Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.
Hostages’ families block major Tel Aviv highway, saying gov’t should be replaced if it can’t free their loved ones
Families of the hostages in Gaza block Tel Aviv's main highway on January 18, 2024. (Hostage Family Forum)
Members of the Munder, Idan and Metzger families — whose loved ones are being held hostage in Gaza — are blocking Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, with the number 136 lit up in flames to represent the number of hostages still in Gaza.
“The time for the hostages is up. If the government that abandoned them is not able to promote a deal immediately, let it be replaced by one that hasn’t,” the Hostages Family Forum says in a statement.
“It is time for the struggle of the hostages’ families to become a broad public struggle,” the statement adds.
Contradicting PM, Eisenkot says those talking about ‘absolute defeat’ of Hamas aren’t telling truth
National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot speaks during a conference at Ben-Gurion House in Tel Aviv on July 25, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90, File)
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot appears to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to completely defeat Hamas, suggesting that such rhetoric is unrealistic.
“Whoever speaks of absolute defeat is not speaking the truth,” Eisenkot tells Channel 12’s Uvda investigative program hours after Netanyahu pledged to continue the war until “complete victory” over Hamas.
Asked whether Israel’s current leadership is telling the public the truth, Eisenkot responds, “No.”
Eisenkot also appeared to criticize Netanyahu’s refusal to hold high-level discussions regarding post-war planning in Gaza.
“The goals of the war have not yet been achieved, but the [number of soldiers on the ground] is now more limited… You have to think about what’s next,” he says.
Eisenkot says elections necessary within months to renew public trust
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot speaks at the funeral of his son Gal, in Herzliya on December 8, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot says elections should be held in the coming months in order to renew the public’s trust in its leadership.
The comments made in an interview he conducted several weeks ago with Channel 12’s Uvda investigative program air hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of holding elections in the middle of a war that he has said could well continue into 2025.
“It is necessary, within a period of months, to return the Israeli voter to the polls and hold elections in order to renew trust because right now there is no trust,” says Eisenkot, whose son was killed fighting in Gaza last month.
Eisenkot’s National Unity party agreed to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on an emergency basis in a demonstration of political unity after the October 7 terror onslaught.
“As a democracy, the state of Israel needs to ask itself after such a serious event, ‘How do we continue from here with a leadership that has failed us miserably?'” Eisenkot continues.
Pressed to respond to Netanyahu’s claim that elections in the middle of the war would harm public unity, Eisenkot responds, “The lack of trust from the Israeli public in his government is no less serious.”
Responding to Netanyahu, US hopes Israel will seize ‘historic opportunity’ to secure future
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller gives a press conference in Washington on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
The Biden administration hits back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier’s latest remarks against the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“There is no way to solve [Israel’s] long-term challenges to provide lasting security, and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, of establishing governance in Gaza and of providing security for Gaza, without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says upon being asked to respond to Netanyahu at a press briefing.
Roughly an hour earlier, Netanyahu had been asked to respond to an NBC News report that said the US was planning for a post-Netanyahu era after he rejected a proposal that would’ve seen Saudi Arabia help with the reconstruction of Gaza after the war and normalize relations with Israel if Jerusalem agreed to create a pathway for an eventual Palestinian state.
Netanyahu boasted of having stood up to American pressure in the past and said those who speak of a post-Netanyahu era are referring to one in which a Palestinian state will be established, again suggesting that his continued tenure as prime minister is what is standing in the way of a two-state solution.
Miller says that in meetings with Arab leaders during his trip to the Middle East last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken managed to secure commitments from countries in the region who said “they would participate in the reconstruction of Gaza, that they would participate in helping establish Palestinian-led governance of Gaza but that they would only do that if there was a tangible path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“For the first time in its history, you see the countries in the region who are ready to step up and further integrate with Israel and provide real security assurances to Israel and the United States is ready to play its part too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side,” Miller continues.
“There is a historic opportunity that Israel has to deal with… and we hope the country will take that opportunity,” he adds.
US says it’s asking for clarifications from Israel over explosion of Gaza university
Before and after photos of Palestine University in Gaza that was blown up by the IDF on January 17, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says the Biden administration is asking Israel for clarifications on widely shared footage that purports to show the IDF blowing up Palestine University’s main campus building in Gaza.
Miller says he does not have enough information to comment further on the matter but notes that Hamas regularly uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes.
היום לא יתקיימו לימודים…
פיצוץ מבנה אוניברסיטת אלאסראא' בדרום העיר עזה pic.twitter.com/nf4v7wkp4J— almog boker (@bokeralmog) January 18, 2024
Israel reportedly answers Red Cross request for info on prisoners from Gaza
Police and soldiers stand outside the entrance to Ofer Prison outside Jerusalem, where Palestinian terror convicts will be released as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, November 26, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Channel 12 reports that Israel has agreed to answer a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross for information on 60 Palestinians from Gaza who were arrested after October 7.
However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is trying to block the move, given that the Red Cross has failed to secure any information regarding the hostages in Gaza, the network says.
As a signatory of the Geneva Convention, however, Israel is obliged to heed such requests from the IRCR regarding prisoners of war.
Smotrich said to come up with new proposal aimed at solving crisis over PA tax revenues
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a conference in Jerusalem, January 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is reportedly seeking to advance a proposal to address the crisis over hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues that Israel has refused to transfer to the Palestinian Authority.
Israel sent some of the funds to the PA but left out nearly half of the amount, which makes up the sum that the PA uses to pay employees in the Gaza Strip, with Smotrich claiming the cash could be transferred to Hamas members.
The PA has refused to accept any of the funds so long as the money for services and employees in Gaza is not included.
The US has leaned hard on Israel to transfer the remaining funds, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to budge amid pressure from Smotrich.
However, Channel 12 reports that Smotrich has come up with a new proposal that would see the remaining funds transferred to the PA through a third party, such as Norway, on the condition that none of the money is transferred to the Gaza Strip.
The PA would be allowed to keep the money so long as it is not transferred to anyone in Gaza. If it makes such transfers, Israel will cease handing over any further tax revenues, according to Smotrich’s plan.
Channel 12 does not cite any sources for its reporting.
The network says the security cabinet will soon vote on Smotrich’s proposal.
Golan sirens triggered by 3 rockets from Syria that landed in open fields
Israeli soldiers search for rockets fired from Syria at the Golan Heights in the early hours of April 9, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Local authorities in the Golan Heights say three rockets were fired from Syria, which landed in open areas near the community of Yonatan.
Sirens had sounded in the community in the southern Golan Heights.
The Golan Regional Council says the IDF is responding with shelling.
‘We’re done playing nice’: Hostages’ families pledge drastic steps after 104 days without their loved ones
Daniel Elgarat speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/Facebook)
Four family members of hostages in Gaza hold a fuming press conference in Tel Aviv, pledging to take drastic steps after having lost patience with the government, which has failed to secure the release of their loved ones after 104 days.
“Time is up… your 100 days of grace have ended,” says Daniel Elgarat, brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat.
Elgarat says the families will block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza with their own bodies.
“We will take very extreme actions,” he says, urging the public to stand alongside the hostages’ families.
Eli Albag speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/Facebook)
Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri is being held in Gaza, blasts members of the government, namely Likud minister David Amsalem for his latest divisive remarks, accusing him of acting as if Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught never occurred.
Albag slams the terms of the deal Israel agreed to that will see medications transferred to the hostages, noting that Israel has no idea who will receive medications and whether or not they actually received them.
Shir Segal speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/Facebook)
Echoing Elgarat’s words, Albag says, “We’re going to start doing things that we didn’t want to do… and we will not let you work.”
Shir Siegel, whose father Keith remains in Hamas captivity, blasts the government for prioritizing “the destruction of organizations that cannot be destroyed” over returning their relatives.
Ella Ben Ami speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/Facebook)
“We don’t have to come up with solutions, you do,” she says in a stern message to the government. “The country is falling apart…We’re done playing nice. We’re done sitting and nodding when you say you’re doing everything possible… Stop lying to us.”
Ella Ben Ami demands that Israel convene an international conference of representatives from Qatar, Egypt, the US and the EU. “Sit together and do not leave until there’s a solution.”
“If we have to turn the country upside down, we will… If we have to recruit citizens to block aid [from entering Gaza], we will,” Ben Ami warns.
War cabinet meeting at military headquarters amid frays in ties between PM, ministers
The war cabinet meets at the IDF's Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
The war cabinet is currently meeting at the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Recent meetings have featured spats between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other participants, with Gadi Eisenkot reportedly dismissing the premier’s insistence that further military pressure will lead to the hostages’ release.
Rocket sirens triggered in southern Golan Heights after apparent attack from Syria; no injuries
Israeli soldiers search for rockets fired from Syria at the Golan Heights in the early hours of April 9, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the southern Golan Heights community of Yonatan, following an apparent attack from Syria.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The IDF is looking into the cause of the sirens.
Suspect in Tel Aviv murder of tourist shot by cops near Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station
Police seen outside Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, after shooting a murder suspect who lunged at officers with a knife, January 18, 2024. (Israel Police)
A man suspected of murdering a tourist in Tel Aviv Thursday morning was shot by police near Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station in the evening as he attempted to stab policemen questioning him.
Police said the man was cornered by police outside the bus station, and was covered in blood. When police began questioning him, he pulled out a knife and lunged at them, leading them to shoot him and seriously wound him.
The suspect, aged around 30, was taken for treatment at Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
A civilian was lightly injured in the incident. The cause of his injury was not immediately made clear. He too was taken to hospital.
Ben Gvir says he was misquoted — only called for immediately shooting ‘armed terrorists’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Knesset on November 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
After his office issued a press release stating that he told Border Police officers to shoot “terrorists” even if they don’t pose a threat, Ben Gvir claims his staff misquoted him.
In an updated statement, Ben Gvir says he told the Border cops to shoot any “armed terrorist” and not to wait until the latter shoots first.
Document PM claims proves he updated Gallant on meds deal appears to show opposite
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
During tonight’s press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up what he claimed was a document proving that he updated Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the deal being negotiated to transfer medications to the hostages in Gaza.
However, Netanyahu says the document is dated January 13, which was a day after his office revealed to the public for the first time that a deal was moving forward.
IDF says it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
Footage of an IDF airstrike in southern Lebanon on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
The IDF says it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon today.
It says sites hit by fighter jets in Aitaroun and Odaisseh included rocket launch positions and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group.
The IDF says it hit several more Hezbollah launch positions in southern Lebanon, including a building used to fire anti-tank missiles at the Menara area yesterday.
Hezbollah fired several missiles and rockets today at Shtula, Malkia, Menara and Mount Dov. The IDF says it struck the launch sites.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מוקדם יותר היום תשתית טרור ועמדת שיגור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים עיתרון ואל עדייסא שבדרום לבנון.
בנוסף, כוחות צה״ל תקפו במהלך היום מספר עמדות שיגור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, ביניהן מבנה ממנו בוצע ירי נ״ט לעבר מרחב מנרה אתמול >> pic.twitter.com/wUPERSCJEk
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 18, 2024
European parliament backs ceasefire resolution contingent on hostages’ release, Hamas’s ouster
The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, May 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
In a resolution that showed significant support for Israel, the European Parliament calls for a permanent ceasefire after all hostages are “immediately and unconditionally released” and “the terrorist organization Hamas is dismantled.”
The resolution was adopted by 312 votes in favor, 131 against and 72 abstentions.
At the same time, the MEPs denounce “the disproportionate Israeli military response, which has caused a civilian death toll on an unprecedented scale.”
They also call for full humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip, and for a “European initiative to put the two-state solution back on track.” They also back the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
The MEPs say that the “occupation of the Palestinian territories” must end, while calling for terrorists to be held to account.
They also express strong support for the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice and call for “those responsible for terrorist acts and for violations of international law to be held to account.”
IDF indicates it dug up graves in Gaza to search for hostages’ bodies
Palestinians inspect damaged graves following an Israeli raid over a cemetery in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip on Jan. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
The IDF appears to confirm reports that its soldiers dug up some of the graves in a Gaza cemetery, explaining that it took the action in order to confirm that the bodies of hostages were not buried there.
Responding to an NBC query on the matter, the IDF says in a statement that it is “committed to fulfilling its urgent mission to rescue the hostages and find and return the bodies of hostages that are held in Gaza.”
“When critical intelligence or operational information is received, the IDF conducts precise hostage rescue operations in the specific locations where information indicates that the bodies of hostages may be located,” the statement continues.
“The hostage identification process, conducted at a secure and alternative location, ensures optimal professional conditions and respect for the deceased. Bodies determined not to be those of hostages are returned with dignity and respect.”
“If not for Hamas’s reprehensible decision to take Israeli men, women, children and babies as hostages, the need for such searches… would not exist.”
Netanyahu: We’re attacking Iran directly
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
Netanyahu is asked if he feels he has anything to apologize for regarding the events surrounding October 7. He says the way the question was framed is designed “to stain” him.
“Nobody is immune from mistakes, including me,” he says, but then again criticizes the reporter. “I’ll continue to fight Hamas, and you’ll continue to fight me,” he says. “That’s the division of work,” he says, between him and the TV studios.
In response to another reporter, who asks why Israel is sufficing with attacks on Iran’s proxies rather than attacking Iran directly, Netanyahu responds, “Who says we aren’t attacking Iran? We are attacking Iran.”
“Iran has further phases to go through that I won’t detail” on the path to nuclear weapons,” he says. “I am obligated as the prime minister of Israel to do everything to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.”
Asked about the progress of the war, he says 16 or 17 of Hamas’s 24 battalions have been destroyed. “After that, there is the [phase] of clearing the territory [of remaining gunmen]. The first action is usually shorter, the second usually takes longer.”
He derides talk of holding elections at a time of war — with campaigns that would “divide the people rather than uniting the people… Are people seriously suggesting elections?”
“There’ll be time for politics after the war,” he says.
Regarding reports that he invited opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman to join the coalition, he says, “I didn’t make any offers.”
The current emergency war coalition is stable and should be maintained, he says.
“Going to elections would be irresponsible and would badly halt the war effort,” he says.
“The ones who are hoping for this, and for all the other things we hear in the TV studios night after night, are Hamas and also its backer Iran. We won’t give this to them. We will bring complete victory.”
PM: Israel relying on commitment from Qatar that hostages will receive medications
Medical aid for Gaza sent by Qatar on January 17, 2024. (Qatar foreign ministry)
Netanyahu denies reports he hid the details of the medicine to hostages arrangement from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, pulling out what he says is a memo by Mossad chief David Barnea laying out the details of the deal, which was sent to Gallant’s office.
Netanyahu does not show the document to the cameras.
He also denies that he allowed the medicine to be delivered without a security check, insisting that the minute he heard of that possibility, he ordered the shipments to be checked “whether or not Hamas accepts that.”
“I took responsibility,” he says.
Netanyahu says he “bypassed” the Red Cross — “because the Red Cross did not cooperate with our efforts to get the medicines in” — and that Qatar promised that the medicine would reach “every last hostage that needs it, and I expect them to meet their commitment.”
Netanyahu admits that the Qatari commitment to deliver medicine to hostages is the only way Israel has to verify their delivery, but that Israel will know “very soon” if they don’t meet their commitment.
Netanyahu: We’re allowing ‘minimum’ amount of aid necessary in order to prevent Gaza humanitarian crisis
Humanitarian aid trucks heading to Gaza on January 4, 2024. (COGAT)
Answering a question about humanitarian aid, Netanyahu says that Israel is only allowing in the absolute “minimum” amount necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
He says this is required in order to enable Israel to continue fighting in Gaza.
Turning back to the rule of Gaza after the war, he says he “would be happy to find Gazans” to run civil affairs in the Strip, and states in the region to help with Gaza’s rehabilitation, but that this is unlikely to happen until Hamas is defeated, because potential alternatives will be afraid to “get a bullet in the head” from the terror group’s gunmen.
“Until Hamas is eliminated, it will be very hard for you to start activating ‘the day after’ [arrangements],” he says.
PM: Those discussing post-Netanyahu era are referring to one with Palestinian state
US President Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Taking questions, Netanyahu is asked about an NBC report that the US is preparing for a Palestinian state the “day after” his tenure.
He says that such a day would be one that would include the establishment of a Palestinian state, which he is determined to block.
“Whoever is talking about the ‘day after Netanyahu’,” he says, “is essentially talking about the establishment of a Palestinian state with the Palestinian Authority.”
The decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he says, are “not about the absence of a state, a Palestinian state, but rather about the existence of a state, a Jewish state. All territory we evacuate, we get terror, terrible terror against us,” he says, citing Gaza, southern Lebanon and parts of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).
He adds that most Israeli citizens are opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state as well.
In any future arrangement, or in the absence of an arrangement, he says, Israel must maintain “security control” of all territory west of the Jordan River — meaning, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. “That is a vital condition.”
“So it contradicts with the idea of sovereignty [for the Palestinians]. What can you do? I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose on us a reality that would harm Israel’s security,” Netanyahu says. He says a prime minister in Israel has to be capable of saying “no when it’s necessary, and yes when it’s possible. That’s how I behave.”
It didn’t prevent Israel’s accords with four Arab states, he says. And he promises that this will not prevent Israel from expanding the circle of peace to more Arab countries, “along with our American friends.”
Saudi Arabian officials have reiterated as recently as today, however, that normalization with Israel will be contingent on the creation of a path toward a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu: ‘Next slaughter would be only a matter of time’ if war were to end without goals achieved
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again pledges that the war on Hamas “is continuing on all its fronts, and the war will continue on all its fronts, until all the aims we set are achieved.”
“The victory will take many more long months,” he continues, “but we are determined to achieve it.”
He rejects the idea that Israel cannot win, which he claims is circulated by Israeli media, including “in the TV studios.” His government, he promises, “will not compromise on anything less than total victory over Hamas.”
“We are aiming for complete victory — not just to strike Hamas, not just to damage Hamas, not another round with Hamas,” Netanyahu says. “A total victory over Hamas.”
“We will continue to fight at full strength until we achieve all our goals: the return of all our hostages — and I say again, only military pressure will lead to their release; the elimination of Hamas; and certainty that Gaza will never again represent a threat to Israel. That there won’t be any party that educates for terror, funds terror, sends terrorists against us.”
Stopping the war before that “will harm Israel’s security for generations,” he says: “Ending the war before the goals are achieved would broadcast a message of weakness, encouraging our enemies to believe that they defeat us. And then the next slaughter would be only a matter of time.”
Netanyahu stresses that total victory means Gaza will be demilitarized, with complete security control by Israel, and Israeli control over everything that enters Gaza. “These are the foundational conditions” for the “day after” in Gaza.
That much-discussed “day after,” he repeats, “will be the day after the destruction of Hamas.”
These opening remarks are broadly similar to comments he’s delivered at successive press conferences in recent weeks.
Ben Gvir tells troops to shoot ‘terrorists,’ even if they don’t pose threat — a violation of army code
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits a Border Police base in the West Bank, posing with troops in undercover garb on January 18, 2024. (National Security Ministry)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir urges officers to shoot at any “terrorist” they see, even if they do not pose a threat — a violation of the rules of engagement in both the police and the IDF.
“You have complete backing from me. When your life is in danger or see a terrorist — even if he does not endanger you — shoot. I have your back,” Ben Gvir tells officers from the Border Police’s elite Yasam undercover unit during a visit to a base in the West Bank.
“A hair on your head [harmed] is worth one thousand terrorists,” Ben Gvir says, according to a statement from his office.
Saudi envoy: Normalization contingent on Gaza ceasefire, path to Palestinian state
Saudi Ambassador to the US Reema Bandar Al-Saud addresses a panel on antisemitism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/WEF)
Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Washington Reema Bandar Al Saud says progress toward normalization with Israel will only be possible if there is a ceasefire in Gaza and if a process is launched creating a clear pathway to a Palestinian state.
The Saudi envoy makes the remarks during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“I think the most important thing to realize is the kingdom has not put normalization at the heart of its policy. It’s put peace and prosperity at the heart of its policy,” she says.
“The kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day.”
Princess Reema elaborates on the Saudi position, saying that “cooler heads must prevail.”
???? | HRH @rbalsaud, #SaudiArabia's Ambassador to the #UnitedStates, at #WEF24:
“The normalization is something that the kingdom from the time of King Fahd has been putting on the table. But the critical point is not without the #Palestinian people.”
#SaudiAtDavos#EKHNews_EN pic.twitter.com/BCpQVj82Ux— AlEkhbariya News (@EKHNews_EN) January 18, 2024
“There’s trauma and pain on both sides. I can’t take that back. But what we can do is ceasefire now.”
Princess Reema says she is “profoundly concerned” about escalation that could send the region “back to the stone age”.
The comments all but confirm reporting over the past week that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Riyadh is still interested in normalizing ties with Israel but that it will be contingent on steps by Israel aimed at the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.
Blinken reportedly presented the proposal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who rejected the offer.
Gallant: Israel must prepare for ‘deterioration’ of security situation in the north
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with security brass in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2024. (Elad Malka/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant cautions that Israel must “take into account the possibility of the [security] situation deteriorating in the north,” amid Hezbollah’s daily attacks from Lebanon.
“If this happens, we will exact a heavy price from Hezbollah and Lebanon, but there will be casualties here as well,” Gallant says during an assessment.
Gallant says Israel is committed to returning some 80,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in northern Israel, but “if this scenario does not happen… through diplomatic means, we will reach a situation where we need to create the security conditions that allow their return.”
“I don’t want to talk about deadlines, and I don’t want to talk about methods, but it will happen,” he vows.
On Gaza, Gallant says, “Hamas is becoming weaker. It doesn’t have supplies, it doesn’t have personnel reserves, it doesn’t have the organizational ability to initiate moves, and it doesn’t have the ability to really control what happens.”
“Hamas’s plans were to fire hundreds of rockets every day into all kinds of areas in the country. It now manages to launch dozens of rockets in a sort of one-off attack at a certain location. I do not underestimate this, it is a very significant thing and we will [deal with this capability] with raids, with airstrikes, it will take time,” he adds.
Former minister, legal giant Amnon Rubinstein passes away at 92
Amnon Rubinstein, a former lawmaker and Israel Prize recipient who played a key role in shaping Israel’s legal and political landscape, died today at the age of 92.
Rubinstein was born in 1931 to Polish immigrant parents in Tel Aviv, and despite Israel not having a formal constitution, he is considered to be the closest thing the country has to a constitutional founding father. He authored two of Israel’s rights-granting Basic Laws — Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and Basic Law: Freedom of Vocation.
Rubinstein held several ministerial portfolios during his long political career, but most notably held office as communications minister between 1984 and 1987, under the leadership of prime ministers Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, and as education, culture and sports minister under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin and Peres between 1994 and 1996.
Israel tied with Iran for country with 6th-most reporters jailed since December — watchdog
An Israeli army vehicle drives outside the Ofer military prison in the West Bank in November 2023. (Fadel Senna/AFP)
The Committee to Protect Journalists publishes a report revealing that Israel has ranked for the first time among the world’s leaders in jailing journalists.
With 17 journalists recorded by CPJ as having been jailed since December, Israel now ranks sixth and is tied with Iran behind China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, and Vietnam.
Communications minister Karhi tells High Court he won’t undo dismissal of post office chief
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi arrives at a Likud faction meeting in the Knesset, January 8, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has told the High Court of Justice that he was sticking to his decision to fire Israel Postal Company chairman Mishael Vaknin, insisting that the court had no authority to tell him to reverse it.
In September, the High Court froze a July decision made by Karhi and fellow cabinet minister Dudi Amsalem to fire Vaknin, calling into question Vaknin’s rapid dismissal soon after the ministers entered office.
Earlier this month, justices Isaac Amit, Khaled Kabub and David Mintz recommended that Karhi and Amsalem reverse their decision, warning them that if they did not they would likely order them to do so and ordered Karhi to respond by Wednesday.
Writing to the court, Karhi ties the issue to the recent landmark High Court ruling striking down the government’s “reasonableness law” and tells the court that if it reversed his decision to fire Vaknin, it would be illegitimately interfering in his authority as communications minister.
“This is a decision that goes to the root of the authority of the elected [official], and that being the case it is outside of the authority of the court,” writes Karhi in his letter to the High Court.
Netanyahu to hold solo press conference at 7 p.m.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters during a press conference in Tel Aviv on January 13 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a press conference at 7 p.m. tonight in the Kirya in Tel Aviv.
As has been the case in his most recent press conferences, Netanyahu will not be joined by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or war cabinet minister Benny Gantz.
The three appeared together in successive press conferences toward the beginning of the war, but Netanyahu’s ties with Gallant and Gantz have gradually worsened.
Emhoff: After Oct. 7, Jews learned that many who they thought were their friends were not
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff addresses a panel on antisemitism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 18, 2024. (Screen capture/WEF)
US Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff says Jews learned who their real friends were in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.
“As American Jews, I think the feeling is one of aloneness and being hated and being unmoored,” Emhoff says while speaking on a panel about antisemitism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“We kind of saw who our friends were and who our friends weren’t, and there were too many in the ‘weren’t’ category, some who we thought were friends. It’s just shocking,” laments Emhoff, who is the first Jewish spouse of a US president or vice president.
WATCH: Emhoff says American Jews are feeling "alone, hated and unmoored," in particular since Oct. 7.
"We kind of saw who our friends were and who our friends weren't — and there were too many in the 'weren't' category, some who we thought were friends. It's just shocking." https://t.co/CumV7GEGim pic.twitter.com/rdDtkbGDtb
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) January 18, 2024
IDF says it finished razing Hamas’s main weapon manufacturing industrial zone in central Gaza
These images from a video released by the IDF on January 18, 2024, show an underground Hamas rocket manufacturing plant beneath central Gaza. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it has completed demolishing Hamas’s main rocket and weapon manufacturing industrial zone in the central Gaza Strip, along with a vast tunnel network beneath it that houses some of the facilities.
Parts of the facility were shown to reporters, including The Times of Israel, during a media tour earlier this month on Salah a-Din road in the Bureij area.
The IDF says troops located additional sites recently, in the Maghazi area, and between Bureij and Nuseirat.
This IDF infographic released on January 17, 2024, shows the sites of a Hamas rocket manufacturing plant in central Gaza. (Israel Defense Forces)
In all, the 36th Division, the Yahalom combat engineering unit, and Air Force’s Shaldag unit discovered and destroyed dozens of tunnel shafts in the area of Salah a-Din road in central Gaza, that connect to hundreds of kilometers of underground passages, according to the IDF.
One of the tunnel shafts was located in the home of a senior Hamas commander responsible for the rocket manufacturing operation.
The IDF says the tunnels led to underground sites used by Hamas to manufacture rockets and other weapons, as well as passages used by the terror group to transport munitions to all parts of Gaza.
Both above and below ground in Maghazi, Bureij, and Nuseirat, the IDF says it discovered steel workshops, chemical and explosives factories, and storage sites for long-range rockets.
The IDF says it has completed demolishing Hamas’s main rocket and weapon manufacturing industrial zone in the central Gaza Strip, along with a vast tunnel network beneath it that houses some of the facilities.
Parts of the facility were shown to reporters, including yours truly,… pic.twitter.com/KX8m5P3mFK
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 18, 2024
Hundreds holding orange balloons mark 1st birthday of redheaded hostage Kfir Bibas in Tel Aviv
Hundreds donning orange balloons mark the birthday of ginger-haired hostage Kfir Bibas, in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square on January 18, 2024. (Courtesy)
A crowd of hundreds holding orange balloons gathers at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to mark the first birthday of Kfir Bibas.
Kfir has spent a quarter of his life in captivity, says the emcee. Kfir, along with his 4-year-old brother Ariel and their parents Shiri and Yarden, were abducted on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza.
Onstage, children hold posters of the Bibas family decorated with orange balloons and printed with the words, “The saddest birthday in the world.” Entertainer Tal Museri tearfully devotes the first song to heroic mothers and fathers.
Related: ‘The saddest birthday in the world’: Hostage Kfir Bibas turns 1 in Hamas captivity
“Hug your kids, my child, follow your own path,” sings Museri.
Israel Prize-winning actor Miriam Zohar says she wants only one thing, to celebrate Kfir’s first birthday with him at the square. “Bring them home now!” she says.
Hundreds holding orange balloons mark the first birthday of redheaded hostage Kfir Bibas in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on January 18, 2024. (Courtesy)
Yifat Zailer, a Bibas cousin, thanks the crowd. “We have a significant voice and let’s make sure no one has to celebrate another birthday in captivity,” she says.
The crowd stands quietly.
Shiri’s cousins read a letter from Yarden’s sister, Ofri Bibas, currently on a mission abroad: “There’s so much we haven’t been able to do with you. Are you speaking any words, are you walking? The biggest gift we could give you would be to bring you home.”
Kfir Bibas and his mother Shiri Bibas, who were abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists, along with Kfir’s brother Ariel and father Yarden, from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy
Shiri Bibas’s cousin Yosi Shnaider says a one-year-old should be looking at colors instead of being in a dark tunnel, should have books read to him rather than hear the voices of Hamas terrorists.
“They need to be released today and we can’t forget them for one moment. Enough with the sad faces! We need to scream to the skies that it’s our children and siblings and parents and grandparents there,” says Shnaider.
“I don’t know if Shiri even knows it’s the 18th. But hold the children tight and we’ll see you soon,” he says.
Police to allow anti-war protest in Haifa after pressure from High Court
Standing Together activists protest against the Israel-Hamas war, calling for a ceasefire, in Tel Aviv, on December 28, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Following pressure from the High Court of Justice, the Coastal District Police agree to allow an anti-war protest to be staged in a central location in the city of Haifa, for the first time since the current conflict in Gaza began.
The demonstration will now go ahead on Saturday in Paris Square in Haifa from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. with a maximum of 700 protesters.
In rejecting several requests for permits, police argued that counter-protests would be staged that would endanger public safety, whereas the applicants argued that their fundamental right to freedom of expression and protest was being “systematically” violated by the police.
During a hearing on a High Court petition today, justices insisted that it was the police’s job to find a way to allow protests to take place safely.
Red Cross says it’s not ‘playing any part’ in delivering medicine to hostages in Gaza
A protester against the Red Cross at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, December 14, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Contrary to a Hamas claim, the International Committee of the Red Cross says that it will not play a role in delivering medication to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement, the ICRC says that it has been “engaging with the parties” in order to reach such a deal, which saw medicine from France delivered by Qatar to Egypt and sent into Israel.
But “the mechanism that was agreed to does not involve the ICRC playing any part in its implementation, including the delivery of medication,” the statement reads.
Earlier, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk wrote on X that the ICRC will deliver all the medicines, including the ones destined for the hostages, to hospitals serving all parts of Gaza.
France, which helped mediate the agreement, is not involved in the transport of the medications either, its embassy in Tel Aviv says.
According to The New York Times, the medications will be transported to the hostages by employees of the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Report: Arab nations to propose plan for ceasefire, hostage release, Saudi normalization
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, front left, attends a meeting with Arab foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan, November 4, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool photo via AP)
Arab countries are planning to present within a few weeks a plan that would include a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, along with normalization with Saudi Arabia and other nations, the Financial Times reports.
At the same time, Israel would have to agree to “irreversible” steps toward a Palestinian state.
According to the report, the US and Europeans would also agree to formally recognize a Palestinian state, or back its full membership at the United Nations. Those countries have been updated about the initiative.
Ryanair says it will resume some flights to Tel Aviv on February 1
In this September 12, 2018 file photo, a Ryanair plane parks at the airport in Weeze, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Ryanair says it will resume flights to and from Israel on February 1, citing EASA guidance and the resumption of flights by other European carriers.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, says that initially it will operate a reduced schedule with routes to and from Karlsruhe/Baden Baden, Marseilles, Memmingen, Milan and Vienna.
The Irish low-cost carrier on Oct. 9 canceled all flights to and from Israel in the wake of the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel.
Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian and Aegean have already resumed fights to Tel Aviv. Air France said it plans to restart its route from Paris on January 24.
IDF says counter-terror op in West Bank’s Tulkarem ongoing after 35 hours; 8 Palestinians killed
Damage seen near Tulkarem in the West Bank amid an IDF raid on January 18, 2024. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
The IDF says it is continuing a counter-terror operation in the West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp, which began more than 35 hours ago.
So far, it says, troops have uncovered dozens of explosives hidden under the roads using engineering vehicles, searched hundreds of buildings and arrested 15 wanted Palestinians.
The IDF says troops also seized many weapons during the raids, and destroyed an explosives lab and a building used by local terror operatives to observe Israeli forces with surveillance cameras.
Eight Palestinian gunmen have so far been killed during clashes with IDF troops in the camp, the military says, some of them in an airstrike yesterday.
In other areas of the West Bank, the IDF says troops arrested 21 wanted Palestinians in overnight raids.
Since October 7, troops have arrested more than 2,700 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,300 affiliated with Hamas, according to the IDF.
IDF says siren in Eilat was false alarm and no suspicious target detected
The Eilat port seen on January 3, 2024. (Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90)
The IDF says an incident in Eilat earlier, during which sirens sounded in Israel’s southernmost city, was a false alarm.
Sirens had sounded in Eilat after the IDF launched an interceptor missile at what it initially said was a “suspicious aerial target.”
The IDF now says “this was determined to be false identification.”
Family of slain hostage says Defense Ministry removed stone criticizing government from grave
Family and friends mourn at the funeral of IDF soldier Ron Sherman who was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and whose body was recovered during a military operation in the Gaza Strip, at the cemetery in Lehavim, December 15, 2023. (Flash90)
The family of slain hostage IDF soldier Ron Sherman accuses the Defense Ministry of removing a stone they had placed on his grave that criticized the government for playing a role in his death.
“Kidnapped, abandoned and sacrificed in Gaza, by the government of failure,” the stone had read.
אמו של חייל שנחטף ונהרג: משרד הביטחון לקח אבן מקברו, שעליה כיתוב נגד הממשלהhttps://t.co/E15MzdY08D pic.twitter.com/08PSAzi5fb
— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) January 18, 2024
Sherman’s mother, Ma’ayan, blames a worker from the Defense Ministry for removing the stone from his grave in a military cemetery. She replaces it today with a stone that reads in part, “I’m asking forgiveness for the abandonment, your brutal kidnapping, the fact that you were sacrificed for political gain after the biggest failure in the history of the State of Israel which you loved so much.”
Soldier Ron Sherman was taken captive by Hamas terrorists from an IDF base near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. His body was recovered by the IDF and returned to Israel on December 15, 2023. (Courtesy)
Ron was kidnapped on October 7 and his body was recovered from Gaza in mid-December. Yesterday the IDF said that autopsies of his body and those of two other people that were recovered at the same time showed they had no signs of trauma or gunfire, indicating that they were not killed directly by an airstrike or other IDF action.
EU expresses ‘utmost concern’ over Pakistan, Iran attacks
The European Union says it is deeply worried about the “spiral of violence in the Middle East and beyond” after Pakistan and Iran struck each other’s territory.
“These attacks, including in Pakistan in Iraq and Iran now are of utmost concern for the European Union because they violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, and they have also a destabilizing effect on the region,” EU spokesman Peter Stano says.
IDF says it intercepted ‘suspicious’ target heading toward Eilat from Red Sea
The Eilat port seen on January 3, 2024. (Yehuda Ben Itach/Flash90)
The IDF says it launched an interceptor missile at a “suspicious aerial target” that was heading toward Israeli airspace from the Red Sea.
Sirens were activated in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat due to the interceptor missile launch. The IDF says the incident is over, and there are no fears of a security incident in the city.
It is not immediately clear what the target was, but it follows attempts by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen to fire ballistic missiles and drones at the city amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The city is home to a large number of displace people from the communities near the border with Gaza which were attacked by Hamas on October 7.
Police: Tel Aviv fire which killed tourist may have been murder
Investigators at the scene of a fire in an apartment in Tel Aviv on January 18, 2024. (Israel Police)
Police say that a probe of a fire which killed a 35-year-old female tourist at an apartment in Tel Aviv is now a murder investigation.
A statement from the police says that evidence gathered at the site points to the possibility of a murder, and that the investigation is underway.
Hebrew media reported that the victim was a visitor from Russia.
Rocket sirens sound in Eilat for first time in six weeks
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
The IDF says the cause of the alarms, the first in the city since early December, is under investigation.
Footage circulating on social media shows a trail of smoke in the sky, apparently following an interception by an air defense missile.
There are no reports of injuries or damage in the city.
Footage from Eilat appears to show an interception took place pic.twitter.com/ghOv3cudkR
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 18, 2024
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have fired several ballistic missiles and drones at the city amid the ongoing war, all of which were intercepted or missed their target. An Iran-backed group in Syria also launched drones at Eilat, hitting a school in November.
Far-right MK said to be probed on charges of police brutality in 2013
Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen speaks during a rally in support of the government's planned judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv on June 1, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen is reportedly being investigated over allegations he used violence against a civilian while serving as a police officer more than a decade ago.
According to Hebrew media reports, Cohen is being questioned about an alleged violent act he carried out in 2013 while a Yasam officer, after the MK posted a photo online last year with an image of him forcefully holding down several people and the caption “those below remember what I did in the army.”
The reports say that a complaint was filed around the time of the incident but closed when the officer in question could not be identified, but after Cohen’s post surfaced online, the complainants came forward again and the attorney general ordered the case reopened.
Jordan reportedly strikes southeastern Syria, killing 9 civilians
At least nine civilians, including two children, have been killed in airstrikes on Syria likely to have been carried out by Jordan against drug-traffickers, a monitor and media outlet report.
The kingdom has tightened controls along its frontier with Syria in recent years and its armed forces occasionally announce operations to foil drug and weapon smuggling attempts from its war-torn neighbor.
The Suwayda24 news website reports that airstrikes “likely to have been carried out by the Jordanian air force” killed at least 10 people in Urman.
Rayan Maarouf of Suwayda24, an outlet run by citizen journalists, says the men who were killed, along with family members, were believed to have been drug-traffickers.
IDF says it struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon
Smoke billows following Israeli strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 18, 2024. (HASSAN FNEICH / AFP)
The IDF says fighter jets carried out strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon’s Odaisseh.
The IDF says fighter jets carried out strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon's Odaisseh.
It also says troops struck areas in Kafr Kila and Marjaayoun, presumably to foil planned Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
The IDF says two projectiles were fired from… pic.twitter.com/Y1MAxoqiZC
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) January 18, 2024
It also says troops struck areas in Kafr Kila and Marjaayoun, presumably to foil planned Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
The IDF says two projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the Arab al-Aramshe area earlier today, which both landed in open areas, causing no damage.
Troops raid major Hamas stronghold in Khan Younis, says IDF
Weapons found at a Hamas stronghold in southern Khan Younis, in an image released by the IDF on January 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the Givati Brigade raided a main stronghold belonging to Hamas’s South Khan Younis Battalion, the military says.
The IDF says at the captured “Shuhada Outpost,” as well as the offices of the Hamas battalion commander, troops seized many firearms and recovered intelligence documents.
According to the IDF, the stronghold included a training site and offices used by Hamas’s South Khan Younis Battalion during the fighting.
Freed hostages meet UN secretary general, who says he carries dog tag with him ‘everywhere’
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (center) meets with freed Israeli hostages Moran Stela Yanai (left) and Nili Margalit in Davos, Switzerland, on January 18, 2024. (Courtesy Hostage Families Forum)
Israeli hostages freed from captivity in Gaza meet for the first time with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
According to a statement from the Hostages Families Forum, Guterres tells the group that he is calling for the immediate release of all the remaining hostages, as well as an investigation and prosecution of sex crimes committed by Hamas.
Released hostages Nili Margalit and Moran Stela Yanai were among the group meeting with the UN secretary general, who has faced harsh criticism from Israel for his response to the October 7 atrocities and the ongoing war.
Guterres surprises those at the meeting by pulling out of his pocket a dog tag which calls for the release of the hostages, saying, “The dog tag is in the right pocket of my coat, where my hand normally is, and I take it with me everywhere to remember the hostages at every moment,” according to a statement from the forum.
The freed hostages also met in Davos last night with a large group of tech executives and business moguls from around the world, telling them their stories and those of the hostages left behind.
Margalit told them that “most of the people I was with in the tunnels are still being held deep underground, and they are terrified and wounded… there is not enough air to breathe, not enough food and no basic hygiene. The body is so weak that any disease can kill you.”
Stela Yanai says that when she was kidnapped, “I lost everything: control over my life, my freedom, my identity, my self… I was released, but I promised my friends I left behind in captivity that I would do everything I could to bring them back.”
Russia tells US it must ‘stop aggression against Yemen’
In this image provided by the UK Ministry of Defense taken on Jan. 11, 2024 shows an RAF Typhoon aircraft taking off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, for a mission to strike targets in Yemen. (Sgt Lee Goddard, UK Ministry of Defense via AP)
Russia says the United States should stop strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen to aid a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over the terror group’s attacks on merchant vessels.
“The most important thing now is to stop the aggression against Yemen, because the more the Americans and the British bomb, the less willing the Houthis are to talk,” Lavrov tells reporters in Moscow.
In Davos, next to photo of Kfir Bibas, Herzog says Israelis unable to think about peace talks now
President Isaac Herzog speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2024, alongside a photo of Hamas-held Israeli hostage Kfir Bibas. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next to a photo of one-year-old hostage Kfir Bibas, President Isaac Herzog says that Israelis are not able to think about a peace process with the Palestinians right now.
“Nobody in his right mind is willing now to think about what will be the right solution of the peace agreements,” he says. “Everyone wants to know that he will not be attacked in the same way from north or south or east.”
“Israel lost trust in the peace processes because they see that terror is glorified by our neighbors,” says Herzog.
The president stresses that the “the war is not only between Israel and Hamas.”
“The world has to face it point blank: There is an empire of evil emanating from Iran,” says Herzog, adding that such activities are going to “undermine any peace process and any stability in the world.”
Herzog says the Hamas terror group must be uprooted to “enable a better future for the Palestinians who are our neighbors.” He continues by saying that Israel is also fighting for the entire free world, and that Europe and the United States are next.
Herzog calls for “a very strong coalition” to come together to face Iran and its proxies.
He accuses the world of “not giving a damn” about Israeli terror victims in the years before October 7.
Asked about the day after the war, Herzog says he envisions a “coalition of nations who are willing to commit to rebuilding Gaza” in a way that enables the safety of Israelis and Palestinians, and a different future for Gaza.
He says the coalition would be made of “strong Western forces, strong regional forces,” in dialogue with Gazans and the Palestinian Authority.
Herzog also reveals that he met with officials from the Red Cross in Israel two days ago, “to discuss the dire medical situation of the hostages, the clear and present danger to our hostages.”
“We are praying that all the medication… will reach them, but that’s only the beginning,” he adds.
Russia’s Lavrov says he will address UN Security Council about solving Mideast crisis
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, December 27, 2023. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he will address the United Nations Security Council next week about proposals for “collective efforts” to solve the Middle East crisis.
Lavrov says the solution needs to involve direct talks between the Palestinian and Israeli leaderships and would have to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, adding that Russia is “interested” in having Israel and Israelis live in security.
WATCH: President Isaac Herzog speaks at World Economic Forum in Davos
President Isaac Herzog attends a ceremony in which Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron's tenure is extended for another 5-year term, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, December 18, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
Watch as President Isaac Herzog speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Liberman confirms Likud offer to join coalition: ‘I told them they were confused’
Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on January 15, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman confirms that he was asked by Likud to join the government but rejected the offer.
Speaking to Ynet, Liberman says “there was an offer from [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, they wanted me to commit to not leaving during the war period. I told them that they were confused.”
Liberman also criticized National Unity ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, who joined the coalition with the onset of the war: “It’s unfortunate that Gantz and Eisenkot are giving legitimacy to the desire by Netanyahu to continue the war until the next election.”
Last night Likud denied reports that it had extended offers to Liberman and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid to join the government.
Freed hostage whose husband, brother remain in Gaza: ‘In my head I’m still there’
Five members of an extended family, Clara Marman, her partner Louis Har, and her siblings, Fernando Marman, Gabriela Leimberg and Gabriela's daughter, Mia Leimberg, were presumed captive since Saturday, October 7. Clara Marman, Gabriela and Mia Leimberg were freed on November 28, 2023. (Courtesy)
Clara Marman, who was freed from Hamas captivity in late November and whose husband and brother are still held hostage, says she feels like she is still in Gaza.
In an interview with Ynet, Marman says she is “quite discouraged. I should have been very happy after my release from the Gaza Strip, but part of me is left there — both my partner and my brother.”
“It weighs heavily, and I don’t really feel like I’m back. In my head I’m still there,” she adds. “Physically I’m here, but I feel like a large part of me was left there.”
She says, “‘My heart is there’ is not a slogan for me — my heart is really captive because my brother, Fernando Marman, and my partner, Louis Har, are there.”
Iran says death toll in Pakistani strikes rises to 9
The death toll from Pakistan strikes on a border region in Iran’s southeast rose to nine, state media reports, up from seven earlier.
“Two men were also killed in the missile attack this morning in one of the border villages of Saravan, bringing the death toll to nine,” the official IRNA news agency says, quoting Alireza Marhamati, deputy provincial governor of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province.
Sister of slain hostage: It would have better if he’d been killed on October 7
Itay Svirsky was taken captive on October 7, 2023, from his mother's house in Kibbutz Be'eri, when Hamas terrorists assaulted the community. He was declared dead on January 16, 2024. (Courtesy)
Merav, sister of slain hostage Itay Svirsky, says that she wishes he had been killed on October 7 instead of suffering through captivity before his eventual death.
In an interview with Army Radio, Merav says her brother “guessed that mom died but didn’t know for sure, and didn’t know about dad.” Both of his parents, Orit and Rafi Svirksy, were murdered by Hamas on October 7.
It is not immediately clear how Merav found out what her brother knew in captivity, but it is likely some information came from released hostages who were held with him in Gaza.
“It’s unfortunately that it didn’t end for him too on October 7. That way he would have been saved from 99 days of fear and death,” Merav adds. “He was shot by Hamas apparently out of their stress due to a nearby strike — the military pressure is endangering the hostages.”
Troops killed around 40 Hamas operatives around Khan Younis over past day, says IDF
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo released for publication on January 18, 2024. (IDF)
As fighting intensifies in southern Gaza, IDF troops operating in the Khan Younis area killed some 40 Hamas operatives over the past day, the military says.
In one incident in Khan Younis, the IDF says the 7th Armored Brigade shelled four Hamas gunmen who were approaching the troops.
Also in Khan Younis, the IDF says, soldiers of the elite Egoz unit raided the home of a Hamas operative and seized weapons.
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, where the military is carrying out clear-up operations, the IDF says reservists of the 5th Brigade, using tank shelling, killed two gunmen who attempted to ambush the troops.
Several more Hamas operatives were killed in airstrikes in northern Gaza, the IDF says, indicating that troops are still encountering gunmen in areas it says it has established “operational control.”
Also in northern Gaza, reservists of the Yiftah Brigade spotted Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives rigging a car up with explosives and entering a nearby building. The IDF says a short while later, one of the operatives came out the building and was struck by an aircraft. The booby-trapped car was also struck, which the IDF says set off a large secondary explosion.
The IDF adds that in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, reservists of the 179th Armored Brigade located a cache of anti-tank mines, RPGs and other military equipment.
Tourist killed in Tel Aviv apartment fire
A female tourist around age 35 was killed in a fire in an apartment in Tel Aviv, police say.
A police statement says that officers, firefighters and forensic officials are at the site of the fire and the reasons for the blaze are being investigated.
French envoy to Israel says he is hopeful medicine agreement will lead to hostage release
People walk by photographs of civilians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Tel Aviv, January 4, 2023. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
French Ambassador to Israel Frédéric Journès says that the deal to get medicine to hostages in Gaza was initiated by the family members of those held captive.
Journes tells a Kan public radio station that “this was an initiative of the families of hostages who approached us already in late October in order to ask us to help find a solution to passing medications to the hostages,” Kan reports.
The envoy adds that Paris “gathered data about the medicines the hostages need and sent Qatar the details,” noting that the plane with the medication landed in Qatar on January 13 while Doha was speaking to both Israel, Hamas and the Red Cross about the initiative.
He tells Kan that he hopes the deal will lead to a wider agreement to release hostages: “In a process like this there is a first humanitarian step, and then it can advance us toward a deal. This is also the first sign since the end of the earlier deal that something is possible in the issue of the hostages,” he is quoted as saying by the public broadcaster.
Demolition of Tree of Life synagogue begins ahead of rebuilding memorial site
Workers begin demolition Jan. 17, 2023, at the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Demolition got underway yesterday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history, as part of the effort to reimagine the building to honor the 11 people who were killed there in 2018.
The demolition work began slowly, with crews picking away at the building’s exterior.
Most of the building will be removed, although portions of the sanctuary walls will be preserved. The new building will include spaces for worship, a museum, an education center and a movie theater.
The Oct. 27, 2018, attack claimed the lives of 11 worshippers from three congregations meeting at the synagogue – Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life. The three have been meeting at nearby synagogues since then.
Lebanese officials: Hezbollah rejects US proposals for cooling fighting with Israel
This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adayseh during Israeli strikes on January 14, 2024. (jalaa marey / AFP)
Iran-backed Hezbollah has rebuffed Washington’s initial ideas for cooling tit-for-tat fighting with Israel, such as pulling its operatives further from the border, but remains open to US diplomacy to avoid a ruinous war, Lebanese officials say.
“Hezbollah is ready to listen,” a senior Lebanese official familiar with the group’s thinking says, while emphasizing that the group saw the ideas presented by veteran US negotiator Amos Hochstein on a visit to Beirut last week as unrealistic.
Hezbollah’s position is that it will fire rockets at Israel until there is a full ceasefire in Gaza.
Despite the rejection and Hezbollah’s volleys of rockets toward Israel, the group’s openness to diplomatic contacts signals an aversion to a wider war, one of the Lebanese officials and a security source say, even after a purported Israeli strike on Beirut on Jan. 2, which killed a Hamas leader.
Iran claims 3 women, 4 children killed in Pakistani strike on country
Pakistani police officers stand guard outside Pakistan's Foreign Ministry building in Islamabad on January 18, 2024. (Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
At least three women and four children are killed in a missile attack by Pakistan on Iran’s southeast border region, state media reports.
“Pakistan attacked an Iranian border village with missiles,” Iranian state television says, adding that “three women, four children were killed, all non-Iranian nationals.”
Pakistan confirms it carried out strikes against targets in Iran, after Tehran launched attacks on Pakistani territory earlier this week.
“This morning Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran,” a foreign ministry statement says, adding that a “number of terrorists were killed.”
“This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities,” the Pakistani government adds.
The attack comes after Iran confirmed carrying out strikes against “a terrorist group” late Tuesday in Pakistan — an attack that Islamabad said killed two children.
Pakistan carried out overnight strikes on militant group in Iran — intel official
ISLAMABAD — The Pakistan military carried out overnight strikes in Iran, an intelligence official says, after Tehran attacked positions inside Pakistan that Islamabad said killed two children.
“I can only confirm that we have conducted strikes against anti-Pakistan militant groups that were targeted inside Iran,” a senior intelligence source not authorized to give information to the media tells AFP, adding that a government statement will follow later in the morning.
Iranian state media reports explosions in restive region bordering Pakistan
TEHRAN, Iran — Several explosions are heard early Thursday in Iran’s restive southeastern region two days after Iran carried out strikes against “terrorist targets” in Pakistan.
“Several explosions have been heard in several areas around the city of Saravan,” the official IRNA news agency says, quoting an official in Sistan-Baluchistan province where the city is located.
US says it struck Houthi missile launchers that posed ‘imminent threat’ to ships in Red Sea
US Central Command confirms it carried out strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, saying American forces hit 14 missiles that were primed by the Iran-backed rebels.
“These missiles on launch rails presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region and could have been fired at any time, prompting US forces to exercise their inherent right and obligation to defend themselves,” CENTCOM says in a statement. “These strikes, along with other actions we have taken, will degrade the Houthi’s capabilities to continue their reckless attacks on international and commercial shipping.”
The statement noticeably denounces the Houthis as “Iranian-backed terrorists,” after the Biden administration redesignated the rebel group as a terror organization earlier in the day and partially restored sanctions. Before Wednesday, statements from CENTCOM about the Houthis referred to them as “Iranian-backed militants.”
U.S. CENTCOM Strikes Houthi Terrorist Missile Launchers
In the context of ongoing multi-national efforts to protect freedom of navigation and prevent attacks on U.S. and partner maritime traffic in the Red Sea, on Jan. 17 at approximately 11:59 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central… pic.twitter.com/MMCQbzr1f7
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 18, 2024
Houthis vow to keep attacking ships in Red Sea despite ‘American-British aggression’
Iran-backed Houthi rebels vow to continue targeting Red Sea shipping soon after they said the United States and Britain have carried out a new round of strikes in Yemen.
“We will continue to target Israeli ships heading to the ports of occupied Palestine, no matter how the American-British aggression tries to prevent us from doing so,” a Houthi military official tells the rebels’ Al-Masirah TV.
US launches fresh wave of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen — officials
WASHINGTON — The United States has conducted another round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, US officials tell Reuters.
The officials speak on condition of anonymity and do not provide details on the target or how many missiles were launched.
Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers.
Report: PM rejected US proposal for Saudi normalization in exchange for path to Palestinian statehood
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, January 9, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly rejected a proposal from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that would have seen Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for Jerusalem agreeing to provide the Palestinians with a pathway toward statehood.
Netanyahu told Blinken during his visit to Israel last week that he wasn’t prepared to make a deal that allows for a Palestinian state, NBC News reports, citing three unnamed senior US officials.
Blinken responded that Hamas cannot be removed through military means alone and that a failure by Israeli leaders to recognize this will lead to history repeating itself, a US official tells The Times of Israel, confirming this detail from the NBC report.
Blinken came to Netanyahu with the proposal after he received commitments from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and four other Arab leaders to help fund the reconstruction of Gaza after the war and support the return of a reformed PA to the Strip, NBC news says.
Bin Salman also told Blinken he was prepared to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Gaza reconstruction, two US officials have told The Times of Israel, noting that he indeed is conditioning that deal on Israeli steps toward Palestinian sovereignty. However, the officials noted that this condition falls well short of an expectation that Israel agree to the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state.
NBC reports that the only request to which Netanyahu agreed was for Israel not to launch a major attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon. US officials who spoke with The Times of Israel confirm that agreement.
They note, however, that Israel also agreed to another major US request — that it allow a team of UN officials into Gaza to carry out an assessment regarding the conditions required for Palestinians to be able to return to their homes in the northern Strip.
NBC cites three administration officials who claim that the administration is looking past Netanyahu to try and achieve its goals in the region, with one of them telling the network that the premier “will not be there forever.” However, two US officials tell The Times of Israel that as a matter of policy, the US is not actively planning for a post-Netanyahu era and is still seeking to work with the current premier.
Blinken did, however, hold private meetings with other members of the war cabinet, including Minister Benny Gantz, who is seen as a potential successor to Netanyahu, as well as Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
One of the senior administration officials tells NBC that Biden’s hopes of reshaping the Middle East after the war are completely linked to the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, which means they will likely have to wait until there is a different government in Israel.
British FM Cameron meets with Iranian counterpart at Davos, slams attack on Iraq’s Erbil
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum, UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) says in a statement.
Cameron condemned the attacks in Erbil in Iraq, which killed UK-Iraqi dual national Karam Mikhael, the statement adds.
Cameron also made it clear that the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are “illegal and unacceptable,” the FCDO says.
“Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea,” Cameron writes on X.
“Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others’ sovereignty. I made this clear to [Amir-Abdollahian].”
CENTCOM confirms Houthi drone attack on US-owned ship, says no injuries but some damage
US Central Command confirms that an attack drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck the Genco Picardy bulk carrier, which sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands and is US-owned and operated.
According to Central Command, there were no injuries in the attack but some damage was caused.
“Genco Picardy is seaworthy and continuing underway,” it says in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Incoming rocket sirens activated in several towns across from southeastern Gaza
Incoming rocket warning sirens sound in several southern Israeli communities near the southeastern corner of the Gaza Strip, following an apparent overnight barrage from the coastal enclave.
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