Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they happened.
Tucker Carlson suggests Jeffrey Epstein was Israeli agent, takes swipe at dual-citizen IDF vets
Right-wing US pundit Tucker Carlson says that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was probably working for Israeli intelligence.
“It’s extremely obvious to anyone who watches that this guy had direct connections to a foreign government. Now, no one’s allowed to say that foreign government is Israel, because we’ve been somehow cowed into thinking that that’s naughty,” he says.
The comment draws cheers from the crowd at the right-wing Turning Points confab on Friday.
Carlson says this comment is neither hateful nor anti-Israel, adding by way of analogy that he objects to CIA actions but is still an American patriot.
But “as long as we’re sending you money,” he says of Jerusalem, “if you were committing crimes on our soil, we have the absolute right to know.”
In another video from the same conference, Carlson says Americans who serve in foreign militaries, including the Israeli and Ukrainian armies, should lose their US citizenship.
“I quote the New Testament, but I also refer to common sense when I say that no man can serve two masters, it’s not possible,” he says, in response to a question that ends before the start of the clip, which he indicates was about Israel. “I only have one wife for that reason.”
“You can only really pledge your loyalty to one person or one country, that’s just a fact.”
“There are a lot of Americans who’ve served in the IDF and they should lose their citizenship. There are a lot of Americans who serve in Ukraine, and they should lose their citizenship,” he says. “You can’t fight for another country and remain an American — period. Obviously!”
Americans have been “cowed into believing that’s hate speech,” Carlson continues; he says it’s not hate speech, adding: “You don’t hear hate in my voice, because there isn’t any.”
???? ???????? Tucker Carlson Demands Citizenship Revocation for Americans in Foreign Armies
At a Turning Point USA event on July 12, 2025, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson declared that American citizens who serve in foreign militaries—specifically Israel's IDF and Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/fjE6acgHMD
— The Tradesman (@The_Tradesman1) July 12, 2025
Carlson has previously railed against US Rep. Brian Mast, of Florida, for wearing his Israel Defense Forces uniform to Congress in solidarity with Israel in the days after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Mast, a veteran of the US military who lost both his legs fighting in Afghanistan, briefly volunteered with the IDF in January 2025, packing medical kits at an army base near Tel Aviv.
21-year-old in southern Israel hurt in explosion apparently caused by solar panel
A 21-year-old from a Bedouin community near the southern Israeli city of Arad is taken to Soroka hospital in Beersheba, after being injured by an unspecified exploding object.
The object in question is thought to be a solar panel, according to Ynet.
Police arrest 5 suspects in deadly Lod shooting, probing ‘conflict between clans’
Police say they’ve arrested five residents of Lod in connection to a deadly shooting earlier tonight that left one woman dead and another critically injured.
The shooting is being investigated within the context of a “violent conflict between clans on the Arab street,” Ynet reports, quoting the police.
It is also reported that the late husband of the woman who was killed in the shooting was himself shot to death four years ago.
PM said to summon Ben Gvir and Smotrich, amid efforts to reach hostage-truce deal
Left: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, January 16, 2025; Right: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, January 13, 2025. (Both photos by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have been summoned to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid ongoing efforts to reach a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, according to both Channel 12 and the Kan public broadcaster.
The two far-right ministers opposed the previous two hostage-ceasefire deals reached with the terror group amid the ongoing war in Gaza, and have claimed that they foiled other deals that would have come to pass.
They have also threatened to collapse the government if any deal is agreed to that would end the war and leave Hamas in power.
ISIS-aligned rebels kill 66 civilians in eastern Congo
KINSHASA, Congo — Rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group killed 66 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials say.
Fighters with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has ties to ISIS, killed civilians in the area of Irumu in the east of the country bordering Uganda.
The attack comes as eastern Congo may see an end to its ongoing war with M23, a separate rebel group which is backed by Rwanda, another of Congo’s neighbors.
The ADF is a Ugandan Islamist group that operates on both sides of the porous border.
All the victims, including women, were killed with machetes, says the president of a local civil society, Marcel Paluku. The number of people taken hostage is unknown.
The attack is suspected to be in response to an escalating bombing campaign by joint Congolese and Ugandan forces that started on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s spokesman shares post blasting ‘affirmative action’ in favor of Arabs
Likud spokesperson Guy Levy attends a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on December 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman appears to endorse a campaign to end what it describes as “affirmative action,” whose crowdfunding page claims that Arabs receive preferential treatment in Israel.
Netanyahu spokesman Guy Levy retweets a post on X by screenwriter Menny Assyag calling on the public to donate to a new initiative by right wing activist Igal Malka called “The Jewish Majority.”
“I agree with every word,” tweets Levy.
On its crowdfunding page, the project’s pitch argues that those who pay taxes and serve in the reserves are “the first to be pushed to the back of the line” when receiving benefits and that “it is time to stop the fraud called ‘affirmative action'” because it constitutes “unfair discrimination” with “a racial basis.”
“In the name of justice – we are crushed – we who carry the entire country on our backs” in favor of “disadvantaged populations,” the pitch states, claiming that “it is harder for a Jew to be accepted to university” or “to apply for government tenders.”
“The working and serving Jew can hardly buy an apartment because the state distributes the land to ‘other people,'” it alleges, claiming that those named “Ahmad” can “get land for the price of a used car in the Galilee.”
“This is not a bug. It’s a policy,” the group claims.
Calling for donations, the “Jewish Majority” says it is embarking on an “all-out war” consisting of “an unprecedented information campaign,” legislative efforts and demonstrations.
Woman killed, another critically wounded in Lod shooting
Paramedics arrive to the scene of a shooting which left one woman dead and another critically injured in Lod on July 12, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
A woman was shot dead in the central city of Lod tonight, in a shooting which left one other woman critically injured.
Both victims, in their 60s, were found unconscious after having sustained serious bullet wounds.
Paramedics pronounced one of the victims dead on the spot and took the other woman, in critical condition, to Shamir Medical Center, says the Magen David Adom emergency service.
Police say they have launched an investigation and are searching for suspects in connection with the incident.
Yesterday, two men were shot dead in Shfaram as crime continues to soar in Arab society. Since the start of the year, 134 Arab Israelis have been killed in violent criminal incidents.
Israeli jet malfunctioned above Iran, narrowly averted emergency landing amid war — report
Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets fly over Israel en route to carry out strikes in Iran, in a handout photo published on June 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
An Israeli fighter jet approaching Tehran amid the 12-day war with Iran last month suffered a fuel tank malfunction that almost forced it to stage an emergency landing in Iran, Channel 12 reports.
The pilot of the F-15 reported the issue in real-time, and a decision was made to dispatch an aerial refueling craft, which had not been accompanying the mission, to resolve the problem.
The refueler made it in time, and the need for an emergency landing was averted; in parallel, a plan was drawn up for an emergency landing in a neighboring country outside of Iran, in case the problem persisted, according to the report.
In the end, the mission was carried out successfully, the report says.
Channel 12 also reports that Israeli Air Force commander Tomer Bar, prior to the start of Israel’s attack on Iran that began the war, presented an estimate in “internal forums” that as many as 10 Israeli planes could be downed within the first 72 hours of the attack.
In the end, no Israeli planes were downed throughout the war.
Security forces have arrested six over alleged settler killing of two Palestinians, cops say
Over the past day, security forces have arrested six people in connection with an incident in the West Bank yesterday, where settlers allegedly killed two Palestinians.
Upon reaching the scene yesterday, the IDF arrested two left-wing activists and a Palestinian resident, says a police spokesman to The Times of Israel.
The activists have since been released with a 15-day ban on their entry into the West Bank, while the Palestinian remains in custody.
Police, after arriving later at the scene, arrested two Israeli settlers who will be brought today for an extension on their remand, the spokesman adds.
This morning, an IDF reservist suspected of involvement in the incident was arrested by police and transferred to the Military Police for questioning. He was released after interrogation, says the military.
A police spokesman says that the reservist had fired into the air during the incident Friday afternoon.
Law enforcement says they are investigating the incident alongside the Shin Bet and Military Police, but do not have access to the bodies of the two Palestinians killed yesterday, which remain with the Palestinian Authority.
Police are trying to coordinate with the PA to probe the matter, but have not yet received findings from Ramallah “that attest to the two having died a violent death,” says the spokesman.
A spokesman for the PA’s health ministry said yesterday that Israeli settlers killed both Palestinians in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah on Friday afternoon.
The group allegedly beat to death 23-year-old Saif al-Din Musallat, a Palestinian-American from Florida, and later fatally shot 23-year-old Mohammad Shalabi in the back.
One of Musallat’s relatives told Haaretz that the assailants attacked them with clubs. A pick-up truck later arrived at the scene carrying more settlers, including two in army trousers who were armed with M16 assault rifles.
Herzog, ministers pay shiva call to family of fallen soldier in Beit Shemesh
President Isaac Herzog, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman and Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock pay a shiva call to the family of fallen IDF serviceman Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll in Beit Shemesh.
Noll grew up in the city’s English-speaking Chabad Hasidic community and served in the army’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion.
President Isaac Herzog and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman pay a shiva call to the family of fallen Netzah Yehuda soldier Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll in Beit Shemesh. Photo via @shemeshnews pic.twitter.com/zNvw7H6b2k
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) July 12, 2025
Netanyahu, Edelstein to discuss Haredi draft legislation, after bill pulled from agenda
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting alongside Likud MK Yuli Edelstein at the Knesset on June 13, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
Only days after it emerged that a vote on the government’s ultra-Orthodox conscription bill had been removed from this week’s Knesset agenda, national broadcaster Kan reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to meet with Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein to discuss the long-stalled legislation.
According to Kan, the updated legislation is likely to be presented to the military in the coming days, during which time the Haredi United Torah Judaism and Shas parties’ legislative boycott, intended to pressure Edelstein to advance the bill, will continue.
The United Torah Judaism party demanded on Thursday that Netanyahu “immediately” pass a bill broadly exempting Haredi men from IDF conscription, calling on him to honor his coalition agreements and “complete the settlement of the status of Torah students in the Land of Israel.”
According to a coalition source, a vote on the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill was removed from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s agenda for this week, delaying the advancement of the controversial legislation with just weeks to go before the end of the Knesset summer session.
The bill was originally slated to appear on the agenda on Tuesday afternoon, but “at the last minute, there were disagreements, so a different bill was placed on the agenda instead,” a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Thursday. The vote would have allowed the bill to be referred to the plenum for the final two readings necessary before becoming law.
Members of the committee have yet to be presented with a draft of the revised legislation, whose sanctions on draft dodgers were reportedly watered down by Edelstein last month as part of a last-ditch effort to prevent the Haredim from voting in favor of dissolving the Knesset.
The Attorney General’s Office released a letter on Wednesday detailing the military’s new plan to increase enforcement against draft evaders, eliciting harsh condemnations from representatives of Haredi coalition parties, who indicated they were running out of patience with the government over the delays to the legislation exempting yeshiva students from mandatory army service.
Yair Golan: NYT expose proves Netanyahu and allies ‘dragging entire country into the abyss’
Leader of the Democrats party Yair Golan at a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The New York Times’ recent exposé on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proves that the premier and his far-right coalition allies are “dragging [the] entire country into the abyss,” The Democrats chairman Yair Golan declares.
“The New York Times investigation only reinforces what everyone already knows: Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir are preventing a deal to survive politically. The lives of hostages and soldiers are less important to them than their positions,” Golan tweets.
“They are an extreme minority dragging an entire country into the abyss. They are once again derailing the deal. To save lives and the country, the government must be brought down,” he adds.
According to the report, Netanyahu deliberately extended the Gaza war to serve his own political goals of rehabilitating his domestic image and staying in power.
Among the actions listed in the report were Netanyahu’s shelving of a Gaza truce deal that would have secured the release of at least 30 hostages due to a threat by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to bring down the government. He also allegedly derailed a White House effort to secure Israeli-Saudi normalization conditional on ending the Gaza war due to opposition by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Netanyahu’s office has denied the report, claiming that it “defames Israel, its brave people and soldiers, and its prime minister.”
Ayman Odeh, on brink of expulsion from Knesset, urges Arab citizens to vote in next election
MK Ayman Odeh attends a Hadash–Ta'al faction meeting, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 30, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Two days before a scheduled vote to expel him from the Knesset, Hadash-Ta’al party chief Ayman Odeh calls on Arab citizens “to flock en masse to the polls” in the next election, declaring that “Arab citizens must be part of the struggle against the [government’s] coup d’état.”
Addressing a rally in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa, the Arab politician asserts that the “real struggle” in Israel is “between fascism and democracy” and “between occupation and freedom.”
“It is impossible to fight for true democracy without opposing the occupation. The occupation is the root of fascism, of supremacy, and racism. Whoever ousts me today will try to silence you tomorrow,” Odeh declares.
“It is clear to all of us: Arab citizens must be part of the struggle against the coup d’état, and flock en masse to the polls.”
Odeh is speaking at a demonstration to protest plans by lawmakers, including from the opposition, to kick him out of the Knesset for comparing the hostages held in Gaza to Palestinians in Israeli jails.
The Knesset is scheduled to vote Monday on whether to eject Odeh. The vote, which requires a supermajority of 90 out of 120 to pass, takes place after the Knesset House Committee last month approved lawmakers’ statutory 70-signature petition, which included at least 10 signatures from the opposition.
The petition was originally put forth in January, when Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners” as part of the Gaza truce that was signed that month. The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said at an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”
Father of captive soldier says PM ‘buying time’ at expense of the hostages
Demonstrators demanding a hostage deal carry a banner reading, "Until they return we are all hostages," at Begin Gate, in Tel Aviv, July 12, 2025. (Zohar Bar-Yehuda/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Yehuda Cohen, father of captive soldier Nimrod Cohen, accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “buying time” to avoid his corruption trial, at the expense of Nimrod.
“The past 21 months of fighting have been to buy time for the accused, Netanyahu,” says Cohen, speaking to some 1,500 anti-government protesters outside the Begin Road entrance to the IDF headquarters.
“Netanyahu is buying himself time for survival, to deflect his guilt and responsibility” for the failure surrounding the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, says Cohen.
He vows to stay put in the trenches of the campaign to bring home his son.
“Another Saturday night, another speech, more crap and more desperation,” says Cohen. “But Netanyahu, I won’t give up — my son Nimrod will go free despite your stalling. In the end, [US President Donald] Trump will force you to end this damn war and release Nimrod and all the other hostages in a deal. We won’t give up.”
The speech comes as ceasefire-hostage talks appear to have hit a snag despite optimism toward a deal ahead of Netanyahu’s trip to Washington this week.
One protest organizer who every week reads out the names of the remaining hostages says this week that because this is a “critical time,” protesters should try to come demonstrate here once a week in addition to Saturday night.
Ex-captive Eli Sharabi calls on Trump to seize ‘window of opportunity’ to free the hostages
Released hostage Eli Sharabi speaks at a weekly rally at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, July 12, 2025. (Alon Gilboa/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Released hostage Eli Sharabi reads an English-language statement addressed to US President Donald Trump, at a 2,000-strong rally on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.
Sharabi, who lost his brother, wife, and daughters in the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, calls on Trump to seize the “window of opportunity” to bring back the remaining 50 hostages, including the remains of Sharabi’s brother Yossi.
“The window of opportunity to bring home all 50 hostages — living and dead — is open now and it won’t be for long,” he says.
“President Trump, being in those tunnels is hell. Thank you for bringing me — and so many others — back home,” says Sharabi. “We need your help now to bring back my brother Yossi and 49 other hostages. Your vision for a new Middle East is possible only when all hostages are back home.”
In Hebrew, Sharabi calls on Israeli decision-makers to show humility and end the war in Gaza in order to bring back the hostages.
“You were elected to serve this nation with humility,” he says. “Arrogance is what brought the disaster upon us, and we must not return to that pattern of behavior.”
“We can’t afford silence,” he says. “[We] have to end this fighting, for our brothers and sisters, the hostages, for this nation. True victory will be when they’re all back home.”
Netanyahu expects Ben Gvir to ditch government if ceasefire deal inked with Hamas — report
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sits next to senior police officers at event inaugurating volunteer police unit at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron on July 9, 2025. (Israel Police)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party to bolt the government if another ceasefire deal is signed with Hamas, national broadcaster Kan reports.
According to Kan, in an effort to maintain his coalition’s stability in the face of a possible Ben Gvir defection, Netanyahu is currently working to convince Finance Minister and Religious Zionism party chief Bezalel Smotrich that a deal would not leave Hamas armed and in power in Gaza.
Ben Gvir took his Otzma Yehudit party out of the government in January to protest the last ceasefire with Hamas. He returned in March following the resumption of hostilities.
IDF reservist probed by military police over suspected link to alleged deadly settler attack
An IDF reservist was questioned by the Military Police for his suspected involvement in an incident in the West Bank yesterday during which two Palestinians were allegedly killed by settlers.
The military says the reservist detained this morning, who is a resident of the area and a member of an IDF regional reserve defense unit, was released after interrogation.
“Further information cannot be detailed at this stage,” the IDF says.
During the incident yesterday in Sinjil, several other Israelis and Palestinians were detained by police, the military adds.
A police spokesman tells The Times of Israel the reservist fired into the air during the incident.
Police open probe after two East Jerusalem residents hurt in shooting
Police opened an investigation into a shooting earlier today, which injured two residents of Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
The shooting badly wounded a 34-year-old man, who was taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics, say police. A 16-year-old boy was also lightly injured by the gunfire.
Police say they are probing the circumstances of the incident.
PM’s office re-releases denial of NYT report claiming Netanyahu thwarted Gaza truce deals to preserve coalition
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich pictured in the Knesset, February 7, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office re-releases a statement denying a July 11 New York Times report that claimed he prolonged the war against Hamas in order to stay in power, arguing that it “defames Israel, its brave people and soldiers, and its prime minister.”
According to the report, Netanyahu deliberately extended the Gaza war to serve his own political goals of rehabilitating his domestic image and staying in power.
Among the actions listed in the report were Netanyahu’s shelving of a Gaza truce deal that would have secured the release of at least 30 hostages due to a threat by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to bring down the government. He also allegedly derailed a White House effort to secure Israeli-Saudi normalization conditional on ending the Gaza war due to opposition by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The report also said Netanyahu informed senior Haredi lawmaker Moshe Gafni about Israel’s plans to attack Iran three days before the June 13 opening strike, in a bid to dissuade Gafni from toppling the government over its failure to codify yeshiva students’ exemption from military service.
The Prime Minister’s Office deleted a statement it released overnight, but has now released it again after the end of Shabbat. It argues that the Times report “rehashes long discredited claims of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political opponents,” and declares that Netanyahu and his cabinet’s strategic decisions “led Israel to one of the greatest military comebacks in history.”
In addition, the PMO insists there was “no viable deal last year” and that when Netanyahu “achieved hostage release deals he deemed acceptable, he pushed them through even when his coalition partners voted against them and bolted the government.”
Hundreds in Tel Aviv hold silent vigil for slain Gaza children
Some 400 left-wing activists hold a silent vigil for Gaza children killed by Israel, on the Kaplan Street sidewalk abutting the southern side of the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The protesters hold candles and pictures of children killed in IDF strikes since Israel resumed hostilities in the Strip on March 18. Each picture shows the child’s name, date, place of death, and age when killed.
Louder anti-government protesters pass through on their way from a demonstration on Habima Square to another on Begin Road. They are followed by police cars. Afterward, the left-wing activists march up to Begin in silence.
Hundreds of left-wing activists in Tel Aviv march in silence, holding candles and pictures of Gazan children killed by Israel since March 18 pic.twitter.com/9rOfecHtXs
— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) July 12, 2025
Israeli and Syrian officials discuss coordination between countries at Baku meeting — report
A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku today, on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus tells AFP.
The meeting marks a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered Sharaa’s administration as jihadist because of his past links to al-Qaeda.
“A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of Sharaa’s visit to Baku,” the source says, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on “the recent Israeli military presence in Syria,” the source adds.
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster also reports that Israeli and Syrian officials met today.
It notes that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani will be present at the same European Union conference in Brussels on Monday, but that a meeting between the two has not been scheduled.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Father of Oct. 7 victim blames government for her death in ‘religious war’
Anti-government protesters rally at Habima Square, in Tel Aviv, July 12, 2025. (@sha_b_p/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Eran Littman, whose daughter Oriya was murdered in the Re’im area Nova music festival during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, blames the death of his daughter on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
“As far as I’m concerned, he, 68 members of Knesset… and his partners are guilty of her murder,” he tells hundreds of anti-government protesters at Habima Square in Tel Aviv.
He says his daughter died in a “religious war,” having been murdered by “radical Islamists,” and goes on to accuse national religious members of the government of seeking to widen that war in Gaza and the West Bank, and ultra-Orthodox members of joining forces with Netanyahu “for budgets and draft evasion.”
The government “isolates Israel and makes it into a leper… and doesn’t bring back the languishing hostages,” he says. “They are agents of chaos, and ignite chaos in the West Bank, banishing people from their homes and causing the desperate to become terrorists, turn into monsters and murder Israelis.”
“The king of darkness, the devil’s right hand, has taken over the State of Israel with the help of his despicable servants, and cast a dark cloud over it,” says Littman, referring to Netanyahu and his coalition partners.
The remains of Oriya Littman Ricardo, 26, were located by her partner, Yair, three days after her murder. Eran Littman thanks Yair: “I owe you.”
Littman says that because he was an anti-Netanyahu protester before the Hamas onslaught, he received messages already on October 7, 2023, accusing and taunting him for his daughter’s death.
We are a divided nation,” he says. “The nation of Israel doesn’t exist any longer, and I don’t want to belong or be associated with these degraded people in any manner.”
“We must go back to being a peace-seeking nation,” he says. “I have a dream that you’ll all wake up from your nightmare and your life will get back on track. And I — I’ll keep dreaming of Oriya.”
After the speeches, the crowd marches on to the anti-government hostage families’ protest in front of the IDF headquarters.
Military says airstrikes targeted 35 Hamas sites in Beit Hanoun in past hour
Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck some 35 Hamas targets in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun in the past hour, the military confirms, publishing footage of the strikes.
The targets included Hamas tunnels in the area, the IDF says.
The IDF says the strikes come as part of intensified operations against Hamas in Beit Hanoun.
כוחות צה״ל בפיקוד הדרום מגבירים את התקיפות נגד ארגון הטרור חמאס במרחב בית חאנון: עשרות מטוסי קרב ביצעו מטס תקיפות במרחב במהלך השעה האחרונה
צה״ל תקף לפני זמן קצר באמצעות עשרות מטוסי קרב יותר מ-35 מטרות טרור של ארגון הטרור חמאס במרחב בית חאנון שבצפון רצועת עזה.
