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BBC director expresses regret over ‘antisemitic behavior’ by several staffers
BBC director general Tim Davie speaks to Sky News on Mar 13, 2023. (Screen capture/Youtube)
BBC’s director general has penned a message to staffers expressing regret over “antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us” as part of an apparent effort to rebuild fraught ties with Jewish staffers.
“As many of you may have seen, sadly in recent weeks we have been alerted to some antisemitic behavior by people who worked with us. I want to be clear that there can be no place at the BBC for racist abuse of any kind, whether towards our Jewish colleagues or indeed colleagues from any background or belief. Any form of antisemitism, Islamophobia or racist abuse is abhorrent, and we will always act whenever it occurs. We must play our role to build understanding and tolerance,” he writes in an email obtained by the Deadline entertainment news outlet.
“We will continue to talk to a range of groups across the organization as part of our shared commitment to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of background or belief,” Davie adds.
Earlier this month, a senior BBC employee came under scrutiny for having shared a plethora of antisemitic posts publicly on Facebook.
The BBC itself has come under fire for its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and has had to issue several apologies since October 7.
In mid-November, the BBC apologized after one of its presenters said and then repeated that IDF soldiers who had entered Shifa Hospital in Gaza “were targeting people including medical teams and Arab speakers.”
The broadcaster was also slammed for its rush to report unverified and later disproved claims that an Israeli airstrike was responsible for a deadly explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital on October 17. The BBC subsequently apologized for that coverage as well, saying it had been too swift to assign blame.
Finally, in early January, the BBC apologized for a December report on its radio station in which it accused Israel Defense Forces troops of executing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
UK-registered cargo ship reported under attack in Bab al-Mandab Strait
An armed Yemeni supporter of the Houthi movement sits on the back of an armored vehicle during an anti-Israel and anti-US rally in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 22, 2024. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP)
British maritime security firm Ambrey says that a Belize-flagged, UK-registered, and Lebanese-operated open hatch general cargo ship reported being under attack in Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The ship was heading north, during its journey from Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates to Varna, Bulgaria, when the attack occurred, Ambrey says in an advisory note.
“The partially laden vessel briefly slowed from 10 to six knots and deviated course, and contacted the Djiboutian Navy, before returning to her previous course and speed,” the note reads.
Yemen’s Houthi group has launched repeated drone and missile attacks against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait since mid-November, saying it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel wages war on Hamas.
PM’s office avers that freedom of religion will be respected during Ramadan
Tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers attend the last Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa compound atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, April 14, 2023. (Jamal Awad/Flash90/File)
Amid reports that he agreed to limit the number of Arab-Israeli worshipers allowed on the Temple Mount during Ramadan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office pushes back.
In a statement, the PMO says that Netanyahu “made a balanced decision that allows freedom of religion with necessary security limits, which have been set by professional officials.”
“Any other report is incorrect,” the statement adds, without elaborating on what decision was made and what restrictions will be put in place.
Norway says it agrees to transfer tax funds from Israel to Palestinian Authority
Illustrative: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he chairs a Palestinian National Council meeting in Ramallah on April 30, 2018. (AFP/ABBAS MOMANI/File)
Norway has agreed to help transfer frozen tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority that were collected by Israel, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry says, providing vital funding to the Western-backed entity.
“The temporary scheme will play a crucial role in preventing the Palestinian Authority from collapsing financially,” the Norwegian ministry says in a statement.
Israel approved a framework last month under which the Gaza-designated portion of PA tax funds will be sent to Norway, which will hold onto the funds until far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich authorizes their funneling to the PA.
The PA had refused to accept a partial transfer of the tax funds Israel collects on its behalf since November, when the government decided to deduct the amount that was earmarked to send to Gaza to pay for services and salaries in the coastal enclave.
Israel Bar Association selects new representative on Judicial Selection Committee
Yonit Calmanovich. (Israel Bar Association)
The Israel Bar Association elects Yonit Calmanovich to serve as one of its two representatives on the Judicial Selection Committee.
Calmanovich replaces Ilana Seker, whose term on the influential committee expired.
Calmanovich was elected by the IBA’s National Council by a vote of 30 to 1 against Tamar Arbel, and joins her IBA colleague Attorney Muhamad Naamneh on the panel.
The IBA describes Calmanovich as “an experienced legal consultant” with experience in “business negotiations, establishing and managing legal departments,” as well as having “extensive experience working with state authorities and public bodies.”
Thanking the council for the vote, Calmanovich pledges to fulfill her new position “professionally, diligently and faithfully to the values of law and democracy in order to maintain an independent, high-quality and professional legal system.”
The elections to head the IBA back in June were won in a landslide by Amit Becher, a fervent opponent of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda which sought to exert government control over the judiciary.
The government had furtively backed Becher’s opponent Efi Naveh in order to exert greater influence over the identity of the IBA’s committee representatives, but Becher’s victory cemented liberal domination of the Judicial Selection Committee, which selects all judges to Israeli courts.
Becher echoed Calmanovich’s comments in congratulating her on her victory, saying she would “help us realize our vision and our promise to keep the judicial system independent and strong, ensure the election of professional judges, and fight for the image and character of the State of Israel.”
Government says evacuees from south can return March 1, or stay in subsidized hotels through July
Illustrative: Residents of the Gaza border communities relocated to a hotel in Eilat. (Aris Messinis/AFP)
The Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry release a joint statement saying that a deal was reached with local municipal leaders in the south over a plan to return to communities evacuated at the start of the war.
According to the statement, people will be able to return to Sderot and other border towns, in coordination with IDF approval, beginning March 1, 2024.
Those who prefer instead to remain in hotels can receive funding for such until July 7, 2024, the statement says.
Israeli swimmer booed in Qatar says ‘I’m here with the Israeli flag, and I’m proud of that’
Gold medalist Freya Constance Colbert of Great Britain, right, comforts silver medalist Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel, after she was booed by the spectators at the end of the Women's 400m Individual Medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, February 18, 2024. (AP Photo/ Hassan Ammar)
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko reacts calmly to being booed after winning a silver medal in Doha, Qatar, saying it is not the first time she has been jeered at the event.
“I’ve been here a week. I heard all these noises, but I’m with earplugs. I’m in my zone. I’m here to do what I love to do, which is sports,” she tells reporters. “I’m here to represent my country… And I’m doing this with the Israeli flag and I’m proud of that. And whoever doesn’t like it, it’s just not my problem.”
