July 23: Amid criticism, Netanyahu office defends Friday timing of meeting with Trump

Top senator Durbin says he will boycott Netanyahu speech

In this Oct. 22, 2020 file photo, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite File)

The number 2 Democrat in the Senate, Illinois’s Dick Durbin, says he will boycott tomorrow’s speech to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he supports Israel but not its premier.

In a short statement, Durbin, the Senate majority whip, calls Israel’s execution of its war against Hamas in Gaza “a brutal strategy beyond any acceptable level of self-defense.”

He also accuses Netanyahu of refusing to “consider any peace plan that gives Israelis and Palestinians a guarantee of security.”

“I will stand by Israel but I will not stand and cheer its current Prime Minister at tomorrow’s Joint Session,” he writes.

US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) departs after viewing graphic footage from the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre in Israel, shown by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on November 14, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP)

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes also says she will boycott Netanyahu’s speech, calling him a war criminal.

“It is a dark day in US history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress,” the progressive Democrat tweets.

Netanyahu ‘took week off’ from hostage crisis, captive’s father laments after meeting PM

Ruby Chen, father of Israeli hostage Itay, held in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas onslaught, lifts an hourglass as he delivers a statement to the media in Tel Aviv on December 16, 2023. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “took a week off” while in Washington from dealing with the hostage crisis, the father of American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen concludes after meeting with the premier last night.

Ruby Chen, one of the roughly two dozen hostage relatives who met with the prime minister, tells The Times of Israel that the families left the feeling with an overall feeling of disappointment.

“The expectation was that it would be a working session with Q&A, but it ended up being just an overview from the prime minister who did not respond directly to the questions of the families,” he says.

Chen pans Netanyahu for reportedly saying the hostages are suffering, but not dying — comments the premier hasn’t denied — and says yesterday’s announcement by the IDF that two more hostages have been killed in captivity proves that the premier is wrong.

“The hostages do not have time, and the fact that the prime minister took a week off, so to speak, of this topic is unacceptable,” Chen adds.

Chen noted that the American hostages’ families meeting meeting yesterday with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was much more informative and he pointed out that the top Biden aid is also emotionally invested in their cause.

IDF launches new incursion into West Bank’s Tulkarem — source

IDF special forces are carrying out a new operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, a military source says.

Palestinian media reports clashes as Israeli troops surround a building in the city.

Earlier today, five Palestinian terror operatives were killed in an IDF drone strike in Tulkarem.

Palestinian Authority says its budget deficit is up 172% in wake of war in Gaza

The Palestinian Authority’s budget deficit is projected to surge by 172% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to a statement from the PA cabinet.

Revenues are also expected to drop by 21% due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The announcement follows PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s approval of the emergency budget for 2024, which includes austerity measures such as reducing salaries, operational and capital expenditures, and maintaining minimal development expenditures.

The war has hindered Ramallah’s ability to pay public sector salaries in full for over two years because of reduced aid and Israel withholding tax money due to the PA’s monthly stipends to security prisoners and families of dead attackers, which Jerusalem says directly incentivizes terrorism. Israel recently transferred NIS 435 million ($116 million) in early July, the first such transfer since April.

“The Israeli government has deducted about two-thirds of Palestinian tax revenues since October last year, amounting to a NIS 3.4 billion ($937.52 million) decline from the previous year,” the statement says.

Netanyahu’s office hits back at criticism over Friday scheduling of Trump meeting

After criticism emerges over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Friday meeting with Donald Trump in Florida — which falls on the birthday of his son Yair, who lives in Miami — his office puts out a statement that “it is of great importance to the State of Israel that the prime minister will meet with President [Joe] Biden and the two leading candidates for the US presidency.”

Netanyahu will have to stay in the US over the Jewish Sabbath because of the Friday meeting.

“On Thursday, the White House scheduled a meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu at 1 p.m., and a meeting with Vice President [Kamala Harris] is scheduled for the afternoon,” says the PMO. “Therefore, the only possibility to meet with Donald Trump is on Friday.”

“Since it is not possible to fly on Shabbat, the delegation will return to Israel immediately at the end of Shabbat,” insists Netanyahu’s office.

Arab-majority Knesset parties seek joint run in potential new elections

Left to right: Members of the Joint List party MKs Osama Saadi, Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas arrive for a consultation with President Reuven Rivlin on who he should task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

The two Arab-majority Knesset parties have launched negotiations for a potential joint run in future elections, Hebrew media reports.

The Ra’am party confirms the existence of the talks with Hadash-Ta’al to The Times of Israel.

Ra’am chief Mansour Abbas and Ta’al leader Ahmad Tibi met today on the plenum’s sidelines, after Abbas also met previously with Hadash Chairman Ayman Odeh, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Abbas is said to be leading the push, highlighting that the separate run in the last election diminished the Arab parties’ representation since fellow Arab party Balad narrowly failed to make it into the Knesset and voter turn up in the Arab community went down significantly compared to elections in which Arab parties ran as a single, merged party.

The report says that while Abbas is seeking a “technical bloc” that would run together in elections but then function as separate factions in the Knesset, Tibi is demanding a resurrection of the Joint List, which was a fully merged party made up of all major Arab Israel political forces until it split up several years ago.

The report says no talks have been held yet with Balad, possibly because the other parties are seeking to first reach understandings between them.

Elections are currently scheduled for 2026, but signs have increased that the current government may be nearing its collapse.

Gianluca Pacchiani contributed to this report.

US Senator Bob Menendez resigns after corruption conviction

US Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey enters federal court in New York, July 16, 2024. (AP/Seth Wenig)

US Senator Bob Menendez resigns in the aftermath of his conviction on corruption charges including bribery and acting as an agent for Egypt’s government, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats to give up the job.

Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will appoint a replacement for Menendez, who has represented New Jersey in the Senate since 2006 and served as chairman of the influential Foreign Relations Committee before giving up that post after being charged last year.

Menendez, 70, was found guilty on July 16 by a jury in Manhattan federal court on all 16 criminal counts he faced — also including obstruction of justice, wire fraud and extortion — after a nine-week trial. Two co-defendants also were convicted.

Menendez’s resignation letter is read out loud on the Senate floor.

Tel Aviv protesters for hostage deal briefly block Ayalon Highway

Protesters in favor of an immediate deal to free the hostages from Gaza have briefly blocked southbound traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, before the thoroughfare reopens some 15 minutes later

Many demonstrators, led by a women’s protest movement, have rallied this evening along with relatives of hostages to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a deal during his ongoing trip to the United States.

“The nation wants a deal,” the protesters chant, as well as “Alive, alive, we want them alive” and “No issue is more important, bring back the hostages.”

Macron says Israeli athletes welcome for Paris Olympics, slams threats against them

French President Emmanuel Macron says Israeli athletes are welcome for the Paris Olympics, rejecting calls from some French MPs and the Palestinian Olympic Committee for a boycott.

“Israeli athletes are welcome in our country. They must be able to compete under their colors because the Olympic movement has decided it,” he tells France 2 television in an interview, adding that it is “France’s responsibility to provide them with security.”

“I condemn in the strongest possible way all those who create risks for these athletes and implicitly threaten them,” he says.

Trump: I’ll ‘absolutely’ debate Kamala Harris, she’s an ‘easier’ rival than Biden

Former US president Donald Trump, who is running to return to the White House, pledges to take part in at least one presidential debate with Democratic presumptive nominee Kamala Harris.

“Oh, yes, absolutely. I want to. I think it’s important,” he says on a call with reporters, adding that “I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually.”

Trump claims that Harris is an ‘easier’ election opponent than President Joe Biden, who quit the race earlier this week.

France’s Macron says Netanyahu welcome at Olympic ceremony despite profound differences

French President Emmanuel Macron says in a TV interview with France 2 that he profoundly disagrees with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but that the premier will be welcome to attend the Olympic ceremony in Paris if he wants to.

Biden tests negative for COVID-19, will head to Washington, DC

US President Joe Biden is now free of COVID-19.

The White House releases a letter from his personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, noting that Biden is testing negative for the virus and that his symptoms have resolved.

Biden, who has been convalescing at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is returning to Washington later today.

Olympic Committee stresses its neutrality after Palestinian call for ban of Israel

President Thomas Bach stresses the neutrality of the International Olympic Committee after a Palestinian call for Israel to be barred from the Paris Games over the war on Hamas in Gaza.

As the Israeli team settles into the Athletes’ Village, the IOC has studied a letter from the Palestine Olympic Committee asking Bach to ban the Israelis, citing the bombings of the Gaza Strip as an alleged breach of the Olympic truce.

But Bach says in a press conference: “The position of the IOC is very clear. We have two National Olympic Committees, that is the difference with the world of politics, and in this respect both have been living in peaceful co-existence.”

“The Palestinian NOC has greatly benefitted. Palestine is not a recognized member state of the UN but the NOC is a recognized National Olympic Committee enjoying the equal rights and opportunities like all the other NOCs.”

He adds: “We are not in the political business, we are there to accomplish our mission to get the athletes together.”

Trump campaign event set to feature pundit accused of embracing antisemitic tropes

Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro on set during a taping of 'Candace' on March 17, 2021, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images/AFP)

An upcoming campaign fundraiser for Donald Trump is set to feature Candace Owens, a far-right influencer who has been accused in recent months of advancing antisemitic tropes.

According to Jewish Insider, the campaign event will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, headlined by the GOP presidential nominee’s son Donald Trump Jr.

In April, Owens broke ranks with Ben Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew who runs a conservative media outlet, in part over Owens’ seeming embrace of Christian antisemitic tropes, including that Jews imbibe blood.

Netanyahu-requested date for Trump meeting falls on Miami-based son Yair’s birthday

In a possible explanation to Donald Trump’s claim that his Florida meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was moved to Friday at the latter’s request, the new date coincides with the 33rd birthday of his eldest son Yair, who currently lives in Miami.

It will theoretically allow Netanyahu to spend Saturday in Florida, given that Israeli prime ministers don’t traditionally fly over the Sabbath.

PMO denies report Netanyahu in talks for new war-managing forum that includes Ben Gvir

Illustrative: Likud leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir at a vote in the Knesset plenum, December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90/File)

The Kan public broadcaster reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in talks to create a new body to manage the war in Gaza that will include National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, as part of an effort to placate the far-right politician who has been thwarting some legislation pushed by fellow coalition party Shas.

The Prime Minister’s Office issues a swift denial.

“The report is incorrect,” says the PMO. “The war is managed by the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and the security agencies, and the core decisions are made by the entire security cabinet — this has not changed and is not about to change.”

The PMO explains that Netanyahu is looking to create “a forum for consultations and updates that will not replace the existing bodies and will not take their authority.”

Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit comments that talks between the sides are still ongoing.

After several scheduling changes, Netanyahu-Trump meeting set for Friday

After posting that his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be on Wednesday, then posting that it would be on Thursday, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump writes that “at the request of Bibi Netanyahu, we have switched this meeting to Friday, July 26.”

The new date coincides with the 33rd birthday of Netanyahu’s eldest son Yair, who currently lives in Miami.

It will theoretically allow Netanyahu to spend Saturday in Florida, given that Israeli prime ministers don’t traditionally fly over the Sabbath.”

An Israeli source confirms that the meeting will take place on Friday at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Netanyahu to meet Biden on Thursday, their offices says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Joe Biden on Thursday at the White House, says Netanyahu’s office.

The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Israel time).

The White House also says the meeting will be held on Thursday.

Report: Netanyahu yet to sign off on his updated terms for a ceasefire-hostage deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his wife Sara Netanyahu (center)n at a meeting with relatives of hostages held by Hamas, in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told relatives of Hamas-held hostages yesterday that a deal for the release of their loved ones was ripening, he has not yet approved an official document with his updated terms for a deal to be conveyed by Israel’s negotiators to the mediators and from there to Hamas, Channel 12 news reports.

Netanyahu’s office on Sunday night said he had directed Israel’s hostage negotiating team to depart on Thursday for another round of talks. However, the report says, he has yet to formally approve the updated Israeli terms that would form the basis for the team’s discussions.

Since Israel’s latest proposal was conveyed to the mediators at the end of May, and Hamas responded with what the prime minister said at a press conference were 29 proposed changes, Netanyahu has publicly repeated four new nonnegotiable conditions for a deal, including a demand for ongoing Israeli control of the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border and at the Rafah border crossing, and for a mechanism to ensure armed gunmen cannot return to northern Gaza.

Israel’s security chiefs reportedly pushed back against the new demands at a lengthy meeting on Sunday, but Netanyahu insisted they be incorporated into Israel’s formal position.

However, says the unsourced Channel 12 report, the updated Israeli proposal has not been conveyed or even finalized: “Netanyahu has not approved it. He wants to see this or that [amended] draft,” the report says. And therefore, the report adds, the mediators do not have the updated Israeli response.

It is also not clear yet what level of negotiating team is supposed to resume the negotiations on Thursday — whether it will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea and his colleagues, or be of a lower, working level. In fact, says the report, it’s not even certain that a team will be dispatched.

It quotes an unnamed political source saying that, if there is progress on the basis of the new Israeli stance, it will take weeks for a deal. Reports from Sunday’s meeting said all Israel’s security chiefs were adamant that if a truce and hostages-for-prisoners deal is reached with Hamas, the IDF can stand fully withdrawing from the Gaza Strip for the first six weeks of a potential agreement.

Trump corrects that his Netanyahu meeting will be held on Thursday, not tomorrow

After causing a stir by saying he would meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow — something that seemed to take Israel by surprise — GOP US presidential candidate Donald Trump posts a new message on Truth Social site indicating that the meeting will actually take place in Florida at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.

Hostage Matan Zangauker’s mom publishes clip of son in Gaza, adds she got sign of life

Matan Zangauker was taken captive by Hamas terrorists to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Israeli media publish a short video filmed in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s October 7 attack, in which hostage Matan Zangauker is seen squeezed between two terrorists on a motorcycle.

In the clip, which Channel 12 says has been discovered by Israeli forces in Gaza and recently shown to his family, the hostage is seen taken through a Khan Younis street as onlookers cheer gleefully. The report estimates the video to be from Zangauker’s first few days in the Strip.

מובל על אופנוע בידי מחבלים – לקול ההמון הצוהל: תיעוד חדש של מתן צנגאוקר מהשביhttps://t.co/qjEHpjYZyB | @michalpeylan pic.twitter.com/LM5VQulvri

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) July 23, 2024

In an interview, Zangauker’s mother Einav says she has received indications her son is alive, including a bottle containing urine that has been determined to be his.

She also shares text correspondences Matan held with her and with other family members on the morning of October 7, before he and his since-released partner Ilana Gritzewsky were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The text recount the family’s fear as terrorists were heard entering the kibbutz’s streets, later surrounding the house and entering, with Einav telling her son not to make a sound as he hid in the safe room and held the doorknob.

His last message to his mother was at 10:08 a.m., saying: “There are people here, they are trying to enter.”

Einav answered: “We sent police, be quiet. Matan? Are you okay?”

Matan no longer replied.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, demonstrates on Azza Street near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, while holding a photo of her son, June 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Trump says meeting with Netanyahu to be held tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago

Then-US president Donald Trump welcomes visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In a message on his Truth Social network, GOP US presidential candidate Donald Trump says that he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

He does not indicate when the meeting will take place, but it will likely happen after Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, which begins at 2 p.m. Washington time (9 p.m. Israel time).

“During my first term, we had Peace and Stability in the Region, even signing the Abraham Accords – And we will have it again,” Trump writes, adding that “millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it.”

Netanyahu’s office has yet to confirm the meeting.

Schumer and Jeffries announce backing for Harris after most Democrats endorse her

FILE - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., right, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of N.Y., talk to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Jan. 17, 2024, following a meeting with President Joe Biden. Biden is convening the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Feb. 27 to discuss the emergency aid package for Ukraine and Israel, as well as avoiding a government shutdown next month. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON — The two Democratic leaders in the US Congress endorse Kamala Harris for president, after she secured the backing of most of her party to take on Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.

“Now that the process has played out from the grassroots, bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says in a joint press conference with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Member of Netanyahu’s entourage says potential meeting with Trump still not scheduled

Then-US president Donald Trump (right) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before Trump's departure to Rome at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, on May 23, 2017. (Kobi Gideon/GPO via Flash90)

The timing of a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US president Donald Trump still has not been set, a member of Netanyahu’s entourage tells The Times of Israel.

The hostage families were contacted by the Prime Minister’s Office to ask them if they would be willing to stay in the US over Shabbat, one of the family members tells The Times of Israel. When the family member indicated their desire to be back in Israel for the Jewish Sabbath, Netanyahu’s office said they would find a flight back for them.

“They said there was a 20% chance Wing of Zion would be flying back to Israel before Shabbat,” says the family member.

Netanyahu’s office is considering two possibilities for a meeting with Trump — flying to Florida early Thursday before coming back for a meeting with US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris, or on Friday, which would mean staying in the US for Shabbat.

The family members add that the relatives of hostages and fallen soldiers on the trip have not received any information about joining Netanyahu’s meetings with Trump or Biden.

Gallant: Israel can ‘handle risks’ of hostage deal, ‘will know how’ to resume fighting

A handout photo shows Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with soldiers in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah on July 23, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Amid ongoing hostage deal negotiations with Hamas, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says “as there are in military operations, there are risks in diplomatic moves as well” and that Israel “will know how to facilitate the moves and handle the risks.”

