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The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they unfolded.
Initial reports: Interceptor missile fired at suspicious target, as sirens triggered near Haifa
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the northern towns of Tamra and I’billin, near Haifa.
Initial reports suggest an interceptor missile was fired at a suspicious target in the area, although the IDF has not yet confirmed this.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
IDF says it shot down suspected drone from Lebanon over Lower Galilee
The IDF confirms that a suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over the Lower Galilee.
Sirens sounded in Tamra and I’billin, near Haifa, amid fears of falling shrapnel following the interception.
There are no injuries in the incident.
Footage from the Tamra area shows an interceptor missile fired as sirens sound. pic.twitter.com/V3PSJOhme5
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 23, 2024
US military says it killed leader of Al Qaeda-aligned group in Syria
The US military says it carried out a strike in Syria on Friday that killed a senior leader of an Al Qaeda aligned group.
The strike targeted Abu-’Abd al-Rahman al-Makki, a senior leader of the Al Qaeda-aligned Hurras al-Din, the US Central Command tweets.
In calls with Egyptian, Qatari leaders, Biden discusses upcoming hostage talks in Cairo, efforts to remove obstacles
US President Joe Biden “discussed upcoming talks in Cairo and efforts to remove any remaining obstacles to the deal” during his phone calls earlier today with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, the White House says.
Hostage talks are slated to be held later this weekend, but Hamas has yet to accept the bridging proposal submitted last week by the US, and potential for a breakthrough appears low.
Israeli shelling in Gaza kills 9, including woman and two children — PA
Palestinians find their way amid the dust and smoke after an Israeli strike on a building in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on August 22, 2024. (Eyad Baba/AFP)
At least nine Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were killed at dawn on Saturday by Israeli shelling in and around Gaza’s Khan Younis and in the Al-Nuseirat camp area, the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reports.
German police search for assailant in festival stabbing that killed 3
Forensic police use torch lights on August 24, 2024 to inspect the scene where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen, western Germany (INA FASSBENDER / AFP)
German police say they are still searching for an unknown assailant hours after he killed three people and wounded others in a stabbing attack at a festival in the western city of Solingen.
Eight were injured, five of them seriously, police say.
“Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned. The police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large team,” they say.
The incident occurred around 9:40 p.m. (1940 GMT) on Friday, when the man attacked multiple people with a knife. Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively uncommon in Germany. The government wants to toughen rules on knives that can be carried in public by reducing the maximum length allowed.
Report: Hamas delegation heading to Cairo today for hostage-ceasefire talks
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and supporters hold a protest march calling for a hostage deal, in Tel Aviv, August 15, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A Hamas delegation is heading to Cairo today for talks with negotiators on a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, Al Jazeera reports.
A high-level Israeli delegation was in Cairo this week and Doha last week to discuss the latest offer for a deal with US and Egyptian negotiators.
After refusing to firmly press Hamas to accept the bridging offer presented by the US in Doha last week, Egypt reportedly passed the amended sections regarding the Rafah Border Crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor to the terror group yesterday.
Pressure is at a peak to close a deal to free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 and end the fighting in Gaza, with threatened reprisal attacks on Israel from Iran and its proxies in the region on hold while negotiators try to find compromises.
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.
Efforts to make a deal have been unsuccessful since Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released before that, while seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive. The bodies of 30 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
IDF: Fighter jets eliminate Hamas operative involved in weapons production in Gaza
Fighter jets carried out an airstrike in Gaza overnight that eliminated Hamas operative Taha Abu Nada, the IDF announces, amid ongoing targeted raids across the Strip.
According to the military, Abu Nada was involved in the production of weapons used in the terror group’s attacks on Israel and in battles with IDF forces operating in Gaza.
The IDF also says the 252nd Reserve Division began a pinpoint operation on terrorist infrastructure in Gaza City yesterday, during which several terrorists were eliminated.
In the southern Gaza city of Rafah, meanwhile, the military says troops of the 162nd Division killed dozens of terrorists over the past day in short-range battles and airstrikes in the Tel Sultan neighborhood.
Troops from the 401st Armored Brigade also located weapons, including explosives, in the area, according to the IDF.
Nearby, IAF jets in collaboration with the 98th Division carried out strikes on a cell of terrorists and a munitions warehouse.
