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The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they unfolded.
Syrian rebel leader meets with UN envoy in Damascus
The Syrian Islamist leader whose group led the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad met earlier today with UN envoy Geir Pedersen, who was visiting Damascus, a statement on the rebels’ Telegram channel says.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani, now using his real name Ahmad al-Sharaa, discussed with Pedersen “the changes that have occurred on the political scene which make it necessary to update” a 2015 UN Security Council resolution that set out a roadmap for a political settlement in Syria, “to suit the new reality,” the statement says.
Left-wing Israelis protest against Gaza war in New York City
Leftist Israelis call for a ceasefire in New York City’s Union Square, December 15,2024. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Around two dozen leftist protesters gather in New York City’s Union Square to demand an end to the war in Gaza as part of a weekly demonstration in the city led by Israelis.
The protesters hold signs saying “Israelis for peace,” “War has no winners,” and “Israelis say: There is no military solution.”
“You either support a shared future of liberty and dignity for all from the river to the sea or you’re standing in the way,” organizer Tamar Glezerman tells the crowd, calling for an end to US military support for Israel.
“Your unconditional support is truly killing us,” she says.
Glezerman begins by announcing deaths on both sides of the conflict in the past week and condemning settler violence.
“As far as the hostage negotiations go, the Israeli government couldn’t give a shit,” Glezerman says.
“Netanyahu can’t be bothered by the hostages. He has bigger fish to fry,” she says, like his legal travails and “taking credit for the fall of the Assad regime.”
The crowd, huddled against the bitter winter cold, chants “Ceasefire now” and “Take your finger off the trigger, war will never have a winner.” They chant in Hebrew for the release of the hostages in Gaza.
The protesters, organized by a group calling itself “Israelis for Peace NYC,” have been holding rallies in the city for more than a year.
They occupy a niche between the mainstream Jewish community that is focused on the plight of the hostages, and the mainstream anti-Israel movement, which is anti-Zionist and regularly calls for the destruction of Israel.
Palestinians report 12 killed in strike on shelter in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis
The Hamas-run civil defense agency in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza earlier today, killing at least 12 people including children.
Civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal tells AFP that at least 35 others were wounded at the Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz school building in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
IDF says Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza was member of Islamic Jihad
The IDF accuses Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed al-Louh, who was killed in an airstrike earlier today in the central Gaza Strip, of being a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
In a statement, the military says it carried out a drone strike against a group of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror operatives at a command center, based out of the offices of the Gaza Civil Defense organization in Nuseirat.
“The compound was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terror acts against IDF troops in the immediate time frame,” the military says.
According to the IDF, several terror operatives were killed in the strike, including al-Louh, who is accused of previously serving as a platoon commander in Islamic Jihad’s central Gaza brigade.
The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other intelligence.
In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an airstrike were terror operatives.
The following month, it accused another journalist with the channel, who was wounded in a separate strike, of being a deputy company commander with Hamas.
And in October, the IDF said it had uncovered documents in Gaza that show six active Al Jazeera reporters were operatives in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s allegations and accused it of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip.
Report: US asked Israel to approve military aid for PA as it fights terror groups in Jenin
Palestinian Authority security forces vehicles block a road amid clashes with terror operatives in Jenin in the West Bank on December 15, 2024. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
The US has asked Israel to approve the urgent delivery of military assistance to the Palestinian Authority amid its latest crackdown on terror organizations in Jenin as it attempts to restore order in the flashpoint West Bank city, Axios reports.
It reports that the Biden administration is seeking to provide the PA security forces with ammunition, helmets, bulletproof vests, armored cars and other essential items, but needs Israel’s approval in order to do so.
It adds that an unnamed Palestinian official appealed to the US for assistance, explaining that the terror groups — chiefly Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad — are currently better equipped than the PA security forces.
The PA has said that the operation in Jenin, the largest of its kind in years, is aimed at restoring security and stability in the area. It comes as Ramallah appears to be trying to signal that it could play a significant role in managing a post-war Gaza Strip.
But the reasons for the operation are twofold, Axios reports, as PA President Mahmoud Abbas fears that he too could be ousted in the same manner as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose family’s 50-year-reign came to an abrupt end after a lightning rebel offensive earlier this month.
“It was a Syria effect,” the unnamed Palestinian official tells Axios. “Abbas and his team were concerned that what happened in Aleppo and Damascus will inspire Palestinian Islamist [groups].”
IDF says chasing Palestinian gunman who fired at Israeli motorist in the West Bank
The IDF says it is chasing after a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on an Israeli motorist near the Barkan industrial zone in the West Bank.
“Troops are scanning, deploying roadblocks and encircling villages in the area,” the army says.
There are no injuries in the terror attack.
Al Jazeera says camera operator killed in central Gaza strike
The Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news outlet reports that one of its camera operators was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip earlier today.
“Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed al-Louh was killed today, Sunday, in an Israeli bombardment,” the network’s Arabic-language website reports, adding the strike was carried out in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.
The spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defense agency Mahmud Bassal says that three members of the civil defense agency were also killed in the strike.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Israeli official says hostage deal could be ready by Hanukkah but reports suggest disagreements over details
A hostage deal with Hamas will likely be completed by Hanukkah, an Israeli official tells Israel Hayom.
Hanukkah starts on the evening of December 25.
For now, however, talks are hung up over the number of hostages to be released in a partial deal, according to Channel 13. Hamas insists on releasing far fewer than Israel demands, and Israel is not willing to budge, says the report.
According to Channel 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President-elect Donald Trump last night that the US must pressure Egypt and Qatar to in turn push Hamas to release more hostages.
Saudi Arabia accuses Israel of sabotaging Syria with plan to double Golan Heights’ population
Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s plan to double the population of the Golan Heights, panning it as an attempt to “sabotage” Syria.
In a statement, Riyadh’s foreign ministry expresses “condemnation and denunciation” of the plan, which it calls part of the “continued sabotage of opportunities to restore security and stability in Syria” after Islamist-led rebels overthrew president Bashar al-Assad one week ago.
Cabinet unanimously approves NIS 40 million plan to double population of the Golan Heights
The cabinet unanimously approves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s NIS 40 million ($11 million) plan to double the population in the Golan Heights.
Around 50,000 people live on the Israeli-controlled side of the heights, evenly split between Jews and Druze.
The money will go toward education, renewable energy, the establishment of a student village and a plan for absorbing new residents, says the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Strengthening the Golan Heights is strengthening the State of Israel,” says Netanyahu, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to it, make it flourish and settle it.”
Israel conquered the Golan from Syria in 1967, and annexed it in 1981. Most of the world does not recognize Israeli control, though the US granted its recognition in 2019.
‘I need you to fight’: Siblings of Hamas hostages address crowd in NY’s Central Park
A crowd of several hundred gather in New York City's Central Park to advocate for the release of Hamas hostages, December 15, 2024. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The siblings of four Hamas hostages address a crowd of several hundred in New York City’s Central Park, expressing hope that a deal to free the captives may be forthcoming.
“It can be a matter of days and we need to push stronger than ever to make it happen and make all the world leaders understand this is the most important thing,” says Amit Levi, the brother of hostage Naama Levi.
Sasha Ariev, the older sister of hostage Karina Ariev, says, “For 14 months [I’ve been] crying out for Karina and the hostages but my voice is fading away.”
“I need you, I need you to fight for Karina with me. We cannot allow this situation to be normalized,” she says.
Sasha Ariev, older sister of Hamas hostage Karina Ariev, addresses a crowd at the weekly hostages rally in Central Park pic.twitter.com/htAF4rvy8X
— Luke Tress (@luketress) December 15, 2024
Yarden Gonen, the sister of hostage Romi Gonen, and Roy Chen, brother of the captive Itay Chen, also address the crowd, asking the public to continue to call for a hostage deal.
The families attend the rally after holding meetings in Washington, DC.
The weekly rallies in Central Park have continued to go strong after 14 months of war, despite fatigue and the winter cold.
The crowd gathers each Sunday morning in the park near the Upper West Side holding signs showing the faces and the names of the hostages. Many wear yellow ribbons, a symbol of the hostages’ plight, and carry Israeli flags.
The rallies are organized by a group of Israelis living in New York City.
Ruthie Liebowitz, 82, has been coming to the rallies since the beginning.
“It’s the same people every week. I don’t see numbers going down,” she says. “We’re not drawing many new people and that’s what’s sad.”
The event closes with organizers reading out the first names of each hostage, and the crowd shouting “Now!” after each hostage’s name. The group then sings Israel’s anthem, “Hatikvah,” or “The Hope.”
Qatar to reopen embassy in Syria for first time since 2011
A Qatari delegation has arrived in Damascus to pave the way for the reopening of Qatar’s embassy in Syria, the Gulf country’s foreign ministry says in a statement.
Qatar’s embassy in Damascus has been shut since July 2011 when it withdrew its ambassador from Damascus after a series of deadly crackdowns by Bashar al-Assad’s regime on street protesters – violence that led to the 13-year civil war.
National security cabinet convenes in IDF Central Command HQ in Jerusalem
The national security cabinet convenes at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem, December 15, 2024. (Screenshot, GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes his national security cabinet in the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara join the meeting as well.
PM confirms ‘very friendly’ call with Trump about need for ‘victory’ against Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about Israel's operations in Syria, following a call with US President-elect Donald Trump, December 15, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke last night with US President-elect Donald Trump about Israel’s determination to continue acting against Iran and its armed proxies whenever they try to harm the Jewish state, the premier says in a video statement.
Netanyahu says it was a “very friendly, very warm, and very important conversation” about the need for Israel to “complete its victory.”
“We are committed to preventing Hezbollah from rearming,” he says. “This is an ongoing test for Israel, we must meet it – and we will meet it. I say to Hezbollah and Iran in no uncertain terms – to prevent you from harming us, we will continue to act against you as much as necessary, in every arena and at all times.”
Netanyahu reiterates that recent airstrikes against Syrian military sites were carried out to ensure that the weapons would not be used against Israel in the future. Israel also hit arms supply routes to Hezbollah, he says.
“We have no interest in a conflict with Syria,” Netanyahu says firmly. “We will determine Israel’s policy toward Syria according to the emerging reality on the ground.”
“Syria is not the same Syria,” he says, arguing that Israel is changing the Middle East. “Lebanon is not the same Lebanon, Gaza is not the same Gaza, and the leader of the axis – Iran – is not the same Iran.”
Inflation eased in November, led by drop in produce prices, data shows
The inflation rate eased in November, led by a decline in the costs of fresh fruit and vegetables, transportation, and foreign travel, Central Bureau of Statistics data shows.
Annual inflation over the past 12 months stood at 3.4 percent, down from 3.5% in October. However, the annual inflation rate is still above the government’s target range of 1% to 3%.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, fell by 0.4% in November, after accelerating 0.5% in October. The November figure compared with analysts’ expectations of a decline of between 0.2% and 0.4%.
In November, price declines were seen in the costs of fresh fruit and vegetables, which dropped 6.6%, and transportation, which was down 1.5%, according to the statistics bureau. Travel costs, including flights within Israel and abroad, fell 6.8%; hotel prices declined 7.4%, and culture and entertainment slipped 1.3%.
These were offset by price increases in clothing, which was up 1.2%. In the real estate market, rents on renewal of contracts rose 2.6% and rents on contracts for new tenants jumped by 3.8%
Protesters held on terror charges made to undergo strip search after meeting with Labor lawmaker
The four anti-government protesters charged with terrorism for allegedly firing lit flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Caesarea home last month were subjected to a full strip search after meeting with Labor MK Gilad Kariv last week, Hebrew media reports.
According to Channel 12, the Israel Prison Services ordered the strip search on suspicion that Kariv had smuggled them a communications device or similar contraband when visiting on Thursday. However, speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Kariv says he was scanned for weapons and other suspicious items before entering the prison facility.
Kariv, in a statement responding to the report, accuses the IPS of “deliberately thwarting the ability to carry out parliamentary oversight of the conditions of detention,” and says that the reported incident is proof that the categorization of the detainees as security prisoners “severely violates their rights.”
In a post on X, he describes the search as a “price tag attack” by the IPS for a politician “who is not on the right side requesting to meet with prisoners.
“This search cannot be disconnected from the difficulties that the office of [National Security] Minister [Itamar] Ben Gvir piled up for my first visit 10 days ago,” he writes.
“When you give a criminal a monopoly on the use of force in the country you get the dismantlement of the rule of law,” Kariv fumes in reference to Ben Gvir who has several criminal convictions, including one for supporting terrorism.
Condemning the incident, the Public Defender’s Office says that being strip searched “is a harsh, humiliating and degrading act.”
“The Public Defender’s has previously criticized the inappropriate phenomenon of unnecessary strip searches,” it continues. “Even in instances where the Prison Service has the legal authority to conduct a strip search on a person in custody, this should only be done when appropriate, when there is a real suspicion of the transfer of prohibited substances.
“Even when a person loses his freedom, he does not lose his dignity,” it adds.
The IPS says in response that “During a pro-active search in the prison, prisoners in several locations were checked while preserving their dignity. The attempt to make a connection between this action and a meeting with detainees/prisoners with elected officials has no connection to reality.”
Anti-government activists Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron, 63, his son Gal Doron, 27, Itay Yaffe, 62, and Amir Sadeh, 62, were indicted earlier this month in the Haifa District Court on charges of carrying out an act of terror through the reckless and negligent use of fire, and attempted arson for allegedly firing the flares at the Netanyahus’ residence.
They have been in detention since they were arrested in mid-November, and the State Attorney’s Office has requested they be kept behind bars until the end of the legal process.
Police rule out terror after Route 1 closure, but 13 detained for illegally entering Israel
Several hours after a vehicle was detained by security forces on Route 1, the main highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the Israel Police says it has ruled out the possibility that the car, and its driver, were connected to any terrorist activity.
Traffic was brought to a standstill earlier today as authorities working off an intelligence tip hunted down a suspected terror cell thought to be plotting an attack.
In a statement, the Israel Police says that while terrorist activity had been ruled out, 13 people were detained over the course of the investigation, as they are believed to have crossed into Israel illegally for work in the vehicle that was pulled over.
The suspects were located and taken for questioning, along with their employer, the police statement says.
Trump team denies report that Mideast adviser is not actually a billionaire lawyer
Massad Boulos visits The Great Commoner, November 1, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
The Trump transition team denies a New York Times report that claimed the US president-elect’s new Mideast adviser is not the billionaire lawyer as was previously believed.
The Times was “falsely attacking Mr. Massad Boulos and his family’s long history of running successful companies as part of their mission to derail President Trump’s agenda and exceptional team,” the Trump transition statement asserts.
After the election, Massad Boulos was lauded by Trump as “an accomplished lawyer and highly respected leader in the business world” — a description echoed in media reports about the appointment, which discussed his supposed family business, Boulos Enterprises.
Asked in an October interview with The Times whether reports were correct that the company was a “multibillion-dollar enterprise,” Boulos responded affirmatively.
He did not mention, however, that he has no connection to the company, which takes its name from a different Boulos family. Asked why he didn’t correct the record, the Lebanese-American businessman told NYT that he made a practice of not commenting on his business.
In its response denying the NYT report, the Trump transition team says, “The truth is Mr. Boulos is a highly respected businessman who has proudly served as the CEO of some of his family’s group of companies based in West Africa for more than 27 years and his family has employed tens of thousands of people around the globe.”
The statement insists that Boulos has degrees in both business and law.
It also says that Boulos’s Scoa Nigeria PLC and his wife’s Fadoul Group “have developed into a family group with over $1 Billion USD in value and hundreds of millions in assets.”
NYT reported that Boulos had told the newspaper that most of his wealth came from his wife Sarah Fadoul Boulos.
“Scoa and the other family group companies have been very successful in the Nigerian market providing high-end products and specialized services to the largest companies in the country,” the Trump transition statement says.
Settlement leaders call for clearing Palestinian refugee camps in West Bank ‘as we have done in Gaza’
Israeli forces take position near their vehicles during a raid at the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, in the West Bank on October 1, 2024. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Senior settlement leaders call on the security cabinet to evacuate residents of Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and what they describe as other centers of Palestinian terrorism, in order to tackle Palestinian armed groups “exactly as we have done in the Gaza Strip,” including through widespread demolition of structures in such places.
In a letter to the security cabinet, Yisrael Ganz, head of the Yesha Council umbrella settlement organization, together with 14 mayors of settlement authorities and regional councils, also calls for restricting Palestinian freedom of movement on main roads in the West Bank for security purposes.
In their letter, the settlement leaders allege that as a result of Iranian efforts, lethal terror attacks in the West Bank have spiked, and recommend that tough action be taken.
“The population living in zones identified with terrorism, with a focus on ‘refugee’ camps and known terror complexes, should be moved,” they write. “After moving the population the terrorism infrastructure should be dismantled exactly as we have done in the Gaza Strip, meaning: any criminal house to be destroyed, every terrorist to be taken out.”
Israel has been accused of the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza due to the massive destruction of civilian infrastructure and Israel’s refusal thus far to allow the overwhelming majority of the Gaza population who have been evacuated from their homes to return to the cities they came from.
Far-right Israeli politicians including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who are strongly aligned with the West Bank settlement movement, have also called for implementing policies designed to “encourage” Palestinian emigration from Gaza.
In their letter, the settlement leaders also call on the security cabinet to restrict Palestinian freedom of movement on roads in the West Bank “in a way that will make it harder for terrorists and weapons to move about Judea and Samaria,” and said that such measures should include shutting down security checkpoints.
Leading Syrian rebel group said to demand disarmament of country’s Palestinian factions
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that spearheaded the insurgency that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly ordered Palestinian terror factions in Syria to lay down their weapons, close their training camps and dissolve their military formations.
According to a report published in the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar on Friday, HTS has informed the Palestinian factions, chiefly among them Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headquartered in Damascus, that they will be able to retain their charities and conduct political activities under the aegis of the Syrian state, but will not be allowed to use Syria as a base or a point of passage for military actions against Israel.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda member, has sought to rebrand himself and his group as a moderate force that will stabilize Syria and respect religious minorities, and has indicated that he will not seek military confrontation with Israel.
More than 1,300 aid trucks entered Gaza over last week, says COGAT
Flour being delivered to Gaza via the Erez Crossing from Israel in a handout photo released on December 7, 2024. (COGAT/IDF)
The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says that over the past week, 1,316 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, a similar number of aid trucks, 1,318, were distributed to humanitarian warehouses and shelters in Gaza over the past week, “in coordination with aid organizations and the international community,” COGAT says.
The trucks carried food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment. The aid was transferred following a “thorough security screening” by Israeli authorities.
Irish PM says Israel’s decision to close Dublin embassy ‘deeply regrettable’
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris says that the decision by Israel to close its Dublin embassy is “deeply regrettable.”
“I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel,” Harris writes on X. “Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”
“Ireland wants a two state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law,” he adds.
This is a deeply regrettable decision from the Netanyahu government. I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-International law. https://t.co/rDga5GpT3u
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) December 15, 2024
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that he would be closing the embassy earlier today, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government” as his reason for doing so.
Israel recalled its ambassador in May after Ireland became one of three EU countries that said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland has not recalled its envoy to Israel.
Report: Police identified 20 suspects in far-right Sde Teiman protest but none has been questioned
Israeli soldiers and police clash with far-right protesters who broke into the Beit Lid army base over the detention for questioning of military reservists suspected of abusing Palestinian terrorist detainees, in Kfar Yona, July 29, 2024. (Oren Ziv/AFP)
Roughly 20 people who participated in far-right protests at the Sde Teiman detention facility and the IDF’s Beit Lid base in July have been identified by police but have not yet been questioned, the Haaretz newspaper reports, with the delay apparently caused by senior police officers opposed to the investigation.
The suspects are nevertheless expected to be called in for questioning soon, the report states, but due to the opposition of several senior law enforcement officials, it is unlikely that any indictments will be filed against them.
On July 29, an ultranationalist mob broke into the two military bases to interrupt legal proceedings against reservist soldiers suspected of abusing Palestinian terrorist detainees.
Among those who entered the base without authorization were MK Nissim Vaturi of the ruling Likud party, MK Zvi Sukkot of the Religious Zionism party, and National Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of Otzma Yehudit.
The three have also yet to be questioned, Haaretz reports, although police have been granted permission to do so.
It adds that the IDF has expressed dissatisfaction with the way in which the probe is being handled by the Israel Police.
Eliezer Marom announces resignation from role overseeing rehabilitation of north
Eliezer Marom, the government coordinator for the north, attends an Interior committee meeting at the Knesset on December 2, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israeli Navy Vice Admiral (res.) Eliezer Marom announces his resignation from the role to oversee the rehabilitation of Israel’s northern communities harmed amid fighting against Hezbollah.
Maron is stepping down from the role just six months after assuming the position.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, Meron felt the scope of his position had narrowed since New Hope’s Ze’ev Elkin was made a minister last month and tasked with the Northern Rehabilitation Directorate and rehabilitating the Gaza border communities attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
Sa’ar announces closure of Dublin embassy due to ‘extreme anti-Israel policy of Irish government’
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar gives a press conference on November 28, 2024, in Prague, Czech Republic. (Michal Cizek / AFP)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announces he will be closing Israel’s embassy in Ireland, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government.”
Israel recalled its ambassador in May after Ireland became one of three EU countries that said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland has not recalled its envoy to Israel.
Last week, Ireland’s cabinet voted to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of “genocide” at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“The antisemitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards,” says Sa’ar in a statement. “Ireland has crossed all red lines in its relationship with Israel. Israel will invest its resources in promoting bilateral relations with the countries of the world according to priorities that are also derived from the attitude of the various countries towards it.”
At the same time, Sa’ar announces that Israel will open an embassy in Moldova, which already has an embassy in Israel. The opening is expected to occur in the next year, and Israel is beginning the process of finding a site and appointing an ambassador.
“There are countries that are interested in strengthening their ties with Israel and do not yet have an Israeli embassy,” says Sa’ar. “We will adjust the Israeli diplomatic structure of our missions while giving weight, among other things, to the approach and actions of the various countries towards Israel in the political arena.”
Dozens of terror operatives killed in overnight raid in north Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, IDF says
Dozens of terror operatives were killed in an overnight raid carried out by troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, the IDF says.
According to the military, the Givati troops raided an area of Beit Hanoun where there was a “concentration of terrorists,” following intelligence information on “the presence of terrorists in the area.”
During the operation, which also involved airstrikes, dozens of gunmen were killed, and several other terror operatives were detained, the IDF says.
In a separate operation in the adjacent town of Beit Lahiya, the IDF says, troops of the Kfir Brigade killed several terror operatives in ground combat and by directing airstrikes. The soldiers also located and destroyed weapons in the area.
Meanwhile, earlier this morning, the IDF says it carried out an airstrike against Hamas operatives at a command center embedded within a building that formerly housed the Abu Shabak medical clinic in Jabalia.
“The compound was used by the Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terror activity against IDF troops and the State of Israel, and many weapons used by the Hamas terrorists were stored there,” the military says.
The IDF also says that last night fighter jets struck three terror cells in Gaza City, whose members were planning to carry out attacks against troops in the “immediate time frame.”
In all of the strikes, the IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm, including by using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
1 detained, vehicle checked by sappers amid security alert on Route 1
Police say that one person was detained and a vehicle was undergoing checks by sappers during a security alert on the Route 1 highway near the Latrun interchange.
According to reports, the suspect was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning.
A spokesman for the police tells Channel 12 news that the incident “is still ongoing.”
Tel Aviv University professor named fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors
Prof. Dan Peer, vice president of Research and Development at Tel Aviv University (Courtesy)
Prof. Dan Peer, vice president of Research and Development at Tel Aviv University (TAU), has been elected as a fellow of the United States National Academy of Inventors, the university announces.
The appointment is “the highest recognition given by the Academy, awarded to innovators whose inventions have had a decisive impact on quality of life, economic development, and social welfare,” the press release notes.
Peer is a recognized pioneer in RNA-based molecular drugs. With research focusing on treatments for cancers, inflammatory bowel diseases and rare genetic conditions, his achievements include being the first to demonstrate systemic mRNA delivery in animals and the development of an mRNA vaccine against bacteria, according to the announcement.
Peer has filed over 145 patents that were commercialized through TAU’s Ramot technology transfer company, with several projects currently in clinical trials. He currently serves, in addition to his position at TAU, as a member of National Academy of Engineering (USA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“The United States National Academy of Inventors is one of the most prominent bodies dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia… the decision to choose me as a fellow is a great honor,” Peer says.
National Academy of Inventors was established in 2010 has over 1,850 Fellows across 260 institutions worldwide. Peer was chosen for his “exceptional achievements as an inventor” that have made “a significant impact on innovation,” the academy says in a statement.
Security forces set up checkpoints on Route 1 highway amid suspected security incident
Screen grab from a video circulating on social media apparently shows security forces setting up checkpoints on the Route 1 highway, December 15, 2024. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Due to a suspected security incident in the Jerusalem area, police and Shin Bet forces have set up checkpoints on the Route 1 highway, according to Hebrew media.
A police helicopter is also reportedly scanning the area.
There is no immediate comment from police on the incident.
Video appears to show that the highway is closed near Ben Gurion Airport in the direction of Tel Aviv.
בשל התרעה על חוליית מחבלים באזור ירושלים: המשטרה הקימה מחסומים וכוחות שב"כ הוקפצו@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/CFVW82AsK2
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 15, 2024
Katz: Israel faces growing threat from Syria despite rebel leaders seeking to present semblance of moderation
Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Knesset on December 9, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the defense budget must be increased “in the face of growing threats,” citing the recent developments in Syria with the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad by Islamist forces.
“Israel must be able to defend itself, on its own, against any threat,” Katz tells the Nagel Committee, which examines defense spending and the design of military forces for the future, according to a ministry statement.
“The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared and the recent developments in Syria are increasing the intensity of the threat, despite the the rebel leaders seeking to present a semblance of moderation,” Katz says.
The Nagel Committee is tasked with determining the directions of Israel’s military force design for the next decade, the budgetary implications, and the economic impact.
Katz said Friday that he had ordered the military to prepare to maintain its presence on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon during the coming winter months as Israel aims to prevent the border region from falling into the wrong hands.
Top diplomats of Turkey and the United States have met to discuss their joint effort to prevent Islamic State from resurging after Assad’s downfall, amid international efforts to gauge Syria’s new leadership from Islamist Hayat Tahrir a-Sham, which originated in al-Qaeda but has since apparently broken with the jihadi terror group.
Syrian children return to classrooms as officials order schools to reopen
Syrian schoolchildren attend class at a school in the capital Damascus's Dweilaa neighborhood on December 15, 2024 (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
Students return to classrooms in Syria as the country’s new rulers order schools to reopen in a potent sign of some normalcy a week after rebels swept into the capital in the dramatic overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad.
The country’s new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, faces a massive challenge to rebuild Syria after 13 years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities were bombed to ruins, the economy was gutted by international sanctions and millions of refugees still live in camps outside Syria.
Officials say most schools were opening around the country today, the first day of the working week. However some parents were not sending their children to class due to uncertainty over the situation.
Pupils waited cheerfully in the courtyard of a boys’ high school in Damascus and applauded as the school secretary, Raed Nasser, hung the flag adopted by the new authorities.
“Everything is good. We are fully equipped. We worked two, three days in order to equip the school with the needed services for the students’ safe return to school,” Nasser says, adding the Jawdat al-Hashemi school had not been damaged.
In one classroom, a student pasted the new flag on a wall.
“I am optimistic and very happy,” says student Salah al-Din Diab. “I used to walk in the street scared that I would get drafted to military service. I used to be afraid when I reach a checkpoint.”
Report: IDF’s October strikes drastically reduced Iran’s ability to produce ballistic missiles
People gather around a component from an intercepted ballistic missile fired by Iran on April 14, 2024, that fell near the Dead Sea, April 20, 2024. (AP/Itamar Grinberg)
An unnamed Israeli military source tells The Washington Post that the Israel Defense Forces strikes on Iran in October meant that while prior to the strikes Tehran had been able to produce fuel for two new ballistic missiles a day, it was now probably limited to one per week.
The source tells the newspaper that it was assumed the shortfall would continue for a year.
Additionally, former defense minister Yoav Gallant tells the outlet that the aim of the October 26 strikes — which also targeted air defenses and, reportedly, an active nuclear weapons research facility — was to ensure “Iran is weaker and Israel is stronger,” with Tehran unable to respond to future strikes.
“There is no strategic defense around Tehran,” he says.
Gallant also says that the strikes, which were in retaliation for a massive Iranian ballistic missile barrage on Israel on October 1, created “a window to act against Iran” before it manufactures a nuclear weapon.
The former minister additionally confirms that Israel was behind the strike in April on a radar system for an air defense battery in Iran’s central city of Isfahan. That strike was in response to Tehran’s massive drone-and-missile attack against Israel on April 13.
“We hit them precisely, but it wasn’t enough to deter them,” he says.
Turkey says it is ready to provide military support to new Syria government
An armed rebel waves to the crowd as people cheer during a gathering at the Karama square to welcome the arrival of rebel fighters from Aleppo and Daraa governorates in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on December 10, 2024. (SHADI AL DUBAISI / AFP)
ISTANBUL — Turkey is ready to provide military support to Syria’s new government if it requests it, Defense Minister Yasar Guler says.
In comments reported by Turkish media, he says the new government, headed up by the Islamist-led rebels who overthrew Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad a week ago, should be given a chance and that Turkey is “ready to provide the necessary support if the new administration requests it.”
Coalition party leaders meet on renewal of judicial overhaul, potential firing of AG
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and 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)
Coalition party leaders begin a meeting on a number of topics including the renewal of the contentious judicial overhaul and the potential firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Hebrew-language media reports.
Unnamed senior coalition officials tell the Ynet news site that if a majority in the forum agrees to dismiss Baharav-Miara, Justice Minister Yariv Levin will raise the issue for discussion with the cabinet.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly not to be present for that discussion due to his conflict of interest arrangement, which requires him to steer clear of decisions on judicial matters that could influence his criminal trial for fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.
Last night Levin indicated plans to revive the government’s frozen judicial overhaul program, posting on Facebook a lengthy attack on the High Court of Justice in which he accused it of usurping the Knesset’s legislative role and the government’s executive powers.
Levin’s comments, if followed through on, appeared to have the explosive potential to reignite the hugely divisive conflict over the judiciary that tore Israeli society asunder throughout much of 2023, before it was frozen following Hamas’s onslaught of October 7 of that year and the still-ongoing multifront war that followed.
In the summer of 2023, Netanyahu was reportedly warned by the heads of the IDF and the Shin Bet that Israel appeared increasingly vulnerable to attack due to the country’s foes viewing the deep societal strains over the government’s judicial overhaul push as an opportune time to strike.
Man shot and killed in Haifa
A man aged around 30 was shot and killed in the northern city of Haifa, medics say.
The man is found in a vehicle on Bethlehem Street, and emergency services declare his death on the scene.
Police say the motive for the killing appears to be crime rather than terror.
PM’s office: Yosef’s call for Haredi men not to serve in IDF ‘unacceptable, worthy of all condemnation’
Then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, June 2, 2016 (Yaakov Cohen/Flash90)
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef’s statement that even Haredi men who are not studying in yeshiva should not serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
The Prime Minister’s Office says Yosef’s words are “unacceptable and worthy of all condemnation.”
“We will not accept expressions of insubordination from any side,” he says, a reference to former state attorney Moshe Lador’s statement last night that Israeli Air Force pilots should stop volunteering for reserve duty if the government revives its highly contentious judicial overhaul, as Justice Minister Yariv Levin has indicated he intends to do.
Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have pushed for the passage of a law regulating military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal.
The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.
Yosef’s comments also garnered harsh criticism from the opposition, with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid stating that calling for draft evasion during wartime, especially by someone who was a state employee, “is crossing a red line that endangers democracy and undermines our future.”
National Unity chief Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman also slam Yosef, respectively stating that “calls for evasion are wrong, dangerous and illegitimate” and that such rhetoric constitutes “a serious blow to the unity of the people and national resilience.”
Communications minister reiterates call for AG to be fired: ‘Moral and democratic duty’
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi speaks to journalists in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi reiterates his call to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, declaring that “an absolute majority of government ministers” have expressed support for such a move.
“I call on the coalition leaders to act decisively and put an end to this absurd situation: The weakest opposition Israel has ever known is being granted illegal and anti-democratic power in the form of an attorney general who is waging an open ideological war on the policies of the elected government,” he tweets, calling the removal of Baharav-Miara a “moral and democratic duty.”
Karhi also demands that the coalition advance a bill changing the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee — effectively giving the government control over the selection of judges — to its second and third readings in the Knesset plenum.
Netanyahu and Trump discuss potential hostage deal, situation in Syria
US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke last night with US President-elect Donald Trump, Hebrew-language media reports.
There are no official statements or readouts of the call.
According to the reports, the two discussed a potential hostage deal, the war against Hamas in Gaza, and the situation in Syria.
Ex-chief rabbi on Haredi draft: ‘Even those who are idle are forbidden to go to the army’
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Safed on September 17, 2024 (David Cohen/Flash90 )
Former Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef says that even Haredi men who are not studying in yeshiva should not be drafted into the Israel Defense Forces.
“It is forbidden to go to the army, even for one who is idle,” says Yosef, a top figure in the coalition’s Haredi Shas party.
The senior religious authority double-checks to be sure that his statement has been recorded.
In response, Likud MK Moshe Saada calls for Yosef to be probed.
“Anyone who breaks the law and calls for people not to enlist should be investigated,” Saada tells Army Radio.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have pushed for the passage of a law regulating military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal.
Most Israelis outside the community want to scrap the broad Haredi exemptions from IDF service.
The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.
Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them and their families, a sentiment that has intensified since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and the ensuing war, in which more than 780 soldiers have been killed and some 300,000 citizens have been called up to reserve duty.
The military has said that it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — 75 percent of whom would be combat troops — amid Israel’s multi-front war.
Sweden to map scope of racism; minister: ‘We see Jewish students’ school lockers marked with swastikas’
Sweden’s government says it is launching a project to chart the different types of racism in society and assess the level of Swedes’ intolerance towards minorities.
Presenting the government’s plan, Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg says she wants to focus in particular on the scope of the phenomenon in schools.
“Racism and discrimination affect Afro-Swedish students at school… young Roma don’t dare speak out about their identity, and the (indigenous minority) Sami are victims of hate crimes,” the minister tells a press conference.
“Teachers say they hear students uttering verbal insults against people because of their skin color, their religion or their ethnic origin,” Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed says at the same press conference. “It’s deeply worrying.”
The government therefore plans to map the scope of racism in Sweden, focusing primarily on racism against Muslims, Jews, black people, Roma and Sami.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7, 2023, attack, has also led to increased racism in Sweden, the ministers say.
“We see Jewish students whose lockers in school are marked with swastikas, we see young Muslims facing hatred and threats on social media,” Brandberg says.
According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA), 2,695 hate crimes were reported to police in 2022, of which 53 percent were of a racist or xenophobic nature.
Trump taps Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to lead White House intelligence advisory board
Devin Nunes and Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump stand on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
US President-elect Donald Trump names loyalist Devin Nunes, who heads his social media platform Truth Social, to serve as chairman of a White House intelligence advisory board.
Nunes is a Republican ex-congressman from California who led the US House intelligence committee during the start of Trump’s first presidential term.
He has accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation of abusing its powers to spy on a Trump election campaign official who had extensive Russian contacts.
Trump says in his post that Nunes will remain the chief executive of Truth Social while leading the advisory panel.
In 2018 while chair of the intelligence committee, Nunes released a controversial memo saying the FBI conspired against Trump when it was probing Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
“Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the US Intelligence Community’s activities,” Trump says in a statement.
The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), created in the mid-20th century, exists to provide an independent source of advice on the effectiveness of the intelligence community’s data and its data acquisition.
Heads of Shin Bet, IDF intel said to visit Jordan to discuss effects of Syria upheaval
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar attends a farewell ceremony in honor of then-police chief Kobi Shabtai at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, on July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, covertly visited Jordan and held talks Friday with Jordanian generals on the situation in Syria, according to several reports.
The Walla news site says the talks were held with Ahmad Husni, director of the General Intelligence Department, and with other senior Jordanian officers.
Citing three senior Israeli officers, the outlet reports that the sides also discussed the growing threat of weapons smuggling by Iran to via Jordan to Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank. Walla also reports that Jordan is a central mediator between Israel and the Syrian opposition groups currently working on forming a transitional government.
Meanwhile, the Kan public broadcaster reports that talks come against the backdrop of fears in Israel that extremist groups in Jordan will be inspired by the Syrian rebels’ swift overthrowing of the Assad regime, and will try in turn to oust the Hashemite Kingdom’s ruler, King Abdullah II.
Citing senior Israeli sources, Kan reports that top Israeli officials, including in the security cabinet, have discussed the possibility of what happened in Syria being replicated in Jordan, which would have major implications for Israel, whose longest land border is with Jordan.
Report: PM’s circle mulling new party that will take votes from Bennett but join Netanyahu bloc
Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter speaks during a Jerusalem Day event in Ariel, in the West Bank, June 4, 2024. (Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates are reportedly weighing the option of engineering the emergence of a new security-oriented party that will court the votes of right-wingers disappointed with the premier over the failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre — but that will join forces with the Netanyahu-led bloc after the next elections.
According to an unsourced Channel 12 report, one of the candidates to helm the potential party is IDF former general Ofer Winter, who says his right-wing views halted his advancement in the top echelons of the army and who days ago launched an attack on IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi for allegedly refusing to tap him as Netanyahu’s military secretary.
Opinion polls have largely shown Netanyahu’s bloc wouldn’t win a majority in the Knesset if elections were held now (no elections are currently scheduled until late 2026). Furthermore, former prime minister Naftali Bennett is expected to launch a political comeback ahead of the next election, a scenario in which Bennett is predicted to secure the votes of many on the right who don’t support Netanyahu.
The report says the main goal of the possible future party is to compete with Bennett for votes, boosting Netanyahu’s bloc. However, the plan — especially now that it has apparently been leaked to the press — is not sure to go ahead, reportedly because the new party could possibly attract voters of current coalition parties, not just Bennett voters.
Netanyahu’s office denies the report, while Winter doesn’t respond to a Channel 12 request for comment.
Group claims there have been dozens of Israeli strikes on Syria in a few hours
Israel has launched more than 60 strikes on Syrian territory in few hours, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims.
Israel fired 61 missiles at Syrian military sites in less than five hours Saturday evening, it reports, maintaining a campaign which started after rebel forces toppled president Bashar al-Assad nearly a week ago.
Jerusalem says the campaign is needed to prevent the Assad regime’s extensive military arsenal from falling to jihadist rulers who could use them against Israel or to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon.
SOHR, run by a single person, has regularly been accused by Syrian war analysts of false reporting and inflating casualty numbers as well as inventing them wholesale.
Trump picks Richard Grenell as envoy for special missions
Then-Republican presidential nominee former US president Donald Trump arrives as Richard Grenell watches at a campaign event at a farm, in Smithton, Pennsylvania, September 23, 2024. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
US President-elect Donald Trump says he is picking Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, as his presidential envoy for special missions.
Trump announces the move on his Truth Social media platform, saying Grenell will “work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea.”
ABC settles defamation lawsuit against Trump, agrees to pay $15 million
ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the US president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
As part of the settlement, the American news site posts an editor’s note expressing regret over Stephanopoulos’ statements during a March 10 segment on his “This Week” program. ABC will also pay $1 million in legal fees to the law firm of Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito.
The settlement agreement describes ABC’s presidential library payment as a “charitable contribution,” with the money earmarked for a nonprofit organization that is being established in connection with the yet-to-be-built library.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” ABC News spokesperson Jeannie Kedas says.
A Trump spokesperson declines comment.
Trump, Stephanopoulos and ABC executives signed the settlement agreement on Friday.
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