Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel is liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Several dead and injured in knife attack on German festival
Police and ambulances stand near the scene where a several people died and several were injured in an attack on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen, western Germany, according to German media, as the city celebrated its 650th anniversary. (Gianni GATTUS / NonStopNews / AFP)
Several people were killed and injured in an attack at a festival in the western German city of Solingen on Friday, local media reports.
At least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife, according to the Bild daily.
Police are not immediately able to comment when contacted by AFP.
Meta says Iranian hacker group attempted to target Trump, Biden officials’ WhatsApp accounts
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks on crime and safety during a campaign event at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office, August 20, 2024, in Howell, Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Meta META.O says it has identified possible hacking attempts on the WhatsApp accounts of US officials from the administrations of both President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump, blaming the same Iranian hacker group revealed earlier this month to have compromised the Trump campaign.
In a blog post, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp describes the attempt as a “small cluster of likely social engineering activity on WhatsApp” involving accounts posing as technical support for AOL, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
The company says it blocked the accounts after users reported the activity as suspicious and had not seen any evidence suggesting the targeted WhatsApp accounts had been compromised.
Meta attributed the activity to APT42, a hacking group widely believed to be associated with an intelligence division inside Iran’s military that is known for placing surveillance software on the mobile phones of its victims. The software enables the team to record calls, steal text messages and silently turn on cameras and microphones, according to researchers who follow the group.
It linked the group’s activity to efforts to breach US presidential campaigns reported by Microsoft and Google earlier this month, ahead of the US presidential election in November.
The company’s blog post does not name the individuals targeted, saying only that the hackers “appeared to have focused on political and diplomatic officials, business and other public figures, including some associated with administrations of President Biden and former President Trump.”
Those figures were based in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iran, the United States and the United Kingdom, Meta adds.
Hamas official slams US handling of hostage talks
Hamas political official Osama Hamdan speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Doha, Qatar, August 13, 2024. (AP/Malak Harb)
Hamas official Osama Hamdan tells the Lebanese Al Mayadeen outlet that the terror group demands practical steps for what was previously agreed upon, rather than ongoing negotiations.
The outlet, which is affiliated with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group, also quotes Hamdan as charging that the US is looking to disseminate positive messages about the Gaza negotiations to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’s election campaign.
“We refuse to receive information from the media, and we have already informed the mediators that we are waiting to hear from them that the occupation has agreed to what was announced,” the Hamas official is quoted as saying.
“Tomorrow we face two options: If the entity agrees to the initiative, we will discuss the execution phase, or if we hear otherwise, we will inform them then of our position,” he adds.
A high-level Israeli delegation met with negotiators in Cairo this week for talks centered on finding a formula for the deployment of IDF troops along the Gaza-Egypt border that Jerusalem and Cairo could agree upon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor — the buffer zone that separates Egypt from Israel and Gaza Strip — is vital to preventing Hamas from re-arming, while Hamas and Egypt want to see Israeli forces withdraw entirely.
Report: Israeli airstrikes in Syria kill 3 Iran-backed fighters, wound 10 others
Israeli airstrikes on Syria targeting positions of the army and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah killed three Iran-backed fighters, according to a Britain-based war monitor.
“Israeli strikes have so far killed three pro-Iranian fighters and wounded about 10 others,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
The war monitor says the strikes targeted “makeshift petrol stations affiliated to Hezbollah in the Homs countryside, and struck weapons depots belonging to the group as well as two Syrian army sites in the Hama countryside.”
SOHR, run by a single person, has regularly been accused by Syrian war analysts of false reporting and inflating casualty numbers as well as inventing them wholesale.
Breaking | Explosions have been reported at Hama Military Airport and in areas across the countryside of Homs and Hama in central #Syria pic.twitter.com/DBPnRiUxEw
— Daniella Modos – Cutter -SEN (@DmodosCutter) August 23, 2024
The Syrian defense ministry says the attacks “wounded seven civilians.”
Since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the army and its Iran-backed allies.
The raids intensified after Hamas’s October 7 massacre on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, then eased after an April 1 strike blamed on Israel hit the Iranian consular building in Damascus killing two generals of the Revolutionary Guard.
Tensions have risen again since the killings of two senior Iran-backed terror chiefs last month, which sparked threats of reprisals from Tehran and its proxies, who blamed Israel.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence.
Biden speaks to Egyptian president, Qatari emir in bid to push hostage-ceasefire deal
US President Joe Biden arrives at Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia, August 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Joe Biden speaks by phone to the leaders of Qatar and Egypt, pushing for an elusive Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal as negotiators met in Cairo to try to overcome remaining obstacles.
A White House description of the calls says Biden spoke to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and separately with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss “diplomatic efforts to bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to a conclusion.”
Biden is spending a week of vacation on a ranch in California’s Santa Ynez Valley and is closely monitoring the Gaza ceasefire talks.
Biden’s conversations come after the White House described talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a ceasefire as “constructive,” and urged all sides to come together to work toward the implementation of a proposed agreement.
Firefighters battle blaze at Kiryat Shmona home sparked by rocket from Lebanon
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at a home in Kiryat Shmona, sparked by a Hezbollah rocket launched from Lebanon, August 23, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Service)
Firefighters are battling a blaze at a home in Kiryat Shmona that was struck by a rocket launched from Lebanon in the latest barrage.
The Fire and Rescue Service also says that a fire sparked earlier today near Safed by a Hezbollah rocket attack is now under control.
קריית שמונה. פגיעה ישירה בבית.
כ-110 שיגורים מהבוקר.
שגרה. pic.twitter.com/6RSs1MyKme— אדר גיציס • Adar Gitsis (@_Gitsis_) August 23, 2024
IDF: 10 rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona from Lebanon a short while ago; some intercepted; no injuries reported
A barrage of some 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona a short while ago, the IDF says.
Some of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, while others impacted the city.
There are no reports of injuries.
Warning sirens sounding again in northern communities near Lebanon border
Warning sirens are sounding again in northern communities near the border with Lebanon after terrorists fired over 100 rockets at Israel throughout the day.
No injuries have been reported in the attacks.
The rocket alert sirens are blaring in towns and cities including Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai and Misgav Am.
Rocket Alert [22:29:02] (1):
• Confrontation Line — Kiryat Shmona
Population: 23,000 pic.twitter.com/olPBTNGqUI— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
Shin Bet chief told Netanyahu settlers not arrested over West Bank violence as ‘there’s no police in Israel’ — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with Mossad chief David Barnea, April 18, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Channel 12 news reports quotes from a fiery exchange between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar during last night’s security cabinet meeting, over a deadly riot by extremist settlers in the West Bank village of Jit last week.
“Have we made any arrests?” Netanyahu reportedly asks, to which Bar replies, “Two.”
“Why only two? Why not more?” the prime minister asks.
Bar responds, “That’s the role of the police. There’s no police in Israel.”
The report comes a day after Channel 12 published quotes from a letter in which Bar warned Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other ministers that Jewish terror carried out by violent settlers is doing “indescribable damage” to Israel.
While four Jewish suspects have been detained in connection with the riot in Jit last week where Palestinian authorities said a man was killed, indictments in such cases are rare and convictions even more so, in what has led the US and other Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli settler extremists earlier this year.
‘We have to celebrate life’: Rescued hostage Noa Argamani keeps on dancing despite ongoing war
Former Hamas hostage Noa Argamani celebrates her “return to life” at a party with friends and family, after returning to Israel from speaking with diplomats from G7 countries in Tokyo.
“It’s not ideal that we’re having this party while there’s still a war in the background,” she tells the crowd, as seen in a video aired by Channel 12, “while our soldiers are on the battlefield, while there are still 109 hostages there in Gaza, including my partner, Avinatan Or, who we miss terribly.”
נועה ארגמני חוגגת עם החברים מהתואר:
״צריכים לחגוג כל רגע שאנחנו פה, צריכים לחגוג כל הזמן״ ???? pic.twitter.com/MxbSk7FsBq— Lee Ayash (@lee_ayash) August 23, 2024
“But at the same time, I’m happy to celebrate life itself with all of you,” she says, to cheers from her friends. “To remember that we have to value every day in this life, we have to celebrate every moment that we’re here.”
Argamani was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed the Gaza border and invaded southern Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
She was rescued from Nuseirat in central Gaza by IDF forces after nine months of captivity in a daring daylight operation on June 8, along with hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv.
Noa Argamani is seen being kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the massacre at the Supernova desert rave in the south on October 7, 2023. (Screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Footage of Argamani’s abduction, in which she was seen screaming as her Hamas captor drove her away on the back of a motorcycle while her boyfriend Avinatan Or was held back, became some of the most famous footage of the October 7 terror onslaught.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces ahead of planned speech that he’s endorsing Trump
Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to reporters at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, New York, August 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)
PHOENIX (AP) — Ahead of a planned speech, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign says in a Pennsylvania court filing that he is endorsing Donald Trump for president.
Kennedy’s independent campaign also requests that he be removed from the Pennsylvania ballot, though it is not immediately clear that he is officially dropping out of the race.
Kennedy had a speech planned in Arizona today to discuss “the present historical moment and his path forward,” according to his campaign. Hours later, Trump is set to hold a rally in neighboring Glendale. Trump’s campaign has teased that he will be joined by “a special guest,” though neither campaign responded to messages about whether Kennedy would be that guest.
The late-stage development in the presidential race could give the former president a modest boost from Kennedy’s supporters.
Left: Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, August 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin); Right: Republican presidential nominee former president Donald Trump, August 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
The Pennsylvania filing comes in a case in which Kennedy was defending his paperwork to get on the ballot in the battleground state against a challenge by two Democratic activists.
The filing says that “as a result of today’s endorsement of Donald Trump” he is requesting the dismissal of his campaign’s nomination papers so that he will not appear on Pennsylvania’s ballot.
Trump told CNN on Tuesday that he would “love” an endorsement from Kennedy, whom he called a “brilliant guy.” He also said he would “certainly” be open to Kennedy playing a role in his administration if Kennedy drops out and endorses him.
Kennedy Jr. first entered the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat but left the party last fall to run as an independent. He built an unusually strong base for a third-party bid, fueled in part by anti-establishment voters and vaccine skeptics who have followed his anti-vaccine work since the COVID-19 pandemic. But he has since faced strained campaign finances and mounting legal challenges, including a recent ruling from a New York judge that he should not appear on the ballot in the state because he listed a “sham” address on nominating petitions.
Syrian state media: 7 hurt, ‘material losses’ sustained in Israeli airstrike
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing a military source, says several sites in central Syria were targeted in an Israeli airstrike this evening, causing injuries to seven civilians.
The report claims that Syrian air defenses shot down some of the Israeli missiles, launched by fighter jets from over northern Lebanon, while others impacted the targets.
The airstrike caused “material losses,” SANA adds.
Earlier reports suggested that the airstrikes took place near Hama.
انفجار كبير ولهيب متصاعد، بعد استهداف #اسرائيل لمواقع ميليشيات النظام في اللواء 47 في #حماة. pic.twitter.com/tIQWaaWmcx
— الحارث الموسى | Al Hareth (@hareth003) August 23, 2024
ICC prosecutor insists court has power to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Sinwar
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan at the Cour d'Honneur of the Palais Royal in Paris on February 7, 2024. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP)
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor calls on judges to “urgently” rule on his request for arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, insisting the court has jurisdiction.
“It is settled law that the Court has jurisdiction in this situation,” Prosecutor Karim Khan writes in a 49-page legal brief.
Khan calls on a panel of ICC pretrial judges to “urgently render its decisions” on the requests he filed in May for warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Sinwar, along with the terror group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh and military chief Muhammad Deif, who have both been killed since.
Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar (left) speaks during a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, in Gaza City, April 14, 2023 (Mohammed Abed / AFP); Ismail Haniyeh, the Qatar-based leader of Hamas, delivers a televised speech on May 15, 2024. (X/Screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law); Mohammed Deif (X/Screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The brief filed by Khan comes in response to legal arguments filed by dozens of countries, academics, victims’ groups and rights groups either rejecting or supporting the court’s power to issue arrest warrants in its investigation into the ongoing war in Gaza and Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
In his May request for arrest warrants, Khan accused Netanyahu, Gallant and the three Hamas leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for them to travel abroad.
Many of the legal arguments filed to ICC judges in recent weeks focused largely on the issue of whether the court’s power to issue warrants for Israeli leaders is overruled by a provision of the 1993 Oslo Accords peace deal. As part of the deal, the Palestinians agreed that they don’t have criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals.
Khan insists the argument that the accords could nullify the court’s jurisdiction is “without merit.”
It remains unclear when judges will rule on Khan’s request for warrants.
Around 100 rockets fired from Lebanon at northern Israel today — IDF
An Israeli anti missile system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, above the Naftali Mountains, northern Israel, August 23, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Some 100 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel today, according to the IDF.
The latest barrage of some 40 rockets targeted the Kiryat Shmona area.
There were no injuries in any of the attacks today.
IDF: Another member of Hezbollah’s rocket unit killed in IDF strike in south Lebanon; 40 rockets fired at north
Another member of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit was killed in an IDF drone strike in southern Lebanon today, the military says.
Saeed Mahmoud Diab was struck while driving in the southern Lebanon town of Maarakeh, in the Tyre District.
Hezbollah announced his death, along with six other members in IDF strikes today.
The IDF says it also struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in at-Tiri, used in a barrage on Safed earlier today.
Meanwhile, a barrage of some 40 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area, and another five were launched earlier at the Western Galilee.
The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted, and there are no injuries.
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב צור, וחיסל את המחבל סעיד מחמוד דעיב, מחבל במערך הרקטות והטילים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
בנוסף, מטוסי קרב תקפו במרחב א-טירי את המשגר ממנו שוגרו מוקדם יותר היום רקטות למרחב צפת>> pic.twitter.com/3luUJpppjm
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 23, 2024
‘What deal?’: In meeting with released hostages, Netanyahu denies torpedoing deal with Hamas
Released hostages Yocheved Lifshitz, Yelena Trufanova, and her mother Irena Tati, who were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, speak to the media after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, August 23, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends his failure to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, during a meeting earlier today with four women kidnapped by the terror group on October 7 and released last year.
In leaked recordings from the meeting broadcast by Channel 12 news, Netanyahu repeatedly asks the former hostages, “What deal? Which deal?” when they push him on why he wasn’t able to secure an agreement before dozens were killed in captivity.
Later, a former hostage exclaims: “And they’re dying and every day you’re killing someone else.”
Netanyahu: “Whoever told you that there was a [hostage-ceasefire] deal on the table and that we didn’t take it for this reason or that reason, for personal reasons, it’s just a lie.”
In between outbursts of dissatisfaction from the group, Netanyahu asks them, “Another important thing… I’m trying to come to a deal that will maximize the number of hostages released, I won’t do it for 12 … because I’d just be leaving people there who are sick, who are elderly, the devil only knows. Would you do a thing like that? I won’t.”
It is 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.
At another point in the meeting, one of the former hostages, all of whom have relatives who are still held in Gaza, cries, “I don’t want humanitarian aid to get to them, I want the hostages here!”
To which Netanyahu quips, “There are many things we want and they’re hard to get, for example, I’d like to walk to Italy on foot in a straight line… so if that’s what we need to do it means drying up the ocean, so ‘let’s dry up the ocean, what’s the problem'”?
The prime minister’s wife Sara Netanyahu was also present at the meeting and also can be heard verbally sparring with the former hostages in the recordings released by Channel 12.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) with his wife Sara on board the Wing of Zion official plane, July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
She claims she is constantly misquoted and slandered, and that this never happened before she was married to the prime minister.
Sara Netanyahu: “I was Sara Ben Arzi and no one told lies about me. I lived a normal life.”
A former hostage interrupts, “I also lived a normal live until I was kidnapped with my partner.”
The hostages were kidnapped on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, 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.
Rocket alert sirens blaring again in multiple northern communities near Lebanon border
Rocket alert sirens are sounding again in northern communities near the border, following a number of attacks from Lebanon throughout the afternoon and evening.
Sirens are blaring in towns and cities including Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona, Misgav Am and Margaliot.
Rocket Alert [20:00:56] (2):
• Confrontation Line — Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona
Population: 23,000 pic.twitter.com/G1wlwc2HIU— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
Syrian media: Air defenses engaging in apparent Israeli airstrike in Hama area
Syrian media outlets report that air defenses are engaging in an apparent Israeli airstrike in the Hama area.
The pro-government Sham FM station says blasts are heard in the area.
Footage circulating on social media appears to show smoke rising from a targeted site near Hama.
عدوان اسرائيلي يستهدف محيط مدينة حماة pic.twitter.com/ynQpmvck3x
— Yusha Yuseef ???????? (@MIG29_) August 23, 2024
In call with Biden, Netanyahu agreed to pull IDF troops back from one position on Egypt-Gaza border — report
US President Joe Biden, right, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
In his phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden asked the premier to pull Israeli forces back from a 1-2 kilometer section of the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border, Axios reports. The section is adjacent to the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp near the coast, where many Gazan refugees have taken shelter.
Citing three Israeli officials, Axios says that Netanyahu agreed to pull back troops from one position in order to advance a deal. One official says that in response, Biden backed Netanyahu’s demand that IDF troops continue to hold the rest of the border in the first stage of a deal.
Once Biden accepted Israel’s position, says one of the officials, Cairo had no choice but to agree to deliver to Hamas maps with the proposed IDF deployment. The official adds that it is unlikely that Hamas will agree.
Meanwhile, one of the prime minister’s advisors tells Axios that Netanyahu agreed only to move one IDF position on the Philadelphi Route by several hundred meters and that it would not affect Israel’s operational control of the border.
Rocket sirens sounding again in northern border cities, towns
Rocket alert sirens are sounding in the north near the border with Lebanon for the third time this evening.
The sirens are sounding now in the city of Kiryat Shmona and communities including Neot Mordechai and Manara.
Rocket Alert [19:38:33] (3):
• Confrontation Line — Neot Mordechai, Manara, Kiryat Shmona
Population: 46,000 pic.twitter.com/MZXcaz5UJv— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
IDF says ‘incident over’ after drone alert sirens sound in northern border towns
Following the activation of drone infiltration alerts in areas close to the Lebanon border a short while ago, the IDF Home Front Command says that “the incident is over,” without elaborating further.
Sirens had sounded in northern communities including Zarit, Shtula, Even Menachem and Shomera.
Rocket Alert [19:28:38] (1):
• Confrontation Line — Zarit
Population: <500 pic.twitter.com/yo7OxVKoK5— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
Three fires spotted aboard abandoned tanker hit by Houthis earlier this week: UK maritime agency
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Three fires have been spotted on an abandoned oil tanker that was struck earlier this week by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the UKMTO maritime agency says.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, run by Britain’s Royal Navy, says it “received a report that three fires have been observed” on the Greek-owned tanker Sounion, which was hit by three projectiles on Wednesday.
The vessel “appears to be drifting,” UKMTO says.
The ship, owned by Greek shipping company Delta Tankers, had lost engine power and was anchored in the Red Sea between Eritrea and Yemen following Wednesday’s strike by the Houthis, which caused a brief fire onboard and damaged the engine compartment.
The source of the new fires remains unclear.
20240823-UKMTO_Daily_Summary-Ohttps://t.co/DQ9L4E6Ddt
1600UTC 22 AUG 24 to 1600UTC 23 AUG 24#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/OmmHKPK800
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) August 23, 2024
The vessel, which departed from Iraq and was destined for a port near Athens, was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, according to the European Union’s Red Sea naval mission, Aspides.
The EU naval force, formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi rebels, had rescued its 25 crew members on Thursday, leaving the ship abandoned.
Delta Tankers says “plans are in place to move the vessel to a safer destination where a full assessment (checks and any repairs) can be undertaken,” without specifying where the ship would be taken.
After rockets fired at Sderot, IDF calls on Palestinians to evacuate to west of Gaza City
Following rocket fire from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot an hour ago, the military is calling on Palestinians in the Atatra area to evacuate and head to “shelters west of Gaza City.”
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a map of the zones that need to be evacuated.
#عاجل ‼️ نداء الي كل المتواجدين في بلوكات: 967, 968, 969, 970, 971, 1738, 1739, 1740, 1746, 1751 في حارات السلاطين، العطاطرة والسيفا، الكرامة والغبن
⭕️على خلفية اطلاق قذائف صاروخية بشكل متواصل من قبل حماس والمنظمات الإرهابية من منطقتكم، سيعمل جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي بقوة ضد تلك… pic.twitter.com/Wl526ZGaGL
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 23, 2024
He says that the military will “forcefully operate” against Hamas and other terror groups in the area, following the rocket fire.
Two rockets were launched at Sderot in the attack, with one being intercepted and the other impacting an open area.
The IDF in recent months has repeatedly issued evacuation orders for areas from which terrorists launched rockets at Israel.
Iran FM tells French, British counterparts Tehran is entitled to ‘punish’ Israel for Haniyeh’s death — IRNA
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)
Iran’s new Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi tells his French and British counterparts in telephone conversations that it is his country’s right to retaliate against Israel for last month’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Iran blames Israel for Haniyeh’s killing on July 31, which Araqchi was quoted as saying was “an unforgivable violation of Iran’s security and sovereignty,” adding, “Punishing the aggressor is Iran’s right.”
Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the assassination.
France’s Stephane Sejourne and Britain’s David Lammy had called to congratulate Araqchi on his appointment this week as Iran’s new foreign minister.
IDF announces death of reservist killed by explosive device in Gaza City this morning
IDF Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar, killed by an explosive device during operations in Gaza City on August 23, 2024. (Courtesy)
A reserve soldier was killed and several others were wounded by an explosive device during operations in Gaza City this morning, the IDF announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar, 24, of the Jerusalem Brigade’s 6310th Battalion, from Rosh Haayin.
The Jerusalem Brigade in recent days has been carrying out an operation in Gaza City’s southern neighborhood of Zeitoun, to expand the IDF’s Netzarim Corridor, located just south of it.
According to an initial IDF probe, the reservists reached a building and began to search it. As four soldiers from the force entered the structure, an explosive device planted on the outer wall of the building exploded.
The blast hurt those standing outside the building, but not those inside. At least four other soldiers were seriously wounded, and another three were moderately hurt, according to the IDF.
The military believes Hamas operatives had set up a camera at the building and then detonated the bomb upon identifying troops in the area.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip now stands at 337.
Sires sounding again in northern town near border with Lebanon
Sirens are sounding again on the northern border, warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon.
The sirens are sounding in the community of Margaliot, a short while after a barrage of around 20 rockets was fired at the northern city of Safed.
Rocket Alert [18:22:27] (1):
• Confrontation Line — Margaliot
Population: 23,000 pic.twitter.com/vIb3IBFiZQ— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
IDF: 20 rockets fired at Safed from Lebanon; some downed, others strike open areas; none hurt
A barrage of some 20 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Safed area in northern Israel.
The IDF says some of the rockets were shot down by air defenses, while the rest struck open areas.
No injuries are reported.
Some of the rocket impacts sparked fires near Safed.
IDF: Two rockets fired from Gaza at Sderot; one intercepted, one hits open area; none hurt
Illustrative - A picture taken from the southern Israeli city of Sderot shows rockets fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 23, 2023 (Jack Guez / AFP)
Two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot a short while ago.
According to the IDF, one of the rockets was intercepted by air defenses. The second struck an open area.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Rocket alert sirens sounding in Sderot, communities near Gaza border
Sirens are sounding in southern communities near the border with the Gaza Strip, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts can be heard in cities and towns including Sderot, Ibim and Nir Am.
Rocket Alert [18:02:44] (1):
• Gaza Envelope — Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am
Population: 28,000 pic.twitter.com/ZDYHTBaTUQ— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
White House denies mounting reports of hostage-truce talks collapsing, insists progress being made
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The White House denies mounting reports that the hostage-ceasefire negotiations the US has been co-brokering between Israel and Hamas are on the verge of collapse.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby claims in a briefing with reporters that progress was made in talks yesterday in Cairo, though those negotiations were largely between Israel and Egypt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been insisting on a new demand he submitted last month that Israel be allowed to maintain its forces in the Philadelphi Corridor to prevent weapon smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. But Cairo and Hamas oppose the stance, and the US has sought to advance alternative solutions to prevent smuggling without keeping the IDF along the Egypt-Gaza border. Netanyahu has continued to insist that he won’t budge on the issue.
“There has been progress made. We need now for both sides to come together and work toward implementation,” he says, noting that talks in Cairo are continuing today and that CIA Director Bill Burns will participate in those discussions.
Last Friday, the White House submitted what it branded as a “final bridging proposal” aimed at closing the gaps between Israel and Hamas as the sides near an 11th month of fighting.
Israel accepted the offer. Hamas officials have issued statements criticizing it, but they have yet to formally reject the proposal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that even if Hamas accepts the US proposal, the sides still will need to hold subsequent talks to finalize the implementation of the deal, adding another step to a process that has dragged on for months.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to media at the David Kempinski Hotel in Tel Aviv, August 19, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt/Pool Photo via AP)
In submitting the bridging proposal after a high-level summit in Doha last week, the US said it aimed to reconvene the top officials in Cairo at the end of this week to finalize the deal.
While Israel will be participating in the Cairo talks along with top mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US, Hamas is not formally participating.
In today’s briefing, Kirby did not indicate that the sides in Cairo were on the verge of finalizing a deal either.
The Egyptian and Qatari mediators are in touch with the terror group, but Arab officials from mediating countries did not express a lot of optimism about the trajectory of the talks when speaking to The Times of Israel earlier this week, saying that the US bridging proposal went too far to accommodate new Israeli demands, including on the Philadelphi Corridor.
Rocket alert sirens sounding in Safed, northern border towns
Sirens are sounding in northern communities near the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts are sounding in cities and towns including Safed, Biriyeh, Kadita Dalton, Kerem Ben Zimra and Jish and come after a series of IDF strikes on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure in southern Lebanon throughout the day.
???? Rocket Alert [17:53:48] (8):
• Upper Galilee — Safed, Biriyeh (×2), Kadita
• Confrontation Line — Ramat Dalton Industrial Zone, Dalton, Kerem Ben Zimra, Jish (Gush Halav)
Population: 43,000 pic.twitter.com/qqikTkntpN— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 23, 2024
‘If you’re reading this then things didn’t go as planned’: Brother of slain IDF soldier reads letter at his funeral
Family and friends of IDF Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, killed fighting in southern Gaza, mourn at his funeral in Ashkelon, on August 23, 2024. (Flash90)
The brother of IDF Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, killed while fighting in southern Gaza yesterday, reads a chilling letter from his brother at his funeral in Ashkelon.
“Dear family, if you are reading this it is likely that things did not go as planned and I failed. I served out of great love for our strange country, and if I succeeded and sacrificed my life by going – I have no regrets,” the fallen soldier’s brother Shalev read at the funeral, according to a post on social media.
“I succeeded and failed in my mission at the same time.”
הצלחתי ונכשלתי במשימתי בה זמנית.
אמא ואבא אני מודה לכם על הכל. אין לי הרבה בקשות, מלבד זה שתשאירו את החדר שלי כמו שהוא כדי שלא יהפוך לחדר מוזיקה. אוהב אתכם לנצח ואשמור עליכם לנצח, אורי והחלק הכי חשוב שכמעט שכחתי, אשמח שתמשיכו אותי הלאה".יהי זכרו ברוך ????????????
— ארנולד נטייב (@ArnoldNataev) August 23, 2024
Nechemya, 19, served in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion. According to an initial IDF probe, he was killed by anti-tank missile fire in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
His death brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 336.
“He didn’t write these words for nothing,” Shalev says of his brother at the funeral, according to the Ynet news site. “What happened happened – we have to move on no matter how much life knocks us down. We must get up and continue our lives because there is no greater sacredness than life itself.”
Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on August 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Russian court jails five over anti-Israel airport riot in Dagestan in October
Rioters at the airport in Makhachkala, Dagestan, October 30, 2023, shout antisemitic slogans as they protest the arrival of an airliner coming from Tel Aviv. (AP)
MOSCOW — A Russian court has sentenced five people to prison terms of up to nine years for their involvement in an anti-Israel riot at an airport in the southern region of Dagestan.
Hundreds of protesters overran Russia’s Makhachkala airport on October 29, charging onto the runway in a bid to encircle a plane that had flown in from Israel.
The riot in the Muslim-majority region took place as tensions ran high around the world as Israel launched its ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’s deadly October 7 onslaught.
Dozens of protesters already received lighter sentences, including detention of up to 10 days, for their involvement in the riot.
Mobs break into the Makhachkala airport, in Russia’s north Caucasus, looking to lynch Jews after rumors spread about the arrival of Jewish refugees from Israel. pic.twitter.com/stMvyqNUqv
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) October 29, 2023
The court sentences four men to more than six years in prison for “participating in mass riots,” while a fifth defendant is sentenced to nine years for the same charge, as well as using “violence against law enforcement officers.”
“The defendants who were looking for the passengers of the flight from Tel Aviv… broke down the doors of the terminal and entered the tarmac… completely blocking the airport’s operation,” the court says in a press release on the verdict.
More than 1,500 people took part in the riot, with 136 of them identified, the court adds.
Former Hamas hostage: ‘Netanyahu looked me in the eyes, said he’d do everything to bring my only son home’
From right to left, former Hamas hostages Yocheved Lifshitz, Yelena Troufanov and Irena Tati speak to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, August 23, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Israelis who were released from Hamas captivity and whose relatives have been held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7 met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today, telling reporters after the meeting that the premier had promised to do everything possible to free the remaining abductees.
“We had a long meeting with the prime minister. We shared all our pain, and I hope we found a listening ear. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu looked me in the eyes and said he would do everything to bring my only son and all our loved ones home alive,” says Yelena Trufanova, who was released from Hamas captivity on November 29 at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She was kidnapped along with her 73-year-old mother Irena Tati and son Sasha from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Her husband Vitaly was murdered during the rampage and Sasha is still being held hostage in Gaza.
Screenshot from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad propaganda video showing hostage Sasha Trufanov released on May 30, 2024. (Screenshot)
“I left this meeting with a bit more hope than when I entered, and I hope to see my son and all the hostages returning home soon,” she adds.
Yocheved Lifshitz, who was also kidnapped from Nir Oz on October 7 and whose husband Oded is still held in Gaza, tells reporters that Netanyahu “had no answer” when asked why security forces were slow to respond when thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
“Nir Oz was hell. I still haven’t received an answer as to why the IDF neglected us and didn’t arrive. Only after the kidnappers, rapists, and looters finished their work did the IDF arrive. He had no answer for that,” she says.
A still from a video released by Hamas’s armed wing showing hostages Yocheved Lifshitz, left, and Nurit Cooper before their release from captivity, October 23, 2023. (screen capture)
A military probe since the devastating onslaught reportedly found that the IDF’s Gaza Division failed to understand the situation at the southern kibbutz and did not properly manage forces on the day, sending troops to neighboring communities but not to Nir Oz itself.
Ella Ben Ami, whose mother Raz Ben Ami was freed from Hamas captivity during a week-long truce in November and whose father Ohad is still held in Gaza, says she’s not convinced that the government will be able to close a hostage deal.
Raz Ben Ami is reunited with her three daughters at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, November 29, after being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas for 54 days. (Courtesy)
“We asked the prime minister to look us in the eyes and promise to do everything, and if it depends on him, not to give up until they return here alive. We received a nod and confirmation from him. We ask the Prime Minister to keep his commitment and bring them home. We understand that this is probably the last opportunity before we enter a large-scale war, and we want to see our loved ones at home,” she tells reporters.
“Personally, I left with a heavy and difficult feeling that this isn’t going to happen soon, and I fear for my father’s life, for the girls who are there, and for everyone. With all the disinformation we hear, we no longer know what’s true and what’s not,” Ben Ami adds.
Lebanese media reports Israeli drone strike on vehicle in southern town of Maarakeh
Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the southern town of Maarakeh, in the Tyre District.
No further details are immediately available.
طائرة مسيّرة للاحتلال تقصف سيارة عند مفرق بلدة #معركة في جنوب لبنان.#لبنان #جنوب_لبنان #طوفان_الأقصى #إسرائيل #الاحتلال_الإسرائيلي #الحدود_الشمالية #حزب_الله pic.twitter.com/M5qXPTip6Q
— Lebanon Trend (@LebanonTrend_) August 23, 2024
Egypt to pass revised hostage-truce offer to Hamas tomorrow after ‘constructive’ talks in Cairo – report
A tank with an Israeli flag on it enters the Gazan side of the Rafah Border Crossing on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
A high-level Israeli negotiating team returned from “constructive” talks to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas in Cairo late last night, Army Radio reports, citing an unnamed source familiar with the issue.
According to the report, progress was made in closing gaps with Cairo over the Rafah Border Crossing, which has been shuttered since Israel occupied the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Egypt border in May.
Egypt will reportedly pass the amended sections regarding the crossing, along with arrangements for the Philadephi Corridor, the buffer zone that separates Egypt from Israel and Gaza Strip. Army Radio says Cairo had refused to pass the US bridging offer, presented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha last week, until after yesterday’s talks.
The source quoted by Army Radio adds that US and Egyptian negotiators are working around the clock to get the Palestinian terror group to participate in the next round of indirect negotiations, likely on Sunday.
The Israeli team was led by Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and included Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, head of the IDF General Staff Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate, according to the report.
IDF confirms south Lebanon strikes that killed 3 Hezbollah operatives involved in rocket attacks on Israel
The IDF confirms carrying out a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Ayta al-Jabal (also known as Ayta ez-Zutt) earlier today, killing a prominent Hezbollah operative.
According to the military, Muhammad Najam was a prominent member of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit in southern Lebanon.
In a separate incident, the IDF says a Hezbollah operative who had launched rockets at the Yiftah area earlier today and was spotted at a building used by the terror group in southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal, was killed in an airstrike.
Another Hezbollah operative who launched rockets at the Malkia area from southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun, was killed in a separate strike, the IDF says.
WHO: 10-month-old baby paralyzed in left leg in Gaza’s first case of type 2 polio in 25 years
File - UNRWA employee provides Polio vaccine and Rota virus vaccines for children in a clinic in Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on September 9, 2020. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
A 10-month-old baby in the Gaza Strip has been paralyzed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years, the World Health Organization says, with UN agencies appealing for urgent vaccinations of every baby.
The type 2 virus (cVDPV2), while not inherently more dangerous than types 1 and 3, has been responsible for most outbreaks in recent years, especially in areas with low vaccination rates.
UN agencies have called for Israel and Hamas to agree to a seven-day humanitarian pause in the ongoing 10-month-old war to allow vaccination campaigns to proceed in the territory.
“Polio does not distinguish between Palestinian and Israeli children,” the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says in a post on X.
“Delaying a humanitarian pause will increase the risk of spread among children,” Philippe Lazzarini adds.
Hamas political bureau official Izzat al-Rishq claims the terror group on August 16 supported a UN request for a seven-day pause in the fighting to vaccinate Gaza children against polio.
The baby, who has lost movement in his lower left leg, is currently in stable condition, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says in a statement.
The WHO has announced that two rounds of a polio vaccination campaign are set to begin in late August and September 2024 across the densely populated Gaza Strip.
With its health services widely damaged or destroyed by fighting, and raw sewage spreading amid a breakdown in sanitation infrastructure, Gaza’s population is particularly vulnerable to outbreaks of disease.
IDF combat engineers demolish Hamas attack tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah
Troops investigate a Hamas attack tunnel in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on August 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF combat engineers demolished a Hamas attack tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah, where a cell of terror operatives emerged in an attempted attack earlier this month.
The tunnel was at least a kilometer long, according to the IDF.
In the attack on August 11, a cell of operatives was identified emerging from a tunnel shaft, and a short while later they were killed in a drone strike.
Since then, the IDF says combat engineers worked to investigate the tunnel. Inside, the troops found explosive devices, electrical infrastructure, and blast doors, the military says.
After it was investigated, the tunnel was demolished.
‘Fauda’ actor Idan Amedi criticizes Regev for comments on bereaved families; Regev says he’s been ‘misled’ by the media
Israeli singer-songwriter, actor and reserve soldier Idan Amedi who was seriously injured while fighting in the Gaza Strip speaks at a press conference upon his discharge from Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, January 25, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Israeli actor and singer-songwriter Idan Amedi criticizes Transportation Minister Miri Regev after she said yesterday that she was”ignoring the noise” of people criticizing her plans for the state’s October 7 memorial ceremony.
“It isn’t noise, it’s our brothers and sisters,” Amedi, who was injured while serving in Gaza in January, writes on Instagram in response to Regev.
“Everyone who came to the south on October 7 secretly wondered if they would be able to return to their families and loved ones,” writes the “Fauda” actor.
“In Sderot and in Kfar Aza, in Ofakim and in Be’eri, we’re the same people. the same fragments, the same longing,” he adds.
Responding to Amedi, Regev claims that he had been “misled” by “false items in the media.”
“I also think like you, we must unite and act together,” she says. “When I spoke about noise, I was speaking about those who incite against me, harm me, compare me to Sinwar and threaten my life. At no point did I speak of bereaved families, hostage families or any communities.”
She adds again that “unfortunately, the media is distorting and dividing us.”
Prisoners claiming to be ISIS operatives stage deadly attack on guards in Russian penal colony
Knife-wielding prisoners identifying themselves as Islamic State operatives staged a bloody attack on guards in a Russian penal colony on Friday and seized hostages, according to state media and news outlets with ties to the security services.
A video posted by one of the news channels, Mash, shows at least two attackers. One of them shouted that they were “mujahideen” of the terrorist group Islamic State and had seized control of the prison in the Volgograd region.
At least four uniformed prison officials can be seen lying or sitting in pools of blood. Three are lying motionless, one with his throat cut. Another is sitting upright in a doorway, where a man with a knife is holding him by the neck.
Russia state media says at least one member of the prison staff has been killed, but the video suggests the death toll is almost certainly higher.
The prison service says in a statement: “During a session of a disciplinary commission, convicts took staff of the penal institution as hostages. Measures are currently being taken to free the hostages. There are casualties.”
The prison is designated as a “harsh regime” penal colony with capacity to hold up to 1,241 male prisoners.
News sites with security connections have published the names of up to four alleged attackers, identifying them as citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There is no official confirmation.
Herzog proposes he oversee, host state Oct 7 memorial ceremony amid backlash over government’s plan
President Isaac Herzog attends an evening in honor of the Druze community in Israel, at Yitzhak Rabin Center, in Tel Aviv, August 6, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
President Isaac Herzog has offered to hold the October 7 state memorial ceremony at the President’s Residence, following backlash in recent days over the government’s plan for the event, which is expected to be overseen by Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Herzog suggests that the event be held under the president’s purview “in the interest of dampening the flames of controversy and preventing unnecessary quarrels and disputes between different parts of society.”
A ceremony at the President’s Residence would be “respectful, unifying, stately and modest, and of course without political trappings,” Herzog writes. “The ceremony will include state symbols, as is customary, including lowering the flag to half-mast and saying Kaddish [the Jewish mourners’ prayer].”
He stresses that a ceremony held in this manner would not replace the right for “every community, group, settlement, kibbutz, town and city to commemorate the anniversary as they wish,” after several kibbutzim hit hardest by the October 7 onslaught said they would be boycotting the state memorial in favor of holding private events.
“I would ask that this proposal be examined by you with the seriousness it deserves,” Herzog writes, asking Netanyahu to bring it forward for a discussion in the appropriate ministerial committee.
“Israelis are looking toward their representatives and expect that the coming days of remembrance will be a source of comfort, healing, unity, growth, faith, rebuilding and hope; and not, god forbid, days of division, polarization and factionalism.”
Several Gaza border communities have accused the government of using the official ceremony to avoid responsibility for the role it played in failing to prevent Hamas terror assault, and for failing the communities in the aftermath of the massacre.
IDF says it carried out strike against Hamas command room in former Gaza City school
The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a Hamas command room embedded within a former school in Gaza City.
According to the military, Hamas was using the command room at the Ali Bin Abi Talib School in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood to store “many” weapons and carry out attacks.
To mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, the IDF says it carried out “many steps,” 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 says.
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.
The IDF adds that it will “continue to act with strength and determination against the terror organizations that use schools and civilian institutions as shelters.”
Lufthansa Group suspends Tel Aviv, Tehran flights until Sept 2, Beirut flights until Sept 30
Germany’s Lufthansa Group LHAG.DE says it is extending its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including September 2, while flights to Beirut will remain suspended until September 30.
The group, which includes carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings, adds that it will resume flights to Jordan’s Amman and Erbil in Iraq from August 27, making use of a northern corridor in Iraqi airspace for the Erbil trips.
IDF: Rocket barrage fired from Lebanon at Malkia area in northern Israel
A barrage of some eight rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Malkia area a short while, according to the IDF.
Earlier, another seven rockets were fired at the same area in northern Israel.
Hezbollah claims to have targeted military bases near the border community.
The IDF reports no injuries in the attacks.
Hezbollah announces three members killed in Israeli strike
The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of three members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
The announcement comes following an Israeli airstrike on a cell of Hezbollah operatives preparing to launch rockets from southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa this morning.
Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 423.
Lebanese media reports two wounded in Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media reports Israeli drone strikes on a home and an adjacent car in the southern Lebanon town of Ayta al-Jabal.
According to the reports, at least two were wounded in the strike.
مسيّرة إسرائيلية تغير على منزل وسيارة كانت مركونة بجانبه في بلدة عيتا الجبل (قضاء بنت جبيل) في #جنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/W92lXAIktU
— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) August 23, 2024
Cairo to submit updated proposal for Philadelphi Corridor to Hamas later today — report
View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)
Cairo is expected to transfer an updated proposal for the Philadelphi Corridor to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar later today, according to Hebrew media outlet Ynet, following talks with an Israeli negotiating team yesterday.
Citing anonymous sources familiar with the negotiations, Ynet states that progress was made in resolving disagreements between Jerusalem and Cairo on matters pertaining to the future of the Gaza-Egypt border route.
The report does not offer any insight into the details of the updated proposal allegedly presented to Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not withdraw its troops from the border area, even in the event of a deal, arguing that it is vital they remain stationed there to prevent Hamas from re-arming itself. Hamas has said that the issue is a non-starter, and it will not accept less than a full withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Defense Ministry: Gallant, US counterpart Austin discussed regional developments in overnight call
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke overnight with his American counterpart, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
According to a readout issued by the Defense Ministry, Gallant and Austin “conducted a joint situation assessment and exchanged views on regional developments and threats.”
“Their discussion focused primarily on joint preparation, as well as maintaining readiness and interoperability of Israeli and US forces and capabilities in the face of ongoing threats posed by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel,” Gallant’s office says.
Gallant also briefed Austin on the developments in Gaza, “detailing the IDF’s achievements in defeating the Hamas Rafah brigade and destroying over 150 tunnels in the area.”
They also discussed the efforts to reach a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the readout.
“Gallant reiterated his steadfast commitment to achieving an agreement, and highlighted the critical timing as it relates to ensuring this framework,” his office adds.
UN official says roughly 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced by Israel-Hamas war
Palestinians evacuate an area in eastern Khan Younis after the Israel Defense Forces issued a new evacuation order for parts of the southern Gaza City, on August 8, 2024. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
Successive evacuation orders throughout the Gaza Strip, including 12 orders in August alone, have displaced roughly 90 percent of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the top United Nations humanitarian official for the Palestinian enclave says.
Muhannad Hadi accuses the evacuation orders of endangering civilians instead of protecting them.
“They are forcing families to flee again, often under fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them, into an ever-shrinking area” that is crowded and unsafe, he charges.
According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, recent evacuation orders have meant that the UN’s World Food Program has lost access to its warehouse in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.
“This was the third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area,” Dujarric says. “Five community kitchens operated by WFP have also been evacuated, as the agency seeks new locations for them.”
The size of Gaza’s humanitarian zone has changed multiple times in recent months amid evolving IDF operations against the Hamas terror group.
The zone is currently around 42 square kilometers, or 11% of the total size of the Gaza Strip. According to IDF estimates, some 1.9 million Palestinians of the 2.3 million Gazan population are residing in the zone.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
Iran’s new foreign minister calls for dialogue with EU
Iran’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, calls for dialogue with the European Union to resolve bilateral issues, following a phone call with the bloc’s top diplomat.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the development of relations with the European Union in an environment based on mutual respect,” Araghchi says in a statement.
Relations between the EU and Iran have deteriorated in recent years.
The bloc accuses Tehran of failing to rein in its nuclear activity, providing support to Palestinian terror group Hamas, backing Russia’s war in Ukraine, and committing human rights violations.
The development of relations “requires dialogue to resolve issues between the two parties and the correction of the misguided policies of European countries,” Araghchi adds.
For his part, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says on social media platform X that he has discussed “prospects for renewed engagement on all files of mutual interest” with his Iranian counterpart.
The discussion included the “need for de-escalation and restraint” as well as “halting military cooperation” with Russia against Ukraine and nuclear non-proliferation.
Borrell says such “critical dialogue” is “essential to defuse regional tensions.”
Spoke to the new IR FM @aragchi about prospects for renewed engagement on all files of mutual interest, incl. the need for deescalation & restraint, halting military cooperation w/ RU against UA, & nuclear nonproliferation. Critical dialogue essential to defuse regional tensions.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 22, 2024
Araghchi, who took up his post on Wednesday, is known for his openness to the West.
He served as chief nuclear negotiator and played a key role in securing a 2015 agreement for Iran to curb its nuclear activity in return for easing sanctions.
That deal was torpedoed in 2018 by then-US president Donald Trump. Efforts to revive it since 2022 have so far failed.
Hezbollah claims responsibility for earlier missile attack on Mount Meron base
The Hezbollah terror group takes responsibility for this morning’s missile attack on the Mount Meron base in northern Israel.
Hezbollah has attacked Mount Meron, located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, several times amid the ongoing war, launching large barrages of rockets towards the site, as well as guided missiles at the sensitive air traffic control base that sits atop it.
The IDF reported no injuries in this morning’s attack, during which three projectiles were fired, one of which was intercepted.
Ben Gvir: Instead of attacking me online, Gallant should ‘start to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon’
After Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that National Security Minister Itamar Ben was endangering Israel’s security and sowing division among the public, the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit leader hits back, suggesting that “instead of attacking me on Twitter, start attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
“You promised to return Lebanon to the Stone Age, meanwhile you’re returning the north to the Stone Age,” he accuses.
Gallant, in a June visit to Washington, said that Israel had the military capability to take Lebanon “back to the Stone Age,” but insisted that Jerusalem would prefer to find a diplomatic solution to the near-daily Hezbollah attacks instead.
Gallant: Ben Gvir’s ‘irresponsible actions’ endanger Israel’s security
Composite image shows Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, right. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lends his backing to Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and warns that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is “endangering” Israel’s security after Bar cautioned that the ultranationalist lawmaker was doing “indescribable damage” to Israel in a letter published by Channel 12 yesterday.
The letter was sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gallant, and several other government ministers.
In a post on X, Gallant writes that “In the face of minister Ben Gvir’s irresponsible actions that endanger the State of Israel’s national security and create an internal division in the nation, the head of the Shin Bet and his people are carrying out their duties and warning of the grave consequences of these acts.”
Following Bar’s warning, Ben Gvir reportedly demanded that the Shin Bet chief be fired, and stormed out of a cabinet meeting when Netanyahu and other ministers defended him.
IDF: More than 30 targets struck by air force in Gaza over last day, dozens of gunmen killed
IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on August 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
More than 30 targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip over the past day, as troops battled and killed dozens of gunmen, the IDF says in a morning update.
The targets hit by IAF aircraft included Hamas compounds, weapon depots, and rocket launching positions in Khan Younis, according to the military.
In Khan Younis and on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, the IDF says that troops with the 98th Division killed dozens of gunmen and destroyed dozens of sites belonging to terror groups.
Further south, in Rafah, the IDF’s 162nd Division continues to operate in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, where the military says troops killed dozens more terror operatives in the past day.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, reservists with the 252nd Division killed a terror operative who was carrying explosives, and struck a rocket launching site, the IDF adds.
IDF says it struck cell of Hezbollah operatives planning to launch rockets at Israel
Earlier this morning, the IDF says it struck a cell of Hezbollah operatives who were planning to launch rockets at Israel.
The cell had been spotted by troops of the 146th Division in southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa, and a short while later a drone strike was carried out.
A video released by the IDF shows a rocket being launched immediately following the strike.
לפני זמן קצר כוחות אוגדה 146 זיהו חוליית מחבלים שתכננה לבצע שיגורים לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל, הכוח הכווין כלי טיס של חיל האוויר שחיסל את חוליית המחבלים במרחב טיר חרפה שבדרום לבנון.
לאחר החיסול זוהה שיגור שיצא ממרחב התקיפה, מה שמעיד על המצאות אמצעי לחימה ורקטות במקום>> pic.twitter.com/A4rgDsQN2g
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 23, 2024
Meanwhile, several projectiles were launched from Lebanon this morning at the Mount Meron area, which houses a sensitive Israeli air traffic control base.
At least one projectile was intercepted, while another two impacted the mountain.
There are no injuries in the attack.
Airlines choosing to fly over Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as Iran-Israel escalation becomes greater risk
Singapore Airlines, British Airways ICAG.L and Lufthansa LHAG.DE have increased their flights over Afghanistan in recent months after years of largely avoiding it, deeming it a safer option than passing over Iran and Israel amid threats of regional escalation.
The carriers mostly stopped transiting Afghanistan, which lies on major routes between Asia and Europe, three years ago when the Taliban took over and air traffic control services stopped.
Those services have yet to resume, but airlines increasingly consider the skies between Iran and Israel to be riskier than Afghan airspace.
There were more than seven times the number of flights over Afghanistan in the second week of August than during the same period a year ago, according to a Reuters analysis of FlightRadar24 data.
“As conflicts have evolved, the calculus of which airspace to use has changed. Airlines are seeking to mitigate risk as much as possible and they see overflying Afghanistan as the safer option given the current tensions between Iran and Israel,” Ian Petchenik, a spokesperson for flight tracking organization Flightradar24, says.
The shift began in mid-April when Iran launched more than 300 rockets, drones and missiles at Israel in an unprecedented attack. Flight tracking data from the time shows Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and others began to send a few flights a day over Afghanistan.
But the main growth has been since the killing of Hezbollah’s top military commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in late July which raised concerns of a major escalation.
Some pilots are concerned.
“You’re depending on the analysis of your airline. Every time I fly out there, I don’t like the feeling of flying over a conflict area where you don’t know, actually, what is happening,” says Otjan de Bruin, a commercial pilot and head of the European Cockpit Association. “It’s always safe enough, until proven otherwise.”
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
Trump: Harris ’caused’ October 7 assault, Iran was broke prior to Biden’s presidency
Former president Donald Trump accuses Vice President Kamala Harris of causing the October 7 Hamas terror assault on southern Israel, in posts shared on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“SHE HATES ISRAEL,” the Republican presidential nominee writes in a string of posts reacting to Harris’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. “Wouldn’t even show up to Congress for [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s session!”
Harris held a private meeting with Netanyahu during his July trip to Washington DC, but was speaking at a campaign event on the day of his speech to a joint session of Congress.
“She caused the Attack of October 7th,” Trump writes in a second post, appearing to react to Harris’s speech at the DNC, in which she said the horrors of October 7 must never happen again.
“Iran was BROKE – Didn’t have money for Hezbollah,” Trump adds.
The October 7 assault was carried out by Hamas-led terrorists from the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah began carrying out cross-border attacks in support of Hamas on October 8.
He then shares a video touting his merits, declaring that during his presidency from 2016 to 2020, he had “played hardball with Iran, destroyed ISIS, kept the Middle East at peace, kept [the US] out of wars through strength.”
He further criticizes Harris, claiming that she will “take us into a Nuclear World War III!”
Rocket alerts sound at Mount Meron and numerous Lebanon border communities
Incoming rocket warning sirens sound at Mount Meron and numerous other northern communities near the border with Lebanon.
Harris: ‘Time is now’ for Gaza deal, Israelis must never again face ‘horror’ of Oct. 7
Democratic presidential nominee US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention, August 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP/Paul Sancya)
CHICAGO — US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris pledges to ensure that Israel will always have the ability to defend itself if she’s elected in November.
“With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done,” she says in her speech accepting her party’s nomination for president on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
“I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and will always ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris continues to loud applause from the tens of thousands in the United Center.
“Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival,” she says.
“At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives, desperate hungry people fleeing to safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” Harris adds, evoking the loudest applause of the foreign policy section of her speech.
She also pledges to “defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.”
Kamala Harris formally accepts Democratic presidential nomination
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, on August 22, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
CHICAGO — Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, telling a roaring crowd of supporters that she would chart “a new way forward.”
“On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks… I accept your nomination,” Harris says, promising a “fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past — a chance to chart a new way forward.”
Harris receives thunderous applause as she begins DNC address
Democratic presidential nominee US Vice President Kamala Harris walks on stage to speak during the Democratic National Convention August 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
CHICAGO — US Vice President Kamala Harris is greeted by an ovation that lasts close to three minutes before she can begin her speech.
“OK, let’s get to business,” Harris says after thunderous cheers drown out her attempts to get started.
“And happy anniversary, Dougie,” she says, marking their 10th wedding anniversary.
Australia to hold 6-month command of Red Sea maritime task force from October
SYDNEY — Australia will take command of the maritime task force in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from October, the Australian defense ministry says.
The Combined Maritime Force’s Combined Task Force 153 was established in April 2022 to focus on maritime security in the region. It was bolstered in December in response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Shapiro hits back at Trump: ‘He’s obsessed with me and spewing hate and division’
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro arrives at a campaign rally at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 6, 2024. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
CHICAGO — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says that Donald Trump can’t quit him. Or antisemitism.
Shapiro is asked about a social media post in which the former president and Republican nominee singled him out for being the “highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” and for “refusing to acknowledge” that Trump is the Jewish people’s “best friend.”
Trump also wrote, “Shapiro has done nothing for Israel, and never will.”
Shapiro responds while meeting with state delegations to the Democratic National Convention at a hotel here.
“I think it’s clear over the last few years, Donald Trump is obsessed with me and obsessed with continuing to spew hate and division in our politics,” Shapiro says. “He’s someone who has routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this.”
Rocket sirens sound in kibbutz near Lebanon border
Rocket warning alerts are activated in Kibbutz Yi’ron, near the border with Lebanon.
Palestinians in Gaza report loud explosions in apparent IDF airstrike near Khan Younis
Palestinians are reporting loud explosions from an apparent IDF airstrike in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza.
Unverified videos shared on social media show a large flash and a large explosion, while the surrounding area is dark.
Palestinians are fleeing to the Israel-designated humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi area, according to posts on social media.
בעזה מדווחים: צה"ל תוקף באזור ח'אן יונס ובעקבות קולות הפיצוצים – העזתים מתפנים גם הלילה לאזור ההומניטרי pic.twitter.com/8YLb2XuU6b
— ספיר ליפקין | Sapir Lipkin | سابير ليبكين (@sapirlipkin) August 22, 2024
Released hostage refuses to meet Netanyahu for ‘photography and PR’ meeting while 109 still held in Gaza
Margalit Moses after her release from Hamas captivity on November 24, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
A hostage who was released by Hamas in a week-long truce in November after five weeks in captivity declines Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invitation to a meeting tomorrow, which she claims is for “photography and public relations purposes.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but I will not take part in the meeting for photography and public relations purposes while my friends are languishing in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza,” Margalit Moses, 78, writes in a public statement.
Moses was kidnapped by terrorists from her home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 along with her ex-husband and close neighbor Gadi Moshe Moses, 79, who remains in captivity in Gaza. She was released on November 24 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the US between Hamas and Israel.
“I saw them alive in captivity with my own eyes, and now due to the second abandonment since October 7, we get them back in coffins,” she writes, referring to the IDF’s extraction from Gaza this week of the bodies of six hostages who were killed in captivity.
“In light of the reports of another [hostage-ceasefire] deal being thwarted on your part to release the abductees, I see no reason to come to a meeting with someone who proves by his actions that releasing the hostages is not top of mind and abandons them to their deaths,” she says, adding that she would be happy to “meet you at the reception for the 109 abductees upon their return to their families.”
Saudi normalization deal off the table for now, but possible during lame-duck period — Israeli official
An Israel-Saudi normalization agreement is not possible before the November presidential election, but could still be inked during the lame-duck period between November and January, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The official argues that it will be too difficult before the election for both parties in Congress to authorize the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to the normalization.
“After the election, it’ll be easier for both parties. There will be a better chance that Biden will bring the support of a Democratic majority, and the Republican side will also support the [US-Saudi bilateral security pact] because of the normalization component,” the Israeli official maintains.
Israeli diplomat hails platform adopted by DNC, decision not to platform Palestinian representative
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. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
CHICAGO — An Israeli diplomat at the Democratic National Convention hails the platform adopted by the party this week along with organizers’ decision not to offer a speaker slot to a representative of the Palestinian-American community.
“There was a lot of concern and many warnings issued about how the more progressive, anti-Israel voices within the party would be strongly represented both in the protests outside and inside the convention hall and that they would succeed in influencing the Democratic Party’s platform. Until now that has not happened,” says the Israeli diplomat in a briefing with reporters on the sidelines of the DNC.
“The organizers of the convention intelligently made an effort not to listen to cave to these voices,” the diplomat says.
“Until now, the convention has projected unity, rather than division on these issues, which also aren’t central to the agenda here,” the official says, acknowledging that there is still one more night of programming left.
“We were told about 100,000 people coming here to protest, but only 5,000 — 10,000 people tops ultimately showed up,” the Israeli diplomat says, adding that the demonstrators did not manage to disrupt the convention.
The official highlights the “warm and supportive reception” Democratic delegates gave American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents when they spoke last night at the convention.
A super moving moment at the DNC tonight when the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza started their speech. Tens of thousands of people started chanting "bring them home" pic.twitter.com/Qtr9O0kQDE
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 22, 2024
“All of the efforts by the anti-Israel camp to include a speaker who would ‘balance’ things did not succeed until now, and a speaker of this kind hasn’t been platformed until now. This was a smart decision by the convention organizers.” the Israeli diplomat says.
The diplomat characterizes the Israel section of the platform adopted by the DNC as “very positive.”
The platform touts an “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security and support for a two-state solution.
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