Dec. 12: Israeli official accuses Qatar of trying to destroy relationship between Israel and Trump administration

Joint Saudi-Emirate delegation in Yemen for talks after separatist group takeover

A joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation arrived in Aden to discuss measures aimed at defusing tensions in southern Yemen, days after the country’s main southern separatist group claimed broad control across the south, a government source tells Reuters.

The Southern Transitional Council said the takeover included the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahra, and that the separatist group is present in all eastern provinces of south Yemen, including Aden, the base of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.

Discussions to be held by the delegation in Aden will address ways to rectify recent unilateral actions, including the withdrawal of any forces brought in from outside the eastern provinces, a source in the presidential office told the state news agency SABA.

The STC, which has been backed in the past by the United Arab Emirates during Yemen’s decade-old civil war, has clashed with other groups, which relocated to Aden after the Iran-aligned Houthi movement captured the capital Sanaa in 2014.

US will host Doha conference Dec. 16 on Gaza stabilization force plans

WASHINGTON — The United States Central Command will host a conference in Doha on December 16 with partner nations to plan the International Stabilization Force for Gaza, two US officials tell Reuters.

More than 25 countries are expected to send representatives to the conference, which will include sessions on the command structure and other issues related to the Gaza force, the officials say.

Iran said to seize foreign tanker carrying 6 million liters of ‘smuggled diesel’ in Gulf of Oman

Iran has seized a foreign tanker allegedly carrying 6 million liters of “smuggled diesel” in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian state media says.

Iran, which has some of the world’s lowest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.

State broadcaster IRIB does not mention the name of the vessel or provide its nationality on its website.

UN backs ICJ view clearing UNRWA of Hamas ties; Israel denounces vote

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini welcomes a UN General Assembly vote endorsing the International Court of Justice’s view that allegations of Hamas infiltration of the agency are unsubstantiated, calling the resolution “a strong endorsement” of UNRWA’s neutrality.

“The UN General Assembly has given a strong endorsement to the ruling by the International Court of Justice that claims about UNRWA being infiltrated by Hamas are not substantiated, nor are allegations that UNRWA is not a neutral organisation,” Lazzarini writes on X, adding that the vote is “an important sign of support for UNRWA from the overwhelming majority of the international community.”

Citing the ICJ, he says UNRWA is “the key humanitarian actor in the occupied Palestinian territory,” urging member states to support its work in Gaza and expand “critical public health and education services.”

The @UN General Assembly has given a strong endorsement to the ruling by the International Court of Justice that claims about @UNRWA being infiltrated by Hamas are not substantiated, nor are allegations that UNRWA is not a neutral organisation. 

This vote is an important sign of… pic.twitter.com/8O4zFqP1ab

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) December 12, 2025

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, sharply rejects the endorsement, writing on X: “UNRWA = hotbed of terrorism.”

Danon accuses the General Assembly of passing “a resolution calling on Israel to cooperate with terrorism,” adding, “That will not happen.”

“We will not forget the crimes against humanity committed by UNRWA workers on October 7th,” Danon writes. “We will not forget that an UNRWA ‘social worker’ kidnapped Yonatan Samerano’s lifeless body to Gaza. For the sake of peace in the world, UNRWA must go.”

UNRWA = hotbed of terrorism.

Earlier today, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Israel to cooperate with terrorism. That will not happen.
We will not forget the crimes against humanity committed by UNRWA workers on October 7th.
We will not forget that an… pic.twitter.com/bEQD3GhNjK

— Danny Danon ???????? דני דנון (@dannydanon) December 12, 2025

In a video published in February 2024 from the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, an UNRWA employee can be seen abducting Samerano’s body from Israel into the back of an SUV.

Democrats release new cache of Epstein photos, including ones featuring Trump

Democratic lawmakers have released a new cache of photos from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that includes images of US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.

Other high-profile figures in the published pictures include former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers, director Woody Allen and the ex-prince now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Also pictured are Microsoft’s Bill Gates and the Virgin Group’s Richard Branson.

Epstein’s association with the individuals in the pictures was already widely known and the undated photos do not appear to depict any unlawful conduct.

But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee say “these disturbing images raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world.”

The White House accuses Democrats of releasing “cherry-picked” photos from the Epstein estate “to try and create a false narrative.”

“The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked,” says Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman.

Also among the pictures released are images of sex toys and a novelty “Trump condom” featuring a likeness of his face and the words “I’m HUUUUGE!”

There are three photos of Trump in the 19 released on Friday.

In one he is standing next to six women who are wearing what appear to be traditional Hawaiian leis around their necks. Their faces have been redacted.

Another shows Trump talking to a blonde woman with Epstein in the background.

The third shows Trump sitting next to a blonde woman whose face has been blacked out.

Former president Clinton is pictured with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking a minor and other offenses, and two other unidentified people.

Epstein, a successful financier, cultivated rich and powerful friends, and frequently hosted them at his lavish Caribbean home.

He was convicted in Florida in 2008 on two sex crime counts, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

From @OversightDems, who is the passed-out woman on the video screen on Epstein's desk, the one that he appears to be monitoring live or perhaps not? pic.twitter.com/xTdNpDBMuT

— mRecouvrer (@MRecouvrer) December 12, 2025

He served about a year in detention with unusually lenient conditions and avoided more serious charges until 2019, when he was arrested in New York and charged with sex trafficking of minors.

He died in pre-trial detention the same year and the death was ruled to be a suicide.

Herzog not slated to make decision on pardoning Netanyahu before PM’s meet with Trump

President Isaac Herzog is not slated to make up his mind about whether to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a pardon before the Israeli premier departs for the US to meet with President Donald Trump, the Kan public broadcaster reports, without citing any sources.

The dragged-out process means that the issue could well come up in Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu, given that the prime minister has already been said to be pushing the president to intervene further on his behalf.

Israel said to provide mediators with names of several PIJ terrorists who know where Ran Gvili is buried

Channel 12 reports that Israel has provided the Gaza ceasefire mediators with the names of several Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who know where the body of the last remaining hostage Ran Gvili is buried in the Strip.

Beirut has been warned of possible large-scale Israeli attack on Hezbollah, FM says

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji reveals to Al Jazeera that Beirut has received warnings from Arab and international parties that Israel is preparing to launch a wide-scale operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Rajji says the Lebanese government is in the midst of intensive diplomatic engagements to prevent such an operation and to ensure that its personnel and facilities are not targeted.

The Lebanese foreign minister says his government is still trying to negotiate with Hezbollah, hoping it can coax the terror group to willingly give up its weapons, arguing that they proved ineffective “in supporting Gaza and defending the country” over the past two years.

Iran raising fuel prices for heavy users to curb consumption

Iran will raise the price of its heavily subsidized gasoline for heavy users on Saturday, state media reports, as the OPEC member seeks to control rising fuel demand without triggering public anger.

Proposals to increase Iran’s fuel prices, some of the lowest in the world, have long been postponed amid apparent concerns that they might cause a repeat of widespread protests seen in 2019 that were crushed by the state.

The government will introduce a higher rate of 50,000 Iranian rials per liter (4 US cents under the free market rate) at midnight on Friday for most consumers requiring more than 160 liters per month, state television reported on Friday.

Other drivers can still purchase up to 60 litres of gasoline at the existing rate of 15,000 rials per litre and up to another 100 litres at 30,000 rials per litre.

According to local media, domestic fuel production of around 110 million litres per day lags rising demand, which can go up to 140 million litres per day due to factors such as inefficient cars, smuggling to neighbouring countries and heat in summer.

Government officials have warned that subsidised fuel prices in Iran are “not rational”, impose a heavy burden on state finances and encourage suboptimal consumption as well as necessitating fuel imports.

Private drivers owning several cars will only be able to buy fuel at the lower-priced quotas for one of their vehicles, while most government-owned vehicles, many newly-produced cars and imported vehicles will have to use the more expensive rate.

Iran’s economy risks staggering into simultaneous hyperinflation and deep recession, officials and analysts have said, as clerical rulers scramble to preserve stability with limited room to manoeuvre after a snapback of UN sanctions.

Russian attack damaged three Turkish-owned vessels in Ukraine, navy says

A Russian attack damaged a total of three Turkish-owned vessels in the southern Odesa region ports earlier today, the Ukrainian navy’s spokesperson tells Reuters.

Syrian man who cursed Sharaa in online post released after public outcry over his detention

Local media reports that a Syrian man arrested after cursing President Ahmed al-Sharaa in a social media post has been released from custody following public outcry over his detention.

رجع لبيته بخير و سلامة "هذه المرة" و لكن يبدو انه لم يتب ???? https://t.co/NxDaEDRZEm pic.twitter.com/PVfgCtpRbN

— N.Kiwan (@nocontextsyrian) December 12, 2025

Sissi has no plans to meet Netanyahu and won’t without major changes in Israeli conduct toward Egypt — official

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi does not currently have any plan to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a government official familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel amid reports that the Israeli premier is eagerly pursuing such a sit-down.

Egypt has fumed at Israel for a host of issues in recent months that remain unresolved, accordingly decreasing the chances that Sissi will meet Netanyahu any time soon, despite interest in Jerusalem and Washington in making such a summit happen, the official says.

Throughout the Gaza war, Egypt warned Israel against military operations that would push Palestinians south toward the Sinai Peninsula, viewing such a possibility as a red line and a national security threat. Cairo still fears that Israel hasn’t ruled out the effort amid plans to focus the first reconstruction projects in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, along the Egyptian border, the official says.

Moreover, Israel is only allowing the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt to open for the exit of Palestinians from the Strip, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty explaining last week that Cairo views the strategy as part of an effort to dilute the population in the enclave, which it will not allow.

In October, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen backed out of a planned signing of a lucrative gas deal with Egypt, claiming its terms were unfair toward Jerusalem in a step that angered Washington and Cairo.

Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and other Israeli officials have also repeatedly accused Egypt of amassing troops in the Sinai Peninsula, in what Jerusalem claims is a violation of their 1979 peace treaty. Egypt has dismissed the allegations outright.

Netanyahu and Sissi have long had a strained relationship and haven’t even spoken since before the Gaza war.

While Netanyahu has sought to patch things up in recent months, Sissi has remained uninterested in engaging with the Israeli premier so long as there aren’t fundamental changes in Jerusalem’s conduct toward Cairo, the official says.

The official adds that Sissi also doesn’t want to be used as a “prop” by Netanyahu in an election year for Israel.

Arab, Muslim countries issue joint statement backing UNRWA amid US, Israeli measures against agency

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar issue a joint statement “affirming the indispensable role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees and caring for their affairs.”

The statement comes against the backdrop of an Israeli raid on UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem and reports that the US is looking into designating the UN agency as a terror group due to its ties to Hamas.

PA says Israeli move to legalize 19 West Bank outposts ‘another step to erase Palestinian geography’

The Palestinian Authority blasts an Israeli cabinet decision to advance the legalization of 19 outposts in the West Bank.

PA minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban calls the cabinet decision another step to erase Palestinian geography.

Sha’ban, of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, says the decision raised serious alarms over the future of the West Bank.

Illegal outposts have mushroomed across the West Bank over the past two years, becoming hotbeds for settler violence against neighboring Palestinians.

While the outposts were built without the necessary permits, they have been receiving increased support and funding from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

Ousted ICC prosecutor alleges previous UK government threatened to defund court over Israel warrants

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has alleged that an official from the previous UK government threatened to defund the ICC and leave the Rome Statute if the court pressed ahead with arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Karim Khan, who has been placed on leave pending an investigation into sexual abuse allegations that he denies, made the allegation in a submission to the ICC defending his decision to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, the Guardian reports.

He does not identify the British official who issued the threats, but says they came during an April 2024 phone call, and the Guardian speculates that the UK representative was then-foreign secretary David Cameron.

The UK was being led by a caretaker government at the time before the Labour Party won the elections and has taken a slightly more amicable stance toward the ICC.

ISF will not fight Hamas, say US officials, who still seek to deploy force next month

International troops could be deployed in the Gaza Strip as early as next month to form a UN-authorized stabilization force, two US officials tell Reuters, but it remains unclear how Hamas will be disarmed.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the International Stabilization Force (ISF) would not fight Hamas. They claim lots of countries have expressed interest in contributing and US officials are currently working out the size of the ISF, composition, housing, training and rules of engagement.

An American two-star general is being considered to lead the ISF, but no decisions have been made, the officials say.

The goal of deploying the ISF in January is not new, and The Times of Israel has reported for nearly two months that US officials have been talking about that aim. But the timeframe is appearing increasingly unlikely, as even the countries that were thought to be interested in contributing troops, such as Azerbaijan and Indonesia, have yet to formally announce decisions to do so.

Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war began on October 10, with Hamas releasing hostages and Israel freeing detained Palestinians.

