Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they unfolded.
Head of state prosecution’s cyber division said tapped to accompany probe into Sara Netanyahu
Channel 12 reports that the State Prosecutor’s Office has appointed the head of its cyber department as its point person for the police investigation into the alleged witness tampering by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara.
The appointment indicates that the probe will focus on Netanyahu’s cellphone communications following a report by the investigative TV program “Uvda” revealing that the premier’s wife sought to interfere in the corruption investigations against her husband.
The TV report relied heavily on text conversations between Sara Netanyahu and the prime minister’s late aide Hanni Bleiweiss.
Fresh airstrike hits Yemen’s capital, with Houthis blaming US and UK
An airstrike has hit Yemen’s capital, a day after deadly Israeli raids, according to the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who are blaming the US and Britain for the latest attack.
A Houthi statement cites “US-British aggression” for the new attack, as witnesses in the capital also report the blast. There is no immediate comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.
Poll: Plurality of Israelis think reason for no hostage deal is PM’s fear coalition will collapse
Family, friends and activists hold posters of Israeli brothers Gili and Ziv Berman, who are held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, during a protest march for their release in Tel Aviv, December 26, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Channel 12 airs a survey showing that 47 percent of Israelis believe the reason there has yet to be another hostage deal is due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fear that such an agreement will lead to the collapse of his government.
Forty-three percent of respondents say that Hamas’s intransigence is the main reason. Ten percent of respondents say they’re unsure about the reason for the lack of a deal.
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down the government if he agrees to the kind of hostage deal currently under discussion.
Repeated polls have indicated that a majority of Israelis back ending the war in exchange for the release of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza — a tradeoff Netanyahu has rejected, arguing that it would allow for Hamas to reconstitute.
Pro-Kurd party says Turkey approves visit to jailed PKK founder
Turkey’s Justice Ministry has approved a request by the pro-Kurdish DEM party to visit jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan who is serving life in solitary confinement, a party spokesman says.
The spokesman confirms receiving “a call [from the Justice Ministry], there will be a visit tomorrow [Saturday] or Sunday as long as the weather is not bad.” Ocalan has been held in a Turkish prison near Istanbul for the past 25 years.
In first, US THAAD system deployed in Israel participated in last night’s Houthi missile interception
The US military deploys a THAAD missile defense system in Israel, March 2019. (US Army Europe/File)
An American missile defense system battery that was deployed by the US in Israel in October participated in the interception of a Houthi ballistic missile launched at Israel from Yemen overnight.
The THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, was used to try to intercept a projectile from Yemen sometime during the last 24 hours, and an analysis would determine its success, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
It is the first time that the THAAD system deployed in Israel has been used.
Footage posted to social media shows the THAAD system launching an interceptor amid the Houthi attack.
“18 years I’ve been waiting for this,” an American soldier can be heard saying in the clip.
The IDF said the Houthi missile was intercepted by air defenses, without specifying if it was an Israeli or American system.
The THAAD battery was deployed in Israel following Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
מערכת ה- THAAD האמריקנית לקחה חלק ביירוט הטיל הבליסטי ששוגר אמש מתימן. אפשר לשמוע את אחד החיילים האמריקניים מתרגש "18 שנים חיכיתי לזה" pic.twitter.com/s4VoMfMhaF
— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) December 27, 2024
White House: No update on hostage talks, but Hamas remains the obstacle
Asked for an update on the ongoing hostage talks, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says he doesn’t have one to give, while insisting that Hamas remains the main obstacle to a deal.
Kirby insists that US efforts to secure a deal continue and that it will not give up.
“It is because of Hamas throwing up obstacles or refusing to move on any of these details that we are still not at a conclusion,” Kirby says during a press briefing.
“We’re very, very close,” he adds.
Injured UN worker evacuated to Jordan after IDF strike on Yemen airport, says WHO chief
A UN worker hurt in an IDF airstrike on Yemen’s main international airport on Thursday has been evacuated to Jordan for further medical treatment, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says on X.
Today we managed to evacuate our @WFP_UNHAS colleague who was injured in yesterday’s attack on Sana’a airport in #Yemen. We are now in #Jordan, where he will receive further medical treatment.
Deepest gratitude to the UNHAS team for their service and swift evacuation from… pic.twitter.com/ut8tWIrZ74
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 27, 2024
IDF: Rocket from northern Gaza lands in Sderot open area, triggering sirens
A rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip struck an open area near Sderot a short while ago, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the border community of Nir Am amid the attack.
There are no reports of injuries or major damage.
‘No new info’: IDF plays surveillance troops’ parents full tapes of lead-up to attack after complaints
IDF Personnel Directorate head Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa meets with families of female surveillance soldiers killed or abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack.
He promises the families full access to recordings of their daughters from the day leading up to the attack, people who attended the meeting tell Channel 13.
The network quotes a lawyer representing the families, Gilad Yitzhak Bar-Tal, who says the meeting was “warm and empathetic.” Bar-Tal says Bar Kalifa gave the families new recordings including some from the morning of the Hamas attack. The lawyer says the recordings did not contain new information.
The general will meet with another group of surveillance soldiers’ families on Monday, Bar-Tal adds.
The military announced the meetings on Wednesday after the families complained that the IDF had provided them with only partial recordings of their daughters.
The IDF, which sent the families the recordings on Monday, said it had omitted portions where other troops could be heard, as well as long sections of silence. It said it would give the families any other sections it found where their loved ones could be heard.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
France ‘strongly condemns’ Houthis strikes on Israel
France “strongly condemns” missile and drone strikes by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against Israel, a spokesman for its foreign ministry in Paris says, after the Iran-backed group claimed responsibility for another attack on Israel last night, which was thwarted by the IDF.
“France reiterates that these attacks, as well as many others perpetrated by Houthis against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against Israeli territory since over a year ago, are unacceptable, destabilizing and must cease immediately,” the spokesman says, adding that France remained committed “to regional stability and the security of Israel.”
Italy says Italian journalist under arrest for more than a week in Iran
An Italian journalist has been under arrest in Iran for more than a week, Italy’s foreign ministry says, adding it was following the case with the “utmost attention.”
Cecilia Sala, 29, works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media. She was arrested by police in Tehran on Dec. 19, the ministry says in a statement.
Italy’s government “has worked with Iranian authorities to clarify Cecilia Sala’s legal situation and verify the conditions of her detention,” the statement says.
Chora Media said in a separate statement that Sala was being held in solitary confinement in the Evin prison in Tehran and that no reason had been given for her arrest.
There was no immediate confirmation of the arrest by Iranian officials.
???????????????????? Farnesina: "Il ministero degli Affari Esteri rende noto che la giornalista italiana Cecilia Sala, in Iran per svolgere servizi giornalistici, è stata fermata il 19 dicembre scorso dalle autorità di polizia di Teheran. Su disposizione del ministro degli Affari Esteri,… pic.twitter.com/13q44JncXz
— Dario D'Angelo (@dariodangelo91) December 27, 2024
It was not clear whether it might be linked to tensions between Rome and Tehran after Iran last week summoned a senior Italian diplomat and the Swiss ambassador, who represents US interests in the country, over the arrest of two Iranian nationals. One of the men was arrested in Italy at Washington’s request.
Chora Media says Sala had left Rome for Iran on Dec. 12 with a valid journalist visa and had conducted several interviews and produced three episodes of her “Stories” podcast. She had been due to fly back to Rome on Dec. 20.
The Italian ambassador to Iran visited Sala in prison today, the ministry and Chora Media say. The journalist has also been in phone contact with her family, they say.
IDF says officer who fell yesterday in Gaza was killed in clash with terrorists
Cpt. (res.) Amit Levi, killed in fighting in central Gaza (Courtesy)
An IDF probe into the death of Cpt. (res.) Amit Levi yesterday in the central Gaza Strip has found that he was killed during a clash with terror operatives, the military says.
Levi, 35, a team commander in the 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade’s 6551st Battalion, was leading his troops to scan a building that had been used by operatives, where explosives were also planted.
Levi’s family was updated by the IDF on the circumstances of his death this morning, the army adds.
Katz presented first two IDF probes into Oct. 7 failures
Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) meets with the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder (right) and other officers at his office for a presentation on two IDF probes into the October 7 onslaught, on December 27, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz was presented two of the IDF’s internal investigations into the October 7 onslaught, his office says.
The probes were presented to Katz by the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, chief of the Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, along with other commanders.
The investigations focused on “major events, the gaps that were discovered, and preliminary conclusions for the purpose of drawing lessons and implementing them immediately,” Katz’s office says.
The ministry says that during the meeting, Katz “emphasized the great importance of conducting professional, comprehensive and transparent investigations, which will provide an answer to the families and the public, and will assist in drawing lessons and drawing the necessary conclusions.”
Katz will be presented with additional investigations in the coming weeks upon their completion after he ordered the IDF to complete all of them by the end of January.
Iran FM warns against ‘destructive interference’ in Syria’s future
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad, Iraq, December 6, 2024. (Hadi Mizban/AP)
Iran’s top diplomat warns against “destructive interference” in Syria’s future and says decisions should lie solely with the country’s people, writing in Chinese state media as he visits Beijing.
Abbas Araghchi touched down in the Chinese capital, Iranian state media reported, to begin his first official visit to the country since being appointed foreign minister.
China and Iran were both supporters of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Tehran was a major player in propping up Assad amid the civil war.
Assad fled Syria this month after an Islamist-led offensive wrested city after city from his control, with the capital Damascus falling on December 8.
Iran “considers the decision-making about the future of Syria to be the sole responsibility of the people… without destructive interference or foreign imposition,” Araghchi writes in a Chinese-language article in People’s Daily published today.
He also emphasizes Iran’s respect for Syria’s “unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
IDF launches new raid on north Gaza hospital after Hamas operatives move in
An Israeli soldier in Gaza in a picture released by the military on December 26, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson)
The IDF says it has launched a new operation at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, after identifying the presence of Hamas operatives in the area.
“The Kamal Adwan Hospital serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold in northern Gaza, from which terrorists have been operating throughout the war,” the military claims.
The IDF last operated against Hamas at the hospital in October. “It has once again become a key stronghold for terrorist organizations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives,” the IDF says.
The military says troops of the 401st Armored Brigade in the last few hours have been conducting “targeted operations in the area while mitigating harm to uninvolved civilians, patients, and medical personnel.”
The IDF says it “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel prior to the operation” to mitigate civilian harm. The civilians were taken to other hospitals in Gaza in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) with local health officials and international organizations, the military says.
“The IDF and COGAT continue to make extensive efforts to enable patients to continue receiving care in other hospitals by facilitating the evacuation of patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the ongoing transfer of supplies, food, and fuel to the area, and the restoration of operations of hospitals in the area, while maintaining ongoing communication with hospital officials,” the army adds.
Environment Ministry warns of extremely high air pollution in Negev, Arava areas
Illustrative: A view shows the skyline of Tel Aviv covered by a cloud of dust, on March 23, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP)
The Environment Ministry warns there will be high to extremely high air pollution in the Negev and Arava areas from this afternoon as winds bring in dust from Egypt.
The ministry urges vulnerable groups, including heart patients, lung patients, the elderly, children and pregnant women, to avoid strenuous physical activity outdoors.
The general population is advised to reduce strenuous physical activity outdoors.
Conditions are expected to ease by tomorrow.
German president dissolves parliament to pave way for Feb. 23 snap elections
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a plenary session at the German parliament Bundestag where he faces a vote of confidence, Berlin, Germany, Monday, December 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolves the country’s lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition.
Scholz lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats left his government without a legislative majority.
The vote also kicks off election campaigning in earnest, with conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who surveys suggest is likely to replace Scholz, claiming that the incumbent government had imposed excessive regulations and stifled growth.
The conservatives have a comfortable lead of more than 10 points over the SPD in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Scholz’s party, while the Greens are in fourth place.
The mainstream parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates the parliamentary arithmetic, making unwieldy coalitions more likely.
Herzliya terror attack victim named as 83-year-old Ludmila Lipovsky
Ludmila Lipovsky (Courtesy)
The woman killed in a terror attack earlier this morning is named as 83-year-old Ludmila Lipovsky.
According to the Walla news site, the woman was a resident of an assisted living facility, and had exited the building while she waited for her daughter to collect her and take her to the doctor.
“She went out and waited for her daughter to take her to the doctor and the terrorist started stabbing her, five or six times. She has been a resident of a nursing home here for many years. I heard screams, I went out and saw her lying on the floor,” an unnamed staffer at the facility says.
לודמילה ליפובסקי בת ה-83 היא הנרצחת בפיגוע בהרצליה. יהי זכרה ברוךhttps://t.co/wOPn09IIoa pic.twitter.com/1vrZsKzcDf
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) December 27, 2024
Shin Bet: Herzliya terrorist was former West Bank informant whose cover was blown
Israeli police check the scene of a deadly terror stabbing attack in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, on December 27, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The Palestinian who stabbed an elderly woman to death in Herzliya this morning was a former Shin Bet informant, the security agency says.
According to the Shin Bet, the suspect was involved in uncovering terror networks in the West Bank, before his cover was blown. He was then transferred to Israel for rehabilitation.
He was shot and detained at the scene of the deadly stabbing. The Shin Bet says it will question the suspect to investigate the circumstances of the terror attack.
IDF says it hit Hezbollah infrastructure used to transfer arms in strikes on Syria-Lebanon border
The IDF confirms launching airstrikes early this morning against what it says was infrastructure used by Hezbollah on the Syria-Lebanon border to transfer arms.
According to the military, Israeli Air Force fighter jets hit sites at the Janta crossing, located in the Beqaa Valley of eastern Lebanon.
“The Hezbollah terror organization uses civilian infrastructure to carry out terror activity and to transfer weapons, which are intended to be used to carry out terror attacks against Israeli citizens,” the military says.
WHO says UN air crew member seriously injured during Israeli strike on Yemen airport
An image grab from a handout video provided by Yemen's Houthis' official Al-Masirah TV station on December 26, 2024, shows the damage at the control tower following Israeli strikes on Sanaa airport (AL-MASIRAH TV / AFP)
The UN air crew member hurt in an Israeli air strike on Yemen’s main airport yesterday suffered serious injuries but is now recovering in hospital, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization says.
Israeli warplanes struck Houthi forces in Yemen in response to repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel which have ramped up in recent weeks.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was in the airport waiting to depart when the aerial bombardment took place and said that a member of his plane’s crew was injured.
The injured man worked for the UN Humanitarian Air Service, the WHO spokesperson says.
The Israeli strikes followed days of increasingly bellicose threats from Israeli leaders vowing to decimate the Iran-backed terror group after near-daily attacks, most recently, overnight.
Police: Terrorist in Herzliya stabbing attack is 28-year-old Palestinian from West Bank
Israeli police check the scene of a deadly terror stabbing attack in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, on December 27, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Police say that the assailant who stabbed and killed a woman in her 80s in Herzliya was a 28-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank.
The man was shot on the scene by armed guards and arrested by police. No details have been given on his condition.
Woman dies of wounds sustained in Herzliya terror stabbing attack
The scene of a deadly terror stabbing in Herzliya on December 27, 2024. (Magen David Adom)
The woman stabbed and critically wounded in a terror attack in Herzliya has died, the Ichilov Medical Center announces.
The hospital says the woman was in her 80s and had been stabbed multiple times.
Her death was declared upon arrival at the Tel Aviv hospital.
The assailant was shot by security guards, and detained by police officers.
Houthis take responsibility for overnight missile attack, claim to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport
The interception of a Houthi missile as seen from Israel, early on December 27, 2024. (Screen capture/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen take responsibility for the overnight ballistic missile attack on Israel, claiming to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport.
The Houthis claim that “the missile succeeded in reaching its target despite the enemy’s censorship, and the operation resulted in casualties and the cessation of navigation at the airport.”
The IDF said the missile was successfully downed by air defenses, and there were no reports of impacts at the airport. Flight arrivals were reportedly halted for 30 minutes.
Additionally, the Houthis claim to have carried out a drone attack on a “vital target” in the Tel Aviv area. There were no reports of drones reaching Israel from Yemen in the past day.
The Houthis also say that it targeted a container ship in the Arabian Sea with several drones.
The Iran-backed group vows to continue their attacks on Israel “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.”
Police say Herzliya stabbing was terror attack, assailant detained
Police say the stabbing in Herzliya was a terror attack.
The terrorist was shot by security guards, and detained by police officers.
A woman in her 70s was stabbed and critically wounded.
Woman in critical condition after suspected terror stabbing in Herzliya; suspect shot
The scene of a deadly terror stabbing in Herzliya on December 27, 2024. (Magen David Adom)
The suspected assailant who stabbed a woman in Herzliya was shot by security guards in the area, first responders say.
His condition is not immediately known.
The victim, a woman in her 70s, is listed in critical condition.
Police say the circumstances of the stabbing are under investigation, though in another statement, police say that Commissioner Daniel Levy is heading to the scene of “the terror attack.”
Woman stabbed, seriously wounded in suspected terror attack in Herzliya
A woman in her 70s was stabbed and seriously wounded in a suspected terror attack in Herzliya, medics say.
Magen David Adom says the woman is unconscious.
There is no immediate comment from police.
Russia says considering whole range of steps on nuclear tests given ‘hostile’ US policy
Russia is considering a whole range of possible steps in the area of nuclear testing, the Kommersant newspaper quotes Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
“The international situation is extremely difficult at the moment. The American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today,” Ryabkov says.
Lebanese media reports Israeli strikes on 3 targets near Syrian border
Lebanese media reports Israeli strikes on three targets in the Bekaa Valley region, close to the border with Syria.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Damascus governor: ‘We have no fear toward Israel… there exists a people who want coexistence’
In an interview with NPR said to be on behalf of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, the governor of Damascus says the newly-installed government wants to have good relations with Israel.
Maher Marwan says that Israel’s initial trepidation after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad was “natural.”
“Israel may have felt fear,” he says. “So it advanced a little, bombed a little, etc.”
“We have no fear towards Israel, and our problem is not with Israel,” he says. “There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace. They don’t want disputes.”
“We want peace, and we cannot be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone,” he says.
Missile attack halts arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport for some 30 minutes
The apparent Houthi attack temporarily halts arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport, with four flights from Europe told to wait and not near the airport, according to Hebrew media.
After some 30 minutes, the airport resumes its normal activities.
IDF: One missile fired from Yemen, intercepted outside Israeli airspace
The IDF says the alerts that sounded across central Israel, sending millions to bomb shelters in the middle of the night, were triggered by a single missile fired from Yemen.
The projectile was intercepted outside Israel’s airspace, and the alarms were activated for fear of falling debris, the military says.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says 18 people were lightly hurt while rushing to a bomb shelter, and two people suffered acute anxiety attacks.
No immediate reports of casualties in latest apparent Houthi attack
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it hasn’t received reports of injuries in the latest apparent Houthi attack on central Israel.
The Israel Fire and Rescue Service also says it hasn’t received reports of unusual incidents.
Explosions were heard shortly after the sirens in central Israel and as far as Jerusalem.
האזעקות במרכז ובשפלה – בעקבות שיגור שחצה מתימן@ItayBlumental @ela1949 @Itsik_zuarets @hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/CPPdxWfqPb
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 27, 2024
Nighttime sirens again sound in central Israel; IDF says projectile fired from Yemen
For the fifth night in the last eight days, sirens sound in large swathes of central Israel, indicating another potential missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis.
The IDF indeed says the alerts were triggered by a projectile launched from Yemen, adding that detail are being looked into.
There are no immediate further details, but shortly before the alarms, residents of central Israel reported hearing explosions.
????Millions of Israelis are currently in shelter as Houthi terrorists in Yemen launched a missile attack, triggering sirens across Israel. pic.twitter.com/RvsSAGyvHG
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 27, 2024
Haredi coalition faction chastises Ben Gvir’s ‘dangerous’ Temple Mount visit
Knesset Finance Committee chair MK Moshe Gafni during a committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on September 26, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Senior coalition lawmaker Moshe Gafni slams far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for visiting and praying at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount, accusing him of desecrating the holy site and causing “bloodshed.”
Ben Gvir’s visit prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to swiftly say in a statement that the longstanding status quo at the compound — according to which Jews are not allowed to pray atop the mount — has not changed. Under Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the police, enforcement of the prayer ban has dramatically loosened, and Jews have started frequently prostrating and openly praying during visits.
The ultra-Orthodox Gafni, No. 2 in the United Torah Judaism party and the leader of its Degel Hatorah faction, writes a piece in faction mouthpiece Yated Ne’eman headlined “Minister Ben Gvir is continuing to inflame tensions with a dangerous ascent to the Temple Mount.”
“Ben Gvir is severely harming the sanctity of the place, inciting the whole world against the Jewish people, and leading to bloodshed,” he charges, with the newspaper saying rabbis and public officials have protested the visit.
While the Haredi community is overwhelmingly opposed to entering the site due to its holiness, growing parts of the religious Zionist community support the pilgrimage, and the number of Jews entering the site has soared in recent years.
After strikes on Houthis, US backs ‘Israel’s right to defend itself’
The United States appears to back Israel’s latest strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, while stressing the need to prevent civilian casualties.
“We support Israel’s right to defend itself,” a State Department official tells The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. “In doing so, it is critical that Israel’s operations be conducted in a way that complies with its obligations regarding the protection of civilians.”
UN chief calls Israeli strikes Houthi targets in Yemen ‘alarming’
The spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the recent escalation between Israel and Yemen’s Houthi terror group, branding Israel’s airstrikes on Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations as “alarming.”
Israel says it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sanaa International Airport. Houthi media says at least six people were killed.
“Israeli airstrikes today on Sanaa International Airport, the Red Sea ports and power stations in Yemen are especially alarming,” the UN chief’s spokesperson says in a press briefing while expressing concerns about the risk of further regional escalation.
IDF: Explosions heard in southern, central Israel caused by pre-planned military activity
Explosions heard in southern and central Israel a short while ago were caused by pre-planned military activity in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF says.
According to the military, there is no fear of a security incident.
The IDF does not detail what is being destroyed in the explosions.
read more: