Dec. 19: IDF says it’s probing Gaza City strike and regrets civilian harm after 5 reported killed

US reportedly strikes Islamic State targets in Syria

The US military launched airstrikes against several Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday, The New York Times reports, citing a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The strike comes nearly a week after two US troops and an American civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria after an extremist member of Syrian security forces opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol.

Stefanik drops run for governor, will leave Congress

US Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, questions university leaders during a House Committee on Education and Workforce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 15, 2025. (AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik says she is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek re-election to Congress.

Stefanik, a Republican, makes the announcement in an email to supporters, saying she made the decision while spending time with her family during the Christmas season.

“While many know me as Congresswoman, my most important title is Mom. I believe that being a parent is life’s greatest gift and greatest responsibility,” she says. “I have thought deeply about this, and I know that as a mother, I will feel profound regret if I don’t further focus on my young son’s safety, growth, and happiness — particularly at his tender age.”

Stefanik represents the 21st Congressional District spanning upstate New York. In Congress, she presented herself as a bulwark against antisemitism and gained national attention for grilling the heads of universities for campus antisemitism, leading to the resignations of several Ivy League presidents.

She announced her run for governor against Democrat Kathy Hochul in November. Her campaign often focused on Jewish issues, berating Hochul for her endorsement of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

Earlier this month, Jewish Republican and Trump ally Bruce Blakeman, the chief executive of Long Island’s Nassau County, also announced a run for governor.

Stefanik nods to the challenge in her statement, saying, “It is not an effective use of our time or your generous resources to spend the first half of next year in an unnecessary and protracted Republican primary, especially in a challenging state like New York.”

Rubio says immediate US goal on Sudan is cessation of hostilities into new year

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington’s immediate goal on Sudan is a cessation of hostilities going into the new year that allows humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance.

Rubio, speaking to reporters at a news conference, says countries are providing weaponry and equipment to the parties, including transshipment of weapons particularly to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, adding that Washington was engaging with the parties involved.

“We’ve had the right and appropriate conversations with all sides of this conflict, because that is their leverage. Without their support, neither side can continue. So that’s why we need to engage, and that’s why we’ve engaged the parties involved in all of this,” Rubio says.

“We think that outside actors have the leverage and the influence over the players on the ground to bring about this humanitarian truce, and we are very focused on it. I had a conversation on it yesterday. We have spoken to the UAE, we’ve spoken to Saudi, we’ve spoken to Egypt,” he adds.

US President Donald Trump said last week he would intervene to stop the conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023 out of a power struggle and has triggered famine, ethnic killings and mass displacement in Sudan.

Previous efforts led by the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates have failed to bear fruit. The group submitted a proposal to the two forces in September.

The UAE has been widely accused of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied.

Sudan this month once again topped a watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the International Rescue Committee aid organization, as warring sides press on with the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

More than 12 million people have already been displaced by the ongoing war in the African nation, where humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence.

Trump administration begins release of Epstein files

Jeffrey Epstein is seen in an undated photo that was among 68 images from the convicted sex offenders' estate that were released by US Congressional Democrats on December 18, 2025. (House Oversight Democrats)

The US Justice Department has began releasing the long-awaited records from the investigation into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The files are expected to shed light on the disgraced financier’s connections with high-profile business executives, celebrities and politicians, including US President Donald Trump.

Trump, once a close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the records related to the investigation of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The Republican president eventually caved to pressure from Congress, including from his own party, and signed a law last month compelling publication of the materials.

Friday was the deadline set by Congress for release of the records.

IDF says it’s probing Gaza City strike and regrets civilian harm after 5 reported killed

The IDF says it is investigating after a strike in Gaza City this evening reportedly killed at least five people.

According to the military, during operations on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line in the Strip’s north, troops spotted several suspects in “dominant structures” on the western side of the Yellow Line — meaning not in IDF-held territory.

The army says the troops fired at the suspects following their identification but doesn’t say that they were armed or how they posed a threat.

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says it recovered five bodies killed in an artillery strike at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood.

The agency says the majority of the victims were children and that others were injured.

"مشان الله قوم يا فوزي"!

وداع مؤلم للنازحين الشهداء، الذين ارتقوا بقصف مدفعية الاحتلال لمدرسة، شرق حي التفاح، شرق مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/ZFLCABkTo6

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 19, 2025

Palestinian media reported at least seven people killed by artillery shelling on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighborhood.

The IDF says that it is “aware of casualties in the area,” adding that the incident is under further investigation.

“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved [civilians] and acts as much as possible to minimize harm to them,” the military adds.

The Israeli strike appears to amount to a violation of the October ceasefire agreement.

Noam Lehmann contributed to this report.

Bondi attack suspects kept to themselves during Philippines stay, hotel staffer recalls

The facade of GV hotel is seen in Davao City, in the Philippines' southern island of Mindanao, where Bondi Beach terrorists Sajid and Naveed Akram stayed during their visit in November, weeks before their attack on a Hanukkah event killed 15 people in Sydney. (Ferdinandh CABRERA / AFP)

When the two gunmen accused of attacking a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach traveled to the Philippines last month, they kept to themselves most of the time and barely left their room, a hotel staff member said.

When they did, it was almost always around 9 a.m. and lasted just a little over an hour, said the worker, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity after the hotel’s management ordered its staff not to talk to the media.

Police allege Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, killed 15 people on December 14 as hundreds celebrated the Jewish holiday.

“They were not approachable at all. Other foreigners would typically talk to us,” the hotel staffer said by phone.

The alleged gunmen stayed at GV Hotel in Davao City on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines. The hotel, in the city’s downtown, sits alongside travel agencies, remittance centres, pawnshops, a hardware store, an appliance store and a few strip clubs.

GV Hotel, in a statement sent to the media, confirmed the men booked through a third party and were initially scheduled to arrive on November 15, but arrived earlier on November 1.

The employee said the pair initially booked a room for seven days, but extended their stay three more times and paid in cash.

The worker said they had limited interaction with Naveed Akram, who inquired at the front desk on their second night whether the hotel sold boxes of bottled water. In another instance, Naveed asked where he could buy durian, a popular fruit in Davao. But beyond customary greetings, Naveed barely interacted with hotel staff, the worker said.

The source could not recall any interaction with Sajid Akram, the father.

“They had no visitors. They did not bring anyone else inside their room, none at all,” the worker said.

When the pair went out, Sajid brought his backpack while Naveed wore a shoulder bag. The hotel staff could not determine what the contents of the bag were or whether they had brought items from outside.

Ran Gvili’s parents will join Netanyahu on trip to US to meet Trump — report

The parents of Ran Gvili, the last hostage whose body is still being held in Gaza, will join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the premier’s trip to Florida to meet with US President Donald Trump on December 29, Channel 12 reports.

Erika Kirk, widow of influential right-wing activist, endorses Vance for US President

Charlie Kirk (R) and and his wife Erika (L) on stage during the Turning Point USA Inaugural-Eve Ball at the Salamander Hotel on January 19, 2025 in Washington, DC (Samuel Corum / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The widow of murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has endorsed JD Vance for president in 2028, firing an early starting gun on the White House race, and offering the backing of the influential youth organization founded by her husband.

Erika Kirk, whose husband’s Turning Point USA was a major player in mobilizing young people to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, told thousands of attendees she was backing the vice president to become the 48th president.

“We are going to get my husband’s friend JD Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” she said on Thursday night at AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point gathering since Charlie Kirk was killed.

Vance is due to speak at the gathering on Sunday.

The endorsement comes as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement begins to look to a future without Trump.

Vance has not yet committed to running in 2028, but he is widely expected to put himself forward.

An early endorsement from a group that has become increasingly powerful within the movement could help to create momentum that makes a Vance candidacy seem inevitable.

But it also comes at a time when fractures in the MAGA movement are becoming increasingly obvious, and as some key figures are starting to express frustration and disillusionment with Trump.

Toronto police charge 3 men with attempted kidnappings targeting Jews and women

Canadian police arrest three men for attempted kidnappings targeting Jews and women.

The suspects are named as Waleed Khan, 26, Osman Azizov, 18, Fahad Sadaat, 19. The suspects are all from Toronto.

The arrests stem from two incidents earlier this year.

In Toronto, in May, three men, one armed with a handgun and another with a knife, approached a woman and attempted to force her into a vehicle. The assailants fled when the attempted kidnapping was interrupted by a passing driver, police say in a statement.

In June, in the nearby city of Mississauga, three men with a handgun, a rifle and a knife exited a vehicle and chased two women. They also fled the scene after a passing motorist intervened, police say.

The individuals were “targeting women and members of the Jewish community,” Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw says, without providing further details.

The suspects’ residences were searched, uncovering firearms, ammunition and high-capacity magazines, as well as other evidence that indicated hate motivation.

“Investigators also uncovered links to terrorism,” a police statement says.

A court-imposed gag order has prevented the publication of further details, the statement says.

The suspects are hit with a total of 79 charges, including conspiracy to commit kidnapping and hostage taking; weapons possession, sexual assault; motor vehicle theft; and forgery.

The arrests come amid fear in Diaspora Jewish communities following the antisemitic massacre in Australia last week and a surge in antisemitism in Canada.

PA-linked body hits back at ‘baseless’ Israeli claim that ‘pay-to-slay’ still in place

Palestinians protest against the Palestinian Authority's prisoner payments reform outside the Prime Minister's Office in Ramallah on December 14, 2025. (Screen capture/ YouTube)

The Palestinian Authority-linked body running the PA’s new welfare stipends hits back at Israeli claims that Ramallah is secretly keeping its “pay-to-slay” program intact.

The Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Institution (also known as Tamkeen) issues a rare statement insisting that it is fully complying with a February decree signed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas that nullified legislation that conditioned welfare payments on the length of a prisoner’s sentence. Israel argued that the policy incentivized attacks on Israelis.

The Tamkeen statement insists that all stipends that it gives are according to “approved international standards and solely on the basis of social need, without any consideration of an individual’s political or security status.”

Tamkeen says an internal survey — obtained in September by The Times of Israel — found that “a large number of families” that benefited from the old program no longer meet the criteria stipulated by the new needs-based policy.

Tamkeen “confirms that the payment system linked to the number of years of imprisonment has been completely and permanently abolished and is no longer in effect in any way,” the statement adds. “Claims regarding its continuation fall under the category of deliberate misinformation and falsification of facts.”

The PA-linked body says it is fully prepared to cooperate with international audits aimed at determining that the old system is no longer in place.

It reveals that it has already entered into contracts with several international auditing firms tasked with adjudicating the reform’s progress.

Tamkeen says its work is part of the PA’s broader reform initiative aimed at preparing it statehood.

“These reforms represent a sovereign national choice… and are not subject to any pressure or attempts at political blackmail,” Tamkeen claims.

“The Israeli government’s attempts to mislead international public opinion and cast doubt on the ongoing Palestinian reforms will not change the established fact that the State of Palestine is proceeding with the implementation of a comprehensive, transparent reform program that complies with international standards, despite the continued Israeli occupation,” the statement adds.

Mamdani vows changes to vetting process after appointee resigns over antisemitic comments

Catherine Almonte Da Costa, left, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, and Jahmila Edwards, right, on December 17, 2025. (Screenshot/YouTube)

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani vows changes to his administration’s vetting process, after a high-level appointee resigned yesterday when her old antisemitic posts on social media surfaced.

Mamdani had named Catherine Almonte Da Costa as his administration’s director of appointments on Wednesday. Da Costa resigned yesterday after her posts on X from more than a decade ago came to light in which she referred to “Money hungry Jews,” “Rich Jewish peeps,” and referred to a subway in a Jewish area as “the Jew train.”

“Our administration will operate under a standard of excellence and setting that standard is not only about fulfilling it, it’s also about holding yourself accountable when you are not doing so and we are currently underway at making changes in our vetting process,” Mamdani says at a press conference.

“There are clear changes that need to be made and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now,” he says.

Mamdani added that he was not aware of Da Costa’s posts and “would not have hired had I been aware.”

The mayor-elect also repeated his “commitment to keeping Jewish New Yorkers safe and a commitment also to asking more of ourselves than simply protecting Jewish New Yorkers, but also celebrating and cherishing Jewish New Yorkers.”

Tying recent antisemitism to the Hanukkah holiday, he says, “There is a feeling of a diminished sense of light.”

“What I have found inspiration in is the story of the Macabbees themselves and the importance of understanding that impossibility is something you can in fact confront,” he says.

“My hope is that in leading this city, that it will be a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe to leave their homes and go to work and spend their lives as they would like, but also in celebrating their own faith and lighting their menorah and in knowing this is a city that cherishes them,” he says.

Rubio: We can deliver aid to Gaza without ‘corrupt, unsalvageable’ UNRWA

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington believes that humanitarian aid can be delivered in Gaza without the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

“UNRWA is a corrupted organization that’s unsalvageable. Period,” Rubio says when asked during a press briefing about reporting that the US is considering sanctioning the agency, which has members proven to have ties with Hamas.

Rubio is also asked about an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump directing his cabinet to explore sanctions against local Muslim Brotherhood chapters. The reporter raising the question takes issue with the order’s focus on the chapters in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, while making no mention of Turkey and Qatar.

Rubio doesn’t address the question directly but says the US will make an announcement regarding Muslim Brotherhood sanctions if not later today, then early next week.

PA forces extract Israeli from Jericho after she reported having been kidnapped

An Israeli woman who was extracted from the West Bank city of Jericho is seen next to an officer from the Civil Administration, December 19, 2025. (Courtesy)

An Israeli woman who claimed to have been kidnapped was extracted by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces from the West Bank city of Jericho a short while ago, the military says.

The woman had called the police, saying she had been abducted. Kan news reports that the alleged kidnapper is an acquaintance of the woman from work, who drove with her to Jericho for a social gathering, without her knowledge.

The IDF says that upon receiving the report of the suspected kidnapping, it dispatched troops to the scene to search for the woman.

Meanwhile, the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), worked with the PA’s security forces to locate the woman.

The PA security forces reached the area where the woman was located, extracted and protected her, and brought her to Israeli forces.

“The civilian was rescued, without any casualties in the incident,” the army says.

The woman is set to be questioned by Israeli authorities, including regarding the kidnapping claims. By law, Israelis are barred from entering West Bank areas controlled by the PA.

Rubio: Israeli strike in Doha brought sense of urgency to end Gaza war before it spread

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Israel’s September strike targeting Hamas’s leadership in Doha “set in motion a sense of urgency to bring [the Gaza war] to an end before it spread.”

“What brought Hamas to the table — among other things — was the fact that some of the countries that had relationships with Hamas — like Qatar, like Turkey — played a very constructive role in bringing them to the table and pressuring them to sign an agreement,” Rubio says during a press conference.

“We played a similar role on the other side,” Rubio adds, referring to US pressure that was brought to bear on Israel to agree to a ceasefire in October.

UN chief condemns Houthi detention of another 10 UN staff in Yemen

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the Houthi detention of another 10 UN personnel, taking the total to 69, his spokesperson says.

Lebanon PM publishes long-awaited banking law draft

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam publishes a long-awaited banking draft bill, which would distribute losses from the 2019 financial crisis between banks and the state.

In a televised speech, Salam says “this draft law constitutes a roadmap to getting out of the crisis” that still grips Lebanon.

The bill is one of the reforms demanded by the international community before Beirut can receive financial support.

Epstein files due today as US confronts long-delayed reckoning

The US Justice Department will release several hundred thousand documents today from the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a top official said, with more files in the politically explosive case to be published over coming weeks.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in an interview with “Fox and Friends,” also says that no new charges were imminent in a scandal that continues to convulse America.

Prosecutors have the latitude to withhold material related to active investigations and Blanche said the documents will also be painstakingly redacted to protect the identities of Epstein’s hundreds of victims.

Epstein, a wealthy financier with ties to global elites, died in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

His death — ruled a suicide — fueled conspiracy theories and demands for accountability in a case that sits at the crossroads of immense wealth, political influence and perceived impunity.

US President Donald Trump, once a close friend of Epstein, fought for months to prevent the release of the Epstein files held by the Justice Department.

However, on November 19, he caved to pressure from Congress, including from his Republican Party, and signed a law compelling publication of the materials within 30 days.

Friday is the deadline for the release of the long-awaited records.

“I expect that we’re going to release several hundred thousand documents today,” Blanche says. “So today, several hundred thousand and then over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.

“As of today, there’s no new charges coming, but we are investigating,” he adds.

Dermer’s departure creating vacuum that’s impacting US-Israel ties — report

Channel 12 cites unnamed US and Israeli officials who acknowledge a growing vacuum following the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide, strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, last month.

His absence is particularly felt as the sides ready for a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu in Florida on December 29. Trump’s top aides have resorted to calling Netanyahu directly several times a week, as they don’t feel comfortable working with the premier’s aides, Channel 12 reports.

Dermer was supposed to transition to a position of special envoy that would allow him to remain involved in various issues. However, there have been legal issues in establishing the position, given that Dermer is now a private citizen.

Accordingly, talks between Israel and Syria have been suspended, as Israel hasn’t had a representative to lead them. Dermer was supposed to participate in such negotiations days after resigning, but had to pull out due to the Israeli government’s legal concerns with a private citizen’s involvement.

Netanyahu told US envoy Tom Barrack earlier this week that he will appoint a replacement for Dermer soon, Channel 12 says.

On Gaza, Netanyahu has appointed Israeli-American businessman Michael Eisenberg as his representative in talks relating to the implementation of Trump’s Gaza peace plan. But Eisenberg is not as close to Netanyahu, and the White House does not see him as an authority, according to the network.

US will continue pressing Israel to clamp down on settler violence, says Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates that the US is privately pressing Israel to crack down on rampant, largely unchecked settler violence.

Asked about the issue during a press conference at the State Department, Rubio weighs in, albeit without naming the phenomenon.

“Our embassy has put out statements and comments about specific incidents [in the West Bank] that we’re concerned about [and] that create a point of strong friction in the broader effort,” Rubio says.

“Ambassador [Mike] Huckabee has spoken to this as recently as a couple of weeks ago, very firmly, I believe,” he adds, apparently referring to the US envoy’s characterization of the violence as terrorism.

“We’ll continue to communicate that as we have and make our opinion known in regards to its impact on the broader challenges,” Rubio says.

Asked about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Rubio says the US wants to continue to see the amount of aid allowed into the Strip increase and is trying to stand up the Board of Peace, along with other postwar mechanisms, to better address the issue.

Rubio indicates US could accept Hamas keeping certain arms if they aren’t enough to threaten Israel

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, DC on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio doesn’t seem to rule out the possibility that the US will pursue a Hamas disarmament plan that differentiates between heavy and light weaponry.

Rubio is asked during a press conference whether the US is prepared to accept the reported Hamas willingness to give up its heavy weapons while holding on to its lighter ones.

“I’m not going to get into the details of those types of negotiations,” Rubio says.

“I would just ask everyone to focus on what are the kind of weapons [and] capabilities that Hamas would need in order to threaten or attack Israel as a baseline for what disarmament needs to look like,” he adds.

“If Hamas is ever in a position in the future that they can threaten or attack Israel, you’re not going to have peace,” he says. “You’re not going to convince anyone to invest money in Gaza if they believe another war is going to happen in two, three years… That’s why disarmament is so critical.”

“What that entails, we’re going to leave that to the technical teams to work on. It would have to be something that our partners can pressure them to agree to. It also has to be something that Israel agrees to for that to work,” he adds.

Rubio: US hopeful that Israel-Lebanon talks will prevent further conflict

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is asked during a press conference whether Washington expects the latest round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese authorities to lead to an agreement or another round of conflict.

“We are hopeful that the talks between Lebanese authorities and the Israelis will create outlines and a way forward that prevents further conflict,” Rubio says.

He acknowledges that Israel has pledged to continue taking military action against Hezbollah if it feels threatened.

“We all would hope that we could avoid that… The best way to avoid it is to have a strong Lebanese government that can actually control the country, and [ensure] that Hezbollah is no longer an armed threat to Israel or to the Lebanese state,” Rubio says.

“That’s what we’re committed to… achieve. I can’t speculate on what the talks will lead to, but we’ll do everything we can to make them productive,” he adds.

Rubio: We need to clarify ISF mandate before we can expect countries to contribute troops

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks to a secure room in the basement of the Capitol to brief senators on military strikes near Venezuela on December 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration will have to clarify the mandate of the International Stabilization Force before it can expect to secure troop commitments from participating countries.

“In fairness to all the countries we’ve talked to about having a presence on the ground, I think they want to know specifically what the mandate will be and what the funding mechanism,” Rubio says in a press conference when asked whether the US has secured a commitment from Pakistan to contribute troops to the foreign force that will be tasked with gradually phasing the IDF out of Gaza and securing the postwar Strip.

“We’re very grateful to Pakistan for their offer to consider being a part of it, [but] I think we owe them a few more answers before we can ask anybody to firmly commit,” Rubio says, appearing to confirm Islamabad’s interest.

“I feel very confident that we have a number of nation states acceptable to all sides [that] are willing to step forward and be a part of that stabilization force,” he says against the backdrop of The Times of Israel’s reporting that the US is struggling to find countries willing to contribute troops to the ISF.

“We’re trying to make a lot of progress here. The next step is announcing the Board of Peace, announcing the Palestinian technocratic [committee] that will help provide daily governance,” Rubio says.

“Once that’s in place, that will allow us to firm up the stabilization force, including how it’s going to be paid for, what the rules of engagement are, what their role will be in demilitarization and so forth,” he adds.

Rubio says the full implementation of phase two will likely take two or three years. The Palestinian Authority is hoping to take over management of Gaza from the Board of Peace in a shorter timeframe.

Bethlehem area’s ‘lifeline’ soccer field faces Israeli demolition

Displaced Palestinian youths take part in a training session at the Aida Refugee Camp's football pitch, next to the Israeli security barrier outside Bethlehem in the West Bank, on December 16, 2025, a few weeks after an Israeli military decision to demolish the field. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

Earlier this month a group of Palestinian boys turned out to train at their local soccer pitch in the shadow of the wall separating Israel from the West Bank’s Aida refugee camp — and found a note at the gate.

The children took the ominous message from Israeli authorities to Muhannad Abu Srour, sports director at the Aida Youth Centre in the camp near Bethlehem, and the news was not good.

“We were shocked to discover that it was a decision to demolish Aida camp’s football field,” Abu Srour tells AFP, adding that more than 500 children regularly train on the field roughly half the size of a regulation soccer pitch.

“The football field is the only open space we have. If the field is taken away, the children’s dream is taken away,” Abu Srour says.

The planned destruction of the Aida field is one of many points of contention in the West Bank, but it is a particularly painful one for young Palestinians yearning for a better future.

One of the older members, 18-year-old Abdallah al-Ansurur, hopes to make it into the national Palestinian team, and, like many other youth at Aida camp, took his first steps in the game on the pitch flanked by the eight-meter Israeli security barrier.

“I started when I was about 13 years old. This field gave me a real opportunity to train,” said Ansurur, who was born and raised in Aida camp, one of the smallest in the West Bank.

AFP was shown the note from COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, which says the field was not authorized.

There was no immediate response from COGAT to this story.

BBC to overhaul editorial committee amid row over edit to Trump Jan. 6 speech

The BBC is overhauling a key editorial committee following criticism over how the broadcaster edited US President Donald Trump’s speech on the day of the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

An internal review published Friday says BBC executives did not act “quickly or decisively enough following the discovery” of misleading edits that made it appear as if Trump had directed supporters to storm the US Capitol.

The edits led to a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC filed by Trump.

BBC chairman Samir Shah, who came under fire for his handling of the Trump speech, will no longer head the network board’s editorial standards committee.

Changes will be made to “clarify and focus” the committee’s mandate that will be aimed at pursuing a “robust and transparent approach” to swiftly tackling editorial questions.

Trump administration appeals judge’s order restoring Harvard funds

Harvard banners hang in front of Widener Library during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2025. (Rick Friedman / AFP)

The Trump administration has appealed a court order that largely restored funding it had cut from Harvard University for allegedly tolerating antisemitism and harboring liberal bias.

Harvard has been at the forefront of Donald Trump’s campaign against top US universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and “viewpoint diversity.”

Trump and his administration moved to freeze billions of dollars of funding for the university and its specialist colleges, hampering life-saving research and high-tech innovation.

In September, a Boston federal judge ruled that largely unlawful and ordered the funds to be restored.

In a brief court filing late Thursday, lawyers for the administration wrote that “Defendants hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.”

There is no date for the appeal to be heard.

The Trump administration has also previously sought to remove Harvard from an electronic student immigration registry and instructed US embassies around the world to deny visas to international students hoping to attend the Massachusetts-based university.

Harvard has sued the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to block the efforts, arguing that they were illegal and unconstitutional and the courts have put those moves on hold for now.

International students accounted for 27 percent of total enrollment at Harvard in the 2024-2025 academic year and are a major source of income.

Lebanon PM to announce long-awaited banking law draft

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam gestures as he speaks during a meeting with a United Nations Security Council delegation at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 5, 2025. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam will announce today a long-awaited banking draft bill, which envisions sharing losses from the 2019 economic crisis between banks and the state, a Lebanese official says.

The legislation, which has come to be known as the fiscal gap law, is a key demand from the international community, which has conditioned economic aid to Lebanon on financial reforms.

Salam “will address the Lebanese people ahead of distributing the long-awaited (fiscal) gap draft law to ministers of cabinet, and cabinet will start discussing it on Monday,” a Lebanese official who requested anonymity tells AFP.

The law stipulates that each of the state, the central bank, commercial banks and depositors will share the losses accrued as a result of the financial crisis.

According to government estimates, the losses resulting from the financial crisis amounted to about $70 billion, a figure that is expected to have increased over the six years that the crisis was left unaddressed.

The International Monetary Fund, which closely monitored the drafting of the law, had previously insisted on the need to “restore the viability of the banking sector consistent with international standards” and protect small depositors.

The Associations of Banks in Lebanon criticized the draft law on Monday, saying in a statement that it contains “serious shortcomings” and harms commercial banks.

Rubio asked Ethiopia to contribute troops to ISF amid US recruitment struggles — diplomats

In this image made from video, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announces a failed coup as he addresses the public on television, June 23, 2019 (ETV via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio asked Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali earlier this week to contribute troops to the fledgling International Security Force for Gaza, two Western diplomats familiar with the situation tell The Times of Israel.

US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan calls for an international force to oversee a transition period for reconstruction and economic recovery in the war-torn Palestinian territory, decimated by over two years of war.

Many countries are wary of the mission to demilitarize Gaza’s Hamas terror group, and Trump has had trouble filling the ranks of the force, even in the planning stages.

IDF says it killed Palestinian who crossed Yellow Line, ‘posed threat’

The IDF says it killed a Palestinian terror operative who crossed the Gaza ceasefire line in the Strip’s center earlier today, in what has become a near-daily occurrence.

According to the military, the operative crossed the Yellow Line and approached troops of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, “in a way that posed an immediate threat.”

The Israeli Air Force then struck and “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the army adds.

Former IDF Ground Forces chief Kobi Barak dies aged 61

Ground Forces chief Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak in 2016. (Israel Defense Forces)

Former Ground Forces chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Kobi Barak has died at the age of 61.

Barak served in the IDF from 1982 till 2019, holding several senior roles. He began his service in the Armored Corps.

As a colonel, he headed the now-defunct 847th “Steel Chariots” Reserve Armored Brigade and the 401st Armored Brigade — during which the latter brigade received the Merkava Mk. 4 tanks.

As a brigadier general, Barak was chief of staff at the Ground Forces, the commander of an armored division that later became the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division, and head of the Operations Division.

In 2012, he was promoted to major general and appointed to head the Technological and Logistics Directorate. In 2016, he was moved to head the Ground Forces before his retirement in 2019.

After leaving the military, Barak served as chairman of a pre-military academy in Mitzpe Ramon and as honorary president of the Little Heroes non-profit, which helps individuals with special needs volunteer in the IDF.

“We were privileged that he agreed to take the reins and serve as chairman of our association, and we are all deeply, deeply pained by his untimely passing,” says the Asher Ruach Bo pre-army preparatory.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

PMO: Israel-Lebanon talks focused on ‘mutual interest’ of removing Hezbollah threat

The meeting today between Israel and Lebanon in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura examined “ways to advance economic initiatives in order to demonstrate the mutual interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and to ensure sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in a statement.

The meeting is the second direct meeting between the two enemy states under US and French auspices in the past month, and is “a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Armed Forces,” says the statement.

Yosef Draznin, Deputy Head of the National Security Council for Foreign Policy, represented Israel, according to the PMO.

Public menorahs in London damaged, in apparent hate crimes; police investigating

Police in London are investigating several incidents of apparent vandalism of menorahs as possible hate crimes, the Jewish News reports.

Incidents in Notting Hill, Muswell Hill and West Hampstead are all being probed, according to the report.

Metropolitan Police Superintendent Owen Renowden notes: “This has been a tremendously difficult week for the Jewish community following the terror attack in Australia at the weekend, and I appreciate how these hate crime incidents will cause further hurt and distress.”

The candles on the menorah smashed to bits in Muswell Hill, north London, just days after the appalling atrocities in Bondi. The evil scourge of anti-semitism has been allowed to fester for far too long in both the UK and Australia. It must be eradicated. #HappyChanukah pic.twitter.com/J2bE2Ft6DM

— Jason Groves (@jasongroves) December 18, 2025

“We are treating these reports extremely seriously and will update further when we can,” he says.

The superintendent notes that the police are cooperating with local partners, including religious leaders, and that additional patrols have been put in place.

He encourages anyone with information to aid in the investigation to come forward.

Menorah vandalised this morning in West Hampstead London

Stop the Haters #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/eIojqEejkY

— Paul Charney (@paulcharney) December 15, 2025

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem visits Gaza City parish, will lead Christmas mass there

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, leads prayers at the Sunday morning mass at the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City on July 20, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, visits Gaza City’s Holy Family Parish ahead of the Christmas holiday, says the Patriarchate.

Pizzaballa, the top Catholic figure in Israel and the Palestinian territories, “will review the current situation of the parish, including the humanitarian response, ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts, and the prospects for the period ahead,” according to his office.

He will also meet with local priests and community members.

On Sunday, Pizzaballa will preside over the Christmas Mass at Holy Family, Gaza’s only Catholic church.

“This visit marks the beginning of the Christmas celebrations among a community that has lived and continues to live through dark and challenging times,” says the Patriarchate.

This is Pizzaballa’s third visit to Gaza during the war.

In July, an IDF tank shell hit the church and killed three people and injured several others, including parish priest Fr. Gabriel Romanelli. The strike sparked international condemnation and an expression of “deep sorrow” from Israel, which says the incident was an accident.

Israel rejects IPC report of ‘acute food insecurity’ in Gaza as ‘distorted, biased’

Palestinians distribute bread to displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories says in response to an IPC famine monitor report on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip that it shows the organization acknowledges there is no famine in the territory.

But COGAT, a department of the Defense Ministry, also rejects the new IPC report’s claim that “acute food insecurity’ prevails in the territory, stating that 500,000 tons of food have entered Gaza since the current ceasefire with Hamas began.

“COGAT strongly rejects the claims and conclusions presented in the IPC report published today (Friday), which once again portrays a distorted, biased and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” the agency says of the new study.

“The report relies on severe gaps in data collection and on sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance. As such, it misleads the international community, fuels disinformation and presents a false depiction of the reality on the ground,” it charges.

COGAT points out that between 600 to 800 aid trucks have been entering the Gaza Strip every day since late October, 70 percent of which carry food aid.

“In this context, nearly 30,000 food trucks carrying more than 500,000 tons of food entered the Gaza Strip throughout the ceasefire period,” the agency says.

IPC, a key famine monitoring organization connected to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, determined that famine had broken out in Gaza in July and August, and predicted famine conditions would persist until the end of September.

Data from the Nutrition Cluster organization showed, however, that although high malnutrition rates were very high, they were 23 percent lower than famine levels.

IPC monitor says now no ‘famine conditions’ but Gaza food security still ‘critical’; Israel rejects findings

A Palestinian man carries bags of bread after received from a charity bakery in the Nuseirat refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip, on November 2, 2025. (EYAD BABA / AFP)

The IPC famine monitoring organization says food security “remains critical” in the entire Gaza Strip, but “famine conditions” no longer apply, and has classified the territory in its “Emergency” Phase 4 category, the fourth highest of its five levels of food insecurity.

The organization says that the situation has, however, improved since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on October 10 due to increased volumes of aid going into the territory, and has changed its determination of the Gaza governorate from Phase 5 — Catastrophe — in July and August to Phase 4.

In the IPC’s August report, it said “famine” had broken out in the Gaza governorate — the wider Gaza City area — in July and August. In its report for mid-October to the end of November issued today, it said that “famine conditions” were no longer prevailing in that district.

“Despite the improved situation, the population of the Gaza Strip still faces high levels of acute food insecurity and acute malnutrition. Although humanitarian assistance, including food aid, has increased, only basic survival needs are being met,” the organization claims.

The new analysis does not include consolidated, weighted data on malnutrition rates in Gaza by which it might be able to evaluate its claims from August that famine had broken out in the Gaza governorate.

Data published in October by the Nutrition Cluster in the State of Palestine organization, which monitors malnutrition on the ground in Gaza, found that malnutrition rates never crossed famine levels even in July and August, and actually remained 23 percent under that measure.

Israel’s COGAT agency, which coordinates the entry of aid into Gaza, strongly rejects the IPC’s findings that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains critical, saying that some 500,000 metric tons of food has entered the territory since October 10, far outweighing the needs of the Gaza population according to metrics from the World Food Program, and as accepted by the IPC itself.

It describes the IPC report as a “distorted, biased, and unfounded picture of the humanitarian situation,” which suffers from “severe gaps in data collection” and relies on “sources that do not reflect the full scope of humanitarian assistance.”

Tania Tretiak, 68, is last person identified as killed in Bondi Beach terror attack

Tania Tretiak, a 68-year-old grandmother who was killed in the terrorist shooting on Hanukkah at Sydney's Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025. (Courtesy)

Tania Tretiak, a 68-year-old grandmother, is the last person to be identified among the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack dead.

She is named by her family, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC. Local media reports that she was at the Hanukkah event with family, and that her Jewish husband remains in critical condition after being wounded in the attack.

Police: Jaffa woman’s car was not targeted by vandals, as family claimed

A car belonging to the family of Hanan Abu Shehadeh is seen with a broken window, in Jaffa, on December 19, 2025. (Screenshot via Walla)

The police say a car belonging to the family of Hanan Abu Shehadeh, the pregnant Arab woman attacked in Jaffa last weekend, was not targeted by vandals, though they suspect it was broken into by ordinary criminals.

The family claimed earlier that the vehicle was vandalized, and accused the perpetrator of “trying to scare and silence us.”

“Following inquiries from reporters, and in total contradiction to reports that have misled the public,” the police say, “this car was not vandalized and no connection was found to the attack several days ago.”

“There was a suspected break-in to the car, and theft of equipment, causing damage,” the police say. “As previously stated, upon receiving the complaint an investigation was opened by the Jaffa police and all necessary actions are being taken to locate the suspects.”

Sweden summons Iran envoy after reports of citizen’s death sentence

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks during a press conference following talks with her German counterpart at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on September 16, 2025. (Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

Sweden summoned the Iranian ambassador this week following reports that a Swedish citizen had been sentenced to death in Iran, the Scandinavian country’s foreign minister says.

Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday said that a dual national, arrested during the recent 12-day war with Israel and who has since been put on trial for espionage, was an Iranian and Swedish citizen.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard tells AFP that Sweden’s foreign ministry received reports that the man had been handed the death penalty.

“We have received reports that he has been sentenced to death in the first instance, but we have not been able to confirm those reports. We are naturally trying to do so.

“We have summoned Iran’s ambassador, on Wednesday, to clearly condemn the death sentence,” she says.

“Sweden and the EU’s position on the death penalty is very clear. We always oppose it, everywhere and regardless of circumstances, and this is well known,” Stenergard tells reporters.

Tehran itself has released little information on the case, one of multiple arrests that took place during and after the brief war in which Israel and then the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, and Iran responded with barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Car belonging to pregnant Arab woman attacked in Jaffa last weekend said vandalized

A car belonging to the family of Hanan Abu Shehadeh is seen with a broken window, in Jaffa, on December 19, 2025. (Screenshot via Walla)

A car belonging to the family of Hanan Abu Shehadeh, the 30-year-old, nine-months-pregnant Arab woman attacked in Jaffa last weekend, was vandalized overnight, she says.

She is due to give birth today, according to the Walla news site.

Video shared by Hebrew-language media shows the car with at least one broken window.

“Another violent incident that deepens the feeling of threat and panic amid our family and amid the entire Arab community,” says her partner Fadi Himal, in remarks quoted by Walla.

“It seems someone is trying to scare and silence us, so that we’ll stop demanding [law] enforcement and justice. But we’re not deterred,” he says.

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday extended the detention of three people accused of carrying out the attack, which police have said was premeditated and done with a racist motive. The suspects say a conflict broke out spontaneously, and they acted in self-defense.

The incident has brought hundreds of protesters to the streets in Jaffa and prompted a brief strike in protest.

Judges accept Netanyahu’s request to cancel his Monday trial hearing; want him in court on Sunday instead

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for a hearing in his corruption trial, October 28, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The judges in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial grant the premier’s request to cancel his testimony on Monday, and to shorten the hearing on Wednesday by four hours, Hebrew media report.

The judges reject the request to cancel Netanyahu’s testimony on Tuesday, however, and they demand he also testify on Sunday, which he hadn’t previously been set to do.

The prime minister requested to change his schedule next week due to “a series of political, security, and diplomatic events.”

Hamas official says Miami talks must end Israel’s Gaza truce ‘violations’

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas politburo member, speaks in an interview with Qatari outlet Al-Araby on September 18, 2025. (Screenshot/YouTube)

A top Hamas official says that talks in Miami to advance the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire must aim to end Israeli truce “violations” in the Palestinian territory.

“Our people expect these talks to result in an agreement to put an end to ongoing Israeli lawlessness, halt all violations and compel the occupation to abide by the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim tells AFP. He also says the new talks should boost entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Naim says talks should also address “how to implement the remaining elements of the Trump plan in a way that achieves sustainable stability, launches a comprehensive reconstruction process and paves the way for a political track enabling Palestinians to govern themselves, culminating in a fully sovereign and independent state.”

The agreement reached in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in October mandated a ceasefire and partial Israeli withdrawal inside Gaza, along with the return of all hostages, living and dead, and the release of almost 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners and detainees.

It was envisioned by the US as the first part of a multi-stage peace plan, which would ultimately see Hamas’s disarmament and Gaza’s demilitarization, however the terror group has refused to give up its weapons.

The United States is hosting the talks today, with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff expected to meet senior officials from mediator countries Qatar, Egypt and Turkey in Florida to push for the second stage of the larger plan.

Despite the ceasefire, attacks on Israeli troops have continued, to which Israel has responded with waves of airstrikes. Additionally, the body of one deceased Israeli hostage — Sgt. Ran Gvili — is still held in the Strip. Hamas claims not to know its whereabouts, but Israel has challenged this claim.

Over 1,000 patients have died awaiting evacuation from Gaza since July 2024 – WHO

Children from the Abu Duheir family step down from their temporary tent, erected over the rubble of their collapsed home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, on November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

GENEVA, Switzerland — More than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for urgent medical evacuation from war-ravaged Gaza in the last year and a half, the World Health Organization said Friday.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the UN agency and its partners had “evacuated over 10,600 patients from Gaza with severe health conditions, including over 5,600 children” since the start of the war more than two years ago.

But he warned that “many more patients remain in Gaza awaiting evacuation to receive appropriate health care.”

Citing numbers from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, Tedros said that 1,092 patients were known to have died while awaiting medical evacuation just between July 2024 and November 28, 2025.

“This figure is likely underreported,” he warned, calling on “more countries to open doors to patients from Gaza, and for medical evacuation to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored. Lives depend on it.”

The WHO has previously estimated that more than 16,500 patients still need treatment outside Gaza, while a top official with the charity Doctors Without Borders told AFP earlier this month the actual number was likely “three to four times that number.”

Up to December 1, 2025, over 30 countries had taken patients from Gaza, but only a handful, including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, had accepted large numbers.

IDF: Hezbollah naval operative captured last year was key to group’s ‘secret maritime file’

Imad Amhaz, a reported Hezbollah official allegedly captured by Israeli naval commandos on November 1, 2024. (Social media)

The IDF reveals new information on a raid carried out by naval commandos last year, during which a “significant” Hezbollah operative was nabbed.

On November 1, 2024, members of the Israeli Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 unit arrived from the sea and raided a chalet on the coast of Batroun, south of Tripoli — some 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Israel’s maritime border with Lebanon.

The commandos captured Imad Amhaz, who, according to the military, was “one of the most significant figures in Hezbollah’s secret maritime file and a member of the coast-to-sea missile unit (7900).”

In an unusual move, the military publishes footage of his interrogation.

#عاجل ????جيش الدفاع يكشف: الملف البحري السري لحزب الله الإرهابي – بنية تحتية إرهابية بستار مدني بتوجيه مباشر من المدعو حسن نصرالله

????يكشف جيش الدفاع النقاب انه قبل نحو عام انطلق مقاتلي وحدة 13 للكوماندوز البحري لتنفيذ عملية "وراء الظهر" في بلدة البترون شمال لبنان، على بعد حوالي… pic.twitter.com/A5T7LPL6mS

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 19, 2025

As part of his role in the coast-to-sea missile unit, Amhaz “received military training in Iran and Lebanon and gained extensive maritime expertise and experience for the purpose of carrying out maritime terror attacks,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, says.

Adraee says that Amhaz had trained at a civilian Lebanese maritime institute, “which constitutes another example of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilian institutions to advance its terror activities.”

According to Adraee, during his interrogation, Amhaz revealed that he held a key role in Hezbollah’s “secret maritime file” and provided sensitive intelligence about the unit, “which is considered one of Hezbollah’s most sensitive and secret projects, focused on establishing an organized infrastructure for maritime terror activities under a civilian cover, intending to strike Israeli and international targets.”

He says that the project was directed by Hassan Nasrallah, the terror group’s former leader, and Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s former military chief — both of whom were killed by Israel — as well as Ali Abd al-Hassan Nour al-Din, “head of the secret maritime file.”

Adraee says the IDF was able to disrupt Hezbollah’s progress in advancing the secret maritime file “at a critical point in time,” as a result of the elimination of the terror group’s leadership and the information provided by Amhaz in his interrogation.

Mentally ill Israeli extracted safely from Hebron overnight after wandering for hours

The Tomb of the Patriarchs is seen in Hebron, in the West Bank, on September 30, 2025. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

A mentally unwell Israeli man was extracted from the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, Israeli authorities say.

Overnight, the Civil Administration, a branch of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), says it received a report regarding a Jewish man wandering around Hebron, “while facing a real danger to his life.”

“Upon receiving the report, officers from the Hebron District Coordination and Liaison Office acted to provide immediate protection to the Israeli, while simultaneously transferring him to IDF troops,” the Civil Administration says.

The Defense Ministry body says that a preliminary investigation indicates that the Israeli, “who suffers from mental illness and resides in central Israel, had been wandering for many hours in the Hebron area.”

The incident was handed over to the police for further examination.

Israelis are barred from entering West Bank areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Shipping giant Maersk completes first Red Sea voyage after nearly two years away

Danish shipping company Maersk announces that one of its vessels successfully navigated the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time in nearly two years, though it currently has no plans to fully reopen the route.

Maersk began diverting vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea around the Cape of Good Hope in January 2024 after Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked ships in the area that it claimed were linked to Israel, ostensibly in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Maersk says that one of its vessels, Maersk Sebarok, had made the transit on Thursday and Friday.

“Whilst this is a significant step forward, it does not mean that we are at a point where we are considering a wider East-West network change back to the trans-Suez corridor,” it says.

The company says, however, that it is considering the possibility of continuing a “stepwise approach” towards resuming passage. There are currently no additional planned sailings, it adds.

Israeli and Lebanese officials meet directly for 2nd time, amid effort to preserve truce

The wreckage of a vehicle targeted by an Israeli airstrike on the road linking the southern Lebanese border village of Odeisseh to Markaba, on December 16, 2025. (Rabih Daher/ AFP)

Israel sends National Security Council chief Joseph (Yossi) Draznin to talks with ceasefire monitors in Lebanon, according to reports, as an end-of-year deadline nears for Lebanon’s central government to disarm the Hezbollah terror group.

The meeting, held in southern Lebanon’s Naqoura, is only the second one in decades in which Israeli and Lebanese officials have met directly, after a meeting earlier this month.

Israel sent Draznin’s deputy, Eli Resnick, to the first meeting, which was itself the fourteenth meeting of the so-called “Pentalateral” forum aimed at preserving the ceasefire.

Yesterday, French, Saudi Arabian and American officials met in Paris with the head of the Lebanese army, in talks aimed at finalizing a roadmap to a mechanism for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Israel has been ramping up its military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, amid reports of a possible widescale Israeli offensive targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire that began in November 2024.

Axios’s Barak Ravid reports, citing a source familiar with the details, that while the meeting today is ostensibly about economic cooperation, it is unofficially aimed at preventing a resumption of the war.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Russian, in Israel on work permit, indicted for spying on behalf of Iran

The entrance to Ramat David Airbase, northern Israel, January 14, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Prosecutors have indicted a Russian national on espionage charges after he was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iranian interests, the State Attorney’s Office announces.

Vitaly Zvyagintsev, a Russian citizen who had been living in Israel on a work permit, is accused of taking pictures of sensitive sites across the country for an Iranian agent.

The two were in contact from early October until December 4, when the Russian citizen was arrested at an air force base.

Zvyagintsev allegedly photographed the ports of Eilat, Haifa and Ashdod, as well as the Herzliya Marina, and sent the documentation to his handler. The defendant also traveled to Nesher Park, a high spot overlooking parts of Haifa, in order to film oil refineries in the city.

The defendant also photographed military vessels, including an armed merchant cruiser belonging to the US Navy and a Dolphin-class submarine belonging to the Israeli Navy.

He was paid hundreds of dollars in cryptocurrency for each task, prosecutors say.

He was arrested earlier this month at the Ramat David Air Force Base, where he tried to carry out another espionage mission. He had taken photos of the site, but was arrested by security forces before he could pass them onto his handler, the indictment reads.

Though police usually coordinate with the Shin Bet to investigate Iranian espionage cases, this probe was overseen jointly by the Shin Bet and the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment, an internal Defense Ministry investigatory unit known by its Hebrew acronym Malmab.

The defendant is charged today in the Central District Court with maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.

Katz appoints new financial advisor to IDF chief of staff

Col. Nir Weingold in an undated photo (Ofir Rachbuch/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz announces that he has appointed Col. Nir Weingold as the next financial advisor to the IDF chief of staff and head of the Budgeting Directorate in the Defense Ministry.

Katz says the move was made in coordination with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram.

Weingold will be promoted to brigadier general upon entering the role and will replace Brig. Gen. Gil Pinchas, who has been in the position for the past four and a half years. A handover date will be set in the coming days.

Weingold is an economist who has served for the past 20 years in various planning, procurement, development, and force-build-up roles within the defense establishment. He currently serves as head of the Planning Department within the Budgeting Directorate.

Ben Gurion Airport tightens security; 13-year-old who snuck onto flight in October caught again

Travelers at Ben Gurion Airport, October 23, 2025. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The Airports Authority announces new security measures, days after a stowaway made it from Tel Aviv to Vienna without a passport or ticket. The 18-year-old passed through security at the airport but did not complete border control requirements.

According to new procedures that will soon be phased in, passengers will be required to present their boarding passes upon their entry to the terminal and during the first security check.

The authority notes that lines may be longer as these changes go into effect. The new policies are expected to be fully implemented over the course of next year, it says.

Hebrew media reports, meanwhile, that a 13-year-old who managed to board an El Al flight to the US this past October without a ticket or passport was again caught at the airport last night.

According to reports, the minor was noticed by security oficers at the terminal, prior to going through security. When the officers questioned him, the boy said he was there with his parents, then fled.

Police investigating after three buses ablaze at junction

Police say they are investigating after three buses were reported to be on fire at Yagur Junction in northern Israel last night.

Firefighters were called to the parking lot of the Stop Market at the junction around 12:30 a.m., according to Hebrew media.

No one was hurt.

תראו מופתעים, משטרת מחוז חוף חוקרת חשד להצתת שלושה אוטבוסים של אותה חברה הלילה בחניון ביגור. מעניין אם זה קשור לסכסוך בשפרעם שבמסגרתו עלו בלהבות תשעה אוטובוסים של אותה חברה? @N12News pic.twitter.com/m33BMKF0Vi

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) December 19, 2025

IDF says it detained Israelis who rammed Palestinian with their car in Nablus overnight

A vehicle belonging to Israelis who entered the city of Nablus overnight, which was abandoned there, in the West Bank, on December 19, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

The IDF has detained Israeli citizens who rammed a Palestinian with their car and fled the vehicle in the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern West Bank overnight, the army says.

The Palestinian was wounded and taken to a hospital, the military says. The Israelis’ vehicle will be handed over by Palestinian security forces, according to the military. It adds that the Israelis entered Nablus deliberately and illegally.

هروب مستوطنين بعد انقلاب مركبتهم عقب دهس شاب فلسطيني في شارع عمّان شرق نابلس. pic.twitter.com/cKxsiFUMhJ

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 19, 2025

According to religious news site Arutz Sheva, the Israelis are Breslev Hasidim from the extremist Berland sect who were making a pilgrimage to the site traditionally identified as Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

Palestinian media identifies the wounded Palestinian as a young man and says he was run over on eastern Nablus’s Amman Street.

In security camera footage published by Palestinian media, with a timestamp shortly past 2:20 a.m., the young man can be seen running down the road when a large white car zooms toward him, causing him to swerve right, where a silver car runs into him and sends him flying. A third car pulls up and people get out to help him.

#متابعة: مستوطن يتسلل بمركبته إلى نابلس ويدهس شاباً في شارع عمان pic.twitter.com/Mu75ULD7B2

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) December 19, 2025

Further footage published by Palestinian media shows an overturned vehicle with an Israeli license plate, identified as the silver car from the first video, as men in Hasidic garb flee the scene.

According to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, the young man who was run over suffered fractures in his legs.

Zionist opposition bloc one seat short of a majority if elections held today – poll

Yesh Atid party head Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, right, speaks at a joint press conference with (R-L) National Unity party head Benny Gantz, The Democrats party head Yair Golan, and Yisrael Beytenu party Avigdor Liberman at the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 6, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

The Zionist, anti-Netanyahu bloc in the Knesset would be one mandate short of a majority if elections were held today, a poll shows.

A weekly survey published yesterday by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister-site, shows the parties that make up the current coalition winning just 50 seats, while Arab parties would win 10, in the 120-seat Knesset.

The biggest party would remain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, with 26 seats. The Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism would win 10 and eight seats, respectively, while far-right Otzma Yehudit would win six. Religious Zionism would not pass the electoral threshold.

Among the Arab parties, Islamist Ra’am and Hadash Ta’al would each win five seats. Balad would not pass the electoral threshold.

The remaining 60 seats would go to Zionist opposition parties, the largest being former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party (using the interim name “Bennett 2026”), with 20 seats.

Left-wing The Democrats, centrist Yesh Atid, and hawkish Yisrael Beytenu would each win 10; Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar would win six; and ‘The Reservists’ — a new party rallying opposition to draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students — would win four. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party would not pass the electoral threshold.

These results would not allow the current coalition to form a government, nor would they allow the Zionist opposition bloc to form a government without partnering with an Arab party.

Though some in the opposition have voiced openness to partnering with an Arab party, as the Lapid-Bennett government did with Ra’am before Netanyahu’s latest return to the premiership, others have dismissed the idea as unrealistic.

Moreover, The Reservists chair, Yoaz Hendel, called explicitly last month for a “Zionist unity government without Arab or Haredi parties.”

The Zman poll was conducted December 17-18, with 500 respondents. Its margin of error is 4.4 percent.

14-year-old girl who was shot shielding kids amid Bondi attack released from hospital

SYDNEY, Australia — As two gunmen opened fire on hundreds celebrating Hanukkah on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, 14-year-old Chaya Dadon’s mind was clear.

Across from where she had taken cover from the gunshots under a bench, Dadon saw two children stranded out in the open, beside their wounded parents.

“I knew in that moment, I felt like Hashem was sitting right next to me,” she says in an interview with Reuters, using a Hebrew name for God. “He was whispering into my ear, ‘This is your mission: go save those kids.'”

The schoolgirl left the safety of her hiding spot, pulled the children away and jumped on top of them, covering their bodies with her own. At some point, she was shot in the thigh. But she kept shielding them, reciting the Shema, a Jewish prayer.

“I knew I got shot, but I wasn’t even worried, I channeled all that energy that I had into strength and I made sure that I knew I had to be there for those kids,” she says.

“If I could give up my life saving these children, that’s what I was going to do.”

“Her instinct is to save lives while these terrorists are killing people. What a contrast.”

Rabbi Yaakov Lieder, grandfather of Chaya Dadon, describes his 14-year-old granddaughter and the inspiring type of person she is.

Chaya was hiding under a bench with a friend as the… pic.twitter.com/DbllGPt2kp

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 17, 2025

Her father eventually found them and took her to get help. “When he found me, he told me this after, that I had the girl in this arm and the boy in this arm. And I was just kissing them.”

Dadon spent four days at the Sydney Children’s Hospital before returning home on Thursday. She is now walking with crutches, which she has decorated with stickers commemorating some of those who were killed.

She still does not know the children she shielded but hopes to connect with them again.

“Those little kids that have been through things that no one should have been through,” she said, but the ordeal would make the Jewish community stronger.

“Even if they can’t see it now, everyone is going to grow stronger because I really feel like that situation, everyone was tested.”

Intel gathered on Oct. 6, 2023, but waved away, indicated Hamas had plans for next morning – report

An Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flies over Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 3, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas. (AFP)

On October 6, 2023 — less than 24 hours before the deadly Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war — Israel gathered intelligence indicating the terror group was planning something for the following morning, the Kan public broadcaster reveals.

The information came via an intelligence-gathering operation, conducted via drones over the Gaza Strip, focused on the Hamas guards operating in the tunnel where Israel believed hostage Avera Mengistu was being held, the report says.

Mengistu, suffering from mental illness, entered Gaza of his own accord in 2014 and was then arrested and held by the group. He was freed as part of a ceasefire deal in February of this year.

Some piece of information obtained during that operation, though unclear, set off a red flag, and it was passed along to the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, Kan reports.

The broadcaster claims, citing “sources,” that the Southern Command dismissed the intelligence as, in all likelihood, indicative of a Hamas training exercise, rather than an imminent attack.

The October 6 operation does not appear in the IDF’s records, nor has it been mentioned by probes into the events leading up to and during the subsequent terror onslaught, Kan notes, saying the reason for its omission is not clear.

Kan first reported on the intelligence operation earlier this month, but initially cited a source privy to the matter who said it had brought neither an intelligence breakthrough on Mengistu nor any indication of the imminent Hamas attack.

Suspect in deadly shooting at Brown, killing of MIT professor found dead; is ID’d as Portuguese national

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — A man who is suspected of killing two and wounding several others at Brown University has been found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility, officials say.

Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, says at a news conference.

Investigators believe Valente is responsible for both the shooting at Brown and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was fatally shot in his Brookline home Monday, a law enforcement official tells The Associated Press. Authorities have not formally confirmed a connection between the two shootings.

The official cannot publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and speaks to AP on condition of anonymity.

Two people were killed and nine were wounded in the mass shooting Saturday at Brown University. The investigation had shifted Thursday when authorities said they were looking into a connection between the Brown mass shooting and an attack two days later near Boston that killed MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro.

The FBI previously said it knew of no links between the cases.

New intel findings further confirm Bondi attack was ‘ISIS-inspired,’ says Australian PM

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the country’s intelligence services discovered an online video feed further confirming that the terror shooting targeting a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach was “an ISIS-inspired attack,” using an acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group.

Funeral held for Jewish couple killed while trying to disarm Bondi Beach terrorist

Pallbearers carry out a coffin after the funeral of Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed while trying to thwart the Bondi Beach terror shooting, at the Sydney Chevra Kadisha on December 19, 2025. (Saeed Khan/AFP)

Mourners in Sydney gather for the funeral of couple Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed while tussling with one of the Bondi Beach terrorists next to his car as they tried to thwart the attack.

The funerals of attack victims Boris Tetleroyd and Edith Brutman are also set to be held today.

Australian PM says Sunday will be national ‘day of reflection’ to mark Hanukkah attack

A poster of 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack, is hung next to flags of Australia and Israel on the gate of the Bondi Pavilion, in Sydney on December 18, 2025. (David Gray/AFP)

SYDNEY — Australia will hold a national “day of reflection” one week after the mass shooting targeting a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.

“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese says as he declares Australia will honor the attack’s 15 victims on Sunday, December 21.

He also announces that Australia will launch a national gun buyback scheme.

“We expect hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through this scheme,” Albanese tells a news conference.

Australian cops say suspects detained en route to Bondi have ideological link with the terrorists

Police officers intercept two cars carrying seven men heading in the direction of Bondi Beach, Sydney, and detain the passengers on the suspicion that they were planning to carry out a "violent act" on December 18, 2025. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

SYDNEY — Australian police say that seven men detained in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday have ideological connections to the two terrorists who allegedly fired at hundreds celebrating Hanukkah in Bondi Beach, killing 15 people.

“We don’t have definitive links between the individuals who committed these atrocities on Sunday and this yesterday apart from potential commonality in some thinking, but no associations at this stage,” New South Wales state Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson tells ABC Radio on Friday.

Investigations are at an initial stage, Hudson says, adding one of the locations the group was planning to visit was Bondi.

Australian authorities have said they believe the Hanukkah massacre was inspired by Islamic State, which praised the attack but did not take responsibility.

‘Bring back the light’: Hundreds of swimmers, surfers honor attack victims at Bondi Beach

Surfers and swimmers congregate in the water at Bondi Beach as they participate in a tribute for the victims of the terror attack targeting a Hanukkah event at the beach, in Sydney on December 19, 2025. (David Gray/AFP)

SYDNEY — Hundreds of people swim and paddle surfboards off Australia’s Bondi Beach to honor the 15 people shot and killed at a Jewish festival last week.

“They slaughtered innocent victims, and today I’m swimming out there and being part of my community again to bring back the light,” security consultant Jason Carr tells AFP.

Mamdani appointee resigns, apologizes after old antisemitic comments come to light

An appointee to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration resigns after old antisemitic social media posts surfaced.

Mamdani had named Catherine Almonte Da Costa as his administration’s director of appointments on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, social media posts surfaced from Da Costa’s X account dating to 2011 and 2012.

Da Costa wrote, “Money hungry Jews smh.” The acronym stands for “shaking my head.”

She also wrote, “Promoted to upstairs office today! Working alongside these rich Jewish peeps,” and, “Far Rockaway train is the Jew train.”

Da Costa says in a statement, “I spoke with the Mayor-elect this afternoon, apologized, and expressed my deep regret for my past statements. These statements are not indicative of who I am.”

“As the mother of Jewish children, I feel a profound sense of sadness and remorse at the harm these words have caused. As this has become a distraction from the work at hand, I have offered my resignation,” she says.

Mamdani says in a statement to The Times of Israel, “Catherine expressed her deep remorse over her past statements and tendered her resignation, and I accepted.”