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The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they unfolded.
Carter Center confirms former president has died
Former US president Jimmy Carter reacts, as his wife Rosalynn Carter speaks during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary, July 10, 2021, in Plains, Georgia. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool, File)
Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the US presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and who then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old.
The longest-lived American president died today, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, the Carter Center says.
Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/aqYmcE9tXi
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) December 29, 2024
In the Middle East, the 39th president is best known for brokering peace between Israel and Egypt with the Camp David Accords, keeping Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy.
He later became a vocal and outspoken critic of Israel, publishing the 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” which sought to shift US support away from Jerusalem and toward the Palestinians.
Netanyahu awake, recovering in fortified hospital basement, his office says
The Prime Minister’s Office says Benjamin Netanyahu is awake and recovering after a successful prostate removal surgery.
“The surgery ended successfully without complications,” the PMO says in a statement. “The prime minister has woken up, is in good condition and is completely conscious.”
It adds that he has been moved to an underground and fortified recovery ward, where he is expected to spend several days under observation.
Netanyahu’s office also thanks the team of surgeons who performed the operation.
In a separate statement from the hospital, urology department head Prof. Ofer Gofrit says, “The procedure went as planned.”
Former US president Jimmy Carter dead at 100 — report
Former president Jimmy Carter discusses his cancer diagnosis during a press conference at the Carter Center on August 20, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images/AFP)
Former US President Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Camp David Accords, has died at 100, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
No other details are immediately available.
IDF chief says war not nearing end, though Hamas and Hezbollah both routed
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, center-right, meets with officers in southern Lebanon, December 29, 2024. (IDF)
IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi says the war Israel has been waging for nearly 15 months is far from over, but both Hamas and Hezbollah are no longer militarily viable.
“This is a long war, and I cannot say we see it ending,” he says at a ceremony for wounded soldiers at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. “But after the heavy prices we have paid, we are also seeing results. The military arm of Hamas has been defeated. Hezbollah has been completely routed.”
Earlier, while visiting southern Lebanon, Halevi said that the defeat of Hezbollah was not yet truly a victory for Israel.
“The way to truly win over Hezbollah — because we won militarily, our victory is quite clear — but true victory, victory that is long-term, that means lots of civilians here, lots of tourism here, that there will be restaurants here, and cafes, and people will go on bike rides, and the agriculture here, everything will prosper,” he said, seemingly referring to northern Israel.
Halevi repeats the remarks at Sheba, according to the Ynet news site, adding that Israel’s security situation on the Golan Heights is much better now, presumably referring to the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and Israel’s taking of part of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
“We’re fighting on all the border, and operations are also taking place very far away from Israel,” he adds, likely referring to Israeli actions in Yemen and Iran.
Netanyahu recovering after successful surgery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is out of surgery after a successful prostate removal operation, Hadassah Medical Center says.
The Ynet news site reports that the surgery lasted about two hours, as planned. According to Walla, the premier has been moved to the cardiology ward for recovery.
There is no statement from Netanyahu’s office.
Doctor who confirmed Sinwar’s killing says it was only good part of dental forensics mission
At a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, a doctor who is a forensics expert recalls identifying the body of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, after he was killed fighting Israeli troops in Gaza in October.
Dr. Esi Sharon-Sagi, director of the Oral Rehabilitation Graduate Program at the Hebrew University teaching hospital, says she led the team of volunteer dentists who enlisted to help police identify victims following the October 7 attack.
“That was a challenging and emotionally charged mission, with only one identification that resulted in happiness — identifying the body of Sinwar,” she says during the Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony, according to the Walla news site.
Troops only realized they might have gotten Sinwar a day after he was killed alongside two other Hamas members, while trying to move between buildings in Rafah, collecting DNA and other evidence and sending it back to Israel, where Sharon-Sagi was able to confirm it was the Hamas leader and mastermind of the October 7 onslaught.
Sa’ar holding talks on rejoining Likud — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-internal affairs minister Gideon Sa'ar, in the Knesset, July 9, 2013. (Flash90/ File)
A report says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the leader of the coalition’s New Hope party, is set to return to the Likud, years after quitting the party over a falling out with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Channel 12 news, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, also from New Hope, is unlikely to follow Sa’ar. Haskel did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Times of Israel.
A source with knowledge of the issue tells The Times of Israel that, when New Hope joined the Netanyahu-led governing coalition earlier this year, the sides agreed to hold merger talks at some point in the future.
“There is nothing new on the subject. As is known, the possibility of merging parties was discussed in the negotiations that preceded the signing of the coalition agreement between the Likud and New Hope,” the source says.
“In short, such a possibility exists, as is known, and it was agreed between the parties to discuss it in the future. Nothing was agreed upon,” the source says, adding that no timetable for implementation was discussed either.
Sa’ar began his political career with Likud and became one of its most prominent members, but his rising popularity and other disputes drove him and Netanyahu apart, causing Sa’ar to quit politics in 2014. He later returned with a vow to not politically collaborate with Netanyahu again.
He nonetheless joined the coalition as part of the National Unity alliance with Benny Gantz following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and slaughter in southern Israel. New Hope quit the alliance with Gantz in March and bowed out of the coalition weeks later, but rejoined Netanyahu’s alliance for a second time in September and Sa’ar was appointed foreign minister in November.
Polls have shown New Hope falling short of the vote threshold needed to return to the Knesset if elections were held now. For Netanyahu, bringing in Sa’ar would allow him to neutralize the minister’s attempts to break with the coalition on issues such as the judicial overhaul.
