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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they happened.
8 said wounded in Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah weapons depot in Lebanon
An Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons depot in northeastern Lebanon's Baalbek District, August 19, 2024. (Screenshot X used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Following Israeli airstrikes on a Hezbollah weapons depot in northern Lebanon, two security sources tell Reuters that nobody was killed in the incident.
According to the Lebanon health ministry, eight people were injured, including six Lebanese citizens and two Syrian children.
Following the depot strike, the Lebanese Agricultural Scientific Research Authority says it will close its research stations in the Beqaa region as a precaution because unexploded missiles landed nearby.
UN says Houthis handed back control of its human rights office in Yemen
Armed Yemeni men step over a US and an Israeli flag painted on the asphalt in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa, during a march in support of the Palestinians, on February 29, 2024. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP)
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have returned the United Nations Human Rights Office in Sanaa, which they had seized earlier this month, a UN spokesman says.
On August 3, the Iran-backed group sent a delegation to the UN Human Rights Office’s premises and forced staff to hand over the keys.
“The office was handed back today to our resident coordinator in Yemen,” says Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesman for the secretary-general.
According to the coordinator, “the office appears to be in its original state, but an inventory is currently underway,” Dujarric says.
UN rights chief Volker Turk, who announced the seizing of the office last week, called it “a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate.”
The UN again calls for the release of 13 of its staff and dozens of NGO and embassy employees who have been held by the Houthis for more than two months. The Houthis claimed they arrested “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.
Hezbollah confirms death of operative in Israeli drone strike
Hussein Ali Hussein Suleiman (Hezbollah)
The Hezbollah terror group confirms the death of Hussein Ali Hussein Suleiman in an IDF drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Deir Qanoun earlier this evening.
His death brings the terror group’s toll in IDF strikes since October to at least 415.
The IDF said Suleiman was a prominent member of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit.
Senior IDF generals visit West Bank village of Jit following settler rampage
Chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and the head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, visit the West Bank village of Jit, August 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and the head of the Civil Administration, Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, visited the West Bank village of Jit this evening.
The visit comes as part of a military investigation into Thursday’s settler attack in the village, during which more than 100 Israeli assailants set fire to homes and cars, and one Palestinian man was killed.
IDF confirms airstrikes on Hezbollah weapons depots in northeast Lebanon
An Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah weapons depot in northeastern Lebanon's Baalbek District, August 19, 2024. (Screenshot X used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek District this evening, targeting several Hezbollah weapons depots.
Additionally, the IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Deir Qanoun earlier today, killing a Hezbollah operative.
According to the military, Hussein Ali Hussein Suleiman was a prominent member of the terror group’s rocket and missile unit.
Another Hezbollah cell was also struck by fighter jets in a building in Taybeh, the IDF adds.
What if he’s bluffing?: Blinken said to tell hostage families Netanyahu truly wants a deal this time
Protesters call for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, outside the hotel of visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv on August 19, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
At a meeting with the families of Hamas-held hostages who hold US citizenship, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is convinced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is truly committed to reaching a deal this time, Channel 12 reports.
Blinken met with the families, as he has done on numerous previous visits, shortly before his press conference earlier this evening.
He gave them a sense that a deal can be finalized within days, the report says, and told them it seemed that the prime minister is invested in achieving a deal.
“And what if he’s bluffing again?” one of the participants reportedly asked Blinken.
He is said to have laughed and said, “We’ll know. We have a way to measure if the prime minister is committed to a deal. And this time our assessment is that he is.”
He also reportedly told them that there is immense pressure on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to agree to the bridging proposal — including from the Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Anti-Israel march on DNC draws smaller crowd than predicted
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Union Park prepare to march before the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, August 19, 2024. (CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA / AFP)
CHICAGO — While organizers of the anti-Israel “March on the DNC” speculated some 30,000 attendees at their rally today outside the Democratic National Convention, less than half of that number appear to be in attendance.
Speakers are still addressing the crowd at Union Park before they march toward the United Center. More could still join, but hundreds of signs against Israel remain laying on the grass, as organizers appear to have over-estimated who would attend the rally.
Lapid says he will boycott Miri Regev-organized October 7 state memorial ceremony
Candles are lit during a ceremony in Ramat Hasharon to mark one month since Hamas's October 7 onslaught, November 7, 2023. (Ido Meirovich)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says he will refuse to attend a state memorial ceremony marking October 7 overseen by Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
Instead, Lapid says, “I will be with the families of those murdered from Be’eri and Sderot and Nir Oz.” The opposition leader says that “this government is not legitimate and is not worthy of their memory.”
“The only ceremony that Netanyahu’s government and its extremists can and must do is resignation and the announcement of a state commission of inquiry,” he adds.
A number of communities hit hard by the October 7 attack have also said they will not be taking part in the ceremony spearheaded by the often controversial Regev, a Netanyahu loyalist, and many families of those being held hostage have indicated they will hold their own separate event.
Netanyahu planning meeting this week with freed female hostages
Chairs representing hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, are displayed beneath the Hebrew word, "now!" ahead of a weekly protest by families of the hostages and their supporters to demand their release, in Tel Aviv, August 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet this week with former female hostages who have returned from captivity in Gaza, his office says.
His office does not give a date for the meeting, and says that “meetings with additional families are being planned.”
Thirteen female hostages, including a number of IDF soldiers, are believed to still be held captive in Gaza, including three who have been confirmed dead by Israel. During a November truce, 105 women and children hostages were released as part of the deal.
Netanyahu’s office says that all of the premier’s meetings with freed hostages and hostages’ family members are important “in order to listen, update them and inform them regarding the efforts to return their loved ones.”
Israeli official: US accepts Jerusalem’s approach to Philadelphi Route; PM believes Iran will try to attack even if there’s a deal
A view of the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area in Rafah, on June 18, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
An Israeli official familiar with the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells The Times of Israel that “the Americans did not reject Israel’s strategic logic.”
