Feb. 15: PM says Hamas disarmament must include 60,000 rifles: ‘That’s what they used on Oct 7’

Screenshot from footage broadcast February 15, 2026 of protests in Iran on January 8, 2026. (Channel 12 screenshot)

Footage filmed for Channel 12 by an Iranian in Tehran during protests on the bloody night of January 8 shows crowds chanting in the heart of the capital for the downfall of the regime, while mosques, bridges and buildings burn.

The opposition-affiliated Iranian news site Iran International alleges that over 36,000 people were killed by the regime that night, though those figures cannot be confirmed.

The footage shows a phalanx of security forces on motorcycles moving down a street and firing.

הערב במהדורה: תיעוד מיוחד של אזרח איראני מטבח ה 8.1 בטהראן. לאורך כל הלילה הוא צילם בטלפון ובמצלמה נסתרת. מסמך מרתק וחריג באמת. pic.twitter.com/bOMNuv1XbQ

— אוהד חמו (@ohadh1) February 15, 2026

According to the Iranian who filmed for the Israeli outlet, many protesters are upset with US President Donald Trump for failing to come to their aid after saying he would do so.

Some of the footage shows rows of bodies lined up as protesters looked for loved ones.

The man filmed inside Iran for Channel 12 in 2022 as well. He was not hurt during the 2026 protests.

10:13 pm

Military say it struck Islamic Jihad operatives in Lebanon; 4 reported killed

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike targeting members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in the Lebanese town of Majdal Anjar.

Majdal Anjar is located in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, some 40 kilometers (nearly 25 miles) north of Israel’s border.

No further details are immediately provided by the military.

Lebanon’s state-run news agency reports that the strike killed four.

10:12 pm

IDF says it struck Gaza terror operatives who approached troops

The military says it struck terror operatives in Gaza who engaged in “suspicious activity on the ground” and approached troops in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today.

According to the IDF, troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade identified the operatives on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. The army says that in addition to “carrying out suspicious activity on the ground,” the operatives approached the soldiers “in a manner that posed an immediate threat.”

After they were identified, the Israeli Air Force struck and “eliminated two of the terrorists to remove the threat,” the IDF says. It does not specify what happened to the others.

10:04 pm

Palestinian Authority forces open fire at West Bank fugitive, reportedly killing 16-year-old

By Noam Lehmann

Palestinian media reports that Palestinian Authority security forces in the northern West Bank opened fire on the vehicle of wanted fugitive Samer Samara, killing his 16-year-old son and critically wounding the fugitive’s 3-year-old daughter.

Samara himself was wounded and detained by PA forces, according to the reports, which do not specify his condition or whereabouts.

????بعد ملاحقة والدهما المطارد … استشهاد طفل وإصابة شقيقته برصاص أجهزة السلطة في طمون

اقرأ المزيد عبر فلسطين أون لاين: https://t.co/4qnGsl7Mhw pic.twitter.com/qXrNPtZr7F

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) February 15, 2026

In a statement via WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, the PA confirms a child was killed during the arrest of “a person wanted by the law based on a court warrant.”

The security forces express “intense sorrow” over the incident and say they have “opened an immediate and comprehensive investigation” into the case.

According to independent Palestinian outlet Ma’an, the PA forces opened fire on Samara’s car after he refused orders to stop at a roadblock that the forces had set up to catch him outside the Palestinian town of Tammun.

The Palestine Today channel, which is affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, identifies Samara as a “resistance fighter.” The Hamas terror group in a statement describes him as “a fugitive of the occupation,” referring to Israel, which coordinates with the PA on some security matters.

Hamas, a rival of the West Bank-based PA, says the shooting represents “a new blemish on the record of the [PA security] apparatus, which continues suppressing our people instead of protecting them.”

“We demand those involved in this crime be held to account… and call for the immediate release of all political prisoners,” Hamas says.

9:54 pm

US, Israeli envoys both say Netanyahu did not ask Trump to push Herzog again for pardon

Both the Israeli ambassador to Washington and his US counterpart in Jerusalem tell Channel 12 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not ask US President Donald Trump to publicly demand again from President Isaac Herzog that he pardon the premier.

Trump rebuked Herzog last week for not pardoning the Israeli leader.

“The issue of a pardon and/or Netanyahu’s trial did not come up, nor were they discussed in the meeting between the leaders,” says Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter.

“I’m pretty sure he did not [ask Trump to comment publicly],” says US Ambassador Mike Huckabee. “I think that’s something that originated with President Trump.”

9:40 pm

Report: Trump told Netanyahu he would back Israeli strike if Iran doesn’t make deal

US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their December meeting at Mar-a-Lago that he would back Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program if a deal is not reached with Tehran, CBS News reports, citing two sources familiar with the issue.

According to the report, two other officials say discussions among US officials have focused on how Washington might support an Israeli attack, including aerial refueling or securing overflight permission from Arab countries.

The timing of the leak to CBS could suggest it is part of a campaign to pressure Iran into accepting a deal, as talks with the US continue this week.

9:06 pm

Tefillin, prayer book found burned in luggage box of police bike set on fire by Haredi rioters in Bnei Brak

A police motorcycle set on fire this afternoon during mass Haredi riots in Bnei Brak contained tefillin and a prayer book in its luggage box, police say.

The items were burned in the attack, police said.

The commotion, which police are still trying to quell, erupted after residents spotted two female IDF officers as they were visiting a soldier at his home in the Haredi city.

Hundreds of residents then amassed into a mob and began chasing the servicewomen, who were eventually rescued by a handful of police officers.

Police handle tefillin and a prayer book taken from a motorcycle that was set on fire during riots in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on February 15, 2026. (Social media; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

“During the rescue, lawbreakers began violent riots” in which participants were seen “throwing stones at police officers, overturning a police patrol car and setting fire to a police motorcycle that contained tefillin,” police say.

8:52 pm

Top rabbis urge yeshiva students to avoid protests

Following today’s mob attack on two female IDF servicewomen in Bnei Brak, Rabbis Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the senior spiritual leaders of the United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction, call on ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to refrain from attending demonstrations.

“It is strictly forbidden, under any circumstances, to participate in or be present among those who go to places where there are confrontations with the police. One must remain in the yeshiva for studies and all scheduled yeshiva sessions. Heaven forbid that anyone should be in those places where they confront the police. Aside from the physical danger, this constitutes a great desecration of God’s Name,” the rabbis write in an open letter.

The letter comes hours after a spokesman for Lando re-released a video of the rabbi calling on members of the Haredi community not to take part in public protests in which he stated that those taking to the streets “are doing great harm.”

The video was initially recorded after a Haredi teenager was killed at an anti-conscription protest in Jerusalem last month.

8:34 pm

Ministerial panel backs bill to guarantee prisoners access to religious items

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation backs Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni’s bill guaranteeing prisoners access to objects necessary for religious observance, such as prayer shawls and tefillin (phylacteries).

“The State of Israel, as a Jewish state, sanctifies the practice and observance of religious commandments for every individual. There are detainees and prisoners who are refused access to basic religious articles, including study and prayer books, and the opportunity to don tefillin daily,” Gafni charges in the bill’s explanatory notes.

“Therefore, legislative amendments are proposed to allow every detainee and prisoner to continue practicing their faith and religious commandments even during imprisonment and detention, and to allow them to possess religious articles according to their faith, including the donning of tallit (prayer shawls) and tefillin during daylight hours, from sunrise until noon.”

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers harshly criticized the military last week after an IDF spokesperson confirmed reports that an ultra-Orthodox draft dodger had not been allowed to put on tefillin for one day while being held in military prison.

In a statement, the IDF said that the man had indeed been prevented from wearing tefillin — small leather boxes containing Torah verses, which Orthodox Jewish men don every weekday morning during prayers — due to a delay in his transfer to a detention unit. The spokesperson added that it was contrary to regulations and that “procedures in the prison have been sharpened” to prevent a recurrence.

