Aug. 18: Biden says Gaza ceasefire deal &#8216;still possible&#8217; and &#8216;we&#8217;re not giving up&#8217;

Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Qabrikha earlier this evening, used in an attack on the Upper Galilee.

It publishes footage of the strike.

Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon's Qabrikha earlier this evening, used in an attack on the Upper Galilee.

Meanwhile, the IDF says one rocket was fired from Lebanon at the Shtula area tonight, setting off sirens. There were no injuries… pic.twitter.com/x5VUgbQ6wZ

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 18, 2024

Meanwhile, the IDF says one rocket was fired from Lebanon at the Shtula area tonight, setting off sirens. There were no injuries in the attack.

9:31 pm

Netanyahu, Smotrich agree to pass 2025 state budget by end of year

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 22, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agree to pass the 2025 state budget by the end of the year.

“Discussions were held regarding the budget framework, with a goal of supporting the war effort on the fronts and at home in order to push the economy forward,” says a statement by Netanyahu’s office, adding that the two agreed the budget would pass by the end of 2024.

In the wake of credit rating cuts by S&P and Moody’s, Smotrich is under pressure to maintain fiscal responsibility at a time when the budget deficit has swelled due to Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Spending on the war has topped NIS 80 billion ($22 billion) and investors are watching to see if Smotrich has the political will in the coalition of right-wing and religious parties to make big fiscal adjustments.

Reuters contributed to this report.

9:27 pm

Hamas rejects latest hostage deal proposal, says Netanyahu setting new conditions

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)

Hamas puts out an official statement rejecting the latest hostage proposal discussed in Doha over the weekend, and blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for putting up new obstacles in the talks.

The terrorist group says that Netanyahu “sets new conditions and demands” to thwart talks and prolong the war in Gaza.

The statement says that the latest US-backed proposal is aligned with Israel’s demands, pointing at the insistence that the IDF remain in the Philadelphi Corridor, the Rafah Crossing, and the Netzarim Corridor. The group also blames Netanyahu for introducing new conditions around the release of security prisoners.

“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts and obstructing an agreement,” Hamas says, adding that the prime minister is responsible for the lives of the hostages held by Hamas.

Hamas stresses that it continues to stand by its own July 2 proposal.

9:10 pm

Israel said to demand international presence at Rafah border crossing

Egyptian army soldiers guard their side of the Rafah crossing, closed since early May, on July 4, 2024. (Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

The IDF has presented Israel’s political leaders with various options for solving the issue of control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, Channel 12 news reports.

These include maintaining an IDF presence all along the 14-kilometer border route, withdrawing but with the right to return whenever needed, and withdrawing but with ongoing coordination with the Egyptians.

It has also suggested various “technological” solutions to prevent Hamas being able to smuggle weaponry under the border, the report says.

The report says Israel is also insisting that there be an international presence at the Rafah border crossing, separating between the Gazan and Egyptian sides of the crossing. This is because while Hamas has used tunnels beneath the border, “the vast majority” of its arms were brought into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing itself.

Channel 12 quotes Arab media reports claiming that in the US “bridging proposal” conveyed to Israel and Hamas on Friday, it is stated that the Palestinian Authority would run the Rafah border crossing, with remote Israeli oversight.

9:06 pm

Blinken to sit with Herzog ahead of Netanyahu meeting

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

President Isaac Herzog will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, according to The President’s Residence.

The meeting will take place in Tel Aviv, ahead of Blinken’s meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

9:01 pm

PM said to warn: If Hamas insists on full Israeli withdrawal from Philadelphi, there’ll be no deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks with Mossad chief David Barnea at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv on October 15, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Offering more details of today’s meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s hostage-ceasefire negotiators, Channel 12 says Netanyahu has not budged on his demand for an ongoing Israeli presence at the Philadelphi Corridor even after the Wednesday-Thursday Doha summit. He did not shift even after the negotiators told him “It’s either Philadelphi or a deal,” Channel 12 says.

In fact, the TV report goes on, Netanyahu told Israel’s negotiators that if Hamas does not withdraw its demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, there will indeed be no deal.

The negotiators told Netanyahu that they had managed to bring the US mediators closer to Israel’s positions and demands on most issues, including such crucial matters as how many living hostages would be released in the first phase of the deal and the mechanism regarding the Palestinian security prisoners who would go free.

But they reportedly told the prime minister that “they are certain” that the issue of an ongoing IDF presence on the Philadelphi Corridor is “a deal-breaker.” They told Netanyahu that the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators regard Israel’s demand for an ongoing presence at the Gaza-Egypt border as indicating that the prime minister is not truly interested in a deal, and that they are not prepared to press Hamas with full force to accept it.

Compromise is needed, the negotiators reportedly told the prime minister. And they stressed that there are “security solutions” that would allow an IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor.

Netanyahu reportedly told them in response that Philadelphi is not merely a security issue. It is a strategic issue, he reportedly said, since a temporary withdrawal can become permanent. Israel, he reportedly said, needs to control all the border crossings, and access to the Gaza Strip from all directions, as a matter of strategic importance.

The negotiators reportedly insisted that, if so, there would be no deal, and that they have nothing to work with.

Netanyahu then said he was prepared to discuss how the troops would be deployed, but not to compromise on the fundamental imperative for them to be present. If Hamas continues to insist on a full IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, there will be no deal, Netanyahu reportedly said.

It is with that message that he is sending Israel’s negotiators to Cairo for more talks, the report says.

It adds, however, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be meeting Netanyahu on the core issues of the deal tomorrow, and says that efforts are nonetheless ongoing right now with the Egyptians to see if there is some potential for flexibility.

8:50 pm

Netanyahu tells ministers chance for hostage deal ‘not high’ — report

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 17, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells ministers in the cabinet meeting today that he is pessimistic about the chances for a deal, according to the Kan news outlet.

“The chances are not high,” he says, noting that Israel has been effectively negotiating with the mediating countries, not with Hamas, in recent days.

8:48 pm

Israeli negotiating team said in Cairo for talks on control of Philadelphi Corridor

View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)

The Israeli negotiating team that flew to Cairo earlier today to discuss the terms of a hostage deal with Hamas includes Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano, commander of the IDF’s Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate in the General Staff, Kan news reports.

The discussions are expected to focus mainly on the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza, and who will control the border in the event of a deal between Israel and Hamas.

Large gaps remain between the sides over the presence of IDF troops in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that IDF troops will remain on the Gaza-Egypt border.

8:42 pm

Man killed in explosion in vehicle Tel Aviv, motive likely criminal

The scene of an explosion in a vehicle in Tel Aviv that killed one person on August 18, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

A man was killed in an explosion in his vehicle in Tel Aviv, police and medics say.

Police say the blast occurred as the man was driving a truck on Lod Street in the city, adding that officers are at the scene and investigating the cause of the blast.

Police sources tell Hebrew media the motive is likely criminal, not terror.

Magen David Adom medics say that they found a man in his 50s lying lifeless beside the burning truck and were forced to declare him dead at the scene.

8:37 pm

Gallant reportedly tells Netanyahu full cabinet should hold deliberations on Gaza deal, because stakes are so high

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/ Flash90)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold deliberations on the potential hostage-ceasefire deal with the participation of the full cabinet, rather than in the current small forum that includes Netanyahu, Gallant, Minister Ron Dermer and MK Aryeh Deri, Channel 12 news reports.

Gallant is arguing that the deliberations on the deal are of vast national significance, going beyond even the issue of terms for the return of the hostages, and extending to the potential for a descent into regional war.

Ordinarily, the full cabinet would only be required to approve a finalized deal. But, Gallant has reportedly told Netanyahu, it is inappropriate for the discussions over the deal to be held in any forum other than the full cabinet because of the potential implications, the TV report says.

Gallant has reportedly made the request of Netanyahu twice — on Thursday and again today, in the presence of the three senior security officials, Mossad’s David Barnea, Shin Bet’s Ronen Bar and the IDF’s Nitzan Alon, who have been leading the negotiations. Netanyahu has not agreed to it thus far, the report says.

It cites Gallant saying that Israel is at a strategic crossroads and that if there is no deal, there is a growing risk of military escalation, ultimately leading to potentially unstoppable regional war involving Hezbollah and Iran. Thus the authority for how the negotiations play out should rest with the full cabinet.

The same Channel 12 report also claims that Netanyahu, in their meeting today, complained to the negotiators that they were too ready to compromise during their contacts with the mediators of the potential deal.

“You are carrying out negotiations. You can’t fold after two days,” Netanyahu reportedly chastised them.

In response, the negotiators were quoted saying: “We have not been negotiating for two days. We have been negotiating for months. [Control of the] Philadelphi Corridor [along the Gaza-Egypt border] is not a security issue [for the period while the deal is being implemented]. We will return there [with the IDF] if we need to [later].”

Netanyahu’s demand for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, and Hamas’s rejection of the demand, is widely reported to be one of the key obstacles to a potential deal.

8:34 pm

Netanyahu blasts ‘serial leakers’ as reports emerge of sharp disagreements with negotiators over Philadelphi withdrawal

A handout photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a situational assessment at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on July 30, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

After reports emerge of a tense meeting earlier today between the negotiating team and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement blasting “serial leakers.”

“They claimed in recent months that Hamas would never agree to give up the end of the war as a condition of the deal,” says Netanyahu’s office, “and recommended giving in to Hamas’s demand.”

Netanyahu’s office says that “they were wrong then – they are wrong today.”

The statement stresses that Netanyahu continues to insist that the IDF remain on the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza.

Israel’s negotiators told Netanyahu this morning that “without flexibility on Philadelphi, there will be no deal and the hostages will not return,” according to Channel 12.

“The Prime Minister will continue to work to promote a deal that will maximize the number of abductees alive and that will enable the achievement of all the war’s goals,” stresses the PMO.

Channel 13 reports that the negotiating team pushed Netanyahu to show more flexibility in talks to keep them from falling apart without any clear idea of when they would be able to restart in the future.

Meanwhile, Kan news reports that in the “extremely contentious” meeting this morning the negotiators told Netanyahu that the mandate they had been given was too narrow, and that it must be expanded for today’s talks in Cairo.

Kan also reports that Netanyahu told ministers today chances for deal are “not high.”

8:24 pm

Victim of West Bank hammer attack identified as Gidon Peri, 38

The security guard killed in a West Bank hammer attack is identified as Gidon Peri, a resident of the Kedumim settlement.

Peri, 38, was a married father of three, Kedumim says in a statement announcing his death.

The statement calls on the government to “recognize that we are at war and to order the IDF to act in accordance.”

הנרצח בפיגוע בשומרון: גדעון פרי, תושב קדומים, בן 38.
עבד כמנהל הייצור וכמאבטח במפעל באזור התעשייה שבו נרצח היום. המחבל עבד באותו מפעל.
גדעון היה נשוי לאלה, ואב ל3 ילדים: בני 15, 11 ו8 pic.twitter.com/rZ6cKnL2rl

— Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור (@carmeldangor) August 18, 2024

7:52 pm

Israeli guard hurt in West Bank hammer attack dies of his wounds

Footage captured from the scene of an attack at the Bar-On industrial park in the West Bank, during which a civilian security guard was hit over the head with a hammer by a Palestinian assailant, August 18, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

An Israeli security guard wounded in a terror attack at the Bar-On industrial park near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim has died, Beilinson Hospital says.

According to the IDF and medics, the man in his 30s was hit over the head with a hammer by a Palestinian attacker.

The terrorist then snatched the guard’s handgun and fled the scene.

The Israeli was taken to Beilinson Hospital in critical condition, where his death was declared a short while ago.

7:19 pm

Algeria to supply Lebanon with fuel to avert power shutdown

By Reuters

In this Monday, March 29, 2021 file photo, the capital city of Beirut remains in darkness during a power outage as the sun sets, in Lebanon (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Algeria will immediately begin supplying Lebanon with fuel for its power plants, Algerian state radio says in a statement, after Lebanon’s electricity company said the day before its supplies were exhausted.