Indonesia has said it is prepared to deploy up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks in Gaza.

“It is still in the planning and preparation stages,” says Rico Sirait, spokesperson of Indonesian Defense Ministry. “We are now preparing the organizational structure of the forces to be deployed.”

An Azerbaijani official told The Times of Israel last week that Baku doesn’t have nearly enough information on the ISF’s mandate in order to make a decision to join the force.

Leading NY rabbi remains ‘worried’ after meeting with Mamdani

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a prominent Reform leader in New York City, says he remains deeply concerned after a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani last night.

Hirsch is the president of the New York Board of rabbis, the head of Manhattan’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, and a national leader in the Reform movement.

He and other rabbis met with Mamdani last night, weeks before Mamdani takes office on January 1.

“While we were pleased to be able to discuss our concerns with the mayor-elect, those concerns remain. We’ve never before had a mayor who has expressed this kind of ideological hostility to the very existence of Israel,” Hirsch writes on X.

The post comes hours after Jewish Insider published an interview with Hirsch in which he said he left the meeting with Mamdani “encouraged,” saying, “He is making an effort to reach out to as many representatives, particularly in the Jewish community, as he can.”

But in his X post, Hirsch writes, “It is not about policy differences; rather, it is about the denial of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state at all. I continue to worry deeply about the upcoming four years and conveyed to the mayor-elect that anti-Zionist rhetoric and anti-Israel policies will threaten Jewish safety in NYC and will, inevitably, lead to an unproductive and tense relationship with the Jewish community.”

“What Mr. Mamdani says and which policies he pursues is up to him — he will be the mayor — but I emphasized that the Jewish community will energetically oppose any and all anti-Israel rhetoric and action,” Hirsch says.

Search for missing Bnei Brak teen amid Storm Byron halts due to nightfall, will resume tomorrow

Rescue teams were forced to halt their search for a missing Bnei Brak teen — who they fear was swept up by Storm Byron flooding — due to nightfall. They will resume their efforts after sunrise tomorrow, Hebrew media reports.

Eliyahu Abba Shaul, 19, left his home Thursday evening and has not been heard from since.

Rescuers’ efforts have concentrated along the Yarkon River, after authorities found his clothes and motorized bicycle on the riverbank in neighboring Ramat Gan.

Turkey’s Erdogan urges Putin to accept limited Ukraine-Russia ceasefire

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met Vladimir Putin on Friday and told the Russian leader that a limited ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war, targeting energy facilities and ports in particular, could be beneficial, Erdogan’s office says.

It said that during their meeting in Turkmenistan they discussed comprehensive peace efforts on the war in detail and also the EU’s freezing of Russian assets. Erdogan also said Turkey was ready to host meetings in all formats, it adds.

Iran arrests Nobel-prize winning activist Narges Mohammadi

Iranian security forces on Friday “violently” arrested the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi at a memorial ceremony for a lawyer who died earlier this month, her supporters say.

Mohammadi, who was granted temporary leave from prison in December 2024, was detained along with several other activists at the ceremony for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in his office last week, her foundation writes on X.

Also writing on X, Mohammadi’s Paris-based husband, Taghi Rahmani, said she had been arrested at the ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad along with fellow prominent activist Sepideh Gholian.

At Tel Aviv event, Ran Gvili’s father says his slain hostage son took care of the country, ‘now the country needs to save him’

At a Friday afternoon gathering in Hostages Square for the final deceased Gaza hostage, Ran Gvili, his father, Itzik Gvili, thanks the hundreds of people present.

Gvili, whose son was a police master sergeant, acknowledges the police officers in the crowd as he talks about Ran, who went to fight back the terrorists at Kibbutz Alumim on October 7 with a broken shoulder.

“His shoulder was broken and he didn’t think twice about fighting,” says Gvili. “Just as he went to take care of the country, now the country needs to save him.”

Gvili says that his family is not political, and Ran, whom his family refers to as Rani, was not either. “Everyone is equal to us,” he says. “Believe what you want, we love you all.”

Bereaved father Ruby Chen, the father of fallen soldier Itay Chen, also speaks at the Hostages Square gathering.

“Day 798, and on Sunday it will be day 800,” says Chen. “I remember day 100, with the 24-hour rally, and we said we wouldn’t reach day 200 — certainly not beyond that.”

Chen calls for an independent, apolitical commission of inquiry and says that “everyone wants” a conscription law that encompasses “everyone under the stretcher, sharing the burden.”

“I call on our politicians to remember how everyone fought together on 7/10, just as the Hasmoneans did then,” says Chen, referring to the story of the upcoming Hanukkah holiday.

Released hostage Eitan Horn is also present at the gathering, as is Dani Miran, the father of released hostage Omri Miran.

Other rallies will be held on Saturday evening in Meitar, the Gvilis’ hometown, in Shaar Hanegev in the south, and in Carmei Gat, with the Kibbutz Nir Oz community.

Lebanon FM: Iran’s policies are ‘source of instability’ in the Middle East

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji tells Al Jazeera that Iran’s role in Lebanon and the Middle East is “very negative,” and calls Tehran’s policies “a source of instability” in the region.

Rajji says Lebanon’s pro-Western government is open to dialogue with Iran if it stops funding “an illegal organization” in Lebanon, a euphemism for Hezbollah, and stops interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

Arab countries told Lebanon that Israel was planning a major military operation in Lebanon, Rajji says, adding that Beirut is using diplomatic channels to keep Lebanese state facilities from being attacked.

He says that Hezbollah’s weapons have failed to support Gaza or protect Lebanon, but the Shiite group refuses to give them up.

Turning to direct talks with Israel, Rajji stresses that Lebanon is not engaged in “traditional negotiations” but is trying to return to an armistice with Israel.

Israeli official: Qatar trying to destroy relationship between Israel and Trump administration

Israel believes that Qatar has made a decision to “destroy the relationship between Israel and the Trump administration from the ground up,” a senior Israeli official tells Ynet.

Qatar is engaged “in jihad,” says the senior official.

Israel sees Qatar as one of the suspects in what it believes is a state-backed global campaign, using intelligence agencies and private companies, to smear Israel online, says an Israeli official.

There have been recent attempts to smooth the fraught relationship between the two countries.

Israeli and Qatari officials met in New York last week, in the first of a series of trilateral meetings set up by US envoy Steve Witkoff, who is looking to mend ties that were frayed by Israel’s botched September strike on Hamas offices in Qatar.

Qatar’s prime minister said in an interview last week that his country will not foot the bill for rebuilding Gaza, despite speculation that it would be the main backer of reconstruction.

Rock group Primal Scream performs in front of photos of Netanyahu, Gallant with swastikas for eyes at London gig

Scottish rock group Primal Scream has come under fire after they aired images of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant with swastikas where their eyes should be during a show this week.

The band was playing at the historic Roundhouse in London on Monday night, where they performed their 2000 single “Swastika Eyes.”

During the song, the band flashed images on screen of politicians, both Israeli and non-Israeli, in which their eyes had been replaced by flashing swastikas inside a Star of David, which is both a Jewish symbol and an Israeli one.

The band Primal Scream have got some strange taste in background videos, like Netanyahu with swastikas in his eyes… pic.twitter.com/d3fPOk7tkX

— The Electronic Uprising (@uprising_1) December 11, 2025

The photos were interspersed with images of Gaza, which has been largely destroyed amid Israel’s two-year war with Hamas, and the song ended with the words “Our government is complicit in genocide” emblazoned on the screen.

The politicians featured by Primal Scream include US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Argentine President Javier Milei.

A spokesperson for the Jewish organization Community Security Trust tells the Daily Mail that it will be reporting Primal Scream to the police over the incident and calls for an “urgent investigation” by the Roundhouse into how the images were allowed to be aired.

A spokesperson for the Roundhouse says that the venue did not know in advance about the “highly offensive images,” and says that the act “stands against all our values.”

The Roundhouse “absolutely condemns antisemitism in every form,” the spokesperson says, adding: “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community and remain committed to ensuring that our spaces are places where everyone feels secure, respected and valued.”

Gaza’s civil defense: One killed in house collapse in Gaza City, others trapped under rubble

A home has collapsed in Gaza City’s Sheik Radwan neighborhood, killing at least one person, according to the Hamas-run civil defense agency.

The agency says it has recovered the body of the person killed and is working to recover the wounded people from under the rubble.

The agency has warned Gazans to stay away from buildings bombed by Israel due to the fear that they will collapse as a result of the heavy rain.

Suspect arrested in connection with murder of a mother and her son in Yokne’am Illit

Police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a mother and her son earlier this week in Yokne’am Illit.

