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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they happened.
Israel’s new judge in ICJ case is a law professor who blasted UN court as manipulative
Screen capture from video of Prof. Ron Shapira, rector of the Peres Academic Center, June 2024. (YouTube. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Israel has decided to appoint Prof. Ron Shapira as Israel’s ad hoc judge in South Africa’s International Court of Justice case, accusing the country of genocide in Gaza, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.
Shapira will replace former chief justice Aharon Barak, who had been a member of the 15-judge panel at the top UN court until he stepped down last month, citing “personal family reasons.”
Shapira, an attorney, is the rector of the Peres Academic Center in Rehovot and a lecturer on law at Bar-Ilan University and Tel Aviv University, though his judicial credentials are nowhere near those of Barak.
In January, when Barak was announced as the judge, Shapira wrote on Facebook that the former Supreme Court chief was being sent to “a body that almost all residents of Israel think is unworthy of any level of trust.
“The consensus in Israel is that this entity embodies and takes to the extreme all the flaws of legal discourse in existence: intellectual dishonesty, manipulative use of ambiguous definitions, overly cumbersome tools for fact-checking and lie-debunking, and concealment of ulterior motives of the judges themselves via wording that falsely poses as neutral,” he wrote.
While expressing respect for Barak, Shapira concluded that post by stressing that sending such an esteemed legal expert “does not stem from respect we have for such decision-making.”
IDF says soldier killed by roadside bomb in West Bank’s Nur Shams
Sgt. First Class (res.) Yehuda Geto, killed in the West Bank on July 1, 2024. (Courtesy)
An Israeli soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded by a roadside bomb in the West Bank’s Nur Shams refugee camp this morning, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Yehuda Geto, 22, a combat driver, from Pardes Hanna-Karkur.
The two soldiers were inside a Panther armored personnel carrier (APC) when the bomb exploded. Geto was the driver, and the seriously wounded soldier is a commander in the Duvdevan commando unit.
According to an initial IDF probe, the vehicle was waiting in an area of Nur Shams where the army did not believe explosive devices had been planted. Other Duvdevan troops had disembarked from the APC to carry out an operation on foot.
The APC was disabled by the large blast, and later towed out of Nur Shams. The IDF believes the bomb was improvised, using dozens of kilograms of explosive material.
During the extraction of the two soldiers, the IDF attempted to carry out a drone strike against a group of gunmen in the area, though the missile did not explode, the probe found.
Later, several gunmen attempted to tamper with the missile, but it exploded, killing a Palestinian woman who was standing nearby, according to the military probe.
Separately, Duvdevan troops shot dead a Palestinian gunman who tried to open fire on the forces, the IDF says.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry also reported two dead in Nur Shams, a woman and a child.
The incident comes days after a similar attack in the Jenin area, in which a soldier was killed and 16 others were hurt when Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives detonated bombs against army vehicles during a raid.
Houthis says they have targeted 4 ships ‘linked to the US, UK and Israel’
Yemen’s Houthis say they have conducted four military operations targeting four cargo ships in the Red, Arabian, and Mediterranean Seas as well as the Indian Ocean.
The attacked vessels are “linked with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel,” they claim.
Le Pen as French president would be ‘excellent,’ says Likud minister, adds Netanyahu agrees
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) sits with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, at the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, June 26, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
As the French far right makes big gains in that country’s parliamentary elections, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) has indicated that the current Israeli leadership would be happy to see National Rally leader Marine Le Pen eventually become president.
Speaking this morning with the Kan public broadcaster, Chikli notes Le Pen’s support for Israel and her recent participation in a march against antisemitism, when President Emmanuel Macron did not show up. The anti-immigration Le Pen has been making efforts to reverse her party’s deep history of antisemitism.
“It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks,” he says.
Asked whether his party leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, agrees, Chikli says: “I think I and Netanyahu are of the same opinion.”
Hezbollah announces death of its member in IDF strike; total toll rises to 357
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives killed in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Hamza Shour, from the coastal city of Tyre.
The announcement comes following Israeli strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today, including buildings in Aitaroun and Ayta ash-Shab, where several operatives were gathered.
His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 357.
Washington criticizes Arab League’s revocation of Hezbollah’s terror designation
The US comes out against the Arab League’s decision to revoke Hezbollah’s classification as a terror organization.
“There is no question that Hezbollah remains a dangerous terrorist organization and a destabilizing force in the Middle East,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel says when asked about the decision, announced by Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki in a statement to Egyptian media.
“We believe that there’s no reason to take steps to remove such a designation, and we have continued to urge governments around the world to designate ban or restrict Hezbollah. Sixteen governments from across the world have heeded this call since 2019, and we will continue to have those conversations,” Patel says.
Thousands of Jewish, Arab activists gather in Tel Aviv to call for peace, end to Gaza war
Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, middle, attends a coexistence conference in Tel Aviv on July 1, 2024. (Charlie Summers/ Times of Israel)
Thousands are gathered in Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliyahu neighborhood for a massive gathering of what organizers brand as the Israeli peace camp, calling for a hostage deal and an end to the ongoing war in Gaza.
Onstage at the Menora Mivtachim Arena, a mix of Jewish and Arab activists, journalists, and politicians are speaking to the crowd of attendees, united in their message that “only peace can bring security.”
The large conference has brought together all corners of the embattled Israeli left, from veteran peace activists to left-wing politicians, including Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, Labor MK Gilad Kariv, and former Meretz MK Mossi Raz.
Yanal Jbareen, a Palestinian journalist from Jerusalem who, earlier this year, covered the packed conference of the religious right promoting Jewish settlement of Gaza, tells the audience that he envisions today’s conference as a response to Israel’s ultranationalists.
“Against all this, it is the time to unite — Arabs and Jews,” he says. “Despair is no action plan, peace is the word.”
Internationally renowned Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari is expected to give tonight’s keynote speech.
Over 100 victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught sue Iran, Syria, North Korea in US court
Victims of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught have filed a federal lawsuit in the US against Iran, Syria and North Korea, alleging that the three countries provided material support to Hamas that enabled it to commit the attack, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
The lawsuit is being organized by the Anti-Defamation League and Crowell & Moring LLP, and the 125 plaintiffs are seeking at least $4 billion in damages under applicable federal and local laws.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, by the Anti-Defamation League is the largest case against foreign countries in connection with the attack, and the first backed by a Jewish organization, the ADL says in a press release.
It accuses the three countries of providing financial, military and tactical support to Hamas. The US government has designated Iran, Syria and North Korea as state sponsors of terrorism.
The plaintiffs in the case include US citizens injured on October 7, as well as relatives and the estates of victims killed in the attack.