Lebanon has not had round-the-clock power since the 1990s and cash transfers to Lebanon’s state electricity company, Electricité du Liban (EDL) to cover chronic losses have contributed tens of billions of dollars to the country’s huge public debt.

EDL on Saturday announced a complete nationwide power outage, including at critical facilities such as the airport.

It said then power supply would resume gradually once new fuel supplies were secured, either through a swap agreement with Iraq or other sources.

The Algerian state radio statement did not give any detail.

7:12 pm

Blinken lands in Israel for 9th visit since October 7 amid efforts to reach Gaza ceasefire

By ToI Staff and Lazar Berman

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken lands in Israel for his ninth visit to the region since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught.

He is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

He is also slated to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz and President Isaac Herzog.

7:09 pm

State Attorney Amit Aisman to oversee investigation into Jit settler riot

By Jeremy Sharon

State Attorney Amit Aisman announces that he will be overseeing the investigation into the severe riot which was carried out by extremist settlers in the Palestinian village of Jit on Thursday.

During the riot, 23-year-old IT professional Rasheed Seda was killed and homes and vehicles were set ablaze.

Aisman convened a meeting of all senior officials in the State Attorney’s Office, the Israel Police, the Shin Bet, and the IDF on Sunday to discuss the investigation into the riots and to decide how it is conducted, the State Attorney’s Office says in a statement to the press.

During the meeting, it was decided that the State Attorney’s Central District office will “closely supervise” the investigative cases opened into the riot, “with the oversight of the state attorney and the deputy state attorney.”

“At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that all branches of all law enforcement agencies will combine efforts in order to fight with a tough and effective hand those who took the law into their hands and harmed people and property,” the State Attorney’s Office says.

Some 100 extremist settlers perpetrated the riot on Thursday night, torching at least four homes and six vehicles in the village located just west of Nablus.

According to a report by the BBC, when young men from the town came to try and repel the rioters by throwing stones at them, the settlers opened fire against them.

At least one other Palestinian man was severely injured in the incident, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

7:04 pm

IDF: 98th Division returned to Khan Younis’ Hamad Town complex, also operating in Deir al-Balah

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image cleared for publication on August 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF’s 98th Division has returned to operate in the Hamad Town residential complex in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, while also operating for the first time in the Deir al-Balah area, the military says.

The latest operation in Khan Younis and the outskirts of Deir al-Balah came following rocket fire and other intelligence that the IDF says indicates Hamas’s presence in the area.

So far, dozens of sites belonging to terror groups have been destroyed, and several cells of gunmen were killed amid the operation.

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image cleared for publication on August 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The division’s Paratroopers Brigade is operating in the Hamad Town neighborhood and other areas of western Khan Younis, where soldiers are searching for tunnels, the IDF says. The military operated in Hamad earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the division’s 7th Armored Brigade is conducting operations on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, the IDF says, an area that ground forces have mostly not yet operated in.

The IDF carried out a very limited operation in eastern Deir al-Balah in June, as part of preparations for a hostage rescue mission in Nuseirat.

6:06 pm

IDF soldier seriously wounded in Gaza fighting

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in images released on August 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A soldier with the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion was seriously wounded by RPG fire in the southern Gaza Strip today, the IDF says.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

6:06 pm

Serbian police kill armed man linked to Israel embassy attack in shootout

By AFP

Armed Serbian police officers are stationed close to Israel's embassy in Belgrade, June 29, 2024. (Oliver Bunic/AFP)

A man has been shot dead by Serbian police, the interior minister says, after being connected with the attacker behind a crossbow shooting at the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in June.

Interior minister Ivica Dacic says the man fired shots toward the police near the southern city of Novi Pazar late yesterday and refused to surrender.

“During the arrest, he resisted, fired three to four shots at the police, and members of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit neutralised him,” Dacic tells local media.

He adds that the man had previously been convicted and jailed for terrorist offences.

The police operation took place in the village of Hotkovo, near Novi Pazar — a historical and political center of Serbia’s Bosniak Muslim minority.

Police said the man was wanted in connection with another man killed by police in Belgrade on June 29, after shooting a police officer in the neck with a crossbow outside the Israeli embassy.

The attack in the Serbian capital was characterized as a “terrorist act” by officials, who described the assailant as a Serbian convert to Islam.

The man killed Saturday night was the landlord of the June attacker, police say, who had lived in his apartment in Novi Pazar prior to his attack at the embassy.

He had been on the run since the June attack, the police minister states.

Local media describe the man killed in Novi Pazar as a “well-known follower” of the Wahhabi movement — a purist form of Islam that dominates in Saudi Arabia.

5:39 pm

Guard wounded in West Bank hammer attack in critical condition

The Israeli security guard wounded in the attack at the Bar-On industrial park near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim is listed in critical condition, Beilinson Hospital says.

The military says a Palestinian assailant hit him in the head with a hammer.

5:02 pm

Gallant tells fighter pilots: ‘We created the Air Force for days like these’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with fighter pilots and air crews at the Netivot Air Force base on August 18, 2024 (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits the Air Force base in Nevatim and tells pilots and aircrews that the capabilities of the Air Force were built for “days like these.”

“We are in days of opportunity and danger. It was for days like these we created the Air Force,” Gallant says according to a statement from his office.

“Because of your ability to attack anywhere, we have the confidence to take necessary risks,” Gallant says.

Photos show Gallant and the crews standing in front of F-35 stealth fighter jets.

His comments come with Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah threatening to attack Israel to avenge the recent killings of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Israel claimed credit for firing a missile into Shukr’s Beirut apartment, but has not claimed or denied killing Haniyeh.

4:45 pm

Netanyahu spent $6,275,421 on overseas trips in 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, depart for a trip to Paris on February 2, 2023. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

Newly released information shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent $6,275,421 of taxpayer money on overseas trips in 2023.

The information is obtained after the Freedom of Information Movement sues to obtain the details.

According to the details, Netanyahu traveled with his wife Sara and an entourage of between 25 to 36 people on a series of official trips to Paris, Rome, Berlin, London and the US.

His US trip saw him make stops in New York and San Francisco.

There was no breakdown on the makeup of the costs, but since last month the prime minister has been able to use a dedicated aircraft, Israel’s version of Air Force One, and not had to charter a plane from an airline company.

In comparison, former prime minister Naftali Bennett spent some $3.5 million on trips in 2021-2022.

In response to the release, Netanyahu’s office said the costs included the flights and hotel stays for the delegation and security teams and were all approved in accordance with the law by the relevant accounting teams.

The statement notes that flights were ordered through a tender and that hotels were chosen by a professional team in the Foreign Ministry.

4:32 pm

Netanyahu says Israel standing firm on key demands in hostage talks, willing to be flexible in other areas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on August 18, 2024 (Screenshot/GPO)

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel is sticking to its demands in ongoing hostage talks, positions that he says are in line with the proposal laid out by the White House in May.

“We are conducting very complex negotiations,” he says, “while on the other side stands a murderous, uninhibited, and obstinate terrorist organization.”

“But I want to emphasize,” the premier continues, “we are conducting negotiations [“give-and-take” in Hebrew], and not give-and-give. There are areas where we can show flexibility, and there are area where we can’t show flexibility — and we are standing firm on them. We know quite well how to distinguish between the two.”

There has been some optimism expressed by mediators after another round of hostage talks in Doha on Thursday and Friday. The US is trying to find a way to bridge gaps between Israeli and Hamas positions on the Philadelphi Corridor, the Rafah Crossing, the number and identity of hostages and security prisoners to be swapped, and the deployment of IDF forces if an agreement is reached.

“Alongside the great efforts we are making to return our abductees,” says Netanyahu, “we stand firm on the principles we have established, which are essential to Israel’s security.”

He says that the principles are “consistent with the May 27 outline, which received American support.”

Netanyahu says that Hamas is continuing to refuse a deal: “It did not even send a representative to the talks in Doha. The pressure should be directed at Hamas and [its leader Yahya] Sinwar, not at the Israeli government.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Israel tomorrow to meet with Netanyahu about the hostage talks.

“Strong military pressure, and strong diplomatic pressure, is the way to achieve the release of our hostages,” says Netanyahu in a likely message to Washington.

In a warning to Iran and Hezbollah, which have pledged to respond to recent high-profile assassinations in Tehran and Beirut, Netanyahu says that Israel is “prepared for every threat, both on defense and on the attack. We are are determined to defend ourselves, and we are also determined to extract a very heavy price from any enemy that dares to attack us, from any theater.”

4:25 pm

Palestinian suspected of attacking Israeli with hammer at West Bank industrial park

An Israeli civilian security guard reports that he was attacked by a Palestinian at the Bar-On industrial park near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, the military says.

Medics say that the man was hit in the head with a hammer. His condition was not immediately clear.

The IDF says that the assailant also snatched the Israeli man’s handgun and fled the scene.

“Many IDF troops have begun a pursuit of the terrorist,” the IDF adds.

4:23 pm

Liberman tells unofficial Oct. 7 probe he warned of Hamas invasion threat as far back as 2016

By Sam Sokol

MK Avigdor Liberman attends a hearing of the civil investigative committee on the October 7 massacre, in Tel Aviv, August 18, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Yisrael Beytenu chief and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman tells an independent civilian commission investigating the events leading up to October 7 that he had warned against such an eventuality as far back as 2016.

“On December 21, 2016, I wrote an 11-page document and delivered it in the presence of the military secretary to the then-prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the then-IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, and to the then-head of Military Intelligence,” he says. He claims that the document’s warnings corresponded “one-to-one” with what happened last October, even if he mistakenly believed Hamas would attack in late 2022.

Excerpts of his letter have previously been published by Hebrew media.

“I gave two interviews, one to Israel National News, in which I said that Hamas was going to attack, and the last interview came out on October 6,” he continues, stating that he had cautioned that Israel was at the time in a worse situation than before the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

“The prime minister was aware of all these things,” Liberman adds, stating that Netanyahu had previously made similar comments regarding Hamas’s intent to invade Israeli territory during a Knesset committee meeting.

Liberman resigned as defense minister in November 2018, bringing down Netanyahu’s government, following a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza in the wake of an unprecedentedly fierce two-day barrage of over 400 rockets fired by Hamas and other terror groups at Israel.

Turning to Netanyahu’s handling of the war, Liberman argues that “the prime minister does not talk to the defense minister, the defense minister does not talk to the national security minister” and that there is “a complete disconnect” between the senior officials.

“In a properly functioning country, the prime minister and the defense minister talk several times a day.”

3:57 pm

High Court petitioned against government plan for PM to directly nominate Civil Service commissioner

By Jeremy Sharon

High Court Justice Yael Wilner (C) attends a hearing on a petition requesting the Judicial Selection Committee to appoint Supreme Court judges, at the High Court in Jerusalem on July 18, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel petitions the High Court of Justice to cancel the government’s decision to appoint the next Civil Service commissioner through the direct nomination of the prime minister, instead of through a search committee headed by a retired Supreme Court justice.

In a cabinet vote last Sunday, the government decided that the incoming Civil Service commissioner will be nominated by the prime minister and approved by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee.

The Civil Service commissioner oversees all the civil servants in the Civil Service, which runs public services in the country, and has authority over senior appointments, promotions, and dismissals in the Civil Service, the allocation of tasks within its departments, and disciplinary processes.

In its petition, Movement for Quality Government points out that a previous government resolution in 2018, approved following High Court rulings on the matter, had determined that future commissioners would be appointed in accordance with a process laid out by the attorney general.

The Attorney General’s Office determined in June that the commissioner would be appointed by a search committee headed by a former Supreme Court justice, but last week’s cabinet decision ignored this position.

“The government’s decision allows a the appointment of a political appointee to the position of commissioner, without their abilities or fitness for the position being examined,” Movement for Quality Government says upon filing its petition, and adds that the decision will allow the government to appoint an “unqualified and politically biased” individual to the position.

“Appointing a Civil Service commissioner in a political manner, without a deep examination of his qualifications and fitness for the position, is a certain recipe for harming the quality of public service and public trust in it,” the organization adds.

