Dec. 12: Top court’s head accuses Netanyahu government of undermining judicial independence

UN chief calls for Israel to end strikes in Syria, withdraw from buffer zone

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during a visit in Pretoria, South Africa. December 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed)

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria.

Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to deescalate violence on all fronts throughout the country,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric tells reporters Thursday.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” belonging to the ousted Syrian regime to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists.

Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of president Bashar Assad.

Dujarric adds that Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries, insisting it remains in force days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it void due to the Assad regime’s fall. And the UN chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the disengagement pact and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman says.

Hamas ups day’s death toll to 58; IDF says terrorists trying to steal aid among those hit

Palestinians check the damage outside a building targeted by an Israeli air strike early on December 12, 2024 near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says a series of Israeli air strikes killed at least 58 people, including 12 guards securing aid trucks, while the IDF says it targeted terrorists planning to hijack the aid vehicles.

UN says 1.1 million newly displaced in Syria since offensive that toppled Assad

The United Nations humanitarian agency says that more than a million people, mostly women and children, have been newly displaced in Syria since rebels launched an offensive ousting President Bashar al-Assad.

“As of 12 December, 1.1 million people have been newly displaced across the country since the start of the escalation of hostilities on 27 November. The majority are women and children,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says in a statement.

Blaming military echelon, Smotrich says he didn’t know what Nukhba unit was before Oct. 7

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he didn’t know there was such thing as a Nukhba Force before October 7, referring to Hamas’s special forces unit.

The far-right minister blames what he says was the poor relationship between the political and military echelons, which left the former “isolated” and uninformed about Israel’s security challenges.

Press stories about Hamas’s Nukhba unit have gone back years, though.

“I did not know that there was such a thing as the Nukhba unit before October 7, and I am one of the people who invests in my position on the security cabinet and regularly read and review materials. I did not know a quarter of the infrastructure that existed in Lebanon for Hezbollah’s Radwan force. This was not brought to our attention. There are huge information gaps,” he says during an appearance at a conference of the Yesha settler lobby group, claiming the military echelon’s leaders regularly disobey the political leadership.

Airstrike kills at least 20 Palestinians in central Gaza – medics; no immediate comment from IDF

At least 20 Palestinians have been killed, several of whom are children, in an Israeli airstrike on houses in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, medics tell Reuters.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Blinken meets Erdogan as forces backed by US, Turkey clash in Syria

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erodgan, during their meeting at Ankara Esenboga Airport on December 12, 2024. (Andrew Caballero Reynolds, Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Turkey for talks focused on a critical aspect of establishing stability in Syria amid clashes in the north of the country between US-backed Kurdish forces and Turkey-backed rebels.

Blinken meets President Tayyip Erdogan at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport after visiting Jordan on his first trip to the region since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government was ousted on Sunday.

The Turkish presidency shares a photo from Erdogan’s meeting with Blinken in a post on X, but does not share details about the talks.

Blinken will meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday.

NATO allies Washington and Ankara supported Syrian rebels during the 13-year civil war, but their interests notably clashed when it came to one of the rebel factions – the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Islamic State militants. It is spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and that have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

Before arriving in Ankara, Blinken said the PKK is an “enduring threat” to Turkey.

“At the same time … we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside of Syria at a time when we want to see this transition to an interim government and to a better way forward,” he says.

Syria is expected to top the agenda of Blinken’s talks, a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity, adding Ankara is ready to support Syria as a safe and stable place governed by an inclusive government.

In message to Iranians, PM says Islamic Republic’s axis is crumbling due to chain reaction set off by Israel

Issuing a video message aimed at the people of Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Iranian axis was crumbling due to a “chain reaction” set off by Israel, and expresses his hope that Iran can “be free” and make peace globally.

Speaking in English with Persian subtitles, Netanyahu points out that Iranian leaders “spent over 30 billion dollars supporting [Bashar] Assad in Syria” before his regime “collapsed into dust.”

“Your oppressors spent billions supporting Hamas in Gaza. Today their regime lies in ruins,” he adds. “Your oppressors spent over 20 billion dollars supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon. In a matter of weeks, most of Hezbollah’s leaders, its rockets and thousands of its terrorists went up in smoke.”

Netanyahu — in his third video message addressing Iranians in recent months — said that the new reality today is “a chain reaction — a chain reaction to the pounding of Hamas, the decimation of Hezbollah, the targeting of [Hezbollah’s] Nasrallah, the blows we delivered to the Iran regime’s axis of terror. And all this came, as President Trump pointed out this week, ‘because of Israel and its fighting success.'”

He says that while Iran’s leaders “seek to conquer other nations, to impose fundamentalist tyranny on the Middle East,” Israel is seeking only to “defend our state. But in so doing, we’re defending civilization against barbarism.”

Addressing Iranian citizens, the prime minister says he believes that “just as we want peace with you, you want peace with us.”

“But you suffer under the rule of a regime that subjugates you and threatens us,” he says. “You know what this regime is truly terrified of? It’s terrified of you, the people of Iran. And one day, I know that, one day this will change. One day Iran will be free.”

Report: PM received warnings from security chiefs that Israel was exposed to attacks before Oct. 7

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference from the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, December 9, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Channel 12’s “Uvda,” a program renowned for investigative reports, says that while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Sheba Hospital in July 2023 after having his pacemaker fitted, the head of Shin Bet Ronen Bar called him on a secure phone and told him: “I am giving you a strategic warning of war.”

“I can’t say when or how,” Bar reportedly went on, but Israel’s enemies were watching what was happening inside Israel amid the rift over the judicial overhaul, “and they identify weakness.” Bar urged Netanyahu to stop the overhaul legislation.

Also while he was in the hospital, IDF Chief Herzi Halevi, who had been scheduled to meet with him, sent him a letter in which he reportedly stated: “The IDF’s readiness is being rapidly hurt and recovering slowly. This is dangerous. What is happening now in Israel raises the chance that we will be attacked.” Halevi made clear his assessment in the letter, the “Uvda” report says, that the enemy would not forgive itself if it passed up on this opportunity.

Macron to name new French prime minister Friday morning

French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister on Friday morning, his office says, as pressure mounted to fill the post a week after MPs toppled the government.

“The statement naming the prime minister will be published tomorrow morning,” the Elysee Palace says after Macron returned early from a trip to Poland.

Jordan says it will host US, EU, Turkish, Arab diplomats for Syria crisis summit

Jordan will host a Syria crisis summit over the weekend with the participation of foreign ministers from numerous Western and Arab nations, Amman’s foreign ministry announces.

The Saturday summit, “to discuss developments in Syria,” will include top diplomats from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, which will also convene with their Turkish and US counterparts, the EU’s foreign policy chief and the UN envoy for Syria, the statement says.

Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in southern town after IDF says Hezbollah violated ceasefire

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on the border town of Khiam killed one person earlier today, hours after Washington announced Israel had withdrawn from the area as Lebanon’s army deployed under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

“The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Khiam killed one person and injured another,” the Lebanese health ministry says in a statement.

The IDF said earlier that it targeted Hezbollah operatives violating the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

Poll: If elections held today, Likud would be largest party but Netanyahu wouldn’t be able to form coalition

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testifies behind reinforced protective screens at the Tel Aviv District Court for the second day of testimony in his trial, on December 11, 2024 (Amit Shabi/Pool)

If elections were held today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party would remain the largest faction in the Knesset. However, his right-wing religious bloc would fall well below the majority needed to form a coalition, a Channel 12 news poll shows.

The results for each party are as follows:

Likud (25), National Unity (19), Yesh Atid (16), Yisrael Beytenu (13); The Democrats (11), Shas (9), Otzma Yehudit (9), United Torah Judaism (8), Hadash-Ta’al (5), and Ra’am (5), Religious Zionism (0) and New Hope (0).

The pro-Netanyahu bloc would have 51 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc would have 64 seats — not including Hadash-Ta’al’s five seats.

If former prime minister Naftali Bennett were to re-enter politics and run as the head of his own party, as expected, the results would be as follows.

Likud (23), Bennett’s party (22) National Unity (11), Yesh Atid (11), Yisrael Beytenu (8); The Democrats (10), Shas (9), Otzma Yehudit (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Hadash-Ta’al (5), and Ra’am (5), Religious Zionism (0) and New Hope (0).

Asked who they prefer for premier in a head-to-head matchup, 39 percent of respondents said Netanyahu, compared to 29 percent who said National Unity chair Benny Gantz.

When pitted against Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid, 40% said Netanyahu, compared to 27% who said Lapid.

When Netanyahu was pitted against Bennett, respondents were evenly split at 37%.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operatives spotted violating ceasefire in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out a drone strike earlier today against a group of Hezbollah operatives who were spotted in southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

According to the military, the operatives posed a threat to Israeli civilians.

“The IDF continues to be committed to the understandings regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon,” the IDF says, adding that it continues to be deployed to southern Lebanon and is operating to “remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”

Gantz on Levin: There’s never been a justice minister who’s done so much damage in such a short time

Following Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s claim that the justices of Israel’s top court have turned themselves into “dictatorial rulers,” National Unity chairman Benny Gantz and The Democrats chief Yair Golan each launch heated attacks on the Likud lawmaker.

“There has never been a justice minister who has done so much damage in so short a time,” tweets Gantz.

Levin is acting as if Israel has returned to its pre-war routine, with the hostages home and the economy thriving, allowing him to return to his judicial overhaul agenda, states Golan.

“While the country continues to bleed, Levin is returning to the dream of a coup d’état – a campaign of revenge and destruction against the judicial system,” he tweets — arguing that Levin enjoys neither the legal right nor the public support for such a campaign.

“And if you try – we will be there: In the Knesset, in the courtroom and on the street. We have a country to save and we will not give up.”

Karhi urges Levin to advance legislation to change composition of Judicial Selection Committee in government’s favor

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in the Knesset, 24 June, 2024. (Knesset spokesperson)

Responding to the High Court’s decision ordering Justice Minister Yariv Levin to hold a vote to appoint a new Supreme Court president within a month, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi calls on Levin to “bring the law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee for a second and third reading.”

Levin has refused to appoint a new Supreme Court president for over a year since he did not have the votes in the Judicial Selection Committee to install a hardline conservative justice he favors — rather than Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, who is next in line for the position under the current seniority system.

Karhi criticizes what he describes as the “arrogance” of Amit, declaring that he “will not be president of the High Court” and that today’s ruling is “illegal, invalid and must not be obeyed in any way.”

“I call on the justice minister to bring the law to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee for a second and third reading,” he concludes.

In September, The Times of Israel reported that Levin was considering reviving a bill to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, the most controversial component of his judicial overhaul agenda, which would grant the government almost complete control over all judicial appointments in the country, including that of the Supreme Court president.

The bill brought the country to near anarchy when it was on the cusp of being passed in March 2023, leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze the legislation.

Speaking with The Times of Israel in October, Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman, one of the architect’s of the government’s judicial overhaul, said that the bill will become law “the second there is political will in the coalition to pass it.”

Lapid accuses Levin of trying to turn Israel into an ‘undemocratic state’

Responding to Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s claim that the justices of Israel’s top court have turned themselves into “dictatorial rulers” who “trample on the choice of the people,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that it was Levin himself “who tried to turn Israel into an undemocratic state with his illegal coup.”

Levin, who was “one of the main people responsible for the October 7 disaster, is again breaking the law and dishonoring the Justice Ministry,” Lapid tweets.

“Instead of getting the State of Israel back on track, he is intensifying the chaos and the constitutional crisis,” he continues, adding that for over a year the court has not had a president because “Levin decided to sabotage the work of the judiciary” — something that “must stop immediately.”

Levin attacked the court after it ordered him to hold a vote to appoint a new Supreme Court president within a month.

Supreme Court head accuses Netanyahu government of undermining judicial independence

Justice Isaac Amit at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, January 4, 2024. (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)

In a combative and confrontational speech, Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit lambastes the government and Justice Minister Yariv Levin for what he said was their actions designed to undermine the independence of the judiciary in a public speech at the Israeli Association for Public Law.

His comments come hot on the trail of the High Court’s decision ordering Levin to hold a vote to appoint a new Supreme Court president within a month, after the minister has dragged his feet on implementing an earlier less concrete ruling to the same effect.

In response Levin called the court a dictatorship and failed to say whether he would abide by the order, calling instead to bring back the government’s agenda to neuter the judiciary, thus reviving fears of a full-blown constitutional crisis.

“Precisely in these days, we are witnessing attempts to undermine the strength of the judiciary and to weaken it – to the point of real concern about eroding the institutional independence of the judiciary and the foundations of the separation of powers,” asserts Amit.

The acting head of the judiciary points to Levin’s judicial overhaul agenda which would have given the government control over the judiciary; calls by ministers and MKs to ignore Supreme Court rulings; government efforts to assert control over the appointment of the state ombudsman for judges; Levin’s refusal to meet with Amit and his predecessor for over half a year; Levin’s efforts to curtail judicial positions on benches around the country through the state budget; and Levin’s slow-walking of the appointment process for a new Supreme Court president itself.

“This is the first time in the history of the country that the executive branch has so blatantly interfered in the internal management of the judiciary and the way its resources are allocated,” storms Amit.

“And don’t let the technical terminology fool you: harming the institutional strength of the judiciary is harming the authority of the judiciary, and above all, its responsibility to the entire public,” he continues, adding that “The Judicial Authority will stand strong in the face of the attempts to weaken its institutional resilience”

Levin calls Supreme Court judges ‘dictators,’ accuses them of subverting Knesset and gov’t

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool/Flash90)

In a furious riposte to the High Court’s decision ordering him to hold a vote to appoint a new Supreme Court president within a month, Justice Minister Yariv Levin accuses the justices of Israel’s top court of turning themselves into “dictatorial rulers” who “trample on the choice of the people.”

Levin has refused to appoint a new Supreme Court president for over a year since he did not have the votes in the Judicial Selection Committee to install a hardline conservative justice he favors for the position.

The justice minister does not state whether or not he will comply with the court’s new order.

“The Supreme Court justices are taking the powers of the government and the Knesset for themselves, trampling on the people’s choice, repeatedly throwing away the votes of millions of Israeli citizens, and turning themselves into dictatorial rulers, intervening and determining everything, instead of what the people’s choose,” Levin fumes.

The justice minister, who led the hugely divisive judicial overhaul agenda in 2023, also declares that the court has “shoved all of us to the point” where a decision was needed whether or not to “restore democracy” by “defending the authorities of the Knesset and the government, an allusion to reviving the contentious reforms he advanced which would enable the government to take control of the judiciary.

“Israeli citizens have the right to live in a democratic country that has a judicial system, and not to be the servants of a handful of masters who think that the court is supreme over the country and its citizens,” Levin insists.

‘Intifada revolution’: Dozens of anti-Israel protesters rally outside NYU library; two detained

Students hold an anti-Israel protest outside New York University on December 12, 2024. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Several dozen anti-Israel protesters rally outside NYU’s library on the last day of class for the semester.

The protesters chant “intifada revolution” and “Tel Aviv is stolen land” while beating a wooden spoon in a metal bowl. Many are covering their faces with keffiyehs.

“While you’re learning, Gaza’s burning,” they say.

At least two protesters are detained in a police van next to the protest. Other demonstrators curse at police, calling them “pigs.”

Students hold an anti-Israel protest outside New York University on December 12, 2024. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

“We gain strength from our martyrs,” a speaker tells the crowd.

The campus tightens security at the library. Around a dozen campus security officers man a barricade at the building entrance and check student IDs for those entering. A line of students huddled against the winter cold stretches down the block.

The student protesters are demanding that the university disclose and divest holdings from “companies aiding the Israeli occupation of Palestine.”

Chants for an intifada outside NYU library on the last day of class pic.twitter.com/xyzsg7e2ZZ

— Luke Tress (@luketress) December 12, 2024

Oct. 7 scuttled massive Trump Organization project in Israel — president-elect’s son

Trump Tower in Manhattan (Eric Cortellessa/Times of Israel)

The Trump Organization plans to build a Trump Tower in the Saudi capital Riyadh as part of a real estate expansion in the region including in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, Eric Trump, the US president-elect’s son tells Reuters.

Outlining two new projects in Riyadh, in partnership with Dubai-based luxury developer Dar Global DARD.L, The Trump Organization executive vice president declines to give details.

“What I’ll tell you is one of them will definitely be a tower,” Trump says in an interview, adding that his company plans to further expand its partnership with Dar Global across the Gulf region including a new project in Abu Dhabi.

“We’ll probably be in Abu Dhabi in the next year or so,” Trump says, a day after the two companies unveiled plans for a glittering gold Trump Tower in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.

When Trump first took office in 2017, he retained ownership of the Trump Organization but placed control of the sprawling business empire in the hands of his sons Eric and Donald Jr., breaking with US precedent by not divesting his businesses or putting them into a blind trust.

This raised conflict of interest concerns and Democratic congressional investigators later found that businesses tied to the president received at least $7.8 million in foreign payments from 20 countries during his four years in the White House.

“I have no interaction with Washington, D.C. I want no interaction with Washington, D.C.” Eric Trump says in response to a question on potential conflicts of interest, adding they would follow the same practices as during Trump’s first term.

“I think we are going to navigate that very smartly, very well, no different than we did in 2016,” he says.

His father’s position meant that The Trump Organization would avoid opening up businesses with countries involved in active conflicts such as Russia, Ukraine and Israel, or where the US is considering imposing heavy tariffs like China.

“We could have done two of the biggest buildings in Israel,” Eric Trump said, adding: “They were slated to be done and then obviously October 7 came around, you couldn’t do it. You just have to be sensitive to what was happening.”

13 reportedly killed in strikes IDF said targeted Hamas fighters trying to divert aid

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 13 Palestinians were killed in a pair of airstrikes that the Israel Defense Forces conducted earlier today targeting humanitarian aid convoys.

The Israeli military said in a statement the two airstrikes aimed to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and accused Hamas members of planning to prevent the aid from reaching Gaza civilians who need it.

The statement said the Hamas members aimed to hijack the aid “in support of continuing terrorist activity.”

Twenty-three more Palestinians were killed in other Israeli military operations throughout Gaza over the past day, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

UN chief concerned by Israeli strikes in Syria, urges de-escalation

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by “the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.

“The Secretary General is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria, stressing the need the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country,” Dujarric tells reporters.

High Court orders Levin to hold Judicial Selection Committee vote for a new Supreme Court president

Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a Knesset plenum session on November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

Israel’s slow-burning constitutional crisis rises another notch with the High Court of Justice ordering Justice Minister Yariv Levin to hold a vote in the Judicial Selection Committee for a new president of the Supreme Court by January 16.

The decision comes in response to a request for a contempt of court order against Levin for failing to hold such a vote after the court ordered him to do so in short order back in September.

Levin has slow-walked the process of appointing a new president and has sought to implement new procedures in the committee before doing so, stretching the interpretation of the court’s order that the committee hold a vote “close to” the end of the waiting period required after nominating candidates for the position of president which was in mid-November.

Following the court hearing this afternoon, the High Court declines to hold Levin in contempt, saying that such a tool was designed for extreme circumstances and noting that the minister had conducted the necessary processes to hold a vote for president and convened the committee to begin the process.

The three justices presiding say however that since Levin has not implemented the core aspect of the September order, holding a vote, it was right that it “clarify the operative order” of that ruling in a manner which “removes all doubt regarding the obligations of the minister” to bring about the appointment of a new court president.

“In order to allow the Judicial Nomination Committee to exhaust its discussions on the subject, we instruct that the justice minister bring to a vote the election of the Supreme Court president in the Judicial Selection Committee by January 16, 2025,” the justices order.

IDF says it’s probing soldier who stole Palestinian’s phone, posted photo of arrest on his Instagram

An IDF soldiers takes a picture of Palestinian suspects detains in the West Bank and then posts it on the Instagram account of the detainees on December 11, 2024. (Screen capture/Instagram)

An IDF soldier stole the phone of one of the Palestinian suspects arrested during a raid last night in the West Bank village of Bizzariya.

The soldier then took a picture of the Palestinian while he and another suspect were lying face down on the ground blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. The photo was then posted on the social media account belonging to the suspect whose phone was stolen by the soldier.

Asked to comment on the incident, the IDF says the soldier’s behavior “was not consistent with IDF values.”

“The case is being investigated and disciplinary measures will be decided upon,” the army adds in a statement that it has frequently issued over the past year as concerns regarding a deterioration in discipline across the IDF have skyrocketed.

The Israeli army’s latest methods to humiliate Palestinians: abducting them, binding and blindfolding them, and then using their phones to post humiliating photos as stories on their own Facebook accounts.(the Palestinian victims' accounts).

This happened tonight in Bazaria,… pic.twitter.com/uGe1JkZ4lq

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) December 11, 2024

IDF says its airstrike took out commander in Hamas weapons manufacturing division

An Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip this week eliminated a top commander in Hamas’s weapons manufacturing division, the IDF and Shin Bet say.

According to the military, the strike against a Hamas commander center embedded within the al-Hurriya school in Gaza City, killed the commander, Ammar Daloul, and several other operatives including one who participated in the October 7 onslaught.

Daloul served as a department head in Hamas’s manufacturing division and a company commander in the terror group’s Zeitoun Battalion, according to the IDF.

The military says the strike also killed Hamas terrorists Jihad Yassin, a company commander in the Zeitoun Battalion; Yahya Masoud Muhammad Ashqar, who infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the October 7 onslaught; Kamal Saber Salim Arafat; Muhammad Muhammad Akram Aaraj; Loay Farid Faiz Hussein Ali, a platoon commander; Imad Aouni Ibrahim Rayan; and Raed Samir Masoud Harazayn, a member of Hamas’s internal security forces.

Before carrying out the strike, the IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm.

Sullivan: Let’s make sure Israel isn’t responsible for third famine of 21st century

Palestinians wait for food aid outside a distribution center at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 4, 2024. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Talks on a hostage deal are at “a point where it could get done,” says US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

The sides are “close,” he says in Tel Aviv, and now it is a matter of “bridging that final distance.”

He attributes recent progress to the ceasefire in Lebanon, the fall of the Syrian regime, and Israel’s “military progress against Hamas’s infrastructure, formation and senior leadership.”

“The surround sound of these negotiations is different today than it has been,” he says.

Sullivan insists that what “we need to do is get into the initial phase” of a deal, “begin to produce the actual releases, the images of hostages being welcomed home to their families, as we saw during the [November 2023] release.”

“And then the terms of the deal are built on the idea that there will be ongoing discussions, diplomacy, negotiations to move from phase one to phase two,” says Sullivan, adding that “the basic elements of and the basic framework of [US President Joe Biden’s May proposal] are still alive and part of the discussions that are happening today.”

He says that both parties and the Biden and Trump administrations want “to see this ceasefire and hostage deal and see it now, that is all part of the American contribution to an effort to ultimately produce an outcome here.”

Sullivan says the US still believes that three of the seven American hostages in Gaza are alive, though, it does not have definitive proof.

In Gaza, he says, “Israel has every right, indeed, a duty to go after its enemies with everything it’s got.”

But, on the humanitarian front, “feeding starving children does not harm the security of the State of Israel.”

“Let’s make sure that Israel is not responsible for the third famine of the 21st century,” he warns.

Turning to Syria, Sullivan says the Israel and the US didn’t go into depth on the conditions that would allow Jerusalem to feel secure enough to withdraw its troops from the buffer zone. “We do have every expectation that it will be temporary.”

“We take them at their word that that is the intention here, as we work through a new arrangement that can ensure that Israel is secure in light of the risks,”he says.

“What Israel saw was an immediate threat, the collapse of a structure that had been in place for a long time, and a potential for that vacuum to be filled by a direct, proximate threat right across the border,” Sullivan explains. “So it moved in to fill that threat that, from the United States’ perspective, is logical and consistent with Israel’s right to self defense.”

He adds that the US is in conversations with Turkey “about our expectations and about what we see as the best way forward,” on the future of Syria and the safety of the Kurds.

‘I support whatever gets us to peace’: Trump avoids backing his 2020 two-state solution offer

Then-Republican US presidential nominee, now US President-elect Donald Trump gestures while giving a keynote speech on the third day of the Bitcoin 2024 conference at Music City Center July 27, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images North America/AFP)

US President-elect Donald Trump refrains from explicitly backing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asserting he’ll support whatever framework brings peace.

“I support a plan of peace, and it can take different forms,” Trump tells Time magazine, which subsequently published a full transcript of the interview.

“I support whatever solution we can do to get peace. There are other ideas other than two-state, but I support whatever is necessary to get not just peace, [but] a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. There are other alternatives,” he says.

It is the latest of several shifts Trump has taken on the issue over the past decade. At the beginning of his first term, Trump declared, “I’m looking at two states and one state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

Several days later, Trump appeared to backtrack, saying, “I like the two-state solution,” while again insisting that he’d “ultimately like what the both parties like.”

The next year, he said, “I like the two-state solution… That’s what I think works best.”

But the next day, Trump declared, “If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that’s okay with me… If they want two states, that’s okay with me.”

Two years later — in 2020 — Trump unveiled a peace plan that he framed as a “realistic” two-state solution, offering the Palestinians a state on roughly 70% of the West Bank that wouldn’t include Israel’s settlements.

Last week, Trump’s newly appointed senior adviser on Mideast and Arab affairs Massad Boulos told Le Monde “a road map that would lead to a Palestinian state” would be an important part of the talks between the US and Saudi Arabia regarding a potential Israel-Saudi normalization agreement during the next administration.

Boulos then highlighted the Trump peace plan as a frame of reference, indicating that the president-elect still endorses the concept.

Trump’s former Iran envoy Brian Hook, who is leading the administration’s State Department transition team, said as much in an interview last month while acknowledging that Israel’s appetite for a two-state solution has lessened since October 7.

Trump is pressed during the Time interview whether he still backs the peace plan he released in 2020 or would allow Israel to annex large parts of the West Bank.

“What I want is a deal where there’s going to be peace and where the killing stops,” Trump responds.

Again pushed on whether he’d back an Israeli annexation move, Trump avoids responding directly after acknowledging that he stopped Netanyahu from taking that step during his first term, apparently referring to the trade-off the US brokered as part of the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

“I want a long lasting peace. I’m not saying that’s a very likely scenario, but I want a long lasting peace, a peace where we don’t have an October 7 in another three years,” he says.

“There are numerous ways you can do it. You can do it two state, but there are numerous ways it can be done… I’d like to see everybody be happy. Everybody go about their lives, and people stop from dying. That includes on many different fronts,” the president-elect continues.

Trump then shifts the subject, appearing to reiterate his claim that most of the hostages in Gaza are no longer alive.

President Isaac Herzog reportedly tried to move Trump away from that belief last month, sharing Israeli intelligence with him that assesses roughly half of the 100 remaining hostages to be alive.

“The other thing that’s happening are the hostages. Where are the hostages? Why aren’t they back? Well, they could be gone… I think Hamas is probably saying, Wow, the hostages are gone. That’s what they want,” Trump tells Time.

Trump separately asserts that “the Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine.”

“The Middle East is going to get solved. I think it’s more complicated than the Russia-Ukraine, but I think it’s easier to solve,” he says.

Asked whether Netanyahu gave him assurances that he’d end the Gaza war, Trump declines to respond directly but says, “I don’t want people from either side killed… whether it’s the Palestinians and the Israelis and all of the different entities that we have in the Middle East.”

Sullivan appears to back Israel’s military operations in Syria

An IDF armored vehicle crosses the border from Israel into Syria in the Golan Heights, December 11, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Speaking to the press in Tel Aviv, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan appears to endorse Israeli military actions in Syria.

“What Israel is doing is trying to identify potential threats, both conventional and weapons of mass destruction that could threaten Israel, and, frankly, threaten others as well, and neutralize those threats,” he says.

“That is part of its effort to protect the country in the midst of a very fluid situation,” Sullivan says, adding that the US is “in deep consultation with the Israeli government.”

Asked whether he believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier said Israel’s takeover of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights would be temporary, Sullivan says he takes Netanyahu at his word.

Sullivan says he is in Israel to “capitalize on the opportunity of the fall of Assad for a better future for the people of Syria, while vigilantly managing the risks that come with the change in Syria.”

He says that the US “remains vigilant against the continuing threat from Iran, including the threat from its nuclear program.”

“President Biden remains committed to the simple proposition that the United States of America will never commit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he says.

Addressing the White House transition to the Donald Trump administration, Sullivan says he has been “engaging my successor, the incoming national security advisor, in a professional and serious way on all of the issues that affect the State of Israel, the threats and the opportunities.”

He says the conversations have been “constructive and substantive.”

Sullivan also says it is his “personal commitment that the US-Israel partnership rests on a solid bipartisan foundation moving forward.”

Sullivan: Netanyahu ready to reach a hostage deal; I’m aiming to close it this month

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan gives a press conference in Tel Aviv on December 12, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is ready to do a deal,” says US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on his 7th trip to Israel in his current role.

Sullivan makes the comments in response to a question during a Tel Aviv press conference about whether Netanyahu is stalling in the ongoing hostage negotiations to secure a deal when US President-elect Donald Trump enters office.

“No, I do not get that sense,” Sullivan responds.

Further boosting chances for a deal, Sullivan says Hamas has adapted its posture at the negotiating table following last month’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The top Biden aide says the terror group is more isolated now amid the weakening of the Iranian-led axis against Israel.

“I got the sense today from the prime minister he’s ready to do a deal. And when I go to Doha and Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later.

“There is more optimism in the air, shall we say,” adds Sullivan.

“I wouldn’t be here today if I thought this thing was just waiting until after January 20,” Sullivan says.

“Israel did not start or seek this war,” he stresses during his opening remarks. “Hamas started this war.”

Sullivan highlights the importance of Israel’s military achievements in recent months, saying they contribute to the likelihood of a hostage release deal.

“Hezbollah can never again rebuild its terror infrastructure to threaten Israel, says Sullivan.

“Hamas’s leaders are gone, including the terror masterminds of October 7,” Sullivan continues.

“Now the Assad regime in Syria is gone.”

When US President Joe Biden said “Don’t,” Sullivan argues, “this is what he meant.”

“The balance of power in the Middle East has changed significantly,” Sullivan declares.

“Israel is stronger, Iran is weaker.”

Military officials: Israel preparing for potential strikes against Iran nuclear facilities

The Israeli Air Force is continuing its readiness and preparations for potential strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, following the weakening of Tehran’s proxy groups in the Middle East and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Israeli military officials.

The military believes that an isolated Iran may push further with its nuclear program.

Due to the dramatic changes in the Middle East, especially the fall of Assad which allowed the IAF to take out the vast majority of Syria’s air defenses, the Israeli military believes there is now an opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear sites.

Syria’s ruling body will suspend constitution and parliament, Syrian source says

Syria’s newly formed administration will suspend the existing legislature and constitution after toppling president Bashar al-Assad, a source close to the newly formed Syrian government tells Reuters on Thursday.

The source also indicates that the new ruling body would create a committee of experts to make amendments to the constitution.

IDF issues evacuation warnings for several Gaza City neighborhoods following rocket fire at Israeli troops

The IDF has issued an evacuation warning to several neighborhoods of Gaza City, following rocket fire from the area at Israeli troops operating in the Strip.

“Terror organizations are once again firing rockets from this area. The specified area has been warned several times in the past,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman says, publishing a map of the zones that are to be evacuated.

Civilians in the area are called to move to shelters in the center of Gaza City.

#عاجل ‼️ الى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في بلوكات: 703, 690, 783, 688, 784, 687 (منطقة الرمال – الصبرة) ????هذا تخدير مسبق قبل هجوم!

⭕️تطلق المنظمات الإرهابية القذائف الصاروخية مرة اخرى من هذه المنطقة. لقد تم تحذير هذه المنطقة المحددة عدة مرات في الماضي

⭕️من أجل أمنكم، انتقلوا… pic.twitter.com/fGHgPfpRk4

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 12, 2024

Report: PM’s attorney flew to Serbia to meet with suspect in stolen intel docs case

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyer Amit Hadad arrives for a court hearing in the trial against premier at the Jerusalem District Court on November 13, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad recently flew to Serbia to meet with Srulik Einhorn, one of the suspects in an ongoing court case on allegedly stolen intelligence documents leaked to the German Bild newspaper, Haaretz reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Einhorn is facing a summons for questioning in the case upon his return to Israel.

He has been living in Belgrade over the past year while working on political campaigns in Serbia. He has also served as a media adviser to Netanyahu.

Einhorn is now in advanced talks to hire Hadad, who also represents fellow Netanyahu aide Jonathan Urich, Haaretz says.

״It is strange that one lawyer represents so many figures involved in this case,” the source tells Haaretz. “The prime minister’s attorney cannot represent two suspects who could potentially provide information about Netanyahu.”

Haaretz also reports that the family of the main suspect in the Bild case, Eli Feldstein, has been facing pressure from Likud activists in recent weeks to swap his lawyer for someone aligned with the government.

Feldstein is currently represented by Oded Savoray, who told Channel 12 earlier this month that his client acted on behalf of Netanyahu’s office when he leaked the stolen intelligence documents to the Bild, which the prosecution says aimed at influencing public opinion against a hostage deal.

The activists have been contacting Feldstein’s family on social media and one of them even offered to pay for a different laywer, Haaretz says.

Among the names proposed by the activists for an alternative attorney was Hadad.

‘Jerusalem will always be Israel’s undivided capital,’ PM says at inauguration of Paraguay embassy in the city

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the inauguration of Paraguay's new embassy in Jerusalem on December 12, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Paraguay’s new embassy in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares, “Jerusalem will always be the undivided capital of Israel.”

“This is a fact, and you recognized it. Thank you for opening the embassy here,” Netanyahu tells Paraguay President Santiago Peña.

Jewish politician Mark Levine announces candidacy for NYC comptroller

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine addresses the 2,000-strong crowd at Marching and Running for their Lives in Central Park, in New York, January 14, 2024. (Jordana Horn/Times of Israel)

Mark Levine, a prominent Jewish New York City politician, announces his candidacy for city comptroller, one of the top offices in the city government.

Levine is the Manhattan borough president and will likely be one of the most recognizable figures running for comptroller, which is seen as the second-highest elected office in the city.

“I will use the powers of the office to address our city’s historic crisis of affordability and livability, and to restore broken confidence in government,” Levine says in a statement.

Levine, a centrist democrat, is an advocate for Jewish causes, speaks Hebrew, and often appears at Jewish and Israel-related events.

The comptroller is New York City’s chief financial officer and auditor, overseeing the city’s massive budget and serving as a check on the mayor.

The current comptroller, Brad Lander, is also Jewish, and is vacating the position to run for mayor. Lander, a progressive, has had a tense relationship with Mayor Eric Adams, who faces a tough reelection campaign as he contends with corruption charges.

Israeli Air Force says it has achieved total air superiority above Syria

An Israeli airstrike against an air defense system in Syria, December 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

After over a decade of evading air defenses over the skies of Syria during a campaign against Iran’s supply of weapons to Hezbollah, the Israeli Air Force says it has achieved total air superiority in the area.

An Israeli bombing campaign earlier this week across Syria, aimed at taking out advanced weaponry that could fall into the hands of hostile elements following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime, also destroyed the vast majority of the air defenses in the country.

According to the military, the IAF destroyed 86% of the former Assad regime’s air defense systems across Syria, totaling 107 separate air defense components and another 47 radars.

The numbers include 80% of the short-to medium-range SA-22, also known as the Pantsir-S1; and 90% of the Russian SA-17 medium-range air defense system, also known as the Buk.

Both Russian-made systems had posed challenges to the IAF during its so-called campaign between campaigns — or Mabam, as it’s known by its Hebrew acronym — aimed at countering Iranian weapon deliveries to Hezbollah in Lebanon and attempts by Iran-backed groups to gain a foothold in the country, which began in 2013.

Only a handful of air defense systems now remain in Syria, and they are not considered a major threat to the IAF, which says it can operate freely across the country’s skies.

“The Syrian air defense array is one of the strongest in the Middle East and the blow caused to it is a significant achievement for the Air Force’s superiority in the region,” the IDF says.

The new freedom of aerial action also brings the IAF new opportunities. If in the past, the IAF would not fly directly over Damascus when carrying out strikes on Iran-linked targets in the capital, it now can. The IAF can also send surveillance drones over the Syrian capital without the fear of them being shot down by the advanced Russian-made air defense systems.

While the Iran-backed Assad regime has fallen, Israel still will operate over Syria to ensure that advanced weapons from the former government’s army do not reach Hezbollah in Lebanon or any other group hostile to Israel in the region.

The bombing campaign on Sunday and Monday, which began hours after Assad’s regime fell, also hit Syrian airbases, weapon depots, weapon production sites, and chemical weapons sites, in addition to the air defense systems. The strikes destroyed hundreds of missiles and related systems, 27 fighter jets, 24 helicopters, and more.

A total of 1,800 munitions were used in the strikes, taking out nearly every site of “strategic military capabilities” that Israel was aware of.

The IDF assesses that it did not destroy all of the Assad regime’s military capabilities, and Hezbollah will most certainly try to get its hands on advanced weapons that were so far spared. The chances of weapons from Syria finding their way to Hezbollah in Lebanon are considered to be high, according to the IDF’s assessments.

To prevent weapons from reaching Hezbollah, the IAF has bombed all of the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, leaving just one of them, Masnaa, open for pedestrian traffic. The IAF says it is constantly monitoring the crossings to ensure that Hezbollah does not return to use them for weapon deliveries.

At the same time, the military also believes it has dealt a major blow to the weapon manufacturing capabilities of the entire Iran-led axis, in Lebanon, Syria, and in Iran itself with October’s strike in response to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack.

Mossad chief met with Qatari PM in Doha to discuss hostage deal — source

Left: Mossad director David Barnea speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in the central coastal city of Herzliya on September 10, 2023. Right: Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha on January 7, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen, Karim Jaafar/AFP/collage)

Mossad chief David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Doha on Wednesday to discuss a potential hostage release and Gaza ceasefire deal, a source familiar tells The Times of Israel, confirming an Axios report.

In late October, Qatar ousted Hamas’s leaders from Doha and later announced its decision to halt mediation efforts due to frustration with both sides’ refusal to seriously engage in talks. Last week, though, al-Thani confirmed that Doha had resumed its mediation efforts amid pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump who is seeking a deal before he returns to office on January 20.

Talks have been quietly progressing behind the scenes in recent days, the source says.

Trump says Netanyahu knows he wants Gaza war to end

A cover of Time magazine's person of the year, shows US President-elect Donald Trump, before a ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President-elect Donald Trump says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that he wants the war in Gaza to end.

“He knows I want it to end,” Trump tells Time magazine.

Time says Trump informed Netanyahu of his stance during phone calls the two held throughout the presidential election campaign.

The Times of Israel revealed in October that Trump told Netanyahu during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort that he wants the war wrapped up by the time he enters office.

In the past, Israel has bristled at such public calls from world leaders, arguing that they unfairly direct the pressure at Israel instead of Hamas. Trump did publish a post on social media earlier this month in which he warned of “all hell to pay” if Mideast hostages weren’t released by January 20. The president didn’t mention Hamas or Israel in the statement, though.

Netanyahu has thus far balked at ending the Gaza war in exchange for the release of the hostages, arguing that this would allow Hamas to reconstitute. He’s also beholden to far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he were to agree to such an exchange.

Republican presidential candidate former US president Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Israel’s security establishment has been more open to the trade-off, arguing that Israel can return its troops to Gaza if need be after withdrawing and warning that there won’t be many hostages alive if Israel waits much longer to strike a deal, Israeli officials said.

In recent days, Israeli officials have been sounding increasingly optimistic about the chances of a deal.

An Arab diplomat familiar with the talks told The Times of Israel that both sides have indicated a willingness to compromise regarding the terms of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, but no agreement has been reached regarding the longstanding obstacle in the talks — whether the ceasefire will be permanent or temporary.

The mediators are still pushing a three-phase deal, similar to the one submitted by Israel and publicly backed by US President Joe Biden in May, the Arab diplomat said.

Israel is more focused on the first 40- to 60-day phase of the deal, with the Arab official saying that Hamas again fears that Israel will subsequently resume fighting after Trump enters office.

Asked by Time if he trusts Netanyahu going into the second term, Trump takes a second before answering, “I don’t trust anybody.”

As for the chances of war with Iran, Trump pauses before replying, “Anything can happen.”

The response appeared to differ from his messaging during the campaign where he repeatedly pledged that he wouldn’t start any new wars.

US sees Assad’s fall as chance to destroy Syria’s chemical arsenal ‘once and for all,’ official says

The United States sees the fall of Bashar al-Assad as an extraordinary chance to rid Syria “once and for all” of chemical weapons that killed or injured thousands of people in its civil war, a senior US official says.

Washington will strongly back efforts by the global chemical weapons watchdog to eliminate Syria’s chemical arsenal, Nicole Shampaine, US ambassador to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, tells Reuters in an interview ahead of a closed-door OPCW session on Syria in The Hague.

At the meeting, the OPCW’s chief was expected to seek approval from key member states for funding and technical assistance to implement a time-consuming chemical nonproliferation process in Syria.

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under a US-Russian deal and agreed to eliminate its chemical arsenal. But after more than a decade of inspections, Syria still possesses banned munitions and investigators found such weapons were used repeatedly by Assad’s forces during the 13-year civil war.

“We want to finish the job and it’s really an opportunity for Syria’s new leadership to work with the international community, work with the OPCW to get the job done once and for all,” Shampaine says.

She expects “there will be a lot of support in trying to seize this opportunity…and get Syria to comply with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention” (CWC).

The OPCW is a treaty-based organization in the Netherlands tasked with implementing the 1997 chemical nonproliferation treaty. It oversaw the destruction of 1,300 metric tons of Syrian chemical weapons and precursors, a large portion on a US ship equipped with specialized hydrolysis systems.

Assad-ruled Syria and its military ally Russia always denied using chemical weapons in the devastating civil war.

Three investigations – a joint UN-OPCW mechanism, the OPCW’s Investigation and Identification team, and a UN war crimes investigation – concluded that Syrian government forces did use the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in the drawn-out conflict with opposition forces.

Blinken meets Jordan’s king in Syria diplomacy push

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II (R) on the sidelines of the "Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza" conference, at the Dead Sea in Jordan on June 11, 2024. (Alaa Al-Sukhni/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Jordan’s King Abdullah earlier today as US President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration pushes for an “inclusive transition” in neighboring Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Blinken, who will head to Turkey later on Thursday, is in the region to seek support for principles that Washington hopes will guide what happens next in Syria.

“The Secretary underscored the United States’ support for an inclusive transition that can lead to an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says after the meeting in the Red Sea port of Aqaba.

Trump: I’ll have ‘big discussion’ on ending childhood vaccination programs with RFK Jr.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview on Thursday he will have a “big discussion” about ending childhood vaccination programs with vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to run the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“We’re going to have a big discussion. The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there’s something causing it,” Trump told Time magazine.

Time Magazine names Trump as person of the year for second time

A cover of Time magazine's person of the year, shows US President-elect Donald Trump, before a ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Time Magazine names US President-elect Donald Trump its “person of the year,” marking the second time he has won the accolade.

“For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is Time’s 2024 — Person of the Year,” the magazine says in a statement.

Sam Jacobs, Time’s editor-in-chief, says Trump is someone who “for better or for worse, had the most influence on the news in 2024.”

“This is someone who made a historic comeback, who reshaped the American presidency and who’s reordering American politics,” Jacobs says. “It’s hard to argue with the fact that the person who’s moving into the Oval Office is the most influential person in the news.”

He adds that “there’s always a hot debate” at the magazine over the honor, “although I have to admit that this year was an easier decision than years past.”

In an interview with the magazine published today, Trump speaks about his final campaign blitz and election win.

“I called it ‘72 Days of Fury,’” Trump says. “We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry.”

Supreme Court justices walk out of Judicial Selection Committee to protest Levin’s invite to external experts

Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a Knesset plenum session on November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

All three justices of the Supreme Court who are members of the Judicial Selection Committee walk out from a meeting of the panel after Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who chairs the forum, invited external experts to give their opinions on some of the irregular practices he is seeking to implement in the committee.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Authority said the justices, including Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Justices Daphne Barak Erez and Noam Sohlberg, left because they had a conflict of interests in the discussion regarding the use of the seniority system, whereby the justice with the most years on the court is the sole candidate nominated for president.

The justices are expected to rejoin the hearing after the experts leave.

The three judges wrote a letter to Levin yesterday protesting his invitation of the external experts, saying that the committee has never done so before and “that is how it has always been, and our position is that these arrangements should not be changed.”

In the war Levin has been waging against the judiciary for the last two years, he has sought and still seeks to dispense with the seniority system for the first time in the Supreme Court’s history in order to have hardline conservative Yosef Elron appointed as president.

Amit, a liberal, is a candidate for court president and next in line for the position under the seniority system, while Sohlberg, a conservative, is similarly next in line for vice president. The court’s spokesperson added that the judges also left in order to avoid giving a “bad impression.”

Levin invited conservative legal academics Prof. Talia Einhorn, Dr. Shuki Segev and Prof. Gidi Sapir, together with hardline conservative MK and chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Simcha Rothman, to opine on Levin’s proposals to broadcast the deliberations of the committee and discuss whether or not to appoint a new Supreme Court president through the traditional seniority system.

The committee already deliberated at length on the highly unusual request of Levin to broadcast the hearings, something which has never happened before and would require amending the committee’s regulations.

The justices said in their letter to Levin that they were also opposed to broadcasting the committee’s deliberations since it would harm the privacy of the proceedings and have a “chilling effect.”

The Supreme Court in its capacity as High Court of Justice is set to being a hearing this afternoon on a request for a contempt of court order against Levin, after he failed to call a vote for the appointment of a new Supreme Court president in the previous Judicial Selection Committee. The court ordered Levin in September to call a vote for a new president, which was supposed to have happened sometime in November.

Pope meets PA’s Abbas at the Vatican for first time in three years

This photo taken and handed out on December 12, 2024 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Francis during his private audience with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas in The Vatican. (Photo by Handout / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP)

Pope Francis meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican, their first face-to-face encounter in three years, as the pontiff has become more vocal in his criticism of Israel’s military campaigns against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The two men held private talks for a half-hour, the Vatican says but offered few other details about the meeting.

A statement says Abbas also met afterwards with the Catholic Church’s top diplomatic officials to discuss the “very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza, where it is hoped that there will be a ceasefire and the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”

Abbas says in a statement that he thanked the pope “for his positions in support of achieving a just peace in Palestine based on the two-state solution.”

Francis gifted Abbas a bronze artwork inscribed with the words “Peace is a fragile flower,” a present the pope has also given other world leaders.

Abbas is in Rome for a brief visit this week. He is also due to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tomorrow.

The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s war against Hamas, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7 onslaught.

In November, Francis suggested the global community should study whether Israel’s campaign in Gaza constitutes a “genocide” of the Palestinian people. The comment, in a forthcoming book, drew a public rebuke from Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See.

Israel says accusations of genocide in Gaza are baseless.

Catholic media reported yesterday that a seasonal nativity scene at the Vatican has been removed after backlash over its depiction of the baby Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf used by Palestinians as a national symbol.

At the inauguration of the scene on Saturday, Pope Francis called on believers to “remember the brothers and sisters, who, right there [in Bethlehem] and in other parts of the world, are suffering from the tragedy of war.”

Facebook parent company Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund

This combination of pictures shows Mark Zuckerberg (L), CEO of Meta, on January 31, 2024, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on September 17, 2024 (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS and JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

Meta Platforms has donated $1 million to US President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, a company spokesperson tells Reuters in an emailed response.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, says the donation is a departure from past practice by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.

Zuckerberg had declined to endorse either Donald Trump or Joe Biden for this year’s election, in a media interview that took place before Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee and was replaced by Kamala Harris.

The billionaire CEO, however, has complemented Trump’s reaction to the July 13 assassination attempt as “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,” among his recent attempts to appeal to conservative users.

Zuckerberg met Trump after the elections in late November, according to The New York Times, a meeting that the newspaper said was the latest attempt by the Meta boss to establish a positive rapport with Trump.

Trump and Zuckerberg’s Meta have had strained relations in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The president-elect accused Meta of suppressing content that would have hurt Biden in the 2020 election, and also criticized Zuckerberg’s donations to bolster election infrastructure.

Meta suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for about two years following the January 2021 Capitol riots.

G7 ready to support political transition in Syria, says ‘all parties’ must ‘preserve Syria’s territorial integrity’

A woman holding a rifle borrowed from a Syrian opposition fighter poses for a picture, next to a government forces tank that was left on a street, at the Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, December 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies “stand ready to support a transition process that leads to credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance” in Syria, a statement says.

The G7 says a political transition after the end of Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year authoritarian rule has to ensure “respect for the rule of law, universal human rights, including women’s rights, the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities, transparency and accountability.”

“The G7 will work with and fully support a future Syrian government that abides by those standards and results from that process,” the statement adds.

The leaders also call on “all parties” to “preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and national unity, and respect its independence and sovereignty.”

Syrian media reports Israeli strike near Damascus

Syrian media report an Israeli airstrike near the capital Damascus a short while ago.

There is no immediate comment from the military on the strike.

Blinken arrives in Jordan for talks with top officials on Syria, Gaza and Lebanon

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves upon his arrival in the Red Sea city of Aqaba in Jordan on December 12, 2024 (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Jordan’s King Abdullah in the Red Sea town of Aqaba as he arrives in the region for talks on Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Blinken, who will head to Turkey later today, this week set out Washington’s hopes for Syria’s political transition, saying it would recognize a future Syrian government that amounts to a credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governing body.

Blinken will discuss US priorities of ensuring Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and destroyed, facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and that the country is not used as a “base of terrorism,” the State Department says.

Rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which the United States calls a terrorist organization, is playing a key role in Damascus after it led the ouster of Assad, ending a 50-year family dynasty in a swift takeover after 13 years of civil war.

Blinken, the top diplomat in the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden, will also meet Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and will discuss the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon during his trip, the State Department says.

Netanyahu to top Biden aide Sullivan: ‘Israel will do whatever is necessary to protect its security’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem on December 12, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that “Israel will do whatever is necessary to protect its security from any threat” emerging from Syria, after IDF troops advance into the buffer zone between the two countries, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu stresses the importance of protecting minorities in Syria and the need to prevent terrorist attacks against Israel from Syrian territory, as Israeli officials have done since the rebels began their recent offensive that toppled the Assad regime.

US Ambassador Jack Lew and Middle East special envoy Brett McGurk join Sullivan for the meeting, while Netanyahu is accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Ambassador to the United States Mike Herzog, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.

American Travis Timmerman freed after 7 months of detention in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria — An American who says he crossed into Syria on foot is now free after seven months in detention.

Travis Timmerman tells the Al-Arabiya TV network that he had been treated well. He says he crossed into Syria from Lebanon on a Christian pilgrimage.

He appeared in videos circulating online earlier in the day in which rebels said they had located him and were keeping him safe. Some people who saw the videos initially mistook him for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago.

The rebels who overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad over the weekend have released people held in prisons across the country.

There is no immediate comment from US officials traveling with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Aqaba, Jordan.

Timmerman tells Al-Arabiya that he spent a month in the eastern Lebanese city of Zahle, from where he crossed into Syria illegally.

He says he heard other young men being tortured while he was detained but that he himself had not been mistreated.

“It was OK. I was fed. I was watered. The one difficulty was that I couldn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to,” he says. He said he was only allowed to go to the bathroom three times a day.

“I was not beaten and the guards treated me decently,” he says.

We found Travis Timmerman from Urbana Missouri – an American prisoner liberated from one of Assad’s most notorious prisons. He’s fine. A bit dazed. Didn’t realize the regime had fallen until this morning. pic.twitter.com/kuQmWfp0nA

— Elizabeth Palmer (@CBSLizpalmer) December 12, 2024

Controversial ex-officer claims Halevi blocked appointment as PM’s military secretary; PMO: Grave if true; IDF denies, says meeting documented

IDF chief Herzi Halevi (right) speaks at an award ceremony at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, May 8, 2023. Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter (left) attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset, on October 22, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces; Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A controversial former senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces claims Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi blocked his appointment last year as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary.

The military denies the statements attributed to Halevi by Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, and says the meeting was documented.

In an interview with the Kan public broadcaster, Winter claims that on October 2, 2023 — five days before the Hamas-led attacks — Halevi said to him, “The prime minister wants you for the job of military secretary. I think you’re not suited, I consulted the General Staff; your strategic thinking is not fit for the General Staff. I request that you resign from the military and that is the defense minister’s request. I also think that the prime minister’s request is not appropriate.”

Referring to Halevi, Winter says in the interview, “Who do you think you are, you brat? Who are you? You’re confused! You’re a confused chief of staff, you’re subordinate to the prime minister and the political echelon, who are you anyway?”

Netanyahu’s office releases a statement along the same lines, though stated more diplomatically.

“If Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter’s words are indeed true, this is a serious incident,” says the Prime Minister’s Office. “In a democratic country, the chief of staff is subordinate to the political echelon and must keep his political or personal opinions to himself.”

However, the military denies the statements attributed to Halevi by Winter, and says the meeting had been documented.

“The words attributed to the chief of staff by Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter were not said. The meeting in question was documented in the chief of staff’s office,” the IDF spokesperson says in a statement.

Winter was released from the military in May after being passed over for promotion yet again.

Winter came under considerable criticism in the 2014 Gaza war for comments he made at the time that framed the operation as a religious fight, for allegedly passing information to politicians without proper approval, and for his actions during the highly controversial “Black Friday” battle in Rafah.

Since that war, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge, Winter’s career stagnated, despite him previously having shown significant promise for advancement to the upper echelons of the IDF.

Winter was often held up as a shining example for the national-religious community, and right-wing activists repeatedly called for him to be promoted in the military.

Foreign Ministry: IDF entered Syria buffer zone, on temporary basis, after violations of 1974 agreement

Responding to France’s demand yesterday that the IDF leave the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, the Foreign Ministry says that the movements of troops into the territory was carried out after violations of the May 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries.

Israel cites “the entry of armed militants into the buffer zone in breach of the agreement, and even attacks on [United Nations Disengagement Observer Force] positions in the area, [therefore] Israeli action was required.”

“This was necessary for defensive reasons due to threats posed by jihadist groups operating near the border, in order to prevent a scenario similar to October 7 in this area,” says the Foreign Ministry, adding that the operation is “limited and temporary.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar made this argument with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot earlier this week, says the ministry.

“Israel will continue to act to defend itself and ensure the security of its citizens as needed,” it says.

Head of Revolutionary Guards: Iran will live with new ‘realities’ in post-Assad Syria

Head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami speaks during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran on November 3, 2024. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says the country has to live with the new “realities” of Syria after the ouster of Tehran-backed president Bashar al-Assad.

Regarding Syria, Iran “was really trying day and night to help in whatever way it could; we have to live with the realities of Syria; we look at them and act based on them,” Hossein Salami says, according to the official IRNA news agency.

“Strategies must change according to the circumstances; we cannot solve numerous global and regional issues with stagnation and employing the same tactics,” he adds.

Iran has been a strong ally of the Assad family, whose decades-long rule of Syria ended over the weekend when a whirlwind rebel offensive took the capital Damascus.

Assad had long played a strategic role in Iran’s anti-Israel “axis of resistance,” particularly in facilitating the supply of weapons to Tehran’s ally Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

The axis of resistance includes Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthi rebels in Yemen and some smaller Shia militia groups in Iraq.

Separately, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps strongly condemns “the abuse of the current instability in Syria by the US and the Zionist regime,” which is Iran’s term for Israel.

“The Resistance Front will not be passive in confronting any plan or scheme that seeks to disrupt the resistance and weaken the power and authority of the countries in the region,” the Revolutionary Guards says in a statement.

Hostage’s father confirms PM told groups of families different things on prospects for deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza, December 8, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Dani Miran, whose son Omri Miran is held hostage in Gaza after being kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, confirms that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told two separate groups of relatives different things about the prospects of a potential deal.

Netanyahu met separately on Sunday evening with two different hostage family groups in Jerusalem — the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the majority of families, and the Tikva Forum, which represents a hawkish minority who have been significantly more supportive of the government’s handling of the war than the main forum.

Dani Miran tells Channel 12 that Omri’s wife Lishay was in the first meeting, in which the premier said that a deal was brewing.

He says that his two sons attended the second meeting and heard that “at this stage there is no deal.”

Miran says the meetings were held approximately an hour apart.

The issue was raised when Netanyahu lashed out at the media in a press conference on Monday at which Channel 12’s Yollan Cohen attempted to highlight that she spoke to families he met with in the two separate meetings and that they told her he said different things.

Netanyahu, who had already accused Cohen of “lies” in her reporting, interjected that “it’s hard for you to hear the truth,” before his spokesman moved the press conference on to the next question.

3 suspected of August assault on Palestinian accused of beating him to unconsciousness, dumping him near checkpoint

An indictment filed against a police officer in the Yasam special patrol police unit, a Border Police volunteer, and a civilian reveals shocking details of how they allegedly assaulted and severely beat a Palestinian civilian in the West Bank, and then dumped at the side of a road by a checkpoint, unconscious and bleeding.

The indictment filed by the Department of Internal Police Investigations charges the three men with aggravated assault, abduction, and aiding an abduction, for their roles in a violent attack against the Palestinian man in August, as well as the illegal possession of weapons and other firearms offenses.

According to the indictment the three men, who are all friends, attacked a Palestinian man who was spending time with his friends at freshwater springs in the Nahal Auja area in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank, north of the Kochav Hashahar settlement.

The incident began when the Border Police volunteer, Dvir Oni, who was on active duty with another volunteer and IDF soldiers, asked to inspect the ID and telephones of the Palestinian men for a security check.

According to the indictment, a picture on the phone of the Palestinian victim showed him draped in a green flag, which made the police officers and soldiers suspect that he was connected with a terror organization.

One of the soldiers then handcuffed the man, after which Oni began violently assaulting him, slamming his head into a car, and kicking and punching him.

Oni then sent a message to the Yasam police officer, Tiran Galmodi, as well as Saar Ofir, a civilian, with his location, and the two men arrived a short while later with their faces masked and took the opportunity to beat the Palestinian man severely all over his body, the indictment alleges.

Galmodi, who was suspended from duty at the time of the incident, kicked the man in the head and beat him with a tree branch, and Ofir struck him on the eye with the butt of a dummy rifle he was carrying.

The men beat the victim so severely that he passed out during the assault.

He was then put into Galmodi’s car, and Galmodi and Ofir drove him to the Hamra Checkpoint in the northern Jordan Valley and “dumped” him there, unconscious and bleeding. Only hours later did the man manage to get to a nearby road in order to get medical treatment.

He sustained broken bones and severe injuries to his head and body as a result of the assault.

In addition to the other charges, Galmudi is accused of obstructing the investigation by calling one of the soldiers involved in the incident and instructed him to give a false account of the events.

During the investigation, large amounts of illegally held weaponry and ammunition were found in the possession of Ofir and Galmodi, including assault rifles, hand grenades, and thousands of bullets.

Six other suspects in the case have yet to be charged.

Ofir, a resident of the Elkana settlement in the central West Bank, was previously arrested in July on suspicion of executing a Hamas terrorist captured by IDF troops in Gaza but charges were ultimately not filed in that case.

Sullivan meets with PM, ministers and top security officials in US push for hostage deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem on December 12, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top officials in Jerusalem amid what is seen to be the Biden administration’s final push for a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Pictures released by the Prime Minister’s Office show Sullivan meeting with top ministers, in addition to defense officials including Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Mossad head David Barnea, and the government point man on the hostages, Gal Hirsch.

After meetings in Israel, Sullivan is set to travel to Qatar and Egypt — the two Arab countries mediating between Israel and Hamas along with the US.

Ninety-six of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 38 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

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

Terror suspect in deadly bus shooting identified as Palestinian from Bayt Awa near Hebron

Israeli security forces and paramedics are seen following a deadly terror shooting attack targeting a bus in the West Bank, early December 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Palestinian man suspected of opening fire at a bus in the West Bank last night, killing a 12-year-old boy, is named as Ezz Aldin Malluh, from Bayt Awa near Hebron.

The suspect initially attempted to surrender at Palestinian police stations, but while officers confiscated his weapon, they refused to let him in.

Defense officials say Massalmeh eventually turned himself in to authorities this morning. Last night, he shot up a bus traveling from the Beitar Ilit settlement to Jerusalem, as it passed a junction by the West Bank town of al-Khader.

Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha, 12, was killed in the terror shooting and several others were wounded.

IDF says it struck 2 groups of terrorists who planned to seize humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza

A Palestinian woman with her face stained in blood is comforted by others as she mourns outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the south Gaza Strip, on December 12, 2024 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The Israel Defense Forces says it carried out strikes on two groups of terrorists operating on a route used to transport humanitarian aid in Gaza earlier this morning.

“All of the terrorists who were eliminated were Hamas terrorists who planned to violently take control of humanitarian aid trucks and transfer them to the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF says in a statement. “The strike was intended to allow the humanitarian aid to reach the residents of the Gaza Strip safely.”

“We emphasize that the IDF did not attack humanitarian aid trucks and that the aid truck transit route remained open and active,” the military says.

Hamas-run authorities had earlier claimed that the strikes hit guards who were securing the trucks.

Seven guards were killed in a strike in Rafah, while another strike left five guards dead in Khan Younis, spokesman Mahmud Basal of the Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency told AFP.

The Israeli military has said that attacking and stealing aid is an ongoing problem, especially in southern Gaza. COGAT, the military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, has said convoys are attacked by Hamas terrorists and known crime families.

IDF: Drone from Yemen intercepted near Eilat; sirens in south Israel apparently false alarm

The Israel Defense Forces confirms that a drone launched from Yemen was intercepted over the Red Sea, near Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.

The drone did not enter Israeli airspace, the military adds.

Separately, the IDF says suspected drone infiltration sirens in southern Israel this morning were apparently false alarms.

According to the military, the alerts were activated based on the projected path of a suspected drone. But the military adds that it may have been a “false identification,” meaning not a threat.

There are no reports of injuries or damage in the incident, which the IDF says is over.

Earlier today, another drone from Yemen was shot down over southern Israel, near the border with Egypt.

Defense officials: Terrorist who killed 12-year-old boy in West Bank bus shooting turned himself in

The Palestinian terrorist who carried out last night’s deadly shooting attack against a bus in the West Bank turned himself in, Israeli defense authorities say.

The IDF, Shin Bet, and police say that amid their pursuit of the gunman and “exertion of military pressure in the area” — including by encircling Bethlehem — the terrorist turned himself in.

The terrorist had opened fire at a bus traveling from the Beitar Ilit settlement to Jerusalem, as it passed a junction by the West Bank town of al-Khader. Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha, 12, was killed and several others were wounded.

Interceptor missile launched over Eilat amid suspected drone attack

An interceptor missile was launched over Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat a short while ago, eyewitnesses say.

No sirens sounded in the area amid the suspected drone attack.

It comes as the IDF is also tracking a drone over other areas of southern Israel. Sirens have sounded in several towns near the Gaza border and Ashkelon.

Earlier this morning, a separate drone was shot down over southern Israel.

The drones are believed by the IDF to have been launched from Yemen.

Sirens sound in Ashkelon area as IDF works to intercept drone

Sirens sound in communities close to Ashkelon as the military works to intercept a drone.

Alerts were initially heard in towns close to the Gaza border. However, the UAV is not thought to have been launched from the Strip.

Sirens in Gaza border towns warn of suspected drone attack

Sirens sound in a number of southern towns and communities near the Gaza border, warning of a suspected incoming drone attack.

Alerts are heard in Netivot, Sderot and nearby villages.

The Israel Defense Forces says it is looking into the incident.

WSJ: Hamas agrees to IDF troops temporarily staying in Gaza in hostage-ceasefire deal

Israeli soldiers patrol along the Philadelphi corridor in the Gaza Strip on September 13, 2024 (Sharon ARONOWICZ / AFP)

Arab mediators tell the Wall Street Journal that Hamas has yielded a key demand for a potential hostage-ceasefire deal and will allow Israeli troops to remain in Gaza during the truce on what the outlet says would be a temporary basis.

Hamas for months has insisted that it would not agree to another deal unless it includes a permanent end to the war in Gaza and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

An Arab diplomat told the Times of Israel yesterday that there appears to be “indications” that the sides are willing to show flexibility regarding the terms of the IDF’s withdrawal from Gaza, particularly from the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors that border and bisect the Gaza Strip respectively.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the two sides are considering a 60-day ceasefire in which up to 30 hostages — including US citizens — would be released. Israel would in return release Palestinian prisoners and allow larger amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the report says.

The mediators tell the outlet that on Sunday the terror group submitted a list of hostages including US nationals, women, older hostages and those with medical conditions. The names of five dead hostages were also on the list, the report says.

It was the first time a list of hostages has been handed over since the temporary ceasefire last November, the Journal says.

The report says hostages would be set free soon after the deal comes into effect, and Hamas would then begin to establish the whereabouts of the remaining hostages and their conditions.

The report says Israeli negotiators are pushing for more hostages to be released in the initial phase of the ceasefire, but have agreed to a gradual withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor. The outlet says that Israel told mediators it will reposition troops in parts of Gaza, but rejected a proposal to restrict its presence in areas including the north of the Strip.

IDF says drone launched ‘from the east’ intercepted over southern Israel

A drone launched at Israel “from the east” was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force over southern Israel a short while ago, the military says.

There are no injuries in the incident, and sirens did not sound in any towns. The IDF says alerts were activated in relevant areas “according to protocol.”

The IDF has described past attacks from Yemen and Iraq as being launched from the east.

In recent days, the Iran-backed Houthis have carried out several drone and ballistic missile attacks on Israel.

Israeli musician Corinne Allal dies aged 69

Israeli musician Korin Allal in an undated photo from the 1980s (Moshe Shai FLASH90)

Multi-award wining musician Corinne Allal, the writer and singer of many much-loved songs over the past five decades, has died aged 69.

Allal was born in Tunisia and emigrated to Israel along with her family at the age of eight. She began her career as a backing singer, before later entering the spotlight.

Her hits included “Antarctica” and “Zan Nadir.” In 1985, she composed the melody for the song “I Have No Other Land” with lyrics by Ehud Manor.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Allal announced the cancellation of a number of shows in 2023 due to medical issues, later revealing she had pancreatic cancer.

She is survived by her partner Ruti and their two children, Omer and Yonatan.

12-year-old boy killed in West Bank terror shooting named as Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha

Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha, killed in a terror shooting in the West Bank on December 11, 2024 (Courtesy)

A young boy killed in a West Bank terror attack late last night is named as 12-year-old Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Simha.

The Jerusalem-bound bus was shot up by a gunman at a junction by the Palestinian town of al-Khader, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The child was brought in critical condition to Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in nearby Jerusalem, where doctors declared his death early this morning following intensive efforts to save him.

Three others were hurt in the shooting: a woman who suffered moderate wounds and two other people who were lightly hurt.

A hunt is underway for the terrorist.

Trump said considering former intel chief Richard Grenell as special envoy for Iran

Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence, speaks at a White House ceremony, September 4, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images/JTA)

WASHINGTON — US President-elect Donald Trump is now considering tapping Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, to be a special envoy for Iran, according to two people familiar with the transition plans.

“He’s definitely in the running,” says a person familiar with transition deliberations, who asks not to be identified.

No final decisions on either personnel or strategy on Iran have been made official yet by Trump, including whether to slap fresh sanctions on the country, pursue diplomacy or both in order to halt their nuclear program.

Neither Trump’s team nor Grenell respond to requests for comment. Trump’s plans for the role have not previously been reported.

But his consideration of a key ally for such a posting sends a signal to the region that the new US president may be open to talks with a country he has previously threatened and whose elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have sought to assassinate him, according to the US government. Iran has denied the claim.

In the role, Grenell is expected to be tasked with speaking with countries in and beyond the region about the Iran issue as well as taking Tehran’s temperature on possible negotiations, said one of the people.

Boy killed in terror attack was on bus with his family going home to Jerusalem

The municipality of the Beitar Illit settlement — from where the bus that was targeted in the terror shooting departed — says the boy killed in the attack was traveling home to Jerusalem with his family when the assailant opened fire.

Pentagon chief urges ‘close consultation’ between Israel, US on Syria in call with Katz

A combination photo showing US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) on November 18, 2024 and Defense Minister Israel Katz on November 10, 2024. (Handout / DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE / AFP; Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tells Defense Minister Israel Katz that it’s important for the United States and Israel to be in close consultation over events unfolding in Syria, the Pentagon says after their call.

“Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of close consultation between the United States and Israel on events in Syria,” the Pentagon says in a statement.

Austin tells Katz Washington is monitoring developments in Syria and that it backs a peaceful, inclusive political transition, according to the Pentagon.

3 women killed in highway collision near Yavne

Three women in their 20s are killed in a collision between a pair of cars on a highway near the city of Yavne.

Paramedics are treating a man in his 40s who was lightly hurt in the crsah.

Hospital declares death of young boy wounded in West Bank terror shooting

Israeli security forces inspect a bus after it was targeted in a deadly terror shooting on a West Bank highway, at the Tunnels Checkpoint near Jerusalem, December 12, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem announces a young boy has died of wounds he suffered in a terror shooting on an Israeli bus traveling on a West Bank highway.

A statement from the hospital says the child was brought to the trauma unit in critical condition, with doctors forced to declare his death after intensive efforts to save him.

The terror victim, who has yet to be named, was earlier identified by the Magen David Adom ambulance service as a 12-year-old boy.

Three other passengers were wounded in the attack — a woman who was moderately injured and two people who were lightly hurt.

Top US general in Mideast visits Lebanon to monitor first withdrawal of Israeli troops

A top US military officer visited Beirut on Wednesday to monitor the withdrawal of the first Israeli troops from Lebanon under a ceasefire agreement reached last month, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) says.

Army General Michael Kurilla, CENTCOM’s commander, visited the monitoring headquarters in Beirut for the ceasefire and met with the commander of Lebanon’s armed forces, General Joseph Aoun, CENTCOM says in a post on X.

Kurilla was there to monitor “the ongoing first Israeli Defense Forces withdrawal and Lebanese Armed Forces replacement in Al Khiam, Lebanon, as part of the agreement,” CENTCOM says.

“This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities and lays the foundation for continued progress,” Kurilla says.

The US and France serve as monitors of a 60-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah that calls for a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops after more than a year of fighting that began when the Lebanese terror group began launching attacks a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.

Israel said to launch strikes on Assad military targets in Syrian coastal provinces

A monitor of Syria’s war says that Israeli airstrikes targeted sites belonging to ousted president Bashar al-Assad’s military in the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces.

“Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes” targeting “military sites” including “the Latakia port” as well as warehouses in neighboring Tartus province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, adding that “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”

UN General Assembly passes non-binding resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire

UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approves resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and backing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban over allegations that staffers are involved in terror.

The votes in the 193-nation world body are 158-9 with 13 abstentions to demand a ceasefire now and 159-9 with 11 abstentions to support the agency known as UNRWA.

The first resolution also includes a demand for the release of all hostages.

The votes culminate two days of speeches overwhelmingly calling for an end to the 14-month war between Israel and Hamas, which was sparked by the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, atrocities in southern Israel.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, though they reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly.

Israel and its close ally, the United States, are in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions.

IDF says troops encircling Bethlehem amid manhunt for terrorist who shot up bus

The IDF says troops are setting up roadblocks while encircling Bethlehem, as they search for the terrorist who wounded several Israelis in a shooting attack on a bus passing by a highway junction in the area.

US House advances defense bill that includes over $600 million for Israel’s security

The US House advances a massive defense spending package that will include over $600 million in funding for Israel’s security during the current fiscal year.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes $500 million in spending on US-Israel missile defense cooperation, $80 million in bilateral anti-tunnel cooperation and another $47.5 million in tech cooperation.

The legislation includes a provision that requires the Defense Department to establish the United States and Israel Trauma and Amputee Rehabilitation Education and Training Program.

The legislation still needs to be approved by the Senate before being brought to the president’s desk.

AIPAC hails the House’s passing of the NDAA, saying it will help Israel in the fight against Iran and its proxies.