The official stresses that Israel cannot leave the Philadelphi Route completely because “we cannot be sure that we can go back” if needed because of international pressure.
The US accepts Israel’s approach to the Philadelphi Route, says the official, and efforts will continue this week to find a solution that protects Israel’s security interests.
The official likens the attitude heard in defense circles, that “we will know how to deal with” any threats that arise from Hamas if Israel leaves the Gaza-Egypt border, to similar approaches during the Oslo peace process in the 1990s, the 2005 disengagement, and the deal that ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, or the “Hamas is deterred” approach.
The official also rejects the idea that a ceasefire would keep Iran from attacking Israel: “The prime minister assesses that Iran will try to attack Israel anyway.”
“Iran is interested in the end of the war so Hamas will survive,” adds the official.
The official argues that if Israel agrees to end the war without achieving its goal of toppling Hamas, it would send a message of weakness throughout the region.
“That is the last thing Israel should do at this time,” says the official.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gather for march on Democratic Convention
Pro-Palestinian protest signs are set out prior to a demonstration at Union Park during the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
CHICAGO — Several thousand pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered at Union Park in Chicago ahead of a “March on the DNC.”
Organizers have spoken of tens of thousands of participants who will be participating in the rally.
Waving Palestinian flags and wrapped in Palestinian keffiyehs, protesters are spread out across the park lawn facing a stage from which protest organizers will speak before the march toward the fenced-off conference center about a half mile away.
Most of the participants who speak with The Times of Israel say they aren’t planning on voting for US Vice President Kamala Harris, even though they are lifelong Democratic voters.
Fay, a Palestinian-American from Cleveland, says there is no difference between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, current President Joe Biden and Harris.
“They’re all Zionists,” she says. Fay brands Hamas “freedom fighters. They are not a terrorist group.”
Asked whether she’s concerned about a Trump presidency given his support for Israel, she responds, “what can be worse than genocide?”
Julia, a 30-year-old from Chicago, says she’s leaning toward voting for Harris in November. She recognizes that Harris is unlikely to radically change the party policy on Israel, but the vice president “would at least create a conversation.”
“The risk of a Trump presidency is not worth it,” says Julia, recognizing that she’s among a minority of those present who will vote for Harris.
Organizers are demanding Harris commit to an arms embargo against Israel — a step her office says she opposes.
Blinken says US is working with Israel on plan to roll out Gaza polio vaccine drive
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to media at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv, Aug. 19, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool Photo via AP)
Taking questions at his Tel Aviv press conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the US is “never going to give up” on its hostage-ceasefire efforts, but “with every passing day that there’s not an agreement, two things can happen… more hostages can perish… and intervening events come along that may make things more difficult if not impossible.”
“We do see this as the finest opportunity to get this over the finish line,” he says. “We’ll never give up on it, but.. the longer this goes on, the more, again, hostages will suffer and possibly perish…”
Asked whether Netanyahu has definitively accepted a ceasefire as part of the deal, or whether he fears the prime minister may make new demands, Blinken says that the bridging proposal reflects the ceasefire agreement “that President Biden put before the world back in May, that’s incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution, and that makes clear that this process will proceed in phases: The first initial ceasefire over the course of six weeks, in which hostages are released, prisoners are exchanged, and negotiations commence on the conditions necessary for an enduring ceasefire. That’s what the deal says.”
The bridging proposal, he elaborates, “was to try to close some gaps or to clarify different parts of this agreement that needed clarification.”
He adds: “I should have mentioned as well, Prime Minister Netanyahu committed to sending his senior expert team back to either Doha or to Egypt to try to complete this process.”
He tells Hamas and its leadership that “if it genuinely cares about the Palestinian people that it purports to somehow represent, then it will say yes to this agreement, and it will work on clear understandings about how to implement it. Because the single, quickest, best, most effective way to relieve the terrible suffering of the Palestinians that was instigated by Hamas’s attack on October seventh, and the war that ensued, is to complete this agreement.
“So that’s really the question,” he continues. “Is Hamas, is its leadership, actually looking out for Palestinian children, women and men, who are suffering at this very moment in Gaza? And if it is, it will agree. And then we’ll work on making sure that there’s clarity on all sides about how the agreement will be implemented… because not everything is spelled out in detail in the agreement.”
Asked about Netanyahu’s stance regarding control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, Blinken says he “can’t comment on specific issues that remain.”
He is asked whether he has heard directly from Hamas on the latest US proposal and says, “obviously, we don’t hear directly from Hamas, but both Egypt and Qatar are in contact with with Hamas.”
Tomorrow, “when I see the leaders of both Egypt and Qatar, I’ll get the latest from them on what they are hearing. I can’t speculate on exactly what Hamas’s intentions are. We’ve seen public statements [from Hamas officials rejecting the proposal], but we’ve seen public statements before that don’t fully reflect where Hamas is.”
Israel has agreed to support efforts to vaccinate Gazans for polio after the territory reported its first case of the disease in 25 years, Blinken also says.
“We’re working with the Israeli government on that, and I believe that we’ll be able to move forward with a plan to do that in the coming weeks. It is urgent. It is vital,” Blinken tells the reporters.
Blinken also says that he asked Israeli leaders to take action against extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank: “We look to see action taken, action taken to prevent that kind of violence, action taken to hold people who are responsible for it accountable.”
Blinken is slated to travel next to Egypt and then Qatar to continue pressure to bring about an overall ceasefire deal.
Israeli airstrikes reported to hit Hezbollah arms depot in northeast Lebanon
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes near the village of Nabi Chit in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek District.
Two Lebanese security sources tell Reuters that the strike targeted a Hezbollah arms depot.
بالفيديو: أول لحظات الغارات على #البقاع pic.twitter.com/LqrqEPUcxX
— كواليس بيروت – Kawalis Beirut (@KawalisBeirut) August 19, 2024
Footage posted to social media showed several secondary explosions at the targeted site.
Netanyahu stresses 1st stage of deal must have ‘maximum number of living hostages’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem)
After his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts out a video statement saying that the two had “a very good and important meeting.”
Netanyahu says he appreciates “the understanding the US showed toward our vital security interests, amid our joint efforts to bring about the releases of our hostages.”
“I want to emphasize,” he continues, “efforts to release the maximum number of living hostages — in the first stage of the deal.”
The statement was released while Blinken was giving a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Blinken says Netanyahu accepts latest US proposal on deal, now Hamas ‘must do the same’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaks in Tel Aviv, Aug. 19, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool Photo via AP)
Speaking to the press in Tel Aviv after meeting Israel’s leadership, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is in the region “to bring across the finish line” attempts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and to bring the hostages home.
He says an enduring ceasefire proposal “also reflects Israel’s security interests,” and that it would “relieve the terrible daily suffering of Gazans desperate for food to eat, for shelter, and staying out of harm’s way.”
Blinken says he had a “very constructive meeting” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. And he stresses that the premier “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal” offered by the US last week in Doha “to try to bridge the gaps that remain between the parties.”
“He supports it,” Blinken repeats.
He then puts the onus on the Gaza-based terror group: “It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.”
Then, says Blinken, the parties have to “come together and complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they’ll implement the commitments that they’ve made under this agreement.”
“The next important step is for Hamas to say yes,” repeats Blinken, “and then, in the coming days, for all of the expert negotiators to work on clear understandings on implementing the agreement.”
“These are still complex issues,” he says, and “they’re going to require hard decisions by the leaders.”
He emphasizes that the US is deeply committed “to getting this job done, to getting it done now.”
Blinken does not mention the toppling of Hamas’s military or civil control of Gaza, both core Israeli war aims.
“There is a deep sense of urgency for getting this done,” says Blinken, adding that is “the best way to make sure the conflict doesn’t spread, that we don’t see escalation, that we can actually defuse some of the pressure points that we see throughout the region, and then open prospects for trying to build more enduring peace and security for everyone throughout the Middle East.”
Blinken also notes that the US has deployed additional assets to the region recently “not to provoke aggression but rather to deter it, to make sure that it doesn’t happen” and “also to make clear that if it does, we are fully prepared to defend Israel.”
IDF officer killed due to malfunctioning Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Khan Younis
Lt. Shahar Ben Nun, 21 (IDF)
An Israeli officer was killed and several others were wounded by a failed Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip this morning, the military announces.
The soldier is named as Lt. Shahar Ben Nun, 21, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Petah Tikva.
In addition to the killed soldier, another three were moderately wounded and three others were lightly wounded.
According to an initial IDF probe, at around 6:30 a.m. Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets were striking several targets in the Khan Younis area. One of the missiles, due to a technical issue, did not correctly glide to the intended target, and instead struck a multi-story building where the paratroopers were stationed.
The building was some 300 meters away from the intended target, the probe found.
The missile struck one of the apartments in the upper floors of the building. The soldiers in an adjacent apartment were hurt after part of the building collapsed on them.
The IAF says that the incident is an outlier, and that it has not seen such a malfunction before. Tens of thousands of munitions have been fired from fighter jets amid the war in Gaza, with no comparable malfunctions, according to the military.
Gallant tells Blinken Israel is committed to achieving its war goals in Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets in Tel Aviv on August 19, 2024 with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) and IDF chief Herzi Halevi. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “Israel’s defense establishment is committed to continue operating in Gaza until the goals of the war are achieved — the return of the hostages and dismantling Hamas,” according to Gallant’s office.
“The minister emphasized the importance of ongoing military pressure placed by Israel on Hamas, alongside the need for ongoing US political pressure on Hamas, until a framework is achieved that will enable the return of hostages to Israel,” says the Israeli readout.
Though there have been public disagreements in recent weeks over hostage talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense community headed by Gallant, the message put out following the Blinken meeting is in line with Netanyahu’s messaging of late.
Gallant also shows Blinken a photo of the 12 children killed by a Hezbollah rocket in Majdal Shams last month.
Blinken is now meeting with families of hostages, and will then give a statement to the press.
Scottish government says it will cease holding any meetings with Israeli officials
People walk past the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, on March 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Jill Lawless, File)
The Scottish government says that it will cease holding any meetings with Israeli officials until there is “real progress” made toward a peace deal.
The announcement comes in a statement made by External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson, essentially apologizing for holding a meeting two weeks ago with deputy Israeli envoy Daniela Grudsky.
Robertson faced backlash in his party for the meeting, and issues a statement saying that it was never intended to be seen as “legitimatizing the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza.”
Moving forward, he says, “it would not be appropriate to accept any invitation for a further meeting. This will remain our position until such time as real progress has been made towards peace, unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance is provided and Israel cooperates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes.”
Israeli airstrike reported on vehicle in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike against a vehicle on a road between southern Lebanon’s Deir Qanoun and Ras el-Ain, in the Tyre District.
No further details are immediately available.
عاجل – الطيران الحربي المسير يغير مستهدفا سيارة على طريق بلدة ديرقانون – راس العين#زمن_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/viNMZl3WfP
— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) August 19, 2024
DC councilman known for antisemitic conspiracy theories arrested on bribery charge
DC Councilman Trayon White Sr. speaks in a Facebook Live video on April 21, 2018. (Screen capture: Facebook)
A Washington, DC, councilmember known for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories has been arrested on charges that he accepted over $150,000 in bribes in exchange for using his elected position to help companies with city contracts, according to court records unsealed today.