Following the cabinet vote to change the appointment’s process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Here, there is no rule by bureaucrats who are above the people, who know better than the government,” noting that the heads of the security services are appointed by the government, and insisting that “if we don’t allow bureaucrats to decide the competence of heads of our security establishment, why must we make an exception for appointments to the civil service, and put it in their hands?”

3:54 pm

Barrage of 20 rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona, no injuries

A barrage of 20 rockets was fired a short while ago from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area, according to the IDF.

Some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and there are no reports of injuries.

A barrage of 20 rockets was fired a short while ago from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area, according to the IDF.

Some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and there are no reports of injuries. pic.twitter.com/1gvRSTIIjB

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 18, 2024

3:53 pm

IDF hits a series of Hezbollah sites across south Lebanon

The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of strikes on Hezbollah sites and operatives in southern Lebanon today, the military says.

In the town of Chebaa, the IDF says, it carried out a drone strike against a Hezbollah cell and a fighter jet strike against a weapons depot.

Another weapons depot and a building used by the terror group were struck in Ayta ash-Shab and Matmoura, and a rocket launcher was hit in at-Tiri, the IDF says.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of strikes on Hezbollah sites and operatives in southern Lebanon today, the military says.

In the town of Chebaa, the IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a Hezbollah cell and a fighter jet strike against a weapons depot.… pic.twitter.com/ku5ERIfHU3

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 18, 2024

3:44 pm

Hamas says Gaza toll at 40,099

Displaced Palestinians watch from a makeshift camp as shells fired from Israeli tanks hit an area near the Hamad residential complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 18, 2024 (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll since the terror group launched the October 7 attack on Israel now stands at 40,099.

The figure cannot be independently verified and includes more than 17,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

3:30 pm

Rocket sirens blare in Upper Galilee

Incoming rocket sirens sound in several communities in the Upper Galilee, including the city of Kiryat Shmona.

Sirens are activated in Beit Hillel, Metula, Tel Hai, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Ma’ayan Baruch, and Kibbutz Goshrim.

3:08 pm

PM to meet Blinken at 11 a.m. Monday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

Blinken is also slated to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, and President Isaac Herzog.

3:07 pm

Rocket sirens sound in Western Galilee community

Incoming rocket sirens are activated in the Western Galilee community of Zarit.

Red Alert [15:02:36] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Zarit
Population in the area: <500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/jro8seOUCg

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 18, 2024

3:04 pm

Lebanon has food, fuel and medicine to last for weeks in case of large-scale Israeli attack, minister says

Lebanese Environment Minister Nasser Yassin during an interview with AFP in Beirut on November 23, 2021. (JOSEPH EID / AFP)

Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s environment minister and head of the National Emergency Committee, says that the country has food reserves sufficient for four months and fuel for four weeks.

In an interview with the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Yassin adds that in the event of a large-scale attack by Israel, the country is in possession of enough medicines to supply hospitals for weeks, according to simulations conducted by the National Emergency Committee.

Lebanon has not registered hikes in food prices despite widespread fears of an escalation, Yassin continues, but there have been significant increases in rental prices in areas that witnessed a high influx of displaced people from the country’s south.

Only 2% of them moved to government-run shelters, while the remaining 98% relocated into homes, whether with relatives or rented, Yassin says. The Lebanese government will not be able to provide compensation or to rebuild the houses of those who have lost them, the minister adds, but has paid handouts to the families of war casualties.

So far, over 102,000 people have fled the border regions with Israel and over 500 have died, he notes.

Data shows that the overwhelming majority of those killed are Hezbollah members, beside a few dozen civilians. The Shiite terror group has named 412 members who have been killed by Israel since October 8, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 71 operatives from other terror groups and a Lebanese soldier have been killed.

2:30 pm

Hamas source reveals ostensible new details of truce-hostage proposal — report

Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 17, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Saudi-owned Asharq news outlet reports ostensible new details of the latest truce-hostage release proposal submitted by the US in Doha, as revealed by a Hamas source.

The elements are somewhat different from those reported by Hebrew media on Saturday, which were based on unnamed officials familiar with the talks.

According to the Hamas source quoted by Asharq, the American “bridging proposal” includes the following points:

The IDF would maintain a reduced presence at the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, but would not withdraw, as previously indicated;
The Palestinian Authority would be returned to manage the Rafah border crossing between the Strip and Egypt under unspecified “Israeli supervision”;
Israel would be able to monitor the displaced people returning to their homes in northern Gaza and crossing the Netzarim Corridor. No details are given on how the monitoring would be conducted. Under Israel’s May 27 proposal, the IDF would be required to withdraw from the Netzarim area in the first six-week phase of the deal;
A large number of the Palestinian security prisoners freed in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages would be deported abroad;
Israel would have the right to veto at least 100 names of Palestinian prisoners whose release Hamas demands;
Israel would not be expected to withdraw fully from the Strip, even though this was insisted upon by Hamas in its July 2 proposal;
A permanent truce would only be discussed in the second phase of the ceasefire, and if Hamas does not agree to the Israeli conditions, the IDF would be allowed to resume military operations inside the Strip.
Negotiations on Gaza’s reconstruction and on the lifting of the blockade would also be discussed in the second phase, based on the outcome of the first one.

2:04 pm

3 UNIFIL peacekeepers lightly hurt in explosion in southern Lebanese village

By Reuters and ToI Staff

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Three peacekeepers on patrol were “lightly injured” when an explosion occurred near their clearly marked UN vehicle in the village of Yarine in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti says.

The peacekeepers safely returned to their base, and an investigation has been launched into the incident, the spokesperson says.

Earlier today, three peacekeepers on patrol were lightly injured when an explosion occurred near their clearly marked UN vehicle in the vicinity of Yarine, in south Lebanon All peacekeepers in the patrol returned safely to their base.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) August 18, 2024

1:47 pm

UNIFIL personnel reportedly hurt in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

UNIFIL armored vehicles patrol on the entrance of the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura near the border with Israel on June 17, 2024. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

Lebanese media reports that UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been injured in an Israeli attack.

The number of personnel hurt and seriousness of the injuries are not immediately clear.

