Feb. 28: In response to attacks, IDF launches strikes on Hezbollah posts in southern Lebanon

UK government increases security funding for Jewish community

UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (left) and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attend a ceremony at the Finchley United Synagogue in central London for victims and hostages of Hamas attacks in Israel, October 9, 2023. (Lucy North/PA Images via Getty Images, via JTA)

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces 54 million pounds ($68 million) of new funding to protect Jewish communities against antisemitism over the next four years.

Earlier this month, the Jewish advisory body, the Community Security Trust (CST), said Britain recorded thousands of antisemitic incidents after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October, making 2023 the worst year for UK antisemitism since its records began in 1984.

“It is shocking, and wrong, the prejudice, the racism we have seen in recent months,” Sunak says in a speech to the CST’s annual dinner, according to extracts released by his office.

“It is hatred, pure and simple. An assault on the Jewish people. We will fight this antisemitism with everything we’ve got.”

The government had already given the CST, which advises Britain’s estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, 18 million pounds (some $23 million) for 2024-25, taking the total funding up to 2028 to 70 million pounds ($88.6 million).

The funding will be used to increase security at a range of Jewish buildings across the country, including schools and synagogues, the government said, providing measures such as security guards, closed-circuit TV (CCTV), and alarm systems.

Hamas official: Permanent ceasefire not a condition for first phase of hostage deal

Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal says the terror group is not demanding that Israel agree to a ceasefire in the first stage of the hostage deal, but that it do so in subsequent stages.

If they indeed represent Hamas’s official position (Nazzal is not seen to be part of Hamas’s inner circle of decision-makers), the remarks to the Saudi-owned Asharq News would ostensibly mark a slight shift.

To date, Hamas has publicly insisted that it will not agree to release the hostages for anything less than a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

“There must be a permanent ceasefire sooner or later, but it does not have to be in the first stage,” Nazzal tells Asharq.

He explains that the negotiating teams have drafted a framework in which the hostage deal would be implemented in phases, with the second and third stages far from being ironed out yet.

Nazzal indicates that by the end of the second or third stages of the deal, Israel would have to agree to a permanent ceasefire and withdraw its forces from the Strip.

“They can begin to position themselves outside large residential areas (during the first stage), but after that they must leave the Strip,” he says.

If there is no return to fighting between the various phases of the deal, it does not seem like there would be a practical implication of the stance explained by Nazzal.

Humorously morose comedian Richard Lewis, recent star on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ dies at 76

Comedian Richard Lewis attends an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on December 25, 2012. (AP Photo/ Alex Gallardo, File)

Richard Lewis, an acclaimed comedian known for exploring his neuroses in frantic, stream-of-consciousness diatribes while dressed in all-black, leading to his nickname “The Prince of Pain,” has died. He was 76.

Lewis, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2023, died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, after suffering a heart attack, according to his publicist Jeff Abraham.

A regular performer in clubs and on late-night TV for decades, Lewis also played Marty Gold, the romantic co-lead opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, in the ABC series “Anything But Love” and the reliably neurotic Prince John in “Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights.” He re-introduced himself to a new generation opposite Larry David in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” kvetching regularly.

“I’m paranoid about everything in my life. Even at home. On my stationary bike, I have a rear-view mirror, which I’m not thrilled about,” he once joked onstage. To Jimmy Kimmel, he said: “This morning, I tried to go to bed. I couldn’t sleep. I counted sheep, but I only had six of them and they all had hip replacements.”

Comedy Central named Lewis one of the top 50 stand-up comedians of all time and he earned a berth in GQ magazine’s list of the “20th Century’s Most Influential Humorists.” He lent his humor for charity causes, including Comic Relief and Comedy Gives Back.

“Watching his stand-up is like sitting in on a very funny and often dark therapy session,” the Los Angeles Times said in 2014. The Philadelphia’s City Paper called him “the Jimi Hendrix of monologists.” Mel Brooks once said he “may just be the Franz Kafka of modern-day comedy.”

With 95% counted in Michigan, Gaza protest votes below benchmark thought needed to require major Biden shift

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Pearson Community Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 4, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

With 95 percent of the votes counted from yesterday’s Michigan primary, over 101,000 people were found to have cast “uncommitted” ballots in protest of Biden’s Israel-Hamas war policies.

The figure is far more than the 21,000 who voted “uncommitted” in the Michigan primary when Democratic President Barack Obama ran for re-election in 2012.

However, it only amounted to 13% of yesterday’s voters.

Before the primary, analysts speculated that a total of 10 to 15% uncommitteds would be noteworthy, but unlikely to require a change in Biden’s approach, while anything above 15% would require minor adjustments, and anything above 20% to demand major shifts in the US stance on the Gaza war.

Notably, Biden still won 81% of the vote, compared to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who won 68% of the vote, besting Nikki Haley by 41 percentage points.

IDF carries out airstrikes against Hezbollah posts in southern Lebanon

IDF footage of a strike in southern Lebanon on February 28, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon’s Kafra and Seddiqine.

It adds that troops also carried out artillery shelling near Houla.

The strikes come in response to recent attacks by Hezbollah and allied terror groups on northern Israel.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר תשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים כפרא וצדיקין שבדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, צה״ל תקף בשעות האחרונות בירי ארטילרי במרחב חולה pic.twitter.com/kAekEztepi

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 28, 2024

Plurality of Israelis think electing more women will harm politics — survey

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara vote in the Jerusalem municipal elections on February 27, 2024. (GPO)

A plurality of Israelis believe politics in their country will get worse if more elected officials were women, a Pew research center survey finds.

Thirty-three percent of respondents say Israeli politics would get worse if more women were elected into public office, compared to 32% who say politics would improve and 32% who say they would stay the same.

The Israeli percentage of those who think politics would get worse was the highest out of 24 countries surveyed, with only Kenya coming close to that figure with 26% of its respondents concurring with the 32% in Israel.

For the survey, Pew surveyed 30,861 people in 24 countries from February 20 to May 22, 2023 — before Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

The margin of error was 2 percentage points.

Only one woman remains at the helm of the professional echelon in any of the government’s 33 ministries.

Of the current 32 ministers in the government, five are women: Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, Settlement Affairs Minister Orit Strock, and Social Equality Minister May Golan.

Israeli strikes in Damascus cause ‘material losses’ — Syrian state media

Missiles flying into the sky near international airport, in Damascus, Syria, January 21, 2019. (SANA, the Syrian official news agency, via AP, File)

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency says Israeli fighter jets carried out strikes against several sites near the capital Damascus, causing “material losses.”

Citing a military source, SANA says the IAF warplanes launched their missiles from over the Golan Heights, and that Syrian air defenses shot down “most of them.”

SANA does not report any injuries in the strikes.

‘Mob rule’ replacing democracy in UK, warns Sunak after chaotic parliament debate over Gaza war

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks on during a media visit to Harlow Police Station in Essex, England, February 16, 2024. (Dan Kitwood/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain is descending into “mob rule” and police will do more to protect the country’s democracy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says, after the government announced extra funding to keep lawmakers safe.

Many British lawmakers have said the abuse directed at them has become more intense since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught against Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, with some fearing for their safety if they air their views on the conflict.

Last week, parliament descended into chaos as tensions flared over a vote on Gaza, with the House of Commons speaker citing “frightening” threats against lawmakers for a decision to break with usual parliamentary procedure.

“There is a growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule. And we’ve got to collectively, all of us, change that urgently,” Sunak says at a meeting with police chiefs on Wednesday, according to remarks released by his office.

“We simply cannot allow this pattern of increasingly violent and intimidatory behavior which is, as far as anyone can see, intended to shout down free debate and stop elected representatives doing their job. That is simply undemocratic.”

Earlier, the interior ministry announced funding worth 31 million pounds ($39 million) to provide additional security for lawmakers and other officials.

Sunak says a new Democratic Policing Protocol would commit to extra patrols and make clear that protests at the homes of elected representatives should be treated as intimidatory.

It also makes clear that from now on police should take a “consistent and robust approach… to protect our democratic processes from intimidation, disruption, from subversion,” he says.

Syrian air defences intercept Israeli strikes in vicinity of Damascus — state media

A truck in flames following an alleged Israeli airstrike near the Syrian town of Qusayr, February 25, 2024. (X screengrab: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Syrian air defenaes intercepted Israeli strikes in the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media says.

Syrian state media gives no further details about the attacks or the intended targets.

Pro-Iranian Lebanese television al Maydeen says a big explosion was heard in the heavily fortified Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of the Syrian capital where a major Shi’ite shrine is located. It gave no further details.

The Israeli military declines to comment.

Regional intelligence sources say Iran’s Quds Force and militias it backs, whose presence has spread in Syria in recent years, have a strong presence in the Sayeda Zainab neighbourhood of southern Damascus where Iranian backed militias have a string of underground bases.

