Aug. 22: Netanyahu said telling politicians his ‘weak’ negotiators ‘just want to capitulate’

Report: Israeli delegation to Cairo presenting new offer for Philadelphi Corridor including UN monitoring force

According to the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, the Israeli delegation currently in Cairo for hostage-ceasefire talks is reportedly presenting a new proposal for an arrangement at the Philadelphi Corridor that would see a United Nations monitoring mission permanently deployed at several fixed points along the Gaza-Egypt border.

The European Union would have a mission at the Rafah Crossing along with the Palestinian Authority, according to the plan cited in the report.

IDF troops would gradually withdraw from the border, says the report.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement stressing that he would not agree to the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Philadelphi Corridor or the placement of an international force there.

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed notes that the Egyptian position on this proposal is not yet clear.

Israel envoy to UN calls PA ambassador ‘a terrorist in a suit’ at Security Council meeting

Ambassador Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on situation in the Middle East at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, August 22, 2024. (Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN)

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon calls the Palestinian Authority envoy “a terrorist in a suit” at a Security Council debate in New York.

“You have spent two decades in this place proposing resolutions which: stir chaos, sow division and avoid any hope,” Danon says to Riyad Mansour during a debate on the Middle East. “You have accomplished nothing but incite hatred and violence while claiming to be an advocate for peace.”

Danon asks Mansour why he has yet to condemn Hamas in his speeches since the terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

“Mr. Mansour, if you cannot condemn them, you are one of them,” he says. “You do not represent the Palestinian people. Mr. Mansour, you are a terrorist in a suit.”

I told the Palestinian representative at the Security Council that he is a terrorist in a suit! Since October 7th, he has delivered hundreds of speeches, yet not once has he condemned the atrocities.
If he cannot condemn this murderous terrorist organization, he is a part of it!… pic.twitter.com/nVzS9jnpoM

— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) August 22, 2024

Danon, who started his second tenure as Israel’s representative at Turtle Bay this month, also blasts the Security Council for failing to condemn Hamas for its attacks on October 7.

“Here we are 320 days since the slaughter and what have we heard? Silence. No condemnation of Hamas. No recognition of the atrocities committed,” he says, a day after the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute for Victims of Terror.

“I hold no illusions. I expect nothing from this Council today. It has already made it clear that this International Day of Remembrance and tribute does not apply to Israeli victims of terror.”

Danon also says that Israel will act to end the near-daily Hezbollah attacks on the northern border with Lebanon, ongoing since October 8, if it must: “We have our limits. We are not interested in escalation, but Israel will do whatever is necessary to restore security to the northern border, return northern residents to their homes, and remove the threat posed by Hezbollah.”

Chicago police say they’re ready for final day of anti-Israel protests at DNC; no arrests last night

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention, August 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Chicago police say they’re not changing any of their tactics and are ready for a final night of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the Democratic National Convention, after a peaceful march yesterday that resulted in no injuries or arrests.

More than 2,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched yesterday past a park where pro-Israel demonstrators had gathered earlier. That demonstration came a day after violent clashes between police and protesters led to 56 arrests at a much smaller, unsanctioned protest outside the Israeli Consulate in downtown Chicago.

Police Superintendent Larry Snelling says last night’s protest ended without arrests and that no one was injured.

The biggest protest so far, which attracted about 3,500 people on Monday, was largely peaceful and resulted in 13 arrests, most related to a breach of security fencing. They did not gain access to the inner security perimeter at the United Center, where the convention is taking place.

Anti-Israel demonstrators march in protest of the war in Gaza near the United Center where the Democratic National Convention (DNC) is taking place on August 21, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP)

The Coalition to March on the DNC, which organized the march on Monday, planned its second permitted demonstration of the week for today, with a rally in a park near the United Center followed by a march through adjacent streets.

Party led by Bennett would overtake Likud in elections, could easily form coalition – poll

Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, July 26, 2024. (GPO); Opposition Leader Yair Lapid at the Knesset, Jerusalem, July 22, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz at a press conference at the Knesset on July 24, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks at the annual Cyber Week, at Tel Aviv University, June 25, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

If former prime minister Naftali Bennett makes a political comeback, his party would be the largest in the Knesset and would have multiple options for forming a majority coalition, according to a television news poll released this evening.

The Channel 12 News survey finds that a party led by Bennett would get 21 seats if elections were held today, compared to 19 seats for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud (which currently holds 32). Opposition parties National Unity and Yesh Atid would garner 13 and 11 seats respectively, and the newly formed left-wing Democrats party would also receive 11 seats.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party would get 10 seats, and MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party would jump to 10 seats (up from six in the current Knesset). Ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism would get 8 seats, Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit 7, and the mainly Arab parties Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am would each get 5 seats.

Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope and the Arab party Balad would all fall below the Knesset threshold and thus get no seats.

In terms of the Knesset blocs, the current Netanyahu-led coalition (comprising Likud, Shas, UTJ, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism) would win just 44 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Today’s opposition parties, plus Bennett’s party, would win 71 seats in all, with Hadash-Ta’al, which would join neither bloc, holding the remaining 5.

The pro-Netanyahu bloc defeated the Bennett-helmed government in elections in November 2022, winning 64 seats. General elections are not due in Israel until October 2026.

The poll also finds that were Bennett and Liberman to run together as a united right-wing bloc — as they are rumored to be discussing — their joint faction would get 26 mandates, while Likud would get 20, National Union 15, and Yesh Atid 12.

Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman meets former prime minister Naftali Bennett in Tel Aviv, July 17, 2024. (Yisrael Beytenu via X)

In terms of the public’s preferred prime minister, only the former Yamina leader Bennett gets higher ratings than Netanyahu, with 39 percent of respondents saying Bennett is more suitable to lead the country compared to 31% for the incumbent.

Both National Unity chair Benny Gantz and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid are seen as less favorable as premier than Netanyahu, according to Channel 12. Netanyahu was preferred to Gantz by 32-30, and to Lapid by 35-27. A similar poll last month found Netanyahu leading over all three alternatives.

Were Bennett not to get back into politics, the poll finds that if elections were held today there would be a tie between Likud and National Unity, with each getting 22 seats in the Knesset. Netanyahu and Gantz’s parties would be followed by Yesh Atid at 15 seats and Yisrael Beytenu with 14. The Democrats would win 11, Shas 10, UTJ 8, Otzmah Yehudit 8, Hadash-Ta’al 5 and Ra’am 5. Finance Minister Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, Sa’ar’s new Hope and Balad would all get no seats.

In terms of the Knesset blocs, the current Netanyahu-led coalition would win 48 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Today’s opposition parties would win 67, with Hadash-Ta’al again holding the other 5.

Reports: Ben Gvir calls for Shin Bet chief be fired for ‘interfering in politics’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, during Tisha B'Av, August 13, 2024. (Screenshot/Otzma Yehudit)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly demands during a meeting of the security cabinet that Shin Bet head Ronan Bar be fired, after Channel 12 published a letter the security chief wrote warning of the dangers of extremist settler violence in the West Bank.

In the letter published by the television network, Bar also decried Ben Gvir’s contentious visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem last week, which drew international condemnation as a “provocation.”

According to the Israel Hayom and Maariv daily newspapers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other cabinet ministers defend the Shin Bet chief after Ben Gvir claims that Bar is responsible for the failures leading to Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

He accuses Bar of “a failure in intelligence and constantly turning a blind eye to terrorism and the enemy that planned mass murder for years” and “cooperating with the protest movement that weakened the army,” in an apparent reference to mass protests that swept the country last year over the government’s judicial overhaul protest.

Ben Gvir also charges the Shin Bet chief of incitement against him and “interfering with politics.”

‘I’m on my own’: PM said telling politicians his ‘weak’ negotiators ‘just want to capitulate’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a security cabinet meeting on July 28, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been telling “political elements” in recent days that Israel’s negotiating team is weak and constantly seeking to compromise in the talks on a hostage-ceasefire deal, while he is “on my own” trying to protect Israel’s security needs.

