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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they happened.
Brazil doesn’t intend to retract Lula’s Holocaust comparison — sources
FILE - Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, arrives for a meeting of the German and Brazilian governments at the chancellery in Berlin, December 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Brazil does not intend to retract President Luiz Inacio da Silva’s comment comparing Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews that sparked a diplomatic rift between the countries, sources with knowledge of internal discussions say.
The Brazilian foreign ministry has already summoned the Israeli Ambassador Daniel Zonshine and recalled its own ambassador to Israel after Israeli officials gave him a formal reprimand following Lula’s comment.
Indiana freelance reporter charged for threatening to ‘kill every Jew’ in Fort Wayne
Illustrative: FBI agents at the scene of a deadly shooting, July 17, 2022, in Greenwood, Indiana. (Kelly Wilkinson/The Indianapolis Star via AP, File)
A freelance reporter based in Fort Wayne, Indiana is facing up to five years in federal prison after allegedly threatening to “kill every Jew” in the city and “shoot every pro-Israel US government official,” according to a federal affidavit filed in court last week.
Jeffrey Stevens, 41, is charged with posting threats using interstate communications, which carries a maximum of five years in federal prison. He was first reported to the FBI after “multiple concerning Facebook posts” following the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel, according to the affidavit.
In an interview with the FBI on February 2, Stevens admitted to posting on the CIA’s website that he was going to shoot pro-Israel US government officials, according to the affidavit. He also admitted to sending the Fort Wayne Police Department a message on Facebook saying he would “kill every Jew.”
He said during the interview that he was drunk when he posted the messages, the affidavit says.
Stevens is also alleged to have posted that he will “make sure that every CIA member who is pro-Israel is eliminated.”
WHO chief says agency allowed into Nasser Hospital after IDF operation there
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)
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that after two days of being denied, the UN agency was finally allowed inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis today to assess patients after an IDF operation there.
He says 14 critical patients were moved to other hospitals, warning that there are still more than 180 patients and 15 medical staff inside the hospital, which is “experiencing an acute shortage of food, basic medical supplies, and oxygen.”
There is no tap water and no electricity, except for a backup generator maintaining some lifesaving machines, Tedros adds.
The IDF said it detained about 100 suspects at the hospital, and also that it found medicines there that had been sent for hostages but were never delivered to them, as well as vehicles stolen from Israel on October 7. Israel said some of the terror operatives detained at the hospital were dressed up as hospital staff, and that released hostages said they had been held at the hospital and indicated that bodies of hostages could still be there.
The Gaza health ministry said seven patients, including a child, had died in the hospital since Friday due to power cuts, and “70 staff members, including intensive care doctors,” had been arrested.
UN nuclear watchdog chief says Iran continues to enrich uranium to high levels
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency speaks at the panel session during the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on February 13, 2024. (RYAN LIM / AFP)
Iran continues to enrich uranium well beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use, despite UN pressure to stop it, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says, adding he wants to visit Tehran next month for the first time in a year to end the “drifting apart.”
Speaking to Reuters after he briefed EU foreign ministers on the subject, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog says that while the pace of uranium enrichment has slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran is still enriching at an elevated rate of around 7 kilograms of uranium per month, to 60% purity.
Enrichment to 60% brings uranium close to weapons grade, and is not necessary for commercial use in nuclear power production. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.
Under a defunct 2015 agreement with world powers, Iran could enrich uranium only to 3.67%. After then-president Donald Trump pulled the US out of that deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, Iran breached the original deal and moved well beyond the its nuclear restrictions.
Lebanon says 14 wounded in IDF strikes on alleged weapons depot near Sidon
Black smoke and flames rise from a burning warehouse, hit by Israeli strikes, at an industrial district, in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, February 19, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) says that 14 people in the country were wounded in IDF airstrikes near Sidon earlier today.
NNA claims that the strikes targeted a warehouse where tires and electricity generators were manufactured, and the vicinity of a factory, leaving “14 wounded, most of them Syrian and Palestinian workers.”
Israel said the strikes targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot in the area.
Lebanon said two emergency responders were injured while putting out the warehouse blaze.
One of the strikes targeted a factory “in an industrial area of Ghaziyeh, wounding at least eight workers,” seven of them Syrians, a Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said earlier.
Hundreds protest in downtown Jerusalem, demanding immediate hostage deal
Dozens of activists protest in downtown Jerusalem near the official Prime Minister’s Residence demanding an immediate hostage deal to free the remaining captives in Gaza.
Photos and video from the event show demonstrators with lit torches and some being detained by police, including scuffling.
Many marched from a protest which began near the Knesset to the central square in Jerusalem.
Police did not issue any immediate statement on arrests or disobedience at the protest. According to Ynet, some of the protesters activated a smoke grenade.
Houthis claim to target ‘two American ships’ in Gulf of Aden after damaging vessel yesterday
Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US-led strikes against Yemen and in the support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, February 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels say they targeted two American ships in the Gulf of Aden, after maritime agencies reported a US-owned vessel was attacked twice in those waters.
Houthi naval forces used missiles to target “two American ships in the Gulf of Aden. The first was ‘Sea Champion’ and the other was ‘Navis Fortuna,'” according to a statement from the group.
US CENTCOM said earlier that the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, British-registered and Lebanese-managed vessel was damaged yesterday in a Houthi attack.
CENTCOM confirmed that two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen and targeted the Rubymar yesterday: “One of the missiles struck the vessel, causing damage. The ship issued a distress call and a coalition warship along with another merchant vessel responded to the call to assist the crew of the Rubymar,” CENTCOM said on X.
International mediators suggest Qatar shore up Lebanese army in bid to avoid Hezbollah war
International mediators working to find a diplomatic solution to head off a war between Israel and Hezbollah are considering bringing Qatar in as a lead financial backer for funding the Lebanese Armed Forces and the reconstruction of southern Lebanon, The Times of Israel has learned.
Qatar has already been providing tens of millions of dollars annually for fuel and salaries to the Lebanese army in recent years.
However, Qatari funding is likely to arouse ire in Israel. Millions of dollars from Qatar were sent every month — with Israeli consent — to prop up Hamas’s government in Gaza in the years leading up to the October 7 attacks.
Over the past month, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has spoken with US President Joe Biden by phone, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron in person.
The mediating powers believe that any proposal cannot appear to be a US-Israel diktat, and therefore an Arab country is needed to play a central role. They understand that the Saudis and Emiratis are uninterested in backing such projects.
They also view the terms of a peace agreement between Israel and Hezbollah as fairly straightforward; the challenge is how to create a process for getting indirect negotiations moving forward to reach that agreement.
Hezbollah continues to say it will not stop its fire on Israel until the IDF campaign in Gaza ends. However, mediating countries believe that a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel will be enough for Hezbollah to halt its attacks. Israel, meanwhile, is adamant that there be no overt linkage between the Gaza and Lebanon fronts in any agreement.
IDF says it strikes Hezbollah position in south Lebanon
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, February 18, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon’s Marwahin, where several members of the terror group were gathered.
The 146th Division’s intelligence and intelligence collection units spotted Hezbollah operatives entering the site earlier today, and quickly called in an airstrike, the IDF says.
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon's Marwahin, where several members of the terror group were gathered.
The 146th Division's intelligence and intelligence collection units spotted Hezbollah operatives entering the site earlier today, and quickly… pic.twitter.com/w9iuMvuQcG
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 19, 2024
Settlers riot in Palestinian West Bank village after terror attack, says rights group
Cars set alight in the Palestinian village of Burqa in the northern West Bank on February 19, 2024. (Courtesy Burqa Municipality)
Footage of cars set alight in the Palestinian village of Burqa in the northern West Bank emerges following the alleged Palestinian terror attack which took place close to the nearby illegal Homesh outpost.
The Yesh Din organization, which advocates against the settlement movement, says that residents of Burqa are reporting that Israeli settlers are rioting in the village and committing numerous acts of arson, and that some residents have been injured in the violence.
According to Yesh Din, residents say that IDF forces are currently preventing Palestinian emergency services from reaching the area.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that “colonists” threw Molotov cocktails at a home, setting it ablaze along with a vehicle parked next to it, adding that the road between Burqa and nearby Sebastia has been closed by the IDF.
The IDF says the rioters have dispersed and that it is looking into the reports of vandalism and arson in Burqa, saying it is unaware of any injuries in the incident.
Report: Eisenkot slams war cabinet for not making strategic decisions, ‘stalling’ war advances
War cabinet Minister Gadi Eisenkot speaks at Reichman University in Herzliya, February 6, 2024. (Gilad Kavalerchik/ Reichman University)
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot reportedly sent a letter to the other members of the cabinet warning that they were failing to make operational decisions and therefore the strategic goals of the war were stalling.
A report on Channel 12 news this evening says the letter was sent a week ago, and includes a warning by Eisenkot — a former IDF chief — that “there is an increasing difficulty in achieving the goals of the war.”
Eisenkot, whose son and nephew were both killed fighting in Gaza in December, also lays out in the letter what Israel has and has not accomplished in the war so far, according to Channel 12. Things it has partially achieved include reducing Hamas’s ruling capabilities, returning the hostages, and returning security to border communities, the letter says.
Things it has not achieved are ending the war without a security threat from Gaza and strengthening the sense of personal security of Israeli citizens, according to the reported letter.
Eisenkot reportedly sets out a list of goals that need to be achieved: to reach a deal to bring back the remaining hostages before Ramadan in mid-March; to prevent an escalation in the West Bank during Ramadan; returning evacuated citizens in the north and south; advancing a civilian alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza; and moving to the “third stage” of fighting in Gaza with spot raids amid overall stability.
Netanyahu boasts of thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state ‘for decades’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, February 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is introducing this evening in the Knesset legislation that would match a cabinet decision made yesterday to reject “international diktats” seeking to push Palestinian statehood — boasting of his decades of thwarting any such move.
In a video statement, Netanyahu says that Israel is facing new pressures in recent days, in particular “an attempt to force upon us the unilateral establishment of a Palestinian state which will endanger the existence of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu says he is certain that the Knesset legislation will receive wide support after it passed unanimously in the cabinet, “and it will show the world that there is wide agreement in Israel against the international efforts to force on us a Palestinian state.”
The prime minister adds that “everyone knows that I am the one who for decades blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence.”
His position, he says, only strengthened following Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and Netanyahu says that “no matter what, Israel will maintain full security control over all territory west on the Jordan River,” including both Gaza and the West Bank.
Foreign Ministry says Brazil’s Lula is unwelcome in Israel until he apologizes
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)
After Brazil recalls its ambassador to Israel, Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the country’s president is unwelcome in Israel, since he compared the war in Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust.
“We will not back down,” says Katz. “Until Brazilian President Lula apologizes and retracts his antisemitic words of incitement which he hurled at the Jewish people, he will be an unwelcome personality in the State of Israel.”
Brazil is also said to be summoning the Israeli ambassador in the country for a conversation, after the Brazilian ambassador in Israel was called to Yad Vashem for a reprimand following Lula’s remarks.
Israeli man lightly wounded after car comes under attack near Homesh in West Bank
A car which came under attack near Homesh in the West Bank on February 19, 2024. (MDA)
An Israeli man is lightly wounded after an explosive device was allegedly hurled at his vehicle by Palestinians, near the illegal West Bank outpost of Homesh, medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says the 25-year-old was slightly hurt by glass shards following the blast, between Homesh and Shavei Shomron.
כך נראה הרכב הישראלי לעברו יידו המחבלים מטען, סמוך לחומש. פצוע אחד במצב קל pic.twitter.com/IcVGp6Dopb
— Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור (@carmeldangor) February 19, 2024
According to the Samaria Regional Council, five people, residents of the outpost, were in the car when it came under attack.
Images from the scene show the damaged car, with several shattered windows.
The IDF says troops are scanning the area for suspects behind the attack.
Motion to oust MK Ofer Cassif defeated in Knesset after only 85 MKs vote in favor
Hadash-Ta'al MK Ofer Cassif speaks during a discussion and a vote on his expulsion in the Knesset plenum on February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
An unprecedented impeachment vote against MK Ofer Cassif fails in the Knesset plenum, with only 85 out of a required 90 lawmakers in the 120-seat body voting in favor of expelling the far-left legislator.
The effort to remove Cassif from the parliament came in response to his public support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which has been described as “treasonous” by his critics.
The only Jewish member of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, Cassif signed a petition backing Pretoria’s claims and accused Israeli leaders of advocating for crimes against humanity against the Palestinians.
In response, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer set out to invoke a previously unused legal mechanism in the 2016 Suspension Law, under which legislators may drum out colleagues from their ranks if they are found to have committed one of a number of infractions, including expressing support “for an armed struggle” against Israel or inciting racism.
The impeachment process easily passed the first two steps of the process — submitting a letter signed by a minimum of 70 MKs and obtaining the support of at least three-quarters of the House Committee — but died in the plenum after falling just short of enough support.
Got a bit intense here pic.twitter.com/gBP7mb3LBC
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) February 19, 2024
Following the vote, Arab lawmakers hug Cassif, while rightwing lawmakers scream their disappointment, with the two sides appearing on the verge of coming to blows.
While the measure was supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it did not receive necessary support from Yesh Atid and National Unity leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.
Despite the widespread backlash against Cassif, both Deputy Attorney General Avital Sompolinsky and Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik have stated that the charges against him fall short of “crossing the criminal threshold” necessary for his removal.
26 out of 27 EU countries call for ‘immediate humanitarian pause’ in Gaza
Troops operate in Gaza, in a handout image cleared for publication by the IDF on February 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Twenty-six of the 27 EU countries call for “an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza, EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tells reporters.
Borrell adds that the 26 agree to “require an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire, to the unconditional release of hostages, and to the provision of humanitarian assistance.”
Borrell does not say which EU country did not agree to the statement, but diplomats say Hungary blocked a similar statement a few days ago.
Report: Brazil’s president recalls ambassador to Israel for talks
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference in Addis Ababa on February 18, 2024. (Ricardo STUCKERT / Brazilian Presidency / AFP)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has recalled his ambassador to Israel for consultations, according to a column in newspaper Folha de S. Paulo published today.
The Brazilian ambassador was summoned by Israel’s foreign minister for a reprimand, following comments by Lula likening Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.
Reacting to Bibas video, Netanyahu says: ‘We will bring these kidnappers of babies to justice’
Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, are abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Screenshot)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the new video footage of the Bibas family from October 7 “is heartbreaking.”
The clip “reminds us who we are dealing with — cruel kidnappers of babies,” he says in a video statement.
Switching to English, Netanyahu adds: “We will bring these kidnappers of babies and mothers to justice. They won’t get away with it.”
Loved ones of Bibas family say new video footage is ‘unbearable and inhumane’
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas seen in a video in Khan Younis on October 7, after they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, in a video released by the IDF on February 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
After the IDF recovered footage of Shiri, Ariel, and presumably Kfir Bibas arriving in Khan Younis on the day they were kidnapped, family members of the captive say the video is “unbearable” to witness.
“These videos tear our hearts out. Witnessing Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir, ripped away from their home in Nir Oz into this hellscape, feels unbearable and inhumane,” the family members say in a joint statement.
“Kidnapping children is a crime against humanity and a war crime,” the statement adds. “Ariel and Kfir are victims of monstrous evil. Our whole family has become hostages along with all the hostages.”
The family says it is “desperately” calling on Israeli officials to “bring them home immediately” and prioritize them in any agreement.
US proposes rival UN resolution supporting temporary ceasefire, opposing Rafah operation
Palestinian crowds struggle to buy bread from a bakery in Rafah, Gaza, on February 18, 2024. (AP Photo/ Fatima Shbair)
The United States is proposing a rival draft to the United Nations Security Council resolution that would underscore the body’s “support for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable,” according to the text seen by Reuters today.
Washington has been averse to the word “ceasefire” in any UN action on the Israel-Hamas war, but the US draft text echoes language that President Joe Biden said he used last week in conversations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The US draft text also “determines that under current circumstances a major ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries.”
The draft US resolution says such a move “would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”
It was not immediately clear when or if the draft resolution would be put to a vote in the 15-member council.
IDF releases footage of strikes on Hezbollah sites in south Lebanon
The IDF releases footage of airstrikes on what it says are Hezbollah sites near southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal and Odaisseh in the last few hours.
The IDF also says it struck two Hezbollah weapon depots near Sidon.
Sirens sound in many northern communities warning of potential drone infiltration
Sirens are sounding in a number of communities in the north warning of a potential drone infiltration.
The sirens sound in several locations in the Upper Galilee that have been largely evacuated amid the war.
IDF says its strikes near Sidon in Lebanon targeted Hezbollah weapons depots
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing from a site between the Lebanese villages of Odaisseh and Markaba during Israeli strikes on February 19, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the Israeli military was behind large airstrikes near Sidon in Lebanon earlier today.
Hagari says the strikes targeted weapons depots belonging to the Hezbollah terror group.
He says the strikes come as a response to a Hezbollah explosive-laden drone that struck an open field near the northern town of Arbel this morning.
IDF reveals video from Oct. 7 of abducted Bibas mom and kids arriving in Khan Younis, says it fears for their fate
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas seen in a video in Khan Younis on October 7, after they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, in a video released by the IDF on February 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference reveals that the military has discovered videos of the Bibas family in the Gaza Strip, hours after they were abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7.
Hagari says, “From the information available to us, we are very concerned about the condition and safety of Shiri and the children and are making every effort to obtain more information about their fate.”
Hagari says the footage shows that Shiri, surrounded by gunmen, was forced to wrap herself in a cloth.
The clip from surveillance cameras in Khan Younis shows hostages Shiri Bibas and her son Ariel, with her baby Kfir assumed to be under the cloth and strapped to her body as he was seen in video taken during the kidnapping.
Hagari says the videos are from a military post belonging to the Mujahideen Brigades terror group. He says the clips were obtained by the IDF in Khan Younis in recent weeks and have been shown to relatives of the abducted family.
The fate of the Bibas family — including father Yarden, who was kidnapped separately — is unknown. Hamas has claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were killed but the IDF has said that the claim is unverified.
Answering questions, Hagari says that while the clips show that Shira and her two sons “reached Khan Younis alive,” other “scraps of information” obtained by the IDF mean that “we are very concerned for the fate of Shiri and the children.” If and when there is definitive information “one way or another,” he says, “we will first tell the family and then the public.”
Speaking in English, Hagari then says, “134 hostages are still being held in Hamas captivity in Gaza. The youngest hostage is Kfir Bibas, a baby stolen from his crib during the Hamas massacre of October 7 when he was only 9 months old.”
“Baby Kfir was brutally kidnapped together with his 4-year-old brother Ariel, his mother Shiri and father Yarden,” he says.
“The IDF has obtained new information about the Bibas family. The materials I’m sharing have been shown to the relatives of the Bibas family and are being shared with their consent. During our operation against Hamas in Khan Younis over the last few weeks our forces obtained new footage of Shiri Bibas with her children 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir, on the day they were kidnapped into Gaza on October 7,” Hagari continues.
“According to the footage and intelligence we gathered, after Shiri Bibas and her two children were kidnapped from their home on October 7 they were taken to eastern Khan Younis to the outpost belonging to the Kata’ib Mujahideen terror group. The footage shows the terrorists wrapping Shiri and her babies in a sheet, trying to hide them. You can see little Ariel’s ginger hair poking through the white cloth,” he says.
“They were forced into a car and taken somewhere else. From the information available to us, we are concerned for the well-being of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir,” Hagari says.
“Seeing this young mother, clutching her babies, surrounded by a group of armed terrorists is horrifying and heart-wrenching, but it is also a call for action, that we must bring the hostages home, fast,” he says.
“Those who have the audacity to question our need to operate in Gaza, but don’t have the basic decency and humanity to demand that Hamas release our hostages first of all, they all should take a good look at this terrified mother, Shiri, clutching her babies,” Hagari adds in English. “Until Hamas releases our hostages, we will leave no stone unturned until our hostages are home.”
WATCH: IDF slated to release four-month-old video of Bibas family in Gaza
The Bibas family -- father Yarden, four-year-old Ariel, mother Shiri and baby Kfir -- who were abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)
In a live briefing, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari is slated to reveal a four-month-old video of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas seen in Gaza a few days after they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
Activists gather outside Knesset to protest updated 2024 budget
Demonstrators in front of the Knesset protest the government's revised 2024 budget on February 19, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
A few hundred people gather in front of the Knesset to protest the government’s newly amended 2024 budget, which critics say allocates funds to coalition-linked interests while slashing monies for broader society.
Protesters are also calling for immediate elections to replace Benjamin Netanyahu and for the return of the hostages who remain captive in Gaza.
Ronit Harpaz, an entrepreneur in Israel’s high-tech industry speaking onstage to the crowd, decries the Netanyahu-led government for giving “no money to displaced Gaza envelope residents, but rather to the hilltop youth” – a reference to activist settlers.
Law enforcement is keeping the demonstration under tight security with two layers of barricades separating the protest from the parliamentary building. Anti-government demonstrators successfully blocked the Knesset access road multiple times last month.
Egypt’s Sissi says revenues from Suez Canal have dropped 40%-50% over Houthi attacks
In this image obtained from the US Department of Defense, the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transits through the Suez Canal, Egypt, on August, 6, 2023. (Moises Sandoval / US Department of Defense / AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi says revenues from the Suez Canal have “decreased by 40 to 50 percent” so far this year due to attacks on shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The canal is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency, with Cairo gripped by a severe financial crisis.
The Houthi attacks, which the group says are targeted at vessels with links to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip, have caused many major shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries around 12 percent of global trade.
IDF said to strike targets more than 30 kilometers from Lebanon border
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing from a site between the Lebanese villages of Odaisseh and Markaba during Israeli strikes on February 19, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in the town of Ghaziyeh, on the southern outskirts of Sidon, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the northern border.
Footage posted to social media shows large fireballs and clouds of smoke from the targeted sites.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
الغاره الأولى قرب مستودع شركة الريم والغارة الثانية قرب جامع الشحوري منطقة الريجي، في منطقة الغازية جنوب مدينة صيدا pic.twitter.com/akJ4LmjImb
— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) February 19, 2024
Israel has killed around 12,000 Hamas operatives in Gaza so far, says IDF
Troops operate in Gaza, in a handout image cleared for publication by the IDF on February 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF estimates it has killed some 12,000 Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.
Hamas, with some 30,000 fighters, is also believed to have thousands of operatives who are seriously wounded and unable to fight.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said more than 29,000 people in the Strip have been killed in the fighting so far, an unverified figure that does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The numbers do not include around 1,000 gunmen killed inside Israel on October 7.
Earlier, a Hamas official based in Qatar told Reuters that the terror group estimated it has lost 6,000 fighters, a rare acknowledgment from the terror group that it has suffered significant losses and apparently the first time that it has differentiated between combatants and civilians in a death toll from the war.
Debate begins ahead of vote on ousting MK Ofer Cassif from Knesset
Lawmakers in the Knesset plenum vote on a bill to criminalize the denial of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, February 7, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
Debate begins in the Knesset ahead of a vote on the potential unprecedented ouster of Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif, after he gave his backing to the South African charge against Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
The move needs 90 MKs to pass, and if it does Cassif will almost certainly appeal the decision to the High Court.
Such a vote has never before come to the floor of the Knesset.
Rejecting Temple Mount move, MK Tibi says Ben Gvir is a ‘pyromaniac’ being handed fuel by Netanyahu
Hadash-Ta'al leader MK Ayman Odeh (left) and MK Ahmad Tibi helm a faction meeting in the Knesset on January 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s call to restrict Arab Israeli and Palestinian access to the Temple Mount on Ramadan is an inflammatory move that could spark violence, leaders of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party warn.
“Ben Gvir is calling on the government to make a decision to prevent Arab citizens from going to the Al Aqsa mosque,” MK Ayman Odeh says at his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, linking the October 7 attack, Second Intifada and 1929 Hebron massacre to Arab sensitivities regarding the disputed holy site.
Arab mobs slaughtered 133 Jews during that massacre, which took place prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.
There is a “need to respect the holy places of all faiths,” he says.
“There is no freedom of worship for Muslims. Not even for Christians. Contrary to the false claim in the world,” adds Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ahmad Tibi, calling Ben Gvir a “pyromaniac” being handed fuel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Muslims have free access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, all year round and especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Any other decision is illegitimate by definition,” Tibi declares.
Their comments come only minutes after Ben Gvir, in his own faction meeting, doubled down on his belief that restrictions on access to the Temple Mount are necessary over Ramadan.
Speaking ahead of her Labor party’s faction meeting, chairwoman Merav Michaeli accuses Ben Gvir of looking to recreate the Arab-Jewish violence that accompanied 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls.
“Ben Gvir and Hamas have the same interest. Both want a religious war. Both want to create a conflagration, because each of them believes that that is the way to eliminate the other side,” she says.
Israel has struck over 30,000 targets in Gaza and Lebanon since start of war, says IDF
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli strikes on February 18, 2024. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)
The Israeli Air Force says it has carried out strikes against more than 31,000 targets amid the ongoing war, mostly in the Gaza Strip, but also in Lebanon and other fronts, racking up over 186,000 flight hours.
In the Gaza Strip, the IAF has hit over 29,000 targets belonging to Hamas and other terror groups since October 7.
Some 7,000 of the strikes were immediate requests by ground forces amid the offensive against Hamas. The closest strike to troops was some 80 meters away during a clash between the 401st Armored Brigade and Hamas operatives on November 18.
In Lebanon, the IAF says, it has struck more than 1,000 Hezbollah sites and positions.
In the West Bank, some 30 airstrikes have been carried out against terror operatives, most of them amid counter-terrorism raids.
An unspecified number of strikes were also carried out by the IAF in Syria against Iranian activity and Iran’s proxy groups, as well as against the Syrian Army.
Of the strikes, 26,000 were carried out by fighter jets, 3,800 by attack helicopters, and 3,800 by drones.
The IAF’s helicopter array has also carried out some 500 medevacs from the Gaza Strip, taking more than 1,000 wounded troops to hospitals.
Also amid the war, the short-range Iron Dome air defense system has shot down thousands of rockets, the medium-range David’s Sling has downed dozens, and the long-range Arrow has intercepted six projectiles.
The IAF is also closing several of its aging Patriot batteries, and staff will be trained to operate on the Iron Dome instead. Israel plans to open new Iron Dome batteries, the first within several weeks.
Ben Gvir says unfettered Temple Mount access over Ramadan is ‘a danger to the country’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Speaking at an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting in the Knesset, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir doubles down on his belief that restrictions on access to the Temple Mount are necessary during Ramadan, criticizing members of the security services who believe that allowing access to the site will prevent friction with the Palestinians.
“An official asked me not to go up to the Temple Mount during Sukkot because it might upset Hamas” but the October 7 attack still occurred, he says, adding that those opposing his policies “are the same voices that said if we let the Palestinians in it will be fine.”
“A gathering of tens of thousands of haters, a victory celebration on the Temple Mount, is a danger to the security of the country,” he declares, arguing that “the same voices that told me that the Mount should be opened to all Arab Israelis are the same voices that told me that Hamas is deterred.”
“The police are responsible for law and order in the State of Israel. The police are the body that has the responsibility on the Temple Mount and whoever has the responsibility should also have the authority,” Ben Gvir continues. “If the commander of the Jerusalem district says that there should be restrictions, then his voice should be heard.”
Report: IDF has footage of Bibas family inside Gaza a few days after abduction
Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, are abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Screenshot)
The IDF has uncovered footage of hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, from the early days of the war, according to Hebrew media reports.
The reports say that the military has shown the footage to Bibas family members and is awaiting their approval to publish it widely.
The fate of the Bibas family — including father Yarden, who was kidnapped separately — is unknown. Hamas has claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were killed but the IDF has said that the claim is unverified.
A spokesperson for the Bibas family reacts to news of the video, saying that in it “you can see the family arriving in Gaza alive, and Hamas is the one solely responsible for the safety of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir.”
All four Bibases were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 along with many other members of the kibbutz, and Shiri’s parents were both murdered that day.
Calls at ICJ for unilateral West Bank withdrawal would lead to another October 7, says Israel
The United Nations' highest court with presiding judge Nawaf Salam, fifth from right, opening hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Foreign Ministry issues a statement slamming the Palestinian Authority’s claims during a trial at the Hague over Israeli presence in the West Bank as “creating a fundamentally distorted reality,” and dismissing the hearing as a “media circus” with no value.
The PA is “hurling false accusations” in the trial, the ministry says, and “trying to turn a conflict that should be resolved through direct negotiations and without external impositions into a one-sided and improper legal process designed to adopt an extremist and distorted narrative.”
The ministry says the October 7 massacre last year was “shockingly” not mentioned at all in the hearing, and adds that those who call on the IDF to completely withdraw from all areas of the West Bank “without conditions and without negotiations are in fact calling for another massacre of Israeli citizens.”
The PA leadership has for years “rejected direct negotiations to resolve the conflict,” the ministry statement says, “while fostering incitement to terrorism, promoting antisemitism and providing financial incentives to terrorists who murder Jews,” adding that these issues were “hidden from the Court” during questioning.
Israeli man charged over ties with Hamas after meeting deputy chief al-Arouri last year
People carry portraits of top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri and other officials killed on January 2, 2024 in a strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, during their funeral procession in Lebanon's capital on January 4, 2024. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
The Shin Bet says a Bedouin man from the southern town of Hura has been charged for his alleged ties to Hamas, including meeting the terror group’s deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in Turkey last year
Osama Alokbi and his wife Samah were detained by police in January, the security agency says.
The Shin Bet says evidence found at Alokbi’s home revealed his affiliation with Hamas, as well as the fact that he transferred tens of thousands of shekels to the terror group in Gaza over a number of years.
It says that the investigation also revealed that Alokbi transferred donation funds for mosques in the Negev to Hamas.
Alokbi maintained contact with senior Hamas officials abroad and met with them several times in Turkey, the Shin Bet says, charging that he brought his wife with him as a cover story of a couple’s trip.
The agency says Alokbi would raise funds in his meetings with Hamas officials for his activities in the Negev.
According to the Shin Bet, during his last trip to Turkey in June 2023, Alokbi participated in a “small forum” of Hamas officials, including al-Arouri, who was killed in an alleged Israeli strike in Beirut in January.
Alokbi, who previously was a member of the outlawed Islamic Movement’s northern branch, was known to authorities as “someone who identifies with an extreme ideology against the State of Israel and its institutions and is even involved in delivering sermons in mosques and postings on social networks, while encouraging participation in violent activity at the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the Shin Bet says.
Alokbi has been charged with “contact with a foreign agent” and use of property for terror purposes.
Israel says it rejects legitimacy of ongoing hearing at ICJ on West Bank control
A view of the Peace Palace, housing the United Nations' top court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
As the hearing continues at the International Court of Justice over Israel’s control over the West Bank, the Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement saying that it does not recognize the legitimacy of the ongoing proceedings.
The statement says that the trial is “designed to harm Israel’s right to defend itself from existential threats.”
“The hearing in The Hague is part of a Palestinian attempt to dictate the results of a diplomatic settlement without any negotiations,” the statement adds. “We will continue to fight this attempt, and the government and the Knesset are unified in rejecting his invalid trend.”
Navalny corresponded with Natan Sharansky, shared gulag experiences, inspiration
Prisoner of Zion Natan (Anatoly) Sharansky is escorted by US Ambassador Richard Burt after Sharansky crossed the border at Glienicker Bridge on Feb. 11, 1986, at the start of an East-West spy and prisoner exchange in Berlin. (AP Photo/Files)
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last week in mysterious circumstances, had been corresponding with former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky, the Free Press reports.
The report published the handwritten letters between the two after Navalny reached out to Sharansky, who spent almost nine years in a forced labor camp, to say that he was inspired by Sharansky’s book “Fear No Evil,” and joked that not a lot had changed in the Russian penal system.
“I want to thank you for this book as it has helped me a lot and continues to help. Yes, I am at SHIZO now, but when reading about your 400 days spent in the ‘punishment cell’ on decreased food rations, one understands that there are people who pay much higher prices for their convictions,” Navalny wrote in the first letter dated March 2023.
Navalny says he drew inspiration that the current Russian regime would collapse like the Soviet Union.
Sharansky wrote back a five-page letter, joking that receiving mail from the prison was like “receiving a letter from his ‘alma mater,’ the university where he spent many years of his youth.”
Sharansky said he was a big admirer of Navalny and that he had written his memoir while many of his friends were still imprisoned by the KGB.
“So I envisioned this book not only as a memoir, but also a sort of textbook or manual for how to behave in a confrontation with the KGB,” he wrote.
FILE – Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny takes part in a march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, Russia, on February 29, 2020. (AP/Pavel Golovkin, File)
“I wish to you—no matter how hard it may be physically—to maintain your inner freedom,” Sharansky wrote.
Sharansky moved to Israel after being freed and served as a cabinet minister and chairman of the Jewish Agency.
Lapid says he filed a new military draft bill: ‘Those who evade service won’t get money’
Head of opposition and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid says he has submitted a new version of the draft law under which those who evade military or civil service won’t be eligible for state funding.
Speaking to a meeting of his Yesh Atid faction in the Knesset, Lapid says that his version “will lead to a real equality of the burden.”
“The state simply cannot continue to transfer funds to those who evade service,” Lapid says. “The new law will be clear and simple: those who evade will not receive money, those who do not serve in the army or civil service will not receive allowances from the state.”
“Whoever enlists, the state will do everything to make it easier for him and help him,” he says, adding that if the ultra-Orthodox were drafted into the army there would be no need for current plans to extend mandatory military service and reserve duty.
Smotrich reiterates complete opposition to Palestinian state
Minister of Finance and Head of the Religious Zionism Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterates his opposition to a Palestinian state amid an international push for a two-state solution in the wake of the war with Hamas.
Speaking at the Knesset meeting of his far-right Religious Zionism faction, he says he will not “consecrate a Palestinian terror entity with the blood of our soldiers.”
Smotrich says he intends to bring a motion to the government opposing the creation of a Palestinian state and says he expects all Zionist political parties to support it.
Qatar criticizes Netanyahu for asking Doha to pressure Hamas to free hostages
Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (R) in a meeting with Hamas official Khaled Mashal in Doha, October 17, 2016 (Qatar government handout)
Qatar on Monday criticizes comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which it said he asked the Gulf state to pressure Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages, describing them as a new attempt to prolong the Gaza war.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said over the weekend that the pattern of negotiations for a framework ceasefire deal for the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was “not very promising” in recent days.
“The Israeli Prime Minister’s recent statements in which he calls on Qatar to pressure Hamas into releasing the (Israeli) hostages are nothing but a new attempt by him to delay and prolong the war for reasons that have become clear to everyone,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari posts in a statement on social media platform X.
It was unclear what comments from Netanyahu the Qatari statement was referring to nor what reasons he was alluding to.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also foreign minister, said on Saturday he could not give details of talks but as with past deals there were two elements: humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the number of Palestinians to be released for Israeli hostages.
IDF says it’s not behind drone explosion in north; jets hit Hezbollah sites
The IDF says a drone that struck an open area near the northern community of Arbel is likely not an Israeli military drone, indicating it may have been launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the IDF says.
The IDF also says it struck several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon’s Dhayra a short while ago.
It adds that yesterday, the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted a Hezbollah operative entering a building in Ayta ash-Shab, and called in an airstrike.
Over the past day, the IDF says it also struck rocket launching positions in Aitaroun and other Hezbollah infrastructure in Odaisseh.
US-owned cargo ship reports ‘missile attack’ off Yemen — security firm
Illustrative: Houthi supporters attend a rally against US-led strikes against Yemen and in the support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, February 16, 2024. Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in an American airstrike in 2020, is in the photo. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
A US-owned cargo ship has reported a “missile attack” off Yemen and called for military assistance, maritime security firm Ambrey says.
“A Greece-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier called for military assistance stating a ‘missile attack,'” Ambrey says, adding that radio communications had stated that “the crew was unharmed.”
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have been targeting shipping in the region, claiming the attacks are an act of solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group.
Two men sentenced to 22 and 14 years for Eilat gang rape of teen
Eilat's Red Sea Hotel, where an alleged gang rape took place in mid-August 2020. (Channel 12 screenshot)
A Beersheba court sentences two men convicted of taking part in a notorious gang rape of a teenage girl in Eilat in 2020 to 22 and 14 years in jail.
Issy Raphaelov, 31, is sentenced to 22 years in prison and ordered to pay NIS 200,000 in compensation, while Eliezer Meirav, 30, is sentenced to 14 years and ordered to pay NIS 100,000.
The court delays the sentencing of two minors, both aged 17, who were also convicted of rape, sexual assault, gang rape and a host of other crimes against the victim, who was 16 at the time.
Another seven people, many of them minors, were convicted of aiding the assault, failing to stop the act, and other charges.
The case shocked the country and spurred calls for reforms, as testimony indicated that a large group of men lined up outside the intoxicated girl’s hotel room, awaiting their turn to rape her, as eyewitnesses failed to intervene.
German government deeply concerned about planned Rafah offensive
Volunteers distribute rations of soup to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024 (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
Germany expresses worry about an envisaged Israeli offensive in Rafah.
“We are deeply concerned about the ground offensive in Rafah,” a government spokesperson says during a regular press conference in Berlin. “It is difficult to correctly assess the humanitarian situation there, but I think everyone recognizes that it is catastrophic.”
If there is to be an offensive, Israel must answer the question of how to evacuate the up to 1.3 million civilians who are currently sheltering there, the spokesperson adds.
Israel’s war-battered economy sees double-digit contraction, sharpest since coronavirus crisis
Illustrative: A Pri Galil employee protests against layoffs, in Hatzor HaGlilit, February 11, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Israel’s economy recorded a double-digit contraction in the three final months of 2023, with the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group taking a heavy toll on consumer spending, trade and investment, preliminary data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.
The country’s economy shrank at a 19.4 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 as the devastating Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, in which Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people sparked a war in Gaza. In response, Israel launched airstrikes and a ground offensive aimed at toppling the Gaza-ruling Hamas and freeing the 253 hostages were taken into the Gaza Strip.
It marks the deepest decline since the second quarter of 2020 when the economy dipped almost 30% as the coronavirus pandemic-related lockdowns hurt consumer spending and left many businesses closed.
The double-digit contraction that hit the economy during the war quarter compared with an expansion of 2.7% in the third quarter of 2023. Private consumption in the October to December period of 2023 plunged 26.9% and import of goods and services was down 42.4%.
Preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed the economy expanded 2% in 2023 after growing at a fast pace of 6.5% in 2022. Private consumption decreased by 0.7% in 2023 after a 7.4% increase in 2022.
The import of goods and services fell in 2023 by 6.9%, after growing 12% in 2022. Exports of goods and services fell 1.1% in 2023 versus an increase of 8.6 in the year earlier.
The economic fallout from the war and expected downturn in private consumption and demand, and investment in sectors such as construction, prompted the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Israel, and global credit rating agencies to cut their growth prospects for 2023 in recent weeks, as the fighting is estimated to cost the economy as much as NIS 255 billion.
The OECD lowered the GDP forecast for Israel to 2.3 percent in 2023 from 2.9% projected before the outbreak of the war. The Bank of Israel shaved its growth outlook and expected the economy to grow by 2% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
PA lawyer tells ICJ that Israel’s rule of West Bank, East Jerusalem is ‘illegal occupation’
The United Nations' highest court with presiding judge Nawaf Salam, fifth from right, opening hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Speaking for the Palestinian Authority in the International Court of Justice hearings today, international lawyer Paul Reichler presents arguments asserting that Israel’s 56-year-long rule over the West Bank and East Jerusalem amounts to an “illegal occupation” of the territory.
Reichler cites the UN Charter as well as numerous UN Security Council resolutions including UNSC resolutions 242, 478, and 2334 in arguing that the acquisition of territory by force is illegal, and quotes comments by numerous senior Israel officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which they stated that they wish to annex parts or all of the West Bank.
Reichler describes the residence of some 700,000 Israelis in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem neighborhoods as “a vast colonial enterprise” in which he alleges that Israel has “implanted settlers” as part of a goal of permanent annexation.
He also shows the court a picture of a map of the region used by Netanyahu in a speech to the UN General Assembly in September 2023 where Israel is depicted as including all the territory west of the Jordan River with no demarcation at all of the West Bank as evidence that Israel seeks to “eliminate all traces of Palestine.”
He cites Netanyahu’s declared goal from 2019 of annexing the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, as well as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying that it was “a national ambition” to control the West Bank from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea,” which, he said, “was an established fact and not open to negotiation.”
Says Reichler, “The evidence is indisputable. Under an umbrella of a prolonged military occupation, [Israel] has been steadily annexing Palestinian territory and the objective is the permanent acquisition of this territory and to exercise of sovereignty over it in defiance of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.
“Senior Israeli officials admit their objective is sovereignty over all the territory over the green line… there is no reason not to take them at their word because their deeds are consistent with them.”
Israel sending Gazans text messages offering rewards for info on hostages
Gazans have been receiving text messages offering them money in exchange for information on the hostages detained by Hamas and other terror groups inside Gaza.
The message, which has been shared on Palestinian social media, reads: “Are you interested in a better future for your family, and in a handsome financial reward? Do you have information about the hostages or who is holding them? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at the following number.”
The text further contains links to other channels to contact the sender, and a link with images of the hostages.
It is not immediately clear which body within Israel’s security apparatus has been sending out the messages.
Israel has in the past dropped leaflets on Gaza offering rewards for information on the hostages.
Hamas and other Gazan terror groups abducted 253 people from southern Israel on October 7. It is believed that 130 of them remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
Israel declares Brazil’s Lula ‘persona non grata’ over comparison of Gaza war to Holocaust
Brazilian ambassador to Israel Frederico Meyer, right, and Foreign Minister Israel Katz tour at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Foreign Minister Israel Katz, the son of Holocaust survivors, takes Brazil’s Ambassador Federico Mayer to Israel’s Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem to reprimand him over Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s comparison of Israel’s campaign against Hamas to the Holocaust.
In front of the cameras, Katz tells Mayer that Lula is not welcome in Israel. “We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back.”
“I brought you to a place that testifies more than anything else to what the Nazis and Hitler did to the Jews, including members of my family,” says Katz. “The comparison between Israel’s just war against Hamas, and the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis, is a shame.”
Somewhat unusually for a diplomatic reprimand, the two also tour Yad Vashem together, and Katz shows Mayer the form with the names of his grandparents who were killed in the Shoah.
“It seems like he internalized the message,” says an Israeli official who was present.
WATCH: IDF commandos battle Hamas gunman in Gaza building
The IDF releases new footage showing troops of the Egoz commando unit battling a Hamas operative inside a building in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
During the raid on the building, a gunman opened fire at the troops and hurled a grenade at them.
The IDF says the troops returned fire, including using a shoulder-launched missile, killing the operative.
Netanyahu meets visiting Democratic senators
Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu meets with a visiting delegation of US Democratic senators in Jerusalem on February 19, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff meet with Democratic senators Chris Coons (Delaware) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) in his Jerusalem office.
Both senators were in Munich over the weekend to attend the annual security conference there. Both men have been supportive of Israel’s campaign against Hamas, while expressing concern over Gazan civilian casualties.
In October, after visiting Israel, Blumenthal said that the US would offer “unshakable and unwavering support” and would not dictate Israel’s approach.
Hamas says Gaza death toll at 29,092
Women mourn after the death of relatives in an apparent Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on February 18, 2024 (Photo by AFP)
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll in the conflict has reached 29,092.
These figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed over 10,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Police probing possible drone explosion in northern Israel, no injuries
An apparent drone or other projectile hit an open area near the community of Arbel in the Lower Galilee, close to the Sea of Galilee.
Police say officers are at the scene handling the incident and investigating the cause of the blast.
Local authorities say there are no injuries.
Images posted to social media show a small crater in the ground, as well as what appears to be part of the projectile.
An apparent drone or other projectile hit an open area near the community of Arbel in the Lower Galilee, close to the Sea of Galilee.
Police say officers are at the scene handling the incident.
Local authorities say there are no injuries. pic.twitter.com/2tVcEHRmxd
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 19, 2024
Palestinian FM accuses Israel of ‘genocide,’ ‘apartheid’ at ICJ hearing on control of West Bank
Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki (center) and PA ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, right, take their seats at the United Nations' highest court which opened hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki blasts Israel’s 56-year rule in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and its treatment of the Palestinians more broadly, in opening remarks at a hearing of the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing the “crimes” of “colonialism and apartheid” against the Palestinian people.
Israel’s decades-long control over the Palestinians has given them a choice of “displacement, subjugation, or death” amounting to “ethnic cleansing, apartheid, or genocide,” alleges Maliki.
“A Palestinian can spend their entire lifetime as a refugee, denied dignity and the right to return home… under constant threat, have their loved ones thrown in Israeli jail and held there indefinitely, and their land stolen, colonized, annexed,” says Maliki.
He requests that the court “declare that the Israeli occupation is illegal” and must end “immediately, totally and unconditionally.”
Israel holds that the issue of control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem is a political, not a legal, one and must be resolved within the framework of bilateral and international agreements and resolutions on the matter, including the Oslo Accords, and cannot be determined by a court ruling.
International Court of Justice starts hearings on Israel’s control of the West Bank
A view of the Peace Palace, housing the United Nations' top court, in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The International Court of Justice begins hearings on the UN General Assembly’s request for an advisory opinion on “the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.”
The Palestinian Authority, which lobbied for the UN General Assembly to request the advisory opinion, seeks a ruling by the court that Israel’s 56-year-long rule in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal.
Israel does not accept the court’s jurisdiction over these issues and has not sent a delegation to The Hague to provide counterarguments.
Since the proceedings stem from a UNGA request for an advisory opinion, any decision the ICJ issues will be non-binding and have little practical effect on the ground.
Several Palestinian cars vandalized in flashpoint West Bank town in suspected hate crime
Several cars in the Palestinian town of Huwara were vandalized last night in what appears to be a nationalistically motivated hate crime by Israeli extremists.
CCTV footage of the incident provided by the Yesh Din organization, which campaigns against West Bank settlements, shows two cars pulling up in the town. Eight people exit the cars and begin smashing windows and damaging several cars parked on the street before racing back to their own vehicles and driving off.
The police said they are checking the incident.
Huwara in the northern West Bank has become a focal point of attacks by extremist settlers in the region following several severe terrorist attacks against Israelis who have driven through the town in recent months.
A bypass road to enable commuters to avoid passing through Huwara was opened in November.
Drone infiltration alert sounds in northern Israel
Drone infiltration alerts sound in several communities in northern Israel.
The warnings sound in Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Kfar Giladi, Manara, Misgav Am, Tel Hai, Ma’ayan Baruch, Kiryat Shmona, Metula and Beit Hillel.
Shortly after the sirens sound, the IDF Home Front Command says that the incident is over without giving further details.
???? Large Rocket Alerts [10:25:27] – 10 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Kfar Giladi, Manara, Misgav Am, Tel Hai, Ma'ayan Baruch, Kiryat Shmona, Metulla, Beit Hillel#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/NwWmbBf2DB
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) February 19, 2024
IDF says several Hamas operatives killed in Gaza airstrikes
The IDF says it struck and killed a Hamas operative who fired a rocket from central Gaza at southern Israel yesterday, within minutes of the attack.
The rocket landed in an open area near the Gaza border, causing no damage or injuries.
Within several minutes, the Nahal Brigade spotted the operative who fired the rocket and directed an airstrike against him, the IDF says.
The IDF says that other Hamas cells were killed in the area.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says the 7th Armored Brigade, Paratroopers Brigade, and Commando Brigade continue their operations, including raiding Hamas sites, capturing weapons, and killing operatives in the process.
Several airstrikes were carried out against Hamas operatives near the troops, the IDF says.
In one incident in Khan Younis, the Paratroopers Brigade using a drone spotted a Hamas cell moving toward them, and called in an airstrike, the IDF says. It adds that a short while later, another four operatives were spotted and also struck.
אתמול זוהה שיגור ממרכז רצועת עזה שחצה לשטח ישראל ונפל בשטח פתוח במרחב העוטף.
דקות ספורות לאחר מכן, מכלול האש של חטיבת הנח״ל זיהה את המחבל שביצע את השיגור נע במרחב העיר עזה, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר בהכוונת מכלול האש של חטיבת הנח״ל תקפו וחיסלו אותו>> pic.twitter.com/rFCWJNvvEi— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 19, 2024
Sister of slain Hamas leader Arouri charged with funneling money to terror group, incitement
Dalal and Fatima, sisters of slain deputy Hamas terror chief Saleh al-Arouri. (Courtesy)
A sister of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who was allegedly assassinated by Israel in Lebanon last month, is charged in a military court with funneling money to the terror group and incitement.
Dalal al-Arouri, 52, was arrested last month along with her sister Fatima in separate raids in ‘Arura, al-Arouri’s hometown, and al-Bireh, both near Ramallah.
The statement did not say if Fatima was also being charged.
A police statement says she helped transfer money to her brother several times over the past two years and also made several “inciting” statements on October 7, after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people.
Ireland pushing for EU unanimity on sanctions for extremist West Bank settlers
Ireland’s foreign minister Micheal Martin says he hopes to get unanimity from the EU regarding sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank, as the world is “shocked” at the level of “inhumanity” within Gaza.
“Ireland favors sanctions on violent settlers in the West Bank, we regret that unity and unanimity still hasn’t occurred within the Foreign Affairs Council to date,” he says ahead of the meeting of EU’s foreign ministers, adding that Gaza’s ordinary people are living “hell on earth” at the moment.
Smotrich announces new benefits for reserve soldiers
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he has approved a raft of new benefits for reserve soldiers.
Among the measures is increasing the eligibility of those entitled to grants on the birth of a child, tax exemptions on grants and tax benefits for independent contractors.
FM Katz to reprimand Brazil envoy over president’s comparison of Gaza op to Holocaust
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference in Addis Ababa on February 18, 2024. (Ricardo STUCKERT / Brazilian Presidency / AFP)
Foreign Minister Israel Katz will give a formal reprimand to Brazil’s ambassador this morning at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, after Brazil’s president likened Israel’s campaign against Hamas to Hitler’s Holocaust of the Jews.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Katz will “make clear to the ambassador that statements like these are totally unacceptable,” and that Hamas killed over 1,000 people on October 7 simply because they are Jews and Israelis.
Katz is expected to give a statement to the press after the meeting.
Houthis claim attack on ship in Red Sea, say it is at risk of sinking
Yemen’s Houthis targeted the ship Rubymar in the Gulf of Aden and it is now at risk of sinking, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea says in a statement.
The Iran-backed rebels claim that they ensured the crew of the ship was safe.
They also claim to have shot down a US drone.
Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US-led strikes against Yemen and in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
In first acknowledgement of significant losses, Hamas official says some 6,000 operatives killed in Gaza fighting
An officer of the 55th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade guards a tunnel entrance in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout image published February 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
A Hamas official based in Qatar tells the Reuters news agency that the group estimated it had lost 6,000 fighters during the four-month-old conflict, about half the 12,000 Israel says it has killed.
Hamas can keep fighting and is prepared for a long war in Rafah and Gaza, says the official, who requested anonymity.
“Netanyahu’s options are difficult and ours are too. He can occupy Gaza but Hamas is still standing and fighting. He hasn’t achieved his goals to kill the Hamas leadership or annihilate Hamas,” he adds.
The comments are a rare acknowledgment from the terror group that it has suffered significant losses in the Gaza fighting and appears to mark the first time that they have differentiated between combatants and civilians in a death toll from the fighting.
According to official figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry 28,985 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
However, these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed nearly 12,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
The IDF says 235 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive.
Israel expects full-scale military operations in Gaza for 6-8 more weeks — report
Troops operate in Gaza, in a handout image cleared for publication by the IDF on February 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel expects to continue full-scale military operations in Gaza for another six to eight weeks as it prepares to mount a ground invasion of the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah, four officials familiar with the strategy tell the Reuters news agency.
Military chiefs believe they can significantly damage Hamas’s remaining capabilities in that time, paving the way for a shift to a lower-intensity phase of targeted airstrikes and special forces operations, according to the two Israeli and two regional officials who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely.
Amid tensions, IDF orders roads closed to public near northern border
Troops drill for war on the northern border, in a handout image cleared for publication by the IDF on February 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Amid continued tensions with the Hezbollah terror group on the northern border, the IDF orders several roads in the area closed to the public.
Traffic is blocked at Malkiya Junction in both northern and southern directions, Yesha Junction to the west, the Margaliot entrance junction to the west, and Hametzudot Junction going north.
According to the Upper Galilee Regional Council, the roads are closed until further notice.
Rocket warning sirens sound in Gaza border communities for first time in weeks
Rocket warning sirens are sounding in Gaza border communities for the first time in several weeks.
Sirens go off in Ein Hashlosha, Nirim and Nir Oz.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Rocket Alerts [07:21:58] – 3 Alerts:
• Gaza Envelope — Nir Oz, Nirim, Ein HaShlosha#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/geMHRJ8MaX
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) February 19, 2024
Right-wing effort to oust far-left MK doesn’t appear to have enough support to succeed
MK Ofer Cassif attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on January 30, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Knesset will hold a vote later today on whether to oust far-left Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif; but as it currently stands, the right-wing lawmakers leading the effort do not appear to have the support of enough colleagues in order to succeed.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, who is spearheading the initiative, is keeping a tally on his website, which shows that only 78 MKs have indicated that they will back Cassif’s ouster after he expressed his support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
Ninety votes are required in order to remove a Knesset member from their seat.
While right-wing lawmakers from both the coalition and the opposition have expressed support for ousting Cassif, they will need help from centrist lawmakers from the Yesh Atid and National Unity parties who have not appeared prepared to give it thus far.
Even if the vote did pass, it would likely be overturned by the High Court of Justice due to the questionable legal standing of the move.
IDF announces death of soldier killed fighting in Gaza yesterday, raising war’s troop death toll to 235
Simon Shlomov. (IDF)
The Israel Defense Forces announces that a soldier was killed fighting in southern Gaza yesterday, raising the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 235.
The soldier is named as Staff Sgt. Simon Shlomov, 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, from Kiryat Bialik.
World Court set to kick off week of hearings on Israel’s control of the West Bank
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the UN, delivers its order on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa against Israel over its actions in the Gaza Strip, January 26, 2024. (International Court of Justice)
The United Nations’ top court this morning opens a week of hearings on the legal consequences of Israel’s 56-year rule over the West Bank, with more than 50 states due to address the judges.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will speak first in the legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
In 2022, the UN General Assembly asked the court for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation.
For a full ToI explainer on this week’s hearings, click HERE
While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, it could pile on political pressure over the ongoing war in Gaza.
Among countries scheduled to participate in the hearings are the United States – Israel’s strongest supporter, China, Russia, South Africa and Egypt. Israel will not, although it has sent written observations.
The hearings are part of a Palestinian push to get international legal institutions to examine Israel’s conduct.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas the Palestinians want for a future state – in the Six Day War of 1967. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighboring Egypt, still controls its borders.
It is the second time the UN General Assembly has asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, for an advisory opinion related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In July 2004, the court found that Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank violated international law and should be dismantled, though it still stands to this day.
Judges have now been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation…including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”
The General Assembly also asked the ICJ’s 15-judge panel to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the United Nations from this status.
The advisory opinion proceedings are separate from the case that South Africa filed at the World Court against Israel for its alleged violations in Gaza of the 1948 Genocide Convention. In late January the ICJ in that case ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.
The outcome of the advisory opinion would not be legally binding but would carry “great legal weight and moral authority,” according to the ICJ.
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.
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