בין המטרות… pic.twitter.com/QdkbbwMZUt
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 12, 2025
TV report: Israel to make new offer for IDF withdrawal in ceasefire after Hamas rejected previous maps
IDF troops are seen in the Morag Corridor area in the southern Gaza Strip, April 21, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
Israel will tomorrow present new maps for the IDF’s redeployment in the event of a ceasefire-hostage release deal along the Morag Corridor and perimeter around Gaza after Hamas rejected its previous offer, Channel 12 reports, citing an unnamed foreign official with knowledge of the details.
Reports say that talks in Doha for a deal have reached a standstill over the issue of the nature of the army’s withdrawal in the event of a deal.
Anti-government protesters rally nationwide for hostage deal, end of war
Anti-government protesters rally at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, July 12, 2025. (Rony Shapiro/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Anti-government protesters begin gathering in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square and cities and junctions across the country for weekly demonstrations.
The protests are calling on the government to reach a deal with Hamas to end the ongoing war in Gaza and return all the hostages.
Palestinian media reports intense airstrikes in north Gaza
Palestinian media reports an intense series of airstrikes in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun a short while ago.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
#عاجل | قوات الاحتلال تنفذ أحزمة نارية على مدينة بيت حانون شمالي قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/wct6F1TQ9I
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) July 12, 2025
Hostage families say missing momentum for hostage deal would be ‘serious failure’
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum release a statement expressing concern over reports that negotiations for a deal to free those held in Gaza are not moving forward.
“Missing the current momentum would be a serious failure; every day the war continues is an achievement for Hamas and a serious risk for our hostages and soldiers,” the statement reads.
The families refer to a Channel 12 poll showing that 74 percent of Israelis, including 60% of people who voted for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, back an agreement with Hamas that would release all the hostages at once in exchange for an end to the Gaza war.
“All the polls and data show that an absolute majority of the nation of Israel wants an end to the war in Gaza and the return of hostages, and agrees that it is in Israel’s interest, including a decisive majority among coalition voters,” the statement reads.
Official says Israel accepted Qatari proposal for ceasefire, Hamas rejected it
Israel accepted a Qatari proposal for a 60-day ceasefire-hostage release deal, but Hamas rejected it, an Israeli official tells Hebrew media.
According to the official, Israel and Hamas would discuss an end to the war, in line with Israel’s goals for its operation, as part of the proposed deal.
The official says that Israel has shown flexibility in talks, held in Doha, accusing Hamas of taking positions that have prevented the negotiations from advancing.
London police nab dozens of protesters supporting banned Palestine Action group
A protester alongside waits with police officers for a police van after being arrested makes a peace sign with their hand as people gather in support of the banned anti-Israel group Palestine Action, in Parliament Square, London on July 12, 2025. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
LONDON — Police in London arrested dozens of protesters on a second successive Saturday for supporting Palestine Action, campaigners say, a week after the UK government banned the activist group under anti-terror laws.
Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which had announced it would hold rallies today in several UK cities “to defy” the ban, says police in the UK capital had arrested “more than 40 people” and criticises the response.
“The Metropolitan Police were out in force again today, arresting more than 40 people in Parliament Square for holding signs opposed to genocide and supporting Palestine Action,” a spokesperson tells AFP.
“Who do the police think they are serving in this?” the spokesperson adds, calling the ban “Orwellian.”
Footage shows police moving in on a small group of protesters displaying signs supporting Palestine Action who had gathered at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square.
Those detained did not appear to put up any resistance.
The Met confirms on X that its officers were “in the process of making arrests” after “responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action.”
Police have warned since the ban kicked in on July 5 that expressing support for Palestine Action was now a crime.
IDF says drone strike killed Hezbollah anti-tank missile operative in south Lebanon
An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Khiam earlier today killed a member of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit, the military says.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry earlier reported that one person was killed in a strike on the town.
Iranian FM says any fresh nuclear deal must allow uranium enrichment
Iran's domestically built centrifuges are displayed in an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, February 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran insisted Saturday that any new nuclear deal must respect its right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, rejecting US demands for a halt.
“I would like to emphasise that in any negotiated solution, the rights of the Iranian people on the nuclear issue, including the right to enrichment, must be respected,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats in Tehran. “We will not have any agreement in which enrichment is not included.”
Araghchi says Tehran is open to new talks on a deal.
“We are examining its timing, its location, its form, its ingredients, the assurances it requires” from Iran for possible negotiations, says Araghchi says.
Tehran and Washington had been engaged in talks since April, but those efforts were disrupted when Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 13, just two days before a planned meeting in Oman, and 61 days after US President Donald Trump set a 60-day deadline for talks.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Iranian media says five inmates killed by Israeli strike on Evin prison last month
This picture shows a view of the destruction at the visitors room at Evin Prison in Tehran after Israeli airstrikes last month, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)
TEHRAN, Iran — An Israeli airstrike on Iran’s capital last month killed five inmates at Evin prison and resulted in the escape of several others, Iranian media reports.
The semi-official ILNA news agency and other Iranian media quote a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary that the five inmates killed in the June 23 strike had been convicted on financial offences. The spokesman doesn’t name the victims or give any further details.
The judiciary’s own news website, Mizanonline, quotes spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying only that “small number” of inmates were killed. He adds that an “insignificant number of inmates” had also escaped and that authorities would soon bring them back into custody.
Jahangir says no one serving time at Evin prison for working with Israel’s spy agency Mossad was injured in the attack.
Iranian authorities last month put the death toll from the air strike at 71. But Iranian media later raised that number to 80, including staff, soldiers, inmates, and visiting family members.
Syrian and Israeli officials to meet in Baku today amid Sharaa’s visit — source
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, right, and Syria's interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, second left, stand on the balcony during their meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, July 12, 2025. (Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office via AP)
DAMASCUS, Syria — A Syrian official and an Israeli official are expected to meet in Baku later today on the sidelines of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Azerbaijan, a diplomatic source in Damascus with knowledge of the issue says.
“There will be a meeting between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of the visit being conducted by Sharaa in Baku,” says the source, who requests anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The source stresses that Sharaa himself would not attend the meeting, which would focus on “the recent Israeli military presence in Syria” since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December.
Iran’s FM warns UN sanctions snapback would end Europe’s role in nuclear issue
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns that a so-called snapback of UN sanctions could end Europe’s role in the issue of Tehran’s nuclear program.
Such measures “would signify the end of Europe’s role in the Iranian nuclear dossier,” Araghchi says.
A clause in the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers allows for UN sanctions to be reimposed in the event Tehran breaches the deal.
IDF says it fired warning shots at suspects near GHF site, but unaware of injuries
A Palestinian man transports a young victim to a Red Cross clinic in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after he was reportedly shot as he waited to receive food parcels at a distribution point run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, on July 12, 2025. (AFP)
The IDF says that contrary to reports in Palestinian media, the military is unaware of any casualties from troops’ gunfire near an aid distribution site for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in southern Gaza’s Rafah today.
A military official says that several suspects were spotted approaching forces in Rafah earlier today, hundreds of meters from the aid site.
“The troops acted to prevent the suspects from approaching and fired warning shots. No injuries from the gunfire are known,” the official says.
The IDF, in its statement, says it “continues to operate in order to enable the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Strip, and to allow passage to the distribution areas via organized and secured routes.”
The military says it continues to investigate the claims of injuries today near the aid site.
Two soldiers moderately hurt in separate incidents in Gaza
Earlier today, an IDF soldier was moderately wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, the military says.
In a separate incident, a soldier was moderately hurt and another two were lightly injured in southern Gaza, the IDF adds.
All four were taken to hospitals and their families were notified.
Iranian FM says cooperation with IAEA ‘will take on a new form’ after cutting ties
TEHRAN, Iran — Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency “will take on a new form,” following a law suspending ties with the UN watchdog.
“Our cooperation with the agency has not stopped, but will take on a new form,” says Araghchi, adding that requests to monitor nuclear sites “will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis… taking into account safety and security issues.”
Macron declares July 12 as day honoring Alfred Dreyfus acquittal
'The Traitor: The Degradation of Alfred Dreyfuss,' by Henri Meyer, portraying the stripping of the soldier's rank. (Wikimedia commons/public domain)
PARIS, France — French President Emmanuel Macron declares July 12 a French day of national commemoration for Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain wrongly convicted of treason in 1894 in a notorious act of antisemitism.
“From now on, there will be a commemoration ceremony every July 12 for Dreyfus, for the victory of justice and the truth against hatred and antisemitism,” Macron says in a statement published by his office.
The first such day would be celebrated in 2026, the 120th anniversary of France’s highest appeals court recognizing Dreyfus’s innocence, Macron says.
France needed to remain vigilant in the face of the “ancient spectre” of antisemitism, he says.
The honoring of Dreyfus, whose condemnation came amid rampant antisemitism in the French army and wider society in the late 19th century, comes at a time of growing alarm over hate crimes targeting Jews in the country.
Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to a German military attache.
The accusation was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German’s wastepaper basket in Paris.
Dreyfus was put on trial amid a virulent antisemitic press campaign. But novelist Emile Zola then penned his famous “J’accuse” (“I accuse…”) pamphlet in support of the captain.
Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank.
But Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of the intelligence services, reinvestigated the case in secret and discovered the handwriting on the incriminating message was that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.
When Picquart presented the evidence to the general staff of the French army, he himself was driven out of the military and jailed for a year, while Esterhazy was acquitted.
In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned — though not cleared of the charges.
Only on July 12, 1906, after many twists, did the High Court of Appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus.
He was reinstated with the rank of major, served during World War I and died in 1935, aged 76.
Putin reportedly told Trump and Iranian officials he backs deal barring Tehran from enriching uranium
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shake hands during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on June 23, 2025. (Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, Axios reports, citing sources.
The issue has been one of the main obstacles to a nuclear deal.
Iran has insisted on being able to enrich uranium on its soil, while both the US and Israel have demanded that Tehran completely give up on its enrichment capability.
Palestinians report deadly gunfire at GHF aid site; IDF says it’s probing matter
Palestinians transport a victim to a Red Cross clinic in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after he was reportedly shot as he waited to receive food parcels at a distribution point run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, on July 12, 2025. (AFP)
Palestinian media outlets report that aid seekers have been shot dead and injured at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation facility in northwest Rafah.
The IDF says it is investigating the reports.
Yesterday, the UN said nearly 800 people have died trying to access aid in Gaza since late May, with most killed near the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution sites. GHF denied that deadly incidents have occurred at its sites.
Lebanon says Israeli strike kills one in southern town
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says an Israeli strike on south Lebanon today killed one person.
In a statement, the ministry says that an “Israeli enemy strike” on a home in Wata al-Khiam killed one person.
There is no immediate comment from the military on the incident.
Erdogan says PKK disarmament opens ‘new page’ for Turkey
A fighter with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) puts his weapon into a pit during a ceremony in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on July 11, 2025. (Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP)
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for full support of the disarmament of Kurdish militants that began with a handover of the first batch of weapons by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces, a step he said opened a new page for the country.
Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.
“As of yesterday, the scourge of terrorism has entered the process of ending. Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history. Today, the doors of a great, powerful Turkey have been flung wide open,” Erdogan tells members of his AK Party in Ankara.
He says the recent steps have united the nation, and now the parliament will play a critical role in setting up a legal framework for completing the disarmament process.
“I hope that our parliament will support this process with the broadest possible participation,” Erdogan says.
Ankara has taken steps toward forming a parliamentary commission that will oversee the disarmament and PKK’s transition into democratic politics.
The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm, and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.
After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy, and wrought deep social and political divisions in Turkey and the wider region.
IDF reiterates Palestinians can’t enter sea along Gaza coast; in practice, prohibition is against entry to deep waters
Palestinians gather at the beach near a makeshift displacement camp in Gaza City to escape the heat and tents, as smoke billows in the distance amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas on June 8, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The IDF reiterates that Palestinians are not allowed to enter the sea along the entire coast of the Gaza Strip, a restriction that has been in place since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.
“We remind you that strict security restrictions have been imposed in the maritime area adjacent to the Strip, and entry into the sea is prohibited,” says the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee in a post on X.
“The IDF will respond to any violation of these restrictions,” he says.
“We urge fishermen, swimmers, and divers to refrain from entering the sea. Entering the sea along the Strip exposes you to danger,” the warning adds.
The vast majority of the Palestinian population in Gaza is concentrated in areas on the coast, with tent camps set up on the beaches.
The IDF has not enforced the restriction against Palestinians seeking to cool off in the waters on the beach, but only those heading out deeper into the sea.
IDF: Over 250 terror targets hit in strikes over past 48 hours; Hamas-run ministry says 143 killed
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (AFP)
Over 250 terror targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, the military says.
The IDF says the targets included operatives, booby-trapped buildings, weapon depots, anti-tank launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels, and other terror infrastructure.
At least 143 Palestinians were killed in Gaza over the past two days, according to statistics published by the Hamas-run health ministry last night.
The strikes come as five IDF divisions, made up of tens of thousands of troops, continue to operate across Gaza.
The military says in Gaza City’s Shejaiya and Zeitoun neighborhoods, troops of the 98th Division located Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad observation posts and caches of explosive devices.
Numerous operatives were killed elsewhere by the troops, including by calling in airstrikes, the IDF adds.
Family of Palestinian with US citizenship killed in settler attack demands State Dept. probe
The family of one of two Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers last night, calls for an immediate US State Department investigation into the incident.
US citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority said.
Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, says in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.
“This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes,” the family statement says.
الصحة: ارتقـ،ـاء الشاب سيف الدين كامل عبد الكريم مصلط (٢٣ عامًا)، جراء الاعتداء عليه بالضرب الشديد في مختلف أنحاء الجسد من قبل المستوطنين في بلدة سنجل شمال رام الله. pic.twitter.com/Jb5HiWMHnB
— ق.ض (@Qadeyah1) July 11, 2025
Palestinian official: Israel’s map of Gaza troop withdrawal is actually IDF redeployment
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in this image released on July 9, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)
Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza are being held up by Israel’s proposals to keep troops in the Strip, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions tell AFP.
“The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel’s insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal,” one source says.
A second accuses Israel of “stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination.”
Former UN inspector: Satellite images seem to show all 3 tunnel entrances at Isfahan nuke site still blocked
David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, says that satellite imagery from Wednesday appears to show that all three tunnel entrances at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran remain blocked after Israeli and US strikes last month.
“Many believe that at least some of the enriched uranium stocks are held inside this tunnel complex, but any such stocks appear to remain inaccessible,” writes the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, in a post on X.
“To access these stocks, the Iranians would have to dig through and clear about 20 meters of rubble or backfill to reach any of the tunnel entrances and begin excavation or repair activities,” he says.
Albright says that the images show no earth-moving equipment near a tunnel entrance.
Recent satellite imagery taken on July 9 shows only minimal activity at the Esfahan Nuclear Complex. At the three tunnel entrances to the mountain facility, which are believed to house at least some of the remaining enriched uranium stocks, the Iranians would have to dig through… pic.twitter.com/gmMZMF2G3m
— Inst for Science (@TheGoodISIS) July 11, 2025
A senior Israeli official said Thursday that Israeli intelligence shows that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium had not been removed from Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan before the three nuclear sites were struck by the US last month amid Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, and has not been moved since.
The official suggested, however, that the Iranians might still be able to gain access to the enriched uranium at Isfahan but that it would be very difficult to remove it.
Iran executes man in public for young girl’s rape, murder
Iranian authorities carried out a public execution of a man convicted of raping and murdering a young girl, the judiciary says.
The victim’s family, from the northwestern city of Bukan, had been involved in the legal proceedings and requested the public execution, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online news website.
“The case was given special attention due to the emotional impact it had on public opinion,” Mizan quotes the provincial chief justice, Naser Atabati, as saying.
The death sentence was issued in March and later upheld by the Islamic Republic’s top court.
Public executions, typically by hanging, are not uncommon in Iran but do occur in cases deemed especially severe.
Murder and rape are punishable by death in Iran, the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.
UN report sees no active ties between Syrian state and Al Qaeda
Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa receives Saudi Arabia's foreign minister in Damascus, Syria, on May 31, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
United Nations sanctions monitors have seen no “active ties” this year between Al Qaeda and the Islamist group leading Syria’s interim government, an unpublished UN report says, a finding that could strengthen an expected US push for removing UN sanctions on Syria.
The report, seen by Reuters, is likely to be published this month.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is Al Qaeda’s former branch in Syria but broke ties in 2016. The group, previously known as al-Nusra Front, led the rebellion that toppled President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive in December, and HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria’s interim president.
The report comes as diplomats expect the United States to seek the removal of UN sanctions on HTS and Sharaa, who has said he wants to build an inclusive Syria with equal rights for all.
Palestinian officials: Doha talks on verge of collapse, Israel ‘bought time’ with Netanyahu’s US trip
Pro-hostage deal protesters rally outside the US Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv, July 7, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
Negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas are on the verge of collapse, unnamed Palestinian officials tells the BBC.
One official says Israel “bought time” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, and that the decision to send a team to Qatar without a strong mandate was an act to deliberately stall the discussions.
A Palestinian official says the talks are still mainly focused on the issues of the Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza, and delivery of aid to the Strip.
Israel’s delegation to Doha does not include the senior-most officials who have been involved in talks — Mossad chief David Barnea, acting Shin Bet head “Shin” and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Army Radio reported earlier this week.
WSJ: Trump didn’t object when told by PM that Israel will strike Iran if work on nukes resumes
US President Donald Trump, left, meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, July 8, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
US President Donald Trump didn’t object when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him this week that Israel may strike Iran again if the Islamic Republic restarts work on a nuclear weapon, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The report, which says Trump told the premier he favors a diplomatic resolution, adds that the US president is hoping to use the threat of further attacks to coax Iran to sign a deal barring it from developing an atomic bomb.
But it also says Netanyahu could face pressure from Trump not to strike Iran in order to preserve diplomatic talks, while quoting a senior Israeli official who says Jerusalem wouldn’t necessarily ask for an explicit American green light before attacking.
The official also says that Israel can prevent Iran from making a dash toward nuclear weapons in the short run, and also has intelligence on where Tehran could covertly try to resume its atomic program.
State Department says it’s ‘aware of reports of the death of US citizen in West Bank’
The US State Department says it’s “aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank” after the Palestinian Authority reported that a Palestinian-American dual national was killed by settlers.
“We won’t comment further out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones,” says a State Department spokesperson in response to a request for comment.
PM’s office slams NYT report accusing him of extending Gaza war to remain in power
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before a meeting with lawmakers at the US Capitol in Washington, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issues a lengthy statement hitting out at the New York Times over its report accusing him of extending the Gaza war to rehabilitate his political standing after the October 7, 2023, atrocities and remain in power.
“[The report] rehashes long discredited and false political activists’ talking points. It defames Israel, its brave people, and its prime minister,” the statement says. “The strategic decisions made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet led Israel to one of the greatest military comebacks in history. On October 7, Israel was believed to have been massively weakened. Today, its strength is paramount in the region, while Israel’s enemies are hobbled as never before.”
The statement continues: “Against much internal and international opposition, Prime Minister Netanyahu carried out the battle of Rafah, which shut down the Philadelphia corridor through which Hamas smuggled weapons and rockets to fire at Israeli civilians. His leadership brought about the covert detonation of Hezbollah pagers, the destruction of its missile stockpiles, the destruction of Assad’s armaments, the targeted killing of terrorist chiefs Deif, Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah, and above all the decisive action against the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile existential threats in the Rising Lion operation.”
“All that would not be possible if Prime Minister Netanyahu had accepted the recommendations of senior defense and security officials who urged him to accept Hamas’s dictates to end the war early on and leave Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and the Iran threats intact. Those senior officials, whose anonymous supporters are widely quoted throughout the article, have since been replaced.”
The statement also defends Netanyahu’s approach to freeing hostages held in Gaza, saying “his forceful application of combined military and diplomatic pressure has so far achieved the release of 205 hostages out of a total of 255. He is committed to achieve the return of the remaining 50, of which 20 are alive.”
“Along with the release of the remaining hostages, Prime Minister Netanyahu is committed to the elimination of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities to ensure that the October 7 massacre will never be repeated again,” the statement adds.
The statement ends by saying “Prime Minister Netanyahu was never concerned with his political survival, but with carrying out his life’s mission — ensuring the survival and future of the one and only Jewish state.”
Shortly after releasing the English-language statement after midnight on Shabbat eve, the Prime Minister’s Office then deletes it without immediate explanation.
Humanitarian group urges Israel to meet commitment to let new aid distribution sites open
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation issues a statement welcoming reports of an agreement between Israel and the European Union to scale up humanitarian aid in Gaza along with the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in the Strip.
“GHF also continues to press the Government of Israel to live up to its commitment to allow us to open additional sites, including in the north of Gaza,” GHF says.
Israeli officials signal they want UN to remain key Gaza aid channel — WFP deputy head
Israeli officials have signaled they want the United Nations to remain the key avenue for humanitarian deliveries in Gaza, the deputy head of the World Food Program says, noting the work of a controversial US aid group was not discussed.
“They wanted the UN to continue to be the main track for delivery, especially should there be a ceasefire, and they asked us to be ready to scale up,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the UN food agency, tells reporters after visiting Gaza and Israel last week.
Israel and the United States have publicly urged the UN to work through the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, but the UN has refused, questioning the group’s neutrality and accusing the distribution model of militarizing aid and forcing displacement.
Skau says he met with Israeli authorities at different levels last week and that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation “did not come up in those conversations.”
“I think there were rumors of the UN being pushed out, but it was very clear in my engagement that they want the UN to continue to be the main track in delivery,” Skau said.
With hostage talks stuck on dispute over IDF withdrawal, US urges moving on to other issues
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters call for an immediate hostage release deal during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 10, 2025. (AP/Ariel Schalit)
No significant progress has been made in the ongoing hostage negotiations in Doha since Wednesday, an Arab diplomat and a second source familiar with the negotiations tells The Times of Israel.
While Israel agreed to ease some of its demands regarding the redeployment of its troops during the 60-day truce under discussion following US pressure, the new series of maps depicting the partial withdrawal of IDF troops was not sufficient to satisfy Hamas, the two sources say.
The new maps still envision Israel maintaining control of roughly one-third of Gaza’s territory, including a three-kilometer (1.86-mile) buffer zone in Rafah where it aims to create a controversial “humanitarian city” to which Gaza’s entire population will be herded, checked for weapons and be barred from leaving as Israel will seek to encourage their emigration outside of the Strip.
Channel 12 reports that Hamas has agreed to expand the buffer zone Israel wants to create along much of the Gaza perimeter from 700 meters to one kilometer, but Israel is still demanding that it be expanded to as much as two kilometers.
Amid the apparent stalemate on the issue, the US is urging Hamas to move on to discuss other remaining issues — something the terror group has refused to do until disagreements regarding Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza are solved.
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