Aug. 20: Blinken says Gaza deal needs to happen, mediators trying to get Hamas on board

Anti-Israel protesters disrupt Orthodox Jewish group’s DNC side event about domestic antisemitism

Anti-Israel protesters disrupt an Agudath Israel of America event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

CHICAGO — A handful of anti-Israel protesters have briefly disrupted an event organized by an Orthodox Jewish group on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention.

The Agudath Israel of America event focuses on growing electoral strength of the Orthodox Jewish community and rising antisemitism in the US.

While the event only mentions Israel in passing, a handful of masked, far-left protesters chant, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism has got to fall” and shout “shame on you” at participants.

Organizers of Jewish events at the DNC have refrained from publicizing their location ahead of time to avoid such disruptions. The incident appears to be the first time far-left protesters succeed in discovering the site of a Jewish gathering in advance.

The Agudath event saw speeches by Democratic Sen. Debby Stabanow, Rep. Josh Gottheimer,  New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the chairman of the DNC host committee.

"Brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism has got to fall" — protestors showed up at an event hosted by Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish organization, that is meant to highlight the rise of antisemitism & the growing electoral power of religious Jews pic.twitter.com/hfPU8LeQiN

— Gabby Deutch (@GSDeutch) August 20, 2024

Blinken: Ceasefire deal needs to happen in coming days, trying to get Hamas on board with ‘bridging proposal’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Gaza ceasefire deal needs to get done in the coming days, adding the United States, Egypt and Qatar will do everything possible to get Hamas on board with the “bridging proposal.”

Blinken, speaking to reporters in Doha, says that once Hamas agrees to the proposal presented by Washington to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal, they would also have to get agreement on the implementation details. The US has long said it does not accept a long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel, Blinken says.

“Time is of the essence,” the top American diplomat says. “This needs to get done, and it needs to get done in the days ahead, and we will do everything possible to get it across the finish line.”

Report: Netanyahu recently met with Smotrich twice to try and persuade him to support hostage deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attend a Knesset vote on the state budget, February 7, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich twice in recent days in an attempt to convince him to support the proposed hostage release-ceasefire deal, Walla News alleges.

According to the report, the two first discussed the issue on Saturday night in Jerusalem and then a second time on Sunday, during a larger meeting on the 2025 state budget.

Citing unnamed sources, Walla states that the two discussed the reasons for Smotrich’s opposition to a deal, and whether or not there were certain conditions under which the far-right minister could back such a deal.

Both Smotrich and his ultranationalist ally National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have threatened to resign from the government if Israel follows through with a deal that will halt fighting in Gaza and bring about the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

Walla adds that neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor the Finance Ministry responded to a request for comment.

Israeli diplomat laments ‘institutional support’ Chicago providing to anti-Israel protesters

Israeli Consul General to the Midwest Yinam Cohen speaks at Hostage Square in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

CHICAGO — Israel’s Consul General in Chicago Yinam Cohen laments the “institutional support” that the city of Chicago has provided to the anti-Israel protests taking place outside the Democratic National Convention.

Speaking to The Times of Israel from the “Hostage Square” erected by pro-Israel groups to raise awareness of the hostages’ plight on the sidelines of the DNC, Cohen declines to elaborate on the charge against Chicago.

Earlier this week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson characterized the war in Gaza as “genocidal.” Pressed on that assertion yesterday, Johnson softened his rhetoric, instead calling for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that the US has been working to broker.

The city granted organizers of the March on DNC to hold rallies on the first and final days of the convention, allowing them to gather within sight and sound of the main confab hall. Several demonstrators were arrested yesterday after breaching one of the outer perimeters of Chicago’s United Center, where the main events are being held.

Hostage Square was erected on private property half a mile from the perimeter of the convention after organizers from the Israeli American Council said that the city refused to grant them a permit for a space closer or within the perimeter of the main event hall.

An exhibit to raise awareness for the hostages being held in Gaza on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

Despite his criticism of the city, Cohen says that the reception he and other Israeli diplomats have been receiving at the DNC has been “extraordinary.”

“Just like we were at the RNC last month, we are here at the DNC to really celebrate the strategic alliance between the United States and Israel,” he says.

“The most significant foundation of this alliance is its bipartisan nature and our ability to work well and evenly with both parties,” Cohen adds.

Hundreds visit ‘Hostage Square’ on DNC sidelines as families aim to differentiate cause from Palestinian issue

An exhibit to raise awareness for the hostages being held in Gaza on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

CHICAGO — Hundreds of people stop by “Hostage Square,” which was erected in Chicago to raise awareness about the plight of the 105 hostages still held in Gaza.

The square features several exhibits by Israeli and American artists honoring the victims of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

One of the exhibits features milk cartons adorned with the photos of the eight American hostages in Gaza, playing off of the “missing person” ads that were seen on such containers in the late 20th century.

The expo is organized by the Israeli American Council, which said it was forced to find a space on private property after the city of Chicago refused to give it a permit for a space closer or within the perimeter of the Democratic National Convention.

IAC did, however, accept a Wednesday evening spot at a “Speaker’s Platform” that the city has set up in one of its nearby parks to accommodate the many groups that were declined rally permits do to capacity limits.

One of the American hostages pictured on a carton is Itay Chen, an IDF soldier who was killed and abducted by Hamas on October 7.

An exhibit to raise awareness for the hostages being held in Gaza on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

Chen’s father Ruby tells The Times of Israel that in conversations with Democratic delegates, he and the other relatives of American hostages present for the convention have sought to differentiate the plight of the hostages from the broader Palestinian issue.

He attended a breakfast earlier today for the New York delegation where he met briefly with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Recalling his conversation with the progressive lawmaker, Chen says he noted that New Yorkers are known for standing together and asked Ocasio-Cortez if she’d be willing to stand with his family, who are also from the state. The Democratic lawmaker agreed and Chen expresses his hope that there would be follow-up meetings.

Ocasio-Cortez highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’s commitment to securing a ceasefire and hostage release deal during her well-received speech last night at the Democratic National Convention.

The lawmaker is an important ally to cultivate, given her widespread following in the US, Chen says.

At the Republican National Convention last month American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra’s parents were given a primetime slot on the event’s main stage.

Chen says the American hostage families in town for the DNC have been in touch with organizers about receiving a similar speaking slot.

“It will be difficult to not provide us a platform,” he says, adding that he is “cautiously optimistic” about ultimately receiving one before the convention ends on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian activists are seeking a similar speaker spot for one of the American doctors who recently returned from treating patients in war-decimated Gaza.

Report: US bridging proposal has been received by Sinwar; mediators seeking flexibility from PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) holds a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, July 13, 2024 (Dudu Bachar/POOL/Flash90); Hamas's leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar attends a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Gaza City, April 14, 2023. (Mohammed Abed / AFP)

The updated US bridging proposal, endorsed by fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt and accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, has been received by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Channel 12 says in an unsourced report.

It says the Israeli assessment is that Sinwar will stick with Hamas’s current public position, which is to reject the proposal.

The report says the mediators have conveyed a message to Israel, urging Netanyahu to show flexibility so that they can make a final effort to get Hamas to the negotiating table.

The report does not definitely explain the discrepancies of the past two days, which saw Netanyahu announcing after his meeting with Blinken yesterday that he has accepted the bridging proposal, Blinken publicly confirming that Netanyahu has done so and demanding that Hamas do the same, while Netanyahu continues to insist on terms, including an IDF presence on the Gaza-Egypt border, that Egypt has reportedly ruled out, and amid reported requests from both the mediators and Israel’s own negotiators that Netanyahu show flexibility.