Netanyahu has been widely reported to be at deep odds with the key negotiators — Mossad Chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and IDF point man Nitzan Alon — and to have repeatedly upbraided them face-to-face for their ostensible weakness. But tonight’s Channel 12 report says he is now sharing these criticisms with political interlocutors.

The report notes that it is surprising that Netanyahu would be criticizing his security chiefs in comments with politicians, when he is depending on the security establishment to achieve “total victory” in Gaza and to handle a potential regional escalation if there is no deal.

“I’m on my own, facing the entire security establishment and the negotiating chiefs,” the TV report quotes Netanyahu saying. “They are showing weakness and just looking for ways to capitulate, while I’m insisting on the interests of the State of Israel and am not prepared to concede to demands that would harm security.”

Any such ostensible weakness, in fact, reflects the “negotiators’ sense of urgency” as regards freeing the hostages, the TV report says, adding that the negotiators do not regard the prime minister’s insistence on an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border as essential, but rather as a “spoke in the wheels” of the negotiations. The IDF only moved to capture the Philadelphi Corridor in May, eight months into the war.

The report says the Philadelphi Corridor was a “central issue” in last night’s phone call between Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris, and that Netanyahu said in the call he would show flexibility.

To that end, Netanyahu sent Israel’s negotiators to Egypt today with updated maps showing a reduced IDF deployment along the Philadelphi Corridor, the report said.

The question now is whether Netanyahu’s latest position will be enough for Egypt to press Hamas into accepting a deal, the report says. If there is the possibility of some kind of breakthrough, it says, there could be a follow-up summit on Sunday.

In a separate report, Channel 12 quotes Egyptian sources saying Hamas is prepared to consider an arrangement whereby international forces are deployed both at the Philadelphi Corridor and at the Netzarim Corridor that the IDF has carved out across Gaza, separating the south of the strip from the north. Netanyahu is demanding an Israeli presence there as well, to ensure arms and Hamas gunmen do not return to the north. (Netanyahu earlier this evening denied this was something he was considering.)

It also says Hamas is prepared to let Israel veto up to 50 of the hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners it wants released, while Israel wants the right to veto 65 of the most dangerous potential releases. And it says Hamas is prepared to allow Israel to send more prisoners into exile than previously; Israel wants the right to exile 150.

Additionally, the report says, Israel’s maps showing troop deployments and the timing of IDF withdrawals are not entirely clear to Hamas.

Channel 12 also says that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is trying to arrange a reconciliation with his Fatah faction’s former Gaza chief and bitter rival Mohammad Dahlan, who is living in exile in Abu Dhabi.

IDF strikes series of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon with fighter jets, attack helicopters

Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters struck a series of Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon this evening, the IDF says.

The targets included a Hezbollah weapons depot in Jebbayn, and buildings used by the terror group in Ayta ash-Shab and Mays al-Jabal, the military says.

מוקדם יותר היום, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מחסן אמצעי לחימה ששימש את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב אל ג'בין שבדרום לבנון.
לאחר התקיפה זוהו פיצוצי משנה המעידים על הימצאותם של אמצעי לחימה רבים במחסן שהותקף>> pic.twitter.com/siEHcLyqNB

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 22, 2024

Report: Hamas considering avenging Haniyeh’s death by assassinating Israelis abroad

Iranian workers install a huge banner on a wall showing a portrait of Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh and the Dome of the Rock shrine atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with a sign that reads in Farsi and Hebrew: 'Expect harsh punishment,' at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Hamas is considering avenging the death of its politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh by assassinating Israelis abroad, according to a television report citing Palestinian sources.

Channel 12 News reports that the move would mark a departure from Hamas’s usual strategy of attacking Israel directly. The terror group’s ability to launch attacks from Gaza has been significantly degraded since war erupted on October 7 with Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

The terror group, as well as its sponsor Iran, has been vowing to retaliate against Israel for Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran last month in a blast for which Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.

Israeli security officials have previously noted the possibility that Hamas, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or Iran itself could strike Israeli or Jewish targets abroad as a means of retaliation for the killings.

Parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin ‘surprised and overwhelmed’ by supportive reception at DNC

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh has been held in Gaza by Hamas since October 7, speak to Channel 12 News from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 22, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin say they were “surprised and overwhelmed” by the extraordinarily positive reception they received when they addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago yesterday.

Tens of thousands of people broke into chants of “Bring them home,” got to their feet and stayed standing throughout the speech.

“I was so surprised and overwhelmed,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin tells Channel 12 News. “We had been told for days leading up to this, that it was going to be a negative reception, that it’s going to be a negative type environment, so we were steeling ourselves for almost not a fight but this adversarial reception.”

“And to have the complete opposite happen, it was so overwhelming for me that I got emotional,” she says.

This photo is heartbreaking.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin crying for her son Hersh, who has been a hostage for 320 days with 108 others. pic.twitter.com/QtSsyLvZrW

— Yaakov Langer (@jacklanger) August 22, 2024

The hostage’s father, Jon Polin, confirms that they were invited to address the convention last week, but were not sure it would happen until the last minute as they were asked to keep quiet about the speaking slot.

There had been speculation that the DNC was weighing whether or not to give a hostage family the stage amid pressure from pro-Palestinian activists to also be platformed.

Jon Polin (L) and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg Polin who is being held hostage by Hamas, speak on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Their son is among 105 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 who remain in captivity in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Netanyahu’s office denies reports Israel considering international force on Philadelphi Route

A view of southern Gaza's Rafah from the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt, July 16, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

With Israeli negotiators in Cairo discussing the deployment of IDF troops on the Egypt-Gaza border in the event of a hostage deal with Hamas, the Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement denying as “not true” reports Israel is examining placing an international force on the Philadelphi Route.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu insists on the principle that Israel will control the Philadelphi route, to prevent the rearming of Hamas, which would allow it the ability to repeat the atrocities of October 7,” the PMO says.

IDF announces death of Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, killed in battle in southern Gaza earlier today

Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on August 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A soldier was killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the IDF announces.

The slain soldier is named as Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion, from Ashkelon.

According to an initial IDF probe, Nechemya was killed by anti-tank missile fire.

His death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 336.

Democratic lawmaker says parents of US-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin invited last week to speak at DNC

Jon Polin, left, and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, appear on stage during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO — Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz reveals that the Democratic National Convention organizers decided already last week to give a speaking slot to the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

The speech from Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin wasn’t announced until an hour before last night’s program, and there had been speculation that the DNC was weighing whether or not to give a hostage family the stage as it also faces pressure from pro-Palestinian activists to be platformed. The latter group says it was denied an opportunity to have a representative address the convention.

Speaking at an event organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America on the sidelines of the DNC, Wasserman Schultz says she’s known for a week that the Goldberg-Polins had been the hostage family that DNC organizers had chosen to address the convention.

US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat from Florida, speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

The Democratic lawmaker says that Rachel Polin had been anxious about the reaction she’d receive in the United Center last night but the scene ended up being akin to “a synagogue standing for prayer.”

“There was a reflexive sign of respect for the families and for their cause,” Wasserman Schultz says.

“No matter what the jackasses on other side of aisle say,” she adds, the reception received by the Goldberg-Polins received showed that the Democratic Party stands for the US-Israel relationship, for returning the hostages and for securing a ceasefire in Gaza.

Report: Shin Bet chief warned Netanyahu, senior ministers about rise of ‘Jewish terror’ against Palestinians

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at a Memorial Day ceremony at the agency's headquarters in Tel Aviv, May 13, 2024. (Screenshot: Shin Bet)

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sent a grave warning last week to senior officials of the danger of “Jewish terror” in the form of extremist settler violence in the West Bank, according to a television report, after a deadly rampage through a Palestinian village near Nablus last week.

Bar sent the letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, other senior ministers and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, but notably not to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Channel 12 reports.

“I am writing this letter to you with a heavy heart, filled with concern, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as a member of the defense establishment, about the growing phenomenon of Jewish terror from ‘hilltop youth,'” the report quotes from the letter.

Hilltop youth is a term used for extremist settler activists involved in building illegal outposts in the West Bank and frequently alleged to be involved in violence against Palestinians.

“The ‘hillop youth’ long ago turned into a hotbed of violence against Palestinians,” he writes, while also decrying that such incidents have increased dramatically and that suspects are seldom brought to justice.

Some 100 extremist settlers are believed to have perpetrated the rampage in Jit on August 15, torching at least four homes and six vehicles in the village located just west of Nablus. One Palestinian man was killed and another was wounded by gunfire in the incident.

Bar also comments on the national security minister’s contentious visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem last week for Tisha B’Av.

“Continuing in this direction will lead to much bloodshed and will change the State of Israel beyond recognition,” he warns in the letter.

Ben Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint holy site on August 14 drew widespread criticism in Israel and around the world as a provocation liable to set the region aflame.

Greek-flagged tanker at anchor, all crew evacuated after repeated attacks off Yemen — UKMTO

The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion is seen heading into the Finnart Ocean Terminal in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2017. (David Mackinnon via AP)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says a Greek-flagged oil tanker that was adrift in the Red Sea after repeated attacks is now at anchor and all crew have been evacuated.

Sounion was targeted yesterday by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, where the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Harris campaign accuses Trump of ‘consistently denigrating’ American Jews after latest post on Shapiro

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro arrives to speak before Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)

CHICAGO — Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign tears into former US president Donald Trump for “consistently denigrating” American Jews after he highlighted Josh Shapiro’s faith in a post that criticized the Pennsylvania governor and claimed Harris “hates Israel.”

“There is one candidate in this race who consistently denigrates American Jews, elevates Neo-Nazis, and traffics in antisemitic tropes, and it is Donald Trump,” says a Harris spokesperson in a statement touting the records of Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in combating antisemitism.

The White House also calls out Trump for highlighting Shapiro’s faith in the social media post.

“It is antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of ‘dual loyalty,'” says Principal Deputy Communications Director Herbie Ziskind in a statement.

US envoy tells UN: Hostage-ceasefire deal ‘now is in sight,’ Hamas must accept bridging proposal

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Representative of the United States to the United Nations, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting in New York City, August 22, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield urges Security Council members to press Hamas to follow Israel’s lead in accepting the bridging proposal that Washington presented last week to try and secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“Israel has accepted the bridging proposal. Now, Hamas must do the same,” Thomas-Greenfield says during a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“As members of this Council, we must speak with one voice, and we must use our leverage to press Hamas to accept the bridging proposal which includes massive and immediate benefits for the Palestinians in Gaza and incorporates a number of Hamas’ earlier demands,” she continues.

She says a ceasefire and hostage release deal “now is in sight.”

The US envoy also highlights Gaza’s first reported case of polio in 25 years and urges Israel “to continue working with humanitarian agencies to provide polio vaccinations for Palestinian civilians, particularly children, in Gaza.”

“This effort is urgent, and having a ceasefire deal will greatly facilitate the implementation of this crucial vaccination campaign,” she adds.

Hebrew media: Rocket from Lebanon hit house in northern town of Zarit; none hurt

A rocket fired from Lebanon hit a house in the northern town of Zarit a short while ago, causing damage but no injuries, Hebrew media reports.

According to the reports, a man and his two sons were home during the direct impact to their house but did not sustain injuries.

Sirens sounded in the largely evacuated communities of Zarit, Shtula and Shomera amid the attack.

בצה״ל אומרים כי זוהו שני שיגורים שחצו לישראל. אחד מהם פגע פגיעה ישירה בבית במושב זרעית. אין נפגעים בנפש אבל נגרם נזק רב לרכוש. מדובר במזל גדול – בעל הבית ושני בנים שלו היו בבית ויצאו ללא פציעות @WallaNews pic.twitter.com/DptYE97PDn

— יואב איתיאל מדווח כי (@yoavetiel) August 22, 2024

At funeral of hostage recovered from Gaza this week, daughter-in-law calls for Netanyahu to be ousted

Family and friends attend the funeral service of slain Hamas hostage Yoram Metzger at the cemetery in Kibbutz Nir Oz, on August 22, 2024. (Flash90)

Yoram Metzger, 80, whose body was brought back to Israel this week after he was killed in Hamas captivity after being kidnapped on October 7, is laid to rest on Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border.

His daughter-in-law Ayala Metzger, one of the leaders of a group of hostage families that regularly protests against the government, calls for the ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her remarks during the funeral.

“I want to take advantage of this platform and appeal to the sane ministers and members of the coalition — Netanyahu failed on October 7 and he has failed to bring the hostages home, he does not want to and cannot bring the hostage home,” she says.

“Yoram’s fate is sealed but other hostages can still be saved. Move Netanyahu from the prime ministership. Appoint a capable person, promote a deal and return us to the sanity we deserve.”

“Dear Yoram, rest in peace. Thank you for who you were and the legacy you left. And sorry.”

During the funeral ceremony, Metzger’s grandchildren sing The Beatles song, “Yesterday,” as seen in a video posted to social media.

הנכדים שרים את השיר yesterday בהלוויתו של יורם מצגר בניר עוז pic.twitter.com/hPK4V8x8Zk

— ilana curiel (@ilanacuriel) August 22, 2024

The slain hostage’s son, Nir Metzger, says at the funeral, “We hoped that you would be released in a deal like mom. Rest in peace.”

Tamar (Tami) Metzger, 78, was kidnapped with her husband from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and released on November 28 as part of a week-long ceasefire deal

Yoram’s death in captivity was announced by the IDF on June 3.

His body was one of six deceased Israeli hostages abducted by terrorists on October 7 who were recovered in an overnight operation in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip earlier this week.

Along with Metzger, the deceased hostages brought back were Alex Dancyg, 75; Yagev Buchshtav, 35; Chaim Peri, 79; Nadav Popplewell, 51; and Avraham Munder, 78.

Israeli negotiation team led by Mossad chief en route to Cairo for hostage-ceasefire talks – official

Mossad chief David Barnea speaks during a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the agency's headquarters near Tel Aviv, May 6, 2024. (Courtesy)

The Israeli negotiating team has departed for Cairo for talks on a hostage deal, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

The team is headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, and includes Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, head of the IDF General Staff Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate.

CIA chief William Burns will be leading the US team, CNN reports.

3.5-magnitude off coast of Israel felt in Haifa, Nahariya; no reports of injuries or damage

A 3.5-magnitude earthquake is felt in northern Israel, according to the Israel Geological Institute, with the tremor felt in the cities of Haifa and Nahariya along the Mediterranean coast.

The epicenter was some 37 kilometers (22 miles) off the coast of Haifa.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

הרגשתם רעידת אדמה בצפון? אני לא אבל האפל ווטש קפץ… pic.twitter.com/DcnTnJ0W1x

— Tal Barenboim (@taltalon) August 22, 2024

US bridging proposal for hostage-truce deal meets Israel’s security demands, official tells ToI; says Israel will control Philadelphi Route

As the chances for the success of talks around a hostage deal come under doubt, an Israeli official stresses to The Times of Israel that “the prime minister stands behind the principle that Israel will rule the Philadelphi Route.”

The deployment of IDF troops on the Egypt-Gaza border corridor in the event of a deal with Hamas is one of the main sticking points in negotiations.

The official says that “there is a reason we agreed” to the US bridging proposal offered in Doha last week, and that it meets Israel’s security demands.

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

The official insists that Israel will continue to fight to achieve its war aims whether or not a deal is reached: “We are fighting Hamas as if there are no negotiations, and we are negotiating as if there is no war.”

“The prime minister’s position is that we must apply military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas to reach a deal,” continues the official. “The military pressure is continuing, in parallel with diplomatic pressure from the mediating countries.”

A deal does not mean the war is over, the official emphasizes.

“So long as Hamas doesn’t agree to a deal, we will continue fighting,” says the official.

“Even if they do, the war will continue,” the official continues. “Of course, if there is a deal, there will be a lull in the fighting in the first stage. But we will continue fighting until we achieve all of our war aims.”

Regev compares planned non-government Oct. 7 events to ‘Israeli-Palestinian ceremony on Memorial Day’

Transportation Minister Miri Regev holds a press conference discussing plans for the state ceremony commemorating the October 7 massacre, at the Transportation Ministry in Jerusalem, August 22, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev compares memorial ceremonies that Gaza border communities ravaged by Hamas’s October 7 attack are planning to mark one year since the attack to alternative Israeli-Palestinian ceremonies held on Memorial Day every year.

While asserting at a press conference that she would go ahead with planning a state memorial service on the anniversary of the massacre despite a growing boycott among Gaza border communities and hostage families of the event, she says, “Of course, there is also an option for others to hold alternative ceremonies, such as the Israeli-Palestinian ceremony on Memorial Day.”

According to the Ynet news site, Regev denies making the comparison a short while later and refuses to apologize.

Referring to those denouncing the event as politicized and accusing the government of using the official ceremony to avoid responsibility for the disaster and its continuing aftermath, she says, ״I’m blocking out the noise, and I will continue to lead this ceremony as I did in previous ceremonies, with respect for those who are angry and criticizing.”

Kumu (“Rise Up”), an organization of border community residents that is planning the alternate ceremony, responds in a post on X, “The ‘background noise’ that Minister Regev spoke of is us. Bereaved families, residents of the Gaza border communities and the North, and the reservists who paid and are paying a heavy price for the events of October 7.”

“Minister Regev has illustrated her complete disconnect in the government’s decision to spend millions of shekels producing a manufactured ceremony, filmed and edited in advance, for herself.”

Netanyahu meets Golan municipal leaders amid heightened tensions on border with Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Katzrin Mayor Yehuda Dua and Golan Heights Regional Council head Ori Kalner in Jerusalem, August 22, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

A day after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Golan Heights city of Katzrin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with the city’s Mayor Yehuda Dua and Golan Heights Regional Council head Ori Kalner in Jerusalem.

While most of the rockets fired by the Lebanon-based terror group were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, several hit the city, causing heavy damage to homes and injuring one person.

After the meeting, Kalner tells Reshet Bet radio that “we felt that the Prime Minister knowledgeable about the issue. We are not at calm, but we have someone to rely on. He told us he is committed to the issue, and to opening the school year on time.”

Anti-Israel protesters call on Johannesburg coal company to cut ties with Israel over Gaza war

Anti-Israel activists hold placards and a Palestinian flag while protesting outside the offices of Glencore Coal in Sandton, Johannesburg on August 22, 2024. (Shiraaz Mohamed/AFP)

Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the offices of Glencore Coal in Sandton, Johannesburg, to demand that the company end its economic relations with Israel amid the war in Gaza.

People at the rally, organized by a coalition of pro-Palestinian and climate groups, hold signs reading “Unplug apartheid Israel” and “No to fuelling Israel’s war machine.”

South Africa cut off relations with Israel after Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

In March, the country’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, said South African citizens serving in the IDF would be arrested upon returning to the country.

In December, South Africa filed a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, claiming that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. The ICJ has ordered Israel to take actions necessary to prevent violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention but did not order Israel to its offensive in Gaza.

Trump highlights Shapiro’s Judaism in criticism of Pennsylvania governor

CHICAGO — Former US president Donald Trump highlights Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Jewish faith, going after him in a social media post shortly after Shapiro spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Trump refers to Shapiro as “the highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” in a post on Truth Social.

Trump goes on to tout his Israel record, while disparaging that of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President, yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey…

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 22, 2024

Hostages Forum: Bullet wounds found on recovered hostages’ bodies are ‘further proof of cruelty of terrorists’

File - An armed Hamas terrorist walking around the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert in southern Israel on October 7, where terrorists from Gaza massacred hundreds of people. (South First Responders/AFP)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says that signs of bullet wounds found in autopsies on the bodies of hostages recovered by the IDF from southern Gaza earlier this week are “further proof of the cruelty of the terrorists who have been holding 109 hostages for 321 days.”

In a statement, the Hostages Forum calls on the government to immediately close a deal with the Hamas terror group to free the remaining hostages kidnapped on October 7.

“Every minute that the deal is not yet completed, another hostage could die, and after 10 and a half months of war during which the hostages are suffering and dying, we all know that the return of all of the hostages will only be possible through a deal.”

The statement adds that the extraction of the bodies of Alex Dancyg, 75, Yagev Buchshtav, 35, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78 earlier this week is “not a picture of victory, it is a picture of the complete failure of the country’s leadership, with six hostages who were supposed to come home alive returning in coffins.”

A short while ago the IDF confirmed that the bodies of the six hostages all had signs of gunshot wounds, according to initial autopsy findings.

All six are known to have been taken to Gaza alive during the Hamas-led invasion and slaughter in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and were killed over the course of the 10-month-long war.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad still has 7 of over 30 hostages it says it seized on Oct. 7, and most of its arsenal – report

Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists shake hands after handing over hostages to the Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 28, 2023. (AFP)

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group is still holding seven Israeli hostages it captured on October 7, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reports.

On October 8, PIJ leader Ziyad Nakhaleh released a statement claiming that the group was holding more than 30 of the 251 hostages abducted into Gaza during the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel the previous day.

Some of them were released during a one-week truce in November, the paper notes. It is not clear if any of the hostages in the hands of the PIJ have died.

The news outlet further reports that cooperation between Hamas and the PIJ has strengthened following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, not only in the Gaza Strip but also in the West Bank, as testified to by the failed suicide bombing by a Nablus resident in Tel Aviv on Sunday, for which the two terror groups claimed joint responsibility.

Security and rescue forces at the scene of a failed suicide bombing in south Tel Aviv, August 18, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

While the Al Quds Brigades, the military wing of the PIJ, has lost a significant part of its manpower on the ground in Gaza (the upper echelons of the group are said to be safe abroad), its arsenal has suffered fewer losses than that of Hamas in the ongoing war, the report claims, quoting sources from inside the terror group.

The good state of its military stockpiles allows it to regularly launch rockets at Israel, the paper says. The latest was a volley it claimed against the southern cities of Ashkelon and Sderot on August 6, but the group also launches rockets at IDF forces inside the Strip on an almost daily basis.

The volleys are usually small, consisting of a maximum of three projectiles, and unlike Hamas it is still capable of firing from throughout the Strip, including Gaza City and the north, according to the report.

Most of the projectiles in the PIJ arsenal are reportedly short-range, with a maximum firing distance of 7-8 kilometers (4.3-5 miles).

Hundreds of North Americans immigrate to Israel, in largest influx since October 7

New immigrants pose with Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer, ministry director-general Adv. Avichai Kahana, Jewish Agency for Israel deputy director-general Shay Felber, Nefesh B'Nefesh co-founder and chairman Tony Gelbart and Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founder and executive director of Rabbi Yehoshua Fass upon their arrival to Israel, Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, August 22, 2024. (Nefesh B'Nefesh/Chen Galili)

In the largest influx of new immigrants to Israel since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, two hundred North Americans arrive at Ben Gurion Airport on five group flights facilitated by Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and JNF-USA.

Today marks the highest number new immigrants, or olim, to arrive on a single day this year, Nefesh B’Nefesh says in a statement.

On August 20-28, some 600 immigrants from a diverse array of locations across the US and Canada, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ontario, will arrive in Israel on 14 group flights, the statement adds.

Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer welcomes the new immigrants at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

“We are in the midst of a blessed month, of witnessing an impressive increase in aliyah [immigration to Israel] from around the world, despite this complex period of conflict in the north and south. I extend my heartfelt wishes to all the new olim who arrived today and over the last week from North America, driven by a strong desire to become an integral part of the Zionist story,” he says.

“This remarkable influx not only highlights their unwavering commitment to the State of Israel, but also underscores the incomparable spirit and unbreakable bond of the Jewish people worldwide to State of Israel,” adds Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, according to the statement.

IDF confirms autopsies show signs of gunshot wounds on bodies of all six hostages recovered from Gaza this week

The bodies of the six hostages recovered by the IDF from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis this week all have signs of gunshot wounds, according to initial autopsy findings.

This morning, IDF representatives showed the families of Alex Dancyg, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, and Avraham Munder, the findings from the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.

The findings are initial, and the IDF and health officials have not yet determined the exact causes of deaths.

The institute is also working to identify four more bodies found near the hostages, are believed by the IDF to be those of terrorists.

On the bodies of the terrorists there were no signs of gunshot wounds, according to the initial findings.

House arrest of 5 soldiers suspected in Sde Teiman abuse case extended by two weeks

IDF reserve soldiers suspected of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility attend a hearing at the Beit Lid military court, August 6, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A military court approves the prosecution’s request to extend the house arrest of five reservist soldiers suspected of abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility by two weeks.

The soldiers will be held under house arrest until September 4, according to the decision.

The court further rules that a hearing can be held on August 25, before the prosecution files indictments, for the defense to offer an alternative to detention for the suspects.

A Military Police investigation into the high-profile abuse case is due to be finished in the coming days, according to the Israel Defense Forces, and all the investigation materials will be handed over to the defense at the beginning of next week.

In all, 10 soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility were detained over the suspected sexual abuse of a Hamas police officer who had been arrested in the Gaza Strip. Prosecutors did not seek to hold five of them in custody, following new evidence in the case.

According to the IDF, the soldiers are suspected of aggravated sodomy (a charge equivalent to rape), causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, abuse under aggravated circumstances and conduct unbecoming of a soldier.

Regev says she will continue to plan Oct. 7 state memorial despite criticism

Transportation Minister Miri Regev attends the official Jerusalem Day ceremony at the capital's Ammunition Hill, June 5, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev asserts she will go ahead with planning a state memorial service on the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 massacre despite a growing boycott among Gaza border communities and hostage families of the event.

Regev says in a statement she can take the criticism of her role in planning the event.

“We will unite just as we unite as a nation at Independence Day and Holocaust Memorial Day ceremonies,” she says.

Several kibbutzim along the border have rallied around a boycott of the planned ceremony, griping that they had been overlooked by the government since the outbreak of war and that their confidence has not been restored after the government failed to prevent the massacre and abductions.

The southern cities of Ofakim and Sderot are said to be on board with the plans for a ceremony.

Reports say bullets found in some of hostages’ bodies recovered last week, indicating they may have been murdered by Hamas

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)

Bullets were found inside some of the bodies of hostages recovered by the IDF from the Gaza Strip last week, leading to an assessment by the military that they were likely murdered by Hamas in captivity, Hebrew media outlets report.

The reports do not detail who among the hostages may have been murdered. However, the mother of Yagev Buchshtav tells Kan radio he was one of those found with bullets in his body.

The deceased hostages brought back from Khan Younis were Buchshtav, 35, Alex Dancyg, 75, Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, Nadav Popplewell, 51, and Avraham Munder, 78.

IDF troops find explosives in UNRWA bags in Gaza’s Rafah

Military gear found, some of it in an UNRWA-marked bag, by the IDF in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, in an image released on August 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops operating in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood found explosives in UNRWA-marked bags during a search of a facility located near schools, the military says in a statement.

According to the statement, the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion found guns, military vests, and enemy intelligence documents during the raid in the southern Gazan city.

Additionally, forces part of the IDF’s 162nd Division directed airstrikes on a squad of armed terror operatives and terror sites in the neighborhood in recent days.

The IDF releases footage from the operations in Rafah.

Israel’s economy experienced biggest slowdown among OECD countries from April to June

Israel’s economy suffered the biggest slowdown in the April to June period among 38 member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as the ongoing war with the Hamas terror continues to take a heavy toll on the country.

Israel “experienced the most significant slowdown” as growth slowed from 4.1 percent in the first three months of the year to 0.3% in the second quarter, the OECD says in a report. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD was steady, expanding by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2024, the same pace as in the previous quarter, according to initial estimates. Growth in the US economy rose from 0.4% in the first quarter to 0.7% in the second quarter, the data shows.

In May, the OECD cut its growth forecast for the Israeli economy for this year to 1.9% from 3.3% and projects 4.6% in 2025. The Bank of Israel lowered its 2024 growth forecast to 1.5%, while the Finance Ministry sees growth of 1.9% for this year.

Greek oil tanker attacked in Red Sea is ‘environmental hazard,’ EU says

DUBAI/ATHENS — A Greek-flagged oil tanker carrying 150,000 tons of crude that was evacuated by its crew after being attacked in the Red Sea now poses an environmental hazard, the EU’s Red Sea naval mission “Aspides” says.

Sounion was targeted on Wednesday by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, where the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“Carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, the MV SOUNION now represents a navigational and environmental hazard,” Aspides says in a post on social media platform X.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, have yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

The Sounion was the third vessel operated by Athens-based Delta Tankers to be attacked in the Red Sea this month. The attack caused a fire onboard, which was extinguished by the crew, Delta Tankers said in a statement.

Additionally, a vessel on Thursday reported an explosion close to it which caused minor damage after an encounter with an uncrewed vessel 57 nautical miles south of Yemen’s port of Aden, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says.

On August 21, the MV SOUNION, which had not asked for EUNAFVOR ASPIDES 🇪🇺 protection, came under an attack in the South Red Sea area and lost its engine power.

Following a request from the master, the operation dispatched a ship in order to rescue the crew.

While approaching… pic.twitter.com/gdSbTjmzRm

— EUNAVFOR ASPIDES (@EUNAVFORASPIDES) August 22, 2024

Military says drone siren in Kissufim was false alarm

The military says a siren warning of a hostile drone infiltration on the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Kissufim was activated due to a false identification.

Qatari PM to travel to Iran to discuss ceasefire-hostage talks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatar’s prime minister will travel to Iran in the coming days, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reports.

The agency says he is traveling to discuss bilateral issues and important regional issues. Doha has been hosting talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

Abbas set to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt over next two weeks as he seeks support for trip to Gaza

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) receives Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Saudi royal palace, in the kingdom's capital of Riyadh, October 16, 2019. (Bandar al-Jaloud / Saudi Royal Palace / AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will head to Saudi Arabia on an official visit next week, and then to Egypt, the Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports. The visits are confirmed to The Times of Israel by a source in Abbas’s party Fatah.

In Riyadh, Abbas is set to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday. The paper notes that the visit has already been postponed twice, and its official purpose is to discuss ways to halt the war.

The meeting does not involve a request for financial aid from the PA, it adds. Saudi officials indicated before October 7 that direct financial support to Ramallah, which was halted in 2021, would resume if the PA greenlights the kingdom’s normalization with Israel and increases efforts to curb corruption.

Abbas’s visit to Riyadh was initially supposed to take place earlier this month but was pushed off following Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Palestinian official told The Times of Israel.

Within the next two weeks, Abbas is also scheduled to visit Egypt and meet with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The Qatari paper says that Abbas’s visit to the Gaza Strip will be on the agenda, and he is likely to request to pass through Egypt, prior to approval of the US and Israel.

Yesterday, Abbas issued a decree appointing his aide Hussein Al-Sheikh as coordinator of a committee tasked with arranging his intended trip to the Palestinian enclave, which he first announced before the Turkish parliament last week.

Fatah was violently ousted from the enclave by the rival Hamas party in 2007. The PA is seeking to garner international support to arrange Abbas’s visit and has reportedly sent a formal request to Israel to use one of Israel’s crossings into the enclave.

Israeli-Canadian racer wanted by US for fraud arrested in Russia

MOSCOW, Russia — Police in St. Petersburg have detained an Israeli-Canadian racing car driver wanted by the United States for alleged large-scale fraud relating to an illegal online stock trading scheme, the city’s court system says.

The man, Joshua Cartu, is wanted, alongside his brothers David and Jonathan and several others, for allegedly operating a fraudulent binary options trading scheme between 2013 and 2018 that defrauded investors of millions of dollars, according to a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission statement from May 2020.

The St. Petersburg court service says Cartu had been detained on August 19 at Pulkovo airport. It identifies him as a citizen of Israel and Canada and says he is “wanted by the United States of America.” It isn’t immediately clear when Cartu arrived in Russia.

The court extends his detention by 72 hours. Reuters is not able to determine if Cartu had a lawyer.

The Canadian and Israeli embassies did not immediately respond to comment requests.

The court says Cartu could be charged under Russia’s fraud statute, which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

“Cartu is not employed, has no permanent place of residence in St. Petersburg, but he has a passport of a foreign citizen, which makes it possible (for him) to cross the border of the Russian Federation without hindrance, thus preventing an extradition inspection,” the court says.

Moscow and Washington do not have an extradition treaty.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to a comment request.

Canadian-Israeli influencer and race car driver Joshua Cartu detained in Russia: reports https://t.co/kMTUxF3NYo pic.twitter.com/e7q7yF9S7K

— National Post (@nationalpost) August 21, 2024

Hostile drone alert sounds in Kissufim, near Gaza border

Sirens warn of a hostile drone infiltration in Kibbutz Kissufim, near the Gaza border.

✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [13:31:37] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Kissufim
Population in the area: <500#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/vn7OXSB8lk

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 22, 2024

19-year-old Gazan gave information crucial to Deif assassination — report

Footage posted to X purporting to show an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, July 13, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law); Inset: The head of Hamas's military wing Muhammad Deif in an undated photo revealed in January 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Editor’s Note: This report was based on a Jewish Chronicle story by writer Elon Perry. On September 13, 2024 the Chronicle removed Perry’s stories and ended its association with him after serious doubts emerged regarding the veracity of his reporting. This page is being kept online for purposes of transparency.

A 19-year-old Gazan “messenger” passed information to Israeli handlers that led to the successful assassination of Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif, The Jewish Chronicle reports.

According to the report, Israel uses thousands of informants in Gaza to gain information needed to locate and eliminate senior Hamas officials and terror infrastructure.

The report says handlers meet with their informants in kibbutzim near the Gaza border and only communicate by phone in exceptional circumstances.

Such circumstances include needing to inform on the location of a senior Hamas official when he visits a location for at least an hour or two, or on the location of hostages when it is understood they would be moved on the same day, The Jewish Chronicle reports.

In these phone calls, the number of an Arab Israeli is called, and the handler pretends to be a relative of the Gazan interested in what is happening in the enclave, the report says.

The man who gave information on Deif did so in exchange for asylum in the United States. According to the report, he is no longer in Gaza.

Prosecutors seek to extend house arrest of suspects in Sde Teiman abuse case, ahead of indictments

File: IDF reserve soldiers suspected of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility attend a hearing at the Beit Lid military court, August 6, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Military prosecutors are requesting a two-week extension on the house arrest of five reservist soldiers who are suspected of abusing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

The IDF says that a Military Police investigation into the high-profile abuse case is due to be finished in the coming days, and at the start of next week, all the investigation materials will be handed over to the defense.

In the coming two weeks, the defense may request to hold a hearing on the investigation, before the prosecution files an indictment against the suspects, according to the military.

In all, 10 soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility were detained over the suspected sexual abuse of a Hamas police officer who had been arrested in the Gaza Strip. Prosecutors did not seek to hold five of them in custody, following new evidence in the case.

Prosecutors are now asking to keep the five remaining suspects under house arrest until September 5.

According to the IDF, the soldiers are suspected of aggravated sodomy (a charge equivalent to rape), causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, abuse under aggravated circumstances and conduct unbecoming of a soldier.

PA says three Palestinians killed during IDF raid in Tulkarem

Journalists film Israeli army vehicles deployed at the entrance of Tulkarem , during an ongoing raid, in the West Bank on August 22, 2024. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

The Palestinian Authority health ministry says three Palestinians were killed in the West Bank city of Tulkarem during an IDF operation there.

The IDF says it struck a cell of gunmen and clashed with other armed Palestinians in the area.

China tells its citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible

Citing the “complex security situation” in Lebanon, particularly in the country’s south, the Chinese embassy in Beirut calls on its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible “while commercial flights are still available.”

Various countries have urged their citizens in Lebanon to evacuate in recent weeks, as tensions on the border with Israel escalate.

France rescues 29 crewmembers of oil tanker attacked in Red Sea

The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion is seen heading into the Finnart Ocean Terminal in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2017. (David Mackinnon via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A French destroyer rescued 29 mariners from an oil tanker that came under repeated attack in the Red Sea, officials say, while also destroying a bomb-carrying drone boat in the area.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspected to have carried out the assault on the Sounion. The attack, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a months-long campaign by Houthis that has disrupted a trade route through which $1 trillion in cargo typically passes each year. The Houthis say their attacks aim to support Gaza during the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group there.

The Sounion is now at anchor in the Red Sea and no longer drifting, the European Union’s Operation Aspides says. However, it wasn’t clear if the vessel was still ablaze. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of Filipinos and Russians.

Military officials did not name the French destroyer involved in the rescue.

In the attack yesterday, men on small boats first opened fire with small arms about 140 kilometers (90 miles) west of the rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Four projectiles also hit the ship, it added. It wasn’t immediately clear if that meant drones or missiles.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks, though it can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge their assaults. However, they did acknowledge US airstrikes in Hodeida that the American military’s Central Command said destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile and radar system.

Times of Israel staff contributed.

Police detain 4 settlers over alleged terror activities, including taking part in riot at West Bank village Jit

Palestinians inspect damage in the West Bank village of Jit a day after extremist settlers attacked the town, August 16, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Four Israeli settlers, including one minor, were detained overnight by police over their suspected involvement in an attack on the Palestinian West Bank village of Jit last week.

According to a joint statement issued by police and the Shin Bet, the four are suspected of terrorism against Palestinians in several incidents, including the attack on Jit.

More than 100 Israeli assailants hurled stones and Molotov cocktails, and set fire to homes and cars in Jit during the attack on August 15.

One Palestinian man was killed and another was wounded by gunfire in the incident. The Shin Bet and police indicate that the shooting was carried out by the settlers.

The four suspects are currently being questioned by the Shin Bet.

Rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona

Incoming rocket sirens activate in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona.

Rocket Alert [10:35:45] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Kiryat Shmona
Population in the area: 23,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/VuCDFH9Dky

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 22, 2024

Netanyahu has not eased stance on Philadelphi Corridor, unnamed diplomatic source says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not changed his position on maintaining military control over the Philadelphi Corridor, an unnamed diplomatic source in the Prime Minister’s Office says.

The source denies a claim by US officials who told The Washington Post that Netanyahu offered certain concessions on the matter in a call with US President Joe Biden yesterday.

The Philadelphi Corridor runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Hamas for years smuggled in arms and weapons components. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw from the route to prevent Hamas from rearming.

IDF says troops killed around 50 terrorists in Rafah neighborhood over past day

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in an image released on August 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Some 50 terror operatives were killed by troops of the IDF’s 162nd Division in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of southern Gaza’s Rafah over the past day, the military says in a morning update.

The IDF says that in one incident in Tel Sultan, troops of the Nahal Brigade spotted a cell of gunmen heading to attack them, and called in a drone strike.

Further north, in Khan Younis and on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, the military says an operation being carried out by the 98th Division continues, following intelligence of Hamas infrastructure and operatives in the area.

Troops with the 98th Division killed several gunmen and destroyed dozens of sites belonging to terror groups in the past day, according to the IDF.

Several more gunmen were killed in airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip, directed by reservists of the 252nd Division, who are operating in the Netzarim Corridor area.

Meanwhile, the IDF also announces that it struck a Hamas weapons depot adjacent to the Salah ad-Din School in Gaza City.

Yesterday, the military said it carried out an airstrike against a Hamas command room embedded within the Salah ad-Din School building. It says the weapons depot was in a separate building, located just outside the school compound, and it was hit in a separate strike last night.

The IDF says the building was used to store rockets and other weapons intended to be used to attack Israel.

Iran may delay its revenge on Israel, but is pushing Hezbollah to attack — report

People walk past a banner featuring a picture of the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last month while in Iran, in Tehran on August 20, 2024. (Atta KENARE / AFP)

While Iran may have been convinced to delay directly attacking Israel, it is encouraging Hezbollah to launch a strike, US officials tell The Washington Post.

Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah is aiming to carry out a focused attack — to avenge the assassination of his top commander Fuad Shukr last month — instead of firing a barrage of rockets at a city like Tel Aviv and risking regional war, the officials say.

Meanwhile, Iran is at the moment deterred from directly attacking Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hours after Shukr was killed, after an enormous US military build-up in the region, the officials state.

Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement in Haniyeh’s death.

Fire seen in Red Sea, likely indicating hostile craft destroyed in area

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — British security firm Ambrey says a fire was spotted in the Red Sea approximately 58 nautical miles southwest of Yemen’s port of Salif.

A nearby vessel observed smoke coming from the water, an incident likely related to the destruction of an unmanned surface vessel, Ambrey says.

“Hostile manned, and unmanned craft, have been operating in the area,” Ambrey adds.

Sirens warn of incoming rockets in Kiryat Shmona, surrounding communities

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona and the surrounding communities of Tel Hai and Kfar Yuval.

Rocket Alert [09:40:36] – 3 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Tel Hai, Kfar Yuval, Kiryat Shmona
Population in the area: 24,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/UyUMBVOAZ6

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 22, 2024

Unconfirmed reports name Nablus resident as Tel Aviv suicide bomber

Unconfirmed Palestinian reports claim that the suicide bomber who was killed while attempting to carry out an attack in Tel Aviv earlier this week is Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus.

The reports say that Israeli authorities notified Mona’s family recently. There is no official confirmation.

The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the intended attack, although did not offer any proof.

"ماضٍ وأعرف ما دربي وما هدفي"..

الاحتلال يبلغ رسميًا عائلة الشاب «جعفر منى» من مدينة نابلس أنه منفذ عملية "تل أبيب" قبل أيام. pic.twitter.com/W8nBpUSSkF

— Taqadomi (@taqadomy_ps) August 22, 2024

IDF drone strike kills 2 Palestinian gunmen in West Bank’s Tulkarem

Two Palestinian gunmen were killed in an IDF drone strike during a raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem overnight, according to a military source.

The strike was carried out against a cell of gunmen amid the raid carried out by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police.

Palestinian media reports clashes between gunmen and troops in the city as the operation continues.

Rocket sirens sound at Nir Am shooting range near Gaza border

Incoming rocket sirens sound outside the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nir Am.

The sirens don’t sound inside the kibbutz but at the nearby shooting range.

Rocket Alert [08:38:47] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Nir Am Shooting Range
Population in the area: 1,000#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/KlRqrbYA8m

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 22, 2024

Incoming drone siren sounds in north

Sirens warn of a hostile drone infiltration in the northern community of Misgav Am.

✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [08:33:30] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Misgav Am
Population in the area: 673#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/wMWlImx0zD

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 22, 2024

Blinken asked Egypt to take part in peacekeeping force on Philadelphi Route — report

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (R) meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd-L) and US Ambassador to Cairo Herro Mustafa Garg (L) in Alamein in northern Egypt on August 20, 2024. (EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP)

US Secretary of State proposed Egypt participate in international peacekeeping forces on the Philadelphi Corridor in order to pressure Israel to withdraw from the Egypt-Gaza border route in exchange for a ceasefire-hostage deal, the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reports.

Citing information it received on the talks, the report says Blinken’s proposal to Cairo on Tuesday includes a supervisory role for Israel over the peacekeeping force.

The Philadelphi Corridor runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Hamas for years smuggled in arms and weapons components. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw from the route to prevent Hamas from rearming.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah sites across 10 different areas of southern Lebanon

Overnight, the IDF says it carried out “extensive” airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon.

The strikes carried out by fighter jets targeted weapon depots, buildings used by Hezbollah, and a rocket launcher, in ten different areas of southern Lebanon, according to the military.

The widespread strikes come as a response to a Hezbollah barrage of 50 rockets yesterday at the northern town of Katzrin, causing damage and wounding an Israeli man.

מטוסי קרב תקפו במהלך הלילה יעדי טרור של חיזבאללה ביותר מ-10 מרחבים שונים בדרום לבנון.

בין המטרות שהותקפו, מחסני אמל״ח, מבנים צבאיים ומשגר ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה להוצאה לפועל של מתווי טרור נגד מדינת ישראל pic.twitter.com/x2vO1zUBtO

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 22, 2024

IDF probe said to find slow response on Oct. 7 allowed terrorists to enter Kfar Aza until 2 a.m.

Israeli soldiers remove bodies of Israeli civilians in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Channel 12 publishes the initial findings of an IDF investigation into the Kfar Aza massacre on October 7, when terrorists massacred 64 kibbutz residents and kidnapped 19 people.

According to the initial investigation, which has yet to be finalized and released officially, the military’s response to the assault was slow and uncoordinated. Forces only came until proper management by Sunday morning and only managed to secure full control of the community by Tuesday midday.

One of the major failures of the military on the day was its inability to seal entrances to the kibbutz, which allowed up to 300 terrorists to infiltrate the community, from 6:30 a.m. on Saturday until 2 a.m. on Sunday.

Security forces waited at the kibbutz gates from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. while residents were massacred and kidnapped. It remains unclear why forces were not deployed inside the community immediately, according to the reported findings.

Additionally, the probe finds forces barely fought terrorists on Saturday night, for fear of casualties due to friendly fire.

Most of the community’s residents were only evacuated on Sunday, due to the slow deployment of forces across all the neighborhoods in the kibbutz. Amid the chaos, some residents were evacuated on routes where terrorists were still active, endangering their lives, according to the investigation.

Additionally, the investigation discovered an incident in which the military rescued bodies of dead soldiers while combat was ongoing and civilians had yet to be evacuated, the report says.

Pro-Palestinian activists launch sit-in at DNC after being refused speaking slot

CHICAGO — Pro-Palestinian activists have launched a sit-in outside the Democratic National Convention after organizers of the confab denied their request to offer a speaking slot to a member of the Palestinian American community.

“Uncommitted” delegates, who led a protest vote movement against Biden in the Democratic primaries over his support for Israel, had specifically been hoping that the DNC would select one of several American doctors who have recently returned from treating wounded Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.

Uncommitted delegate Abbas Alawieh tells reporters he had been in touch with DNC organizers all week and had been hopeful they’d agree to his movement’s request after a similar speaking slot was given to the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

But earlier this evening, the Harris camp informed him that his group’s request had been denied.

Joining the handful of pro-Palestinian activists in the sit-in is Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.

