Feb. 24: Iranian FM says nuclear deal with US ‘within reach’ if ‘diplomacy is given priority’

State of the Union could be Trump’s best chance to sell US voters on his Iran plans

The US Capitol is seen, February 24, 2026, in Washington, ahead of US President Donald Trump State of the Union. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The State of the Union address provides US President Donald Trump with a nationally televised opportunity to persuade skeptical American voters to rally behind his threatened strikes against Iran over its nuclear program.

Advisers have urged Trump to focus on the economy, immigration and other domestic policy issues when he takes the U.S. House of Representatives podium for the speech at 9 p.m. local time Tuesday.

That has not been his focus to date.

Instead, the run-up to the event has been overshadowed by a huge buildup of US military forces in the Middle East and preparations for a conflict with Iran that could last for weeks if Tehran does not reach a deal to solve a longstanding dispute over its nuclear program.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a briefing on Iran hours before the speech for Congress’ “Gang of Eight” — comprised of the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives and the two chambers’ intelligence committees.

“First and foremost, if they want to do something in Iran – and who the hell knows what it is – they should make it public and discuss it with the public and not keep it in secret. When you do these military operations in secret, it always causes longer wars, tragedy, more expenses and mistake(s),” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer tells a press conference, shortly before the classified session.

US Speaker Johnson invites brother of slain Israeli embassy staffer to State of the Union Address

The brother of slain Israeli embassy staffer Yaron Lischinsky will attend US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address tonight as a guest of US House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Lischinsky and his partner, Sarah Milgrim, were fatally shot while leaving an American Jewish Committee event for young professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington last May.

In a press release announcing the guests who will be joining him at the address, Johnson says Hanan Lischinsky, Yaron’s brother, “has shown remarkable courage in shedding light on the extremism that took his brother’s life.”

“I am honored to invite him as my guest for President Trump’s State of the Union address,” adds Johnson.

The speaker will be hosting a number of other guests for the address, including the four crew members of NASA’s planned lunar spaceflight mission Artemis II, and the daughters of two people imprisoned by China —  Dr. Gulshan Abbas, a Uyghur Muslim, and Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Settlers said to set fire to vehicles, homes in Palestinian village of Susya

Palestinian media reports that settlers set fire to vehicles and homes in the Palestinian village of Susya, south of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

There are no reports of injuries or arrests.

#شاهد|اللحظات الأولى بعد إحراق المستوطنين مساكن ومركبات في قرية "سوسيا" بمسافر يطا، جنوب الخليل. pic.twitter.com/sbcHyuIuHG

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) February 24, 2026

Footage from the scene, published by Palestinian media and left-wing Israeli activists, shows several fires in the village, with a truck in flames and a residential tent badly burnt.

Several IDF soldiers can be seen in the background as the flames burn. A Palestinian yells in Arabic to bring water to “the house,” and tells the troops, in Hebrew, that “the children are inside.”

The military does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

عاجل | مستوطنون يحرقون مساكن ومركبات في قرية "سوسيا" بمسافر يطا، جنوب الخليل. pic.twitter.com/iYRPWWIX0T

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) February 24, 2026

According to the activists, the settlers set fire in four different locations in Susiya, destroying a tent, a truck, another vehicle and the gate of a home. Another car had its windows smashed, the activists say.

Defying Knesset, Smotrich raises tax exemption for online purchases from abroad to $130

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich heads a Religious Zionist party faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

In apparent defiance of the Knesset, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signs an order expanding the value-added tax exemption on personal imports from $75 to $130, less than a day after lawmakers voted 59-25 to revoke a previous order raising the exemption to $150. The order will take effect at midnight.

In a statement on X, Smotrich says that he “will not let a handful of communists in Likud or the irresponsible opposition that is fighting against Israeli citizens win.”

“I am determined in the fight against the cost of living. The previous order already proved itself even before its expiration tonight in the Knesset. Israeli citizens stopped being captives of the monopolies, and competition has already begun to lower prices,” he argues. “It can be affordable here.”

The previous order, which went into effect on December 24, was hailed by the general public but drew sharp condemnation from local business owners who argued it would hobble their sales. They succeeded in garnering support from other members of the coalition, in particular from within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, to revoke it following a lengthy overnight debate on Tuesday evening.

After the vote, Smotrich lashed out at members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition for opposing his measure, branding them as part of the “left” and accusing them of linking up with the opposition and working against the government. He vowed to issue another order in place of the one that was revoked.

“What happened tonight in the Knesset plenum was the joining of two forces: the communist faction, the economic left in Likud,” and coalition MKs who “just want to hurt Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said.

“Israeli citizens will pay more,” he added. “I’m not planning to give up. God willing, in the coming days, I will sign a new order, because I am determined, against the entire left, to prove that it can be inexpensive here.”

Ahead of Thursday talks, Iranian FM says nuclear deal ‘within reach’ if ‘diplomacy is given priority’

Ahead of the next expected round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that “a deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given a priority,” in a series of posts on his X account.

1/4 Pillared on the understandings forged in the previous round, Iran will resume talks with the U.S. in Geneva with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal—in the shortest possible time.

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) February 24, 2026

“Pillared on the understandings forged in the previous round, Iran will resume talks with the US in Geneva with a determination to achieve a fair and equitable deal—in the shortest possible time,” Araghchi writes, reiterating that while Iran “will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon,” it refuses to give up its rights to “peaceful nuclear technology.”

Channel 12 reported this evening that Araghchi has received approval from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on a draft counterproposal ahead of the talks in Geneva on Thursday, which the US reportedly views as a final chance at increasing diplomatic momentum instead of choosing to confront Iran militarily, but the draft was said not to have been submitted to the US.

While the US has demanded that Iran give up uranium enrichment entirely, as well as limit its ballistic missile program and support for regional proxies, Tehran insists on a strictly nuclear deal that allows it to maintain a limited level of enrichment, ostensibly for civilian purposes.

Islamic Jihad confirms senior operative, a Doctors Without Borders staffer, was killed by Israel in 2024

Left: Fadi al-Wadiya, a Doctors Without Borders member who the IDF says was a PIJ rocket expert, who was killed in a strike in Gaza City, June 25, 2024. (Courtesy of Doctors Without Borders on X); Right: An image released by the IDF on June 26, 2024, showing al-Wadiya in the uniform of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirms that one of its high-ranking operatives, named by Doctors Without Borders as a staffer, was killed by Israel in 2024.

The medical organization — known by its French acronym MSF — has repeatedly denied that it employed anyone “involved in military activities,” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

After the killing of MSF staffer Fadi al-Wadiya in June 2024, the IDF published a photograph of him wearing a Palestinian Islamic Jihad uniform and identified him as a rocket expert.

In a series of posts today, Islamic Jihad names several top commanders killed by Israel during the war.

One of them is al-Wadiya, whom Islamic Jihad identifies as the deputy head of its military manufacturing unit.

Fadi Jihad Mohammed al-Wadiyya (ID# 802854323, age 33) , a physiotherapist working for Doctors Without Borders, was ID'd by the IDF as a PIJ member shortly after he was killed in a June 2024 airstrike. Today, PIJ confirmed that al-Wadiyya was the deputy head of their military… pic.twitter.com/cAeBGVtgeG

— Gabriel Epstein (@GabrielEpsteinX) February 24, 2026

Also listed is Mahdi al-Mamluk, deputy head of the terror group’s communications unit, who was also listed by the Committee to Protect Journalists as a broadcast engineer for the Islamic Jihad-affiliated Al-Quds Al-Youm TV.

Iran approves draft counterproposal in US nuclear talks as Israeli officials say strike ‘unavoidable’ — report

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi’s draft counterproposal in the US-Iran nuclear talks has been approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but has not yet been submitted to Washington, a familiar source tells Channel 12.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner requested the draft counterproposal following the most recent round of talks in Geneva last week, with an expectation that it would be submitted within days, ahead of the next round of talks set for Thursday. US officials have reportedly warned that the proposal would likely be the last chance for a diplomatic resolution, instead of Washington launching a military strike on Iran.

Israeli political and military officials believe a US strike on Iran is “unavoidable” and are warning American counterparts against allowing nuclear talks with Iran to drag on or result in a poor deal, according to a separate Channel 12 report this evening.

“It will be the surprise of the year if Iran agrees to a real diplomatic solution,” one senior Israeli official is quoted by the Hebrew network as saying, adding that “if [Iran] will submit to US demands [in the nuclear talks] it will go against the entire spirit of this regime. But it will be no less surprising if the Americans agree to a stalling and deceptive deal.”

In conversations over recent days between IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Daniel Caine, Zamir presented a range of military options from Israel’s perspective, warning that “any agreement [with Iran] will be an insurance policy for the Iranian regime.”

Senior Israeli officials are pushing to carry out a forceful attack that will make Iran cautious or incapable of retaliating harshly against the US or Israel, adds Channel 12.

CIA publishes Farsi instructional guide for Iranian dissidents to privately contact it

Screenshot from Persian-language CIA video published February 24, 2026, telling Iranian dissidents how they can securely contact it. (CIA via X)

The CIA publishes a video in Persian explaining how Iranian dissidents can securely contact the US intelligence agency amid renewed anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic.

The video walks viewers through several steps that should be taken to ensure that any contact with the CIA from within Iran will be kept private and to ensure that the identity of the dissident cannot be found out.

It suggests that anyone wishing to contact the CIA should do so from a burner device and using the most up-to-date version of their internet browser of choice.

The person should also use the browser’s incognito mode and clear the browser and device history after making contact, it says.

It also strongly encourages anyone who contacts the agency from Iran to use Tor or a VPN to encrypt the communication, and provides instructions on how to use Tor, warning that without doing so, a visit to the CIA website will be visible to others.

سلام. سازمان اطلاعات مرکزی (CIA) صدای شما را می‌شنود و می‌خواهد به شما کمک کند. در ادامه، راهنمایی لازم در مورد چگونگی برقراری تماس مجازی امن با ما ارائه شده است. pic.twitter.com/Dfq4zomz1n

— CIA (@CIA) February 24, 2026

Finally, the CIA stresses that it will review all messages it receives, although the process of doing so may take some time, and notes that it may or may not respond to the messages, and will decide based on an assessment of the dissident’s security situation.

US F-22 stealth fighters deploying at Israeli Air Force base in south, as US builds up forces

A US F-22 stealth fighter seen taking off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England, en route to Israel, February 24, 2026. (@TallGlenn85 on X)

American F-22 stealth fighter jets that departed from the United Kingdom earlier today are being deployed at an Israeli Air Force base in southern Israel, as part of the United States’s massive buildup of military forces in the Middle East, The Times of Israel has learned.

A total of 12 F-22s were seen taking off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England, although one reportedly returned to the airbase due to a technical issue. The stealth fighters had arrived at Lakenheath last week and remained there for several days, reportedly due to issues with their accompanying refuelers.

The movement of the jets to the Middle East comes as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take military action against Iran.

Dozens of fighter jets — including F-35s, F-22s, F-15s, and F-16s — have been spotted heading to the Middle East by the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity in recent days.

First 3 of 12 F-22 Raptors departing RAF Lakenheath pic.twitter.com/qo7E0Ffu8O

— Glenn (@TallGlenn85) February 24, 2026

The team says it’s also tracked dozens of accompanying fuel tankers, as well as hundreds of cargo flights, heading into the region since mid-February.

IDF chief’s new Haredi adviser gets promotion

Brig. Gen. Avinoam Emunah, incoming adviser to the IDF chief of staff on ultra-Orthodox affairs, is awarded the rank of  brigadier general by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) and his family, February 24, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Ahead of entering a new role as adviser to the IDF chief of staff on ultra-Orthodox affairs, Avinoam Emunah is promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

Emunah recently served as commander of the military’s new Hasmonean Brigade for Haredi troops.

The IDF says that as part of the new role, Emunah will work in coordination with all branches of the military to “advance and expand the service of members of the Haredi community in the IDF, including building service tracks, establishing units, and strengthening a service environment that is enabling and adapted to the Haredi way of life.”

“As part of his role, he will also engage, among other things, in accompanying recruits before service, updating, adapting, and enforcing policy, guiding commanders on issues related to the service of Haredi soldiers, and providing support and responses to the soldiers themselves,” the army says.

Emunah was awarded the brigadier general rank by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir during a ceremony today.

At the same ceremony, Zamir also awarded Shai Siman-Tov, a senior officer in the Operations Directorate, the rank of brigadier general.

Siman-Tov was critically wounded during the 2014 Gaza War while serving as the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion. He returned to the military a year after his injury to serve at the IDF’s Tactical Command College. More recently, he has been serving in a top role in the Operations Directorate.

PM to Shin Bet: We are creating new regional axis to counter Iran, Muslim Brotherhood

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a leadership conference of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, on February 24, 2026. (Screenshot/GPO)

Israel is working to create its own regional alliance to oppose Iranian and Muslim Brotherhood axes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a leadership conference of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.

The emerging alliance “includes many countries,” says Netanyahu. “Some visit us, even these days. Some — we visit them. I am talking about an entire circle that encompasses the Middle East.”

In the 1950s and 1960s, Israel pursued a strategy of making alliances with non-Arab states and entities on the perimeter of the Middle East, including Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia, and the Kurds.

Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu reiterates that Hamas must be disarmed, and that “it will happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way, but it will happen.”

Netanyahu addresses the outbreak of near-daily murders in Arab communities inside Israel, saying the stockpile of illegal weapons “must be reduced, it must be taken, because a stormy day may come.”

He hints that a terror threat could emerge from these communities, saying that “we always talk about guns being turned inward.”

“We want a country with law, and not a Wild West, and not a wild south, and not a wild north,” he says.

IDF confirms it fired at Lebanese soldiers working on ‘uncoordinated military post’

The Israeli military confirms firing warning shots toward Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon earlier today, after the latter were establishing “an uncoordinated military post” near troops.

According to the IDF, the military issued warning calls to the Lebanese Armed Forces after they began establishing their “uncoordinated” post.

The military says it also contacted “coordination and liaison channels” and requested that the work on the LAF post be halted.

“After no response was received, IDF troops carried out warning shots to stop the activity,” the military adds.

The LAF said earlier that while its troops were “establishing an observation post” near the border in the Marjayoun area, “the vicinity of the post was subjected to gunfire from the Israeli side, coinciding with the flight of an Israeli drone at low altitude that issued threats aimed at forcing the personnel to leave.”

“The army command issued orders to reinforce the post, remain in place, and respond to the sources of fire,” the LAF said, adding that the incident is being followed up in coordination with the US-led ceasefire oversight mechanism and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Man shot and killed in northern Arab town, in 57th homicide this year

A young man has been shot dead in Rameh, an Arab town in northern Israel, first responders say.

The victim, around 25 years old, was found by paramedics on the ground, unconscious and with no signs of life.

“We arrived at a shocking incident of violence,” says Magen David Adom paramedic Charbel Assi, who notes that the victim sustained severe bullet wounds across his body.

Police say they have arrived at the scene and opened an investigation into the lethal shooting. No suspects have yet been arrested.

With this man’s death, a total of 57 members of the Arab community have fallen prey to homicide in Israel since the start of the year, according to the Abraham Initiatives, which tracks Arab sector homicides. Last year was the deadliest on record for the minority, with 252 crime-related deaths throughout all of 2025.

Iran’s deputy FM: Tehran will do ‘whatever it takes’ to reach deal with US but will respond if attacked

Iran is ready to take any necessary steps to reach a deal with the United States, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi says, as the two countries prepare for a fresh round of talks in Geneva on Thursday.

“We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith,” Takht-Ravanchi says in comments carried by state media.

He adds, however, that “if there is an attack or aggression against Iran, we will respond according to our defense plans… A US attack on Iran is a real gamble.”

Necropsy fails to reveal cause of death of sperm whale that washed up on Herzliya shore

The carcass of a sperm whale that washed up on the Mediterranean shore in central Herzliya on February 24, 2026. (Eviatar Ben Ari, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

Following a necropsy of a sperm whale that washed up onto the shore in central Herzliya in the morning, the cause of death still remains unclear.

The carcass, 12 meters (roughly 39 feet) long, is identified as that of an adult male.

Mia Elser of the Delphis Association explains, “This is the first adult specimen to arrive in a non-decomposed state since the beginning of Israeli research in the 1990s. This may indicate that the cause of death was not natural.”

She adds, “Since the start of research in Israel, eight sperm whale carcasses have been documented on our shores. Since 2020, there have been more sightings of live whales at sea, which aligns with the increase in the number of carcasses reaching the shore.”

Researchers are continuing to analyze findings on-site and have collected samples for further laboratory testing.

PLO secretary general: Hamas isn’t a terror group, talk of it disarming is unacceptable

The Palestine Liberation Organization does not consider Hamas a terror group, rejects demands to disarm it, and will let it run in the Palestinian Authority’s municipal elections in April, says PLO Secretary General Azzam al-Ahmed.

“All talk of disarming Hamas and their being a terrorist organization is unacceptable to us,” Ahmed tells Egyptian outlet Shorouk News in an interview published yesterday.

“We’ve never regarded them as a terrorist organization,” Ahmed says. “They are part of the Palestinian national fabric.”

For a similar reason, the PLO also rejects the demand in US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that Hamas play no part in governing the Strip, says Ahmed.

According to Ahmed, the Trump administration rejects any role for Palestinians in governing the Strip.

“They don’t want Palestinians generally,” Ahmed says, pointing to the demand that Hamas play no role in Gaza and to the absence of Palestinian members on the US-led Board of Peace, which is supposed to facilitate Gaza’s reconstruction.

As for the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza — the group of independent Palestinian technocrats meant to oversee the Strip’s reconstruction — Ahmed says it’s clear the US, with Israel’s support, wants to “take control” of the mission, given Washington’s “empty talk” of rebuilding Gaza as a “riviera” dotted by skyscrapers.

Meanwhile, Ahmed assails as a “false pretense” the peace plan’s stipulation that the Palestinian Authority must reform itself before it can take control of Gaza.

The reforms that the US is demanding, including changes to the PA’s anti-Israel school curriculum and a halt to what Israel calls “pay-to-slay” stipends for Palestinian prisoners, are “impossible” to implement, says Ahmed. He claims that the requested changes to the school curriculum include the removal of the Palestinian flag and the word “Palestine” from textbooks.

“We believe the primary goal of these demands is to waste time,” says Ahmed.

He adds that the PLO considers the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, “was a strategic error that inflicted immense damage on Gaza.” Ahmed also rejects the claim that the attack breathed new life into the Palestinian issue.

Separately, Ahmed says the PLO is “in constant national talks with [Hamas] on fulfilling the requirements to join the organization.”

Under the Palestinian Authority’s recently unveiled provisional constitution, the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and the PA adheres to the PLO’s commitments, which include recognition of Israel.

The PLO recognized Israel as part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which established the PA, and which Hamas and numerous other Palestinian factions have rejected.

In a move seen as preventing Hamas and other non-PLO factions from running in future elections — including municipal elections slated for April — PA President Mahmoud Abbas in January signed a decree requiring candidates to sign a statement accepting the PLO’s “national program.”

Speaking to Shorouk, Ahmed says “there was an error in the law” and that it was agreed that even parties opposed to the PLO could run in the April municipal elections, because those elections were about “providing services, not political work.” But the requirement would still hold for legislative elections, whose date is still not set, he says.

A senior Palestinian official tells The Times of Israel that despite Ahmed’s senior position in the PLO, his comments do not reflect the stances of the umbrella Palestinian political body nor the PA.

The official notes that PA President Mahmoud Abbas has long called for Hamas to disarm and accused Ahmed of “electioneering” ahead of the Fatah central committee election in May.

Settlers filmed rebuilding illegal outpost in West Bank’s Area B

Settlers were filmed earlier today rebuilding an illegal outpost in Area B of the West Bank, which is supposed to be under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli authorities have taken down the outpost, named Kol Mevaser, several times in the past, deeming it a security risk. It is one of the rare examples of illegal settler construction that Israeli authorities have sought to thwart, as the majority of focus has been on wildcat Palestinian building.

However, the settlers have once again returned to the hilltop located near the Palestinian village of Mikhmas, which has been subject to repeated attacks by Israeli extremists.

Heavy construction equipment is filmed being used by the settlers in an indication that the IDF appears to be, at the very least, turning a blind eye to the illegal construction.

מתנחבלים בונים מחדש את קן הטרור ״קול מבשר״ בשטח B בין חאלת א-סידרה למיחמאס תוך שימוש בכלי עבודה כבדים.

אתמול קבוצת מתנחבלים דיווחו שכוחות הכיבוש פינו אותם מהשטח הצבאי הסגור בפעם העשירית מאז אוקטובר.

כרגיל, הכוחות לא ביצעו מעצרים וכעת המתנחבלים בונים מחדש לקראת המתקפות הבאות pic.twitter.com/zfsvFbDuec

— Herd of Justice (@JustHerds) February 24, 2026

Measles patient flew from Ethiopia to Tel Aviv last week, says Health Ministry

The Health Ministry states that a patient with measles flew on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ethiopia to Tel Aviv on Thursday, February 19, at 10:30 a.m.

Passengers who were on this flight are asked to ensure that they are vaccinated in accordance with the ministry’s recommendations.

The country is in the midst of its worst measles epidemic since 2018-2019, with 16 fatalities since May 2025. As of Sunday, 25 people were hospitalized with measles, including 7 in intensive care.

UK’s Corbyn makes ‘blood libel’ claim that Israel removed organs from Gazan women’s bodies

The former leader of the UK’s Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, is facing accusations of engaging in blood libel after he claimed in a recent video that the IDF has been opening up the bodies of women killed in Gaza and removing their organs.

Corbyn, an independent member of Parliament, claims in the video that he spoke last week with the director of Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital, who he says told him that the hospital had received a delivery from the IDF of “a large number of boxes, 60 or 70 boxes.”

“They opened the boxes,” Corbyn says, “and each one contained the skull of a Palestinian who had been killed.”

Continuing, he says that the hospital also received a “delivery of bodies of dead women in Gaza that had been opened and some of the organs removed.”

“That is what is happening to the people of Palestine,” Corbyn asserts. “This is the cause of our age.”

There are some who maybe still claim Jeremy Corbyn isn’t an antisemite. But he is one of a number of openly antisemitic Jew haters sitting as MPs.
That is frightening.
Here he is spreading horrendous lies about Israel – lies of murder and organ removal.
These lies are already… pic.twitter.com/ZJduHGbKjP

— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) February 23, 2026

The Corbyn video was first published on Instagram by Wear the Peace, a self-described ethical clothing brand that donates a portion of its profits to various humanitarian causes.

Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, is on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line, meaning IDF troops withdrew from the area in October 2025. While the bodies of Palestinians held by Israel have been returned to Shifa ahead of burial since then, the handovers are facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the last one was on January 29.

In response to Corbyn, IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani inquires on X as to “what happened to fact checking before spreading a wild blood libel?”

Pointing out that “IDF soldiers haven’t been anywhere near the Shifa hospital in months,” Shoshani says that “the ’cause of our generation’ is double checking claims and not believing journalists who spread crazy baseless stories.”

“The IDF operates in accordance with international law and strict internal directives that prohibit such conduct,” he adds of the claims. “The return of bodies to Gaza is carried out through international coordination and with the assistance of the Red Cross.”

International humanitarian organizations petition High Court against ban on Gaza operations

Seventeen humanitarian organizations and NGOs including Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council file a petition to Israel’s High Court of Justice asking for an interim injunction against the expiration of the registration licenses of 37 groups providing humanitarian relief and services in Gaza.

The petition is filed against an inter-ministerial team under the auspices of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which has said it will not renew the licenses of organizations that have not complied with new registration requirements that came into effect last year. Those licenses expired on January 1, but the organizations were given 60 days to wind down their operations.

The inter-ministerial team stiffened the registration conditions last year, requiring international aid organizations to file a raft of documentation about their organization and operations, including a list of all foreign and Palestinian employees and those workers’ passport and personal identification numbers.

The petitioning organizations argue that “the cessation of the organizations’ activities will lead to a humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm to the right to life and health of hundreds of thousands of individuals in need,” thereby justifying the granting of an interim injunction against the new registration regulations until a final ruling.

The petition also argues that the inter-ministerial team delayed responding to registration requests by the organizations in question “for many months while creating a false representation that the applications were under review,” and then announced at the end of 2025 that the failure to comply with the new regulations meant the organizations’ registration would expire.

The petitioners also argue that transferring employee data would violate international law since it could endanger employees’ safety.

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which was designated by cabinet resolution to lead the registration process, has insisted that the new regulations are necessary due to what it says are findings by the security services that some aid workers have been involved in terrorist activities.

Trump prefers diplomacy, but willing to use ‘lethal force’ against Iran if necessary – White House spox

US President Donald Trump arrives in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump’s “first option is always diplomacy,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters in Washington, “but as he has shown, he is willing to use the lethal force of the United States military if necessary.”

She stresses that Trump will be the one who decides what course of action to take against Iran: “I’ve seen a lot of sensationalist reporting over the past day that is just completely untrue. And anyone speculating to the media, hiding behind an anonymous source, pretending to know what President Trump is thinking or a decision he will make with respect to action against Iran, has no idea what they’re talking about.”

US begins to move F-22 stealth fighters toward Middle East

The American military has begun to move 12 F-22 stealth fighter jets toward the Middle East, after they were stationed at an airbase in the United Kingdom in recent days, according to open-source flight tracking data and aircraft spotters.

The F-22s are seen taking off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England and linking up with KC-46 refueler planes, as they make their way toward the region.

The stealth fighters had arrived at Lakenheath last week and remained there for several days, reportedly due to issues with the refuelers.

Picture taken by our spotter shows F-22s linking up with its tanker (ROMA02) after departing RAF Lakenheath. pic.twitter.com/8zDzaJ5ePz

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) February 24, 2026

The movement of the jets comes as part of the United States’s massive buildup of military forces in the Middle East, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take military action against Iran.

Dozens of fighter jets — including F-35s, F-22s, F-15s, and F-16s — have been spotted heading to the Middle East by the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity in recent days.

The team says it’s also tracked dozens of accompanying fuel tankers, as well as hundreds of cargo flights, heading into the region since mid-February.

State comptroller finds Israel didn’t have an up-to-date evacuation plan on Oct. 7

Illustrative: Israeli evacuees from the Gaza border area get temporary shelter at a hotel in Eilat, October 17, 2023. (Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

A state comptroller report finds that Israel did not have an approved, updated national plan for the mass evacuation and relocation of civilians when Hamas launched its shock assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.

The report reviews the evacuation and relocation of roughly 200,000 residents from southern and northern communities in the war’s opening weeks.

It finds that although a revised version of a 2012 evacuation framework had been formulated in 2022, it was not approved due to a budgetary dispute, leaving no up-to-date national plan in place when the war began. Instead, large-scale evacuations relied on ad hoc government decisions made during the crisis, with most evacuees housed in hotels rather than public facilities as envisioned in the original framework.

The report also cites disputes between the Defense Ministry’s National Emergency Authority, the Interior Ministry and the IDF over responsibility for managing evacuation and absorption, and found that only 41 of 317 facilities used to host evacuees had been pre-designated for that purpose.

In the north, the comptroller noted that Kiryat Shmona was not included in the national “Safe Distance” evacuation plan — a framework for evacuating residents of communities located within 0-5 kilometers of the border with Lebanon during wartime — and that some 10,000 residents left their homes in the city independently before a formal government decision was issued.

Across both regions, the report found that evacuation drills conducted before the war did not simulate scenarios on the scale of October 7 and that there was no unified system for managing real-time data on evacuees’ locations.

In response, the Defense Ministry says the National Emergency Authority “acted and continues to act with an expansive approach since the beginning of the war,” and led inter-ministerial coordination for the treatment of evacuees from the south and later from the north.

Lebanese army says new post in south came under fire from IDF, troops ordered to shoot back

Lebanese army vehicles secure the street as residents gather during a visit by Lebanon's prime minister to the southern village of Kfar Kila on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Lebanon’s army accuses the Israeli military of firing near a position it was setting up in the country’s south, saying it had instructed troops to return fire.

In a statement, the Lebanese army says it was “establishing a new observation post on the southern border” when “the area surrounding the post was subjected to gunfire from the Israeli side.”

“The army command issued orders to reinforce the post, remain there, and return fire.”

There was no immediate comment from the IDF.

Lapid calls on Netanyahu to ensure Supreme Court chief is invited to Modi speech to avoid opposition boycott

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid addresses the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, February 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid repeats his call for Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit to be invited to the Knesset for tomorrow’s speech by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, warning again that otherwise the opposition would boycott the event.

“There are 24 hours left until Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the Knesset and the prime minister has not yet done anything to resolve the crisis created by [Knesset Speaker] Amir Ohana in his decision to boycott the High Court and the opposition,” says Lapid.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, yesterday you said that this is an important moment for the country and that this is not the time for politics, but for a joint stand in the face of challenges. Call Ohana, tell him to invite High Court president Amit, allow us to come to the event that we need to be at and want to be at,” Lapid says.

“Do not lend your hand to harming one of the most important alliances of the State of Israel,” he declares, adding that “the world should see us all united during the visit to Israel of a great friend and ally.”

Amit has been excluded from multiple Knesset events to which he would have traditionally been invited, including speeches by US President Donald Trump and other world leaders, amid a feud between the government and the judiciary.

Following Amit’s election as court president in January 2025, Justice Minister Yariv Levin refused to meet with him or address him as head of the court, or publish his appointment as chief justice in the state gazette as required by law.

Knesset passes law allowing employers to access data on applicant’s terror convictions

Likud MK Nissim Vaturi speaks during a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya, on January 22, 2026. (Tal Gal/Flash90)

Knesset lawmakers vote 21-7 overnight to pass a law allowing a prospective employer, with the written consent of a job candidate, to request that police disclose whether the applicant had a criminal record for terror offenses.

The law, sponsored by Likud MK Nissim Vaturi, only allows the employer to be given confirmation of such a record but does not allow for the sharing of information about any offenses.

It also only applies to offenses committed as an adult and that have not passed the statute of limitations. The employer is required to allow the applicant to provide context regarding such a record before making a final hiring decision and is prohibited from sharing any information received.

According to the law’s explanatory notes, it “allows private employers to find out whether job candidates have a criminal record for terrorist offenses.”

India’s Modi to address Knesset tomorrow in two-day visit

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he gathers with world leaders and representatives for a group photo during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026. (Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive for his official visit to Israel tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. local time, according to a tentative schedule shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The two premiers will hold a limited meeting at Ben Gurion Airport upon Modi’s arrival, before heading to Jerusalem, where at 4:30 p.m. they will be received in an official welcome ceremony at the Knesset. Modi is then slated to address the Knesset plenum, becoming the first Indian prime minister to do so, following an address by Netanyahu.

At 6 p.m., the leaders will attend an innovation event in Jerusalem, before having an official dinner at the King David Hotel together at 7:30 p.m.

On Thursday at 9 a.m., the two will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center, as is customarily done with visiting heads of state. At 11 a.m., they will hold an expanded meeting at the King David Hotel, after which the premiers will exchange “agreements signed in advance” and deliver statements to the media, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Modi is also slated to meet with President Isaac Herzog on Thursday, according to Herzog’s office.

Modi is expected to depart Israel at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Modi’s visit will result in closer “economic cooperation, diplomatic cooperation, and security cooperation” with New Delhi, highlighting cooperation in the fields of “high-tech, in AI and in quantum.”

The premier added that Israel intends to create “an axis of countries” in or around the region, listing India, Greece, Cyprus, and unnamed Arab, African and Asian countries, “that see reality, the challenges, and the goals in the same way, in contrast to the radical axes,” which he named as “the radical Shiite axis” and “also the emerging axis — the radical Sunni axis.”

One of the youths arrested in Bnei Brak riot is grandson of two Hasidic leaders

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

A senior Agudat Yisrael source confirms that a minor arrested on suspicion of overturning a police car during a riot in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak earlier this month is the grandson of two senior Hasidic leaders, both of whom are members of the faction’s ruling Council of Torah Sages.

According to Channel 13 reporter Yoeli Brim, the unnamed 15-year old suspect is the grandson of both Rabbi Eliezer Hager, the Rebbe of Seret-Vizhnitz,  and Chaim Shaul Taub, the Rebbe of Modzitz.

“It is true that he was arrested,” the source tells The Times of Israel, adding that “he denied any connection with the matter” and was subsequently ordered released from custody by the court.

The riot, during which a patrol car was overturned and a police motorcycle was set ablaze, saw police rescued two IDF servicewomen from a mob of hundreds of Haredim.

Most of those arrested following the riot were released the next day, although according to the ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Hashabbat, the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Sunday extended the remand of one another suspect in the overturning of the car, who remains in custody.

The involvement of the grandson of two of the Agudat Yisrael party’s spiritual leaders would appear to undercut Haredi politicians’ claims that the rioters were from an extreme minority that does not represent the mainstream ultra-Orthodox community. Critics have linked the violence to increasingly harsh rhetoric by mainstream Haredi leaders, although several prominent rabbis have banned attending demonstrations.

Iran issues death sentence linked to January protests — family

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, January 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)

An Iranian revolutionary court has issued a death sentence for a man accused of “enmity against god,” believed to be the first such sentence linked to mass protests in January, a source close to the man’s family told Reuters on Tuesday.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in a crackdown on the protests, the worst domestic unrest in Iran since the era of its 1979 Islamic Revolution. During the unrest, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that he could order military action if it carries out executions.

Iran’s judiciary had not yet announced the sentence on the man, Mohammad Abbasi.

AG tells court government failing to sanction ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the drafting of Haredim, in Jerusalem, January 11, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has failed to comply with a ruling directing it to draw up sanctions against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers despite the IDF’s ongoing manpower shortage, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells the High Court of Justice.

“The government has not formulated a plan to deny personal economic benefits to draft evaders, even though personal and economic sanctions against draft evaders from the ultra-Orthodox community have proven effective,” Baharav-Miara says in a statement released by the Attorney General’s Office.

She asserts that the government’s lack of action contravenes “the High Court of Justice’s ruling, harms the needs of the army and equality of the service burden.”

Last November, the court ordered the government to draw up effective enforcement measures, including criminal proceedings, against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who have refused to comply with IDF conscription orders within 45 days.

In early January, after the deadline passed, the court ordered the government to respond within a week to a request for a contempt of court order against it for failing to draw up a concrete strategy. Several days later, Baharav-Miara filed a position paper with the court warning that the government’s refusal to abide by the order represented “a real danger to Israel’s democracy.”

The refusal, she claimed, meant the government was ignoring the principle of judicial review, thereby fatally undermining one of the branches of government.

Israeli intel said to assess that US only has enough firepower for 5 days of intense assault on Iran

US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford (L) is pictured docked at Souda Bay in the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete, on February 24, 2026. (Photo by Costas METAXAKIS / AFP)

An Israeli intelligence official tells the UK’s Financial Times that Israel believes that, despite assembling a massive military force in the region, including two aircraft carriers, the US only has the capacity to sustain four or five days of intense aerial assault on Iran.

The official says the force could maintain a week of lower-intensity strikes.

Israel is said to be fearful that limited US strikes on Iran could only embolden the regime.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hold drills on southern coast, state TV says

The ground forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards held military drills on the country’s southern coast, state TV reports, as the United States weighs possible airstrikes against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has stepped up its military drills in the area in recent days as negotiations over its nuclear program near an end and amid a massive buildup of US military power in the area.

Footage broadcast by Fars shows troops using drones, mortars, and missiles to attack ships off the coast and targets on the shore, while amphibious vehicles carried out drills in the surf.

🇮🇷 The IRGC Ground Forces demonstrated a show of power with controlled fire drills, using weapon-range precision and modern multi-layered tactics. The large-scale exercise, centered at Madinah Headquarters, covered southern coasts and Iranian islands. pic.twitter.com/1RyCAKJOxw

— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) February 24, 2026

Israel warns Lebanon it will hit civilian infrastructure, airport if Hezbollah gets involved in any US-Iran war — officials

Footage shows an Israeli airstrike in the vicinity of Beirut’s international airport, as a passenger plane is seen taxiing in the background on November 14, 2024 (Screencapture: X used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Israel has sent an indirect message to Lebanon that it would strike Lebanon hard, targeting civilian infrastructure, including the airport, in the event that Hezbollah gets involved in any US-Iran war, two senior Lebanese officials say.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Lebanese presidency do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Giant endangered leatherback sea turtle carcass washes ashore in Herzliya

The carcass of leatherback sea turtle that washed up on Herzliya beach, February 24, 2026. (Nidal Odeh, Operations Manager at the Herzliya Municipality's Coastal Authority)

The decayed carcass of a rare leatherback sea turtle washes ashore at central coastal Herzliya, with the cause of death thought to be fishing hooks.

The incident occurred the same morning as a sperm whale washed ashore in southern Israel. They are believed to be unrelated.

Yaniv Levy, director of the Sea Turtle Rescue Center at the Nature and Parks Authority, says, “This is a leatherback sea turtle, a massive marine reptile that is critically endangered worldwide and that does not breed in the Mediterranean. They migrate to us from the Atlantic Ocean.”

He adds, “The documentation suggests the cause of death was entanglement in lines that are an integral part of fishing gear, likely longlines [which carry multiple hooks].

“The most common cause of death for leatherbacks is digestive tract blockages from eating plastic bags and debris, followed by entanglement in fishing gear.”

The last dead leatherback to wash up on Israeli shores was in 2022. Again, the cause was fishing gear.

In 2024, a female leatherback was discovered at Dor Beach in northern Israel. She was brought to the rescue center entangled in fishing gear, with a severed front-left flipper. After receiving medical treatment and having the gear removed from her other flipper, she was released back into the sea by the EcoOcean Association’s “Mediterranean Explorer” research vessel.

Leatherbacks have been documented in Israel only 36 times in 70 years. In most cases, they were dead on arrival.

Rare sperm whale carcass washes up on beach in southern Israel

The carcass of a sperm whale at Zikim beach in southern Israel, February 24, 2026. (Eviatar Ben Avi, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

A dead sperm whale washes up on the Zikim beach in southern Israel — only the eighth carcass of this massive creature to appear on an Israeli shore since records began.

Experts from the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station at northern Israel’s University of Haifa and from the Delphis marine mammal protection organization are en route to conduct a necropsy and determine the cause of death.

Dr. Mia Elser of the Delphis Association says that since 2020, there have been more sightings of live sperm whales at sea, which aligns with the rise in the number of carcasses reaching the shore.

Estimates suggest there are still between 250 and 2,500 individuals in the Mediterranean Sea. This specific population is declining and is classified as endangered.

“The Mediterranean sperm whale population is genetically distinct and isolated from the Atlantic population,” explains Dr. Aviad Scheinin, who heads the Apex Predator Department at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station. “They even have their own unique ‘dialect’ — a specific sequence of clicks they emit that characterizes only them.”

The main threats they face include drift nets intended for catching other species, gas and oil surveys that can damage their hearing or drive them away from feeding grounds, and ingestion of plastic waste, to which sperm whales are particularly prone.

Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales.

לוויתן ראשתן נפלט הבוקר לחוף הים בזיקים
אביתר בן אבי, פקח היחידה הימית ברשות הטבע והגנים, קיבל הבוקר דיווח על לוויתן שנפלט לחוף זיקים בשטח שמורת הטבע הימית ים שקמה. מדובר בפרט גדול של לוויתן ממין ראשתן.

📌 ד"ר מיה אלסר מעמותת דלפיס מספרת כי מתחילת המחקר בישראל תועדו בחופי הארץ… pic.twitter.com/pruiwFxa0T

— רשות הטבע והגנים (@rashut_hateva) February 24, 2026

AG: Bill giving justice minister power over internal police investigation department would politicize unit

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara pens a letter to the head of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee telling him that legislation he is advancing in committee, which would give the justice minister control over the Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), would “systematically and structurally” politicize the department.

In a letter written by a deputy, the attorney general states that the new law would transform DIPI from a brake on the abuse of power by police and other law enforcement officials into a tool for government to direct the police.

The legislation, which was approved in its first reading last month, would remove the department from the authority of state prosecutors and set it up as an “independent” agency within the Justice Ministry. DIPI’s director would be chosen by a committee in which the justice minister would control the appointment of a majority of members.

“The bill removes the barrier between the political leadership and law enforcement. In practice, it therefore does severe harm to the entire law enforcement system, its independence, to the basic principles of a democratic regime, and the public,” the attorney general asserts.

“It appears that the arrangements included in the proposal are intended to create structured mechanisms through which the political echelon can improperly influence the handling of police and law enforcement investigations and their prosecution,” the attorney general adds.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has frequently given strong public support, and even promotions, to police officers accused of misconduct, accused Baharav-Miara of opposing the bill because DIPI in its current form “serves today as a crime organization under the guise of the ‘law enforcement system’ for creating false cases and settling scores.”

Adds Ben Gvir, “The moment that DIPI is taken out of their hands, their ability to create false cases and threaten excellent policemen and officers acting in accordance with the law will be significantly harmed.”

Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China

Hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles are seen during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Greg Baker / AFP)

Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic.

The deal for the Chinese‑made CM‑302 missiles is near completion, though no delivery date has been set, the people say. The supersonic missiles have a range of about 290 kilometers (180 miles) and are designed to evade shipborne defenses by flying low and fast. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to US naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.

Negotiations with China to buy the missile weapons systems, which began at least two years ago, accelerated sharply after the 12‑day war between Israel and Iran in June, according to the six people with knowledge of the talks, including three officials who were briefed by the Iranian government as well as three security officials. As talks entered their final stages last summer, senior Iranian military and government officials traveled to China, including Massoud Oraei, Iran’s deputy defense minister, according to two of the security officials. Oraei’s visit has not been previously reported.

“It’s a complete gamechanger if Iran has supersonic capability to attack ships in the area,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer and now senior Iran researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies think tank. “These missiles are very difficult to intercept.”

Reuters could not determine how many missiles were involved in the potential deal, how much Iran had agreed to pay, or whether China would go through with the agreement now given heightened tensions in the region.

“Iran has military and security agreements with its allies, and now is an appropriate time to make use of these agreements,” an Iranian foreign ministry official tells Reuters.

The Chinese delegation to the United Nations directed Reuters to seek comment from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. The foreign and defense ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

France says ministers will boycott US ambassador Charles Kushner in deepening row

US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner delivers a speech for the official launch of America 250, to celebrate the 250th birthday of the US in 2026, at the US ambassy in Paris, on December 4, 2025. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

France’s spat with the US ambassador to Paris took another turn today with the French foreign minister saying the top US diplomat in France must respond to a summons and won’t have access to French government officials until he complies.

French authorities had summoned Ambassador Charles Kushner — the father of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner — for a meeting yesterday evening over comments from the Trump administration that France objected to. French diplomats said Kushner did not show up.

Speaking today, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot describes the failure to attend the meeting as “a surprise” that flew in the face of diplomatic protocol and will dent Charles Kushner’s ability to serve as an ambassador.

“It will, naturally, affect his capacity to exercise his mission in our country,” Barrot says, speaking to public broadcaster France Info.

He says that Kushner “is bringing difficulties on himself. Because for an ambassador to be able to do his job he needs access to members of the government. That’s the basics.”

“When these explanations have taken place, then the US ambassador in France will, naturally, regain access to members of the French government,” the minister says.

The US Embassy did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment on Monday and a follow-up request this morning also got no immediate reply.

France’s foreign ministry had summoned Kushner over Trump administration tweets relating to the beating death in France of a far-right activist, Quentin Deranque. The 23-year-old student, described as a fervent nationalist, was beaten by a group of people earlier this month in the city of Lyon, in fighting that erupted between far-left and far-right activists. He later died of brain injuries.

Bennett says Likud MKs’ revolt over import measure shows they could oppose Haredi draft bill if they wanted to

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett attends the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 17, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party for not bucking ultra-Orthodox pressure and rejecting a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service, stating that MKs’ decision to vote against a popular government economic measure last night proves that they are able to violate coalition discipline when they want.

“Last night we discovered that when something is really important to Likud MKs, they are capable of violating the ‘sacred’ coalition discipline,” says Bennett. “If they cared about our soldiers, they would have done exactly the same thing against the draft evasion law and long ago recruited healthy young Haredi men to replace our reservists who are collapsing under the burden.”

A measure that would have made it cheaper for Israelis to order goods online from abroad was revoked in the Knesset by a vote of 59 to 25 early this morning.

Since the order went into effect on December 24, it has been hailed by the general public but drawn sharp condemnation from local business owners who argued it would hobble their sales. It was opposed by members of Netanyahu’s party, including Knesset Finance Committee chair Hanoch Milwidsky and Economy Minister Nir Barkat.

“The reservists are being neglected because they have no lobby in Likud,” says Bennett. “The shame of neglecting IDF soldiers will be etched on the foreheads of all coalition members.”

US said reassuring Arab nations that Huckabee comments on Israel ruling large part of Mideast don’t reflect US policy

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee poses for a photo during an interview in Jerusalem, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, file)

The US is engaged in damage control with Arab nations after US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee sparked outrage by saying in a recent interview that “it would be fine” if Israel took over a large swath of the Middle East, Politico reports.

According to report, citing three people involved in the outreach, senior State Department officials have been calling the countries that expressed anger, saying that these are Huckabee’s personal views and do not reflect a shift in US policy.

Huckabee made the comments during his contentious interview with right-wing American commentator Tucker Carlson which aired Friday, after Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include large parts of the Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all.” However, he said that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.

Trump to base decision on Iran strike on Witkoff, Kushner’s assessments of Tehran’s intentions — report

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a speech as Jared Kushner looks on upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, January 6, 2026. (Ludovic Marin, Pool photo via AP)

US President Donald Trump will base his decision on whether to strike Iran based on the assessments of his two chief negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, of Tehran’s intentions, the Guardian reports.

The report, which cites people familiar with the matter, says that Witkoff and Kushner will brief the US leader on their impressions regarding whether Iran is serious about reaching a nuclear deal or just stalling for time.

The two are set to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Thursday.

IDF examining claims it’s employing Haredi draft dodgers to clean kitchens ahead of Passover

Ultra-Orthodox Jews on their way to attend the "million man" protest against IDF conscription, in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The IDF says it will investigate an Army Radio report that says it is employing ultra-Orthodox draft evaders to prepare military bases for the upcoming Passover holiday.

According to Army Radio, the military hired the workers through outside companies without looking into their legal status. Some of the yeshiva students have had arrest warrants issued against them. In a statement to Army Radio, the IDF says that it “views the matter with gravity and it will be examined.”

“We note that no details were provided regarding specific cases. Should such cases come to light, they will be handled,” the IDF adds, while the Defense Ministry simply says that “the claims will be examined.”

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to the strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges.

Up to 80 percent of Israelis classified as draft evaders hail from the ultra-Orthodox community, Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, told lawmakers last month.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, 75,675 Israelis have either been designated as evaders or have received an order known as Tzav 12, which means they are barred from leaving the country and can be arrested during any encounter with the police.

For the past two years, the Haredi leadership has pushed for a law keeping its constituency out of the IDF, after the High Court ruled long-standing exemptions illegal.

Iran says students have right to protest but must know ‘red lines’

Students seen holding up the banned flag of the shah of Iran at protests on campuses against the regime on February 22, 2026. (Screencapture/X)

University students have the right to protest but everyone must “understand the red lines,” the Iranian government’s spokeswoman says in the first official reaction to renewed protests on campuses since the weekend.

“Sanctities and the flag are two examples of these red lines that we must protect and not cross or deviate from, even at the height of anger,” Fatemeh Mohajerani says.

Former UK ambassador Mandelson released after arrest over Epstein revelations

In this photo taken from video by Sky News, Britain's former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson is seen in a vehicle leaving a police station in London in the early hours of Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Sky News Exclusive via AP)

Former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson was released from police custody early this morning after being arrested in London on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following revelations over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Mandelson, 72, was fired from the most prestigious posting in Britain’s diplomatic service in September, when the depth of his friendship with the convicted sex offender started to become clear.

Police earlier this month began a criminal investigation into Mandelson after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government passed on communications between the former ambassador and Epstein.

“Officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement relating to an investigation into a former government minister.

Mandelson was filmed leaving his central London home yesterday afternoon. He was accompanied by plainclothes officers wearing body cameras, before being driven away in a car.

A separate statement later says he had been released on bail, pending further investigation, and he was seen returning home at around 0200 GMT.

The arrest means police suspect a crime has been committed but does not imply any guilt.

There was no immediate response from Mandelson’s lawyers.

Army helicopter crashes in central Iran, killing at least 2 — state media

A helicopter belonging to the Iranian army’s Air Force crashes in the central province of Isfahan, killing at least two people, state media reports.

“Unfortunately, the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the incident,” state TV says without specifying the cause of the crash.

The incident comes with the Iranian military on high alert amid US threats to strike Iran.

A helicopter from the Iranian Army's Aviation unit crashed Tuesday morning in the fruit and vegetable market area of Darcheh city in Khomeyni Shahr County, Isfahan Province, due to a technical malfunction, resulting in the deaths of the pilot, co-pilot, and two market vendors. pic.twitter.com/taiRD0FQSW

— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) February 24, 2026

Australia begins Royal Commission inquiry into antisemitism after Bondi shooting

Floral tributes are laid for victims on a small bridge where gunmen had stood during a mass terror shooting targeting a Hanukkah event nearly a week earlier, at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, on December 20, 2025. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

Australia opens a government-backed inquiry into antisemitism, after a mass shooting at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach killed 15 people in December 2025.

The attack at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration shocked a country with strict gun laws and fueled calls for tougher controls and stronger action against antisemitism.

The Royal Commission, the most powerful type of government inquiry in Australia, which can compel people to give evidence, will be led by retired judge Virginia Bell.

It will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia, and is expected to report its findings by December this year.

In her opening statement at a court in Sydney today, Bell said security arrangements for the Bondi event would form a major part of the commission.

“The commission needs to investigate the security arrangements for that event, and to report on whether our intelligence and law enforcement agencies performed to maximum effectiveness,” Bell said.

Police say the alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, were inspired by Islamic State.

Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the scene, while Naveed Akram, who was also shot but survived, is currently facing charges including 15 counts of murder and a terror offence.

Ukraine war exhibition opens at Berlin Nazi bunker museum

The entrance to the Berlin Story Bunker with a sign reading 'Ukraine Museum' is pictured during a press presentation of the "Ukraine Museum" in the "Berlin Story Bunker" on February 23, 2026 in Berlin, one day before the exhibition's opening to the public and the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion in Ukraine. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)

A permanent exhibition about the Ukraine war opens at a former Nazi bunker in Berlin on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, to encourage continued support for Kyiv.

Weapons, other objects brought back from the front lines and testimonies from the conflict have been collected by the Berlin Story Bunker, a museum housed in a former World War II air raid shelter in the German capital.

The aim is to raise public awareness about the “physical reality” of the conflict, museum curator Wieland Giebel tells AFP.

The Ukrainian section is being added to the existing permanent exhibitions focusing on Nazism and Germany from 1945 to the present day.

“Visitors to Germany can’t really imagine what war is like — we want to show it to them,” says Giebel, standing in front of the huge entrance to the bunker, built in 1943.

Germany is one of Ukraine’s key backers; it is the biggest supplier of weapons to Kyiv in Europe and a major diplomatic ally.

It also hosts around 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees.

Nearly 20 nations slam Israel’s West Bank moves as step toward ‘de facto annexation’

View of the Israeli settlement of Kedumim in the West Bank, February 12, 2026. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Nearly 20 countries condemn Israel’s recent moves to tighten its control over the West Bank, characterizing them as attempts to annex the territory and undermine Palestinian statehood.

The moves “are part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation,” the 18 mostly European or Muslim-majority countries say in a joint statement.

“Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution.”

A security cabinet decision earlier this month changed land registration and property acquisition procedures in the West Bank, easing Jewish settlement in the territory. It aimed to deepen Israeli control over the territory, including at sensitive sites such as Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the goal of the new measures was, in part, to “kill the idea of a Palestinian state.” Proponents of the decision have also said it represents a move toward de facto extension of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

The statement opposing the decision was signed by regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, European powers France and Spain, as well as Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey, among others.

It was also endorsed by the secretaries general League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as the Palestinian Authority.

It follows a similar statement, signed by some of the same countries, that was issued around two weeks ago, immediately after the cabinet decision.

UK ex-envoy Peter Mandelson released from police custody

Former UK ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, is pictured as he leaves his residence in central London on February 21, 2026. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Former British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson has been released on bail pending further investigation after being arrested by London police on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Mandelson, 72, was fired from the most prestigious posting in Britain’s diplomatic service in September, when the depth of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein started to become clear.

Police earlier this month began a criminal investigation into Mandelson after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government passed on communications between the former ambassador and Epstein.

US Coast Guard removes swastika from training center, launches inquiry

Illustrative photo of a US Coast Guard cutter sitting docked at Coast Guard Island Alameda on November 21, 2025, in Alameda, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)

A drawing of a swastika that appeared at the US Coast Guard’s primary recruit training center in New Jersey was removed, and the incident has been referred for further investigation, the service says, adding that it condemned the display of hate symbols.

“Following discovery of a hate symbol drawn on a bathroom wall in a building at Training Center Cape May, the Coast Guard immediately referred the matter to the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) for investigation – consistent with longstanding Coast Guard policy,” a US Coast Guard spokesperson says in a statement. “This hate symbol was immediately removed.”

The Washington Post reported that a Coast Guard instructor discovered the drawing of the antisemitic symbol on Thursday evening on a men’s bathroom wall at the Cape May training center in southern New Jersey.

The Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Kevin Lunday, traveled to the recruit training center and spoke to about 900 recruits and staff members to address the incident, the service says.

“Anyone who adheres to or advances hate or extremist ideology – get out. Leave. You don’t belong in the United States Coast Guard and we reject you,” Lunday says in a statement shared by the Coast Guard.

The Washington Post reported in November that the Coast Guard had revised language in its workplace harassment manual to recharacterize swastikas as “potentially divisive,” rather than characterizing them as hate symbols.

Lunday said at the time that “claims that the US Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses or other extremist imagery as prohibited symbols are categorically false.”

On eve of war’s 4th anniversary, Zelensky asks Trump to be on Ukraine’s side — CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2026, in Munich, Germany. (Alexandra BEIER / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exhorts US President Donald Trump to remain “on our side,” speaking ahead of the fourth anniversary on Tuesday of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, according to an interview with CNN.

The United States should “stay with…a democratic country which is fighting against one person. Because this person is a war. Putin is a war,” Zelensky tells CNN during an interview in Kyiv.

“If they really want to stop Putin, America’s so strong,” the Ukrainian leader adds.

Asked if he believes Trump is putting enough pressure on Putin, Zelensky says no.

He adds, “We can’t just give him everything he wants. Because he wants to occupy us. If we will give him all he wants, we will lose everything — all of us, people will have to run away or be Russian.”

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, unleashing the deadliest war in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of military personnel on both sides. Millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, where vast areas have been devastated by fighting.

Trump administration steps up efforts to scrutinize foreign funding of universities

Students sit on the front steps of Low Memorial Library on the Columbia University campus in New York City, February 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

The administration of US President Donald Trump is stepping up work to uncover what it sees as malign foreign influence at US colleges and universities, officials say, as they announce that the US State Department will assist the Department of Education in that effort.

Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to universities over issues such as anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, raising free speech and academic freedom concerns.

Trump, in April 2025, issued an executive order calling for enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires that colleges receiving federal funding report gifts or contracts worth more than $250,000 from any foreign source. In December, the Department of Education launched a new portal for universities to report that funding.

US colleges and universities disclosed 8,300 transactions totaling $5.2 billion in 2025 — which includes funding from governments as well as private companies and individuals, the Education Department said in a statement.

The largest source of funding last year was Qatar ($1.1 billion), followed by Britain ($633 million) and China ($528 million), it said.

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers says the State Department’s new role would “ensure an invigorated compliance assurance effort by the federal government.”

“The Department of State will be applying our national security expertise and our expertise countering foreign malign influence to bolster oversight efforts by the Department of Education,” Rogers told reporters in a briefing at the State Department.

Officials declined to spell out specific examples of how foreign funding had unduly influenced higher education institutions, and said they were primarily seeking to boost compliance by the universities and improve transparency.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Knesset revokes measure that made more online purchases tax-exempt

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich heads a Religious Zionist party faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

A measure that would have made it cheaper for Israelis to order goods online from abroad was revoked in the Knesset by a vote of 59 to 25.

The order from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich let Israelis buy up to $150 of personal goods from overseas, including from popular sites like Amazon and Temu, without incurring an additional 18% value-added tax. The previous limit was $75.

Since the order went into effect on December 24, it has been hailed by the general public but drawn sharp condemnation from local business owners who argued it would hobble their sales. They succeeded in garnering support from other members of the coalition, in particular from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.

It’s highly unusual for the Knesset to overrule ministerial orders. But Knesset Finance Committee chair Hanoch Milwidsky, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, and MK Eli Dalal, all from Likud, are among those who have strongly opposed the bill, accusing the measure of subsidizing foreign companies at the expense of local industry.

“This activity is a death sentence for the business sector,” says Dallal, referring to the tax exemption order. He says Israel’s high cost of living derives from housing, rental and food prices, which he says “unfortunately weren’t addressed over the last three years.”

Netanyahu had reportedly sought to invoke coalition discipline to ensure the measure was upheld, but later reneged and allowed lawmakers to vote as they chose.

The vote follows a heated, marathon session during which lawmakers addressed the plenum to express support or opposition for the order. Negev and Galilee Minister Yitzhak Waserlauf held an extensive filibuster as negotiations continued behind the scenes.

Protesters in the gallery representing small businesses opposing the order were escorted out by security during a speech by Smotrich.

Smotrich vows to issue a new order following the revocation, saying he is “determined to lower the cost of living.”