July 17: White House says Trump’s reaction to Israeli strike on Gaza church was ‘not positive’

Trump threatens to sue WSJ over story on alleged 2003 letter to Epstein

US President Donald Trump has threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal after it published a story about an alleged off-color letter written by him to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that featured a drawing of a naked woman.

The Journal story, which quickly reverberated around the US capital, says the note to Epstein bearing Trump’s signature was part of a collection of notes for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The newspaper says it reviewed the letter but did not print an image.

Syrian presidency accuses Druze fighters of violating ceasefire

The Syrian presidency accuses Druze fighters in Sweida of violating the ceasefire that led to the withdrawal of government forces from the southern province on Thursday.

In a statement, the presidency accuses “outlaw forces” — the term the government uses to refer to Druze factions in Sweida — of violating the agreement by engaging in “horrific violence” against civilians including “crimes that completely contravene the obligations of mediation, directly threaten civil peace, and push towards chaos and security collapse.”

The presidency also warned against “continued blatant Israeli interference in Syria’s internal affairs, which only leads to further chaos and destruction and further complicates the regional situation.”

Europeans warn Iran of UN sanctions unless concrete progress on nuclear talks

France, Britain and Germany tell Iran that they want it to resume diplomacy immediately over its nuclear program, warning that if no concrete steps are taken by the end of the summer they will restore UN sanctions.

The foreign ministers of the so-called E3, along with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, held their first call with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the United States carried out air strikes in mid-June on Iran’s nuclear program.

Speaking after the call, a French diplomatic source says the ministers had called on Iran to resume diplomatic efforts immediately to reach a “verifiable and lasting” nuclear deal.

The three countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 deal with Iran that lifted sanctions on the country in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.

A UN Security Council resolution which enshrines the deal expires on October 18 and under its terms U.N. sanctions can be re-imposed beforehand. The process would take about 30 days.

The Europeans have repeatedly warned that unless there is a new nuclear accord they will launch the “snapback mechanism”, which would restore all previous U.N. sanctions on Iran if it is found to be in violation of the agreement’s terms.

“The ministers also reiterated their determination to use the so-called ‘snapback’ mechanism in the absence of concrete progress toward such an agreement by the end of the summer,” the diplomatic source says.

The source does not elaborate what concrete progress would entail.

Since the air strikes, inspectors from the UN atomic watchdog have left Iran. While Iran has suggested it is open to diplomacy, there are no indications a sixth round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran will resume imminently.

Diplomats say that even if they were to resume talks, reaching a comprehensive accord before the end of August – the final deadline the Europeans have given – seems unrealistic, especially without inspectors on the ground to assess Iran’s remaining nuclear programme.

Two European diplomats said they hoped to coordinate strategy with the United States in the coming days with a view to possibly holding talks with Iran soon.

In sign of shift, far-right US news network airs segment on unchecked Israeli settler violence

Matt Gaetz during a One America News broadcast on July 16, 2025. (Screen capture/X)

The far-right One America News Network airs a segment on last week’s killing of Palestinian-American Saif Musallet by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The network’s decision to focus on the phenomenon that was once largely ignored in more conservative circles highlights the shift among a camp of MAGA Republicans that has gradually become more critical of Israel.

The anchor for the segment is former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, who was US President Donald Trump’s original pick for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew his nomination amid mounting scandals against him.

HOW MANY AMERICANS DO ISRAELI SETTLERS HAVE TO KILL BEFORE WE CARE? pic.twitter.com/4Sa6JGGf0Z

— One America News (@OANN) July 17, 2025

He notably refers to the West Bank by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria while excoriating the conduct of Israeli settlers who live there.

“The truth is, this isn’t an isolated tragedy. It’s part of a pattern of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian communities that include the torching of homes, farms and lives, all while protected by Israeli forces who are funded by US tax dollars,” Gaetz says. “That’s not even the most troubling part. Israel rarely holds these killers accountable. There have been eight unsolved killings of American citizens just since 2022.”

Earlier this week, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a devout evangelical Christian, characterized Musallet’s killing as an act of terrorism and demanded an Israeli investigation. It appeared to be the first time Huckabee had weighed in on the phenomenon of settler violence.

Police reopen case into settler attack after report raises questions about decision to close probe

Masked Israeli settlers hurl rocks at Palestinians from hilltop in the village of Sinjil, in the West Bank on July 4, 2025. (JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

Police have reopened an investigation into a recent settler attack on an Israeli peace activist in the West Bank after a report in the Haaretz daily revealed that the probe had been closed due to what officers claimed was their inability to identify suspects, even though the victim provided significant evidence to law enforcement, including the name of one of the assailants.

The case appears to highlight the apparent lack of willpower among law enforcement to probe incidents of settler violence, which go almost entirely unchecked. Ninety-four percent of all probes into settler violence between 2005 and 2024 ended without an indictment even being filed, according to the Yesh Din rights group.

The head of the police’s West Bank division is currently under investigation for intentionally not prosecuting cases of settler violence in order to curry favor in the eyes of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir whose office oversees the police. While the commander was initially removed from his post, the police commissioner last month ordered that he be allowed to return to work.

In the latest incident that took place in May, settlers allegedly attacked a group of Palestinians from Mughayyir al-Deir along with a group of Israeli peace activists who were accompanying them. During the attack, the settlers opened fire on the Palestinians and stole cameras, a cellphone a wallet and other items from activist Avishay Mohar.

Mohar told Haaretz that he filed a police complaint at the Binyamin police station two days after the attack. The complaint included medical documents, a picture of several of the attackers and the name of one of the assailants.

The computer’s GPS tracker was active in the weeks since the attack, and the victim’s lawyer updated police regarding its location, which moved among a pair of illegal outposts.

Mohar also offered police his car to scan it for fingerprints, as the attackers had been inside.

Despite all of this evidence, police decided to close the investigation on the grounds that they had been unable to identify the perpetrators.

Following Haaretz’s report on the closed investigation, police informed the publication that they had decided to reopen the case in order to locate the suspects and bring them to justice.

Syrian state media reports more Israeli strikes near southern Druze-majority city

Syrian state media reports Israeli strikes near the Syrian Druze-majority city of Sweida, the first to target the area after Syrian government forces withdrew, following clashes with local fighters.

Syria’s state-run SANA says “Israeli occupation aircraft carried out a raid on the outskirts of Sweida city.”

Syrian forces withdrew from Sweida earlier today after deadly clashes with Druze fighters accompanied by Israeli strikes and diplomatic pressure to retreat from the area.

US did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria, State Department says

The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria, the State Department says, adding that Washington made clear its displeasure after tensions escalated and worked quickly to stop it.

Yesterday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding that they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze — part of a small but influential minority that also has a presence in Lebanon and in Israel.

“Regarding Israel’s intervention and activity… the United States did not support recent Israeli strikes,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce tells reporters at a regular news briefing.

“We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states.”

Bruce declines to say whether Washington supports Israel carrying out such military operations when it deems necessary.

“I won’t speak to future conversations or past ones. What we’re dealing with now is this particular episode, what was required, and I think we’ve been very clear about our displeasure, certainly that the president has, and we’ve worked very quickly to have it stopped,” she says.

She adds that the United States condemns violence in Syria and says Washington is actively engaging all constituencies in Syria to navigate toward calm and continued discussions on integration, calling on the Syrian government to lead the path forward.

Family of hostage Nimrod Cohen marks his 21st birthday, urges leaders to return him

Friends and family mark hostage Nimrod Cohen's 21st birthday in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, including (L-R) Nimrod’s twin sister, Romi; his brother Yotam; father Yehuda; mother Viki; former hostage Gadi Mozes; Dani Elgarat, brother of murdered hostage Itzik Elgarat; Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker; and former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky, July 17, 2025. (Alon Gilboa)

Hostage Nimrod Cohen’s 21st birthday is marked at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, as Cohen’s family, friends, and supporters write messages on a communal mural of Nimrod, who is marking a second birthday in captivity.

“Nimrod, my beloved child, I give thanks every day that you are my son,” says his mother, Viki Cohen. “I want you to know that I am proud of you: of who you are, of your sensitivity, your wisdom, your gentle and special personality, your inner peace, and your extraordinary humility.”

Supporters write messages of hope on Wall of Hope created by graffiti artist Tania Dodescu, featuring hostage Nimrod Cohen on his 21st birthday, in Tel Aviv, July 17, 2025. (Alon Gilboa)

Cohen calls on elected officials to bring her son home to freedom.

“For this to happen, the time has come to end this war and bring my beloved child and all the hostages home,” says Cohen. “I am waiting for you to come back so I can embrace you and tell you that I love you and that you are not alone.”

Artist Shoshke Engelmayer holds his illustration of hostage Nimrod Cohen at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Nimrod’s 21st birthday, July 17, 2025. (Alon Gilboa)

Family and friends have also marked Nimrod’s birthday in his hometown of Rehovot, where local restaurants featured Nimrod’s favorite foods, including pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, French fries, chicken schnitzel, mocha and pistachio ice cream flavors and his favorite cake, a traditional Israeli biscuit and cream cake, says Viki Cohen.

Shas spiritual leader recorded calling Netanyahu a ‘liar’ and a ‘blind fox’

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef in Safed on September 17, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90 )

After the Shas party withdrew from the government — though not from the coalition — a key spiritual leader of the Haredi party is recorded lambasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

According to Channel 13, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, until recently the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, made the comments to young Haredi men at his synagogue, blasting the politicians over their failure to reach agreements with the ultra-Orthodox parties regarding a law to exempt Haredi yeshiva students from military service.

“The prime minister told me one can get recruited to the army while Haredi and end the service while Haredi,” Yosef said. “Why are you a liar? Such audacity to lie like that.”

Yosef refers to a famous quote by his late father, Shas founder and prominent ultra-Orthodox spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who once called Netanyahu a “blind goat.”

“And I say [he’s] a blind fox and not a blind goat,” he continues, alleging that no ultra-Orthodox person can go through army service without “going astray.”

Yosef then turns to Edelstein, a Soviet-born Jew and former refusenik who served in labor camps and was eventually allowed to immigrate to Israel. The rabbi seizes on the fact that Edelstein’s father ended up converting to Christianity and becoming a priest.

“There is one, whose father converted to Christianity and is a priest — this one grew up in a priest’s home and he’s doing all the trouble to the yeshiva students,” he says. “He’s with a kippa, and he’s doing all the trouble. Your father is a priest! You will come and harm the Torah students?”

IDF: Gaza church was mistakenly hit by shrapnel from tank fire; we regret unintentional harm to civilians

Palestinians said injured in an Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church receive treatment in Gaza City's Arab Ahli (also known as Baptist) Hospital, on July 17, 2025. (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)

The Israeli military says that shrapnel from a tank shell fired during operations in Gaza City earlier today hit the Holy Family Church, where three people were killed and several were wounded.

The IDF says it carried out a preliminary investigation following reports of damage and casualties at the church.

“It emerged that fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly,” the IDF says, adding that the cause of the incident is under review.

“The IDF directs its strikes solely at military targets and makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures, and regrets any unintentional damage caused to them,” it adds.

Newly formed ministerial panel backs motion to fire AG; cabinet vote set for Sunday

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting in the Knesset on April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The ministerial committee tasked with reviewing whether the government should fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara votes in favor of a resolution finding that the conditions exist justifying her dismissal.

The vote had been scheduled for Sunday morning, but was moved up to this evening, possibly due to the fact that one of the committee members, Michael Malkieli of Shas, is resigning from office due to the coalition crisis over ultra-Orthodox enlistment.

The committee, in its resolution, says it rejects Baharav-Miara’s argument that the new process for firing the attorney general — which the government has adopted — is illegal.

And it lists a series of complaints that the government has against Baharav-Miara — who boycotted the meetings on her dismissal — including serially blocking its policies; selective enforcement of the law in criminal proceedings; refusing to represent the government in legal proceedings on numerous occasions; repeatedly blocking government legislation on the grounds that it is unconstitutional; and refusing to allow the government independent legal representation on some occasions when she sided against it.

The committee states that as a result of these problems, the conditions allowing the government to fire the attorney general listed in a cabinet resolution from 2000 — that there is a “substantive and ongoing difference of opinion between the government and the attorney general, preventing effective cooperation” — have been fulfilled.

Following the approval by the committee of the resolution, an item can now be added to the agenda of the next cabinet meeting, which will likely take place on Sunday, for the government to vote on dismissing the attorney general.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says in response that “an illegitimate, minority government is trying to oust the attorney general in an unlawful process in order to divert attention from its failures, from draft evasion by the ultra-Orthodox, from an endless war, from hostages who aren’t returning.”

Lapid adds that his party will file petitions to the High Court of Justice against a decision to fire the attorney general. The High Court this week rejected petitions against the new method of firing the attorney general, declining to intervene since the ministerial panel had not convened yet. The court will now be compelled to rule on the legality of the new system.

In scathing attack, Haredi leader says partnership is over with religious Zionist parties, and maybe with PM

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)

Degel HaTorah faction chairman Moshe Gafni launches a full-throated attack on the national-religious community and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, charging that the national-religious have been “leading the war against Torah students.” He questions the political partnership with that community’s representatives and will the ruling Likud party.

In a lengthy interview with the ultra-Orthodox Kikar Hashabbat news site, the veteran Haredi politician — whose United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party withdrew from the government this week — complains about those who insist that it is possible to combine military service with Torah study.

“But the ones who are leading the war against Torah students are the religious Zionists, they are the leaders of this, the ones who constantly keep saying, ‘We also study, we also have rabbis.’ I’m not telling them what to do, but they shouldn’t tell us what to do,” he declares, adding that “those who are leading the incitement against us… they are worse than the biggest haters of Torah scholars.”

In the interview, Gafni states that recent events constituted a “bill of divorce,” ruling out any partnership on any issue between United Torah Judaism and its erstwhile national-religious partners.

Asked how he can defend exempting all Haredi yeshiva students from military service when every day brings new reports of fallen soldiers in the ongoing war, Gafni insists that it is “thanks to Torah students that we exist,” something he admits is “really very difficult to explain during a war.”

Responding to a question about whether Haredim who are not learning Torah full-time should enlist, Gafni evades the question, stating that he is “not the defense minister. My role is to take care of those who study Torah,” because the Jewish state would not exist without them.

“All these people on the right who speak against yeshiva students are playing into the hands of the left,” he argues, claiming that proves “that this partnership with the right is a conditional partnership.”

In response, Smotrich tweets that Gafni should be ashamed of himself, recommending that he visit the military cemetery on Mount Herzl and “go visit the bereaved families” — as well as the national-religious hesder yeshivas and pre-military academies, which combine Torah study with military service.

Gafni also slams national religious politician Itamar Ben Gvir, the chairman of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, whom he accuses of violating Jewish law — a likely reference to his frequent visits to the Temple Mount, which Haredim consider forbidden.

“We are not friends of the parties we are partners with. We often bite our lips,” he says.

Beyond Smotrich and Ben Gvir, Gafni launches an attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud), the latter of whom is another representative of the national-religious community.

UTJ quit the coalition on Monday evening after Edelstein reportedly went back on an agreement to soften some of the harsh sanctions included in his proposed Haredi draft legislation.

UTJ’s big mistake on the enlistment issue, he said, was that it “agreed that the legal reform would come before the conscription law,” adding that Edelstein “simply lied.”

“He should have told us that he couldn’t pass this law. He misled us — that’s one issue. And the second is the prime minister. He bears responsibility because he is the head of the system. He did not lie to us about this matter, but he bears responsibility and he needs to fix it. He made an agreement with us in which the main issue was regulating the status of yeshiva students.”

Gafni says his party is telling Netanyahu that “you need to bring an [enlistment] law. If there is no law — we won’t continue with this partnership at all.”

Following pressure from Trump, Netanyahu says Israel ‘regrets’ Gaza church strike

A view of the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. (Omar aL-Qattaa/AFP)

Half a day after an IDF strike killed three civilians in Gaza’s only Catholic church, the Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement expressing its regret and stressing that the incident was a mistake.

“Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church,” says the PMO. “Every innocent life lost is a tragedy. We share the grief of the families and the faithful.”

The statement, which is not issued in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s name,
expresses gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for his “words of comfort.”

“Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites,” says the PMO.

The statement comes shortly after the White House announced that Netanyahu agreed on a phone call with US President Donald Trump to issue a statement stressing the deadly strike was a mistake.

White House: After church strike, Trump called Netanyahu, who has agreed to state it was a mistake

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks as US President Donald Trump looks on during a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, July 7, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP)

US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an Israeli strike that killed three people inside a Catholic church in Gaza City, the White House says.

During the call, Netanyahu agreed to issue a statement explaining that the strike was a mistake, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a press briefing.

Netanyahu has yet to issue such a statement, but Israel’s Foreign Ministry has.

Asked what Trump’s reaction was to the Israeli strike, Leavitt responds, “It was not a positive reaction.”

Israeli minister accuses Huckabee of ‘deviating from accepted working norms’ over demand for visas to Christian groups

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a plenum session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

After US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a threatening letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel over Evangelical Christian groups not receiving visas into Israel, the ultra-Orthodox Shas lawmaker responds that he is “particularly surprised” by the way in which the envoy raised his concerns.

“Immediately following our meeting,” writes Arbel in a letter to Huckabee shared with The Times of Israel, “I instructed all relevant professional bodies to act in accordance with the understandings we reached, and I assigned advisers from my office — headed by the chief of staff — to ensure a personal, continuous and effective response to such requests.”

The two met on May 27 to discuss problems encountered by Christian Zionists seeking to visit Israel.

“Every request that was personally brought to the attention of my office has been addressed within an exceptionally short timeframe,” Arbel insists. “I issued the same directives regarding the cases mentioned in your letter — cases that had not previously been brought to my attention.”

Huckabee sent copies of his letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

“Given the direct line of communication between my staff and your representatives,” writes Arbel, “and in light of the fact that every request received by my office has thus far been handled promptly, I was particularly surprised by the manner in which your concerns were raised — and by your decision to address your letter to a wide range of senior officials without first approaching me or my office directly.”

“In my view, this course of action deviates from accepted working norms and does not reflect the direct and constructive relationship we have established.”

Arbel adds that the relationship between the two countries is “among the most valued and significant partnerships.”

“I greatly appreciate your consistent support for Israel and your steadfast commitment to our partnership. For this reason, I believe it is incumbent upon us to act in a spirit of coordination, mutual trust, and respect — even when misunderstandings or difficulties arise,” he concludes.

Report: Huckabee blasts Israel for not granting visas to US Christian groups, threatens reciprocal steps

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee delivers remarks as US President Donald Trump hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images via AFP)

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee has written a scathing letter to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, blasting his office for not granting visas to Christian groups trying to visit Israel, Channel 12 reports.

In the letter, Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israel, expressed his “profound disappointment” that a previous meeting between the two on the issue did not lead to any improvement. In fact, “the situation has actually gotten worse,” writes Huckabee.

He stresses that Evangelical Christian groups are friends of Israel, but they are being treated “like enemies.”

Huckabee threatens that the embassy will be forced to announce publicly that Israel does not welcome Christian groups and harasses them instead. The embassy would also warn US Christians that their support is being met with hostility, and that tourists should reconsider their plans.

Huckabee also threatens reciprocal measures against Israelis trying to get visas to visit the US.

Tension reported between Haredi factions as Shas minister said to have not submitted his public resignation letter

Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli attends a plenum session on the so-called Rabbis Bill in the Knesset, January 15, 2025. (Goldberg/Flash90)

Despite sharing his resignation letter publicly, Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) has not yet submitted it to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to multiple Hebrew media reports.

Ministers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party submitted their resignations today following last night’s decision to quit the government over its failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service.

According to the Ynet news site, Malkieli’s decision to postpone presenting his resignation letter stems from the need for him to attend a vote on Sunday by the ministerial panel tasked with recommending whether Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara should be fired.

In an interview with Haredi radio station Kol Berama earlier today, Malkieli declared that he still believed there was a possibility of passing law exempting Haredim from military service “and returning us to the government.”

Malkieli stressed that Shas is still a member of the bloc of parties committed to backing Netanyahu for the premiership and had not switched its allegiance to the rival, anti-Netanyahu bloc.

“The responsibility lies with Netanyahu. We did not make a coalition agreement with Edelstein,” he continued, referring to Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, who the Haredim say brought on the current crisis by walking back promises to soften a proposed ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill.

“We did not appoint Edelstein, we are not firing him. We did not run away from the coalition, we are in difficulties with the government. Edelstein is motivated by hatred for Netanyahu. Anyone who wants to maintain Netanyahu’s government does not behave the way he behaves,” Malkieli stated.

The news of Malkieli’s delayed resignation comes on the heels of reports that Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, who submitted his resignation today along with the other ministers from his Shas party, has withdrawn his resignation letter.

The move is tactical, as Arbel merely intends to appoint Israel Uzan, a Shas insider, as ministry director general, the reports said. Arbel will then quit his post again.

Speaking with ultra-Orthodox journalist Avraham Friend, a source in United Torah Judaism’s Degel Hatorah faction slams Shas, accusing it of engaging in “odious maneuvers.”

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri “coordinated a joint withdrawal [from the government] with [our rabbis] and in the end, he secured a place for himself in the cabinet, in committees, and in coalition partnerships,” the source charges.

In a message to journalists, a source close to Degel Hatorah’s rabbinic leadership denies tensions with Shas, insisting that the two parties continue to remain coordinated and that there is “no ‘anger’ or ‘rage'” directed at Shas.

“The political and spiritual leadership of Shas is acting in full coordination with the leadership of Degel Hatorah, and any technical delays are its personal matter, and probably to complete some professional needs,” the source asserts.

‘Zero tolerance’: NYC mayor’s antisemitism task force holds first meeting

Rabbi Moshe Davis, head of New York City's antisemitism task force, at a meeting in City Hall, July 17, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s antisemitism task force holds its inaugural meeting at City Hall in Manhattan.

Adams launched the task force in May amid a sustained surge in antisemitic hate crimes in the US city since the October 2023 Hamas onslaught in Israel.

The task force’s first meeting brings together representatives from an array of city agencies, including the mayor’s office, the NYPD, the city’s Hate Crimes Task Force, the parks department and the school system.

The meeting is led by Rabbi Moshe Davis, the head of the antisemitism task force, and Randy Mastro, the city’s first deputy mayor. Adams is attending a reelection campaign rally on the steps of City Hall. Chants of “Four more years” are audible at the task force meeting.

The gathering will be the first in a series of regular meetings held by the task force, Mastro says.

“We are all here to make sure that we become a shining example in city government, of what to do, what not to do, and what won’t be tolerated,” Mastro says. “Unfortunately, we haven’t always been a perfect vessel, but nothing short of perfection will do. Zero tolerance.”

‘Tangible progress’ reported in talks for Gaza hostage deal

There has been “significant progress” in Gaza hostage release talks in Doha, according to several Hebrew-language media reports, after the mediating states presented to Israel and Hamas an updated ceasefire proposal.

“We are close to a decisive moment,” a senior official tells Channel 12. “There is tangible progress.”

“There is a green light from the prime minister to move forward on many issues,” the official continues. “The situation is encouraging.”

Diplomats told The Times of Israel yesterday that the new maps submitted by Israel would not have IDF troops holding on to the Morag Corridor.

The senior official says Israel would hold a zone 1.5 kilometers wide along the Egypt-Gaza border, and about 1 kilometer around the rest of the Strip.

The sides have not yet agreed on how many Palestinian prisoners will be released for every hostage Hamas frees, says the official, while adding that the issue is not expected to prove an obstacle for a deal.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani is expected to meet the Hamas delegation in Doha on Saturday after discussing the Gaza ceasefire efforts with US President Donald Trump in the White House yesterday, Channel 12 reports. Mediators expect Hamas to present more changes to the new proposal, but nothing that will be a dealbreaker.

Erdogan: ‘Terror state’ Israel using Druze as pretext to expand into Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a media conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Israel of using the Druze minority in Syria as a pretext for expanding into the war-torn country.

“Israel, using the Druze as an excuse, has been expanding its banditry into neighboring Syria over the past two days,” Erdogan says in a televised speech after the weekly cabinet meeting, calling Israel a “terror state.”

Erdogan says Turkey will not allow Syria to be divided or its multicultural structure and territorial integrity harmed, after Israel’s actions allegedly sought to “sabotage” a ceasefire in the country.

Erdogan claims Israel’s actions show it does not want peace. Earlier, he spoke with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa about the situation.

Syrian state media claims new Bedouin offensive came after armed Druze killed Bedouin civilians

In recent hours, Syrian state media has claimed that armed Druze groups in the Sweida region of southern Syria are carrying out massacres against Bedouins living in the area.

The Syrian state news agency, Sana, publishes footage of displaced Bedouins fleeing the area and reporting that Druze massacred civilians in the Al-Maqwas neighborhood of Sweida. Following these reports, Bedouins in the region announced they were launching a counterattack against the Druze.

Last night, the Syrian government and some Druze forces announced a ceasefire. However, some Druze declared they would not comply with it. It was also reported that Syrian regime forces have begun withdrawing from the Sweida area after entering it in recent days in response to the unrest.

مجموعات خارجة عن القانون ترتكب مجازر بحق المدنيين وأبناء العشائر في ريف السويداء

????https://t.co/LsVXBHMI5U#السويداء #سانا pic.twitter.com/tkHfHdEZOY

— الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء – سانا (@Sana__gov) July 17, 2025

Netanyahu convening security cabinet to discuss Gaza ceasefire negotiations — source

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening his security cabinet at 8 p.m. — in less than 10 minutes — in Jerusalem, one of the ministers’ offices tells The Times of Israel.

The forum will discuss the war in Gaza and ongoing negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

Defense Minister Israel Katz will not attend, as he is in Washington, DC.

IDF says recent strike killed 3 Hamas terrorists who invaded on Oct. 7, including commander

A Hamas commander who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught was killed alongside other terrorists in a recent airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.

The strike on July 10, directed by the 282nd Artillery Regiment, killed Iyad Nasser, who the military says served as the deputy commander of Hamas’s Jabalia battalion.

On October 7, 2023, Nasser invaded Israel and, during the war in Gaza, was injured before later returning to his role in the Jabalia Battalion, the IDF says.

“Throughout the war, he took part in terror activities against IDF troops operating in the area, including in recent weeks,” the military says.

The strike also killed two more Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, the IDF says, identifying them as Hassan Mahmoud Muhammad Mar’i, the commander of the central Jabalia company, and Muhammad Zaki Shamadeh Hamad, the deputy commander of a company in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion.

חיסול המחבלים שפשטו לשטח הארץ ב-7 באוקטובר נמשך: צה"ל ושב"כ חיסלו את סגן מפקד גדוד ג׳באליה ומחבלי חמאס נוספים

צה"ל בהובלת פיקוד הדרום ושב"כ תקפו וחיסלו ב-10 ביולי 2025 בהכוונת חטיבת האש 282, את המחבל איאד נצר ששימש כסגן מפקד גדוד ג'באליה בארגון הטרור חמאס.
המחבל פשט לשטח הארץ… pic.twitter.com/lvQUtfMu7H

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 17, 2025

Death toll in Gaza church strike rises to 3, Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem says

A view of the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, following an Israeli strike on the church, in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on July 17, 2025. (Omar aL-Qattaa/AFP)

The death toll in the apparent Israeli strike on a church in the Gaza Strip has risen to three, according to a statement by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Two women and one man died and nine people were wounded, including one in critical condition and two in serious condition, in the strike on Gaza’s Holy Family Church, says the Patriarchate, which oversees the small parish.

“The Latin Patriarchate strongly condemns this tragedy and this targeting of innocent civilians and of a sacred place,” the statement says, adding that the victims had turned to the church compound as a safe haven “after their homes, possessions, and dignity had already been stripped away.”

“This horrific war must come to a complete end,” it says.

IDF admits it was unprepared for Syria border chaos, says it’s learning lessons

Druze wait near the border fence in the Golan Heights village of Majdal Shams, as Syrian Druze who had crossed over the day before cross back to return to Syria, on July 17, 2025. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, in a press conference, acknowledges that the military was unprepared to handle the chaos on the Syrian border in recent days, as around 1,000 Druze crossed into Syria and dozens of Syrian Druze entered Israel.

“We were not prepared for thousands of Israeli citizens who reached the border and tried to pass it. We are learning lessons,” he says.

Asked about recent strikes that caused civilian casualties, including at the Holy Family church in Gaza City, Defrin says: “The IDF is doing everything to avoid harm to civilians. Each case is investigated in depth.”

Despite drop in violent attacks, US campuses see record levels of antisemitism

A woman wears a hat that reads 'Curb Your Antisemitism' during a rally against campus antisemitism at George Washington University on May 2, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP)

A record 2,334 antisemitic incidents were reported on US college campuses during the 2024-2025 school year, even as violent attacks declined, Hillel International reports.

The total was 26% higher than the 1,853 incidents recorded in 2023-2024, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. It’s nearly ten times the 289 incidents reported in the 2022-2023 year before the war started.

The number of incidents involving violence, threats of violence, vandalism and graffiti dropped by 22% to 752, the Jewish campus organization says. The main cause of the rise was a 185% rise in online harassment, it notes.

Antisemitism has spiked in the US and around the world since October 7. In the US, a record 9,354 cases of harassment, vandalism and assault were recorded in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

“Over the past year, many universities have made significant changes to better clarify and enforce their policies and codes of conduct, supported by our work with them to achieve these improvements,” says Hillel president and CEO Adam Lehman. “When universities step up and enforce their rules, Jewish students and all students benefit from a safer, more inclusive campus environment.”

Despite truce, Syrian Bedouin commander says fighters mounting new offensive against Druze

An aerial picture shows a view of Druze gunmen deploying in al-Dur village in Syria's southern Sweida governorate on July 17, 2025. (Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syrian Bedouin fighters have launched a new offensive in Syria’s Sweida province against Druze fighters, a Bedouin military commander tells Reuters, despite a truce announced last night to end days of bloody fighting.

The commander says the truce only applies to government forces and not to them, and says the Bedouin fighters are seeking to free Bedouins detained by Druze armed groups in recent days.

US condemns deadly Syria clashes, urges Damascus to probe and hold perpetrators accountable

The United States unequivocally condemns the violence in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida in recent days and Damascus must investigate all reports of abuse and hold people accountable, a US State Department official says.

The official tells Reuters there is no change in US policy toward Syria, where in the south scores of people have been killed in days of conflict pitting Druze fighters against government troops and Bedouin tribes.

“All parties must step back and engage in meaningful dialogue that leads to a lasting ceasefire,” the official says, requesting anonymity.

“The government must investigate all reports of abuse and hold the perpetrators accountable,” the person adds.

Shas minister temporarily retracts his resignation to appoint ministry director

File: Interior Minister Moshe Arbel attends a Knesset committee in Jerusalem on April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, who submitted his resignation today along with the other ministers from his Shas party, has withdrawn his resignation letter, Hebrew media reports.

The move is tactical, as Arbel merely intends to appoint Israel Uzan, a Shas insider, as ministry director general, the reports say. Arbel will then quit his post again.

In EU first, Slovenia to bar Smotrich, Ben Gvir from entering over ‘genocidal statements’

Left: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, January 16, 2025; Right: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, January 13, 2025. (Both photos by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Slovenia announces that it will ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country, in what authorities say is a first in the European Union.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, key coalition partners of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will each be declared “persona non grata,” the government says in a statement, accusing them of inciting “extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians” with “their genocidal statements.”

Demolition begins for Bat Yam building hit by Iranian missile last month

Teams have started demolishing a residential building in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, that suffered a direct hit from an Iranian missile during the war last month, according to Hebrew media.

A total of 22 buildings are said to be slated for demolition following that impact.

בבת ים החלו בהריסת הבניין שנפגע באופן ישיר מטיל איראני, ובו נהרגו תשעה אזרחים.
בסך הכול – 22 בנייני דירות מיועדים להריסה בשל פגיעת הטיל pic.twitter.com/LqKbdrQqEG

— הודיה כריש-חזוני Hodaya Karash-Hazony (@karash_hodaya) July 17, 2025

2 Druze who crossed into Syria are arrested as they return to Israel with rifle

A Kalashnikov rifle and accompanying magazine seized by police from two Druze Israelis who, after crossing the border into Syria, tried to reenter Israel while armed on July 17, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police say they arrested two Druze Israelis at the Syrian border earlier today as they tried to reenter Israeli territory with a Kalashnikov rifle.

The two young men — ages 18 and 20 from the villages of Kisra and Beit Jann — had crossed into Syria yesterday along with around 1,000 other Israeli Druze seeking to rescue their coreligionists from attacks by Bedouin tribes and regime forces.

Police say that they have patched up breaches on the Israel-Syria border and are currently working with local Druze leaders to facilitate the return of Israelis who crossed into Syria, and vice versa.

“Northern District officers, together with Border Police forces and other units, have been operating since yesterday in coordination with the IDF in response to recent events in the Golan Heights,” says a police spokesman.

Police detained the two young men for questioning, seizing the rifle and magazine, and will request an extension on their remand in court, the spokesman continues.

IDF airs clips of demolition of Hamas tunnel in Gaza City, drone strike on Hamas fighter

The IDF releases footage showing the demolition of a Hamas tunnel in the area of Gaza City’s eastern Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods.

According to the military, the tunnel was 800 meters long and some 18 meters deep underground. It was destroyed by combat engineers of the elite Yahalom unit.

The IDF also publishes a video showing a drone strike on an RPG-wielding Hamas operative in the area.

The military says troops of the Commando Brigade spotted the cell of armed operatives near troops and called in the strike against them.

IDF confirms Lebanon drone strikes, says 2 Hezbollah members killed

The IDF confirms carrying out drone strikes in southern Lebanon earlier today that killed two Hezbollah operatives.

The first strike, between the towns of Kfour and Toul near Nabatieh, killed Hassan Ahmad Sabra, a commander in the naval unit of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the military says.

Within an hour, another strike was carried out in the Naqoura area, killing a Hezbollah operative who the military says was involved in restoring the terror group’s capabilities in the area.

The IDF says their activities “constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

The IDF confirms carrying out drone strikes in southern Lebanon earlier today, killing two Hezbollah operatives.

The first strike, between the towns of Kfour and Toul near Nabatieh, killed Hassan Ahmad Sabra, a commander in the naval unit of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force, the… pic.twitter.com/A1oqEIcuZG

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 17, 2025

Erdogan claims Israel’s Syria strikes ‘unacceptable and a threat to the entire region’

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed Israel’s strikes on Damascus in a phone call today, Turkey’s presidency says, adding Erdogan voiced support for Damascus after Jerusalem said the intervention was to protect Syria’s Druze minority from massacres by regime forces.

The presidency says Erdogan alleged that Israel’s strikes were “unacceptable and a threat to the entire region,” and Ankara welcomed a ceasefire reached with Syria’s Druze. Sharaa thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s support in protecting Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, it adds.

Labor minister Ben-Tzur becomes last Shas cabinet member to submit his resignation

Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur at a presentation of the Poverty Report for 2024, provided by National Insurance Institute, in Jerusalem, December 18, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur submits his resignation, making him the latest Shas politician to leave the cabinet following yesterday evening’s decision to quit the government over its failure to pass a law exempting most yeshiva students from military service.

“Out of immense appreciation for Torah scholars, I have just submitted my resignation letter from my position as labor minister,” Ben-Tzur tweets.

Touting his ministry’s “many accomplishments for the benefit of reserve soldiers” and other groups, Ben-Tzur pledges that despite no longer being a member of the cabinet, he will continue to work for the rescue of the “hostages in Hamas captivity crying out to us to save them.”

Ben-Tzur follows Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, Social Affairs Minister Yaakov Margi and Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli, who all tendered their resignations today.

Netanyahu: No Syrian forces are to head south of Damascus, which is an area that must be demilitarized

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video released July 17, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

A day after ordering extensive Israeli attacks on Syrian government and military assets, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will continue to use military means to enforce its two red lines in Syria.

“We have set a clear policy,” he says in a video statement, “demilitarizing the area south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights to the Druze mountains, is one [red] line. The second line [is] protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze in the Druze mountains.”

“We will not allow military forces to descend south of Damascus, we will not allow the Druze to be harmed in Jebel Druze,” says Netanyahu.

He says that the Ahmed al-Sharaa regime in Syria violated both those red lines: “It sent an army south of Damascus, into the area that should be demilitarized, and it began to massacre the Druze. We could not accept this in any way.”

He says that the ceasefire Sharaa announced in Syria, which included the withdrawal of Syrian troops, “was achieved through force. Not through requests, not through pleas — through force. ”

“We acted, and we will continue to act as necessary,” promises Netanyahu.

IDF airs newly discovered photos of Hamas’s de facto leader in Gaza, says he ‘disguised his identity’

Left: Hamas's de facto leader in the Gaza Strip, Izz al-Din Haddad, in an image released in July 2025 after it was found by IDF forces in a Gaza tunnel. (IDF); Right: Haddad, then-commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, in a video released by Hamas’s military wing, May 2022.

The IDF publishes new photos of Hamas’s de facto leader in the Gaza Strip, Izz al-Din Haddad, saying that the terror commander “disguised his identity.”

Haddad is the commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, and following the death of Muhammad Sinwar in May he became the new head of the terror group in the Strip.

The photos of Haddad were found by troops in a Hamas tunnel underneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where Sinwar was killed, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, says on X.

“The drastic change in his appearance, as shown in the photo, indicates only one thing: deep fear and a desire to disguise and disappear,” Adraee says.

“While Hamas promotes the narrative of ‘famine’ to the world, it seems that Haddad remained safe from it, far from the hunger and suffering experienced by the residents of the Strip,” he continues.

#خاص هكذا بدا عز الدين الحداد، قائد لواء مدينة غزة في حماس الإرهابية، في صورة وُجدت داخل نفق تحت المستشفى الأوروبي في خان يونس، نفقٌ كان شاهدًا على هروبه وخوفه.

التحوّل الكبير في ملامحه، كما تظهر في الصورة، لا يشي إلا بشيء واحد: خوف عميق ورغبة في التنكر والاختفاء. في الوقت الذي… pic.twitter.com/YNx5jbpG3L

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) July 17, 2025

“Haddad is the last remaining leader of the leadership that led Gaza to destruction and contributed to the collapse of the entire Iranian axis. Is it shame from the devastation left behind by Hamas that pushed him to change his face and disguise his identity?” Adraee adds.

IDF says 2 rockets fired from northern Gaza at Sderot were downed; no injuries reported

Two rockets launched from the northern Gaza Strip at Sderot a short while ago were intercepted, the military says.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

Rocket alarms sound in Sderot area near Gaza

Rocket sirens sound in Sderot and nearby communities near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says it is looking into the incident.

IDF soldier charged with spying for Iran, sending footage of rocket impact sites

An IDF soldier has been charged with spying on behalf of Iran in return for financial compensation, the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police announce.

The soldier was recently detained, and following an investigation led by the Shin Bet, police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit, and the Military Police, an indictment was filed against him today by military prosecutors.

According to the Shin Bet and police, the soldier “knowingly maintained contact with Iranian elements and carried out tasks for them, including transferring footage of interceptions and filming rocket impact sites in Israel.”

The agency notes that the information the soldier provided to Iran was not classified, and did not come to the soldier as part of his role in the IDF.

The Shin Bet says the incident is “especially grave” as the Israeli soldier “maintained contact with the enemy.”

Military prosecutors charge the soldier with “contact with a foreign agent and transmission of information to the enemy.”

A military court orders that the soldier remain held until July 22, though his remand is expected to be extended further amid the trial.

Over the past two years, Iran has ramped up its efforts to recruit Israelis as spies in exchange for money.

In most cases, Israelis are recruited by Iranian handlers online and begin by carrying out small, innocuous tasks that gradually grow into more serious offenses, like intelligence gathering and even assassination plots.

Israeli strikes hamstrung Syrian search for chemical weapons, government adviser claims

Israeli airstrikes on Damascus have hampered Syria’s efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser says.

A planned visit by inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has already had to be postponed, adviser Ibrahim Olabi says.

The OPCW will hold an urgent meeting on Tuesday next week to discuss the situation and impact of the Israeli attacks, adds Olabi.

The OPCW does not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Syrian defense ministry, which was hit in a powerful strike yesterday, provided the institutional infrastructure needed to organize and secure visits from OPCW inspectors, Olabi says.

UTJ lawmakers forced out as resigning ministers reclaim Knesset seats

United Torah Judaism MKs Moshe Roth, Yitzhak Pindrus and Eliyahu Baruchi are being pushed out of the Knesset under the so-called Norwegian Law, after resignations tendered by party ministers earlier this week come into effect.

The Norwegian Law allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats then filled by other members of their parties.

UTJ announced it was quitting both the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on Monday evening as part of an ongoing struggle over the conscription of yeshiva students, with Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush, Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev and Deputy Culture Minister Yaakov Tessler all tendering their resignations the following day.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party partially followed suit, resigning from the government but saying it would remain part of the ruling coalition on Wednesday evening.

Roth told The Times of Israel yesterday there was “a very serious chance” that the two ultra-Orthodox parties could move to dissolve the Knesset, even during the upcoming parliamentary recess, over the “strong mistrust” created by Netanyahu’s failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from the IDF.

“I cannot be sure what will trigger it, what will be the straw that will break the camel’s back, but we’re getting there,” he said.

The Knesset is set to enter a nearly three-month-long recess on July 27. It will reconvene on October 19 for the winter session.

Ministerial panel schedules Sunday vote on attorney general’s firing

The ministerial committee tasked with recommending whether the attorney general should be fired will hold a vote on the matter on Sunday.

The committee scheduled a dismissal hearing for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara today at 10 a.m. but she had already announced on Wednesday that she would not attend since, according to her legal opinion, the dismissal process the government is using is unlawful.

The committee members nevertheless convened for the hearing and waited for an hour and a quarter for Baharav-Miara to show up, before ending the meeting.

Baharav-Miara likewise skipped the hearing the ministerial committee scheduled for her on Monday, for the same reason.

The committee commented on Monday that by waiving the right to a hearing Baharav-Miara was “clearly demonstrating the lack of trust between the attorney general and the government.”

Once the five-member committee has made its recommendation, a vote can be scheduled on the cabinet’s agenda on Baharav-Miara’s dismissal.

The attorney general described the process on Monday as “a sham hearing with a predetermined outcome,” and said on Wednesday that the recently adopted method granting the government unrestrained authority to oust an attorney general “constitutes a severe blow to the rule of law.”

In Monday’s hearing, the committee members reviewed a series of allegations the government has made against Baharav-Miara, including blocking its decisions for political purposes, selective enforcement of the law, and failing to allow the government independent legal representation when she sided against it in legal proceedings.

Baharav-Miara for her part has argued that she has simply restrained the government from acting unlawfully and from advancing unconstitutional legislation.

Western diplomats were nearby when Israel hit Damascus, sources say

People pass in front the Syrian Defense Ministry building which was heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes in Damascus, Syria, July 17, 2025. (AP/Ghaith Alsayed)

Western diplomats were passing near Syria’s defense ministry in Damascus in an armored convoy when Israel struck the building with several missiles on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the matter, including a Syrian eyewitness.

No one in the convoy was injured and it continued on its way, the people said, declining to give further details on the nationalities or number of those involved.

Israel launched powerful airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defense ministry and hitting near the presidential palace, while also striking government security forces operating against militants from the country’s Druze minority in the southern province of Sweida.

A Syrian medical source said the strikes on the ministry killed five members of the security forces. Israel had earlier dropped a bomb next to the building to warn of the impending strike.

Israel says its strikes were part of an effort to protect the Druze minority from massacres at the hands of regime forces in southern Syria, an assertion rejected by Syria’s president, who said Israel aimed to undermine the new government’s efforts to bring the country together.

Shas MK resigns under shadow of ‘inappropriate acts’ claim

MK Avraham Betzalel of Shas attends a Health Committee meeting at the Knesset on July 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Following his party’s declaration that it was leaving the government yesterday evening, Shas MK Avraham Betzalel announces his resignation from the Knesset. According to Haaretz, party chairman Aryeh Deri called on him to resign over what it describes as “allegations of inappropriate acts.”

National broadcaster Kan reports that a young Haredi man had complained that Betzalel, who chairs the Knesset Special Committee for Bridging Social Gaps in the Periphery, had harmed him.

Announcing his resignation, Betzalel states that he is leaving the Knesset “in order to allow [party MK Yonatan] Mashriki to continue leading the Health Committee” rather than being forced out under the Norwegian law.

This morning saw a wave of resignations by Shas ministers, which will push out party members who received their seats under a law that allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to give their Knesset seats to more junior members of their parties. Now that they are out of government, they must reclaim those seats if they wish to remain lawmakers.

A spokesman for Deri denies that Betzalel was being pushed out over allegations of misconduct, telling Haaretz that to claim otherwise is “a complete lie.”

Top church official says IDF tank hit Gaza church

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa says it was an Israeli tank that hit the Holy Family Church in Gaza earlier today.

“What we know for sure is that a tank, the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure about this, they hit the church directly, the Church of the Holy Family, the Latin Church,” he tells Vatican News.

“We don’t have complete information about what has happened in Gaza today because the communication in Gaza is not that simple,” he says.

“It’s too early to talk about all this, we need to understand what happened, what should be done, especially to protect our people, and of course try to make sure that these things don’t happen anymore,” Pizzaballa continues. “Then we will see how to continue, but certainly we will never leave [the Catholic community in Gaza] alone.”

Army says it killed several Hamas gunmen in overnight Gaza fighting

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on July 17, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade killed several Hamas gunmen who wounded four paratroopers in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood last night.

Two of the soldiers, who served with the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, were seriously wounded by the gunfire, and two officers were listed in moderate and light condition, according to the army.

Separately, the IDF says troops of the Nahal Brigade directed a strike on a weapons depot in the area of Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, and soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade killed Hamas operatives in Jabalia.

In Beit Hanoun, troops of the Givati Brigade killed additional operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels; and the 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment and 646th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade killed additional operatives and struck buildings used by Hamas, the IDF adds.

Also in the past day, the military says the Israeli Air Force hit over 100 targets in Gaza, including operatives, buildings used by terror groups, rocket-launching sites, caches of weapons, tunnels, and other infrastructure.

The statement does not mention an alleged strike on Gaza’s lone Catholic church that killed two people, according to the Vatican.

Pope ‘deeply saddened’ by deadly attack on Gaza church

Pope Leo XIV says he is “deeply saddened” by a strike on Gaza’s lone Catholic church, which killed two people and injured a priest who had been close to his predecessor.

Leo does not specifically mention Israel, which is accused of firing a tank shell at the Holy Family Church, as he calls for “an immediate ceasefire.”

“His Holiness Pope Leo XIV was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza” and “renews his calls for an immediate ceasefire,” reads a Telegram post sent by the Vatican’s Secretary of State in the pope’s name.

The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem says the parish’s 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack.

Negev teacher charged with spying on airbase for Iran

State prosecutors have filed charges against a teacher from the Negev after she was arrested in June on suspicion of spying for Iran.

According to a statement from police, 33-year-old Tahani Abu Samhan had been in contact with an Iranian agent over the course of a year, including amid Israel’s recent war against the Islamic Republic.

She allegedly filmed fighter jets taking off from the southern Nevatim airbase during the war at the behest of her handler, then passed the videos along to the agent.

Prosecutors say Abu Samhan was fully aware the person she was in contact with was an Iranian operative, adding that she had used a separate phone to communicate with the agent.

Similar to others accused of spying for Iran, Abu Samhan was paid by her handler, according to i24 News. She was reportedly compensated in cash, unlike the majority of recruits who receive payment in cryptocurrency. It is unclear how the cash was transferred to the Negev resident.

Abu Samhan was charged in the Beersheba District Court with the offenses of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy, say police. Prosecutors have requested that the court order her held in detention until the end of legal proceedings against her.

Video shows Druze cheering for Israeli troops inside Syria

A Syrian journalist affiliated with the country’s new regime publishes footage showing armed Druze fighters and residents in southern Syria cheering as an Israel Defense Forces convoy rolls through a town.

In the footage, people wave Druze flags and hoot for the line of IDF vehicles, one of which is flying an Israeli flag.

One of the individuals is heard calling on the Israeli forces to go after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, apparently suggesting he be eliminated.

It is unclear exactly where and when the video was filmed.

مقاتلون دروز يحيون الجيش الاسرائيلي ويطلبون منه قتل الرئيس السوري أثناء رتل توغل في مناطق بجبل الشيخ pic.twitter.com/GPpQMSHNzJ

— Omar Alhariri (@omar_alharir) July 17, 2025

French rock fest loses funding over Kneecap booking

The municipal authority for the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud says it is pulling a 40,000 euro ($46,000) subsidy for the annual Rock-en-Seine music festival over its inclusion of Irish rap group Kneecap.

The group has drawn criticism due to its vocal anti-Israel messaging, including allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a gig. It is scheduled to play on the final day of the Rock-en-Seine festival, which takes place from August 21 to August 24.

The city says it respects the festival’s programming freedom, and had not sought “to enter into any negotiations with a view to influencing the programming.”

“On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality,” the statement adds.

Rock-en-Seine could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May with a terrorism offense in Britain. He denies the charge.

Church says two killed in strike on Gaza house of worship

Parish Priest of the Holy Family church in Gaza City Fr. Gabriel Romanelli receives care after he was injured in an alleged Israeli strike on the church on July 17, 2025. (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)

Two people were killed in an alleged Israeli attack on the sole Roman Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem says.

“We pray that their souls rest (in peace) and for an end to this barbaric war. Nothing can justify the targeting of innocent civilians,” says the Patriarchate, which oversees the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.

Israel says it is probing allegations that its military struck the church.

The church said earlier that eight people were wounded, including four with serious injuries.

Army says homes of 3 Palestinian attackers in West Bank razed

Overnight, the IDF says it demolished the homes of three Palestinian terrorists who carried out deadly shooting attacks.

The homes in the West Bank town of Qabatiya belonged to Muhammad Zakarna, Mohammed Nazal, and Wael Lahlouh.

Zakarna and Nazal carried out a deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank village of al-Funduq in January, along with a third gunman, Qutaiba al-Shalabi.

The attack on January 6 killed off-duty police officer Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein and civilians Rachel Cohen and Aliza Raiz. All three terrorists, who according to the IDF were affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Islamic State jihadist movement, were later killed by Israeli forces.

Lahlouh, a member of Hamas, carried out a deadly shooting attack in the Jordan Valley on August 11, 2024, killing civilian Yonatan Deutsch and wounding another man. Lahlouh was also later killed in a drone strike in Jenin.

Court bans key Belgian port from being used to send arms to Israel

A court in Brussels has ordered the regional Flemish government to stop all transit of military equipment to Israel, Belgian news agency Belga reports.

The region is home to the Antwerp-Bruges port — one of the largest in Europe.

Shas ministers file resignations as party withdraws from government

Ministers from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party have begun submitting their resignations following yesterday evening’s decision to quit the government over its failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, Social Affairs Minister Yaakov Margi and Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli all write to Prime Minister Benjamin announcing their resignations, which under the law will take effect in 48 hours.

In a post on X, Margi states that he “had the privilege of working for the people of Israel during one of the most challenging periods for the State of Israel, and in particular for the welfare of the weaker sectors” of the population. He says he will “continue to serve the public as a member of the Knesset and work for the benefit of all Israeli citizens.”

Shas also holds the health, labor and deputy agriculture portfolios and the holders of those positions are expected to tender their resignations today as well.

Due to the wave of resignations, Shas MKs Erez Malul and Semion Moshiashvili will be pushed out of the Knesset under the so-called Norwegian law. The Norwegian Law allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats then filled by other members of their parties.

According to Hebrew media reports, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party is currently demanding control of the housing and interior ministries while Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich has demanded that his party be allowed to appoint the new head of the Knesset Finance Committee.

Likud whip Ofir Katz took over the committee on Wednesday evening, following the resignation of United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni from the position on Monday in the wake of his party’s exit from the coalition.

Israel says it does not target religious sites after Gaza church hit

Following a strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, Israel “expresses deep sorrow over the damage [to the church] and over any civilian casualty,” says the Foreign Ministry.

“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians,” the statement continues.

“The IDF is examining this incident, the circumstances of which are still unclear, and the results of the investigation will be published transparently,” adds the ministry.

The IDF has not confirmed if it carried out the strike that hit the church, where four people were badly injured and four lightly hurt, according to a spokesperson for the Protecting Holy Land Christians campaign.

French prosecutors unlikely to stymie quick release of Lebanese terror convict

French policemen escort Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (C), a Lebanese terrorist sentenced to life in prison for the murder of two diplomats, one American and the other Israeli, as Abdallah leaves Pau's Courthouse, southwestern France, on February 18, 2010. (Jean-Louis Duzert / AFP)

A Lebanese man imprisoned for killing American and Israeli diplomats almost 40 years ago is expected to return to Lebanon too quickly for French prosecutors to appeal an court order freeing him, AFP reports.

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is set to be freed from a prison in the south of France on Friday, July 25, on the condition that he leave French territory and never return. Several sources before the hearing said that it was planned for him to be flown to Paris and then to Beirut.

French anti-terror prosecutors argue that he has never changed his political views, which legitimized the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in the 1980s as a “fighter” battling for the rights of Palestinians. He has also refused to pay compensation to his victims’ families.

A protester holds a flag that reads in French, “Free Georges Abdallah” during a rally to demand the release of Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, in prison for some 40 years, in Toulouse on February 19, 2025. (Matthieu Rondel / AFP)

In Lebanon, his brother Robert Abdallah says he is overjoyed.

“We’re delighted. I didn’t expect the French judiciary to make such a decision nor for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release,” he says. “For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressure.”

Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said Abdallah should be freed from jail, and had written to the appeals court to say they would arrange his return home.

Army says it is checking reports of strike on Gaza church

The Israeli military says it is “aware of reports regarding damage caused to the Holy Family Church in Gaza City and casualties at the scene.”

“The circumstances of the incident are under review,” the IDF says in a statement, after it was reported that four people were badly injured and four were lightly hurt in an apparent strike at the Strip’s only Catholic Church.

“The IDF makes every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and civilian structures, including religious sites, and regrets any damage caused to them,” the statement adds.

The military does not confirm if it carried out the strike that hit the church.

Quoting Bible, Ashkenazi chief rabbi backs intervention on behalf of Druze

Members of the Israeli Druze community stand at the Israeli-Syrian border, in the town of Majdal Shams, July 17, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)

The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber issues an open call to Israel and the world to help the Druze in Syria, citing the biblical commandment “not to stand by the blood of your neighbor.”

“We are witnessing a brutal campaign of murder against the Druze people,” he writes in comments that come after Israel already took action and regime forces accused of attacking Druze retreated. “These are acts that we and all religious leaders around the world must not ignore or remain silent in the face of. We have seen savage beasts descend in a fury upon innocent civilians, without distinguishing between man and woman, elder and child. We are reminded of the dark days of history, when bloodthirsty nations committed similar atrocities — and the world was silent!!!”

The statement marks a rare departure for the rabbinical leader; chief rabbis rarely comment on defense issues or matters involving other faiths.

Rabbi Kalman Ber attends a vote for the new Chief Ashkenazi rabbi, at the Chief Rabbinate headquarters in Jerusalem, October 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

More than 350 people had been killed this week in clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says, though the group has been accused of inflating tolls in the past.

According to the monitor, 189 of those killed are regime troops or officials, while another 79 are Druze fighters. It says 55 civilians are among the victims, charging that 27 of them were killed in “summary executions” by regime forces. Another 18 fighters from Bedouin tribes opposed to the Druze were also killed.

Witnesses in Sweida, a Druze-majority city in southern Syria, say government forces dispatched there with the stated objective of ending deadly feuds between Druze and Bedouin joined in attacks against Druze fighters and civilians.

Israel carried out several strikes on Wednesday in Damascus and on Syrian regime forces deployed to Druze areas of southern Syria, saying it sought to protect the Druze and keep the Syrian forces from militarizing areas near its border, and by Thursday Syrian forces had retreated, saying security would be left to Druze factions.

“The divine commandment ‘Do not stand idly by the blood of your fellow’ obligates us to raise a cry and stir the conscience of the entire world,” Ber writes, quoting Leviticus and describing the violence against the Druze as “ethnic cleansing.”

“We must also remember that some members of this community — and their relatives — live among us and are bound to us in a covenant of blood, forged in shared sacrifice for the existence of the State of Israel,” he adds, referring to Israel’s sizable Druze community, many of whom serve in the military.

Russia slams Israel over strikes in Syria

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemns Israeli airstrikes on Syria as violations of the country’s sovereignty and international law.

“The new wave of violence in Syria is deeply concerning,” the ministry says in a statement.

“The Russian side has repeatedly condemned Israel’s arbitrary use of force in Syria,” it adds. “These attacks, which constitute a gross violation of the country’s sovereignty and international law, deserve strong condemnation.”

Russia was a key backer of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and for years provided military support to prop up his regime.

Turkey says it played key role in brokering Syria ceasefire

Turkey played a crucial role securing a ceasefire in Syria following Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, including talks between Ankara’s intelligence officials and the leader of Syria’s Druze community, a Turkish security source says.

The source says Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin also discussed Israel’s strikes with his US, Israeli and Syrian counterparts, as well as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Iran strike only set back Fordo, but US and Israel talking about resuming job — report

US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites only caused significant damage to one facility, a new intelligence assessment has found, and discussions have taken place between Israeli and American officials on the possibility of renewing strikes on the two other locations if Tehran doesn’t agree to talks soon, NBC news reports.

The report cites five current and former US officials with knowledge of the intel findings, which have been shared with lawmakers and officials in allied countries in recent days.

According to the report, the US strikes set back enrichment activity at the Fordo nuclear site by some two years.

The US outlet’s reporting indicates, but does not state explicitly, that the damage at Isfahan and Natanz, two other facilities, was less extensive, with some parts of the sites beyond America’s massive bunker-buster bombs. The report says US officials think Iran could have the sites back up and running in months.

US President Donald Trump had been presented with an option of a much more comprehensive air campaign, which would have continued for weeks and  involved hitting six nuclear sites repeatedly, but opted for the more limited strike due to concerns about US involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts, NBC News reports.

“We were willing to go all the way in our options, but the president did not want to,” one of the sources is quoted saying.

The report cites a current and a former officials saying the US and Israel have discussed going back in to conduct fresh attacks on Natanz and Isfahan if Tehran continues to avoid negotiations over its nuclear program or there are signs it is trying to rebuild the sites.

Israeli strike said to damage Gaza’s only Catholic church

Gaza’s sole Catholic church, the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, was struck by Israel this morning, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem tells The Times of Israel.

Four people were badly injured, and four lightly hurt, says a spokesperson for the Protecting Holy Land Christians campaign.

Doctors at al-Ahli hospital say two women were killed, though the toll cannot be verified.

Pictures show part of the church’s roof missing a chunk, as well as damage to windows.

In a deeply shocking incident, an Israeli drone strike targeted the #Church of the Latin Convent in the heart of #Gaza City. Since October 7, 2023, the church represents a vital sanctuary for hundreds of displaced Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/IAOzIa9Pvd

— Palestine International Broadcast (@PBI_PS) July 17, 2025

The church’s priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was lightly injured in his leg, Italy’s ANSA news agency says.

“Israeli raids on Gaza also hit the Holy Family Church,” tweets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such behavior.”

The IDF tells The Times of Israel that it is looking into the claims.

Suspected Palestinian arms dealer killed during attempted arrest in West Bank — police

Undercover Border Police officers killed a wanted Palestinian during an overnight raid in the West Bank, a police spokesperson says.

Police say the officers had sought to arrest the Palestinian, who was suspected of terror activity and weapons dealing in the village of Wadi al-Far’a near Tubas.

“The undercover force covertly approached the wanted man, who tried to escape from the troops, who in response fired shots at his lower body and then arrested him,” the spokesperson says.

The wanted man was later declared dead by medical officials who were treating him, according to police.

Police say the officers found a hunting rifle and other military equipment at the building where the suspect had been.

In a separate overnight raid, police say undercover officers detained a terror suspect in Jericho and took him to the Shin Bet for questioning.

Lebanon says man killed in drone strike as second strike reported

Lebanon’s health ministry reports that one person was killed and two were wounded in an alleged Israeli drone strike near Nabatieh.

Meanwhile, Lebanese media reports a second drone strike in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanese media, the strike hit a truck in the border town of Naqoura.

The IDF has not commented on either strike.

صورة للشاحنة التي تم استهدافها في الناقورة جنوبي لبنانhttps://t.co/YQ7v4AncQB pic.twitter.com/spNLC0qRgP

— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) July 17, 2025

French court frees man convicted in 1980s slayings of Israeli, US diplomats

A French court has ordered the release of Lebanese terror convict Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, after he served almost 40 years in prison for attacks on American and Israeli diplomats in France, BFM TV reports.

The former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade was sentenced to life in 1987 for his role in the 1982 murders in Paris of US military attache Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov, and the attempted murder of US consul general Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.

Officials at the French appeals court do not immediately reply for a comment on the situation.

Druze play up links with those across border as they hope for Israel to open gate

Druze and others gather by the Syria border fence in Majdal Shams on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Salim Safadi, a relative of one of the 12 Majdal Shams children killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack a year ago, is among the many Druze gathered at Israel’s border fence with Syria in hopes authorities will open a gate and allow Syrians to enter and families to reunite.

“The Druze are one people and we are waiting to hear if the gate will open so our people can come in,” he tells The Times of Israel.

Salim Safadi stands near the Syria border fence in Majdal Shams on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

The IDF says it is not allowing Syrian Druze to enter Israel, but acknowledges that some may have slipped through without permission.

A man and his son who crossed into Syria yesterday and have since returned to Israel say they did so not to fight, but rather to see Hader and help put pressure on Israel and the US to take action against Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

“Sharaa said there is a new Syria but it didn’t happen. He is ISIS,” the man says, calling those on the Syrian side of the border “brothers and sisters.”

Two men who crossed into Syria and returned to Israel in Majdal Shams on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Another man who also asks for anonymity says the mother of his girlfriend, who left Syria for Israel when she got married and has not seen her family since, entered Syria yesterday just to see them again. He expresses appreciation for Israel’s military actions against the Syrian regime to protect the Druze.

“Israel wasn’t going to start bombing right away, but there were so many bonds between the Jews and the Druze and the government took this step and stopped the slaughter,” he says.

Man booted from High Court hearing after shouting match with Ben Gvir

Disturbances once again break out during a High Court of Justice hearing, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Likud MK Tally Gotliv confronting members of the viewing public in the courtroom.

The two politicians accuse a member of the audience of calling Ben Gvir “a zero,” and approach the man, shouting at him and demanding security guards remove him from the courtroom, which they eventually do.

In a separate incident, a woman began shouting in the courtroom before the proceedings started, denouncing the court for hearing the petition against Ben Gvir’s policy of severely reducing rations for Palestinian security prisoners, filed by the The Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

The security guards agree to allow the woman to stay in court on condition that she not disturb the hearing.

Palestinian prisoners have repeatedly reported receiving severely insufficient food rations, as well as physical and mental abuse at the hands of prison guards and interrogators, after Ben Gvir vowed to crack down on what he described as luxuries for inmates following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Ben Gvir himself denounced the court for taking up the case before the hearing started.

“At a time when Israel’s hostages are in hell, starving, beaten, suffering severely, and eating a quarter of a pita a day, the High Court judges are dealing with the rights of terrorists,” he charged.

Other hearings on hot-button government policies in recent months have also seen heckling and other disturbances from members of the public and elected officials.

Israeli drone strike reported in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media report an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle between the southern towns of Kfour and Toul, near Nabatieh.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

مشاهد اضافية لغارة معادية على سيارة بين بلدتي الكفور وتول pic.twitter.com/VtpSpjQMgY

— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) July 17, 2025

Hundreds of Druze gather at Syrian border for second day in hopes of reuniting with families

Druze women in Majdal Shams, Israel, on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Hundreds of people are gathering for a second day at a border fence separating Israel and Syria near the Druze Israeli city of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights in hopes of reuniting with family on the other side of the frontier.

A man who was among masses of Druze who entered Israel from Syria yesterday says he wants to stay in Israel and not return to Syria, holding his young son who came with him.

A Syrian Druze man who crossed into Israel a day ago, in Majdal Shams on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

Soldiers and police stand near the fence, but most are relaxed, with the atmosphere generally festive.

Many hug and cry as they meet up with cousins and other relatives.

“I just met my uncle,” one young woman says. “We have to take care of them,” she adds of Druze threatened by Syrian regime soldiers.

Sham Hassoun sits near the fence, a bandage visible on her leg, which she says she injured while running into Syria yesterday to find her uncle, who lives in the nearby Druze city of Hader. The two met up and crossed into Israel together, she says.

Women gathered at the fence now say they expect their relatives from Hader to be able to cross into Israel, though it’s unclear if Israel will allow that.

Shuki Hekmat waiting by the Syria border fence in Majdal Shams on July 17, 2025. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

The army says it is preventing people who live in Israel from entering Syria, but an older man named Shufi Hikmat says he is holding out hope of going to visit Hader. “Just to see,” he says.

Dozens of Druze brought back from Syria, unknown number of Syrians still in Israel — IDF

Druze from Syria and Israel protest on the Israeli-Syrian border on July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Overnight, the IDF managed to return dozens of Israeli Druze who had crossed into Syria yesterday, according to the military.

Still, several dozen Druze from Israel remain inside Syria, mostly in the Hader area, a Druze town just over the border from Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights.

The IDF and Israel Police also sent several Syrian Druze, who had crossed into Israel at the same time, back to Syria, the army says. It is unclear how many Syrian Druze still remain in Israel.

There were no crossings of the border or protests overnight, says the army. It adds that work is scheduled to fix the breaches in the fence and, with police, set up blockades in the area to prevent any further crossings.

Mass breaches of the frontier came amid deadly clashes in the Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria yesterday.

Syrian government forces deployed to the Sweida area amid the clashes, and in response, the IDF struck them and other military targets in Damascus, saying it was protecting the Druze.

The Syrian forces have been withdrawing from Sweida since last night.

Syrian forces withdraw from Sweida area, witnesses say

Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses say.

The pullout comes after Islamist interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced in a televised address that “responsibility” for security in Sweida would be handed to religious elders and some local factions “based on the supreme national interest.”

Israel speeds up long-range interceptor resupply with large-scale order

This image released by the Defense Ministry on July 17, 2025, shows an Arrow air defense system launching a missile during the Israel-Iran war in June. (Defense Ministry)

The Defense Ministry says it has signed a “large-scale” order of Arrow air defense system interceptors, with production of the key armaments set to ramp up.

Under the deal, Israel Aerospace Industries will supply a “significant additional quantity of Arrow interceptors,” the ministry says, adding that IAI will “significantly accelerate the serial production.”

Israel’s Arrow 2 and 3 long-range missile defense systems were used extensively during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last month, as well as amid repeated Houthi attacks from Yemen. There had been speculation that Israel’s supplies of the interceptors had been significantly depleted by the attacks.

Anti-missile interceptors are seen in the sky above northern Israel amid an Iranian ballistic missile attack, June 18, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

In a statement, the director general of the Defense Ministry, Amir Baram, says, “accelerating the production rate of the Arrow and other critical systems is a central component of the ministry’s strategy to expand production capabilities and improve operational readiness for the continuation of the war and future campaigns.”

Alleged US victim joins raft of complainants against Haredi patrol head Rotter

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)

An investigation into sexual assaults claims against Haredi community patrol chief Chaim Rotter has expanded overseas to the US, law enforcement announces this morning, after a fresh complaint was filed through the FBI.

Police investigators probing Rotter’s alleged sex crimes say that they took a statement from the complainant, who resides in the US, in cooperation with the American agency.

Rotter headed the Shomrim security patrol in Bnei Brak and is thought to have exploited his position to sexually assault young volunteers in the organization. So far, 15 people have filed complaints against him, Hebrew media report.

The suspect is currently in custody as police continue to probe the case, which has drawn wide media attention due to his high-profile position.

Health Ministry demands labor court send striking health staffers back to work

A girl receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a Clalit vaccine center in Jerusalem on December 21, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The government says it expects a labor court to send striking employees from the Clalit HMO back to work, as a hearing on the walkout gets underway.

The Health Ministry says in a statement that the single-day strike “is already causing serious harm to thousands of patients, including the elderly, children and chronic sufferers, and the mounting damage to the health system and the public is quite heavy.”

The ministry says it is in constant contact with Clalit management regarding the strike.

“The Health Ministry… calls on and expects the labor court to order an immediate end to the strike.”

The strike was called by Clalit workers yesterday to protest what it said was an attempt by the Health Ministry to take over management of the HMO, Israel’s largest, which runs hundreds of clinics and several of the country’s largest hospitals.

Doctors, who are part of a separate union, are not striking, but are essentially unable to work beyond performing telemedicine functions, due to the striking workers shutting clinics and most non-emergency health services, the Ynet news site reports.

A hearing on the strike was scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

50 killed, injured in Iraq mall blaze

Fifty people were killed or injured in a massive mall fire in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, state news agency INA reports, citing the province’s governor.

“The number of victims has reached about 50 people, martyrs and injured, in the tragic fire at a major shopping center,” Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi tells INA.

Unverified videos circulating on social media show flames engulfing a five-story building in Kut overnight, while firefighters try to contain the fire.

VİDEO – Irak'ın Kut kentinde bir alışveriş merkezinde çıkan yangında onlarca kişi yaşamını yitirdihttps://t.co/WgYcfDyPvu pic.twitter.com/R38bOWPkpq

— Rudaw Türkçe (@RudawTurkce) July 17, 2025

An AFP correspondent says the Hypermarket Mall had opened just five days ago.

The correspondent reported seeing charred bodies in a hospital.

Initial reports suggest the fire started on the first floor.

The first moments of the fire at the hypermarket mall in Kut#Iraq_News #Kut #fireaccident pic.twitter.com/BdYOixMgvM

— Alahad TV-EN (@ahad_en) July 17, 2025

The cause of the fire is not immediately known, but the governor says initial results from an investigation will be announced within 48 hours, INA reports.

“We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the governor as saying.

Army excavator thought stolen from Gaza border found in West Bank town — police

Border troops pose with an excavator suspected of being stolen from the army, in a picture distributed on July 17, 2025. (Police spokesperson)

An army excavator suspected of having been stolen from mustering grounds on the Gaza border was found in the Palestinian West Bank City of Huwara yesterday, police say.

The piece of heavy machinery was spotted by Border Police officers returning to their base after take part in operations along the Syria border, who stopped to investigate and found it had seemingly been taken from southern Israel, a police statement says.

A resident of Huwara in his 50s was arrested as a suspect.

There is no comments from the Israel Defense Forces, which has struggled for years to crack down on theft of military equipment, though usually of more diminutive items.

The border cops had been one of several units scrambled to the Golan Heights yesterday to deal with chaos as Druze spurred by fighting in southern Syria tore through the border fence, with some entering Syria, and others crossing from Syria into Israel.

Two troops seriously injured in northern Gaza fighting

Two soldiers with the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion were seriously wounded, and two officers were moderately and lightly injured during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip last night, the IDF announces.

The four troops were injured by gunfire carried out by Hamas gunmen in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, according to an initial IDF probe.

Firefighters still tamping out flames near Jerusalem, fear winds could pick up

A firefighting plane drops retardant on a forest near Jerusalem in an undated photo distributed on July 17, 2025. (Courtesy Fire and Rescue Service)

Firefighters say several crews are continuing to battle the remnants of a blaze that broke out in the hills surrounding Jerusalem a day ago.

Aircraft are also being used to help put out the remaining fires smoldering in the wooded hills southwest of Jerusalem, a spokesperson for the firefighting service in Jerusalem says.

“As of now, there is no immediate danger to adjacent communities, but there could be developments depending on the strength of winds expected throughout the day,” the spokesperson says in a statement.

Report: IDF troops will only be up to 1.2 kilometers inside Gaza during truce

An Arabic-language report details Israel’s previously reported concession on the presence of troops in Gaza during a proposed 60-day ceasefire, envisioning soldiers retreating from most areas of the Strip.

According to the report by pan-Arabic outlet al-Ghad, under new maps submitted by Israel, troops will remain only up to 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) deep inside Gaza along its southern border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor. That depth will be reduced to 1.1 kilometers (0.68 miles) along Gaza’s northern and eastern borders.

Israel had sought to keep military personnel stationed up to two kilometers deep along Gaza’s borders, as well as maintaining a presence along key beltways inside the enclave, while Hamas had demanded a pullback to one kilometer along Gaza’s edges and a retreat from all other areas of the Strip.

The new maps have apparently fueled optimism for a breakthrough in ceasefire and hostage release talks, with US President Donald Trump declaring “good news on Gaza” last night.

After IDF strikes, Syria’s Sharaa accuses Israel of seeking ‘chaos and destruction’

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa speaks in a recorded statement released early on July 17, 2025, following clashes and Israeli strikes in the Druze-majority province of Sweida. (Telegram screenshot)

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa says that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority,” after Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

In his first televised statement after the powerful Israeli airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addresses Druze citizens saying “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party.”

“We are not among those who fear the war. We have spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we have put the interests of the Syrians before chaos and destruction,” he says in remarks addressed at Israel.

He adds that the Syrian people are not afraid of war and are ready to fight if their dignity is threatened.

Sharaa also charges that “the Israeli entity resorted to a wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities.”

This led to a “significant complication of the situation and pushed matters to a large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab, and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate,” he says.

War monitor: Israeli strikes killed 15 Syrian defense and interior ministry personnel

More than 350 people have been killed since the weekend in violent clashes in Syria’s southern Sweida province, a war monitor says, updating an earlier toll.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that since clashes erupted on Sunday, 79 Druze fighters were killed along with 55 civilians, 27 of them in “summary executions by members of the defense and interior ministries,” while 189 defense and interior ministry personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed. Earlier, the monitor had said the death toll was 300.

The Observatory says the victims in Sweida include a media worker, identifying him as Hassan al-Zaabi. The Syrian journalists’ union in a statement says Zaabi was shot dead by “outlaw gangs” in Sweida province “while performing his professional duties,” without saying whom he worked for.

The Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, additionally reports 15 defense and interior ministry personnel killed in Israeli strikes in southern Syria.

Far-right MK who quit coalition over ‘deep state’ involvement, says he’ll rejoin to boost numbers if PM meets his demands

Noam party leader Avi Maoz speaks in the Knesset, March 31, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Far-right lawmaker Avi Maoz, who is the sole MK representing the anti-LGBTQ, anti-feminist Noam party, tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is open to rejoining his governing coalition, boosting his razor-thin majority from 60 lawmakers to 61, if the premier agrees to meet his demands.

Maoz makes the offer following the resignation of United Torah Judaism from both the government and the coalition earlier this week, and after Shas resigned from the government today, but remained in the coalition.

The Noam chair resigned from Netanyahu’s government and returned to the opposition back in March, saying that he was doing so because the “deep state” had taken over the Justice and Education ministries.

In his resignation letter, he had alleged that this cabal of officials was “instilling a hyper-progressive, anti-Jewish and anti-national worldview into the education and legal system in Israel.”

He claimed that no part of his coalition agreement with Netanyahu’s Likud had been fulfilled, that the Education Ministry had refused to work with him, and that the “deep state” had prevented him from allocating additional budgets for national religious schools.

“According to my calculations, there are just 60 lawmakers in the coalition,” the far-right lawmaker now writes on X. “The prime minister knows what my conditions are for returning to the coalition. My conditions haven’t changed following my resignation from the coalition.”

Two dozen US lawmakers issue statements condemning Irish bill banning imports from Israeli settlements

Roughly two-dozen mostly Republican members of Congress have published posts on X expressing their opposition to legislation making its way through Irish parliament that would ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Those posting against the legislation include Sens. Hal Rogers, Tom Cotton, Bill Hagerty, Kevin Cramer, Lindsey Graham and Rick Scott, along with Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Tom Emmer, Daniel Webster, Lisa McClain, Mike Lawler, Andy Barr, Pete Stauber, Harriet Hageman, Mike Crapo, Andy Ogles, Barry Moore, Mark Messmer and Claudia Tenney.

Jewish Democratic Reps. Brad Schneider and Josh Gottheimer have also joined their Republican colleagues in the apparently coordinated effort, with the posts all coming out in recent hours.

I hope that Ireland will reconsider their efforts to economically isolate Israel, as they are in a fight for their very existence.

I do not believe these efforts would be well received in the United States and they certainly would not go unnoticed. https://t.co/NCInfj6amo

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 15, 2025