“My mom, Adrienne Neta, was born and raised in California. Her father was an Air Force engineer, and the family lived on Navy bases for most of her childhood. In the early ’80s, she made aliyah and married my dad, and together, they built a family in Kibbutz Be’eri,” says plaintiff Nahar Neta in a statement.
“While nothing will ever undo the unbearable pain Hamas caused our family or the brutal losses we’ve suffered, we hope this case will bring some sense of justice. It’s important for us to be able to tell our stories so the world can hear how Hamas has terrorized Israel, the Jewish people, and many American citizens. My mom devoted her life to caring for others regardless of race or religious beliefs. She was a peace and justice seeker who was active in many civilian efforts to bridge the gap between Jews and Arabs in Israel.”
It is common for countries accused of state-sponsored terrorism to ignore lawsuits in the US and not to honor judgments against them in US courts.
If the defendants are found liable, the plaintiffs hope to tap the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, which Congress created in 2015 to compensate individuals who have won judgments against state sponsors of terrorism.
But the fund has run low, prompting several members of Congress to introduce legislation in May that would enhance funding and guarantee annual payments to victims.
Monday’s lawsuit seeks at least $1 billion of compensatory damages and $3 billion of punitive damages.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Blinken says war may erupt in Lebanon despite none of the sides wanting one
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Israel “has effectively lost sovereignty in the northern quadrant of its country because people don’t feel safe to go to their homes.”
In an on-stage interview at the Brookings Institution, Blinken reiterates his belief that Israel does not want a war in Lebanon, but admits that “they may well be prepared to engage in one if necessary — from their perspective — to protect their interests.”
He says that Hezbollah does not actually want a war, that Lebanon does not want one either because it would be the primary victim; and that Iran does not want a war because it would prefer to save Hezbollah for a scenario in which it has a direct conflict with Israel.
“On the one hand, no one actually wants a war. On the other hand, you have momentum that may be leading in that direction in which we are determined to try to arrest,” Blinken says.
He asserts that the US has been working tirelessly to broker an agreement that would include “making sure that forces… are pulled back so that they can’t endanger people every single day” — an apparent recognition of Israel’s demand that Hezbollah retreat north of the Litani River, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the border.
Blinken says securing a ceasefire in Gaza is the best way to end attacks by both Hezbollah and the Houthis as well.
Blinken: Gaza war can’t end with Israeli occupation, Hamas rule or leadership vacuum
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledges that recently, “the Israelis talk about a significant downshifting of their operations in Gaza. That remains to be seen.”
“When this conflict ends, it cannot and must not end with a vacuum in Gaza. It has to end in a way that makes sure that there are clear, coherent, achievable plans for Gaza’s governance, security and reconstruction,” Blinken says during an on-stage interview at the Brookings Institution.
“The post-conflict plans are critical because if we get to a moment where the conflict really does shift dramatically at home — [hopefully]… via a ceasefire — if we’re not ready, if the region’s not ready, then you’re going to have a vacuum, and vacuums tend to get filled by bad things before they get filled with good things.
“We know that there are three things that are unacceptable for Gaza’s future: an Israeli occupation; Hamas perpetuating its leadership; or chaos, anarchy, lawlessness — which is what we’re seeing in big parts of Gaza today.
“We’ve told the Israelis that we expected them to develop their own plans, their own ideas. We’ve not seen enough of that from Israel,” Blinken laments.
Blinken says intense efforts made to close ‘gaps that Hamas created’ on hostage deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Hamas’s June response to Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal can “most charitably be described as ‘a yes, but,'” with the terror group “trying to impose new conditions, moving the line, actually coming back on positions that it had already agreed to and trying to get more.”
“We’ve been in an intense effort with the Egyptians, with the Qataris to see if we can close the gaps that Hamas created,” Blinken says during an on-stage interview at the Brookings Institution, acknowledging that ultimately it is up to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to decide whether the war will continue.
West Nile virus found in several dead birds in central Israel, ministry says
The Agriculture Ministry reports that several dead birds from the central region of the country have tested positive for West Nile virus.
Birds cannot transmit the disease to humans. But they can transmit the virus to mosquitos that bite them. The mosquitos, in turn, can transmit the virus to people.
The public is asked not to touch bird carcasses and to report them to local authorities.
The ministry also asks that local authorities collect bird carcasses and bring them to Hebrew University’s veterinary hospital in Beit Dagan.
Netanyahu: Release of Shifa director a ‘severe mistake’ that will be probed quickly
An image grab from a file handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, giving a press briefing on November 1, 2023, regarding the repercussions of fuel shortages on the hospital. (AFP/HO/Hamas Media Office)
The release of Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya from custody today was “a severe mistake and an ethical failure,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as various ministers and senior security officials have traded blame, each claiming they had nothing to do with the controversial move.
“This man, under whose responsibility our hostages were held and murdered, belongs in prison,” continues Netanyahu in a statement.
This morning, Netanyahu ordered an investigation into how the release happened, the statement says. Shin Bet director Ronen Bar will present his findings to the premier tomorrow, says the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu stresses that the decision to release Abu Salmiya was made without the knowledge of the political echelon or the heads of the security agencies.
The premier also creates an interagency body — made up of the Defense Ministry, IDF, Shin Bet and National Security Council — to approve the release of prisoners whose interrogation has been completed.
Abu Salmiya was arrested by IDF troops in November, on suspicion of having allowed Hamas to use the Gaza City hospital as a center of operations. He was detained and taken for questioning by the Shin Bet, as he was attempting to evacuate to the south of the Strip via an IDF-operated humanitarian corridor.
He was returned to Gaza this morning along with 55 other Palestinian detainees.
Contradicting PM, ruling party MK says Israel barely achieved anything in Gaza
Likud MK Amit Halevi at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 3, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that Israel is close to eliminating Hamas’s military capabilities, a lawmaker in his own party has argued today that the almost nine-month military offensive in Gaza has barely anything to show for it.
Speaking to the Knesset Channel, Likud MK Amit Halevi says, “The results in Gaza are very bad, they’re very poor. The IDF has barely made any strategic achievement in the Gaza Strip.”
Halevi says the responsibility for this failure lies with the military as well as the government, though he mainly elaborates on the military’s portion.
“The government set goals — the elimination of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities — and the IDF brought a plan that can’t fulfill these goals,” he says, urging IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to “rethink and bring forward a different plan.”
He claims that the same approach will not work in countering the threat posed by Hezbollah, and says that to avoid a similar failure, Israel should delay the start of a potential full-on offensive in Lebanon.
IDF says it found, destroyed largest Islamic Jihad rocket production site yet
IDF troops stand at the entrance to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad underground rocket manufacturing site in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout image published July 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s largest rocket manufacturing site found to date has been located and demolished in southern Gaza’s Rafah, the military says.
The IDF says troops of the Commando Brigade, 401st Armored Brigade and elite Yahalom combat engineering unit raided an Islamic Jihad compound and underground site in Rafah’s northwestern Tel Sultan neighborhood.
The troops found an underground facility used by Islamic Jihad to manufacture rocket parts and long-range rockets, the IDF says.
According to the IDF, it is Islamic Jihad’s largest rocket manufacturing site in the Strip, and it was used to build hundreds of projectiles in recent years.
During the raid on the site, the IDF says the commandos and elite combat engineers battled gunmen above and below ground, as well as killing several operatives using drones and guided missiles.
Polls: Almost half of US Jews say antisemitism a big problem; 11% harassed over their religion in past year
More than one in 10 American Jewish adults — 11% — say they were frequently “treated poorly or harassed,” due to their religion over the past year, according to a new Gallup poll.
An additional 25% say such treatment happened occasionally. A majority of American Jews, 60%, say they feel uncomfortable sharing their religious affiliation, far more than the 25% of Americans overall who say the same.
In addition, close to half of all Americans view antisemitism as a “very serious problem,” according to a separate Gallup poll — more than five times the proportion of respondents who said so the last time the polling firm asked the same question more than two decades ago.
The poll about harassment confirms recent surveys by the American Jewish Committee and others of increased insecurity among American Jews.
IDF says it struck gatherings of Hezbollah members; rockets fired at Israel, hitting open area
Israeli fighter jets struck two buildings where Hezbollah operatives were gathered in southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun and Ayta ash-Shab earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says strikes were carried out today against additional buildings used by the terror group and other Hezbollah infrastructure in Markaba, Houla, and Kafr Kila.
Meanwhile, five rockets were launched from Lebanon at the northern community of Maayan Baruch, setting off sirens at 5:31 p.m. The IDF says the rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.
One rocket was fired earlier, at Dovev, setting off a siren there at 5:03 p.m., and another was fired at Ramot Naftali, setting off a siren there at 4:23 p.m. According to the IDF, both rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.
מטוסי קרב תקפו מוקדם יותר היום שני מבנים צבאיים בהם פעלו מחבלים במרחבים עיתרון ועייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון, לצד מבנים צבאיים ותשתיות טרור במרחבים מרכבא, חולא וכפר כילא שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/fTmGxYNws9
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 1, 2024
Netanyahu asserts Israel nearing elimination of ‘Hamas’s terror army’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to students from the National Defense College, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/ GPO)
Israel is “progressing toward the end of the phase of eliminating Hamas’s terror army,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to students from the National Defense College.
“There will be a continuation in order to strike the remnants,” Netanyahu explains.
Foreign students from Germany, Singapore, Japan, Italy, Czechia, and South Korea are present as well.
Netanyahu pledges that Israel will achieve all its war aims.
Labor chief: New alliance with Meretz will be ‘home for liberal-democratic public in Israel’
Labor party chief Yair Golan holds a joint weekly faction meeting with Meretz following their merger under the name The Democrats, in the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
Labor party chief Yair Golan welcomes Meretz representatives to their first joint weekly faction meeting in the Knesset following their merger yesterday in which they established a new unified left-wing party called the Democrats.
Meretz’s decision to join with Labor “is an integral part of establishing the broad home for the liberal-democratic public in Israel,” Golan tells reporters, saying that the new party’s “most urgent task is to replace the most failed government in this country’s history and to restore hope to Israel.”
“We are a fighting and determined opposition — only such an opposition can be a leadership alternative,” he says.
“We, the Democrats, will be the political framework that will ensure a change of government. We Democrats understand that there is no change of government without offering a value-based, functional and structural alternative for the future of Israeli society. There is a home for the liberal-democratic public in Israel. Welcome,” he says.
Asked how he intends to revive the left as a viable alternative given the rightward shift in Israeli politics in recent years, Golan tells The Times of Israel that “the ideas of left and right are comfortable for Netanyahu [but] they have no connection to the current reality in Israel.”
“Today there is a persistent struggle between the democratic-liberal public in Israel — which sees the State of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people and as equal, free and democratic — and a public that perceives the state as messianic- theocratic or as a state that is a kleptocracy, a state of thieves and robbers whose entire role is to drain the public purse,” he claims.
“That won’t happen. We will never give up,” he says, calling for the redefining of the contours of the political playing field.
Turning to Saturday night’s incident in Tel Aviv in which Labor MK Naama Lazimi was shoved and grabbed by police officers, despite the parliamentary immunity granted to her as a Knesset member, Golan says, “To the men and women of the Israel Police, I want to say clearly: your job is to protect the citizens and their democratic rights. Beware of becoming a violent arm of a criminal minister and an illegitimate government. You too are part of the cornerstone of Israeli democracy. When we return to power we will make sure that Israel has a responsible, professional and dignified police.”
After large barrage, IDF calls on Gazans to leave several Khan Younis neighborhoods
The Israeli military is calling on Palestinians in eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area and head toward the designated “humanitarian zone.”
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a list of the zones that need to be evacuated alongside the announcement.
The zones include the Khan Younis suburbs of al-Qarara and Bani Suheila, the Abasan neighborhoods, the town of Khuza’a, and several other areas.
The move comes after a barrage of at least 20 rockets was fired this morning from the Khan Younis area at Israeli border communities.
#عاجل الى كل السكان والنازحين المتواجدين في مناطق القرارة واحيائها، بني سهيلا واحيائها، بما في ذلك احياء معن، قيزان النجار، القرين، جورت اللوت، المنارة والسلام، عبسان الجديدة واحيائها، عبسان الكبيرة واحيائها، بلدية الخزاعة واحيائها، بلدية الفخاري واحيائها، المناطق الاقليمية،… pic.twitter.com/fBRzjxF3Wq
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 1, 2024
US Supreme Court sends Trump immunity case back to lower court, dimming chance of trial before election
Former US president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Historic Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP)
The US Supreme Court extends the delay in the Washington criminal case against Donald Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, all but ending prospects the former president could be tried before the November election.
In a historic 6-3 ruling, the justices say for the first time that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts and no immunity for unofficial acts. But rather than do it themselves, the justices order lower courts to figure out precisely how to apply the decision to Trump’s case.
The outcome means additional delay before Trump could face trial in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
“Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” Chief Justice John Roberts writes for the court. “And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.”
Roberts is joined by the other five conservative justices. The three liberal justices dissent.
UK slams legalization of 5 West Bank outposts, urges reversal of sanctions against PA
The United Kingdom “strongly opposes” the Israeli government’s recent legalization of five settler outposts in the West Bank, according to a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office.
The statement also condemns “further punitive measures” taken against the Palestinian Authority, and calls on Israel to halt settlement expansion and hold perpetrators of “extremist settler violence” accountable.
“We are clear that actions by Israel to weaken the Palestinian Authority must stop. We call for longer-term measures to be put in place to ensure continued correspondent banking relations and assurance that Israel will release frozen funds without delay,” the statement says.
Last week, the security cabinet approved legalizing five West Bank outposts and a series of sanctions against the PA.
In return for the measures, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will sign off on moves unfreezing the last three months of tax funds withheld from the PA, a senior Israeli official has told The Times of Israel.
Smotrich said the sanctions were in response to the PA’s actions against Israel at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the UN, along with the recent decisions by five European countries to recognize a Palestinian state.
Rocket from Lebanon hits evacuated town of Metula
One rocket launched from Lebanon struck the northern border town of Metula a short while ago, according to the military.
There are no reports of injuries. Metula is largely evacuated.
Sirens did not sound amid the attack.
Smotrich demands swift probe into release of Shifa head, urges military rule over Gaza
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launch a probe into how officials allowed Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya to be freed from custody and returned to the Gaza Strip.
“I appealed to the prime minister demanding an immediate investigation into this failure and demanding answers from all those responsible, without exception, in order to ensure that nothing of this kind happens again,” Smotrich tells reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Smotrich says he will request that the investigation’s conclusions be presented to the cabinet this week, “including taking steps against those responsible for the failure.”
“Even if the IDF has a justified criticism of the Israel Prisons Service for not solving the incarceration crisis, this still does not justify this release,” he continues, saying it sends “a message of weakness to our enemies.”
The Prisons Service is under the authority of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. While Smotrich does not mention Ben Gvir today, he accused his fellow far-right cabinet minister this week of failing to prevent the spread of illegal weapons in the Arab community.
The Prisons Service is currently pushing back against claims made by the Shin Bet that it was forced to release detainees back to Gaza due to a lack of space in jails. It warned in December that the war with Hamas has strained the prison system’s capacity to house a growing number of inmates.
Turning to the Palestinian issue, Smotrich boasts about the cabinet’s approval of his proposal to legalize five West Bank outposts and impose “severe sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and its officials,” stating that he is working to “remove [a Palestinian state] from the agenda by establishing facts on the ground.”
Referencing the far-right National Rally’s recent electoral success in France, Smotrich says that “France and Europe are also beginning to wake up and understand the danger of extreme Islam that endangers the entire free world” — adding that he wants to “congratulate former [US] President [Donald] Trump” for coming out against a Palestinian state during last week’s American presidential debate.
Regarding ongoing fighting in Gaza, Smotrich states that “it is time to take responsibility for the distribution of humanitarian aid so that it does not reach Hamas” and insists that “only military rule in Gaza will allow the IDF to occupy and take over the territory and prevent the return of Hamas and the restoration of its power.”
Regarding fighting in the north, he asserts that only launching “a defensive war and establishing a security zone in southern Lebanon” will bring peace to the area.
“An agreement with Hezbollah is not worth the paper it is written on, and it will cost us a terrible, terrible price of thousands of dead, if we postpone the decision to go to war” with Hezbollah, he argues.
IDF destroys kilometer-long terror tunnel in central Gaza; bombs a mosque used to store arms
This IDF infographic released July 1, 2024, shows a tunnel route in the central Gaza Strip. The tunnel was demolished. (Israel Defense Forces)
A kilometer-long tunnel was recently located and destroyed by IDF troops in the Netzarim Corridor area of the central Gaza Strip where Israeli troops control an East-West strip that divides the territory in two, the military says.
The IDF says the tunnel — located by troops serving under the 99th Division — included several branching paths that were used by terror operatives to move around the area.
The tunnel was blown up by troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.
Also in the Netzarim Corridor, the 99th Division’s forces — the Alexandroni Reserve Infantry Brigade and 8th Reserve Armored Brigade — killed dozens of gunmen and destroyed more than 100 sites belonging to terror groups in the past two months — since being deployed there — according to the military.
The IDF says the sites included weapon depots, observation posts, rocket launching sites and tunnels.
The army also says a recent airstrike was carried out against a mosque that was used by gunmen as a staging ground, and that it identified secondary blasts following the attack, indicating the site was used to store weapons.
The Netzarim Corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south. It also enables Israel to coordinate deliveries of humanitarian aid directly to northern Gaza.
If Lebanon doesn’t stop Hezbollah, Israel will do so soon, Gantz tell European envoys
National Unity leader Benny Gantz speaking to European ambassadors in Israel on July 1, 2024, in a briefing organized by ELNET. (Courtesy/ELNET)
Speaking to European ambassadors in Israel, National Unity leader Benny Gantz threatens that the Lebanese state will start paying a price if it doesn’t stop the Hezbollah terror group from attacking Israel.
“There is a state over there and it has a government,” says Gantz in a briefing organized by ELNET, the European Leadership Network, “and it cannot hold the stick from both sides unless it wants to break it on its own knee.”
“If we have to break it, then we’ll do so,” says the former war cabinet minister and ex-IDF chief of staff. “So far Lebanon has not paid the price of this war, and soon enough they are going to start feeling it. They need to make sure Hezbollah stops. Hezbollah needs to decide whether it’s an Iranian branch or a Lebanese organization and pay the price for what comes with this.”
Report: IDF to try out plan for Gaza pockets run by Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas
An Israeli military proposal to create “humanitarian enclaves” of Gazan civilians unaffiliated with Hamas will soon be implemented in the northern Gaza neighborhoods of Atatra, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia, the Financial Times reports.
The plan, which would carve out Hamas-free “bubbles” where local Palestinians would gain aid distribution responsibilities, has reportedly been met with skepticism by anonymous former officials and others familiar with the plans.
Under the alleged scheme, Israeli forces would retain security duties for the time being, while Palestinians would gradually take over civil governance. If the model is successful in the north, Israel would begin creating more enclaves in the south, laying a foundation for a replacement for Hamas governing the Strip.
But some of those familiar with the plan are downplaying its chances of success, telling the Financial Times that Israel “already tried” a similar method in various parts of central and northern Gaza with local Palestinian clans. The officials say that Israel has been working to identify potential non-Hamas local leadership since November, but has been unsuccessful.
“They were all either beaten up or killed by Hamas,” a former Israeli official familiar with postwar planning says.
The former official also notes that the humanitarian enclaves are only one part of a much larger three-tier postwar plan that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli security establishment have been pushing. That plan aims to involve a broad international collective, including the Palestinian Authority and moderate Arab states, which would diplomatically and financially take charge of postwar Gaza. Members of that coalition would effectively govern the humanitarian bubbles.
Other individuals familiar with the discussions say that there are plans to train former PA personnel in Jordan and the West Bank under US Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel to take over security responsibilities in the Hamas-free pockets. PA intelligence chief Mahed Faraj has already identified several thousand potential recruits, says the FT.
Those schemes are opposed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle who are resistant to any postwar plan that involves the PA, officials say.
Last week, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said the plan for the “day after” Hamas would start to be implemented in northern Gaza in the coming days. He said that the IDF plan has “been sharpened” in recent weeks, and that “we will see a practical expression of this plan” shortly.
Haredi minister dismisses attack on his vehicle: ‘Stones were thrown at the car, not at me’
Police protect the car of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf during a demonstration against the conscription of Haredi yeshiva students to the military, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on June 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, dismisses an incident in which his car was attacked in Jerusalem yesterday by Haredi protesters angry about the potential conscription of yeshiva students into the military.
The demonstrators mostly belonged to the extremist Jerusalem Faction.
Despite footage showing demonstrators throwing stones at his car, striking the vehicle and hurling insults as he passed by, Goldknopf tells The Times of Israel that he doesn’t intend to file a police complaint, adding that the attackers “don’t represent the Haredi public or the Jerusalem Faction.”
“I wasn’t attacked,” he insists when asked by a Radio Kol Chai reporter in the Knesset. “There was no incident. The stones weren’t thrown at me, they were thrown at the car.”
Asked if he is worried by the level of violence during the protest, Goldknopf tells the reporter: “Not at all. Everyone can go their own way. If they think that is the correct path, let them continue.”
Sa’ar accuses government of neglecting crucial issues, focusing on political maneuvers
New Hope party leader Gideon Sa'ar leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
New Hope party chairman Gideon Sa’ar slams the government’s handling of the war and other security and political issues, following the controversial release of detained Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
“Nine months at war and there are no solutions,” he tells reporters ahead of his right-wing opposition party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, asserting that Palestinian security prisoners are going free and arrest operations are not being carried out because of a lack of prison capacity.
Legislation to fully cover the costs of an academic degree for IDF reservists serving amid the war was passed into law half a year ago and was scheduled to go into effect today, but “spoiler, it didn’t happen,” he continues, claiming that the government has shown itself unable to run the country effectively.
“On what did they agree? Changing the name of the Agriculture Ministry,” he complains, referring to yesterday’s cabinet decision to change the name of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry to the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry — a move that could cost up to NIS 2 million ($530,000) in taxpayer money according to the Movement for Quality Government, a watchdog group.
Sa’ar further lambasts the government for “politicizing” the role of ombudsman for judges by backing a law under which lawmakers would vote on candidates for the position. This would force judges to campaign in the Knesset, undermining judicial independence, he says.
Turning to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation’s decision to back a bill forbidding the use of administrative detention or administrative restraining orders against Israeli citizens, Sa’ar says that if passed, the legislation would undermine the legitimacy of the settlement movement and only serve extremists while damaging the state.
IDF soldier killed during fighting in Rafah
Sgt. Ori Itzchak Hadad, 21, killed in fighting in Gaza's Rafah, July 1, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
An Israeli soldier was killed during fighting in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier today, the military announces.
The slain troop is named as Sgt. Ori Itzchak Hadad, 21, of the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, from Beersheba.
Another soldier of the Nahal Brigade was seriously wounded in the same incident.
His death brings the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas and in operations on the Gaza border to 319. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission.
Lapid: If Netanyahu fires attorney general, we may resign from Knesset
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks at the Herzliya Conference on June 24, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, arguing that such a move would constitute a return to the government’s efforts to hobble the judiciary.
Addressing reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid states that “the opposition will not allow this to pass in silence or with polite protests from the sidelines” and “will not rule out any step or action, from mass strikes and an escalation of the struggle in the streets to a collective resignation from the Knesset.”
“We will not participate in pretending that Israel is a democracy if it ceases to be so,” he declares, accusing the government of sending up “trial balloons” relating to its alleged intentions.
“On Thursday, Minister Amichai Chikli issued a letter to the prime minister with a demand to fire the attorney general. Such letters are coordinated in advance, and are intended to ‘plant’ the idea. Chikli was preceded by ministers Karhi and Amsalem. They are also often used by the Prime Minister’s Office to spread messages. Karhi called for her impeachment in an interview on Channel 11. Amsalem demanded her dismissal both in the government and from the speaker’s podium in the Knesset,” he continues.
“Yesterday at the cabinet meeting this was already discussed openly, and with Netanyahu’s encouragement,” Lapid charges. “It’s an orchestrated campaign that comes directly from the Prime Minister’s Office.”
If Baharav-Miara were dismissed, it would allow Justice Minister Yariv Levin to choose the next attorney general “and put the legal revolution back on track,” Lapid says. In addition, it would allow Netanyahu to “resolve — if only temporarily — the crisis between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox parties.”
Lapid congratulates Labor and Meretz parties on merger
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid congratulates Labor and Meretz on their merger, telling reporters it is a shame that they didn’t unite ahead of the last Knesset election.
Speaking ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid condemns the delegitimization of the Israeli left by its political opponents.
Security forces foil attempt to smuggle handguns and assault rifle parts from Jordan
Weapons seized by Israeli forces in an attempted smuggling on the Jordan border, July 1, 2024. (Israel Police)
Police and IDF say they foiled an attempt to smuggle some 75 handguns and dozens of assault rifle parts from Jordan into the West Bank overnight.
Soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted three suspects crossing the Jordan border, and troops dispatched to the scene located three bags with the guns and weapon parts, police and the IDF say.
It marks the largest weapons bust amid the ongoing war, military officials say. Security forces are still searching for the smugglers.
Weapons smuggling is a constant challenge for Israel, along its long, porous eastern border with Jordan, and in the West Bank.
Israeli officials say Iran has recently made efforts to smuggle weapons to terror groups in the West Bank. Additionally, many guns smuggled into Israel are being used for underworld crime.
Gallant tells Knesset it’s better to draft Haredim through regulation than legislation; says IDF needs 10,000 new soldiers
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which is currently working on an ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill, that it would be preferable to deal with the issue through government regulation rather than legislation.
According to Hebrew media reports, Gallant says that while the military requires 10,000 new soldiers, it can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox recruits this year, beyond the 1,800 who are already drafted annually.
He claims the government had at one point agreed with the ultra-Orthodox that the Haredi quota for enlistment would rise by 5% annually until it reaches 50% of those eligible within five years, but that disagreements over whether to pass a law or regulations, coupled with arguments over sanctions for draft dodgers, torpedoed negotiations.
In the wake of the government’s inability to deal with the issue, the High Court of Justice ruled last week that there is no legal basis for exempting Haredi men from the military draft.
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is currently working on an ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill that chairman Yuli Edelstein has said will advance only if there is “broad agreement,” angering the ultra-Orthodox, who see it as the only way to prevent a mass mobilization of yeshiva students.
Following the court’s decision, the Attorney General’s Office instructed the Israel Defense Forces to immediately draft 3,000 Haredim.
Edelstein has indicated that he will only support legislation that is aimed at meeting the army’s manpower needs, which have grown significantly since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
IDF strike targets Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon
The IDF carried out an airstrike against a group of Hezbollah operatives spotted entering a building used by the terror group in southern Lebanon’s Blida this morning, the military says.
The terror group members were identified by artillery forces of the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division, and a short while later, a fighter jet struck the building, the IDF says.
It publishes footage of the strike.
כוחות חטיבת האש של אוגדה 91 זיהו מוקדם יותר היום מחבלים נכנסים למבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב בליידא שבדרום לבנון.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, זמן קצר לאחר הזיהוי, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו את המבנה בו שהו המחבלים pic.twitter.com/mWFz3W2mmq— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 1, 2024
Hamas video shows operatives readying weaponry: ‘Preparations continue’
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, releases a short propaganda video showing one of its operatives putting the finishing touches on weapons before their distribution.
In the clip, a man is filmed as he applies a coat of paint to dozens of 105mm Chinese HEAT projectiles along with labels reading in Arabic “guerrilla action device,” a name given by Hamas to a type of improvised anti-tank weapon.
The operative is then seen placing some of the devices inside black bags for transport. In the background plays an Al Jazeera clip of an ambush conducted by Hamas two weeks ago, according to Palestinian media reports. At the end of the video, the phrase “Our preparations continue” appears on the screen in Arabic.
من يرنو فنائي يبحث عن سراب .
فيديو لاصاحب القلوب الضعيفة ، المقاومة مستمرة في التصنيع والتجهيز وتزويد المقاتلين بالسلاح والصواريخ والقذائف والقنابل والعبوات .
الإعداد مستمر غصبن عن اسرائيل وحلفائها 🔥
والشاهد على توقيت هذا الفيديو قناة الجزيرة ودويري . pic.twitter.com/4BWuSBvlDZ
— Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) June 30, 2024
Palestinians say woman and child killed by Israeli gunfire during West Bank raid
The Palestinian Authority health ministry says a woman and a child were killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp this morning.
Another four Palestinians were wounded, the ministry says.
Amid the raid this morning in Nur Shams, close to Tulkarem, an Israeli armored vehicle was hit by an explosive device.
The IDF has not yet commented on the incidents.
Army says dozens of terror operatives killed in fighting in Gaza’s Shejaiya
The IDF operates in Gaza, in a handout photo published July 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Dozens of terror operatives were killed in a series of airstrikes in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood over the past day, amid an ongoing IDF operation there, the military says.
The IDF says troops under the 98th Division killed several more gunmen in close-quarters combat in Shejaiya, and located weaponry during raids.
The dozens of sites struck by aircraft in Shejaiya included weapons manufacturing and storage sites, the military says.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza’s Rafah, the IDF says it carried out a drone strike against an operative who launched an anti-tank projectile at troops. In the Netzarim Corridor in the Strip’s center, it carried out a separate strike against an operative who launched a rocket at troops, the military says.
Shifa director ‘surprised’ that Israeli cabinet was unaware of his release
Shifa Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was released back to Gaza this morning, says he is “surprised” that members of the Israeli government did not know he had left prison.
In a first statement to local reporters in Gaza, Abu Salmiya says he was released unconditionally without charges. He further claims he was barred from meeting lawyers during his detention at the Sde Teiman facility in Israel, and that no international organization visited him or any of the other prisoners in jail.
Abu Salmiya was arrested in November 2023, about 7 months ago, as he was traveling south along the humanitarian corridor in Gaza, Channel 12 reports. According to the IDF and the Shin Bet security service, Abu Salmiya was detained over evidence that Shifa Hospital served as a Hamas headquarters.
The former director further claims that he was subjected to torture and food deprivation, and that prisoners do not receive medication. The Israel Prison Service does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#عاجل مدير مستشفى الشفاء د. محمد أبو سلمية في أول كلماته بعد الإفراج عنه:
"وضع السجون مأساوي وصعب جدا، ويجب أن يكون هناك كلمة حاسمة للمقاومة والشعوب العربية من أجل حرية الأسرى". pic.twitter.com/p5J8UW5suk— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) July 1, 2024
Yair Golan: Release of Shifa chief part of governmental chaos and failure
Democrats-Labor chairman Yair Golan slams the decision to free Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, stating that his release proves that the government is unfit to lead the country.
“A government that does not know how to conduct a war, that releases prisoners without any exchange when 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza, is a government that needs to come to an end immediately,” the former Israel Defense Forces deputy chief says in a statement.
He decries what he describes as “chaos and government failure under the auspices of Ben Gvir and Netanyahu.”
Prison service says it is not responsible for release of Shifa Hospital director
The Israel Prison Service, under the authority of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, hits back at claims made by the Shin Bet that it was forced to release detainees back to Gaza due to a lack of space in jails.
“Unfortunately, due to false publications, we are forced to reveal the release order of the director of Shifa Hospital,” IPS says, publishing an image of the document signed by an IDF brigadier general in reserves.
“Contrary to the false claims that have been published in recent hours, those who made the decision to release the director of Shifa Hospital were the IDF and Shin Bet — and not the IPS,” the service says.
“IPS does not make decisions on its own to release prisoners of any kind, and is only entrusted with incarceration of prisoners,” it says.
The Shin Bet had said it was forced to release dozens of Gazan detainees to make room for more significant terrorists, after warning for a year of a lack of prison space.
“The director of the hospital was not released due to the incarceration crisis — he was released from a cell at Nafha Prison,” IPS says.
It is not clear how the service is arguing that his release from Nafha indicates the decision was not based on lack of space.
Shin Bet says lack of space to blame for release of suspects, points finger at Ben Gvir
File - Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security agency, attends a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, May 5, 2024. (Chain Goldberg/Flash90)
Responding to uproar over the release of Shifa Hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya and some 50 other Palestinian detainees this morning, the Shin Bet security agency says it was forced to send prisoners back to the Gaza Strip due to a lack of space in Israeli jails and plans to phase out the use of the Sde Teiman detention facility.
The agency says a decision was made recently to only hold Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman for short periods, and as such, the agency and the IDF were required to release dozens of detainees from prisons to make room for more significant terror suspects.
“For about a year now, the Shin Bet has been warning in every possible forum… about the incarceration crisis and the necessity to increase the number of [cells], in light of the need to arrest terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” the agency says in a statement
“The incarceration crisis leads to the cancellation of arrests of suspects involved in terror activities on a daily basis, and to a direct harm to the security of the state,” the Shin Bet continues, adding that even this past night several planned arrests of wanted Palestinians, including those planning terror attacks, were canceled.
“Unfortunately, these requests… which were forwarded to all the relevant parties, chief among them the national security minister, which is responsible for this, went unaddressed, and in practice, the number of [cells] did not increase as needed,” it says, referring to Itamar Ben Gvir.
The Shin Bet says it was against releasing West Bank Palestinian detainees, due to “immediate” fears they would return to carrying out attacks, as well as members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force and other Gazan terrorists involved in the fighting and attacking civilians.
It says that in accordance with “the state’s need as determined by the National Security Council,” it was decided to release several detainees who did not pose a significant threat. The agency says the release was carried out after “examining the perceived danger of all the detainees.”
The Shin Bet says Abu Salmiya “met all the requirements [for release] regarding the level of danger he poses,” but adds it will investigate the decision to free him.
“For lack of any other option, without an immediate solution to the prison space crisis, arrests will continue to be canceled and detainees will continue to be released,” the agency adds.
Ben Gvir calls for dismissal of Shin Bet chief after Shifa director freed
Otzma Yehudit party leader and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for Ronen Bar, the director of the Shin Bet security service, to be fired, in a private WhatsApp conversation with other members of the cabinet.
According to leaked conversations published by Kan news reporter Michael Shemesh, the far-right minister wrote in the group chat that “the time has come to send the head of the Shin Bet home.” His comments come after the news broke that Israel freed the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, where Hamas kept Israeli hostages following October 7.
Israeli prisons have become overcrowded following the outbreak of war on October 7, prompting the announcement of an “incarceration emergency,” which paved the way for the temporary lifting of restrictions on housing conditions for prisoners.
The government has repeatedly allocated funds to add additional space for prisoners, most recently in April when a NIS 225 million budget cut went into effect across the government to pay for expanding the prison system’s capacity, at Ben Gvir’s insistence.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel challenges Ben Gvir about this on WhatsApp, asking, “Where is your responsibility in this matter?”
In response, Ben Gvir replies: “We immediately added 500 spots” and are adding capacity, to which Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi interjects that “releasing terrorists due to ‘lack of space’ is nothing more than a lame excuse.”
Egypt intensifying efforts to revive hostage deal talks — report
Egypt has been intensifying its contacts with both Israeli and Palestinian factions to try to revive efforts toward a ceasefire-hostage deal to end the fighting in Gaza, a senior Egyptian source tells the Egyptian Al-Qahera channel.
The source also says there are no Egyptian discussions regarding Israeli supervision of the Rafah Crossing, and stresses that Cairo wants the Israeli army to completely withdraw from the Gazan side of the crossing.
He points out that governance of Gaza after Israel’s military operation concludes should be a Palestinian affair and that Cairo will not introduce any Egyptian forces into the Gaza Strip.
Gallant, Netanyahu distance themselves from release of Shifa chief
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both distance themselves from the release of the Shifa Hospital director and some 50 other Palestinian detainees back to the Gaza Strip this morning.
“The procedure for incarcerating security prisoners and their release is under the Shin Bet and the Israel Prison Service, and is not subject to the approval of the defense minister,” Gallant’s office says.
The Shin Bet is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Office, while the Israel Prison Service is under Itamar Ben Gvir’s National Security Ministry.
Netanyahu’s office says “the decision to release the prisoners followed discussions at the High Court on a petition against the detention of prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility.”
“The identity of the released prisoners is determined independently by security officials based on their professional considerations,” the statement continues.
The Prime Minister’s Office adds that Netanyahu has ordered an immediate investigation of the matter.
Lapid on release of Shifa Hospital head: What moral and functional disintegration looks like
MK Yair Lapid attends a protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip and against the current Israeli government outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, June 15, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid joins the chorus of voices criticizing the government over the release of the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, which was used by Hamas to hold Israeli hostages following October 7.
“The news this morning and the chaos in the government regarding the release of the director of Shifa Hospital is a direct continuation of the recklessness and dysfunction of the Israeli government which is causing damage to the security of Israel’s citizens,” Lapid accuses.
“The defense minister ‘did not know,’ the national security minister ‘was not involved,’ — [there is] an exchange of accusations. Everything is leaked. This is what moral and functional disintegration looks like,” he says.
Gantz: A government that frees those who sheltered Oct. 7 murderers needs to resign
National Unity leader Benny Gantz speaks to Kan 11 in a segment aired on June 13, 2024, as part of a series of interviews following his resignation from the government and the war cabinet. (Screenshot, Kan 11, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls for the government to resign over the decision to free the director of Shifa Hospital, arguing that Israel “cannot continue waging war” in such a manner.
“A government that frees those who sheltered the murderers of October 7 and helped to hide our hostages made a moral and ethical operational error and thus is not fit to lead our existential war and needs to go home,” he declares in a statement, adding that “whoever made the decision lacked judgment and should be dismissed today.”
“Mr. Prime Minister, if you shut down some government ministries, I am sure that space and budgets will be freed up for prisons. You cannot continue waging war this way.
“It is time to set an agreed-upon election date,” Gantz insists.
French finance minister rules out endorsing radical left to stop far right
France's Minister for Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire speaks in Paris on June 20, 2024. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire rules out calling on voters to choose a far-left candidate from the France Unbowed (LFI) party if that is the only realistic option to stop a candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN) party.
The RN scored historic gains to win the first round of France’s parliamentary election, but whether it can reach an absolute majority in the National Assembly will depend on days of alliance-building before next week’s run-off vote.
Leaders from the left and Macron’s centrist bloc said they would withdraw their own candidates in districts where another candidate was better placed to beat the far right.
“LFI is a danger for the nation,” Le Maire tells France Inter radio, adding that while he’d encourage voters to pick candidates from other left-wing parties in places where a centrist candidate pulled out of the race, he’d “never” call for voting LFI.
Father of soldier murdered at Shifa: ‘Even now you are being abandoned’
Cpl. Noa Marciano who was killed in Hamas captivity in November after being taken hostage on October 7, 2023. (IDF)
Reacting to the release of the Shifa Hospital director, Avi Marciano, father of murdered hostage IDF soldier Noa Marciano, writes: “Noa was abandoned before October 7, in that she wasn’t listened to. She was abandoned on October 7, when no one came to save her. She was abandoned afterwards when not enough was done to bring her home alive.
“And now seven months after we buried her, Israel decides to release the man indirectly responsible for her murder. I’m sorry, my girl, that even now you are being abandoned.”
The army has previously said Cpl. Marciano, 19, was held hostage in a hideout apartment near Shifa Hospital and later taken to Shifa, where she was murdered.
More ministers outraged by release of Shifa Hospital chief
More ministers are outraged that Shifa’s detained hospital director was freed.
According to Walla news, several expressed their anger in a WhatsApp group of ministers.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli wrote: “Why is this man, in whose hospital hostages were murdered and a Hamas command center operated, being released?”
Settlements Minister Orit Strock chimed in: “It is unthinkable to do such a thing without a cabinet meeting. I’m seriously asking, under what authority [was this done]?”
And Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi added: “Israel needs new security leadership, the sooner the better.”
#عاجل مدير مستشفى الشفاء د. محمد أبو سلمية في أول كلماته بعد الإفراج عنه:
"وضع السجون مأساوي وصعب جدا، ويجب أن يكون هناك كلمة حاسمة للمقاومة والشعوب العربية من أجل حرية الأسرى". pic.twitter.com/p5J8UW5suk— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) July 1, 2024
Ben Gvir blasts release of Shifa director ‘along with dozens of terrorists’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says the decision to free the director of Shifa Hospital “along with dozens of terrorists” is “security recklessness.”
“It’s time the prime minister stops [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and the Shin Bet chief from independent policies contradicting the positions of the cabinet.”
Israel routinely releases detainees back to Gaza if they are shown to not be tied to terror.
Palestinian media: Israel releases 55 detainees to Gaza, including Shifa Hospital head
Palestinian media reports that Israel has released back to the Gaza Strip some 55 Palestinian detainees, among them the director of Shifa Hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
Abu Salmiya was arrested by IDF troops in November on suspicion of allowing the hospital to be used by Hamas as an operations center.
Videos posted by Palestinian media show Abu Salmiya being greeted back in Gaza.
في أول كلماته بعد تحرره..
مدير مستشفى الشفاء د. محمد أبو سلمية: "وضع السجون مأساوي وصعب جدا، ويجب أن يكون هناك كلمة حاسمة للمقاومة والشعوب العربية من أجل حرية الأسرى". pic.twitter.com/8QWIgydHUD
— قناة فلسطين اليوم (@Paltodaytv) July 1, 2024
Israel regularly returns Gazan detainees to the Strip, after determining they are not suspected of terror activity.
IDF: At least 20 rockets were fired from Khan Younis area
The IDF reports that at least 20 rockets were fired from the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip at Israeli border communities in the barrage this morning.
Some of the rockets were shot down by air defenses, while others impacted in southern Israel, it says.
Local authorities say there are no injuries or damage in the attack.
The IDF says it is shelling the launch sites with artillery.
In largest Gaza barrage in months, 15-20 rockets launched at border communities
Some 15-20 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israeli border communities a short while ago, according to the IDF.
The attack marks the largest barrage from Gaza in months.
There are no reports of injuries.
Israeli fighter jets strike Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, the military says.
The targets included buildings used by the terror group in Kafr Kila and other infrastructure in Houla, Biyyada, and Rab al-Thalathine, according to the IDF.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לאורך הלילה מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון, בהן מבנים צבאיים במרחב הכפר כילא ותשתיות טרור במרחבים חולא, אל ביידא ורב א-תלתין שבדרום לבנון.
בנוסף, כוחות צה"ל ביצעו ירי ארטילרי להסרת איום למרחב א-דהירה שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/RKZ10a4J7k
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 1, 2024
Rocket sirens sound in southern communities
A series of rocket sirens sound in communities near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The alerts are activated in Ein Hashlosha, Kissufim, Nirim, Sufa, Sde Avraham, Dekel, Yated, Holit, and Nir Oz.
Many communities close the Gaza border are evacuated.
Police probe throwing of grenade in Ashkelon overnight
Police are investigating who was behind a grenade thrown in Ashkelon’s Yehudit Street overnight.
The blast damaged several parked cars but caused no injuries.
‘Queer as in free Palestine’: 10 arrested for blocking NYC Pride March
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters block the parade route during the NYC Pride March, June 30, 2024, in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters temporarily block the New York City Pride March in a demonstration against Israel, chanting: “Free, free, free Palestine!”
A number of the demonstrators wear t-shirts with the text, “queer as in free Palestine,” and hold banners declaring “no queer liberation without Palestinian liberation” and “Palestine will be free.”
The New York Police Department eventually takes some of them away, later reporting that 10 people were arrested.
NYC: "No Pride in Genocide", 10 people ARRESTED after a group of protesters BLOCK the annual Pride Parade in NYC. A parade float car was SPLASHED with red paint.
Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 and @olgafe_images Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/6WOcZqVyN9
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) June 30, 2024
The parade itself included both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian marchers.
The NYC Pride Parade.
Pro Palestinian LGBTQ marchers take to the streets.Filmed by @LeeroyPress
For licensing email viralnewsnyc@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/kzKnIfYFWs— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) June 30, 2024
IDF says rocket sirens were activated in Metula due to false alarm
The Israel Defense Forces says the activation of rocket sirens in Metula was due to a “false identification.”
US military destroys 3 Houthi naval drones in Red Sea that posed ‘imminent threat’
The US military says it has destroyed three Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the past 24 hours in the Red Sea as part of a “self-defense engagement.”
“It was determined the USVs presented an imminent threat to US and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region,” US Central Command says in a post on X.
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Lebanon border town of Metula
Incoming rocket sirens sound in the largely abandoned Lebanon border town of Metula shortly before 3 a.m., with the IDF’s Home Front Command instructing anyone there to immediately take cover.
US military said to raise terror alert level at several bases in Europe
WASHINGTON — The US military has raised the alert level of several bases in Europe to its second-highest level, multiple American media outlets report.
The American bases, located across Europe, were raised to the “Charlie” alert level, ABC News and CNN report, both citing unnamed officials.
That level is ordered when “an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely,” the US Army says on its website.
The highest level “Delta” is applied when a terrorist attack has occurred or one is “imminent.”
The US European Command (USEUCOM) does not confirm the status change when contacted by AFP, but says: “we remain vigilant.”
The Pentagon meanwhile says that “due to a combination of factors potentially impacting the safety and security of US service members and their families stationed in the European theater, US European Command is redoubling its efforts to stress vigilance during the summer months.”
The US State Department currently advises American citizens in Germany, where the USEUCOM is headquartered, to exercise increased caution due to terrorism.
While no specific threat has been mentioned, European nations have been on heightened alert since gunmen in March killed nearly 150 people outside Moscow, an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
France has also increased its state of alert ahead of the Paris Olympics, while Germany is currently hosting an international soccer tournament.
Iraqi militia factions vow to escalate attacks on Israel if war erupts with Hezbollah — Lebanese report
The Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee, a group of militia factions, vows to increase attacks on Israel if tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon escalate into all-out war, Al Mayadeen reports.
The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese outlet also says that the committee threatened Washington, saying that in the case of war between Israel and Hezbollah, US interests in Iraq and across the Middle East would become a legitimate target.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed a number of drone attacks on the southern city of Eilat in the last several months.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.
Israel has warned it can no longer tolerate Hezbollah’s presence along its border following the October 7 atrocities, and has warned that should a diplomatic solution not be reached, it will turn to military action to push Hezbollah northward.
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