are targeting the strategic Ali al Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, overlooking Nabatieh.
It is possible we are witnessing some sort of special operation pic.twitter.com/u0agbN3S6M
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 15, 2026
Settler children are filmed raiding the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya and harassing residents.
Such harassment takes place on a near-daily basis, with perpetrators seeking to coax Palestinians into fleeing additional areas of the West Bank.
There are no reports of arrests, which are exceptionally rare in instances of settler violence.
Israeli settlers keep sending their children to harass and attack the Abu Awwad family in the village of Turmus Ayya in the West Bank, in an attempt to intimidate them and pressure them into leaving their home. pic.twitter.com/2O2vXE8bnJ
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) August 15, 2026
🟨 مستوطنون يعربدون في محيط منزل عائلة "أبو عواد" في سهل بلدة ترمسعيا شمال مدينة رام الله. pic.twitter.com/d7k0jXruDU
— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) August 15, 2026
An senior Iranian Parliament member appears to threaten US President Donald Trump and mocks a reported operation prompted by an Iranian assassination threat to transfer him between planes in a catering truck.
“The US President ought to worry about his own security rather than his endless bluffing regarding the Strait of Hormuz; before he ends up hiding in a food truck,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Commission, writes on X.
Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he had been smuggled off Air Force One in Ankara in July using a catering vehicle because the Secret Service and US military told him to switch planes.
The US leader said Friday he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz to be US territory.
The U.S. President ought to worry about his own security rather than his endless bluffing regarding the Strait of Hormuz; before he ends up hiding in a food truck.
— ابراهیم عزیزی (@Ebrahimazizi33) August 15, 2026
Hamas terror group leader Khalil al-Hayya is set to travel to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, a Hamas source tells AFP, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner to the region.
Hayya, who will be visiting Egypt for the first time since assuming leadership of Hamas in late July, is due to meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad this morning, the source says.
Kushner will visit Israel and Egypt next week in hopes of bridging gaps on a Gaza plan rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will be accompanied by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace tasked with implementing the deal.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