“We are creating conditions for what we wanted, the first thing, for the defeat of Hamas. The second thing… we are getting closer to a situation where it will be possible to reach a deal for the release of hostages,” Gallant says to troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

Gallant says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US is “very important… for all of us.”

He says that after a potential hostage deal and truce with Hamas, “we will know how to return to fighting.”

IDF says 15 rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona area, some downed; border area also targeted

A barrage of some 15 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area in the past hour.

Some of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome system, while others impacted open areas near the city in northern Israel.

Additionally, several more projectiles were fired at the Mount Dov area on the border, the IDF says.

The military does not immediately release details on possible causalities in the attacks.

It says troops shelled the launch sites with artillery.

Meanwhile, fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in Kfarhamam, infrastructure in Ayta ash-Shab, and an observation post in Khiam, the IDF adds.

Netanyahu’s Congress speech to discuss efforts to return hostages, defeat Hamas – source

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present “Israel’s justness and the heroism of its soldiers” during his speech to the US Congress tomorrow, according to an official in the premier’s entourage.

He will also discuss Israel’s efforts to free all of the hostages held in Gaza and to achieve “total victory” over Hamas, says the official.

Netanyahu “will present in his speech the challenge facing Israel, countries in the region and the US from Iran’s axis of evil, and will present a new way to deal with this challenge,” the official says.

The prime minister is currently writing his speech.

Former hostage tells US lawmakers: Women I was held with were ‘touched’ by Hamas captors

Former Hamas hostage Aviva Seigel speaks to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing meeting in Washington with American hostage families on July 23, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

Former hostage Aviva Seigel tells the US House Foreign Affairs Committee that she saw girls held with her after they were “touched” by their Hamas captors, in an emotional testimony in which she details the difficult conditions under which she was held for 51 days.

“I was starved while they ate in front of me,” she recalls, adding that she was constantly thirsty because the hostages were given little water.

Seigel — whose husband, American-Israeli hostage Keith Seigel, is still being held in Gaza — says she and other hostages weren’t allowed to sit or stand and that their only human right while in captivity was deciding whether they’d lie on their back or on their side.

There was little oxygen and it was difficult to breathe, she says, highlighting the plight of those who have been in captivity underground for a period eight months longer than her. Seigel was released as part of the last hostage deal between Israel and Hamas in late November.

She recalls looking at her husband as they lay together in an underground tunnel, struggling to breathe, and praying to herself that she would die first so that she wouldn’t have to see him dead.

Seigel says she and those she was kept with were beaten and tortured.

“I saw the girls coming back after they were touched. I saw the girls coming back after they were forced to take a shower with the door open, when it was the first time that anybody saw their body,” Seigel says.

They weren’t allowed to hug each other or cry.

“Now, I’m here, thinking about Keith and the girls, and it’s too much for me to handle because I know where they are and who they’re with,” she says.

She calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the hostage deal on the table. It’s possible to end the war today, but if the sides wait, it could spiral out of control and it will then no longer be possible to save the hostages, Seigel warns.

Turning to the US lawmakers, Seigel says: “I’m asking you all, please help us. I’m begging. We need them back as soon as possible. I do not want Keith dead.”

1,000 people suspected of spying have been blocked from Olympics, French minister says

A police officer walks past a Paris Olympics canvas at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 20, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP/Thomas Padilla)

Three days before the start of the 2024 Olympics, France’s interior minister says about 1,000 people suspected of possibly meddling for a foreign power have been blocked from attending the Olympics — one of the security challenges that Paris is cracking down on in its goal to keep the Games safe for athletes and fans.

About 1 million background checks have scrutinized Olympic volunteers, workers and others involved in the Games as well as those applying for passes to enter the most tightly controlled security zone in Paris — along the banks of the Seine — ahead of the opening ceremony on the river Friday.

The checks have blocked about 5,000 people from attending, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says. Out of them, “there are 1,000 people whom we suspect of foreign interference — we can say spying,” Darmanin says.

Darmanin, who is staying on in a caretaker role until a new government is formed following legislative elections this month that denied French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition a majority, has repeatedly pointed to suspicions of Russia-backed interference.

“We’re here to make sure… that sport isn’t used for spying, for cyberattacks or to criticize and sometimes even lie about France and the French,” Darmanin says.

He adds that “interfering and manipulating information” is not coming from Russia only but from some other countries, too, which he does not name. He also doesn’t give more information on the suspected meddling.

“That’s why we’re on the alert, and we want them to know that we’re not naive,” he says.

Others blocked from the Olympics after background checks have been flagged for suspected Islamic radicalization, left- or right-wing political extremism, significant criminal records and other security concerns, Darmanin says.

Hostage’s father to US lawmakers: True friends of Israel must pressure PM to take hostage deal

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Israeli-American Hamas hostage Sagui, speaks to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing meeting in Washington with American hostage families on July 23, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

WASHINGTON — Testifying before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, American-Israeli hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen’s father Jonathan says: “Any true friend of Israel today must pressure our prime minister to finish the deal now.”

Dekel-Chen notes that Israel’s own security establishment has implored the government to accept the deal on the table, explaining that it has completed the military goals that it set out for itself.

The father asks lawmakers to implore Netanyahu to agree to the hostage deal.

To the dismay of many of the hostage families currently in Washington, Netanyahu has moved to formally issue new demands later this week when he dispatches Israel’s negotiating team to meet with the mediators later this week. The premier argues that Hamas is beginning to buckle under military pressure and that it can be squeezed into agreeing to more concessions.

Israel issues safety guidelines to citizens attending Olympics, warning of terror threats

The National Security Council issues guidelines to Israelis traveling to Paris for the Olympics, warning that it believes that global jihadist and Iran-backed terror organizations “are seeking to carry out attacks on Israeli/Jewish targets around the Olympics.”

The games officially begin on Friday — though the soccer competition kicks off tomorrow — and will wrap up on September 8 with the end of the Paralympic Games.

“International events such as this represent a preferred target for threats and attacks from various terror groups, because of the potential for the wide media impact,” the NSC warns.

It points out that French authorities have arrested teen Islamic State sympathizers who planned on carrying out attacks during the Olympics.

The NSC warns travelers to avoid anti-Israel demonstrations as well.

It also stresses that Israel is not raising the warning level for France, which is classified as Level 2: Potential Threat. It recommends taking “increased precautionary measures” for such countries.

The NSC also urges Israelis at the Olympics to download the IDF Home Front Command app.

In US House, hostage relatives hit back at 2 lawmakers seen as downplaying loved ones’ plight

US Reps. Joe Wilson, left, and Brad Sherman speak at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing meeting in Washington with American hostage families on July 23, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

WASHINGTON — The relatives of some of the American hostages testifying to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee hit back at one Democratic lawmaker who suggests that Israel should not release terrorists in exchange for the hostages, and at a GOP politician who suggests that the US prioritize pressuring Iran.

During a roundtable with seven family members of the Israeli-American hostages on Capitol Hill, Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman recalls the deal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved in 2011 to release over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including current Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Sherman says it’s “critical that we’re not planting the seeds for another October 7.”

Responding to the Democratic lawmaker, hostage Omer Neutra’s father Ronen notes assurances that the Israeli security establishment has provided to the political leadership that it is prepared to deal with the consequences of any terrorist released.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s father Jon adds that one of Israel’s chief rabbis has issued a ruling stating that Jewish law teaches that saving a life at risk is so important that it must be prioritized, even if it means potentially risking the lives of other people in the future.

In his own remarks during the roundtable, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson largely avoids talking about the plight of the hostages or the deal currently on the table and instead focuses his remarks on Iran, claiming that he’d like to cooperate with the hostages’ families to put pressure on Iran, given that people in the Islamic Republic chant “Death to America and Death to Israel.”

Some of the hostage representatives appear somewhat surprised by Wilson’s remarks.

Neutra responds by agreeing that Iran is indeed a threat that should be dealt with, but explains that freeing the hostages is the more immediate issue that must be prioritized. Once they are released, Israel can turn its focus to other threats.

Polin likens the current situation to hospital triage, saying no good doctor would focus on dealing with patients in a cancer ward upstairs while there are patients bleeding out on the floor in front of him. He recognizes that Netanyahu will likely discuss all of the legitimate threats facing Israel from Iran and its proxies. However, he urges lawmakers to steer the premier toward addressing the more pressing issue, which is the hostages.

The other US lawmakers at the meeting all express more clear-cut solidarity with the hostage families’ effort to advance the deal that is currently on the table, which one of them acknowledges is a “deal with Satan.”

Democratic Rep. Bill Keating agrees that there is no more for Israel to accomplish on the battlefield, saying Netanyahu should accept this “hard-earned agreement.”

Netanyahu to attend memorial, meet senior Congress members tomorrow before speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend a memorial service for US Senator Joe Lieberman tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time (5 p.m. Israel time), before heading to the Capitol.

He will then meet with US House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other congressional leaders.

Netanyahu is scheduled to begin his speech to a joint session of Congress at 2 p.m. local time (9 p.m. Israel time).

Biden to deliver speech tomorrow on his exit from presidential race

US President Joe Biden says he will give a prime-time speech from the Oval Office tomorrow after his stunning decision to quit the 2024 White House race.

“Tomorrow evening at 8 PM ET (0000 GMT Thursday), I will address the nation from the Oval Office on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people,” Biden says on X.

Tomorrow evening at 8 PM ET, I will address the nation from the Oval Office on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 23, 2024

US Secret Service director resigns following Trump assassination attempt debacle

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle attends a news conference in Chicago, Illinois, June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

The director of the US Secret Service is stepping down from her job following the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump that unleashed an intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

Kimberly Cheatle has served as Secret Service director since August 2022.

Cheatle announces her departure in an email she has sent to staff. Cheatle has been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Hostage’s brother tells US lawmakers Netanyahu doesn’t seem to understand urgency of captives’ plight

Daniel Neutra, brother of Israeli-American Hamas hostage Omer Neutra, speaks to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on July 23, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not demonstrate that he understands the urgency of the plight of the hostages during his meeting with their families in Washington yesterday, one of the relatives tells the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“I have to say that the urgency of the matter did not seem to resonate with him,” says Daniel Neutra, whose brother Omer is one of the 120 hostages being held in Gaza and one of the eight with American citizenship.

Netanyahu “did not answer when we asked him why he is only sending his negotiators to keep the process going on Thursday, instead of days ago,” he adds.

“We must continue putting pressure on all parties involved, including Hamas, to accept this deal now before more people die in captivity.”

Committee chair Rep. Michael McCaul tells Neutra that he’s meeting with Netanyahu tomorrow and will raise the issue with him.

Netanyahu to meet local Jewish, Evangelical communities today as part of US trip

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with leaders in the US Evangelical Christian community at 5 p.m. local time (12 a.m. Israel time).

He will hold an event with leaders in the local Jewish community at 6:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. Israel time).

Netanyahu was initially expected to meet with US President Joe Biden today but that will not occur due to the latter’s COVID recovery. A new time for the meeting has yet to be set.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operative exiting rocket launch site

A drone strike was carried out against a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon’s Tallouseh a short while ago, the IDF says.

According to the military, the operative had been identified leaving a site from which rockets were launched at the Galilee Panhandle earlier.

צה"ל תקף באמצעות כלי טיס של חיל האוויר מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב תלוסה.

המחבל הותקף לאחר שזוהה יוצא מהמרחב ממנו בוצעו לפני זמן קצר השיגורים למרחב אצבע הגליל pic.twitter.com/hI7Nuqw9V5

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 23, 2024

IDF says dozens of gunmen killed in first 24 hours of renewed Khan Younis operation

Soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout image published July 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Dozens of gunmen have been killed by IDF troops during a new operation in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says.

The offensive in Khan Younis was launched yesterday after the IDF said it identified Hamas regrouping there, three months after the army withdrew from the city in southern Gaza.

The IDF says troops with the 98th Division have been operating against Hamas above and below ground during the first 24 hours of the operation.

Dozens of gunmen have been killed by troops in clashes, tank shelling and by calling in airstrikes, the military adds.

Tearful Noa Argamani said to tell Netanyahu his comments about long war broke her in captivity

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with rescued hostage Noa Argamani, her father Yaakov and family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (GPO)

Former hostage Noa Argamani has reportedly told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in tears that her most difficult experience during her eight months of captivity was hearing the premier declare that the war was going to be long.

“The hardest moment I had in captivity was when I listened to the radio and heard you say the war will be long. I thought, ‘I won’t get out of here.’ It was a breaking point for me,” Argamani told Netanyahu in a meeting yesterday, according to Hebrew media reports.

She then reportedly broke down in tears and embraced another hostage relative who was in the meeting, as Netanyahu’s face remained emotionless.

Argamani, who was rescued last month from captivity in Gaza along with three other hostages, is now accompanying Netanyahu on his trip to the United States alongside her father Yaakov and other relatives of captives. The reported meeting took place in Washington, DC, after the flight from Israel landed.

In the meeting, she also said the remaining 120 hostages “must be brought home as quickly as possibly, before it is too late,” according to the reports.

“I saw death with my eyes,” she recounted, saying that fellow hostages Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky were killed while next to her.

The meeting was also attended by relatives of hostages who traveled to Washington to demonstrate against the premier and urge him to immediately sign a deal with Hamas to free the hostages. Netanyahu told them that the conditions for a deal for their release were “coming together, without a doubt.”

The Ynet news site quotes other relatives of hostages as calling the meeting “shocking.”

“The prime minister avoided lines of questioning regarding the conditions or timing in which he would accept a deal,” Daniel Neutra, the brother of Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, says during the meeting. “He said that we are closer to a deal than we have been yet, but he did not give the impression that he is willing to accept a deal in a matter of days.”

Adidas apologizes to Bella Hadid, says it’s ‘revisiting’ ad campaign for 1972 Olympic shoes

A new campaign for Adidas features supermodel Bella Hadid wearing a reissue of sneakers from the 1972 Munich Olympics. (Photos courtesy of Adidas. Design by Jackie Hajdenberg via JTA)

Amid backlash, Adidas has apologized to Palestinian-American model and activist Bella Hadid and to other spokesmodels over a scandal that has accompanied its new campaign for a reissue of a sneaker originally designed for the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 members of the Israeli team were killed in a Palestinian terror attack.

The athletic apparel company has removed Hadid from the campaign for the Adidas Originals line, under which the retro SL 72 sneakers are sold, and has said it is revisiting the campaign entirely, without elaborating on what this means.

The development comes amid reports that Hadid is considering suing Adidas for associating her with the Munich massacre.

“Connections continue to be made to the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Munich Olympics due to our recent SL72 campaign,” says the statement posted Sunday to Instagram. “These connections are not meant and we apologize for any upset or distress caused to communities around the world. We made an unintentional mistake. We also apologize to our partners, Bella Hadid, ASAP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them and we are revising the campaign.”

Hadid was among five celebrities hired for the campaign. Various Jewish and pro-Israel groups and institutions have singled her out as an inappropriate choice because of her harsh criticism of Israel.

Hadid, who was born in the United States but has Palestinian roots through her father, has been harshly critical of Israel in her activism on behalf of Palestinians since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 triggered the war in Gaza. She has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza — an allegation rejected as unfounded by Israel — and been accused by Israel and US Jewish groups of antisemitism.

Amid attacks on Noa Argamani for joining PM’s trip, politicians and hostage families defend her

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage, as well as families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza -- Noa Argamani and her father Yaakov are in the center, next to Sara Netanyahu -- pose in front of the Wing of Zion official plane before departing to Washington, DC, at Ben Gurion Airport, July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Both coalition and opposition lawmakers condemn virulent criticism faced by freed hostage Noa Argamani and her father Yaakov for agreeing to accompany Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to the United States, along with several other relatives of hostages.

Family members of other hostages held by the terror group Hamas had urged the Argamanis not to go, claiming this would bolster the premier, whom many blame for failing to secure a deal to free the hostages after more than nine months.

Many relatives of hostages have been waging a months-long protest campaign against the Netanyahu government’s failure to strike a deal with Hamas, while a minority of families have been calling on him to escalate military pressure as a means of coercing Hamas into softening its negotiation stance.

Argamani, who was rescued by Israeli forces last month alongside three other hostages, is set to join Netanyahu with her father and other hostage family members for the prime minister’s speech tomorrow to the US Congress in Washington, DC.

In a post on Facebook yesterday, left-wing Haaretz pundit Uri Misgav — a vehement critic of Netanyahu — said that Argamani and her father “should be ashamed of agreeing to serve as decor” for Netanyahu on the same day that the IDF announced the deaths in Hamas captivity of hostages Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtav.

Retired journalist Dan Margalit echoed Misgav, calling Argamani’s presence in Netanyahu’s delegation a “disgrace” in a tweet to his 164,000 followers.

In response, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud) tweets that Argamani spent hundreds of days in captivity and has just lost her mother, and notes that her partner Avinatan Or is still being held in Gaza. He calls Misgav a “bottomless pit of gratuitous malice.”

Likud MK Eli Dallal calls Argamani a “real hero” and accuses her critics of “using her suffering for political criticism.” He says this constitutes “terrible, shameful and offensive behavior.”

“It is very good that Noa Argamani joined the prime minister’s delegation with representatives of the hostage families. She should be there to talk and recount what she went through in captivity and the urgency of bring back all the hostages,” chimes in Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Labor-Meretz union, rebranded as The Democrats, joins in condemning the criticism of Argamani, calling it “indecent.”

