Dec. 28: Qatari PM meets with Hamas delegation in Doha for talks on Gaza ceasefire

29 confirmed dead in South Korea crash — officials

At least 29 people died from a plane crash in South Korea’s southwestern Muan airport, authorities tell AFP.

“We have so far confirmed 29 deaths from the crash… but the tally could rise due to the critically injured,” says Lee Hyeon-ji, a local fire department official, revising a previous casualty figure provided by authorities.

BREAKING: South Korean Jeju Air 737-800 crashed at Muan airport killing at least 28 people. pic.twitter.com/b7mbmFQVx6

— Josh Cahill (@gotravelyourway) December 29, 2024

Plane with 181 on board crashes in South Korea; 23 reportedly injured or dead

A plane carrying 181 people crashed at South Korea’s Muan airport in the country’s southwest, Yonhap news agency reports.

“175 passengers, 6 crew members aboard plane crashed at Muan airport,” Yonhap reports, adding that 23 people were confirmed injured or dead.

Breaking with PM and coalition, Likud minister backs state probe into Oct. 7

Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on January 8, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Breaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and just about the entire ruling coalition, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter expresses his support for the launch of a state commission of inquiry into the government’s failures that allowed Hamas’s October 7 onslaught to unfold.

“In Israel, fortunately, there are few dramatic events that warrant the appointment of a state commission of inquiry. Without a doubt, the Yom Kippur War was a war that required one. The October 7th attack is another event that requires one,” Dichter says in an interview with Channel 12’s ‘Meet the Press.’

Dichter argued that the probe should be anchored by legislation passed in the Knesset or through an agreement reached between the coalition and the opposition.

Netanyahu and others in the coalition have chafed at the idea, arguing that such a probe should only take place after the war is over. The premier has also rejected efforts to establish a state commission of inquiry, with his supporters arguing that they don’t trust the former Supreme Court justices who are tasked with heading such panels.

Coalition lawmakers slam judicial system at solidarity rally for reservist charged in PM’s office leak case

Several hundred people attended a protest earlier this evening in support of Ari Rosenfeld, the IDF reservist charged in the Prime Minister’s Office intelligence documents theft and leak scandal.

The rally was held outside the Ayalon Prison where Rosenfeld has been held since last month, and participants included several coalition lawmakers who addressed the crowd and used the opportunity to tear into the Israeli judicial system for charging Rosenfeld along with an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Eli Feldstein.

“I hope State Prosecutor [Amit Aisman] will come to his senses. [Rosenfeld’s wife] Avital has been waiting for you. [Their son] Evyatar has been waiting for you for too long… We want Ari home, he needs to be home. He was a loyal soldier of the State of Israel. We don’t need ‘Pollards’ in this country said Likud MK Amit Halevi, likening Rosenfeld to Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst who passed thousands of top secret American documents to Israel, straining relations between the two close allies.

Halevi appeared to justify the actions of Pollard, who was convicted of espionage in 1985 and sentenced to life before being granted early release in 2015.

In her speech at the rally, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman claimed the Israeli justice system has granted Hamas terror suspects the right to receive appropriate conditions while in prison while keeping Rosenfeld behind bars.

אלפים באירוע הדלקת נרות חנוכה ותפילה מחוץ לכלא איילון, בקריאה לשחרורו של נגד המודיעין ארי רוזנפלד, שמואל, אביו של הנגד ארי, אמר בהדלקת הנרות מול כלא איילון "אנו מדליקים חנוכיה כדי לגרש את החושך" pic.twitter.com/GR9oh2gBLT

— ערוץ 7 (@arutz7heb) December 28, 2024

Report: Assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran almost went awry due to broken AC unit in room he was staying in

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claps during the swearing-in ceremony of newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, not in picture, in Tehran, Iran, July 30, 2024. On the left is top Hezbollah official, Sheikh Naim Qassem. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Israel waited until after the inauguration of new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian to assassinate former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran to not disrupt the inauguration proceedings, Channel 12 reports, sharing what it says are new details of the intricate operation. Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed for the first time last week that Israel was behind it.

Haniyeh was killed by a remote-controlled bomb in his guest house when he visited Tehran for the inauguration in July.

According to the heavily censored report, the plan — which had been in the works for months — almost went awry at the last minute, when the air conditioner unit in Haniyeh’s room broke in the middle of the night.

After it broke, Haniyeh left the room for an extended time, leading to concerns that he had switched rooms for the remainder of the night.

In doing so, Hanieyh would have inadvertently prevented his own death, as given the small size of the bomb, he needed to be present in the room when it was detonated.

However, staff ultimately managed to fix the air conditioner unit, and Haniyeh returned to his room, the report states. The bomb was then detonated at around 1:30 a.m.

Following his assassination, Haniyeh was replaced as Hamas political leader by Yahya Sinwar, until then the group’s military chief. Sinwar’s reign was short-lived, however, as he was killed in southern Gaza’s Rafah in October.

PMO denies claim that Israel, Hamas working on ‘limited’ hostage deal as gesture for Trump

The Prime Minister’s Office denies a report published by Channel 12 in which it claims that Israel and Hamas may agree to a “limited” hostage deal as a gesture of goodwill ahead of the start of US President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office.

The report claims both sides are interested in reaching a smaller deal in time for Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The report does not provide further details of the supposed deal, claiming they were not cleared for publication.

In a short statement, the PMO calls the report “a complete lie.”

A senior Arab diplomat also denies the report to The Times of Israel.

Report: Hostage rescued near site where 6 captives were murdered warned IDF, Shin Bet he heard woman speaking Hebrew but was ignored

Israeli rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi (C) at a gathering of family and friends to welcome him upon returning to his village of Khirbet Karkour near the southern Bedouin city of Rahat on August 28, 2024. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet failed to investigate a testimony from a rescued hostage who said he had reason to believe a female hostage was being held nearby, just days before the murder of six hostages in a tunnel under Rafah back in August, Channel 12 reports.

The report comes days after the IDF presented the findings of its investigation into the murder of the hostages, where it said that it did not have any concrete or real-time intelligence on the hostages being held there in the weeks before they were killed, but had general indications that Israeli abductees could be in the area.

According to Channel 12, Farhan al-Qadi, who was rescued from Gaza on August 27, told both the IDF and the Shin Bet that he had heard a woman speaking Hebrew in the vicinity of the site where he was rescued several weeks before he was found.

However, despite delivering the warning twice, the defense establishment did not deem it credible, Channel 12 reports, and no steps were taken to investigate it further.

Two days later, on August 29, hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi were killed by their captors in a tunnel nearby. Their bodies were discovered by troops on August 31.

In its probe into the murder of the hostages and the events surrounding it, the IDF said it found that al-Qadi did not have any information on other hostages in the area.

Sara Netanyahu’s lawyer warns AG, state prosecutor not to open ‘illegal’ probe into PM’s wife

Sara Netanyahu’s lawyer has sent a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman warning them not to open a probe into allegations that the prime minister’s wife had sought to intimidate a witness and interfere in the corruption case against her husband, Hebrew media reports.

Baharav-Miara and Aisman ordered police on Thursday to open a probe following an investigative report last week.

In a letter to the legal officials, Netanyahu’s lawyer Uriel Hor Nizri claimed that they were acting against his client for “personal reasons” and that opening an investigation would be “illegal.”

“We are witnessing that the attorney general chose to act for personal and political reasons, and not in accordance to the law,” Nizri wrote, according to reports. “They are using the law for political purposes in complete contradiction to the foundations of democracy.”

He warns that “the people will not be able to stand by” amid the investigation into Sara Netanyahu, and that “the people will demand in every legal way their fundamental freedom and their right to live in a Jewish and democratic state.”

How much longer can this go on?: Hostage families plead for deal at Tel Aviv rally

A rally calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 28, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Hostage families and their supporters hold two separate rallies in Tel Aviv to demand the release of their loved ones.

Speakers at both Hostages Square and in front of the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters accuse the government of derailing talks for a deal to bring home the captives.

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at Hostages Square, Yair Mozes, son of hostage Gadi Mozes, says that “again there are negotiations, and again we hear the prime minister and defense minister in public statements that just thwart the return of everyone.”

Israeli negotiators were reportedly dismayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement to the Wall Street Journal last weekend that he wouldn’t sign a deal that ended the war in Gaza, and Defense Minister Israel Katz’s statement from Gaza’s Philadelphi Corridor on Wednesday that Israel would retain security control of the Strip.

“How much longer can this go on?” asks Mozes. “What more? Everyone already knows [the hostages] don’t have any time left.”

Outside the IDF headquarters — in front of a large, unlit Hanukkah menorah reading “action, not miracles” — Einav Zanaguker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, asks the crowd to close their eyes.

“I have a dream,” she says. “I have a dream my Matan and 99 other hostages come back to us.”

“I see the prime minister signing a deal to bring home all the hostages,” she continues.

“Now I ask you — don’t close your eyes,” she says. “Open them wide: our prime minister doesn’t want to bring back the hostages and end the war.”

The thousand-strong audience erupts in boos. As she ends her speech, Zangauker leads them in a chant: “Netanyahu don’t forget, history won’t forgive.”

The Begin Road crowd disperses after reading the names of the hostages. A group of Hasidic youngsters walks by, waving a massive flag of the Chabad sect’s messianic branch. The flag shows a crown over the word “Messiah” over a yellow background reminiscent of the color prominently used by the hostage families.

As the Hasidic group passes, Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of slain hostage Yoram Metzger, asks: “Where is our Messiah? Why isn’t he helping us?”

PM to undergo prostate removal surgery Sunday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have his prostate removed on Sunday, his office says in a statement.

Last Wednesday, he underwent an examination at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where doctors discovered an infection in his urinary tract resulting from a benign enlargement of the prostate.

Since the discovery, Netanyahu has been taking antibiotics, which successfully treated the infection, the PMO says.

Sunday’s cabinet meeting will take place, Netanyahu’s office says.

Qatari PM meets with Hamas delegation in Doha for talks on Gaza ceasefire

Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, discussed developments surrounding ceasefire talks for Gaza with a Hamas delegation headed by senior official Khalil al-Hayya in Doha earlier today, the Qatari foreign ministry reports.

At weekly protest, Yair Golan vows to replace government with ‘loyalists of Zionism, democracy’

The Democrats leader Yair Golan (third left) and former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon (second left) march with current and former lawmakers at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv, December 28, 2024. (Benny Meshy/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Speaking at a hundreds-strong protest on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan-Begin junction, also known as Democracy Square, Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats party, vows to topple the government and replace it with “loyalists of Zionism and democracy.”

Golan, a former general who leads a merger of the left-wing Labor and Meretz parties, praises the audience for showing up week after week to protest against “this horrible government.”

“You are the everyday heroes,” he says.

He accuses the government of running “toxic” propaganda that promotes “lies, racism and hatred”; “dismantling the justice system and democratic institutions”; prolonging the war in Gaza as a way to stay in power; and failing to establish a commission of inquiry into events leading up to the Hamas onslaught that sparked the war, “because they know that a state commission of inquiry will find them responsible for what happened on October 7, what happened before and what happened after.”

“We are the power, and with that power we’ll replace them, dry up the poison machine, and return this nation to a discourse of sanity,” he says.

Golan punctuates his speech with the statement that “this is a promise, not a threat” — apparently a nod to the minor controversy he effected this week by threatening legal procedures against Police Commissioner Daniel Levy in a hypothetical future government.

Golan has become a favorite target of the right-wing Channel 14, where a panelist falsely claimed this week that the ex-general’s “pacifist” daughter had evaded the draft — despite the fact that Golan has five sons and no daughters.

Introducing Golan, journalist Linoi Bar Gefen, the protest’s MC, quips that he should be congratulated for his daughter who “was born this week and is already a draft dodger.”

After Golan’s speech, iconic Israeli rock band T-Slam performs its 1990 protest song “Face of the Nation,” in which a corrupt politician promises material favors to people who vote for him.

Danni Bassan, the lead singer, says the band had been scheduled to perform at the weekly protest against the judicial overhaul that was set to take place on Saturday night, October 7, 2023.

Police investigating after fake death notices posted online for Lapid, attorney general

The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit has opened an investigation into fake death notices posted on social media which claimed that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid had died, the Walla news outlet reports.

According to the report, police suspect that the notices were posted as a form of incitement against the attorney general and leader of the opposition.

“We announce the passing of the hated and traitorous adversary Gali Baharav Miara,” read the false death announcement for the attorney general that was posted earlier this week. A similar poster announced the “passing of the national idiot Yair Lapid.”

In response to the posters, Lapid said on Friday that he was sure a “four-minute video of shocked condemnation in which Netanyahu condemns this clear incitement to murder the attorney general and the leader of the opposition” would be forthcoming.

מצרף פה את התוצר האחרון של מכונת
הרעל. אין לי ספק שעוד היום יהיה סרטון גינוי של ארבע דקות של זעזוע שבהן נתניהו מגנה את ההסתה הברורה הזו לרצח של היועצת המשפטית
לממשלה וראש האופוזיציה pic.twitter.com/JzUTlb4rjc

— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) December 27, 2024

Hostage families urge Trump to pressure Netanyahu into committing to hostage deal

Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to “deceive” US President-elect Donald Trump into believing that he is interested in reaching a deal with Hamas for the release of the Gaza captives.

Cohen, along with the families of several other hostages, delivers remarks at a press conference ahead of the weekly anti-government and pro-hostage deal protests in Tel Aviv.

“Dear President Trump, Netanyahu is trying to deceive you. Ending the war and returning all the hostages is in the interest of the State of Israel,” Cohen says. “You might be the last person who can put pressure on Netanyahu. Do not compromise on a partial deal that will become a death sentence for the remaining hostages and will not bring about an end to the war.”

“The talk from Netanyahu and the defense minister about continuing the war and military control of Gaza serves the extremists in government and is contrary to Israeli interests,” he adds.

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, addresses Netanyahu during the press conference, accusing him of “running to torpedo” the latest efforts to reach a hostage deal.

“Netanyahu is afraid of [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and refuses to end the war, in complete contradiction to Israeli interests,” Zangauker says. “Netanyahu and [Defense Minister] Israel Katz are sitting in heated rooms and bragging about continuing the war, while my Matan and the other hostages are freezing and rotting in the tunnels.

“The blood is on your hands,” she adds. “End this war and get my Matan, and all the hostages, out of this hell.”

IDF completes raid on north Gaza hospital, says some 240 terror suspects arrested

Weapons the IDF says troops seized during operations at northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital and the surrounding area, in a handout photo issued on December 28, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it has completed its operation against Hamas at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital and the surrounding area, during which some 240 suspected terror operatives were detained, including the medical center’s director and 15 terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The IDF said it had intelligence of the hospital “returning to being used as a Hamas terror stronghold and a shelter for terrorists, despite repeated calls to refrain from allowing [terror operatives] to exploit hospitals for military activities.”

The operation was led by the IDF’s 162nd Division with several units.

At the start of the raid, the IDF says troops of the 401st Armored Brigade surrounded the hospital, detained several members of terror groups, and killed additional gunmen.

Members of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit then carried out “precise activities” inside the hospital, during which they located and captured weapons, including grenades, handguns, ammunition, and other military equipment, according to the IDF.

The Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit operates at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, in a video released by the IDF on December 28, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Over 240 members of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and others suspected of being members of terror groups were detained amid the operation, the military says.

The IDF says some of the terror operatives “tried to impersonate patients and medical staff and some tried to escape in ambulances.”

Among those detained is the director of Kamal Adwan, Hussam Abu Safiya, who the IDF says is suspected of being a Hamas operative.

At least 15 of those arrested at the hospital area participated in the October 7 onslaught, according to the military. Several members of Hamas’s engineering and anti-tank forces were also arrested in the operation.

The suspects were questioned by field interrogators from the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 and the Shin Bet security agency. The IDF says that many of them admitted to the interrogators that they participated in “terror activity” in the hospital area.

During the operation, the military says operatives launched RPGs and anti-tank projectiles at troops from an area near the hospital and attempted other attacks.

There were no injuries among the Israeli forces, and the operatives behind the attacks were killed, the IDF says.

The IDF adds that a drone strike eliminated a cell of gunmen whose members tried to flee the area.

Before launching the operation, the IDF says it enabled the evacuation of 350 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel to other hospitals, in an effort coordinated by the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Also during the weeks prior to the operation, “tens of thousands of liters of fuel, food, and medical supplies for the essential functioning of the hospital” were delivered to Kamal Adwan.

During the raid itself, the IDF says another 95 patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators, and medical equipment were delivered, “to maintain and operate essential systems in the hospital.”

Hundreds of Palestinian civilians also left the hospital area “via defined evacuation routes,” the military adds.

Iran says 2025 will be ‘important year’ for nuclear issue

Iran, bracing for a possible re-imposition of incoming US president Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy, says that 2025 will be an important year for its nuclear issue.

Trump in 2018 reneged on a deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 in which Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment, which can yield material for nuclear weapons, in return for the relaxation of US and UN economic sanctions.

“2025 will be an important year regarding Iran’s nuclear issue,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi tells reporters in Beijing, adding in remarks aired by Iran’s state TV that he had discussed the issue in talks with his Chinese counterpart.

He does not mention Trump by name, however, or spell out how the year might be significant.

Iranian leaders’ main concern may be that Trump could empower Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while further tightening US sanctions on its crucial oil industry.

After rocket attack, IDF issues urgent evacuation warning for Gaza’s Beit Hanoun

Following the long-range rocket fire from Gaza, the military issues an urgent evacuation warning to civilians in the Strip’s far north, where the projectiles were launched from.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a map showing areas the military has previously called to evacuate.

“Urgent warning to all those who have not yet evacuated the area marked on the map, specifically the Beit Hanoun area. This area has been warned many times in the past. You must evacuate the area immediately and move south towards Salah a-Din road. Moving via another road exposes you to danger,” Adraee says.

The two long-range rockets were fired from Beit Hanoun, less than a day after the military launched a new offensive against Hamas there. The terror group has previously fired rockets from areas where the IDF advances in order to prevent the military from capturing them.

The IDF has operated in Beit Hanoun several times since the beginning of the war, though it has not managed to reach every last rocket in Hamas’s possession.

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى كل من لم يخلي بعد المنطقة المحددة في الخريطة ومنطقة بيت حانون بالتحديد
????لقد تم تحذير هذه المنطقة مرات عديدة في الماضي
????يعمل جيش الدفاع في هذه المنطقة بقوة.
????عليكم اخلاء المنطقة فورًا والانتقال جنوبًا نحو طريق صلاح الدين. الانتقال عبر طريق آخر يعرضكم… pic.twitter.com/UVgcMH8R9Z

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 28, 2024

IDF intercepts rockets fired toward Jerusalem

According to the IDF, both long-range rockets launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the Jerusalem area were successfully intercepted by Israeli air defenses.

There are no reports of injuries in the rare attack.

Two long-range rockets launched from Gaza at Jerusalem area

Two long-range rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the Jerusalem area a short while ago, the military says.

The IDF says it made attempts to intercept the rockets, but the results are still under investigation.

Sirens sounded in Beit Shemesh and numerous surrounding towns as well as in several communities near Gaza amid the attack.

There are no reports of injuries or major damage.

Long-range rocket fire from Gaza has become incredibly rare as the war has progressed, with Hamas’s launching capabilities severely hindered by the IDF’s ground offensive.

The IDF is currently carrying out a major operation in the Strip’s far north.

Sirens sound near Jerusalem following rocket fire from Gaza

Sirens are sounding near Jerusalem following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The sirens sound in Beit Shemesh and several surrounding towns. Alerts are also activated near the border with Gaza.

The IDF is looking into the details.

Houthis claim to target southern Israeli airbase with overnight missile

The Houthis in Yemen take responsibility for the overnight ballistic missile launch at Israel, claiming to have targeted the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel.

The Houthis claim that the “missile successfully hit its target.”

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the missile was successfully intercepted by air defenses.

In the past month, the Houthis have fired 10 ballistic missiles and at least nine drones at Israel, in what the Iran-backed terror group says is support for the Gaza Strip amid the war there.

Putin apologizes to Aliyev over ‘tragic incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash

Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Issa Tazhenbayev / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologizes to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, for what the Kremlin said was a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25.

Putin tells Aliyev that Russian air defense was active when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before it crashed in a phone call, the Kremlin says.

“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defense was repelling these attacks,” the Kremlin says Putin told Aliyev, without explicitly acknowledging that that Russian air defenses hit the plane.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 came down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from Grozny, killing 38 people.

Three Palestinian farmers said wounded in attack by settlers

A wounded Palestinian man is seen after allegedly being attacked by settlers in the West Bank village of Silwad. (Silwad municipality)

Three Palestinian farmers were attacked and wounded by settlers in the village of Silwad in the West Bank, the human rights group Yesh Din says.

The group says the men were attacked while working on private land. Several vehicles were also damaged.

Yesh Din says the attackers came from a new settler outpost recently established nearby.

Pictures from the scene showed armed masked men confronting the farmers.

UK soccer team condemns fans for anti-Palestine chant in support of Israeli star

Israel's Manor Solomon applauds supporters at the end of the Euro 2024 qualifying soccer match between Romania and Israel at the National Arena stadium in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Leeds United soccer team has condemned their supporters for singing an anti-Palestine song in support of Israeli star Manor Solomon.

A group of fans was filmed at a game on Thursday singing the song with the words: “Looks good, looks good, looks fine, looks fine, Manor Solomon’s on the line and he hates Palestine. Singing Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do, running past defenders, scoring one or two.”

Leeds fans with the Manor Solomon song at Stoke. pic.twitter.com/DkAR30Arfa

— Ben Green (@BenGreenJeru) December 26, 2024

Following video of the song, the club condemned the chant.

“Discriminatory language or chanting is not acceptable and supporters could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behavior and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds,” a Leeds spokesperson tells the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle illegal behaviors within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behavior and tragedy chanting,” the spokesperson says.

Solomon, an Israeli international, is on loan at the Championship league team from Tottenham Hotspur.

Instagram post from Gaza hospital director appears to deny he was detained

The director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, was not arrested by Israeli forces, according to a message posted to his Instagram account.

Earlier, officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that Abu Safiya was detained along with dozens of the medical staff at Kamal Adwan.

“All that is being circulated about Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya being arrested is false news,” says a statement published to his Instagram story.

“Thank God he is fine, but the communications and network are very bad,” the message adds, which is seemingly written by someone else and not Abu Safiya.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF, which yesterday said that it had been conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and operatives in the area, and that it had ordered people out of the hospital.

A message posted to the Instagram of the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya denying that he has been arrested (Screenshot: @dr.hussam73 on Instagram)

IDF releases footage from demolished Hezbollah tunnel in southern Lebanon

The IDF releases footage from a tunnel belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force which was recently discovered and demolished in southern Lebanon.

The military says the 100-meter-long underground passage was used by Hezbollah to store numerous weapons, surveillance equipment, and other military gear.

The tunnel also led to a Hezbollah command center, where the IDF says it found rocket launchers used in previous attacks on Israel, alongside numerous explosive devices.

After the tunnel was cleared of threats and investigated, combat engineers demolished it.

The IDF is still deployed to southern Lebanon, and it has until late January to withdraw under the ceasefire deal.

Five demonstrators arrested outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem

Five demonstrators protesting for the release of the hostages are arrested outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem.

Some 20 people gathered outside the home early in the morning calling out with loudspeakers to the premier that the hostages are suffering in Hamas tunnels in winter “cold, tortured and sick” while he’s hunkered down in his protected home, Channel 12 reported.

They also chanted that his wife was being investigated by police and his son was avoiding reserve duty at a time of war by living in Miami.

“Everything is closing in on you. We the people will not forget and will not forgive,” they shouted.

They also banged on drums and blew horns.

The report says that they dispersed after some 20 minutes and as they left several were stopped by police and detained for questioning at a nearby police station.

Police say they were held for violating noise restrictions.

היום | שבת | 28.12 | 18:30 | עזה פינת ברלין | ירושלים

נחושי החופשיים הגיעו למשוך בדש מעילו של המחריב בעזה 35!

בזמן שאישתו ובנו נמלטו למיאמי,
הוא מסתגר במבצר האחרון.
המשטרה מגוננת עליו ועצרה 5 פעילים, כרגע במשטרת מוריה.

המשמרת השניה כבר מתארגנת להגיע הערב!

נפגשים בעזה פינת… pic.twitter.com/aRC1DmQyTO

— החופשיים – מרי הכרחי (@GershonDror) December 28, 2024

IDF carries out airstrikes as troops launch new raid in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun

IDF troops prepare to enter northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, late December 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Overnight, the IDF’s Gaza Division with the Nahal Brigade launched a new operation against Hamas in Beit Hanoun in the Strip’s north, the military says.

The IDF says the operation is being carried out “following intelligence information about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area, and as part of the effort to ensure the security of the residents of the border communities.”

Before troops entered the area, Israeli fighter jets and artillery forces carried out numerous strikes in the area, targeting groups of Hamas operatives and sites used by the terror group, according to the military.

The IDF says it is enabling civilians who have not yet evacuated the area to do so.

The Nahal Brigade was withdrawn this week from southern Gaza’s Rafah after seven months, and has handed over the area to the Kiryati Brigade.

Director of north Gaza hospital said detained by IDF

Officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry say that Israeli forces detained the director the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

“The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention center for interrogation, including the director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh,” the ministry says said in a statement.

The Gaza civil defense agency also reports that Abu Safiyeh had been detained, adding that the agency’s director for the north, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout was among those held.

There is no immediate confirmation from the IDF, which yesterday said that it had been conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and operatives in the area, and that it had ordered people out of the hospital. However, the IDF denied entering the Kamal Adwan complex as of Friday evening.

Russia’s SVR says US, UK spies trying to force evacuation of Russian bases in Syria

A Russian helicopter flies over the Khmeimim Air Base, a Russian-run Syrian airbase, located southeast of the city of Latakia in the town of Khmeimim, Syria, December 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service accuses American and British spies of trying to provoke attacks against Russian military bases in Syria in a bid to force the evacuation of the bases, the state-run RIA news agency says.

The SVR gives no evidence for its allegation.

Woman rescued from flooded vehicle in Hadera

A woman is rescued from her flooded vehicle in Hadera amid heavy winter rains, December 28, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Service)

A woman is rescued from a deluged car in Hadera as heavy winter rains cause flooding in several parts of northern Israel.

The Fire and Rescue Service used a dinghy to reach the woman, 51, who became trapped after trying to cross a flooded intersection.

She was handed over to Magen David Adom medics for further treatment.

Trump asks US Supreme Court to pause law threatening TikTok ban if not sold by Chinese owner

This combination of pictures created on June 2, 2024 shows a man holding a smartphone displaying the logo of Chinese social media platform Tiktok in an office in Paris on April 19, 2024 and former US president Donald Trump speaking to the media as he arrives for his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 30, 2024. (Antonin UTZ and Seth Wenig/various sources/AFP)

WASHINGTON – US President-elect Donald Trump files a brief urging the Supreme Court to pause a law that would ban TikTok the day before his January 20 inauguration if it is not sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance.

“In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues,” Trump’s legal team writes, to give him “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution.”

Trump was fiercely opposed to TikTok during his 2017-21 first term, and tried in vain to ban the video app on national security grounds.

The Republican voiced concerns — echoed by political rivals — that the Chinese government might tap into US TikTok users’ data or manipulate what they see on the platform.

US officials had also voiced alarm over the popularity of the video-sharing app with young people, alleging that its parent company is subservient to Beijing and that the app is used to spread propaganda, claims denied by the company and the Chinese government.

Trump called for a US company to buy TikTok, with the government sharing in the sale price, and his successor Joe Biden went one stage further — signing a law to ban the app for the same reasons.

IDF: Missile fired from Yemen intercepted before reaching Israel territory

The IDF says that a missile fired from Yemen that triggered sirens in the Jerusalem and Dead Sea areas a short while ago was shot down before it crossed into Israeli territory.

The sirens were activated according to protocol for fear of falling debris, the military adds.

The IDF does not specify whether it was an Israeli or US system that intercepted the missile.

An American missile defense system battery participated in the interception of a Houthi ballistic missile launched at Israel from Yemen early yesterday morning, the first time the system was used since being deployed by the US in Israel in October.

The Houthis, a rebel group that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews, have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year, according to the IDF.

Rocket and drone alert sirens triggered by attacks from Yemen have sent millions of Israelis running for shelter in the middle of the night almost every night for the past 10 days.

No reports of injury after sirens sound in central Israel — MDA

Following sirens in central Israel a short while ago, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says that there have been no reports of injuries in the incident, apart from one person suffering from shock, according to Channel 12 news.

The IDF says the sirens were triggered by a missile fired from Yemen.

Rocket sirens sounding in dozens of locations in Jerusalem area; IDF says missile fired from Yemen

Sirens are blaring in dozens of towns and cities in the Jerusalem area and the southern Negev, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The IDF says the sirens have been triggered by a missile fired from Yemen.

The alerts are sounding in locations including Jerusalem, Latrun, Arad and the Dead Sea.

???? Rocket Alert [02:11:52] – 90 Alerts ????:

• Shfelat Yehuda — Ness Harim, Giv'ot Eden, Zanoah, Latrun, Neveh Ilan, Kfar Uriah, Taoz, Mahsiya, Gizo, Tarom, Nachshon, Harel, Neveh Michael (Rogalit), Kiryat Yearim, Beit Meir, Tzuba, Tzora, Naham, Beit Shemesh, Retorno – Givat… pic.twitter.com/YjYeRpMlXW

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) December 28, 2024

Poll: Israelis sour on PM and ministers, more than 2/3 give government failing score

A Channel 12 poll held ahead of the government’s two-year anniversary on Sunday finds that 68 percent of the public disapprove of its performance, as opposed to just 26% who approve and six percent who say they didn’t know.

Even among those who voted for coalition parties in the previous election, only 53% say they approved of the government’s performance, compared to 37% who disapproved.

Among the general public, the unfavorables of Netanyahu and every government minister were higher than their respective favorables.

Sixty-one percent say Netanyahu is doing a bad job, 34% think he is doing a good job, and 5% didn’t know.

Among the premier’s voters, the figures shift to 26% disapproval and 68% disapproval, with six percent of respondents unsure.

The minister with the highest disapproval rating is Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, whose Religious Zionism party has struggled to cross the electoral threshold in recent surveys. In the Channel 12 poll, 70% of respondents describe Smotrich’s job performance as “bad,” 20% as “good” and 10% say they don’t know.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev scores 68% “bad” and 19% “good” with 13% saying they don’t know; National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — 64% “bad” and 28% “good,” with 8% saying they don’t know; Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf — 62% “bad” and 15% “good,” with 23% saying they don’t know; Justice Minister Yariv Levin — 61% “bad” and 25% “good,” with 14% saying they don’t know; Education Minister Yoav Kisch — 59% “bad” and 20% “good,” with 21% saying they don’t know; Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem — 58% “bad” and 17% “good,” with 25% saying they don’t know; Economy Minister Nir Barkat — 58% “bad” and 23% “good,” with 19% saying they don’t know; Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi — 56% “bad” and 22% “good,” with 22% saying they don’t know; and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar — 55% “bad” and 22% “good,” with 23% saying they don’t know.

The ministers with the lowest gap between their approval and disapproval ratings are: Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, whose job performance was described by 37% of respondents as “bad” and 35% as “good,” with 28% saying they don’t know; Defense Minister Israel Katz, who receives 50% “bad” and 31% “good,” with 19% saying they don’t know; and Culture Minister Miki Zohar — 45% “good” and 30% “bad,” with 25% saying they don’t know.

All ministers had a higher disapproval than approval rating in the poll, Channel 12 says. According to the network, six ministers even score a negative approval margin among Netanyahu supporters: Kisch, Regev, Smotrich, Goldknopf, Barkat and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman. However, Channel 12 does not provide the breakdown of these ministers’ support among the premier’s partisans.

The survey also finds that among all respondents, National Unity chair Benny Gantz holds a slight lead over his second-in-command, MK Gadi Eisenkot, on the question of which of the two opposition lawmakers is a better fit for prime minister: 25% say Gantz, 23% say Eisenkot, 41% say neither and 11% say they don’t know.

Among supporters of the opposition, however, Eisenkot leads Gantz 38%-30%, with 22% saying neither and 10% saying they don’t know.