Trayon White Sr., a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2022, was arrested on a federal bribery charge by the FBI yesterday. He is expected to make his initial court appearance today.
An FBI agent’s affidavit says White agreed in June to accept roughly $156,000 in kickbacks and cash payments in exchange for pressuring government agency employees to extend two companies’ contracts for violence intervention services. The contacts were worth over $5 million.
White, 40, also accepted a $20,000 bribe payment to help resolve a contract dispute for one of the companies by pressuring high-level district officials, the affidavit alleges.
In 2018, White was the subject of significant backlash after posting a video saying that there is a “model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters.” He was nevertheless reelected two days later, and is up for reelection again this year.
Amid troop shortage, IDF to call up reservists previously released from duty
Troops of the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade carry out a drill in northern Israel, in a handout photo issued August 11, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has ordered the IDF to call back to duty reservists who were previously exempted due to personnel reductions.
The IDF in a joint statement with the Defense Ministry says the move comes following a new assessment and “the scope of the activities of the standing army and reserve forces, and as part of a process planned by the IDF to increase the reserve of service members.”
The reservists who will be called back to duty are those who were released from service due to personnel reductions and are younger than the exemption age, which is 40 for most soldiers, 45 for officers, and 49 for specialists.
The IDF says it has begun to call relevant Israelis who served in critical roles, and those who are fit to return to serve as reservists will do so “according to the operational need.”
Protesters outside Blinken’s Tel Aviv hotel demand he pressure Netanyahu on deal
Protesters gather outside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's hotel in Tel Aviv on August 19, 2024. (Noam Amir/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
A few dozen protesters gather outside the hotel in Tel Aviv where visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is staying, demanding he force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal.
The protesters carry photos of hostages and signs calling for a deal to be struck to bring them home.
Blinken met today with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog, and is slated to speak to the press later today and to then travel to Egypt, where the next round of talks are expected to be held.
IDF chief holds ‘day of readiness’ for escalation on northern front, says military
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi meets with senior officers at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held a “day of readiness for the northern front” with the General Staff Forum, the military says in a terse statement.
The meeting comes as Israel anticipates a potential attack from Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah.
Tel Aviv police chief says terror explosion in city yesterday could have been ‘a tragedy’
The scene of the previous night's bomb blast in southern Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Tel Aviv Police District Commander Peretz Amar says at a press conference that yesterday’s attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv could have been much worse.
“If the terrorists had entered [a nearby] synagogue this could have been a horrible tragedy,” said Amar of the explosion yesterday, which killed the suspect carrying the bomb and injured a bystander.
Amar says that police presence in the city has increased but there are no specific warnings of future attacks. The bomb, he says, “was likely built in the West Bank,” and the terror suspect had no history of criminal or terror offenses.
The Tel Aviv police chief says that the explosive device was “big and significant and if it hadn’t blown up outside, it would have wounded many people.”
Soldier seriously wounded in Hezbollah drone attack expected to recover, says hospital
The entrance to Ya'ara in the Western Galilee, where a soldier was killed and several others wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack, August 19, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya says the soldier seriously wounded in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in northern Israel this morning is in serious condition but his life is not in danger.
The soldier, suffering from shrapnel and blast injuries, underwent a series of surgeries and is now hospitalized in the general intensive care unit, the hospital says.
Three people who suffered from smoke inhalation were treated in the emergency room and have been discharged.
Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, 45, a tracker in the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, was killed in the attack.
Blinken sits down with Gallant in Tel Aviv
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv on August 19, 2024. (David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins his meeting with Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant at the IDF Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Blinken, who arrived in Israel last night, met today with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Israel’s mid-level negotiating team returns to Israel from Cairo
A digital counter in Tel Aviv displays the days and hours that hostages seized in southern Israel by Palestinian terrorists during the October 7 attack have spent in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, August 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Israel’s mid-level negotiating team has returned to Israel from Cairo, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The lead negotiators, headed by Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, are expected in Cairo later this week for a summit meant to try to hammer out a hostage-for-ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Report: PA submits official request to Israel to allow Abbas to visit Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on March 31, 2024, in Ramallah. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
The Palestinian Authority has reportedly issued a request to Israel to allow PA President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Gaza soon — something he vowed to do during a visit to Turkey last week.
According to a Walla news report, PLO secretary-general Hussein al-Sheikh sent a letter yesterday to National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi making the official request, and asking for Abbas to enter the Strip via a crossing from Israel, not through Rafah from Egypt.
The report suggests that Abbas expects the request to be rejected and will then use the rejection to further criticize Israel.
Netanyahu tells Blinken he’ll send top negotiators to Cairo this week
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in their meeting that he will send his top negotiators to a summit in Cairo this week, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The team will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar and IDF hostage pointman Nitzan Alon.
All three took part in the talks last week in Doha, Qatar.
Junior British diplomat resigns over UK’s ‘continued arms sales to Israel’
IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on July 25, 2024. (IDF)
A British diplomat based in Ireland resigns over arms sales to Israel, suggesting that the UK’s foreign office “may be complicit in war crimes.”
Images of his resignation email sent to colleagues were posted online, with Mark Smith, who was based in the British embassy in Dublin, writing there was “no justification for the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel.”
Smith, who describes himself as an expert in arms sales policy, was a second secretary dealing with “counter terror,” a relatively junior position in the foreign office (FCDO).
Issuing a follow-up statement, Smith says he had “written to the foreign secretary informing him of my resignation and urging him to urgently review the UK approach to the situation in Gaza,” according to the BBC.
“Each day we witness clear and unquestionable examples of war crimes and breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel,” Smith wrote in the resignation email.
IDF troops destroy mile-long Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis, says military
This image released by the military on August 19, 2024, shows weapons found in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza's Khan Younis. (Israel Defense Forces)
A kilometer-and-a-half (nearly a mile) tunnel was recently demolished by combat engineers in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says.
