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The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.
Rubio indicates that an IDF return to fighting wouldn’t solve problem of Hamas
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department, February 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein).
After appearing earlier this week to back an Israeli return to fighting in Gaza, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates that this might not solve the threat posed by Hamas.
Rubio discusses Trump’s proposal for the US to take over Gaza and relocate the Strip’s entire population during an interview on the radio show of conservative hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
He reiterates that the US is willing to consider alternative plans from its Arab allies, but “any plan that leaves Hamas there is going to be a problem because Israel is not going to tolerate it.”
“We’re going to give [Arab allies] a chance to come up with a plan… and not just to pay for it because… someone’s going to have to go on the ground. Hamas has weapons,” Rubio continues.
“Someone has to confront those guys. Who’s that going to be? It’s not going to be American soldiers. If the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been,” the secretary of state says. “So that doesn’t solve the problem.”
This is the first time a Trump official has made such an acknowledgment, though it’s unclear whether it is a policy stance, if Rubio was speaking off the cuff, or if he was speaking on behalf of US President Donald Trump, who appeared to give Israel a green light to return to fighting when he warned earlier this week of hell breaking loose if the hostages aren’t all released by Saturday at noon.
“They don’t like it, but the only plan right now is the Trump plan. If they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it. So we’re looking forward to that,” Rubio adds.
IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites that posed ‘direct threat’ to Israel, violating ceasefire
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon a short while ago, saying it targeted Hezbollah facilities.
The sites hit by fighter jets were used by Hezbollah to store weapons and launchers and had “posed a direct threat to the Israeli home front,” the military says.
According to the IDF, Hezbollah activity at the sites “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Israeli airstrikes reported in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes near the southern towns of Yohmor and Deir Siryan.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
غارتان اسرائيليتان استهدفتا مجرى نهر الليطاني بين بلدتي يحمر ودير سريان pic.twitter.com/kJwDn2DZIi
— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) February 13, 2025
Rubio: Arab states never do ‘anything for Gaza,’ they should offer alternatives to Trump plan
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, not shown, at the State Department, February 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says his country is eager to hear new proposals by Arab states on Gaza, accusing them of not being willing to take any practical steps to help the Palestinians, following US President Donald Trump’s stunning plan to displace the territory’s entire population.
Rubio, who leaves later today on a trip that will take him to the Middle East, says he hopes to discuss ideas during his stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as Israel, after talks in Washington with Egypt and Jordan.
“Hopefully they’re going to have a really good plan to present the president,” Rubio says of Arab states, speaking on the radio show of conservative hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton. “Right now, the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it.”
“All these countries say how much they care about the Palestinians, but none of them want to take any Palestinians. None of them have a history of doing anything for Gaza,” Rubio charges.
Diplomats say that Egypt is leading efforts to present an alternative to Trump within weeks, which would involve training a new security force in Gaza and identifying local Palestinian leaders who would be in charge.
Rubio says he believes Arab states are “working in good faith,” but a red line is that there should be no future role for Hamas.
“If the countries in the region can’t figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it, and then we’re back to where we’ve been,” he says.
Western Wall rabbi demands stone displayed at airport be returned to holy site
'The Eternity of Israel Exhibition' is inaugurated at Ben Gurion Airport on February 12, 2025. Items on display include a Western Wall stone. (Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority)
The rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovitch, demands that a stone from the Jerusalem holy site currently on display at Ben Gurion Airport be returned to its original location.
“The Western Wall stones are sacred, and with all the desire to showcase Jewish history and Israel’s heritage, the Western Wall stones should not be removed for this purpose,” he writes in a letter addressed to Heritage Ministry Director-General Itay Grank and Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Director Eli Eskozido.
The Heritage Ministry and the IAA co-organized the exhibition “The Eternity of Israel” with the Airports Authority. The exhibition was inaugurated yesterday.
Alongside the stone, the exhibit at Ben Gurion’s departure hall features a Hasmonean coin hoard; archaeological evidence of the name “Ahab,” a king of northern Israel featured in the Bible; and ancient weapons.
Numerous stones from the Western Wall that collapsed as the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE can be found in excavations in the area of the Western Wall Plaza. One of them is on permanent display at the President’s Residence.
Rabinovitch concludes his letter by requesting that the stone be taken from the airport and immediately returned to the Western Wall area.
Hezbollah supporters protest Lebanon’s prevention of Iranian planes landing in Beirut
Hezbollah supporters block the Beirut airport road and burn tires to protest a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital, state media and an airport official say.
“Young men set tires on fire in front of the airport entrance, raising banners supporting Hezbollah’s former secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah,” Lebanon’s National News Agency says.
Some of the young men raised Hezbollah’s yellow flag and held pictures of Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike in September, as well as Iran’s slain IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
The Lebanese army was deployed there, the NNA says, with videos online showing scuffles between angry protesters and soldiers.
Protesters gather and burn tires near Beirut International Airport after the Lebanese government denied an Iranian plane from landing there today. pic.twitter.com/YtOFJhc2OS
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 13, 2025
It appears the protesters’ ire is directed at the Lebanese government and airport authorities for allegedly capitulating to Israeli pressure to cancel the flight.
Last night, the IDF said that Iran’s Quds Force has, in recent weeks, been using civilian flights to smuggle cash to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon via the Beirut international airport, and that the Israeli military has been regularly updating a US-led committee supervising the ceasefire with information to foil the attempts.
A member of parliament from Hezbollah’s political wing, Ibrahim Moussawi, says in a statement that the plane was prevented from flying “as a result of an Israeli threat” to target it.
Some reports suggest the reason was suspicions that funds meant for the terror group were on the planes.
An official at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport tells AFP that the Public Works and Transportation Ministry asked the facility to inform Mahan Air that Lebanon could not welcome two of its Beirut-bound flights.
One flight was scheduled for today and another for tomorrow, says the official, who requests anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
US signals backing for IDF staying in 5 southern Lebanon posts after Feb. 18 deadline
US President Donald Trump’s administration indicates that it supports the IDF remaining in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon beyond the February 18 withdrawal deadline.
“The United States views President Joseph Aoun as having a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead Lebanon away from the stranglehold of Hezbollah and Iran, and we believe that President Aoun has the mandate to do that,” a Trump administration official says in a statement to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity.
“The first test of that is whether the Lebanese Armed Forces actually implements the letter of the ceasefire agreement that Lebanon signed in November 2024 to counter Hezbollah’s efforts to reassert itself,” the official continues.
“Israeli presence in the five points directly bears on whether the government of Lebanon ultimately does what it has promised to do,” the Trump official says, suggesting that Israel’s sustained presence in those five positions will help the effort to prevent the regrouping of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
“Unlike the Biden administration, we will not be grading on a curve,” the official adds, appearing to claim that the previous White House was too lenient regarding the effort to combat Hezbollah.
Fundraiser for freed hostage Eli Sharabi raises over $300,000 in hours
Released hostage Eli Sharabi arrives at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, wrapped in an Israeli flag, as he walks to be reunited with members of his family after 491 days in Hamas captivity, February 8, 2025. (Haim Tsach/GPO)
A fundraiser for Eli Sharabi, who was released by the Hamas terror group last Saturday after 491 days in captivity, raises more than NIS 1.1 million ($308,000) within hours, from over 6,000 individual donors.
Sharabi — who was visibly emaciated upon his release — was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught. He turns 53 today.
It was only upon Sharabi’s release that he learned terrorists murdered his wife Lianne, and their daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, that day. His brother Yossi, who was kidnapped alongside him, died in Hamas captivity, likely as the result of an IDF strike.
“Eli’s friends and I were thinking about what we could do to help Eli, and we realized there was also a desire among the nation to help him recover,” Sharabi’s friend Sharon Eden, who set up the online fundraiser, tells Ynet.
“There are amazing people in this country. Eli is aware of the extent of the support he’s receiving, and he’s shocked by what he sees. He doesn’t understand why he’s receiving this love, and he’s moved by everything,” Eden says.
“From the moment I saw him get out of the Hamas vehicle, and he was skinny and emaciated, and everyone here was crying — I smiled, because he arrived in relatively good condition, considering what it could have been, and a condition that’s relatively easy to recover from, physically,” he says.
“We told him that we thought they’d break him, and he said: ‘They didn’t stand a chance.’ He’s sad, and it will take him time to recover, but he’s a strong person,” Eden adds.
‘No deportations’: Vatican says Palestinians must ‘stay on their land’
A top Vatican official rejects US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza, saying “The Palestinian population must remain on its land.”
“This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportations,” Secretary of State Pietro Parolin says on the sidelines of an Italy-Vatican meeting, according to the ANSA news agency.
Moving Palestinians out would cause regional tensions and “makes no sense” as neighboring countries such as Jordan are opposed, he continues.
“The solution in our opinion is that of two states because this also means giving hope to the population,” he says.
Trump has proposed taking over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt.
Pope Francis this week criticized Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants in the United States — drawing a sharp response.
In a letter to US bishops, the head of the Catholic Church called the deportations a “major crisis” and said sending back people who had fled their own countries in distress “damages the dignity” of the migrants.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, responded: “I wish he’d stick to the Catholic Church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us.”
Hamas has agreed to free 3 hostages on Saturday in accordance with deal, official tells ToI
Activists holding photos depicting the faces of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, during a protest demanding their release from Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, February 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Hamas is on track to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement both sides reached last month, a senior Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.
However, the diplomat stresses that Israel should not expect Hamas to release additional hostages either on Saturday or the immediate days that follow, as this is not what was stipulated in the agreement.
“We got Hamas to agree to release the hostages on Saturday, after it was threatening not to release any of them. To assume that they will go beyond that would be a stretch,” the diplomat says.
Israel’s Channel 12 and Kan News also report that Israel believes Hamas will send the names tomorrow afternoon of three hostages to be freed on Saturday.
Channel 12 says that Israel, via the mediators, is trying to pressure Hamas to release in the next few days the other six living hostages who are set to go free under the current first phase of the deal — that is, ahead of the schedule under which they would be freed, three at a time, on February 22 and March 1.
Israel has been pushing for their expedited release since last Saturday’s release of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami in emaciated condition.
Channel 12 further reports that Israeli efforts to have more living hostages added to the “humanitarian” category and thus released in the current first phase of the deal, rather than phase two, have been rejected by Hamas, which has told mediators that it is “not prepared to discuss” the idea.
The mediators are said to be urging Israel to begin negotiations in earnest on phase two of the deal, warning that, if this does not happen, the rest of phase one could be at risk. It is possible, says the TV report, that Israel could despatch a delegation to Qatar for such talks next week.
It also notes that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is headed to Israel on Saturday night, is set to meet families of hostages on Sunday.
Sign of life received for hostage Segev Kalfon, his family says
Segev Kalfon, taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from the Supernova rave (Courtesy)
The family of Hamas hostage Segev Kalfon, 27, has received a fresh sign of life from him, Hebrew media reports.
The information was received from a hostage who was released by the Palestinian terror group last Saturday.
Kalfon, from Dimona, was abducted from the Nova rave near Re’im during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. He isn’t among the hostages slated for release in the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire.
In recent days, signs of life have come in for at least 11 hostages, as recently freed captives provide information from over 15 months of captivity in Gaza.
Lebanese parliament speaker rejects Israeli demand to stay in 5 southern locations after Feb. 18
Lebanon’s powerful parliament speaker Nabih Berri says Beirut rejects Israel’s demand to remain in five locations in the south after the February 18 deadline for fully implementing a fragile ceasefire deal.
The United States, a key mediator, “informed me that the Israeli occupation will withdraw from villages it still occupies on February 18, but it will remain in five points,” Hezbollah-ally Berri says in a statement, adding: “I informed them in my name and on behalf of President General Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Judge Nawaf Salam of our absolute rejection” of this proposal.
Some in Israel concerned Trump’s USAID freeze may spark humanitarian crisis in Gaza — official
The Trump administration’s halt to much of the operations of the US Agency for International Development has some in Israel concerned, as it coincides with the implementation of Knesset legislation severely restricting the operations of UNRWA — a combination that could spark a humanitarian crisis if the war in Gaza resumes, a senior Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The concern is largely being voiced within COGAT — the Israeli military body responsible for facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli official explains.
Israel has been working to have alternative international agencies replace the large logistical role UNRWA has been playing in the Gaza humanitarian operation.
USAID funds many of those agencies, including the World Food Programme. While some of that funding has been allowed to continue in recent days, the Israeli official says there are other programs USAID funds in Gaza, the West Bank and beyond that are important to Israel’s security and economy but are currently in limbo.
Rights Group petitions to High Court against law handing police ‘predatory enforcement tools’
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel is petitioning the High Court to repeal a law curbing suspects’ freedom of movement and expression while they are under investigation, the organization announced yesterday.
Spearheaded by Otzma Yehudit MK Zvika Fogel, the law took effect in December as a two-year temporary measure to expand law enforcement’s power amid surging organized crime, particularly in Arab communities.
The petition claims that the legislation infringes on due process rights by allowing cops “predatory enforcement tools” that had previously only been used to combat national security and terror-related threats.
The organization adds that the legislation’s focus on crime in Arab society stands to deepen inequality between Jewish and Arab citizens by creating a separate method of enforcement for the latter group.
Under the new law, district court judges can grant restraining orders to police that allow them to limit a suspect’s time outside their home, prohibit them from traveling to certain locations or communicating with certain people, stop them from driving and traveling abroad, and more.
Police are also permitted to search the residences, vehicles and computers of those subject to such an order, and even physically search their person.
These restraining orders may be granted to law enforcement based on secret evidence, inaccessible to the suspect in an ongoing case.
The human rights group’s petition argues that the law is unconstitutional and “disproportionately harms human dignity and freedom” by creating a “bypass route to the criminal process, in which the balances and protections for suspects’ rights are not upheld.”
Resembling Israel’s pager op, Russian troops are targeted with booby-trapped drone headsets
Russian soldiers received a batch of booby-trapped headsets containing hidden explosives as part of a crowdfunded donation, Russian state media says.
Images of the disassembled headsets — with the appearance of standard “Cobra X V4” drone controller headsets made by Chinese manufacturer Skyzone — are posted on Telegram by pro-Kremlin blogger Razved Dozor.
Each headset is believed to have contained some 10-15 grams (about half an ounce) of plastic explosives, Dozor says.
Russians discovering small amounts of plastic explosives in a brand-new pair of FPV drone goggles. pic.twitter.com/8fCs24QaJ9
— FUNKER530 (@FunkerActual) February 11, 2025
“When the glasses were turned on, they detonated and exploded,” says a spokesperson for JSC NPP, a Russian company that provides equipment to the country’s military.
The report does not say whether anyone was wounded or killed by the headsets.
There is no immediate comment from Ukraine, which is at war with Russia since the latter’s 2022 invasion of its neighbor.
The incident draws comparisons to Israel’s operation in which pagers and communications devices containing hidden explosives were manufactured and sold to the Hezbollah terror group and then detonated in September 2024, wounding thousands of operatives simultaneously.
‘NO to ethnic cleansing’: Hundreds of US rabbis, Jewish celebs slam Trump in full-page NYT ad
Dozens of American Jewish celebrities and artists, as well as hundreds of rabbis, take out a full-page ad in The New York Times to object to ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
The ad is a response to US President Donald Trump’s calls to relocate the entire population of Gaza permanently, a proposal he has repeatedly doubled down on since taking office last month.
The brief text of the ad on page A7 reads: “Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!”
350 rabbis took out this full-page ad in @nytimes today opposing Trump’s plans for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.
➡️ Add your voice to theirs, go to https://t.co/oMAz1jaMnZ
➡️ Go to https://t.co/v6qeZNhPQi#SayNoToEthnicCleansing #GazaIsNotForSale pic.twitter.com/HwRG7jWz0r— Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (@JFREJNYC) February 13, 2025
The lead signatories are dozens of Jewish actors, artists and public figures, including Joaquin Phoenix and his siblings Summer and Rain, Ilana Glazer, Eric André, Morgan Spector, Tony Kushner, Jonathan Glazer, Larry Charles, Naomi Klein, Peter Beinart, Tavi Gevison and Wallace Shawn. Many on the list have previously spoken out in support of the Palestinians in public forums.
The public figures are followed by a list of hundreds of rabbis. That roster includes both a who’s-who of Jewish left-wing activism and the names of prominent liberal pulpit rabbis across the country, many of whom have been vocally supportive of Israel since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.
The rabbis’ list includes Sharon Brous, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Amy Eilberg, Sally Priesand, Elyse Wechterman, Dan Wolpe, Jill Jacobs, Alissa Wise, Brant Rosen, Francine Roston, Lizzi Heydemann, Roly Matalon, Susan Talve and Sharon Kleinbaum.
The ad’s website says donations from the project go to the In Our Name Campaign, an initiative founded by Jews in philanthropy who sought to raise $10 million for “organizations that support Palestinian-led efforts to build safety, dignity, and self-determination in Palestine,” as well as pro-Palestinian organizing in the United States.
Since Trump first proposed depopulating Gaza, a range of liberal Jewish groups have objected to the plan. His proposals for the territory have drawn sharp backlash globally and some skepticism within his party. Meanwhile, right-wing Jewish groups, as well as the Israeli government, have welcomed the idea.
After IDF’s Hezbollah smuggling claim, Lebanon tells Iranian airline its flight won’t be allowed to land
Dozens of Lebanese nationals have been stranded at the international airport in Tehran since this morning after Lebanese aviation authorities informed the Iranian Mahan Air airline that its flight to Beirut would not be permitted to land, Lebanese news channel LBCI reports.
Last night, the IDF said that Iran’s IRGC Quds Force has, in recent weeks, been using civilian flights to smuggle cash to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon via the Beirut international airport, and that the Israeli military has been regularly updating a US-led committee supervising the ceasefire with information to foil the attempts.
بعد منعها من التوجه إلى بيروت.. حالة من الغضب بين ركاب الطائرة الإيرانية في طهران #لبنان #إيران pic.twitter.com/a1s4VFHiOB
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) February 13, 2025
New Supreme Court chief Amit stresses readiness for dialogue with government
Incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit at his inauguration ceremony at the President's Residence in jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan SIndel/FLASH90)
Speaking at his swearing-in ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, incoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit says judicial independence must be protected “at all costs” but adds that the judiciary is ready for “dialogue and cooperation” between the branches of government.
Last year, Levin began boycotting then-head of the Supreme Court and now-retired justice Uzi Vogelman due to the court’s insistence that a new president be appointed after the justice minister refused to do so for many months.
Levin has vowed to boycott Amit too, after the court insisted that he hold a vote for a new Supreme Court president.
“I call and request again that the justice minister hold the regular working meetings which have always been customary between the justice minister and the president of the Supreme Court, as is required so that the citizens and residents of the country can continue to receive a quality and effective service from the courts,” says Amit.
Referencing what he sees as his role of the judiciary and its head, Amit insists that “the core of judicial independence — which is the authority and duty to rule independently, without external influences, without fear, and without authority, other than the authority of the law — must be guarded at all costs.”
He notes that the dialogue between Israel’s branches of government “has known ups and downs,” but says all officials must remember that their job is to serve the public.
“Our duty to the public is to strengthen and improve responsible and respectful discourse between the authorities,” he says, adding: “On behalf of the judiciary, I say that we are ready for dialogue and for substantive cooperation, which puts the public and service to the citizen at the forefront of its concerns – and I hope that we will find a helping hand in this context.”
New chief justice Amit will be tasked with defending judiciary’s independence, predecessor says
(R-L) Incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, President Isaac Herzog and former acting chief justice Uzi Vogelman at Amit's inauguration ceremony at the President's Residence in jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan SIndel/FLASH90)
Retired Supreme Court Justice Uzi Vogelman, who served as acting Supreme Court president until October last year, criticizes the government for boycotting the swearing-in ceremony for incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, panning legislation proposed by the government to change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee and its appointments mechanisms.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vogelman tells Amit he will now have the task of defending the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers in Israel, as previous generations of Supreme Court presidents have done.
“It is an inheritance that all Supreme Court presidents and its judges have nurtured and preserved from generation to generation, and it includes a commitment to the rule of law, uncompromising defense of human rights, and protection of the independence of the judicial branch [of government] and the separation of powers,” says Vogelman.
“I have no doubt that you will continue to protect this inheritance while protecting the standing of the Supreme Court and democracy in Israel.”
Vogelman addresses Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s newly proposed legislation to change the judicial appointments process, saying it would lead to a situation in which the majority of judges in Israel are appointed on a political basis and the process is dominated by politicians.
“The expected harm [to the judiciary] is not restricted to the individual independence of Israeli judges, but also threatens the institutional independence of the judicial branch in its entirety, since if the proposed law is passed, the other branches of government would have unrestrained power to dictate the identity of judges and the composition of courts, which would harm the institutional independence of the judicial authority,” says Vogelman.
IDF publishes footage of Gaza rocket launch
IDF footage shows the rocket launch from central Gaza this afternoon.
The rocket landed inside Gaza, reportedly killing a Palestinian teenager.
The IDF later struck the launcher.
תיעוד של הרקטה ששוגרה בתוך שטח הרצועה: pic.twitter.com/uOYSXfPyav
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 13, 2025
Netanyahu’s assessment still ongoing after 4 hours, discussing response to ‘various scenarios’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security assessment in the IDF Southern Command that has stretched for four hours, according to an Israeli official.
The meeting is examining the IDF’s operational plans “for various scenarios,” says the official.
Israeli officials have threatened to return to war in Gaza if Hamas does not release hostages on Saturday, something the terror group now says it will do.
IDF confirms strike on Gaza, says it hit launcher used to fire rocket earlier
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip a short while ago, saying it targeted a launcher used to fire a rocket this afternoon.
The rocket landed inside Gaza, reportedly killing a teenager.
Smotrich urges Netanyahu to okay ‘disproportionate response’ to Gaza rocket launch
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been threatening to quit the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t renew the war in Gaza after the current first phase of the ceasefire, urges a “disproportionate” response to the rocket launch from Gaza a short while ago.
The projectile landed in the Strip, reportedly killing a 14-year-old boy. It is unclear whether it was aimed at Israel.
“A rocket was fired from Gaza toward Israel,” Smotrich writes on X. “Mr. Prime Minister, this is a watershed moment. A moment for a strong and disproportionate response that will clarify” that Israel isn’t going back to its pre-Oct. 7 practice of limited reaction to rocket launches.
IDF reportedly strikes central Gaza after rocket was launched from area
Palestinian media report an Israeli airstrike in the Bureij area of the central Gaza Strip a short while ago.
The reported strike comes after a rocket was launched from the area and landed inside Gaza, reportedly killing a Palestinian teenager.
Breaking | Israeli occupation aircraft launch an airstrike targeting the east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/xwtKnGGMR1
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 13, 2025
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike.
US sanctions ICC chief Karim Khan over arrest warrant for Israeli leaders
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan attends a United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on January 27, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
The US Treasury Department has sanctioned International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan over his decision to file arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Under the sanctions, any assets Khan has in the US have been frozen, and he will be barred entry into the country.
The designation falls in line with an executive order US President Donald Trump signed last week ordering sanctions against the ICC.
Republican lawmakers had sought to pass separate legislation sanctioning the ICC over the arrest warrants against Israel, and a bill was passed by the House before being blocked by Democrats in the Senate last month.
Isaac Amit is sworn in as Supreme Court chief; Herzog pans government for boycotting event
Incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, left, is sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at the President's Residence in jerusalem, alongside President Isaac Herzog, on February 13, 2025. (Yonatan SIndel/FLASH90)
Isaac Amit is sworn in as Supreme Court president at a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
President Isaac Herzog strongly criticizes the government for boycotting the swearing-in ceremony, saying there is “no place” in a democratic country for one branch of government to shun another.
In an unprecedented step, Justice Minister Yariv Levin is boycotting the ceremony, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana are also absent, and not one member of the government is present for the event.
Levin refused to call a vote to appoint a new Supreme Court president for over 15 months, owing to his desire to appoint a conservative justice as president rather than Amit, whom Levin strongly opposed due to his liberal judicial rulings.
Speaking at the ceremony after Amit is sworn in, Herzog criticizes the fact that “the leadership of the executive branch and the legislature” is not present at the ceremony, in reference to Netanyahu, Levin and Ohana.
“In a democratic country, where respect for state institutions is a guiding light, there is no place for boycotts of one branch of government by another; there is no place for turning the law and custom into playing cards in political or public struggles; and there certainly is no place for delegitimizing the president of the Supreme Court who was elected to his position in accordance with the law and the instructions of the law.”
Herzog also states that “change” is “not the enemy of democracy,” in reference to the ongoing efforts of the government to overhaul the judiciary.
“Not every proposal is a catastrophe, not every compromise is a destruction, not every agenda is a hostile and poisonous agenda,” says Herzog about the intense opposition in center-left circles to the government’s efforts.
He also calls on the government and the Knesset to begin “an era of cooperation and dialogue between the branches of government… and the beginning of an era of an extended hand, moderation, and a seeking of broad agreement.”
Educator fired after accidentally showing kids graphic Oct. 7 footage
Screenshot of Hamas bodycam footage as terrorists approach an Israeli vehicle during the terror organization's October 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and Government Press Office. (Screenshot)
An extracurricular coordinator in the central Israel town of Kochav Ya’ir has been fired after she mistakenly screened a video that included graphic footage from the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught to fifth-grade students, Ynet reports.
The footage featured severed body parts, bullet-riddled bodies, and the screams of wounded people, according to the report.
“This is everything we’ve tried to keep them from seeing for a year and a half. The children are terribly traumatized,” one mother says.
The educator had put on a video about the Magen David Adom ambulance service, without realizing that it included such footage. She then left the room, and was unaware when the graphic segment started playing, according to the report.
The Education Ministry, which stresses it did not employ the woman, and the Kochav Ya’ir regional council both say in statements that professional support, including a psychologist, has been provided to the school.
Palestinians say rocket fired from Gaza landed in center of Strip, killing 14-year-old boy
According to Palestinian media reports, the rocket launched from Gaza a short while ago struck the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center, killing a 14-year-old boy.
Footage posted online purports to show the launch.
It is unclear if the rocket was aimed at Israel.
شهيد جراء انطلاق وسقوط صاروخ من مخلفات الحرب اثناء تفكيكه في بلوك سي بمخيم النصيرات وسط القطاع pic.twitter.com/8E29sGEjoz
— الناشط حمزة المصري (@hamza198708) February 13, 2025
IDF says rocket fired from Gaza, landing inside Strip
A rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip a short while ago, the military says.
According to the IDF, the rocket landed inside Gaza.
It is not immediately clear if the rocket was aimed at Israel.
“The IDF is committed to fully implementing the conditions of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” the military adds in a statement.
Lowering demand, Israel says Hamas must free 3 hostages Saturday or war will resume
Hamas must release three living hostages on Saturday, says Israeli government spokesman David Mencer, otherwise the Gaza ceasefire will end.
“Three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday,” says Mencer during a Zoom briefing.
“If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end.”
In various conflicting statements earlier this week, Israeli officials said nine hostages must be released “in the coming days,” and “all of them” must go free on Saturday. US President Donald Trump called for all hostages held by Hamas to be released by Saturday at noon.
IDF to remain at five strategic points in southern Lebanon, minister confirms
Israeli soldiers seen in Meiss El Jabal, in southern Lebanon, February 10, 2025. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)
The IDF will maintain a presence in five strategic points in southern Lebanon “until Lebanon implements its treaty obligations,” Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer tells Bloomberg, following reports from yesterday that the US has approved the move.
The minister, a close Netanyahu confidant, does not say how long the troops will remain, but “signaled Israeli troops won’t be removed in the short-term.”
According to the terms of a November 2024 ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah terror group, Israel was set to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by late January — a deadline that was extended to February 18, with American and Lebanese approval — as Hezbollah withdrew its forces north, and the Lebanese military deployed to the region.
Israel has accused Lebanon of failing to meet its obligations to deploy to the area, allowing Hezbollah to maintain or renew its presence there.
The US rejected an Israeli request for a further extension earlier this week, a US official said, and the Lebanese government has insisted on a complete IDF withdrawal.
In first, Netanyahu spokesman admits no talks ongoing on truce’s 2nd phase, in breach of deal
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein says in a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting that Israel is “unequivocally dealing with the second stage of a hostage release deal.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri pushes back against the veteran lawmaker, saying in a statement that “as opposed to MK Edelstein’s claim — Israel is not negotiating right now on the second stage in the deal.”
Talks over the second stage were meant to begin last week, on day 16 of the ceasefire. This appears to be the first time Israel has officially admitted they are not being held, in contrast to the deal’s terms.
Right-wing protesters demonstrate outside site of Isaac Amit’s inauguration as Supreme Court chief
Right-wing demonstrators protest against incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit outside the President's Residence in Jerusalem, shortly before Amit's inauguration ceremony there, February 13, 2025. (Jeremy Sharon/Times of Israel)
A small demonstration is being staged outside the President’s Residence in Jerusalem against incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, whose inauguration ceremony will be held there shortly.
A handful of right-wing protesters hold posters declaring, “You have no mandate from the people,” while a banner declares: “We oppose a legal dictatorship.”
Far-right MK Limor Son Har Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party is also present at the demonstration.
The demonstrators’ loudspeakers are blasting music and speeches denouncing Amit and the legal establishment into the garden of the President’s Residence where Amit, the serving justices of the Supreme Court, and numerous dignitaries from the judiciary are gathered for the ceremony.
Amit was appointed president of the court in January after a lengthy battle by Justice Minister Yariv Levin to prevent him from being elected head of the judiciary, a fight stemming from Levin’s desire to overhaul the legal system and assert greater government control over the makeup of the judiciary. He and many on the right regard Amit as overly activist in his judicial doctrine and too inclined to intervene in the Knesset and the government’s decisions.
Levin refused for over 15 months to hold a vote to appoint a new president, resulting in the Supreme Court, sitting in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, ordering him to hold a vote.
Allegations of misconduct by Amit were raised just days before the vote was scheduled, but the Judicial Selection Committee dismissed them before appointing him president.
Turkey’s Erdogan calls Trump’s Gaza plan a ‘major threat’ to world peace
US President Donald Trump, left, walks off toward the Oval Office after posing for photographers with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in the White House, November 13, 2019, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza poses a major threat to world peace.
Speaking on Indonesian television broadcaster Narasi, Erdogan addresses Trump’s plan to remove the more than 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, claim US control of it and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
“I view Trump’s decision to make such an agreement with a murderer like [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his threats as a major threat to world peace,” Erdogan says.
“At the moment, nobody can take Gaza away from Palestinians, from Gazans. Daring to do something like is, firstly, a very different threat to world peace.”
Erdogan also says he doesn’t find Trump’s statements, amounting to what he calls “challenges to many countries in the world,” to be correct.
“My hope is that such mistakes are reversed as soon as possible, and for a global giant like the United States to rapidly turn back from these errors so that global peace can find a way to come out,” he says.
As Saturday hostage deadline nears, Netanyahu holds assessment with top security officials in Beersheba
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a situation assessment with top political and military officials at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheba, February 13, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)
As Israel threatens to return to fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to free hostages on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a situation assessment at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheba with top military commanders and security officials.
He is joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, incoming chief of staff Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, and head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman.
Hamas has said that it will release three more hostages on Saturday, but an Israeli official said in a statement this week that Jerusalem wants to see nine more hostages released “in the coming days.”
Cyberattack briefly disrupted some credit card payments this morning
Israel’s national payment system was targeted today in a cyberattack, causing a partial disruption in the clearing and approval systems of credit card purchases, leaving some consumers unable to use their credit cards to shop in stores or complete transactions for a brief time, says Shva (Automated Banking Services), which operates the country’s payment and ATM services.
The incident happened in the morning before noon. It lasted 26 minutes until the malfunction was fixed, after which the payment systems returned to full functioning and credit card transactions could be processed.
Houthis say they’ll attack if Gaza war resumes, urge Trump to relocate ‘Jews’ to US
Yemen’s Houthis will immediately take military action if the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is resumed, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, says in a televised speech.
US President Donald Trump has said he will “let all hell break loose” if all hostages are not released by Hamas on Saturday.
Denouncing Trump’s plan to displace Gaza’s population, al-Houthi also says that if the president fears for the “Jews,” he can relocate them to one of the US states that has “vast uninhabited” areas, according to Arab media reports.
IDF finds, destroys Hezbollah weapons depots in southern Lebanon
IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon have demolished several Hezbollah weapon depots, the military says.
In the arms caches, the IDF says troops of the 769th “Hiram” Regional Brigade found missiles, rockets, mortars, grenades, explosive devices and firearms.
The soldiers also found a multiple rocket launcher system.
The weapons were seized and the facilities were blown up by combat engineers.
Katz meets in south with incoming IDF chief Zamir and outgoing military head Halevi
Defense Minister Israel Katz at the IDF Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba with (R) outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and (L) incoming chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir on February 13, 2025 (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz is holding a security assessment at the IDF Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba with senior military officials, including outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and incoming chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the latter of whom is photographed in army uniform for the first time in four years.
The assessment comes ahead of another meeting at the Southern Command with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Those participating in the assessment include acting Defense Ministry director-general Itamar Graf; head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman; head of the Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk; head of the Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen Shlomi Binder; IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar; COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian; hostage point man Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon; and other officials.
IDF troops destroyed explosive-laden car in West Bank’s Jenin, military says
Troops of the Egoz commando unit destroyed an explosive-laden car in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier today, the military says.
Footage published by the IDF shows a drone dropping a bomb on the parked car.
Troops of the Egoz commando unit destroyed an explosive-laden car in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier today, the military says.
Footage published by the IDF shows a drone dropping a bomb on the car. pic.twitter.com/meJj4QyWdB
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 13, 2025
Munich ramming that injured at least 20 was an ‘attack,’ local governor says
Emergency services attend the scene after a driver hit a group of people in Munich, Germany, February 13, 2025. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP)
The driver of a car that drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich appears to have acted intentionally, says the head of the regional government.
“I must tell you it looks like this was an attack,” Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder tells reporters.
At least 20 people were injured when a car drove into a crowd as Munich prepares for a top-level security conference due to be attended by US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Iran says it can build new nuclear facilities if enemies strike
Iran's underground Fordo nuclear facility outside of Qom, Iran, October 23, 2021. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear facilities but cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones.
He makes the comments after reports in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal said that US intelligence believes Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the coming months.
Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported.
The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.
It warned that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear facilities.
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami gets ecstatic welcome from local schoolchildren as he arrives home from hospital
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami gets an ecstatic welcome from local schoolchildren as he arrives at the apartment his family has rented in Tel Aviv, shortly after he was released from the hospital.
Ben Ami was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023. He was released by Hamas last Saturday.
Video shows children reaching through the fence surrounding the school to shake his hand, as crowds of kids gather round him.
עם ישראל אוהב אותך אוהד.
קבלת פנים עכשיו לאוהד בן עמי שהשתחרר כעת מבית החולים.
ברוך הבא הביתה pic.twitter.com/6cF9WlRnQ5
— yayafink (יאיא פינק) (@yayafink) February 13, 2025
Report: If deal holds, Hamas expected to release 3 hostages on Saturday, not 9 or ‘all of them’
Channel 12 news reports that it is expected that Hamas will release three living hostages on Saturday if the hostage-ceasefire deal holds.
The report comes after Israel put out a series of conflicting statements in recent days, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
In Gaza, Shin Bet chief says forces ready to escalate if hostage deal with Hamas collapses
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is seen in the Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. (Shin Bet)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, during a tour of the Gaza Strip today with the head of the security agency’s southern district, says forces are prepared for an escalation if the hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
The pair held an assessment and met with IDF and Shin Bet officers deployed there, the agency says.
In remarks provided by the Shin Bet, Bar says that alongside efforts to complete the hostage release deal with Hamas, “the forces on the ground are at a high level of readiness to deal with various scenarios, including preparations for an escalation in the area.”
Crowds cheer freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami as he is released from hospital
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami arrives at an apartment his family is renting in Tel Aviv, shortly after he was released from the hospital, February 13, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami is greeted by dozens of people with applause, songs and signs as he is released from hospital and arrives at the Tel Aviv neighborhood where his family is staying.
Ben Ami, 55, held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for 491 days, is released from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
Or Levy, 34, and Eli Sharabi, 55, the two other hostages who were also released from Hamas captivity on Saturday, are being cared for at Sheba Medical Center. A spokesperson says there is no information about when they might be released.
The three hostages suffered from severe physical and mental deterioration, including malnutrition, decreased muscle mass and heart disorders. Family members said they endured physical and psychological abuse during their captivity.
Ben Ami and Sharabi were among 29 residents kidnapped from Be’eri. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was released in the first hostage deal in November 2023. Levy had been attending the Nova festival with his wife.
Sharabi’s wife, Lianne, and their two teenage daughters, Noiya and Yael, were killed during the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Levy’s wife Eynav was murdered by terrorists in a roadside bomb shelter.
Ben Ami will continue his rehabilitation process as an outpatient, a hospital spokesperson says.
Raz Ben Ami waves at crowds as she and her husband, Ohad Ben Ami, arrive at their temporary home in Tel Aviv, February 13, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
PM’s spokesman implies gaps remain over deal: ‘There is no entry of mobile homes, heavy equipment into Gaza’
Bulldozers and trucks carrying mobile homes wait to enter Gaza at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, February 13, 2025. Aid trucks are currently using the Kerem Shalom entry point pending completion of maintenance and repair work at the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza from Egypt. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat)
A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that mobile homes and heavy equipment are not entering Gaza, after Hamas said it would continue with the release of hostages after an agreement had been reached on aid entering the Strip.
According to Al Jazeera, mobile homes and heavy equipment will be allowed into the Strip today. Hamas has been protesting that Israel was blocking their entry and said earlier today that talks to get the ceasefire-hostage deal back on track had included discussions on a number of specific items, including the homes and equipment.
Al Jazeera broadcast images of trucks waiting to enter Gaza, apparently carrying mobile homes and earth-moving equipment.
However, the Prime Minister’s Office issues a denial, saying the Al Jazeera report is “fake news” and “there is no basis” to it.
Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri follows up with a clarification that “there is no entry of mobile homes or heavy equipment into Gaza, and there is no coordination for it.”
He adds that, in accordance with the agreement, no goods are moving through the Rafah crossing into Gaza. It is unclear why he mentions Rafah. Aid trucks are in fact using the Kerem Shalom entry point pending completion of maintenance and repair work at the Rafah border crossing into southern Gaza from Egypt.
Hamas announced today that it will carry out its obligations and release hostages according to the previously agreed-on timeline, after saying earlier this week that it was freezing releases until further notice.
Hamas official calls for West Bank, East Jerusalem marches against Trump’s Gaza plan
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, February 10, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
Hamas politburo official Husam Badran calls for massive marches in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this weekend in opposition to US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.
Badran additionally calls on Palestinians to mobilize amid escalating violence in the northern West Bank as Israeli troops continue a weeks-long counter-terror operation.
He urges them to “take part in the global movement” and says quarreling Palestinian factions should unify “around the option of resistance.”
Trump’s plan to take over Gaza has alarmed the Arab world, particularly Jordan and Egypt, which the US president has singled out as primary candidates to host relocated Palestinians.
Several injured as car driven into crowd in Munich
Members of the emergency services work at the scene where a car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich on February 13, 2025 leaving several people injured (Michaela STACHE / AFP)
A car has been driven into a group of people in the German city of Munich, leaving several people injured, police say.
The Bild newspaper reports that 15 people have been injured.
The Munich Security Conference is to start tomorrow and US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are arriving later today.
A large-scale police operation is underway near the southern German city’s central train station.
Police say on X they were able to detain the driver and did not consider him to pose any further threat.
The incident appears to have affected people participating in a demonstration linked to a strike organized by the Verdi union, according to the local BR broadcaster.
Hamas says it will release hostages as planned, doesn’t specify how many; says it has agreed to continue with ceasefire
Hostage families and a women's group block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, during a protest calling for the release of those held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza on February 13, 2025 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Hamas announces it has agreed to continue implementing the ceasefire deal and will follow through with the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel as per the timeline outlined in the agreement.
The statement comes a day after a Hamas delegation, led by top Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo for talks with mediators.
Hamas says Egyptian and Qatari mediators promised to remove obstacles preventing the continued flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera reports that mediators affirmed their commitment to implementing the humanitarian provisions of the agreement. The network broadcasts images of trucks waiting to enter Gaza, apparently carrying mobile homes and earth-moving equipment.
On Monday, Hamas threatened to delay the release of hostages scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the Strip, which Israel denied.
صور تظهر اصطفاف شاحنات محملة بكرفانات متنقلة ورافعات أنقاض على الجانب المصري من معبر #رفح في انتظار الدخول إلى قطاع #غزة#حرب_غزة #الأخبار pic.twitter.com/P1CUmEIFZL
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) February 13, 2025
IDF says over 60 terror operatives killed, 210 detained amid ongoing West Bank counter-terror op
An Israeli soldier takes aim as he mans a checkpoint during raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem in the West Bank on February 9, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
IDF troops have killed over 60 Palestinian terror operatives and detained over 210 amid an ongoing major counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank launched last month, the military says.
The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21 and the military expects it to last several more weeks.
Israeli forces have been operating in the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas areas.
The IDF says that yesterday, troops of the Maglan commando unit killed three gunmen during an exchange of fire in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem. One soldier was moderately wounded in the incident.
The military has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians during the operation, including a toddler and a pregnant woman.
Likud slams Golan’s ‘outrageous comments’ over call for probe into ties between PM’s office and Qatar
A Likud spokesman slams Yair Golan’s “outrageous remarks” after The Democrats chair asserted “there is a suspicion of treason in the Prime Minister’s Office that must be investigated” over ties between associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar.
The spokesman says Golan’s “incitement” crossed a “red line” and “the only one who needs to be investigated” is the left-wing politician himself, referring to baseless internet conspiracy theories claiming that Golan was involved in espionage against Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Responding to Likud, Golan invites Netanyahu “to come with me to an investigation into what each of us did on October 7,” referring to the premier’s refusal to allow a state commission of inquiry into the lead-up to the events of that day and the war that followed.
Watchdog calls for ‘comprehensive’ Shin Bet probe into allegations concerning PM’s office, Qatar
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar attends a farewell ceremony in honor of then-police chief Kobi Shabtai at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, on July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Movement for Quality Government watchdog organization calls for an “immediate” probe into allegations of ties between the Prime Minister’s Office and Qatar, urging Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to launch a “comprehensive investigation” into the matter.
In a statement, Movement for Quality Government chairman Eliad Shraga says that it is “unthinkable that someone from the Prime Minister’s Office would act to protect the interests of a state that supports terrorism in the midst of a war. We will demand that the Shin Bet investigate this serious matter to the fullest extent.”
The call comes as The Democrats chief Yair Golan declares “there is a suspicion of treason in the Prime Minister’s Office that must be investigated,” amid allegations of work done by senior staffers on behalf of the Gulf country.
Speaking with Channel 12 on Wednesday, Udi Levy, a former senior Mossad official, claimed that “the Qatari circle of influence is much larger than the three people in the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Levy states that a senior official in the PMO approached an Israeli attorney, asking him to represent Qatar in a lawsuit filed by families of terror victims.
The PMO tells Channel 12 that “no one in the Prime Minister’s Office received permission to offer Qatar an Israeli lawyer to represent it against Israeli claims.”
Democrats chief Golan calls for probe into ties between PM’s office and Qatar: ‘Suspicion of treason’
Leader of The Democrats Yair Golan holds a press conference in Tel Aviv, on February 13, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Allegations that a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did public relations work for Qatar while on the premier’s payroll indicate that “there is a suspicion of treason in the Prime Minister’s Office that must be investigated,” The Democrats chairman Yair Golan declares.
According to a report aired Monday by Channel 12 news, Eli Feldstein, a former military spokesman for the prime minister, was employed by a Qatar-funded company to improve public perception of Doha around the Gulf country’s role in hostage deal mediation between Israel and Hamas.
Feldstein is also a key suspect in a scandal surrounding the leak of classified IDF documents to and from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Channel 12’s report revealed “apparent evidence of a business, financial, and personal connection between the Prime Minister’s Office and an enemy state before and during the war,” Golan alleges.
“Netanyahu’s closest advisers — people from the most important office in the State of Israel — who allegedly received payments, maintained connections, and did business with the state that funded Hamas,” he says, calling on the Shin Bet security service and Attorney General’s Office to open a criminal investigation for treason.
“Qatar not only financed Hamas – it also provided its senior figures such as Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal with sanctuary. Qatar is the one that provides political, diplomatic and economic backing to the most murderous terrorist organization that Israel has ever faced,” Golan says.
“This is a clear and immediate danger to Israel’s security.”
According to Channel 12, Feldstein held conversations with several journalists in which he presented Qatar as having a “positive role” in negotiations. It also reported that the Qatar-funded firm that employed Feldstein was working to promote contacts between families of the hostages and authorities in Doha.
Both Feldstein’s attorneys and Netanyahu’s spokesman denied the report.
Two other Netanyahu advisers — Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn — were reported last year to be involved in a campaign to improve Qatar’s image surrounding hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by 2 Israelis
Israeli security forces say they foiled terror attacks planned by two Israeli citizens.
Police and Shin Bet agents arrested two young men, aged 18-21, from Arab Israeli towns Qalansawe and Zemer on suspicion of plotting attacks against soldiers and civilians, spokespeople for the agencies say in a joint statement.
The suspects reportedly expressed support for Hamas following the October 7 massacre and devised plans to shoot at a military facility as well as carry out a “car-ramming and shooting attack targeting IDF soldiers or civilians.”
The statement adds that one of the suspects “acquired materials to produce Molotov cocktails and conducted experiments to manufacture explosives for an attack on a bus transporting IDF soldiers.”
Police say that the Central District Attorney’s Office has filed a declaration of intent to prosecute the two men, and will indict them later today.
IDF: Palestinian shot at entrance to West Bank base ‘suspiciously’ approached troops
The IDF says the Palestinian who was shot at the entrance to the Samaria Regional Brigade’s base near Nablus in the northern West Bank this morning had “suspiciously” approached troops.
The suspect had arrived in a car, and reportedly crashed into the base’s gate.
“The suspect was neutralized after moving suspiciously toward the forces,” the military says. No details are given on the suspect’s condition.
No soldiers were wounded.
Hamas said to say it will free hostages on Saturday if Israel ‘honors its commitment’; sources say progress made in talks
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Feb. 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Hamas says it does not want the hostage and ceasefire deal to collapse, as Palestinian sources report progress in efforts to save the precarious agreement.
Sources say the terror group told mediators it will free hostages on Saturday if Israel “honors its commitment.”
Hamas says in a statement that mediators are exerting pressure for the deal to be fully implemented. The terror group says that this should include ensuring Israel abides by humanitarian agreements, alongside the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinian security prisoners from Israel as scheduled on Saturday.
Palestinian sources close to negotiations are reporting progress in efforts to salvage the agreement.
“There is progress,” a source tells AFP, adding that mediators had obtained from Israel a “promise… to put in place a humanitarian protocol starting from this morning.”
“Hamas has confirmed to Egyptian officials its commitment… to conducting the sixth exchange of prisoners on time, on Saturday, as soon as Israel honors its commitment,” another source says.
The first source says that once mediators confirm Israel’s final approval, then “prefabricated units, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicine, materials for repairing hospitals and everything linked to the humanitarian protocol” can begin entering the Strip.
The fragile ceasefire has been strained in recent days. Hamas said it wouldn’t release three hostages as planned on Saturday, alleging Israeli violations of the agreement, which Israel denies. US President Donald Trump then warned that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release all the hostages being held in Gaza by Saturday.
Following those remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas did not return hostages by Saturday noon. Israel then put out a series of conflicting statements saying Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
Palestinian shot after reportedly crashing into fence at entrance to IDF base near Nablus
A Palestinian suspect was shot by IDF troops at the entrance to the Samaria Regional Brigade’s base near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
The Palestinian arrived at the entrance to the base in a vehicle, reportedly crashed into a fence, and tried to flee before being shot by the soldiers.
The condition of the man is unclear. No soldiers are reported wounded in the incident.
The IDF has not yet commented.
אירוע חריג בחטמ"ר שומרון: פלסטיני הגיע בכלי רכב גנוב והתנגש בשער הבסיס. כוח צה"ל ניטרל את הגבר שזהותו נבדקת – אין נפגעים@ItayBlumental
(צילום: נדב גולדשטיין, TPS) pic.twitter.com/5j8KKzppRM— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 13, 2025
Prosecutors to indict man who drove Tel Aviv terrorist in vehicle disguised with hostage symbol
The vehicle, disguised with a hostage solidarity sticker (circled) used to transport the terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2025 (Screen grab/Israel Police)
The State Attorney’s Tel Aviv District Office files a declaration of intent to prosecute a 20-year old resident of East Jerusalem for having transported the terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack on January 18 in Tel Aviv in which he severely injured one man, the police state.
The East Jerusalem man picked up the assailant, a resident of the West Bank city of Tulkarem who was illegally residing in Israel, from the Atarot area of Jerusalem and drove him in his van to the center of Tel Aviv, “in the clear knowledge that this was an illegal resident who was likely to endanger the safety of Israeli citizens and even carry out a terrorist attack,” the police say.
The police point out that the driver had stuck the yellow ribbon symbol of solidarity with the Israeli hostages held in Gaza on his vehicle “to camouflage his illegal activities for the journey to Tel Aviv.”
The declaration of intent to prosecute was filed yesterday, and a full indictment on charges relating to the driver’s alleged involvement with terrorism will be filed in the coming days, as well as a request to keep the suspect in custody until the end of the criminal process, the police add.
The terrorist, Salah Yahye, 19, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, was shot dead on the scene.
Saudi report: Progress made in talks over continuation of deal after ‘intensive discussions’
Hostage families and a women's group block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, during a protest calling for the release of those held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza on February 13, 2025 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Unnamed Palestinian sources tell Saudi news outlet Al Sharq that progress has been made in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the precarious ceasefire and hostage release deal.
A source tells the outlet that mediators “held intensive discussions, and a preliminary Israeli commitment was obtained to implement the provisions of the humanitarian protocol starting Thursday morning.”
The source says the Palestinians are “waiting for confirmation from the mediators” that trailer, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicines and hospital renovation materials will enter the Strip.
“Hamas is waiting to see implementation on the ground,” the source says.
Israel has reportedly sent a message to Hamas through mediators Egypt and Qatar that the hostage release-ceasefire deal will continue if the terror group releases three hostages, as scheduled, on Saturday.
The message came a day after Israel put out a series of conflicting statements, including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which said Hamas must release “our hostages,” “9 hostages,” and “all of them” for the ceasefire to continue.
It was reported yesterday that if Israel gives its approval for the trailers today, Hamas will announce the names of the three hostages to be released.
Palestinian media reports IDF strike on vehicle in West Bank’s Jenin amid counter-terror offensive
Palestinian media reports Israel carried out a strike on a vehicle in the West Bank city of Jenin.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
The reported strike comes amid an ongoing counter-terror offensive by the IDF, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, which was launched last month. The military expects it to last several more weeks.
The operation initially primarily focused on Jenin, before it was expanded to other cities and towns in the West Bank.
דיווחים פלסטינים: ישראל תקפה כלי רכב בג'נין@kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/5lyhCQef2N
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 13, 2025
Musk calls for US to ‘delete entire agencies’ from federal government
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk with his son X Æ A-Xii join US President Donald Trump as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, February 11, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
Elon Musk calls to “delete entire agencies” from the United States’ federal government as part of his push under US President Donald Trump to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.
Musk offers a wide-ranging survey via a videocall to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, of what he describes as the priorities of the Trump administration interspersed with multiple references to “thermonuclear warfare” and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence.
“We really have here rule of the bureaucracy as opposed to rule of the people — democracy,” Musk says, wearing a black T-shirt that read: “Tech Support.” He also jokes that he is the “White House’s tech support,” borrowing from his profile on the social platform X, which he owns.
“I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind,” Musk says. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back.”
Protesters calling for the completion of the hostage deal block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway
Protesters calling for the full implementation of a hostage deal block Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway on February 13, 2925 (Zohar Bar-Yehuda via pro-democracy protest groups_
Protesters calling for the completion of the full hostage release-ceasefire deal are currently blocking the southbound Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv.
Standing in the middle of the major traffic artery through the coastal city, the families and a women’s group hold up large images of the hostages who were taken captive by invading terrorists during the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, nearly 500 days ago.
They also hold before-and-after images of the most recently released hostages to show the urgency. The three hostages freed by Hamas on Saturday, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami, returned to Israel severely malnourished and frail.
Celtic fans unfurl giant banner at Champions League game urging: ‘Show “Israel” the red card’
Celtic fans unveil a banner reading 'Show Israel The Red Card' during the UEFA Champions League play-off first leg football match between Celtic and Bayern Munich at Celtic Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland on February 12, 2025. The word 'Israel' is in quotation marks (ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)
Fans of Scottish soccer team Celtic raised a giant banner at last night’s game, urging to “Show ‘Israel’ the red card” in a call for the country to be banned from the sport, images from the game show.
Notably, the word “Israel” is in quotation marks and has been designed to look as if it is dripping in blood.
The team was eventually beaten 2-1 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off round first leg.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Celtic fans distributed leaflets calling for Israel to be excluded from sporting events.
Celtic fans are known for their anti-Israel sentiment, even though several Israeli players have played for the team in recent years.
Israeli forward Liel Abada left the team last year because of pressure from compatriots to cease playing for fans who regularly displayed banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Victory to the resistance.”
While Celtic fans regularly use symbols of Palestinian nationalism when cheering on their team, fans of their rival, Rangers FC, often respond by waving Israeli flags.
Washington Post: US intelligence sees Israel as likely to attack Iran by midyear, could hit Fordo and Natanz
This November 4, 2020, satellite photo by Maxar Technologies shows Iran's Fordow nuclear site. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
US intelligence warns that Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran’s nuclear program by midyear, the Washington Post reports, citing multiple intelligence reports.
The Washington Post report comes hours after the Wall Street Journal reported similar findings.
Such an attack would set back Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tension in the region and risking a wider conflict, according to multiple intelligence reports from the end of the Biden administration and start of the Trump administration, the newspaper reports.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House declined to comment. The Post says the Israeli government, CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, tells the Post that US President Donald Trump “will not permit Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”
“While he prefers negotiating a resolution to American’s long-standing issues with the Iranian regime peacefully, he will not wait indefinitely if Iran isn’t willing to deal, and soon,” Hughes tells The Post.
The most comprehensive of the intelligence reports came in early January and was produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post says.
It warns that Israel was likely to attempt an attack on Iran’s Fordo and Natanz nuclear facilities.
Current and former US officials familiar with the intelligence said Israel has determined its bombing of Iran in October in retaliation for a ballistic missile attack, degraded Iran’s air defenses and left the country exposed to a follow-on assault, says the Post, which did not name the officials.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Driver who fatally hit woman crossing the street in Haifa identified as veteran radio host
The driver who fatally struck a woman in Haifa early Wednesday morning has been identified as veteran radio host Dori Ben-Ze’ev.
The victim, Viorika Finkelstein, 47, was crossing the street when she was hit.
A statement from Ben Ze’ev’s agent says the radio presenter gave testimony to police and will take a break from work “to digest the tough incident.”
“Dori is at home, shocked and pained to the depths of his soul about the tragedy,” the statement says. “His heart is with Viorika Finkelstein’s family at this difficult time.”
Trump formally nominates Mike Huckabee as next US ambassador to Israel
Then-Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump (R) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, October 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
US President Donald Trump has formally submitted his nomination of Mike Huckabee to become the next US ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee’s is one of several dozen nominations Trump has submitted to the Senate this evening.
Confirmation hearings are expected to span the coming weeks and months.
US State Department confirms Rubio to visit Israel during upcoming trip abroad
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, not shown, at the State Department, February 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Europe and the Middle East from February 13 to 18, the State Department says.
Rubio will make stops in Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it adds.
.@SecRubio will travel to Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference and the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting on February 13. He will then travel to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates from February 15-18 to meet with senior officials on freeing the…
— Tammy Bruce (@statedeptspox) February 13, 2025
A statement from the State Department says Rubio’s tour of the Middle East “will promote US interests in advancing regional cooperation, stability, and peace.”
“The trip will center on freeing American and all other hostages from Hamas captivity, advancing to Phase II of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and countering the destabilizing activities of the Iranian regime and its proxies,” says the statement.
White House showers praise on Jordanian king after tense meeting with Trump
US President Donald Trump (R) meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on February 11, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
The White House is working overtime to hype up Jordan’s King Abdullah after hosting him Tuesday for what at times appeared to be an uncomfortable meeting, during which Trump stood by his plan to permanently relocate Palestinians outside of Gaza in countries such as Jordan.
The White House releases a video Wednesday afternoon of Trump hailing the Jordanian people and their leader.
“You are very, very fantastic people with tremendous brilliance and energy… you have a king who is a tremendous man,” Trump says while sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
“You are lucky to have him. You’re going to have a great life. You have a great king,” Trump adds.
President Trump’s Message to the People of Jordan:
“You are very, very fantastic people with tremendous brilliance and energy… you have a King who is a tremendous man… @KingAbdullahII is one of the true great leaders of the world.” ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/eKjTU4sqTw
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 12, 2025
Earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt closed her press conference by sharing what she said was a message from Trump, stressing that Abdullah during their meeting on Tuesday reiterated his stance in favor of allowing Palestinians to remain in Gaza while it’s rebuilt. Leavitt noted that Trump thinks relocating Gazans elsewhere would be “more majestic” but that Washington is working with its Arab allies to advance a solution that will bring peace to the region.
The idea of taking in Palestinians is highly unpopular in Jordan and Amman has warned that it would likely destabilize the kingdom, which has been a reliable US regional partner for the past several decades.
WSJ: US intel analysis says Israel weighing strikes on Iran nuclear sites this year
An intelligence analysis produced during US president Joe Biden’s final month in office concluded that Israel is weighing major strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities this year, with Jerusalem seeking to press its advantage against Tehran after the latter’s recent setbacks, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Citing officials familiar with the analysis, the newspaper says US intelligence agencies produced another report in the initial days of the Trump administration that reached the same conclusion.
Two of the US officials say that the analysis also concluded that Israel believes US President Donald Trump is more likely than Biden to join in such strikes — which according to American military officials would likely require US support and armaments — and fears it has a narrowing window to prevent Iran’s development of an atomic bomb.
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