At the time, Gafni compared the IDF to the Roman Empire, while Shas MK Yoav Ben-Zur questioned how people are being prevented from putting on tefillin “in the state that rose from the ashes of the terrible destruction after the Holocaust, a state that was established with the vision of protecting the Jewish people and tradition.”

8:26 pm

Netanyahu: Global antisemitism follows centuries-long pattern, we must ‘fight, fight, fight’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission to Israel in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The new wave of antisemitism sweeping the United States and Europe is part of a centuries-long pattern of hatred against Jews, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns Jewish leaders at the opening of the 51st annual Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission to Israel.

The only effective response is organized, confident resistance anchored by a strong Jewish state, he says.

Recent attacks, intimidation, and vilification of Jews on campuses and in public life should be understood in the context of Jewish history — since exile from the Jews’ ancestral land, Netanyahu says.

He describes a recurring cycle in which Jews, often “prominent and weak” in host societies, became targets of envy and conspiracy theories. From accusations of poisoning wells and spreading disease to medieval blood libels and Nazi propaganda, the demonization of Jews has almost always preceded physical attacks, pogroms, mass expulsions, or mass murder, he says.

The “great change in Jewish history” came with the creation of the State of Israel, which transformed the Jews from a dispersed and vulnerable minority into a people with the capacity to defend themselves, he adds.

“On October 7, they thought they’d do a Holocaust on us. That was the goal. If they could get away with it, they’d murder every last person — every last woman, child, infant that they could. Which is what they did. But we rolled them back after day one. With horrible consequences — we lost 1,200 innocent people,” he says.

“In the Holocaust, October 7 happened every day, [the equivalent of] 5,000 times,” Netanyahu says. “We don’t let a day of such tragedy go by. We rolled back our enemies. We’re in the process of destroying the remainder of that terror axis. We can fight back.”

Netanyahu refers to right-wing influencer Tucker Carlson as “the Father Coughlin of our age,” referring to Father Charles Coughlin, a popular radio priest in pre–World War II America known for his antisemitic broadcasts.

Calling on Jewish communities worldwide “not to cower” but to “fight back” in the media, digital and political arenas, he says, “The first requirement to defeat antisemitism is to fight antisemitism. It’s the only way. Fight, fight, fight.”

???????????????? Netanyahu: “Minorities, whether it’s Blacks or gays or women, fought back.

And what we have to do as Jews, both here in Israel and in the various Jewish communities around the world, beginning with the United States, is to fight back.“ https://t.co/cpaKI1YUr5 pic.twitter.com/7lFoL7PXpW

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 15, 2026

Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff adds, following Netanyahu’s speech: “What stopped Father Coughlin was when the Catholic Church, which had supported him, stood up and stopped him and called him out. Today, the American conservative movement should do exactly the same as was done to Father Coughlin, which is to call out public policy and condemn.”

8:23 pm

Deri demands cops remove Bennett from Bnei Brak after riots; ex-PM retorts: Who’s asking him?

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett visited Bnei Brak following the mob attack against two female IDF servicewomen, declaring that this afternoon’s violence was “what happens when people sense that draft evasion is winning.”

“This didn’t happen in a vacuum; there is an address for this behavior. Netanyahu and the Haredi parties, what did you think would happen? You turned a blind eye to the cries of ‘We will die rather than enlist.’ What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen when you ignored the violence directed at Haredi soldiers who do enlist?” Bennett asked.

In response, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri calls on police to “immediately issue a restraining order” to remove Bennett from the city, although there is unlikely to be any legal basis for his demand. “This inciter and instigator arrived in the city with the aim of inflaming passions and exploiting this painful situation to gain votes for himself. This despicable man, who does not care about anything — is the last person who should be at the scene,” Deri declares in a statement.

In response, Bennett says: “I’m not sure who’s asking him.”

בני ברק, עכשיו.
נתניהו והחרדים העלימו עין מקריאות "נמות ולא נתגייס״ ועודדו השתמטות ממוסדת.
ככה זה נראה כשההשתמטות מנצחת. pic.twitter.com/KuB1D5whoj

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) February 15, 2026

He charges that “the problem is not Deri, who has gotten used to being the owner of the country, but Netanyahu, who sold it to him.”

“When Deri calls on healthy young Haredi men not to dare enlist to help IDF soldiers, Netanyahu is silent, supportive, and promotes a conscription law that abandons our soldiers,” Bennett declares, prompting Deri to accuse the former premier of selling out Israel to Arab politician Mansour Abbas “in exchange for the prime minister’s seat.”

The Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid government, which was in office from 2021 to 2022, made history by including the Islamist Ra’am party, led by Abbas, in its diverse coalition of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties.

“Your cynical use of IDF soldiers and bereaved families is no less grave than your arrival in Bnei Brak to profit from the rifts you created. It seems there is no rock bottom you haven’t reached,” Deri adds.

Deputy Minister Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) also appears to call on police to remove Bennett.

In a statement, the Haredi politician warns against what he describes as “indiscriminate governmental violence that harms the innocent.”

“This ‘revenge campaign’ in the city of Bnei Brak endangers the lives of innocent bystanders, including infants, the elderly, and small children,” he says, in an apparent reference to IDF enforcement efforts against draft evaders.

“We call upon the national security minister, police commissioner and [police] commanders not to carry out illegal orders from politicians and jurists who constantly incite,” Eichler continues. “Furthermore, inciters who are enemies of the Haredim, who arrive on the scene specifically to agitate the atmosphere, must be kept away. Their entire goal is to deteriorate the city into the danger of bloodshed, as they long for a civil war within the State of Israel.”

8:03 pm

Netanyahu says Hamas disarmament must include 60k rifles: ‘That’s what they used on Oct 7’

Masked Islamic Jihad and Hamas gunmen hand over a body bag believed to contain the remains of a deceased hostage to the Red Cross for transfer to Israeli authorities, in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, December 3, 2025. (AP/ Jehad Alshrafi)

Hamas disarmament means “it must give up its weapons, not [just] its main weapons,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the 51st annual Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission to Israel.

Netanyahu says that there has been talk about Hamas giving up only its “heavy weapons.”

“There’s practically no heavy weapons in Gaza,” he says. “There’s no artillery. There’s no tanks. There’s nothing.”

“The heavy weapon, the one that does the most damage, is called an AK-47,” he says. “That’s how they execute people. That’s how they shoot our people. That’s what they use. Assault rifles. That’s what they used in the massacre of October 7. That’s what they used. They did the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust with AK-47s.”

He says there are 60,000 rifles in Hamas hands. “They have to go outside,” as do RPGs and rocket.

Demilitarizing Gaza means Hamas’s remaining 350 kilometers (some 217 miles) of tunnels must be destroyed, and the same for any weapons factories, he says.

A report in The New York Times last week said Hamas would be allowed to keep “some small arms,” at least initially, while surrendering all weapons that are “capable of striking Israel,” according to a draft plan drawn up by officials involved in the US-led Board of Peace.

According to the report, a team including US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace Gaza envoy, plans on sharing the document in question with Hamas in the coming weeks.

7:56 pm

IDF confirms strikes on Gaza terror targets after ‘blatant ceasefire violation’

The IDF confirms carrying out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight and this morning, in response to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire yesterday.

The military says among those killed in the strikes was a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated the Re’im military base during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The military says strikes targeting terror operatives in northern Gaza, Gaza City, and Khan Younis came after five Palestinian gunmen emerged from a tunnel and approached troops on the Israeli side of the ceasefire line last night.

The targeted terror operatives “had recently been working to restore the capabilities of the terror organizations in the Strip and were advancing attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the IDF says.

One of the strikes killed Ahmad Bayouk, who the IDF says raided the Re’im military base on October 7.

Meanwhile, the IDF also announces that a strike last Monday, in response to an attack by gunmen on troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah a day prior, killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander.

Azem Abu Huli, who headed Islamic Jihad’s elite forces in the Strip’s center, was responsible for supplying weapons to other terror operatives, as well as advancing attacks against troops, the army says.

Abu Huli commanded Islamic Jihad terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, and throughout the war also trained operatives “to practice scenarios involving the abduction of IDF soldiers,” the IDF adds.

7:49 pm

Qatar blasts cabinet decision on West Bank land registration

Qatar condemns the cabinet’s opening of a land registration process in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, calling it “an extension of its illegal plans to deprive the Palestinian people of their rights.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry stresses “the need for international solidarity to pressure the occupation to halt the implementation of the decision to avoid its serious repercussions.”

The registration process will allow the registration of land with the Land Registration Authority if it is not currently registered as privately owned. Ministers who initiated the step say it will enable the registration of broad swaths of land to the state.

Without elaborating, the Foreign Ministry claims that “the Palestinian Authority is currently advancing illegal land registration procedures in Area C, in violation of the law and existing agreements.

“Contrary to misinformation spread by inciting parties, the Israeli government today approved an administrative measure within the fields of civil and property law,” the ministry says on X. “This measure is designed to bring order to land registration procedures, enabling a transparent and thorough clarification of rights to resolve legal disputes.”

While the Oslo Accords Israel and the PA signed in the 1990s placed the 60 percent of the West Bank that is Area C under Israeli security and administrative control, it stated that the territory should be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction.

While stopping short of formally annexing the entire territory amid opposition from US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has passed a slew of measures aimed at cementing Israel’s control over Area C — along with other parts of the West Bank.

7:34 pm

IDF chief says it’s ‘intolerable’ that soldiers can’t move freely in Israel

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a handover ceremony for the chief of COGAT at the Gideonim Base in central Israel, February 4, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks with the two servicewomen who were attacked by a mob of Haredi men in Bnei Brak earlier today, telling them that it is an “intolerable reality” that soldiers cannot move around freely within the country.

“I asked to speak with you to tell you that the IDF and I stand fully and clearly behind you. No one is permitted to harm your dignity or interfere with the important mission you are carrying out,” Zamir tells the two commanders from the Education and Youth Corps, who were in the ultra-Orthodox city for an official home visit to a draftee.

“You represent the entire IDF, and you have my full backing and that of the entire system. We will investigate the incident to ensure it does not happen again,” he continues, according to remarks provided by the IDF.

“A reality in which IDF soldiers, men and women, cannot move freely within the State of Israel is an intolerable reality that must be addressed. We will not accept harm to our soldiers, and I expect that the law will be fully enforced against those who harmed you,” Zamir adds.

7:31 pm

Netanyahu: Trump determined to exhaust all options on Iran; I am skeptical

By Zev Stub

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission to Israel in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026. (Zev Stub/ Times of Israel)

US President Donald Trump is determined to exhaust all options of achieving a deal with Iran before using force, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Jewish leaders at the opening of the 51st annual Conference of Presidents Leadership Mission to Israel.

Trump believes that Iran will not miss the opportunity to reach a deal after learning the lessons from the June 2025 war, Netanyahu says.

“I will not hide from you that I express my skepticism of any deal with Iran, because, frankly, Iran is reliable on one thing — that they lie and they cheat,” Netanyahu says.

Speaking after meeting with Trump in Washington last week, Netanyahu insists that any agreement must remove all enriched nuclear material from Iran, dismantle its enrichment infrastructure, curb its ballistic missile program, and “dismantle the axis of terror” that Tehran has built across the region.

Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan’s “trust but verify” adage regarding the Soviet Union, he advises Trump: “Distrust. Distrust, and always verify.”

Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu says Israel embarked on its campaign following the October 7, 2023, massacre with three goals: returning all hostages, dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities, and dismantling its rule in the territory.

Israel has significantly degraded Hamas’s infrastructure, including destroying extensive tunnels, he says, vowing that “Gaza will not pose a threat ever again.”

“It can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way,” he says. “We hope for the easy way, because we know the ravages of war. We know what it means to lose people. We don’t want the human cost, but that goal has to be achieved, one way or the other, and one way or the other, it will be achieved.”

Despite the effects of two years of war and international criticism, he portrays Israel’s economy as a “juggernaut” powered by innovation and technology. Citing foreign investment and strong markets, he says Israel is now among the world’s leading cyber powers and pledges to replicate that success in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, in partnership with the United States.

7:12 pm

Netanyahu says all enriched uranium ‘has to leave Iran’

By AFP and ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says any deal between the United States and Iran must involve the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran as well as Tehran’s ability to enrich more.

At a speech to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, the premier says that any agreement must include several elements. “The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran,” he says, adding, “the second is that there should be no enrichment capability… dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place.”

The third, he says, is resolving the issue of ballistic missiles.

7:09 pm

Israel inflation slowed to 1.8% in January, below expectations

By Sharon Wrobel

Israel’s annual inflation in January retreats slightly more than expected, led by declines in the costs of foreign travel, clothing and footwear, and entertainment, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Annual inflation over the past 12 months decelerated to 1.8%, from 2.6% in December, and is at the lowest level since June 2021. The inflation rate is well within the government’s annual target range of between 1% and 3%.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, fell in January by 0.3%, compared to analysts’ expectations for a decline of 0.2%. The monthly CPI was little changed in December from November.

In January, reductions were seen in the prices of clothing and footwear, which fell 3.9%. Transportation retreated 2.8% and entertainment and culture 0.7%. Expenses for travel abroad and in Israel dropped by 8.1%, and the costs of accommodation and travel in Israel were down 6.9%.

These were offset by increases in the costs of fresh fruit and vegetables which rose by 0.8%, health expenses which went up by 0.7%, and home maintenance, up 0.6%.

Rents on renewal of contracts jumped by 2.6% in January, and rents on contracts for new tenants surged by 6%.

6:42 pm

WATCH: Netanyahu addresses Conference of Presidents

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is speaking to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations at a Jerusalem gathering.

6:41 pm

Trump says over $5 billion in funds for Gaza will be pledged at Board of Peace summit

By Jacob Magid

US President Donald Trump speaks with the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 3, 2026 (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says over $5 billion in pledges toward the reconstruction of Gaza will be announced at Thursday’s Washington meeting of the Board of Peace.

The Times of Israel first revealed the planned donations last week, with two Arab diplomats saying that the US was aiming to announce donations from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait at around $1.25 billion each. The New York Times reported that the US is also planning on making a similar donation.

Trump says in a Truth Social post that the Thursday meeting will also see countries announce plans to contribute “thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force (ISF) and local police to maintain security and peace for Gazans.”

“Very importantly, Hamas must uphold its commitment to full and immediate demilitarization,” Trump says.

Hamas officials have denied ever making such a commitment and have pledged to hold on to their weapons.

6:27 pm

Lt. Col. Ella Waweya takes over from Avichay Adraee as IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson

L-R: Outgoing IDF Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effir Defrin, and the incoming Arabic-language spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, are seen at the IDF Spokesperson's Unit's headquarters in Tel Aviv, February 15, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Lt. Col. Ella Waweya takes over as the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, replacing Col. Avichay Adraee, who served in the role for the past 20 years.

Waweya, 36, who is known as “Captain Ella,” is now the highest-ranking female Arab Muslim officer in the military, following her promotion to lieutenant colonel.

She served as Adraee’s deputy in recent years.

A handover ceremony took place a short while ago at the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The military says Adraee will continue to assist the unit “in routine and emergency situations in the capacity of an advisor and, in the near term, will continue to operate the social media accounts under his name, with an emphasis on conveying messages during operational events.”

6:12 pm

Government okays plan for 2 new international airports, in south and north

By Sharon Wrobel

An El Al flight takes off at Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, June 19, 2025. ( Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The government has approved a plan to establish two new international airports, one in the southern Negev region and one at Ramat David in the north of the country, to complement Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

The new Ziklag airport will be constructed in the area of the Ziklag archaeological site, near the southern cities of Rahat and Netivot and not far from the southern city of Beersheba.

“The establishment of a complementary airport to Ben Gurion Airport in Ziklag in the south will be a tremendous boost to the development of the Negev — for employment, accessibility, and tourism, alongside infrastructure of roads and railways, and also for supporting industries and businesses that are located near an airport,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ziklag as a location was reportedly dismissed by planning experts in the past due to its proximity to Gaza, as well as its overlap with Israeli Air Force and Ben Gurion flight paths, which would lead to congestion at the facility. Decision-makers have seemingly ignored these findings.

“We are also promoting the construction of another airport in the north, in Ramat David, to provide a real response to the growing demand for tourists as well as for Israelis who fly abroad,” says Netanyahu. “Both airports will be established in parallel as quickly as possible.”

The decision to advance the construction of two airports simultaneously was made following a discussion between Netanyahu, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Deputy Minister Almog Cohen.

The establishment of two international airports is intended to address the expected increase in passenger traffic, ensure an alternative aviation infrastructure for Israel, and reduce pressure on Ben Gurion Airport as it is expected to reach its capacity ceiling of 40 million passengers per year, according to a joint statement.

The approval comes after years of discussions on establishing new international airports to help offset congestion at Israel’s main gateway.

6:10 pm

Spokesman for top rabbi calls on Haredim not to demonstrate

Rabbi Dov Lando in Bnei Brak, August 21, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Following today’s mob attack against two female IDF servicewomen in Bnei Brak, a spokesman for one of Israel’s top rabbis calls on members of the Haredi community not to take part in public demonstrations.

In the wake of the incident, the spokesman shares a previously recorded video of Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Degel Hatorah political faction, in which he stated that those taking to the streets “are doing great harm. Do not participate in the demonstrations!”

The video was initially recorded after a Haredi teenager was killed at an anti-conscription protest in Jerusalem last month.

6:07 pm

Bnei Brak mob attack may have occurred after resident called Jerusalem Faction hotline

This afternoon’s mob attack on two female IDF servicewomen in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak may have occurred after a resident called a telephone hotline run by the Jerusalem Faction to wrongly claim that they were attempting to deliver conscription orders.

The servicewomen serve as squad commanders at the Education and Youth Corps’ Havat Hashomer training base. They were in Beni Brak as part of an official home visit to one of their soldiers. Contrary to some claims, they were not from the Military Police.

At 1:43 p.m., shortly before video of the incident was shared online, a hotline set up by the hardline ultra-Orthodox group to provide a “national alert system” on IDF operations against draft dodgers sent subscribers an email stating that “military police soldiers are now roaming around Bnei Brak handing out conscription orders” and that there were “riots in several locations.”

A subsequent email, sent after the incident, appeared to confirm that the Jerusalem Faction had been involved in gathering the mob that attacked the soldiers.

“During the morning hours, several reports were received by our system regarding soldiers arriving to deliver enlistment orders to yeshiva students,” the email said. “At 1 p.m., upon the conclusion of the study session in yeshivas and kollels, the ‘Color Black’ system issued an update and warning to the public. Simultaneously, a large crowd gathered to protest the persecution of the Torah world. We regret the use of exceptional violence by police forces and the dissemination of lies and fabrications, which led to a general loss of control and inappropriate conduct.”

Speaking with The Times of Israel, a spokesman for the Jerusalem Faction denies any connection with the incident, stating that the riots were “not something organized.”

“I don’t know what caused it. I have no idea. I don’t know what it was about,” he says. “I have no idea what happened there, but I can only understand that today people in military uniforms are coming into Bnei Brak… it could raise everyone’s eyebrows, the fear that they might be coming to arrest yeshiva boys.”

After being shown screenshots of the emails received by The Times of Israel, the spokesman shares an audio clip circulating on ultra-Orthodox news groups on WhatsApp in which a man can be heard saying that he called the hotline after the two soldiers knocked on his door in order to present him with an enlistment order.

But he insists that the protesters “are all from the mainstream” of the Haredi community.

5:19 pm

Tel Aviv police chief appears to fault army for not coordinating soldiers’ Bnei Brak visit

Tel Aviv District commander Haim Sargrof speaks to reporters after a riot in the Haredi city of Bnei Brak on February 15, 2026. (Screenshot/Channel 12)

Tel Aviv District police commander Haim Sargaroff tells reporters that two female soldiers who came under attack by a Haredi mob in Bnei Brak this afternoon “did not coordinate” with law enforcement in advance.

The servicewomen, squad commanders at the Education and Youth Corps, had been in the ultra-Orthodox city as part of an official home visit to one of their soldiers. Contrary to some claims, they were not members of the Military Police.

“I won’t elaborate at the moment on what they came to do. They did not coordinate with us,” Sargaroff says, adding that once the soldiers arrived in the neighborhood, they came under attack by members of the Jerusalem Faction, a militant anti-conscription group.

He appears to place partial blame on the army for not notifying police of the soldiers’ entry in advance.

“The moment we know that an army force is entering [a Haredi neighborhood], we are prepared to provide reinforcement, but when they enter without coordinating with us, when they enter and start carrying out an operation, we are only [able to] react,” he says.

According to Sargaroff, the two soldiers found refuge with a law-abiding resident who hid them in a “secure place” while police rushed to the scene and eventually extracted them from the city.

Law enforcement arrived in limited numbers, leaving their police cars and motorcycles unattended while running to the soldiers on foot, Sargaroff says. During this time, rioters “took advantage of the situation” by overturning a patrol car and setting fire to a police motorcycle.

Sargaroff adds that police have so far arrested 22 members of the mob for rioting, attacking officers, throwing stones and burning trash bins.

When asked by a reporter whether police are afraid of entering Haredi areas, Sargaroff strongly denies the accusation. “We are not afraid. We enter any area, at any time, any yeshiva. There is no concern.”

5:00 pm

Israel skier Szollos finishes 35th in women’s giant slalom at Olympics

By Amy Spiro

Israel’s Noa Szollos finishes in 35th place out of 76 skiers in the women’s giant slalom at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.

She finished the first run in 35th place and the second run in 38th position, ending up with a combined time of 2 minutes and 21 seconds — 8.23 seconds off the gold-medal winner.

Szollos, an Israeli-Hungarian dual citizen who also represented Israel at the 2022 Games, will ski again in the slalom event on Wednesday.

Gold in the giant slalom went to Italy’s Federica Brignone, with the silver shared by Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund.

4:59 pm

IDF says Hamas used Gaza hospital as HQ, after Doctors Without Borders pulls staff

Palestinians gather outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 25, 2025, following deadly Israeli strikes. (AFP)

After Doctors Without Borders said it had suspended nonessential medical activities at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza due to the presence of armed men at the medical facility, the Israeli military says it has intel proving Hamas used the site as a headquarters for senior operatives.

“For over two years, the IDF and the defense establishment has warned about the cynical use by terrorist organizations in Gaza of hospitals and humanitarian shelters as human shields to conceal terrorist activity,” the military says in an English-language statement.

The army says Doctors Without Borders’ move is “an important decision, but one that comes too late. This is further proof that reinforces the necessity for the disarmament of the Hamas terror organization.”

4:55 pm

Cabinet okays new land registration process in West Bank; critics decry ‘massive land grab’

A building under construction is pictured in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze'ev on October 24, 2025. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

The cabinet authorizes the opening of a land registration process in the West Bank for the first time since 1967, which ministers who initiated the step say will enable the registration of broad swaths of land to the state.

The terms of the cabinet resolution, initiated by the defense, finance, and justice ministers, authorize the Land Registration Authority in the Justice Ministry to carry out the land registration process, and it now will receive the necessary funding and manpower for this work.

The ownership of some two-thirds of West Bank land has never been formally registered, including in Area C, which constitutes some 60% of the entire territory. Israel has full military and civilian control in Area C, which is where the new land registration process will take effect.

The registration process will allow the registration of land with the Land Registration Authority if it is not currently registered as privately owned.

An official from the Peace Now organization says that although in theory there could be a fair land registration process for all parties in the West Bank, it would be very hard under current conditions for Palestinians to prove and assert ownership claims. This, he says, will likely lead to the declaration of hundreds of thousands of dunams of land in the territory as state land, meaning it will be available to Israel for the development of settlements, infrastructure, and transportation.

While state land is supposed to be managed for the benefit of all civilians, Israel makes it available almost exclusively for settlers.

“The government has approved a massive land grab in the West Bank on the way to de facto annexation, in complete contradiction to the will of the people and the Israeli interest,” Peace Now says in response to the decision.

Addressing US President Donald Trump, he says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “annexing [the West Bank] right under your nose.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin laud the decision, saying it will create legal certainty in the territory and protect the national interest.

“The resolution constitutes a real revolution in Judea and Samaria,” says Levin, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

“The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. The Israeli government is committed to deepening its hold on all parts [of the land], and this decision is an expression of that commitment.”

4:16 pm

More condemnations pour in for Bnei Brak mob attack

Yoav Gallant attends a plenum session on the opening day of the Knesset's winter session, in Jerusalem, October 28, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant calls for action against ultra-Orthodox rabbis whose rhetoric sparked today’s mob attack against two female soldiers in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, stating that they should be prosecuted.

“An attack on IDF soldiers is an attack on the people of Israel and the State of Israel,” the former Likud lawmaker declares in a post on X.

“The extremist rioters who attacked female IDF soldiers in Bnei Brak must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law; so too must the rabbis who sanctioned their bloodshed, and those who sent them to commit an act that is un-Jewish, un-Zionist, and inhumane.”

Last week, the spiritual leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party and the Degel HaTorah faction warned members of the military police that they could face divine repercussions and excommunication.

Coalition lawmakers and ministers condemn the attack as well, calling for quick arrests and arguing that the members of the mob do not represent the mainstream Haredi community.

The attack was “a grave and shameful crossing of a red line,” says Economy Minister Nir Barkat. “It involves an extreme minority that does not represent the community, yet it strikes at the heart of the mutual responsibility that binds our people. I call on law enforcement authorities to act with a firm hand and to bring the rioters to full justice.”

“Those criminals represent a small, violent and dangerous minority,” agrees Education Minister Yoav Kisch, also calling on the police to “bring them to justice.”

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, who is currently working to advance a bill exempting most Haredi yeshiva students from military conscription, says: “I strongly condemn the violent and extremist riots that took place in Bnei Brak. I expect law enforcement to act with determination and bring all those involved to full justice.”

Coalition whip Ofir Katz tweets: “A disgrace and a shame! Female soldiers being rescued, a police officer attacked and surrounded while being called a Nazi, a patrol car overturned, and a police motorcycle set on fire — anarchists.”

Responding to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s condemnation of the incident, The Democrats chairman Yair Golan calls on the premier not to condemn but instead to “conscript them” and “impose order on the streets of Bnei Brak.”

3:57 pm

Police chief says Haredi rioting in Bnei Brak ‘crossed every line’

Police chief Danny Levy condemns riots that broke out in Bnei Brak earlier this afternoon, which saw a large Haredi mob attack two female IDF soldiers.

Levy calls the unrest “unbridled riots that have crossed every line” and says that the “lawbreakers committed grave acts that constitute a blow to the symbols of rule of law.”

Over the past hour, the mob used violence against law enforcement forces, caused damage, overturned a police patrol car and set fire to an officer’s motorcycle, Levy notes.

The police chief is currently on his way to Bnei Brak, where Tel Aviv District commander Haim Sargaroff is already present. Police have so far arrested 12 people.

3:56 pm

Haredi party leaders condemn mobbing of female soldiers

Shas party chief Aryeh Deri at the scene of suspected arson at a Jerusalem synagogue on June 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Aryeh Deri, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, condemns today’s mob attack against two female soldiers in Bnei Brak as “entirely contrary to the way of the Torah.” He also argues that such behavior harms the Haredi community and its efforts to exempt yeshiva students from military conscription.

“The Shas movement strongly condemns the acts of violence, vandalism, and rioting by a handful of extremists in Bnei Brak. These actions are entirely contrary to the way of the Torah; they harm the entire Haredi public, cause a desecration of God’s name and and inflict heavy damage on the righteous struggle for the Torah world,” he says, using an expression referring to the network of full-time yeshivas that form the backbone of ultra-Orthodox society.

“Get out of our camp!” he declares, echoing former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, one of Shas’s spiritual leaders, who issued a statement minutes earlier saying that those involved in the incident “must be denounced and cast out from the community.”

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf also weighs in. “I was shocked by the footage” of the incident, says Goldknopf. “I strongly condemn the violence against security forces in Bnei Brak. This is contrary to the Torah.”

3:32 pm

12 arrested after Haredi mob attacks female soldiers, riots in Bnei Brak

Police reposition a police car that was overturned by a mob who chased two female IDF soldiers and set a police motorcycle on fire, in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak on February 15, 2026. (David Keshet/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Police have arrested 12 people after a mob of Haredi men attacked two female soldiers, overturned a police car and set an officer’s motorcycle alight in Bnei Brak.

Chief Commissioner Danny Levy is en route to the scene of the riots, which broke out after police managed to extract two servicewomen who came under attack in the ultra-Orthodox city.

Large forces are operating in the area to restore public order.

3:26 pm

Ex-chief rabbi says Haredi rioters who attacked female soldiers should be expelled from community

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

Former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef calls for expelling those who took part in today’s mob attack against two female soldiers in Bnei Brak from the Haredi community, insisting that their actions do not comport with Torah values.

“One must strongly condemn the handful of rioters who desecrate the Name of Heaven. The ways of the Torah of Israel are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace; there is no place for such behavior among us. They must be denounced and cast out from the community,” the rabbi declares in a statement.

Yosef is the son of the late Shas party’s spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef and wields major influence within the faction.

3:13 pm

Netanyahu joins string of condemnations of Haredi attack on female soldiers in Bnei Brak

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the gala event launching the government-sponsored International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, in Jerusalem, on January 26, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “strongly condemns” the attack on two female soldiers by Haredi rioters in Bnei Brak.

“I strongly condemn the violent riots in Bnei Brak against IDF female soldiers and Israeli police officers,” he says in a statement. “This is an extreme minority that does not represent the entire Haredi community.”

He calls the attack “a serious matter and completely unacceptable.”

“We will not allow anarchy,” he promises, adding that “we will not tolerate any harm to IDF personnel and security forces who carry out their work with dedication and determination.”

3:08 pm

Katz ‘strongly condemns’ attack on female soldiers in Bnei Brak

Defense Minister Israel Katz attends the signing of a housing framework agreement at Jerusalem's City Hall, December 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz also “strongly condemns” the attack on two female soldiers in Bnei Brak.

“I strongly condemn the violent attack against IDF female soldiers in Bnei Brak by a handful of rioters,” Katz says in a statement.

“Anyone who raises a hand against the security forces, against the soldiers of the IDF, and against Israel Police officers, crosses a red line. Violence against those serving in uniform is a criminal act in every respect, not protest,” he says.

Katz says he calls on ultra-Orthodox community leaders “to denounce the [attack],” and for law enforcement to “act decisively and bring to justice everyone who took part in the severe attack.”

“The State of Israel will not allow harm to the security forces and will not turn a blind eye to violence of any kind,” he adds.

3:03 pm

Zamir condemns Haredi mob attack on 2 female troops in Bnei Brak: ‘Serious crossing of a red line’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a senior command conference discussing investigations into the failures surrounding Hamas's October 7, 2023, onslaught and the subsequent war, December 29, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir “strongly condemns” the attack on two servicewomen in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak earlier today.

In a statement, the IDF says Zamir views the incident gravely and “strongly condemns the assault on IDF soldiers who were carrying out a military mission” in the city.

The servicewomen serve with the Education and Youth Corps, and were in the ultra-Orthodox city as part of a home visit to one of their soldiers.

“Any harm to IDF soldiers carried out by Israeli civilians is a serious crossing of a red line and action must be taken against the attackers with a firm hand,” the statement says.

Zamir adds that he “expects that the attackers will be brought to justice.”

3:00 pm

Ben Gvir: Mob that attacked female troops in Bnei Brak doesn’t represent ‘vast majority of Haredi public’

The mob that chased two female soldiers in Bnei Brak on February 15, 2026 (Screen grab/David Keshet/X)

The members of an ultra-Orthodox mob that attacked two female soldiers in Bnei Brak this afternoon “will pay a heavy price” but do not represent the “vast majority of the Haredi public,” declares National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who says that one police officer was wounded in the confrontation.

There have been no reports of any arrests.

“I strongly condemn the small group of violent anarchists who attacked female soldiers, injured police officers, and set fire to a police motorcycle in Bnei Brak. These are grave, criminal, and unforgivable acts. Anyone who raises a hand against IDF soldiers or Israel Police officers will pay a heavy price,” says Ben Gvir in a statement.

“At the same time, it is important for me to clarify: This does not represent the Haredi community as a whole. The vast majority of the Haredi public is law-abiding, respects the security forces, and took no part in this violence. We must not allow an extremist fringe to stain an entire community,” he asserts, sending his best wishes to the soldiers and the police officer who was wounded defending them.

There are no details on the condition of the police officer.

2:53 pm

Opposition lawmakers condemn mob attack on female troops in Bnei Brak: ‘National disgrace’

Opposition politicians condemn the mob attack on two IDF servicewomen in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, declaring it a “national disgrace” and demanding immediate condemnation from Haredi lawmakers.

“Who is Netanyahu more worried about: our soldiers or his coalition partners?” asks Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

“There must be a wave of arrests in the coming hours. It cannot be that in the State of Israel, IDF soldiers and the police are being attacked. Anyone who was part of the attack against our soldiers must find themselves in prison today. Enough with the anarchy,” he says.

“The shocking images from Bnei Brak today, in which IDF female soldiers were rescued from an angry mob and police officers attacked as if this were Jenin, are a moral low point that has nothing to do with Judaism,” says Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, calling on Haredi lawmakers to “strongly condemn this deranged incident before a disaster occurs here!”

The Democrats chairman Yair Golan condemns what he describes as “incitement against service in the IDF, hatred toward soldiers, and a green light from the government to make the streets dangerous for those who defend the country.”

“In the heart of Israel, soldiers are under attack and in need of rescue. The responsibility lies solely with the Haredi leadership, which receives full backing from the prime minister,” says Golan.

“The side that evades service is attacking the side that serves,” says Yashar! party chief Gadi Eisenkot, recalling how IDF troops worked to aid the local population in Bnei Brak “during the most difficult days of the COVID crisis.”

Only a “real” enlistment law that conscripts all Israelis will provide security for Israel and anybody who votes in favor of the government’s bill exempting yeshiva students from military service “betrays the serving public and harms national security,” Eisenkot adds.

Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky blames the attack on “the campaign of incitement against women in the public sphere and the IDF” while party chairman Avigdor Liberman calls the incident a “national disgrace.”

“The attackers are not Jews; they are terrorists,” Liberman declares.

“A bright red line has been crossed here,” declares former prime minister Naftali Bennett, pledging to “return governance to Israel.”

2:20 pm

2 female soldiers chased by rioting Haredi mob in Bnei Brak, are extracted by police

The mob that chased two female soldiers in Bnei Brak on February 15, 2026 (Screen grab/David Keshet/X)

Two female IDF soldiers are chased by a mob of Haredi men in Bnei Brak before they are extracted by police.

The servicewomen serve with the Education and Youth Corps, and were in the ultra-Orthodox city as part of a home visit to one of their soldiers. They are not with the Military Police, contrary to some claims.

Footage circulating on social media shows the two women running as they are escorted by police, as a large crowd of men chases after them.

Trash cans are knocked over as the rioting group follows the women through the street in the Haredi-majority city. The crowd also overturned a police car.

Police say in statement that the situation is now under control, after the two soldiers were extracted from the area.

The women are not reported to have been harmed.

The IDF has not yet commented.

2 חיילות שהסתובבו בבני ברק מחולצות מהמון זועם pic.twitter.com/DzbwlzRbgR

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) February 15, 2026

2:12 pm

High Court orders Levin to justify refusal to appoint new judges

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session in the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice issues a conditional order requiring Justice Minister Yariv Levin to justify his decision not to convene the Judicial Selection Committee to vote on candidates to fill vacancies, which currently exist on every court.

In a hearing last week on petitions against Levin’s decision not to convene the committee, which the High Court justices were sharply critical of his behavior, accusing him of hindering law enforcement and asserting that his decision was leading to murder defendants and other violent criminals walking free.

The court orders Levin to file his full response to the petitions by March 8, and says a hearing will be held in the second half of March.

“Levin has turned himself, on his own initiative and contrary to the law, into a veto player over judicial appointments – a power that is not granted to him by law,” says the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioning organizations, adding that the justice minister “must not be allowed to continue holding the committee hostage for political purposes.”

There are 44 open positions across the court system, including four on the Supreme Court, but Levin has refused to convene the Judicial Selection Committee since January last year.

Similar petitions against Levin’s refusal to convene the committee — which he chairs — in order to vote on a new Supreme Court president in 2024 resulted in the High Court ordering Levin to convene the panel and hold a vote. He complied although he absented himself from the vote.

Levin has boycotted the elected Supreme Court President Isaac Amit ever since.

1:58 pm

Senior Islamic Jihad commander said among those killed in Gaza City strikes

By Noam Lehmann

An Israeli airstrike on western Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa, in the Strip’s north, has reportedly killed a senior commander in al-Quds Brigades, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military wing, and wounded several other people.

Palestinian media, including the PIJ-affiliated Palestine Today channel, identifies the commander as Sami al-Dahdouh, 56.

صورة | القيادي في سرايا القدس الشهيد سامي الدحدوح الذي اغتاله الاحتلال بقصف استهدفه في مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/34ognHUFKi

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) February 15, 2026

Dahdouh’s three brothers, including former Quds Brigades commander Khaled Dahdouh, were reportedly killed by Israel in separate strikes in Gaza some two decades ago.

Palestinian media puts the total death toll from Israeli airstrikes since dawn at eleven, with five people killed in an IDF strike near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, four in a strike on a displaced people’s camp in northern Gaza’s Jabalia and another by IDF gunfire in nearby Beit Lahiya.

Other than Dahdouh, those killed are not immediately identified in major Palestinian outlets.

The IDF has not commented on the strikes, which came after the military said five gunmen approached troops on the Israeli side of the Gaza ceasefire line last night in “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.

1:14 pm

Meeting bereaved families, Herzog says deadly crime in Arab society ‘horrific and terrible’

President Isaac Herzog meets with bereaved families from the Arab communities, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on February 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

President Isaac Herzog meets in Jerusalem with relatives of Arab homicide victims, as bereaved families escalate their demand that law enforcement curb violent crime.

Herzog calls the near-daily lethal shootings that have been rocking Arab society a “horrific and terrible” phenomenon that must be “torn out by the roots.”

He says there has been a “very large awakening” over the issue of violent crime in Arab society, which has claimed 48 lives since the start of the year.

The president takes the opportunity to urge the Knesset to pass a law that would grant police powerful surveillance tools to “put these criminals on trial,” insisting that the main hurdle for law enforcement is gathering evidence.