Gorbenko says she had no hesitation about mounting the podium, but the booing had impacted her during the week.
“There was no way I was going to miss [the podium] just because some little kids are going to do whatever they want to,” she adds. “It does affect me emotionally. It’s been like a long week for me. I expected myself to do better than what I did.”
She says she will nevertheless not hesitate to swim at future events in Arab countries.
“At the end of the day, Israel is in the Middle East as well; I hope one day we’ll be able to make some peace with everyone,” she says.
Gorbenko, whose parents are Ukrainian, was born and raised in Israel. She says she has relatives in Ukraine and is concerned for them during the country’s war with Russia.
“I have relatives in Ukraine. Of course, it’s hard as well. But there’s nothing I can do,” she says. “Whatever I can do is do my best in the swimming pool and support my country and my family this way.”
Report: Gallant, Gantz oppose move to limit Arab-Israeli worshipers on Temple Mount
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) and Minister Benny Gantz (right) embrace, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at left, at a joint press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 11, 2023. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
According to Channel 13 news, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz vocally opposed the decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go along with a demand by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to limit Arab-Israeli worshipers on the Temple Mount during Ramadan.
“The prime minister is circumventing the security establishment and, due to that, we will make mistakes, ” Gallant reportedly tells the meeting, referring to the opposition of the Shin Bet and the IDF to the decision.
“This is not unity and not a cabinet. This is not how we work,” Gantz reportedly reacts as well.
Israeli swimmer booed after winning silver at Doha World Championships in Qatar
Israel's Anastasia Gorbenko poses with her silver medal on the podium of the women's 400m individual medley swimming event during the 2024 World Aquatics Championships at Aspire Dome in Doha, on February 18, 2024. (Oli SCARFF / AFP)
An Israeli medalist is booed by the crowd in a sour finish at the Doha World Championships, taking the gloss off some stunning achievements in the pool.
Anastasia Gorbenko takes silver in the women’s 400 meters individual medley, but her celebrations ae spoiled as a chorus of boos rain down from the terraces, drowning out her post-race interview by the floor presenter.
The jeers continue, as Gorbenko leaves the Aspire Dome pool, and she is booed again at the medals ceremony, though there was also applause. Briton Freya Constance Colbert won the race.
PM tells US Jewish leaders Israel will ‘finish the job’ in Gaza, pledges to protect civilians, praises Biden for aid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem, on February 18, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents’ annual mission in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges “total victory against these savages,” referring to Hamas.
“When we set out to do this, even our best friends said to us it can’t be done,” he says, speaking after US Ambassador Jack Lew. “Our brave soldiers are in the tunnels demolishing the infrastructure of these killers,” he says, lauding the standards of the IDF and the lengths they take to protect civilians.
“The Israeli army is going through lengths that no other army has gone through in protecting civilians,” says Netanyahu, decrying the “lies” told about the war.
Netanyahu says, “We cannot leave a quarter of Hamas’s fighting battalions intact.”
“We will finish the job here with our brave soldiers,” Netanyahu tells the US Jewish leaders. “We will make sure the civilian population” has a way to get to safe zones.
Turning to a discussion of antisemitism, Netanyahu blasts South Africa for taking Israel to The Hague, and lambasts Brazil’s President Lula da Silva for comparing Israel to the Nazis. “He should be ashamed of himself,” he says to applause.
Netanyahu praises the US government and public for rejecting such allegations.
“None of this will stop us,” promises Netanyahu. “Total victory means the release of the hostages.”
The prime minister calls for pressure on Qatar to in turn press Hamas: “Deal or no deal, we have to finish the job to achieve total victory,” Netanyahu says.
He praises the assistance from US President Joe Biden, saying he agrees that everything must be done to get civilians out of harm’s way.
“One thing Israel cannot agree to is an international dikdat that would… force a Palestinian state on Israel after the horror of October 7,” he says, insisting the Israeli people is united around this. He calls on the Conference of Presidents to adopt the same resolution his cabinet passed against a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
US envoy Lew denies White House seeking ‘unilateral recognition’ of Palestinian state
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew gives at a Tel Aviv rally marking 100 days since the hostages were abducted, on January 13, 2024. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents’ annual mission in Jerusalem, US Ambassador Jack Lew seeks to dispel talk that the US could recognize a Palestinian state unilaterally.
“We have never said there should be a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” says Lew.
Instead, he calls for an “over-the-horizon process that includes a vision for a demilitarized Palestinian state,” something far less than what some reports have indicated is being discussed at the White House.
“Now is a moment in time when there is a real possibility that by engaging in normalization and negotiations with Saudi Arabia,” along with reforms in the Palestinian Authority, he says, “that there can be a demilitarized Palestinian state. But Israel will have to make that choice.”
“Any solution must ensure the safety and security of Israel,” Lew says, adding that “there can not be a militarized Palestinian state.”
US support for Israel has “not wavered,” says Lew, explaining that critical statements from Washington stem from the fact that the war is “causing a huge amount of pain everywhere.”
“The fact that we have put a bright light on children suffering in Gaza is not an indication that the US is not behind Israel,” he argues. The war, says Lew, “has to be done in a way that’s consistent from our shared values. We have to remember, all of us, that a child is a child.”
He admits that in times of stress, certain language can be used, but Israel “must look at actions” from the Biden administration. “We made the case as both a moral and strategic imperative,” says Lew of US pressure to let in more aid to Gaza.
“When history is written, I believe that our Israeli friends will be grateful for the nudge” given to them on humanitarian aid.
Organization behind anti-Netanyahu ads says its funding comes from public donations
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office, Jerusalem, February 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded last night that the media investigate who is behind a series of billboards and TV ads demanding he resign, the organization comes forward.
The organization “Lochamei Kippur,” veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, says the campaign is funded by public donations.
“Bibi [Netanyahu], you are the head, you are guilty,” they say in a statement posted on social media. “You asked where the campaign funding comes from? Here’s a scoop — from public donations.”
The organization claims that more than 70 percent of the public is “demanding you resign,” and it calls on others to donate to the campaign.
ביבי, אתה הראש – אתה אשם!
שאלת מאיפה המימון של הקמפיין? קבל סקופ: מתרומות הציבור.
מלמעלה מ-70% מהציבור שדורשים שתתפטר.תרמו עכשיו לקמפיין ‘אתה הראש אתה אשם’ ודרשו את החלפת נתניהו:https://t.co/P6oasLHAHD
אפשר גם בפייפאל: https://t.co/tgsbewdMeP— לוחמי כיפור (@lochamei) February 18, 2024
Report: Netanyahu agrees to limit Arab-Israeli worshipers on Temple Mount during Ramadan
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)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a demand by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to limit Arab-Israeli worshipers on the Temple Mount during Ramadan, despite a warning against doing so by security officials, according to an unconfirmed Channel 13 report.
The Shin Bet was said to warn that such a move is likely to further inflame tensions, especially any move that applies to Israeli Arabs and those with permanent residence. The Israel Police, however, is reportedly said to favor such a move.
The flashpoint site is often a point of tension, particularly during Ramadan, which is slated to begin in mid-March.
Jordan says it killed five drug smugglers along border with Syria
The Jordanian army says its border guards killed five drug traffickers and wounded four others attempting to smuggle narcotics into Jordan from Syria.
“The eastern military zone, in coordination with military security agencies and the drug control administration, foiled at dawn on Sunday… an attempt to infiltrate and smuggle large quantities of drugs coming from Syrian territories,” says a statement quoting an official from the General Command of the Armed Forces.
“The operation resulted in the killing of five smugglers, the injury of four others and the seizure of large quantities of drugs,” it adds.
The operation took place a day after the interior ministers of Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon met in Amman and agreed to establish a “joint communication cell” to combat cross-border drug smuggling.
UAE diplomat warns Rafah operation will make ‘grim reality’ in Gaza even worse
UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba speaks on a Zoom panel organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on February 1, 2021. (Screen capture/YouTube)
A top Emirati official warns that an Israeli offensive in Rafah “will displace millions” and reiterates Abu Dhabi’s call for an “immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”
“An immediate ceasefire and urgent aid surge are needed to meet the mounting humanitarian calamity in Gaza. Half of the people are starving. The medical system has collapsed. Safe water is scarce. An impending Israeli offensive will displace millions,” says UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba.
The Emirati envoy highlights a recent Senate appeal that affirmed a December UN Security Council resolution led by the UAE, which called for mobilizing large-scale aid, establishing a UN mechanism to accelerate deliveries, opening Israeli border crossings to relief supplies, appointing a UN Aid coordinator and releasing all hostages.
“With Egypt’s help, the UAE has mounted a major aid effort in Gaza: a field hospital and hospital ship, water purification systems, 160 planeloads of supplies, and the evacuation of 2000 injured children and cancer patients to Emirati hospitals,” Otaiba says.
“These and other efforts are not enough. We cannot allow Gaza’s grim reality to get any worse. The US and global community must act now. Mobilize aid at scale. Empower the UN to fast-track assistance. Protect civilians. And most critically, implement an immediate ceasefire,” he adds, in a rare statement.
Vehicles stolen from Israel, unopened medicine for hostages found at Nasser Hospital, says IDF
IDF troops operate at Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout image published by the IDF on February 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says special forces operating at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis located vehicles used by Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught, as well as Israeli-owned cars stolen during the massacre.
The operation at Nasser Hospital is being carried out by the Commando Brigade, Navy’s Shayetet 13, Shin Bet agents, and other special forces.
One of the stolen cars found at the medical center belonged to a Nir Oz resident, according to the IDF. In the Hamas vehicle, troops found several weapons, including grenades.
So far, the IDF says, troops have detained hundreds of terror operatives — some of whom were dressed up as hospital staff — and other suspects who were holed up at the hospital, including many who participated in the October 7 attack and have links to the hostages held by the terror group.
The IDF says troops have battled Hamas gunmen in the area of the hospital, and came under rocket fire from the premises last month.
Troops have also seized several firearms, explosive devices, and other military equipment belonging to terror operatives.
Also at Nasser Hospital, IDF troops found closed boxes of medications bearing the names of hostages.
The medications, which were reportedly delivered to Gaza in a secretive initiative coordinated by the families of some of the hostages, apparently did not reach their loved ones.
The IDF releases footage showing the medication with the names of the hostages, some of whom are still being held captive by Hamas.
The operation at Nasser Hospital was carried out following “an early warning to stop terror activity at the hospital,” the IDF says, adding that its searches of the premises ensured that the medical center was able to continue its operations “without harming the patients and medical staff and in accordance with the values of the IDF and international law.”
Lapid, Liberman say cabinet rejection of ‘international diktats’ is distraction from other issues
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman (right) and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid at the first government conference led by then-Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett, at the Knesset on June 13, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Leaders of the Knesset’s opposition parties deride the government’s statement rejecting “international diktats” in pursuit of Palestinian statehood as a distraction from more pressing issues.
While he has long opposed any unilateral steps, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says that the statement earlier today is “a transparent attempt to divert the discussion away from the return of the abductees and the evasion law,” referring to recent legislation which would increase the length of mandatory military service without requiring members of the ultra-Orthodox community to enlist in the IDF.
“A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions,” the government stated today, calling unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state “a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement.”
The statement is “a tool to distract from the discussion and vote that will take place tomorrow in the Knesset plenum, regarding the impeachment of the terrorist supporter Ofer Cassif,” states Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman.
A vote on the impeachment of the far-left MK, who drew the right’s ire when he expressed public support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in the Knesset.
Liberman further asserts that the declaration is “proof that Netanyahu does not agree to unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, but does agree to support the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of an agreement with the Saudis.”
“I don’t know how to tell them this,” but a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state “doesn’t include them,” Labor leader Merav Michaeli says of the members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
US says it carried out five self-defense strikes on Houthi areas of Yemen
File - Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on January 22, 2024. (AP Photo)
The United States conducted five self-defense strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, US Central Command says.
It says it struck three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one unmanned underwater vessel and one unmanned surface vessel yesterday.
“This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began in Oct. 23,” CENTCOM says in a post on X.
Central Command says it had determined the missiles and vessels presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant ships in the area.
Gallant says Hamas looking to replace Sinwar as Khan Younis Brigade ‘has been defeated’
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) speaks with the chief of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, at the unit's HQ in Beersheba, February 18, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Hamas’s leadership abroad is looking for a replacement for its Gaza Strip leader Yahya Sinwar, as the terror group’s battalions in Khan Younis have been dismantled and an offensive in Rafah is looming.
“Hamas does not trust its commanders, this is a very, very noticeable thing,” Gallant says following an assessment with the chief of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman.
“The Hamas-Gaza station does not answer, there is no one to talk to as leadership on the ground,” he says, adding that the Hamas leadership abroad is looking for new leaders in Gaza. “That means there is a tender for who will manage Gaza,” he says.
In Khan Younis, Gallant says some 200 terror suspects surrendered to troops at Nasser Hospital and dozens at Al-Amal Hospital, which he says indicates the loss of Hamas’s “fighting spirit.”
“People who had RPGs, weapons and guns reached the moment of truth and did not fight. This indicates something about their understanding of the power relations, that they understood that their fate would be to surrender or die — there is no third option,” he says.
Gallant says Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade has been “defeated and does not function as a military entity in any way.”
“Hamas is left with marginal [forces] in the central camps and with the Rafah Brigade, and what stands between them and a complete collapse as a military system is a decision by the IDF,” he says.
“There is no one here to come to their aid, no Iranians, no international aid,” Gallant says, vowing that the IDF will dismantle the remaining six Hamas battalions — two in central Gaza and four in Rafah.
“We have no right to stop as long as there are 134 hostages” held by Hamas, he adds.
After cabinet rejects Palestinian statehood, US says two-state solution is ‘best way’ to end crisis
File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2-L) heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP)
Responding to the Israeli cabinet decision opposing international efforts to advance a two-state solution and unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, a US State Department spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that the “best way to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security, for Israelis and Palestinians alike, is our strong commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state.”
“As such, the United States continues to support the two-state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values,” the spokesperson adds.
Widespread blackouts seen in parts of Israel linked to technical problem
Blackouts have been reported in parts of Israel in what the electric company says is a technical issue and not a cyberattack nor related to the ongoing war against the Hamas terror group.
According to the Walla news site, around 120,000 people are without power in areas of Safed, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Beersheba.
Police officers seal off East Jerusalem home of suspect in Friday’s fatal terror shooting ahead of demolition
Police officers operate to seal the home of a Palestinian terrorist in East Jerusalen's Shuafat, February 18, 2024. (Israel Police)
Police officers sealed the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian terrorist who allegedly carried out a shooting attack in southern Israel on Friday afternoon, killing two Israelis.
The move comes ahead of plans to demolish the home of Fadi Jamjoum, in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat.
In the Friday attack at Re’em junction, Jamjoum opened fire at people at a bus station, killing Yishai Gartner, 23, and IDF reservist Sgt. First Class (res.) Ori Yaish, 27, before being shot dead by another off-duty reservist.
Police say the commander of the Jerusalem District, Doron Turgeman, ordered the demolition of Jamjoum’s home.
Sealing the homes of attackers is often a replacement or stopgap for demolishing them. In general, the demolition process takes several months, as the home needs to be mapped out, the High Court must address appeals by the family, and security forces often wait for an optimal time to enter Palestinian cities or neighborhoods for the operation.
Jamjoum’s home was cleared of his family by officers before it was sealed after they had received a warrant to do so, police say.
Police say clashes erupted amid the operation, with Palestinians hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at the officers, who responded with riot dispersal means.
Yad Vashem chairman: Brazilian president’s comments are ‘extreme distortion of Holocaust’
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan seen during a visit of Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial's museum in Jerusalem on September 11, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Dani Dayan, the chairman of Yad Vashem, says that comments by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva comparing Israeli action in Gaza to the Holocaust are blatant antisemitism.
“The shameful words of the president of Brazil are an outrageous combination of hatred and ignorance,” tweets Dayan, a native of Argentina, noting that it is clearly antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
“Comparing a country fighting against a murderous terror organization to the actions of the Nazis in the Holocaust is worthy of all condemnation,” he adds. “It is sad that the president of Brazil has stooped to such a level of extreme distortion of the Holocaust.”
El Al says disruption on radios on plane to Thailand over Somalia did not affect flight
File: An El Al airplane on the tarmac at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, October 4, 2022. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
El Al says that an incident aboard one of its flights to Thailand over Somali airspace is not a security incident and is not targeted just at the Israeli national airline.
According to a statement from the airline carried by Ynet, El Al says that flights over Somalia have suffered disruptions in their radio connections and have been warned about this by the local government, and that “the disruptions are not aimed at [El Al] planes and it is not a security incident — the disruption did not affect the continuation of the flight.”
UK Labour leader Starmer calls for ‘ceasefire that lasts’ in Gaza
The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party Keir Starmer gestures during a question and answer session at a business conference in London, February 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
British Labour leader Keir Starmer says there should be a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, setting out his stance before parliament is expected to debate a conflict that has caused division in the opposition party.
With Labour well ahead in the polls before an election later this year, Starmer is keen to present a united front to voters, but the conflict in Gaza has tested that unity.
Nearly a third of his lawmakers defied him last year to back calls for an immediate ceasefire and the party had to withdraw support for a candidate over his comments about Israel earlier this month.
This week, the Scottish National Party is expected to bring a motion to parliament to call for an immediate ceasefire — something Starmer’s foreign policy chief David Lammy said the party would examine and then come to a decision on.
Addressing the Scottish Labour conference, Starmer says: “What we all want to see … [is] an end to the fighting not just now, not just for a pause, but permanently. A ceasefire that lasts… that is what must happen now.”
He adds that any ceasefire cannot be one-sided.
Netanyahu says comments by Brazil president serve to ‘trivialize the Holocaust’
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a ministerial meeting to discuss infrastructure investment projects at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on November 3, 2023. (Evaristo Sa/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins the condemnation of Brazil’s president for comparing Israel’s war on Hamas to the Holocaust, saying Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “crossed a red line.”
“The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and alarming,” says Netanyahu in a statement. “This is about trivializing the Holocaust and trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself.”
“Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line,” Netanyahu continues. “Israel fights for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law.”
He says that the decision to summon Brazil’s envoy for a “stern reprimand” was made by him alongside Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Israel to summon Brazil’s envoy for reprimand after president compares Gaza war to Holocaust
Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva smiles during his election certification ceremony at the Supreme Electoral Court in Brasilia, Brazil, December. 12, 2022. (Eraldo Peres/AP)
Brazil’s ambassador will be called for a reprimand tomorrow, Foreign Minister Israel Katz announces, after the country’s leader compared Israel’s war on Hamas to Hitler’s Holocaust against the Jews.
“The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and serious,” tweets Katz. “No one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself. I have ordered the people of my office to summon the Brazilian ambassador for a reprimand call tomorrow.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said earlier today at the African Union summit that “what’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Border Police officer discovered shot dead on side of highway
Border Police First Sgt. Or Ohad (Courtesy Israel Police)
A Border Police officer was found shot dead on the side of the road this morning, police say in a statement.
The officer is named as First Sgt. Or Ohad, 33, from Hadera, a married father of two.
According to police, he was found shot dead on the side of Route 6 in the south on his way to work. He joined the Border Police in 2010 during his mandatory military service, and stayed on as a career officer in 2013, police said.
Police did not provide any further details about the circumstances of his death or any investigation into the incident.
Missile from Lebanon hits northern town of Shtula, says IDF
Smoke rises following an Israel military bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, February 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An anti-tank guided missile fired from Lebanon a short while ago struck the entrance to the northern community of Shtula, the IDF says.
There are no physical injuries, but two people are being treated at the scene for acute anxiety.
The IDF says it is responding with artillery shelling at the source of the fire.
Earlier, one rocket fired from Lebanon struck an open area near Yiftah, causing no damage or injuries.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the earlier attack, saying it targeted an IDF position.
Brazil’s Lula: Israel committing genocide in Gaza, same as Holocaust
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Israel is committing “genocide” against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, saying it is the same as the Holocaust.
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula tells reporters in Addis Ababa where he is attending an African Union summit.
“It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” added the veteran leftist.
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” he adds.
Lula also says nobody should assume Russian President Vladimir Putin had anything to do with the death of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, after he died of “sudden death syndrome.”
“A citizen died in prison. I don’t know if he was ill or had any issues,” Lula says. “To make an accusation is to trivialize. I hope that a coroner will provide an explanation for why the individual died, that’s all.”
Little support for US Palestinian statehood plan voiced outside government
Labor MK Gilad Kariv is one of the few politicians to publicly slam the government for its declaration rejecting a reported US proposal for a Palestinian state, reflecting a general lack of Israeli buy-in for the plan setting a timeline on the creation of a Palestinian state.
Kariv doesn’t exactly back the US plan with gusto either, but rather goes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for rejecting the wrong thing, in Kariv’s opinion.
“When will the government reject the messed-up ideas from [Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich, and not an international initiative backed by the US, the West and moderate Arab states?” he tweets.
“There’s only one thing Netanyahu does not reject, political campaigns,” he adds.
Also speaking out against the government for rejecting the plan are former MKs from Meretz, though they are currently not in the Knesset.
“The American plan is a gift that any sane government would adopt,” former party head Nitzan Horowitz tweets.
Gantz: No peace via one-sided moves, Rafah invasion by Ramadan if hostages not home
War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz speaks at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
While Israel recognizes that victory will come through cooperation with US President Joe Biden and other international leaders, it also rejects “one-sided actions,” Minister Benny Gantz declares following the cabinet’s unanimous approval of a declaration rejecting pressure to push Palestinian statehood.
Gantz also threatens that Israel will invade Rafah if hostages are not freed in the next several weeks.
“When we say ‘Together we will win’ – we mean also together with our American partners – Republicans and Democrats alike,” Gantz tells a gathering of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
“This victory goes hand in hand with our will to expand the circle of peace and form a united regional axis facing Iran. For that reason, the normalization process with Saudi Arabia is an important endeavor we must pursue – and I am personally working toward it,” he states.
But he adds that “after October 7, the pathway to regional stability and peace is not through one-sided actions like recognition of a Palestinian state.”
“It is through facilitating long-term processes that will consolidate a regional architecture facing the Iranian axis of terror, and by advancing international arrangements that will improve the lives of people throughout the region and promote stability and peace,” he says.
Palestinians inspect the damage from an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on February 18, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
He says an invasion of Rafah will occur in coordination with “our American and Egyptian partners to minimize civilian casualties,” but indicates the offensive can be avoided if the hostages are freed.
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will be extended to the Rafah area,” Gantz says, setting a deadline around March 10.
Earlier, the cabinet approved a statement rejecting “international diktats” seeking to push Palestinian statehood, which it described as a “massive, unprecedented prize for terror” that would prevent any future peace deal.
The decision reflected statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference last night, in the wake of a Washington Post report that said the US and several Arab partners were preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that includes a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state.
Border officer seriously wounded in Tulkarem clash, wanted suspect killed
A Border Police officer was seriously wounded during clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Tulkarem this morning, during which a wanted terror suspect was killed.
Undercover Border Police officers had entered Tulkarem to detain Ahmad Awfi, who the IDF, Shin Bet, and police say was wanted for his involvement in several shooting attacks at troops and Israeli settlements, as well as the execution of two Palestinians accused of spying for Israel.
A joint statement says the officers and IDF troops encircled the building where Awfi was holed up, and applied a tactic known as “pressure cooker” that involves escalating the volume of fire directed at a building to force suspects to come out.
A gun battle ensued and Awfi was killed and his weapon was seized, the statement says.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirms Awfi’s death as well as that of a second man, 19, apparently involved in clashes with troops.
The IDF says troops opened fire at other Palestinian gunmen who were shooting and hurling explosive devices at them.
One Border Police officer was seriously wounded in the clashes.
In a separate raid on the outskirts of Ramallah, the IDF says troops detained a senior Hamas operative.
Since October 7, troops have arrested more than 3,100 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,350 affiliated with Hamas.
EU foreign minister: West Bank about to boil over
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the situation in the West Bank is on the cusp of an “explosion.”
“The West Bank is the real obstacle for the two-state solution,” Borrell says at the Munich Security Conference.
“The West Bank is at boiling… we could be on the eve of a greater explosion,” he says.
Netanyahu, US envoy Lew to address Jewish leaders in Jerusalem tonight
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations annual mission in Jerusalem at 8 p.m. local time, event organizers announce.
The speech, following US Ambassador Jack Lew, comes against the backdrop of sparring between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over a Palestinian state and a potential IDF operation in Rafah.
The speech will take place at the Museum of Tolerance, which has yet to open as a museum, but does host events.
Palestinian reported killed during IDF raid in Tulkarem
The Palestinian Authority health ministry in the West Bank says a 19-year-old man was killed by Israeli troops during a raid in a Tulkarem refugee camp.
The man is named as Nabil Atta Muhammad Amer. Two others are reported injured by Israeli fire.
The shootings came amid violent confrontations with the troops, official Palestinian news outlet Wafa reports.
There is no comment from Israeli authorities.
Ministers flog idea of Palestinian statehood recognition, say it’s not worth normalization
Blue and White leader Defense Minister Benny Gantz (right) and New Hope leader Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar announce a merger of their parties, July 10, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
According to the Ynet news site, Netanyahu coordinated a statement rejecting unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state with War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, and Gideon Sa’ar, a cabinet minister.
Sa’ar says a reported US proposal to place a “firm timeline” on the creation of a Palestinian state “would be like the sacrificing of Czechoslovakia in 1938,” referring to the Nazi appeasement strategy, Ynet reports.
“The claims that a Palestinian state will bring us security is the biggest absurdity of all,” Sa’ar, a longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, was as quoted saying.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who until recently was foreign minister, tells Army Radio that normalization with Saudi Arabia or anyone else is not worth allowing the Palestinians to have a state of their own.
“If the price of expanding peace agreements is a Palestinian state, then I’ll give up on the peace agreements,” he says.
Cabinet unanimously okays declaration rejecting unilateral recognition of Palestinian state
Protesters lift placards and national flags during an anti-government demonstration in Israel's central city of Tel Aviv, on February 17, 2024. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Israel’s cabinet unanimously approves a declaration rejecting “international diktats” seeking to push Palestinian statehood.
“Israel categorically rejects international diktats around a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” reads the cabinet decision. “A settlement, if it is achieved, will come about only through direct negotiations between the sides, with no preconditions.”
“Israel will continue to oppose a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the decision continues. After October 7, such a move would be a “massive, unprecedented prize for terror” that would prevent any future peace deal, it adds.
The decision reflects statements made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference last night, in the wake of a Washington Post report that said the US and several Arab partners were preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that includes a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state.
Official at head of hostage families group steps down under pressure
Ronen Tzur, a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, attends an event at 'Hostages Square,' calling on the Israeli government to act for immediate release of the hostages on October 28, 2023. (Gili Yaari /FLASH90)
A media adviser who has led the Hostage and Missing Families Forum says he is quitting his role with the group after claiming politicians told families they would only offer support if he stepped down.
Ronen Tzur does not say why politicians wanted him out, or why they only made a move now, some four months after he became the campaign’s top official.
“At this tough and pain-ridden time for the families, I have no intention of allowing any political actor to threaten, directly or implicitly, the families of the hostages and to turn them into hostages of immoral and unethical politicians,” he tweets, announcing his resignation.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, 45 families had signed a petition seeking his ouster.
He says the families decided to appoint a team from among the relatives to lead the effort instead of him.
Tzur, who served briefly as a Labor MK nearly 20 years ago, has a long history as a communications specialist, including for Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience party in 2018. That same year, he was also contracted to help convicted sex offender Malka Leifer avoid extradition to Australia.
Netanyahu presents resolution calling US Palestinian statehood proposal ‘prize for terror’
Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on February 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirms in a statement that he has presented his cabinet with a resolution rejecting unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, pushing back against a reported US plan to propose a “firm timeline” on the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu tells ministers he is bringing them the statement to sign off on, “in light of comments heard lately in the international community on an attempt to force a Palestinian state on Israel unilaterally.”
According to the PMO, the resolution reads:
Israel rejects out-of-hand international diktats on a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. A settlement such as this can only be reached via direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition, after the massacre of October 7, will award a massive prize for terror, an unprecedented prize, and prevent any future peace agreement.
Netanyahu said asking cabinet to push back on reported US proposal for Palestinian state
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ask his cabinet to approve a resolution opposing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The statement that the cabinet will be asked to approve also rejects “international diktats,” Kan reports.
The resolution is said to be a last-minute addition to the meeting agenda.
The cabinet is holding its weekly meeting now, with National Unity ministers Benny Gantz and Chili Tropper, both moderates, in attendance for the first time in weeks, after the two avoided the meetings to protest the way Netanyahu ran them.
The request for the government to come out against others recognizing a Palestinian state comes after a Washington Post report that the US and Arab partners were planning to publish a proposal placing a “firm timeline” on the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hardliners had met the reported proposal with anger, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had demanded such a statement rejecting Palestinian statehood.
Gaza death toll nearing 29,000, Hamas claims
A total of 28,985 Palestinians have been killed and 68,883 others injured by the Israeli military in Gaza since October 7, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says in a statement.
At least 127 Palestinians have been killed and 205 others injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry claims.
The numbers, which cannot be confirmed, do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. The IDF earlier said it had killed at least 45 Hamas fighters over the past day.
IDF says it shelled Hezbollah in south Lebanon
The IDF says it carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in the south Lebanon’s village of Yaroun this morning.
The IDF releases footage showing the airstrikes.
מטוסי קרב תקפו במהלך הבוקר תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב יארון.
בנוסף, כוחות צה"ל ביצעו ירי ארטילרי להסרת איום במרחב עלמא א-שעב ובמרחב א-דהירה pic.twitter.com/YFhuow8RfA
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 18, 2024
The strikes come amid repeated Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel, though there have not been any today.
Troops also shelled areas in Alma ash-Shab and Dhayra with artillery to “remove threats,” the IDF adds.
PA prime minister: We’re ready for unity with Hamas, world needs to forget October 7
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh attends a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, October 16, 2023. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/Pool Photo via AP)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says the PA is still seeking unity with Hamas terror group and may hold talks with the group in Moscow on February 26.
“Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26 of this month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us,” he says at the Munich Security Conference.
“We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity,” he says. He adds that Hamas needs to meet certain prerequisites.
Asked about making common cause with a group that carried out atrocities on October 7, Shtayyeh indicates that the world needs to forget the massacre happened.
“One should not continue focusing on October 7,” he says.
He avoids questions about the PA making reforms sought by the West and indicates PA President Mahmoud Abbas will not transfer power to a deputy.
“It’s not about reform, it’s not about anything,” he says. “It’s about Palestinians wanting an end to occupation.”
Barlev appears to confirm run for Labor leadership
Former minister Omer Barlev appears to confirm he is heading toward a run for the leadership of the Labor party, after widespread speculation on the issue.
Barlev walked away from politics after being placed ninth on Labor’s Knesset slate, which only managed four seats in the 2022 election, and has been spending his time making dough as CEO of Angel Bakery.
“I’m thinking about it. Running for the leadership of Labor is the leading option,” he tells Army Radio.
Barlev, a former general, ran for head of the party in 2017, but fared poorly.
Netanyahu’s office denies report he could okay US recognition of Palestinian state
Citing a source familiar with the details, Israel Hayom reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing a “de facto” agreement with the US to recognize a Palestinian state in exchange for normalization with Saudi Arabia.
According to the report, the US would unilaterally recognize a state, and Israel would object that a permanent agreement will only come about through direct negotiations, thus creating an opening for talks leading to a Palestinian state.
The source points to Netanyahu’s delayed reaction to a Washington Post report that the US is weighing recognition of a Palestinian state as evidence that the prime minister is resigned to working with the US on its emerging grand vision for the region.
The Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement denying the Israel Hayom report, calling it “fake news.”
Israel reported to shell town in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reports that the southern town of Beit Lif is undergoing Israeli artillery shelling.
There is no Israeli comment on the reported attack.
Hostage families could send own rep to Cairo talks
Hili Cooper (with microphone) and Or Nohomovitch (right), tell protesters how they miss their grandfather, Amiram Cooper, held hostage in Gaza, at a rally for the release of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, February 10, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Rotem Cooper, who was involved with fellow relatives of hostages several months ago in an effort to bypass the government and secretly arrange for medicine to enter the Strip in hopes of getting it to captives, tells Channel 12 news that the families are mulling sending their own representative to hostage talks as well.
“We are thinking about a serious initiative to perhaps send a family representative to Cairo, on our own. If they are not accepted in Cairo, we will send them to another state,” says the California-based Cooper, whose father Amiram, 85, is among the oldest hostages. His mother Nurit was released after 17 days in captivity.
He professes that the families do not think the government is on the same page as the families when it comes to putting the hostages first.
“We see that the government, especially the one at its head, is hemming and hawing on the issue, it seems due to political considerations,” Cooper says. “It worries us that political considerations are being put ahead of the hostages.”
He says he started to put together the project to send in the medicine already on October 8, and that several shipments were sent in, though they have no way of knowing if any of the medicine actually reached the hostages.
WHO head claims 200 patients still at now-defunct Khan Younis hospital raided by IDF
The head of the World Health Organization says Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is no longer functioning due to Israeli operations in and around the southern Gaza city’s largest medical center.
According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “about 200 patients” remain in the hospital, a higher number even than that cited by the Hamas-run health ministry, which said Saturday that 120 patients and five medical teams remained in the medical center.
It is not clear where the WHO tally comes from as teams from the UN agency were blocked from entering Nasser, according to a tweet from Tedros, who says 20 patients need urgent transport to other medical centers.
“The cost of delays will be paid by patients’ lives,” he warns.
Nasser hospital in #Gaza is not functional anymore, after a weeklong siege followed by the ongoing raid.
Both yesterday and the day before, the @WHO team was not permitted to enter the hospital to assess the conditions of the patients and critical medical needs, despite…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 18, 2024
Israeli troops have been operating in the hospital since Thursday, saying that evidence shows hostages had been held there and bodies of captives may still be there. More than 100 terror suspects have been nabbed at the medical center so far, and weapons have been found there, the Israel Defense Forces says.
While Gazans sheltering at the facility were told to evacuate ahead of the incursion, the IDF claims it has taken pains to keep the hospital functioning for patients, including transferring fuel and medical supplies to the facility.
Over 45 Hamas operatives killed in past day, IDF says
Troops operate in Gaza, in a handout image cleared for publication by the IDF on February 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says troops killed dozens of Hamas operatives across the Gaza Strip over the past day, as special forces continue to search a major hospital.
In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says troops of the 98th Division raided several Hamas positions, killing gunmen and locating weapons in the process.
The division’s 7th Armored Brigade killed some 20 Hamas operatives with tank shelling and directed airstrikes on additional gunmen in western Khan Younis, according to the IDF.
Another 15 Hamas operatives were killed and a weapons depot destroyed in a series of airstrikes in the city, the IDF says.
The IDF says the Commando Brigade and other special forces continued to search Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, locating additional weapons.
The IDF has been searching the hospital following intelligence that hostages were previously held there. More than 100 terror suspects have been arrested at the medical center so far, and weapons have been found, the army says.
In a nearby building, the IDF says the commandos killed several Hamas gunmen and seized several safes and weapons.
In central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Brigade killed at least 10 Hamas operatives during the past day, including by calling in airstrikes.
Report: US seeking to bypass own rules blocking PA funding amid critical shortfall
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during their meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah, February 7, 2024. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
The Wall Street Journal reports that the US is looking for ways to bypass legislation hamstringing its ability to send funds to the Palestinian Authority, fearing it is running out money and could collapse.
According to US officials cited in the report, Palestinians believe that the PA could run out of money within the next 10 days. If that happens, it will become vulnerable to extremists and lose the ability to govern the West Bank, to say nothing of also governing postwar Gaza or implementing reforms the US says are necessary for it to take on the expanded role, US officials say according to the report.
The Journal does not say how the Biden administration might get around the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits directly funding the PA due to stipends Ramallah pays terror convicts and their families.
The PA has refused to accept any Israeli tax transfers due to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s insistence on withholding funds earmarked for Gaza. A deal to transfer the money via Norway remains stuck.
Central Jerusalem fountain dyed red in protest urging hostage deal
The water in a fountain at a central Jerusalem square outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence has been dyed red in an apparent protest against ongoing fighting in Gaza rather than suing for a hostage deal.
A sign put up outside the fountain at Paris Square reads “Enough spilled blood, a deal is on the table.”
המזרקה בכיכר פריס בירושלים נצבעה באדום הבוקר. במקום נתלה שלט: "נשפך מספיק דם, עסקה על השולחן". pic.twitter.com/Y6TIpSUuNZ
— نير حسون Nir Hasson ניר חסון (@nirhasson) February 18, 2024
Iranian Quds Force head credited with halting attacks on US troops in Iraq, Syria
Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, speaks during a ceremony on the occasion of first anniversary of death of the force's previous head Qassem Soleimani, in Tehran, Iran, January 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The head of Iran’s elite Quds Force visited Baghdad last month and convinced groups aligned with Tehran to halt attacks on US forces, multiple Iranian and Iraqi sources tell Reuters, saying it is a sign Tehran wants to prevent a broader conflict.
Esmail Qaani met representatives of several of the armed groups in Baghdad airport on January 29, less than 48 hours after Washington blamed the groups for the killing of three US soldiers at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan, the sources say.
Qaani told the factions that by drawing American blood risked a heavy US response, including strikes on their senior commanders, destruction of key infrastructure or even a direct retaliation against Iran, sources say.
All but one group immediately acceded to Qaani’s request and the next day Kataib Hezbollah announced it was suspending attacks. One smaller but very active group, Nujaba, said it would continue attacks, arguing that US forces would only leave by force.
There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4, compared to more than 20 in the two weeks before Qaani’s visit, part of a surge in violence from the groups in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Without Qaani’s direct intervention it would have been impossible to convince Kataib Hezbollah to halt its military operations to deescalate the tension,” a senior commander in one of the Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups says.
Qaani did not leave the airport during the quick visit, fearing he could be targeted in the same location where his predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed four years earlier, a senior Iraqi security source says.
“The Iranians learned their lesson from the liquidation of Soleimani and did not want this to be repeated,” the source says.
“Commander Qaani’s visit was successful, though not entirely, as not all Iraqi groups consented to de-escalate,” a high-ranking Iranian security official says.
Police catch suspect with shoulder-mounted missile launcher, grenades
A Matador shoulder-mounted launcher and boxed ammo rounds in a trunk, in a photo released by police on February 18, 2024. (Israel Police)
Cops in northern Israel nabbed an East Jerusalem man with an anti-tank missile launcher, grenades and ammunition in his car on Friday night, police say in a statement.
The arrest took place after special forces unit operating to stymie arms smuggling stopped the man’s car near Karmiel Junction in northern Israel.
Inside they discovered a Matador shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile launcher, nine grenades and over 1,000 rounds of belted magnum bullets of unspecified caliber. The launcher and ammo both have Hebrew markings, indicating they came from the Israeli military.
The suspect, 24, was taken for questioning, police say.
Settlers reportedly paint racist graffiti in West Bank town, set car on fire
Palestinians report that a group of Israeli extremists attacked the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya overnight, setting a vehicle on fire and leaving racist graffiti.
Pictures and video show a car with Israeli license plates smoldering with firefighters nearby, and a wall with “revenge, death to Arabs” daubed in black paint with a Jewish star in the town, which is about halfway between Ramallah and Nablus in the central West Bank.
דיווחים ברשתות פלסטיניות: כתובת נאצה וניסיון להצית רכב הלילה בכפר תורמוס עייא ליד רמאללה pic.twitter.com/U8gfLgTmh9
— הוד בראל Hod Barel (@hod_barel) February 18, 2024
BREAKING |The affect of Zionist settler militia's tonight at the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, West Bank.#FreePalestineFromIsraeINOW pic.twitter.com/yzGsf2WDsm
— Aidarouss Ahmed Hirsi (@aidaroussahmed) February 18, 2024
According to official Palestinian news outlet Wafa, the attackers were from a nearby Israeli settlement.
No injuries are reported in the incident.
UN likely to vote Tuesday on Gaza ceasefire, US signals veto
The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, diplomats say, a move the United States signaled it would veto.
Algeria put forward an initial draft resolution more than two weeks ago. But US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield quickly said the text could jeopardize “sensitive negotiations” aimed at brokering a pause in the war.
Algeria requested on Saturday that the council vote on Tuesday, diplomats say. To be adopted, UN Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia.
“The United States does not support action on this draft resolution. Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted,” Thomas-Greenfield says in a statement Saturday.
Washington has already twice vetoed council action against Israel since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, when thousands of terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages during a murderous rampage across southern Israel.
But it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza and called for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in fighting.
Talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar are ongoing to seek a pause in the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
“It is critical that other parties give this process the best odds of succeeding, rather than push measures that put it – and the opportunity for an enduring resolution of hostilities – in jeopardy,” Thomas-Greenfield says.
Biden says he told Zelensky ‘confident’ of renewed US war aid
US President Joe Biden tells his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that he is “confident” Congress will renew war aid, but adds that without US help Kyiv could lose further territory to Russian advances.
“I spoke with Zelensky this afternoon to let him know that I was confident we’re going to get that money,” Biden tells reporters after attending church in Delaware.
Failure by US lawmakers to approve new funding for military aid to Kyiv would be “absurd” and “unethical,” he says, adding: “I’m going to fight to get them the ammunition they need.”
Egypt’s el-Sissi, French President Macron discuss Gaza, need for hostage deal
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi told French President Emmanuel Macron in a call earlier of Cairo’s “categorical rejection of the displacement of Palestinians to Egypt in any shape or form,” noting that the position “enjoys full international consensus.”
During the call, Macron affirmed France’s support for the Egyptian stance, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Presidency and carried by the state’s information service.
The two leaders agreed that progress must be made on a deal that leads to “a stop to the bloodshed and alleviation of the current human suffering in the Gaza Strip,” and discussed efforts to secure a ceasefire, a hostage release deal, and an increased delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Egypt says displacement of Gazans unacceptable, but will deal with civilians humanely
Egypt’s foreign minister says that while his country would deal with civilians humanely, the displacement of Palestinians remained unacceptable.
“It is not our intention to provide any safe areas or facilities, but necessarily if this was a case we will deal with the humanity that is necessary,” Sameh Shoukry says at the Munich Security Conference.
Egypt has reportedly been preparing an area at the Gaza border that could accommodate Palestinians in case an Israeli military offensive into Rafah prompts an exodus across the frontier. Sources described this as a contingency move.
Egypt has repeatedly denied making such preparations.
“This is very hypothetical. We have constantly been dealing with maintenance on our border so I think it is jumping to conclusions to what those activities constitute,” Shoukry says of construction activity seen around the border.
Separately, the governor of North Sinai said earlier that the armed forces are establishing a logistics zone to receive aid for Gaza.
The area being established includes parking areas for trucks, warehouses, administrative offices, and accommodation for drivers, the governor said.
Egypt has repeatedly raised the alarm over the possibility that Israel’s Gaza offensive could displace Palestinians into Sinai — something Cairo says would be completely unacceptable — echoing warnings from Arab states such as Jordan.
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