Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel is liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Man killed as car collides with truck on Route 6
A man has died after his car collided with a truck on Route 6, near Nitzanei Oz.
The cause of the crash is not immediately clear. The victim is reported to be around 20 years old.
Death toll in Israeli strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa rises to four
Today’s Israeli strikes in Yemen’s capital Sanaa killed at least four people, according to the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
A spokesperson for the Houthis’ health ministry now reports four people dead and 67 wounded in the Israeli raid, raising an earlier toll.
The Israeli military said the targets included a military compound housing the presidential palace, two power plants, and a fuel storage site.
Eisenkot: No political change is required; one man must make a tough decision
National Unity Party MK Gadi Eisenkott attends a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 9, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Speaking at a closed event, Benny Gantz’s former political partner Gadi Eisenkot appears to dismiss his proposal for a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring about the return of hostages in Gaza.
Eisenkot was Gantz’s number two in leading National Unity in recent years. Both are former heads of the IDF. With Gantz, he entered Benjamin Netanyahu’s government days after the October 7, 2023, attack, but the two took the party out of the coalition in June 2024, citing differences of opinion on the handling of the war. Eisenkot himself quit Gantz’s party and the Knesset in June 2025.
“As someone who was deeply involved until two months ago and accompanied all the negotiations, I’ll say it clearly — no political change is required, no new partnership is needed,” Eisenkot says.
“This is about one man who must make a tough, but necessary decision,” he adds, referring to Netanyahu.
He says the phased deal on the table “is not only possible – it must be done, and the captives must be brought back as soon as possible.”
Responding to him, Gantz tweets: “Gadi, my friend, you know the truth –- if you and I hadn’t joined the government on October 11, 116 women and children would never have returned home. Yes, it takes one man to make the decision. But when he doesn’t, we have to try every possible way to get him there. We have no legitimacy to abandon them.”
Reports: Two Palestinians injured by stones and beatings during settler attack
Palestinian media reports that two Palestinian residents of the village of Halhul, north of Hebron in the West Bank, were injured earlier today by settlers who threw stones and assaulted them in the area of the village.
One of the injured, Mustafa Abd al-Qader Malham, is 60 years old, and the other is Aed Malham.
Both were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.
More Palestinians said arrested in Tel Aviv after terror alert, hours-long manhunt
Hebrew media reports that several more Palestinians have been arrested in Tel Aviv for alleged ties to a planned terror attack in the city.
The arrests were carried out near the Tel Aviv Port.
Reports say the Shin Bet sent out an alert earlier to day regarding the planned attack, leading to an hours-long manhunt.
Police arrest 2 Palestinians in Tel Aviv, reportedly suspected of planning terror attack
Police in Tel Aviv have arrested two Palestinians who were in Israel illegally, law enforcement says.
According to Hebrew media, they are suspected of having planned a terror attack.
They were caught in a joint police and Shin Bet operation and have been transferred for interrogation.
Kneecap defies objectors with ‘Free Palestine’ chant at Paris gig
Irish rap group Kneecap, one of whose members face a British terror charge for allegedly supporting Hezbollah, has repeated its criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, during a performance outside Paris, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials.
The concert, which began shortly before 6:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) in front of several thousand people in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, went ahead in the face of complaints from the Belfast trio’s critics.
https://twitter.com/CamilleStineau/status/1959678566708531281
“Free, free Palestine!” the trio shouted at the start of their show, rallying an enthusiastic crowd where keffiyehs and Irish jerseys were visible, before insisting they were not against Israel.
After organizers kept the politically outspoken band on the program, local authorities withdrew their subsidies for the music festival where the gig took place — the annual Rock en Seine festival.
The group from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, have made a habit of using their concerts to canvas for the Palestinian cause and bitterly criticize Israel.
PM has told coalition partners he does not intend to break up bloc for Gantz – report
The Prime Minister’s Office has assured Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition partners that he has no intention of breaking up his right-wing bloc in order to bring Blue and White-National Unity and its leader Benny Gantz into the coalition, Kan reports.
Gantz yesterday proposed the formation of an emergency unity government with Netanyahu and other opposition parties for the purpose of reaching a deal to return the hostages and end the war in Gaza.
Kan says there were some concerns within the coalition that Gantz could join the government at their expense, leading Netanyahu to convey that this was not on the table.
US envoy criticizes France’s lack of action on antisemitism
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Prince Rahim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan V, at the presidential Elysee Palace for a working lunch in Paris on July 11, 2025. (Thomas Samson/AFP)
The US ambassador to France has written to President Emmanuel Macron to denounce his government’s insufficient action against antisemitism, days after similar remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US envoy Charles Kushner’s letter to Macron is dated August 25, which he notes is “the 81st anniversary of the Allied Liberation of Paris, which ended the deportation of Jews from French soil.”
Kushner is the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
In the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by AFP, he writes: “I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.
“In France, not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the street, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized,” he adds.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Macron of fomenting “antisemitism,” saying it had “surged” in France, following the French president’s announcement last month that he will recognize Palestinian statehood.
The Elysee hit back, calling Netanyahu’s allegation “abject” and “erroneous.”
“This is a time for seriousness and responsibility, not for conflation and manipulation,” the French presidency added.
Pro-Palestinian protest draws thousands in Copenhagen
More than 10,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Copenhagen today, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and urging Denmark to recognize the state of Palestine.
Some 100 organizations including Oxfam, Greenpeace, and Amnesty took part in the march, as well as unions, political parties, artists’ collectives, and activists, including Greta Thunberg.
Police did not provide an estimate of the number of demonstrators.
We are thousands, we are millions. We are all Palestinians ????
Copenhagen, 24 august 2025#dkpol #dkmedier #Gaza #Israel #Palestine pic.twitter.com/8yApNcYvA0
— Rajesh Holmen (@RajeshHolmen) August 24, 2025
Gathering under sunny skies outside the Danish parliament, the demonstrators — many of them families with young children — waved flags and carried banners, chanting “Stop Arms Sales,” “Free Free Palestine” and “Denmark Says No to Genocide.”