The families — affiliated with the Jewish-Arab Standing Together movement — insist that police are neglecting the issue and already have the necessary tools to fight violent crime, but aren’t using them.

Sitting next to the president, Qasem Awad, whose son Abdallah was shot to death last year while at work, laments that Arab citizens are “in the backyard, the police and the current government threw us into the backyard.”

Sawsan Sultan, whose sister Susan Abdelqader Bishara was killed in Tira last year, reads out a list of demands before the president on behalf of the group.

The first demand is the sacking of far-right National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, whose tenure has seen a sharp rise in Arab sector homicides.

The families also call for a consistent police presence in Arab towns, with officers trained to ensure Arab citizens’ safety, as well as regular communication between law enforcement and local officials.

At the same time, the relatives demand an end to highly militarized police raids, which see special forces enter and sometimes cordon off entire towns for a period of time, and then leave the area again without any law enforcement activities.

President Isaac Herzog meets with bereaved relatives of Arab homicide victims including Qasem Awad (right) and Sawsan Sultan (left), in Jerusalem on February 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)

1:11 pm

Gaza hospital slams Doctors Without Borders for suspending services over presence of gunmen

By Noam Lehmann

The Nasser Hospital in Gaza accuses Doctors Without Borders of “aiding in manufacturing consent” for potential attacks on the southern Gaza medical center, after the aid group said it had suspended nonessential activities at the medical center due to the presence of gunmen and “suspicion of weapons transfers.”

The Khan Younis hospital says there will be “foreseeable and grave consequences” if the aid group, known by its French acronym MSF, does not retract the statement.

In the English-language press release via the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, the hospital claims the presence of armed men “is aimed at securing safety for the staff and patients.”

According to the hospital, the armed men seen on site are not military personnel but rather police carrying out “protective, civilian and lawful” action against “uncontrolled individuals and groups” that have attacked the hospital.

“Despite full transparency and repeated clarification, MSF issued statements that misrepresent facts and mirror narratives historically used to justify attacks on hospitals,” Nasser Hospital says. “MSF is aiding in manufacturing consent for attacks against the hospital.”

The hospital issues a “formal notice” to MSF to “immediately retract” its allegations.

“Failure to do so risks material contribution to the endangerment of a protected medical facility, with foreseeable and grave consequences,” says the hospital.

Doctors Without Borders said it has suspended nonessential medical activities at Nasser Hospital due to the presence of armed men at the medical facility and “a recent situation of suspicion of movement of weapons.” The aid group also said that armed men had been arresting patients.

Israel has long offered evidence of medical facilities’ regular use by Palestinian terror groups as bases of operations due to their protected status. Hostages have also said they were held at Nasser Hospital.

Last year a doctor who also serves as a spokesperson for Nasser Hospital hinted that he had been threatened by Palestinian Islamic Jihad due to his refusal to let the terror group’s operatives enter and use the hospital.

Israel announced earlier this month that it was terminating all the organization’s activities in Gaza and the West Bank after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff. MSF slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a “pretext” to obstruct aid. Israel has accused MSF of having at least two employees who held membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror groups.

MSF has been a key provider of medical and humanitarian aid in Gaza, particularly since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel triggered a two-year war in the enclave.

12:55 pm

Albanian PM says he will attend inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace

By AFP

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama arrives for a meeting in Paris, at the Elysee Palace, on January 6, 2026. T (Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP)

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama will travel to Washington this week to join the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” he tells a podcast.

“I will be in Washington for the official creation of the peace council and the launch of the activities of this council,” Rama says in an interview with Albanian podcast Flasim.

12:51 pm

Ukraine says ex-minister named in corruption scandal arrested while trying to leave country

By AFP

Ukrainian Minister of Energy German Galushchenko speaks during a joint press conference with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Kyiv on February 4, 2025 (Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)

Ukraine’s NABU anti-corruption force says it arrested the country’s former energy minister German Galushchenko — who resigned last year during a massive corruption scandal — as he tried to cross Ukraine’s border.

“Today, while crossing the state border, NABU detectives have detained the former Minister of Energy as part of the ‘Midas’ case,” NABU says in a statement, referring to a giant corruption scandal in the country’s energy sector that rocked Ukraine last year.

It does not name Galushchenko in its statement, but he served as the country’s energy minister last year and resigned in November.

12:06 pm

Netanyahu’s military secretary gives evidence to police over allegations against PM’s chief of staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, his military secretary, whom he nominated on December 4, 2025, to be the next director of the Mossad. (Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson)

Ronen Gofman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary, gives open testimony to the police regarding allegations that Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman said he could quash a military investigation into the leak of a classified document to the German Bild newspaper.

Hebrew media reports that Gofman gave testimony to the police’s Lahav 433 national crimes unit this morning. Gofman, who has been nominated by Netanyahu to be the next head of the Mossad, is not a suspect in the case.

The police reportedly believe that Braverman received the information about the military investigation during the course of his work as Netanyahu’s chief of staff, but unlawfully informed one of the subjects of investigation, Netanyahu’s media advisor Eli Feldstein, that he was being investigated.

In an interview with the Kan public broadcaster in December, Feldstein said that Braverman had called him to meet in an underground parking lot in the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv in September 2024, and said during that conversation that he could get the investigation “shut down.”

Prime Minister’s Office’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, in the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

11:58 am

Syrian army says it took control of Shaddadi base after coordination with US

By Reuters

A man rides his motorcycle past the wall of a US military base bearing graffiti in Arabic that reads, 'Syria is more beautiful, no Assad, no SDF,' and in yellow, 'Al-Shaddadi without SDF terrorism,' near the village of Al-Shaddadi, al-Hassakeh province, eastern Syria, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

The Syrian army said it took control of the Shaddadi military base in northeastern Syria after coordination with the United States, the Syrian state news agency reports.

The move follows the US pullout from al-Tanf strategic base after a Washington-brokered deal to integrate the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces into central Syrian institutions.

11:39 am

Beijing pushes back after Trump, Netanyahu said to agree US will clamp down on Iran oil exports to China

By Reuters and ToI Staff

Beijing says “normal cooperation between countries” should be respected after a report said US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed the US would work to reduce Iran’s oil exports to China.

China’s foreign ministry says “normal cooperation between countries conducted within the framework of international law is reasonable and legitimate, and should be respected and protected.”

According to the Axios report yesterday, some 80 percent of Iran’s oil exports go to China, leading the US and Israel to believe that clamping down on trade between the two countries would “significantly” increase economic pressure on Tehran.

Trump, under authority of an executive order he signed last week, could impose 25% tariffs on China for trading with Iran.

The pressure campaign will be implemented alongside the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, the report said.

11:27 am

Attorney General’s Office says Baharav-Miara yet to examine Netanyahu’s pardon request

Left: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at her welcome ceremony in Jerusalem on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The Attorney General’s Office states that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has not yet examined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon from President Isaac Herzog for his indictments on corruption charges in three cases.

“It will be examined in accordance with standard working procedures,” Baharav-Miara’s office says.

The statement comes following a report by Channel 13 on Friday that the attorney general is in the process of completing her position paper on Netanyahu’s pardon request, and will file it in the coming weeks to the Justice Ministry’s Pardons Department.

According to the report, Baharav-Miara’s position will be that Netanyahu’s request does not meet the criteria for a pardon.

In a previous ruling on the issue, the High Court of Justice stated that pardons can only be issued before a conviction when applicants admit having committed the criminal acts for which they are requesting the pardon.

Netanyahu has refused to admit guilt for the crimes for which he was indicted and is standing trial for, however.

Last week, shortly after meeting with Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump said Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” for not granting a pardon. Herzog’s office was said to be seeking clarification from Netanyahu as to whether the latter had encouraged the move, and the premier’s office has claimed the prime minister was not involved.

11:26 am

Minister says ‘right will be crushed’ in election if coalition passes Haredi draft exemption law

Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer says legislation exempting yeshiva students from military conscription would severely harm the right’s prospects for the next election.

“If the law is advanced despite the anger of the reservists, the right will be crushed. It will pay an electoral price for it, certainly in the gross total, and even if you look at more specific frameworks,” says the minister from the far-right Religious Zionism party in a recording from a parlor meeting obtained and broadcast by national broadcaster Kan.

Sofer further questions why Haredi rabbis aren’t calling on their followers who are not enrolled in full-time yeshiva studies to enlist.

Sofer is one of several coalition MKs who has come out against the controversial bill, holding a press conference in December to announce that he would vote against it, “even if it means the prime minister will fire me.”

While Religious Zionism has yet to announce how it will vote on the bill, party head and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sparred with United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf over the issue of conscription in the Knesset last week after the ultra-Orthodox party came out against a series of economic reforms he is pushing as part of the 2026 state budget.

During the argument, Smotrich demanded that Goldknopf publicly state that those not learning in yeshiva should enlist, arguing that if he said so then the majority of lawmakers would vote for the government draft exemption bill.

11:02 am

Israeli man said arrested in UAE on suspicion of involvement in killing of alleged crypto fraudster and his wife

An Israeli man was arrested about three months ago in Dubai in connection with the killings of an alleged crypto fraudster and his wife, Hebrew-language media reports.

The Walla news site says Michael Greenberg (also known as Mike Green), a private investigator in Thailand, is not suspected of killing Russian national Roman Novak and his wife Anna in the UAE last year, but is alleged to have had some kind of involvement.

There is no immediate comment from the Foreign Ministry.

In November, the New York Post reported that Novak raised $500 million through the creation of a fraudulent cryptocurrency app, before going on the run with the money.

Novak and his wife Anna, who were living in the United Arab Emirates, were apparently lured by criminals to a desert location before an extortion attempt took place.

However, according to the report, when the kidnappers found that Novak’s crypto wallet was empty, they apparently murdered the pair and dismembered them.

9:58 am

French prosecutors announce special team to analyze Epstein files

By AFP

Documents that were included in the US Justice Department release of files related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein files are photographed on January 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

The Paris prosecutor’s office announces it is setting up a special team of magistrates to analyze evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

With Epstein’s known circle now extending to prominent French figures after the release of documents by the US authorities, the prosecutor’s office said it would also thoroughly re-examine the case of a former French modeling agency executive, Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the American financier who died in custody in 2022.

The new team will work closely with prosecutors from the national financial crimes unit and police with a view to opening investigations into any suspected crimes involving French nationals, the Paris prosecutor’s office tells AFP.

The aim is “to be able to extract any piece that could be usefully reused in a new investigative framework,” it says.

Brunel was found dead in his cell in a Paris prison in 2022 after having been charged with raping minors. The case against him was dropped in 2023 in the wake of his death, with no other person charged.

Prosecutors said an investigation had shown Brunel was “a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein” who had offered modeling jobs to young girls from poor backgrounds.

Brunel had engaged in sexual acts with underage girls in the United States, the US Virgin Islands, Paris and the south of France, they said.

Ten women had made accusations against Brunel, several describing how they had been led to drink alcohol and had been subjected to forced sexual penetration, according to the prosecutor’s office.

9:05 am

Iran will consider nuclear compromises if sanctions on table: ‘Ball is in America’s court’

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, speaks during a joint press conference with the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region in the regional capital Arbil on February 17, 2025. (Safin HAMID / AFP)

Iran is willing to consider compromises on its nuclear program if the US is ready to discuss lifting sanctions, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi tells the BBC in an interview in Tehran.

Takht-Ravanchi says the ball is “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.”

“If they are sincere, I’m sure we will be on the road to an agreement,” he tells the British broadcaster.

When asked whether Tehran would agree for its highly enriched uranium to be shipped out of Iran, the official says it is “too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”

The Iranian official reiterates that Tehran’s ballistic missile program is not up for discussion.

“When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities,” Takht-Ravanchi claims.

Asked about Trump’s apparent support for regime change in Iran, Takht-Ravanchi says: “We are not hearing that in the private messages.”

Iran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, but has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.

8:16 am

Reports: Israel’s ZIM to be sold to German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd for over $3 billion

Illustrative: A ZIM container ship at the Haifa port, November 14, 2011. (Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)

Israel’s ZIM will be sold to German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd in a deal worth over $3 billion, Hebrew-language media reports.

The deal, which has been under discussion for some six months, involves Israeli private equity firm FIMI, the Calcalist financial newspaper reports.

The newspaper says the parties have agreed on the details of the deal, which is expected to be signed soon.

According to Calcalist, Hapag-Lloyd will purchase all of ZIM’s shares, leading to the Israeli firm’s delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

The newspaper says the agreement is slightly unconventional, in that Hapag-Lloyd will take over the international operations while FIMI will control ZIM’s Israeli operations, rather than a more standard equity partnership.

The Globes financial newspaper says that workers unions are expected to meet with management in the coming hours after they were “surprised” to hear about the closing of the deal. According to Globes, there is a possibility of industrial action.

The Israeli government holds a so-called “golden share” in ZIM, giving it special rights.

According to Calcalist, the golden share provision in this case means that ZIM’s management must stay in Israel and a certain number of ships must remain Israeli-owned to ensure maritime traffic continues even in times of war.

7:56 am

Obama addresses racist video shared by Trump: ‘There doesn’t seem to be any shame’

By AFP

Former president Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Dec. 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

Former US president Barack Obama criticizes a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding for the first time to a post on US President Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and former first lady Michelle as monkeys.

The video, shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5, sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down.

Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.

“The discourse has devolved into a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before…Just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face on an ape’s body,” asks left-wing political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen in a wide-ranging podcast interview.

“And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?”

Without naming Trump, Obama responds by saying the majority of Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”

“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”

6:10 am

IDF says it will hold pre-planned drill today in Modiin

The IDF says it will be conducting a military exercise in the central city of Modiin today.

“As part of the drill, there will be an increased movement of security forces and vehicles in the area,” the army says.

The IDF says the drill, which was pre-planned, will take place during the morning and afternoon hours.

6:04 am

8 reported killed in overnight IDF strikes in Gaza, after army said gunmen approached troops in violation

Palestinian media reports at least eight killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

One strike in the Khan Younis area in southern Gaza killed four, and four others were killed in a strike near Jabalia in the Strip’s north, the reports say.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the reports, but the strikes come after five gunmen approached troops on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line last night, in what the army said was a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.

12:14 am

IDF says its series of Lebanon strikes targeted Hezbollah arms depots, rocket launchers

A wave of Israeli airstrikes in several areas of southern Lebanon this evening targeted Hezbollah weapon depots and rocket launchers, the military says.

The IDF says Hezbollah continues to attempt to rebuild its infrastructure in southern Lebanon, and that the presence of the arms caches and rocket launchers is a violation of the November 2024 ceasefire.

11:53 pm

Crew commanded by Jewish American Jessica Meir docks with International Space Station

By AFP

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir talks to her mother on a satellite phone outside the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft after she lands with NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on April 17, 2020. (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

WASHINGTON — Four astronauts dock at the International Space Station for a months-long research mission, replacing a crew forced to return to Earth early over a medical issue.

The US space agency’s Crew-12 arrives at the orbiting laboratory after a journey of about 34 hours that started with blastoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“We have bridged the legacy of humankind’s continuous presence in space spanning more than 25 years at this very site,” Jewish American astronaut Jessica Meir says after docking at the ISS.

“As we look back at Earth from these windows, we are reminded that cooperation is not just possible, it is essential. Up here, there are no borders and hope is universal.”

Other members of Crew-12 are American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

The foursome is replacing Crew-11, which returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned, in the first medical evacuation in the space station’s history.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

11:17 pm

Mansour Abbas: Foreign-linked actors wanted Ra’am coalition with Netanyahu, who sought deal with Hamas