Poll shows Bennett party passing Likud, trouncing current coalition
A poll published by the Kan public broadcaster is the latest to show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition falling well short of the support needed to retain power were elections held today. It also shows a potential party headed by former prime minister Naftali Bennett surpassing Netanyahu’s Likud as the largest, reflecting wide displeasure with the current government and its handling of the war.
According to the poll, even if Bennett stays out of the race, parties in the current coalition would muster only 53 seats, well short of the 61 needed for a majority. The poll is the latest to show Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope falling out of the Knesset altogether. Parties arrayed against Netanyahu would pull 62 seats, assuming the Islamist Ra’am is again pulled into the governing coalition.
In a scenario where Bennett runs, his party would snag 24 seats to Likud’s 22, the poll finds. Assuming that Bennett once again links up with parties opposed to Netanyahu, as the far-right politician did in 2021 when he pushed the Likud leader from power, the alliance would hit 63 seats even without the support of Ra’am, which would add another five seats. In that scenario, Religious Zionism, led by Bennett’s erstwhile partner Bezalel Smotrich, would not pass the threshold to enter the Knesset, along with New Hope.
The Kantar Insights poll, which surveyed nearly 2,500 people over the internet, generally confirms trends seen in previous polls in recent months.
Elections are not scheduled for several more years, but many analysts believe they will be called once the war in Gaza winds down.
Syrian foreign minister vows to back women’s rights after outcry
Syria’s new Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani is seeking to calm an outcry sparked by comments from the country’s newly appointed head of women’s affairs, who said that women should “not go beyond the priorities of their God-given nature,” and should know “their educational role in the family.”
Posting on X, Shibani says that authorities will “stand by” women and “fully support their rights.”
“We believe in the active role of women within society, and we have confidence in their capacities,” he says, adding that “Syrian women fought long years for a free homeland that preserves their dignity and status.”
Speaking to Turkey’s state-run TRT broadcaster, Aisha al-Dibs, the only woman so far in Syria’s transitional government, said only feminist organizations that “support the model that we are going to build” would be welcome in Syria, adding “I am not going to open the path for those who don’t agree with my thinking.”
“Why adopt a lay or civil model? We want to implement a model that is right for Syrian society, and Syrian women will make it happen,” she said.
Dibs’s remarks have prompted outrage among some on social media.
Actress Aliaa Saeid says on social network X that “we were imprisoned so that we could [obtain the right] to express our opinion.”
“We have been displaced, our homes have been destroyed, so that in the end you come and tell us what’s allowed and what’s not?” she adds.
Netanyahu prostate removal surgery begins at Jerusalem hospital
Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital have begun operating on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Hebrew media reports.
A source with knowledge of the situation confirms that the prostate removal surgery to deal with a benign enlargement has begun.
The operation is expected to take around two hours, after which the hospital says it will update the public. Netanyahu will be under full anesthesia
In a video distributed by a Likud-linked social media account, Netanyahu says he is walking out of a cabinet meeting and leaving work “relatively early” to undergo surgery.
Holding a biography of John Duke of Marlborough by Winston Churchill, the premier says he “intends to stand by” those who wished him a speedy recovery.
Sixth bird flu outbreak found at central Israel farm, 19,000 turkeys to be culled
Illustrative. Turkeys. (bazilfoto; iStock by Getty Images)
The sixth outbreak of bird flu this winter is identified at a turkey farm on Moshav Kfar Vitkin, near Netanya, in central Israel.
The Agriculture Ministry says it will cull some 19,000 12-week-old turkeys in six coops to contain the outbreak. A quarantine zone has been set up within a range of up to 10 kilometers (six miles) of the infected farm.
The ministry calls on breeders of ornamental birds and poultry, as well as farmers with free-range coops, to keep their birds inside buildings and prevent them from roaming in open areas to reduce the risk of infection from wild birds during the migration season.
So far this year, there have been four other outbreaks of the disease in northern Israel, and one at Kibbutz Tzora near Jerusalem.
The ministry warns against buying unregulated black market meat, poultry, and eggs, and reminds consumers that eggs and chicken should only be eaten after thorough cooking.
Israel says several October 7 terrorists among Hamas operatives killed last month
The IDF and Shin Bet say that 14 members of Hamas, including six who participated in the October 7 onslaught, were eliminated in a series of operations and airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip last month, adding them to previously announced tallies for November.
The announcement is made by the IDF and Shin Bet, after verifying the results of the operations last month.
Aside from battling Hamas in the Strip’s far north, troops are also working to hunt down and kill terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, the military and Shin Bet say.
In one incident on November 27, the IDF says troops of the Givati Brigade raided a Hamas position in Jabalia, where they killed Muhammad Abd al-Hamid Salah, a Hamas terrorist who “participated in the murderous massacre on October 7.”
Another two Hamas commanders were killed in the same operation, according to the military.
The IDF says an airstrike in Jabalia on November 26 killed Rasem Jawda, a Hamas company commander, Zahar Shahab, and Ali Ramadan, all of whom it says participated in the October 7 onslaught. Another two Hamas commanders were also killed in the strike, the military says.
A separate strike on an unspecified date last month killed Muhammad Hamuda, who also participated in the October 7 attack, the IDF says. With him, five more Hamas operatives were killed, the military adds.
The military had already claimed to have killed hundreds of Hamas operatives in the Strip’s far north in November.
Strikes carried out by the IDF in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, in a video issued on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Son of Muslim Brotherhood leader arrested in Lebanon on Egyptian warrant
Lebanese authorities have arrested Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian opposition activist wanted by Cairo and son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Lebanese judicial official tells AFP.
Qaradawi, also a poet, was detained on Saturday as he arrived from Syria at the Masnaa border crossing, due to an Egyptian arrest warrant, the official says.
The warrant was “based on an Egyptian judiciary ruling” sentencing Qaradawi in absentia to five years in jail on charges of “opposing the state and inciting terrorism,” the official added.
His father was prominent Sunni scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is outlawed in Egypt as a terror group. He died in 2022 after decades in exile in Qatar.
The judiciary will make a recommendation as to whether “the conditions are met for him to be extradited,” and the matter will be referred to the Lebanese government, which must make the final decision, the official says.
Then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh kisses the hand of Egyptian cleric and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, upon the latter’s arrival at Rafah Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, May 8, 2013. (Said Khatib/AFP/File)
Qaradawi was a political organizer against the government of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in 2011 in the Arab Spring uprising.
He later became a vocal opponent of current Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sissi who in 2013 overthrew elected president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A family friend tells AFP that Qaradawi holds Turkish citizenship and was returning from a visit to Syria, where rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad on December 8.
Qaradawi had posted a video online taken at Damascus’s Umayyad mosque, celebrating Assad’s fall, expressing hope for “victory” in other Arab Spring countries, including Egypt and warning Syrians of “malicious regimes” in “the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.”
Soldier killed in northern Gaza, IDF says
Staff Sgt. Yuval Shoham, killed in the northern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
An IDF soldier was killed in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Staff Sgt. Yuval Shoham, 22, of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion, from Jerusalem.
The IDF does not detail the circumstances of Shoham’s death.
The killing brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 394.
Separately, a soldier with the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion was seriously wounded during fighting with Hamas operatives in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun today, the military adds.
Jerusalem hospital to put Netanyahu under knife Sunday night
Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo a scheduled urological surgery to have his prostate removed Sunday evening.
The surgery will be performed by a team of specialists including Prof. Ofer Gofrit, head of the Urology Department, Ehud Gnessin, senior urologist at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, and Prof. Mordechai Duvdevani, head of Ein Kerem’s Endourology Unit.
The hospital will provide a detailed update upon completion of the surgery, which is expected to take around two hours.
Such surgeries usually involve the patient undergoing general anesthesia. He is expected to need several days to recover from the procedure.
Fourth newborn dies of hypothermia in cold, wet Gaza, father says
Imam Islam Abu Suaied holds the body of 20-day-old Jomaa al-Batran, who died from hypothermia according to his father Yehia, before the funeral at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza, December 29, 2024. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A fourth infant has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast as winter arrives.
Jomaa al-Batran, 20 days old, was found with his head as “cold as ice” when his parents woke up Sunday, his father Yehia says. The baby’s twin brother, Ali, was moved to the intensive care unit of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Their father says the twins were born one month premature and spent just a day in the nursery at the hospital, which like other health centers in Gaza has been overwhelmed and is only partially functioning.
https://twitter.com/RamAbdu/status/1873363874529104340
He said medics told their mother to keep the newborns warm, but it was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) at night.
“We are eight people, and we only have four blankets,” al-Batran says as he cradles his son’s pale body. He described drops of dew seeping through the tent cover overnight. “Look at his color because (of) the cold. Do you see how frozen he is?”
An imam prays over the shrouded infant, who is laid at his feet and is barely larger than his shoes. After prayers, the imam takes off his ankle-length coat and wraps it around the father.
“Feel warm, my brother,” he says.
At least three other babies have died from the cold in recent weeks, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.
Rainy and stormy weather in the region is expected to intensify over the next two days before slightly warmer conditions return later this week.
Rebuking police, court rejects request to access protesters’ phones
Protesters gather for a rally calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on December 28, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has rejected a police request to gain access to the cellphones of anti-government activists who were arrested during a protest outside the prime minister’s residence on Saturday night, and also criticizes the police for keeping another detainee in detention overnight.
Five activists were arrested by police for disturbing the public order; although they were subsequently released, the police insisted on keeping their phones.
In a hearing earlier today, the judge refused to grant the police request for access to the activists’ phones, saying that disturbing the public order was not sufficient grounds for such a step, and ordered the police to return the devices to the activists.
Another activist was arrested on suspicion of seeking to use some type of grenade, although she had actually used a smoke candle, which is legal, according to court documents.
The judge criticized the police for holding the woman instead of releasing her with restrictions, telling the police that if there was no concern over possible obstruction of justice or of the suspect being posing a danger to herself or others, then there was no reason to detain her.
IDF warns Gazans to take shelter as army readies to hit Jabalia following rocket fire
Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia, arrive in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 4, 2024. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The IDF has issued a fresh evacuation warning for civilians in a large area near the northern Gaza city of Jabalia following rocket fire into Israel.
“Terror organizations are again launching rockets from these areas that have been warned several times in the past,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman says on X, attaching a map of the areas that are to be evacuated.
Civilians are urged to head for shelters in Gaza City before the IDF launches strikes on the area.
#عاجل ‼️ الى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في المناطق المصنفة D1, D3 وجميع البلوكات من ضمنها (مناطق النصر ومدينة العودة وحي المرابطين)
🔴هذا تخدير مسبق قبل الهجوم!
⭕️تطلق المنظمات الإرهابية القذائف الصاروخية مرة أخرى من هذه المناطق والتي تم تحذيرها عدة مرات في الماضي.
⭕️من أجل أمنكم… pic.twitter.com/KdYQ4O3gDn— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 29, 2024
Five rockets were launched at Sderot an hour ago, marking the third day in a row of attacks from northern Gaza. Two were intercepted and three landed in open areas, according to authorities.
As most Israelis tighten belts, cabinet treats top bureaucrats to massive bonuses
The cabinet has approved retirement bonuses of up to a quarter million shekels ($68,000) for ministry director generals and their deputies.
The bonuses will also be extended to up to 300 additional senior civil servants, costing the state treasury millions in extra expenditures annually, according to Hebrew media reports.
The move comes at a time when the government is tightening its belt elsewhere in order to pay for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The 2025 state budget, which is currently making its way through the Knesset, includes a nearly NIS 40 billion package of tax hikes and spending cuts to try to rein in a budget deficit now running at 8.5% of GDP. Under the new budget, Israelis are slated to pay more taxes while receiving fewer public and government services. This includes increases in National Insurance contributions, costing the average household up to NIS 2,000 a year.
In a statement released ahead of the government’s approval of the measure, the Histadrut labor federation called it a “scandal” and said that during such a difficult period “everybody must pitch in, including the most senior people.”
“To impose heavy taxes and harsh decrees on the public and, on the other hand, to give grants of hundreds of thousands of shekels for political appointments in government ministries is not only unbelievable audacity, it is also bribing close businessmen and strengthening the base,” complains opposition MK Vladimir Beliak. “Never before has Israel had such a failed and shameless government.”
Army says it nabbed hundreds of terror suspects at northern Gaza hospital, capping Jabalia offensive
Suspected Palestinian terror operatives are detained by troops near northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, in a handout photo issued by the military on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Following the Israeli military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, army sources indicate that the IDF is close to completing its operations in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.
Kamal Adwan Hospital is being described by the IDF as “Hamas’s last bastion in Jabalia,” after hundreds of terror operatives allegedly used the medical facility as a shelter from Israeli strikes. According to the military, the terror operatives had returned to Kamal Adwan after the IDF last operated in the medical center in late October.
There is no way to verify the military’s claims.
The IDF has been operating in the Jabalia area since early October, facing relatively fierce resistance by remaining Hamas cells in the area, military sources say.
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.
Palestinians evacuate from northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, in a handout photo issued by the military on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The army says drone strikes killed the members of two Hamas cells who tried to run away the hospital as troops moved in. Within an hour, more civilians and patients fled the area under IDF instructions, the army says.
Patients, caregivers, and medical personnel were taken to the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where the IDF says it delivered fuel, generators, and other medical equipment from Kamal Adwan.
The army says it collared 240 terror suspects while screening nearly 950 people who passed through an army checkpoint outside the hospital. According to the IDF, among the 240 were at least 15 participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel, and several others considered to be prominent commanders in Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Some terror operatives posed as medical staff and patients, and some tried to leave in stretchers and ambulances, the army says.
The director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, was also detained. The IDF says he is suspected of being a Hamas operative.
The IDF says that the Kamal Radwan raid marks one of the largest single arrest operations in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
The IDF acknowledges that few weapons were found in the hospital itself, but says that numerous weapons were located and seized in apartments surrounding Kamal Adwan, which were used by Hamas as fighting positions, some of which were booby-trapped.
During the operation, the military says RPGs were fired at an armored personnel carrier from an area near the hospital, though there were no casualties.
IDF troops are seen next to Palestinians who evacuated from northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, in a handout photo issued by the military on December 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
In all, the IDF says it killed 19 terror operatives during the fighting around the hospital. Hamas authorities have claimed that around 50 Palestinians were killed, including medical staff at the hospital.
The IDF says it did not fire directly at the hospital, did not target any medical staff, and is unaware of civilian casualties in the operation.
The IDF says it has no plans to demolish the now-defunct medical facility following the raid.
Evacuees okayed for two more months of government-funded housing
The government says it is extending funding to house nearly 70,000 Israelis displaced by fighting in the north and south until February 28, more than 90 days after fighting ended in Lebanon.
According to the government, some 13,580 internally displaced persons are housed in hotels and other accommodations funded by the state while a further 54,555 are staying in “self-arranged housing “and receiving an allowance to help them pay for it.
The vast majority of the evacuees are from northern Israel who were forced from their homes over a year ago by incessant rocket fire from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The area has remained calm since a ceasefire was signed late last month, though many homes and other buildings struck by rockets, drones or other weapons will need to be repaired or rebuilt before they are again inhabitable. Fighting is ongoing in the south, but the intensity of rocket fire from Gaza has fallen off sharply in the last several months.
The government has spent more than NIS 9 billion ($2.4 billion) on the evacuation of Israelis since the October 7 attack, with some NIS 6 billion ($1.6 billion) going to payments to hotels and property owners, the government says.
Evacuees who choose not to stay in hotels are given a housing allowance of NIS 200 ($54) per adult and NIS 100 ($27) per child per day.
Five rockets fired from Gaza at Sderot; two intercepted — IDF
Illustrative: Smoke trails from rockets fired by Gaza terror groups as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 7, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Five rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot a short while ago, the military says.
According to the IDF, two rockets were intercepted, while the other three apparently struck open areas.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.
It marks the third day in a row of rocket attacks from Gaza, as the IDF presses on with a ground offensive against Hamas in the Strip’s far north.
Rocket sirens sound in Sderot, nearby communities
Sirens have just sounded in the city of Sderot and other communities adjacent to the northern Gaza Strip.
There is immediate comment from the military on possible interceptions or impacts.
The sirens come a day after Gazans fired two long-range rockets toward Jerusalem; the launch coincided with a fresh Israeli offensive in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza.
At least six reported killed in alleged Israeli strike near Damascus
Multiple casualties are being reported in an alleged Israeli airstrike on a weapons depot outside of Damascus.
According to al-Meyadeen, an outlet affiliated with allies of the deposed Assad regime, six people were killed in the strike near the Syrian capital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war-monitor, reports 11 killed. The observatory, which relies on the sources on the ground in Syria, has been accused in the past of publishing inflated casualty numbers.
Unverified claims published on social media put the toll even higher. Footage from the strike shared online shows extensive damage to a building as rescuers comb through the rubble.
#عاااجل
📌مقتل شخصين جراء انفجار بمستودع أسلحة يرجح أنه ناجم عن قصف إسرائيلي قرب مدينة عدرا بريف دمشق pic.twitter.com/9h2xh70HHf— المرصد أبو أمين 80 (@Najdat567) December 29, 2024
Earlier, Syria’s Sham FM radio reported that an explosion in the city of Adra, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, had killed several people.
There is no comment from Syrian or Israeli authorities.
Tourist killed in Red Sea shark attack off Egypt
Illustrative: Rescuers wait on the beach of Marsa Alam, Egypt, November 25, 2024, after a tourist yacht sank in the Red Sea following warnings about rough seas. (AP)
One tourist was killed and another was injured in a shark attack in Egypt’s Marsa Alam resort, the country’s environment ministry says in a statement without giving the nationalities of those involved.
There are sharks in the Red Sea but encounters with them are relatively rare.
Marsa Alam is an Egyptian coastal town known for its coral reefs, marine life and beaches, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Eilat.
The ministry says the attack occurred in deep water outside the designated swimming zone near the jetties in northern Marsa Alam, adding that swimming out from the jetties was prohibited and the jetties would be closed for two days starting Monday.
Azerbaijan says Russia shot down plane, tried to hush up mistake
Specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024. (Handout / Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry via AFP)
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev says that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, criticizing Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days.
“We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia,” he tells Azerbaijani state television. “We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done.”
Aliyev says the airliner, which crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan, was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and “rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.” He accuses Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days, saying he was “upset and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.
“Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions,” he said.
The crash killed 38 of 67 people on board. The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land.
Aliyev says Azerbaijan has demanded Russia apologize, admit guilt, bring those responsible to justice and pay compensation to the Azeri state and those injured.
Aliyev notes that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to him on Saturday. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident” though stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells Russian state media that Putin had spoken to Aliyev over the phone again, but does not provide details of the conversation.
The Kremlin also says a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan is underway at the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
PM to undergo prostate surgery in underground facility amid concerns of rocket fire – report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the district court in Tel Aviv on December 23, 2024, to attend the fifth day of testimony in his trial on corruption charges. (Debbie Hill/Pool/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery to remove his prostate in an underground facility at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, Channel 12 news reports.
The surgery is being undertaken in a reinforced operating theater amid concerns of rocket fire during the procedure, the report says. Rockets have been fired from both Yemen and Gaza toward the Jerusalem area over the past 48 hours.
Netanyahu will be put under full anesthetic and will remain in the hospital for “several days” following the surgery, his lawyer said earlier today.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin will fill in temporarily as acting premier while Netanyahu undergoes surgery, according to Hebrew-language media. Defense Minister Israel Katz will be authorized to convene the security cabinet if needed.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, patients who undergo a prostatectomy usually leave hospital after one to two days, but “likely” are discharged with a catheter that is required for 7 to ten days after surgery.
The website recommends patients resume activity “slowly over time,” and says patients can be back to their “usual routine in about 4 to 6 weeks.”
Syrian media reports Israeli strike near Damascus with several killed
Syrian media reports casualties in a suspected Israeli airstrike near Damascus.
According to the Sham FM radio, an explosion in the city of Adra, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, killed several people.
The station says the blast was likely an Israeli strike.
There is no comment from the IDF.
Levin to be acting PM as Netanyahu undergoes surgery to remove prostate, Katz authorized to convene security cabinet
Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks at a Knesset plenum session, December 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undergoing prostate surgery today, Justice Minister Yariv Levin will fill in temporarily as acting premier, according to Hebrew-language media.
Defense Minister Israel Katz will be authorized to convene the security cabinet if needed.
Netanyahu will be put under full anesthetic for his operation and will remain in the hospital for several days following the surgery, his defense lawyer told the Jerusalem District Court earlier today as he requested that the prime minister’s scheduled testimony be canceled.
South Korean officials confirm 179 killed in plane crash, 2 crew members survived
Firefighters and rescue personnel work near the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province on December 29, 2024 (YONHAP / AFP)
A total of 179 people were killed in the Jeju Air plane crash in South Korea, the country’s fire agency says as it announced a final toll from the disaster.
“Of the 179 dead, 65 have been identified,” the fire agency says of the crash at Muan International Airport, which two members of the crew survived.
BREAKING: New video shows moment Boeing 737-800 plane carrying 181 people onboard crashes at Muan International Airport in South Korea.
pic.twitter.com/konxWBpnWy— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) December 29, 2024
Smotrich announces grazing subsidies to be increased for West Bank farmers
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits the illegal farming outpost of Mishkenot Harel in the central West Bank on December 29, 2024 (Office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces that state grants from the Agriculture Minister to Israeli farms in the West Bank will be increased in order to come into line with grants to farms inside Israel, with grazing subsidies to be available to farmers in both settlements and illegal outposts.
Smotrich makes his announcement during a visit to the illegal farming outpost of Mishkenot Harel in the central West Bank region, where he says the policy is designed to strengthen Israeli territorial control of the region and block the ability of the Palestinians to increase their control of the land.
“Our policy is aimed at preserving national land reserves, creating secure and strategic territorial contiguity, and curbing Palestinian efforts to expand their illegal control over lands in the region,” declares Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with control over the recently established Settlements Administration.
Some Israeli farmers in the West Bank, including those in illegal farming outposts, have received grazing subsidies in recent years to the tune of hundreds of thousands of shekels, including some that have been sanctioned by the US and other countries.
But last week Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter announced an expedited process for Israeli farmers in the West Bank to receive such grants, meaning that many more farms in the contested territory, including illegal outposts will, now be able to receive such funds.
“I am proud to lead a reformed policy that supports farmers and ranchers in Judea and Samaria and ensures the strength of the State of Israel on all fronts,” says Smotrich at Mishkenot Harel, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.
He also thanks Dichter for implementing the change in policy, as well as Likud MK Avichay Buaron for helping advance the issue.
Yisrael Ganz, head of the Benjamin Regional Council in whose jurisdiction Mishkenot Harel lies, also welcomes the move, saying that it followed “giants steps taken by the government to establish the State of Israel in Judea and Samaria.”
Settlers on farming outposts largely raise livestock, with the explicit goal of asserting control over large swaths of West Bank land, which can be more easily accomplished by grazing sheep, goats, and cattle than by the establishment of residential settlements.
Government says plan to promote Hebrew among Arab Israelis will ‘open doors in employment, academia’
In a joint statement, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Education Ministry announce that they are launching a “strategic plan” to promote the use of the Hebrew language among Arab Israelis.
According to the announcement, the PMO, as well as the education and social equality ministries, have submitted to the cabinet a multiyear plan “to promote the Hebrew language among Arabic speakers, with a large budget of NIS 744 million ($202 million).”
“Mastery of the Hebrew language is essential for full integration into Israeli society,” the PMO states, asserting that increasing Hebrew fluency will “open doors for many young Arab men and women in the fields of employment and academia, will enable access to essential information and services, and will promote better cooperation between Jews and Arabs.”
“The Israeli government is today taking an important strategic step, with a large financial investment, that will directly affect the integration of Arab Israelis into Israeli society, and as a result – will assist in the fight against the increase in crime in Arab society,” Netanyahu declares.
Cabinet members increase calls for dismissal of AG: ‘Send her home’
Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara attends the funeral of former Judge Elisheva Barak-Ussoskin at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, December 11, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s absence from this morning’s government meeting sparks further calls for her dismissal by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
According to leaked quotes published in various Hebrew media outlets, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir slams Baharav-Miara for not appearing before the cabinet and accuses her of engaging in “selective enforcement.”
He says that comments by opposition lawmaker Democrats chief Yair Golan is “seditious and threatening,” those by MK Naama Lazimi are “incendiary,” and that there are “threats against the prime minister and the ministers [and she] doesn’t want to investigate.”
“I don’t understand why the issue of impeachment isn’t raised,” Transportation Minister Miri Regev declares, urging Justice Minister Yariv Levin to bring up the issue immediately.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi agrees, calling for the cabinet to “send her home.” He claims that “there is an absolute majority here for impeachment.”
After Education Minister Yoav Kisch notes that Ben Gvir has conditioned his voting for the budget on Baharav-Miara’s ouster, the far right minister accuses his colleagues of making excuses on the issue of the attorney general’s ouster for a year.
Ben Gvir has voted twice against bills relating to the 2025 state budget in an effort to force the prime minister’s hand on the issue.
Coalition leaders last week reportedly agreed in principle on how to move forward on firing Baharav-Miara, beginning with a preliminary hearing at a cabinet meeting during which she would be asked to defend her record.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, coalition leaders are weighing waiting for a period of months before pulling the trigger on her termination in order to avoid accusations of politicizing the process.
While the prime minister was not quoted in any of the leaked discussions from the cabinet discussion, a spokesperson for Netanyahu told The Times of Israel that he was present during the meeting.
IDF says jets hit Hamas members operating command center at former hospital in Gaza City
This picture shows the damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a group of Hamas members who were operating out of a former hospital in Gaza City a short while ago, the military says.
Palestinian media report at least seven dead and several others wounded in the airstrike on Al-Wafa Hospital.
According to the IDF, the operatives were part of Hamas’s air defense unit in the terror group’s Shejaiya Battalion.
“The terrorists operated in a command and control center that was established in a building that was previously used as Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, and is not currently an active hospital,” the military says.
The IDF says the operatives were using the command center at the former hospital to plan and carry out attacks against troops operating in Gaza “in the immediate future.”
The military says it took “numerous steps” to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure in the strike, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
Artillery shelling also reportedly hit the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City this morning, though there is no immediate comment from the IDF on that incident.
Syrian leader: New elections could take up to 4 years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will be dissolved
Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Holding elections in Syria could take up to four years, Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says in an interview with Al Arabiya, the first time he has commented on a possible timetable for elections since Bashar al-Assad was ousted this month.
Drafting a new constitution could take up to three years, Sharaa says in excerpts from the interview with the Saudi state-owned broadcaster. He also says it would take about a year for Syrians to see drastic changes.
Sharaa leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which ousted Assad on Dec. 8, ending decades of Assad family rule and a 13-year civil war. He says HTS will be dissolved in a national dialogue conference.
On foreign ties, Sharaa says Syria has strategic interests with Russia. Russia has military bases in Syria, was a close Assad ally during the long civil war, and has granted Assad asylum.
Sharaa said earlier this month that Syria’s relations with Russia should serve common interests.
Sharaa also says he hopes the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will lift sanctions imposed on Syria. Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus this month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.
PA forces reportedly kill Palestinian journalist in Jenin; security services blame ‘outlaws’
Palestinian Authority security forces killed Palestinian journalist Shatha al-Sabbagh in the Jenin refugee camp, according to a statement published by her family on her Telegram channel.
The independent reporter was killed by a sniper at night outside her home in a “fully lit neighborhood,” her family says, implying it was a deliberate act. The woman’s relatives say there was no fighting nearby at the time she was shot.
The family says it holds the PA directly responsible and claims that the ongoing crackdown by the PA against terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Jenin and Tulkarem represents a “dangerous escalation” that indicates that PA security services have turned into “repressive instruments that conduct terrorism against their people instead of protecting their dignity and standing up to the [Israeli] occupation.”
The Palestinian security forces say in a statement that the “heinous crime was committed by outlaws inside the Jenin camp.” They vow to investigate the killing.
Palestinian journalist Shatha Al-Sabbagh was fatally shot and killed by a PA soldier while standing outside her home along with her sister-in-law and her mother in Jenin refugee camp, occupied West Bank.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that Sabbagh was holding children in a well-lit… pic.twitter.com/yrD069TcDX
— Dr. Renee Levant (@ReneeLevant) December 29, 2024
Court agrees to cancel PM’s hearings in light of his upcoming prostate surgery
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in the courtroom of the Tel Aviv District Court where he is giving testimony in his criminal trial, December 24, 2024. (Moti Milrod/POOL)
The Jerusalem District Court agrees to cancel the three hearings scheduled for this week for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial on corruption charges in light of his prostate removal surgery today.
“The hearing is expected to resume next week, on Monday, January 6,” the court says, and wishes Netanyahu “refuah sheleima,” a speedy recovery.
The prime minister’s lawyer submitted earlier a request for the hearings to be canceled this week, noting that the prime minister will undergo the surgery under full anesthetic and will remain in the hospital for several days.
Netanyahu’s attorney added that he would “update the court going forward.”
Netanyahu to be hospitalized for ‘several days’ after prostate removal surgery, asks to cancel court hearings this week
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters a courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court before the start of his testimony, December 23, 2024. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requests that the hearings in his criminal trial in which he was scheduled to testify this week be canceled due to the operation to remove his prostate he is scheduled to undergo today.
His request, submitted by his attorney Amit Hadad to the Jerusalem District Court, notes that the prime minister will undergo the surgery under full anesthetic and that he will remain in hospital for “several days.”
“At this stage, the court is requested to cancel the hearings scheduled for this week,” Hadad says, adding that he will “update the court going forward.”
Hadad notes the prosecution has already agreed to cancel the hearings this week.
Netanyahu began giving testimony on December 10 and has testified in court six times so far on the charges against him of bribery and fraud and breach of trust.
Halevi postpones senior IDF appointments amid apparent disagreements with Katz
Defense Minister Israel Katz, left, during a visit to Northern Command with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on November 13, 2024. (X video screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A meeting tomorrow in which IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi was to decide on appointments for senior officers in the military has been postponed, the IDF says.
During the meeting, Halevi was supposed to rule on the appointments for some 60 colonels and brigadier generals.
The postponement comes apparently due to disagreements between Halevi and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The defense minister has already refused to approve the promotion of two senior officers. He has also said he would not sign off on any officers being promoted to the rank of major general and will also oppose the appointment of any current major generals to new roles until he reviews the IDF’s October 7 investigations.
A military source says Halevi and Katz will agree on the appointment process soon.
All but two feared dead after South Korea plane crashes with 181 aboard
Firefighters and rescue personnel work near the wreckage of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province on December 29, 2024 (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, leaving all but two feared dead.
A bird strike and adverse weather conditions were cited by authorities as likely causes of the crash that flung passengers out of the plane and left it “almost completely destroyed,” according to fire officials.
Video showed the Jeju Air plane from Bangkok landing on its belly at Muan International Airport, skidding off the runway as smoke streamed out from the engines, before crashing into a wall and exploding in flames.
“Passengers were ejected from the aircraft after it collided with the wall, leaving little chance of survival,” a local fire official tells families at a briefing, according to a statement released by the fire brigade.
“The plane is almost completely destroyed, and identifying the deceased is proving difficult. The process is taking time as we locate and recover the remains,” he is quoted as saying.
Only two people were rescued, both flight attendants, and 120 people were confirmed dead by mid-afternoon, the fire department says in a statement.
https://twitter.com/AlexInAir/status/1873176582480912728
Bus hits pedestrians in Ashkelon traffic accident, police say; 2 injured, 1 seriously
A bus accidentally hit pedestrians in Ashkelon, police say.
According to medics, two people were injured in the incident, one of them seriously.
IDF says jets hit north Gaza launchers used to fire two rockets at Jerusalem area on Saturday
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun launchers used by Palestinian terrorists to fire two long-range rockets at the Jerusalem area on Saturday, the military says.
There were no injuries or damage in Saturday’s rare long-range rocket attack from Gaza, as both projectiles were intercepted.
When the strike was carried out, another rocket had been loaded into one of the launchers, the IDF says, releasing an image showing the launchers before they were hit.
The rocket is seen flying out of the launcher following the strike, in a video published by the military.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו במהלך הלילה, בהכוונת מכלול האש של חטיבת הנח״ל את המשגרים מהם בוצע הירי לעבר המרחבים לכיש, השפלה, ירקון, מערב הנגב, יהודה וירושלים אתמול.
במשגרים שהותקפו הייתה רקטה מוכנה לשיגור לעבר מדינת ישראל.
כתוצאה מהתקיפה זוהתה רקטה היוצאת ממתחם השיגור pic.twitter.com/9Gzbb5zSK6
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 29, 2024
Police arrest suspect in killing of young woman found dead on Ashkelon beach
The suspect in the killing of a young woman whose body was found last week on an Ashkelon beach was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport as he tried to flee the country, police say.
The suspect, a man in his 60s who is resident of the coastal city, was arrested trying to purchase a plane ticket.
The 26-year-old woman was found dead at the bottom of a cliff last Monday. She was named as Vika Skolinki.
An acquaintance of the woman told Haaretz that the victim is survived by her six-year-old daughter, her mother and three siblings.
According to unofficial tallies, this year has seen a spike in murders.
אם למישהו איכפת,
זאת ויקה שקולניק. בת 26. בשבוע שעבר נמצאה קבורה בחוף באשקלון עם סימני אלימות קשים. מוות אכזרי.
הייתה לה בת שהועברה לאומנה.
עוד קורבן שקוף של פשיעה משתוללת. זינוק מטורף בשנתיים האחרונות ברצח נשים. לא תשמעו מילה משר בממשלה. בטח לא מבן גביר. כאילו כלום. https://t.co/XOtMwXotx4 pic.twitter.com/nLmgKcfkbQ— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) December 29, 2024
Police commander killed by suicide bomber in southern Iran
A suicide bomber killed the head of police intelligence in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Lengeh on Saturday, Iranian state media reports.
The unidentified bomber was also killed and another police officer was injured in the attack outside a police headquarters in the Gulf port city, the media reports say.
The attack came days ahead of the anniversary of two suicide bombings on Jan. 3 in which nearly 100 people were killed at a memorial in southeastern Iran for top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in Iraq in 2020 by a US drone. Islamic State claimed those two suicide bombings.
Bird strike, adverse weather likely caused fatal S. Korea plane crash — fire chief
Emergency services say a bird strike and adverse weather conditions were the likely causes of a Jeju Air plane crash that killed at least 85 people in South Korea.
“The cause of the accident is presumed to be a bird strike combined with adverse weather conditions. However, the exact cause will be announced following a joint investigation,” Lee Jeong-hyun, chief of Muan fire station, says during a briefing.
Lee Hyeon-ji, a response team officer at the local fire department, had earlier warned that “the tally could rise due to the critically injured”.
Death toll rises to 85 in S. Korea Jeju Air plane crash — fire agency
Eighty-five people have been killed and two rescued so far, South Korea’s fire agency says, after a Jeju Air plane crashed on landing with 181 people on board.
“So far, two rescued and 85 dead,” the National Fire Agency says in a statement, with the rescue operation ongoing.
62 confirmed dead in South Korea plane crash — fire agency
Sixty-two people are confirmed dead after a Jeju Air plane crashed on landing in South Korea, the country’s fire agency says, with dramatic video showing the aircraft bursting into flames.
“So far two rescued, 62 dead,” the national fire agency says in a statement, adding that 25 of the victims were male, 37 female.
Interpol issues international alert for Lev Tahor member
Interpol, an international police organization, issues an international alert for a member of the Lev Tahor extremist Jewish group.
Jonathan Emmanuel Cardona Castillo, 23, is wanted by Guatemala for charges including human trafficking, rape and abuse of minors, Interpol says in a Red Notice.
Castillo is a citizen of Guatemala, where Lev Tahor is based, and El Salvador, and speaks Hebrew and Spanish, the notice says.
The Associated Press confirms Castillo is a leader of Lev Tahor, citing Guatemalan police and prosecutors.
South Korea plane crash death toll jumps to 47 — fire agency
Forty-seven people have been killed and two rescued so far, South Korea’s fire agency says, after a Jeju Air plane crashed on landing with 181 people on board.
“So far, two rescued and 47 confirmed dead,” the National Fire Agency says in a statement, with the rescue operation ongoing.
Video shows the Boeing 737-8AS flying from Bangkok to Muan airport attempting to land but crashing and being engulfed in flames.
Two rescued so far from S. Korea plane crash — fire agency
One flight attendant and one passenger have been rescued so far, South Korea’s fire agency says Sunday, after a South Korean Jeju Air plane crashed with 181 people on board.
“Currently two have been rescued, one passenger and one flight attendant,” the national fire agency says in a statement, adding that 32 fire trucks and scores of firefighters had been deployed to the crash site at Muan airport.
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: 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.
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