Dec. 17: Former hostages urge leaders to only sign a deal that frees all remaining captives

‘Antisemitic liar’: Israel blasts Irish president’s claim that it wants to settle Egypt

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar leads a Knesset faction meeting in Jerusalem on November 25, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar castigates comments made today by Ireland’s president, who accused Israel of breaching Lebanon’s and Syria’s sovereignty and charged, without evidence, that Jerusalem is seeking to establish settlements in Egypt.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar yesterday defended his decision to close Israel’s embassy in Ireland, saying that Dublin “encouraged” antisemitism under a prime minister he accused of hating Jews.

Responding earlier today, Irish President Michael Higgins said that “it is a very serious business to actually brand a people because in fact they disagree with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, who is in breach of so many bits of international law, and who has beached the sovereignty of three of his neighbors, in relation to Lebanon, Syria, and would like in fact actually to have a settlement into Egypt.”

“I think to suggest that because one criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu that one is antisemitic is such a gross defamation and slander,” Higgins added during a ceremony where Palestinian Authority envoy Jilan Abdalmajid presented her letter of credence.

President Michael D Higgins has said that to say the Irish people are anti-Semitic is a "gross defamation and slander", and it is a "very serious business" to do so simply because people disagree with the actions of the Israeli Prime Minister.
Read more: https://t.co/hXpBuN3cHp pic.twitter.com/8axNrZ6YOB

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 17, 2024

In a new English-language statement, Sa’ar says: “Once an antisemitic liar — always an antisemitic liar,” going on to defend Israel’s actions on all three fronts.

“From Lebanese territory, Israel’s sovereignty was breached for over a year,” he says. “For no reason and unprovoked, Hezbollah joined Hamas on October 8th [2023] and since then fired tens of thousands of missiles, rockets and drones at Israeli citizens and communities. Israel did what any country would — it defended itself against a brutal aggressor.”

On Syria, Sa’ar says: “While Assad’s regime disintegrated, armed groups entered the buffer zone and attacked UNDOF forces, in violation of the Disengagement Agreement from 1974. Israel temporarily entered a few limited points to prevent the threat of radical Islamists against its citizens and communities. Israel will not wait for another [onslaught resembling what Hamas did on] October 7th [2023] on any of its borders.”

And regarding the Egypt settlement claim, he says: “Higgins invented the claim that Israel seeks to form settlements there. In the context of our peace agreement with Egypt, Israel withdrew from a huge area — all of the Sinai desert, and uprooted all of its communities there. This peace agreement has been maintained since 1979.”

Concluding his combative statement, Sa’ar brings up Ireland’s failure to join the Allies in fighting Nazi Germany in World War II.

“Let us not forget that Ireland was at best neutral during World War II.
At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.”

Israel and Saudi Arabia deny report claiming ‘breakthrough’ in normalization talks

File: Benjamin Netanyahu (right) during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 13, 2021; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) speaks during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90; Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP/File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and Saudi Arabia have both denied a report that claimed there has been a “breakthrough” in US-brokered normalization talks between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

Haaretz claimed earlier that Saudi Arabia has given up its longtime demand for the creation of a Palestinian state as a precondition for a normalization of ties with Israel, instead making do with a vague Israeli promise of a “pathway toward a Palestinian state.”

After right-wing reporters, and politicians including Avigdor Liberman, understood the report to mean Netanyahu has agreed to promise a Palestinian state, the Prime Minister’s Office calls the report “a complete lie,” adding: “Prime Minister Netanyahu has worked and is working against the establishment of a Palestinian state that will endanger Israel’s security.”

Meanwhile, the Saudis also strongly deny the report, saying there has been no breakthrough.

“The notion that the kingdom’s leadership has somehow modified its longstanding commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is equally baseless,” a statement issued to reporters by an unnamed Saudi official says.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to work towards ending the war in Gaza and helping the Palestinian people achieve their right to an independent state,” the statement adds.

CIA chief to meet Qatari PM in Doha tomorrow to bridge remaining Israel-Hamas gaps

CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha tomorrow, in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas, a source with knowledge of the talks tells Reuters.

The two will discuss progress towards a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the source adds.

The CIA declines to comment on the reported meeting.

Arab umbrella group urges premier to fire Ben Gvir over failure to curb violent crime

The National Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the latter’s failure to make good on his election promise to curb surging violent crime rates in the Arab community.

At a conference in Baqa al-Gharbiya, Committee chair Mazen Ghanaim says that “if Netanyahu doesn’t fire him, this is a sign he’s interested in continuing to count our dead,” drawing applause from those in attendance.

Ghanaim says he contacted an aide to Police Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, but that requests to arrange a meeting have gone unanswered.

Officials say 232 people have been murdered this year due to violent crime in the Arab community, almost as high as last year’s all-time record of 244.

A central part of Ben Gvir’s election campaign two years ago was a promise to “restore order” and curb violent crime rates in the Arab community, but the numbers have only surged under his watch.

Film with Netanyahu interrogation clips shortlisted for Oscar; Nesher’s ‘Closer to Me’ isn’t

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 97th Oscars ceremony.

Tom Nesher’s award-winning “Closer to Me,” Israel’s choice for the International Feature Film category, does not make the shortlist, while Palestinian film “From Ground Zero,” an anthology film directed by 22 different Palestinian directors about the current situation of Gaza in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, advances to the next round of voting.

Two other films dealing with Israel and the region are on the shortlist for best documentary feature film, however: “The Bibi Files,” an American documentary revealing previously unaired footage from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s police questioning in his corruption cases between 2016 and 2018, and the Norwegian-Palestinian production “No Other Land,” dealing with settler violence and the expulsion of Palestinians from their West Bank villages.

The final nominees for the Oscars will be announced on January 17, and the awards ceremony will be held on March 2, 2025 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

UN charges that Israel violated ceasefire with Syria when it captured border zone

The United Nations claims that when Israeli troops captured a demilitarized buffer zone along the border with Syria earlier this month, they violated a 50-year-old ceasefire between the two countries.

“The presence of the Israel Defense Forces in the buffer zone is a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says. The agreement “needs to be respected, and occupation is occupation — whether it lasts a week, a month or a year, it remains occupation.”

Israel says its presence in the buffer zone is temporary and will last until the dust settles in Syria and a new leadership capable of guaranteeing the upholding of the 1974 agreement is fully put in place following the ouster of the Assad regime. It says the takeover was done to prevent jihadist actors from exploiting the current power vacuum to enter the buffer zone and threaten Israel.

Syria’s HTS military chief says group will integrate armed wing into national army

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's military chief Murhaf Abu Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, gives an interview in the Syrian western port city of Latakia, on December 17, 2024. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

The military chief of Syria’s victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham says the group will be “the first” to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the country’s armed forces.

“In any state, all military units must be integrated into this institution,” Murhaf Abu Qasra — known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi — says in an interview with AFP, adding that “we will be, God willing, among the first to take the initiative [to dissolve our armed wing].”

He adds that Kurdish-held areas of Syria will be integrated under the country’s new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism and that “Syria will not be divided.”

After visiting Israel, Trump’s hostage envoy goes to Egypt for Gaza deal talks

US President Donald Trump listens as Adam Boehler, CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)

US President-elect Donald Trump’s recently-appointed hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, was in Cairo today to meet with Egyptian officials on efforts to secure a hostage deal, a source familiar with the matter says, confirming reporting in the Kan public broadcaster.

Boehler met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday and is slated to also travel to Doha for similar talks, the source says.

Gaza deal weeks away, big gaps remain, Israeli sources say, despite reports of breakthrough

As various reports, mainly in Arabic media outlets and citing Palestinian sources, tout breakthroughs in the negotiations for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal to end the war in Gaza after more than 14 months, Israeli sources cited by Hebrew media are far more skeptical, saying a deal is weeks away and still faces major hurdles.

The Walla news site, citing three unnamed senior Israeli sources familiar with the talks, says that while progress has been made in recent weeks, there are still big gaps between the sides, chiefly regarding Hamas’s insistence that any hostage deal lead to the end of the war.

“A deal isn’t around the corner,” one source is quoted as saying.

Another criticizes optimistic remarks made by senior officials such as Defense Minister Israel Katz: “It doesn’t help the negotiations and also misleads the public and gives false hope.”

Similarly, Channel 12 news quotes unnamed senior Israeli sources as saying that, while Hamas is showing a will to reach a deal, there are still considerable disagreements on core issues that will take time to overcome.

Additionally, a Palestinian source cited by the Kan public broadcaster says the reports of an imminent deal are “exaggerated and overly optimistic.”

The Times of Israel reported yesterday that US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has been working together with outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration in the past weeks to try to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal before Trump enters office. The initiative has made progress in recent days, though major obstacles remain, three US, Israeli, and Arab officials have told The Times of Israel.

IDF says drone struck Hezbollah member violating Lebanon ceasefire earlier today

The IDF says it carried out a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today, targeting a Hezbollah operative who was violating the ceasefire agreement, after he was spotted loading up a vehicle with weapons.

The drone strike was carried out to “remove a threat,” the military says.

Israel’s deputy FM calls Syrian rebel leader a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’

MK Sharren Haskel in the Knesset, Jerusalem, on June 28, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90/ File)

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel accuses the head of the group that led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria of being “a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes” because of his jihadist history.

Speaking at a press conference, Haskel holds up a photo collage of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), showing him as a member of jihadist organizations.

“It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist [groups] in Syria. We know who they are and their true nature, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West,” says Haskel.

“These are terrorist organizations and this is a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes.”

Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in place of his nom de guerre, fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion.

He later set up the al-Qaeda subsidiary in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, which for a period was allied with the Islamic State terror group.

However, Jolani later broke with and fought against both jihadist organizations and eventually rebranded Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS.

Since taking Damascus earlier this month, Jolani and his group have pledged to protect religious minorities and denied having plans to impose strict Islamic rule.

Jolani has also said “general exhaustion” in Syria means it does not want another war.

Nevertheless, HTS remains proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organization and is under UN-backed sanctions.

Report: Haredi senior MK opposes phased deal, says ‘I don’t know what we’re doing in this coalition’

MK Moshe Gafni chairs a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, July 2, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A senior coalition lawmaker has reportedly told families of hostages that he opposes the emerging deal with Hamas since it includes several phases and does not include the upfront guarantee of the release of all remaining captives.

Moshe Gafni, head of the Degel Hatorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, even goes as far as saying he “doesn’t know” why his ultra-Orthodox party is staying in the ruling coalition.

“The matter is nearing its resolution, but not the one I want. The deal isn’t to my taste,” Gafni told relatives of hostages in the corridors of the Knesset, according to Channel 12 news and the Ynet news site.

Asked what this means, Gafni reportedly added: “I want a comprehensive deal with everyone [coming back], and the government is going for a phased deal. To be frank, I’m in the coalition, and I don’t know why. I don’t know what we’re doing in this coalition.”

Netanyahu: Israel will stay atop Syrian Hermon until ‘another arrangement is found’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, speaks with (right to left) IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Northern Command chief Ori Gordin, on the top of Mount Hermon on the Syrian Side, December 17, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Standing on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will remain on its peak “until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.”

He says the site brings back nostalgia.

“I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers on a Sayeret Matkal patrol,” he says. “The place hasn’t changed, it’s the same place, but its importance to Israel’s security has only been reinforced in recent years, and especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events taking place here below us in Syria. We will determine the best arrangement that will ensure our security.”

Shares of Israel’s Teva jump 23% after in-development drug’s ‘unprecedented results’

A Teva Pharmaceuticals logistics center in Shoham, January 7, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/ Flash90)

Shares in Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have soared, after the generic drug giant said that the results of a clinical study of its Duvakitug drug for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease met primary goals.

In a joint statement, Teva and French drug-maker Sanofi, partners in the development for the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), announced that the second-phase clinical trial results for the drug showed “unprecedented results.” Teva’s US-listed shares jumped 23 percent.

“The results from the study have exceeded our expectations, and I am deeply moved by the potential for Duvakitug to help treat and meaningfully improve the quality of life of people living with IBD,” said Teva’s Chief Medical Officer Eric Hughes.

Former hostages urge leaders to only sign a deal that frees all remaining captives

Former hostages speak at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square on December 17, 2024. (Courtesy, Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

A group of former hostages whose loved ones are still held by terrorists in Gaza hold a press conference at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to call on the government to only sign a deal with Hamas that guarantees at the outset that all 100 remaining captives will be freed.

“I am here, a woman who returned from captivity,” says Ilana Gritzewsky, whose boyfriend, Matan Zangauker, is a hostage, addressing the country’s leaders. “I know what that hell feels like. You can’t abandon them for another single day. You can’t continue playing petty and cynical politics, as if their lives are just another item on your agenda. Make a deal, now. A comprehensive deal, without leaving anyone behind.”

Gritzewsky calls on US President-elect Donald Trump to step in to end the war and bring the hostages home.

“A partial deal isn’t a partial victory — it is a complete moral and ethical defeat that will leave Israeli society with a bleeding wound that will consume it from within,” says Meirav Tal, a former hostage, whose partner, Yair Yaakov, was murdered in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. Yaakov’s body is still being held in Gaza.

Former hostage Sharon Aloni Cunio was released in November 2023, with her two young daughters, leaving her husband, David Cunio, in Gaza. She says the hardest moment of her life came when they were separated from David.

“We hugged him, and our daughters held onto him with their small hands, not understanding what this goodbye meant,” says Aloni Cunio, who was taken captive with her family from Kibbutz Nir Oz. “He remained there, alone in the dark tunnels.”

“Decision-makers must understand the scars and illnesses we returned with after just 52 days: pneumonia, infections, weight loss, unending fears and nightmares,” she says. “Now imagine 438 days like this — what David is enduring there alone — a year without us?”

Raz Ben Ami, a former hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri whose husband, Ohad Ben Ami, is still in Gaza, says she did not receive necessary medication in captivity and she has no doubt that her husband is not getting what he needs either.

“Winter is here. It’s cold, and there it’s even colder,” says Ben Ami. “Even when conditions in Gaza were supposedly tolerable, it took a long time before we received blankets and warm clothing. The cold, combined with more than a year of nightmare in tunnels under bombardment, is unbearable.”

Another mother, Lena Trufanov — whose husband was killed in the October 7 attack, as she, her mother, her son, Sasha, and his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, were taken hostage — speaks about Sasha, who is still held in Gaza.

“When I was in captivity, I never doubted I would get out,” she says. “I was certain that the State of Israel would do everything to free us. For this feeling – that our country stands behind us and will do anything for us regardless of the cost – to remain alive for our children and grandchildren, we must bring everyone back. What protected us was this sense of solidarity, this feeling of national unity and that every person matters. Please save them all, leave no one behind – we don’t abandon our wounded on the field.”

Egyptian sources: Gaza truce talks underway, tonight may be decisive in setting next steps

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson and an Arab diplomat denied a Reuters report that the premier was on his way to Cairo for talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, the news agency quotes two Egyptian security sources as saying that while Netanyahu isn’t in Cairo “at this moment,” a meeting is underway to work through the remaining points in the negotiations with Hamas.

The main remaining point is Hamas’s demand for guarantees that any immediate deal would lead to a comprehensive agreement later.

The Egyptian sources say they are making progress, and feel that tonight could be decisive in setting the next steps.

PA President Abbas invited to Cairo tomorrow amid reports of imminent hostage deal

PA President Mahmoud Abbas pauses while speaking during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Cairo tomorrow, according to remarks by the PA envoy in Egypt Diab al-Louh quoted by Arab media.

According to the Saudi Asharq news outlet, the official reason for the Palestinian leader’s trip is an invitation by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to attend the preparatory meeting of the D-8, an economic forum of eight developing Islamic countries of which the Palestinian Authority is not a member, ahead of a summit of the same organization that will kick off in Cairo on Thursday.

The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese Al Mayadeen channel reported earlier today that Abbas was summoned by Egypt for an “urgent visit,” amid growing indications that a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is imminent.

Earlier today, the Reuters news agency reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo for talks on a hostage and ceasefire deal. The premier’s office and an Arab diplomat have denied the report.

Swiss parliament votes to outlaw Hezbollah

Switzerland’s parliament votes to outlaw Hezbollah, in a rare move by the neutral country that has traditionally followed a policy of promoting international dialogue and mediation.

Proponents of the ban, which was passed by the lower house after receiving upper house approval last week, said Hezbollah is a threat to international security and that Switzerland needs to prohibit it to take a stand against terrorism.

The Swiss government opposed the ban.

“If Switzerland now moves to ban such organizations with special laws, we must ask ourselves where and how the boundaries are drawn,” Justice Minister Beat Jans said during the parliamentary debate.

The ban against the Lebanese terror group passes the lower house with 126 votes in favor, 20 against and 41 abstentions.

The security policy committee that proposed the ban argues that Switzerland’s mediating role will remain intact thanks to a specific provision on peace talks and humanitarian aid.

Last week, the Swiss parliament outlawed Hamas over the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel.

Switzerland had previously only banned al-Qaeda and Islamic State, which are on the United Nations’ list of terrorist organizations.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Syria rebel leader: We won’t become ‘launchpad for attacks’ on Israel; IDF must leave buffer zone

The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive snatching Damascus from government control, Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani), addresses a crowd at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8, 2024. (Aref TAMMAWI / AFP)

The head of the Syrian rebel group the led to the ouster of Bashar al-Assad argues that the emerging leadership won’t let Syria become a staging ground for attacks on Israel or other countries.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously went by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, also says in an interview with The Times, a British outlet, that Israel must stop bombing Syria and withdraw from the buffer zone between the countries which Israel seized after Assad’s fall.

Israel says the move is defensive and temporary until matters clear up in Syria amid the upheaval, arguing that a 1974 disengagement deal that created the demilitarized zone has collapsed since there’s nobody on the Syrian side to uphold it and that the move is aimed at preventing jihadists from taking over the area and threatening Israel.

“Israel’s justification was the presence of Hezbollah and Iranian militias, so that justification is gone,” al-Sharaa claims.

“We are committed to the 1974 agreement and we are prepared to return the UN [monitors],” he adds. “We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions.”

Visiting Syrian side of Mt. Hermon with Netanyahu, Katz says IDF will stay ‘as long as needed’

Prime Minister Benjamin, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and other troops at the peak of Mount Hermon, on the Syrian side, on December 17, 2024. (Defense Ministry)

Prime Minister Benjamin and Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the peak of Mount Hermon earlier today, on the Syrian side of the border, after the site was captured by the Israel Defense Forces last week.

“The peak of Mount Hermon is the eyes of the State of Israel to detect near and far threats. The IDF is here to protect the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of the State of Israel from any threat, from the most important place to do so,” Katz says in remarks provided by his office.

Netanyahu and Katz were joined by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, and IDF Northern Command Chief Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin at the military’s new posts atop the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where they held an assessment.

“We will be here for as long as it is needed. Our presence here at the peak of the Hermon strengthens security and adds a dimension of both observation and deterrence to Hezbollah’s strongholds in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon and deterrence against the rebels in Damascus, who pretend to present a moderate image but belong to the most extreme Islamic sects,” Katz adds.

Arab diplomat also denies Netanyahu traveling to Cairo

A senior Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel that reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo are not true.

Netanyahu’s spokesman also denied the report.

White House believes Israel and Hamas getting closer to Gaza ceasefire, hostage deal

US officials believe Israel and Hamas are getting closer to clinching a ceasefire deal in Gaza, White House spokesman John Kirby says in an interview with Fox News.

“We believe — and the Israelis have said this — that we’re getting closer, and no doubt about it, we believe that, but we also are cautious in our optimism,” Kirby says. “We’ve been in this position before where we weren’t able to get it over the finish line.”

Kirby does not respond when asked if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is traveling to Cairo for talks.

Netanyahu was at Mount Hermon today for Syria briefing, PM’s office says

(From right) IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Northern Command chief Ori Gordin and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar atop Mount Hermon on the Syrian Side, December 17, 2024. (Defense Ministry)

Amid reports that he is on his way to Cairo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reveals that he was on Mount Hermon near the Syria border earlier today to hold a situation review about Syria with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin.

Netanyahu “reviewed the IDF’s preparations in the field, and set the rules for the next stage,” says his office.

The visit took part in the Syrian portion of the mountain, the Walla news site cites an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying.

Netanyahu is not on his way to Cairo, PM’s office says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not on his way to Cairo, his spokesman Omer Dostri tells The Times of Israel.

Dostri had posted on X earlier that Netanyahu is not in Cairo, leaving open the possibility that he had not yet arrived. The post came after Reuters reported that Netanyahu was on his way to the Egyptian capital.

Netanyahu spokesman says PM not in Cairo; doesn’t deny he’s on his way

After the Reuters news agency reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to Cairo for hostage talks, the premier’s spokesperson says Netanyahu is not currently in the Egyptian capital but doesn’t deny that he’s en route.

“Contrary to the wave of rumors — Prime Minister Netanyahu isn’t in Cairo, and there is nothing new regarding Eli Cohen,” Omer Dostri tweets.

This is also the first time the country’s leadership has denied that the remains of former spy Eli Cohen have been repatriated from Syria since a wave of social media rumors emerged.

Hamas: Ceasefire, hostage deal possible if Israel ‘stops setting new conditions’

Hamas asserts a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza is possible if Israel “stops setting new conditions,” according to a statement.

The statement comes after sources briefed on meetings related to the ceasefire talks told Reuters that a deal is expected to be signed in the coming days.

Iran’s leader: Israel will be eradicated, not Hezbollah and ‘axis of resistance’

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran, December 11, 2024. (Screen capture via X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Iran’s supreme leader says Israel is wrong to believe that it can eradicate Hezbollah in Lebanon and that an “axis of resistance” of Tehran’s proxies in the region is finished.

State TV quotes Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying during a recent meeting on the occasion of Women’s Day that “the Zionist regime, in its delusion, believes it is preparing itself through Syria to encircle and eradicate Hezbollah forces, but the one that will be eradicated is Israel.”

Khamenei also adds that Israel and the United States “thought the issue of resistance was over. They are gravely mistaken.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei meanwhile says Iran will use every opportunity to mobilize the regional and international community to stop what he calls Israeli aggression against neighboring countries like Syria, Yemen and others.

He also says that the Syrian people are the only ones who can decide on their country’s future after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, a Tehran ally. “Naturally, the regional countries should assist in this process without any destructive interference or any form of pressure and threats against the political actors in Syria.”

Baghaei urges regional countries to put pressure on the UN Security Council to stop Israel’s presence in a border buffer zone with Syria and says: “Ultimately, the entire occupied Golan Heights of Syria must be liberated.”

Israel says its presence in the buffer zone is temporary and defensive, with the goal of preventing hostile elements from taking advantage of the current vacuum of power in Syria to threaten Israel.

With deal seemingly imminent, Egypt said urgently summoning Palestinian Authority head

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly heading to Cairo, Egypt has summoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “for an urgent visit,” says the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese Al Mayadeen channel.

The outlet says Abbas is traveling from the Vatican to Cairo, as a breakthrough on a hostage deal with Hamas looks increasingly likely.

Netanyahu said heading to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire, hostage talks; deal expected in days

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Cairo for talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip, the Reuters news agency reports, citing unnamed sources briefed on the meeting.

The sources say a deal is expected to be signed in the coming days.

This appears to be the reason why a hearing today featuring Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial was called off.

Irish president: Israel’s antisemitism charge is ‘gross defamation and slander’

Irish President Michael Higgins speaks at a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, October 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Ireland’s President Michael Higgins calls Israel’s accusations that Ireland is antisemitic “a deep slander,” according to local media.

“I think it is a very serious business to actually brand a people because in fact they disagree with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, who is in breach of so many bits of international law,” claims Higgins during a ceremony where Palestinian Authority envoy Jilan Abdalmajid presented her letter of credence.

“I think to suggest that because one criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu that one is antisemitic is such a gross defamation and slander.”

Higgins argues that the accusations are parts of “a pattern to harm Ireland.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday defended his decision to close Israel’s embassy in Ireland, saying that Dublin “encouraged” antisemitism under a prime minister he accused of hating Jews.

Police, IDF reps don’t show up for Knesset hearing on far-right attacks on detention facilities

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)

Representatives of the Israel Police and IDF fail to show up to a hearing on the far-right mob attacks on the Sde Teiman and Beit Lid military bases, which took place over the summer, at the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

The hearing is being held two days after the Haaretz daily reported that around 20 people who participated in the incidents have been identified by police but have not yet been questioned due to senior police officers’ opposition to the investigation.

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 Amichai Eliyahu of Otzma Yehudit.

The three have also yet to be questioned, Haaretz reports, even though police have been granted permission to do so.

“There is a close connection between the Israel Police’s failure to appear for this hearing and the subject of the hearing — the Israel Police’s disregard for the highly serious events that occurred at Sde Teiman and Beit Lid,” Labor MK Gilad Kariv declares.

“The Israel Police chose, apparently on the instructions of [National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s] office, not to attend this parliamentary oversight hearing.”

According to Haaretz, representatives of the police and National Security Ministry only informed the committee late on Sunday evening that they would not be attending, while the IDF’s failure to show up stemmed from miscommunication.

The mob attack on the bases were “the most marginal event of all the dangers and threats,” asserts committee chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism).

“I think the leak of the video, we should all agree, caused much, much greater damage to the State of Israel and it is not being investigated.”

Coalition lawmakers have condemned the leak of footage broadcast by Channel 12 in August which purported to show IDF servicemen sexually abusing a Palestinian security prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

IDF names second soldier killed in Gaza building collapse

Sgt. First Class. (res.) Alexander Anosov (IDF)

The IDF names the second soldier killed in yesterday’s building collapse in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

He is named as Sgt. First Class. (res.) Alexander Anosov, 26, a squad commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 7107th Battalion, from Modiin.

Ben Gvir accuses Smotrich of ‘providing attorney general with a lifeline’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a vote on the state budget in the Knesset, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir continues his attacks on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and releases a video statement, calling on his former electoral ally to “stop providing the attorney general with a lifeline.”

“I expect Minister Smotrich to lift the veto, to allow the proposal to dismiss the attorney general to be raised as early as this coming Sunday,” he declares, adding that “a right-wing government is measured by actions, not words.”

Ben Gvir’s statement comes around half an hour after his far-right Otzma Yehudit party released a similar statement calling for Smotrich to “remove the veto he cast” on the matter.

It is unclear if Smotrich is one of four ministers reported to have declined to attend yesterday’s meeting on firing Baharav-Miara, forcing its cancellation. Smotrich has spoken out against taking any significant steps relating to the judicial overhaul at this time and Ben Gvir blames him for the lack of progress in this area.

Since Monday afternoon, Ben Gvir has repeatedly accused Smotrich of preventing the revival of the government’s judicial overhaul and Baharav-Miara’s ouster. Speaking with the press ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s faction meeting on Monday, Smotrich said that any significant moves relating to the judiciary ought to remain on hold until after the war.

Ben Gvir voted against the state budget yesterday evening following the last-minute cancellation of a meeting where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition allies would have discussed firing Attorney General Baharav-Miara.

Earlier on Tuesday, MK Ohad Tal, a member of Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, panned Ben Gvir as “the coalition’s manchild,” whose “intense need for dopamine and attention outweighs any public interest.”

Media outlets say censor barring them from reporting on reason PM’s testimony put off

A day after the Tel Aviv District Court approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to delay today’s hearing due to “special circumstances,” multiple Hebrew-language outlets say Israel’s military censor is barring them from reporting on the reason behind the delay.

The episode comes amid statements from Israel and US officials that significant progress has been made on attempts to reach a hostage deal with Hamas.

Netanyahu’s spokespeople have been declining to speak today.

IDF announces new light infantry division based on volunteer reservists

Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz in Jerusalem on October 25, 2018 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Israel Defense Forces details plans to form a new light infantry division based on volunteer reservists for patrol and routine security, including during periods of escalation across the country.

The 96th Division, also known as the David Division, will be composed of five regional brigades, manned based on where the soldiers live.

The IDF says the division’s missions will be largely related to border defense, including on the border with Jordan and the West Bank security barrier. The division will also operate in the West Bank if needed, and its members will be able to respond to sudden events in their respective regions.

The division is being established by Maj. Gen. (res.) Moti Almoz, who has already appointed all of the five brigade commanders and 25 battalion commanders, along with around 100 of the 125 company commanders. The planned 15,000 soldiers who will man the division will be between the ages of 38 and 58, with 80% being volunteers.

Thousands of former combat and combat support soldiers have already signed up to be part of the division, according to the military.

Two unique battalions in the brigades include one made up of Bedouin soldiers and another based on ex-Navy sailors (currently, the vast majority of soldiers who served in the Navy don’t serve in the reserves).

The IDF plans that by the end of 2025, all 25 brigades will be fully established.

Supreme Court chief: Study shows attacks on judiciary ‘not consistent with reality’

Acting Supreme Court President Justice Isaac Amit at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, November 14, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Acting Supreme Court President Isaac Amit says that the frequent attacks on the court and the judiciary in general, amid claims the judiciary faces a lack of public trust “are not consistent with reality,” in light of a recent Israel Democracy Institute annual Democracy Index survey showing that public trust in the Supreme Court is higher than in either the Knesset and the government.

The index shows that the Supreme Court, as representative of the judiciary, is rated the highest of all the branches of government, enjoying the trust of 39.5% of the public, compared to the government at 25% and the Knesset at just 16%.

Numerous ministers in the current government have repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court as going against “the will of the people.” Justice Minister Yariv Levin has been engaged in a two-year fight with the judiciary and last week said he would revive his judicial overhaul agenda to radically limit the authority of the judiciary.

Amit says the attacks are “a deliberate attempt to undermine public trust in the judiciary” and are “inconsistent with reality and do not align with the findings of the index,” following publication of the IDI’s annual study.

“The independence, professionalism, and apolitical character of the Judicial Authority are critical and necessary components for it to ensure public trust in it,” Amit adds, in an allusion to Levin’s efforts to assert greater government control over it.

According to IDI data from the last decade, trust in the Knesset and the government among the Jewish population is at almost record lows, although it has recovered in the last six months from absolute nadirs of 13% and 19% public trust, respectively, in May this year.

Trust in the Supreme Court has remained somewhat more stable but has also declined steadily over the last decade.

Report: Attorney general to be summoned before cabinet to defend record

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on November 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Amid growing calls in the coalition for her termination, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara will reportedly be summoned to a hearing before the full cabinet to defend her record sometime in the coming weeks.

According to Haaretz, the hearing, which will not be part of an official impeachment proceeding, will be followed by a non-binding vote of no-confidence.

A growing number of coalition lawmakers and cabinet ministers have called to fire Baharav-Miara, due to their frustration with her refusal to defend various controversial and unprecedented measures the government seeks to advance, which she has determined would be unlawful.

Baharav-Miara is seen by opponents of the government as one of the last guardians of the rule of law in the face of coalition attempts to overhaul the justice system. Her firing could spark intense protests.

The report says that prior to the hearing, Baharav-Miara will be presented with a document summarizing the ministers’ complaints about her conduct.

The so-called evidence file contains complaints by various ministers who have alleged that she has sought to thwart government decisions, declined to represent the state before the High Court and intervened in the matter of professional appointments, Channel 12 reports.

Haaretz’s report comes on the heels of the last minute cancellation of yesterday’s meeting where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition allies would have discussed firing Baharav-Miara.

After the meeting was called off, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir voted against the state budget, stating that he would not resume voting with the coalition until action is taken against the attorney general.

IDF says it destroyed Gaza tunnel used by Hamas to attack and kill soldiers

A tunnel in northern Gaza’s Jabalia used by a Hamas cell in an attack that killed three soldiers in October was recently discovered and destroyed, the military says.

In the attack on October 10, three reserve soldiers of the 460th Brigade were killed by a roadside bomb.

The IDF says Givati soldiers located the tunnel shaft where the cell had been holed up, which connected to a 500-meter-long underground passage. Combat engineers then demolished the tunnel.

Edelstein questions need for coalition bill allowing soldiers to leak info to PM

Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) at a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 16, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

During a contentious hearing on the so-called Feldstein Law in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chairman Yuli Edelstein questions the need for legislation, that would prevent the prosecution of soldiers or other members of the defense establishment who give classified intelligence to the prime minister or defense minister without authorization.

An army NCO is currently facing trial for allegedly leaking classified military intelligence to an aide of the prime minister, who subsequently allegedly leaked it to the foreign press.

“I would be interested to hear how we, through this proposal, will not cause a situation where highly classified material will flow to elements that are not authorized to receive the material and that do not have the appropriate security classification,” the Likud lawmaker says — pushing back against his own party’s bill.

Edelstein’s skepticism is shared by Brig Gen (Res.) Moshe Schneid, a former top IDF intelligence officer, who declares that the prime minister and defense minister are “fully exposed to all materials in the possession of the Intelligence Directorate.”

“Transferring classified information in an unorderly manner may result in the disclosure of sources,” he tells the committee, arguing that the bill would “allow soldiers to bypass the IDF chain of command and directly approach the political echelon,” which may “seriously harm the security of the state.”

National Unity MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot likewise pans the bill, which he dismisses as “ridiculous, frivolous and unserious.”

Bill co-sponsor Amit Halevi (Likud) argues that his legislation is necessary because unelected officials “are shutting the prime minister out,” though he does not offer evidence for this. “This law is intended to eliminate such phenomena.”

Halevi’s co-sponsor, Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, states explicitly that the bill is intended to ensure that the NCO in question “is released from prison because the offense he committed will cease to be an offense.”

Addressing the committee, Avital, the unnamed NCO’s wife, argues that her husband’s actions were motivated “purely for the benefit of the State of Israel” and that he is “a law-abiding man.” His arrest and detention are “not a matter of politics but of human rights,” she says, adding that she just wants him home as the legal proceedings against him progress.

Report: Officials deny rumors Israel brought remains of spy Eli Cohen back from Syria

Mossad spy Eli Cohen, executed in Syria in 1965. (Israel GPO)

Security officials tell Channel 12 news that rumors Israel has brought the remains of spy Eli Cohen back from Syria for burial are untrue.

In recent hours, such claims spread on social media.

The Egyptian-born Israeli was caught in Syria and executed in 1965 after conducting work for Mossad. Following the collapse of the Assad regime and with Israel conducting an unprecedented military campaign in Syria, with both air strikes throughout the country and ground maneuvers near the border, there has been some speculation that Israel could try to retrieve Cohen’s remains.

Jerusalem man accused of spying for Iran, planning terror attack

Illustrative: A man types on a laptop (playb; iStock by Getty Images)

An Israeli civilian from Jerusalem has been arrested for carrying out missions on behalf of Iran and planning a terror attack, the Shin Bet security agency and police say, in the latest in a series of plots involving civilians allegedly recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.

The suspect, Arlder Israel Amoyal, 23, was detained in November over suspicions he was “committing security offenses related to contact with intelligence officials of the Iranian regime and carrying out security missions in Israel under their direction, for financial gain,” according to the Shin Bet.

The investigation found that since October, Amoyal was in contact with Iranian intelligence elements via social media. The Shin Bet says he was first in contact with a profile using the handle “Arianna,” who later transferred him to “John,” who became his handler.

According to the investigation, Amoyal was aware that John was an Iranian operative, but he still agreed to carry out surveillance and other missions, including photographing various addresses and spraying graffiti. The Shin Bet says Amoyal took photos of a paper with the words “Making Peace” in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, graffitied the word “Sinwar” in Tel Aviv, and took photos of several houses and streets in Netanya and Jerusalem.

Amoyal purchased a GoPro camera to film his actions, and he sent footage to his handler, the agency says. He also edited a video of a car burning, the Shin Bet says, although it is unclear if he set it on fire.

In addition, Amoyal allegedly searched social media to purchase a firearm and silencer, along with materials to manufacture a bomb. The Shin Bet says he watched instructional videos on how to build an explosive device in order to carry out a terror attack in Israel.

Amoyal also worked to recruit others to carry out missions for Iran, especially people with criminal backgrounds, the agency says.

According to the Shin Bet, Amoyal suggested to his handler to set fire to a police cruiser and to act to shut down power to the Jerusalem light rail. He filmed various areas of the light rail in an attempt to locate the power supply and sent the footage to John, the agency says.

Amoyal was rewarded with cryptocurrency for his actions, the Shin Bet adds.

An indictment is expected to be filed against Amoyal in the coming days.

Annual survey: Less than 20% of Israelis rate country’s situation as good/very good; 58% believe democracy in danger

Illustrative: People seen on Jaffa Street in central Jerusalem, November 28, 2024. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Fewer than one in five Israelis rate the country’s overall situation as “good” or “very good” in the Israel Democracy Institute’s 2024 Israeli Democracy Index.

At the same time, some two-thirds of Israelis still believe the country is a good place to live. The survey finds a strong sense of belonging to the state among a majority of Jews and a smaller majority of Arabs despite challenges.

The survey was initially conducted in May 2024 and then revisited in October. It thus does not reflect the most recent political and regional events, including the ceasefire in Lebanon and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.

The poll finds that 58% of Israelis believe Israeli democracy is in danger. Among Jews, the figure is 54%; among Arabs, it is 77.5%.

Trust in the police has gone down to 37%, especially after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The IDF enjoys the highest levels of trust among state institutions, at 77%.

The Index finds that sentiments of national cohesion had peaked after October 7 and have since gone down, though they are still higher than in previous years. Right-left political disputes are regarded as most the important issue among Jews, while tensions between Jews and Arabs is the main issue among Arabs.

Only 25.5% of Jews think the state can be trusted, compared to 81% who say they can rely on their fellow Israelis in times of need; 62% of Arabs believe they can trust their fellow countrymen.

Syria’s caretaker PM Bashir: Country has very low foreign currency reserves

This handout image made available by the Telegram channel of the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's new transitional prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir chairing a meeting of the new cabinet in Damascus on December 10, 2024. (Stringer/SANA/AFP)

Syrian caretaker Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir tells Al Jazeera TV that Syria has very low foreign currency reserves.

Current and former Syrian officials have told Reuters that the dollar reserves have been nearly depleted because Bashar al-Assad’s government increasingly used them to fund food, fuel and its war effort.

The central bank’s foreign exchange reserves amount to just around $200 million in cash, one of the sources tells Reuters, while another says the US dollar reserves are “in the hundreds of millions.”

Syrian media: IDF operating in villages outside buffer zone

Israeli troops have been operating in several Syrian villages beyond the buffer zone in southern Syria in the past day, according to local media.

The Daraa 24 outlet yesterday reported that IDF soldiers entered the village of Ma’ariya, a few hundred meters east of the buffer zone in the southern Golan Heights, and questioned locals.

The outlet says that today IDF tanks entered the town of Saidah, also on the edge of the buffer zone.

#عاجل: مراسل درعا 24: دبابات إسـ.ـرائيلـ.ـية تتوغل في قرية صيدا الجولان على الحدود الإدارية بين محافظتي درعا والقنيطرة. #صيدا_الجولان #إسرائيل #توغل #درعا24 pic.twitter.com/5sVFwuKXOe

— Daraa 24 – 24 درعا (@Daraa24_24) December 17, 2024

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the actions.

The IDF has said that its deployment to the buffer zone and strategic positions in the area is a defensive and temporary measure amid the situation in Syria, and it would remain there until it clears up. The military has also acknowledged operating beyond the buffer zone in several areas.

متابعة: مراسل درعا 24: فتشتْ قوات الاحتـلال الإسـ..ـرائيلي العديد من السكّان من الرجال في قرية معرية في منطقة حوض اليرموك في الريف الغربي من محافظة درعا، أثناء انتشارها في شوارع القرية.

المراسل نقلاً عن أحد الأهالي: بعض عمليات التفتيش كانت غير لائقة، حيث طلب الجنود من بعض… https://t.co/7uEUWhkn32 pic.twitter.com/iqbXBIsRxu

— Daraa 24 – 24 درعا (@Daraa24_24) December 16, 2024

IDF says explosions to be heard in Galilee amid routine activity

The IDF says explosions may be heard in the Upper Galilee region in the next few hours as a result of routine activity in southern Lebanon.

It says there is no cause for concern over the blasts.

Two IDF soldiers killed in building collapse in southern Gaza

Maj. (res.) Moshiko (Maxim) Rozenwald, 35, killed in the Gaza Strip on December 16, 2024 (Courtesy)

Two IDF soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.

One of the slain troops is named as Maj. (res.) Moshiko (Maxim) Rozenwald, 35, a company commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 7107th Battalion, from Modiin.

The IDF says the name of the second soldier will be released later.

According to an initial IDF probe, the two soldiers were killed and two others were moderately wounded after a building they were in, in the Rafah area, collapsed. The building apparently collapsed because it was already heavily damaged. No explosives or a Hamas booby-trap were identified in the area, the probe has found.

Amid PA crackdown in Jenin, videos seem to show gunmen acknowledging ties to Iran

Unverified videos circulating on social media show Palestinian gunmen in Jenin acknowledging their connections to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and pledging their commitment to Tehran’s objective of exporting the Islamic Revolution.

“From here, from Palestine, from the Jenin Battalion, from the free and honorable people of Palestine, we send our greetings to the Islamic Republic of Iran, to Imam Ali Khamenei, and we will soon establish the state of the Imam Mahdi,” a masked gunman says in one of the videos.

That figure is mostly revered in the Shiite Islam that is practiced in Iran, and is less relevant to the Sunni Islam practiced in the Palestinian territories, raising questions about the authenticity of the videos, with some critics of the PA claiming that the clips have been fabricated by the PA as part of its propaganda against rival factions.

313 by itself refers to the 313 men in Shia Twelvers belief that will rise to fight alongside elMahdi upon his reappearance –
There was a compilation video of their irgc supporting statements by YaffaNews, am attaching here: pic.twitter.com/ORxY7HZOFK

— Mo Ghaoui (@moghaoui) December 16, 2024

Over the past days, Palestinian Authority security forces have been engaged in a crackdown on terror groups in Jenin, and on Saturday killed the local leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yazid Jaysa.

On Sunday, the US reportedly asked Israel to approve the urgent delivery of military assistance to the PA as it attempts to restore order in Jenin. Some have viewed the PA’s ongoing crackdown on armed factions in Jenin as an attempt by Ramallah to prove it can assert military control over West Bank territories under its jurisdiction, in preparation for a role it seeks to play in the future governance of the Gaza Strip.

Since at least 2022, Iran has inundated the West Bank with arms, smuggling them across the border from Jordan to foment unrest with Israel, according to a report published in April by The New York Times.

The Islamic Republic has long provided financial support to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups as part of its Axis of Resistance against Israel, which has suffered heavy blows after the decimation of the military capabilities of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria.

Iran says awaiting ‘necessary conditions’ to reopen Syria embassy

Iran’s foreign ministry says its embassy in Syria will reopen once the “necessary conditions” are met, after the diplomatic mission was vandalized following the ouster of Tehran ally Bashar al-Assad.

“The reopening of the embassy in Damascus requires preparations, the most important of which is ensuring the security and safety of the embassy and its staff,” says foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

He adds that work to that end will be pursued “as soon as the necessary conditions are provided,” without offering a specific timeline.

The Iranian embassy in Damascus was ransacked after diplomats abandoned it in the wake of the rapid advance of Islamist-led rebels opposed to Assad’s rule. On December 8, the rebel forces took Damascus and ousted the longtime ruler. Iran had supported Assad through Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011.

European Union to resume Association Council meetings with Israel

EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the press as she arrives to chair a European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Europa building in Brussels on December 16, 2024. (NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

The European Union Foreign Affairs Council has decided to resume the Association Council meetings with Israel, new EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas announces, after meeting the EU foreign ministers in Brussels. No date has been set.

The Association Council, which last convened in 2022 with then-foreign minister Yair Lapid, is a meeting that is meant to occur annually between Israel and the EU to cover matters of mutual concern.

The Foreign Ministry calls the development “an important step in the relationship between the EU and Israel,” and says the meeting will “express the intention to open a new page of cooperation and instructive dialogue between Israel and the EU.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with Kallas earlier this month in Malta.

Association Council meetings include all 27 EU foreign ministers, meaning that the Irish Tanaiste Micheal Martin will likely attend. Sa’ar announced this week he was closing Israel’s embassy in Dublin, citing the Irish government’s “antisemitic” policies and ostensible encouragement of antisemitism.

Katz denies telling US official Israel doesn’t want control over Gaza after war

Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Knesset, December 16, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will continue to rule over Gaza militarily after the war, pushing back on an earlier TV report.

“Once we defeat Hamas’s military power and ruling power in Gaza, Israel will control security in Gaza with full freedom to act, just as in Judea and Samaria,” he says in a statement, in reference to the West Bank.

“We will not allow any terrorist activity against Israeli communities and citizens from Gaza. We will not allow a return to the pre-October 7 reality.”

Katz makes the comment after Channel 12 reported that he told a senior US official in recent days that “Israel doesn’t want either military rule or civil rule over the residents” of Gaza.

Senior Russian military official killed in Moscow blast

A senior Russian military official has been killed after an explosive device hidden in a scooter went off outside a building in Moscow, officials say.

The commander of Russian armed forces’ chemical, biological and radiation defence troops, Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy when “an explosive device planted in a scooter parked near the entrance of a residential building was activated,” says the Russian Investigative Committee, which is responsible for major investigations in the country.

Report: US wary of potential Turkish invasion of Kurdish territory in Syria

US officials are concerned Turkey may be planning to invade Syrian territory held by Kurdish forces, citing a troop buildup near the border, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Turkey backs Islamist Sunnis that have led the rebel forces that ousted Bashar al-Assad, but views Kurdish groups and the Syrian Democratic Forces, which control northeast Syria, as an extension of the banned PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) that has fought a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.

“If Turkey proceeds with its invasion, the consequences will be catastrophic,” one Kurdish official tells The Journal.

Sirens sound in southern communities in false alarm

Sirens sounded in communities near the Gaza Strip a short time ago.

However, the military says no rockets were fired, and the alert was a false alarm.

Biden vows to keep working to free Gaza hostages ‘until every one of them is home’

US President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah holiday reception at the White House on December 16, 2024, in Washington. (Jim Watson/AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden pledges to free the remaining 100 hostages still in Gaza, while addressing his final White House Hanukkah party.

“I’ve gotten over 100 hostages out. I will not stop until I get every single one of them home,” Biden says to cheers from hundreds in the audience.

Speaking before Biden is Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who has led the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism.

“Tonight, I am rededicating myself to fighting antisemitism and hatred of all kinds,” Emhoff says, pledging to continue his efforts after the administration’s term ends in just over a month.

Introducing Biden is deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology Anne Neuberger, who thanks the president for “pay[ing] a shiva call” to Israel, referring to his visit to Israel days after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

Biden reiterates his belief that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist.

“And I’m a Zionist,” he says to applause.

On the menu at the Hanukkah party are latkes, pareve sour cream and thin cuts of beef tenderloin, along with jelly- and chocolate-filled donuts.

Syrian Islamist leader calls for state contract with religious groups ‘to guarantee social justice’

DAMASCUS — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group, says that a “social contract” between the state and all religions in the country is needed to ensure “social justice.”

“Syria must remain united, and there must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice,” says Jolani, who now goes by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Telegram.

He also says that international sanctions against Damascus must be lifted if refugees displaced by the war are to return.

During a meeting with a British delegation, Jolani spoke “of the importance of restoring relations” with London, and stressed “the importance of ending all sanctions imposed on Syria so that displaced Syrians… can return to their country,” according to remarks reported on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Telegram channel.

Islamist leader says Syrian rebel factions to be ‘disbanded,’ folded into army

DAMASCUS — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, says that rebel factions in the war-torn country will be disbanded and their fighters will join regular army units.

“The factions will be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defense ministry, and all will be subject to the law,” Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Telegram.

US says airstrike targeted Houthi command and control facility in Yemen

The US military says it conducted an airstrike against a command and control facility operated by the Houthis in Yemen.

“The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” the US military’s Central Command says in a post on X.

Mother of missing US journalist urges Israel not to strike Damascus area where he may be held

FILE - Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who is missing in Syria for nearly six years, speak during a press conference, at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)

WASHINGTON — The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has penned a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to halt Israeli strikes in a particular neighborhood of Damascus where Tice is credibly believed to be held.

The IDF has been conducting airstrikes in military sites across Syria to prevent assets that previously belonged to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime from getting into the hands of groups hostile to Israel.

“We have credible information… that Austin may now be held in a prison called Mt. Qasioun prison. This prison has a secret tunnel which connects the Al-Maliki neighborhood to the Republic Palace. The prison is located underneath a military museum,” Debra Tice writes in a letter to Netanyahu over the weekend that has since been made public.

“We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility. We have no way of knowing if the prisoners there have food and water,” adds the mother of Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012 and has been missing since.

“We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners,” Tice’s mother says. “Time is of the essence. We are calling on you to leverage all your relationships and resources to liberate that prison.”

Netanyahu’s hostage envoy Gal Hirsch confirms receipt of the letter to The New York Times and says Israel is in touch with the US on the matter.

“We will do everything possible in assisting the United States of America to bring the hostages and missing persons back home,” Hirsch tells the newspaper.

Explaining votes against budget and related bills, Ben Gvir says push to fire AG ‘not just some gimmick’

The Knesset narrowly approves another two bills linked to proposed state budget in their first readings, with the coalition’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party similarly voting against the legislation.

In a Facebook post, Ben Gvir says his push to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “is not just some gimmick” but “a red line.”

“Either the attorney general topples the government, or the right-wing government will decide it is sovereign and send her home. Unfortunately there’s no other option,” he writes.

He also takes a swipe at fellow far-right coalition party leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing him of torpedoing his proposal to fire Baharav-Miara.

“I have neither the intention nor energy to get into Smotrich’s ego and jealousy issues, I’m not a psychologist,” Ben Gvir adds.