It notes that Netanyahu “sharpened the areas of differences” in his meeting earlier today with some families of hostages and of slain soldiers, when he reportedly insisted on some kind of ongoing IDF presence on the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, an arrangement at the Netzarim Corridor to prevent the return of armed gunmen to northern Gaza, and the right to resume fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

Channel 12 broadcasts a sequence of brief clips of Netanyahu’s remarks at the meeting which imply, but do not fully show, that he set out some of those specific demands: “We took hold of the Philadelphi Corridor; we took hold of the Rafah border crossing…,” he says in one snippet. “We are making an effort to return the hostages…,” he says in another. “But the other issue is to retain our strategic security assets in the face of heavy pressure at home and abroad. And we are standing firm,” he says in the third.

The report asserts that Blinken and the US are determinedly displaying optimism about the prospects for a deal in part because of the current Democratic National Convention and also because the administration is anxious to avoid a descent into regional conflict ahead of the presidential elections.

Israel’s negotiators were optimistic on their return from the Thursday-Friday Doha summit, which Hamas did not attend, because, the report says, they had gotten the Americans on board with Netanyahu’s proposal. And they expected he would give them flexibility to advance the process.

Channel 12 repeats its previous reporting that the Israeli negotiators told Netanyahu after the Doha summit that there would be no deal if he did not show flexibility on the issue of the Philadelphi Corridor, and that he responded Israeli control of that border route is a strategic issue. Ultimately, the TV report says, Netanyahu made plain to the Israeli negotiators that if the choice is between an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi corridor and a deal, he prefers the former.

Nonetheless, the report adds, the negotiators will make further effort to find a compromise between Netanyahu and the mediators, perhaps by reducing the number of IDF positions on the Philadelphi Corridor to just one or two.

The negotiators will attend a planned summit session in Cairo on Thursday or Friday, it says, even though they are not sure there’s anything to go there for in terms of negotiating leeway.

Hostage’s father casts doubt on PM’s public acceptance of US ceasefire proposal

An exhibit to raise awareness for the hostages being held in Gaza on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

CHICAGO — The father of slain American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen casts doubt on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public acceptance of the US bridging proposal submitted last week to secure a ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas.

“It’s difficult to understand why the prime minister is coming up with new topics and further clarifications on things that he himself put in place,” Ruby Chen says in an interview with The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

He acknowledges that Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on Monday announcing his support for the US proposal, but Chen notes that Netanyahu immediately met with a small minority of hostage families who have opposed previous hostage deal offers and “backtracked a bit on what was agreed upon in the prime minister’s meeting with [US] Secretary [of State] Antony Blinken.״

According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu told the hawkish hostage families in yesterday’s meeting that Israel will not under any circumstances leave the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors, doubling down on the new demands he issued last month that Israeli negotiators have warned could scuttle a deal.

Chen accuses Netanyahu of “posturing,” saying the prime minister conducted himself similarly during and after his meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House last month. The hostage’s father said Netanyahu “made clarifications after the meeting that weren’t in line with what we understood at the White House.״

For now, the Biden administration has maintained that Netanyahu is, in fact, sticking with the latest bridging proposal submitted by the US on Friday, but a US official does acknowledge to The Times of Israel that there’s concern from both sides regarding the implementation of the deal.

Highlighting the recovery of six hostages’ bodies hours earlier, Chen says the development highlights the urgency of his plight.

“The enemy of a good deal is an excellent deal. The prime minister is looking for an excellent deal, but to get there he’s taking such a long time that more hostages are being sacrificed,” he says.

Pressing Netanyahu to act, he cites a Jewish teaching that states that one who saves a life is as if to have saved an entire world.

He clarifies that Hamas also needs to accept the US proposal on the table — something the terror group has yet to do.

Blinken arrives in Qatar as US pushes for results in Gaza ceasefire talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Qatar on Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour to push forward talks aimed at ending the 10-month-old Gaza war and freeing the hostages held by Hamas.

Blinken is set to meet with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani following stops in Egypt and Israel.

Officials fear rejecting release of men during November truce ‘sealed the fate’ of elderly hostages — report

Illustrative: Members of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terror groups release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)

Israeli officials are unsure that the decision to accept only the release of women and children, rather than men, during the weeklong truce in November was the right choice to have made, Channel 12 reports.

The November truce broke down after seven days, when Hamas claimed it was unable to release more civilian women and children, and said it could instead release hostages from other categories, namely civilian men.

Israel refused, saying that this would violate the terms of the negotiated deal, as it knew that, at that point, the terror group was still holding roughly 17 women and two children.

Now, speaking to Channel 12, an anonymous source who was involved in the negotiations for the truce says that the issue of whether or not to allow Hamas to change the terms of the deal and extend it for at least an eighth day was “a very difficult moral dilemma.”

“We didn’t know then that we had sealed the fate of the elderly,” the source is quoted as saying. “But de facto, we could have perhaps released them, and they died.”

The report adds that MK Gadi Eisenkot, who had been an observer in the now-disbanded war cabinet, had spoken in favor of allowing Hamas to violate the terms of the agreement and instead release the men, arguing that it would be better than nothing, as it would be months until the opportunity arose again to release the hostages — men or women.

IDF: 40 rockets, several drones fired from Lebanon and northern Israel earlier this evening

A barrage of some 40 rockets and several drones were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel this evening, the IDF says.

According to the IDF, sirens that sounded in the Galilee Panhandle and Golan Heights were triggered by several suspected drones that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.

Some of the drones were intercepted, while others impacted in the Golan Heights, according to the military.

Also this evening, some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee, the IDF says, setting off sirens in Fassuta, Shomera, Shtula, and other towns close to the Lebanon border.

In all, more than 115 rockets have been fired from Lebanon at northern Israel today.

Meanwhile, the IDF says that it struck a building where several Hezbollah operatives were spotted in southern Lebanon’s Matmoura, along with another structure in the area.

It publishes footage of the strikes.

מטוסי קרב תקפו מוקדם יותר היום מבנה צבאי בו פעלו מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב אל-מטמורה שבדרום לבנון, לצד מבנה צבאי נוסף של הארגון במרחב >> pic.twitter.com/rLhVm11Fk6

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 20, 2024

Members of Israel’s negotiating team accuse Netanyahu of intentionally sabotaging hostage deal talks — report

Sources involved in the ongoing talks for a hostage release-ceasefire deal have accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of intentionally sabotaging the negotiations after he was said to have told the hawkish Tikva and Gvura forums that “Israel won’t leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances,” the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“Netanyahu’s statement is intended to blow up the negotiations, there’s no other way about it,” the source tells Kan. “The prime minister knows that we are in a critical period during which we’re working on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim ahead of the next summit.”

“He knows there is progress — and then he puts out statements that are the opposite of what was agreed upon with the mediators,” the source adds.

Holding photos of dead hostages and signs calling for a deal, protesters block traffic in Tel Aviv

Protesters hold images of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza overnight at a protest in Tel Aviv demanding a hostage deal, August 20, 2023. (Yael Gadot / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement

Hundreds of protesters block traffic as they gather on Begin Road in Tel Aviv to protest for a hostage deal after the recovery of the bodies of six hostages in an overnight operation, all of whom were abducted alive on October 7.

Protesters holding images of Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewel march behind a banner reading “Netanyahu is sacrificing the hostages.”

After drone infiltration alerts, Home Front Command says incident has ended

Following the activation of drone infiltration alerts in areas close to the Lebanon border earlier this evening, the IDF Home Front Command says that “the incident has ended,” without elaborating further.

UK’s Starmer speaks with Netanyahu to discuss ceasefire efforts, importance of regional de-escalation

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at 10 Downing Street, London, England, on August 1, 2024, following clashes after the Southport stabbing. (Henry Nicholls/ Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier today, Starmer’s office says in a readout of the call.

Starmer offered his condolences to the families of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza this morning, including Nadav Popplewell, an Israeli-British national,” the readout states.

The two also “discussed diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of the hostages,” it adds, and discussed the urgent need for regional de-escalation as “the impact of miscalculation would come at great costs for all sides.”

Starmer reiterated the UK’s commitment to Israel’s right to self defense, and said it would “continue to work with partners to uphold regional security.”

Finally, he urged Netanyahu to ensure the increased delivery of aid to Gaza and “to ensure international law was upheld at all times.”

There was no immediate statement on the call from Netanyahu’s office.

Drone infiltration alerts activated in areas close to the Lebanon border

Suspected drone infiltration sirens sound in communities close to the Lebanon border.

The sirens are activated in multiple locations in northern Israel, including Metula, Kiryat Shmona and Tel Hai.

🚨 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [19:14:24] – 10 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Metulla, Misgav Am, Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Shmona, Manara, Margaliot, Tel Hai, Kfar Yuval, Beit Hillel, Ma'ayan Baruch
Population in the area: 73,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/DhOYq6GtVK

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 20, 2024

Harris won’t cut or condition aid to Israel, former aide says

AJC’s Jason Isaacson, Rep. Brad Schneider, JDCA’s Halie Soifer and former US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides speak on an AJC panel on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Courtesy)

CHICAGO — A Kamala Harris administration will not cut or condition US security assistance to Israel, her former aide says during a panel on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention.

Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer, who previously served as Harris’s national security adviser in the Senate, notes that the Biden-Harris administration has approved more aid to Israel in the past six months — $15 billion — than any other administration ever.

Also speaking on the panel organized by the American Jewish Committee is Rep. Brad Schneider who predicted that a Harris administration would not return to the Iran nuclear deal, noting that he has discussed the issue recently with Ilan Goldenberg, the Harris campaign’s newly appointed Jewish liaison.

Former US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides indicates that he expects Harris would have to be stern with Israel at times.

He also jokes that he wouldn’t like to go on vacation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because he’s sometimes difficult to deal with, but he stresses that the premier will meet his match with Harris, who is no less “tough.”

Nides admits to feeling angst over rising antisemitism, which he never felt  before growing up Jewish in Duluth, Minnesota.

He argues that Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff wouldn’t be traveling around the US and the world raising awareness about the dangers of antisemitism if his wife wasn’t encouraging him to do so.

Schneider says many of those calling for an Israel arms embargo are actually seeking the elimination of the Jewish state and the “exclusion of the Jewish people from the American political body.”

They are a minority and they must be called out,” he says to applause from around 200 audience members.

US ‘bridging proposal’ would allow reduced Israeli troops to remain on Gaza-Egypt border — NYT

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

The new US “bridging proposal” for a hostage release-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas would allow Israeli troops to continue to patrol part of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, The New York Times reports, citing officials familiar with the negotiations.

According to the Times, the US proposal would allow a reduced number of Israeli troops to remain posted along the border route. However, the officials say that the suggestion is likely to be shot down by Hamas, which has said it will not tolerate any Israeli presence in the area whatsoever.

It adds that Egypt has also expressed displeasure, and Egyptian officials have warned that the extended presence of Israeli troops would pose national security concerns.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw from the route, or the Netzarim Corridor, and that troops must be stationed there for strategic and security reasons. Earlier this week, Israeli negotiators were said to have told the prime minister that his insistence on these demands was dooming the deal.

The officials say that another of Netanyahu’s other “non-negotiable” demands also posed issues at the talks in Doha over the weekend, after the US asked to delay in-depth conversations regarding Israel’s demand to screen displaced Palestinians returning to the northern part of the Strip, to ensure that they aren’t carrying weapons.

Blinken discusses Gaza ceasefire efforts in meetings with Egypt’s president, foreign minister

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in El-Alamein, Egypt, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Al Alamein, Egypt, earlier today, a readout from the State Department says.

During his meeting with Sisi, Blinken thanked him for Egypt’s role as a mediating party in the ongoing talks with Israel and Hamas for a hostage release and ceasefire deal, the readout says, adding that he “also stressed the importance of continuing to work together to prevent regional escalation in this critical time.”

Meeting with Abdelatty, Blinken thanked him for the “sustained efforts to finalize a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of all hostages, surge humanitarian assistance, and create a path for broader regional stability,” the readout states.

The two also discussed “other regional issues and priorities” relevant to both the US and Egypt, it adds.

Gallant: Israel’s ‘center of gravity’ gradually moving from Gaza to the northern front

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) meets with 36th Division commander Brig. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa at a base in northern Israel (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel’s “center of gravity” is gradually moving away from the Gaza Strip to the northern front, as the country readies for a major escalation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

“Our center of gravity is moving from south to north, we are in a gradual change, we have more tasks in the south, we have hostages, we need to bring them, we are negotiating on this and I believe we will succeed in reaching results, this is a very important thing,” Gallant says during a visit to the 36th Division in northern Israel.

“We want to return the [displaced] residents to the north, we want to return them safely. If it is possible to do this in an agreement, we will do it in an agreement,” he says, warning that Israel will otherwise act.

Ocasio-Cortez meets with father of American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen on sidelines of DNC

CHICAGO — Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez meets with the father of American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

The progressive “Squad” lawmaker touted Vice President Kamala Harris’s efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal during her well-received prime-time speech on the first night of the DNC.

Itay Chen’s father Ruby shared the story of his son, along with two other New York natives who are among the 115 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza for 318 days.

Chen was killed on October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists, where it is still being held.

רובי חן, אביו של חלל צהל איתי חן ז״ל שגופתו מוחזקת בעזה פגש בכינוס של המשלחת מניו יורק את חברת הקונגרס אלכסנדרה אוקסיו קורטז וסיפר על בנו והחטופים האחרים, מהם 3 מניו יורק pic.twitter.com/CRAIDLPyK1

— יונה לייבזון yuna leibzon (@YunaLeibzon) August 20, 2024

Hostage families accuse PM of torpedoing deal after he says IDF won’t leave Philadelphi, Netzarim corridors ‘under any circumstance’

The Hostages Families Forum accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of permanently abandoning the hostages to their fates in Gaza after he told members of the hardline Tikva and Gvura forums earlier today that “Israel won’t leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances,” and said he was “not sure there will be a deal.”

“The prime minister’s remarks are effectively a torpedoing of the hostage deal,” the forum says. “Netanyahu won’t face that abandoning the hostages leads to their being murdered in captivity.

“They’re not suffering, they’re also dying,” the statement continues, referring to comments allegedly made by the premier during a cabinet meeting last month, when he said that the hostages “are suffering but they are not dying.”

“There is no hope and no heroism in a ‘firm’ stance that will result in the continued death of all the hostages,” the forum continues, alluding to the Tikva and Gvura forums, whose names mean “hope” and “heroism,” respectively. “The Israeli government abandoned the hostages on October 7 and is now abandoning them for good.”

Lapid: Netanyahu’s sabotage of hostage deal needs to stop ‘before they all die’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for an immediate deal before the hostages “all die.”

“Enough with the briefings, enough with the tweets,” Lapid states. “All of Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop. A deal now, before they all die.”

Sharing new details of mission to recover bodies of 6 hostages, IDF says it was fastest such operation of war

IDF troops are seen operating to retrieve the bodies of 6 hostages from Gaza's Khan Younis during an overnight operation, in photos cleared for publication on August 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The recovery of the bodies of six Israeli hostages from the southern Gaza Strip overnight was the fastest such operation carried out by the military so far during the war, which IDF sources said indicated the army’s ability to quickly establish control of areas it previously withdrew from.

On Sunday, the IDF’s 98th Division expanded its operation in Khan Younis and by early Monday, it had achieved “operational control” over one of the neighborhoods where the bodies of the hostages were believed to be held.

The IDF had relatively precise intelligence on the tunnel where the bodies of the hostages were held, although not the exact location.

According to the military, within less than 24 hours, combat engineers located a 10-meter deep tunnel shaft that led to a tunnel system in the area, with one team spotting various indications of where the bodies were being held.

Overnight between Monday and Tuesday, the bodies were found and extracted from the Strip, making it the fastest operation to recover hostages’ bodies so far amid the war. Previous operations to recover the bodies of hostages have taken several days, in comparison.

Hamas had attempted to hide the remains of the hostages, placing them in an underground passage which was hidden behind a false wall inside the tunnel system.

The IDF says combat engineers of the elite Yahalom unit and members of the Shin Bet security agency managed to break through the false wall, blast doors, and other blockages inside the tunnel, where in addition to the bodies they also located weapons, explosive devices, and other equipment belonging to Hamas terrorists.

The IDF says the recovery mission was carried out following fighting in the area, during which troops scanned buildings and killed several gunmen.

Some of the terrorists that had been guarding the tunnel had fled, while other apparent guards were killed fighting troops in the surrounding area, according to military sources.

The troops found weapons on several dead terror operatives within a few hundred meters of the tunnel where the bodies were held, close to some of the shafts that led to the underground passages. Military sources said those gunmen were likely guarding the area of the tunnel.

The bodies of the apparent guards were taken to Israel along with the remains of the hostages for identification, as the IDF wanted to be certain that no hostages were left behind.

Revolutionary Guard spokesman says wait for Iran’s retaliation against Israel ‘could be long’

There could be a long wait for Iranian retaliation against Israel, a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says, according to Iranian state media.

The Middle East has been bracing for Iran’s avowed retaliation over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind the killing.

“Time is in our favor and the waiting period for this response could be long,” Alimohammad Naini says, referring to retaliation against Israel, and reiterating that “the enemy” should wait for a calculated and accurate response.

Iranian leaders are weighing all circumstances and the Islamic Republic’s response might not be a repeat of previous operations, he adds, according to Iranian state media.

Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Kibbutz Be’eri says it will hold private memorial on Oct. 7, denounces planned state-run ceremony

Graves of Kibbutz Be'eri residents who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, in Kibbutz Revivim, southern Israel, November 15, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Kibbutz Be’eri announces its opposition to the government’s plans to hold a state memorial ceremony to mark one year since the October 7 Hamas terror assault, in which 101 residents of the kibbutz were slaughtered.

In a statement, the kibbutz says it would prefer for the government to instead “invest all its energy in promoting a deal to return the hostages and end their abandonment.”

Instead of a ceremony, the government should establish a state commission of inquiry “that will provide us with answers and draw conclusions with which it will be possible to start to heal,” the kibbutz says, adding that it would prefer the government to “deal with the lives that can still be saved.”

Kibbutz Be’eri will hold a private memorial ceremony on October 7 for the members it lost, it says.

Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said he would boycott the state-run memorial, which is expected to be overseen by Transportation Minister Miri Regev, in favor of spending the day with the families of those murdered “from Be’eri and Sderot and Nir Oz.”

A number of other 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.

Fifth settler arrested on suspicion of assaulting Arab women and child in West Bank outpost

A fifth Israeli settler suspected of assaulting four Arab Israeli women, plus a three-year-old, in the West Bank outpost of Givat Ronen earlier this month has been detained by police.

The suspect was detained overnight and is currently being questioned by police and the Shin Bet security agency.

Earlier today, a court extended the suspect’s detention until Friday.

Four others have been detained in the past week, although one has since been released to house arrest.

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.

Anti-Israel commentator Richard Medhurst detained at Heathrow Airport under UK’s Terrorism Act

British political commentator Richard Medhurst, who is known for his anti-Israel activism, says he was detained at London’s Heathrow Airport for 24 hours and interrogated under section 12 of the UK’s Terrorism Act.

The law under which Medhurst was detained stipulates that expressing beliefs or carrying out actions that “support a proscribed organization” is a criminal offense.

Medhurst, who has voiced support for Hamas amid the terror group’s ongoing war with Israel in Gaza, says on Twitter that he believes he is “the first journalist to be arrested under this provision.”

Six police officers arrested him at the entrance of the aircraft after he disembarked, says Medhurst.

“I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist,” he adds.

Medhurst regularly casts doubt on the connection between Jews and the Land of Israel by means of racist innuendo about Ashkenazi surnames and misleading claims about modern Hebrew.

He has also spread conspiracy theories regarding Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, including by insisting that there were no acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists, and asserting that the victims of the massacre were killed by the IDF, not by Hamas.

His YouTube bio says he was born in Damascus, Syria, and is fluent in English, French, German and Arabic.

As an independent journalist, he has contributed to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news site, Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s state-controlled RT television network.

Netanyahu, meeting hardline hostage families, said to say ‘not sure there will be a deal’ and IDF won’t leave Philadelphi, Netzarim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets hostage families from the hardline Gvura and Tikva forums at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, August 20, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he’s “not sure there will be a deal,” according to hostage families who met him today, representing groups demanding that their loved ones be freed by military pressure rather than via a deal with Hamas.

One of the relatives who participated in the meeting, Zvika Mor, whose son Eitan is captive in Gaza, tells Hebrew media afterwards that his impression was that Netanyahu “doesn’t believe there will be a deal.”

Mor says he and colleagues from the hardline Gvura and Tikva forums, which represent families of some slain soldiers and some hostages respectively, voiced concerns of the potential deal currently being negotiated.

The forums say Netanyahu reiterated during the meeting that should a deal end up being sealed, it would “safeguard Israel’s interests.” They say the premier said he told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in their meeting yesterday that “Israel won’t leave the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor under any circumstances.”

IDF strikes Hezbollah sites, including rocket launcher used to target Israel

The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Beit Lif a short while ago, which had been used in an attack on northern Israel yesterday.

Fighter jets also hit a building used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab, the IDF adds.

מוקדם יותר היום, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף משגר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה ממנו בוצעו אתמול שיגורים לשטח הארץ במרחב בית ליף שבדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון >> pic.twitter.com/SphrUjZbY0

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 20, 2024

IDF troops kill dozens of gunmen in southern, central Gaza

IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on August 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Troops with the 162nd Division killed some 40 gunmen in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of southern Gaza’s Rafah over the past day, in clashes and by directing airstrikes, the IDF says.

In one incident in Tel Sultan, the military says troops with the Nahal Brigade spotted a cell of RPG-wielding operatives at a building and directed a drone to strike the site.

Further north, in Khan Younis, the IDF says troops with the 98th Division killed several more terror operatives and destroyed sites belonging to terror groups, including rocket launchers used in recent attacks.

In central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, reservists with the 252nd Division killed several terror operatives by directing airstrikes, according to the military.

In an incident in the central Gaza area, reservists of the Jerusalem Brigade killed two gunmen who emerged from a tunnel and attempted to plant a bomb near the troops, the IDF adds.

Hamas says Biden’s accusation that it backed away from latest deal is ‘misleading’

Hamas issues a statement in response to US President Joe Biden, who has accused the terror group of “backing away” from a hostage deal with Israel that would halt the ongoing fighting in Gaza, saying that Biden’s words are “misleading” and do not reflect the movement’s real position.

Hamas’s statement calls Biden’s remarks an “American green light for the Zionist extremist government to commit more crimes against defenseless civilians.”

The Palestinian terror group says that the US-backed “bridging proposal” that was conveyed to Israel and to Hamas at the end of the talks in Doha on Friday is a “reversal” of what the parties had agreed on in early July, and blames the US for its “complete bias” towards Israel and its “partnership” with Israel in the war.

Hamas further calls on the US administration to reverse its policy toward Jerusalem and to “work seriously” to stop the war in Gaza.

Hamas issued its unilateral terms for a deal on July 2. Netanyahu said in July that the Hamas document included 29 changes to the Israeli proposal from May and that he had rejected it.

AFP contributed to this report.

Egypt’s Sissi, in meeting with Blinken, warns of risk of Gaza war expanding regionally

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has warned of the risk of the Gaza war expanding regionally in a way “difficult to imagine” during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Egyptian presidency says.

Blinken is in Cairo pushing for areas of possible progress on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in talks planned for later this week, with major areas of dispute between Israel and Hamas left unresolved.

Cops in central Israel find RPG launcher and warheads likely from Gaza

An RPG launcher with warheads that was found in a police search in central Netanya on August 19, 2024. (Israel Police)

Police say cops have located and seized weapons held illegally in central Israel, including an RPG launcher with two warheads suspected to have previously been in the possession of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The crackdown on illegal arms last night in the cities of Netanya and Taibe led to the discovery of the launcher in the parking lot of a building in central Netanya, with a police sapper successfully neutralizing it.

Police say officers also found various firearms and ammunition in Taibe.

The statement doesn’t elaborate on how the RPG might have gotten from Gaza to Netanya.

There have been several cases of soldiers unlawfully taking weapons from the Gaza Strip as “souvenirs” as well as some civilians doing similar acts following the October 7 onslaught.

Palestinian to be indicted for murder of Prison Service worker, but not for terrorism

Israel Prison Service dog handler Yochai Avni. (Courtesy)

The Israel Police and Shin Bet say they have solved the murder of Israel Prison Service (IPS) employee Yochai Avni last month, and that a Palestinian man has been arraigned and will be indicted within days.

The suspect is named as Ibrahim Mansour, 22, from the West Bank town of Bidu.

However, the statement does not mention a nationalistic motive for the murder. It says there was no connection to the victim being an IPS worker, and that there was no prior acquaintance between the two.

Avni, a 40-year-old dog handler, was found stabbed to death on July 8 following a fire in his home in the West Bank settlement of Givon Hahadasha, outside Jerusalem.

His colleagues at the prison where he was employed noticed his absence from work and turned up at his home to check on him. When they arrived, they saw smoke emerging from the home and called firefighters to the scene.

Mansour was detained two days later as a suspect.

In the new statement, police and the Shin Bet say investigators have concluded that Mansour managed to break into Givon Hahadasha at nighttime and tried to enter several homes until he climbed in through the window of a home rented by Avni, who was sleeping.

He woke up and a physical struggle broke out between the two, with Mansour stabbing Avni many times with a sharp object until the latter collapsed, according to the statement. Mansour then took a large knife and stabbed Avni in the neck, killing him.

Mansour then allegedly stole several items — which he burned later — and attempted to set the house on fire before fleeing, though the fire ended up going out on its own.

Mansour’s remand is currently extended until August 27.

Former Nazi camp secretary, 99, loses appeal against conviction in Germany

Irmgard Furchner appears in court for the verdict in her trial in Itzehoe, Germany, December 20, 2022. (Christian Charisius/Pool Photo via DPA)

A 99-year-old former Nazi camp secretary loses her appeal against her conviction for complicity in the murder of more than 10,000 people during the Holocaust, in what could be the last judgment of its kind in Germany.

Irmgard Furchner was handed a two-year suspended sentence in December 2022 for her role in what prosecutors called the “cruel and malicious murder” of prisoners at the Stutthof camp in occupied Poland.

Her defense had filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Justice against the judgment, handed down by a regional court in the northern town of Itzehoe.

But the higher court, whose job was to examine whether certain points of law had been applied correctly, upholds the judgment.

“The conviction of the defendant… to a two-year suspended sentence is final,” presiding judge Gabriele Cirener says.

Between June 1943 and April 1945, Furchner took the dictation and handled the correspondence of camp commander Paul Werner Hoppe while her husband was a fellow SS officer at the camp.

An estimated 65,000 people died at the camp near today’s Gdansk, some 28,000 of whom were Jewish prisoners.

Hamas sources detail why terror group turned down latest truce-hostage proposal — report

An unnamed Hamas source reiterates that the Palestinian terror group turned down the latest “bridging proposal” by the US because it contains ostensible new elements that the source says were added by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and are unacceptable to Hamas.

The sticking points in the latest proposal include the possibility of Israel objecting to the number and identities of Palestinian security prisoners to be freed in exchange for hostages, and the deportation abroad of a large number of those prisoners, as well as the searching of displaced Gazans as they return to their homes in the north of the Strip, the source tells the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The source argues that Hamas has shown flexibility with regard to the timeline for the IDF withdrawal from the Strip, walking back its demand that it must take place in the first phase of the ceasefire, but Netanyahu has not done the same with regards to the IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi and the Netzarim corridors, and has added new conditions.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed further quotes Hamas politburo member Suheil al-Hindi saying that Hamas will not budge from its July 2 response to an earlier Israeli proposal, and will not renegotiate the deal.

Al-Hindi accuses Netanyahu of interpreting Hamas’s “flexibility” as a sign of submission and surrender, and says that the terror group has conveyed its position to mediators Egypt and Qatar, urging them to pressure Israel to abide by what has been agreed upon.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Hamas claimed that the latest US-backed text — a “bridging proposal” that was conveyed to Israel and to Hamas at the end of the talks in Doha on Friday — was aligned with Israel’s demands, citing Israel’s position on the two corridors and issues related the release of Palestinian security prisoners, without further specification.

On Sunday, a Saudi paper reported ostensible new details of the deal, including a reduced IDF presence on the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, the possibility of Israel vetoing the names of at least 100 Palestinian prisoners slated for release, and the deportation of many of them abroad.

IDF says 20 more rockets fired from Lebanon, with no reports of injuries

A barrage of some 20 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee a short while ago, according to the IDF.

Some of the rockets were intercepted and others struck open areas.

There are no reports of injuries.

In all since this morning, more than 75 rockets have been fired by Hezbollah at northern Israel.

Hostage’s mom claims Mossad chief told her deal ‘impossible’ due to politics; agency denies

Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker who is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, sits on the street near the Begin Gate at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, June 1, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a leading critic of the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Mossad director David Barnea has told her that a hostage deal is impossible to achieve in the current political reality.

Testifying before the unofficial commission of inquiry into the failure before, on and after the October 7 Hamas onslaught, Zangauker says that toward the end of a meeting around May, Barnea told her: “Dear Einav, unfortunately, in the current political constellation, a deal to release the hostages is impossible.”

“He explained this was because of politics,” she says.

The Mossad, in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, says that “the words attributed to the Mossad head weren’t spoken at all,” adding: “In his meeting with Einav Zangauker, the Mossad head did not refer to any political constellation in the context of the negotiations, as claimed.”

The statement says Barnea “is continuing to work to bring about a deal for the release of all hostages soon.”

Rocket alerts blare in Western Galilee towns

Several rocket alarms sound in towns in the Western Galilee.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.

Outgoing envoy to UN says body’s building ‘should be closed and wiped off the face of the earth’

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting on a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinians as a full UN member state, at United Nations headquarters, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/ Yuki Iwamura)

Outgoing Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan says the United Nations building in New York is “unnecessary” and “should be closed and wiped off the face of the earth.”

In a snippet from an upcoming interview in Hebrew with i24News, Erdan also says: “I’m coming out with a feeling of satisfaction on one hand, of my battle and work here, but on the other hand with great distress and frustration with the fact that this building, which may look nice from the outside, is actually twisted and distorted.”

Health officials urge polio vaccination of Gazans, as IDF says process has begun

A UNRWA employee provides polio vaccine and rotavirus vaccines for children in a clinic in Bureij refugee camp central of Gaza Strip on September 9, 2020. (Mohammed ABED / AFP)

The heads of Israeli medical societies urge the health and defense ministers to allow a humanitarian ceasefire to vaccinate the population in Gaza against polio.

In a joint letter sent yesterday to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Health Minister Uriel Buso, the doctors voice their concern 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 baby from the central Gaza Strip.

“All infants in Israel and Gaza who have not yet received the full vaccinations are at high risk,” the doctors write. “Our soldiers in Gaza and those treating prisoners from Gaza are also at risk. Some of those infected may suffer paralysis for the rest of their lives or spread the virus to immunocompromised populations.”

IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani says on X that “in the coming weeks, 43,250 vials of vaccine are expected to arrive in Israel and will enter the Gaza Strip, enough to vaccinate over 1 million children in 2 rounds.”

He adds that according to the World Health Organization, about 90% of the population in Gaza was vaccinated against polio in the first quarter of 2024.

“Although the percentage of vaccinated residents of the Gaza Strip is high, babies likely born in Gaza after October 2023 and children who did not complete their polio vaccinations after the outbreak of war need additional doses,” says Dr. Eyal Leshem, director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at Sheba Medical Center.

He says the vaccine to be given, nOPV2, is designed to provide immunity against type 2 poliovirus while reducing the risk of vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks.

“The vaccine is supplied in vials with 50 doses,” Leshem says. “Therefore, it is likely that 2 doses can be given to each unvaccinated child, as well as booster doses to those already vaccinated.”

IDF says it struck Hamas command room embedded in Gaza City school

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against Hamas operatives at a command room embedded within a school in Gaza City.

According to the military, Hamas was using the command room at the Mustafa Hafez School to plan and carry out attacks against troops in Gaza and against Israel.

The IDF says it carried out “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other intelligence.

“The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as a human shield for terror activity,” the military adds.

In recent months, dozens of airstrikes have been carried out against Hamas sites embedded within schools and other sites used as shelters for civilians, according to the IDF.

A spokesperson for the civil defense agency in Hamas-run Gaza says at least seven people were killed in the strike, including five men and two children.

AFP contributed to this report.

Blinken arrives in Egypt for Gaza hostage-truce talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Egypt as part of his latest Middle East tour to push forward talks aiming to end the 10-month Gaza war and bring about a release of hostages.

Blinken is set to hold talks with the Egyptian president and foreign minister in the coastal city of El Alamein following a visit to Israel, where he met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials.

Palestinian media says Israel released 33 detainees back to Strip today

Palestinian media outlets report that 33 detainees, including two women, were released by Israel back to the Gaza Strip this morning.

Israel regularly returns Gazan detainees to the Strip, mostly after determining they are not suspected of terror activity. Some terror suspects who are considered low-risk have been released due to lack of space in Israeli jails.

تغطية صحفية: لحظة وصول عدد من الأسرى إلى مستشفى غزة الأوروبي، بعد أن أفرج عنهم الاحتلال صباح اليوم عبر معبر كرم أبو سالم. pic.twitter.com/Acw1uPSPk4

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 20, 2024

Son of returned dead hostage: Netanyahu ‘sacrificed’ the hostages, he will pay for it

Alex Dancyg (Courtesy)

Mati Dancyg, son of hostage Alex Dancyg who was killed in captivity and whose body has now been recovered from Gaza, lashes out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of “choosing to abandon the hostages in order to survive.”

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Dancyg notes testimony from released hostages that said Alex was in decent condition in the initial months of captivity.

“He and all the hostages could have been brought back,” he charges. “Netanyahu chose to sacrifice the hostages. Karma will judge him and he will pay for it, big time.”

Netanyahu, Gallant, Ben Gvir send condolences to families of rescued dead hostages, hail IDF op

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) speaks with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant shortly before the vote on the so-called reasonableness bill at the Knesset, July 24, 2023. At left is Itamar Ben Gvir. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sends his condolences to the families of the six hostages whose bodies have been recovered from the Gaza Strip.

He also thanks IDF soldiers and commanders from the military and the Shin Bet for the “determined” operation that led to the bodies’ recovery from a tunnel in Khan Younis.

“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our hostages — both the living and the fallen,” he says, amid relentless accusations that he is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hails the “daring and dangerous” operation and says he too shares the families’ grief. He says the action is a testament to the “freedom of operation” Israel has achieved in the Strip, and vows to continue until Hamas is toppled and all hostages are returned.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also sends his condolences and thanks the IDF troops for the “courageous” operation. He adds that the remaining hostages “must only be returned via intense military pressure, halting the entry of fuel and humanitarian [aid] to terrorism and its supporters, and not via irresponsible deals that will bring upon us, God forbid, more hostages and fatalities in the future.”

IDF confirms it retrieved bodies of 6 hostages from Gaza, including previously unnamed Alex Dancyg

Top (L-R): Nadav Popplewell, Yoram Metzger, Avraham Munder; bottom (L-R): Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtav, Alex Dancyg. Abducted to Gaza by Hamas on October 7, 2023, their bodies were retrieved by the IDF on August 20, 2024. (Courtesy)

The Israel Defense Forces confirms that it has recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages during an overnight operation in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The hostages are Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.

Dancyg and Buchshtav had been confirmed dead by the IDF in late July, while Peri, Metzger and Popplewell were declared dead by the army in early June. The five were believed to have been killed in Khan Younis in early 2024, although the causes of death were not known.

Munder had not been previously declared dead by the IDF, although the army had some information that led it to have concerns for his wellbeing.

With the bodies recovered, the IDF says it will continue to investigate the causes of death, including the possibility that the hostages were killed by Israeli fire.

The IDF says it had accurate intelligence that allowed troops with the 98th Division and members of the Shin Bet security agency to reach a tunnel in Khan Younis and recover the bodies, amid a new offensive in the city in the southern Gaza Strip.

Munder, Dancyg, Peri and Metzger were all abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, while Buchshtav and Popplewell were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nirim.

It is now believed that 105 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 30 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Extraction of hostage Chaim Peri’s body from Gaza also confirmed by Kibbutz Nir Oz

Chaim Peri, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorist on October 7, 2023 and died in captivity. (Courtesy)

Kibbutz Nir Oz issues a new statement saying the body of resident Chaim Peri has also been returned from Gaza, after being “abandoned to his death in captivity” in the Strip.

This is in addition to four other dead hostages whose extraction has been confirmed by local authorities.

The remains of another hostage have also been rescued, although that hostage has not yet been named. The military is due to release details to the public later.

Peri, 80, is mourned as an “entrepreneur, humanist and peace activist” who saved his wife on October 7 before being abducted by terrorists.

Body of hostage Yoram Metzger also recovered from Gaza, says Kibbutz Nir Oz

Yoram Metzger was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)

Kibbutz Nir Oz says that the body of resident Yoram Metzger, 80, has also been recovered from Gaza in a military operation.

This is in addition to at least three other dead hostages whose extraction has been confirmed by their hometowns.

The military is due to release details to the public later.

Metzger, who had worked at a paint factory and later at a car garage, was kidnapped with his wife Tami, who was released in a hostage deal in November.

Nir Oz says the development is “the biggest proof of the importance of a deal that will return our boys and girls as soon as possible, before it is too late.”

It adds that the kibbutz “hopes no soldier was hurt in the military operation” since recovering the bodies is important but not at the price of endangering troops.

Biden accuses Hamas of ‘backing away’ from hostage-truce deal

US President Joe Biden says the Hamas terror group is “backing away” from a deal with Israel to agree on a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and a hostages-for-prisoners exchange.

“It’s still in play, but you can’t predict,” he says as he prepares to leave Chicago after a keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. “Israel says they can work it out… Hamas is now backing away.”

Kibbutz Nirim says bodies of hostages Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav also recovered

Nadav Popplewell, abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nirim (Courtesy)

Kibbutz Nirim announces that the bodies of Hamas hostages Nadav Popplewell and Yagev Buchshtav have also been recovered from the Gaza Strip, in addition to the remains of Avraham Munder.

Both were kidnapped on October 7 and later confirmed dead by Israeli authorities.

The military is due to release details to the public later.

Yagev Buchshtav was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nirim (Courtesy)

15 more rockets target north as Hezbollah claims attack

Another 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee and Golan a short while ago, bringing the total since this morning to 55, the military says.

The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted, while the rest hit open areas, causing no injuries.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the attack, saying it launched dozens of rockets at two military bases in response to an IDF strike deep in Lebanon yesterday.

The IDF says it also struck one of the launchers shortly after the rocket fire..

Nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder says his body was recovered from Gaza tunnel

Avraham Munder was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

Eyal Mor, the nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder, tells the Kan public broadcaster that Munder’s body has been recovered from a tunnel in Gaza’s Khan Younis by the IDF.

“According to initial estimations, the death happened already in March,” Mor says, adding that the family hasn’t been told the cause of death as officials await a pathological report.

The military is due to release details to the public later.

Another nephew of Munder, Shahar Mor Zahiro, tells Radio 103FM that the government “wasted time and opportunities to save him.”

“This is another horrific case, the blood is on the hands of the government,” he charges. “For [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s survival, my uncle died. Get all the living hostages out now.”

IDF says 40 rockets fired from Lebanon, no reports of injuries; more sirens sound

A barrage of some 40 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights a short while ago, according to the IDF.

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

The large barrage comes after the IDF struck Hezbollah weapons depots deep in Lebanon last night, and killed a prominent operative in a drone strike.

Meanwhile, fresh sirens sound in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, including the city of Katzrin.

Hostage Avraham Munder has been murdered in captivity, his kibbutz announces

Avraham Munder was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

Hostage Avraham Munder has been murdered in Hamas captivity, Kibbutz Nir Oz announces.

In a statement, the Gaza border community says Munder, 79, had “suffered bodily and mental torture for months” before being killed.

Munder, who had worked at a paint factory, is remembered as “a very warm person who loved singing.”

His son Roy was murdered on October 7, and he was kidnapped along with his wife Ruti, his daughter Keren and his only grandson Ohad, all three of whom were released in a hostage deal in November.

Rocket sirens sound in Golan, Hula Valley in north

Rocket alarms sound in several communities in the Golan and Hula Valley in northern Israel.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.

‘Biden’s rabbi’ wraps up first night of DNC, reciting priestly blessing in Hebrew

Rabbi Michael Beals, right, recites the priestly blessing on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

CHICAGO — Rabbi Michael Beals wraps up the first night of the Democratic National Convention, reciting the priestly blessing in Hebrew as part of the benediction.

Much of the United Center has already cleared out after the DNC ran well over an hour late, but those still in the audience respond with an Amen.

Beals has become known as “Biden’s rabbi,” campaigning for the president after meeting him at the shiva of a congregant in 2006.

Biden: Working around clock for Gaza ceasefire, anti-Israel protesters ‘have a point’

US President Joe Biden delivers the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

CHICAGO — Addressing the first night of the Democratic National Convention, US President Joe Biden passionately asserts that he’s working to end the war in Gaza, lamenting that many innocent civilians are being killed on both sides.

He highlights the final bridging proposal that the US submitted to Israel and Hamas on Friday, to applause from the crowd at the United Center in Chicago.

“We are working around the clock to reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian help and food assistance into Gaza now. To end civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war,” Biden says as he pounds his fist on the lectern.

He then acknowledges the thousands of anti-Israel protesters who demonstrated outside the convention center earlier today and says “they have a point.”

“A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides,” he adds.

Anti-Israel protesters try to disrupt Biden speech, without success

CHICAGO — A handful of anti-Israel protesters have unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt US President Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

Several sitting in the upper-deck of the United Center unfurl a banner that reads, “Stop arming Israel.” The lights over the section are quickly shut off, and the banner is ripped away from those holding it.

Audience members nearby who notice the sign chant, “We love Joe,” but the president’s speech continues without any pause.

Audience members at the DNC in Chicago unfurl banner that says “Stop arming Israel.”

After audience sees the banner, they begin chanting “We love Joe.”

Man tries to rip banner away.

Stadium lights over this spot then dimmed and banner was ripped away. pic.twitter.com/3RfK1aUSV4

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) August 20, 2024

Biden again cites 2017 Charlottesville march as inspiration for 2020 election run

White nationalist demonstrators walk into the entrance of Lee Park surrounded by counter demonstrators in Charlottesville, VA, on Saturday, August 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

CHICAGO — US President Joe Biden harks back to the 2017 white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in his speech wrapping up the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

He recalls how the march’s participants donned “Nazi swastikas, chanting the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the early 1930s.”

“Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan — so involved with the president then in the White House that they saw him as an ally. They didn’t even bother to wear their hoods,” he says amid boos from the crowd.

He again says former president Donald Trump’s comment that there were “fine people” on both sides of the protest is what motivated him to run in the 2020 election, determined to prevent the GOP leader from remaining in office.

IDF says fighter jets hit Hezbollah rocket launchers primed for ‘immediate’ launch

The IDF says fighters carried out strikes last night on a pair of Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for “immediate” launch at Israel.

The launchers were hit in southern Lebanon’s Mansouri and Taybeh, according to the military.

אמש, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו שני משגרים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים אל מנצורי וא-טייבה שבדרום לבנון.
המשגרים שהותקפו היו מוכנים לשיגור מיידי לשטח הארץ pic.twitter.com/MzNO3kxaMc

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 20, 2024

Biden greeted by raucous ovation as he takes stage for DNC speech

US President Joe Biden speaks on stage on the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, on August 19, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

CHICAGO — US President Joe Biden wins a huge ovation as he takes to the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, after handing over to Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee.

“I love you,” Biden says to deafening cheers after being introduced by his daughter Ashley for his farewell speech, less than a month after dropping out of the White House race against Donald Trump.

Georgia senator expresses sympathy for Israeli and Palestinian children amid Gaza war

US Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, on August 19, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP)

CHICAGO — Whipping up the crowd at the conclusion of his primetime speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, US Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia expresses empathy for both Israeli and Palestinian children amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

“We are as close in our humanity as a cough. I need my neighbors’ children to be okay so my children will be ok… I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza. I need Israelis and Palestinians — those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine, I need Americans on both sides of the track to be okay. Because we are all god’s children,” Warnock says as the packed United Center erupts in cheers.

It’s the second reference to Israel of the evening and appears to have been largely off the cuff, as much of the line doesn’t appear on the teleprompter in front of Warnock.

Inside DNC, Democratic lawmakers tell ToI that anti-Israel protesters don’t represent party

A video of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is seen during the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO — Three Democratic lawmakers speaking to The Times of Israel on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago say the anti-Israel protesters outside are not representative of their party.

“They’re outside for a reason. They’re not delegates, and they’re not part of this convention. They’re not Democrats. If they’re anything, they’re Socialist Democrats of America,” says Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee.

He argues that there is an overlap between those protesting outside earlier today and those who condemned progressive Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for hosting an event about the dangers of rising antisemitism.

“That’s how far out they are — either that or anarchistic,” says Cohen.

His stance is largely echoed by fellow Democratic Representative Brad Sherman, who also asserts that the thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters who marched on the DNC are “not Democrats.”

“They’re supporters of (far-left activist) Cornel West and Jill Stein and the Green Party,” Sherman says, noting that the one Democratic candidate who espoused the positions against Israel of those protesting — Marianne Williams — is largely unheard of.

On the other hand, Sherman respects Harris’s decision to engage with some of the “uncommitted” activists who led a protest vote movement against President Joe Biden during the Democratic Party primaries over his support for Israel in the war against Hamas.

“This election will be decided by so few votes that no one wants to write off any group of them, no matter how small. If I found out that people in the kumquat industry were upset with us, I’d reach out to them, even though there are very few kumquats grown in America,” Sherman quips.

Still, he asserts that Harris has only gone “one step, maybe half a step” further than Biden in engaging with critics of Israel, while not accepting their views.

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters march to the Democratic National Convention after a rally at Union Park, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

While distancing themselves from the anti-Israel protesters outside, the lawmakers still make a point of expressing displeasure with the current Israeli government and with how its prosecuted some of the war.

Sherman notes that “the pictures coming out of Gaza are terrible. The statements by some Israeli politicians are awful.”

The California Democrat says Israel’s leaders “have put their own electoral interests over the interests over the interests of the state, and the voters have to punish that behavior.

“Someone who appeals to your gut, but hurts your international relations position — he might be meeting your immediate psychological needs, but a country under as much credit as Israel, should play it smart,” Sherman adds.

“Democrats’ disappointment is focused at Bibi Netanyahu. Under his leadership, there’s a feeling that Israel has lost its way in many directions,” says Representative Bill Foster.

“We’re not going to abandon Israel, but we have to talk sternly to a friend who’s lost their way,” the Illinois lawmaker adds.

Foster says the views of those at the anti-Israel protest are “not consensus on the floor here, but there’s very strong concern.”

AOC tells DNC that Harris ‘working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire, bring the hostages home’

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York speaks during the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO — The first Israel-related reference at the Democratic National Convention comes from Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who says that Vice President Kamala Harris “is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the hostages home.”

The line is met with loud applause from the packed United Center in Chicago.

Ocasio-Cortez’s welcome is nearly as loud, if not louder than the one that the crowd gave earlier this evening for Harris who made a surprise appearance on the first night of the DNC.

DNC delegates endorse platform with declaration of ‘ironclad’ backing for Israel’s security

Democratic US delegates celebrate on the floor of the United Center after voting to adopt their party’s platform at the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

CHICAGO — Democratic delegates at their party’s convention have just adopted a party platform that includes a commitment to maintaining an “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security.

There were no “no’s” heard during a voice vote that was just held on the floor of the United Center where the Democratic National Convention is being held.

Thousands of delegates subsequently break out into chants of “USA, USA, USA!” upon completion of the vote.

A handful of pro-Palestinian activists had sought to include an Israel arms embargo in this year’s platform but failed to do so in earlier meetings.

There was still an opportunity for delegates on the floor during tonight’s vote for opponents to at least voice opposition to the pro-Israel platform but none were heard doing so.

Several anti-Israel protesters detained after breaking through police fence near DNC

Police replace a piece of fence knocked down by pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters surrounding the United Center at the Democratic National Convention after a march, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

CHICAGO — Protesters break through a fence set up by police near the site of the Democratic National Convention on its opening day Monday as thousands took to the streets to voice their opposition to Israel over the war with Hamasin Gaza.

As the larger group marches, a few dozen who broke away tear down pieces of the security fence. Some protesters, dressed in black with their faces covered, drag pieces of the fence back to a park near the United Center, where the convention is being held.

Members of the crowd chant “End the occupation now” and then “The whole world is watching!” just as anti-Vietnam War protesters did during the infamous 1968 convention in Chicago when police clashed with protesters on live television. Officers put on gas masks as some protesters try to bring down a second fence set up in front of police.

The march happens just as US President Joe Biden, who has been the target of intense criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, including the marchers, is doing a walk-through of the largely empty United Center. Biden is scheduled to address the party in the evening.

“Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” the marchers chant amid the beating of drums. They also refer to him as “Genocide Joe” and lodge similar chants at Vice President Kamala Harris.

The group that separated from the larger march is later removed from a restricted area by police, including those led by Superintendent Larry Snelling.

Police wearing helmets with masks attached form a line along a fence, which still has several panels missing, as some activists shout at them. Several protesters who managed to get through the fence are detained and handcuffed by the police.

Sinwar has always been involved in ceasefire talks, says Hamas official

Hamas’s new chief Yahya Sinwar has always been part of the decision making process in the Gaza ceasefire talks, the terror group’s senior official Osama Hamdan says.

“Due to security conditions, communication with Sinwar has tools and mechanisms in place yet they are operating smoothly,” Hamdan adds in an interview with Reuters.

Former US envoy: Harris ‘only hope’ for convincing young Americans to support Israel

Then US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides speaks at the Herzliya Conference on May 22, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

CHICAGO — Former US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides tells The Times of Israel that Vice President Kamala Harris can do a better job than President Joe Biden could in convincing young Americans to support Israel.

“If we have any hope whatsoever to convince the next generation to understand the importance of supporting the State of Israel, [it is] people like Kamala Harris standing up and saying to kids under 30, ‘The State of Israel needs to be supported and this fight is not with the Palestinian people,’ Nides says in an interview on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“She’s not Joe Biden for all the apparent reasons. She’s an African American, Indian woman who is saying, ‘It’s good to support the security of the State of Israel. She’s a different voice, and if we hope to have a bridge the future, we’ve got to have these voices,” Nides says.

“This is not about being critical of President Biden. There’s been no more pro-Israel president than Joe Biden. But we’re now talking about passing the torch to a much different generation,” he continues.

Nides acknowledges that young Americans are increasingly moving away from supporting Israel.

“We should all recognize that we’re in a very deep hole. It’s her face and her positions on the State of Israel that are the only hope we have for turning kids under 30 back in support of the State of Israel,” Nides says separately during an event organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

US intelligence community formally blames Iran for hack of Trump campaign

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump listens at a business roundtable discussion at a campaign event at Precision Components Group, August 19, 2024, in York, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON — The US intelligence community says that Iran is to blame for the hack of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

The joint statement from the FBI and other federal agencies is the first formal attribution of the hack to a foreign entity, though the Trump campaign had previously said Iran was responsible.

Senior Hamas figure hits out at Blinken for saying Netanyahu endorses new proposal

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan criticizes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an updated proposal, saying it “raises many ambiguities” because it’s “not what was presented to us nor what we agreed on.”

Hamdan told Reuters that Hamas has already confirmed to mediators that “we don’t need new Gaza ceasefire negotiations, we need to agree on an implementation mechanism.”

IDF says rocket sirens in northern moshav were activated in false alarm

The military says that the rocket sirens that sounded in Dovev over 10 minutes ago were a false alarm.

Rocket sirens activated in moshav near Lebanon border

Incoming rocket sirens sound in Dovev, a moshav close to the Lebanon border.

Sinwar believes latest round of talks ‘a bluff,’ is seeking to expand conflict beyond Gaza — WSJ

Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar speaks during a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, in Gaza City, April 14, 2023. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar believes the latest round of hostage-ceasefire negotiations are “a bluff” meant to grant Israel further time to continue its military offensive against the Gaza-ruling terror group, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing Arab mediators.

The mediators say that Sinwar is seeking to intensify pressure on Israel by expanding the conflict beyond Gaza, including by launching attacks from the West Bank.

The comments are included in a report on the attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv claimed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with Hebrew media outlets identifying the attacker as a Palestinian from the West Bank.