Paramedics found the mother and son, ages 69 and 39, respectively, lifeless in an apartment in the northern city on Tuesday. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect, a 43-year-old man from Mevaseret Zion, was arrested this morning and will be brought to the Nof Hagalil-Nazareth Magistrate’s Court for an extension on his remand, police say.

A gag order has been imposed on details of the investigation or any information that could lead to the identification of suspects.

Israeli charged over attempt to smuggle hundreds of illicit Captagon pills into Jordan from Eilat last month

Police say they foiled an attempt to smuggle masses of Captagon pills into Jordan from Israel, arresting a 20-year-old after he was stopped by customs officials in Eilat.

Authorities caught him at the Rabin border crossing in November with hundreds of Captagon pills and over 15 kg (33 lbs) of marijuana in his suitcase.

The suspect, from the Negev Bedouin town of Bir Hadaj, was charged today, the Israel Police say.

Captagon, a powerful psychostimulant, is widespread throughout the Middle East and is known to have been used by jihadist fighters for its energy-boosting, appetite-suppressing properties. Police say that the drug was consumed by Hamas terrorists during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Investigators completed their investigation into the smuggling attempt and an indictment was filed against the suspect. Prosecutors in the Southern District Attorney’s office are requesting to keep him in custody until the end of legal proceedings.

Two Israeli teens, two adults lightly injured by stone throwing in separate incidents in the West Bank

Two teenage Israeli boys and two Israeli adults were lightly injured by stone throwing this morning in two separate incidents in the West Bank, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

In the first incident, at around 10 a.m., two 15-year-old boys were injured close to the West Bank settlement city of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem.

The two suffered light injuries to their upper bodies and received initial medical treatment at the scene before they were transferred to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, MDA says.

About 90 minutes later, MDA says it received a report about two adults, a man, 43, and a woman, 32, who were injured by stones thrown at their vehicle near a checkpoint close to the Kfar Etzion settlement.

The two were treated for minor injuries at the scene and did not require hospital treatment.

Report: Egypt tells US not to underestimate Hamas’s remaining military capabilities in Gaza, attacks on Israel still possible

Egypt told US interlocutors in conversations this week that Washington should not underestimate Hamas’s “military capabilities that still exist within the Gaza Strip despite the war,” and that attacks against Israel could still take place from Gaza, Egyptian officials tell the Lebanese Al-Akhbar daily.

The Egyptian officials also tell the US that Hamas disarmament “is linked to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Furthermore, the officials say Hamas will not disarm unless it has firm guarantees that Israel will not violate any potential agreement and resume strikes on Hamas, the officials say.

To this end, Egypt and Qatar are warning the US in meetings that Israel is trying to impose realities on the ground in Gaza, including expanding the width of the buffer zone, according to the report.

Egypt has been stressing “the Palestinians’ full commitment to the terms of the agreement and their pledge not to obstruct it, despite Israel’s lack of flexibility in dealing with the fighters stranded in areas still under occupation, and its continued obstruction of the Rafah Crossing, which was supposed to operate in both directions according to the agreement—a commitment Israel has thus far failed to uphold,” Egyptian sources tell the newspaper.

Egypt is pushing a proposal for Gaza that features a Palestinian security force, international peacekeepers, and the full reconstruction of Gaza City that will be carried out in parallel to the demilitarization of Gaza.

UN says emergency shelter supplies blocked from entering Gaza; no comment from COGAT

Hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans face flooding of their tents and shelters by heavy rains, and materials for shelters and sandbags are not being allowed to enter the enclave, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.

Nearly 795,000 displaced people are at heightened risk of potentially dangerous flooding in low-lying, rubble-filled areas where families are living in unsafe shelters, the IOM says.

Insufficient drainage and waste management also heighten the risk of disease outbreak, the UN agency adds.

Materials to help reinforce shelters, such as timber and plywood, as well as sandbags and water pumps to help with flooding, have been delayed from entering Gaza due to ongoing access restrictions, the IOM says.

Israel says it is meeting its obligations and accuses agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft by Hamas.

COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that oversees humanitarian matters, was not immediately available for comment.

Supplies already dispatched to Gaza, including waterproof tents, thermal blankets and tarpaulins, were unable to withstand the flooding, the IOM adds.

“After this storm made landfall yesterday, families are trying to protect their children with whatever they have,” IOM Director General Amy Pope says.

Iraq’s former president Barham Salih named UN refugee chief

Iraq’s former president Barham Salih has been chosen as the next high commissioner for refugees for the United Nations, a letter shows.

The letter signed by United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres and dated December 11 says Salih has been appointed for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2026.

The appointment is provisional and needs to be approved by UNHCR’s Executive Committee, the document shows.

IDF says it hit Hezbollah training facility in southern Lebanon airstrike

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a Hezbollah training facility in southern Lebanon a short while ago.

The site was used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force to prepare for attacks against Israel, the army says.

Earlier this week, the IDF said it struck a different Radwan Force training site in southern Lebanon.

In addition, the military says it struck other Hezbollah sites in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Infant and 9-year-old girl reportedly die of cold exposure in Gaza displacement camps

An infant girl and a 9-year-old girl have died of cold exposure in two separate displaced people’s camps in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports, citing a source in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

The infant is identified as Taim Al-Khawaja. Her precise age is unclear. She reportedly died in the coastal Shati refugee camp.

أمام صمت العالم المتفرج على المأساة.. طفلة رضيعة جديدة يقتلها البرد الشديد في غزة. pic.twitter.com/MAnSc7aTjm

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) December 12, 2025

The 9-year-old is identified as Hadeel Hamdan. She reportedly died in a displaced people’s site in western Gaza City.

Meanwhile, WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says two people were killed early today when a large wall collapsed on their tent camp in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood. The report did not name them.

In total, eleven people have died of weather-related causes in Gaza since yesterday, WAFA says.

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says at least 10 buildings have collapsed across the enclave in recent hours, and that in two instances, civil defense teams had to rescue people trapped under the buildings.

جراء العاصفة الجوية.. لقطات توثق انهيار منزل متصدع فوق رؤوس ساكنيه في شمالي قطاع #غزة #الجزيرة #ألبوم pic.twitter.com/t5bqoleQAT

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) December 12, 2025

The agency has warned displaced Gazans whose tents flooded not to seek refuge in buildings that were bombed by Israel, as they are liable to collapse due to the heavy rain.

Police searching for missing Bnei Brak teen, last seen on eve of Storm Byron

The Israel Police says it is looking for a missing teen from the central Israel city of Bnei Brak, who has not been seen since Wednesday evening.

Eliyahu Abba Shaul, 19, left his home hours before the peak of Storm Byron, which swept through Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, and has not been heard from since.

Channel 12 reports that the police search operation is focused on the area around the Yarkon River, after his bicycle was found nearby.

מי ראה את אליהו אבא שאול מבני ברק?
הנעדר יצא אתמול בערב מביתו ומאז נעלמו עקבותיו. תיאורו: לבש חולצה לבנה, סוודר בצבע שחור ומכנס שחור. רוכב על אופניים חשמליים בצבע שחור עם כיתוב בצבע אדום. כל היודע דבר על מקום המצאו מתבקש לפנות למוקד 100 של משטרת ישראל. …https://t.co/TTMYBfpRxz pic.twitter.com/e0lVgDvxCe

— ניוזים ישראל (@NewzimIsrael) December 11, 2025

Five said killed in house collapse in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya

Five people are killed and others wounded by the collapse of a house in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports, citing a source in the emergency services.

Hamas authorities had warned that the heavy rain over the last few days could lead to the collapse of buildings damaged by Israel.

Over 20 percent of the buildings in Gaza that were not fully destroyed in the war were still damaged in some way, according to the United Nations.

Man dies of hypothermia in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood

A man has died of hypothermia in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, says the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

It says it dispatched a medical team to the location after receiving a report shortly after 6:30 a.m. about an unconscious man, roughly 50 years of age.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, with medics saying he showed signs of having suffered severe hypothermia.

19-year-old from northern Arab town pronounced dead after shooting

A 19-year-old critically wounded in a shooting in the northern town of Deir Hanna has died of his wounds after being transported to a local hospital.

Police are searching for suspects in the area of the shooting.

Rescue efforts underway in southern moshav as flooding traps residents

The Magen David Adom ambulance service reports that residents of Moshav Beit Shikma in southern Israel are trapped at their homes due to flooding, with efforts underway to rescue them.

MDA says that its paramedics treated seven people who required medical care after being rescued, including a 60-year-old man in moderate condition who appears to have hypothermia.

Newly screened footage gives unprecedented insight into what hostages went through in first months of Hamas captivity

The footage recovered by the military and screened tonight on Israel’s Channel 12, showing the six Israeli hostages who were murdered by their captors in August 2024, gives a uniquely extensive glimpse into what the hostages went through during their first months in Hamas captivity.

While the videos were filmed by Hamas terrorists likely for propaganda purposes, the material is unlike other clips published during the war showing hostages reading statements evidently dictated by their captors.

Footage found by the IDF in Gaza and published on December 11, 2025, shows hostages Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov and Hersh Goldberg-Polin in a Gaza tunnel where they are were held captive in late 2023. (Courtesy)

The IDF reportedly recovered hours of footage filmed by the Hamas terrorists of the six hostages during their captivity in late 2023, which were ultimately not released by the terror group. Hamas, however, did release clips of some of the six hostages reading statements, both before and after their deaths.

The six, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27, were killed by their captors in a tunnel in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood on August 29, 2024, and were discovered by IDF troops two days later.

During the ground offensive in Gaza, the military has recovered unpublished footage of other hostages, some of which has been released to the public by their families, although none as extensive.

Trump ‘frustrated’ with Kyiv, Moscow over talks

US President Donald Trump is “extremely frustrated” with Russia and Ukraine, his spokeswoman says, as Kyiv said Washington was still pushing it to make major territorial concessions as part of its plan to end the nearly four-year war.

“The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war,” Karoline Leavitt tells reporters. “He doesn’t want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end.”

Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made remarks that appeared to show little had changed in Washington’s core position on how the conflict should end since it sent a 28-point plan to Kyiv and Moscow last month that heavily favored Russia.

Zelensky said that Washington was still pushing it to cede land to Russia as part of an agreement to end the war that started with Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.

Washington wants only Ukraine, not Russia, to withdraw its troops from parts of the eastern Donetsk region, where a demilitarised “free economic zone” would be installed as a buffer between the two armies, Zelensky told reporters, including from AFP.

Under the latest US plan, Moscow would also stay where it is in the south of the country, but pull some of its troops out of Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not claimed to have annexed in the north.

Ukraine has been revising the original US proposal and this week sent a 20-point counter-proposal to Washington, the full details of which have not been published.

“We have two key points of disagreement: the territories of Donetsk and everything related to them, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. These are the two topics we continue to discuss,” Zelensky told reporters at a briefing.

“They see Ukrainian forces leaving the territory of Donetsk region, and the supposed compromise is that Russian forces do not enter this territory… which they already call a ‘free economic zone’,” Zelensky said about the US plan.

Zelensky has long said he has no “constitutional” or “moral” right to cede Ukrainian land, and on Thursday said Ukrainians should have the final say on the issue.

“Whether through elections or a referendum, there must be a position from the people of Ukraine,” he said.

Report: Israel agreed to US demand to pay for massive Gaza rubble-clearing operation

The US demanded this week from Israel that it pay for the clearing of rubble from the Gaza Strip, and to be responsible for the massive engineering operation, Ynet reports, citing a senior Israeli official.

Israel agreed to the request, according to the report, which will cost up to one billion shekels.

The Prime Minister’s Office does not respond to requests for comment.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there are 68 million tons of debris in Gaza, according to the UN Development Program.

Earlier this week, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday that his country will not foot the bill for rebuilding Gaza. “We are not the ones who are going to write the check to rebuild what others destroyed,” Al Thani said during an onstage interview at the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference. “When you are talking about Gaza, Israel flattened this land.”

According to the Ynet report, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week to try to convince Israel to accept Turkish troops in Gaza, something Israel says it will not countenance.

The senior Israeli official tells the outlet that the US is focusing in conversations with Israel more on rebuilding and less on how to disarm Hamas. Netanyahu has been saying in private conversations that the task will ultimately fall on Israeli forces, according to the official.

White House: We’ll make Gaza deal phase two announcements ‘at appropriate time’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the US will make announcements regarding the transition to phase two of its Gaza peace plan “at the appropriate time.”

“There is a lot of quiet planning going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal, and the United States will make those announcements public at the appropriate time,” Leavitt tells reporters during a press briefing.

The US had initially planned to announce a transition to phase two this month, but has hit snags in getting countries on board amid Israeli red lines on who can join and Hamas’ refusal to disarm.