The poll was conducted by Mano Geva’s Midgam polling company in cooperation with the iPanel online research firm. Channel 12 does not provide the poll’s sample size or margin of error.

Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia condemn Israeli operations in north Gaza hospital

Arab states rush to condemn Israeli operations in a north Gaza hospital after Hamas-run health officials claimed troops stormed the facility and set fire to it.

The IDF has denied what it called “unsubstantiated reports.”

Jordan’s foreign ministry says Amman “condemns in the strongest terms the burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces, and forcing patients and medical staff to evacuate it.”

The statement adds that the reported Israeli military actions come ” in a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”

A statement from the United Arab Emirates foreign ministry echoes the Jordanian statement, stressing Abu Dhabi’s “categorical rejection of this heinous act that violates international humanitarian law, and the systematic and reprehensible destruction of the remaining health system in the Strip.”

Saudi Arabia also issues a statement decrying the Israeli operations and claiming they violate “international law, international humanitarian law, and the most basic humanitarian and ethical standards.”

Earlier this evening, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani denied Hamas claims that Israeli troops stormed and set fire to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and said that a preliminary investigation found “no connection” between military activity and the fire.

IDF denies Hamas claims troops stormed, set fire to Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza

Illustrative - Medics evacuate injured people and cancer patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on October 28, 2024, to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in a joint World Health Organisation and Palestinian Red Crescent initiative. (AFP)

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani denies Hamas claims that Israeli troops stormed and set fire to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

“While IDF troops were not in the hospital, a small fire broke out in an empty building inside the hospital that is under control,” he says, adding that a preliminary investigation has found “no connection” between military activity and the fire.

“Running with unsubstantiated reports on the cause of this fire shows nothing but questionable journalistic integrity,” he adds.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims Israeli troops entered the facility in Beit Lahiya and forced many staff and patients outside to strip in winter weather.

It also says Israeli troops also set fires in several parts of Kamal Adwan, including the lab and surgery department, and that 25 patients and 60 health workers remain in the hospital.

The account can not be independently confirmed, and attempts to reach hospital staff have been unsuccessful.

The IDF says it was conducting operations against Hamas infrastructure and operatives in the area and had ordered people out of the hospital, but that it had not entered the complex as of this evening.

The military, which last operated against Hamas at the hospital in October, said earlier today that the facility had “once again become a key stronghold for terrorist organizations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives.”

The IDF also said it had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel prior to the operation” to mitigate civilian harm.

Since October 6, Israel has intensified its land and air offensive in northern Gaza, stating its goal is to prevent Hamas terrorists from regrouping in the area.

Hamas has fought from within hospitals throughout the war and even periodically hid some of the Israeli hostages kidnapped in its October 7, 2023, massacre inside. International law prohibits targeting hospitals during wartime, but hospitals can lose this protection if used for military purposes.

UN official denies Israeli claim Yemen airport targeted in airstrike has military use

Smoke rises from the area around Sanaa International Airport following an Israeli airstrike, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)

The top UN official for humanitarian aid in Yemen, who narrowly dodged an Israeli airstrike on Sanaa’s airport yesterday, denies that the facility has any military purpose.

Israel said that it was targeting “military infrastructure” in the raids and that targets around the country were used by Houthis to “smuggle Iranian weapons” and bring in senior Iranian officials. The strikes came in response to repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel which have ramped up in recent weeks.

UN humanitarian coordinator Julien Harneis says the airport “is a civilian location that is used by the United Nations.”

“It’s used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, it is used for civilian flights –- that is its purpose,” he tels reporters by video link from Yemen.

“Parties to the conflict have an obligation to ensure that they are not striking civilian targets,” he adds. “The obligation is on them, not on us. We don’t need to prove we’re civilians.”

Harneis describes how he, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and 18 other UN staff, were caught up in the attack, which he says also took place as a packed airliner was touching down nearby.

One UN staffer was seriously wounded in the strikes, which destroyed the air traffic control facility, Harneis says. The rest of the team was bundled into armored vehicles for safety.

“There was one airstrike approximately 300 meters (985 feet) to the south of us and another airstrike approximately 300 meters to the north of us,” he said.

“What was most frightening about that air strike wasn’t the effect on us -– it’s that the air strikes took place… as a civilian airliner from Yemenia Air, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was about to land,” he says.

“In fact, that airliner from Yemenia Air was landing, taxiing in, when the air traffic control was destroyed.”

Although the plane “was able to land safely… it could have been far, far worse.”

He says the Israeli strike came with “zero indication of any potential air strikes and that the airport is “absolutely vital” to continued humanitarian aid for Yemen. “If that airport is disabled, it will paralyze humanitarian operations.”

The United Nations has labeled Yemen “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” with 24.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection.