Feb. 14: Germany says it is pushing EU bloc to weigh imposing sanctions on extremist settlers

Biden signs memo shielding thousands of Palestinians in US from deportation

US President Joe Biden speaks as Jordan's King Abdullah II listens in the Cross Hall of the White House, Feb. 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

US President Joe Biden has issued a memo using his executive powers to shield thousands of Palestinians in the US from deportation for the next 18 months.

Some 6,000 Palestinians are eligible for the reprieve under an immigration program called Deferred Enforced Departure.

“While I remain focused on improving the humanitarian situation, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Palestinians who are present in the United States,” Biden states in the memo.

“In light of the ongoing conflict and humanitarian needs on the ground, President Biden signed a memorandum directing the deferral of removal of certain Palestinians who are present in the United States, giving them a temporary safe haven,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says in a statement explaining the executive order.

“This grant of deferred enforced departure would provide protections for most Palestinians in the United States, with certain exceptions,” including convicted felons, others deemed public safety threats, Sullivan adds, saying those who voluntarily return to the West Bank or Gaza would lose such protections.

The move is likely to be welcomed by Arab and Muslim American community leaders who have fumed over Biden’s support for Israel amid the war in Gaza, with many pledging not to vote for the president in re-election.

But the memo also sharpens the difference between Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has called for deporting Palestinians who express support for Hamas. A Republican lawmaker issued legislation — which has no chance of passing — that would revoke the visas of Palestinians and prevent them from receiving asylum status in the US.

Israel accuses South Africa of serving interests of Hamas with latest appeal to ICJ

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel on 11 and 12 January 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. (Courtesy International Court of Justice)

South Africa’s latest request to the International Court of Justice against a possible offensive by Israel in Rafah serves Hamas and is an attempt to stop Israel from defending itself, the Foreign Ministry says.

South Africa yesterday petitioned the ICJ to consider whether Israel’s plan to extend its operation into Rafah requires additional emergency measures.

“South Africa continues to represent the interests of the Hamas terrorist organization and is trying to deny Israel the fundamental right to defend itself and its citizens,” says Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat.

“Israel is committed to upholding international law, including facilitating the transfer of humanitarian aid and preventing harm to innocents, while the Hamas terrorists are hiding behind the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and are holding 134 people hostage,” Haiat writes on X.

Lebanon says 3 civilians dead in fresh Israeli airstrikes in south

This picture taken from a position near the border in northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli airstrikes on the village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon on February 8, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Three civilians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the south Lebanon city of Nabatiyeh this evening, a Lebanese security source says.

“Three civilians dead in the Israeli strike, including two women,” a security source tells AFP, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the strikes, which came after a rocket attack on Safed killed one and wounded several others.

At least one killed, several wounded in shooting near Super Bowl champions’ parade

A woman is taken to an ambulance after an incident following the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City, Missouri, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

A shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade leaves at least one dead and seven injured while sending terrified fans running for cover.

Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins says one person was killed and eight to 10 people injured but declines further comment, saying only that additional information will be released soon.

Police say in a news release that two people were detained. Fans were urged to exit the area as quickly as possible.

Multiple people near the parade route were carried away on stretchers shortly after Chiefs fans marked their third Super Bowl title in five seasons.

US slaps sanctions on Central Bank of Iran subsidiary, entities based in UAE, Turkey

File: The US Treasury Department building is shown at dusk in Washington on June 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The United States says it has imposed sanctions on a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), along with two entities based in the United Arab Emirates, one in Turkey and on three individuals for smuggling US technology to the CBI.

“These designations target three individuals and four entities tied to the procurement of sophisticated US technology for use by CBI in violation of US export restrictions and sanctions,” the Treasury Department says.

In a statement, the Treasury notes the CBI is itself already under sanction for providing financial support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF), an elite arm that carries out overseas operations, and to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

The sanctions represent Washington’s latest efforts to punish Tehran, whose proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Gaza Strip have attacked US and Israeli targets.

The Treasury named the entities as Iran-based Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), a subsidiary of CBI; UAE-based Advance Banking Solution Trading DMCC (ABS), an ISC front company; UAE-based Freedom Star General Trading Co. (LLC); and Turkey-based Ted Teknoloji Gelistirme Hizmetleri Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Ted).

It identified the three individuals as ISC Chief Executive Seyed Abotaleb Najafi, Freedom Star President Mohammad Reza Khademi, and ISC employee Pouria Mirdamadi, a dual French and Iranian national it said was involved in Ted’s operations.

US lawmakers, officials attend Capitol Hill event on Hamas’s Oct. 7 sexual violence

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, center, speaks during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 14, 2024, to raise awareness of the sexual and gender-based violence Hamas perpetrated against women and children in Israel on and since October 7. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Several US lawmakers and senior Biden administration officials attend an event on Capitol Hill aimed at raising awareness of the systemic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas during its October 7 terror onslaught.

The first part of the event was a closed briefing for the US officials by a pair of Israel Police officers investigating the sexual violence allegations as well as an Ichilov Medical Center doctor who treated some of the victims.

The event was organized by the Israeli Embassy in Washington along with Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who came out of the briefing visibly shaken by what she had heard.

“I can’t go into the specifics of the investigations and the details that were shared with us, but I have never seen more sadistic evil perpetrated against another human than in the photos and videos that we saw earlier this morning,” Wasserman-Schultz says during the open part of the event.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, center, hugs Shirin Herzog, left, as her husband, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog, watches at right during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, to raise awareness of the sexual and gender-based violence Hamas perpetrated against women and children in Israel on and since October 7. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“The evidence is abundant and beyond compelling. Through survivors coming forward, witnesses, video footage and independent analysis, we know that Hamas’ use of sexual violence including rape, mutilation, and brutality was not an anomaly. It was a premeditated part of its strategy to purposefully use sexual violence as a weapon against innocent civilians,” she adds.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff says: “The evidence is there…you cannot ignore the facts and the evidence when they’re right in your face. Do not ignore it. You cannot deny it.”

“We need to be able to clearly and unequivocally denounce this violence against women no matter what your thoughts or feelings are about any other issue that is happening with this conflict,” he adds.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, left, holds hands with Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, right, during an event on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, to raise awareness of the sexual and gender-based violence Hamas perpetrated against women and children in Israel on and since October 7. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Israeli Ambassador to the US Mike Herzog said, “This is about basic human values. This is about humanity. And when you understand that, you understand why the Israeli sense of security… was shattered on [October] 7.”

The event is also attended by US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt and the executives of several major Jewish organizations.

It is capped off by a symbolic, bipartisan resolution passed in the House condemning the sexual violence inflicted by Hamas on October 7.

Germany says it is pushing EU to weigh imposing sanctions on extremist settlers

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem during her two day visit, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says Berlin is pushing the European Union to examine sanctions against extremist settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank — after France, the US and Britain imposed similar sanctions.

“Let’s agree on sanctions together in Europe. For this, we need all 27 member states. We, as Germans, have pushed this on the European path,” she says during a news conference in Jerusalem, adding that in the Schengen free movement zone, national entry bans could only take effect if they are enacted by the entire bloc.

Baerbock also says that an IDF ground incursion on Rafah in southern Gaza would be a humanitarian catastrophe: “1.3 million people are waiting there in a very small space. They don’t really have anywhere else to go right now… If the Israeli army were to launch an offensive on Rafah under these conditions, it would be a humanitarian catastrophe.”

Italy raids homes of 24 people who attended pro-Hitler meeting in Ferrara’s Jewish quarter

This picture taken from a publicly distributed police video shows some of the items recovered in the homes of 24 people investigated for apology of fascism in Ferrara, northern Italy, Feb. 14, 2024. (Italian Police via AP)

Italian police raid the homes of 24 people under investigation for promoting fascism during a gathering at a restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Ferrara during which they lauded dictators Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.

The suspects were all residents of the northern Italian city in their 20s and 30s who attended a December 20 gathering where they passed out material that not only praised Hitler and Mussolini, but also insulted Anne Frank and the Black Italian athlete Fiona May, says investigator Andrea Zaccone.

The group threatened to kill other diners who interrupted their racist choruses, and refused to stop even after police responded to complaints, he says.

The suspects are under investigation for the charges of inciting racial hatred and apology of fascism, a crime in Italy that exults Italy’s fascist past and seeks to revive the fascist party.

During raids, police recovered orange prison uniforms, a fake pistol, chains, knives and batons as well as printed material, including calendars, with Mussolini’s image. Electronic devices seized in the raids are being studied to see if the incident was a one-off or part of a larger pattern.

US says it is ‘devastated’ by killing of Palestinian-American teen near Ramallah

Mohammad Ahmad al-Khdour (US Office of Palestinian Affairs/X)

The US says it is “devastated” by the recent killing of Palestinian-American Mohammad Ahmad al-Khdour in the West Bank and demands an investigation into his death.

The Washington Post reported that the 17-year-old was shot in the head by Israeli troops in Bidu near Ramallah in unclear circumstances. The IDF has yet to issue a comment on the incident.

“The United States has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens. We urgently call for a quick, thorough and transparent investigation, including full accountability,” reads a tweet from the US Office of Palestinian Affairs.

Al-Khdour’s death expands a growing list of incidents regarding US citizens on which the Biden administration has demanded clarifications from Israel.

Last month another 17-year-old by the name of Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was shot dead in the West Bank. Police said an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and an Israeli settler all opened fire at Jabbar after perceiving him as a threat. The US has also demanded a probe into this incident as well.

Several Palestinian Americans have also been arrested by Israel in both the West Bank and Gaza in recent days, drawing additional comments of concern from US government officials.

UN says ‘dangerous escalation’ between Lebanon and Israel must stop

Israeli security forces at the scene where a rocket fired from Lebanon impacted in the city of Safed on February 14, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

The UN secretary-general’s spokesman calls for a halt to increased violence between the IDF and Hezbollah in Lebanon, amid fears of wider conflict.

“The recent escalation is dangerous indeed and should stop,” Stephane Dujarric says, noting that peacekeepers from the UN mission in Lebanon have noticed “a concerning shift in the exchanges of fire between the Israeli armed forces and armed groups in Lebanon.”

The attacks, he says, include the “targeting of areas far from the Blue Line,” the frontier demarcated by the UN in 2000 after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon.

US State Department says Hamas demands over Temple Mount are an ‘obvious nonstarter’

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations by the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says Hamas’s demand for limitations of Israel’s sovereignty at the Temple Mount in the context of ongoing hostage negotiations was an “obvious non-starter.”

The demand was one of several Hamas made in the response it issued earlier this month to a hostage deal framework crafted by Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators. US President Joe Biden said some of Hamas’s demands were “over the top,” but this appears to be the first time that a US official specifies Washington’s issues with Hamas’s response.

“You saw a number of issues that were obvious non-starters, for example, the status of Al-Aqsa is not going to be resolved in negotiation of hostages,” Miller says during a press briefing.

He also notes that the Israeli government has taken steps to ensure that aid is delivered through the Kerem Shalom crossing by declaring the surrounding area a closed military zone to prevent access to far-right protesters seeking to block the assistance from reaching Gaza. Miller says the IDF has also moved its troops into the crossing to ensure that the aid is delivered, even though the protesters have still frequently managed to thwart the shipments.

“We think it is extremely unfortunate the times that the crossing has been blocked. We engage with the Israeli government and have made clear that the position of the United States is that the crossing ought to remain open and that they take whatever steps they can to make sure that it remains open,” Miller says.

Air raid sirens sound in Ashkelon, Zikim

Air raid sirens sound in Zikim and in southern Ashkelon, signifying a likely rocket or rockets fired from Gaza.

US blasts Israel for home demolition of Palestinian activist in East Jerusalem

The US lambasts Israel for demolishing the home of a Palestinian activist in East Jerusalem.

Israel demolished the home of Fakhri Abu Diab in Silwan earlier today, claiming it did not have the necessary permits, though, such building approvals for Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are overwhelmingly rare.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Andrew Miller visited the home just last month in an apparent show of support for Abu Diab.

המשטרה פרצה לבית של פחרי אבו דיאב והוציאה אותנו ואת המשפחה. pic.twitter.com/EaXZkz92MK

— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 14, 2024

Asked about the demolition during a press briefing, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says the detrimental impact of the move is not just felt by Abu Diab’s family but also on his “entire community who live in fear that their homes may be next.”

Miller notes that Abu Diab’s family had lived in the home demolished for generations and that part of the building’s structure dates back before 1967 when Israel took over East Jerusalem.

שמישהו יעדכן בבקשה את סגן מזכיר המדינה האמריקאי, אנדרו מילר, שהורסים את הבית בו הוא ביקר לפני שבועיים. https://t.co/lpKYtcscm5 pic.twitter.com/4yugfIsQAF

— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 14, 2024

“These acts obstruct efforts to advance a durable and lasting peace and security that would benefit not just Palestinians but Israelis,” Miller says.

“They damage Israel’s standing in the world, and they make it ultimately more difficult for us to accomplish all the things we’re trying to accomplish that would ultimately be in the interest of the Israeli people, and so we condemn them and will continue to urge that they not continue,” Miller says.

Smotrich says hostage rallies are harming the prospect of bringing them home

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionist party faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 12, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the mass protests calling for a hostage release deal are damaging the prospects of them being freed.

In an interview with the Kikar Shabbat Haredi news outlet, Smotrich says that “one of the things that is most harming the chance of bringing the hostages home is the campaign and the protests.”

The leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party says that Hamas chief Yihya “Sinwar is sitting and watching the protests and the calls for ‘now’ and ‘at any price’…. and he says ‘great, just a little more patience and I’ll win.'”

White House praises Abbas for calling on Hamas to reach a deal with Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the West Bank town of Ramallah, February 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hails Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for publicly calling on Hamas to reach a truce agreement with Israel.

Asked about Abbas’s comments during a White House press briefing, Sullivan says that not enough members of the international community have been directing their calls at Hamas and are exclusively placing the burden on Israel.

“Hamas has to account for itself as well. Hamas is hiding amongst civilians… in ways that also put them at risk, and so some of the international community’s questions and pressure should be on Hamas,” Sullivan says.

“Abbas coming forward to do that today is kind of unusual because there hasn’t been enough of that from enough voices in the international community,” Sullivan says.

Netanyahu says ‘powerful’ operation will take place in Rafah after civilian population exits

Palestinians fleeing the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis arrive at Rafah, Gaza Strip, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will be moving its forces into Rafah after civilians sheltering in the southernmost city in Gaza are able to leave.

“We will fight until complete victory,” he writes on social media, “and this includes a powerful operation also in Rafah after we will allow the civilian population to leave battle zones.”

British FM: UK needs ‘guarantee’ UNRWA won’t hire employees who seek to attack Israel

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron at the Government's Palace in Beirut on February 1, 2024. (Joseph Eid/AFP)

Britain wants an “absolute guarantee” that the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) will not employ staff who are willing to attack Israel, Foreign Secretary David Cameron says, after allegations that some were involved in the October 7 onslaught.

Britain last month joined the United States in “temporarily pausing” funding for UNRWA following allegations that around 12 of its thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.

Asked what Britain needs to see in order to resume funding, Cameron says: “What we’re looking for is an absolute guarantee that this can’t happen again. Let’s be clear here that it looks as if there were people working for UNRWA who took part in the October 7 attacks on Israel. That is unacceptable.”

“That’s why we paused our funding. That’s why these reviews are taking place,” he tells reporters during a trip to Bulgaria. “We need them to take place quickly because many UNRWA staff do an absolutely vital job inside Gaza, where they are the only network for distributing aid, to make sure that we get aid to people that need it very, very badly.”

Israel is still holding up US shipment of flour for Gaza, says senior White House aide

The Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, on January 29, 2024. (Said KHATIB / AFP)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says Israel is still holding up a US shipment of flour for Palestinians in Gaza in violation of commitments Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made to President Joe Biden.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been blocking the shipment because it is slated to be distributed by UNRWA, which is under investigation for 12 of its members’ alleged involvement in the October 7 terror onslaught. Israel is reportedly looking into other avenues for distributing the aid, such as the World Food Program, but the shipment remains at the Ashdod port in the meantime.

“That flour has not moved the way that we had expected it would move, and we expect that Israel will follow through on its commitment to get that flour to Gaza,” Sullivan says when asked about the delay during a White House press briefing.

IDF chief says current military focus is ‘being ready for war in the north’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) and senior IDF officials meet in northern Israel, February 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

During an assessment in northern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the IDF is preparing for war in the north, amid Hezbollah’s daily attacks from Lebanon.

“We are not finishing this without returning the residents to Metula and all the communities in the north, with a very high level of security,” Halevi says, referring to some 80,000 Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks.

“We are now focused on being ready for war in the north. If it does not end in war, it will not end with any compromise to the achievements,” he says.

“Hezbollah is not here on the fence, we will push back all its capabilities, it will be much quieter here, there will be much more stability here and then residents can return,” Halevi continues. “Will this happen tomorrow? Probably not. It will take some time.”

Israel must ensure safety of civilians in Rafah before moving in, says top Biden aide

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan details the multi-faceted plan that the Biden administration wants Israel to implement before launching its final-stand operation against Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Asked about the issue at a White House press conference, Sullivan says the plan must address how Israel will ensure the safety of the over one million Palestinians currently sheltering in Rafah.

The plan will also have to ensure that humanitarian aid is able to be delivered to Gazans, given that operating in Rafah would likely force the shuttering of the Egyptian crossing on that border, Sullivan said.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed for the opening of the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza, and Biden pushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call earlier this week to stop far-right Israelis from blocking aid from entering the Kerem Shalom Crossing, according to a US official.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, has reportedly been allowing those protests to continue for weeks, in violation of US commitments to Israel.

“We need answers to the question not only where do people go but how do they get a sustained level of aid, food, medicine, water and shelter,” Sullivan says.

The top Biden aide references Egypt’s concerns that an operation in Rafah could lead the Palestinians sheltering there to flood the border, amplifying fears in Cairo that Israel is seeking a mass displacement of Gazans into Egypt.

“There needs to be a clear answer to that [concern] as well,” Sullivan says.

IDF says Al Jazeera reporter wounded yesterday is also a Hamas deputy commander

Ismail Abu Omar, an Al Jazeera reporter is seen (left) in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and after being hit in a strike in south Gaza's Rafah on February 13, 2024. (Screenshot: X)

Ismail Abu Omar, an Al Jazeera reporter who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike near southern Gaza’s Rafah yesterday, is also a Hamas commander, according to the IDF.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says that Abu Omar, in addition to working for the Qatari-owned station, serves as a deputy company commander in Hamas’s East Khan Younis Battalion.

On the morning of October 7, Abu Omar infiltrated into Israel and filmed from inside Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s onslaught.

In the strike yesterday, Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmad Matar was also wounded.

The IDF earlier this week revealed that another Al Jazeera journalist is a Hamas commander, and last month, two Al Jazeera journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah were later accused by the IDF of being members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

US official says hopeful ‘temporary pause’ in Gaza can become something ‘more enduring’

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a White House press conference on February 14, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterates that the US is looking to secure a humanitarian pause that would see the release of hostages and that could be used to “build something more enduring.”

He avoids calling that “something” a ceasefire when pushed during a White House press briefing, though privately the administration is indeed seeking to turn any temporary pause into a permanent one, a senior US official told The Times of Israel last week.

“We’re looking for a temporary pause as part of the hostage deal, and then to build on that into something more enduring,” Sullivan says, reiterating remarks by US President Joe Biden earlier this week. “What that looks like exactly, on what parameters, where Hamas fits into that all, those are things we’re going to have to work through with our partners in Israel and with others.”

“The idea is that you have multiple phases as part of the hostage deal, and you try to move from one phase to the next so that the initial period of the pause can be extended,” Sullivan adds.

IDF says 11 unguided Grad rockets were fired from Lebanon this morning’s attack

An Israeli policeman inspects the impact crater left by a rocket fired from southern Lebanon where it landed in Safed on February 14, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Eleven unguided Grad rockets were fired from Lebanon this morning at the IDF Northern Command headquarters in Safed, according to the military’s assessments.

Nine slammed into open areas, while two hit infrastructure and were not intercepted, including one that struck the IDF base, killing a soldier.

Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo was running to a bomb shelter when the rocket struck the base, killing her. Several more soldiers were also wounded in the strike.

The IDF is investigating if there was enough time from when sirens sounded for people in Safed to seek shelter.

Netanyahu says ‘strong military pressure and firm negotiations’ are key to freeing hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting at Hakirya base in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (Yariv Katz/POOL)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats his insistence that Hamas is hamstringing the current truce talks in Cairo with its “delusional demands.”

“This week we freed two of our hostages in a careful military operation,” he says in a video statement. “So far we have freed 112 of our hostages with a combination of strong military pressure and firm negotiations. This is also the key to freeing more of our captives — strong military pressure and firm negotiations.”

Therefore, he adds, “I insist that Hamas drop its delusional demands, and when they drop these demands we can move forward.”

His statement comes after he decided not to send an Israeli delegation back to Cairo Thursday for ongoing hostage release talks, which was met with anger from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.

Red Cross says it has ‘continuously’ asked to visit hostages, would welcome release deal

File - Members of the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terror groups release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 28, 2023. (Flash90)

A statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross says that it has repeatedly and continuously called for the release of the hostages held in Gaza and also “since day one and continuously since then” asked to be able to visit them, “to check on their conditions, to deliver medical care, and to facilitate communication with their families.”

The ICRC says it will “continue to demand” that all of the hostages be released immediately, but recognizes that is unlikely, and would therefore “welcome an agreement which brings the hostages home to their families,” and stands ready to play a role in any such deal.

The Red Cross has faced harsh criticism from some within Israel for its failure to visit the hostages or ensure they receive any treatment.

Citing health concerns, Health Ministry warns against bringing in pets from Gaza

A pack of stray dogs look for food near an Israeli tank deployed in southern Israel near the Gaza border on February 8, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

Citing the risk of introducing serious diseases, the health ministry warns against bringing cats and dogs from Gaza into Israel.

Doing so without permit “may spread diseases including rabies, echinococcus, leishmania, Leptospirosis, scabies and more,” the health ministry’s statement Wednesday states.

On social media, many Israelis are sharing images and accounts of pets and other animals rescued from Gaza. Many of the rescuers are reserves soldiers, who are bringing out animals despite an Israel Defense Forces ban on this traffic.

Even without human assistance, animals are flowing from the Gaza Strip into Israel because the border is open for military vehicles and troops and is not being monitored for the independent movement of animals, the health ministry adds. Some 5,000 dogs are estimated to have crossed into Israel from Gaza, the statement also says.

Family members of hostages submit war crimes complaint against Hamas to ICC

Families of hostages hold a rally in the Hague on February 14, 2024. (Eyal Radoshitzky/Hostages Families Forum)

The family members of hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza formally submit their war crimes complaint against the terror group to the International Criminal Court [ICC] in The Hague.

“We came to demand justice. On the 7th of October we went through a second holocaust. These human monsters are the heirs of Hitler, Eichmann and Goebbels. They must be wiped out and the notion of collective death which they spread must be eliminated. History will not repeat itself, we are taking our fate into our hands and demanding the justice that we are owed,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum organization declares.

Several hundred people attend a rally staged by the forum outside the court amid the rain in the Dutch city, in which parents, siblings and children of the hostages, along with those who were released from Hamas’s captivity back in November, and survivors of the October 7 atrocities, address the crowd.

“We have come here today to demand justice. The world cannot be silent. The law cannot be silent,” says Raz Ben Ami, who was abducted by Hamas along with her husband Ohad but was released in November. Ohad remains in Hamas’s captivity.

“Every second my husband is in the Hamas tunnels, his life is in danger. He has no [more] time.”

The forum is hoping that its submission of a 1,000-page document, including eyewitness testimony and evidence, will prod the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Kahn to ramp up his investigation into Hamas war crimes and bring about arrest warrants for senior Hamas leaders on charges of kidnapping, crimes of sexual violence, and torture.

Israel approves use of Starlink services at field hospital in Rafah

This file photo taken on September 25, 2022 shows an antenna of the Starlink satellite-based broadband system donated by the US tech billionaire Elon Musk in Izyum, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Yasuyoshi CHIBA/AFP)

Israel says it has approved the use of Starlink services in a field hospital in the Gaza Strip, as well as in Israel for the first time.

“The Israeli security authorities approved the provision of Starlink services at the UAE’s field hospital operating in Rafah. Starlink low-latency, high-speed connections will enable video conferencing with other hospitals and real-time remote diagnostics,” the Communications Ministry says in a statement.

Starlink will also be enabled in Israel, it says, adding that “the use of the company’s services will be limited at first with broader use expected in the future.”

Israel Prize to skip traditional categories this year, award civilian wartime efforts

President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Prize awards ceremony in Jerusalem, April 26, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

In light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, this year the Israel Prize will be awarded only in two new categories created especially for the conflict: “Societal Responsibility,” for civil efforts and volunteering, and “Rescuing and Citizen Heroism,” for civilian acts of bravery in helping others during the crisis, the government says in a statement.

The prize will be awarded to six individuals whose actions “inspired enormous hope in Israel and contributed to recovering from the terrible breach that we experienced on October 7,” the statement says.

The traditional Israel Prize ceremony will still be held on Independence Day, which this year falls on May 13.

It is the first time since the Israel Prize was initiated in 1953 that the main categories will not be covered. The Israel Prize, considered the most prestigious civilian award in the country, is overseen by the Education Ministry, which says the regular categories covering science, arts, humanities and other achievements will return in 2025.

The Israel Prize is a civilian award and does not include heroic acts or achievements by Israelis while serving in the IDF.

Israel protests after Vatican official criticizes Gaza ‘carnage’

Pope Francis is seen on a giant screen at St. Peter's square in The Vatican as he delivers the Angelus prayer on December 3, 2023 (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Israel protests with the Vatican after Pope Francis’s deputy defined what is happening in Gaza as “carnage” resulting from a disproportionate Israeli military response to Hamas.

“It is a deplorable statement. Judging the legitimacy of a war without taking into account all relevant circumstances and data inevitably leads to wrong conclusions,” the Israeli embassy to the Holy See says in a statement.

A day earlier, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin reiterated the “request that Israel’s right to defense, which has been invoked to justify this operation, be proportional, and certainly with 30,000 deaths, it is not.”

“I believe we are all outraged by what is happening, by this carnage, but we must have the courage to move forward and not lose hope,” Parolin says, adding that “we must find other ways to solve the problem of Gaza, the problem of Palestine.”

Woman killed in rocket attack from Lebanon named as IDF soldier Omer Sarah Benjo

Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo, who was killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon on Safed on February 14, 2024 (IDF)

The IDF announces the death of a soldier killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon on an army base in northern Israel earlier today.

She is named as Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, of the 91st Division’s 869th Combat Intelligence Collection unit, from Ge’a.

A reservist of the Computer Service Directorate was seriously wounded, and several more soldiers were moderately and lightly hurt in the rocket strike.

Macron tells Netanyahu that France opposes IDF ground incursion into Rafah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) greets French President Emmanuel Macron before a meeting in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena / POOL / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office says in a statement that Macron, in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed his firm opposition to a possible IDF military offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.

“This could only lead to a humanitarian catastrophe of a new magnitude and to forced displacement of populations, which would constitute violations of international human rights and bring additional risk of regional escalation,” it says.

PM says no progress possible in Cairo talks unless Hamas changes ‘delusional’ demands

Protesters call for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, February 10, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that no advancements can be made in talks in Cairo until Hamas changes its “delusional” position.

“In Cairo, Israel was not given any new proposal by Hamas for the release of our hostages,” says a statement from the PMO, adding that the prime minister “insists that Israel will not submit to the delusional demands of Hamas.”

“A change in Hamas’s positions will allow progress in the negotiations,” the statement says.

Reports today in Hebrew media indicated that Netanyahu refused to send a delegation to Cairo tomorrow, arguing that there is no point in doing so until Hamas climbs down from its demands regarding the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners.

The Hostages Families Forum reacting scathingly to the news, saying it was a death sentence for the remaining hostages.

Hostages Families Forum: Not sending delegation back to Cairo is ‘death sentence’ for remaining hostages

Families of hostages before taking off for The Hague on February 14, 2024. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

The Hostages Families Forum — representing family members of most of the remaining hostages in Gaza — slams a reported decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to send an Israeli delegation back to Cairo tomorrow for ongoing talks for a truce and hostage release.

In a statement, the forum says it is “stunned” by the decision to “thwart” the ongoing talks, adding that “it appears that some of the members of the cabinet decided to sacrifice the lives of the hostages with admitting it.”

This decision will mark “a death sentence” for the hostages remaining in captivity, it says.

The forum says that “while the negotiating team made a decision to be just a passive listener, the female hostages are being actively raped and the men are suffering abuse.” The group says that starting tomorrow it will form a “barricade” outside the Kirya Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to protest until the prime minister and the war cabinet agree to meet with the families.

Visiting Cairo, Erdogan says Turkey will cooperate with Egypt on rebuilding Gaza

In this handout photo released by Turkish Presidency, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, shakes hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi during their meeting at Al-Ittihadiya palace in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 14, 2024. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

President Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is ready for cooperation with Egypt to rebuild Gaza as he makes his first visit to the country since 2012, vowing to boost trade with Egypt to $15 billion in the short term.

In a joint news conference after talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, Erdogan says the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza topped the agenda of their talks, adding that the two countries are evaluating energy and defense cooperation.

The visit marks a major step toward rebuilding relations between the regional powers, whose ties frayed over Egypt’s 2013 military coup and its fallout for the Muslim Brotherhood.

German FM arrives in Israel, expected to push Israeli officials for ceasefire

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (left) meets with Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem on January 7, 2024. (Rafi Ben Hakoun/Foreign Ministry)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock lands in Israel ahead of meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

This is her fifth trip to Israel since October 7.

Her office said earlier this week that she will push for a ceasefire, as Israel prepares to launch an operation in Rafah.

For the 5th time since October 7, Foreign Minister @ABaerbock has arrived in Israel for talks about the perspectives of the war against Hamas, the pressing humanitarian situation in Gaza and horizons for future progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. pic.twitter.com/b9oMcHL6HZ

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) February 14, 2024

“The distress in Rafah is already beyond belief. 1.3 million people are seeking protection from the fighting in the most limited of space. An offensive by the Israeli army on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe,” Baerbock wrote on X over the weekend.

“Israel must defend itself against Hamas terror but at the same time alleviate the suffering of civilians as much as possible. That is why another pause in fighting is needed — also in order for the hostages to finally be released. I will discuss ways towards that in Israel again next week,” she added.

IDF says it completes ‘widespread wave’ of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

Smoke billows over the southern Lebanese border village of El-Khiam during Israeli bombardment on February 7, 2024. (Rabie DAHER / AFP)

The IDF says it has completed a “widespread wave” of airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah sites, including some belonging to the terror group’s Radwan Force.

The targets include buildings, command centers and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group in Jabal al-Braij, Kfar Houneh, Kafr Dunin, Aadchit and Souaneh, according to the IDF.

“Some of the targets belong to the Radwan Force,” the IDF says.

The strikes in towns deeper inside Lebanon — notably Kfar Houneh — have been rare since the border fighting started more than four months ago.

IDF chief says there is a ‘long way to go’ to secure quiet along border with Lebanon

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) and senior IDF officials meet mayors in northern Israel, February 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking to mayors and leaders of local authorities in northern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says “there is still a long way to go” in changing the security situation on the Lebanon border, amid daily attacks by Hezbollah.

“Thanks to you, the IDF can act decisively to change the security situation in the north. There are very great achievements in hitting Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we continue to act. This is not the point to stop. There is still a long way to go and we will walk it together,” he says.

Halevi tells the mayors that he is meeting them after approving plans of action following a deadly rocket barrage on Safed earlier today.

He says the IDF is increasing its strikes on Hezbollah, and the terror group is paying “increasing prices.”

Halevi also warns that should war break out in the north, the IDF will “use all the tools and abilities” it has at its disposal.

Hamas delegation heading to Cairo to meet Egyptian, Qatari officials in ongoing talks

A delegation from the Hamas terror group is heading to Cairo to meet with Egyptian and Qatari officials for ongoing talks for a truce and hostage release.

A Hamas source tells AFP that its delegation is slated to meet with Egyptian and Qatari mediators the day after a group of Israeli officials, including the Shin Bet and Mossad chiefs, met with them separately.

According to Hebrew media reports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined to send the Israeli delegation back to Cairo tomorrow.

Mediators in Egypt are said to be racing to secure a ceasefire before Israel proceeds with a wide-scale ground operation in Rafah.

Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber among celebrities condemning calls to bar Israel from Eurovision

Noa Kirel of Israel during the flag ceremony before during the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, England, May 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A range of celebrities and Hollywood luminaries have signed onto a letter of support for Israel appearing in this year’s Eurovision amid a wave of calls for the country to be barred from competing.

The letter, organized by the nonprofit Creative Community for Peace, was signed by more than 400 people, including actress Helen Mirren, actor Liev Schreiber, singer Boy George, Sharon Osbourne, actress Selma Blair, music producer Scooter Braun, musician Gene Simmons and actress Emmy Rossum.

The letter reads in part: “We have been shocked and disappointed to see some members of the entertainment community calling for Israel to be banished from the Contest for responding to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”

“We believe that unifying events such as singing competitions are crucial to help bridge our cultural divides and unite people of all backgrounds through their shared love of music,” the letter continues, concluding: “Those who are calling for Israel’s exclusion are subverting the spirit of the Contest and turning it from a celebration of unity into a tool of politics.”

Signatory Gene Simmons says in a statement that “those advocating to exclude an Israeli singer from Eurovision don’t move the needle towards peace, but only further divide the world.”

Calls to bar Israel have emanated from artists in a number of countries, most notably Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Ireland, but the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision, has repeatedly rebuffed any such move.

Israel this year is sending 20-year-old Eden Golan to the contest later this year in Sweden, with her song to be announced next month.

Israel beefing up immigrant payouts by NIS 170 million to boost wartime immigration

The government is allocating a package of NIS 170 million ($46 million) toward facilitating the absorption of immigrants who move to Israel under the Law of Return for Jews and their relatives.

The package, unveiled at a press conference in Jerusalem by Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is earmarked to help new immigrants living in the Negev, the north and the West Bank access the approximately NIS 50,000 they are entitled to in rent aid over two years instead of five years.

Instead of receiving about NIS 800 in rent aid for five years, families that settle in a national priority area will be able to collect more than NIS 2,000 monthly for two years, Sofer says. For singles in national priority areas the sums jump from about NIS 400 per month for five years to over NIS 1,300 per month for two years, constituting a net increase of NIS 12,000 in rent aid.

Young immigrants who pursue a higher education in Israel are entitled to an extra NIS 1,500 a month to mitigate tuition and housing costs.

The package, Sofer and Smotrich say, is an attempt to leverage an increase in interest in several Western countries in moving to Israel since October 7. Hamas’s terrorist attack, which triggered a war, is leading to an explosion in antisemitic incidents throughout the West and widespread solidarity with Israel in Jewish communities globally.

Jewish Agency chairman Doron Almog, who is also at the press conference, says that the number of households that initiated the process to immigrate was up sharply in 2023. In France the number is 331% higher than in 2022, with a total of 1,533 files opened. In the United States, the 2,431 files opened represents an increase of 92%, while in the United Kingdom, there were 211 files opened last year, an increase of 42% year over year.

Lebanese security source says 4 civilians killed in Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon

The aftermath of a reported Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on February 14, 2024. (screen capture: X)

A Lebanese security source tells AFP that Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon killed four civilians, including two children, and wounded nine other people.

“A woman was killed along with her child and her stepchild in a strike that targeted Sawwaneh,” while a fourth civilian was killed in a strike on a building in Adshit, the security source tells AFP, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media. Nine other people were wounded in the strikes on south Lebanon, the source adds.

The strikes came following a wave of rockets on Safed in northern Israel earlier this morning in which a woman was killed and several others wounded.

Report: Israel won’t send delegation back to Cairo this week for further hostage talks

Ronen Bar head of the Shin Bet security services (L) with Mossad chief David Barnea at the annual IDF memorial ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War at Yad La-Shiryon, September 27, 2023. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not send a delegation back to Cairo tomorrow for further talks on a hostage deal with Hamas, Walla reports.

Egypt and Qatar are looking to build momentum in the talks, and are looking to hold meetings tomorrow that avoid the main sticking point: the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel has to release in a potential deal. According to the report, tomorrow’s talks would focus on humanitarian aspects of an agreement.

The heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet, and Netanyahu’s diplomatic adviser, were in Cairo yesterday for the negotiations. A source in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel that they were there to listen and nothing more.

Netanyahu doesn’t see any point in sending another delegation until Hamas changes its demands around a prisoner release, reports Walla.

Freed hostages sent home from hospital

Rescued hostages Louis Har, 70, and Fernando Marman, 61, have been discharged from Sheba Medical Center, where they were taken after being extracted from Gaza captivity in a daring IDF raid early Monday.

A relative said earlier that they were regaining strength and in generally good spirits.

“It is very evident that every day of captivity takes an unbearable price on the body and on the soul,” says Dr. Noya Shilo, the Sheba doctor who has been treating hostages who make it out of Gaza. “129 days are hell that no one should go through.”

The hospital says it is offering continuing care to all freed hostages who come through their doors.

Erdogan in Egypt for first time in years as Hamas joins Cairo hostage talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Cairo on his first visit since 2012, sealing a thaw in ties and weighing in on indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on pausing the Gaza war.

Erdogan is welcomed at Cairo airport by his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and the two men exchange a handshake on the tarmac, footage of his arrival shows.

Erdogan, an outspoken critic of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war, said Monday that he would discuss with efforts to halt the bloodshed with Sissi.

His arrival coincides with that of the Hamas terror group, which dispatched a delegation to Cairo today for talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

Erdogan earlier said his meetings in Egypt, as well as the United Arab Emirates, would “look at what more can be done for our brothers in Gaza.”

“As Turkey, we continue to make every effort to stop the bloodshed,” he told a news conference.

Istanbul served as a base for Hamas political leaders before the October 7 attack. The NATO member asked Hamas chiefs to leave after some were captured on video celebrating the unprecedented attack.

Ankara in November recalled its ambassador to Israel, and has maintained intermittent communication with the Hamas leadership, who see Turkey as a potential ally in ceasefire negotiations.

Hezbollah linked media report 4 killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Lebanon’s Al-Meyadeen reports that a woman and her two sons were killed in an Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Souaneh.

Al-Manar, which like al-Meyadeen is linked to Hezbollah, reports that one person was also killed in Adchit.

There are also reports of several injured in the Israeli strikes.

Maersk says no return to Red Sea anytime soon

Shipping giant Maersk says it does not foresee being able to return to plying the Red Sea anytime soon, with the route still threatened by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Regional president for Maersk North America Charles van der Steene tells CNBC the firm is advising customers that it may need to continue using a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope into the 3rd fiscal quarter of the year.

“Customers will need to make sure they have the longer overall transit time built into their supply chain,” he says.

In a meeting with the head of cargo behemoth MSC, the head of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie says it will start coordinating with clients to find ways to reduce the effects of the Red Sea crisis on trade.

West Bank terrorists open fire at kibbutz inside Israel, no injuries

The Islamic Jihad terror group’s Al-Quds Brigade takes responsibility for opening fire at Meirav, an Israeli kibbutz abutting the northern West Bank near Beit She’an.

There were no injuries in the attack, which occurred as kids were heading home from school, a kibbutz spokesperson says, according to Ynet. One home may have been hit by bullets, according to the report.

Spain, Ireland ask EU to probe whether Israel violating human rights in Gaza

The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland have asked the European Commission to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza.

“We are deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation in Israel and in Gaza… The expanded Israeli military operation in the Rafah area poses a grave and imminent threat that the international community must urgently confront,” the prime ministers say in a joint letter published on the Spanish government website.

“We also recall the horror of Oct. 7, and call for the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire that can facilitate access for urgently needed humanitarian supplies.”

The EU Commission confirms receipt of the letter.

“We do urge all sides when it comes to Israel to respect international law and we note that there must be respect, there must be accountability for violations of international law,” an EU spokesperson says.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says several EU states are also talking about a possible joint recognition of a Palestinian state.

IDF rehab center forecasting another 16,000 wounded in war this year

The Defense Ministry rehabilitation center says it is anticipating receiving some 20,000 additional wounded veterans over the coming year, as fighting in the Gaza Strip continues into its fifth month.

So far, since October 7, the rehab unit has dealt with more than 5,500 soldiers, the ministry says.

It expects that of the 20,000 in the coming year, at least 80 percent, or 16,000, will be due to injuries sustained in the war.

Currently, the rehab center aids some 62,000 soldiers, many of whom are physically wounded, but also those suffering from PTSD.

Videos show strikes deep inside southern Lebanon

Footage from Lebanon shared online shows a series of Israeli bombings in a number of towns in the south of the country, including areas in Nabatiyeh Governorate, deeper inside the country than most previous strikes.

#Watch: Chebba, Lebanon right now pic.twitter.com/PClH5iyxP7

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) February 14, 2024

Among the towns reported hit are Adchit, Chehabiyah, Bouslaiya, Kfar Dunin and Souneh.

⚠️More from the strikes in Aadchit El Chqif (near Nabatiyeh)#Israel #Lebanon pic.twitter.com/ehjjeIwzXS

— parallel_universe (@ignis_fatum) February 14, 2024

Adchit sits some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Israeli border and Bouslaiya some 25 kilometers (15 miles).

????????

Indeed, this is not something usual.

The town of Al-Shahabiya in southern Lebanon is under intensive Israeli airstrikes. pic.twitter.com/UNb9XwbPD5

— Omar Abu Layla (@OALD24) February 14, 2024

Israeli occupation forces bomb the town of Chehabiyeh in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/0XI4iNxpNX

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 14, 2024

Exiled Palestinian strongman Dahlan touts Gazan future without Hamas or Abbas

Mohammed Dahlan during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on January 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed, File)

An independent Palestinian leader backed by Arab peacekeepers could oversee the reconstruction of Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas, a prominent Palestinian exile says.

Mohammed Dahlan, the former Palestinian Authority Gaza security chief, tells The New York Times that in his vision, “the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates are open to supporting processes that are part of efforts leading to a Palestinian state.”

The new Palestinian leader would push PA President Mahmoud Abbas aside to a ceremonial role, and could invite countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia to send in troops and pay for a reconstruction of the Strip, says Dahlan, who many think may be eyeing the job for himself.

But Israel would have to agree to a Palestinian state: “The main Arab countries are really very keen to settle this conflict. Not the war, the whole conflict.”

“No Abbas, no Hamas,” says the former Fatah strongman. “New people in charge of the Palestinian Authority.”

As he has been for decades, Dahlan is openly critical of Hamas: “Relying on people suffering isn’t leadership. The Palestinian people want to live.”

Dahlan’s security force operated in Gaza with an iron first after the Oslo Accords. A Gaza native, he was abroad when Hamas took over by force in 2007, and after moving to the West Bank he was expelled from Fatah in 2011 over accusations that he murdered Yasser Arafat.

His potential popularity as an alternative to Abbas has led to tensions with the Palestinian leader. In 2014, Dahlan was convicted in absentia by the PA for defamation and embezzlement.

In the UAE, where he moved after being pushed out of Fatah, he has been a top adviser to President Mohamed Bin Zayed, and has also stayed somewhat active in Palestinian politics. In 2017, he brokered a deal between Egypt and Hamas to keep fuel flowing to Gaza’s power plant, flexing his diplomatic muscle.

Representatives from six Arab countries met last week in Saudi Arabia to discuss a ceasefire and the future of Gaza.

Dahlan tells the New York Times that he is trying convince Hamas to step aside to let new Palestinian leadership take over.

IDF says jets carrying out ‘widespread strikes’ in Lebanon

The IDF says fighter jets are currently carrying out a “widespread” wave of airstrikes in Lebanon.

It says it will provide further details on the strikes soon.

The airstrikes come after rockets were fired at northern Israel, including an army base in Safed, killing an Israeli woman and injuring eight other people.

غارة حربية إسرائيلية استهدفت بلدة عدشيت#جنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/Ht2JeUPLFV

— LEBANON NEWS (@Lebnews_) February 14, 2024

Thousands seen evacuating from Khan Younis hospital where they sheltered

Palestinians sheltering in the main hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis have begun to leave under the Israeli military’s order, videos shared by medics show.

Videos show dozens of Palestinians carrying sacks of their belongings and making their way out of the Nasser Hospital complex. Though medical staff and patients have been told they need not leave the premises, a doctor wearing green hospital scrubs is seen walking ahead of the crowd, some of whom were carrying white flags.

BREAKING: The Israeli occupation army forces hundreds of Palestinian civilians out of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. pic.twitter.com/lvS5mtLkfG

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 14, 2024

The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the hospital and surrounding areas last month.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claimed last week that Israeli snipers on surrounding buildings were preventing people from entering or leaving the hospital and 10 people have been killed inside the complex over the past week, including three shot and killed on Tuesday. Its numbers or accounts cannot be confirmed and the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis, latest. Echoes of Al Shifa Hospital horrors replayed. Lives lost to sniper fire, as drones, loudspeakers, tanks, and snipers impose a grim normalcy in Gaza’s sanctuaries. #Gaza #Israel #Gaza_Genocide #Nasser_hospital #KhanYounis pic.twitter.com/b8vSjZHoJ4

— Lens Veritatis (@LensVeritatis) February 14, 2024

The ministry says around 300 medical staff were treating some 450 patients, including people wounded in strikes. It says 10,000 displaced people were sheltering in the facility.

It said Israel had ordered the evacuation of the displaced people but said the medics and patients could stay.

There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian buildings as cover.

Netanyahu’s economics guru swats away Moody’s sting

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief economic adviser Avi Simhon says markets have mostly shrugged off a ratings downgrade by Moody’s over the weekend.

“The fact that the markets did not react to Moody’s announcement – maybe it’s a lack of confidence. It shows the markets do not pay much attention to what Moody’s says,” Simhon, director of the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, tells Reuters.

The shekel currency now stands at 3.66 per dollar versus 3.68 before the ratings action, in which Moody’s kept its outlook at negative to imply a further cut. The main Tel Aviv 125 index is up 1% this week, while government bond prices are largely flat.

Simhon describes an increased debt burden and budget deficit at 6.6 percent of the gross domestic product as blips that will not weigh down Israel’s financial strength in the long run.

“The deteriorating public finances are not something fundamental. It’s a temporary thing,” Simhon says. “We have a war and we have to finance it. It costs a lot but we can manage it without even probably going above 70% [debt to GDP ratio].”

He notes that the debt burden should start to decline in 2025 or 2026 and move back to around 60%, where it was in 2022, a few years later, given rapid economic growth.

He predicted that Israel could keep the deficit below 6.6% unless war in the north broke out, which would send it higher, but it would still be below the 12% deficit Israel carried during the coronavirus pandemic.

Abbas calls on Hamas to agree to deal quickly, save Gaza from further woes

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the West Bank town of Ramallah, February 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is calling on Hamas, a rival of the PA, to make haste in agreeing to a deal with Israel in order to save the Gaza Strip from Israel’s military offensive.

“We call on the Hamas movement to quickly complete a prisoner deal, to spare our Palestinian people from the calamity of another catastrophic event with dire consequences, no less dangerous than the Nakba of 1948,” Abbas says in a statement carried by the official Palestinian outlet Wafa.

A Hamas source tells AFP that a delegation is headed to the Egyptian capital to meet Egyptian and Qatari mediators, after Israeli negotiators held talks with the mediators on Tuesday.

The Wafa statement adds that Abbas “called on the US administration and Arab brothers to work diligently to complete a prisoner deal as quickly as possible, in order to spare the Palestinian people the scourge of this devastating war,” referring to Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

He expresses hopes that a deal will save the Gazan city of Rafah from a looming Israeli attack.

Safed says no plans to evacuate after ‘rocket deluge’

A general view of Safed on January 19, 2021. (David Cohen/FLASH90)

The head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council in northern Israel is calling on the government to “wake up” and get out in front of the threat from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force on the northern border.

“The north was subjected to a deluge of rockets this morning,” Moshe Davidovich says, according to Walla. “The head of the Radwan Force is spitting on us time after time and we think it’s raining. I reiterate, there’s no north without security.”

Safed Mayor Shuki Ohana tells the Ynet news site that the Upper Galilee’s largest city is ready should tensions continue to snowball. “We have shelters… we’ll do an assessment and see where this goes.”

But speaking to Army Radio, he says the city is short on shelters, though an evacuation is not currently being considered.

“We have all the plans for it, but it’s not on the table right now,” he says. “If needed, we’ll implement the plan.”

Amit Sofer, who heads the Marom Galil Regional Council, says already evacuated residents won’t return until Israel answers each Hezbollah violation of UN Resolution 1701, which is supposed to keep the terror group dozens of kilometers from the border.

“The Radwan Force will not sit on the northern border. The end of the fighting in the north can only be after significant harm is done to Hezbollah’s capabilities,” he tells Walla.

Army readying ‘significant response’ to Lebanon strike — report

The Ynet news site reports that the military is preparing a “significant response” to the deadly rocket barrage on Safed this morning, which it describes as meaning more than just attacking the source of fire.

MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, says Hezbollah will be moved off the border one way or another.

“Either there will be all-out war and Hezbollah will be moved away, and it will bear responsibility for the results in Beirut and Lebanon, or we won’t let them raise the bar and exact a severe response, and they will be moved away from the border,” he says, according to Army Radio.

Injured rocket victim airlifted to Rambam with shrapnel in skull

Injured people arrive to Ziv Medical Center in Safed after a rocket attack on February 14, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

A patient seriously injured in a rocket attack in Safed has been transported by helicopter to the Trauma Unit at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, the hospital says.

According to Solomon Zarka, the head of Safed’s Ziv Hospital where the patient, a man in his 30s, was initially brought, he was found to have been severely injured by shrapnel that penetrated his skull, necessitating transport to a hospital with a neurosurgery unit.

Zarka says no other patient has life-threatening injuries.

This means war, says Ben Gvir after fatal rocket attack from Lebanon

With typical bellicosity, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says a rocket attack on Safed serves as a declaration of war, calling for a sea change in how Israel manages the balance of power on the Lebanese border.

“This is not a trickle [of rockets], it’s war. It’s time to leave behind the ‘conception’ in the north as well,” the far-right firebrand writes on X.

Ben Gvir and other hardliners have blamed Israel’s conception of Hamas as a stabilizing force in Gaza and uninterested in war as a fatal mistake that led to the October 7 massacre. While the killing spree changed Israeli thinking on Hamas, critics say that on the northern border Jerusalem has largely continued to treat Hezbollah as a rational enemy who will not go to war unless overly provoked.

Channel 12 news reports that the minister has demanded an urgent meeting with Netanyahu to discuss the escalation of violence in the north.

While nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks this morning, most have blamed Hezbollah, thought to be the only terror group in Lebanon with the capability to barrage Safed.

Avigdor Liberman, an opposition hawk, also seems to call for a harsh response, tweeting that Israel is letting Hezbollah walk all over it.

“The red line has turned into a white flag,” he writes. “The war cabinet has caved to Hezbollah and lost the north.”

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror says northern Israel is caught in what appears to be a managed game of tit-for-tat with the Iran-backed terror group.

“The war with Hezbollah is a conversation by fire, in which each side says to the other ‘careful, you’ve crossed a line.’ If we do something and they want to signal to us ‘stop,’ that’s one thing. If not, it’s just trying to get a rise out of us,” he tells the Kan public broadcaster.

Rescued hostages getting strength back, will leave hospital today, relative says

Louis Har (L) and Fernando Marman after their rescue, at Sheba Medical Center, February 12, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson)

Maayan Sigal-Koren says her uncle Fernando Marman and mother’s partner Louis Har are still hospitalized but had their first nearly full night of sleep on Tuesday night, nearly two days after being rescued from Hamas captivity in a daring raid in Rafah.

“You can see they’re starting to have their strength back, they’re smiling and laughing, they’re feeling a lot better,” she says.

Sigal-Koren tells a press conference that the pair understood very quickly that they were being rescued by Israeli forces, who called the men’s names once they entered the second floor of the building where they were being held.

Louis Har (L) and Fernando Marman (2nd R) are reunited with loved ones at Sheba Medical Center, February 12, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

“Fernando said that the moment that the Israeli soldier held him he felt secure, like nothing can ever happen to him again,” says Sigal-Koren, speaking in English. “It was very calming to know that they felt so safe, that they felt home even before they got back to Israel.”

The two men are expected to be released  from the hospital today.

“Their health is rather good, we’re very optimistic about getting back to our life slowly.”

Eight injured in rocket attack, one person in serious condition, Safed hospital says

Ziv Hospital in Safed says eight injured people were brought to the emergency room following rocket attacks in the city, including one person listed in serious condition.

The hospital says another person is in moderate condition, while six others are being treated for light injuries.

IDF says rockets targeted army base in north

The IDF says rockets were fired from Lebanon at an army base in northern Israel.

“Numerous launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the areas of Netua, Manara, and into an IDF base in northern Israel,” the IDF says, adding that it is striking the launch sites.

One person was killed and seven others were wounded in the attack.

Woman killed in rocket attack, rescue service says

A general view of Safed on January 19, 2021. (David Cohen/FLASH90)

The director general of Magen David Adom, Eli Bin, says one person was killed in the rocket attack from Lebanon.

He tells Kan that as medics scanned buildings that were hit by the rocket fire, the body of a woman was discovered.

Another seven people were wounded in the attack, apparently carried out by the Hezbollah terror group.

Several Hamas fighters killed in battles across Gaza — IDF

The IDF says troops continue to kill Hamas operatives in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, as well as in central part of the Strip.

Troops of the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade operating in Khan Younis spotted an RPG-wielding Hamas in a building and another operative with him, and called in an airstrike, the IDF says.

In western Khan Younis, the IDF says soldiers of the Commando Brigade located several tunnel shafts, killed several Hamas gunmen, and raided “significant” sites belonging to the terror group.

The IDF says strikes were also carried out against a four-man Hamas cell planning to ambush troops in Khan Younis.

Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Brigade killed more than 10 Hamas gunmen over the past day during a number of encounters, including by calling in airstrikes.

Mom and son injured in Kiryat Shmona rocket attack still in serious condition — city

Security forces at the scene where a rocket fired by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon hit and injured two people in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, February 13, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The city of Kiryat Shmona says a mother and her teen son injured in a rocket attack yesterday remain in serious but stable condition.

Heli Saada, 47, and Idan Saada, 15, are still in the ICU at Rambam Hospital, intubated and in an induced coma. The hospital plans to try to remove them from ventilators later in the day, the municipality reports in an update.

The mother and son hail from Elifelet, a small community east of Safed. It is not clear what they were doing in Kiryat Shmona, which has been largely evacuated, during the rocket attack.

Rocket siren sounds in northern border town

A rocket siren is sounding in Manara, a small community on the Lebanon border west of Kiryat Shmona.

Number of injured in rocket attack up to 7

The Magen David Adom emergency service raises the number of injured in this morning’s rocket bombardment of Safed to seven.

Three of the injured are in moderate condition and the rest are lightly hurt, it says, noting that all seven are fully conscious.

Footage appears to show rocket landing in Safed

Video shows a rocket impacting in what appears to be a populated area of Safed, followed by smoke rising.

ימי נתניהו ????

צפת ???? pic.twitter.com/DPTdOtbgKo

— Real News IL (@RealNewsIL) February 14, 2024

The Magen David Adom rescue service now says two of the injured are in moderate condition and three are lightly hurt.

The city’s Ziv Medical Center says it is receiving trauma patients.

Power outages are being reported in parts of Safed, a mountain city home to nearly 40,000 people.

Five injured in rocket attack — emergency service

Illustrative: wounded are brought to Ziv Medical center in Safed after an anti-tank missile attack in Kfar Yuval on January 14, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

The Magen David Adom rescue service says it is transporting five people in the Safed area injured in rocket attacks to hospitals.

One person is listed in moderate condition and the other four are lightly injured, MDA says.

Reports claim at least eight rockets were fired at the city.

Sirens sound in Safed, Galilee for third time in quick succession

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Galilee for the third time in under 15 minutes, appearing to mark one of the heaviest barrages on northern Israel since fighting began.

The sirens are again heard in the city of Safed and several areas near Mount Meron, home to an air control facility targeted in the past.

צבע אדום (14/02/2024 09:17): מירון, מרכז אזורי מרום גליל, בר יוחאי, ספסופה – כפר חושן, קדיתא, דלתון, ג'ש – גוש חלב, אזור תעשייה רמת דלתון, כרם בן זמרה, אור הגנוז, צפת pic.twitter.com/36doC01YPy

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) February 14, 2024

Sirens sound in north again, impact reported

Rocket sirens are sounding for a second time in Safed and several other areas around northern Israel.

Initial reports suggest at least one rocket impacted following the earlier launch.

צבע אדום (14/02/2024 09:12): אור הגנוז, אזור תעשייה רמת דלתון, בר יוחאי, ג'ש – גוש חלב, דלתון, כרם בן זמרה, מירון, מרכז אזורי מרום גליל, ספסופה – כפר חושן, קדיתא, כפר שמאי, צפת pic.twitter.com/3ozmZ64VVs

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) February 14, 2024

Rocket sirens blare in Safed

Rocket sirens are sounding in the city of Safed, the community of Dalton and several other areas of the Upper Galilee.

The alerts are somewhat deeper inside northern Israel than many of the daily attacks on border towns, with Safed sitting some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Lebanon frontier.

צבע אדום (14/02/2024 09:05-09:06): צפת, ביריה, אזור תעשייה רמת דלתון, דלתון, קדיתא, עמוקה pic.twitter.com/cN8pNoRrCk

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) February 14, 2024

Ambassador to US says White House not pushing for Gaza ceasefire

Speaking to Army Radio, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog denies that Washington is pressuring Israel for an end to the fighting in Gaza even if it is pushing for a pause in hostilities.

“The US government has questions about the humanitarian side of the war’s management, but I don’t see an American stance of trying to stop us,” he says. “A truce to free hostages, sure, but not calls for a ceasefire.”

He adds that despite differences of opinion among Democrats regarding the US approach to Israel, “their basic support of our war goals has not changed.”

Explosion, fire hits major gas pipeline in Iran

Iran says an explosion and fire affecting a main gas pipeline in the country’s west is being managed, with some reports describing the incident as a terrorist act, but others calling it an accident.

Iran says the explosion in a pipeline in the west of the country, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, has been a terrorist act.

The explosion did not result in any casualties. pic.twitter.com/vTtiYPLunu

— Press TV (@PressTV) February 14, 2024

No casualties are reported after the blast, which occurred at around 1:50 a.m. local time near the city of Borujen in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province.

A report carried by the state-run ISNA news outlet quotes an official managing the pipeline saying that the supply of gas to most of the country is unaffected, though gas was cut to areas near the explosion.

Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran’s gas network control center, tells Iranian state television that a “sabotage and terrorist” action caused explosions along several areas of the line.

Hostage families set to take off for Hague to bring war crimes case against Hamas

Ziv Abud, whose partner is held hostage in Gaza, speaking at ben Gurion Airport at a press conference before taking off for the Hague with other friends and family of hostages on February 14, 2024. . (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

Some 100 representatives of families of hostages are set to take off for the Hague, where they plan to file a war crimes complaint Wednesday against the leaders of the terror organization at the International Criminal Court.

At a tarmac press conference organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Ofri Bibas, whose brother Yarden is being held in Gaza as well as Yarden’s wife Shiri and their two small children, says they are at the mercy of “terrorists who killed, raped and tortured, and it is not ending.”\

Speakers say they hope to warn the world that Hamas’s terror can spread to Europe, North America and elsewhere.

מעמד מרגש והיסטורי הבוקר בנתב"ג: 100 משפחות חטופים כולל החטופים ששבו איתי רגב (בתמונה) ורז בן עמי בדרך להאג להגיש תלונה בבית הדין הפלילי הבינ' נגד ראשי חמאס pic.twitter.com/Te9azu73fo

— Nitsan Shafir ניצן שפיר (@nitsanshafir) February 14, 2024

“Today we will make history,” says Bibas. “This is an important part of our struggle, as citizens of our country and of the world, to say ‘no more.’ This is not just our story, if we don’t stop this, tomorrow it will be world’s story.”

Inbar Goldstein, whose brother Nadav was killed and whose nephews were freed, says the families are traveling in the hope of achieving some measure of justice through the world body.

“We are going to the International Criminal Court so they can see and we can be seen. We are going to yell the yell of those whose voices cannot be heard,” she says. “We are going to ensure that we are not just watching history as it happens but writing it, in practice, with ourselves and in our words.”

NY race winner Suozzi heckled by pro-Palestinian protesters, loser Pilip heckled by Trump

Democrat Tom Suozzi, celebrating his defeat of Israeli-raised Republican candidate Mazi Pilip in a special election for New York’s 3rd Congressional district, is interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters criticizing his support for Israel during a victory speech.

Hecklers, including one man who mounts the stage next to Suozzi and waves a Palestinian flag, call for a ceasefire and accuse the congressman-elect of “supporting genocide,” before being drowned out by supporters chanting his name.

Tonight, we helped Palestine take center stage by interrupting Democrat Tom Suozzi's victory speech. In the House and on the campaign trail, Suozzi has made his support for Israel's genocide clear.

No celebrations while Gaza burns. #CEASEFIRE NOW! @MFP_NY pic.twitter.com/tKKEZUcN7o

— Long Island DSA (@NassauDSA) February 14, 2024

“There are divisions in our country where people can’t even talk to each other. All they can do is yell and scream at each other,” he says, acknowledging the demonstrators. “That’s not the answer to the problems we face in our country. The answer is to try and bring people together to try and find common ground.”

“The way to make our country a better place is to try and find common ground. It is not easy to do. It is hard to do,” Suozzi adds at an election night party in Woodbury.

Pilip concedes the race and says she congratulated Suozzi in a phone call.

“Yes we lost, but it doesn’t mean we are going to end here,” Pilip tells supporters at her election watch party.

Trump is quick to insult Pilip, who had tried to keep the seat in GOP hands after fabulist George Santos was booted from the House. On his Truth Social app he calls the Orthodox Jewish IDF veteran  a “very foolish woman” who was “running in a race where she didn’t endorse me and tried to ‘straddle the fence,’ when she would have easily WON if she understood anything about MODERN DAY politics in America.”

AP declares former Democratic representative as winner in NY House race against IDF veteran

Former US representative Tom Suozzi speaks during a campaign canvass kick off event, February 11, 2024, in Plainview New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Democrat Tom Suozzi has won a special election in New York for the US House seat that was left vacant when Republican George Santos was expelled from Congress.

Suozzi defeats Republican Mazi Pilip to retake a seat he held for three terms before giving it up to run, unsuccessfully, for governor.

The victory narrows the slim Republican majority in the House and gives Democrats a much-needed win in New York City’s Long Island suburbs, where the GOP showed surprising strength in recent elections.

Born in Ethiopia, Pilip was part of a community of 14,500 Black Orthodox Jews who were airlifted to Israel to escape civil war and famine in 1991. She was 12 at the time. Pilip later served in the Israel Defense Forces, then moved to the US after marrying a Ukrainian-American doctor in 2005. She became a US citizen in 2009 and was elected to Nassau County’s legislature in 2021.

Congressional candidate Mazi Pilip greets attendees at her GOP fundraiser event hosted by the Nassau County Republican Committee on February 5, 2024, in Jericho, New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)

Polls close in NY special election to fill vacancy created by ouster of Santos

NEW YORK — Polls close in a New York special election, where Democrats are aiming to whittle away Republicans’ thin majority in the US House of Representatives to fill the vacancy created by Republican George Santos’ ouster.

The first returns showed Tom Suozzi, a Democratic former congressman, county executive and mayor, leading Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Republican county legislator who served in the Israeli military, by a two-to-one margin with about 6% of the estimated vote counted, according to Edison Research. The district includes a small corner of New York City and some of its eastern suburbs.

Republicans hold a narrow 219-212 House majority that has proven hard to manage, illustrated by the chamber’s failure last week to pass a measure to impeach US President Joe Biden’s top border official, Alejandro Mayorkas, which fell shortby one vote when a few Republicans voted no. The House approved the measure on Tuesday, after No. 2 Republican Steve Scalise returned from cancer treatment to cast a decisive vote.

Santos was expelled by the House in a historic vote after a nearly 11-month tenure, when his fellow lawmakers ejected him over criminal corruption charges and allegations of misspending campaign money.

Turnout, already expected to be light for a special election in February, was further depressed by a winter storm that blanketed New York on Tuesday morning with several inches of heavy snow, prompting both campaigns to offer free rides to polling places in the afternoon.

The district, which supported Biden in 2020 before flipping to Republicans in the 2022 mid-term elections, has served as a testing ground for both parties’ messaging ahead of the fall election, when the presidency and control of both chambers of Congress will be at stake.

Dutch police give all clear after no explosives found at Israeli envoy’s residence

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch police say early Wednesday they found no explosives after a probe at the residence of the Israeli ambassador in The Hague, which comes amid tightened security in the city.

The area was cordoned off late Tuesday, with half a dozen ambulances, fire engines, and police vehicles visible, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

But police later write on X, formerly Twitter, that after an investigation by the military bomb squad, “it turns out not to have been an explosive.”

“The area has been cleared,” say police.

Authorities in The Hague had already imposed emergency security measures around the Israeli embassy in response to an unspecified threat.

The emergency measures allowed police to search people in the area, make additional checks and deny access if necessary.

US House approves impeachment articles against Biden’s top border official

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas holds a press conference at a US Border Patrol station in Eagle Pass, Texas, on January 08, 2024. (John Moore/Getty Images/AFP)

WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives narrowly votes to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden’s top border official, accusing him of lax policies that encouraged illegal immigration.

By a vote of 214-213, the House approves two articles of impeachment accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing US immigration laws, which Republicans argue led to record flows of migrants across the US-Mexico border, and making false statements to Congress.

It comes a week after a similar vote failed in a legislative defeat for Speaker Mike Johnson. Republican Representative Steve Scalise, who had been receiving treatment for cancer, was not present for last week’s vote, but returned to Washington this week, providing a crucial vote.

But it is highly unlikely that the Democratic-majority Senate will vote to oust Mayorkas.

A record number of migrants have illegally crossed the border from Mexico since Biden took office in 2021, and former President Donald Trump has made it a major focus of his campaign against Biden.

Mayorkas has said he does not bear responsibility for the border situation, blaming it instead on a broken US immigration system that Congress has not been able to fix.

Kushner defends business dealings with Saudis, says not seeking White House role if Trump wins

FILE - Jared Kushner listens as former US president Donald Trump announces he is running for president for the third time as he speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, November 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

NEW YORK  — Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s former White House adviser and his son-in-law, defendes his business dealings after leaving government with the Saudi crown prince who was implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Kushner worked on a wide range of issues and policies in the Trump administration, including Middle East peace efforts, and developed a relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has overseen social and economic reforms and a far-reaching crackdown on dissent in the kingdom.

After Kushner left the White House, he started a private equity firm that received a reported $2 billion investment from the sovereign wealth fund controlled by Prince Mohammed, drawing scrutiny from Democrats.

Kushner, speaking at a summit in Miami sponsored by media company Axios, says he followed every law and ethics rule. He dismisses the idea of there being any concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest in his business deal.

“If you ask me about the work that that we did in the White House, for my critics, what I say is point to a single decision we made that wasn’t in the interest of America,” Kushner says.

He says the sovereign wealth fund, which has significant stakes in companies such as Uber, Nintendo and Microsoft, is one of the most prestigious investors in the world.

He also defends Prince Mohammed when asked if he believes US intelligence reports that the prince approved the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist. The prince has denied any involvement.

“Are we really still doing this?” Kushner at first says when he was asked if he believes the conclusions from US intelligence.

Kushner says he has not seen the intelligence report released in 2021 that concluded the crown prince likely approved Khashoggi’s killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“I know the person who I dealt with. I think he’s a visionary leader. I think what he’s done in that region is transformational,” Kushner says.

He stands by the Trump administration’s policies and calls it “one of the greatest compliments” that US President Joe Biden backed away from his initial stance to shun Saudis for human rights violations to instead work with the crown prince on issues like oil production and security in the region.

“I understand why people, you know, are upset about that,” Kushner says of Khashoggi’s killing. “I think that what happened there was absolutely horrific. But again, our job was to represent America, and to try to push forward things in America.”

Kushner also says he is not interested in rejoining the White House if Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, saying he was focused on his investment business and his living with his family in Florida out of the public eye.

Polish PM accuses last government of widespread illegal use of Pegasus

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, left, and President Andrzej Duda attend a meeting of the Cabinet Council, a consultation format between the president and the government, in Warsaw, Poland, on February 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s new prime minister says he has documentation proving that state authorities under the previous government used the powerful Pegasus spyware illegally and targeted a “very long” list of hacking victims.

Donald Tusk makes the announcement during a news briefing alongside President Andrzej Duda, a political opponent aligned with the previous ruling party. The use of Pegasus is alleged to have occurred under the government led by the right-wing Law and Justice party.

Pegasus gives operators complete access to a mobile device, allowing them to extract passwords, photos, messages, contacts and browsing histories, and to activate the microphone and camera for real-time eavesdropping.

Tusk says he’s sharing information with Duda that showed wide use of the spyware in Poland.

“This is only a sample of the documents that are at your disposal, Mr. President,” he says at the start of a meeting of the Cabinet Council, a consultation format between the president and the government. Duda called the meeting to discuss other matters.

The prime minister says he asked the justice minister and prosecutor general to provide Duda with documents which “confirm 100% the purchase and use of Pegasus in a legal and illegal manner.”

The president has not publicly responded.

Tusk took power in December following an October election which he won as the head of a broad centrist alliance. It marked the end of eight years of rule by Law and Justice, a populist party that the European Union accused of eroding democratic norms.

The new parliament has set up a special commission to investigate who used Pegasus and against whom during Law and Justice’s years in government.

“The list of victims of these practices is unfortunately very long,” Tusk says. That list has not been publicly released.

Several Polish opponents of the previous government were targeted with Pegasus, a spyware program made by Israel’s NSO Group, according to findings by the University of Toronto’s nonprofit Citizen Lab that were exclusively reported by The Associated Press.

UN atomic chief warns of increasingly ‘loose talk about nuclear weapons’ in Iran

Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, top second right, attends a meeting with head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, bottom left, in Tehran, Iran on August 25, 2020. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog warns that Iran is “not entirely transparent” regarding its atomic program, particularly after an official who once led Tehran’s program announced the Islamic Republic has all the pieces for a weapon “in our hands.”

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, just across the Persian Gulf, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, alludes to remarks made this weekend by Ali Akbar Salehi. Grossi noted “an accumulation of complexities” in the wider Middle East amid Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Iran is “presenting a face which is not entirely transparent when it comes to its nuclear activities. Of course this increases dangers,” Grossi says. “There’s loose talk about nuclear weapons more and more, including in Iran recently. A very high official said, in fact, we have everything, it’s disassembled. Well, please let me know what you have.”

Grossi does not identify the Iranian official who made the comment. However, in an Iranian state television show late Sunday, Salehi said that the country had all it needed to build a weapon.

“We have all the (pieces) of nuclear science and technology. Let me give an example,” Salehi said. “What does a car need? It needs a chassis, it needs an engine, it needs a steering wheel, it needs a gearbox. Have you made a gearbox? I say yes. An engine? But each one is for its own purpose.”

Salehi made a similar comment Saturday.

“We have it in our hands,” he said then.

Hundreds of Islamic Jihad operatives fighting in Hezbollah’s Radwan force — report

This handout picture provided by Hezbollah's media office on February 12, 2024, shows the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group's leader Hassan Nasrallah (R) meeting with Ziad Nakhaleh, head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, at an undisclosed location in Lebanon. (Hezbollah's Media Office/AFP)

Since the start of skirmishes on the northern border, Israeli forces have identified hundreds of Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives fighting in the ranks of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the report, Palestinians in both Syria and Lebanon — most of them Islamic Jihad members — have been incorporated into Radwan as an “organic” unit. Similar to Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad is backed by Iran.

The broadcaster notes that unlike with its own fighters, Hezbollah has not announced the deaths of Palestinian operatives in Lebanon, and says the Palestinians have been used in attempts to infiltrate into Israel.

The report comes a day after Islamic Jihad chief Ziad Nakhaleh met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

Pentagon says Austin released from hospital, has resumed full duties

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on February 1, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and resumed his full duties, the Pentagon says.

Austin, 70, has had ongoing health issues since undergoing surgery in December to treat prostate cancer. He was taken back to Walter Reed on Sunday for a bladder issue and admitted to intensive care for the second time since the surgery. He underwent a non-surgical procedure under general anesthesia on Monday.

He is expected on Wednesday to host a virtual meeting of about 50 countries who meet monthly to coordinate military aid for Ukraine.

He had been scheduled to travel to Brussels on Tuesday for the Ukraine meeting, followed by a quarterly meeting with NATO defense ministers on Thursday. The US ambassador to NATO, Julie Smith, will represent Austin at that meeting instead.

In January, Austin was hospitalized for two weeks at Walter Reed after he experienced complications from the surgery.

His Walter Reed doctors had said they did not anticipate he would be in the hospital this time for a prolonged period.

State Department reviewing reports of civilian harm by Israeli forces in Gaza

WASHINGTON — The United States is reviewing reports that Israel has harmed civilians in its war in Gaza under a set of guidelines aimed at ensuring countries receiving US arms conduct military operations in line with international humanitarian law, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.

“We do seek to thoroughly assess reports of civilian harm by authorized recipients of US-provided defense articles around the world,” Miller says at a press briefing, adding that a process under the State Department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) is assessing incidents in the current conflict.

CHIRG was established in August last year, just weeks before Palestinian terror group Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages during a devastating attack in southern Israel on October 7. In response, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza aimed at toppling Hamas and returning the hostages. According to Hamas health authorities, more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 68,000 wounded in the Israeli military campaign, a figure that doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.

The guidance sets out a process by which State Department officials investigate specific incidents where civilians may have been harmed by US weapons.

Miller does not specify when the CHIRG process was initiated or say how many incidents were being reviewed. But a source familiar with the process says the department is looking at least 50 reported incidents of civilian harm.

“That process is not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism,” Miller says.

“Rather, it is designed to systematically assess civilian harm incidents and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents recurring in the future and to drive partners to conduct military operations in accordance with international humanitarian law.”