A traditional supporter of Israel, Denmark has said it wants to use its current presidency of the European Union to increase pressure on the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza, which Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen recently said had gone “too far.”
But Denmark has said it has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state in the near future.
Report: Next Gaza ceasefire talks could be held in UAE or Europe
There is a possibility that the next round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a hostage release-ceasefire deal will take place in the United Arab Emirates, Channel 12 reports. There is also a chance that, if the negotiations occur, they could be held in Europe, according to the report.
Throughout the war, indirect talks have been held in Qatar and Egypt.
PM says Houthis learning cost of attacking Israel ‘the hard way’; Katz: We destroyed presidential palace
L-R: Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir at the IAF's command center, August 24, 2025. (Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO)
Speaking from the Israeli Air Force command center in Tel Aviv after observing Israeli airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to continue striking against anyone planning to attack Israel.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, claims Israel “destroyed the Houthi presidential palace in Yemen,” though there have been no such reports out of Yemen. Netanyahu only indicates that the IAF struck the palace.
“Whoever attacks us, we will attack him,” says Netanyahu. “Whoever plans to attack us — we attack him. I think the entire region is learning Israel’s strength and determination.”
“The Houthi terrorist regime is learning the hard way that it will pay and is paying a very heavy price for its aggression against Israel,” he continues in a video statement released by his office, after the IAF targeted a military compound in Sanaa where Yemen’s presidential palace is located, a fuel depot, and two power stations.
The strike came shortly after the military said that an IAF investigation into a Friday night ballistic missile attack from Yemen found that, for the first time, the Houthis had used a projectile with a cluster bomb warhead.
“The IDF has now destroyed the Houthi presidential palace in Yemen and attacked fuel depots and power and electricity stations,” says Katz. “We continue to impose an air and naval blockade and are hitting infrastructure targets that are used to promote Houthi terrorism.”
“For every missile they launch at Israel, the Houthis will pay many times over.”
Netanyahu and Katz are joined by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar. Netanyahu also invited Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to observe the strikes, Kan reports.
Hamas lauds Dutch FM resigning over Gaza; Sa’ar: Europe must choose: Israel or terrorists
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply criticizes outgoing Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp on X following his resignation, after failing to secure new EU sanctions against Israel over the war in Gaza — a move that earned him praise from the Hamas terror organization.
Reposting from Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language X account, which reported on a Hamas statement praising Veldkamp, Sa’ar writes: “Hamas praises outgoing Dutch Foreign Minister @CasparVeldkamp, the initiator of sanctions against Israel in the EU.”
Hamas praises outgoing Dutch Foreign Minister @CasparVeldkamp, the initiator of sanctions against Israel in the European Union. Just as it praised Macron and his partners for recognizing a “Palestinian state” – a move Hamas classified as “the fruits of October 7.” Europe must… https://t.co/2NU9wBteMI
— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) August 24, 2025
“Europe must choose: Israel or Hamas,” he adds. “Every action against Israel directly serves the jihadist axis in the Middle East.”
Last week, Veldkamp, a 61-year-old former ambassador to Israel, informed the Dutch parliament of his plan to introduce new measures in response to Israel’s planned offensive in Gaza City and other densely populated areas, but failed to gain the support of his coalition partners. He told reporters he resigned because he felt unable “to implement policy myself and chart the course I deem necessary.”
Israel says emaciated boy on Mirror front page confirmed to have genetic illness
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) confirms in a statement that the seemingly emaciated Gazan child featured on the front page of yesterday’s Daily Mirror is 3-year-old Kareem Muammar, who suffers from Fanconi syndrome, a hereditary disease that causes muscle and urinary tract weakness and has also affected other family members.
Saturday's front page: stop starving Gaza kids#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/zz83wtSZbO pic.twitter.com/8gnn40fFyt
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) August 22, 2025
Pre-war medical documents published alongside the statement appear to confirm Muammar’s diagnosis, with the agency stressing that his illness predates the war.
The Mirror cover, published under the headline “Stop Starving Gaza’s Kids,” echoes Hamas’s forced starvation narrative, COGAT asserts.
In the statement, COGAT accuses Hamas of spreading false narratives as part of a propaganda campaign and criticizes international media for amplifying those claims without proper verification.
In recent weeks, similar cases have surfaced in which images of Gazan children with chronic illnesses appeared to show severe malnutrition. While their pre-existing conditions may explain their emaciated appearances, experts caution that food shortages can worsen underlying illnesses and hasten decline.
Police arrest 5 settlers suspected of violence against security forces
Police last night arrested five Israeli settlers suspected of violence against security forces, law enforcement officials announce.
The five were transferred for interrogation after police, operating off intelligence from the Shin Bet, detained them overnight Saturday-Sunday. Details regarding the suspects and the ongoing investigation are barred for publication under a gag order lasting until September 3.
“The Shin Bet and Israel Police view these acts of terror as a grave threat to national security and will continue to work to thwart such activity and to prosecute perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law,” the agencies say in a joint statement.
Honenu, a right-wing legal aid organization, accuses law enforcement of carrying out a “witch hunt against the settler community” with the recent arrests, claiming that authorities hold a double standard against settlers.
“While other groups that block roads and act violently toward public officials are dealt with gently, settlers who hold legitimate protests are pursued like common criminals,” a spokesman for the group alleges.
Recent years have seen settler attacks in the West Bank rise steeply, mostly targeting Palestinians, with little enforcement.
Last Tuesday, police arrested two other settlers on similar suspicions, saying the two detainees were involved in violence against security forces.
IDF confirms uprooting olive trees in W. Bank village after attack, denies collective punishment
Palestinian men check olive trees reportedly uprooted by Israeli soldiers using a bulldozer in the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah, on August 24, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
The IDF confirms it uprooted olive trees in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir in recent days following a shooting attack in the area, but denies the move was collective punishment.
Since Thursday, the day after the attack, in which one Israeli was lightly hurt, the military says it “began intensified operational activity” in the al-Mughayyir area.
The military says this activity included clearing vegetation in an area adjacent to a highway, “which the terrorist used to flee the scene of the attack.”
“The clearing was required immediately to prevent danger to life, caused by the concealment of the area by the vegetation that obstructed the identification of enemy movement,” the military says.
The IDF also says it condemns “inappropriate remarks” made against the chief of Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, after he implied that the uprooting of the trees was collective punishment against the village, saying it would “pay a heavy price” for the attack.
Bluth “acts out of operational considerations and in accordance with the law, with the security of the State of Israel and its residents foremost in mind,” the IDF says, adding that “any other claim is completely unfounded.”
A military official adds that Bluth, during an assessment at the scene of the attack, emphasized to troops “that the necessary course of action requires distinguishing between the civilian population and terrorists,” and that doing so is intended “to ensure the security of the area… while minimizing as much as possible the disruption to the fabric of life of the local population.”
Foreign minister heads to US for first official visit in the role
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar talks to journalists on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on July 14, 2025. (Nicolas Tucat/AFP)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will depart Israel tonight for his first official visit to the United States since taking office in November, the Foreign Ministry announces.
Sa’ar is set to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as national security adviser, on Wednesday at the State Department in Washington — their second meeting following Rubio’s visit to Israel in February.
He will also meet US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, whom he hosted in Israel in May after the killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two employees of Israel’s embassy in Washington.
During his visit, Sa’ar will also hold talks with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, AIPAC leadership, and host a reception for Jewish community leaders and Christian supporters of Israel.
Zamir repeats assertion army has created conditions for hostage deal
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) is seen with Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa'ar Salama at the Haifa naval base, August 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir again says the military has created the conditions for a hostage deal with Hamas.
During a visit to the Haifa naval base, Zamir says the IDF has met the objectives of its “Gideon’s Chariots” operation against Hamas in Gaza, “and as a result of the military pressure we created the conditions for the release of the hostages.”
“The IDF continues to prepare itself to expand the operation with a focus on Gaza City, and the Navy must be ready to defend and assist the ground forces in attack. The campaign continues, and we will keep acting until achieving all the objectives of the war, strengthening security, and attaining victory,” he adds.
Yemen’s Houthis report at least 2 dead in Israeli strikes on Sanaa
Houthi media says Israeli strikes on Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa earlier killed at least two people.
The Iran-backed Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reports a preliminary toll of “two dead and five wounded following the Israeli attack” on an oil company facility in the city.
IDF says it hit military compound housing Yemen’s presidential palace, plus power stations
Israel Air Force strikes against the Houthis in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, hit a military compound where the presidential palace is located, two power stations and a fuel depot, the military says.
The strikes come as a response to the Houthis’ repeated missile and drone attacks on Israel.
According to the IDF, the Yemeni presidential palace in Sanaa is “located within a military site from which the military operations of the Houthi terrorist regime forces are conducted.”
The two power plants that were targeted “served as a significant electricity supply facility for military activities,” the military says.
The strikes involved around a dozen IAF aircraft, including fighter jets and refuelers. More than 30 munitions were dropped on the four targets, according to military sources.
Report: Iran willing to limit uranium enrichment to prevent sanctions, attacks
Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, delivers a statement after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on November 15, 2024. (AFP)
The Telegraph reports that Iran has signaled it would be willing to scale back its uranium enrichment program in a bid to prevent Britain from reinstating United Nations sanctions.
The report cites unnamed Iranian officials who say Tehran is prepared to ease its hardline position to head off the threat of further strikes from Israel or the US.
It further says that Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, is pushing leaders to agree to curb uranium enrichment from 60% to 20% purity.
European nations have warned that without tangible progress on the nuclear issue by the end of the month, they are prepared to enact “snapback” sanctions on Iran removed as part of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran’s Khamenei says he will not bow down to US
This image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's IRIB news on June 26, 2025, shows the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing the nation (IRIB NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for a united national front to confront what he describes as US efforts to subjugate the Islamic Republic.
The remarks, delivered at a mosque in the capital Tehran and published on Khamenei’s official website, come two months after fighting halted between Iran and Israel in a war that the United States briefly joined, and as Tehran is engaged in talks with world powers about its nuclear program.
The rare Israeli and US attacks in June, which targeted key nuclear sites and prompted Iranian retaliation, were designed to destabilize the nation, Khamenei argues.
He says that a day after “Iran was attacked” by Israel at the start of the war, “American agents” met in Europe “to discuss what government should rule Iran after the Islamic Republic.”
Khamenei claims that the United States ultimately seeks to make Iran “obedient to it.”
“The Iranian nation will stand with all of its power against those who have such erroneous expectations,” he says.
“The Iranian nation, by standing firm alongside the armed forces, the government and the system, delivered a strong blow” to its enemies, Khamenei says.
He warns against internal divisions he claims foreign powers are fomenting.
“The way forward for the enemy is to create discord” in Iran, he says, blaming “agents of America and the Zionist regime” for seeking to sow division.
“Today, thanks to God, the country is united. There are differences of opinion, but when it comes to defending the system, defending the country, and standing up against the enemy, the people are united,” Khamenei adds.
Smotrich: We are in ‘process of redemption’ and ‘the conquest of the land’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on August 6, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
In a speech at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declares that the Jewish people are experiencing “the process of redemption and the return of the divine presence to Zion” as they engage in the “conquest of the land.”
“Over the past two years, the people of Israel have seen religious Zionism at its peak: on the battlefield… and unfortunately also in the cemeteries. There is no space in the State of Israel where we do not see its special fingerprint,” the Ynet news site quotes the far-right minister as saying.
Speaking as Israeli air force jets carry out strikes in the Houthi-held capital of Yemen, Sanaa, Smotrich states that with God’s help, Israel will defeat terrorists in Yemen, “just as we defeated the head of the octopus in Iran and as our righteous and dedicated fighters are defeating Hamas in Gaza.”
Smotrich recently celebrated the approval of a major construction project that would see some 3,400 housing units built in the contentious E1 area in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which he said “practically erases the two-state delusion and consolidates the Jewish people’s hold on the heart of the Land of Israel.”
Opponents of the far-right minister often describe him as having dangerous “messianic” views.
Photo shows PM, top defense chiefs following the strikes on Yemen
L-R: Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and IAF chief of staff Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler at the IAF's command center, August 24, 2025. (Elad Malka/ Defense Ministry)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir observed the Israeli Air Force strike against the Houthis in Yemen from the IAF’s command center at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Katz’s office issues an image from the command center.
According to reports, the strikes in Sanaa targeted a military facility near a presidential palace, a fuel depot, and two power stations.
Israeli official pans Daily Mirror for front-page photo of ‘starving’ Gaza child with genetic disorder
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein criticizes The Daily Mirror after the British outlet ran a front-page photo yesterday of a seemingly emaciated child under the headline, “Stop Starving Gaza’s Kids.”
Saturday's front page: stop starving Gaza kids#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/zz83wtSZbO pic.twitter.com/8gnn40fFyt
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) August 22, 2025
In a post on X, Marmorstein accuses the paper of spreading Hamas propaganda, noting that the image was flagged by X users with a community note. The note clarifies that the child, Kareem Muammar, suffers from Fanconi syndrome, “a rare genetic disorder that affects the liver, kidneys, and intestines” and harms nutrient absorption, and that the paper had concealed this context from its readers.
“@DailyMirror stop spreading Hamas propaganda!” Marmorstein writes.
Marmorstein’s post does not address wider allegations of food shortages and hunger across the Gaza Strip.
In recent weeks, similar cases have surfaced in which images of Gazan children with chronic illnesses appeared to show severe malnutrition. While their pre-existing conditions may explain their emaciated appearances, experts caution that food shortages can worsen underlying illnesses and hasten decline.
Firefighters gain control over fire near Mevaseret Zion
Firefighters announce that they have achieved control over a brush fire that broke out on the western outskirts of Jerusalem today, threatening the nearby town of Mevaseret Zion and drivers on Route 1, between Tel Aviv and the capital.
“Large forces with the help of other districts are continuing to operate on the ground,” fire officials say, noting that both “ground and air crews are working diligently to prevent the fire from spreading further.”
‘The entire home shook, the floor was filled with glass’: Woman recalls Houthi missile strike
Ilana Hatoumi, whose home was hit by a part of a Yemeni missile fired at Israel, speaks to Channel 12, August 24, 2025 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Ilana Hatoumi, whose house in central Israel was hit by a part of a Yemeni ballistic missile fired at Israel on Friday, speaks to Channel 12 about the ordeal.
Hatoumi, of Ginaton, southeast of Tel Aviv, was in her reinforced room when the missile hit, having rushed in when sirens sounded.
“There were two explosions at home… The entire home shook,” she recalls. “The power went out… I thought it was very close, but I didn’t imagine it was in my home.”
“I came out to a shattered kitchen. All the windows, all the floor, the floor was filled with glass.”
She says other rooms also suffered damage, and she surveyed it with a flashlight due to the power being out.
Israeli Air Force carrying out strikes in Houthi-held capital of Yemen
The Israeli Air Force is carrying out strikes in the Houthi-held capital of Yemen, Sanaa, according to local media.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
The strikes come after the Houthis on Friday launched a drone and a ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb warhead at Israel.
من العدوان الصهيوني الغاشم على منشآت الطاقة في صنعاء pic.twitter.com/G222gwlREI
— AHMAD SLMAN (@ahmadslmanx) August 24, 2025
صنعا۽ الان #صنعاء_الان pic.twitter.com/H0XvJwP0W8
— الشهراني (@lshrny114606) August 24, 2025
US envoy meets Netanyahu on Lebanon and Syria
US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference after his meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the presidential palace, in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP/Hussein Malla)
Top US envoy Thomas Barrack arrived in Israel today and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Syria and Lebanon, three Israeli officials say.
The meeting was first reported by Axios, citing three Israeli and US sources, and followed discussions between Barrack and Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also reportedly joined the meetings. The envoys are expected to travel to Lebanon tomorrow, with senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham set to join them in Beirut.
Dermer held talks with Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Paris on Tuesday on security arrangements in southern Syria, two Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said.
Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting US-mediated talks on de-escalating conflict in southern Syria. A previous round of talks was held in Paris in late July but ended without a final accord.
On Monday, Barrack said in Lebanon that Israel should comply with a plan under which Hezbollah would be disarmed by the end of the year in exchange for a halt to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.
Houthis fired ballistic missile with cluster bomb warhead at Israel for 1st time on Friday, air force probe finds
A fragment of a Houthi missile that broke apart and fell in Ginaton, August 22, 2025. (Ynet screenshot)
An Israeli Air Force investigation into Friday night’s ballistic missile attack from Yemen has found that for the first time, the Houthis used a projectile with a cluster bomb warhead.
One of the munitions struck the yard of a home in the central town of Ginaton, causing slight damage.
The military says that the failure to intercept the projectile is under investigation and is unrelated to the type of warhead the missile was carrying.
“The air defense systems, with an emphasis on the upper layer, are capable of dealing with and intercepting such missiles, as they have intercepted in the past,” the IDF says.
Iran launched ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads at Israel at least twice during the 12-day war in June. The Houthis in Yemen are supplied by Iran.
Far-right minister: Gantz joining government would be return to flawed pre-Oct. 7 mindset
Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu speaks during a Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee meeting, in Jerusalem, on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu says that bringing Benny Gantz into a unity government would lead to repeating the old conceptzia — the flawed security and intelligence mindset that left Israel unprepared for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks.
“When the prime minister is surrounded by people like Benny Gantz, like [former IDF intelligence chief] Aharon Haliva and the like, then in the end he gets dragged into these places,” Eliyahu tells the Kan public broadcaster.
He adds that the outlook of figures like Gantz is what “brought us into the difficult situation we found ourselves in.”
In a separate interview with Israel National News, Eliyahu dismisses Gantz’s call for a temporary unity government, accusing the former defense minister of seeking political gain rather than serving the national interest.
“Benny Gantz is looking for a ladder – not to climb down, but to climb up in [Knesset] seats. I can only pity his situation,” he says. “If he wants to join with humility, he’s welcome. But, at the expense of truth, courage, and victory — no thank you.”
Yesterday, Gantz urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, and Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman to form a six-month unity government to prioritize hostage release and legislation on ultra-Orthodox army enlistment.
Gantz also called for Netanyahu to drop far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who oppose any ceasefire deal. Eliyahu, a member of Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, has previously said Gaza will be “wiped out” and repopulated with Jewish settlements.
Large brush fire burns near Mevaseret Zion; police may close Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway
A firefighting plane works to extinguish a fire burning near Mevaseret Zion on August 24, 2025. (Screenshot/Fire and Rescue Service)
As a large brush fire burns near Mevaseret Zion in central Israel, police say they are considering closing Route 1, the key highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Law enforcement officials announce that officers at the scene have started evacuating residents of two streets in Mevaseret Zion, which is located to Jerusalem’s west.
Fire officials say they are also weighing the possibility of evacuating hikers in the area, depending on how the situation develops.
שרפה משתוללת באזור מבשרת ציון: "נבחנת אפשרות לסגור את כביש 1" | תיעוד pic.twitter.com/kcr25HMWE7
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) August 24, 2025
IDF says 4 countries, including Indonesia, airdropped 111 pallets of aid into Gaza today
Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Indonesia airdropped 111 pallets of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip today, the IDF says.
Each pallet contains several hundred kilograms of food, according to the military.
Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, does not have relations with Israel.
Israel re-adopted a policy of allowing aid airdrops on July 26, amid mounting international criticism over the hunger crisis in Gaza. But airdrops are only able to deliver a small fraction of what can come into Gaza by land. They also pose safety risks for the civilians who can be hit by the packages from above.
Since then, over 415 tons of aid have been airdropped in Gaza, according to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the territories.
WHO announces release of staff member detained by IDF in Gaza last month
The World Health Organization says a staff member was released more than four weeks after being detained in Gaza by Israeli forces.
“Extremely relieved that our colleague, detained since 21 July in Gaza, was released this morning,” agency Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says in a post on X. He reiterates a call for protection of all WHO staff and personnel, and health and humanitarian workers.
In July, the United Nations agency said the Israeli military had attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.
The IDF confirmed that troops entered a building used to house World Health Organization personnel, and said they detained several staff members suspected of terror.
Police detained two Arab reporters at murder scene, station commander ordered their immediate release – report
Firefighters work to extinguish burning vehicle in Horshim Forest near Kfar Qasim on August 23, 2025 (Israel Fire and Rescue Services)
Police detained two Arab Israeli reporters last night at the scene of a suspected double homicide near Kafr Qasim last night, Haaretz reports.
Officers at the scene reportedly claimed the two journalists — Haaretz’s Deiaa Haj Yahia and Ynet’s Hassan Shaalan — were obstructing police in carrying out their duty when they neared the crime scene.
But according to both men, a senior police officer had previously given them permission to be there, after they identified themselves as journalists.
“After around 40 minutes — after all the senior police officers saw us and exchanged greetings with us — a police officer who identified himself as the commander of the scene arrived and began shouting at us that we were interfering in his work, threatened to detain us and called a police car that was there,” says Yahia, as quoted by Haaretz.
He claims that at the officer’s direction, police ordered the two men to put their hands up and searched them, then confiscated their phones and car keys.
They were then driven to the Kafr Qasim police station, where the station commander identified the two and ordered them released immediately. Police tell Haaretz that they are investigating the incident.
The two had arrived at the scene of a suspected double homicide in a forest near Kafr Qasim, in which two bodies were found inside a burning vehicle Saturday night. The two slain men were named as Ayoub Issa, 35, and Lutfi Amer, 25, according to the Abraham Initiatives organization, which tracks Arab murder victims.
Detention extended for man who confessed to murdering 5-year-old son in 1974, two years before murdering his wife
Asher Goldstein, who confessed to murdering his 5-year-old son in 1974, two years before he killed his wife, at a court hearing in Eilat, August 24, 2025 (Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90)
Police announce that the detention of Asher Goldstein, who confessed yesterday to murdering his five-year-old son decades ago, has been extended by three days.
Goldstein, 88, arrived at the Eilat police station yesterday and admitted to drowning his son with cerebral palsy off the city’s coast in 1974, claiming he did so out of a sense of mercy.
He went on to murder his wife two years later, in 1976. He attempted to stage the killing as a car accident, but was arrested alongside his co-conspirator, Israel Omri, after the fact. Goldstein was convicted and imprisoned for 11 years.
Goldstein will remain in police custody until August 27, law enforcement officials say.
Hostage forum asks Regev to increase train service to Tel Aviv for large Tuesday night protest
People gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, during a rally calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, August 17, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Hostages Forum calls on Transportation Minister Miri Regev to increase train services into Tel Aviv on Tuesday for the large expected protest calling for a ceasefire-hostage deal.
The organization said that 500,000 attended a similar demonstration in Tel Aviv last Sunday, with over one million protesting nationwide.
“Hundreds of thousands of citizens are expected to arrive from all over the country to participate in the [Tuesday] evening events, and the increase in train services is required to prevent congestion and allow the public to arrive safely,” the forum says in an open plea to Regev, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“The Transportation Ministry’s responsibility is to allow full accessibility to every citizen who wishes to stand alongside the families and make their voices heard,” the forum says.
On Tuesday, a march is set to leave Tel Aviv’s Savidor Central train station at 7 p.m. and head for Hostages Square for the main rally at 8 p.m.
The center of the country, which already sees heavily snarled traffic much of the time, is also currently seeing train disruptions due to an accident earlier this month. While many lines were restored this morning, train services are only expected to return to full schedule by September 1.
IDF says it seized weapons, including Russian anti-tank missiles, during Syria raids
Weapons seized by IDF troops during a raid in southern Syria, in a handout photo published on August 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops seized weapons during several overnight raids in southern Syria last week, the military announces.
Troops of the 474th “Golan” Regional Brigade searched several sites, where the army says they found caches of weapons, including Russian anti-tank missiles, Kalashnikov rifles, explosive devices, and other equipment.
Additionally, the military says field interrogators of the Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 detained and questioned several suspects in the area.
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”
IDF increases troop presence in Jabalia as operations continue on Gaza City outskirts
Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released August 24, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says troops of the 401st Armored Brigade have returned to northern Gaza’s Jabalia in recent days, as part of an offensive aimed at strengthening the army’s control in the area.
The forces join the Givati Infantry Brigade, which has been operating in Jabalia — just north of Gaza City — for the past week.
The military says the forces, led by the 162nd Division, are working to dismantle Hamas capabilities in the area, including by destroying tunnels, “eliminating terrorists, and strengthening operational control over the area.”
“The troops’ activity enables the expansion of the fighting to additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning and operating in these areas,” the IDF says.
The IDF has said it is operating on the outskirts of Gaza City ahead of a major offensive that would see the military capture the entire city.
Tens of thousands of reservists are due to show up for duty on September 2 for the offensive, which is likely to begin in the following weeks.
Yair Golan files lawsuit against designer over images portraying him as Hamas terrorist
Leader of the Democrats party Yair Golan at a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan is filing a NIS 300,000 defamation lawsuit against designer Or Reichert, who he accuses of publishing images portraying him as a Hamas terrorist.
The lawsuit, submitted to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, describes “a series of graphic designs presenting Golan wearing a keffiyeh, as a Hamas terrorist, and as someone assisting the organization.”
“We are determined to dismantle the poison machine and will continue to fight it with full force,” says Golan in a statement.
The left-wing Democrats party also highlights Reichert’s past work for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, alleging he was paid tens of thousands of shekels for video production.
“Those who poison the public discourse must know they will be held accountable,” the statement adds.
This is the latest in a series of legal steps Golan has taken against what he calls a systematic campaign of slander from the political right-wing. In January, he announced lawsuits against Likud MK Tally Gotliv and Otzma Yehudit’s Almog Cohen “for spreading conspiracies and lies across the internet and from the Knesset plenum rostrum,” adding that Gotliv has previously received a warning letter from an attorney demanding NIS 250,000 ($68,000) in damages and a public apology.
Both Gotliv and Cohen have spread baseless internet conspiracy theories about Golan, claiming that he was involved in espionage against Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
A former IDF Northern Front and Home Front commander, Golan made headlines and received accolades in 2023 when he headed to the front lines of the October 7 onslaught of his own initiative and rescued many partygoers fleeing the Hamas-led massacre at the Nova rave.
Official temporarily removed from hostage negotiating team amid Qatargate probe – report
Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) meets with Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon and Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav (Poly) Mordechai at the IDF's hostages' headquarters, November 17, 2024. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)
Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Mordechai has been temporarily removed from Israel’s hostage negotiating team following developments in the ongoing “Qatargate” investigation, Channel 12 reports.
Police reportedly deemed testimony given by Mordechai last week “problematic,” without providing further details, leading to a 14-day ban on his involvement in the sensitive portfolio. For the past year and a half, the former head of COGAT has served as deputy to Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who oversees the matter for the military.
Mordechai was first questioned under caution in early July on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent and accepting bribes. At the time, reports alleged his company, Novard, had transferred large sums to Jonatan Urich — a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a key suspect in the affair — to fund an online campaign improving Qatar’s image in Israel.
During a court hearing last week over restrictions placed on Urich, Channel 12 reports that Urich’s lawyer argued they were unfair, noting that Mordechai and other figures questioned in the case had been permitted to return to their professional roles — including at Novard — and that other former security officials under scrutiny were still working with senior government figures.
The IDF has stressed that Mordechai does not conduct direct negotiations with mediators but has played a significant and at times “critical” role in the hostage negotiating team since the war began.
Palestinian reports: IDF uprooted thousands of olive trees in West Bank village after shooting attack by resident
Palestinian men check olive trees reportedly uprooted by Israeli soldiers using a bulldozer in the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah, on August 24, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Palestinian media outlets report that the Israeli army uprooted thousands of olive trees in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir over the past three days — an area of about 300 dunams (74 acres) — following a shooting attack in the area last week carried out by a resident.
In addition, a three-day curfew was imposed on the village, which was lifted this morning, according to the reports.
جريمة تستهدف الأرض.. الجرافات الإسرائيلية تقتلع المئات من أشجار الزيتون في قرية المغير شمال رام الله#قناة_الغد #فلسطين #الضفة_الغربية pic.twitter.com/lAxB4IMgAP
— قناة الغد (@AlGhadTV) August 23, 2025
On Thursday night, the chief of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, during a visit to the scene of the shooting, said that al-Mughayyir would “pay a heavy price” for the attack the previous day.
“Every village and every enemy needs to know that if they carry out an attack against the residents, they will pay a heavy price; they will experience a curfew, they will experience a closure, and they will experience ‘shaping operations,'” he said, apparently referring to the uprooting of the trees.
A “shaping operation” in military terms refers to efforts to create or preserve advantageous conditions for future operations by affecting enemy vulnerabilities.
⭕️نقلت صحيفة "هآرتس"، عن جيش الاحتلال قوله إنه اقتلع 3100 شجرة في قرية المغير بالضفة الغربية.
????قال قائد المنطقة الوسطى في جيش الاحتلال آفي بلوت، إن جميع قرى الضفة الغربية يجب أن "تعرف أنه إذا ارتكبت هجومًا، فسوف تدفع ثمنًا باهظًا، وسوف تواجه حظر التجول والحصار". pic.twitter.com/absYLvOwpB
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) August 24, 2025
“We will now focus our effort… on the village of al-Mughayir, which has carried out quite a few attacks recently; we are now locking in on this village,” Bluth said, according to remarks published by the IDF.
“We will also deliver this message to the village: The village carries out an attack, no problem, you want a spotlight on you, we know how to shine a spotlight. The first mission is to hunt down and thwart the cell and the terrorist,” he said.
“The second mission is to carry out ‘shaping operations’ here, and yes, so that everyone will be deterred, and not only this village, but any village that tries to raise a hand against any of the residents,” Bluth added.
On Wednesday, Israeli reserve soldiers from a rapid response team made up of residents of local settlements detained a Palestinian suspected of opening fire on a group of Israeli civilians near the settlement of Adei Ad earlier in the day, the military said.
The 30-year-old Palestinian, a resident of al-Mughayyir, had allegedly fired at the Israelis, without hitting any, before engaging in a physical altercation during which an Israeli man was lightly hurt.
He was nabbed several hours later, according to a military official.
During an initial interrogation by the Shin Bet, the suspect provided “findings that tied him to the attack,” the security agency said. Israeli forces also found a handgun suspected to have been used in the attack, the IDF and police added.
Man arrested after confessing to killing 5-year-old son in 1974, two years before he murdered his wife
Police arrest an 88-year-old man for murdering his five-year-old son decades ago, after he confessed yesterday to the killing. The suspect was previously jailed for murdering his wife.
The man is suspected of drowning his son in the sea in Eilat in 1974, law enforcement officials say. The five-year-old’s death was initially thought to be a fatal accident.
The man, who reportedly suffers from a terminal illness, was said to have confessed at the Eilat police station in order to clear his conscience.
The suspect — named by the Kan public broadcaster as Asher Goldstein — reportedly told police that the child suffered from cerebral palsy, and that he killed him out of a sense of mercy.
Goldstein was convicted of killing his wife with an iron bar, two years after he allegedly drowned his son.
Police took the man into custody and will bring him today before the Eilat Magistrate’s Court to extend his detention.
Kneecap to play Paris concert today; Jewish leader: ‘Desecrating memory of 50 French victims of Oct. 7’
Irish rap group Kneecap singer, Liam O'Hanna center, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on June 18, 2025, after being charged with supporting Hezbollah. (BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)
Irish rap group Kneecap, one of whose members faces a British terror charge for allegedly supporting Hezbollah, are set to perform outside Paris later today, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials.
The local authorities have withdrawn their subsidies for the music festival where the trio will play — the annual Rock en Seine festival, held in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud — after organizers kept the controversial band on the program for their slot from 1630 GMT.
The municipality of Saint-Cloud for the first time withdrew its 40,000-euro ($47,000) subsidy from Rock en Seine. The wider Ile-de-France region that includes Paris also cancelled its funding for the 2025 edition.
However, such moves do not jeopardize the viability of the festival, whose budget was between 16 million and 17 million euros this year.
“We are confident that the group will perform in the correct manner,” Matthieu Ducos, director of Rock en Seine, tells AFP ahead of the festival.
Liam O’Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in the UK in May, accused of displaying a flag of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah during a London concert in November.
Kneecap takes its name from the deliberate shooting of the limbs, known as “kneecapping,” carried out by Irish Republicans as punishment attacks during the decades of unrest in Northern Ireland.
Videos have emerged allegedly showing the band shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and calling on people to kill British lawmakers.
The concert comes against a background of concerns about rising antisemitism in France in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian terror group Hamas on Israel, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
“They are desecrating the memory of the 50 French victims of Hamas on October 7, as well as all the French victims of Hezbollah,” says Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), calling for the concert to be cancelled.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau says vigilance will be required against “any comments of an antisemitic nature, apology for terrorism or incitement to hatred” at the event.
Hostages families protest outside ministers’ homes: ‘Why are you hiding? Where’s your sense of responsibility?’
Yehuda Cohen protests outside the home of Defense Minister Israel Katz on August 24, 2025. (Tanya Zion-Waldoks/Hostages Forum)
Relatives of the hostages held in Gaza protest outside the homes of ministers, calling for a ceasefire deal.
The family of Nimrod Cohen demonstrates outside the home of Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“I came to remind you on day 688 that an IDF soldier who was sent to defend the country with a faulty tank is still sitting in the tunnels of Gaza,” shouts the hostage’s father, Yehuda, through a megaphone.
“If you really think you’re a defense minister, behave like a defense minister, not a war minister,” he says.
The family of Omri Miran demonstrates outside the home of Minister Avi Dichter.
“Why are you hiding? Where is your sense of responsibility for the citizens of Israel who have been languishing in Hamas captivity for 688 days,” says Miran’s sister-in-law Michal Lavie. “What about the values of leaving no one behind in life or death, and saving lives? Two basic values on which the State of Israel is founded.”
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.
Israel assesses that “at least one or two” hostages held in Gaza are in life-threatening condition, according to a Channel 12 news report yesterday.
Tens of thousands attending pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests across Australia, organizers say
Demonstrators take part in a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally in Sydney's central business district on August 24, 2025. (Saeed KHAN / AFP)
Tens of thousands of people are attending pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel marches across Australia, organizers say.
There are demonstrations at some 40 locations, in what organizers say is the largest pro-Palestinian protest in Australian history.
Demonstrators are demanding sanctions on Israel and an end to Australia supplying parts for Israeli fighter jets, the Guardian reports.
The outlet says the crowds are chanting “occupation no more” and “sanction Israel now.” Some signs declare Israel a “terrorist state” and equate it with Nazi Germany.
The protest comes amid an escalating diplomatic crisis between Israel and Australia since Canberra declared it would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
Report: Pentagon preventing Ukraine from using US-made missiles to hit targets inside Russia
US President Donald Trump, left, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives at the White House, on Monday, August 18, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Pentagon has prevented Ukraine from using US-made long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia for a number of months, US officials tell the Wall Street Journal.
A US Defense Department approval procedure has been used to stop Kyiv from using long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems since late spring, the officials tell the outlet, restricting Ukraine in its ability to operate against Russia as US President Donald Trump began warming ties with President Vladimir Putin.
According to the newspaper, the approval mechanism for requests from Ukraine to use the system gives Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the final say.
“President Trump has been very clear that the war in Ukraine needs to end. There has been no change in military posture in Russia-Ukraine at this time,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tells the WSJ in a statement. “Secretary Hegseth is working in lockstep with President Trump.”
2 men found dead in burning vehicle in forest near Kfar Qasim
Firefighters work to extinguish burning vehicle in Horshim Forest near Kfar Qasim on August 23, 2025 (Israel Fire and Rescue Services)
Police say they opened an investigation after two men were found dead in a burning vehicle in Horshim Forest near the central city of Kfar Qasim.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, police believe the incident is criminal.
The vehicle was still on fire when firefighters arrived on the scene, reports say.
When medics were finally able to reach the vehicle, they found two burned bodies and declared the deaths of the men.
North Korea test fires two ‘new’ air defense missiles, state media says
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test-firing of two “new” air defence missiles, state media says, after Pyongyang accused Seoul of fomenting tensions at the border.
The test-firing, which took place yesterday, showed that the two “improved” missile weapon systems had “superior combat capability,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports.
The KCNA report does not explain the new missiles in any detail, only that their “operation and reaction mode is based on unique and special technology.” It also does not say where the test had been carried out.
“The firing particularly proved that the technological features of two types of projectiles are very suitable for destroying various aerial targets,” KCNA says.
On the same day, Kim also communicated an “important task” for the defense science sector to carry out before a key party meeting, the report says.
South Korea’s military said yesterday it had fired warning shots at several North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the heavily militarized border separating the two countries on Tuesday.
UN Command put the number of North Korean troops that crossed the border at 30, Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.
Pyongyang’s state media quotes Army Lieutenant General Ko Jong Chol as saying the incident was a “premeditated and deliberate provocation.”
“This is a very serious prelude that would inevitably drive the situation in the southern border area where a huge number of forces are [stationed] in confrontation with each other to the uncontrollable phase,” Ko says.
South Korea’s new leader Lee Jae Myung has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust”, but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.
The missile tests also come as the South and the United States conduct extensive joint military drills.
North Korea — which attacked its neighbour in 1950, triggering the Korean War — has long been infuriated by such exercises, decrying them as rehearsals for invasion.
Ex-defense minister Ya’alon says Katz admitting to war crimes by threatening to destroy Gaza City
Moshe Ya'alon attends a protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip and for early elections, near the Knesset in Jerusalem, October 28, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
Former defense minister and chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon charges that Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted to “committing a war crime” in the Gaza Strip when he threatened on Friday to turn Gaza City into “Rafah and Beit Hanoun” — two cities that have been largely turned to rubble by Israeli military activity — during the IDF’s planned takeover of the city.
Katz said on Friday that “the gates of hell will soon open over Hamas murderers and rapists in Gaza — unless they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament.”
Now, Ya’alon asserts that these comments are “an admission to committing a war crime — the evacuation of the residents and the destruction of their homes.”
“The intention to carry this out in Gaza City is clearly an illegal order,” says the ex-defense official, calling for Israel’s legal authorities to intervene and prevent the Gaza City operation from going ahead, saying that only they will be able to prevent soldiers from having to obey “a clearly illegal order.”
“It is in your power to stop the moral and ethical deterioration of our country, which pledged ‘never again!'” implores Ya’alon.
“It is already clear to anyone with eyes in their heads that the messianic, evasive and corrupt government does not serve the country, but rather its grip on power, while neglecting the hostages, sacrificing soldiers, and destroying the country and its future,” he adds.
Ya’alon, a former member of the ruling Likud party, has been a fierce critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since he was ousted as defense minister in 2016.
In November last year, he warned that Israel was heading down a path of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip.
GOP firebrand accuses Israel of using US taxpayers’ money ‘to pay for genocide’ in Gaza
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene talks to reporters at the Capitol, December 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., file)
Far-right US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene launches a scathing attack on Israel from her official X account, accusing it of using US military aid “to pay for genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
In a lengthy post, the Georgia congresswoman asks Americans to imagine themselves in the shoes of Gaza’s civilians, 22 months into Israel’s war against Hamas.
“If America was being bombed day and night because of something horrific our government did, and many innocent Americans and American children were being killed and traumatically injured, and we begged for mercy, but the rest of the world said, ‘Americans voted for their government so they deserve it, their government is bad so all Americans are bad, therefore this is what they get and must be done…’ how would you feel? What would you think? What would you do?” she writes.
“This is what is happening to Gaza where in spite of what we have all been told, many innocent people and children are being killed and they are not Hamas,” continues Greene.
“Does Hamas deserve it? Yes. Do innocent people and children deserve it? No,” she writes, asking why people can’t have the same “compassion for the masses of innocent people and children in Gaza” as they had for victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
“US taxpayers fund Israel $3.8 billion annually for military aid. That means every US taxpayer is contributing to Israel’s military actions,” she asserts, adding that she doesn’t want “to pay for genocide in a foreign country against a foreign people for a foreign war that I had nothing to do with. And I will not be silent about it.”
Last month, Greene became the first Republican lawmaker to use the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
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