Hamas terror operatives fled the tunnel as troops of the 7th Armored Brigade approached the area, the IDF says. The 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion and elite Yahalom unit later demolished the tunnel.
According to the military, inside the tunnel, troops found weapons and other equipment that would have enabled the Hamas operatives to whom they belonged to remain underground for long periods.
Other Hamas sites, both above and below ground, have been located in the Khan Younis area, the IDF says, including a facility found by the 603rd Battalion with dozens of rockets, launchers and anti-tank projectiles.
Netanyahu says he backs US hostage deal proposal, hails ‘positive’ meeting with Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
After a three-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu puts out a statement publicly backing the latest US bridging proposal that was presented to Israel and conveyed to Hamas at the end of the summit in Doha last week.
“The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement issued in Hebrew and English.
Hamas rejected the US formula last night.
In its readout of the Netanyahu-Blinken meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office goes out of its way to stress that the meeting was “positive” and was held in a “good atmosphere.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem)
On Saturday, Israel had cautiously welcomed the new US “bridging proposal,” designed to facilitate and expedite a hostage-ceasefire deal, which was conveyed to Israel and to Hamas on Friday at the end of two days of talks between Israel and the mediators in Doha. The PMO put out a statement at the time that the proposal “contains components that are acceptable to Israel.”
Netanyahu has been demanding that any hostage-truce deal provide for an ongoing IDF presence along the Egypt-Gaza border and include a mechanism to prevent a return of armed Hamas gunmen to northern Gaza. He has also insisted that Israel retain the right to resume the battle against Hamas in order to achieve all the war’s declared aims — the release of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas, and the prevention of Gaza posing a future terrorist threat to Israel. It is not clear how the US “bridging proposal,” which has not been published, seeks to resolve these issues.
Blinken is scheduled to meet Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv shortly after 4 p.m.
IDF soldier killed in Hezbollah drone attack on Western Galilee
Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, killed in a Hezbollah drone attack near Ya'ara, August 19, 2024. (Courtesy)
An Israeli soldier was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on the Western Galilee this morning, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, 45, a tracker in the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, from Ibtin.
According to the IDF, five explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon in the attack, with three being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
Two of the drones impacted in the Western Galilee, one near Gesher HaZiv and near Ya’ara.
The drone that struck near Ya’ara killed Amaria and injured several other soldiers, including one seriously.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted a military position.
Health Ministry monitoring mpox cases after WHO sounds alarm over outbreak
This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID via AP, File)
The Health Ministry says it is monitoring the incidence of mpox in Israel and worldwide following the World Health Organization’s announcement of an increase in the number of cases diagnosed with Clade I (a strain of the virus) in various countries in Central Africa, an area where the strain is endemic.
More than 17,000 mpox cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread between people and from infected animals.
The new variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, particularly among children.
The ministry says it has not changed its vaccination policy, however. One case of Clade I has been reported in Europe in a person who returned from one of the affected countries in Africa but there are no cases of Clade I in other Western countries or in Israel.
The ministry recommends that populations at risk of contracting the virus, including men who have sex with men, complete the vaccination protocol, which includes two doses administered at least a month apart. The vaccine is available at health clinics.
Mpox symptoms include fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, chills, and exhaustion. The illness typically resolves within two to four weeks.
In 2022, there was an outbreak in Israel with 260 diagnosed cases, but there were no known deaths.
In Cairo, Israel said to agree to scaling down IDF presence in Philadelphi Corridor
View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)
During mid-level talks among Israeli, Egyptian, and US officials in Cairo on Sunday, Israel agreed to gradually reduce the number of soldiers deployed on the Philadelphi Corridor, while in return Cairo agreed not to set a timetable for their complete withdrawal, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Egyptian officials still insisted that a full withdrawal should be conducted as soon as possible, according to a source familiar with the talks quoted by Al-Akhbar. Egypt further asked the US negotiators to speed up the delivery of the equipment designated to secure the border route, and pledged to “work to ensure that there are no tunnels operating under it.”
Over the past months, Israeli and Egyptian negotiators have reportedly discussed installing a high-tech electronic surveillance system to prevent the smuggling of weapons through the border.
Sunday’s meeting in the Egyptian capital took place as high-level talks that were kicked off in Doha last week are expected to resume in Cairo this week, with the participation of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly not willing to relinquish the demand for an ongoing Israeli presence at the Philadelphi Corridor, even after his negotiating team returned from the Doha round of talks with the message “It’s either Philadelphi or a deal,” Channel 12 said yesterday.
Netanyahu reportedly 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.
The terror group Hamas officially rejected the US proposal discussed in Doha, as it insists on a full IDF withdrawal from the corridor.
858 people diagnosed with West Nile virus since start of outbreak, Health Ministry says
A mosquito bites a person. (iStock from Getty Images/fotomarekka)
The number of patients diagnosed with the West Nile virus rose to 858 as of today, the Health Ministry says.
A total of 62 people who were diagnosed with the virus have died since the outbreak began in June.
Infected mosquitoes transmit the West Nile virus to humans. The virus does not spread from person to person.
About 80% of people infected with West Nile virus show no symptoms. About 20% may experience varying symptoms, including fever, headaches, and body aches.
Less than 1% of those infected will have possible rare complications such as acute inflammation of the brain or meningitis.
The risk of significant illness is higher among the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
IDF confirms strike that killed 2 Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Houla this morning, killing two Hezbollah operatives.
Additional strikes targeted a rocket launcher and a building used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab, and another building in Hanine, the military adds.
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in southern Lebanon's Houla this morning, killing two Hezbollah operatives.
Additional strikes targeted a rocket launcher and a building used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab, and another building in Hanine, the military adds. https://t.co/gs1Xknl9ue pic.twitter.com/hr7CgUqNYp
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 19, 2024
Lufthansa Group extends Middle East flight cancellations until Aug. 26 over fears of escalation
File: A Lufthansa airlines Airbus-A320-271N comes in to land at Heathrow Airport in west London on April 29, 2024. (Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
BERLIN, Germany — Germany’s Lufthansa Group extends its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran, Beirut, Amman, and Erbil again, with flights now affected up to and including August 26.
The group, which includes carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, and Eurowings, will also be avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace up to and including that date, it says, over fears of an escalation in the Middle East.
Hezbollah says two members killed in Israeli strikes, raising its toll in clashes to at least 414
The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
The announcement comes reports of an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Houla that killed two.
They are named as Abbas Melhem from Majdal Selm and Muhammad Qaddouh from Ghandouriyeh.
Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 414.
Ramat Gan man accused of working for Iranian agent, hanging posters encouraging military coup
Prosecutors indict a Ramat Gan resident for carrying out orders from an Iranian agent, including hanging posters encouraging a military coup, and promoting a Telegram group called The People’s Army to recruit other Israelis to join the efforts.
Eden Dabas, 30, is being charged with contacting a foreign agent, as well as possession of various illegal substances for personal use, including MDMA and cocaine.
According to prosecutors, the accused was in contact with the agent over the Telegram messaging app and was paid $12,000 in cryptocurrency to carry out the tasks, between June and August this year.
Dabas sent videos as proof he carried out the activities in order to receive the payments, prosecutors say.
Additionally, the Iranian agent ordered the accused to buy a separate phone and SIM card and eventually asked him to delete correspondence between them.
The accused was also asked to purchase a wig, gloves, and a hat, likely to be used as a disguise for activities, prosecutors state.
Prosecutors are requesting Dabas remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.
Three Israeli citizens were arrested in June for similar offenses.
Hamas claims attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, vows to carry out more
The scene of the previous night's bomb blast in southern Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The Hamas terror group claims responsibility for yesterday’s intended bombing attack in Tel Aviv.
In a statement, the terror group says it carried out the attack alongside the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and that it was a suicide bombing.
The bomber died when his backpack exploded, and a passerby was injured.
Hamas also warns that suicide bombings in Israel will continue, in response to Israeli attacks.
Algerian president vows to build 3 field hospitals in Gaza when Rafah crossing reopens
File: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune delivers a speech during an inauguration ceremony in the presidential palace, in Algiers, Algeria, on December 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Toufik Doudou)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vows that the Algerian army will build three field hospitals in the Gaza Strip within 20 days when the Rafah Border Crossing reopens.
“The army is ready as soon as the borders are open,” he says during a rally in the northeastern city of Constantine. He adds that Algeria is ready to send “hundreds of doctors to Gaza… and help rebuild what the occupation destroyed,” according to reports in Arab media.
Tebboune, 78, is running for a second term in the presidential election scheduled to take place on September 7. He has been in power since 2019 after street protests caused the previous octogenarian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign.
A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and a rotating member of the United Nations Security Council since June 2023, Algeria has repeatedly denounced Israel’s actions throughout the Israel-Hamas war and it maintains friendly ties with Russia, China, and Turkey. CNN Arabic notes that Tebboune’s proposal to send the Algerian army through Egypt into Gaza has been perceived by some in Egypt as a provocation.
Algerian media outlets report that Tebboune also pledged yesterday to begin supplying Lebanon with oil, after the last major operating power plant was forced to close down on Saturday due to a lack of fuel, resulting in a total power outage across the country.
IDF strikes over 45 targets in Gaza amid ongoing ground ops
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on August 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
More than 45 targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the IDF says, as ground forces continue operations in Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and the Netzarim Corridor.
Amid operations by the 98th Division in the Khan Younis area, the military says a drone struck and killed a Hamas terrorist who fired rockets on Sunday at the border community of Ein Hashlosha.
Also on Sunday, Hamas fired rockets from a civilian environment in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the army, the rocket launchers were positioned adjacent to two schools, a cemetery, and a field hospital.
Meanwhile, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division killed dozens of gunmen during fighting in the Tel Sultan neighborhood. The troops also located weapons and destroyed sites belonging to terror groups, the military says.
In the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, reservists with the 252nd Division directed airstrikes on two Hamas operatives and a command room in the area, the IDF adds.
PM’s office says Blinken, Netanyahu to be joined by senior officials
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says that after his one-on-one meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, an expanded meeting will take place.
Netanyahu will be joined by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, political adviser Ophir Falk, hostage point man Gal Hirsch, and other top advisers. US Ambassador Jack Lew will join on the US side.
PA is garnering international support for Abbas to visit Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech during an extraordinary Parliamentary Meeting on Palestinians, at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP/Ali Unal)
Following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s pledge before the Turkish Parliament to visit the Gaza Strip last week, the PA is making preparations for Abbas to lead a high-level delegation there, the Palestinian news agency Maan reports.
The objective of the visit will be to express solidarity with the people of Gaza, and to assert the authority and jurisdiction of the PA and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) over the coastal enclave, Maan adds.
In preparation for the visit, the PA has reportedly made contact with the UN and the permanent members of the UN Security Council, with Arab and Muslim countries, with members of the European Union and the African Union, and other countries. Israel has also been informed, the agency writes.
No date is given for the planned visit, and it is not clear how Abbas and his delegation will enter the embattled Strip.
A Palestinian source familiar with the plan tells The Times of Israel that Abbas has also appealed to the US and other members of the international community to secure his visit and that the PA is awaiting the end of ongoing negotiations on a truce-hostage deal with Hamas before it can take place.
The visit will have to be arranged with international guarantees and with a prior understanding by Israel, the unnamed source adds, noting that “Hamas’s approval is also important.”
IDF measures West Bank home of terrorist who killed security guard yesterday, ahead of demolition
IDF troops measure the home of a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank town of Baqat al-Hatab near Qalqilya, August 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it operated overnight in the West Bank town of Baqat al-Hatab near Qalqilya to measure the home of a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a deadly attack yesterday, ahead of its potential demolition.
The terrorist, who is still on the run, killed security guard Gidon Peri, 38, with a hammer at the Bar-On industrial park near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim.
The terrorist fled the scene, initially in a vehicle and then on foot. The IDF says the car he used to escape was found and seized.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.
PM sits down with Blinken at Jerusalem office
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, August 19, 2024. (David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at his office in Jerusalem.
Blinken is scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at 4:10 p.m. in Tel Aviv.
Authorities determine Tel Aviv blast was intended terror attack; report says bomb carried by West Bank Palestinian
Police and the Shin Bet security agency in a statement say that the blast in Tel Aviv last night was an intended terror attack.
The joint statement says that after an initial investigation, “it can be said that this was a terror attack, with the detonation of a powerful explosive device.”
In addition to the bomber being killed, another man in the area was moderately wounded by the blast.
The Shin Bet security agency is still working to identify the man who was killed while carrying the bomb in his backpack.
Kan news reports that he is believed to be a Palestinian from the West Bank.
Ex-Saudi official claims MBS forged king’s approval of war against Yemen’s Houthis
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein / Pool / AFP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A former Saudi official alleges in a report that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that launched the kingdom’s yearslong, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview published Monday by the BBC, though the kingdom has described him as “a discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence official who lives in exile in Canada, has been in a yearslong dispute with the kingdom as his two children have been imprisoned in a case he describes as trying to lure him back to Saudi Arabia.
The allegation comes as Prince Mohammed now serves as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, often meeting leaders in place of his father, the 88-year-old King Salman. His assertive behavior, particularly at the start of his ascension to power around the beginning of the Yemen war in 2015, extended to a wider crackdown on any perceived dissent or power base that could challenge his rule.
In al-Jabri’s remarks to the BBC, he said a “credible, reliable” official linked to the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed to him that Prince Mohammed signed the royal decree declaring war in place of his father.
“We were surprised that there was a royal decree to allow the ground interventions,” al-Jabri tells the BBC. “He forged the signature of his dad for that royal decree. The king’s mental capacity was deteriorating.”
A US-based lawyer for al-Jabri did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Yemen war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, launched with promises by the prince it would quickly be over, has ground on for nearly a decade. The war has killed more than 150,000 people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. Prince Mohammed was the defense minister at the time.
The Houthis also since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip have launched attacks on shipping that have disrupted traffic through the Red Sea — and led to the most intense combat faced by the US Navy since World War II.
Police nab 2 more settlers suspected of assaulting Arab Israelis at West Bank outpost
The torched car of several Arab Israeli women who were attacked after mistakenly entering the Givat Ronen West Bank settlement outpost on August 9, 2024. (Screenshot via social media used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Police detained two more Israeli settlers suspected of assaulting four Arab Israeli women, including a three-year-old, in the West Bank outpost of Givat Ronen earlier this month.
The two suspects were detained yesterday, and are currently being questioned by police and the Shin Bet security agency.
Later today, police say, they will request to extend their detention amid the investigation.
Another suspect detained last week over the attack will also be brought for a remand hearing.
The victims, residents of the Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel, were on their way to the West Bank city of Nablus.
They had accidentally driven into the outpost, in an area that has seen repeated clashes between extremist settlers and Palestinians.
The five were taken to Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva after being attacked by the settlers.
Herzog says Hamas refusal responsible for failure to reach hostage deal
US Secretary of State Blinken, left, meets with President Isaac Herzog, in Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool/Pool Photo via AP)
At the start of his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, President Isaac Herzog puts the blame squarely on Hamas for the failure to reach a hostage deal.
“People have to understand it starts with a refusal of Hamas to move forward,” says Herzog.
“We are simply still very hopeful that we can move forward in the negotiations that are held by the mediators,” he adds, thanking the United States, Egypt, and Qatar for their efforts.
“There is no greater humanitarian objective, and there’s no greater humanitarian cause than bringing back our hostages home as they should have returned long ago,” Herzog continues.
Herzog also thanks US President Joe Biden for “showing and projecting power in this region” in the face of Iranian threats.
“You’ve amassed a very powerful and impressive coalition of armies, navies, and powers that are here to protect the interests of the coalition of nations that wants to move towards peace and a better future in the Middle East, against the empire of evil, which starts and emanates from Tehran,” says Herzog.
Speaking after Herzog, Blinken calls it “a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.”
However, he does not place the blame on Hamas: “It’s time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.”
“It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no,” stresses Blinken.
Police “99%” sure that Tel Aviv bomb blast was attempted terror attack
Ayalon District Police Commander Haim Bublil tells Kan radio that he is “99%” sure that a bomb blast that killed a man in Tel Aviv last night was an attempted terror attack.
“It may be that the terrorist planned to go to a synagogue nearby or maybe a shopping center. We can’t understand yet why it exploded at that point,” he says.
The man was carrying the bomb in a bag on his back while walking down Lehi Road in the city’s south when it went off.
The man, in his fifties, was killed as a result of the explosion. A passerby on an electric scooter in his thirties was moderately wounded. Paramedics declared the man who’d been carrying the bomb dead at the scene and evacuated the injured man to hospital.
Meeting Herzog, Blinken says ongoing talks ‘maybe the last’ chance for hostage deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel on August 18, 2024. (Kevin MOHATT / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Israel to push for a truce-hostage deal in the Israel-Hamas war, says ongoing negotiations were “maybe the last” chance to reach an agreement to end the war.
“This is a decisive moment — probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire, and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Blinken says as he meets President Isaac Herzog on his ninth trip to the region since the war broke out in October.