1:45 pm

Israeli Pediatric Association urges polio vaccination drive in Gaza after baby found with disease

By Diana Bletter

Illustrative - A child being vaccinated at a children's medical center in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, September 10, 2013. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Israeli Pediatric Association calls on international medical organizations to assist in promoting vaccination against polio in the Gaza Strip, after Gaza recorded its first polio case in 25 years last week when tests in Jordan confirmed the disease in an unvaccinated 10-month-old from the central Gaza Strip.

“Without access to vaccines, the current outbreak could spread and endanger children across the entire region,” the organization says.

The statement urges the creation of safe conditions for vaccination teams and healthcare workers to perform their tasks and to prevent further deterioration in public health in the Gaza Strip.

The type 2 poliovirus was detected in samples collected from the territory’s wastewater in June.

Polio is a highly infectious disease, mostly affecting young children, that attacks the nervous system. It can lead to paralysis and in some cases death.

1:37 pm

Israel’s economic growth stifled amid war against Hamas, data shows

By Sharon Wrobel

Israel’s economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter of the year as the months-long war with the Hamas terror group continues to take a heavy toll on national output, preliminary data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized 1.2 percent in the April to June period from the previous three months, according to an initial estimate by the statistics bureau.

The economy bounced back at the start of the year, growing by an annualized 17.3% in the first three months of the year following a 20.6% contraction in the last quarter of 2023, as the outbreak of war with Hamas in Gaza on October 7 sharply curtailed consumer spending, trade, and investment.

1:24 pm

UNRWA says that safe zone in Gaza has shrunk to 11% of the Strip

The “humanitarian zone” in Gaza where Palestinian civilians are safe from IDF operations has shrunk to 11 percent of the Strip’s territory, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says.

In a series of tweets, UNRWA also decries the evacuation orders recently issued by the IDF, saying that they have caused “chaos and fear” among the displaced.

The size and location of IDF-designated “safe areas” inside the Strip are constantly changing based on evolving operations against terror groups on the ground. UNRWA said on Friday that approximately 84% of the Strip’s territory has been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military since October 7.

Yesterday, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee called on the civilian population to evacuate the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza and move to an area that Israel designated as a “safe zone” further south.

The order came after similar instructions were issued on Friday for residents of northern Khan Younis in the south of the Strip and Deir al-Balah in the center. Palestinians were ordered to evacuate from neighborhoods that were previously considered humanitarian zones to other safe areas on the coast, after intelligence indicated that Hamas had placed terror infrastructure in those neighborhoods.

#Gaza: New evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli authorities, even inside the so-called “humanitarian zone”.

Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale. pic.twitter.com/Myi6z6Ix87

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 16, 2024

12:20 pm

Handover ceremony for head of IDF Military Intelligence, who resigned over Oct. 7 failures, set for this week

Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder is seen during a ceremony at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 25, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A handover ceremony for the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate is due to take place on Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder is replacing Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, who is quitting the IDF over his involvement in the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

The ceremony was supposed to be held last month, but was postponed after the IDF strike in Beirut that killed Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr.

12:09 pm

Egypt urges Hezbollah to exercise restraint amid hostage-truce talks – report

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has called on Hezbollah to exercise restraint in its attacks on Israel as efforts continue to negotiate a hostage release-ceasefire deal in Gaza, the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.

During a visit to Beirut on Friday, Cairo’s top diplomat held meetings with Lebanese officials and conveyed a message to Hezbollah’s leaders, aiming to prevent a regional escalation as the terror group mulls how to respond to the assassination of its military commander, Fuad Shukr, at the end of July.

In exchange for Hezbollah’s restraint, Abdelatty reportedly promised an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza, which would “ease the pressure” on Hamas, along with unspecified “facilitations” from the United States on other issues related to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lebanese officials are said to have responded positively to the Egyptian demands, on the condition that the ongoing ceasefire talks in Gaza lead to a favorable outcome.

11:41 am

Prosecutors charge woman with murder of 6-year-old son; force of stabbing left tip of knife in skull

Undated photo of Sigal Yana Itzkovich with her son. (Courtesy; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Prosecutors charge Sigal Yana Itzkovich, 33 with aggravated murder for the killing of her 6-year-old son Liam in Herzliya on July 16.

Charges are also submitted relating to aggravated assault, killing an animal, and obstruction of justice.

According to prosecutors, Itzkovich was alone with her son when she took a kitchen knife, stabbed her dog, and then stabbed her son to death dozens of times in the bathtub.

The intensity of the attack broke the knife, and left a tip of the blade in her son’s skull, prosecutors say.

Itzkovich then returned to kill the dog with a knife and axe, after hearing its wailing, the statement reads.

The accused washed the knife, changed clothes, and then walked toward the Seven Stars Mall in Herzliya, still covered in blood. On her way, she attacked a passerby and drove her axe into the hood of a car.

Arriving at the mall, she attacked a security guard who eventually subdued her, the statement says.

11:00 am

Crocodile attacks worker at Jerusalem zoo, leaving him in moderate-severe condition

A crocodile at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, August 18, 2024. (Israel Police)

A worker was attacked by a crocodile in its enclosure at Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo, police say.

Sounds of gunfire heard in the area were the result of a security guard shooting the crocodile as it began biting the worker, likely saving his life, police say.

The worker is in a moderate-severe condition and is being treated by doctors for the bite wounds on his body, police state, adding that they are probing the incident.

It is not clear if the crocodile was killed by the gunfire.

10:50 am

Ahead of Jewish holiday of love, poll finds 67% of Israelis back non-Orthodox marriages

Illustration of a couple by the beach in Tel Aviv on December 11, 2019. (Mila Aviv/Flash90)

Illustrative: A couple by the beach in Tel Aviv on December 11, 2019. (Mila Aviv/Flash90)

A poll released ahead of Tu B’Av, the “Jewish holiday of love,” finds 67 percent of Israelis support the legalization of more types of marriage, including civil, Conservative, and Reform Jewish weddings.

The Smith Research Institute for Hiddush, an organization that promotes freedom of religion, finds that 92% of the secular public and 31% of the religious public support broadening the types of marriage allowed in the country.

The survey notes that these figures include 68% of voters of the ruling Likud party and 41% of far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit party voters. Only 9% of ultra-Orthodox party voters support other types of marriage.

Orthodox political parties have long fought efforts to institute civil marriage in Israel, citing their religious objections to the state sanctioning interfaith marriages and other unions prohibited by Jewish law.

Israeli law only allows for marriage through Israel’s established religious institutions — e.g., the Orthodox rabbinate for Jews, sharia courts for Muslims — meaning that hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens cannot get married in Israel due to various religious barriers.

Although couples have been able to wed in civil ceremonies abroad and have their marriages registered by the Population Authority for nearly six decades, this process involves considerable expense and inconvenience.

Since December 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, several Israeli couples have been married through an online marriage service provided by Utah County, in Utah.

The survey also asked the Jewish public what type of marriage they would prefer to have in the event all types were possible.

Fifty percent of respondents say they would choose an Orthodox ceremony, 22% would choose a civil marriage (including 8% who prefer one performed abroad, and 14% would choose the Utah option), while 13% would choose a Conservative or Reform marriage.

Fifteen percent of respondents would opt out of such an arrangement and choose cohabitation.

10:41 am

IDF ‘deepening’ ops in central, southern Gaza; jets strike source of rocket fire

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in images released on August 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF’s 98th Division is “deepening” its operation in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Strip, the military says.

The IDF says that troops of the division killed several gunmen and located weaponry in the past day.

In Khan Younis, the military says that fighter jets struck several targets in an area from which rockets were fired at the border community of Nirim on Friday, and rocket launchers primed for an attack on Israel.

Further south, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division killed several gunmen, located weapons, and directed strikes on sites used by terror groups in the past day.

9:55 am

Senior Hamas official refuses to take responsibility for Gaza deaths, abruptly ends CNN interview

When CNN host Jim Sciutto tries to ask senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan if the terror group admits any responsibility for the deaths of Palestinians in the ongoing war in Gaza, the representative repeatedly accuses the journalist of bias and abruptly ends the interview without answering any questions.

“Does Hamas today regret the October 7 terror attacks?” Sciutto asks Hamdan at the start of the interview.

“Well, it seems to me you are giving the Israelis the right to kill Palestinians. When you ask if we feel regret for what Israel has done. You have to understand that Israel has been killing the Palestinians for the last 76 years,” Hamdan says, blaming Israel for the failure of the Oslo Accords, and accusing the country of seeking to expel all Palestinians from the land.

Hamas fiercely opposed the peace process in the 1990s, launching a wave of deadly terror attacks during the period of negotiations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Sciutto emphasizes he has covered terror attacks carried out by Hamas for 20 years, and asks again if Hamas takes responsibility for the deaths of civilians in Gaza, due to its use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes and using noncombatants as human shields.

Hamdan then accuses Sciutto of bias, claiming he has only seen the conflict through “Israeli eyes.”

“You didn’t see the Israelis killing thousands of Palestinians in those 20 years,” he says.

I pressed senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan on whether Hamas accepts any responsibility for the loss of civilian life in Gaza, which residents have told CNN they believe it does. He wouldn’t answer and instead took me on a history lesson of events he didn’t know I witnessed… pic.twitter.com/L3UUzHrVPb

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) August 17, 2024

Sciutto rebuts Hamdan’s claim that he wasn’t in Israel for wars in 2008 and 2014.

“Actually, I was here in 2014, and in 2008,” Sciutto says. “What you’re saying is factually not true. I was here for both of those conflicts. My question is does Hamas accept any responsibility for the deaths of its own people in Gaza?”

“You can’t ask and answer by yourself. Either you let me answer, or you can finish that talking point yourself,” Hamdan says.

Sciutto once again asks if Hamas accepts responsibility for the deaths in Gaza. Hamdan accuses the journalist of taking Israel’s side and talking about Palestinians being killed “as if they were nothing, and you are just saying that the Palestinians were killing the Israelis.”

Hamdan then falsely claims that despite Hamas not existing in the West Bank, Palestinians were being killed there too.

The terror group does operate in the West Bank and regularly takes responsibility for attacks against Israelis there. Hamas flags also frequently appear in rallies in the territory.

Sciutto asserts that CNN has covered the deaths of Palestinians “quite closely.” He tries to quote “a Palestinian from Gaza,” but Hamdan continues to berate him.

“You just want to listen to yourself and the Israelis,” Hamdan accuses Sciutto.

Hamdan again claims the journalist supported the killing of Palestinians, and abruptly ends the interview, without answering any questions.

9:18 am

Disagreements over Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor ‘solvable’ — report

Disagreements between Israel, Hamas, and Egypt over the future of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border are “solvable,” unnamed senior Israeli officials tell the Kan public broadcaster.

There are ongoing discussions in Cairo on the matter, and a solution is possible based on an American proposal, the officials say.

Israel has been said to demand to remain indefinitely in the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza.

But Israeli and other sources have said that Israel’s security chiefs believe withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza border for the six weeks of a potential ceasefire-hostage deal’s first phase would not enable Hamas to significantly rearm, and that certain unspecified procedures along the border could compensate for an Israeli withdrawal from the border area.

8:56 am

FM Katz vows action against all those who oppose Israel after Norway shutters PA office

Foreign Minister Israel Katz vows to act against those who oppose Israel after Norway closes its diplomatic office for the Palestinian Authority.

The Representative Office in the Palestinian West Bank town of Al-Ram was closed following a decision by Israel to revoke the accreditation of Norwegian diplomats working there.

Katz writes on X he did so “because of Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian-Hamas state after the October 7 massacre, and its support for the issuing of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials.”

נורבגיה הודיעה אתמול על סגירת משרדה ברשות הפלסטינית בעקבות החלטתי לשלול את מעמדם הדיפלומטי של שמונה מעובדיה הפועלים מול הרש"פ, בשל הכרת נורבגיה במדינה פלסטינית-חמאסית אחרי טבח ה-7 באוקטובר ותמיכתה בהוצאת צווי מאסר נגד רה"מ בנימין נתניהו ובכירים ישראלים.

מי שפועל נגדנו אנחנו נפעל…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 18, 2024

8:19 am

Rocket sirens sound in Galilee Panhandle community

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the community of Margaliot, in the Galilee Panhandle.