Iran has been a major backer of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s nearly 12-year-old conflict.

Its support for Damascus and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has drawn regular Israeli air strikes meant to curb Tehran’s extraterritorial military power.

Those strikes have ramped up during the Gaza war, with more than half a dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers killed in suspected Israeli strikes on Syria since December.

Israel to take several controversial moves expanding West Bank footprint in coming weeks

A housing project under construction is seen in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim on June 26, 2023. (AP/ Ohad Zwigenberg)

Channel 13 reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will take a series of controversial steps in the coming weeks aimed at further expanding Israel’s footprint in the West Bank.

Tomorrow, authorities will designate 3,000 dunams (750 acres) of land near the Ma’ale Adumim settlement as “state land,” in a step that will allow for the further expansion of the settlement.

Next week, the Defense Ministry’s High Planning Subcommittee will convene to advance plans for over 3,000 new settlement homes in Ma’ale Adumim, Efrat and Keidar, as announced last week by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

On March 20, Israel will designate another 7,000 dunams (1,730 acres) of land in the Jordan Valley as “state land.”

Such designations are not recognized by the international community, which largely views the West Bank as occupied territory.

Masked men in Gaza enforce prices in street markets

Crowds of people shop in an open-air market in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on November 28, 2023. (Mohammed Abed/ AFP)

Armed, masked men in Gaza have started patrols to stop traders profiteering in Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are taking shelter from Israel’s air and ground campaign, a member of the vigilante group says.

Nearly five months into the war, prices have soared in Gaza, with all commercial imports cut off when Hamas launched its terror onslaught on October 7, and only limited quantities of humanitarian aid coming in.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people now live in Rafah near the border crossing with Egypt, mostly in tents and other temporary shelters, after fleeing the devastation in other parts of the enclave.

Photographs on social media show men in ski masks with hoods pulled over their heads standing next to market stalls. In one photograph, two of the men held assault rifles. In another photograph, six men brandished sticks.

The men with the sticks also had headbands with the slogan in Arabic: “The Committee of Public Protection.”

A man who described himself as a member of the group, and whom Reuters contacted by phone, says their action was necessary to enforce law and order because Hamas police no longer patrolled the streets after being targeted by Israeli strikes.

Their actions were intended “to monitor the prices and punish those who exploit the needs of the people,” says the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing Israeli reprisals.

The patrol is seen in a Rafah market today by Mohammad Abuemad, a 24-year-old university graduate who fled his Gaza City home early in the war and now lives in a tent.

He says police were a common sight in Rafah until recent strikes targeting them, and had been responsible for organizing the long queues outside bakeries, supermarkets, and banks.

Abuemad says he is concerned by the emergence of masked men enforcing public order. “Maybe they are good, but we hope they act fairly with people,” he says.

“We would rather the war end so the real police force can come back,” he says.

US urges Israel to enable Temple Mount access to ‘peaceful worshipers during Ramadan’

Palestinians attend Eid al-Fitr holiday celebrations at Al Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean/ File)

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller calls on Israel “to facilitate access to the Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers during Ramadan, consistent with past practice.”

“It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s not just a matter of granting people religious freedom that they deserve, to which they have a right, but it’s also a matter that is directly important to Israel’s security,” Miller says when asked about the issue during a press briefing.

“It is not in Israel’s security interest to inflame tensions in the West Bank or in the broader region. And so we’ll continue to make that clear,” he adds.

The remarks come at the same time as reports that Israel was weighing the imposition of sweeping restrictions on Temple Mount access for Israeli Arabs and West Bank Palestinians during Ramadan.

However, Channel 12 reported earlier this evening that blanket restrictions against Arab Israelis were taken off the table by the war cabinet.

Sidelining Ben Gvir, war cabinet rejects Ramadan restrictions on Arab Israelis at Temple Mount

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tours the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av, July 27, 2023. (Temple Mount Administration)

Channel 12 reports that the war cabinet has decided against imposing sweeping restrictions against Arab Israelis at the Temple Mount on Ramadan next month.

The report — which does not cite any sources — says that the war cabinet has also decided that it will be the sole body making decisions regarding policy at the flashpoint Temple Mount on Ramadan, sidelining far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Police will be tasked with determining the cap for Muslim worshipers at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound based strictly on safety concerns.

As in years past, restrictions on specific Muslim worshipers will be determined strictly based on Shin Bet intelligence.

The report says that 50,000 to 60,000 worshipers will be allowed at the site initially, and the number will be expanded if there are no security incidents.

Gantz says he’ll answer Gallant’s call to advance bill aimed at drafting Haredim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and Minister Benny Gantz attend a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz welcomes Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s call to draft ultra-Orthodox Israelis, saying his National Unity party will work with the defense minister to promote legislation aimed at scrapping the blanket conscription exemptions currently enjoyed by Haredim.

“All parts of Israeli society should take part in the right to serve. This is a security, national, and social need,” Gantz says after Gallant’s press conference. “We will work together with Defense Minister Galant, with all factions of the Knesset and all parts of Israeli society to promote an Israeli service outline with broad agreement as soon as possible.”

Opposition chair Yair Lapid responds to Gallant by saying that his Yesh Atid party will be submitting Haredi conscription legislation next week. “It is egalitarian, efficient, and fair. All the Likud has to do is act like a Zionist party and vote for it. We can’t win together if we don’t fight together.”

Israeli official rejects Haniyeh claim that Hamas showing flexibility in hostage talks

Families of the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza march towards Jerusalem from the site of the Re'im music festival massacre, in southern Israel, February 28, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90).

After Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh claims the terror organization is showing flexibility in talks around a hostage release deal, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that “we don’t know of any Hamas flexibility.”

At the same time, the official pointed out, the mid-level team Israel sent to Doha is still there, an indication that there has been no crisis in the indirect talks.

The official said that the negotiators would stay there as long as there was a reason, countering reports in Hebrew media that they would be returning tomorrow.

Bakeries smashed in Gaza bombardment exacerbate hunger crisis

Palestinian crowds struggle to buy bread from a bakery in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 19, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Dahman)

The rubble and twisted metal of Kamel Ajour’s smashed-up Gaza bakery underscores one reason starving people in the north of the bombarded enclave are reduced to eating raw cactus leaves after nearly five months of war.

Bread will be critical to any sustained effort to relieve Palestinian hunger, with the UN saying that one in six children in northern Gaza is wasting from malnutrition, but most bakeries lie in rubble from Israeli bombardment and aid deliveries of flour are rare.

“We have five bakeries. This bakery was bombed and other bakeries have been damaged. We have three bakeries that can become functional,” Ajour says in a video obtained by Reuters in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza City in the north of the enclave.

A crane lifted equipment that Ajour hoped to salvage from the ruins. Inside, the metal ovens and trays were in a ramshackle pile amid the wreckage.

An Israeli truce proposal now being studied by Hamas would reportedly allow for the import of bakery equipment and fuel to revive the ovens.

“It is most important to have a ceasefire and for bakeries to function again so we can find something to eat, and for our children, our loved ones, our families,” Basel Khairuldeen says in Gaza City.

With bakeries destroyed or unable to function for lack of fuel, people have had to bake bread themselves as best they can over fires made with wood salvaged from ruined buildings.

Even small amounts of flour are often impossible to find, or too expensive to buy when available. People make bread from animal feed and birdseed. Most say they only eat once a day, at most.

Sitting by a still intact house in Jabalia, the Awadeya family has taken to eating the leaves of prickly pear cactuses to ward off hunger.

While the fruit of prickly pear cactuses are commonly eaten around the Mediterranean, the thick, sinewy leaves are only ever consumed by animals, mashed up in their feed.

Marwan al-Awadeya sits in a wheelchair, peeling off the spines and slicing off chunks of the cactus for himself and two small children, in a video obtained by Reuters.

“We’re living in famine. We have exhausted everything. There’s nothing left to eat,” he said, adding that he had lost 30 kg (66 pounds) from hunger during the conflict.

Gallant calls for drafting ultra-Orthodox in order to attain Gaza war aims

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on February 28, 2024. (Screen capture)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calls for all parts of Israeli society, most notably the ultra-Orthodox, to be drafted to military service, citing a “national need” during the ongoing war.

For decades, ultra-Orthodox Israelis have held a near-blanket exemption from national service in favor of religious studies.

“To attain the goals of the war, to handle the threats from Gaza, from Lebanon, from Judea and Samaria, and to prepare for the emerging threats from the east, we need unity and partnership in decisions about our future,” Gallant says in a press conference.

“Today, there is a real national need for the extension of the service time of the standing army soldiers, and in extending the service period of the reservists,” he says, referring to plans announced by the IDF earlier this month to lengthen the amount of time soldiers serve.

“The war has proved that everyone must go ‘under the stretcher,'” Gallant says.

He says the “burden of service” has been a challenge for 75 years, which now comes “in a time of war we have not known for 75 years.”

“Therefore, we are required to make agreements and decisions, which we haven’t made in 75 years,” he says.

“As the defense minister of the State of Israel, who commands the troops to the battlefield, I turn to my colleagues in the coalition and government, to all members of the Knesset, and to the entire public, and say: The State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people. The Torah protected the people of Israel throughout 2,000 years of exile.

“We cherish and appreciate those who dedicate their lives to learning the Torah. However, without physical existence, there is no spiritual existence. Our security challenges demonstrate that everyone must bear the burden [of service]. All parts of society,” Gallant says.

Gallant says he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister Benny Gantz, heads of the ultra-Orthodox parties, and other coalition members, telling them that “it is possible and important to reach an agreed framework for a draft [law].”

“I call on the prime minister, to lead a joint course with all coalition factions, and reach the necessary agreements on the draft law. I hope there are also parts of the opposition that will join the framework that will be formulated,” he says.

Gallant says drafting all parts of society is “essential to winning the war.”

“This is not a partisan issue. It is not a sectoral matter. This is a national-security matter of utmost importance,” he adds.

The defense minister indicates that he will not back a new Haredi draft bill unless it has the support of war cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, all but putting to bed efforts to pass legislation solely with the support of the original right-wing coalition.

McConnell will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November

US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., talks, after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, on February 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mariam Zuhaib)

Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power for almost two decades, in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party, will step down from that position in November.

McConnell, who turned 82 last week, is set to announce his decision today in the well of the Senate, a place where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front row seat afforded the party leaders.

“One of life’s most under-appreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter,” he says in his prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. “So I stand before you today… to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate.”

His decision punctuates a powerful ideological transition underway in the Republican Party, from Ronald Reagan’s brand of traditional conservatism and strong international alliances, to the fiery, often isolationist populism of former president Donald Trump.

According to the remarks, McConnell plans to serve out his Senate term, which ends in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.” Aides say McConnell’s announcement about the leadership post is unrelated to his health. The Kentucky senator had a concussion from a fall last year and two public episodes where his face briefly froze while he was speaking.

“As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work,” McConnell says in his prepared remarks. “A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today.”

The senator has been under increasing pressure from the restive, and at times hostile, wing of his party that aligned firmly with Trump. The two have been estranged since December 2020, when McConnell refused to abide Trump’s lie that the election of Democrat Joe Biden as president was the product of fraud.

But while McConnell’s critics within the GOP conference grew louder, their numbers did not grow appreciably larger, a marker of McConnell’s strategic and tactical skill and his ability to understand the needs of his fellow Republican senators.

McConnell gives no specific reason for the timing of his decision, which he has been contemplating for months, but he cites the recent death of his wife’s youngest sister as a moment that prompted introspection. “The end of my contributions are closer than I’d prefer,” McConnell says.

But his remarks are also light at times, speaking of the arc of his Senate career.

US Congress leaders work toward spending deal to avert Saturday government shutdowns

US House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana arrives for a closed-door Republican caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, February 14, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The US Congress has three days to avert a partial government shutdown, as leading lawmakers and their aides work behind closed doors to overcome disagreements between the two parties and within the fractious House Republican majority over budget and policy priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, opens the Senate declaring that “we are very close” to an agreement on legislation funding a handful of government agencies through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

Referring to the meeting he attended at the White House on Tuesday with US President Joe Biden and the other three top bipartisan leaders of Congress, Schumer said: “We all agree a shutdown is a loser for the American people.”

But Schumer provides no details on the deal he said was imminent.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has offered Democrats the possibility of a fourth short-term stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown this weekend. But first, Democrats and Republicans would have to cut a deal on a number of fiscal 2024 appropriations bills that face staggered deadlines of March 1 and March 8 for the array of government agencies.

A continuing resolution, or “CR,” could extend the shutdown deadlines to March 8 and March 22.

“Any CR would be part of a larger agreement to finish a number of appropriations bills, ensuring adequate time for drafting text and for members to review prior to casting votes,” Johnson spokesperson Athina Lawson says in a statement.

Without passage of some sort of legislation by early Saturday, operations within the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development could be curtailed. Construction at some US military installations could also be stalled.

No injuries in fresh rocket attack on north, IDF says; launcher in Lebanon struck

IDF footage of a strike on a rocket launcher in southern Lebanon on February 28, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

The IDF confirms that several rockets were fired at the Western Galilee a short while ago, with some impacting open areas and others falling short in Lebanon.

There are no injuries, after sirens sound in a number of towns near the northern border.

The army also says it struck a rocket launcher in southern Lebanon used in an attack earlier today on Kiryat Shmona.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the barrages, saying it fired 40 Grad rockets at army bases in the area. According to the IDF, only some 15 rockets crossed the border, one of which hit a home in Kiryat Shmona.

The IDF also says it struck several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon’s Ibl al-Saqi, Bint Jbeil, and Yaroun.

The IDF says it struck a rocket launcher in southern Lebanon used in an attack earlier today on Kiryat Shmona.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the barrages, saying it fired 40 Grad rockets at army bases in the area. According to the IDF, only some 15 rockets crossed the border,… pic.twitter.com/zWyBOzlLuS

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 28, 2024

Authorities warned of unrest if Muslims barred from Temple Mount on Ramadan

Channel 12 news reports that unnamed senior police officials are warning that unrest could be sparked in Jerusalem and mixed Arab-Jewish cities in the event that authorities place curbs on Muslim citizens attending prayers atop the Temple Mount over Ramadan.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has authority over the police, has reportedly pushed for men under a certain age to be banned from reaching the compound, considered the third holiest in Islam.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed security officials at a cabinet meeting earlier this month to present options for age criteria and quotas that could be placed on Arab citizens who wish to visit the holy site for the holiday, reportedly sparking warnings from Shin Bet head Ronen Bar that the move could lead to religiously tinged violence.

According to Channel 12, police officials noted that Arab citizens of Israel did not protest the country’s military campaign in Gaza, lowering fears that they could prove a security risk.

That same point is also made in a letter to police chief Kobi Shabtai from the Abraham Initiatives coexistence group, which highlights increased tensions between police and worshipers during the sensitive period. The letter notes that Muslim citizens are entitled to freedom of worship as any other citizen.

“We warn against the unrest that could break out following irresponsible actions, whether on the ground or in racist or Islamophobic statements,” the group says.

In Haredi city of Elad, Shas candidate ousts longtime United Torah Judaism mayor

Yehuda Botbol, a local politician representing the Sephardic Haredi party Shas in the city of Elad, unseats incumbent mayor Yisrael Porush from the United Torah Judaism party.

Botbol’s hefty triumph in Tuesday’s local election – the challenger received 55% of the vote compared to Porush’s 44% — constitutes a symbolic changing of the guard in Elad, a Haredi city which for the past decade has had an Ashkenazi mayor even though the majority of its residents are believed to be of Sephardic descent.

Porush’s loss follows multiple controversies involving him, including his handing out cigarettes to minors in March and his unlicensed procurement of lemur monkeys for Elad’s zoo in 2018, which prompted the Nature and Parks Authority to raid the facility and impound the animals.

That incident is making headlines this month following the airing this week of a Channel 12 expose that shows Porush was present during the capture of the monkeys under unclear circumstances from an animal shelter. A contractor hired to catch the lemurs died within hours of being bitten by one of them, the expose also reveals.

Elad, which was established in 1994 near Petah Tikvah and got its first residents four years later, has about 50,000 residents, nearly all of them Haredi.

Five organizations supporting hostages’ families awarded Genesis Prize

Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of Israelis held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza at 'Hostages Square' in Tel Aviv, February 24, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

Five organizations supporting the families of those held hostage by Hamas in Gaza have been awarded Israel’s prestigious 2024 Genesis prize.

The $1 million award is usually given to a person for their professional achievements, contributions to humanity and commitment to Jewish values. This year, the organization made a different choice with Israelis focusing on the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip.

“The purpose of this year’s award is not to influence policy, but to raise international awareness of the plight of the hostages and provide humanitarian assistance focused on recovery, rehabilitation, and treatment,” says a co-founder of the prize, Stan Polovets.

The recipients include the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a grassroots group that sprang up in the wake of October 7 to advocate for the return of the abductees.

Roughly 100 of the hostages were freed about 50 days into their captivity. Some 130 others remain in Gaza as negotiations are underway in Qatar. Israel says about a quarter of them are dead.

Prize money will also go to the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, Lev Echad, Natal, The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, and OneFamily.

UK broadcast journalists demand open access to Gaza

A tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the Israeli offensive is seen in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 27, 2024. (Hatem Ali/AP)

More than 50 UK-based broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the Israeli and Egyptian embassies calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media, British media reports.

The letter, from 55 correspondents and presenters from the main broadcasting outlets based in the UK, appeals for better protection for journalists already reporting in the territory.

“Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military,” says the letter, quoted by multiple local media outlets.

“We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.”

It calls on Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Journalists who signed the letter include Alex Crawford from Sky News, Jeremy Bowen from the BBC and Christiane Amanpour from CNN.

Although some journalists have been invited to briefly “embed” with the Israel Defense Forces for escorted tours inside Gaza, they have been prohibited from talking to any of the Palestinians there.

Israel’s Supreme Court on January 9 rejected a request from international media for free access to Gaza, citing safety concerns.

Trepidation and elation: Hundreds of evacuees from Shlomit return to their village near Gaza border

Oz Sasson, a member of Shlomit's security team who was wounded fighting terrorist on October 7, and his wife return to their community on February 28, 2024. (Courtesy of the General Secretariat of Shlomit)

Traveling in a convoy of cars, some 500 people are making their way from a hotel near Jerusalem to Shlomit, a town near Gaza whose 82 households were evacuated on October 7.

The population of Shlomit “has fears and concerns about security, but is also elated to be back,” Yitzhak Elnekaveh, a 38-year-old father of five, tells The Times of Israel over the phone. Shlomit is one of several evacuated communities that have returned to the south in recent weeks.

Elnekaveh says he’s concerned over the prospect of an IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which he fears would leave Shlomit and other border-area communities vulnerable to another attack by the Hamas terror group.

Residents of Shlomit during a Tu Bishvat event on February 11, 2017. (Courtesy of the General Secretariat of Shlomit)

“Only a permanent presence — military or otherwise — in the Gaza Strip can ensure security here,” says Elnekaveh, a lettuce farmer whose family was among the 18 founding households of Shlomit, a religious-Zionist village established in 2010 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) from the border.

Shlomit now has 15 orphans, the children of four of its members who were killed fighting terrorists in neighboring Pri Gan. Some houses in Shlomit require restoration following rocket hits from Gaza, Elnekaveh says, estimating it will take months to repair the damage.

The government is expected this week to extend the eligibility of evacuees for state-funded accommodations, though potentially at the expense of benefits offered to returnees.

PA foreign minister says Hamas knows it cannot be in new ‘technocratic’ government

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki speaks during a press conference on the sideline of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 28, 2024. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says he believes Hamas understands why it should not be part of a new government in the Palestinian territories.

Maliki tells a press conference that a “technocratic” government is needed, without the Islamist terror group which is fighting a bitter war against Israel.

“The time now is not for a national coalition government,” Maliki says.

“The time now is not for a government where Hamas will be part of it, because, in this case, then it will be boycotted by a number of countries, as happened before,” he tells the UN correspondents’ association.

“We don’t want to be in a situation like that. We want to be accepted and engaging fully with the international community,” he explains.

German warship, part of EU Red Sea mission, shoots down two drones

Illustrative: In this image provided by the US Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab el-Mandeb strait on August 9, 2023. (Mass Communications Spc. 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/US Navy via AP)

A German warship shot down two drones in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthis and efforts by the European Union to protect international shipping, German officials say.

Shipping risks have increased due to repeated strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.

US and British forces have responded with several airstrikes on Houthi facilities but have so far failed to halt the attacks.

The German navy frigate Hessen, which was deployed earlier this month to the region, shot the drones down within 20 minutes of each one being fired, a defense ministry spokesperson tells a news briefing, declining comment on the target of the projectiles.

“They were recognized by the radar system and had a different range. That’s why two different weapons were used,” the ministry spokesperson says.

The warship identified a suspicious drone on Monday but was unable to shoot it down successfully, the spokesperson adds.

“This is… probably the most dangerous deployment of the German navy for many, many years,” a German government spokesperson tells the briefing separately.

“The increased insurance costs, along with the diversion of ships to longer routes to avoid high-risk areas, will strain global supply chains,” he says.

Over half of UK’s Conservative party members believe Islam a threat to British way of life

New UK Conservative party leader and incoming prime minister Rishi Sunak waves as he leaves the party's headquarters in central London having been announced as the winner of the leadership contest, on October 24, 2022. (Justin Tallis/AFP)

Over half of the UK’s Conservative party members believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life, a new poll finds.

Fifty-eight percent of the 521 Tory party members surveyed by Opinium say Islam poses a threat to this country.

The figure is double the overall figure of those polled.

The survey also finds that 52% believe the conspiracy theory that certain areas in European cities are under sharia law and are off-limits to non-Muslims.

Mob sets fire to synagogue courtyard in Tunisia — reports

A fire in the courtyard of a Tunisia synagogue on February 25, 2024. (Screen capture/Facebook)

A mob in Tunisia targeted a synagogue in the southeastern city of Sfax, setting fire to the building’s courtyard on Sunday, local media reports.

It is the latest apparent antisemitic attack against the backdrop of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

No one was hurt in the attack, which took place in a city where none of Tunisia’s small Jewish population lives.

Media reports say the synagogue’s windows were also damaged in the attack but that firefighters managed to gain control of the blaze before it engulfed the building itself.

Numbering over 100,000 Jews in 1948, the Tunisian Jewish community is now estimated to amount to less than 1,000.

A historic Synagogue in Tunisia was set on fire today. pic.twitter.com/lgQhITVRar

— neveragainlivepodcast@gmail.com (@neveragainlive1) February 28, 2024

Biden says he is undergoing annual medical checkup

US President Joe Biden walks out of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, to board Marine One for a short trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for his annual physical. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

US President Joe Biden says he is undergoing his routine yearly medical checkup today, amid concerns about his fitness and mental acuity as he runs for reelection.

“I’m going to Walter Reed to get my physical,” Biden, 81, tells reporters as he left the White House for a short helicopter ride to a military hospital in suburban Washington.

IDF opening new mental health center amid fears troops developing PTSD

IDF soldiers patrolling in the Gaza Strip in a photo released by the military, Feb. 22, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson)

The military’s Medical Corps will tomorrow inaugurate a new mental health center for soldiers, amid fears of troops developing post-traumatic stress disorder during the fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF also reports that some 85% of 1,730 soldiers — or 1,470 — who were treated by army mental health experts have returned to active service.

The new mental health center will include a clinic to treat PTSD among troops, the IDF says.

In other statistics provided by the IDF, some 30,000 soldiers have undergone group discussions with army mental health experts; some 3,450 soldiers have called up a mental health hotline; and the IDF has called up some 270 reservist mental health experts.

PA minister: No ‘miracles’ expected at Moscow talks with Hamas on unified government

Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki (center) and PA ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, right, take their seats at the United Nations' highest court which opened hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says he does not expect “miracles” at talks in Moscow to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of Gaza.

The talks between representatives of Hamas and the Fatah political faction, scheduled to take place in the Russian capital tomorrow, come days after PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigned along with the rest of the cabinet he heads.

The shake-up, Maliki says, was designed to build support for an expanded role for the PA following Israel’s war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. Maliki and the rest of the outgoing ministers are remaining in their posts until a new cabinet is appointed.

“We hope that there we might be good results in terms of mutual understanding between all factions about the need to support such a technocratic government that will emerge,” Maliki says of the talks.

“Of course, we don’t expect miracles to happen in just a simple meeting in Moscow, but I believe that the meeting in Moscow should be followed by other meetings in the region soon.”

Maliki, who is speaking on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, says the government’s resignation had been designed to prevent international partners from saying the Authority was not cooperating with calls for it to reform.

“We want to show our readiness… to engage and to be ready, just to not to be seen as an obstacle between the implementation of any process that should take further,” he says.

Maliki also accused the United Nations Security Council of “failing” the Palestinian people in its inability to agree on a ceasefire resolution, echoing comments by UN chief Antonio Guterres who said the body’s authority had “perhaps fatally” been undermined by its lack of unity on the issue.

“Now in Gaza, it seems that the ceasefire is a farfetched objective to be attained,” Maliki says. “As a result, we see people dying.”

Aid group says 21% of pregnant women it has treated in last 3 weeks in Gaza are malnourished

Palestinians mourn a baby killed in the Israel-Hamas war in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

A humanitarian group operating a clinic in the Gaza Strip says 21% of the pregnant women it has treated in the last three weeks are suffering from malnutrition.

Project Hope, which runs a primary health clinic in the central town of Deir al-Balah, says that 11% of the children under 5 it has treated during the same period are also malnourished.

UN officials say the Israel-Hamas war has pushed a quarter of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians to the brink of famine.

Project Hope says “people have reported eating nothing but white bread as fruit, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods are nearly impossible to find or too expensive.”

Malnutrition is especially dangerous for pregnant women and newborns, who require additional nutrients.

Two babies starve to death in northern Gaza — Hamas health ministry

Two infants died from dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City, says the spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra. He warns that infant mortality threatens to surge.

“Dehydration and malnutrition will kill thousands of children and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip,” he says.

The UN Population Fund says the Al Helal Al Emirati maternity hospital in Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah reported that newborns were dying because mothers were unable to get prenatal or postnatal care.

Premature births are also rising, forcing staff to put four or five newborns in a single incubator. Most of them do not survive, it said, without giving figures on the numbers of deaths.

Khamenei urges Iranians to vote Friday in show of strength to nation’s ‘enemies’

Iranian women attend an election campaign rally ahead of the March 1, parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections as a representation of the Israeli flag is placed on the ground, in Tehran, Iran, February 27, 2024. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iran’s supreme leader urges voters to come out in droves on Friday and show the foes of the Islamic Republic a “strong and fervent” election process for parliament and the key Assembly of Experts.

“The enemies of Iran want to see if the people are present” on polling day for the 290-seat legislature and the 88-member Assembly, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says.

If citizens fail to cast their ballots in large numbers, the 84-year-old supreme leader warns in an address to first-time voters, Iran’s enemies “will threaten your security in one way or another.”

The election comes as Israel is fighting the Tehran-backed terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Some 13.2% of Michigan Democrats cast protest vote against Biden’s Israel support – tally

People hug at the Listen to Michigan watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on February 27, 2024 (JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

US President Joe Biden’s campaign and top Democratic officials vow to double down on efforts to win over voters, after Michigan registered a stronger-than-anticipated protest vote over his support of Israel in its war against the Hamas terror group.

About 13.2 percent of Michigan Democrats cast a ballot for “uncommitted” in the primary, following a weeks-long push by activists, an Edison Research tally shows.

With about 85% of all votes counted, the uncommitted vote was already over 100,000 votes, far higher than expectations. The Uncommitted movement, also called Listen to Michigan, had set a goal of drawing 10,000 votes — the margin by which Donald Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election.

Turnout for the Democratic primary was also high, at some 900,000 voters overall; about 81% of those votes backed Biden.

Biden’s campaign will continue to “make our case in the state – to both uncommitted voters and the entire Michigan constituency,” a senior campaign official says as the results were tallied. “The President will continue to work for peace in the Middle East.”

The campaign was initiated by activists from Michigan’s large Arab-American population, which numbers more than 300,000. Since the early days of the Israel-Hamas war, Arab and Muslim Americans have warned that Biden’s staunch support of Israel could cost their votes in November.

IDF says it carried out airstrike on Palestinian gunman during overnight Jenin raid

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike on a Palestinian gunman during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin overnight.

According to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency, one man was moderately wounded in the drone strike.

Troops operated in Jenin to arrest a wanted Palestinian and uncovered explosive devices planted under the roads, the IDF says.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, another nine terror suspects were detained, the IDF says.

Since October 7, the IDF says, troops have arrested some 3,400 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,500 affiliated with Hamas.

Gas prices to rise for third month in a row

Illustrative image of a car being refueled at a gas station, in Jerusalem, on March 11, 2022. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

The Energy Ministry announces that gas prices will rise at midnight tomorrow night for the third month in a row.

The maximum price for a self-service liter of 95 gasoline will increase by no more than 13 agorot (four US cents) to NIS 7.51 (approximately $2.08).

Egypt’s Sissi: ‘We hope to reach Gaza ceasefire agreement in the coming days’

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi gestures during a meeting with the French armies minister at the Ittihadia presidential Palace in Cairo on November 15, 2023. (Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi expresses hope that there may be a deal reached soon for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is battling the Hamas terror group.

“We hope that in the coming days we will reach a ceasefire and that there will be real relief for the people of Gaza,” he says, according to the Ynet news site.

The comments come amid hopes an agreement could be reached between Israel and Hamas that would see a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza.

Preliminary Jerusalem results show unprecedented Haredi majority on city council

A woman votes in the municipal elections in Jerusalem, on February 27, 2024 (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Preliminary results from the Jerusalem municipal elections indicate an unprecedented ultra-Orthodox takeover of the city council, with Haredi parties winning just over half the seats in the 31-seat legislative body.

While soldiers’ votes have yet to be counted and could alter the balance of power in the council, as things stand at the moment the ultra-Orthodox parties hold a collective 17 seats, with additional seats held by religious nationalist factions.

The Hasidic Agudat Yisrael party has come in at three seats, the non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party at seven, the Jerusalem Faction-affiliated Bnei Torah at one, and the Sephardic Shas at six. In addition, the anti-LGBT Noam party and ultra-nationalist Deputy Mayor Arieh King’s United party are each expected to hold a single seat on the council.

This unprecedented showing for the ultra-Orthodox may have less to do with changing demographics in the capital than with the low voter turnout among mainstream voters this year, according to Jerusalem City Councilor Laura Wharton of the Meretz party.

“The major issue here was and is voting patterns and it’s always been known that the Haredim vote en masse and other groups do not,” she says.

“This time not only were there the usual differences in turnout but the majority mainstream Israeli population is still suffering and experiencing the war and turned out less than they usually do,” she explains. “For the Haredim it was business and usual and that was far more a determinant than the demographics.”

According to the Interior Ministry, only 31.5% of eligible voters in Jerusalem cast ballots yesterday.

Former finance minister Avraham Shochat dies aged 88

Avraham Shochat speaks during a memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, in Tel Aviv on November 2, 2021 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former finance minister Avraham “Baiga” Shochat has died at the age of 88, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital says in a statement.

Shochat was born in Tel Aviv but was one of the founders of Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the Gaza border, and served as mayor of Arad for 22 years.

A lawmaker for the Labor party, he served as finance minister in Rabin’s government at the time of the prime minister’s assassination, and also served under Ehud Barak.

Predeceased by his wife Tama, the daughter of former prime minister Levi Eshkol, he is survived by three children and seven grandchildren.

Gazans burn tires in Rafah as they protest rising costs

Palestinians burn tires during a protest in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 28, 2024 (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Gazans are burning tires at a protest in the southern city of Rafah against rising prices.

“Did they bring us from Gaza [City] to here to provide us with food and drink, or to kill us?” one man says to AFP, without clarifying if he is referring to the Hamas terror group, which runs the enclave, or to Israel which called on civilians to evacuate amid the fighting.

“I do not see any government official here,” he says.

Costs for Gazan civilians are rocketing in the enclave due to a scarcity of supplies and price-gouging.

The United Nations has warned that 2.2 million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine.

IDF says it coordinated humanitarian airdrops to southern Gaza by several nations

IDF troops observe aid airdropped to southern Gaza, February 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it coordinated the airdrop of food and medical supplies by several nations to the southern Gaza Strip over the past two days.

Some 160 packages of humanitarian aid were airdropped to 17 locations along the southern coastline of the Gaza Strip, using American, Egyptian, Emirati, French, and Jordanian planes, the IDF says,

Additional packages of food, medical supplies, and fuel were also airdropped to a Jordanian field hospital in Khan Younis, the IDF says.

The IDF says that the airdrop is in addition to trucks of humanitarian aid that enter the Strip daily.

Gaza hostage’s daughter: ‘We will fight until everyone returns, the living and the murdered’

An aerial view shows relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7, marching to Jerusalem calling for their release, on February 28, 2024 in Reim (Jack GUEZ/AFP)

As the families of the hostages walk on the first day of the four-day march to Jerusalem from Kibbutz Re’im, the site where dozens of Nova partygoers were slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, they stop at the Sa’ad junction on their way to Sderot.

Raz Matalon, married to Osnat Sharabi, sister of hostage Eli Sharabi and of Yossi Sharabi who was killed in captivity, likely as the result of an IDF strike, talks about the pain of being so close to Kibbutz Be’eri, where the two brothers and their families lived.

On October 7, Eli Sharabi’s wife and two daughters were killed and he was taken captive, while his brother, Yossi, was taken hostage separately.

“At the end of the road, we meet neither Eli nor Yossi nor Eli’s family who were all murdered, and we look at the landscape so familiar to us,” says Matalon. “The eucalyptus trees, the spring that starts to bloom and the anemones, and we remember the days that the entire family spent here, days of picnics, days of joy, days of love for nature and for each other… days when we wouldn’t wake up sad every morning.”

Raz Matalon, brother-in-law of hostage Eli Sharabi, speaks on February 28, 2024, during four-day march from south to Jerusalem (Screen grab)

Yuli Ben Ami, daughter of released hostage Raz Ben Ami and current hostage Ohad Ben Ami, thanks the marchers, the security forces and the staff of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum who organized the event.

Her mother returned after 54 days, says Ben Ami, “sore and exhausted… My father is strong and we will fight until he returns to us, until everyone returns, the living and the murdered.”

Haniyeh: Hamas is showing flexibility in negotiations, but ready to continue fighting

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)

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh says that while the terror group is showing flexibility in talks for a potential deal that would see the release of hostages held in Gaza and a temporary ceasefire, it is prepared to continue to fight.

In the televised speech, Haniyeh also calls on the so-called “axis of resistance” to step up its attacks.

Axis of resistance is a term often used by Iranian officials to refer to the Islamic Republic and its allies like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and other Shiite forces in Iraq and Syria.

The terror leader additionally calls on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to the flashpoint Temple Mount on the first day of Ramadan.

The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, is considered the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood, and the third-holiest site in Islam, making it a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Yesterday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Hamas’s main goal is to take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of its plan that began on October 7. This is the main goal of Hamas, and it is being amplified by Iran and Hezbollah.”

Security cabinet to meet Thursday amid efforts for temporary ceasefire, hostage deal

The security cabinet is set to meet tomorrow evening amid efforts to secure a deal that would see a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza.

The US-drafted proposal reportedly provides for a six-week pause in fighting during which some 40 hostages would be freed in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners.

While some reports yesterday suggested “cautious optimism” over the chance for a deal, Army Radio said earlier today that Hamas had given a largely negative response to the proposal.

Navalny to be buried Friday in Moscow; venues refuse to hold memorial event

A woman touches a photo of Alexei Navalny after laying flowers paying the last respect to him at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia on Feb. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s funeral service and burial will take place in Moscow on Friday, his spokesperson says, after a search for a hall to allow his supporters to bid farewell to him failed.

Kira Yarmysh, his spokesperson, posts on X that a service for Navalny would be held on Friday at 1400 Moscow time (1100 GMT) in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Moscow district of Maryino. She tells people to get there early.

Navalny would then be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery, she says.

Navalny, 47, died at an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16. His allies have accused President Vladimir Putin of having him murdered because the Russian leader could allegedly not tolerate the thought of Navalny being freed in a potential prisoner swap.

Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll passed 29,900

Palestinians walk damaged buildings in the Maghazi camp, which was severely damaged by Israeli strikes on February 27, 2024. (AFP)

At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says.

The terror group’s figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.

Israel has said it killed some 12,000 Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in the aftermath of the terror group’s October 7 invasion and onslaught.

IDF says it hit Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon, including weapons depots

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon this morning and overnight, including a weapons depot and manufacturing plant.

Sites hit by fighter jets a short while ago included a Hezbollah weapons depot and other buildings used by the terror group in Ramyeh, the IDF says.

Overnight, the IDF says it struck a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing plant in Khirbet Selm.

Following rocket fire on Kiryat Shmona this morning, claimed by Hamas, the IDF also says it shelled the launch sites with artillery.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מחסן אמצעי לחימה ומבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב רמיה שבדרום לבנון.

במהלך הלילה, צה"ל תקף אתר לייצור אמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ח'רבת סלם >> pic.twitter.com/yZV4OhJaxF

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 28, 2024

Hamas claims it fired 40 Grad rockets from Lebanon at IDF bases near Kiryat Shmona

Building in Kiryat Shmona damaged by rocket fire from Lebanon on February 28, 2024 (Kiryat Shmona Municipality)

The Hamas terror group says its Lebanon branch fired a barrage of rockets at the Kiryat Shmona area this morning.

In a statement, Hamas claims to have fired 40 Grad rockets from Lebanon at IDF bases near Kiryat Shmona.

The IDF identified only some 10 rockets crossing the border, one of which struck a building in Kiryat Shmona, causing damage but no injuries.

Earlier, another four rockets were fired at the city, which caused no damage.

IDF says troops killed dozens of Hamas operatives, hit area from which rockets were fired at Ashkelon

Soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released for publication on February 28, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it killed dozens of Hamas operatives across the Gaza Strip over the past day, releasing footage of a strike on a gunman who tried to flee after opening fire at troops.

The Hamas gunman who opened fire at troops was spotted by soldiers of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who called in an airstrike.

Overnight, the IDF says it carried out airstrikes on eight “significant targets” in an area from which rockets were fired at Ashkelon last night.

Several more sites in the area, including tunnel shafts, were also struck, the IDF adds.

In southern Gaza, the IDF says the 7th Armored Brigade raided Hamas sites, captured weapons, as well as killed a five-man Hamas cell in a vehicle using a guided munition.

Also in Khan Younis, the IDF says fighter jets struck buildings where Hamas operatives were gathered and preparing to attack troops; the Paratroopers Brigade killed several gunmen with sniper fire; and the Givati Brigade called in airstrikes on two operatives.

In central Gaza, the IDF says it is continuing to operate in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, where the Nahal Brigade killed several Hamas gunmen and located weapons over the past day.

מרכז האש של פיקוד הדרום וחיל האוויר, תקפו שמונה מטרות משמעותיות באיזור ממנו שוגר תמ"ס לאשקלון אמש ובהמשך, פירים ותשתיות טרור מהם יצאו מחבלים לביצוע פעולות טרור ברצועה.

צוות הקרב של חטיבה 7 פשט על מבנים במערב חאן יונס ואיתר אמצעי לחימה וציוד צבאי >> pic.twitter.com/2XIV0jrrqD

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 28, 2024

Hamas reportedly objects to outline deal for hostages, temporary ceasefire: ‘A Zionist document’

A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas-led cross-border terror onslaught in Israel, seen in Jerusalem, February 26, 2024. (Leo Correa/AP)

Army Radio reports that Hamas has responded negatively to a proposed outline for a deal for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages.

The unsourced report says Hamas representatives termed the proposal “a Zionist document,” and objected to the fact that it does not relate to Hamas’s demand for an end to the war, does not include Israeli agreement to the full return of internally displaced residents to northern Gaza, and envisages too few Palestinian security prisoners being freed in return for Israeli hostages.

The US-drafted proposal reportedly provides for a six-week pause in fighting during which some 40 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza would be freed.

The Army Radio report came after the Kan public broadcaster yesterday quoted an Israeli official expressing “very cautious optimism” about the prospects for progress on an agreement.

COGAT says 31 trucks carrying food entered northern Gaza

A convoy of 31 trucks carrying food have entered the northern Gaza Strip, according to the military liaison to the Palestinians, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

COGAT says close to 50 trucks have traveled to the northern part of the enclave over the past three days, and adds that “there is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza.”

Overnight, (Feb 28.) A convoy of 31 trucks carrying food made its way to northern Gaza Strip.
Over the last 3 days, close to 50 trucks were transferred to the northern Gaza Strip.
There is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/WSfEuickGL

— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 28, 2024

Northern Gaza is seeing a spiraling humanitarian crisis, with aid agencies unable to get into the area because of the fighting, and the frenzied looting of the few trucks that try to enter.

Israel has denied fault for the low numbers of trucks entering the enclave and blamed humanitarian organizations operating inside Gaza, saying hundreds of trucks filled with aid sit idle on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The UN, in turn, said it can’t always reach the trucks at the crossing because it is at times too dangerous.

Trucks carrying aid into Gaza have intermittently been held up at Kerem Shalom by Israeli protesters demonstrating against sending humanitarian aid to the Strip while hostages remained in Hamas captivity.

Additionally, Israel has long accused Hamas of appropriating and stealing aid from an increasingly desperate civilian population.

The World Food Programme this week said its teams reported “unprecedented levels of desperation” in Gaza while the United Nations warned that 2.2 million people were on the brink of famine.

The war was sparked by the devastating October 7 attack by the Hamas terror group.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Hamas, Fatah officials to meet in Moscow for talks on potential unity government, Gaza reconstruction

Representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow tomorrow to discuss the formation of a unified government and the rebuilding of Gaza, the RIA Novosti state news agency reports, citing the Palestinian ambassador to Russia.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also confirms to RIA Novosti that such a meeting is planned.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday he was resigning to allow for the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements after the conclusion of Israel’s war against terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The move came amid growing US pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to shake up the Authority, which would allow it to take a greater role in ruling postwar Gaza.

Freed hostage at start of march from Gaza border to Jerusalem: ‘I’m marching for my husband and the others’

Sharon Alony Cunio speaks at the start of a march from Kibbutz Reim to Jerusalem, February 28, 2024 (Courtesy Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

In a cleared field of Kibbutz Re’im, ringed by eucalyptus trees and filled with families of hostages holding posters with the familiar faces of their loved ones, a four-day march organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum begins, in the very location where hundreds of Supernova partygoers were killed or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Forum spokesperson Haim Rubinstein offers condolences for the two soldiers whose deaths in Gaza were announced this morning, and reminds listeners what happened in this clearing when “young people who wanted to party and to love found themselves in a nightmare that no one could imagine.”

The four-day march will pass through “many cities” on the way to Jerusalem, says Rubinstein, who asks people to join at some point or for the entire journey, to unite for the purpose of freeing the hostages.

Released hostage Sharon Alony Cunio, who was in captivity in Gaza with her twin three-year-old daughters until the end of November, and whose husband David Cunio is still a hostage there, refers to a previous march of the hostage families, held prior to the November release of 105 hostages.

“I couldn’t march last time,” she says, “I’m marching this time for my husband and all the hostages, in this important struggle.”

There’s no other way to emphasize the importance of bringing home the hostages, says Dekel Lifschitz, whose grandfather, Oded Lifschitz, is still held hostage and whose grandmother, Yocheved Lifschitz, was released in October.

“We’re a big family in Israel, and we’re waiting to see 134 people of this family,” says Lifschitz. “This is for all of us who live here and want the most obvious thing, that our country will have our back. Grandpa, be strong, your nation is coming for you.”

Nova survivor Niv Cohen went to the party with four friends, two of whom were taken hostage — Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dallal — and two of whom were killed — Ron Tzarfati and Idan Haramati — and says he can’t really begin his rehabilitation without his friends.

“I’m still here, standing,” says Cohen. “But my soul was left behind, somewhere among these trees where I hid for so many hours.”

Niv Cohen speaks at the start of a march from Kibbutz Reim to Jerusalem, February 28, 2024 (Courtesy Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Cohen says that he was a combat soldier in the army and was very appreciative of all who have been fighting for the last four and a half months. Now it was time for the hostages to come home, he said.

The parents of Omer Neutra, Ronen and Orna Neutra, say they can’t believe that they haven’t been able to bring Omer home yet.

Orna Neutra, the mother of hostage Omer Neutra, says, “We have no more words, no more strength, and I want to disappear until there’s a breakthrough, until they call us and tell us, ‘your diamond, Omer Neutra, is in our hands.’ And I understand there is nowhere to escape this nightmare and we can’t compare this to your nightmare, which I can’t even imagine. I’ll pick myself up again and again and again, I’ll travel to the ends of the word, I’ll speak in your name, my beautiful, silenced boy.”

Sheila Weinberg makes Israeli history as 1st transgender person to win local council seat

For the first time in Israel’s history, a transgender individual has been elected to a local council, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Sheila Weinberg will serve in Kiryat Tivon, the outlet says.

Earlier this week, Israel Hayom published a profile on Weinberg, who is a well-known social activist and a former teacher.

“On a personal and community level, we have an opportunity to break the glass ceiling this year. There are more transgender people running in local authority elections, and I really hope that we will be able to sit at the decision-making table and have an impact,” she said.

נקודת ציון להט"בית היסטורית במדינת ישראל: לראשונה – נבחרת ציבור טרנסג'נדרית – שילה ויינברג תכהן כחברת מועצה בקרית טבעון@ittaishick
צילום: כרמית שמחי רוקח pic.twitter.com/654GDgtJJQ

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 28, 2024

Some 10 rockets fired from south Lebanon; Kiryat Shmona building hit, no injuries

Around 10 rockets have been fired by terrorists in southern Lebanon toward Israeli towns this morning, Channel 12 news reports.

One rocket hit Kiryat Shmona, causing damage to a building but no injuries.

Hostages’ families to march from Gaza border to Jerusalem

The families of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza are readying to set out on a march from the border community Kibbutz Re’im to Jerusalem, under the banner of “Uniting to free the hostages.”

The march is set to arrive in the capital on Saturday.

Today, the group will first walk to Sderot, where they will hold a solidarity ceremony at the police station at 4:30 p.m.

The Sderot police station was overrun on October 7 by Hamas terrorists, who killed 35 officers and civilians there. After the terrorists barricaded themselves inside the police station and the site became the focus of fierce gun battles with Israeli forces for a number of hours, the order was given to demolish the building.

Many of the officers stationed there were the first responders in the border towns at the start of the October 7 onslaught.

The group will then walk to Kiryat Gat, where they will spend the first night.

On Thursday the group will walk from Kiryat Gat to Beit Guvrin, before continuing on to Beit Shemesh, where a ceremony will be held that evening.

On Friday morning, the group will hold a “stretcher march” in solidarity with the troops held hostage in Gaza, and will take part in a ceremony to honor those soldiers at the Sha’ar Hagai national heritage site.

The marchers will spend the night at Kibbutz Tzora, then head into Jerusalem.

A rally will be held Saturday evening at the city’s Paris Square.

It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 31 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Sirens sound near Lebanon border as second rocket barrage fired at northern towns

Sirens sound in multiple communities close to the northern border with Lebanon for the second time in 20 minutes, warning of an apparent second barrage of incoming rocket fire.

Rocket sirens sound in towns close to Lebanon border

Sirens sound in multiple communities close to the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The towns close to the northern border have been largely evacuated of civilians since October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces began launching daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border.

The terror group says it is doing so to support Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas, triggered by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned yesterday that Hezbollah would “pay a very high price” for its continued attacks on northern Israel.

Mom of missing 9-year-old Haymanut Kasau: ‘It seems her disappearance was planned. Help us find her’

Haymanut Kasau, 9, who went missing on February 25, 2024, from a Jewish Agency absorption center in Safed, northern Israel. (Courtesy)

The mother of a 9-year-old girl from the northern city of Safed who has been missing since Sunday pleads for her daughter to be found.

“It seems her disappearance was planned. Help us find her,” Benchi Kasau tells the Kan public broadcaster. “I ask the public, please help us.”

Haymanut Kasau was last seen in security footage at 7:45 p.m. on Sunday handing out municipal election leaflets outside the Jewish Agency absorption center, where she has lived for the past three years since immigrating with her family from Ethiopia.

Every room and area of the absorption center have now been thoroughly searched, with large numbers of police and volunteers joining the hunt for the child, Kan reports.

Lion appears to have won resounding victory in Jerusalem mayoral race

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion delivers a victory speech early on February 28, 2024 after securing reelection (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Jerusalem mayoral incumbent Moshe Lion appears to have cruised to victory, the Ynet news site reports.

With 99.4 percent of ballots counted, Lion wins 81.4% of the votes.

“It appears I have won another term,” he tells the outlet.

After 30 years as Holon mayor, Moti Sasson loses race: ‘I was surprised’

Results suggest that it’s the end of an era in the central city Holon as Mayor Moti Sasson appears to have lost his seat at the head of the council after some 30 years.

With 98.9 percent of the votes counted, Shai Kenan  received 43.3% of the ballots, Israel Morris Moran won 27.2%, and Sasson took just 17.8% of the votes.

“After 30 years, I was surprised,” Sasson tells the Ynet news site.

Huldai remains Tel Aviv mayor as Barbivai concedes race

Campaign posters for Orna Barbivai and Ron Huldai in Tel Aviv, on February 27, 2024 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Orna Barbivai concedes the Tel Aviv mayoral race, congratulating incumbent Ron Huldai on his victory.

“Good luck to Ron Huldai who will continue to serve as mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo,” former Yesh Atid minister Barbivai tweets.

With most of the votes counted in the coastal city, Huldai won 51 percent of the votes to Barbivai’s 37%, with Yuval Zellner taking 14%, according to Channel 12 news.

Beit Shemesh mayor ekes out second-place finish, securing spot in mayoral run-off

Beit shemesh mayor and Mayoral candidate Aliza Bloch casts her ballot at a voting station on the morning of the Municipal Elections, in Beit Shemesh, February 27, 2024. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash90)

A number of municipalities will hold run-offs after no candidates managed to pick up at least 40% of the vote in the respective locales.

Among these is Beit Shemesh, where results show incumbent Mayor Aliza Bloch has won a tight battle with former mayor Moshe Abutbul for second place. With all ballots counted, Bloch has 32.4% of the vote to Abutbul’s 31.9%.

She is now slated to face off against Shmuel Greenberg, who has 35.7% of votes.

Another city that will hold a run-off is Haifa, where Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem is sent packing after only picking up 4.5% of the vote in a crowded field. The second round of voting in the northern city, which is Israel’s third most populous, will see former longtime mayor Yona Yahav — who lost to Kalisch-Rotem in 2018 — run against David Etzioni.

Rehovot will also hold a run-off between Matan Dil and Zohar Blum, with Mayor Rahamim Malul trailing behind them in third place.

IDF says 2 Givati troops killed, 7 seriously hurt fighting in northern Gaza

This composite image shows Maj. Iftah Shahar (R) and Cpt. Itai Seif of the Givati Brigade's Tzabar battalion, who were killed fighting in the Gaza Strip on February 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces announces two officers were killed fighting yesterday in northern Gaza, raising the ground toll in the offensive against Hamas to 242.

They are named as:

Maj. Iftah Shahar, 25, a company commander in the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion, from Moshav Paran.

Cpt. Itai Seif, 24, a platoon commander in the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion, from Yeruham.

The IDF says another seven soldiers of the Tzabar Battalion were seriously wounded in the same incident.

Shahar and Seif were killed and the seven other soldiers were seriously wounded as a result of an explosive device blast in a booby-trapped building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood yesterday morning.

US military says it shot down Houthi drones that posed ‘imminent threat’ to ships in Red Sea

CAIRO — The US Central Command says US aircraft and a coalition warship shot down five one-way attack drones in the Red Sea that originated from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

The drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the US Navy and coalition ships in the region,” CENTCOM says in a statement on Wednesday.

With nearly all votes tallied, Netanya mayor appears set to avoid run-off

Mayor of Netanya Miriam Feirberg poses for a picture, in Netanya, on March 6, 2017. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Near-final results show incumbent Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg has appeared to avoid a run-off, fending off a close challenge from Avi Slama.

With 98.5% of votes counted, Feirberg has 43.5% of the vote, versus 40% for Slama. The results do not include “double-envelope” ballots cast by residents not able to vote at their assigned polling stations, such as soldiers.

The leading candidate must secure at least 40% of the vote to avoid a run off.

Head of settler umbrella group loses reelection bid for Gush Etzion mayor

Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman Shlomo Ne'eman attends a press conference of the Yesha Council outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, August 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

With all ballots there tallied, results from Gush Etzion show regional council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman — who heads the Yesha Council settlement umbrella group — has lost his reelection bid to Yaron Rosenthal.

Online election results published by the Interior Ministry show that Ne’eman received 44.2% of the total vote, while Rosenthal picked up 55.8%.

Biden and Trump win Michigan, as Democrats closely watch results of ‘uncommitted’ vote

FILE - This combo image shows US President Joe Biden, left, January 5, 2024, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, January 19, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

DEARBORN, Michigan — US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump win the Michigan primaries, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men.

Biden defeats Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips, his one significant opponent left in the Democratic primary. But Democrats are also closely watching the results of the “uncommitted” vote, as Michigan has become the epicenter for dissatisfied members of Biden’s coalition that propelled him to victory in the state — and nationally — in 2020. The number of “uncommitted” votes has already surpassed the 10,000-vote margin by which Trump won Michigan in 2016, surpassing a goal set by organizers of this year’s protest effort.

As for Trump, he has now swept the first five states on the Republican primary calendar. His victory in Michigan over his last major primary challenger, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, comes after the former president defeated her by 20 percentage points in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday. The Trump campaign is looking to lock up the 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination sometime in mid-March.

Both campaigns are watching Tuesday’s results for more than just whether they won as expected. For Biden, a large number of voters choosing “uncommitted” could mean he’s in significant trouble with parts of the Democratic base in a state he can hardly afford to lose in November. Trump, meanwhile, has underperformed with suburban voters and people with a college degree, and faces a faction within his own party that believes he broke the law in one or more of the criminal cases against him.

Both the White House and Biden campaign officials have made trips to Michigan in recent weeks to talk with community leaders about the Israel-Hamas war and how Biden has approached the conflict, but those leaders, along with organizers of the “uncommitted” effort, have been undeterred.

The robust grassroots effort, which has been encouraging voters to select “uncommitted” as a way to register objections to his handling of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, has been Biden’s most significant political challenge in the early contests. That push, which began in earnest just a few weeks ago, has been backed by officials such as Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, and former representative Andy Levin.

As ballots counted, results show numerous incumbent mayors headed toward defeat

Israelis cast their votes at a voting station in Safed, during the municipal elections on February 27, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Results coming in from the municipal elections show a number of incumbent mayors are headed toward defeat or find themselves in highly competitive races.

In Elad, a predominantly ultra-Orthodox city, Mayor Israel Porush is slated to lose to Yehuda Botbol of Shas, who has 55.9% received of votes to the former’s 44.1% with close to 85% of the vote counted. Porush is a member of Agudath Israel, an Ashkenazi Hasidic faction, while Botbol serves in Shas, which represents ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Jews.

The two parties also squared off in Bnei Brak, where Health Minister Uriel Buso of Shas lost to former mayor Hanoch Zeibert of Agudath Israel.

In the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon, nearly three-quarters of ballots have been tallied and Mayor Motti Sasson — who has been in the post since 1993 — is trailing two other candidates and has only 17.6% of votes.

Beit Shean Mayor Jacky Levy, elected to the post in 2018, congratulates social activist Noam Juma after losing to the challenger.

Other incumbents slated to lose include the mayors of Rehovot, Safed and Arad.

Current results indicate numerous incumbent mayors are also on track to keep their positions, among them the heads of Rishon Lezion, Petah Tikva, Givatayim, Ashdod and Lod.

Incoming rocket alerts activated in pair of kibbutzim targeted on Oct. 7

Incoming rocket sirens sound overnight in Nahal Oz and Alumim, kibbutzim near the Gaza border that were evacuated after being targeted in the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

US envoy: Iranian and Hezbollah operatives in Yemen are aiding Houthi attacks on ships

US special envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, takes part in a conference hosted by the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Saudi capital Riyadh on March 30, 2022. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Operatives from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah are working inside Yemen to support Houthi insurgents’ attacks on international shipping, a US official says.

Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, tells a Senate subcommittee that Iran’s clerical state is “equipping and facilitating” the Houthi attacks, which have triggered retaliatory US and British strikes on Yemen.

“Credible public reports suggest a significant number of Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah operatives are supporting Houthi attacks from inside Yemen,” Lenderking says.

“I can’t imagine the Yemeni people want these Iranians in their country. This must stop,” he says.

The White House says in December that Iran was “deeply involved” in planning the attacks, which the Houthis say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.

Lenderking, who has dealt with the Houthis since the start of US President Joe Biden’s administration as he helped diplomacy to freeze a brutal civil war, acknowledges that the rebels have not been deterred.

“The fact that they continue this, and have said publicly that they will not stop until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza, is an indication that we’re not yet at the point, unfortunately, where they do intend to dial back,” Lenderking says.

IDF says fighter jets struck Hezbollah cell, other targets in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets on southern Lebanon, including a cell of operatives in Ayta ash-Shab.

Sites hit by fighter jets a short while ago included buildings and other infrastructure used by Hezbollah in Taybeh, Beit Lif, Seddiqine, and Khirbet Selm, according to the IDF.

Earlier, the IDF says fighter jets and other aircraft struck a Hezbollah cell and other infrastructure in Ayta ash-Shab.

The strikes come after Hezbollah fired two major barrages of rockets today at northern Israel, and launched missiles at a sensitive air traffic control base.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנים צבאיים ותשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים א-טייבה, בית ליף, צדיקין וח'רבת סלם.

מוקדם יותר, מטוסי קרב תקפו תשתית צבאית וכלי טיס תקף חוליית מחבלים שזוהתה במרחב עייתא א-שעב. במהלך היום הותקפו מספר תשתיות טרור נוספות במרחב pic.twitter.com/xNjdIzMXcK

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 27, 2024

Local election exit polls indicate Jerusalem’s Moshe Lion, Tel Aviv’s Ron Huldai set to retain power

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion casts his vote at a polling station in Jerusalem, during the municipal elections on February 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Voter turnout remained low on Tuesday, with only 49.5 percent of eligible voters — 3,511,758 out of 7,100,390 — casting ballots in the municipal elections, down from 56% during the previous vote in 2018.

The votes are now being counted and results from smaller communities are expected to be released in the coming hours, while larger towns and cities are expected to have clearer picture of the results in the early morning.

The final results will not be immediately clear, however, due to the high number of IDF soldiers and reservists voting at military polling stations around the country.

In the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, 66.2% of voters cast ballots, 45.6% in the coastal city of Ashdod, 40.5% in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 39.1% in Haifa and 31.4% in Jerusalem.

Exit polling conducted by Direct Polls and published by Channel 14 indicates that both Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai are likely to remain in office, beating out their respective challengers Yossi Havilio and Orna Barbivai by significant margins.

Lion gave a victory speech after midnight in which he spoke first about the imperative to bring Israel’s hostages back from Gaza, and sent a message of support for IDF soldiers fighting against Hamas.

According to the poll, former Mayor Yona Yahav leads in Haifa with 33% of the vote, likely requiring a second round of voting. In Beit Shemesh, incumbent Aliza Bloch garnered 38% against challengers Moshe Abutbul and Shmuel Greenberg, who were respectively at 33% and 29%,meaning that the Jerusalem suburb also appears set for a run-off.