Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
IDF says it struck Hamas operative in Khan Younis humanitarian zone
The IDF says an aircraft struck a Hamas operative in the humanitarian zone of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip a short time ago, based on exact intelligence.
It says that before the strike, it took various steps to minimize the risk to civilians, including aerial surveillance and the use of precision weaponry.
Student government leader at University of Michigan impeached over Israel divestment
The leader of the student government at the University of Michigan, Alifa Chowdhury, has been impeached by the student assembly for withholding student funding over demands the university boycott Israel.
Chowdhury was impeached for “dereliction of duty” in an overwhelming vote, The New York Times reports.
Chowdhury was elected last year on a promise to divest from companies connected to Israel in a vote that had a small turnout. The university refused, and the student government blocked $1.3 million in funding to clubs in response.
The stalemate prompted backlash, leading to Chowdhury’s impeachment.
Chowdhury was elected when anti-Israel activism rocked campuses across the US amid the war in Gaza. That movement has receded this year, although protests have lingered, and on many campuses core groups of activists have continued to push hardline policies targeting Israel.
Brigade commander lightly injured by bomb during West Bank operation
The IDF says the commander of a West Bank regional brigade in charge of Jenin and Tulkarem was lightly injured this evening after a bomb exploded beside his vehicle during a military operation in Tulkarem.
Menashe Brigade Commander Col. Ayub Kayuf was taken to a hospital for treatment. He was initially listed in moderate condition, but the army later said his injury was mild.
No others were hurt by the blast.
Syria’s new foreign minister warns Iran of spreading chaos in Syria
Syria’s newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, warns Iran of spreading chaos in Syria, adding that Iran should respect the Syrian people’s will and the country’s sovereignty, according to a post on X.
Ben Gvir’s party again votes against coalition legislation in protest
Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset on November 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party again votes against legislation backed by the coalition.
A budget-related bill put forth by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich passes 55-52 after the coalition called in MKs to ensure it passed.
Ben Gvir has vowed to buck coalition discipline over a dispute in which he claims Smotrich has not acceded to his demands to increase the budget of the Israel Police, which his ministry oversees.
His party also voted last week against an initial reading of the state budget, which went on to pass regardless.
Settlers reportedly set fire to barn in Palestinian village near Jericho
Israeli settlers raided the Bedouin Palestinian village of Arab Al-Melihat northwest of Jericho earlier this evening, hurling stones at locals and torching a barn that housed sheep, Palestinian media report.
Footage from the scene shows locals working to extinguish the blaze.
As is almost entirely the case in such incidents, there are no reports of arrests in what has led the US and other Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli settler extremists over the past year.
عاجل | مستوطنون يشنون هجوماً واسعاً على الفلسطينيين ويهدمون بركساً، في تجمع عرب المليحات شمال غرب أريحا بالضفة الغربية. pic.twitter.com/OHZUV8EJRY
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 24, 2024
After Israel confirms killing Haniyeh, Iran tells UN its October missile attack was justified
People walk past a poster of slain Palestinian Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran's capital Tehran on August 10, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Following Israel’s confirmation yesterday that it was behind the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, Iran sends a letter to the UN secretary-general calling on it to condemn the act and claiming that it justifies Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel in October.
Defense Minister Israel Katz “publicly and shamelessly acknowledged that the Israeli regime was responsible for the assassination of Mr. Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran,” writes the Iranian envoy to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, to Antonio Guterres.
The letter says that Israel’s “audacious and shameless confession… reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran’s defensive response on 1 October 2024.” During that attack, Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, sending millions of citizens into shelters across the country. The IDF says the majority of the missiles were shot down outside of the country, but some damage was caused to military bases.
In a shameless admission, the regime’s Minister of Warmongering confessed to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader and former Prime Minister of Palestine, during his visit to Tehran. This brazen act underscores Israel’s role in terrorism, legitimizes Iran’s… pic.twitter.com/hBgPpYoMi7
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) December 24, 2024
Iran claims that the UN Security Council “must not allow the continued impunity of a regime that flagrantly defies international law, destabilizes the region, and threatens and endangers international peace and security. The continued silence of the Security Council, entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, would not only embolden this terrorist regime commission of more atrocious crimes but also undermine the core principles upon which the United Nations was founded.”
PA health ministry says 3 killed in IDF drone strike in West Bank
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reports three dead and six wounded in the IDF drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem earlier today.
The military said it had targeted a group of Palestinian gunmen.
Syrian Christians protest to demand greater protections after Christmas tree burned
Christian Syrians lift crosses as they rally in the Duweilaah area of Damascus on December 24, 2024, to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria. (Louai Beshara / AFP)
DAMASCUS — Scores of Syrian Christians protest in the capital Damascus demanding greater protections for their religious minority after a Christmas tree was set on fire in the city of Hama a day earlier.
Many of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, although Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.
It remains unclear who set the Christmas tree on fire yesterday, which was condemned by a representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who visited the town and addressed the community.
“This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations,” the HTS representative said in a video widely shared on social media. “The Christmas tree will be fully restored by this evening.”
Protesters march through the streets of Bab Touma in Damascus, shouting slogans against foreign fighters and carrying large wooden crosses.
“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We want a voice in the future of our country,” says Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the crowd in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.
Hostages Forum: If previous talks had succeeded, 6 slain hostages would be ‘with their families’
A poster showing hostages held in the Gaza Strip, displayed at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, December 22, 2024. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum umbrella group issues a statement in the wake of an IDF probe into the killings of six hostages in a Gaza tunnel in August, saying it proves a deal is the only way to bring the remaining captives home.
The probe found that troops had no knowledge of the hostages being held in the Rafah tunnel and that while it operated “carefully,” it believes their presence likely led the Hamas captors to execute the six hostages.
“We share in the renewed pain of the families who were presented with the details of this devastating and heartbreaking investigation,” the forum says in a statement. “The investigation published tonight proves once again that the return of all hostages will only be possible through a deal.”
The organization says that hostages Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Alex Lobanov, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi and Almog Sarusi “should have returned home alive. Had the previous negotiations not collapsed — they would now be undergoing rehabilitation with their families.”
“We need a deal that will ensure the return of all hostages within a quick and predetermined timeframe,” the group adds.
Israeli jets strike Hamas rocket launcher next to UN building in north Gaza, says IDF
A Hamas rocket launcher positioned next to a United Nations building in Gaza City’s Shati camp was struck by Israeli fighter jets a short while ago, the IDF says.
The military says the strike was carried out after calling on civilians in the area to evacuate.
Footage released by the IDF shows a rocket flying out of the site following the strike.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר אתר שיגור של ארגון הטרור חמאס שמוקם בסמוך למבנה של האו״ם במרחב שאטי שבצפון הרצועה.
התקיפה בוצעה לאחר פרסום הודעה הקוראת לפינוי אוכלוסיה ממרחב המטרה לשם הגנתה, לאחר התקיפה זוהתה רקטה היוצאת ממתחם השיגור>> pic.twitter.com/3cwcneEMtI
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 24, 2024
Report: IAF chief says Air Force was ‘not effective enough’ on October 7
Chief of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, speaks during a ceremony in the southern city of Ashdod, May 29, 2023. (Flash90)
Channel 12 news quotes Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar as saying that the IAF was “not effective enough” on the morning of the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.
“Why did we fail? The morning of October 7 began for us with a complete surprise,” Bar is cited as saying during an internal presentation of the IAF’s probe into the failures on October 7.
“We pounced, fought, assisted, rescued, gave everything. But unfortunately, we were not effective enough that day,” he says according to the network.
Channel 12 also publishes the ostensible findings of the IAF’s probe.
The network says the probe found that the IAF was not sufficiently effective and its preparations were inadequate.
The terror onslaught began at 6:30 a.m. By 7:08 a.m., Bar had scrambled all staff who were on furlough, according to the investigation cited by Channel 12
At 9:30 a.m., the IAF declared the entire border area as a “killing zone,” even at the price of harming hostages, the network says.
The IDF in response to the report says: “The Israeli Air Force’s investigation is being examined as part of the investigation into October 7, and will be presented to the public when it is concluded.” It says that the “main insights were presented to the senior command in the IAF, which serves as a base for the General Staff investigation, which has not yet been concluded.”
Hostage negotiators returning to Israel for ‘internal deliberations,’ says PM’s office
A rally calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 21 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The mid-level negotiating team that has been in Qatar for days working on a hostage deal with Hamas will return to Israel tonight, the Prime Minister’s Office says, calling it a “meaningful week” of talks.
“The team is returning for internal deliberations in Israel about the continuation of negotiations to bring our hostages home,” says the PMO.
IDF probe finds troops acted ‘carefully’ in vicinity of 6 hostages murdered by Hamas in tunnel
This combination of six undated photos shows hostages, from top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi; from bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)
An IDF investigation into the murder of six hostages by Hamas terrorists in southern Gaza’s Rafah in August has found that the military had acted carefully even though it had assessed that no captives were being held in the area.
Hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi were killed by their captors in a tunnel in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood on August 29, and were discovered by troops on August 31.
The military did not have any concrete or real-time intelligence on the six hostages being held there in the weeks before they were murdered, but had general indications that Israeli abductees could be in the neighborhood, and therefore had operated carefully above ground and even more so underground.
The possibility of hostages being held in Rafah at the time was seen as low-to-moderate, according to the IDF.
On August 27, the IDF rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi from a tunnel in Tel Sultan. Al-Qadi had no information on other hostages in the area.
On August 29, at least two Hamas terrorists murdered the six hostages and left their bodies in the tunnel. The IDF believes that after spotting Israeli forces approaching the area, the Hamas terrorists guarding the hostages decided to execute them.
On August 30, the IDF said troops killed two Hamas gunmen who attempted to flee from the tunnel complex, who are believed by the military with high likelihood to be the captors who murdered the six hostages.
On August 31, the IDF decided to briefly halt its activities in Tel Sultan as it held a fresh assessment on the possibility of hostages in the area. Later that day, the bodies of the six were found.
The IDF’s probe found that it had awareness of possible hostages in the area, and despite the assessment being a low possibility, the military operated in a careful manner.
The IDF says it has drawn various conclusions from the incident, from a strategic level to a tactical level, including regarding the army’s intelligence.
Ultimately, the military acknowledges it failed to bring those hostages back home alive.
The IDF probe also confirms that forensic findings located in the area of the tunnel indicate that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed nearby in October, was there. The IDF was unable to confirm if he was inside the tunnel at the same time the hostages were.
The findings of the probe were presented earlier today to the families of the six slain hostages.
Sirens warning of Houthi strike on south Tel Aviv Saturday were delayed, says IDF
A crater next to a childs' play area in a park in a residential area of Jaffa, south Tel Aviv, caused by a missile fired from Yemen early on December 21, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
An IDF Home Front Command investigation into Saturday’s Houthi missile strike in Jaffa, south Tel Aviv, has found that sirens were activated with a delay.
“The investigation revealed that the warning was activated late for reasons that cannot be detailed,” the military says, adding that conclusions and lessons were drawn from the incident.
The IDF says that following the investigation, which also looked into other incidents of impacts of missile and interceptor fragments in Israel, it was decided to “adjust the warning areas.”
“From now on during similar events, warnings will be issued in wider areas,” the military says.
Israeli air defenses failed to intercept the missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early on Saturday, and it struck a park in Jaffa, injuring 16 people in surrounding buildings.
IDF says it carried out drone strike on Palestinian gunmen near Tulkarem
A convoy of Israeli military armored vehicles is seen during a raid in the Tulkarem refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a group of Palestinian gunmen in the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem a short while ago.
The strike comes amid an ongoing IDF operation in the area, the military says.
No further details are given.
Katz tells IDF to release full recordings of slain surveillance soldiers’ last radio messages
The torched command center of the Nahal Oz IDF base, overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during a visit by relatives of slain lookout soldiers on December 19, 2023. (Courtesy/Eyal Eshel)
Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has ordered the IDF to provide the families of surveillance soldiers killed or abducted in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught with the full recordings of their last radio communications, after the army sent them edited versions.
In a statement issued by his office, Katz says he told the army to provide the families with the full recordings, “with the exception of limited sections that are restricted due to clear security reasons, and this is due to the need for full transparency with the families.”
The IDF already said earlier that some portions of the recordings were removed due to privacy concerns, as the omitted sections included conversations with combat soldiers.
“The IDF is committed to the bereaved families, and does not hide any information from them,” the military says in a new statement following Katz’s comments.