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף בהכוונה מודיעינית של אמ״ן, וחיסל את המחבל טאהא אבו-נדא, מחבל במטה הייצור של ארגון הטרור חמאס.
המחבל עסק בפיתוח ציוד צבאי ותשתיות נוספות ששימשו לייצור אמצעי לחימה של חמאס>> pic.twitter.com/JGXUp1oCKi— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) August 24, 2024
Sirens sounding in northern communities near the border with Lebanon
Sirens are sounding in northern communities near the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts are blaring in Kiryat Shmona and Kfar Giladi.
Rocket Alert [10:22:19] (2):
• Confrontation Line — Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi
Population: 23,000 pic.twitter.com/W2AdoN1Nfy— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) August 24, 2024
Top Hamas official says terror group sending delegation to Cairo but won’t attend hostage-truce negotiations
A senior Hamas official said the Palestinian terror group is sending a delegation to Cairo today, but that they will not attend Gaza ceasefire-hostage talks.
“The delegation will meet with senior Egyptian intelligence officials to be briefed on developments in the ongoing round of Gaza ceasefire talks… but this does not mean it will take part in the negotiations,” the official tells AFP on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to talk publicly on the issue.
Two Eritrean men killed, 5 injured in massive street brawl in south Tel Aviv — Hebrew media
Two men have been killed and five others injured in a massive street brawl, apparently between pro-regime and anti-regime Eritrean migrants, in south Tel Aviv this morning, according to Hebrew media reports.
According to the reports, the two men, both Eritrean, were killed during the fight that broke out on Levinksy Street.
Medics quoted in the reports say the two were badly beaten, unconscious and not breathing when paramedics arrived and their deaths were pronounced at the scene.
The five people injured in the fight — two seriously, two moderately and one lightly — have been evacuated to hospitals in the center of the country for medical treatment, the reports add.
שנה למהומות על רקע פוליטי בקהילה האריתראית, ומספר הנרצחים מאז עלה ל-9. 2 נרצחו הבוקר בקטטה גדולה בין רחובות לוינסקי, לבנדה וההגנה. לפי עדויות אחד הנרצחי הותקף בדרך לעבודה ואז הגיעו נוספים לאזור הכנסייה בלבנדה שם תקפו מתפללים. שני הצדדים אומרים כי התריעו למשטרה מראש על איומים… pic.twitter.com/FZdPefLDXW
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) August 24, 2024
In a similar incident last month, one person was killed and another seriously injured in a violent brawl that broke out between Eritrean migrants in south Tel Aviv.
Clashes between the two groups are not unusual. In May, a man was stabbed to death in a similar incident in south Tel Aviv, while last September, at least 170 people were hurt — including police officers — in major clashes in the city.
The string of incidents since last year has brought attention to the roughly 20,000 Eritreans who are living in Israel, after entering illegally before the completion of a barrier along the Egyptian border in 2012.
Various Israeli governments have taken a series of measures — some of which were blocked by the courts — to encourage the migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum due to war and oppression in their home country, to leave.
Officer injured in explosion outside synagogue in southern France; police searching for perpetrators
A French police officer has been injured in an apparent antisemitic attack outside a synagogue in southern France.
According to posts on social media, the police officer was injured when an explosion went off outside the Beth Yaakov synagogue in La Grande-Motte.
Photos and videos on X show a fire and smoke at the synagogue.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin denounces the “manifestly criminal” attack in a post on X.
“I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens and the municipality of my full support and say that at the request of President Emmanuel Macron, all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator,” he writes.
🔴🔵🟡 Explosion in front of the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, in Hérault, France 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/WYZfqkxAGL
— SVS NEWS AGENCY (@SVSNEWSAGENCY) August 24, 2024
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said leading delegation to Cairo
This video grab shows senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, center, praying near the coffin of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard during the funeral prayers in Doha, Qatar, August 2, 2024. (Qatar TV via AP)
Hamas’s deputy chief in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya will lead the Palestinian delegation heading to Cairo today to meet with Egyptian officials on the latest Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, according to Arab media reports, though the terror group has said it will not take part in indirect negotiations.
Based in Doha, Hayya led Hamas’s negotiating team for hostage-ceasefire talks under the supervision of politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh until his assassination in Tehran last month. He has also led reconciliation talks with Hamas’s Palestinian rival Fatah in past years.
“The delegation will meet with senior Egyptian intelligence officials to be briefed on developments in the ongoing round of Gaza ceasefire talks… but this does not mean it will take part in the negotiations,” a Hamas official tells AFP on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to talk publicly on the issue.
“Hamas has said from the beginning that it will not participate in this round of negotiations, which began last week in Doha.”
The official also insists that Israel withdraw its forces from across Gaza, including “from the border area with Egypt” — a zone known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
Negotiators have been working to find a compromise on the deployment of IDF troops along the Gaza-Egypt border in the event of a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor — the 14-kilometer (9-mile) buffer strip that separates Egypt from Israel and the Gaza Strip — is vital to preventing the Palestinian terror group from re-arming, while Hamas and Egypt want to see Israeli forces withdraw entirely.
IDF: Target downed near Haifa this morning was a ‘false identification,’ not a drone from Lebanon
After investigating, the IDF says that the target intercepted by air defenses over the Lower Galilee early this morning was a “false identification” and not a hostile drone from Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the IDF says five rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area this morning, setting off sirens in the city.
The rockets struck open areas and there are no injuries.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, claims responsibility for three attacks on IDF positions along the Lebanon border, near Dovev and Shtula.
Report: Egypt rejected Israeli offer to build 8 watchtowers along Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza’s southern border
View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)
Egypt rejected an Israeli proposal to build eight watchtowers along the Philadelphi Corridor during talks in Cairo this week to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to an Egyptian report.
The Al-Ghad outlet reports that Egypt also rejected a US proposal for two such stations to be built along the Gaza-Egypt border, which has been a focus of the latest round of talks.
Israel has insisted that an IDF presence on the Philadelphi Corridor — the 14-kilometer (9-mile) buffer strip that separates Egypt from Israel and the Gaza Strip — is vital to preventing the Palestinian terror group from re-arming, while Hamas and Egypt want to see Israeli forces withdraw entirely.
The Axios news site reported yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to US President Joe Biden’s request to pull back from one IDF position, though an official said that the change was only a matter of several hundred meters.
IDF issues new evacuation orders for Palestinians in central Gaza neighborhoods
The IDF has issued a new evacuation warning for Palestinians in the east Deir al-Balah and Maghazi area of central Gaza.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a map of the zones that need to be evacuated.
#عاجل ‼️ الى كل المتواجدين في منطقة بلديات المصدر والمغازي والحارات البساتين، الانصار، الديمثاء، الصفا، السدره, شرق دير البلح والمفرق الشرقي لدير البلح والمتواجدين بجانب شارع صلاح الدين في هذه المنطقه وتحديدًا في بلوكات 125, 126, 2231, 2232:
⭕️من أجل أمنكم، اخلوا المناطق فوراً… pic.twitter.com/NKA5aRmFor
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) August 24, 2024
Palestinians in the area are called to move to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone, which is currently around 42 square kilometers (16 square miles), or 11 percent 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.
IDF: Suspected drone from Lebanon shot down over Western Galilee
A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over the Western Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says.
The military releases footage of the interception.
A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over the Western Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says. pic.twitter.com/xRiIjXiizU
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 24, 2024
Israel demanding 5 living hostages to be released per week in first phase of Gaza truce — Saudi report
Hamas terrorists accompany newly released Israeli hostages before handing them over to the Red Cross in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 28, 2023. (Said Khatib / AFP)
Israel is demanding that Hamas release five living hostages per week in the first phase of a potential ceasefire in Gaza instead of three per week, according to an Arab media report, as the terror group said it was sending a delegation to Cairo to meet with negotiators.
The sources quoted by the Saudi Asharq News network say that there is also a gap in the parties’ demands for Palestinian security prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
According to the report, Israel is demanding the right to veto 65 prisoners requested by Hamas for release along with the right to deport 150 other prisoners. The Palestinian terror group has reportedly rejected this demand.
Meanwhile, the Haaretz daily reports that the Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials on the latest hostage-ceasefire proposal.
France opens terror probe after blast near synagogue; CCTV shows suspect holding Palestinian flag
A French gendarmerie officer blocks a road near a synagogue following a fire and explosion of cars in La Grande-Motte, south of France, on August 24, 2024. (Pascal Guyot/AFP)
FRANCE – A suspect caught on a surveillance camera after an explosion that injured a police officer near a synagogue in southern France this morning was brandishing a Palestinian flag, according to a source close to the probe.
Earlier, French authorities said they were treating the blast outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande Motte, near the city of Montpellier, as a potential terror attack.
Incendie devant la synagogue de La Grande-Motte : une image capturée par des caméras de vidéosurveillance – que La Gazette s'est procurée – montre un homme, drapeau palestinien autour de la taille et keffieh sur la tête
+ d'infos : https://t.co/8Z6cGJAcbl pic.twitter.com/s9wAPWypZK— Gazette Live Montpellier (@GazettedeMtp) August 24, 2024
Police say two cars outside the synagogue burst into flames after a gas canister likely exploded inside one of the vehicles. The blast wounded a police officer, though there is no information as to the gravity of the injury.
There was no prayer service ongoing at the time of the incident, according to a police source.
Two doors of the synagogue were damaged in the blast.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says France’s national anti-terror prosecutors have been tasked with probing the incident.
“La Grande Motte’s synagogue was the target of an attack this morning,” Attal says in a post on X. “An antisemitic act. Once again, our Jewish fellow citizens are being targeted.”
La Motte’s mayor, Stephan Rossignol, says CCTV picked up images of an individual setting fire to the cars.
Security around Jewish sites was tightened following the early morning explosion.
French Jewish group says synagogue arson attack was ‘an attempt to kill Jews’
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) says an explosion outside a synagogue in southern France earlier this morning that wounded a police officer was “an attempt to kill Jews.”
The use of a gas canister “in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act,” CRIF president Yonathan Arfi tells AFP.
“This shows an intention to kill.”
A suspect caught on a surveillance camera after the explosion was brandishing a Palestinian flag, according to a source close to the police’s terror probe into the incident.
A terrorist attack has just targeted a synagogue in southern France with an explosion. This is anti-Semitic terrorism. Let's see what they'll call it to avoid upsetting Hamas terrorists in Gaza. How many will condemn it? How many protests in support of the Jewish people? pic.twitter.com/mbapJq1fW2
— Amjad Taha أمجد طه (@amjadt25) August 24, 2024
IDF: Bomb planted in cistern near West Bank settlement exploded near troops this morning; none hurt
An explosive device planted in a cistern near the West Bank settlement of Avnei Hefetz exploded near IDF troops earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says the troops were scanning the area when the bomb was detonated.
There are no injuries.
Troops are now scanning the area for suspects and possible additional bombs.
Top US general makes surprise Middle East trip to ‘deter any type of broader escalation’
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, speaks during a hearing, May 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
AMMAN (Reuters) – The top US general begins an unannounced visit to the Middle East today to discuss ways to avoid any new escalation in tensions that could spiral into a broader conflict, as the region braces for a threatened Iranian attack against Israel.
Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, begins his trip in Jordan and says he will also travel to Egypt and Israel in the coming days to hear the perspectives of military leaders.
His visit comes as the United States is trying to clinch an elusive Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas, which Brown says would “help bring down the temperature,” if achieved.
“At the same time, as I talk to my counterparts, what are the things we can do to deter any type of broader escalation and ensure we’re taking all the appropriate steps to [avoid] … a broader conflict,” Brown tells Reuters before landing in Jordan.
In recent weeks, the US military has been bolstering its forces in the Middle East to guard against major new attacks by Iran or its allies, sending the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group into the region to replace the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.
The United States has also sent an Air Force F-22 Raptor squadron into the region and deployed a cruise missile submarine.
“We brought in additional capability to send a strong message to deter a broader conflict … but also to protect our forces should they be attacked,” Brown says, saying safeguarding American forces was “paramount.”
German police detain suspect in connection with fatal festival stabbing attack
Police patrol on August 24, 2024 near the scene where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen, western Germany, during a festival to mark the city's 650th anniversary. (Roberto Pfeil/AFP)
German police say they have detained a person and are investigating whether there is a connection between them and a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen late last night that killed three and injured others.
Police have launched a “major operation” to find the suspect, who is on the run, according to a spokeswoman, adding that a “wide area” has been cordoned off.
Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, says security authorities are doing everything they can to catch the person and investigate the background to the attack, which occurred at the Fronhof, a market square in Solingen where live bands were playing. It was during a festival marking the 650th anniversary of the city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands.
Macron calls explosion at synagogue in southern France ‘an act of terror’
French President Emmanuel Macron calls an arson attack outside a synagogue in southern France this morning “an act of terror,” adding in a post on X that “the fight against antisemitism is a daily fight.”
“Sending thoughts to the faithful of the synagogue of La Grande-Motte and all the Jews of our country,” he writes, promising that all efforts are being made to apprehend the perpetrator and to “protect places of worship.”
The explosion outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande Motte, near the city of Montpellier, wounded a police officer, in what authorities say is being treated as a potential terror attack.
Security around Jewish sites has been tightened following the early morning blast.
Qatari PM said expected to attend hostage-ceasefire talks as Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani speaks at a joint press conference with the US secretary of state in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (Ibraheem Al Omari/Pool via AP)
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is expected to attend Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo on Saturday, a source familiar with the negotiations tells Reuters.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo earlier today to meet with negotiators, though it stressed it will not officially participate in the latest round of talks.
A high-level Israeli delegation was in Cairo this week and Doha last week to discuss the latest offer for a deal with US, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators.
Iran’s new FM says Tehran will seek to ‘manage tensions’ with US, expresses support for ‘axis of resistance’
Abbas Araghchi attends a parliament session in the capital Tehran, on August 17, 2024, as Iran's president defends his cabinet selection. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Iran’s new government will seek to “manage tensions” with the United States to help reduce pressure and neutralize crippling sanctions, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says in an interview aired on state television late last night.
During the interview, the foreign minister also expresses Tehran’s unwavering support “under any circumstances” for the so-called axis of resistance, a network of Iran-aligned terror groups and militias across the Middle East opposed to Israel.
“What we have to do is manage the tensions and hostilities” between Tehran and Washington, he says.
Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since 1980, the year after the Islamic revolution that toppled its Western-backed Shah Mohammed Reza.
A landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but the deal quickly collapsed and tensions reignited following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-US president Donald Trump.
“In foreign policy, we have a duty to reduce as much as possible the cost of this hostility and reduce its pressure on the nation,” says Araghchi, who was one of the key negotiators of the 2015 agreement.
He adds that Iran’s foreign policy will prioritize “neighboring countries” as well as African countries, along with China and Russia, among others.
Lapid: Attack on French synagogue is part of ‘Palestinian terror campaign against Jews’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid condemns an arson attack on a synagogue in southern France as “another horrific act of antisemitism,” and charges that it was a “tragic continuation of the Palestinian terror campaign against Jewish people.”
A suspect caught on a surveillance camera outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande-Motte, near the city of Montpellier, was caught in surveillance camera footage wrapped in a Palestinian flag and wearing a keffiyeh scarf.
“There is a direct connection between the terrorism of Hamas, the antisemitic demonstrations against Israel around the world, and the attack in France. I am sure that the French authorities will do everything to bring those responsible to justice,” Lapid writes on X.
French authorities are treating the blast as a potential terror attack.
Palestinians hurl explosive devices at IDF troops searching for two people in West Bank city of Qalqilya
IDF troops entered Qalqilya to search for two people who entered the West Bank city a short while ago.
Palestinians hurled explosive devices at the soldiers, who fired back, hitting at least one, according to a military source.
The troops have since left Qalqilya.
It is unclear if the two people are Israelis. Their whereabouts are currently unknown, although they may have already left the city.
IDF demolishes 500m long Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade operate on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout image published August 24, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel located on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip was demolished by combat engineers, the IDF says.
The tunnel was some 500 meters long, according to the military.
It had been located by the 7th Armored Brigade’s 82nd Battalion and later demolished by the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.
The IDF says the 7th Brigade has killed dozens of gunmen and demolished dozens of sites belonging to terror groups in the east Deir al-Balah area amid an ongoing operation.
Soldiers of the brigade’s 77th Battalion also located a primed rocket launcher in the area, the IDF adds.
Russia frees Israeli-Canadian ‘Ferrari fugitive’ wanted by US for fraud
A Russian court frees Israeli-Canadian citizen Joshua Cartu who was arrested earlier this week at the request of the US over alleged financial crimes.
Dubbed the “Ferrari fugitive,” the racing car driver and entrepreneur has been accused, along with his brothers, of defrauding investors of millions of dollars.
He was detained on Monday by Russia’s Interpol unit at Saint Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport after being declared “wanted” by the US.
Saint Petersburg’s Moskovsky District court rules to “terminate proceedings” against Cartu, saying Russian authorities had not received an official extradition request.
Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the US, but the countries exchanged prisoners in a major swap last month.
A court earlier this week kept him in detention because, as an Israeli citizen, he could freely travel out of Russia.
The Saint Petersburg court press service said Cartu was under an Interpol Red Notice due to accusations he was part of a group that defrauded investors in the US of around $60 million between 2013 and 2017.
The US government in 2021 filed a fraud complaint against Cartu and others including his brothers, David and Jonathan, over conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Cartu’s social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook are followed by hundreds of thousands. They feature glossy images of a luxury lifestyle with race cars.
In interviews with British media, he has described himself as a race car and tech entrepreneur with his own fleet of Ferraris.
Canada’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was “aware of an arrest involving a Canadian in Russia” and had offered consular assistance.
8 rockets fired from Lebanon at Golan Heights, several intercepted
A barrage of at least eight rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Golan Heights a short while ago, according to the IDF.
Some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses.
There are no injuries.
No sirens sounded amid the attack.
Hostage mother accuses PM of ‘systematically thwarting’ deal, urges US pressure
Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza demonstrate outside the Kirya IDF Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 3, 2024. Einav Zangauker is second from right in a white shirt. (Oded Engel/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
The mother of hostage Matan Zangauker calls on US mediators to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, accusing the premier of holding up an agreement for personal and political motives.
“It appears this is the last chance,” says Einav Zangauker during her weekly press conference outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, referring to the negotiations in Cairo.
Zangauker decries “the new conditions that Netanyahu has pushed,” particularly regarding the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.
“This isn’t the Philadelphi Corridor, it’s the Philadelphi spin,” she says.
She then addresses her remarks to US President Joe Biden.
“Netanyahu is systematically thwarting the deal. Don’t believe Netanyahu. He will again lie and deceive you. He will tell you will do one thing and then run to do the opposite,” she says.
Palestinian media reports settler attacks on pair of northern West Bank towns
Palestinian media report that a group of masked Israeli settlers attacked the northern West Bank town of Rujeib and a nearby village.
The Israelis hurled stones, set fires, and damaged cars, according to the reports and footage from the scene.
عاجل| تغطية صحفية: مستوطنون يواصلون الهجوم على خلة العبهر شرق قرية روجيب جنوب شرق نابلس. pic.twitter.com/RBic86SW4v
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) August 24, 2024
Protesters urging hostage deal rally at highway junctions around country
This handout photo shows protesters calling for a hostage deal rallying at the Hemed Bridge on August 24, 2024. (Tali Hill)
Demonstrators urging the return of the captives held in Gaza have begun rallying at highway junctions and other sites around the country, as they press the government to reach a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
After searches, IDF clarifies Israelis who entered Palestinian city left on their own
The IDF says two Israeli civilians who entered the West Bank city of Qalqilya earlier today left the area independently.
Troops briefly entered the city in an attempt to rescue the pair, but came under attack by Palestinians hurling explosives.
The two civilians left the city independently, without needing to be rescued.
Israel said to believe Hezbollah will respond over Shukr’s killing ‘in coming days’
A man riding a moped flashes the V-sign for victory as he drives past a poster of assassinated Hezbollah top commander Fuad Shukr, the day after his funeral, erected along the Sidon-to-Tyre highway, in southern Lebanon on August 2, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
Israel believes Hezbollah is expected to respond to the recent assassination of top military commander Fuad Shukr’s assassination “in the coming days,” according to Channel 12 news.
The network, which doesn’t cite a source, says Israeli officials assess the Lebanese terror group will attack regardless of the status of the hostage-ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
IDF says troops dispersed masked settlers who attacked Palestinian village
The IDF comments on the settler attack in the West Bank town of Rujeib this evening, saying that troops stationed in the area quickly worked to disperse the rioters.
According to the military, dozens of masked Israeli civilians from the settlement of Itamar entered the Palestinian town of Rujeib, near Nablus, and attacked the residents there.
“A confrontation and stone-throwing ensued between them and Palestinians who were there. As a result of the stone throwing, several Palestinian vehicles were damaged,” the IDF says.
The military says that troops and Border Police officers stationed in the area, along with other forces dispatched to the scene, “stopped the friction and dispersed the rioters.”
IDF announces deaths of 3 soldiers killed fighting in Gaza on Friday
L to R: Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitai Metodi, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yaniv Itzhak Oren and Sgt. First Class (res.) Danil Pechenyuk. (IDF)
Two additional reserve soldiers were killed in Friday’s explosion in Gaza City, the IDF announces, bringing the total death toll of the Hamas attack to three.
The IDF also announces that another soldier was killed in a separate clash with Palestinian gunmen in a nearby area on Friday.
The troops slain in the blast in Gaza City are named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Danil Pechenyuk, 27, from Bat Yam, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitai Metodi, 23, from Ashkelon. They both served in the Jerusalem Brigade’s 6310th Battalion.
The soldier killed during the separate clash with terror operatives in the Netzarim Corridor area is named as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yaniv Itzhak Oren, 35, of the Jerusalem Brigade’s 8119th Battalion, from Ein Gedi.
In the incident on Friday morning, several soldiers were hit by an explosive device planted on the outside of a building they were searching, in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. Overall, three soldiers were killed, four were seriously wounded, and another three were moderately hurt in the incident.
On Friday, the IDF announced the death of Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar, who was killed in the attack. The families of the other two soldiers were notified over the weekend.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip now stands at 338.
After deadly Eritrean brawl, minister seeks to boost efforts to encourage voluntary repatriation
Israel Police operate at the scene of a fight between Eritreans where two men were killed, Tel Aviv, August 24, 2024. (Israel Police)
Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf offers NIS 5 million ($1.3 million) from his ministry’s own budget to a government unit which assists in the voluntary repatriation of foreign nationals after two men were killed and five others injured in a massive street brawl, apparently between pro-regime and anti-regime Eritrean migrants, in south Tel Aviv this morning.
In a statement, the far-right minister’s office says that Wasserlauf demands that the cabinet immediately debate a framework for transferring additional funds to the Population and Immigration Authority’s Assisted Voluntary Return Department and “appealed to all government ministers to allocate resources for this purpose.”
Clashes between the two groups are not unusual. In May, a man was stabbed to death in a similar incident in south Tel Aviv, while last September, at least 170 people were hurt — including police officers — in major clashes in the city.
Various Israeli governments have taken a series of measures — some of which were blocked by the courts — to encourage the migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum due to war and oppression in their home country, to leave. There are roughly 20,000 Eritreans who are living in Israel, after entering illegally before the completion of a barrier along the Egyptian border in 2012.
Hamas gunmen who killed soldier in Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor were eliminated by troops, says IDF
IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on August 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says a cell of four Hamas gunmen who attacked an encampment in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor on Friday, killing one soldier, were all eliminated.
Three of the gunmen were killed by troops of the Jerusalem Brigade during the clash, while a fourth fled. A short while later, he was killed in an airstrike, Hagari says.
Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yaniv Itzhak Oren was killed in the attack.
ISIS claims responsibility for German stabbing attack ‘in revenge for Muslims in Palestine’
Police patrol on August 24, 2024, near the area where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife late on August 23, 2024, in Solingen, western Germany, during a festival to mark the city's 650th anniversary. (Roberto Pfeil/AFP)
The Islamic State group claims responsibility for a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen that killed three people last night.
The terror group says in a statement on its Telegram account that the attack was carried out by one of its members “in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
It does not immediately provide any evidence for its assertion and it is not clear how close any relationship between the attacker and Islamic State was.
Yesterday’s attack, in which a man killed three people and wounded eight others, took place in the Fronhof, a market square in Solingen, where live bands were playing as part of a festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary.
Police said they were conducting a manhunt for the assailant. They said they had detained a 15-year-old and were investigating whether this person was linked to the attacker.
IDF spokesman says Israel facing ‘significant week,’ military ready for any scenario
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivers an English-language address, June 16, 2024. (Screenshot)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says Israel is ahead of “a significant week.”
“We are ahead of a significant week amid the ongoing negotiations in Cairo, the fighting in Gaza and [on] the northern border. Our readiness is very high in attack and defense,” he says in an evening press conference.
Hagari calls on the public to continue to be alert. He adds that the military will update on “any development immediately.”
Speaking at hostage rally, Lapid calls on Netanyahu to ‘go to Cairo yourself’ to close deal
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (center) attends a rally in Tel Aviv demanding a deal to free the hostages held in Gaza, August 24, 2024. (Courtesy)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “go to Cairo yourself,” during a pro-hostage deal protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
“Prime minister, go to Cairo yourself, don’t send anybody. Close a deal now,” Lapid states.
A high-level Israeli delegation was in Cairo last week and Doha the previous week to discuss the latest offer for a deal with US, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators.
In an interview with The Times of Israel on Thursday, Lapid accused Netanyahu of stalling on a deal “to maintain the coalition.”
One of the sticking points of the talks has been Netanyahu’s insistence on an Israeli presence on the Gaza-Egyptian border.
Speaking with The Times of Israel on Thursday, Lapid said that “it is way more important to finalize the hostage deal” than to retain the so-called Philadelphi Corridor.
“The war started on October 7. He, as the prime minister, sent troops to the Philadelphi Corridor in May. That is almost eight months afterward,” he stated.
Ben Gvir calls for deportation of Eritrean migrants after deadly Tel Aviv street brawl
Police at the scene where two Eritrean asylum seekers were killed in a fight that broke out between pro- and anti-regime protesters in south Tel Aviv, August 24, 2024. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for the deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers after two men were killed and five others injured in a massive street brawl between pro-regime and anti-regime Eritrean migrants, in south Tel Aviv.
According to the minister’s office, following a conversation with senior police officials, the National Security Ministry and Israel Police have agreed to demand that the state prosecutor, attorney general and justice and interior ministries act “to deport the Eritreans, following the request submitted a year ago and the discussion held with the prime minister.”
“In addition, it was agreed that the national security minister would raise the matter before Prime Minister Netanyahu and demand his intervention in the matter,” Ben Gvir’s statement continues — adding that the police had increased its presence in Tel Aviv “to keep the peace and ensure the safety of the citizenry.”
Visiting site of synagogue blast, French PM says he is ‘outraged, revolted’ by attack
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (C) flanked by France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and French MPs exit the synagogue which was set on fire in La Grande-Motte, France, August 24, 2024. (Pascal Guyot/AFP)
Visiting the site of an explosion outside a synagogue in southern France, French interim Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says “we narrowly avoided an absolute tragedy.”
“Once more, French Jews have been targeted and attacked as a result of their beliefs,” Attal says. “If the synagogue had been filled with worshippers… there probably would have been human victims.”
Attal says France’s national anti-terror prosecutors have been tasked with probing the incident.
“We are outraged, revolted and scandalized by this, given that antisemitic acts have increased dramatically, even more so since October 7,” he says.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who also visited the synagogue with Attal, calls the incident “an obviously criminal act” and says that “all means are being deployed to find the perpetrator.”
German police make second arrest in connection with festival stabbing attack
People lay flowers near the scene of a knife attack in Solingen city center, Germany, Saturday August 24, 2024, after three people were killed and at least eight people were wounded Friday night at the festival. (Henning Kaiser/dpa via AP)
German police say they have arrested a second person over a knife attack that killed three people at a street festival, claimed by the ISIS terror group.
Police say they made the arrest at a hostel for asylum seekers not far from the scene of yesterday’s attack in the western city of Solingen.
Palestinian source tells Lebanese outlet: ‘No clear progress’ made in Cairo talks
Protesters call for the release of Hamas hostages during a weekly rally at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, August 24, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A Palestinian source tells the Lebanese Al Mayadeen news outlet that the talks in Cairo between negotiators and Hamas did not lead to “any clear progress.”
The report claims that Hamas tells mediators that it is committed to the plan outlined on July 2, and “rejects any presence of IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor” between Gaza and Egypt.
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