The group has also been calling for an Israel arms embargo, arguing that it is the surest way to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

After calling Harris team in front of press, Uncommitted’s Abbas Alawieh says he’ll sit in protest:
“I just intend to stay here until I get a call from the DNC telling me that they won't suppress the voices of Palestinian children, that they will accept our very humble request…” https://t.co/s5MLMzaFak pic.twitter.com/Fz2ZITGvgA

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) August 22, 2024

PBS journalist sorry for repeating story Trump was pushing Netanyahu to delay hostage talks until after US election

File: Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of "PBS Newshour," takes part in a panel discussion during the 2018 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California, on July 31, 2018. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Veteran PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff apologizes for comments she had made on the air regarding former president Donald Trump and negotiations for a ceasefire-hostage release deal in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Woodruff, during PBS’ Democratic national convention coverage on Monday, repeated a story she had read in Axios and Reuters that Trump had allegedly been encouraging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put off talks until after the US election in the belief that a deal could help Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign.

But Woodruff says in a post on X that she had not seen later reporting that the story had been denied by the Trump campaign and Israel. She says her remarks had not been based on any original reporting on her part.

“This was a mistake, and I apologize for it,” Woodruff says.

Woodruff’s long career in journalism has included time at CNN and NBC News. She was host of PBS’ “NewsHour” between 2013 and 2022, before stepping down for a reporting project.

Pastor offers blessing for ‘Peace in Palestine’ at end of third night of DNC

CHICAGO — A pastor offers a blessing for “Peace in Palestine,” during a benediction wrapping up the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“Let there be peace tonight, peace in Palestine, peace for Palestinians, peace for Israelis,” says William Emmanuel Hall.

Haill is joined by interfaith minister Tahil Sharma who is wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh.

Most of the attendees had left the arena by the time the pair arrived on stage.

Tim Walz formally accepts nomination to be Democrats’ VP candidate

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, August 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Tim Walz formally accepts his nomination to be the Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate in a keynote address at the party’s convention, calling it “the honor of my life.”

“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States. We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason — we love this country,” Walz says in Chicago.

At DNC, former president Clinton praises Biden’s dedication to Gaza ceasefire deal

CHICAGO — Former US president Bill Clinton begins his speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention by praising Joe Biden’s record as president.

“He strengthened our alliances for peace and security. He’s done that for Ukraine. He’s trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East,” Clinton says.

‘The time is now’: Parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin take stage at DNC, call for hostage-ceasefire deal, get standing ovation

Jon Polin, left, and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, appear on stage during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO — The parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin are greeted to a standing ovation and chants of “Bring them home” as they walk onto the stage on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Teary-eyed, Rachel Goldberg-Polin begins sharing the story of her son with the tens of thousands in the packed United Center.

She notes that he is one of the eight American hostages, along with 101 others from ages 1 to 86 and of all different faiths. “Like Vice President Kamala Harris, Hersh was born in Oakland, California,” says an emotional but fully composed Rachel who speaks as photos of her son are shown on the jumbotron above her.

She notes that 45 Americans were killed on October 7, as she tailors a speech she has given countless times to the particular audience at the United Center.

Rachel recalls how Hersh was attending the Nova music festival “advertised as celebrating peace” on when Hamas’s 7 onslaught began.

Hersh’s left forearm was blown off by a grenade tossed into a roadside bomb shelter where he and 27 others were hiding after the attack began.

“He was loaded onto a pickup truck and stolen from his life, and me and Jon, into Gaza,” Rachel says.

“And that was 320 days ago. Since then, we live on another planet. Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can try to imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the hostage families are enduring,” she continues.

After standing beside her, Jon Polin moves in front of the microphone.

“Rachel and I are comforted to be back in our Sweet Home, Chicago. We were both born and raised here, and our families still live here,” he says.

“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” Jon says to overwhelming cheers from the crowd.

He goes on to thank members of Congress from both parties and particularly the Biden administration for their efforts to secure a hostage deal.

“We are all deeply grateful to them. We’re also profoundly thankful to you — the millions of people in the United States and all over the world who have been sending love, support and strength to the hostage families. You’ve kept us breathing in a world without air,” says Jon, who has the number 320 written in black marker on a piece of masking tape stuck to his shirt, as does his wife, a number they have updated each day their 23-year-old son remains in captivity.

“There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East. In a competition of pain, there are no winners,” he continues.

“In our Jewish tradition, we say… Every person is an entire universe. We must save all these universes.”

“In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region is a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza,” Jon says — garnering a particularly large applause after recognizing the plight of those in the Strip.

“The time is now,” he says to more applause.

Rachel then addresses her son directly: “Hersh! Hersh!”

She then offers the message she has given repeatedly over the past ten and a half months, but does so with even more emotion.

“If you can hear us, we love you. Stay strong. Survive,” Rachel concludes.

The couple brings the entire stadium to its feet in applause as they walk off the stage.

Minnesota AG says Harris, Walz genuine in desire to return hostages, end Gaza war

Attorney General of Minnesota Keith Ellison speaks during the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday, August 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz are genuine in their desire for a ceasefire and hostage deal to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“They fight for the people, and they also listen. When we say, ‘We need a ceasefire and an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza and to bring hostages home, they’re listening. They agree with us,” says Ellison in the first Israel reference of the Democratic National Convention’s third night.

“There are people watching tonight, and maybe even here tonight, who aren’t sure yet about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, if you want to know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues facing our country and the world, let me assure you, Kamala, and Tim hear you. They listen. They care, and everyone is included in their circle of compassion,” he adds.

Two earlier speakers — Reps. Tom Suozzi and Debbie Wasserman Schultz — wore yellow hostage ribbon pins.

Set to speak shortly are the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Addressing DNC sidelines event, hostage’s father urges holding Hamas, Israeli government equally accountable

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, speaks at a J Street event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 21, 2024. (Jacob Magid/The Times of Israel)

CHICAGO — The father of American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen urges attendees at a J Street event on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention to ensure their progressive communities hold Hamas accountable, even as they call for the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire.

“All of us have had a reckoning over the past 10 months about what does peace mean today, given that our neighbors did what they did in the most horrible way to our home and to our people,” says Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a resident of the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“This in no way contradicts our concern for the future of the civilians of Gaza,” Dekel-Chen continues. “It’s important to know that two things can be true at once — something that is difficult to believe sometimes these days, both in the States and in Israel.”

“I’m speaking to you as a father of a 36-year-old now with three little girls — One boy who he has never met, and I don’t know if my son is alive,” Dekel-Chen tells the over 100 people present at an urban winery in Chicago.

“We should push the Israeli government as far as we possibly can to do the right thing, to lay aside the cheap politics… but at the same time, in the communities that you inhabit, there has to be accountability on the other side as well,” says the hostage father.

“One cannot legitimately condemn Israel for its war actions while ignoring what happened on October 7, that Hamas could have ended this and the suffering of millions of Palestinians in Gaza could have been avoided had they returned the hostages on October 8 or anytime thereafter,” Dekel-Chen adds.

USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, destroyers have arrived in Middle East, US military says

Illustrative: In this photo from the US Navy provided on November 19, 2019, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, left, the air-defense destroyer HMS Defender and the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut transit the Strait of Hormuz with the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Pearson/U.S. Navy via AP)

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying destroyers have arrived in the Middle East, the US military says, after the country’s defense secretary ordered the strike group to accelerate its speed.

The carrier’s arrival brings the number in the region to two — at least temporarily, as the Lincoln is to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt — at a time of heightened fears of regional conflict following high-profile assassinations claimed by, or blamed on, Israel.

“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, entered the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility,” the military command responsible for the Middle East says on social media.

“The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3, is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9,” it adds.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, entered the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility.

The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3, is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and… pic.twitter.com/RKoJQshigR

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 21, 2024

The Pentagon said on August 11 that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Lincoln to “accelerate its transit” to the Middle East, after directing its deployment to the region at the beginning of the month.

Fears of a major escalation have mounted since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond to twin killings blamed on Israel late last month.

An Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, shortly before an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied having any part in the assassination.