Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they happened.
British rapper Wiley stripped of royal honors over antisemitism
Grime music artist Wiley during an event in London, October 18, 2017. (Ian West/PA via AP)
British rapper Wiley has been stripped of a royal honor over his longstanding antisemitism, the BBC reports.
Wiley, known as the “Godfather of Grime,” was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music in 2017.
However, this has since been revoked, following frequent antisemitic outbursts on social media in recent years, the report says.
The singer, whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie, was repeatedly banned from social media for sending out a string of antisemitic posts including claims of connections between the Jewish community and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as repeated tropes about Jews and money.
The BBC quotes a cabinet statement saying that Wiley was formally stripped of the title for “bringing the honors system into disrepute.”
Biden said likely to invite hostage family members to his State of the Union speech
Family members of US-Israeli hostages held by Hamas speak to the press outside the White House in Washington, December 13, 2023, after a meeting with US President Joe Biden. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
US President Joe Biden is likely to invite several family members of hostages held by Hamas to his State of the Union address next week, the Ynet news site reports.
The report says that the guest list for the annual address to Congress has not been finalized, but it is expected that the family members will be invited.
Biden has met several times with relatives of the hostages, some of whom have US citizenship.
The address, the final one of Biden’s current term, is set for March 7.
Yair Golan said planning to run in Labor party primaries
Former MK Yair Golan attends a protest against the government organized by the Movement for Quality Government, in Tel Aviv on December 17, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90)
Yair Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff and a lawmaker with the left-wing Meretz party will run in the upcoming Labor party leadership primaries, Hebrew media report.
The Ynet news site quotes sources close to Golan as saying he hopes to unite Israel’s left-wing camps and help bring down the current government.
Golan won widespread acclaim in the wake of the October 7 Hamas assault. Upon hearing the news of the attack, he headed to the scene of the worst massacre at the Nova music festival and helped rescue dozens of people from the terrorists.
In December, Labor party chief Merav Michaeli announced her planned resignation from political life and her intention to step down as party leader.
Her move comes a year after being blamed for the failure of the left in recent elections by refusing to join forces with Meretz, leading to the left-wing party narrowly missing the vote threshold necessary to enter the Knesset and helping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put together a hard-right coalition.
Since then Labor has consistently failed to cross the election threshold in polling.
The primaries will be held in April.
US welcomes resignation of PA government, important step toward reuniting Gaza and West Bank
This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (L) presenting the resignation of his government to Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah on February 26, 2024. (Thaer GHANEM / PPO / AFP)
The US welcomes the decision by the Palestinian Authority government to resign today as part of a move to reform, given uncertainty over the future rule of Gaza after the war.
“Ultimately, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is a question for the Palestinians themselves to decide,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller tells reporters. “But we do welcome steps for the PA to reform and revitalize itself.”
Miller called the move a “positive and important step toward achieving a reunited Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.”
The move comes at a time of growing US pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Palestinian Authority, which would allow it to take a greater role in ruling postwar Gaza.
International efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war.
Hamas overthrew the PA in Gaza in 2007 and has ruled the enclave since.
Pentagon says airman’s death after self-immolation outside Israeli embassy a ‘tragic event’
A US Secret Service police vehicle is parked outside of the Israeli embassy, on February 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The Pentagon says that the death of an airman who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend, was a tragic event.
Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder says US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was following the situation.
The service member set himself on fire in an apparent act of protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
IAEA increasingly concerned over Iran’s nuclear weapon capability
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, June 11, 2023. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Via AP, File)
The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced growing concern over Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons, fuelled by public statements in the country, a confidential report seen by AFP said.
Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared up since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief fell apart.
In the report, IAEA head Rafael Grossi says that “public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons only increase the director general’s concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations.”
In recent years, Iran has gradually decreased its cooperation with the IAEA by deactivating surveillance devices needed to monitor the nuclear program and barring inspectors among other measures.
Grossi reiterates his call on Tehran to “cooperate fully and unambiguously with the agency,” as relations between the two parties have been steadily deteriorating.
“Only through constructive and meaningful engagement can these concerns be addressed,” Grossi said in a confidential quarterly report.
Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program and now has enough material to build several atomic bombs.
PMO clarifies: Netanyahu was told at start of war that Hamas used dozens of Israeli SIMs
Hours after the Prime Minister’s Office was widely quoted in Hebrew media saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “not aware until yesterday’s publication that [Hamas’s] Nukba terrorists switched to Israeli SIM cards in their telephones” hours before they invaded Israel on October 7, the PMO issues a clarification.
“Netanyahu did not know about the publication on Channel 14 [on Sunday] that spoke of ‘thousands of Israeli SIMs used by the Nukba,'” the PMO is now quoted as saying. “However, at the start of the war, the prime minister was updated that the terrorists used dozens of Israeli SIMs.”
The Channel 14 report was denied by the IDF earlier today, which called it “false and far from reality.”
It said “several indicative signs accumulated” in the hours before the early morning onslaught, “which included, among other things, the activation of only dozens of SIMs, which had been activated in previous events in the past.”
Only 600 Israeli soldiers were guarding Gaza border on October 7 — report
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)
There were only some 600 IDF soldiers deployed in the Gaza border area when the invading Hamas terrorists burst into Israel, according to initial findings of an IDF investigation into the events of October 7, Channel 12 reports.
The report comes at the same time as continued questions about the failures to stop the assault that saw some 3,000 terrorists cross into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 253 hostages.
The report says the IDF forces were quickly overwhelmed. It notes that the military had recently drilled for a Hamas invasion, but on a much smaller scale.
The report says the military had practiced repelling a Hamas assault along two routes. The actual attack took place at 60 different points.
Israel files ICJ report on measures ordered by court in genocide hearing
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by South Africa in the case South Africa v. Israel on 11 and 12 January 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. (Courtesy International Court of Justice)
Israel files a report with the International Court of Justice about measures taken to comply with an interim ruling that called on it to prevent Gaza war actions that might amount to genocide, an Israeli official says.
The official does not provide details on the content of the report, which was filed hours before the deadline for its submission.
Last month, the UN’s top court ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide. Israel and its Western allies described the allegation as baseless.
In its ruling, the court said Israel specifically had to prevent and punish any public incitements to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and to preserve evidence related to any allegations of genocide there. It also said the country must take measures to improve the humanitarian situation for Palestinian civilians in the enclave.
A final ruling in the case in The Hague could take years.
Brother of hostage booted from Knesset meeting for wearing yellow star
Chairman MK Yuli Edelstein of Likud kicks out the brother of one of the hostages from a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, after he refuses to take off a yellow star.
Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik is currently being held in Gaza, attends several committee meetings wearing the star — which the Nazis made Jews wear during the Holocaust — while petitioning lawmakers to free the hostages.
After Edelstein demands that he remove the star, Elgarat yells at the coalition lawmaker that he “won’t tell me what to wear,” prompting Edelstein to call on Knesset ushers to remove him from the room.
“As the son of Holocaust survivors, as someone who was imprisoned in a Soviet prison for being Jewish — I have zero tolerance for cheapening the Holocaust,” the Ynet news site quotes Edelstein as saying.
Speaking with the Knesset Channel following the incident, Elgarat declares that Edelstein “disgraces the Holocaust and disgraces the fact that he was a prisoner of Zion” — a reference to Edelstein’s time in a Soviet prison.
During a separate debate in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Elgarat declares that “you can define [what happened on October 7] as a holocaust.”
“Is there anything more important than saving a life? If there are Jews who think that the hostages are not the most important [thing], they are not Jews,” he says.
"הוא מבזה את השואה ומבזה את זה שהוא היה אסיר ציון" – כך אמר דני אלגרט על ח"כ יולי אדלשטיין, על רקע העימות ביניהם בעקבות הטלאי הצהוב אותו לובש דני. בתשובה לשאלה האם אדלשטיין התנצל אמר: "הוא מהזן של הפוליטיקאים הכי נחות"@YuliEdelstein @YuvalKarni @Segev_Yuval pic.twitter.com/u2Etn8nrGp
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) February 26, 2024
Israeli sources say Hamas rejecting framework of hostage deal agreed in Paris
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza at 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, February 24, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Senior Israeli officials tell Hebrew media that there is mounting pessimism that Hamas will agree to a hostage deal laid out in a framework proposed by mediators.
Both Channel 12 and the Kan public broadcaster quote a senior official as saying that they were told that the framework worked out in Paris by the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators “doesn’t correspond with Hamas demands.”
Channel 12 also quotes Mossad director David Barnea as telling the cabinet that if Israel does not significantly manage to increase the amount of aid flowing into Gaza, the possibility of a deal will be destroyed.
The reports come after Israel sent a delegation to Qatar to continue working on the details of a potential agreement with Hamas that would see dozens of hostages released from Gaza in exchange for an extended truce in the war in the coastal Strip.
The Ynet news site quotes senior Israeli officials as saying that there has been no progress so far in the Doha talks, but that they were still working on them.
“There is no progress at the moment,” Ynet quotes the officials as saying. “There are very big gaps between the sides and [mediators] are trying to bridge them. We continue to work to achieve a result.”
The Paris framework reportedly involves Hamas releasing 40 hostages including, women, children, female soldiers, and elderly and ill abductees in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting and Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian terror convicts.
Barkat: Israel to pursue victory in war regardless of economic impact
Economy Minister Nir Barkat (left) meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi at the WTO conference in Abu Dhabi, February 26, 2024. (Courtesy Economy Ministry)
Israel is committed to winning the war in Gaza and eliminating Hamas regardless of the economic toll on the country, Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat says.
Israel’s $500-billion economy has taken a hit during the more than four-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza, during which thousands of people have left the Israeli workforce and gone to serve in the military.
But Barkat made clear that national security was not only paramount, but also vital for Israel’s economy.
Asked what the risk of a bigger trade deficit and another ratings downgrade might mean for Israel, Barkat tells Reuters: “Look, we’re committed to win the war. We’re going to win the war regardless of anything.”
He says Israel has overcome tougher situations in the past. He adds: “I think when people look at the economy of Israel, they want to make sure, first of all, we’re a secure… country,” during a visit to the United Arab Emirates for a ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization.
Barkat says Israel would borrow in the near-term. This borrowing, compounded with the economic impact of the war, would increase the debt to gross domestic product ratio — a measure of Israel’s ability to repay its debt — from 62% to 70%, he says.
IDF says it hit additional sites in Lebanon after rocket fire
The IDF says it struck further Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including the site from which a barrage of dozens of rockets were fired at the Golan Heights.
Sites targeted by fighter jets in Ayta ash-Shab included buildings used by the terror group, the IDF says.
The rocket launch site from which Hezbollah fired some 60 rockets at the Golan was located in the village of Kawkaba, and it too was struck by a fighter jet.
The IDF says a tank also shelled a building used by Hezbollah in Kafr Kila earlier today.
The IDF says it struck further Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including the site from which a barrage of dozens of rockets were fired at the Golan Heights.
Sites targeted by fighter jets in Ayta ash-Shab included buildings used by the terror group, the IDF says.
The… pic.twitter.com/cJgXrMiE35
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 26, 2024
EU top diplomat repeats claim Israel helped create Hamas
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks to the media ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on February 19, 2024. (Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD/AFP)
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell repeats his claim that Israel helped create the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which it is battling to crush in Gaza.
Borrell speaks in response to questions about his assertion in January that Israel had “created” and “financed” the Islamist group.
“I do not say that (Israel) financed it by sending a check, but it has enabled the development of Hamas” as a rival to leading Palestinian party Fatah, he says, in a forum at a business school in Madrid.
“It is an unquestionable reality that Israel has bet on dividing the Palestinians, creating a force to oppose Fatah,” he says.
NYC’s Albert Einstein medical school gets $1billion gift to pay tuition of all students
Ruth Gottesman. (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)
A professor at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine is donating $1 billion to the New York City school, the largest gift of its type ever given in the United States, to pay the tuition of all of its students, the institution says.
Dr. Ruth Gottesman is making the donation from the fortune made by her late husband David “Sandy” Gottesman, a Wall Street financier and early Berkshire Hathaway investor, who died in September 2022.
“I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and I feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause,” she says in a joint statement with the school.
Gottesman joined the medical college in 1968. During her time at the school, she researched child learning disabilities and created an adult literacy program. She currently is the chair of the Einstein Board of Trustees and serves on the board of the Montefiore Health System, the school’s affiliate hospital.
With the gift, all current full-time students will have their Spring 2024 semester tuition reimbursed and all future students will attend the school tuition-free. Tuition at the school is about $60,000 a year, leaving many students more than $200,000 in debt when they graduate.
“This transformational gift is intended to attract a talented and diverse pool of individuals who may not otherwise have the means to pursue a medical education,” the school says, adding that it is the largest gift given to a medical school in the nation.
The medical school, attended by some 1,100 students, is located in the Bronx, one of New York City’s five boroughs, and an area that ranks last in New York State for health outcomes and factors, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Report: IDF, Shin Bet chiefs visited Cairo with assurances Gazans won’t be pushed across Egypt’s border
Displaced Palestinians walk next to the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, on February 16, 2024, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terror group. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar visited Cairo last week to give assurances to Egyptian officials that any military offensive into Rafah will not push Palestinians across the border into Egypt, the Axios news site reports.
The report, citing two American officials, says the two senior Israeli officials met with their Egyptian counterparts to discuss Israel’s planning for the proposed offensive.
Israel says it will move into Rafah to eliminate the last Hamas stronghold. It also believes that some of the hostages and Hamas leaders are in Rafah.
There is widespread international opposition to the operation amid fears for the fate of more than 1 million displaced Palestinians who are sheltering in Rafah.
Egypt has also repeatedly warned that Israeli moves that force displaced Palestinians into Egypt could undermine the peace treaty between Jerusalem and Cairo.
High Court orders government to explain why ultra-Orthoodox men should not be drafted
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest outside a High Court hearing on the government's drafting of Haredi yeshiva students for the military on February 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
The High Court of Justice orders the government to explain why it should not annul a government resolution passed in June 2023 which instructed the IDF not to draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students for nine months, and, by extension, why it should not begin drafting such men.
The orders essentially place the burden of proof on the government to explain why its resolution is not illegal and indicate that the court is taking the petitions heard today against the measure seriously.
The High Court also issues an interim order determining that a provision of the law for military service which provides those individual with service exemptions if they are not drafted within two years of turning 18 shall not apply to yeshiva students who have not been drafted because of the government’s resolution, a further indication that the court believes the petitions to have merit.
The state must respond to the orders by March 24.
The court also issues orders over separate petitions demanding that state-funding for yeshiva student stipends end, due to the absence of a law regulating their exemptions and the payments they receive for studying in yeshiva, which was part of the military service exemption framework until the law expired in June 2023.
In its order, the court asks the government to explain why it should not stop paying such stipends “for yeshiva students whose military service was not legally deferred.”
The state has until March 31 to respond.
The Movement for Quality Government which petitioned the court against the legality of the June 2023 government resolution applauded the court’s orders, describing them as “another step towards full equality in the burden [of military service],” adding “we hope that at the end of the month [of March], we will begin a new era where we all bear the burden of service, including ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.”
IDF says it killed senior Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon strike
Hassan Hussein Salami, a Hezbollah commander, who was killed in an IDF strike on February 26, 2024 (Hezbollah)
The IDF says it eliminated a senior Hezbollah commander, Hassan Hussein Salami, in an airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier today.
Salami, whose rank is equivalent to a brigade commander, was targeted while driving in the southern Lebanon village of Majadel.
The IDF says Salami was the commander of a regional unit in Hezbollah and oversaw attacks on IDF troops and Israeli communities in northern Israel.
Recent attacks that Salami was involved in included anti-tank missile attacks on Kiryat Shmona and the 769th “Hiram” Regional Brigade’s base, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah announced his death earlier but did not call him a commander.
חיסול אחראי גזרת חג'יר בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה: כלי-טיס חיסל בדרום לבנון את אחראי גזרת חג'יר, המחבל חסן חסין סלאמי.
סלאמי משתייך ליחידת נאצר בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה ופיקד על מספר מתווי טרור שבוצעו לעבר כוחות צה"ל, ולעבר יעדים אזרחיים וצבאיים בצפון הארץ. pic.twitter.com/23VnTgdUx5
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) February 26, 2024
IAEA says Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile 27 times limit of 2015 deal, but less is near weapons-grade
This photo released November 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran shows centrifuge machines in Natanz uranium enrichment facility near Natanz, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, File)
The UN nuclear watchdog says that Iran’s estimated stockpile of enriched uranium had reached 27 times the limit set out in the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.
According to two confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports seen by news agencies, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 5,525.5 kilograms as of February 10, up by 1,038.7 kilograms from the last quarterly report in November.
However, the reports say that Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to near weapons grade has shrunk slightly as it diluted some.
Iran diluted, or downblended, 31.8 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% to produce 97.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 20%, one of the two quarterly International Atomic Energy Agency reports to member states seen by Reuters said.
The total stock at 60%, close to the 90% of weapons grade, was estimated to have shrunk by 6.8 kg to 121.5 kg over the quarter.
The reports also say that longstanding problems between Iran and UN inspectors are festering
Gallant tells hostage families no return of residents to northern Gaza until all captives freed
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of Israelis held taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, February 24, 2024. ((Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells family members of the hostages that Israel will not permit Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until all the hostages are released.
His comments come as negotiators are working toward a deal that will see Hamas release hostages in exchange for a truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas is reportedly demanding Israel allow those displaced by fighting in northern Gaza to return to their homes.
“We are working around the clock to push forward a framework that will allow the return of the hostages.,” Gallant says according to remarks provided by his office.
“As part of the talks, we are working to maintain pressure on Hamas. The position of the security establishment will be clear: the full return of the residents of the northern Gaza Strip will only take place after the return of all the hostages,” he says.
“The statement that I have repeated from day one, according to which we have no moral right to stop the fighting as long as we have a single hostage in Gaza, has not changed and will not change,” he says. “Even if we reach a framework that requires a temporary pause in the fighting, we will return to fighting to eliminate the Hamas organization and to return all the abductees.”
Seinfeld heckled, accused of supporting ‘genocide’ while attending NYC Jewish event
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators heckled comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he left a Jewish event in New York City, accusing him of supporting “genocide” over his backing for Israel in its war against Hamas.
Video shows Seinfeld smiling and waving, apparently unperturbed as he left the event at the 92 Y community center where former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss was giving the Y’s annual State of the World Jewry address.
Demonstrators chanted “genocide supporter” as Seinfeld was escorted out by a heavy police presence. They also called him “Nazi scum.”
The New York Police Department says two demonstrators were arrested.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 253 kidnapped, Seinfeld visited Israel in a show of support, traveling to see the evidence of the massacre in a ravaged kibbutz.
Pro-Hamas terrorism supporters are heckling @JerrySeinfeld as he leaves a @bariweiss speech in New York.pic.twitter.com/sUptxkRPVW
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) February 26, 2024
Gantz, Eisenkot present new outline to expand draft to ultra-Orthodox, Arabs
Head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz speaks at a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 26, 2024.(Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
Declaring that “all segments of society” must serve their country, National Unity Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot present an outline for the draft of Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army.
Addressing reporters in the Knesset, the two former IDF chiefs of staff argue that it is impossible to extend the terms of current IDF service members without at the same time ensuring that members of currently exempt population groups also contribute to the collective defense.
Gantz is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet while Eisenkot is an observer.
Eisenkot calls the proposed plan “a good basis” for future action based on “clear and evolving recruitment targets.”
“All the people of Israel, all parts of society should take part in the right to serve our country,” Gantz declares.
Gantz’s outline is composed of several principles, the first of which is that an “absolute majority of young people” must serve their country. He calls for the establishment of a “unified recruitment directorate” which will determine where draftees will serve and who merits an exemption, and proposes “dozens” of service tracks, including working for “recognized security, emergency and charity organizations.”
According to the proposed outline, these tracks will be “adapted to the cultural needs” of Israel’s diverse populations and offer “progressive compensation with an emphasis on the front lines.”
While Gantz did not propose a specific number of Haredi recruits, he indicated that the number would increase gradually year-over-year and promised that there would still remain an “elite who will continue to study and many will serve at the same time as studying.”
The plan, as presented, is similar to one proposed by Gantz in 2021 while he was serving as defense minister.
According to that plan, ultimately all Israelis would be required to perform some form of national service after high school. Each year, 5,000 more people would be required to perform national service, until after six to eight years every eligible person will be conscripted.
They say their goal is for the majority of young people to be serving within a decade.
The issue of Haredi exemptions from the mandatory draft has received renewed attention in recent weeks after the IDF and government earlier this month proposed changes to the security service and reserve service laws, which would see the amount of time conscripts and reservists serve increased significantly amid manpower shortages caused by the war in Gaza and hostilities on the northern border.
Hezbollah claims to fire 60 rockets at military base in Golan, several explode near bus
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group says it fired a volley of rockets at an Israeli military base in retaliation for deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s east.
“In response to the Zionist aggression near the city of Baalbek,” Hezbollah targeted the base in the Golan Heights “with 60 Katyusha rockets,” the group says in a statement.
Footage circulating on social media shows several rockets impacting and exploding close to a bus carrying passengers who quickly disembark to take cover.
There are no reports of injuries in the barrage.
Footage circulating on social media shows rockets launched from Lebanon impacting close to a bus in the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah said it fired some 60 Katyusha rockets at an army base in the area.
There are no reports of injuries in the barrage. pic.twitter.com/bpXtFNOXK4
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 26, 2024
Qatari leader meets with Hamas chief Haniyeh to discuss Gaza truce
Illustrative: this handout picture provided by the Iranian foreign ministry on February 13, 2024, shows Hamas' political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh preparing to welcome the Iranian Foreign Minister in Doha. (Iranian Foreign Ministry/AFP)
The emir of Qatar meets with Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in his Doha palace to discuss efforts to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip.
During the meeting, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani underscores “the State of Qatar’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people” and “its right to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to a report in the local Gulf Times paper.
Qatar is considered one of the main state sponsors of Hamas, as it hosts some of its top leaders, including Haniyeh himself, and has donated billions of dollars over the years to keep Hamas in power in Gaza.
It has also played a prominent role in negotiations between the terror group and Israel for the release of the 253 hostages taken to Gaza on October 7.
Gideon Sa’ar indicates he no longer supports boycotting Netanyahu
MK Gideon Sa'ar attends a faction meeting of the National Unity party at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Unity minister Gideon Sa’ar indicates he no longer believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be boycotted.
In an interview with the Knesset Channel, Sa’ar was asked if political boycotts, including specifically of Netanyahu, need to cease, to which Sa’ar answered: “In my opinion, yes.”
However, Sa’ar also said he had not changed his personal opinion of Netanyahu.
He said that after a new election is held, politicians must respect the will of the public.
Sa’ar, a former Likud minister, was pushed out of Likud after challenging Netanyahu for the leadership of the party several years ago.
National Unity, under Benny Gantz, joined Netanyahu’s coalition as an emergency measure at the start of the war.
Before that, the party had refused to sit with Netanyahu, who is on trial in three corruption cases and was accused of trying to undermine Israel’s democracy with his far-right government’s judicial overhaul that has since been suspended.
Bus overturns in southern Israel, 15 wounded, several in serious condition
A bus traveling between Beersheba and Eilat in southern Israel overturns on Route 90 wounding at least 15 people, medics say.
The Magen David Adom rescue service says several people are in serious condition and are being airlifted to hospital.
The military is also assisting in the evacuation.
אוטובוס התהפך בסמוך לעין יהב, 15 פצועים במקוםhttps://t.co/pXbMCUVVz0 pic.twitter.com/p39zX6fAOu
— ???????????? MivzakLive News – חדשות מבזק לייב (@mivzaklive) February 26, 2024
IDF uncovers major tunnel that passes under hospital, university in northern Gaza
A Hamas tunnel in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout image published by the military on February 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF reveals it has uncovered a major Hamas tunnel network in central and northern Gaza, which it says passes under a hospital and university.
Troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, Nahal Infantry Brigade, and other forces under the 162nd Division recently raided the underground passages before they were demolished.
The IDF says the tunnel network, more than 10 kilometers long, passes under Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and a nearby university, and reaches as far as the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
According to the IDF, the tunnel was used by both Hamas’s Gaza City and Central Camps brigades, to move operatives between the areas.
The IDF says it discovered living quarters, bathrooms, and weapons depots in the tunnels, as well as the bodies of several Hamas operatives.
Major sections of the tunnel network were destroyed in a large blast.
Ministry: Gas royalties up $117 million last year, exports to Jordan, Egypt up 25%
An Israeli Navy Sa’ar 6-class corvette guards the Energean floating production, storage and offloading vessel at the Karish gas field, in an image published by the military on April 23, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
Royalties paid by companies that extract natural resources such as gas and minerals totaled NIS NIS 2.125 billion ($583 million) last year, up from NIS 1.7 billion ($466 million) in 2022, the Energy Ministry says.
The increase is due largely to Israel’s third natural gas field, Karish, starting to operate in October 2022.
The lion’s share — just above NIS 2 billion (just under $550 million) — came from the gas companies, with the big Leviathan field supplying NIS 995.6 million ($274 million) in 2023, the Tamar field NIS 695 million ($190 million) and Karish NIS 390 million ($107 million).
An increase in exports from Tamar led to a 1.2 percent rise in royalty payments, despite the facility’s shutdown between October 8 and November 12 last year, during the initial stages of the war against Hamas.
The Tamar facility is located off the coast of Ashkelon, in southern Israel, within close range of Hamas rockets.
In a statement, the Energy Ministry also says that gas exports to Jordan and Egypt had risen by 25%, with some of the gas being converted to liquid form in Egypt and shipped to Europe. This was within the framework of a 2022 memorandum of understanding signed by Israel, Egypt and the European Union to supply the Europeans with gas after Russia cut supplies in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
IDF denies that it identified hundreds of Gaza terrorists activating Israeli SIMs before war, says number was dozens
FILE - Hamas terrorists are seen crossing the Israel-Gaza border fence on October 7, 2023. (Kan TV screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The IDF says reports that around 1,000 Israeli SIM cards were activated simultaneously in the Gaza Strip hours before the October 7 onslaught is “false and far from reality.”
It says that in practice, “several indicative signs accumulated, which included, among other things, the activation of only dozens of SIMs, which had been activated in previous events in the past.”
“As previously published, on the night of October 7, indicative signs were received for which situation assessments were conducted and operative decisions were made accordingly,” the IDF says.
“The indicative signs are based on a variety of tools and capabilities, including technological tools whose method of operation cannot be detailed,” the IDF adds.
The IDF is due to investigate its failures in the lead-up to Hamas’s October 7 attack, including the case of the SIM cards
The IDF also asks the media to “show responsibility and caution” to not harm the military’s capabilities amid the war.
Also, Channel 12 quotes officials in the Prime Minister’s Office as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only heard of the SIM cards being identified yesterday, with the channel’s reporters being skeptical.
The PMO declines to comment.
IDF says dozens of rockets fired at Golan Heights from Lebanon, no injuries
Dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Golan Heights a short while ago, according to the IDF.
Some of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Sirens had sounded in the communities of Kidmat Zvi, Ortal, and Sha’al.
Rockets fired into the Golan Heights a short time ago. pic.twitter.com/G3Ff1d9GMM
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) February 26, 2024
Amid war, Bank of Israel leaves interest rates unchanged
Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron attends a Finance Committee meeting, in the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 30, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Bank of Israel opts to take a breather and leave borrowing costs unchanged after last month’s bold rate cut amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group that has been raging for over four months.
“There is a great amount of uncertainty with regard to the expected severity and duration of the war,” the central bank says in a statement. “The war is having significant economic consequences, both on real economic activity and on the financial markets, and the country’s risk premium remains high.”
“Indicators of economic activity and the state of employment point to a gradual recovery following the sharp decline that took place with the outbreak of the war, but there is variance between industries,” the statement reads.
The central bank decides to hold interest rates at 4.50 percent. Ahead of the decision, economists were not split on whether interest rates would come down further but rather over the timing of the move, with some expecting another reduction at the next meeting in April amid uncertainty over the extent and the risk of an escalation of the war on the northern front with the Hezbollah.
The Bank of Israel on January1 cut the base lending rate for the first time in almost four years by 25 basis points to 4.50% to support households and businesses, with the economy getting battered due to the prolonged war with Hamas and the inflation environment easing.
British banker, Israel patron Jacob Rothschild dies aged 87
Lord Jacob Rothschild arrives for a reception, hosted by Britain's Prince Charles, at Clarence House in London, July 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
British financier Jacob Rothschild, a senior member of one of Europe’s best-known banking dynasties, has died at the age of 87, his family announces.
The family, in a statement to the UK’s Press Association news agency, calls Rothschild “a towering presence in many peoples’ lives.”
He was “a superbly accomplished financier, a champion of the arts and culture, a devoted public servant, a passionate supporter of charitable causes in Israel and Jewish culture, a keen environmentalist and much-loved friend, father and grandfather,” the family says.
Rothschild, born in England in 1936, started his career at the family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, in 1963 before going on to co-found J Rothschild Assurance Group, which became today’s London-based wealth manager St James’s Place.
He was involved in many business endeavors, including founding investment trust RIT Capital Partners, which has backed a variety of companies from hedge funds to clean technology startups.
Rothschild was also known for being a longstanding patron of the arts, and was trustee of Britain’s National Gallery between 1985 and 1991.
The Rothschild banking family traces its roots back to 18th century Frankfurt, from where different family members moved to cities across Europe to build out banking businesses.
Rocket warning sirens sound in Golan Heights
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the Golan Heights.
The alerts are activated in the communities of Kidmat Zvi, Ortal, and Sha’al.
The IDF is investigating the cause.
Amid the war in the Gaza Strip and daily Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon, there have also been a handful of rocket attacks from Syria.
Rocket Alerts [16:00:51] – 3 Alerts:
• Northern Golan — Ortal, Sha'al
• Southern Golan — Kidmat Zvi#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/N8GkiA6wpC— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) February 26, 2024
US soldier who set himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington reportedly dies
In this image taken from video, police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Feb. 25, 2024, after an active-duty member of the US Air Force was critically injured after setting himself ablaze outside the diplomatic compound. (WJLA via AP)
A US military service member who had set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington over the weekend in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza has died, local media reports.
NBC News, citing an unnamed US official, said that the US Air Force member had died and more details would be released after the military finished notifying his family.
CBS News’ Washington affiliate and The Washington Post also reported the death, citing a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson.
Official: Israel looking for alternative to UNRWA to distribute Gaza aid
A worker rests as displaced Palestinians receive food aid at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 28, 2024. (AFP)
One of the goals in war cabinet discussions, including last night’s, around preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Hamas is finding alternatives to UNRWA to distribute aid, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
“There are discussions with other humanitarian groups in Gaza,” says the official.
The official adds that Israel wants aid to reach the northern Gaza Strip, but as of now there is no plan to bring it in from the northern border, where the Erez Crossing was before Hamas destroyed it on October 7.
Another Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that Hamas is able to steal a diminishing proportion of the aid, and that “the numbers are encouraging.”
“The process takes time,” says the official, adding that the ultimate goal is to have all the aid come in from Egypt and for Israel to detach from Gaza.
Some 300 trucks carrying humanitarian aid are expected to reach Gaza today, with half going through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the other half going through the Nitzana Crossing to Egypt before being sent into Gaza through Rafah.
Four Jordanian planes are also slated to drop aid into the Jordanian field hospital in the Gaza Strip, sources tell The Times of Israel.
Official: Israel aware of international opposition to Rafah op, still discussing plans
Palestinians flee their homes along with their belongings following Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2024. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Israel is aware that the world is up in arms over a potential Rafah operation, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The country is in talks with Egypt on Israel’s plans for evacuating civilians, the official adds.
Last night, the army presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a number of plans, including an evacuation of Rafah’s civilians to the Khan Younis area, but there has been no final decision made, according to the official.
“Everything in still in discussions,” the official explains.
Germany launches probe over Berlin film festival anti-Israel row
US film maker Ben Russell (R) and French film maker Guillaume Cailleau pose with the Encounters Award for Best Film for their film 'Direct Action' on the red carpet after the awards ceremony the 74th Berlinale International Film Festival, on February 24, 2024 in Berlin. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)
German officials will investigate how Berlin film festival winners were able to make “one-sided” comments condemning Israel’s war in Gaza at the event’s finale, a government spokeswoman says.
At Saturday’s awards ceremony, several winners were accused of making biased remarks on stage in relation to Israel’s war against Hamas, which began after the October 7 assault by the terror group that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 253 taken hostage.
US filmmaker Ben Russell, wearing a Palestinian scarf, accused Israel of committing “genocide.”
Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra said the Palestinian population was being “massacred” by Israel, to applause from the audience.
“It is unacceptable that… the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October was not mentioned,” government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann tells a press briefing in Berlin on Monday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz “agrees that such a one-sided stance cannot be allowed to stand,” she says.
“In any debate on this topic, it is of course important to keep in mind the event that triggered this renewed escalation of the Middle East conflict — namely the Hamas attack on 7 October,” she says.
The culture minister and the Berlin mayor will review what happened and hold talks with the festival’s incoming director to ensure it does not happen in future, she said.
But Culture Minister Claudia Roth and mayor Kai Wegner have also found themselves in hot water over the ceremony.
A report in top tabloid Bild carried a picture it said showed the pair applauding Adra’s remarks.
Netanyahu to Fox News: Israel has a plan to evacuate civilians in Rafah ‘out of harm’s way’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at his office in Jerusalem on February 17, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Speaking on the “Fox and Friends” morning show, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel has a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah before an expected IDF operation there.
Netanyahu says “we do have a combined plan of evacuating civilians out of harm’s way and destroying those battalions [in Rafah]… we’ll get the population out,” he promises, while also achieving “total victory.”
“They’ll have the opportunity to leave,” he says of the more than one million civilians sheltering in the southernmost city in Gaza.
On Doha talks for a hostage deal, Netanyahu says that Hamas has “outlandish demands.”
“They have to come back to reality,” he says, adding “they’re not in town yet.”
Netanyahu also tells the Fox News morning show that the Israeli people are “united as never before in saying that what we will not accept is a Palestinian state that endangers Israel.”
“This is not my personal position, this is the position of the people of Israel,” says Netanyahu, responding to a question about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s comment yesterday about the prime minister “doubling down on stupid” in his opposition to a Palestinian state.
The people of Israel, says Netanyahu, “are not stupid,” adding that Gaza was a “de facto” Palestinian state, and it was used to kill, rape, and kidnap Israelis. Giving the Palestinians a state that could threaten Israel, says Netanyahu, would “set a Guinness world record” in rewarding terrorism.
US President Joe Biden and his administration have insisted recently that the war in Gaza must end with a pathway to a Palestinian state if Israel wishes to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia and achieve true peace.
Netanyahu says during the interview that he “appreciates Biden’s support” and stresses that the two leaders agree on the aims of the war.
Lapid: Tomorrow’s municipal vote proves Israel can hold an election during wartime
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid attends a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on February 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Tomorrow’s nationwide municipal elections prove that it is possible to go to the polls during wartime, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, calling for a new government to replace that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While members of Netanyahu’s government have spoken out against calls to hold national elections during wartime, arguing that they would have a negative effect on the country during a time of crisis, Lapid counters that “we need elections as soon as possible.”
“It is technically possible, it is possible in terms of the army, it is even possible to do it without tearing the people apart. In the last few weeks, people held parlor meetings, put up posters, activated campaign staffs, and no disaster happened. Israeli democracy worked,” he says.
Above all, the fact that Netanyahu “is still in our lives, after October 7, after the greatest disaster to befall the Jewish people happened on his watch, is completely crazy. It can’t go on,” he says.
Lapid also joins Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman in criticizing Minister Benny Gantz’s expected announcement of an outline for the enlistment of members of the ultra-Orthodox community, which he says will follow the former IDF chief of staff’s 2021 proposal to gradually enlist Haredim over a period of six to eight years.
“It’s not new. It’s an outline that hasn’t conscripted even one Haredi person… I call on the National Unity party to join in supporting our legislation,” Lapid says, referring to a recent Yesh Atid bill withdrawing government benefits from citizens who evade military or civil service.
Israeli intel picked up on hundreds of Hamas terrorists switching to Israeli SIMs hours before attack
File - Palestinians take a kidnapped Israeli civilian, center, from the Nir Oz kibbutz into the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. (Hatem Ali/AP)
At around midnight before Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Israeli intelligence officials identified that hundreds of terror operatives in the Gaza Strip activated Israeli SIM cards in their phones, the military censor clears for publication.
The massacre in southern Israel was launched hours later, at 6:30 a.m., during which some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians — under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.
Further details surrounding the case of the SIM cards are not permitted to be published at this stage.
The censor allows some details to be published after it was reported during a live Channel 14 news broadcast.
The IDF has said it will investigate all the incidents in the lead-up to the October 7 attack.
Liberman accuses government of ‘sanctifying draft dodging’ by not enlisting Haredim
Yisrael Beytenu party head MK Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 26, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is “sanctifying draft dodging,” Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman asserts during his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
The government’s attempts to extend the length of mandatory and reserve military service while keeping the ultra-Orthodox community exempt from the draft is “complete cynicism,” the secularist politician states, arguing those who are opposed to widening the draft are “harming Judaism and the security of the state.”
Quoting Biblical and rabbinic literature, Liberman pushes back against the ultra-Orthodox argument that those learning in yeshiva ought to be exempt from conscription, stating that such an approach does not exist in traditional Jewish sources.
Taking a swipe at various proposals for modifying the current status quo, Liberman says that “there is only one outline, especially after October 7: every 17-year-old goes to the IDF induction center” and the army will decide if they serve in the army or civilian national service.
Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, is slated to present his outline for draft reform this afternoon.
The issue of Haredi exemptions from Israel’s mandatory draft has received renewed attention in recent weeks after the IDF and government earlier this month proposed changes to the security service and reserve service laws, which would see the amount of time conscripts and reservists serve increased significantly amid manpower shortages caused by the war in Gaza and hostilities on the northern border.
Mother of hostage whose body was kidnapped by UNRWA worker demands to meet UN chief
Ayelet Samerano, mother of murdered hostage Jonathan Samerano, speaking at a press conference on February 21, 2024. (Screen capture)
Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Yonatan Samerano, whose body was seized and taken to Gaza by an employee of UNRWA on October 7, demands to meet with the UN chief while she is in Geneva.
“You are next door, meet me today and tell me what are you going to do and how you can bring me back my son?” says Samerano in a video distributed by the Hostage Families Forum.
“Mr. Guterres — look at my eyes and answer me now, where is my son?” she adds at a forum held by the UN Watch organization. “You are next door, you’re here and you have the opportunity to meet me today and tell me what are you going to do… I’m not an investigator and cannot answer these questions. I’m just a mother who lost the most precious thing in the world.”
Guterres is currently meeting with the foreign minister of Iran in Geneva.
Amid strikes on Hezbollah, IDF also destroys remains of downed drone
A IDF Hermes 450 drone is seen crashing in south Lebanon after being shot down by a Hezbollah missile, February 26, 2024. (Screenshot: X)
During the IDF’s strikes in southern Lebanon a short while ago, in response to Hezbollah shooting down a military drone, the Israeli Air Force also struck the downed aircraft, The Times of Israel has learned.
The Elbit Hermes 450 was shot down over the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon this morning.
The IDF targeted the remains of the drone to prevent it from falling into Hezbollah’s hands where it could potentially extract intelligence information or reverse engineer the device.
Israel slams China for telling World Court that Palestinians have right to ‘use of force’
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), holds public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion on Israel's presence in the West Bank, from February 19 to 26 at the Peace Palace in The Hague. (International Court of Justice)
Israel blasts China’s presentation to the International Court of Justice last week, in which its representative argued that the Palestinians’ “use of force” was part of their right to self-determination and a legitimate tool for achieving independence.
“The laws of war do not allow a systematic and targeted attack against civilians and the use of civilians as human shields — two war crimes that Hamas commits under the title of ‘armed struggle,'” tweets Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat.
He adds that China’s statement could read as supporting Hamas’s attacks on October 7.
“China should ask itself why the terrorist organization Hamas was quick to welcome the words of its legal adviser at the ICJ,” says Haiat.
Police chief blames ‘group not linked to hostage families’ for violence at Tel Aviv protest
Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government, in Tel Aviv, on February 24, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai tells senior officers that a group of protesters not identified with the families of hostages “dragged” police into clashes during a protest Saturday night in Tel Aviv, amid allegations of excessive force.
In a statement issued by police, Shabtai says that a “huge wound” was formed in society after October 7, “and it is our duty to find the balance between maintaining the law and public order and the required compassion in a complicated situation amid the pain the nation has found itself in.”
Responding to reports that family members of hostages and of those killed in the Hamas attack were injured in clashes with police, Shabtai says that “none of us will allow the mother of a hostage or a bereaved father who came to express their pain to be harmed.”
The police chief blames the violence on “a group that does not belong to the families of the hostages,” and said it was “dragging us into photos we did not want to see.”
Shabtai says officers patrolling protests “must not look at the crowd, but at the person standing in front of us.”
The tumultuous protest saw police deploying water cannons against crowds for the first time since the shock October 7 Hamas assault.
IDF confirms carrying out strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley
An Israeli airstrike is seen near Baalbek in northeast Lebanon (left) after a IDF Hermes 450 drone was shot down by a Hezbollah missile (right) over southern Lebanon, February 26, 2024. (Screenshot: X)
The IDF confirms it carried out strikes with fighter jets against several sites belonging to Hezbollah’s air defense unit in the Beqaa Valley.
The strikes come in response to the terror group shooting down an IDF Hermes 450 drone over southern Lebanon this morning, the IDF says.
According to Lebanese media, the strikes took place near the city of Baalbek in northeast Lebanon, marking the deepest publicly confirmed Israeli strikes in Lebanon in years.
Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is nearly 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
At least two Hezbollah members were killed in the strikes.
Report: New Palestinian Authority government may be formed by end of week
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on December 15, 2023. (Wafa)
A new Palestinian Authority government may be formed before the end of this week, according to Palestinian sources quoted by the Dubai-based Asharq News.
Earlier today, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced his resignation in preparation for the postwar period, amid growing US and international pressure on the PA to reform itself with a view to taking over governance of the Gaza Strip after the war. Israel has staunchly opposed the idea and insists it must retain security control of the coastal enclave, while the administration would be handed over to independent local officials.
Shtayyeh said that in preparation for a next stage, the PA will “require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus.”
Asharq and other Arab news outlets report that Shtayyeh’s cabinet will remain in power until a new technocratic government is formed, which will probably be led by Mohammed Mustafa, the current head of the government’s investment fund who formerly served as deputy prime minister and economy minister.
Mustafa has reportedly been tapped to lead the new government and develop a plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip through an independent authority operating under the supervision of the World Bank, Asharq reports, adding that he will also implement reforms to the administrative, financial and legal apparatus of the Palestinian Authority.
Hezbollah says at least two of its members killed in IDF strike on Baalbek
An Israeli airstrike is seen near Baalbek in northeast Lebanon (left) after a IDF Hermes 450 drone was shot down by a Hezbollah missile (right) over southern Lebanon, February 26, 2024. (Screenshot: X)
The Hezbollah terror group says that at least two of its members were killed after IDF airstrikes near the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek — the deepest attack yet into Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas.
A Hezbollah official confirms that three strikes hit near Baalbek. He says the strikes killed at least two people and claims that one hit a warehouse for food products that’s part of Hezbollah’s Sajjad Project, which sells to people in its stronghold at prices lower than on the market.
The strikes hit an area some 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the city of Baalbek. Part of the Bekaa Valley region bordering Syria, the area is a political stronghold of the Shiite group Hezbollah. The sources said Israel had carried out two simultaneous strikes.
Lebanese television station Al-Jadeed broadcasts images of plumes of smoke rising from the area.
One wounded after rocket from Lebanon hits northern town of Shtula
A rocket fired from Lebanon struck a chicken coop in the border community of Shtula, wounding one person, first responders say.
The victim is listed in good condition, with shrapnel injuries, Channel 12 news reports.
Rocket sirens had sounded in Shtula and several nearby communities.
A rocket fired from Lebanon struck a chicken coop in the border community of Shtula, wounding one person.
They are reportedly listed in good condition, with shrapnel injuries. pic.twitter.com/f5AJzD2ujt
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 26, 2024
Yemen’s Houthi rebels report first civilian death in US-UK strikes
Smoke rises after the US-led airstrikes on hit targets in Sanaa, Yemen, February 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels report the first civilian death in US and British airstrikes after the latest round of joint raids over the weekend.
One person was killed and eight wounded, the Houthis’ official news agency said late last night, a day after US and British forces said they fired on 18 targets across the country.
The US-British strikes were in response to dozens of Houthi drone and missile attacks on Red Sea shipping since November, which the rebels say are in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The Houthis, who control war-torn Yemen’s most populated areas, have previously reported the death of 17 of their fighters in the Western strikes targeting military facilities.
Turkey tells World Court that ‘deepening occupation’ is root cause of Israeli-Palestinian conflict
A Palestinian flag flies outside the United Nations' highest court during historic hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, February 21, 2024, into the legality of Israel's 57-year rule of West Bank and east Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz tells judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israeli “occupation” of Palestinian territories is the root cause of conflict in the region.
“The unfolding situation after October 7 proves once again that, without addressing the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there can be no peace in the region,” he says on the sixth day of hearings.
“The real obstacle to peace is obvious. The deepening occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and failure to implement the two-state vision,” he adds.
The UN’s top court, also known as the World Court, is hearing arguments from more than 50 states following a request by the UN General Assembly in 2022 that it issue a non-binding opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s presence in the West Bank.
After Hezbollah downs IDF drone, military says it is striking group ‘deep’ in Lebanon
Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Blida during Israeli airstrikes on February 22, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
The IDF says it is carrying out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets “deep” in Lebanon.
The strikes come after the terror group shot down an Israeli military drone over southern Lebanon.
The IDF says it will provide further details on the strikes soon.
Lebanese media report Israeli strikes near the city of Baalbek in northeast Lebanon.
شاهد – لأول مرة منذ بدء الحرب.. غارة إسرائيلي تستهدف بعلبك https://t.co/1KNlcdqYlj pic.twitter.com/qzOrZeEt4Q
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) February 26, 2024
They appear to be the deepest publicly confirmed Israeli strikes in Lebanon in years. Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is nearly 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
Shtayyeh says next stage requires unity talks; Hamas: Must be national consensus
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh chairs a cabinet meeting in Ramallah on February 20, 2024. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
In a statement to the cabinet announcing his resignation, Palestinian Authority President Mohammad Shtayyeh says the next stage will have to take into account the emerging reality in war-torn Gaza.
The next stage will “require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus,” says Shtayyeh.
In addition, it will require “the extension of the Authority’s authority over the entire land, Palestine.”
A senior Hamas official says the move has to be followed by a broader agreement on governance for the Palestinians.
“The resignation of Shtayyeh’s government only makes sense if it comes within the context of national consensus on arrangements for the next phase,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri tells Reuters.
Shtayyeh’s resignation is seen as coming under pressure from the US to reform the PA, which would allow it take a greater role in ruling postwar Gaza. The US has ruled out Hamas playing any such role in the Strip in the future.
Protesters and counter-protesters rally outside High Court amid hearing on Haredi draft
Brothers in Arms activists protest outside a High Court hearing over the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF, February 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
Activists with the Brothers in Arms protest group demonstrate outside the High Court while inside a hearing is underway on the government’s repeated deferrals in dealing with the issue of drafting Haredim into the IDF.
The protesters hold signs reading “Equal service for all”; “Security = equal service”; and “I served 130 days in the reserves, too.”
A small counter-protest is held across the street with demonstrators holding signs including one that reads “A nation of Israel without Torah has no right to exist.”
UN chief says IDF operation in Rafah would be ‘final nail in coffin’ of its aid programs
Palestinians flee their homes along with their belongings following Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2024. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
A full-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah would deliver a death blow to aid programs in Gaza, where humanitarian assistance remains “completely insufficient,” the UN chief warns.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Antonio Guterres says an all-out offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city “would not only be terrifying for more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there; it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programs.”
Guterres also deplores how the UN Security Council had failed to counter both Israel’s operation in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he says has “perhaps fatally” undermined its authority.
“The council’s lack of unity on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and on Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, has severely – perhaps fatally – undermined its authority,” he says. “The council needs serious reform to its composition and working methods.”
Justice spars with state attorney over government foot-dragging on Haredi IDF draft
The High Court holds a hearing over the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF, February 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman gives the state’s representative Avi Milikovsky a difficult time as the attorney seeks to assert the legality of the government’s June 2023 resolution ordering the army not to enforce a law requiring the conscription of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.
Milikovsky, of the State Attorney’s Office, argues that the government resolution does not actively exempt, freeze or defer the service of Haredi yeshiva students, but merely tells the IDF conscription authorities not to enforce their conscription.
“Isn’t this de facto service deferrals?” Vogelman asks him.
Milikovsky argues that the IDF conscription authorities do not conscript all military-aged men in one go, but do so gradually over the course of a 12-month conscription calendar and could therefore wait several more months while a new legislative arrangement is passed before drafting Haredi yeshiva students.
“When the law expired, it was clear the conscription authorities couldn’t draft all 60,000 Haredi yeshiva students [who are currently of military age],” says Milikovsky.
Vogelman objects again, saying that not all 60,000 would need to be immediately drafted.
“So let them draft 1,000 to start with,” suggests the court’s acting president.
IDF confirms Hezbollah shot down its drone over southern Lebanon
Illustrative: An Elbit Hermes 450 drone comes in for landing at the Palmachim airbase, during Operation Breaking Dawn in early August 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF confirms one of its drones was shot down by the Hezbollah terror group over southern Lebanon this morning.
It says the David’s Sling medium-range air defense system successfully intercepted a surface-to-air missile fired by Hezbollah at an IDF drone, but a short while later a second missile struck the aircraft.
“As a result, the aircraft fell in Lebanese territory,” the IDF says.
Hezbollah in a statement said it had shot down a Hermes 450 drone over the Nabatieh area.
Palestinian Authority PM Shtayyeh submits resignation of entire government
PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh speaks during a townhall meeting at the 60th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 18, 2024. (THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announces the resignation of his government.
“I submit the government’s resignation to Mr. President [Mahmoud Abbas],” Shtayyeh says, adding it comes in the wake of the “developments related to the aggression against the Gaza Strip and the escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Shtayyeh says he is resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements following Israel’s war against Hamas. The move comes amid growing US pressure on Abbas to shake up the PA as international efforts have intensified to stop the fighting in Gaza and begin work on a political structure to govern the enclave after the war.
Lebanese media claims IDF drone shot down over southern Lebanon
Lebanese media outlets report that an Israeli military drone was shot down over southern Lebanon.
Footage posted online appears to a show an aircraft on fire and spiraling out of control.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident.
It comes as the IDF says it fired an interceptor missile at a target over Lebanon. The target was reported to be a surface-to-air missile that Hezbollah fired at an Israeli drone.
إسقاط مسيرة إسرائيلية شمال الليطاني بحسب الأنباء الأولية pic.twitter.com/IsVHhl6iZu
— bintjbeil.org (@bintjbeilnews) February 26, 2024
Rescued hostage Ori Megidish returning to active IDF service today
President Isaac Herzog meets with soldier Ori Megidish, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and freed in an Israeli military operation in Gaza in late October, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, January 11, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Cpl. Ori Megidish, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and later rescued by special forces from captivity in the Gaza Strip, will return to army service today.
Megidish, who was an observation soldier at the Nahal Oz post, will now serve in the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate.
The IDF says the decision to return Megidish to service “stemmed from her personal desire and sense of mission to serve the country.”
Attorney rails against ’25 years of endless postponements’ in High Court hearing on Haredi draft
Movement for Quality of Government in Israel attorney Eliad Shraga at a High Court hearing on the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF, February 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
Eliad Shraga, an attorney who heads the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, embarks on a 25-minute diatribe against the government and against the court for having failed to bring about the end of blanket exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service over the last quarter century.
“We are going nowhere. We are in the same closed circle for 25 years. We’ve been in this same place and said we cannot continue to discriminate between blood and blood, discriminate between civilians,” Shraga tells the court. “It’s been 25 years of endless postponements, 25 years in which the court has become a partner in this, and gives repeated postponements to the state.
“At a time when there is bereavement hanging over so many homes, when so many have people injured, this discrimination cries out to the heavens. We cannot continue to plaster over this, especially at a time when the IDF is calling out for manpower,” he adds.
Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman and Justice Noam Sohlberg both repeatedly try, with limited success, to get Shraga to address the core issue, which they say is the 1998 decision by the High Court that determined that the government cannot grant blanket exemptions from military service without legislation.
It was this decision which precipitated three pieces of legislation over two decades aimed at finding a solution to the ultra-Orthodox enlistment conundrum.
The government nevertheless passed a cabinet resolution last year, without legislation, allowing the state to continue to not draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to the military while it worked on formulating a new law. The resolution expires on March 31.
Siren was due to interceptor missile fired at target in Lebanon airspace, says IDF
The IDF says sirens sounded in an industrial zone near Afula due to the launch of an interceptor missile.
The missile was fired at an unspecified target over Lebanon, which according to the IDF did not enter Israeli airspace.
Sirens were activated in Alon Hatavor due to fears of falling shrapnel.
Video circulating on social media showed a piece of shrapnel falling in Kfar Tavor, though there are no reports of damage or injuries in the area.
Sirens had sounded due to an interceptor missile launch. pic.twitter.com/1pflWdBPRw
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 26, 2024
High Court begins hearing over drafting ultra-Orthodox Israelis to IDF
The 15 justices on the High Court attend a hearing on petitions against the government's reasonableness law, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
The High Court of Justice is set to hear petitions demanding it annul a cabinet resolution that enabled the state to avoid drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students into the army.
The law that permitted this arrangement expired last year, so in June 2023 the government passed a resolution giving itself until the end of March 2024 to pass new legislation that might comply with the court’s 2017 ruling that blanket exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students was discriminatory and therefore illegal.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel — which has campaigned for decades for young Haredi men to be drafted — filed petitions to the court in July arguing that the government resolution violated the rule of law; contravened previous court rulings on the issue which determined the defense minister, who is the official who grants the blanket exemptions, cannot exercise this power without legislative authority; does “severe damage to the principle of equality before the law” which itself violates the court’s 2017 ruling on the need for equality; is “disproportionate”; and is “unreasonable in the extreme.”
The government told the court last week that due to the outbreak of war on October 7 it has not had time to formulate and pass a new law in Knesset to legislate a new arrangement, and proposed that it update the court before the end of March about an emerging proposal and then receive another extension till the end of June to pass the new law.
IDF troops kill more than 30 Hamas gunmen in Gaza City in past day, says military
IDF troops seen operating in Gaza in this handout photo cleared for publication on February 26, 2024. (IDF)
The IDF says troops of the 401st Armored Brigade killed more than 30 Hamas gunmen amid an ongoing operation in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood over the past day.
In one incident, the brigade directed a fighter jet to strike a building where a Hamas sniper was operating, the IDF says.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Infantry Brigade killed more than 10 Hamas operatives over the past day.
Fighting also continues in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, with the IDF detailing some of the incidents.
It says the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted an RPG-wielding Hamas operative and directed an airstrike against them in Khan Younis.
In western Khan Younis, the 7th Armored Brigade, Paratroopers Brigade, and Givati Infantry Brigade all killed numerous Hamas operatives in ambushes, with tank shelling, and sniper fire, as well as by calling in airstrikes, according to the IDF.
Rocket alert sirens sound near Afula, around 50 kilometers from northern border
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the Alon Hatavor industrial zone in northern Israel, near the city of Afula.
The cause of the alarms are under investigation.
The industrial zone is some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Lebanon border.
Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the Hezbollah terror group has carried out daily attacks on northern Israel, but mostly against army positions and towns close to the Lebanon border.
Economy Minister Barkat meets with Saudi counterpart on sidelines of UAE conference
Economy Minister Nir Barkat (left) meets with Saudi Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi at the WTO conference in Abu Dhabi, February 26, 2024. (Courtesy Economy Ministry)
Economy Minister Nir Barkat tells Saudi Arabia’s Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi that the two countries can “make history” together during the World Trade Organization’s ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi.
The two ministers were seen shaking hands and chatting amicably on the sidelines of the conference. They also exchanged business cards.
“Israel is interested in peace with countries that seek peace, and we can make history together,” Barkat tells his counterpart, according to a statement from the Economy Ministry.
Protesters rally outside home of Haredi minister ahead of hearing on ultra-Orthodox enlistment
Protesters with Brothers in Arms gather outside the home of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Jerusalem on February 26, 2024. (Courtesy Adar Eyal/Brothers in Arms)
Protesters rally outside the home of United Torah Judaism Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Jerusalem ahead of a High Court hearing dealing with the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF.
The protesters, members of the Brothers and Sisters in Arms group which calls for equal sharing of the burden of military service in Israeli society, gather outside Goldknopf’s home calling for him and his constituents to serve in the military.
Beersheba man to be indicted for threatening Netanyahu on social media
Prosecutors intend to file an indictment against a Beersheba man for threatening to harm Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on TikTok, according to Hebrew media reports.
The man is slated to face charges for publishing support for terror, threats, impersonation and harassment, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
Minister says Paris hostage deal framework fits within Israel’s ‘red lines’
MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks during a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hearing, January 29, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)
Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that the framework agreement reached in Paris last week for a temporary truce and hostage release fits within Israel’s parameters, but they are still waiting for a response from Hamas.
“We still haven’t heard that Hamas has given a positive response to the framework, I suggest we wait patiently,” Sa’ar tells the Kan public radio. “From what I understand, what was presented in Paris fits our red lines, but there must be a partner.”
Israel is sending a delegation to ongoing talks in Qatar which are expected to begin today.
IDF: 5 soldiers seriously injured in Gaza fighting yesterday
The Israel Defense Forces says five soldiers were seriously injuring during fighting across the Gaza Strip yesterday (Sunday), in both the northern and southern parts of the enclave.
Three of them — one from Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, one from the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom unit, and a Paratrooper officer — were wounded in south Gaza, and two soldiers from the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion were injured in battle in northern Gaza.
They were taken to hospital for treatment, the military says.
Hostile aircraft siren activated in Golan Heights
Hostile aircraft alert sirens are activated in the Golan Heights area.
The sirens can be heard in multiple locations including the Druze towns of Majdal-Shams and Mas’ade, as well as nearby Neve Ativ and Nimrod.
US airman in critical condition after self-immolation outside Israeli embassy in Washington
A US military service member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington earlier today in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza is in critical condition, authorities say.
The man was transported to an area hospital after the fire was put out by US Secret Service officers, DC Fire and EMS posted online. The man remains in critical condition, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said Sunday afternoon.
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed that the incident involved an active duty airman.
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” said the man, wearing military fatigues, in a video he broadcasted live over the internet, according to the New York Times.
UPDATE: I got footage of the self-immolation at the Israeli embassy in DC.
The individual, wearing fatigues, introduces himself as “an active duty member of the U.S. Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide.”
After ignition, he repeatedly yells “Free Palestine.” https://t.co/wk5LGK4Hp2 pic.twitter.com/EX1L8zG8tR
— Talia Jane ❤️???? (@taliaotg) February 25, 2024
He then doused himself in a clear liquid and set himself on fire, screaming “Free Palestine,” the Times reported.
Local police and Secret Service are investigating the incident.
In December, a protester set herself on fire outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
Biden to meet congressional leaders with shutdown clock ticking
US President Joe Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss funding the government as a partial shutdown deadline looms on Friday, the White House says.
Biden will meet with top Democrats and Republicans from both the House and Senate on Tuesday, where the president will discuss the “urgency” of passing a government funding bill before midnight on Friday (0500 GMT Saturday). He also plans to discuss a stalled national security bill that provides assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The meeting comes as lawmakers remain at a stalemate to avoid a shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, says in a statement Sunday that there still was no deal and called on House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, to “step up” and strike a bipartisan compromise, despite objections from his party’s most conservative lawmakers.
Johnson later posted on X that Republicans were still negotiating in good faith and contended many of the points still up for debate were later demands from Democrats. He said he hoped to reach an outcome “as soon as possible.”
Funding is due to run out on March 1 for some federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, while others like the Defense Department face a March 8 deadline.
IDF presents plan for evacuation of Rafah, gets approval for aid to south Gaza
The IDF presented a plan to the war cabinet this evening for the evacuation of Palestinians civilians from combat zones in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and its operational strategy going forward, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
The army “presented the war cabinet with a plan for evacuating the population from the areas of fighting in the Gaza Strip, with the upcoming operational plan,” the Hebrew announcement reads.
In addition, the PMO says the cabinet approved the provision of humanitarian aid to south Gaza “in a way that will prevent the looting that occurred in the north of the Gaza Strip and other areas.”
Israel is pressing ahead with plans for a military offensive in Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza and also where more than half the territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge.
Humanitarian groups warn of a catastrophe, with Rafah the main entry point for aid, and the US and other allies have said Israel must avoid harming civilians. Under US pressure, Israel’s political and military leaders have said the operation will not begin until the safety of non-combatants has been ensured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening that an Israeli military operation in Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal for a weekslong truce between Israel and Hamas is reached, as mediators work to secure an outline for a pause in fighting and hostage releases.
Hagari in WSJ op-ed: IDF fights with ‘heavy heart’ over loss of life, Hamas deeply embedded among civilians
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari gives a statement on October 17, 2023, saying that the Palestinian terror group Islamic Jihad was responsible for a rocket misfire that hit a hospital in the Gaza Strip. (Screenshot)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says Palestinian terror group Hamas is deeply “embedded” in Gazan civilian areas and that the military is fighting the complex war in the Palestinian enclave “with a heavy heart” and “aware of the tragic loss of civilian lives on both sides.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the military spokesman writes that four months into the ground invasion in Gaza, the army has found that “Hamas has systematically embedded its terror infrastructure inside and under civilian areas in Gaza as part of its human-shield strategy” and deliberately operates in civilian areas and humanitarian zones to stage attacks.
“IDF troops discovered that most homes in Gaza have terror tunnels underneath or weapon caches inside, and the majority of schools, mosques, hospitals and international institutions have been used by Hamas for their military operations.”
Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years, “has forced Gazans to stay in active combat zones by blocking their attempts to move out of harm’s way. When civilians manage to reach the safer areas to which we guide them, Hamas then moves to those areas, turning humanitarian zones into staging areas for further attacks.
The terror group’s modus operandi also involves “instructing terrorists to dress in civilian clothes” and “waging war from inside and underneath hospitals” to exploit international law and public sympathy as “a shield for their military activities.”
He notes the contrast of this strategy to the strategy employed by thousands of Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, which he describes as a “meticulously choreographed spectacle of savagery and sadism” that saw Hamas “mercilessly murder, butcher, rape and burn Israeli families alive—documenting their crimes with GoPros and cellphones.
“The terrorists even live-streamed their atrocities on their victims’ social-media accounts,” he says, adding the unprecedented shock onslaught was “arguably the most well-documented attack in history.”
“When the fighting shifted to Gaza, Hamas went from massacring Israeli civilians to hiding behind Gazan civilians,” he points out.
“Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza, which is why we take extensive measures to minimize harm to the civilians Hamas puts in the crossfire. We are fighting this war with a heavy heart, aware of the tragic loss of civilian lives on both sides,” writes Hagari, reiterating Israel’s war goals to “dismantle Hamas and bring our hostages home” and “not to destroy Gaza or displace its people.”
Israel’s strategy, he says, is “consistent and clear: Ensure that Oct. 7 never happens again.”
read more: