July 15: Israel said to have warned Syria’s Sharaa not to attack Druze before strikes

Death toll from south Syria violence rises to 203, war monitor says

Bodies are seen by the side of a street in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

At least 203 people have been killed in southern Syria’s Sweida province, a war monitor says, giving an updated toll after several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces.

The dead include 92 members of the Druze minority, 21 of them civilians “killed in summary executions by government forces,” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as well as 93 security personnel and 18 Bedouin.

Israel conducted a series of strikes on Syrian forces in a bid to protect the Druze community.

Israel said to agree to US request to halt strikes on Syrian forces

The body of a member of Syria's security forces lies in a damaged pickup truck following an Israeli strike in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

The US reportedly asked Israel to halt its strikes on Syrian military forces in southern Syria.

Israel agreed to halt the attacks later Tuesday night, a US official tells the Axios news site.

Israel has been striking Syrian military forces even though Damascus gave Jerusalem a heads up before sending troops to southern Syria, insisting that the move was not directed at Israel, rather to break up clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin gangs, the US official says.

Israel has claimed that its strikes have been aimed at protecting Syria’s Druze community.

EU officials say Israel not out of woods yet on sanctions from the bloc

An olive tree burns in a Palestinian village near the West Bank town of Sinjil, Friday, July 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

If steps pledged by Israel to increase humanitarian aid for Gaza aren’t implemented by the next meeting of European Union foreign ministers in two weeks, the bloc will reconsider sanctions against Israel that were temporarily shelved earlier today, two EU officials tell The Times of Israel.

The EU will also tie its decision to the situation in the West Bank, and Brussels raised with Israeli officials a demand for Jerusalem to release tax revenues that are being withheld from the Palestinian Authority, in violation of the Oslo Accords.

The PA says that Israel is withholding roughly NIS 2.5 billion shekels ($742 million) in funds that belong to Ramallah. Israel collects customs revenues on the PA’s behalf and is supposed to transfer them to Ramallah on a monthly basis.

Israel has been withholding a portion of those funds, which it says amounts to the sum of the stipends that the PA pays to the families of security prisoners and slain terrorists. PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree in February ending the policy, though Israel has been dismissive of the move.

Israel has also been withholding a portion of the tax revenues that it says amount to the sum of the funds that the PA uses to pay civil servants in Gaza, which Jerusalem claims are at risk of reaching Hamas.

Moreover, since May, when the UK issued sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, Jerusalem stopped transferring the monthly customs revenues entirely, robbing the PA of roughly NIS 900 million ($267 million) in funds.

The move by Smotrich once again has the PA at risk of financial collapse, with Ramallah unable to pay its employees for June. Previous months saw PA employees only receiving a portion of their salaries due to Ramallah’s dire financial situation.

A spokesperson for one of the PA’s ministries tells The Times of Israel that many workers are not showing up to the office, as they cannot afford the cost of travel or don’t have time to wait hours at Israeli checkpoints, which have significantly hampered Palestinian transit throughout the West Bank.

An EU diplomat says Israel’s delegation indicated during this week’s high-level meeting of EU foreign ministers that Jerusalem would release some of the PA’s funds — likely the tax revenues that have been withheld since May.

However, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson denies that any commitment was made on the matter.

Israel said to have warned Sharaa not to attack Druze before strikes

An Israeli fighter aircraft fires a flare as it flies over the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

Israel is said to have warned interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa not to attack Druze before the decision to strike Syrian regime targets.

Israel warned Sharaa not to harm the Druze population ahead of its recent strike on Syrian regime targets, reports Channel 12.

Multiple communications through diplomatic channels, including American and French ones, were conveyed to Damascus in advance, according to the Hebrew network.

“If the Syrian regime harms the Druze, they will have given us no choice but to interfere,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot over the phone yesterday, Channel 12 adds.

Israel’s goal had been to defuse the unrest preemptively, but when that failed, the IDF struck as it had promised — echoing a previous strike on the presidential palace intended as a clear signal of deterrence, Channel 12 continues.

The United States was informed in advance and kept in the loop throughout, adds the report.

Following the strike, Syrian officials reportedly got the message, and the regime began internal processes in response.

A senior Israeli official cited by Channel 12 says that recent events reflect growing instability in Syria, casting doubt on the regime’s ability to govern effectively. If the situation does not improve, Israel now sees little chance of even a modest breakthrough in talks with the new Syrian government, the official says.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Zamir leads shakeup of General Staff with a series of promotions

Head of the IDF Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo speaks to reporters in Ashkelon, October 29, 2023. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announces a new round of senior appointments in the military and a shuffle in the General Staff.

Such promotions in the General Staff are routine after officers complete their tenure.

Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the chief of the Home Front Command, is appointed as the next Northern Command chief, replacing Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin.

Maj. Gen. Dan Goldfus, the current commander of the Northern Corps and Maneuver Array, is appointed as the next chief of the Depth Corps, replacing Maj. Gen. Nimrod Aloni.

Maj. Gen. Hidai Zilberman, Israel’s defense attaché to the US, is appointed as head of the Planning and Force Design Directorate, replacing Vice Adm. Eyal Harel.

Brig. Gen. Dan Noyman, the commander of the Command and Staff College, is appointed as the next head of the Military Colleges, also replacing Aloni. He will be promoted to the rank of major general upon entering the role.

Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, the commander of the West Bank division, is appointed as the next chief of the Northern Corps, replacing Goldfus. He will be promoted to major general.

Brig. Gen. Shai Klepper, the commander of the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division, is appointed as the next Home Front Command chief, replacing Milo. He will also be promoted to major general.

Brig. Gen. Rami Abudraham, chief of staff at the IDF Ground Forces, will be appointed as head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, replacing Maj. Gen. Mishel Yanko. He will be promoted to major general.

Zamir’s appointments were all approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the officers will enter their roles in the coming months, the IDF says.

Huckabee calls on Israel to ‘aggressively’ probe ‘terrorist murder’ of US-Palestinian in West Bank

Saif Allah Muslatm Musalat, a Palestinian-American who was allegedly beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank on July 11, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

In a highly rare statement weighing in on Israeli policy in the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says that he has asked Jerusalem to “aggressively investigate the murder” of Palestinian-American Saif Musalat after he was allegedly beaten to death by settlers in the village of Sinjil near Ramallah last week.

“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old,” Huckabee says in a post on X.

This appears to be one of the first times that Huckabee has commented on rampant settler violence in the West Bank, though he avoids using the term or characterizing the killing as part of a phenomenon.

A devout evangelical Christian, Huckabee has long expressed support for Israel annexing the West Bank.

Christian Palestinian activists have been circulating a petition in recent days urging Huckabee to call out settler violence that has targeted the Christian village of Taybeh.

I have asked @Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death. There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old.

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 15, 2025

Ultra-Orthodox parties attack Edelstein, accusing him of sabotaging deal for Haredi draft bill

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri speaks with United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset, December 14, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, issue a joint statement blaming Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein for the crisis over the draft exemption law, accusing him of sabotaging talks and deceiving the public.

“For a year and a half now, he has been misleading the negotiating teams, the rabbis, the reserve personnel, the military and security officials – and everyone who has acted honestly to bring about a balanced and respectful settlement on the issue,” the statement charges.

“He continues to mislead about the ‘compromise outline’ he formulated, but in practice, he has repeatedly sabotaged every possible outline,” it says, accusing him of going back on agreements.

“It is no coincidence that he refuses to reveal the text of the law he supposedly agreed to – because he knows that this will expose his series of violations and deceptions,” the statement says, accusing Edelstein of “playing a political game” and “single-handedly toppling the right-wing government.”

The statement calls on Edelstein’s fellow Likud members to “denounce” him.”

The statement comes after UTJ quit the government, and Shas was mulling a similar move.

Earlier, Edelstein said there could be “no compromise” on sanctions for draft dodgers.

Netanyahu visits ultra-Orthodox troops amid government crisis over Haredi draft exemptions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (unblurred) meets with troops of the Hasmonean Brigade at the Tebetz Camp in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank, July 15, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited troops of the IDF’s new ultra-Orthodox Hasmonean Brigade at the unit’s training base in the Jordan Valley earlier today.

The visit comes as the Haredi United Torah Judaism party yesterday quit Netanyahu’s coalition and government as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party is also reportedly set to leave the coalition for the same reason.

“They come as Haredim and they leave as Haredim, and this is possible. They come not by coercion, they come willingly, and this willingness is widespread in the Haredi public,” Netanyahu says at the Tebetz Camp, according to remarks released by his office. Netanyahu is apparently seeking to allay ultra-Orthodox fears that youths from the community lose their religion when exposed to secular society in the military.

Netanyahu says, “We can lead a process that is not confrontational, not one of internal strife, but one of mobilizing all the forces in Jewish society to truly protect our state and defend our people.”

Smotrich, during the visit, says, “With God’s help, we are determined to bring about the enlistment of many thousands of Haredi youth, and are convinced that this is the way to do it, together, through trust-building and a determined and thorough process.”

Blanket draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox public have become exceedingly unpopular, in light of the IDF’s manpower squeeze during the ongoing war and the strain it has put on society.

The military has said that it currently requires some 12,000 new soldiers — 75% of whom will be combat troops.

Sa’ar hails ‘diplomatic victory’ as EU says it’s holding off on sanctions over Gaza war

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy and vice president of the European Commission talks to journalists before the EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on July 14, 2025. (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announces that the EU opted not to adopt punitive measures against Israel over its military conduct in Gaza today, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the matter. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hailed the news as “an important diplomatic victory.”

Speaking to reporters after the Brussels meeting, Kallas repeats remarks made earlier today that while “positive signs” are emerging from Israel’s implementation of its agreement with the EU last week to increase aid to Gaza, “more concrete steps” are still needed.

“The European Union will keep a close watch on how Israel implements this common understanding and the pledges, and we’ll update the compliance every two weeks,” she says, adding that she had presented “an inventory of different measures that could be taken” if Israel does not uphold its commitments.

“We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act,” she says.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar talks to journalists on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on July 14, 2025. (Nicolas Tucat/AFP)

Responding to the hold-off on sanctions, Sa’ar, who left Brussels this morning after attending a summit of EU counterparts yesterday, writes in a Hebrew-language post on X that Israel achieved “an important diplomatic victory” today.

Israel is “waging a complex, grueling, and multi-front diplomatic battle,” says Sa’ar, adding that “we successfully fended off all obsessive attempts by several states to impose sanctions on Israel within the European Union”— even as those same countries “have not proposed reviewing the EU’s agreement with the Palestinian Authority over its payments to terrorists and their families, or over the incitement in its education system.”

In February, PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree canceling controversial legislation within its welfare system that allowed payments to the families of slain terrorists and the families of security prisoners held in Israeli jails, and Ramallah appeared to be moving forward with the reform in May.

“The attempt to impose sanctions on a democratic country defending itself against efforts to destroy it is outrageous,” Sa’ar adds.

He thanks Israel’s allies in the EU who “stood by us and prevented harm to Israel—harm that would also have been a blow to the European Union itself,” and praises Israeli diplomats for leading efforts against such pressures.

Israel “will keep fighting for the justice of Israel’s cause and continue to strengthen its diplomatic ties. In the coming months, we will open additional embassies,” says Sa’ar.

US envoy says working to restore calm in Syria, calls clashes ‘worrisome’

US diplomat Tom Barrack says that deadly violence in Syria’s southern province of Sweida was “worrisome” and that his government was working to restore calm in the country.

“The recent skirmishes in Sweida are worrisome on all sides, and we are attempting to come to a peaceful, inclusive outcome for Druze, Bedouin tribes, the Syrian government and Israeli forces,” Barrack, Washington’s special envoy to Syria, says on X, naming the parties involved in the violence since Sunday.

Ben Gvir sparks outcry in police as he tries to block promotion of officer who probed Netanyahu

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir with Police Chief Commissioner Danny Levy mark Memorial Day at Mount Herzl military cemetery on April 30, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

In an overt clash with police brass, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly circulated a letter this morning against the promotion of a police investigator involved in one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trials.

The letter alleged that the officer in question, Supt. Rinat Saban lacks the qualifications to advance to the rank of chief superintendent over so-called “memory issues,” Hebrew media reports.

Ben Gvir’s letter and the ensuing news stories published about the high-ranking investigator prompted a fierce response from the Israel Police, who came out with an official statement demanding the “immediate removal of the offensive publications” surrounding Saban.

In the statement, police say Saban’s promotion was “thoroughly examined by the Chief Commissioner and a panel of senior police officers… who decided that she is worthy of attending the police Command and Staff course and promotion.”

Ben Gvir has reportedly been blocking Saban’s promotion since early June. In March, she testified against Netanyahu in court and had previously probed his advisers Jonatan Urich and Ofer Golan on suspicion they harassed Shlomo Filber, a state witness in Case 4000, the most serious of the premier’s ongoing corruption trials.

She currently serves as an assistant to the head of the police’s investigations and intelligence department, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt.

Ben Gvir’s opposition to Saban’s promotion marks the latest in a series of run-ins in recent months between him and police chief Danny Levy, who has reportedly taken issue with the minister’s interference in police appointments and operational decision-making.

Anti-Israel protesters repeatedly disrupt Congressional hearings on antisemitism

The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce is questioning the presidents of the City University of New York, Georgetown University, and the University of California, Berkeley.

As members of Congress question the university presidents about antisemitism on campuses, protesters interrupt the hearings at least four times.

As CUNY president Félix V. Matos Rodríguez speaks, a protester shouts, “Blood on your hands,” and, “You are a genocidal war criminal.”

While Rich Lyons, the chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, speaks, an activist shouts, “You’re complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.”

In another outburst, a protester shouts, “Israel is burning children alive.”

The activists are quickly ejected from the hearing.

Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, tells the protester, “Get out of here, you loser.”

“I hold you all responsible for this,” Fine tells the university leaders. “It is that attitude that you have allowed on your campuses that makes people think this is ok.”

CCP Funded Code Pink Disrupts the House Education and Workforce Committee Hearing on Antisemitism

Unless we squash the growing indoctrination of our population, targeting Jews and supporters of Israel will only get worse.

Code Pink States:

> Demands the Committee stop… pic.twitter.com/i92bSMiOkV

— Andrea Shaffer, Employment/Labor Law (@Andreafreedom76) July 15, 2025

Hezbollah calls Israeli airstrike on east Lebanon a ‘major escalation’

Lebanese terror group Hezbollah condemns an Israeli airstrike that killed 12 people in the Beqaa Valley as a “major escalation.”

In a statement, the group says Israel’s attack “constitutes a major escalation in the context of the ongoing aggression against Lebanon and its people.”

It calls on Lebanese authorities to “take serious, immediate, and decisive action” to uphold a November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Top US Democrat condemns rampant settler violence in West Bank

Mohammed Asalia inspects a destroyed car that was burned during a reported late-night attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah in the West Bank on July 15, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins the growing list of pro-Israel Democrats to condemn rampant settler violence in the West Bank.

Jeffries issues a statement blasting last week’s “shocking and appalling” killing of Palestinian-American Saif Musalat, who was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers.

Jeffries calls on the Israeli government to investigate the killing, adding that “the rise in violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank directed at Palestinian civilians is completely and totally unacceptable.”

“The Trump administration cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening in the West Bank if it is truly committed to finding a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people,” Jeffries adds.

Hours earlier, another prominent moderate Democrat — Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin — weighed in on Musalat’s killing, noting that he is the fifth American killed by settler violence this year alone.

“It’s hard to understand this lack of accountability by the Netanyahu government as anything other than tacit approval by the state,” Slotkin says.

She also laments the 60 Palestinians reportedly killed while seeking humanitarian aid.

“Israel has the responsibility to allow humanitarian aid in, just as the US had the responsibility to allow aid into places like Fallujah,” Slotkin writes on X.

Referring to the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Slotkin says, “If President Trump’s hand-picked aid organization can’t get food and medicine to people in Gaza in a safe way, Israel has the responsibility to find one that can.”

Syria says it holds Israel responsible for attacks in the south

A member of Syria's security forces sits atop a military vehicle as security forces enter the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025(Photo by Bakr ALkasem / AFP)

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel holds full responsibility for the latest attacks on southern Syria and the consequences.

The ministry said it is keen to protect all Syrian citizens without exception, including the Druze minority.

Israel carried out strikes against Syrian government forces in southwestern Syria for a second day on Tuesday, vowing to keep the area demilitarized and to protect the Druze minority amid reports that Druze were being executed by Syrian forces.

Father of slain captive: Senior official told me he can ‘also deal with 200 more bereaved families’

Rabbi Elhanan Danino, father of slain hostage Ori Danino, speaks at an event in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, September 10, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Hostage Families Forum)

Rabbi Elhanan Danino, the father of hostage Ori Danino, who was murdered in captivity, reveals that a “senior official” told him that he “could also deal with another 200 bereaved families.”

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Danino talks about the callousness of Israel’s political leadership, saying that when he spoke to military and security officials who were trying to secure the release of the hostages, the conversations were “straight and pure.”

However, “when it reaches the cabinet, and then the aquarium, it gradually fades away,” he says, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner sanctum.

Danino says one of the worst things he heard was when “a senior official,” an apparent reference to Netanyahu, told him that he “could also deal with another 200 bereaved families.”

His son, Master Sgt. Ori Danino, an off-duty soldier with the Paratroopers’ Brigade, was captured from the Supernova music festival after he went back to try to save his friends. Danino was then held hostage for 11 months before he was executed by Hamas. His body was recovered by troops on August 31 from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah along with those of Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lobanov, and Almog Sarusi.

Inflation in Israel up to 3.3% in June as foreign travel costs soar

A row of aircrafts belonging to Israeli airlines El Al sit parked along the apron of Cyprus' main airport in Larnaca, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Israeli inflation in June accelerated, led by increases in the costs of foreign travel, food and fresh vegetables, as well as housing prices, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Annual inflation over the past 12 months increased to 3.3 percent, up from 3.1 percent in May. The government’s annual target range of inflation is between 1% to 3%.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, rose in June by 0.3%, versus analysts’ expectations of an increase of about 0.2%. That’s after the CPI monthly figure in May declined by 0.3%.

In June, increases were seen in the costs of culture and entertainment, which increased by 1.1%, food and fresh vegetable prices were both up 0.7%, and housing rose 0.5%.

Foreign travel costs edged up 4.5% and hotel stays rose 8.1% as dozens of airlines canceled services to Israel amid the war with Iran.

These were offset by notable declines in the prices of clothing, which fell 4.5%, fresh fruit was down 2.5%, and furniture and home equipment retreated 0.4%.

Rents on renewal of contracts rose 2.4% in June, and rents on contracts for new tenants jumped 5.9%.

IDF publishes footage of strikes against Syrian tanks

The IDF releases footage of its strikes against Syrian tanks and other military vehicles in the Sweida area of southern Syria earlier today.

Earlier, the IDF said the strikes were carried out after it had identified a convoy of Syrian armored vehicles heading toward the Druze city of Sweida, where deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes have been taking place.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had instructed the IDF to strike Syrian forces “following the attack on the Druze in Syria.”

תיעוד מתקיפות חיל-האוויר בסוריה מוקדם יותר היום: pic.twitter.com/vjt6QzY4Ov

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) July 15, 2025

CUNY head tells Congress campuses have had 84 reports of antisemitism since start of 2024

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators from CUNY at a rally near Bryant Park, New York City, November 9, 2023. (Luke Tress)

Three university presidents are grilled about antisemitism on their campuses at a hearing in Congress.

The US House Committee on Education and the Workforce questions Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, the chancellor of the City University of New York; Robert M. Groves, the interim president of Washington, DC’s Georgetown University, and Rich Lyons, the chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.

Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican from Michigan, asks the university leaders to define antisemitism. All three define it as hatred or discrimination against Jews.

Rodríguez, under questioning, tells Walberg that CUNY received 68 complaints of antisemitism in 2024, and 16 since the start of 2025.

Rodríguez says CUNY has disciplined 18 students for antisemitism and 25 for inappropriate conduct during protests in the past two years. He says the university system does not have data on the hiring of Zionist professors or Jewish students transferring out of CUNY.

Asked if CUNY has antisemitic faculty, Rodríguez says, “We have faculty that might conduct themselves in antisemitic behavior, and we have no tolerance for it.”

Rodríguez rejects the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel, when asked if he supports BDS among the CUNY faculty union. The union operates independently from the CUNY administration and has been accused of discrimination by Jewish members.

“I have repudiated BDS and I have said that there’s no place for BDS at the City University of New York,” Rodríguez says. BDS is barred under New York State law.

He refrains from confirming whether union members have been disciplined for antisemitism, if the union president’s support for BDS is problematic, or if the union has an antisemitism problem.

The public CUNY system is the largest urban college network in the US, with more than 250,00 students on dozens of campuses around the five boroughs. The system has long grappled with allegations of campus antisemitism and has taken some measures to combat anti-Jewish discrimination. CUNY’s different campuses operate semi-independently, making system-wide changes difficult to enact.

Amid dispute on Haredi draft law, Shas accuses Edelstein of plotting to oust Netanyahu in wake of Oct. 7

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, delivers a statement to the media on the military draft law at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 15, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Following Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein’s statement that legislation regulating Haredi conscription without effective sanctions would “not be a conscription law, but a bluff law,” the ultra-Orthodox Shas party accuses Edelstein of having plotted to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following October 7.

Several Hebrew media outlets quoted unnamed party officials as alleging that “in the days after October 7, while Israel was fighting for its life, Edelstein was engaged in a coup attempt designed to make him prime minister.”

“High-ranking people came to [Shas chairman Aryeh] Deri’s house again and again, saying that Edelstein and [Opposition Leader Yair] Lapid were coordinating on a no-confidence motion in which the opposition would install Edelstein in place of Netanyahu,” the officials claimed.

“They offered extremely tempting offers so that Shas would join the move and give him the necessary votes. These demands were rejected out of hand…just as he acted then only in his own best interests and not in the best interests of the state and the army, he is [also] doing so now.”

In response, officials of Lapid’s party, Yesh Atid, stated that it was “very impressive to us that for a year and eight months Deri kept such dramatic proposals secret and only now suddenly he remembered them in a miraculous way.”

“Of course, they never existed.”

In a separate statement apparently backing Edelstein, Lapid declares that “a conscription law without effective and immediate sanctions is not a law. There is currently a law, and it is simple and fair: no discrimination between blood and blood, conscription for all.”

IDF releases footage of destruction of tunnel in Gaza’s Beit Hanoun

The IDF releases footage showing the demolition of tunnels and booby traps in Beit Hanoun, amid an ongoing offensive against Hamas in the northern Gaza town.

Troops of the Givati Infantry Brigade killed dozens of operatives in combat and by directing airstrikes, as well as destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, in a joint effort with combat engineers, the military says.

The IDF says the Givati soldiers also found a rocket launcher previously used by Hamas to fire at Israel.

Also in Beit Hanoun, reservists of the 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade planted explosive devices and directed a drone strike on the site to destroy them, the IDF says.

Additionally, troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade directed an airstrike on an operative seen transporting weapons in Beit Hanoun.

Edelstein says ‘compromise not possible’ on sanctions against Haredi draft dodgers; urges ultra-Orthodox not to quit government

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, delivers a statement to the media on the military draft law at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, July 15, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Addressing reporters in the Knesset following the United Torah Judaism’s exit from the coalition, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) draws a line in the sand regarding personal and institutional sanctions against draft dodgers while also appealing to the Haredi parties not to topple the government.

UTJ quit the coalition last night after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by Edelstein, which it argued violated the terms of a previous compromise agreed to by the two sides last month in an effort to prevent the Haredi parties from toppling the government ahead of the war with Iran. Fellow ultra-Orthodox party Shas is considering following suit later this week.

“Unfortunately,” Edelstein complains, “the representatives of the Haredi factions in the Knesset are not ready for the outline of the law that I have formulated.”

Rather than representing a surprise, the bill was “based on the principles that we have discussed throughout the legislative process and includes a number of essential sections on which compromise is not possible,” Edelstein says.

These include “effective personal sanctions, institutional sanctions if targets are not met, applying high recruitment targets, which will increase rapidly” and “effective oversight and enforcement mechanisms.”

“Without these, it would not be a conscription law, but a bluff law,” he adds, appealing to Haredi lawmakers not to “dismantle the right-wing government.”

Declining to share a copy of the updated bill itself, which has yet to be seen even by members of his own committee, Edelstein declared that he had insisted since the beginning of the legislative process that he would “only pass a good law that would meet the needs of the IDF and significantly ease the burden of reservists and the serving public.”

Arguing that he had repeatedly acted to thwart threats to the coalition over the conscription issue, Edelstein says that ahead of Israel’s war with Iran, he worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to prevent the dissolution of the Knesset.”

“That evening, some of the clauses were agreed upon, but it was clear to everyone that the drafting work was not finished then. Since then, we have worked intensively, in consultation with the serving public, representatives of the Haredi public and IDF representatives, to complete the clauses and details of the law,” he states.

“Last night, I had a long meeting with the Prime Minister and representatives of the Haredi parties, and I presented to them the draft of the Conscription Law that I believe in, prepared and ready for submission,” he continues — calling the bill one that “meets the needs of the IDF” and ensures “that anyone who enters the army as a Haredi will be able to leave it as a Haredi.”

“The future of the country is not subject to political games at a time when the security challenges facing us are many and more existential than ever,” Edelstein continues. “The public will not forgive those who fail to rise to the occasion and unite for one common goal – the security and future of the State of Israel.”

According to a spokesman for UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf, Edelstein’s bill failed to deliver on several key demands, including offering a full amnesty to yeshiva students who have already received enlistment orders. It also reportedly contained a clause requiring yeshiva students who receive exemptions to check in and out of their yeshivas using a fingerprint scanner.

IDF says dozens of civilians crossed border into Syria amid protests against killing of Druze

Syria's security forces stand on a tank in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem / AFP)

The IDF says dozens of civilians crossed the border into Syria near the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights a short while ago.

“IDF troops are currently working to safely return the civilians who crossed the border,” the army adds.

The civilians are Druze residents of Israel who are apparently protesting amid the ongoing clashes in the Sweida area of southern Syria, amid reports of Syrian Druze being killed in clashes with Syrian government forces.

Syrian forces accused of ‘executions’ in Druze area; 12 said killed

Members of Syria's security forces and children holding rifles celebrate in the predominantly Bedouin-inhabited al-Mouqawwas neighbourhood in Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

Syrian authorities are accused of carrying out “field executions” of civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida.

Damascus had deployed troops to the area after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes killed more than 100 people.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that forces from the “defense and interior ministries carried out field executions of 12 civilians after storming the Radwan family guest house in the city of Sweida.”

‘A barbaric murderer’: Minister calls to kill Syrian President al-Sharaa after attacks on Druze

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli attends a conference organized by his ministry, March 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli directly calls for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to “be eliminated without delay,” in both English and Hebrew posts on his X account.

Following Israel’s announcement this morning that it will strike Syrian regime targets in response to reported attacks against the Druze population by Sharaa’s forces, Chikli writes: “Anyone who thinks Ahmad al-Sharaa is a legitimate leader is gravely mistaken — he is a terrorist, a barbaric murderer who should be eliminated without delay.”

Sharing footage circulating online that appears to show Syrian army forces taunting and assaulting members of the Druze community by forcibly shaving their facial hair, Chikli adds in Hebrew: “If it looks like Hamas, talks like Hamas, and acts like Hamas — It’s Hamas!” — comparing the alleged conduct of Syrian troops to that of the Gaza-based terror group.

“We must not stand idly by in the face of the Islamist-Nazi terror regime of Al-Qaeda in a suit and tie,” the minister continues. “We saw the horrific massacre of the Alawites, met with deafening silence from European leaders, and now we are witnessing the slaughter and humiliation of the Druze.”

“The terror regime in Syria must be fought,” he says.

We must not stand idly by in the face of the Islamist-Nazi terror regime of Al-Qaeda in a suit and tie.

Anyone who thinks Ahmad al-Shara is a legitimate leader is gravely mistaken — he is a terrorist, a barbaric murderer who should be eliminated without delay.

We saw the… pic.twitter.com/lSnnE7xge6

— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) July 15, 2025

Since Sharaa took power in Syria late last year, Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar — initially took a harsh stance against the new regime, citing Sharaa’s past ties to Al-Qaeda and clashes between government forces with Druze, Alawite, and other minority groups.

While rhetoric against the new regime died down following US President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria in May, and efforts are reportedly underway between Israel and Syria to reach a security or even peace agreement, fighting in recent days between Syrian government forces and Druze militias prompted Israel to carry out intensified strikes in Syria, which it says intend to protect the Druze and prevent any threat to Israel.

Activists, bereaved parents urge major protest next week calling for end to Gaza war

From left: Bat El, the mother of an active soldier, Elchanan Danino, Noam Tibon, Rafi Ben Sheetrit, Effie Shoham and Einav Zangauker during a July 15, 2025 press conference calling on Israel to end the war in Gaza. (Screengrab/YouTube)

A panel of bereaved parents, former security personnel, a hostage mother and a soldier mother hold a press conference calling on Israelis to join their call to end the war in Gaza and stage a major protest next week.

Major General (Res.) Noam Tibon, who went to save his son and son’s family on October 7 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, says that after three more soldiers were killed on Monday, the government continued its politicking in the Knesset.

“The soldiers are being sent to Gaza because of political considerations,” says Tibon. “We’re here to say in a clear voice, we have to finish this war in Gaza and bring back all the hostages in one deal. Soldiers are dealing with a bloody, guerilla war in Gaza. Another soldier committed suicide yesterday. The heart breaks and we have to take care of them. The army is stretched to its limits.”

Tibon calls on Israelis to join the struggle, and a major protest is being planned for Thursday evening, July 24, in Tel Aviv.

His words are echoed by former Beit Shean mayor Rafi Ben Sheetrit, whose son, Alroy Ben Sheetrit, was killed fighting in the battle on Nahal Oz on October 7.

Bat El, the mother of a combat officer who has been fighting in Gaza for nearly two years, speaks emotionally and forcefully about the effects on soldiers as they fight in Israel’s longest war to date.

“They’re being sent again and again to the battlefield, without hope, just seeing the deaths of dozens of comrades,” says Bat El. “They’re dealing with trauma and injuries.”

She says that it is weakening the army to push these soldiers to their limits, and the soldiers don’t know what they are still doing in Gaza.

“They see things that most of the nation has never experienced,” says Bat El. “It falls on too-young shoulders.”

Hostage mother Einav Zangauker, whose son, Matan, is one of the living hostages, calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fulfill his promise to her to bring back her son, and also calls on Israelis to join the protest.

Bereaved parent Elchanan Danino, whose son, Or Danino, was one of the six hostages killed in Gaza in August 2024, notes that most of the hostages who have been recently released came back because of agreements between Israel and Hamas.

He credits US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, whom he calls a fellow bereaved father, with those releases.

“Witkoff knows how many hostages were killed in Gaza under army pressure,” says Danino, opening his jacket to show a photo of his son, Or.

Adi Argov, activist who exposes harm to Palestinian children, wins New Israel Fund prize

Adi Argov (Courtesy)

The New Israel Fund announces that it is awarding its 2025 Truth to Power award to activist Adi Argov, director of the Daily Page project, for her work exposing rights abuses against Palestinian children.

The prize is worth NIS 100,000 ($30,000) and was founded in memory of the late Bill Goldman, a University of San Francisco professor, activist, and board member of the dovish New Israel Fund.

Awarding the prize, the fund cited Argov’s “rare work carried out with courage, determination, and unwavering moral commitment.”

Argov, a 59-year-old clinical psychologist, mother and grandmother, and longtime political activist, works alone and without compensation to systematically bring to public attention incidents of harm to Palestinians, particularly children, the fund says, adding that the Daily Page project, which she launched in 2020, reports and documents on a daily basis attacks, clashes, home demolitions, and rights violations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with a focus on harm to children.

The prize committee notes that “in the face of silencing, fear, and alienation—Adi delivers fragments of harrowing truth, consistently, accurately, and with sensitivity. She creates a visible and tangible reality that challenges the wall of denial, confronting powerful political and media forces on a daily basis, at personal risk.”

Last year’s prize was awarded to Einav Zangauker, mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker.

Judge eases house arrest for Qatargate suspect Eli Feldstein

Eli Feldstein arrives for a court hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court on March 11, 2025. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

The Tel Aviv District Court eases the house arrest conditions for Eli Feldstein, the former military spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is a defendant in the classified documents affair and a suspect in the Qatargate investigation.

Judge Ala Masarwa rules that Feldstein can leave his home during the daytime if accompanied by a designated individual, but must remain under house arrest during the night.

Implementation of the ruling is delayed, however, in order to allow the State Attorney’s Office to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Lebanon bars banks from contact with Hezbollah-linked financial institution

A man rides a moped past the site of an overnight IDF airstrike that targeted a branch of the Al-Qard Al-Hassan group that Israel says finances Hezbollah, in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 21, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon’s central bank bans licensed financial institutions from any direct or indirect interactions with Iran-backed Hezbollah’s financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan, according to a circular seen by Reuters.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan in 2007, saying Hezbollah used the institution as a cover to manage “financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.”

Al-Qard Al-Hassan, founded in 1983, describes itself as a charitable organization that provides loans to people according to Islamic principles that forbid interest.

Israel struck branches of the institution during its war with the group last year.

The organization, which operates under a license granted by the Lebanese government, has more than 30 branches, mostly in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim areas of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Beqaa Valley.

Two youths arrested for attacking bus driver who told them to stop smoking

Police arrested two 15-year-olds this morning on suspicion they attacked a bus driver at a bus depot in the city of Elad.

Police say they received a report of the incident last night. The driver told the youths to refrain from smoking on the bus, and was met with curses from the pair, who also pelted his vehicle with rocks. It is unclear whether the driver sustained any injuries.

Officers at the Rosh Ha’ayin police station opened an investigation last night and detained the two alleged assailants, residents of Elad and Petah Tikva. They are suspected of having attacked other bus drivers in the area in the past, a police spokesman says.

The police are in the process of questioning the two and still weighing whether to bring them to a youth court to request an extension of their remand.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon said to kill 12, including five Hezbollah operatives

Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley killed 12 people, the region’s governor Bachir Khodr tells Reuters, in the deadliest air strikes since last year’s truce ended months of fighting between terror group Hezbollah and Israel.

A security source tells Reuters that five of the dead were Hezbollah operatives. Khodr says seven of the dead were Syrian nationals, who often work in the agricultural fields of the Beqaa region.

Israel said the airstrikes deep inside Lebanon were aimed at stopping an elite Hezbollah unit from regrouping and rebuilding its strength.

The strikes in Lebanon’s northeastern Beqaa Valley hit military facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terror group’s Radwan force, where operatives and weapon depots had been detected, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Druze in Israel stage protests demanding Israel do more to protect Syrian brethren

Druze Israelis torch car tires, block roads in protest of deadly clashes in southern Syria between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes on July 15, 2025. (Screenshot/Facebook)

Druze demonstrators protest in several locations throughout northern Israel due to this week’s deadly clashes in southern Syria between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes.

The protesters demand that the Israeli government do more to intervene in support of their coreligionists in Syria, according to Arabic-language outlets. Some of the demonstrators torch car tires and also block traffic in several locations.

Police say that Route 6 near Elyakim Junction has been closed to traffic in both directions as a result of the demonstrations. Other small protests have been reported near Shfaram and Rameh, Arab locales further north.

Police say they are present at the protests and attempting to “maintain public order and guide drivers to alternate routes” that aren’t blocked to traffic.

The demonstrations take place in wake of the internecine fighting in southern Syria that left nearly 100 people dead after clashes first erupted Sunday. Earlier this morning, the IDF struck Syrian government forces nearing the Druze-majority city of Sweida, with the stated aim of protecting the minority group.

Damascus has declared a ceasefire in the town, although the situation on the ground is not immediately clear.

The Druze community members in Israel continue to protest for their brethren in Syria. pic.twitter.com/WzBdRxK0sO

— FJ (@Natsecjeff) July 15, 2025

IDF troops destroy 3.5-km Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis, says military

IDF troops of the Kfir Brigade seen operating in southern Gaza's Khan Younis in a handout photo published July 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A 3.5-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis was recently demolished, the IDF announces.

The IDF says the tunnel was located by troops of the Kfir Infantry Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit during operations in the south of Khan Younis.

The tunnel connected to other underground passages and also featured several rooms used by Hamas operatives as living quarters, according to the military.

The IDF says the Kfir troops also located weapons and destroyed a facility used to store explosive devices.

A Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis is demolished by the IDF, in a handout video published July 15. 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

UN claims at least 875 killed near Gaza aid points over past six weeks

Palestinians collect drinking water in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

The UN human-rights office says it has recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and convoys run by other relief groups, including the United Nations.

The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the UN-led system that Israel alleges has allowed Hamas-led terrorists to loot aid shipments intended for civilians.

The GHF, which began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May after Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade, previously told Reuters that such incidents have not occurred on its sites and accused the UN of misinformation. The GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest UN figures.

“The data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian organizations,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, tells reporters in Geneva. Israel regularly accuses Gazan officials of inflating its death tolls.

The Israeli army previously told Reuters in a statement that it was reviewing recent mass casualties and that it had sought to minimize friction between Palestinians and the IDF by installing fences and signs and opening additional routes. The IDF has repeatedly said that it has fired warning shots at crowds approaching troops but that it is unaware of casualties.

UTJ’s Eichler is latest to submit resignation from his Knesset role

MK Yisrael Eichler (L) speaks to MK Moshe Gafni during a discussion on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 12, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The exit of United Torah Judaism lawmakers from the coalition continues, as UTJ’s Yisrael Eichler submits his resignation as head of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

Earlier today, Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush also submitted their letters of resignation, which will come into effect in 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party is reportedly waiting for their resignations to go into effect before deciding if to announce its own exit from the government later this week, which would lead Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without a Knesset majority.

Ceasefire talks are still in ‘first phase,’ but efforts are ‘intensifying,’ says Qatar

Demonstrators gather during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip, outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv on July 12, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Gaza ceasefire talks remain in their “first phase” after more than a week of talks, even as mediators step up efforts to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, Qatar says.

“Discussions on the framework agreement are still ongoing. Both delegations are present here in Doha, and the mediators are intensifying efforts to reach an agreement,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari tells reporters.

“The negotiations are still in the first phase, which is specifically about reaching an agreement of principle ahead of negotiations that will begin, God willing, in the next phase,” he says.

“We cannot say whether an agreement will be reached tomorrow or whether the negotiations will collapse tomorrow,” Ansari adds.

The Qatari spokesman insists: “We believe there is no stalemate,” adding that there is no set timeframe in place for the talks.

Sa’ar departs Brussels as EU weighs actions against Israel over Gaza war, urges more aid

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar arrives for the EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels, on July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is on his way back to Israel after participating in a summit at the European Union in Brussels yesterday, his office says.

Upon his departure, Sa’ar thanks EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas for hosting the EU–Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting, which brought together foreign ministers from the EU and partner states in the Middle East and North Africa to discuss regional cooperation.

In a post on X, Sa’ar says he updated Kallas “on regional developments, including Iran and our efforts to secure a hostage deal,” adding that the two “discussed the importance of continuing and strengthening the dialogue and cooperation between Israel and the EU.”

Sa’ar’s visit came as the EU continues to weigh possible responses to Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza — including a partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, trade restrictions and sanctions — though severe actions appear unlikely due to a lack of consensus among member states.

Ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council today, in which the EU is set to discuss potential actions against Israel, Kallas says the recent deal struck between Israel and the EU to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza shows “a common understanding with Israel to really improve the situation on the ground.”

“But,” she adds, “it’s not about the paper, but actually the implementation of the paper. We see some positive signs, when it comes to border crossings open, we see some positive signs of them reconstructing the electricity lines, providing water, also more trucks of humanitarian aid coming in, but of course, we need to see more in order to see real improvement.”

Sa’ar’s office and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for information on the status of the agreement’s implementation.

Throughout the visit, some Israel-friendly EU allies, including the Czech Republic and Hungary, voiced support for Israel and pushed back against proposed sanctions. In messages reposted by Sa’ar on X, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský reaffirmed their backing.

Lipavský said in a phone call with Sa’ar, “It is in the EU’s interest to maintain influence in a turbulent region, not withdraw from it,” and expressed hope for a ceasefire and the full resumption of aid to Gaza.

Szijjártó, who met with Sa’ar in Brussels, said, “There will be strong pressure on us in Brussels to sanction Israeli settlers. That would be the wrong move. This is the time for diplomacy, not sanctions.” He also stressed the need for a swift hostage deal to secure the release of Omri Miran, a Hungarian-Israeli citizen held by Hamas.

Shas says its Council of Torah Sages will meet tomorrow to discuss whether to quit government

Illustrative: Rabbi Yehuda Cohen at his coronation ceremony as a new member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages, at a synagogue in Jerusalem, July 13, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Ultra-Orthodox Shas party announces that “following the serious and unacceptable harm to the status of Torah scholars” brought about by the current government, its ruling Council of Torah Sages will meet tomorrow for “a crucial discussion regarding [the party’s] continued path in the government.”

According to media reports, the party is expected to follow United Torah Judaism’s lead and exit the coalition on Thursday.

UTJ quit the coalition last night after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which the party argued violated the terms of a previous compromise agreement regarding conscription of yeshiva students.

Edelstein is slated to hold a press conference in the Knesset to discuss the issue at 5:15 p.m. today.

With only seven seats, UTJ is not large enough to topple the government — which holds 68 out of 120 Knesset mandates — on its own. Were Shas to quit as well, the coalition would lose its majority, falling to 50 seats.

Even if Shas also leaves the government, however, the two Haredi parties are reportedly uninterested in toppling the coalition at this juncture and prompting new elections. The upcoming three-month Knesset recess, which starts on July 27, would give Netanyahu time to try to come to an agreement while ruling with a minority government.

Rescue teams arrive to free trapped Gazan family, with little hope for their survival

Rescue teams have begun working to retrieve a family trapped under rubble in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike, after a family member earlier claimed that they were blocked from doing so by the IDF. The teams appear to be holding out little hope to still locate survivors.

Anas Arafat, a resident of Gaza, tells The Times of Israel that rescue teams reached his family this afternoon, nearly a day after he says they were buried beneath a building in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City following an IDF strike.

Earlier, Arafat said that for many hours, family members were unable to reach the trapped victims due to being targeted by IDF drone fire.

According to Arafat, the rescuers lack heavy equipment needed to move the rubble. They have recovered the body of one woman, and it appears that the rest of the family — 13 people in total — did not survive, as no voices have been heard from under the rubble since yesterday.

The IDF has yet to issue a comment on the incident.

Shas reportedly set to follow UTJ out of the government later this week

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni speaks with Shas chairman Aryeh Deri in the Knesset plenum, June 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party will follow United Torah Judaism’s lead and exit the coalition this week, according to Hebrew media reports.

Channel 12 news reports that the party will quit on Thursday, although a Shas spokesman tells the network that it is still waiting on instructions from its ruling Council of Torah Sages. The Kan public broadcaster also says the exit is planned for Thursday, indicating that the party is likely waiting to see if UTJ lawmakers follow through with their resignations, submitted earlier today.

Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat reports that the meeting of Shas’s rabbinic leaders will likely take place either tomorrow or Thursday.

UTJ quit the coalition last night after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which the party argued violated the terms of a previous compromise agreement.

Speaking with The Times of Israel this morning, Motti Babchik, a senior adviser to UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf, asserts that Shas will quit the coalition “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, before Shabbat.”

Asked if he believed Shas remaining in the coalition in the interim provides an additional opportunity to pressure the government into meeting the Haredi parties’ demands for a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service, Babchik replies that “negotiations are a waste of time.”

“We can’t have a government that doesn’t care about yeshiva students,” he declares.

A spokesman for Shas did not respond to an inquiry by The Times of Israel regarding its next moves.

With only seven seats, UTJ is not large enough to topple the government — which holds 68 out of 120 Knesset mandates — on its own. Were Shas to quit as well, the coalition would lose its majority, falling to 50 seats.

Even if Shas also leaves the government, however, the two Haredi parties have not yet given any indication that they are interested in actively toppling the coalition at this juncture. The upcoming three-month Knesset recess, which starts on July 27, would give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu time to try to come to an agreement on the enlistment issue while ruling with a minority government.

If that too proves unsuccessful, and the legislation remains stalled, Shas and UTJ will then move to dissolve the government, Kan reported on Sunday, though they will require a workaround after an opposition-backed bill to disperse the Knesset and call early elections failed to advance last month, which forces lawmakers to wait six months before trying again.

Agudat Yisrael lawmakers submit resignations on orders of rabbinical council

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush attends a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The secretariat of Agudat Yisrael’s ruling Council of Torah Sages sends a letter to the Hasidic faction’s lawmakers in the Knesset instructing them to “withdraw from the coalition and resign from their positions in the Knesset and the government.”

Following the letter, Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush submit letters of resignation, which will come into effect in 48 hours.

The Agudat Yisrael faction, along with Degel Hatorah, comprise the United Torah Judaism party. Both factions announced their exit from the coalition yesterday as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students.

In a statement on Monday evening, Porush explained that the decision to resign was made after viewing a new Haredi conscription bill presented by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which he asserted did not “satisfy the demands” of the faction and its spiritual leaders.

Haredi patrol chief accused of sexual assault to stay locked up another 6 days, rules court

Chaim Rotter, arrested on suspicion of numerous sex offenses, at a court hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv on July 2, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Haredi patrol chief Chaim Rotter, who is suspected of serial sexual assault, will remain in custody for another six days, the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court rules today.

Rotter, who heads the Shomrim private security patrol in Bnei Brak, was arrested at the start of July for allegedly abusing his authority to prey on young volunteers in the organization.

The court has extended his detention several times since his arrest as police continue to investigate the allegations. So far, 13 people have filed police complaints against Rotter, the Ynet news site reports.

Two sets of triplets born several hours apart in Safed hospital

Triplets born at Ziv Medical Center in Safed on July 15, 2025. (Golan Productions/Ziv Medical Center)

Ziv Medical Center in Safed says that two sets of triplets were delivered in the hospital today, less than five hours apart.

The two mothers, both northern residents, one from Tuba-Zangariyye and the other from Kibbutz Mahanaim, each delivered a set of triplets that included two boys and one girl.

The first triplets were delivered in a scheduled procedure at 34 weeks of gestation, and the second in an emergency procedure at 26 weeks due to the onset of early labor.

The operations required complex logistical coordination involving a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, midwives, anesthesiologists, nurses, neonatal and NICU doctors and nurses, the hospital says.

“This day is a shining example of the professional and human strength of Ziv Medical Center,” says Prof. Salman Zarka, the hospital director.

“Triplet births are always exciting, but two in one day?” adds Adi Afota, midwife and deputy head of the delivery room. “That’s never happened here before.”

Police officer indicted for assaulting handcuffed detainee

A police officer was indicted today for allegedly assaulting a detainee while he was handcuffed at the Ariel police station in the West Bank in September.

According to the charges, 41-year-old Yaakov Saidoff, a duty officer at the station, allegedly beat the detainee after he cursed a female police officer. The policewoman reported the incident to Saidoff, prompting him to enter the room where the detainee was being held and order him to sit down.

When the detainee refused, the officer violently attacked him, pushing him against the wall and knocking him to the floor, according to the indictment. He allegedly beat the detainee all over his body, while shouting at him to “sit down on the chair or I’ll break your whole face.”

Saidoff also threatened to sit on the detainee’s neck should he curse him again, per the indictment.

The beating left the detainee with a hemorrhage in his right hand and tenderness in his right wrist and ankle, the charges say.

The officer is charged with assault causing bodily harm and issuing threats, according to the indictment filed in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court today. The case was investigated by the Department for Internal Police Investigations.

Knesset meeting on compensation for businesses harmed in Iran war stymied by UTJ resignation

MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism's Degel HaTorah faction leads a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset, on July 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The government’s compensation plan for businesses and workers harmed economically by last month’s war with Iran is currently stalled in the Knesset, following the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party’s exit from the coalition last night.

In the wake of his resignation, UTJ lawmaker and Knesset Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni failed to show up for this morning’s meeting on the compensation bill, taking participants in the scheduled discussion by surprise.

Without Gafni, the parliamentary panel has no chairman, and the discussion of the bill cannot move forward, causing what committee member MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) calls “an absurd and unprecedented situation.”

“Representatives from government ministries, the business sector, and opposition members arrived this morning for a discussion on the compensation outline for businesses. But here’s the thing: committee chairman Gafni resigned overnight, didn’t cancel the meeting, and currently, no one has the authority to lead the committee,” Beliak tweets.

The discussion cannot advance until the Knesset House Committee appoints a new chairman, which is unlikely to happen today, meaning that “the Knesset is paralyzed,” the Yesh Atid MK declares.

Any delay in approving the measure in the committee could result in a failure to pass the compensation bill before the end of the summer legislative session, which wraps up on July 27.

UTJ quit both the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition yesterday as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students. Following the move, multiple Knesset committees headed by the party’s lawmakers canceled their hearings for today.

UNRWA claims 1 in 10 children seen at its Gaza clinics is malnourished

Palestinians receive meals from volunteers in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, on July 14, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)

One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency says.

“Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on March 2,” UNRWA’s director of communications, Juliette Touma, tells reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.

Since January 2024, UNRWA says it has screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.

“One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries,” Touma says. “Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out.”

On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned by Israel from bringing aid into the enclave, after Israeli accusations that the organization employs and collaborates with Hamas members.

Israel is working on alternate methods for distributing aid in the Strip but has faced heavy criticism for its efforts.

IDF strikes in Sweida are ‘test’ of Israel’s policy to demilitarize southern Syria, says official

Syria's security forces enter the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Sam HARIRI / AFP)

An Israeli defense official says the IDF strikes against Syrian forces in the Sweida area a short while ago are “exceptionally large-scale.”

“The State of Israel sees this as a test of its policy to demilitarize southern Syria and its commitment to the Druze,” the official adds.

The IDF confirms carrying out strikes on Syrian military vehicles in the Sweida area “per the directives of the political echelon.”

The strikes were carried out after the military said it had identified last night a convoy of Syrian armored vehicles heading toward the Druze city of Sweida, where deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes have been taking place.

“The IDF struck several armored vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, multiple rocket launchers, as well as access routes, to disrupt their arrival in the area,” the military says.

The IDF adds that it continues to monitor the developments in Syria.

A short while ago the Syrian defense minister announced a ceasefire in the city following the clashes.

France, UK, Germany to trigger UN ‘snapback’ on Iran by August if no nuclear deal

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during a conference dubbed 'Paris Call for the Two-State Solution, Peace and Regional Security' in Paris on June 13, 2025. (Thibaud MORITZ / POOL / AFP)

France, the United Kingdom, and Germany will launch the snapback mechanism for reimposing United Nations sanctions on Iran by the end of August at the latest if no concrete progress has been made on a nuclear deal by then, says French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

“France and its partners are… justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,” Barrot tells reporters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Court rejects request for indictments to be annulled in PM’s office leaked documents case

Eli Feldstein arrives for a court hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court on March 11, 2025. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

The Tel Aviv District Court rejects a request by the lawyers of two defendants in the classified documents affair for their indictments to be annulled.

During a court hearing, attorneys for defendants Ari Rosenfeld and Eli Feldstein object to the length of time that has passed without a trial having started since the State Attorney’s Office filed indictments in November 2024, Hebrew media reports.

Attorney Uri Korb notes that his client, Rosenfeld, has either been in prison or under house arrest since he was indicted some nine months ago. The delay in the trial has resulted from the opening of the Qatargate investigation, which involves several of the same suspects and defendants as the classified documents case and testimony that affects the first case, prosecutors have said.

Indictments have yet to be brought in the Qatargate case.

Judge Raanan Bar Yosef suggests to the prosecutors that they withdraw the classified documents indictments and combine them with indictments over the Qatargate investigation when they are ready, in order to avoid unnecessary harm to the defendants.

The State Attorney’s Office representatives refuse the suggestion, however, leading the judge to deny the request to withdraw the indictments.

The judge also criticizes the prosecutors for failing to provide the investigative material used against the two defendants to their lawyers in a timely manner.

In the classified documents affair, Rosenfeld, an IDF reservist noncommissioned officer, is charged with having unlawfully passed classified military intelligence documents to Feldstein, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military spokesman.

Feldstein is charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state for having given that document to the Bild newspaper, as well as with other crimes.

KLM extends suspension of all its flights to Israel until further notice

Ilustrative: KLM airplanes sit in Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Jan. 18, 2018. (AP/Peter Dejong)

Dutch carrier KLM suspends all its flight services to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport until further notice, citing the “ongoing security situation.”

KLM had resumed its Tel Aviv-Amsterdam route at the start of June after an almost one-year absence.

The carrier then canceled all flight services to and from Tel Aviv on June 13 due to the closure of Israel’s airspace following Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure and Iranian missile and drone barrages. Israel reopened its airspace on June 24 after a ceasefire with Iran took hold.

Netanyahu confirms IDF strikes on Syrian forces to ‘prevent harm to Druze’

Syria's security forces enter the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Sam HARIRI / AFP)

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz say they have instructed the IDF to strike Syrian forces “following the attack on the Druze in Syria.”

The statement says the IDF was told to hit “regime forces and weapons that were brought into the Sweida area,” which Netanyahu and Katz say are “against the demilitarization policy that was decided, prohibiting the entry of forces and weapons into southern Syria that endanger Israel.”

“Israel is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel, and their familial and historical ties to the Druze in Syria, and we are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them, and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border with Syria,” the statement adds.

Gazan says IDF preventing him from trying to rescue family in rubble

A resident of Gaza tells the Times of Israel that Israeli forces are not allowing him to try to rescue his family buried under rubble following an IDF strike.

Footage from Gaza circulating on social media in recent hours shows people trapped alive under rubble in Gaza City.

Anas Arafat, a resident of Gaza City, tells The Times of Israel that the victims are his relatives — his parents, brothers, and their children. According to him, at least 10 family members have been buried since yesterday afternoon beneath a building in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, which was hit in an Israeli airstrike.

He says that when relatives try to approach the site to rescue them, they are targeted by IDF drones.

The IDF has not issued any statement on the incident.

الأصوات تأتي من تحت الركام!!

15 إنسانًا، معظمهم أحياء، ما زالوا عالقين تحت الأنقاض حتى هذه اللحظة، بعد غارة استهدفت منطقة الزرقا قرب مسجد الفرقان بحي التفاح شرق غزة. pic.twitter.com/p0MZYFg7Rb

— Dima Halwani (@DimaHalwani) July 15, 2025

Israel not yet fully implementing Gaza aid agreement, claims EU

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip are seen at the Kerem Shalom Crossing in southern Israel, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Israel has taken some positive steps but is not yet fully implementing an agreement with the European Union to increase humanitarian aid supplies in Gaza, EU aid chief Hadja Lahbib says.

“We have [seen] some positive developments. It’s true that we have trucks that are able to enter, but we don’t know exactly how many. And what is clear is that the agreement is not fully implemented,” she tells reporters ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Syria defense minister announces ceasefire in Druze-majority Sweida after clashes

Syria’s defense minister announces a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Sweida today after government forces entered the city to end deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.

“To all units operating within the city of Sweida, we declare a complete ceasefire after an agreement with the city’s notables and dignitaries,” Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra posts on X.

Clashes had erupted between government forces and Druze fighters after contradictory statements from Druze religious leaders, with most urging fighters to lay down their arms.

EasyJet extends its suspension of Israel flights until March 2026

An easyJet flight takes off from Ben Gurion Airport, April 11, 2018. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

British low-cost carrier easyJet says it is postponing the resumption of its flight services to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport until March 29, 2026.

The UK carrier, which was expected to restart its flight operations at the end of October, is suspending all routes to and from Tel Aviv through March 28 next year.

“To provide our customers with certainty on our winter flying schedule, we will no longer be operating flights to Tel Aviv over the winter season, up to and including 28th March 2026,” the airline says in an emailed statement. “We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and remain committed to resuming our Tel Aviv flying from summer 2026.”

EasyJet says customers with canceled flights can request a refund or a free transfer to an alternative flight.

Katz says strikes in Lebanon are ‘clear message’ to both Hezbollah and Beirut

Defense Minister Israel Katz says the Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are “a clear message to the Hezbollah terror organization, which is plotting to rebuild its capabilities for the invasion of Israel through the Radwan force, and also to the Lebanese government, which is responsible for upholding the agreement.”

“We will strike every terrorist and thwart any threat to the residents of the north and to the State of Israel, and we will respond with maximum force against any attempt [by Hezbollah] to rebuild,” he adds.

Renewed Israeli strikes reported in Sweida as government forces enter Syrian city

Syrian government soldiers on a motorcycle pass by a burning tank on the outskirts of Sweida city, where clashes erupted between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin clans, in southern Syria, July 14, 2025. (AP/Omar Sanadiki)

The Israeli Air Force carried out several strikes in the Sweida area of southern Syria a short while ago, according to Syrian media reports.

The IDF has not yet commented.

The strikes come as Syrian government forces enter the majority Druze city of Sweida in an effort to bring an end to deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes. Yesterday, the IDF carried out strikes against several Syrian tanks that were approaching Sweida.

Israel has previously vowed to protect members of Syria’s Druze community. Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday’s strike was “a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime; We will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.”

An AFP correspondent at an entrance to Sweida reports violent clashes as government forces enter the city.

A statement from Druze religious authorities had called for local fighters to lay down their arms.

But influential Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who had initially welcomed the entry of government forces, later called in a statement for “resisting this brutal campaign by all available means.”

Drone strike forces Iraq oil field run by US company to shut down

A drone strike forces a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, amid a wave of similar attacks targeting the region’s energy infrastructure.

The Kurdistan natural resources ministry says the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling the strike “an act of terrorism against the Kurdistan Region’s vital economic infrastructure.”

The attack followed a similar drone strike a day earlier in the neighboring Erbil province.

HKN Energy, the US company, said today’s blast occurred at about 7 a.m. at one of its production facilities in the Sarsang field.

“Operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured,” it says in a statement.

A fire broke out following the explosion, which did not cause any casualties. Emergency response teams have contained the blaze, the company said later in an update.

Israel launches waves of strikes against Hezbollah targets in northeast Lebanon

The Israeli Air Force has launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, the IDF announces.

The IDF says the targets include military facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, where operatives and weapon depots were detected.

“The military camps that were targeted are used by the Hezbollah terror organization for training and preparing terrorists for the planning and execution of terror operations against IDF forces and the State of Israel,” the military says in a statement.

The weapons stored at the sites and Hezbollah’s activity “constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and pose a future threat to the State of Israel,” the statement adds.

Hezbollah’s Radwan force was tasked with invading Israel, and the IDF says the elite unit had advanced the terror group’s “Conquer the Galilee” plan for years, until last year’s war.

Khamenei’s office dismisses letter from Gallant as ‘full-scale psychological operation’

A composite image of former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AP)

The office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues a rare response to a letter written several days ago by former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

According to a translation from the Iran International news site, Khamenei dismisses Gallant’s letter as propaganda and a “full-scale psychological operation.”

The former defense minister’s claims, Khamenei’s office writes in an op-ed on his official website, are part of “a conflict whose primary battlefield is not border zones, but public perception and the realm of awareness.”

Last week Gallant wrote an open letter to Khamenei, published on his Substack newsletter, asserting that Israel had engineered “the strategic collapse of a system you spent four decades constructing” in its 12-day aerial campaign last month.

“You can rebuild your proxies. But we will destroy them. We can now dismantle in months what took you decades to build,” he added. “You can accelerate nuclear development. But what you build, we will likely see. What we see, we will strike. And what we strike, you will struggle to replace.”

Israeli airstrikes reported in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley

Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrikes in the eastern Beqaa Valley a short while ago.

The IDF has not yet commented.

غارات معادية تستهدف السلسلة الشرقية في
البقاع pic.twitter.com/8eE63laAP6

— Safwan Shaar (@Shaar_Safwan) July 15, 2025

Palestinian man beaten by settlers in South Hebron Hills, recounts witness

A Palestinian man has been hospitalized after he was beaten by settlers in the South Hebron Hills, according to an eyewitness.

The Palestinian witness, who spoke to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, says that six settlers attacked Mousa Nawaj’ah, a 65-year-old resident of Umm Nir in the South Hebron Hills, yesterday.

According to the witness, the settlers beat him in his yard as he stepped outside to feed his dogs.

He was taken to a Palestinian hospital in moderate condition while conscious, with rib and back pain, and bleeding from his hands. Footage shows him being evacuated on a stretcher.

The Israel Police have not yet commented on the incident.

עכשיו: מתנחלים תקפו את מוסא נוואג'עה בסמוך לביתו שבאזור אם ניר, ליד סוסיא. מוסא יצא מביתו והותקף על ידי ארבעה מתנחלים עם מקלות, הוא מפונה ברגעים אלו לביה"ח ביטא עם פציעות בידיו וברגליו. בין המתנחלים התוקפים היו מספר מתנחלים שכבר מוכרים היטב מעשרות אירועי אלימות שונים. https://t.co/EGTJ39BJtL pic.twitter.com/t0PwG8ApR0

— מחוץ לעדר (@masafering) July 15, 2025

IDF shoots down drone launched from Yemen outside of Eilat

A drone launched from Yemen at Israel was successfully intercepted by air defenses off the coast of Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat a short while ago, the IDF says.

Warning sirens were not activated in any towns, “according to protocol,” the military adds.

כטב"ם מתימן יורט מדרום לאילת pic.twitter.com/m2gk9P28ok

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) July 15, 2025

Knesset committees chaired by UTJ lawmakers cancel hearings after party quits government

MK Yisrael Eichler chairs a meeting of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee, November 5, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

After the United Torah Judaism party announced its dramatic exit from the government last night, the Knesset committees headed by the party’s lawmakers cancel their hearings for today.

The Knesset Finance Committee, headed by UTJ’s Moshe Gafni, the Labor and Welfare Committee, chaired by UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler, the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee headed by UTJ MK Yaakov Asher, and the Special Committee for Public Petitions, led by UTJ’s Yitzhak Pindrus, all cancel their hearings for today, according to the Knesset spokesman.

Meanwhile, members of the ruling Likud party are already reportedly squabbling over the jobs vacated by the exit of UTJ.

Syrian government forces to enter city of Sweida amid clashes between Druze, Bedouin

Members of Syria's security forces load a rocket in an area between Mazraa and Walga near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on July 14, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters. (Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

Syrian government forces will enter the majority Druze city of Sweida, the interior ministry says, in an effort to bring an end to deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.

Religious leaders from the Druze minority say in a statement that they approved the entry of armed forces under the Damascus government, who were to impose a curfew on the southern city that has suffered two days of fighting which have killed around 100 people in the region.

They also called on Druze factions to hand over their weapons.

Yesterday Israel carried out a warning strike on tanks in Syria which it said was a “a message and a clear warning to the Syrian regime. We will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria.”

IDF issues evacuation order for Gaza City, Jabalia, saying fighting ‘is spreading westward’

IDF troops operate in the Jabalia area of north Gaza, in a handout photo published June 29, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF calls on Palestinians residing in Gaza City and Jabalia in the Strip’s north to evacuate amid an ongoing offensive against Hamas.

“The IDF is operating in the area with increased force to destroy the enemy and terror organizations. The fighting is spreading westward toward the city center,” says the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee on X.

The warning calls for civilians to head south to the Mawasi area on the coast.

#عاجل ‼️تحذير عاجل كل من لا يزال موجودًا في مدينة غزة وجباليا في أحياء الزيتون الشرقي، البلدة القديمة، التركمان، الجديدة، التفاح، الدرج، الصبرة، جباليا البلد، جباليا النزلة، معسكر جباليا، الروضة، النهضة، الزهور، النور، السلام وتل الزعتر
????من أجل سلامتكم، اخلوا فورًا جنوبًا باتجاه… pic.twitter.com/uAcTLUUC8X

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 15, 2025

Mike Waltz to face grilling in Senate hearing for UN role over leaking info on Houthi strikes

White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz listens to a question from a reporter in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, February 20, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Mike Waltz, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the United Nations, will face questioning from lawmakers today for the first time since he was ousted as national security adviser in the weeks after he mistakenly added a journalist to a private Signal chat used to discuss sensitive military plans.

The former Republican congressman is set to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing, with Trump looking to fill his remaining Cabinet position after months of delay, including the withdrawal of the previous nominee.

The hearing will provide senators with the first opportunity to grill Waltz over revelations in March that he added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an unclassified messaging app that was used to discuss planning for strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Waltz took responsibility even as criticism mounted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared the sensitive plans in the chat that included several other high-level national security officials. Hegseth shared the same information in another Signal chat that included family, but Trump has made clear Hegseth has his support.

Waltz was removed as national security adviser in May — replaced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and nominated for the UN role.

Even with Democratic opposition, Waltz only needs a majority in the 53-47 Senate, which Republicans control.

Preliminary hearing to be held today in firebomb attack on Colorado pro-Israel rally

Illustrative: A woman places a bouquet of flowers at a makeshift memorial for victims of a firebombing attack against a demonstration in support of the hostages in Gaza, outside the Boulder County courthouse in Boulder, Colorado, June 3, 2025. (AP/ David Zalubowski)

Colorado prosecutors are set to lay out their evidence today against a man charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes in a firebomb attack last month on demonstrators showing their support for Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Investigators say Mohamed Sabry Soliman told them he intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall on June 1. But he threw just two of more than two dozen Molotov cocktails he had with him while yelling, “Free Palestine!” Police said he told them he got scared because he had never hurt anyone before.

Federal authorities say Soliman, an Egyptian national, had been living in the US illegally with his family.

The purpose of today’s preliminary hearing in state court in Boulder is for District Judge Nancy Woodruff Salomone to determine if there’s enough evidence for Soliman to go on trial there.

Soliman already faced dozens of charges in state court as well as hate crime charges in federal court when state prosecutors added murder charges following the death of an 82-year-old woman, Karen Diamond, who was injured in the attack died as the result of her injuries. Last week, Assistant US Attorney Laura Cramer-Babycz told US District Judge John L. Kane that federal prosecutors have not decided yet whether to file additional charges against Soliman related to Diamond’s death.

Federal prosecutors allege the victims were targeted because of their perceived or actual connection to Israel. But Soliman’s federal defense lawyers say he should not have been charged with hate crimes because the evidence shows he was motivated by opposition to Zionism, the political movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.

An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.

Soliman has pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges. He has not been asked to enter a plea to the state charges yet.

IDF: Palestinian attempts to ram troops in West Bank, is shot and arrested

The IDF says that during military operations in the West Bank city of Jericho last night, “a terrorist tried to ram IDF troops operating in the area.”

According to the IDF, the troops responded with gunfire toward the attempted rammer “and neutralized him.”

The man in question was arrested and no troops were harmed, the IDF adds.

CNN correspondent says settlers attacked his crew while reporting on Israeli violence in West Bank

A CNN reporter says his crew was attacked by settlers while they were in the West Bank on Monday to cover the death of a 20-year-old Palestinian-American who was allegedly beaten to death by Israelis near Ramallah several days ago.

“As we were covering this story, my team and I were attacked by Israeli settlers. The back window of our vehicle was smashed, but we managed to escape unharmed,” tweets CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond.

“This is just a sliver of the reality many Palestinians face in the West Bank amid rising settler violence.”

Earlier this month, two reporters from Deutsche Welle were injured in an attack by settlers in the same area.

As we were covering this story, my team & I were attacked by Israeli settlers. The back window of our vehicle was smashed, but we managed to escape unharmed.
This is just a sliver of the reality many Palestinians face in the West Bank amid rising settler violence. pic.twitter.com/RJM7nYa3P6

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) July 14, 2025

Sa’ar welcomes presence of Syrian counterpart at EU summit, says Israel has no plans to stay in Gaza

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar talks to journalists on the sidelines of the EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on July 14, 2025. (Nicolas Tucat/AFP)

During his visit to the European Union in Brussels today, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar notes the presence of his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, who is attending the same EU gathering.

“We welcome the participation of the Syrian minister. We will be together in the same meeting. Let’s see what will happen,” Sa’ar told reporters after arriving in Brussels.

The joint attendance of the two ministers drew attention amid quiet diplomatic efforts between Israel and Syria to explore a potential security or even peace agreement. However, a spokesperson for Sa’ar tells The Times of Israel that no personal meetings between the two are planned.

In an interview with Euronews, Sa’ar says Israel has no intention of maintaining permanent control over the Gaza Strip.

“We don’t have any intention to do so,” he says. “With regard to the Gaza Strip, we have only security concerns.”

Sa’ar also reiterated that Hamas “cannot be part of the future of Gaza,” and pushes back against claims that Israel’s campaign has been disproportionate, calling them “ridiculous.”

“What would you say about the Western attack against ISIS that destroyed ISIS? Was it proportionate?” he asks rhetorically. “Israel should agree to the existence of this terrorist state, one mile from its communities… What are proportions in this case? This terror state should be eliminated as a state,” he adds.

Sa’ar is in Brussels for the EU–Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, a forum aimed at strengthening cooperation between the EU and southern partners from the Middle East and North Africa. He is expected to return to Israel on Tuesday.

Settlers reportedly torch vehicles on outskirts of Palestinian village in West Bank

Israeli settlers torched Palestinian vehicles parked in a lot on the outskirts of the central West Bank village of Burqa earlier tonight, Palestinian media reports.

Footage from the scene shows a number of cars engulfed in flames.

A Burqa resident tells the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news site that Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene after the settler attack but that no arrests were made, as is almost always the case in such incidents.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

BREAKING: Israeli settlers launched a violent attack on the village of Burqa near Ramallah in the West Bank, setting multiple Palestinian vehicles ablaze and hurling Molotov cocktails at a home.

The situation is still unfolding. pic.twitter.com/DyTnwHzN8k

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 14, 2025