“None of us will understand the hell she went through,” Golan tweets, adding that even though Netanyahu’s trip was unnecessary and the premier has “abandoned” the hostages, “I respect Noa’s decision to join him.”

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum condemns the attacks against Argamani and her father, saying that “the decision to take part in the prime minister’s delegation to Washington is a personal decision of each family.”

“If only you had heard Noa Argamani in front of the prime minister yesterday, how she sat upright and represented the abductees and the abductees who were left behind, you wouldn’t utter a word of criticism about her decision to fly to Washington,” argues Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat is one of the hostages.

Houthis air propaganda clip showcasing ‘Jaffa’ drone that allegedly hit Tel Aviv

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen release a propaganda video showing what they say is the drone that was launched at Tel Aviv in an attack last week.

The so-called Jaffa drone struck a residential building in the central Israeli city early Friday, killing a man and wounding others.

The video shows a Jaffa drone in an exhibition, and ostensibly the moment the one that struck Tel Aviv was launched.

???? مشاهد لإطلاق الطائرة "يافا" التي استهدفت هدفا مهما للعدو الإسرائيلي في منطقة يافا المحتلة، مع مشاهد افتتاح معرض خاص بالطائرة، وبعض من مواصفاتها #مرحلة_التصعيد_الخامسة #العدوان_الإسرائيلي_على_اليمن #معركة_الفتح_الموعود_والجهاد_المقدس pic.twitter.com/pVRljisLRl

— قناة المسيرة (@TvAlmasirah) July 23, 2024

The IDF identified the drone as a modified Iranian-made Samad-3 drone.

The drone had been adjusted to have a much further range than normal, allowing it to make a trip of some 2,600 kilometers — flying over Africa and Egypt, and then some of the Mediterranean — to reach Israel from the west.

IDF says Hezbollah fired rockets and suspected drones at north, some impacted

Several suspected drones were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel an hour ago.

According to the IDF, some of the targets were shot down and several explosive drones impacted the Mount Meron area.

Separately, a barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle.

The IDF says most of the rockets were shot down and some projectiles impacted the Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot areas.

There are no injuries in the attacks, and the IDF says it shelled the launch sites with artillery.

Meanwhile, the IDF also confirms it struck a car in southern Lebanon’s Shaqra earlier today, saying several Hezbollah operatives were in it.

מוקדם יותר היום, כלי-טיס של חיל-האוויר תקף רכב ובו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב שקרא שבדרום לבנון.
כמו כן, בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בצפון הארץ על חדירת כלי-טיס עוין, זוהו מספר מטרות אוויריות חשודות שחצו משטח לבנון.
חלקן יורטו, זוהו מספר נפילות במרחב הר מירון, אין נפגעים.… pic.twitter.com/IuqG1a3nin

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) July 23, 2024

Government allocated NIS 28 million in 2023 to secure illegal West Bank outposts, watchdog says

Settlers walk with an assembled metal Star of David and other construction materials toward the site of a new outpost by the Palestinian village of al-Jabaah near the settlements of Gush Etzion, southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank on January 1, 2023. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

The government allocated some NIS 28 million in 2023 for the purpose of bolstering the security of illegal West Bank outposts, established in violation of Israeli law, the Peace Now organization reports.

The information was disclosed by director general of the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, Hoshaya Harari, during a conference held by the Religious Zionism party in June that was recorded by Peace Now, the details of which are released today.

The funds came from a budget for bolstering security for both settlements and illegal outposts in the West Bank, and were used for purchasing vehicles, drones, cameras, electric generators, electric gates, lamp posts and fences, among other items.

Of the NIS 28 million, NIS 15 million was provided to illegal West Bank farming outposts that typically seize control of large tracts of land by grazing sheep, goats, and cows as part of a strategy to interrupt Palestinian territorial contiguity.

Thirty-three other illegal outposts received NIS 13 million.

The budget for security equipment and facilities for illegal outposts is slated to rise to NIS 63 million in 2024, Peace Now says.

“Not only does the Israeli government allow settlers to take over lands, establish outposts and farms in violation of the law, and attack and displace Palestinians without any response, it also funds and assists them,” the organization says.

“Settler violence is not a bug; it is a feature. It is part of an ongoing effort by the Israeli government to systematically expel Palestinians from their homes and lands in Area C in the West Bank.”

Citing experiences in Israel, Poland and Hungary, Germany moves to protect judicial system

Germany’s governing coalition and the conservative opposition present a plan to protect the country’s highest court against possible future manipulation or obstruction by extremist or authoritarian politicians.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann cites experiences in Poland, Hungary and Israel as illustrating the need to bolster the Federal Constitutional Court.

Germany’s own political landscape has become increasingly fragmented in recent years, with the far-right Alternative for Germany party emerging as a significant political force.

The plan put forward by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition and the mainstream conservative Union bloc, the biggest opposition force, calls for the court’s ground rules to be anchored in the Constitution, which they largely weren’t when the post-World War II German Constitution was drawn up 75 years ago.

Iran condemns ‘reception and protection’ of Israeli athletes at Paris Olympic Games

Members of Israel's delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games pose for a group picture ahead of departure, at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on July 22, 2024. (Jorge Novominsky / AFP)

Iran condemns the “reception and protection” of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris, demanding their exclusion over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s delegation, which headed to France yesterday ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, is being tightly protected in the French capital amid threats over their participation.

“Announcing the reception and protection of the apartheid terrorist Zionist regime’s delegation means giving legitimacy to the child killers,” Iran’s foreign ministry says in a post on X.

“They do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of the war against the innocent people of Gaza,” it adds, calling on organizers to ban Israel.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza started after the terror group launched a shock onslaught, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages.

Rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona, surrounding communities

Sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona and a number of surrounding communities, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Alerts warning of both rockets and suspected drone attacks have been sounding nearly continuously for some 16 minutes in towns close to the northern border.

Netanyahu to speak at memorial event in Washington for US senator Joe Lieberman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Sen. Joe Lieberman in Tel Aviv on October 28, 2020. (GPO)

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak at a memorial service for the late US senator Joe Lieberman shortly before his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, an Israeli official confirms to The Times of Israel.

The ceremony will be held at Washington Hebrew Congregation.

Education minister: Evacuated students won’t start new school year in northern border towns

Education Minister Yoav Kisch attends an Education, Culture, and Sports Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 26, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Education Minister Yoav Yoav Kisch tells the heads of local authorities that students from northern communities evacuated because of the war will not be able to return to school in their hometowns in September and will instead continue to attend schools around Israel, Hebrew-language media reports.

This is due to the “security complexities” in the region, which has been subject to incessant rocket fire and drone attacks by the Hezbollah terror group from Lebanon since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7.

Calling the decision not to start the school year in the affected northern communities “regrettable,” Kisch calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “act now and strongly against the state of Lebanon.”

“There is no escaping the decision to wage a massive war against Lebanon in order to restore peace and stability to the residents of the north and for the future of the State of Israel,” he says.

Sirens in northern border towns warn of rockets, suspected drone attack

Sirens sound in a number of communities along the northern border, warning of rockets and a suspected incoming drone attack.

WHO sees ‘high risk’ of poliovirus spreading across Gaza and beyond enclave’s borders

Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed buildings, between two pools of stagnant water in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 19, 2024 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The World Health Organization says there is a high risk of the poliovirus spreading across the Gaza Strip and beyond its borders due to the dire health and sanitation situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave.

Ayadil Saparbekov, team lead for health emergencies at WHO in Gaza and the West Bank, says circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 had been isolated from environmental samples from sewage in Gaza.

“There is a high risk of spreading of the circulating vaccine-derived polio virus in Gaza, not only because of the detection but because of the very dire situation with the water sanitation,” he tells reporters in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem.

“It may also spill over internationally, at a very high point,” he says.

Saparbekov says WHO and UNICEF workers are scheduled to arrive in Gaza tomorrow to collect human stool samples as part of a risk assessment related to the discovery of the virus.

He says the assessment, which he hopes will be completed by the end of the week, will allow health officials to issue recommendations, “including the need for a mass vaccination campaign as well as what kind of vaccine should be used and what the age group of the population that will need to be vaccinated.”

Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces said it launched a program to vaccinate soldiers operating in Gaza and that it is working to facilitate the entry of vaccines into the Strip.

Report: Israel, US, UAE held secret Abu Dhabi meeting on postwar plan for Gaza

Palestinians walk past mounds of garbage and open sewage in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, on July 3, 2024 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates held a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to discuss potential plans for postwar Gaza, two Israeli officials tell Axios.

According to the report, the discussions were hosted by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed, and were attended by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and US President Joe Biden’s Mideast envoy Brett McGurk.

Two senior Israeli officials who have been involved in the formulation of plans for the Strip at the conclusion of the war were also in attendance, the report says.

Axios notes that the day before the US, UAE and Israeli officials met, a senior Emirati official signaled that Abu Dhabi is prepared to contribute troops to a postwar peacekeeping force in Gaza, making it  the first Arab country to publicly buy into the effort being quietly advanced by the Biden administration.

Lana Nusseibeh, who serves as special envoy of bin Zayed, penned an op-ed in the Financial Times in which she called for the establishment of a “temporary international mission” in Gaza “that responds to the humanitarian crisis, establishes law and order, lays the groundwork for governance and paves the way to reuniting Gaza and the occupied West Bank under a single, legitimate Palestinian Authority.”

The US has repeatedly warned that continued Israeli refusal to advance a viable plan for the postwar management of Gaza will lead to a never-ending war in the enclave.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.

Katz slams Fatah over Hamas unity declaration: ‘Instead of rejecting terrorism, Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists’

File - Foreign Minister Israel Katz speaks during a plenum session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 29, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz slams Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party for signing a “national unity” declaration with Hamas.

“Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in China for joint control of Gaza after the war. Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas, revealing his true face,” Katz writes on X.

“In reality, this won’t happen because Hamas’s rule will be crushed, and Abbas will be watching Gaza from afar,” he writes in English. “Israel’s security will remain solely in Israel’s hands.”

Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the national unity government would manage the affairs of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, oversee reconstruction, and prepare for elections.

Houthis threaten strikes on Israeli ports and oil fields, further maritime disruptions

A man walks near to a raging fire at oil storage tanks a day after Israeli strikes on Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeida port on July 21, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The Iran-backed Houthis are preparing to strike new sensitive targets in Israel and the region, according to sources from Yemen’s capital Sana’a quoted by the Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar.

Sources close to the Yemeni militia quoted by Al-Akhbar say that in response to the Israeli retaliatory strike on the Houthi-controlled Hodeida port in western Yemen on Saturday, itself a response to a deadly Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv, Houthi military leaders have added new items to their “target bank.”

The Yemeni rebel group — in cooperation with other members of the Axis of Resistance, Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria — is said to be planning to hit the Israeli Mediterranean ports of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Haifa, in addition to the Red Sea port of Eilat.

The Israeli gas fields in the Mediterranean are now also said to be in the Houthis’ crosshairs, as well as oil tankers transporting fuel from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to Israel through the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Houthis are also said to be planning to target maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean and the rebel group is said to aim to use long-range projectiles to target “enemy maritime trade” directed toward the Cape of Good Hope along African coasts.

The route is much longer than the one through the Suez Canal, but has become increasingly popular since the Houthis began targeting ships transiting through the Red Sea with alleged connections to Israel, the United States or Britain.

IDF confirms death of Hamas, al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades commanders in Tulkarem airstrike

Israeli army armored vehicles during a raid in Tulkarem in the West Bank on July 23, 2024 (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

The IDF publishes footage of this morning’s drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, in which several Palestinian gunmen including top commanders were killed.

Among those killed was Ashraf Nafeh, who was the commander of Hamas in Tulkarem.

The IDF says Nafeh was responsible for preparing and planting explosive devices to be detonated against troops as well as participating in other attacks.

Nafeh was also involved in recruiting Hamas members, and he was in contact with Hamas officials abroad, the IDF says.

Also among the dead is Muhammad Awad, also known as Abu Abdo, the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Tulkarem.

The IDF says Awad was involved in shooting attacks and raising money for terror activities in Tulkarem.

During the raid, troops shot several gunmen in clashes and destroyed explosive devices planted under roads, the military adds.

במהלך המבצע, כלי טיס מאויש מרחוק תקף מחבלים מארגוני הטרור במרחב, בהם מבוקשים שקידמו והוציאו לפועל פעולות טרור נגד כוחות צה״ל ומדינת ישראל ממרחב מחנה טול כרם>> pic.twitter.com/aRzRgjHGF5

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 23, 2024

2 Defense Ministry employees lightly hurt after bomb explodes along West Bank security barrier

Two Defense Ministry employees are lightly wounded after a bomb exploded along the West Bank security barrier in the Mount Gilboa area, the military and medics say.

According to an initial probe, the Defense Ministry workers were carrying out a patrol along the border fence in the northern West Bank when they spotted a suspicious item.

The item was then understood to be a bomb, and it exploded and lightly injured the two workers. According to first responders, the pair were hit by shrapnel.

The IDF says it has launched a manhunt for those behind the attack.

ICC: 70 states, groups to file amicus briefs over Israel, Hamas arrest warrant requests

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan at the Cour d'Honneur of the Palais Royal in Paris on February 7, 2024. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP)

In a step that will hold up proceedings in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders, the court accepts the request of 70 states, organizations and individuals to file amicus briefs regarding the decision of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan to seek arrest warrants against those leaders for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The measure means that a final decision by the ICC to grant, or reject, the arrest warrants will be significantly delayed. It also indicates that the court has concerns about its jurisdiction over the case and its admissibility, raising the possibility that the request for arrest warrants may even be rejected by the pre-trial chamber overseeing the case.

Previous cases have, however, also seen significant delays between the request for warrants and their issuance, such as the eight months it took between the request for an arrest warrant against former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir in July 2008 and the decision of the pre-trial chamber to approve it in March 2009.

The deadline to file the briefs is August 6, but the large number of briefs which the court’s Pre Trial Chamber I will have to review means that a decision on issuing the warrants will now be significantly delayed.

Prof. Yuval Shany of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Law, who was given permission by the court to submit an amicus brief together with Prof. Amichai Cohen of the Israel Democracy Institute, says the court’s decision is an “unusual step” that is rarely taken at such a stage of proceedings, and likely indicates the court’s concerns over the jurisdiction and admissibility issues.

Other parties granted permission by the pre-trial chamber to file amicus briefs who will likely be supportive of Israel’s position include Germany, which has flagged concerns about the admissibility of the case; the US; Argentina; US Senator Lindsey Graham; the Israel Bar Association; the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists; and a group of organizations which include UK Lawyers for Israel, B’nai B’rith UK, the International Legal Forum, the Jerusalem Initiative and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Numerous parties hostile to Israel’s position have also been given permission to file briefs, including South Africa, Ireland, Bangladesh, and Spain.

Khan filed his request for arrest warrants in May due to crimes he alleged had been committed during the October 7 atrocities committed by Hamas and the subsequent war in Gaza conducted by Israel against the terror organization.

Lebanese media reports Israeli drone strike on vehicle in south Lebanon

Lebanese media report an Israeli drone strike against a vehicle in the southern Lebanon town of Shaqra.

No further details are immediately available.

مراسل #الجديد: مسيرة اسرائيلية تستهدف سيارة (بيك اب) في بلدة شقرا وتوجه فرق الاسعاف إلى المكان المستهدف@farhat_muhamad1 pic.twitter.com/y6miaYM161

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) July 23, 2024

Tel Aviv University to give 25% tuition discount to new students who serve in reserves

The Tel Aviv University campus, on December 31, 2023. (Gavriel Fiske/TOI)

Tel Aviv University announces that new students who have served more than 30 days in reserve duty in 2024 will be entitled to a discount on their tuition fees.

In its announcement, the university notes that the discount of NIS 2,500 (approximately $690) is the equivalent of around 25 percent of the tuition fee.

The university estimates that some 500 students beginning their studies in the fall will be eligible for the discount.

Far-right minister equates same-sex marriage with incest: ‘Can a father and daughter get married?’

Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf a meeting at the Knesset, June 26, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In an interview, far-right Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf compares same-sex marriage to incest.

Wasserlauf, a lawmaker from the Otzma Yehudit party, is asked by the Knesset television channel why gay couples should not receive all the benefits that heterosexual couples receive.

Wasserlauf responds: “I will answer you with a question, can a father and daughter get married?”

When the interviewer says that they cannot, noting it is incest, Wasserlauf asks whether siblings can get married, to which the interviewer responds that they cannot.

“Why? Is this exploitation of a minor? Why can’t they get married? They love each other,” says Wasserlauf.

When asked if he is comparing an incestuous relationship between siblings to a same-sex couple, Wasserlauf responds: “You said people who love each other.”

“The comparison you make is unpleasant,” the interviewer says. Wasserlauf denies he is equating the two situations.

In response, The Aguda – The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, tells Channel 12: “It is simply sad that such ignorant and dark statements come from a person in a public position who benefits from our tax money.”

Energean to invest $1.2 billion to develop Katlan gas project off Israel’s coast

Illustrative -- Energean working in the Karish oil field, offshore Israel, in 2020. (Screen capture/YouTube)

Energean ENOG.L will invest about $1.2 billion to develop the Katlan project off the Israeli coast, the company says, as it announced its final investment decision, with gas output expected to commence in the first half of 2027.

Katlan, discovered by global oil and gas producer Energean in 2022, is a group of formations located near two projects off Israel’s Mediterranean coast — Karish and Tanin — also owned by Energean.

Initial gas production is planned for first half of 2027 with capital expenditure of about $1.2 billion to develop the project, upgrade and drill wells, the company says.

The field contains 1.10 trillion cubic feet of proven and probable gas reserves, according to the company’s website.

Energean says production will underpin its existing gas sales agreements and will target international markets.

IDF: Over 50 terror targets hit in Khan Younis strikes, rocket fired at Israel fell short and hit Gaza school

Troops operate in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released by the military on July 23, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

More than 50 sites used by terror groups in Khan Younis were struck by aircraft as ground forces with the 98th Division pushed into the city in the southern Gaza Strip over the past day, the IDF says.

The new operation in Khan Younis is being carried out by the division’s 7th Armored Brigade, the Paratroopers Brigade, and the Commando Brigade.

The IDF says the armored forces killed several gunmen with tank shelling amid the assault which began yesterday.

The sites struck by the Israeli Air Force included weapon depots, sniper positions, buildings used by Hamas, and tunnels, according to the IDF.

According to the IDF, Hamas has been attempting to regroup in Khan Younis, three months after the military withdrew from the area. The IDF warned civilians to evacuate the area before it launched the new operation.

Further south, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division killed dozens of gunmen in clashes and by calling in airstrikes over the past day.

Meanwhile, the IDF says it identified Hamas rocket fire from central Gaza’s Maghazi yesterday, which it says fell short inside the Strip, including one projectile that struck a school in Nuseirat.

IDF used ruse to bring 2 senior terror commanders to Tulkarem area where strike carried out

Israeli army armored vehicles during a raid in Tulkarem in the West Bank on July 23, 2024. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The Israel Defense Forces assesses that the drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem this morning, killed at least six gunmen, including two senior terror commanders.

The two commanders were named by Palestinian media as Ashraf Nafeh, the head of Hamas in Tulkarem, and Muhammad Abu Abdo, the head of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Tulkarem.

The IDF used a ruse to bring the senior commanders to an area where they could be targeted, according to military sources.

Also among those killed was an armed female combatant who was dressed up as a medic, military sources say.

This video circulating on social media is said to have been taken moments before the drone strike in Tulkarem, showing Muhammad Abu Abdo, the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the area. It also shows an armed medic. pic.twitter.com/oPtLMgqei9

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 23, 2024

The IDF raid in Tulkarem this morning was part of a series of operations against terror activity in northern West Bank refugee camps.

The military says it has recently identified attempts by the Gaza Strip-based Hamas and Islamic Jihad to ramp up attacks in West Bank, including by funneling money and providing know-how.

Gaza border community rocket sirens were false alarms

Sirens that sounded in a number of Gaza border communities a short time ago are determined to have been false alarms.

Alerts were heard in Nir Oz, Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.

Iraq eyeing drawdown of US-led forces starting September, sources say

File - US army soldiers, part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, walk around at the K1 Air Base northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq before a planned US pullout on March 29, 2020. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)

Iraq wants troops from a US-led military coalition to begin withdrawing in September and to formally end the coalition’s work by September 2025, four Iraqi sources say, with some US forces likely to remain in a newly negotiated advisory capacity.

The Iraqi position is being discussed with US officials in Washington this week at a security summit and there is no formal agreement on ending the coalition or any associated timetable yet, the Iraqi sources and US officials say.

US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller told a news briefing that both sides were meeting in Washington this week to determine how to transition the US-led coalition’s mission based on the threat posed by Islamic State, adding he had no further details.

Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border communities

Sirens sound in a number of Gaza border communities, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Alerts are heard in Nir Oz, Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.

2 detained at protest outside education minister’s home

Police say two people were detained while demonstrating outside the Hod HaSharon home of an elected official on suspicion of “violating conditions.”

According to reports, the two were detained outside the home of Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

Police say the demonstration “violates the proper balance between freedom of protest and maintaining public order.”

Hamas says it signed national unity declaration with Fatah at China summit

(L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024 (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk says the terror group signed a national unity declaration with other Palestinian groups, including rivals Fatah, while on a visit to China.

“Today we sign an agreement for national unity and we say that the path to completing this journey is national unity. We are committed to national unity and we call for it,” Abu Marzuk said.

The declaration did not set out a timeframe for forming a new government.

There have been multiple announcements of unity agreements between the factions over the past years, however none of them have actually come to fruition.

Hamas, al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades Tulkarem commanders said killed in IDF strike

Israeli army armored vehicles during a raid in Tulkarem in the West Bank on July 23, 2024. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

According to Palestinian media, five were killed in the Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem this morning, including two senior operatives.

The reports say that among the dead are Ashraf Nafeh, the commander of Hamas in the Tulkarem camp, and Muhammad Abu Abdo, the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the same area.

The IDF said it struck a group of gunmen amid a raid in the West Bank city.

القادة الثلاثة الذين ارتقوا بعملية الأغتيال في مدينة طولكرم:-

– ازكيهم نافع قائد كتائب القسام
– أبو عبدو قائد كتائب شهداء الأقصى
– القائد المجاهد محمد بديع pic.twitter.com/6lbzzezZpb

— صمود ???? (@SM1975__) July 23, 2024

IDF: Armed cell targeted in Tulkarem airstrike; 3 senior members of terror groups reportedly killed

The Israel Defense Forces says an armed cell was targeted in an airstrike in the West Bank city Tulkarem.

The military says that troops are engaged in clashes with armed individuals.

The Walla news site citing Palestinian reports says that at least three of the individuals killed are senior members of Palestinian terror groups.

Report: Google’s record-breaking deal to buy Israeli-founded cyber startup Wiz falls apart

View of the Wiz cybersecurity company offices in Tel Aviv, July 15, 2024 (Flash90)

A potential record-breaking deal for Google to purchase Israeli-founded cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion has fallen apart, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The outlet says that in an email, Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport told staff that the company would be instead pursuing an IPO.

“Wizards, I know the last week has been intense, with the buzz about a potential acquisition,” he writes to employees the newspaper reports. “While we are flattered by offers we have received, we have chosen to continue on our path to building Wiz.”

Rappaport says the company plans to reach $1 billion in annual recurring revenue ahead of the IPO.

A source tells the newspaper that Wiz aims to hit that target within the next year and the IPO in the coming years.

A deal with Google would have brought intense antitrust scrutiny, the Journal notes. Google is already awaiting a verdict in a separate US Justice Department suit.

Wiz was co-founded in early 2020 by Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak and Roy Reznik, the same team that founded the firm Adallom, which was sold to Microsoft for $320 million in 2015. They also led Microsoft Azure’s Cloud Security Group. Its customers include 40 percent of the Fortune 100 companies, such as Slack, Mars, BMW, DocuSign, Plaid and Agoda.

After its latest private funding round announced in May, in which it raised $1 billion, the company was valued at $12 billion.

Harris says she has enough delegates for nomination: ‘Look forward to formally accepting soon’

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 22, 2024. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris says she is “proud” to have received the support of enough Democratic delegates to win her party’s presidential nomination.

“I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon,” Harris says in a statement, adding that “tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee.”

IDF announces overnight strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces says that fighter jets carried out overnight strikes on a weapons depot and other Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

Meeting hostage families in US, Netanyahu says conditions for deal ‘coming together’

A handout photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shaking hands with Liz Hirsch Naftali ahead of a meeting with families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, in Washington, on July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

WASHINGTON — After landing in the US, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas that the conditions for a deal “are coming together, without a doubt.”

He says a potential deal to release hostages is coming together because of intense military pressure Israel is applying to Hamas.

“This is a good sign,” he continues, “and the other sign is that we are also seeing that the enemy’s spirit is starting to break.”

“We are seeing a certain change,” says Netanyahu, “and I think that this change will continue to get bigger.”

Sitting next to his wife Sara and government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, Netanyahu tells the families that if Israel stands firm “we can reach a deal.”

“I say at the outset that this will be a process, unfortunately it’s not all at once, there will be stages,” he continues, “but I believe that we can move a deal forward and maintain the means of pressure that can bring about the release of the others.”

The meeting included 23 family members of hostages — 12 of whom are relatives of American citizens held by Hamas, freed hostage Noa Argamani and her father Yaakov, and two soldiers who fought in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war against Hamas.

Netanyahu insists he is doing everything he can to bring back the hostages while protecting Israel’s very existence.

“In no circumstance am I willing to give up on victory over Hamas.” he emphasizes. “If we let up, we will be in danger from all of Iran’s evil axis.”

A handout photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, in Washington, on July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Harris has support of enough Democratic delegates to become party’s presidential nominee — AP

US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff address staff at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 22, 2024. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey, as top Democrats rally to her in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for reelection.

The quick coalescing behind Harris marks an attempt by the party to put weeks of internecine drama over Biden’s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day. Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris in the day after Biden’s exit from the race and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.

Several state delegations met late Monday to confirm their support for Harris, including Texas and her home state of California. By Monday night, Harris had the support of at least 2,471 delegates, according to the AP tally of delegates, more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.

California state Democratic Chairman Rusty Hicks says 75% to 80% of the state’s delegation were on a call and they unanimously supported Harris.

“I’ve not heard anyone mentioning or calling for any other candidate,” Hicks says. “Tonight’s vote was a momentous one.”

Still, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That’s because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go through with a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.

Families of American-Israeli hostages meet Netanyahu, demand he back deal while in DC

WASHINGTON — The relatives of eight American-Israeli hostages met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier tonight in Washington, demanding that he use his speech to a joint session of Congress to announce that he has finalized the ceasefire deal that will bring their loved ones home, according to a readout from the families.

“Anything less, they said, would constitute an abject failure of his trip to Washington,” reiterating a line they used earlier today in a briefing with reporters and in a readout of their meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

The “families emphatically told Netanyahu that their loved ones cannot wait any longer and that he must close the deal now,” the readout says.

“They reminded him that he is on US soil and that he should address the plight of the eight American hostages when he speaks to Congress on Wednesday.”

Netanyahu’s office announced on Sunday that he would dispatch the Israeli negotiating team to meet with mediators on Thursday. The premier’s aides explained that Netanyahu wanted to first secure US President Joe Biden’s blessing for Israel to toughen its demands.

But that announcement when Netanyahu’s office expected the meeting with Biden to take place on Monday. Now that it is likely to only take place on Thursday, it is unclear whether the Israeli negotiating team will also be held up.

In their meeting with Netanyahu, the American hostage families told the premier he shouldn’t wait until Thursday to dispatch the negotiating team.

The Monday evening meeting with Netanyahu also included relatives of hostages who are not American, along with other Israeli families impacted by the Israel-Hamas war. The families of the eight American hostages are still seeking a private audience with Netanyahu.

US official says White House now expecting Biden to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday

A US official tells The Times of Israel that the White House “expects” US President Joe Biden to meet with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

Biden is slated to return to the White House on Tuesday after quarantining for five days with COVID.

Biden will also meet this week with a group of relatives of American hostages being held in Gaza, a representative of the families tells The Times of Israel, adding that the timing still needs to be finalized.

Schedule update shows Biden will return to White House on Tuesday

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden will return to the White House on Tuesday after spending nearly a week at his personal residence recovering from COVID and the first time since dropping his reelection bid, according to his official schedule.

Biden is expected to leave his beach home in Delaware on Tuesday afternoon and arrive at the White House at 2:30 p.m., according to the schedule.

Families of US-Israeli hostages say they urged Biden’s aides to keep pressing PM for deal

The families of the American-Israeli hostages urged the Biden administration to continue pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage-ceasefire deal during their meeting Monday with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk, according to a readout issued by the captives’ relatives.

Echoing a message they shared with reporters during a briefing earlier in the day, the families told Sullivan and McGurk that they expect Netanyahu to announce that he has finalized the deal to bring their family members home during his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

“Anything less, they said, would constitute an abject failure of his trip to Washington,” the statement from the families says.

During the hour-long White House meeting, the sides discussed the ongoing negotiations to release the remaining 120 hostages, including eight US citizens. The families “emphasized that there is a solid deal on the table and that securing it hinges on the political determination and cooperation from both sides involved,” the readout adds.

The American hostage families thank members of the administration for their support, including Sullivan, who has met with them 12 times.

Kamala Harris aide says VP will meet Netanyahu at White House, doesn’t announce time

Then-senator Kamala Harris, left, hosted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office, November 2017. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

WASHINGTON — US Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week at the White House, her office reiterates as the premier’s separate sit-down with US President Joe Biden is in jeopardy due to the latter’s bout with COVID-19.

Harris’s office and National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last week that the vice president would meet Netanyahu when he was in town. In a statement, Harris’s office is now offering more information regarding the meeting, but does not however announce a time for the sit-down.

The statement attributed to a Harris aide says the vice president will use the meeting with Netanyahu to convey “her view that it is time for the war to end in a way in which Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday that he had agreed to dispatch Israel’s hostage negotiating team to meet with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on Thursday, and the Harris aide says the vice president will raise the ongoing efforts to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal when meeting the premier.

“We anticipate she will underscore her commitment to ensure Israel can defend itself from threats from Iran and Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas. She will again condemn Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack on October 7, and horrific sexual violence. She will reiterate her deep concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the loss of innocent life,” the statement from the Harris aide says.

The vice president’s office goes on to confirm that she will not preside over Netanyahu’s Wednesday speech to a joint session of Congress, as she will be in Indianapolis for a previously scheduled event. “Her travel to Indianapolis should not be interpreted as a change in her position with regard to Israel.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Ben Cardin will preside over the address along with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the former’s office confirms to The Times of Israel. The New York Times reports that Sen. Patty Murray was originally asked to stand in for Harris, but declined.

The statement from Harris’s aide also makes a point to highlight the vice president’s pro-Israel record, amid a drumbeat of media reports that have presented her as a more critical foil to Biden.

“Throughout her career, the vice president has had an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel. That remains true today,” the aide says.

“Since October 7, she has been deeply engaged with Israeli officials as part of our administration’s support for Israel as it works to eliminate the threat of Hamas,” the aide says, pointing to calls and meetings she has held with President Isaac Herzog and former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz along with over 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu that she has also joined.

The aide points out that she has repeatedly condemned Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and expressed support for Israel’s right to self-defense.

She has also met with former hostages and hosted an event at the White House that highlighted Hamas’s use of sexual violence, the Harris aide adds.

Biden says COVID to keep him at home ‘for next 3-4 days,’ jeopardizing sit-down with Netanyahu

US President Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden says he will be “out of people’s hair for the next three-four days” due to COVID, in what could jeopardize chances for his scheduled White House meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A hoarse Biden makes the revelation while phoning in to a campaign event for the new Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Kamala Harris. These are his first public comments since he published a letter about his decision to not seek re-election on X, where he subsequently endorsed his vice president.

Netanyahu’s office early last week announced that the prime minister would depart Israel on Sunday in order to meet Biden at the White House on Monday. But Biden tested positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday, leading Netanyahu’s office to push his departure until Monday morning, while declaring that the White House meeting would take place on Tuesday.

Biden still needs to test negative for COVID, though, and will not return to Washington until he does.

Given that Biden was still in Delaware Monday evening, Netanyahu’s office acknowledged to reporters that the Tuesday meeting was likely in jeopardy.

The White House has never announced a time for the meeting, even as Netanyahu’s office continues doing so. The Biden administration sufficed with saying that the president planned to meet Netanyahu while the prime minister is in town. It said Vice President Kamala Harris would also meet with Netanyahu but that sit-down hasn’t been finalized either.

The three to four day timeframe that Biden offered would mean he wouldn’t be available until Thursday or Friday. Netanyahu had planned to return to Israel on Thursday evening after giving his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

However, the premier is also trying to schedule a meeting with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who Politico reports will likely not be free until after a own campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday evening.

It’s unclear where that meeting would be held if Trump agrees, but a sit-down with both the Republican nominee and Biden on the same day might be difficult to organize for both scheduling and political reasons, as Netanyahu seeks to avoid alienating either Republicans or Democrats.

Because he doesn’t fly over the Sabbath, the prime minister will have to stay in the US for through at least Saturday if he doesn’t leave for Israel by Thursday night, in what would make this a nearly weeklong trip abroad in the middle of a war.

Biden vows to keep working to end Gaza war, return the hostages in first remarks since quitting race

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 22, 2024. (Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP)

US President Joe Biden vows to continue working to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza during his final months in office, in his first public remarks since ending his reelection bid.

“I’ll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end, and Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home,” Biden says in a call into his campaign headquarters, which has transitioned to supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I think we’re on the verge of being able to do that.”

Phoning in from his beach home, Biden urges his supporters to embrace Harris, saying his decision to drop out of the race was the “right thing” to have done.

“I want to say to the team, embrace her. She’s the best,” Biden says.

“I know yesterday’s news is surprising and it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” he says of his decision to drop out.

Biden calls in to Kamala Harris' campaign event and says dropping out was "the right decision." pic.twitter.com/7N5OXoi0Jn

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 22, 2024

Enhanced security measures in place at DC hotel where Netanyahu is staying

Police stand guard outside the Watergate Hotel as pro-Palestinian activists demonstrate ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, July 22, 2024. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Security is tight at the Watergate Hotel in Washington as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s convoy arrives.

Police have shut down streets around the hotel and erected two lines of black fences around the facility, a measure not taken during previous visits.