Red Alert [08:15:28] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Margaliot
Population in the area: 23,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/Aj1Fk7sN3B

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 18, 2024

8:03 am

Trains delayed in Carmel region due to electrical fault

Israel Railways says there are train delays in the northern Carmel region due to an electrical fault in the area, disrupting passengers’ morning travels.

A high volume of passengers travel by public transport on Sunday mornings. In addition to regular morning commuters, soldiers return to their bases after their weekend leave.

According to an Israel Railways statement, technicians have arrived on the scene and are taking care of the issue.

7:43 am

Phone call lured Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr to 7th floor of building to be killed in Israeli strike — report

Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah's most senior military commander who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on July 30, 2024, is seen in an undated photo. (Hezbollah media office)

Top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr received a phone call from an unknown person to go to the seventh floor of the residential building in Beirut where he would be killed by an Israeli airstrike, an unnamed Hezbollah official tells The Wall Street Journal.

At the time of the strike, the secretive commander was in his office on the second floor of the building, and bringing him five floors higher to his apartment likely made it easier for Israel to target him, the official says, who adds that Hezbollah and Iran are probing the intelligence failure.

An initial assessment suggests Israel’s superior technology and hacking overcame the terror group’s countersurveillance system, the official tells the WSJ.

The July 30 strike killed Shukr, his wife, two other women, and two children, and came in response to a deadly Hezbollah rocket attack on the northern town of Majdal Shams that killed 12 children and teenagers.

7:14 am

Thousands set to protest war in Gaza at DNC in Chicago this week

By AP

A man walks inside the United Center ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois on August 17, 2024. (Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

CHICAGO — Thousands of activists are expected to converge in Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention, hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic injustice, and the war in Gaza.

While Vice President Kamala Harris has energized crowds of supporters as she prepares to accept the Democratic nomination, progressive activists maintain their mission remains the same.

Activists say they learned lessons from last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and are predicting bigger crowds and more robust demonstrations in Chicago, a city with deep social activism roots.

Who is protesting?

Demonstrations are expected every day of the convention and, while their agendas vary, many activists agree an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is the priority.

Things are set to kick off today on the convention’s eve with an abortion rights march along iconic Michigan Avenue.

Organizer Linda Loew said even though Democrats have pushed to safeguard reproductive rights at home, the issue is international. They will march in solidarity with people everywhere who struggle for the right to control what happens to their bodies, as well as to protest the money the US spends to back wars that could be used for healthcare, she says.

“We believe that the billions of dollars that continue to flow to the State of Israel and the flow of weapons are having an inordinate and horrific impact, but in particular on women, children, and the unborn,” she says.

“All of these things are tied together.”

6:10 am

Blinken departs for Tel Aviv visit as US pushes to finalize Gaza ceasefire deal

By AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his plane at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, August 17, 2024, to depart to the Middle East. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has departed on a mission to the Middle East to push ahead a Gaza ceasefire deal, as cautious optimism rises.

The top US diplomat, who is putting off vacation plans for his ninth trip to the Middle East since October 7, will fly to Tel Aviv ahead of expected meetings with the Israeli leadership.

He has routinely visited Arab states on previous trips but no further stops were immediately announced.

Blinken flew out of Andrews Air Force Base after two days of ceasefire talks urged by President Joe Biden brokered with Egypt and Qatar wrapped up in the Qatari capital Doha.

US officials say they made progress and offered a proposal to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, with talks to resume later in the coming week in Cairo.

2:51 am

Trump: ‘Never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust’ to be Jewish in the US

Republican presidential nominee former US president Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Saturday, August 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

Former US president Donald Trump says at a rally in Pennsylvania that there has “never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust” to be Jewish in the US.

Speaking in Wilkes-Barre, the Republican presidential candidate claims that Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro wasn’t picked to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate in the upcoming elections because he is Jewish.

“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” Trump says, echoing an accusation first made by his running mate JD Vance. The claim has been rejected both by the Democratic party and by Shapiro himself, who said that “antisemitism had no impact” on the decision-making process.

“They turned him down for other reasons, but the primary reason is because he’s Jewish,” Trump continues, telling the crowd that “any Jewish person that votes for her [Harris] or a Democrat has to go out and have their head examined.”

“If you see what’s happening with Israel and Jewish people, there has never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust if you happen to be Jewish in America,” Trump says.

1:46 am

MDA says man in his 30s killed in violent incident in Negev desert

A man in his 30s was killed in a violent incident in the Negev desert on Saturday night, the Magen David Adom emergency service says in a statement.

Medics and paramedics who were called to the scene of the incident in the Segev Shalom area reported a 30-year-old man with penetrating wounds to his body, MDA says, adding that his death was determined at the scene of the incident.

12:02 am

Hamas confirms 2 senior operatives were killed in Jenin drone strike

Palestinians and rescuers gather around a car targeted in an Israeli airstrike that killed two senior Hamas operatives in the West Bank city of Jenin on August 17, 2024. (Mohammad Mansour/AFP)

The Hamas terror group confirms that two Palestinians killed in an IDF drone strike in the West Bank city of Jenin this evening were members of the terror group.

It says Raafat Dawasi was a commander in the terror group’s local wing in Jenin, and Ahmed Abu Ara was a senior operative.

The pair were involved in planning and carrying out a series of attacks, including a deadly roadside bomb in Jenin on June 27, another bombing attack against Defense Ministry workers on the West Bank security barrier on July 23, as well as a deadly terror shooting in the Jordan Valley on Sunday, according to Hamas.

The IDF and Shin Bet said Dawasi and Abu Ara were involved in the Jordan Valley shooting and other attacks.

شهداء عملية الاغتيال في جنين احمد ابو عرة من عقابا شمال طوباس والشهيد رأفت دواسي من سيلة الحارثية بجنين pic.twitter.com/1XPsnDZGlk

— Hisham Abu Shaqrah | هشام أبو شقرة (@HShaqrah) August 17, 2024

11:48 pm

IDF says Jenin strike targeted Hamas operatives who helped orchestrate deadly terror shooting