The top US diplomat says he is also working to ensure that there is no regional escalation amid concerns over a possible attack by Iran on Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
Crocodile attack victim remains in serious condition after 9-hour surgery
Crocodiles at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo, August 18, 2024. (Police spokesperson)
A Biblical Zoo worker attacked by a crocodile yesterday remains in serious condition at Hadassah Medical Center Ein Kerem.
The hospital says the patient, 45, underwent a nine-hour surgery and is now sedated and hooked up to a ventilator.
A security guard who noticed the commotion shot the crocodile, likely saving the worker’s life, police said Sunday. The crocodile was treated by the zoo’s veterinary staff but was confirmed later on Sunday to have died of its wounds.
Rocket sirens blare in northern communities
Incoming rocket sirens are activated in northern communities after several alerts sounded earlier this morning
The sirens sound in Even Menachem, Shtula, Shomera, and Zarit.
Red Alert [07:28:42] – 4 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Even Menachem, Shtula, Shomera, Zarit
Population in the area: 9,500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/dSOII6q9Eo— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 19, 2024
Several drones fired by Hezbollah, some shot down, others impact northern community
Several apparent drones were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the Western Galilee this morning.
According to the IDF, some of the suspected drones were shot down by air defenses as they crossed into Israeli airspace, while others impacted the Ya’ara area.
The military does not immediately provide details on possible casualties or damage in the attack.
UN slams soaring violence faced by aid workers, warn Israel-Hamas war fueling deaths
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations condemns the “unacceptable” level of violence becoming commonplace against humanitarian workers, a record 280 of whom were killed worldwide in 2023.
And it warned that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year.
“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” Joyce Msuya, acting director of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says in a statement on World Humanitarian Day.
“With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community,” a 137 percent increase over 2022, when 118 aid workers died, OCHA says in the statement.
It cites the Aid Worker Security Database which has tracked such figures back to 1997.
The UN says more than half of the deaths in 2023, or 163, were aid workers killed in Gaza during the first three months of the war between Israel and Hamas, mainly in airstrikes. Israel has provided evidence that Hamas terrorists are embedded in UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinian refugees, while some employees of the organization were found to have taken part in the October 7 massacre in southern communities.
South Sudan, wracked by civil strife, and Sudan, where a war between two rival generals has been raging since April 2023, are the next deadliest conflicts for humanitarians, with 34 and 25 deaths respectively.
Also in the top 10 are Israel and Syria, with seven deaths each; Ethiopia and Ukraine, with six deaths each; Somalia with five fatalities; and four deaths both in Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In all the conflicts, most of the deaths are among local staff.
Despite 2023’s “outrageously high number” of aid worker fatalities, OCHA said 2024 “may be on track for an even deadlier outcome.”
As of August 9, 176 aid workers have been killed worldwide, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.
IDF jets strike several Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon, as sirens blare in Western Galilee
Israeli fighter jets struck several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab, Beit Lif, and Houla last night, the IDF says.
It publishes footage of the strikes.
אמש מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים עייתא א-שעב, בית ליף וחולא שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/zrDBKw4IUz
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 19, 2024
Meanwhile, this morning, a series of rocket and suspected drone sirens sound in the Western Galilee.
The IDF has not yet commented on the alerts.
Rocket and drone sirens sound in northern communities
Sirens are sounding in multiple communities in northern Israel, signaling both incoming rockets and potential drone infiltration threats.
Alerts are heard in Shlomi, Hanita, Matsuva and other towns in the Galilee.
Blinken in Israel as Netanyahu, Hamas trade blame over Gaza talks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel on August 18, 2024. (Kevin MOHATT / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken i due to meet today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to try to unblock the process for a ceasefire in Gaza, even as the premier and Hamas traded blame for delays in reaching a truce accord.
After arriving in Tel Aviv Sunday on his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel in October, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and President Isaac Herzog.
Blinken will then travel to Cairo on Tuesday, where ceasefire talks will resume in the coming days.
Harris arrives in Chicago to star at Democratic convention
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) and husband US Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff step off Air Force Two upon arrival at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, after a day of campaigning by bus in Pennsylvania, on August 18, 2024. (Robyn Beck / AFP)
Kamala Harris has arrived in Chicago ahead of her star turn at the Democratic National Convention, perhaps the most pivotal moment yet for her short election campaign against Donald Trump.
The US vice president has reenergized the party after an astonishing month that has seen her replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket and wipe out Republican rival Trump’s lead in the polls.
On the way to Chicago, Harris stopped in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania — which Trump won in 2016 and Biden in 2020 — and embarked on a day-long bus tour in a bid to keep up the momentum.
Accompanied by her running mate Tim Walz and their respective spouses, they set off from Pittsburgh on a coach emblazoned with their names to a series of rust-belt towns to woo blue-collar voters.
But Harris insisted that Trump was still the favorite to win and that she would campaign hard with just 79 days until the November 5 election.
“I very much consider us the underdog, we have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the American people,” Harris told reporters in Pennsylvania. “That’s why we’re on this bus tour today.”
Lebanese media: Hezbollah repels IDF soldiers who tried to enter territory
Hezbollah-linked Al Mayadeen claims IDF troops who attempted to enter Lebanese territory were repelled by Hezbollah fire near Ayta ash Shab.
The terror group attacked the soldiers with rockets and artillery fire, the report claims.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Israeli military said operating in Qalqilya area following terror attack
Palestinian media report the Israeli military is operating in force in the Qalqilya area following yesterday’s West Bank terror attack near Kedumim.
The reports say troops have entered the village of Baqat al-Hatab in the central West Bank, possibly searching for the man who killed an Israeli civilian security guard with a hammer at the Bar-On industrial park before fleeing the scene.
There is no immediate comment from the army.
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