The military says it sent the families the recordings yesterday, after several re-examinations of the audio. The military says the tapes sent to the families only include those in which the voices of the surveillance soldiers can be heard.
The IDF says it will allow all of the families to coordinate visits to the military to hear the entire recordings, adding that it has “no intention of causing further suffering to the families and is sorry for any harm was caused.”
US calls new report asserting famine in north Gaza ‘outdated and inaccurate’
Palestinians, displaced from Beit Lahiya, arrive in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 4, 2024. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew issues a rare statement rejecting an internationally-backed organization’s food security report asserting that a famine continues to unfold in Gaza.
“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate,” Lew says.
Lew takes particular issue with the report’s apparent reliance on figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to inflate the number of civilians still in north Gaza.
“We have worked closely with the government of Israel and the UN to provide greater access to the North Governorate, and it is now apparent that the civilian population in that part of Gaza is in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report,” the US envoy states.
“[Israel’s] COGAT estimates the population in this area is between 5,000 and 9,000. UNRWA estimates the population is between 10,000 and 15,000,” he continues.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this. We work day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew adds.
Throughout the war, the US has rejected conclusions from aid agencies and rights groups that Israel is perpetrating a genocide in Gaza but critiques of specific figures used by these organizations have been more rare.
Defense Ministry inks deal with IAI to expand production of Arrow 3 interceptors
Illustrative: Two Arrow 3 interceptors are launched during a test of the missile defense system on January 18, 2022. (Defense Ministry)
The Defense Ministry says it has signed a deal worth billions of shekels with the Israel Aerospace Industries for the defense firm to expand its production of Arrow 3 interceptor missiles.
The order of more interceptors for the long-range air defense system comes following increased ballistic missile attacks on Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen in recent days.
The Arrow 3 is designed to take out ballistic missiles outside of the atmosphere, and it has been used repeatedly against Houthi attacks, and against Iran’s direct attacks on Israel in April and October.
Under the deal, the ministry says IAI will provide the military with “a significant amount” of Arrow 3 interceptors, worth billions of shekels.
Qatar says Gaza hostage-ceasefire negotiations are ongoing
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Qatar’s foreign ministry says ceasefire negotiations to end the war in Gaza and release the hostages are ongoing in Doha in cooperation with Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators.
“We will not leave any door unopened in pursuit of reaching an agreement,” says Majid al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson.
Al-Ansari adds that rumors the ceasefire would be reached before Christmas are “speculation.”
In a press conference, al-Ansari also calls on the international community to lift sanctions on Syria as quickly as possible.
“The reason was the crimes of the previous regime, and that regime, with all of its authority, is no longer in place, therefore the causes for these sanctions no longer exist today,” he says.
IDF says it wraps up operation at north Gaza hospital, killing 5 gunmen and arresting others
IDF troops operate near the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued on December 24, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it has wrapped up a “limited operation” against Hamas at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, during which at least five gunmen were killed and several operatives were detained.
According to the military, in the past month, several attacks against troops, including anti-tank fire, were launched from the hospital. In the area surrounding the hospital, the military says Hamas operatives also planted numerous explosive devices.
Overnight, the Givati Brigade launched a raid against the hospital area, following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet security agency, which indicated “the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructures in the area of the hospital,” the IDF says.
The IDF says five gunmen were killed and several were detained, including a terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
To mitigate civilian harm, the IDF says it “enabled and facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation.”
“We emphasize that the operation was conducted after multiple warnings were issued to the Gazan health ministry regarding terrorist activity being conducted inside the hospital,” the military says.
“The troops operated while mitigating harm to uninvolved civilians and enabling the activities of the hospital to continue as much as possible,” the IDF adds.
Earlier today, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital, sending many patients, some of them on foot, to another hospital miles away in Gaza City.
Report: IDF spokesman says Netanyahu asked him to stress Gaza aid efforts in English
IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari gives a statement to the media in Tel Aviv on October 16, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
According to a report in Ynet from a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari tells lawmakers that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to stress Israel’s humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza in English-language statements and briefings.
The report says Hagari tells the committee that the prime minister made the request of him “several times.”
In response to criticism from some right-wing lawmakers who accuse him of leading a campaign to end the ongoing war, Hagari says the most important part of his job is building trust and “credibility” in the Israeli military, which was broken on October 7.
Hagari also repeats his earlier apology for speaking out during a press conference earlier this month against proposed Knesset legislation that would prevent members of the defense establishment from being prosecuted for giving classified intelligence, without authorization, to the prime minister or defense minister.
“I made a mistake, I exceeded my authority,” he says, noting that the IDF should voice its positions on legislation relevant to the military only in closed-door proceedings.
Cases of flu and RSV on the rise in Israel, warns Health Ministry
The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, August 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The number of patients diagnosed with respiratory illnesses is on the rise, the Health Ministry says, including 77 new cases of influenza.
There are also 240 new cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common illness that affects the lungs. There is also a sharp increase in the percentage of pediatric emergency room visits among infants under two due to bronchiolitis. This condition occurs more often during the winter.
The Health Ministry urges individuals to get vaccinated against the flu and to practice good hygiene, as respiratory illnesses can spread easily.
Israel asks US to convene emergency UN Security Council session on Houthis
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar arrives to attend a plenary session of the 31st Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Ministerial summit, in Ta'Qali, Malta, December 5, 2024. (AP/Miguela Xuereb)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sends a letter to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, president of the UN Security Council, asking her to convene an emergency session to condemn Houthi attacks and Iran’s support for the organization’s violence.
In his missive, Sa’ar cites three attacks on Israel over the past week by the Yemeni rebel group, one of which destroyed a school in Ramat Gan.
“I must underscore that the persistent acts of hostility by the Houthis are in flagrant violation of international law,” he writes, adding that they are “an ongoing threat to international peace and security.”
The move comes a day after he instructed Israeli diplomats in Europe to push their host countries to list the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
Extremist Haredim block intersection in protest of IDF draft
Members of an extremist ultra-Orthodox group, the Jerusalem Faction, stage a protest blocking a major intersection in Bnei Brak in a rally against Haredim being drafted into the IDF.
Police have blocked off the entire road, which spans from the border of Ramat Gan to the edge of Petah Tikva.
על רקע חוק הגיוס: מפגינים מהפלג הירושלמי החלו לחסום כבישים בגבול בין רמת גן ובני ברק. פרשי משטרה בדרכם למקום | תיעוד@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/tcVt7e3ZaW
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 24, 2024
Ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition have demanded the government pass sweeping legislation to exempt Haredim from serving, after the High Court of Justice ruled in June that there was no legal basis for the decades-long practice of exempting them from the draft
A bill that would “very slowly” increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription is currently stuck in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, whose chairman, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, has said that it will only pass if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.
Ben Gvir again threatens to vote against budget legislation in protest
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a Knesset session on the state budget, December 16, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatens once again to hold up budget-related legislation over his demands for increased funding to police, according to Hebrew media reports, in what could shape up to be another coalition crisis.
MK Limor Son Har Melech of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party is reportedly holding up a committee vote on budget-accompanying legislation that would approve a hike in the amount Israelis must contribute to the National Security Institute. According to reports, Ben Gvir is demanding additional funding for the police, which his office oversees.
Some reports claim that Ben Gvir’s true motivation is his continued demand to fire the attorney general — a move the coalition chiefs have indicated they support.
Members of his party voted against the budget during an early vote last week — which nevertheless passed — but ultimately supported the budget in its final vote last night.
While the coalition still has a majority in the Knesset without Otzma Yehudit, the party’s vote is needed in the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee in order to advance the legislation.
Executions in Saudi Arabia rise sharply in 2024
A view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 23, 2018. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)
Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, the highest number in decades, despite de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s 2022 assertion that the death penalty had been eliminated except for murder cases under his vision for a new open kingdom.
The country is spending billions to transform its reputation for strict religious restrictions and human rights abuses into that of a tourism and entertainment hub under the Vision 2030 plan launched by the crown prince.
The latest execution toll, compiled from execution announcements by human rights NGO Reprieve and verified by Reuters, is a big jump from the 172 total for last year and 196 for 2022. Reprieve said it was the highest ever recorded.
“This reform is built on a house of cards that is built on record numbers of executions,” says Jeed Basyouni, who works with Reprieve.
More than 150 people were executed for nonlethal crimes this year, according to the tally, which rights groups say is contrary to international law.
Iran cyberspace council votes to lift ban on WhatsApp
A salesman on his cellphone at a carpet shop in the old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2024 (AP/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s top council responsible for safeguarding the internet votes to lift a ban on the popular messaging application WhatsApp, which has been subject to restrictions for over two years, state media reports.
“Ban on WhatsApp and Google Play was removed by unanimous vote of the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace,” the official IRNA news agency says, adding “this is the first step in the plan to remove restrictions.”
Knesset speaker visits jailed leak suspect, drawing anger from hostage relative
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana attends a plenum session in the Knesset, July 22, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana is being criticized after he visited a reservist who is jailed over allegations he helped leak sensitive military information to a foreign news outlet as part of a ploy to torpedo a potential hostage deal.
Ohana had been to Ayalon Prison, where Aaron Rosenfeld has been held for a month as he awaits trial in a case that has embroiled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and drawn the ire of his right-wing allies.
A spokesperson for Ohana says he visited to show support for Rosenfeld and his bid to be released on bail and freed “from draconian conditions.”
Responding to the visit, Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat was one of six hostages executed by Hamas in a tunnel several months ago, expresses anger over Ohana’s priorities.
“We have invited, requested, pleaded, but for 14 months the Knesset speaker has not visited Hostages Square,” he is quoted saying by Ynet. “I wish the Knesset had a speaker that cared for the hostages as much as they care for officers suspected of killing a hostage deal.”
Prosecutors may appeal sentences for Amsterdam soccer attackers
Dutch prosecutors are studying the verdicts and jail sentences handed down to five men convicted of taking part in attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office says.
The spokesperson says attorneys are unhappy with the court’s decision to treat one suspect, Lucas D., as a minor, giving the 19-year-old 100 hours of community service instead of jail time.
Prison terms for four other convicts, which range from one to six months, also fall short; the spokesperson says they may be appealed as well.
“We are looking at the number of months of prison sentence imposed compared to our demand,” the spokesperson are quoted saying in Dutch media.
Prosecutors had sought two years in jail for one man considered to be a leader of the rioters, who was seen on film violently assaulting soccer fans. Instead he was given six months. Another person who organized violence against Jews online was given 10 weeks in prison rather than the six months prosecutors asked for.
The sides have 14 days to appeal.
Syrian rebels groups agree to dissolve, integrate into state, new leadership says
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has reached an agreement with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the Defense Ministry, the new administration says in a statement.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army.
Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Assad, as defense minister in the interim government.
Katz says Houthi heads will roll after latest missile attack
Defense Minister Israel Katz, center, visiting an IDF air defense operations center on December 24, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)
Israel will begin targeting leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, Defense Minister Israel Katz says, vowing that Israel will not allow missile and drone fire on Israel to continue unchecked.
Firing at Houthi leaders would seem to mark an escalation by Israel, which has so far targeted port infrastructure and military sites in a handful of sorties in response to repeated launches of drones and ballistic missiles from Yemen. A missile fired early Tuesday was shot down, but sirens in the Tel Aviv area caused widespread panic and a rush to shelter left one woman seriously injured.
“Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen,” Katz says, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.
“We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat,” he adds while visiting an Arrow air defense system battery used to shoot down the Houthi missile overnight.
He also levels a threat at the Houthis’ Iranian backers, vowing that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price.”
Katz also receives a briefing from Lt. Col. Eyal Frenkel, commander of the 136th Herev Magen Battalion of the IAF’s Air Defense Corps, responsible for intercepting long-range missiles.
Reservist accused in PM’s office leaks case files new request for release from jail
Aaron 'Ari' Rosenfeld, the IDF reservist charged in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents theft and leak scandal, in an undated photo released to the media on December 23, 2024. (Courtesy: Family)
The IDF reservist named in a scandal surrounding allegations that documents were leaked from the military to a German newspaper via political operatives linked to the Prime Minister’s Office has asked the court to reconsider its decision to deny him bail, the Walla news site reports.
The filing Tuesday is based on a new assessment that found the suspect, Aaron Rosenfeld, was unlikely to attempt to repeat his alleged crime. An earlier professional assessment had come to the opposite conclusion, underpinning the decision to keep him in jail until the end of legal proceedings, Walla reports.
The document filed by Rosenfeld’s lawyers also argues that his mental state is deteriorating behind bars, noting that prison officials have decided to house him in a supervised cell “open and transparent to everyone’s eyes, and under 24-hour surveillance.”
Rosenfeld, whose name was unsealed Monday, was charged last month with transferring classified information, an offense that is punishable by seven years in prison, as well as theft by an authorized person and obstruction of justice, together with Eli Feldstein, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has since been released to house arrest.
He is suspected of unlawfully removing a document appearing to show Hamas uninterested in a hostage deal from the IDF’s military intelligence database and giving it to Feldstein, who then saw to it that it was transferred to German newspaper Bild.
Hamas health officials claim IDF targeting northern Gaza hospitals
Illustrative. A Palestinian woman is helped out of an ambulance after she was wounded amid fighting in Gaza, on December 24, 2024, in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry claims Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, sending many patients, some of them on foot, to another hospital miles away in Gaza City.
Israel says it has been fighting since early October against Hamas members attempting to regroup in three northern Gaza cities surrounding the hospital — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia.
Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the enclave, says the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.
He claims two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops operating in the area.
“Occupation forces have taken the three hospitals out of medical service because of the repeated attacks that undermined them and destroyed parts of them,” Bursh says in a statement.
The Israeli military says it is looking into the report.
Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals when needed in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, says he refused to allow the evacuation of hundreds of patients, their companions and staff in line with an IDF order. He claims constant Israeli fire has damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.
Dutch court hands Amsterdam ‘Jew hunt’ attackers prison terms topping out at 6 months
Dutch Police stand guard after attacks on Israeli fans following the soccer game between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam on November 8, 2024. (VLN Niews / ANP / AFP via JTA)
A Dutch court has convicted five people of taking part in violence against Israeli soccer fans last month, handing them sentences ranging from six months in prison to community service.
The five men are accused of playing a role in “hit-and-run” style attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and others, in a burst of violence condemned in the Netherlands and elsewhere as antisemitic. During the violence, Israelis were forced to hide in their hotels and later fled the city under heavy protection.
The judge hands a 32-year-old identified as Sefa O., who prosecutors said played a “leading role” in the violence, the largest sentence: six months in prison, minus time served in custody already. Images shown in court had shown the man kicking a person on the ground, chasing others and punching people in the head and the body.
Another man, Umutcan A., is handed an eight-month sentence for assaulting fans, though three of the months are suspended. He had also been accused of spreading messages online calling for a “Jew hunt.”
Another convict, Rashid O. is handed a 10-week sentence after he was convicted of spreading messages online glorifying violence against Jews, while a second person, Karavan S. who was also active online, is handed a one-month sentence.
A minor named as Lucas D. is given only 100 hours of community service after the court determines that his actions were closer to soccer hooliganism than an antisemitic pogrom.
A further six suspects are set to appear at a later stage, including one man accused of attempted murder who is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
Netanyahu mourns former hostage Katzir: ‘She bore the scars until her last day’
A poster calling for the release of Hanna Katzir is taped to the door of her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on November 21, 2023. (AP /Maya Alleruzzo)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expresses sorrow over the death of Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Hanna Katzir, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for two months and lost her husband and son at the hands of the terror group.
“We were able to bring home Hanna, who was brutally kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, but her body and soul bore the scars of the horror until her last day,” says Netanyahu in a statement released by his office.
Katzir was among the 105 civilians released by Hamas during a weeklong truce in November 2023. Israel has since then failed to reach a further agreement for the rest of the hostages, with many critics blaming Netanyahu.
“We embrace the Katzir family and are committed to doing everything we can and to continuing to work tirelessly until we bring all of our hostages home,” Netanyahu says.
The statement is also attributed to Netanyahu’s wife Sara, who left Israel a month ago and has yet to return, according to reports.
Russia hands US man fresh 13-year sentence for espionage
A Russian court has sentenced US citizen Eugene Spector to a total of 15 years in jail after convicting him of espionage in a closed-door trial, Russian state news agencies report.
Already serving a 3-1/2-year sentence in Russia for bribery, Spector, who was born in Russia and then moved to the US, was charged last August with espionage.
The details of the espionage case against him have not been made public by state media.
The TASS state news agency says Spector has been given a 13-year-jail sentence for spying, which is added to his existing bribery sentence, giving him 15 years total in a maximum security penal colony.
Before his 2021 arrest, Spector served as chairman of the board of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specializing in cancer-curing drugs, state media has said.
Spector in his first court case had pleaded guilty to helping bribe an assistant to an ex-Russian deputy prime minister.
Netanyahu thanks Christians for support in Yuletide greeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks Christians in Israel and abroad for their “steadfast support” during the ongoing war, in a video message for Christmas.
“You’ve stood by our side. You’ve stood by our side resiliently, consistently, forcefully as Israel defends our civilization against barbarism,” he says.
Netanyahu stresses that Israel seeks peace with those who desire peace, “but we will do whatever is necessary to defend the one and only Jewish state, the repository and the source of our common heritage.”
“My dear Christian friends, as you gather with your family and friends this Christmas, I wish the Christian community in Israel and around the world blessings for a Merry Christmas from the Holy Land. pic.twitter.com/b5YtGaCUug
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 24, 2024
“Israel leads the world in fighting the forces of evil and tyranny, but our battle is not yet over,” he continues. “With your support, and with God’s help, I assure you, we shall prevail.”
“From Jerusalem, city of peace, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Israel is home to approximately 185,000 Christians, most of them Arab, accounting for about 1.9 percent of the country’s population, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
According to Palestinian officials, about 47,000 Christians reside in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
AFP contributed to this post.
Group says missing journalist Austin Tice still alive in Syria, mum on details
Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who is missing in Syria, speak during a press conference at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon, December 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
US group Hostage Aid Worldwide says it believes journalist Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012, is still alive.
The group does not offer concrete information on his whereabouts or evidence to back the assertion.
“We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the US said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today,” Hostage Aid Worldwide’s Nizar Zakka says.
Efforts to locate Tice have stepped up since the regime of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad fell to Islamist insurgents earlier this month.
Lebanese PM said seeking to meet US, French officials over claims Israel breaking truce
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is reportedly set to meet today with representatives from the US and France to discuss “Israeli violations” of the ceasefire with Hezbollah, according to Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with the terror group.
Mikati has also asked to convene the five-member committee tasked with dealing with preserving the ceasefire, al-Akhbar writes, and will ask it to confirm that Lebanon has not violated the deal and is committed to it, and that alleged Israeli violations will cause a resumption of hostilities and need to be prevented, according to informed sources quoted by al-Akhbar.
The committee is composed of the US, France, Lebanon, Israel and the UN observer force in southern Lebanon UNIFIL.
Yesterday, Mikati said that the US and France should put pressure on Israel to speed up its withdrawal from southern Lebanon. UNIFIL issued a statement with the same request.
Under the ceasefire agreement, the IDF has until late January to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and, in the meantime, it continues to operate against and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure.
For its part, the Israeli army stated on Monday that it was continuing its defensive activities in the south of Lebanon “in accordance with the agreement,” adding that it had “seized and dismantled various weapons and military equipment from a warehouse.”
IDF confirms killing Palestinian amid fighting in Tulkarem
The Israel Defense Forces says it launched a brigade-wide anti-terror operation in Tulkarem overnight, with troops still operating in the West Bank city.
The military confirms in a statement killing at least one person, describing them as a “terrorist” who was engaged in “face-to-face battles” with troops.
Palestinian Authority mouthpiece Wafa earlier reported that one person was killed by troops who entered the city overnight, amid intense clashes.
In Nablus, troops shot and “neutralized” a terror suspect who tried to escape capture, the IDF says, without clarifying if the person posed a threat.
The army says troops operating across the West Bank arrested 18 suspects and confiscated several weapons overnight.
Palestinian poll finds Gazans prefer PA rule while West Bankers want Hamas
Members of the Palestinian security forces stand guard in the West Bank city of Hebron, December 24, 2024. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)
A new poll by Arab World Research and Development, a Ramallah-based research center, finds that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are unhappy with their leaders and would prefer an alternative.
In Gaza, which Hamas has ruled for nearly two decades, only 5 percent say they would support a Hamas-led government, while 31% would support a government led by the Palestinian Authority.
In contrast, in the West Bank, where the PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in charge, respondents prefer Hamas to the PA by a margin of 25% to 10%.
The poll also finds that 29% of West Bank Palestinians are “very or somewhat satisfied” with the performance of Abbas and his government.
The survey, published Saturday, was conducted between November 27 and December 2 among 704 adult Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
The poll revealed a stark contrast in outlook between Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank when it comes to looking ahead. In Gaza, the percentage of respondents who believe that things are heading in the “wrong direction” dropped to 60% from 84% in an October poll. In the West Bank, the pessimistic outlook jumps from 59% of respondents in October to 79% in the current survey.
According to the research center, in the West Bank, Palestinians have seen “deteriorating political, security and economic prospects,” while in Gaza they have felt encouraged by the ceasefire signed between Israel and Hezbollah in November.
In court, Netanyahu testifies he had ‘no bribery-tainted relationship’ with Bezeq owner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the court room at the Tel Aviv District at the start of the sixth day of his testimony in the corruption trial against him, December 24, 2024. (Moti Milrod/POOL)
Taking the stand for his sixth day of testimony in his corruption trial, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to downplay his relationship with then-Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch, with whom he is accused of striking a bribery deal for regulatory benefits for Bezeq in exchange for alterations in the coverage of the premier in the Elovitch-owned Walla news site.
Netanyahu says the benefits he approved for Bezeq in 2013 were prepared by his staff without his personal involvement, and that he hadn’t even been fully aware of their content when he signed them, according to Hebrew media.
He argues that his relationship with Elovitch at the time wasn’t close or personal, and that their acquaintance had taken place in a meeting with a big group of leading businesspeople.
“There was no bribery-tainted relationship before or after [signing the approvals]. I think it’s pretty interesting that these approvals are included in the charges,” he says.
After that, Netanyahu argues that a Walla story at the time highlighting that his son Yair was dating a non-Jewish woman was “aimed at harming support of me among my voter base.”
The story ended up being taken down, and is cited in the indictment as one of hundreds of examples of intervention in the site’s coverage to benefit the prime minister.
Netanyahu says that the story was taken down after more than 10 hours, at 8 p.m. that day, meaning “it was at the end of the [news] cycle” and constitutes “failure to accede [to his circle’s request].”
At the same time, Netanyahu asserts that Walla was a “marginal” news outlet and that its coverage hadn’t affected him “in any way.”
Herzog redoubles push for state October 7 commission amid hubbub over tape of troops
President Isaac Herzog speaks during a swearing in ceremony for new chief rabbis at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
President Isaac Herzog is reiterating his call for a state commission of inquiry into the events surrounding the October 7, 2023 attack, citing the pain of families of surveillance troops who have fought for a year for traces of their loved ones in the moments before they were captured or killed.
“The cries of the families of the surveillance soldiers and many other bereaved families who have turned to me breaks my heart and sharpens the need to convene a state commission of inquiry according to the law,” he is quoted saying in Hebrew language media.
On Monday, the army agreed to hand over audio footage of the soldiers from the day before the attack, but families have quickly complained that the tapes are incomplete and omit some of their daughters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government politicians have staunchly refused to sign off on allowing the state to probe any failures or possible takeaways from the leadup to the massacre, the actual attack or its aftermath, saying such work should only be done when the war in Gaza has ended.
At the same time, Defense Minister Israel Katz has demanded the army carry out extensive probes and assign blame before approving any high-level military appointments.
Critics accuse the government of seeking to shirk responsibility, pointing to efforts to instead establish a government-run commission that would likely lack the powers and buy-in of a state-commissioned inquest.
“Trust must return to the state and the defense system, including by probing and deeply studying the failures and the terrible catastrophe of October 7 in a reliable and independent manner,” Herzog says.
Doing so “will lead to drawing lessons on a national level, taking responsibility, drawing conclusions and building trust between the citizens and our beloved State of Israel,” he adds.
Nir Am siren declared false alarm
The Israel Defense Forces says a siren that sounded in the area of Nir Am outside of Gaza a short while ago was a false alarm.
No explanation is given.
Iran says no flights to Syria until late January
Iran’s top civilian aviation official says flights to Syria will remain suspended until late January, Iranian state-run media reports.
“In order to fly to a country, the destination country must grant entry and admission permits,” the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Hossein Pourfarzaneh, is quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
“Currently, flights to Syria will not be allowed until January 22, after the New Year holidays,” he adds.
It is not clear exactly when Iran suspended flights to Syria.
Thousands of Iranians have left Syria since the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, an Iranian ally.
A report Monday suggested Iran was mulling using Beirut’s airport instead of Damascus as its main hub for smuggling weapons and other aid to the Hezbollah terror group.
Rocket siren sounds near Sderot
A rocket siren has been activated in the area of Nir Am, a community adjacent to Sderot outside the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF’s Home Front Command says.
There are no immediate reports of impacts or interceptions.
12 killed in blast at Turkish munitions plant
A powerful blast that ripped through an explosives plant in northwest Turkey has killed 12 people and injured four others, officials say.
Footage shows shards of glass and metal scattered outside the plant as ambulances stand by.
Acıya uyandık yine…
Balıkesir’de patlayıcı üretilen fabrikada meydana gelen patlamada 12 canımızı kaybettik…
Dualarımız bugün Balıkesir’de yitirdiğimiz o güzel insanlar için.
Ruhları şad, mekânları cennet olsun.
Yaralı kardeşlerime acil şifalar, ailelerine de sabır diliyorum.… pic.twitter.com/yBzsVgxsFw— Izzet Capa (@izzetcapa) December 24, 2024
“According to initial reports, 12 employees died and four were taken to hospital with injuries as a result of the explosion,” local governor Ismail Ustaoglu says.
The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions and explosives and flares for domestic and international markets. Part of the plant collapsed due to the explosion, officials say.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya says the cause is not immediately known but authorities have ruled out sabotage.
Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean
A Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major has gone down in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry says.
The ship sank after an explosion in its engine room and 14 of its 16 crew members have been rescued and brought to Spain, the ministry says in a statement.
Former Hamas hostage Hanna Katzir dies at 78
Hanna Katzir (Courtesy)
Hanna Katzir, who endured nearly two months of Hamas captivity in Gaza, has died at 78, her hometown of Kibbutz Nir Oz announces.
Katzir was kidnapped from her home in the kibbutz on October 7, 2023. She was released on the first day of a weeklong truce in November 2023, but her family reported soon after that she had returned in extremely poor health and needed to be hospitalized for heart issues.
“Mom was a loving woman, wife and mother who gave nothing but love,” her daughter Carmit Palty Katzir says in a message sent out by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. “Her heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since October 7.”
People cheer as a vehicle carrying hostages released by Hamas drives towards Hatzerim army base in Ofakim, southern Israel, on November 26, 2023, after they were released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
Katzir’s husband Rami, 79, was killed during the attack and her son Elad was taken hostage. According to the IDF, Elad was likely killed by his captors in January. His body was recovered in April.
Katzir is scheduled to be buried in the Kibbutz Nir Oz cemetery later today.
Palty Katzir notes that those still in captivity are also in extreme danger, urging leaders to reach a deal with Hamas to free them.
Prisons chief Yaakobi arrives for further questioning in case linked to Ben Gvir
Israel Prison Service chief Kobi Yaakobi arrives for questioning at the Department of Internal Police Investigations, in Jerusalem, December 24, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prisons chief Kobi Yaakobi is reporting to the Justice Department’s internal police affairs division for questioning over suspicions that he and other senior security officials abused their powers to protect National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Hebrew media reports.
The Israel Prison Service chief is suspected of breach of trust and obstructing an investigation, in an affair that has seen him and Cdr. Avishai Mualem, a senior officer in the Israel Police’s West Bank division, detained and previously questioned at the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI).
Today, Yaakobi shows up at DIPI offices under heavy guard, with the Ynet news site reporting that this is due to threats by an imprisoned crime boss to harm him if his prison conditions aren’t improved.
Mualem is reportedly suspected of refraining from arresting far-right extremists suspected of Jewish terrorism at the request of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. He is also suspected of allegedly leaking intelligence information to the minister’s office, who allegedly promised him a promotion in return.
Yaakobi is said to be suspected of informing Mualem of the probe against him. While many details remain under gag order, he is also reportedly suspected of having asked a police officer to request that another person remove certain messages on the Telegram app that were deemed detrimental to Ben Gvir.
Israel set to lobby Europeans to blacklist Houthis
After Houthi rebels in Yemen fire at Israel for the third time in a week, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructs Israel’s diplomatic missions in the European Union and in the United Kingdom to push for the designation of the Houthi Ansar Allah movement as a terrorist organization, says his office.
While no European countries list the Houthis as a terrorist organization, the US, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israel do.
“The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but to the region and the entire world,” says Sa’ar in a statement.
“The direct threat to freedom of navigation in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes is a challenge to the international community and the world order. The first and most basic thing is to define them as a terrorist organization.”
Walmart removes Sinwar shirts, but leaves Nasrallah tee for sale
A t-shirt showing Hassan Nasrallah, offered for sale on the Walmart website on December 24, 2024. (screen capture: Walmart.com)
US retail giant Walmart appears to have removed two shirts it offered for sale online that featured pictures of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The shirts were flagged by US-based watchdog Antisemitism.org, which calls the fashion choice “outrageous.”
One shirt shows Sinwar’s face and his name broken into “Sin” and “war,” while a second one features a doctored caricature of the terror mastermind firing a weapon while in combat gear.
Walmart shoppers were horrified to find shirts glorifying Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while online shopping. @Walmart, are you aware you're selling apparel celebrating terrorism and violence against Jews?
This is a outrageous—remove them immediately. pic.twitter.com/po8BBLLafc
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 24, 2024
Another shirt featuring a low-resolution picture of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah remains for sale on the Walmart website, though it won’t come in time for Christmas and is only available in XXL, for your bigger terror supporters. The shirt, sold by a Texas-based third-party vendor, is titled “Nasrallah Safe Following Israeli Airstrikes,” a decidedly false claim about the Iran-backed terror chief, who is quite dead following an October 27 airstrike.
There is no immediate comment from Walmart.
Large retail platforms like Amazon and Ebay have also run into trouble over the years due to questionable offerings from third-party sellers, including items that appear to be created by scraping random images from the internet.
Palestinian said killed by troops during West Bank raid
Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, October 4, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Official Palestinian news outlet Wafa reports that a man has been killed amid clashes with Israeli troops during a raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
The man is named as Fathi Saeed Awda Salem. The report does not say if he was involved in fighting with troops.
There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
According to Wafa, heavy fighting broke out as Israeli troops entered the al-Hadaida neighborhood of Tulkarem overnight, using bulldozers to destroy roads, buildings and other infrastructure.
IDF admits giving parents of captured troops edited audio, checking again for more tape
Families of Israeli observation soldiers who were killed by Hamas terrorists at the Nahal Oz surveillance outpost on October 7, speak to press outside the Nahal Oz surveillance outpost near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, July 17, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The military admits it passed parents of surveillance troops edited recordings from the capture of their daughters on October 7, 2023, but insists that it included any section of tape in which the surveillance soldiers can be heard.
The army handed over the recordings to families Monday following a year-long court battle, but parents quickly complained that the audio had been edited and included only sections from hours before the onslaught. Only some of the soldiers can be heard in the tapes, the families say.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces says it is performing another check after already surveying communications between surveillance posts in the lead-up to the assault to find the audio it handed over to the parents.
“The IDF is committed to the bereaved families and does not hide information from them,” the army says in a statement. “As explained to the families with the handing over of the tapes, the clips that were transferred were recordings in which only their loved ones can be heard.”
According to a military source, the omitted sections include conversations between combat soldiers. “Due to privacy concerns, the families of the surveillance troops could not be handed these sections,” the source says in a statement sent to military reporters on condition of anonymity.
“The IDF… regrets any mental anguish it has caused [the families], and had no intention of adding to their suffering,” the army adds.
Knesset approves 2024 budget expansion to account for wartime costs
The Knesset has voted to give final approval to a bill raising Israel’s deficit cap and expanding the 2024 budget by billions to cover defense outlays.
The bill passes its second and third readings in the Knesset by a vote of 62-52 largely along party lines.
The legislation raises Israel’s deficit ceiling to 7.7 percent of gross national production, from its current cap of 6.6%. Lifting the ceiling will allow the government to add roughly NIS 33 billion ($9 billion) to the 2024 budget, with the vast majority of those funds going to defense spending.
Hundreds protest in Syrian capital after Christmas tree burned
Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria.
“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters chant as they march through the Syrian capital toward the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood.
The protests come a little more than two weeks after an armed coalition led by Islamists toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, who had cast himself as a protector of minorities in the Sunni-majority country.
A demonstrator who gives his name as Georges tells AFP he was protesting “injustice against Christians.”
Protest tonight in Damascus by Christian community after reports surfaced that a Christmas tree was lit on fire in Homs. pic.twitter.com/OpN9U1yhhO
— Mohamad El Chamaa (@MohamdEch) December 23, 2024
“If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” he says.
The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.
Islamist extremists burned the Christmas tree in As Suqaylabiyah, a town north of Hama city in Syria. pic.twitter.com/3PuEdT8SJx
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) December 23, 2024
In another video posted to social media, a religious leader from Syria’s victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) addresses residents, claiming those who torched the tree were “not Syrian” and promising they would be punished.
“The tree will be restored and lit up by tomorrow morning,” he says.
The Islamist HTS movement, rooted in Al-Qaeda and supported by Turkey, has promised to protect minorities since its lightning offensive toppled Assad this month following years of stalemate.
US military says it conducted airstrike in Syria that killed two ISIS operatives
The US military says it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one.
The Islamic State operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province, an area formerly controlled by the Syrian government and Russians, when they were targeted with the airstrike, US Central Command says in a statement on social media platform X.
Knesset votes to extend state of emergency for another year
The Knesset has voted to extend the country’s state of emergency until December 16, 2025 in accordance with the recommendation of the security cabinet.
Twenty-nine MKs voted in support of the resolution, while seven voted against.
The Knesset last extended the state of emergency in May but then did so for only six months.
The state of emergency allows the cabinet to issue regulations that override Knesset legislation.
MDA: 60-year-old seriously injured after falling while running to shelter during Houthi missile attack
A 60-year-old woman was seriously injured while running to a shelter in Tel Aviv amid the sirens triggered by a missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen, Magen David Adom says.
The woman was evacuated to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital for treatment.
MDA says it has treated 25 people who were lightly injured either while running to shelters or after suffering anxiety attacks.
MDA: Medics provided treatment to 20 who either fell en route to shelters or suffered from anxiety attacks
The Magen David Adom emergency service says it has not received any reports of missile or interceptor fragments landing in populated areas after the IDF intercepted a missile from Yemen that triggered sirens across central Israel.
MDA says its medics provided treatment for at least 20 people who either fell while running to shelters or were suffering from anxiety attacks.
Senior Houthi official pledges to continue attacks on Israel until Gaza war ends
Following the launch of a Houthi missile at Israel earlier tonight, a senior member of the Iran-backed rebel group pledges that such attacks will continue “until the aggression against our people in Gaza stops.”
“Netanyahu will learn that his dreams of a new Middle East are nothing but a punishment for him and his imported entity,” tweets Hezam al-Asad.
Hezbollah made similar pledges to continue its cross-border attacks against Israel until a ceasefire was reached in Gaza but caved last month after two months during which Israel significantly intensified its counter-attacks against the Lebanese terror group.
IDF says it intercepted Houthi missile that triggered sirens across central Israel
The IDF says it successfully intercepted a missile that was launched from Yemen.
The missile was intercepted before it crossed into Israel’s airspace, the army adds.
Red alert sirens were triggered across central Israel due to the potential that interceptor fragments could land inside Israeli territory, the military says.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
טיל שוגר מתימן, התרעות הופעלו באזורי השרון, המרכז, השפלה וערד >>> https://t.co/avi1m4dXlt@Itsik_zuarets @ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/eMrr8wmo69
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 23, 2024
Former US president Bill Clinton hospitalized with fever
Former US president Bill Clinton speaks at a campaign event supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Former US president Bill Clinton, 78, has been hospitalized with a fever, according to his deputy chief of staff.
It is not an emergency situation, NBC News reports.
“President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever,” Angel Ureña writes on X.
“He is in good spirits and grateful for the care he is receiving.”
IDF: Launch from Yemen triggered sirens across central Israel
Illustrative: Projectiles fly through the sky in central Israel as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Iran towards Israel, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
The IDF says a launch from Yemen has triggered sirens across central Israel.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The IDF says it will provide an additional update when it has more information.
????Sirens sounding across central and southern Israel following a projectile launched from Yemen???? pic.twitter.com/X0nnsDASGR
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 23, 2024
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