ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 426
The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
The relatives of the eight American hostages being held in Gaza criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress earlier today as “political theater.”
“While we recognize the importance of some of the issues Prime Minister Netanyahu focused on in his address to Congress, we were profoundly disappointed he failed to deliver the message we have been waiting to hear for 292 days: the hostages are coming home,” the families say in a statement.
“He failed to present any new solutions or a new path forward. Above all, he failed to commit to the hostage deal that is now on the table even though Israel’s senior defense and intelligence officials have called on him to do so,” the American hostage families say.
“We need to put everything else aside and stop delaying for domestic political gains. Prime Minister Netanyahu, get the deal done and bring our loved ones home before it is too late.”
Hamas says in a statement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks to Congress on intensified efforts to release hostages from Gaza are “pure lies and misleading to the Israeli, US, and global public opinion.”
Netanyahu told US lawmakers on Wednesday that his government was actively engaged in seeking the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
“He was the one who thwarted all efforts to end the war and reach a deal to release hostages despite ongoing efforts by mediators from brothers in Egypt and Qatar,” the Hamas statement says.
The body of Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20 has been recovered from Gaza and brought to Israel in a military operation, the head of the local council in his hometown of Lehavim says.
Ahimas was killed along with other soldiers in the forward command team of Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, as they battled Hamas terrorists near Kibbutz Nirim on October 7.
The remains of Ahimas and two other slain soldiers were abducted into Gaza during the fighting.
The announcement marks the third body announced recovered on Wednesday. Earlier, Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak announced that the body of hostage Oren Goldin was recovered, and Kibbutz Nir Oz announced that the body of Maya Goren had also been brought back to Israel.
Ahimas will be buried in Lehavim on Thursday evening. A funeral was held for him on November 29, 54 days after he was killed. He is survived by his parents, Moshe and Anat, and his siblings Maya, Gil, Eyal, and his twin brother Amir, as well as his girlfriend Shay-li Hen.
Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak announces that the body of hostage Oren Goldin has been recovered from Gaza in a military operation.
Earlier, Kibbutz Nir Oz announced that the body of Maya Goren had also been recovered.
Goldin was a member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s civilian defense team and was killed on the morning of October 7.
For more than a month, Goldin was considered missing, and he was thought to be held captive in Gaza. Then on November 9, his family was informed that his death had been confirmed.
“For almost 10 months, we have called and wished for the return of his body to Israel so that he could be buried in the home he loved so much,” the kibbutz says.
He is survived by his wife, Oshrit Masala, and their two-year-old twins, Aviv and Ilay, as well as his parents Adi and Yair and siblings Rani and Shai.
Goldin, a native of the kibbutz, ran its mechanic shop.
Protesters climb the flagpoles outside Washington’s Union Station and replace the American flags with Palestinian flags.
Dozens of officers wearing helmets and carrying riot shields walked in a line down a street outside Union Station, which is one of the nation’s busiest railroad terminals. Protesters cheer as a fire burned what appeared to be a paper-mache likeness of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An Associated Press reporter saw at least four people taken into custody by police during the confrontation outside Union Station.
Thousands of demonstrators had gathered in Washington to protest as Netanyahu spoke in front of Congress
Families of the hostages held by the Hamas terror group expressed bitter disappointment at a rally in Tel Aviv that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not announce a deal to free their loved ones during his speech to Congress.
“This evening, as the prime minister delivered his speech to Congress, thousands of supporters gathered in Hostages Square. They came to watch the broadcast of the speech and hear addresses from family members of the hostages, hoping to hear the prime minister utter the crucial words: ‘There’s a deal,'” says a statement from the Hostages Families Forum.
“Benjamin Netanyahu, I expected, hoped, wished that you would open your speech with ‘We have a signed deal.’ But again and again, you’re not doing what you should have done 292 days ago – bring your citizens home,” says Nissan Kalderon, brother of Ofer Kalderon.
“A leader must know when to stop everything and do just one thing – bring everyone back immediately,” he says, urging the prime minister to ignore “considerations related to your political survival.”
Kibbutz Nir Oz announces that the body of resident Maya Goren, who was taken hostage to Gaza on October 7th has been recovered by the Israel Defense Forces.
“Tonight we were informed that the body of Maya Goren was recovered in a military rescue operation,” says the kibbutz. “After nine months, she was brought home for burial.”
“The family has been informed in recent hours about the operation. The community will continue its struggle to bring back all the hostages, the living to rehabilitation and the dead for burial.”
The kibbutz says further information will be provided soon.
Goren, 56, a teacher in Nir Oz, was setting up the kibbutz’s kindergarten space on the morning of October 7 when the Hamas attack erupted, and she was snatched by the terrorists. Her husband, Avner, also 56, was murdered inside the couple’s home.
Avner was a native of the kibbutz where he was born and raised, while Maya moved there from Ramat Gan to be with him.
The couple are survived by four children, Assif, 25, Bar, 23, Gal, 21 and Dekel, 18. Bar and Dekel were in the kibbutz at the time and survived, while Asif and Gal were elsewhere.
A bill rolling back consumer protections in order to give cellphone carriers legal grounds to continue offering restricted plans to the ultra-Orthodox, passes its second and third readings 60-53 in the Knesset.
The amendment to the Communications Law gives legal grounds to how carriers currently lock in place subscriptions for Haredim, which have identifiable digits designating them as part of these rabbi-approved plans.
Used by many in the ultra-Orthodox community who shun unfiltered access to the internet, kosher phones are stripped of features such as web browsers and messaging apps and come with cheaper plans as they are only used six days of the week.
The bill makes sure those subscriptions remain impervious to Israel’s so-called portability reform of 2005, which freed most subscribers to switch carriers or plans while keeping their phone number. Its passage into law comes a year and a half after Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi rolled back the previous government’s reforms aimed at integrating ultra-Orthodox consumers into the broader cellphone market.
The reforms were vehemently opposed by Haredi lawmakers, who claimed that the government was trying to impose a more modern way of life on the ultra-Orthodox community. It led to several massive riots by Haredi extremists, who torched electronic stores in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak where ordinary cell phones were being sold.
Opponents of the bill say it cements control over consumers by rabbis and by carriers guided by financial interests. Supporters say it would afford hundreds of thousands of consumers guarantees of the integrity of the kosher phone service they’re buying.
There was some doubt ahead of the vote as to whether the bill would pass given National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s previous opposition to the bill. A vote on another Shas-backed bill was delayed until Sunday this morning because of Ben Gvir, sparking a feud between Shas and his Otzma Yehudit party.
Following the vote, Elazar Stern, a religious lawmaker from the centrist Yesh Atid party, yells at Shas MK Yinon Azulai, one of the bill’s sponsors, that the new law constitutes a “Hillul Hashem,” a desecration of God’s name.
Israel’s national anthem is loudly jeered before its soccer team kicked off play at the Paris Olympics against Mali tonight.
The game began with a massive security presence outside the stadium amid an increasingly strained international climate that has Paris’ safety efforts squarely in the spotlight.
The Israel team arrived under a heavy police escort, with motorbike riders at the front and around a dozen riot police vans following behind. Armed police officers patrolled the Parc des Princes stadium, one with a rifle resting on his shoulder.
The atmosphere outside the venue is calm. Fans from both countries mingled, holding up flags and posing for photos.
Mali fans sang proudly when their anthem was played first. When it came to Israel’s anthem, boos and whistles immediately rang out. The stadium speaker system playing the anthems then got notably louder in what seemed like an effort to drown out the jeers.
Once play began, Israeli players were booed each time they touched the ball.
Roughly 70 Democrats from the House and Senate are boycotting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing speech to a joint session of Congress based on statements from those doing so and a rough head count of those in the audience.
Netanyahu’s last speech to a joint session of Congress in 2015 saw 58 Democrats boycott.
Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib, one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress, sat through Netanyahu’s speech, holding up a small protest sign reading “Guilty of Genocide” and “War criminal,” before being asked to stop by officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays out his “broader Middle East vision” featuring a regional anti-Iran alliance.
Just as an alliance was forged after World War II to counter the Soviet threat, so America and Israel must forge a security alliance to counter the growing Iranian security threat, he says.
Netanyahu says there was a “glimpse” of that alliance on April 14 as Iran launched its missile and drone attack against Israel. “Thank you President Biden for bringing that alliance together.”
He sees this potential new alliance as a natural extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords, which he says were supported by Republicans and Democrats alike. “I think we should call it the Abraham Alliance,” he says.
He thanks former US president Trump for brokering the Abraham Accords, to GOP applause.
And he says he was relieved that Trump “emerged safe and sound from that dastardly attack on him, that dastardly attack on American democracy. There is no room for political violence in democracies,” he says to loud applause.
He thanks Trump for “all the things he did for Israel — recognizing Israeli control over the Golan Heights, confronting Iran, “recognizing Jerusalem as our capital” and moving the embassy there, adding that Jerusalem is “Israel’s eternal capital, never to be divided again.”
Netanyahu says he is “hopeful” about the future of Israel, praising the “powerful and vibrant” democracy Jews built. He also says that he is hopeful about America – “the beacon of liberty its founders envisioned back in 1776.”
He calls America a “force for light and good in a dark and dangerous world.”
“Working together, I’m confident that our two nations will vanquish the tyrants and terrorists who threaten us both,” he says.
“I promise you this – no matter how long it takes, Israel will not relent,” Netanyahu says. “Israel will not bend.” It will defend its land and its people, he says.
“We will fight until we achieve victory — victory of liberty over tyranny, victory of life over death, victory of good over evil — that’s our solemn commitment.”
Together with the US and Arab partners, we can transform the region from a backwater of repression, poverty and war into a place of prosperity and peace, he says.
He says Israel will always remain “America’s indispensable ally. Through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, Israel will always be your loyal friend and your steadfast partner.”
“Thank you for standing with Israel in our hour of need,” he says, and promises, “Together we shall defend our common civilization” and “secure a brilliant future for both our nations.”
“May God bless Israel, may God bless America and may God bless the great alliance between Israel and America forever,” he finishes to a standing ovation, as some Democrats stream quickly out of the room. Republicans, and about half the Democrats, stand and applaud.
Netanyahu says the war in Gaza would end tomorrow if Hamas “surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages.
But if it doesn’t, “Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.”
“That’s what total victory means and we will settle for nothing less,” he says.
The day after we defeat Hamas a new Gaza can emerge, he says. “My vision for that day is for a demilitarized and deradicalized Gaza.”
He says Israel “does not seek to resettle Gaza,” but must maintain overall security control for the foreseeable future to make sure Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.
Gaza should have a civilian administration run by Palestinians who don’t seek to destroy Israel, he says. “That’s not too much to ask.”
The next generation of Palestinians must learn to live alongside Jews, he says, calling for deradicalization of the Palestinians in Gaza and comparing that imperative need to what happened in Japan and Germany after World War II.
The demilitarization and deradicalization of Gaza can lead to security, prosperity and peace, he says, saying that this is his “vision” for Gaza.
Iran is behind all the turmoil in the region and beyond, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He recalls that Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, pledged to export the Islamic Revolution to the entire world.
America, “the guardian of Western civilization” and “the world’s greatest power,” stands in the way of Iran’s plan to impose radical Islam on the world.
Iran sees America as its greatest enemy, he says.
“Israel is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America,” Netanyahu says, quoting Iran’s foreign minister.
Netanyahu lays out Iranian attacks against US servicemen and diplomats in Lebanon, Africa, Iraq, and the US.
Iran understands that to truly challenge America, it must first conquer the Middle East.
But “one proud, pro-American democracy” stands in the way – Israel.
“For Iran, Israel is first, America is next. When Israel fights Hamas, we’re fighting Iran. When Israel fights Hezbollah, we’re fighting Iran. When we’re fighting the Houthis, we’re fighting Iran.”
When Israel acts to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon, it’s not only protecting Israel, he tells Congress, “we’re protecting you.”
Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies, he says, and “our victory will be your victory.”
Netanyahu highlights Israel’s fight against Iran’s proxies.
Victory over Hamas is close, says Netanyahu.
Turning to Hezbollah in Lebanon he says that, diplomatically or otherwise, “Israel will do whatever it must do” to restore security to the northern border and bring 80,000 displaced Israelis back to their homes.
He describes the Yemeni Houthi drone attack last week and Israel’s strike in response. “Those who attack Israel will pay a very heavy price,” he says.
“I know that America has our back,” he says. “I thank you for it — all sides of the aisle.”
He thanks the US for “generous military assistance,” and points out the “critical intelligence” that have helped protect both countries. “We help keep American boots off the ground,” he says.
“I deeply appreciate America’s support,” he says, adding that quick US aid can bring a quick end to the war.
He cites Winston Churchill: “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job.”
“Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster,” he says to GOP applause.
WASHINGTON — Several hostage family members wearing Yellow “Seal the Deal Now” t-shirts have been removed from the gallery during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress and detained by law enforcement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises Americans for not falling for Hamas propaganda and continuing to support Israel.
He then cites West Point urban warfare expert John Spencer, who says that Israel has implemented more measures to protect civilians than any other force in history.
“The war in Gaza has one of the lowest ratios of combatant to non-combatants in the history of urban warfare,” he says.
He blasts those who warned Israel not to go into Rafah – of which US President Joe Biden was one.
He says Israel killed more than 1,200 terrorists in Rafah, while killing “practically no civilians.”
“Because Israel got civilians out of harm’s way,” he says.
IDF soldiers “should be commended” for how they fought in Gaza, he says.
Tlaib is spoken to by an usher, and puts down her sign.
The ICC is trying to shackle Israel’s hands — to prevent Israel from defending itself, he says. If Israel is found guilty in The Hague, America and all democracies will be next, Netanyahu says.
“Israel will always defend itself,” he says to a standing ovation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “never again must never be an empty promise.”
“After October 7, never again is now,” he tells Congress.
“Incredibly, many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil,” he says. “Many stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists.”
“They should be ashamed of themselves,” he says.
Netanyahu points out that Iran is “promoting and funding” anti-Israel protests in America. He salutes the fraternity members who defended a US flag from protesters, to chants of “USA.”
“For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protesters” outside the Capitol right now.
When the tyrants of Iran — who hang gays from cranes — are funding and promoting you, “you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” Netanyahu says as the GOP cheers.
He mocks protesters’ “Gays for Gaza” signs. “They might as well hold up signs, Chickens for KFC.”
He says that the protesters don’t know what river and what sea they are chanting about.
Meanwhile, Rashida Tlaib holds up a black-and-white sign that reads “war criminal” and “guilty of genocide” as Netanyahu discusses the Jewish people’s ancient connection to the land of Israel.
Denouncing those who Israel a colonial state, he says they don’t know their history. “For nearly 4,000 years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people. It has always been our home; it will always be our home,” he says.
Netanyahu blasts the rise of antisemitism on campuses and across the US.
He castigates the heads of elite US universities, including his alma mater, who failed to speak out definitively against calls for genocide on their campuses.
“Whenever and wherever we see the scourge of antisemitism, we must condemn it and fight it,” he says.
“Don’t be fooled when the blood libels about the Jewish state” come from “those in fancy robes” who talk about justice, he warns.
He blasts Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, for accusing Israel of starving Gazans — calling the charge a complete fabrication.
If Palestinians in Gaza are not getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking. It’s because Hamas is stealing it,” he says.
He also points out all the IDF has done to warn civilians, while “Hamas does everything in its power to put Palestinian civilians in harm’s way.” He says Hamas shoots civilians trying to leave the war zone.
“For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, it’s a strategy” to end the war.
He says Hamas wants to carry out October 7 “again and again and again.” No matter the pressure,” he says, “I will never allow that to happen.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a joint session of Congress that he is confident that a hostage release and ceasefire deal can succeed.
Netanyahu introduces several members of hostage families who have accompanied him to Washington.
He describes Noa Argamani’s abduction and tells of the time he met her mother Liora as she was dying of cancer. She told him, he says, that her final wish was to see Noa one more time before she died.
Netanyahu describes Operation Arnon, the raid that rescued Noa and three other hostages.
“Noa, we are so thrilled to have you with us. Thank you,” says Netanyahu to a standing ovation.
The prime minister also points out other hostage families, including Eliyahu Bibas, the grandfather of the two small Bibas boys.
“We have with us also the families of American hostages,” Netanyahu says to applause. “The pain these families have endured is beyond words.”
“I will not rest until all their loved ones are home,” he says, as the crowd stands.
During his speech, several relatives of the hostages being held in Gaza walk out of Netanyahu’s address.
Netanyahu then says he is confident efforts to reach a deal can succeed.
He thanks President Joe Biden for “his tireless efforts” on behalf of the hostages and their families.
He thanks the president for his support after October 7, for calling Hamas “sheer evil,” for dispatching two aircraft carriers to deter a wider war, and for his visit “that will never be forgotten.” He thanks Biden for half of century of friendship with Israel and for being a proud Zionist — or, he says, as Biden calls himself, “a proud Irish-American Zionist.”
Netanyahu pledges not to rest until the hostages are home, evoking applause from everyone in the room except for a dozen or so hostage families who have remained, but are unimpressed by Netanyahu’s words.
The families of the eight American hostages had issued statements urging Netanyahu not to speak today unless it was to announce a deal, which they understood after meeting him this week that he would not do.
Netanyahu then introduces IDF soldiers who fought in Gaza. The crowd stands for an Ethiopian-Israeli officer who ran eight miles to the front to fight on October 7.
“We all honor your remarkable heroism,” says Netanyahu.
He then introduces an IDF Bedouin soldier Ashraf Bahiri who killed terrorists on October 7 in Kibbutz Be’eri. Netanyahu notes that Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze soldiers “fought together with tremendous bravery.”
He introduces two more soldiers who were injured on October 7. One raises his crutch to loud cheers.
“These are the soldiers of Israel,” he says.
“The nation shall rise like lions,” he says, quoting scripture. “They have risen like lions, The lions of Judah. The lions of Israel.”
Netanyahu stresses that IDF soldiers come from every race, religion, ethnicity, and political orientation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks the bipartisan leadership of both houses of Congress as he begins his address.
“In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel and our Arab friends…It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization,” he says to applause, “between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.”
“For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together,” he says. “Because when we stand together, something very simple happens — we win, they lose.”
“And my friends, I came to assure you of one thing today, we will win.”
Considerable applause greets the pledge.
Netanyahu then ties in the October 7 attacks in Israel with the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and 9/11, calling it “a day that will live in infamy.”
He describes the Hamas attacks as a day when “heaven turned into hell,” adding that it was like having twenty 9/11s in one day.
“They raped women. They beheaded men. They burned babies alive. They killed parents in front of their children, and children in front of their parents. They dragged 255 people into the dark dungeons of Gaza,” Netanyahu says.
He adds that Israel has brought home 135 hostages, to standing applause.
He also acknowledges freed hostage Noa Argamani, who stands and holds Sara Netanyahu’s hand.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is introduced to a standing ovation as he shakes hands with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as he arrives to address a joint session of Congress.
Three Democrats, including Rashida Tlaib, remain seated and do not clap.
The applause, whistles and cheers continue for well over a minute.
The cheers grow louder as Netanyahu takes the stage, with Republicans noticeably more enthusiastic.
WASHINGTON — Many of the lawmakers in the House chamber for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress are donning yellow ribbon pins and dog tags that were provided to them by the families of the eight American hostages being held in Gaza.
The pins and dog tags were sent to every single member of Congress along with a letter in which the American hostage families stated, “We thank you for advocating for the release of the hostages, but until they are home with their families, no one is doing enough.”
“We urge you to keep putting pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu and the world’s leaders to bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza once and for all,” the letter adds.
Sara Netanyahu, wearing an orange pantsuit, to honor the Bibas family taken hostage by Hamas, enters the spectators gallery to applause.
The gallery is now silent as she takes her place next to Yaakov and Noa Argamani, a freed hostage. She speaks to Noa, who is wearing white, at some length. Other hostage families join her row as well.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to address a joint session of the US Congress for the fourth time.
Netanyahu’s speech is expected to focus on the Iranian threat. The Israeli leader is also planning to lay out his vision for post-war control of the Gaza Strip, the Walla news site reports.
Dozens of lawmakers, mostly Democrats, are boycotting the speech, set to begin at 9 p.m. Israel time (2 p.m. EDT.)
The gallery in the US Capitol is starting to fill up with lawmakers from both houses, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is wearing a keffiyeh and Palestinian flag pin and is inside the hall.
The Republican side, to the speaker’s left, is noticeably more full at this stage.
Dozens of Democrats are expected to boycott the speech.
Joining me in the chamber today is Hani Almadhoun, who has lost over 150 members of his extended family in Netanyahu’s genocide. After witnessing his sister forced to eat animal feed, he and his family were determined to start a soup kitchen to feed their starving neighbors. pic.twitter.com/H5Wtj2N1Ql
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) July 24, 2024
Aryeh Deri, the leader of Shas who was an observer in the now defunct war cabinet, has not been attending meetings for several weeks on a potential Israel-Hamas ceasefire-hostage deal, Channel 12 news reports.
Deri has attended no such meetings since the war cabinet was disbanded following the June 9 departure from the coalition of Benny Gantz and his National Unity party. Deri has also returned a telephone issued to him for purposes connected to those meetings and is not interacting with the relevant security officials either.
Deri’s office refuses to comment on the report.
The TV report speculates that Deri is fed up with being targeted — including by protesters outside his home — over the failure thus far to finalize a deal when he has long favored one.
Tesla chief Elon Musk has said he will attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s address in the US Capitol on Wednesday as a guest of the Israeli prime minister, Bloomberg News reports, citing a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson.
President Joe Biden is set to insist at their White House meeting tomorrow that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stand behind the terms of the Israeli proposal, as detailed by the president at the end of May, according to messages received in Israel from the US, Channel 12 news reports.
Biden is likely to be “very forceful” in their meeting, the report says, and will press Netanyahu to back away from his demand for a mechanism to prevent the return of armed gunmen to northern Gaza when civilians are allowed back under the terms of the deal, and to accept an arrangement reached between Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the US and the Egyptians regarding the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border.
If Netanyahu seeks to stick to his recently unveiled nonnegotiable demands, the meeting “will not be simple,” the TV channel’s diplomatic report assesses, whereas if Biden pushes hard enough, there will be a deal.
Unveiling the Israeli proposal on May 31, Biden said he had “urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes.”
Netanyahu earlier today delayed the departure of Israel’s negotiators for resumed talks until after tomorrow’s White House meeting with Biden.
The TV report quotes an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations saying, “All the weight is now on Netanyahu’s shoulders. This is his moment of truth. Because it is clear that the Americans, the [Egyptian and Qatari] mediators and all the senior members of Israel’s security establishment are saying: The conditions are ripe [for an agreement].”
Those senior Israeli security figures are said to include Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Bar and IDF pointman Nitzan Alon.
The unnamed source continues: “And therefore if Netanyahu returns from Washington without a deal, it will be clear that he is the one making difficulties on our side.”
A separate Channel 12 report says that Netanyahu is demanding that the US, and specifically Biden, sign a document recognizing “Israel’s right to resume” its military campaign against Hamas after the first, 42-day stage of the deal.
A 10-year-old child suffering from encephalitis is on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Ziv Hospital in Safed, the Health Ministry reports, confirming that the boy contracted a very rare “brain-eating amoeba”
The ministry’s epidemiological investigation confirmed that the boy contracted the disease as a result of a rare amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, at Gai Beach water park in Tiberias.
This is the same location where a 25-year-old man contracted the Naegleria fowleri disease and died in early July.
The ministry orders the park closed immediately. Environmental health inspectors had examined the beach after the first case was reported, but no initial evidence of amoeba contamination was found.
The ministry also requests that if a person who has been to the water park and experienced one or more of the following symptoms — fever, headache, blurred vision or vomiting — go to the nearest hospital’s emergency room.
The mortality rate from encephalitis, an infection of the brain, caused by the amoeba is extremely high, and while infection is extremely rare, it is often fatal.
In August 2022, a 36-year-old man died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection caused by the same amoeba.
These are the only three recorded cases in Israel. Only some 400 cases have ever been diagnosed worldwide.
President Isaac Herzog arrives in Paris and pays a visit to the Israeli delegation at the Olympic village, telling them that their presence at the games this year goes far beyond sports.
“Go in strength, show up, collect medals and achievements for the sake of Israeli sports,” Herzog tells the group, according to a statement from the Olympic Committee of Israel. “But this year, it’s about so much more than Israeli sport.”
Herzog points to the presence of head judo coach Oren Smadga, whose son, Omer, was killed fighting in Gaza last month: “The fact that Omer Smadga is here with us says everything. It causes us tears and great emotion. My dear Oren, you are an example to all of us, to the whole Israeli people.”
The president also tells the group that it’s possible “somewhere out there in Gaza, it could be that one of the hostages will see you for a second, and you will give them strength… this year we want to see the flag of Israel in every arena everywhere in the world.”
Herzog — the first Israeli leader to attend the Olympics since 2008 — is accompanied by his wife, Michal, Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar and the widows of two of the Israelis murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics: Ilana Romano and Ankie Spitzer. The president is slated to attend tonight’s Israel-Mali soccer game, as well as a ceremony commemorating the 11 Israelis killed in the Palestinian terror attack on the 1972 Games, and will also be at the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday evening.
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the US Congress ahead of his speech.
Netanyahu is met by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara strongly objects to a petition filed by the Palestinian Authority against two recently passed laws providing for compensation and damages for the victims of terrorism from the terrorists themselves and their financial supporters, including the PA.
In her response to the petition written for the attorney general by the State Attorney’s Office, Baharav-Miara points out that the Palestinian Authority “pays every year, by virtue of a series of laws it legislated, massive sums to those who were involved in acts of terrorism,” including to the terrorists themselves or their relatives, through salaries, benefits and stipends.
“It cannot be considered appropriate that a court in Israel would open its gates to the Palestinian Authority and hear its arguments about the supposed injury to its constitutional rights, while it continues with its abhorrent and disgraceful policy,” says the attorney general in her response.
She adds that the state will argue that it is inappropriate for the court to even entertain the Palestinian Authority’s petition and should be rejected outright, since it is “contrary to public policy” in light of the fact that through the petition the PA is seeking to continue with its policy of “rewarding terrorists and their relatives.”
Baharav-Miara adds that the court should also reject the petition because the PA fails in its petition to acknowledge that it provides payments to terrorists but yet seeks to have Knesset legislation holding it liable for such actions annulled; because relations between Israel and the PA must be conducted on the diplomatic level as stipulated in diplomatic agreements the two sides have signed; and because the PA failed to explain in its petition why the constitutional rights it claims under Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty should apply to it.
The PA’s petition is unprecedented and is the first time it has petitioned the High Court of Justice.
High Court Justice Alex Stein, a conservative, ruled in May that the court would hear the petition and that the respondents, the Knesset, the government and the attorney general must file responses to the petition.
A court hearing has been set for August 4.
WASHINGTON — At a memorial service for Senator Joe Lieberman at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points at Jewish Democrats’ support for the destruction of Hamas.
“Hours before his passing, he was editing the final draft of a statement that he and Alan Dershowitz had co-authored backing Israel’s war in Gaza. His last written words, I believe, were the following: ‘We believe that Israel must be allowed to achieve its legitimate goal of disabling Hamas,’” Netanyahu says.
“After October 7th,” says Netanyahu, “Joe understood that what was at stake in this war was the survival of the Jewish state and hence, the survival of the Jewish people. “
Netanyahu says that Lieberman understood how important the US-Israel alliance was for both countries: “He knew that we must stand together against dangers that could threaten our common future. This is why he spent his last years as the head of an organization united against a nuclear Iran. He knew how dangerous our world would become if Iran were ever to develop and acquire nuclear weapons.”
The event is attended by legislators from both parties, former vice president Mike Pence and Lieberman’s widow Hadassah.
Former US vice president Al Gore speaks before Netanyahu, focusing on Lieberman’s support for climate change policies.
Families of the hostages express outrage over the delay of the departure of the negotiating team to Qatar until next week.
The delay comes with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington to address Congress. Israeli sources say the delay is due to the prime minister’s meeting with US President Joe Biden being postponed until Thursday.
“Instead of proclaiming before Congress that he accepts the deal on the table, Netanyahu is stopping the deal from going ahead for personal reasons,” says Einav Zangauker, mother of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker.
“Even if we learn of additional dead hostages in the Hamas tunnels, he will continue on his public relations tour of the US and continue dragging his feet,” she says.
The Hostage families are holding a protest march from Dizengoff Square to the Hostages Square, where they will watch Netanyahu’s address, followed by a rally.
Police have taken people into custody near the US Capitol at a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war against Hamas in Gaza. A handful of people are led away by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, while others chant for them to be released.
More than 1,000 people gather on Pennsylvania Avenue within sight of the Capitol building. Protesters carry signs branding Netanyahu a war criminal.
A large group of protesters march toward the Capitol after blocking a nearby intersection and calling for a “student intifada,” invoking an Arabic word for “uprising.”
“Shut it down!” they repeatedly chant.
“Bibi, Bibi, We’re not done! The intifada has just begun!” they also shout, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Across the street from Union Station, Jewish Americans gathered for a prayer service led by T’ruah, an organization of rabbis calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Rabbi Bill Plevan, of New York, says he believed prayer could be a catalyst for peace.
“We’re here to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress,” he said. “We’re here to say we don’t stand by his policies. As American Jews, we don’t support this war.”
WASHINGTON — Tesla CEO and X Executive Director Elon Musk arrives at Congress, shortly ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech.
It is unclear if he is there to attend the address.
Netanyahu and Musk spoke at length during the premier’s visit to the Tesla factory in September.
SPOTTED: Elon Musk is in the Capitol.
He just walked into the House. He wouldn’t say why he’s here. pic.twitter.com/bmMCBlQ5Tb
— Mychael Schnell (@mychaelschnell) July 24, 2024
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein submits a bill to cancel discharges granted to IDF reservists under the exemption age for reserve military service.
“In light of the continuation of Operation Swords of Iron and in view of the burden currently placed on reservists, the circle of reservists must be expanded through a reexamination of the exemptions given to reservists, not due to age, and an examination of the reassignment of reservists who did not receive an exemption from reserve service and were not called to reserve service from the start of Operation Swords of Iron,” the bill explains.
Under the terms of the proposal, reservists would be recalled to duty unless they are granted a new exemption after a case-by-case examination.
According to Channel 12, around 170,000 such exemptions have been granted over the past ten years.
In late June, Edelstein delayed a vote on extending a temporary measure raising the exemption age for reserve military service from 40 to 41 for soldiers and from 45 to 46 for officers for several additional months, stating that he would allow it to pass without consensus in his coalition.
The IDF is suffering manpower shortages caused by the hostilities on the northern border and the ongoing war in Gaza, which began on October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
On Sunday, the army sent out the first batch of 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 on Sunday morning, in the first of three such waves scheduled for the coming four weeks.
Edelstein’s committee is currently debating the text of an ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill.
WASHINGTON — Roughly 100 Democratic lawmakers, most of whom plan to boycott Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress later today, are currently holding an event in the basement of the Capitol with three relatives of the hostages being held in Gaza.
“These are Israelis who came here, not to interfere in American presidential politics or to go visit Mar-a-Lago or anything like that. They are here to get the hostages home, and that’s why we’re all here,” Rep. Jamie Raskin says of the captives’ families in a slight at Netanyahu, who will be meeting with Trump in Florida on Friday.
Efrat Machikawa, whose uncle Gadi Mozes is being held by Hamas, tells the lawmakers: “Citizens should not have to actively engage in being the voice of their beloved ones who are held underground term in underground tunnels.”
“This should have been the first priority of our representatives in the Israeli government and our prime minister. The fact we have today here means something is terribly wrong,” she says as lawmakers nod along.
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi reads from an Israeli poem from which she has long taken inspiration during the meeting.
“I have no other country. Although my land is burning, my veins, my soul with an aching body and with a hungry heart, here is my home,” Pelosi says as she reads from Ehud Manor’s “I Have No Other Land.”
“I will not be silent. For my country has changed her face. I will not give up on her, I shall remind her and sing into her ears, until she opens her eyes,” she says, folding up the paper with the poem on it.
“Let’s hope that Netanyahu opens his eyes,” Pelosi says, thanking the hostages for their courage.
WASHINGTON — Several hundred anti-Israel protesters have gathered about a half mile from the Capitol ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress.
The demonstrators chant for an intifada and declare that “resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
One of the protesters holds a sign calling on “Satanyahu” to “return to Europe.”
Israel’s negotiating team will not travel to Qatar tomorrow and will delay their departure, an Israeli source says.
The source says the reason for the delay is the postponement of the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden until Thursday.
The source says Netanyahu intends to discuss the emerging deal with Biden to plan how to proceed.
The source says the delegation will depart for talks after the meeting but does not say when. The Walla news site reports the delegation may only leave next week.
The source emphasized that despite the delay negotiators continue to talk to the mediators.
Around 1,000 French police officers will be on duty Wednesday evening to protect Israel’s soccer match against Mali at the Paris Olympics where protests are also expected, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says.
The game involving the Israeli team at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, as well as the Ukraine-Iraq match in the southeastern city of Lyon, has been identified by French security forces as high risk.
“All the competitions have a security plan, but it’s true that these two matches, and particularly the match at the Parc des Princes, will have security, an anti-terror perimeter,” Darmanin told BFM television and RMC radio.
“Tonight at the Parc des Princes there will be a thousand police officers who will ensure that we are there for the sport,” he added.
President Isaac Herzog will attend the match.
All Israeli athletes at the Paris Games, which start officially on Friday, will have round-the-clock personal security provided by elite French police, both inside the Olympic Village and every time they leave the compound in northern Paris.
A French police source tells AFP that security forces were “expecting actions and disturbances around the stadium” and said it was possible that “people shout insults from the stands” or that there is “whistling and flags shown during the anthems, for example.”
A man who severely injured author Salman Rushdie in a frenzied knife attack in western New York faces a new charge that he supported a terrorist group.
An indictment unsealed in US District Court in Buffalo on Wednesday charges Hadi Matar with providing material support to Hezbollah, a terror group based in Lebanon and backed by Iran. The indictment didn’t detail what evidence linked Matar to the group.
The federal charge comes after Matar earlier this month rejected an offer by state prosecutors to recommend a shorter prison sentence if he agreed to plead guilty in Chautauqua County Court, where he is charged with attempted murder and assault. The agreement also would have required him to plead guilty to a federal terrorism-related charge, which hadn’t been filed yet at the time.
Instead, both cases will now proceed to trial separately. Jury selection in the state case is set for Oct. 15.
Matar, 26, has been held without bail since the 2022 attack, during which he stabbed Rushdie more than a dozen times as the acclaimed writer was onstage about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. Knife wounds blinded Rushdie in one eye. The event moderator, Henry Reese, was also wounded.
A soldier of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit was seriously wounded earlier today during fighting in southern Gaza’s Rafah, the military says.
Additionally, yesterday, a soldier with the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion was seriously hurt during fighting in Rafah, the IDF adds.
The IDF releases footage showing a tunnel shaft found in a child’s bedroom in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Troops of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion found the tunnel while searching a home in Rafah’s Shaboura camp.
According to the military, several weapons were found inside the shaft, which was hidden beneath a bed.
Another published by the IDF shows troops of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion engaged in a battle with gunmen in a building in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood.
The IDF says the gunmen were killed in the exchange.
Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah and an observation post in southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa a short while ago, the IDF says.
Additional Hezbollah posts were struck in Qalaat Debba and Kafr Kila, the military adds.
מטוסי קרב תקפו מבנה צבאי ועמדת תצפית של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב טיר חרפא שבדרום לבנון.
בנוסף, הותקפו עמדות תצפית של הארגון במרחבים קלעת דבה וכפר כילא שבדרום לבנון. pic.twitter.com/f6B862KRKb
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) July 24, 2024
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant slams far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for claiming to have prayed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and saying this is now allowed.
“Itamar Ben-Gvir is constantly trying to blow up the Middle East,” Gallant posts on X in English. “I categorically reject any ideas of hurting the Status Quo in the holy city of Jerusalem.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir is constantly trying to blow up the Middle East.
I categorically reject any ideas of hurting the Status Quo in the holy city of Jerusalem.
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) July 24, 2024
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City is the holiest place in Judaism, as the site of the two biblical temples. Known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
It has been a frequent flashpoint for violence.
The vague status quo governing the compound allows Muslims to pray and enter with few restrictions, while non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit only during limited time slots via a single gate, with visibly religious Jews only allowed to walk on a predetermined route, closely accompanied by police. While Jews are not officially allowed to pray, police have increasingly tolerated limited, quiet prayer.
National Unity chief Benny Gantz calls on Benjamin Netanyahu to “put your money where your mouth is” on a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, arguing that the prime minister is delaying an announcement for political reasons.
“The outline we drew up for the return of the hostages in the war cabinet about two months ago,” which was subsequently publicly presented by US President Joe Biden, has been accepted, “could have been advanced weeks ago and it should be implemented in a short period of time,” Gantz tells reporters in the Knesset.
“The hostages do not have another day, and there is not another minute. Since the previous outline, we have lost a quarter of the living hostages,” he says, referring to last November’s ceasefire deal.
“We have a moral obligation to return everyone — the living as well as those who died — to their families. The fact that the Israeli delegation has been waiting without instructions for over a week, because at the political level there are those who are waiting for the recess of the Knesset in order to move forward, is the painful proof that political considerations have penetrated the holy of holies of Israel’s security and issues of life and death.
“Mr. Prime Minister, if you stand behind the outline we agreed on together” then it is time to “put your money where your mouth is,” he says, switching briefly to English.
“If you do not intend to return the hostages, because you think the plan is not good enough, and cannot guarantee Israel’s security: stand up to the citizens of Israel and tell them the truth – however complex, difficult and painful it may be. Political consideration must not come before the security of the country, its resilience, and the return of the hostages.”
But Netanyahu “will receive full backing from the people, and political backing as well” if he approves the outline, allowing Israel to pivot to restoring security in the north, Gantz continues.
He calls on Netanyahu to work to return the displaced residents of the north to their homes after this fall’s High Holidays, and argues that it is a security imperative to replace Hamas with an international administration in Gaza while building a regional alliance to stop Iran, which “is advancing toward nuclear weapons and striving for regional hegemony.”
However, instead the coalition is instead busy with bills rolling back reforms on kosher phones and granting additional authority to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, he continues, complaining that the ultranationalist politician is “knowingly endangering the security of the country with irresponsible statements, and the Prime Minister is negotiating with him about entering the Holy of Holies of Israel’s security.”
Ben Gvir, who this morning claimed that Jewish prayer is now allowed on the Temple Mount, has been pushing for inclusion in a proposed high-level decision-making body to manage the war in Gaza.
British police arrested nine people during a protest against arms exports to Israel that briefly blocked the street outside the foreign ministry.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Britain have been campaigning for a government ban on arms sales to Israel following its offensive on Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack.
Last week new Foreign Minister David Lammy, who has said he wants a balanced position on Israel and Gaza, said a blanket ban on arms exports to Israel would not be right, but he would follow a quasi-judicial process in assessing whether sales of offensive weapons that could be used in Gaza could proceed.
London’s Metropolitan Police says protesters arrived outside Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and blocked pedestrian and vehicle access. Police then said the protest could only continue if it left the central arch of the street clear.
“When the group failed to comply with the conditions, officers intervened and made nine arrests, quickly restoring access,” a Met Police spokesperson says.
While in opposition, Lammy earlier this year said the government should suspend the sale of UK arms if there were a clear risk they might be used in a serious breach of humanitarian law.
Now in government, he said last week he requested on his first day in office an assessment of the legal situation and that he hoped to be able to communicate any decisions with “full accountability and transparency.”
WASHINGTON — The White House issues its formal statement about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting tomorrow with US President Joe Biden and subsequent sit-down with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The leaders will discuss developments in Gaza and progress towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal and the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, including countering Iran’s threats to Israel and the broader region,” the White House says.
Following the leaders’ meeting, they will meet together with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas, the statement adds.
Candace Owens, a far-right influencer who has been accused in recent months of advancing antisemitic tropes, will no longer attend an upcoming campaign fundraiser for Donald Trump, Jewish Insider reports.
The report, citing a source familiar with the event, says news of her plans to attend sparked a backlash from conservative critics and Jewish allies of Trump.
Owens had been expected to attend the event to 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’s seeming embrace of Christian antisemitic tropes, including that Jews imbibe blood.
President Isaac Herzog and his delegation are allowed to leave their plane at a Paris airport after being held on board for 40 minutes after landing due to a security scare, a spokesperson says.
“The president and his delegation have now disembarked and resumed the schedule as planned,” the spokesperson says without giving details of the incident.
The Walla news site reports that a suspicious person was seen on a nearby roof as they landed.
The Israeli delegation to the Paris Olympic Games is being provided with enhanced security amid threats and calls for Israel to be excluded over the war with Hamas in Gaza.
The German police 53 properties around the country, including a prominent mosque in Hamburg. The raids come hours after the government banned an organization accused of being an “outpost” of Iran’s theocracy, promoting the ideology of its leadership and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations around Germany followed searches in November. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”
The IZH “promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” while it and its suborganizations “also support the terrorists of Hezbollah and spread aggressive antisemitism,” Faeser says in a statement.
Her ministry says that “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,’ the IZH disseminates the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in an aggressive and militant way and seeks to bring about such a revolution in the Federal Republic of Germany.”
The distinctive blue-tiled Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, the group’s most prominent facility, was among the properties raided by police early this morning. There were also raids in Berlin and six other German states.
The IZH has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which said in its annual report for 2023 that it is Iran’s most important representative in Germany beside the country’s embassy.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his delegation are forced to remain on their aircraft after landing in Paris amid a security incident, Hebrew media report.
A spokesperson for Herzog tells the Israel Hayom paper the “incident is over,” but does not give further details.
Herzog is in Paris to support the Israeli team at the Olympic Games.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany had made no decision so far to end its supply of weapons to Israel despite a report last week from the United Nations’ highest court on Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Asked if the report, which declared Israeli settlements to be illegal, might change Germany’s military support for Israel, Scholz said his government had not made a decision on this matter.
“But of course, we decide on a case-by-case basis,” he told an annual summer news conference.
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s car was sabotaged by “special security agents” in order to assassinate him, Iran International reports.
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad’s security team sent the former president’s Toyota Land Cruiser for repairs due to a broken air conditioner, the dissident outlet says.
But after being handed over to the “presidential institution” where repairs usually take place, the agents took the vehicle to an unknown location before bringing it back with the “false claim” the problem had been fixed, according to unnamed sources cited by the outlet.
The former president’s security chief had told Ahmadinejad to take a different car to a religious mourning ceremony on July 15 after finding the air conditioner had not been repaired, the report says.
According to the report, Ahmadinejad’s driver lost control of the Toyota Land Cruiser’s steering and brakes on the way to the event, crashing into a highway barrier and another vehicle in the convoy, and finally stopped after hitting a Peugeot.
Only the former president’s associates and bodyguards were on board, the report says.
A passenger in the Peugeot was lightly injured and discharged from hospital after treatment.
The report says only high-ranking members of certain subdivisions of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have the authority to seize such a vehicle. However, the sources did not specify to what state body the agents belonged.
The IDF responds to Hezbollah’s drone video showing the Ramat David Airbase, saying that the “activity of the base was not harmed.”
“The video released by Hezbollah was filmed by an unmanned aerial vehicle for photography purposes only,” the military says in a statement.
The IDF says it has been operating against Hezbollah’s aerial forces, striking hundreds of sites belonging to the unit in Lebanon in recent months.
“The Air Force uses all means to protect the skies of the State of Israel and will continue to do so,” the IDF adds.
The IDF does not elaborate on whether it identified the drone that flew over the airbase, located some 50 kilometers from the Lebanon border.
Israel’s policy “to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The statement comes in response to his National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s claim that he prayed on the Temple Mount during his visit last week.
Other members of the governing coalition have publicly panned Ben Gvir for his statements around the sensitive site.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he would prefer if GOP candidate Donald Trump wins the 2024 US presidential election, claiming it would be better for Israel.
“I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran,” Ben Gvir tells Bloomberg. “With Trump it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated.”
“The US has always stood behind Israel in terms of armaments and weapons, yet this time the sense was that we were being reckoned with — that we were trying to be prevented from winning,” Ben Gvir says. “That happened on Biden’s watch and fed Hamas with lots of energy.”
The comments are published just hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to address US Congress and the day before the premier was expected to meet US President Joe Biden before flying to Florida to meet Trump.
Ben Gvir acknowledges that his endorsement of Trump could be seen unfavorably by his colleagues.
“A cabinet minister is supposed to maintain neutrality, but that’s impossible to do after Biden,” he says
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Shas chief Aryeh Deri leftists who are undermining national security, following their opposition to his inclusion in a proposed high-level decision-making body for the management of the war in Gaza.
Both Gallant and Deri are “left-wing” and represent a flawed security “conception” that believes in restraint in the north and waffling in the south, Ben Gvir tweets, accusing the pair of “striving for a reckless deal and the end of the war.”
“This is the reason why this duo opposes my joining the limited forum: because my perception is that decisive results should be sought in both the south and the north, and the hostages should be brought back, but not through surrender — through military pressure and decisive actions.”
Earlier today, Gallant accused Ben Gvir of being “a pyromaniac who is trying to set fire to the Middle East” and said that he “oppose[s] any negotiations to put him in the war cabinet.”
According to the Ynet news site, Deri has “vetoed” Ben Gvir’s participation in such a forum.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran condemns a report by a United Nations expert that accused the country of “atrocity crimes” against minorities and killings in the 1980s.
Javaid Rehman, the UN’s independent special rapporteur on the rights situation in Iran, on Monday called for a probe into allegations Iran committed summary, arbitrary, and extra-judicial executions in 1981-1982 and in 1988.
He said in a statement, after releasing a report with his detailed findings, that the actions “amounted to crimes against humanity of murder and extermination, as well as genocide.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani dismisses the report as an attempt by Tehran’s “enemies to tarnish the image of the Islamic Republic.”
“The claims lack any legal basis and are completely rejected,” Kanani says, accusing Rehman of “abusing his position” and spreading “false news.”
In his report, Rehman said there should be “no impunity for such gross human rights violations, regardless of when they were committed.”
“The Iranian regime and its leaders should not be allowed to escape the consequences of their crimes against humanity and genocide,” he added.
The expert, whose mandate ends on July 31, said that “the targeting and victimizing of religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities and political opponents continued with complete impunity during, and since, the first decade of the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.”
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video taken by one of its drones, showing the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel.
According to Hezbollah, the video was taken yesterday.
Ramat David Airbase is located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Lebanon border.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the footage.
Hezbollah has launched hundreds of drones at Israel amid the ongoing fighting, many of them laden with explosives but also some used for surveillance.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah published a drone video showing Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights, and before that, in June, it released a video showing the Haifa area.
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video taken by one of its drones, showing the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel.
According to Hezbollah, the video was taken yesterday.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the footage.
Hezbollah has… pic.twitter.com/LqKrssCRX5
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 24, 2024
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says there is a “pyromaniac” in the government who is “trying to ignite the Middle East,” in an apparent reference to National Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his hardline views.
“I oppose any negotiations to bring him into the war cabinet — it would allow him to implement his plans,” Gallant writes on X.
Netanyahu disbanded the war cabinet when the National Unity party withdrew from the government in June.
The prime minister was said to be in talks to include Ben Gvir in a new war-managing forum, but Kan news reported earlier that he had decided against the move to avoid embarrassment while visiting the United States.
The commander of Israel Police’s Holy Sites Unit says Jewish prayer is not allowed at the flashpoint Temple Mount holy site after National Security Minister Ben Gvir claimed early today that he prayed there during his visit last week.
Chief Superintendent Eyal Avraham says bluntly, “We do not allow [Jewish] prayer at the Temple Mount,” in a video published by the Walla news site.
Overnight, the IDF demolished the home of Muhammad Manasra, a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack at a gas station near the West Bank settlement of Eli in February, killing two Israelis.
In the attack on February 29, Manasra shot dead Rabbi Yitzhak Zeiger, 57, and Uria Hartum, 16, before being killed by the owner of a nearby hummus restaurant.
The IDF says troops operated in the West Bank village of Qalandiya overnight to demolish the home.
During the operation, troops clashed with rioters in the area. The IDF says the soldiers used riot dispersal means and live fire.
Several suspects were also arrested in Qalandiya, it adds.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.
This past week, reservists of the IDF’s Alon Brigade carried out a drill simulating fighting in Lebanon, which the military says is part of the Northern Command’s efforts to increase readiness amid heightened tensions on the northern border.
The drill included movement in complex terrain, advancing along a “mountainous route,” and using firepower in various scenarios, the IDF says.
The IDF says members of the reserve infantry brigade also practiced logistical support, communications, and extracting wounded troops under fire.
Israel has warned it can no longer tolerate Hezbollah’s presence along its border following Hamas’s October 7 atrocities and has warned that should a diplomatic solution not be reached, it will turn to military action to push Hezbollah northward.
A Palestinian Authority customs police officer was shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Tubas this morning, in an incident that the IDF says is under investigation.
According to the IDF, troops detained two wanted Palestinians over their suspected involvement in terror activity during a raid in Tubas overnight.
This morning, amid the operation, troops encountered several gunmen, the army says.
“An armed Palestinian who served as a customs officer of the Palestinian Authority was killed during the clashes,” the IDF says, adding that “the circumstances of the incident are being investigated.”
The officer is named by Palestinian media as Abdel Nasser Sarhan. Footage posted to social media shows the moment Israeli troops shot him dead.
One IDF soldier was lightly hurt during the operation, the military adds.
عاجل
لحظة اغتيال الضابط في الضابطة الجمركية الشهيد عبدالناصر سرحان ابن مخيم بلاطة في مدينة طوباس pic.twitter.com/rjgAxLjLHY— خبرني – khaberni (@khaberni) July 24, 2024
Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers slam National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for saying he prayed at the flashpoint Temple Mount holy site, charging that this is forbidden under Jewish law.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel tells the Knesset that “the great blasphemy that has been committed cannot pass quietly,” expressing “protest” at Ben Gvir’s behavior.
“I demand the prime minister not allow the status quo to change on the Temple Mount, and if there are changes, then to close the Temple Mount to Jews,” Degel Hatorah chair Moshe Gafni says in a post on X.
The religious opinion of the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate determines that due to the destroyed Jewish Temples’ Holy of Holies being located on the Temple Mount, Jewish people should not enter the compound at all.
Monday was recorded as the hottest day ever globally, beating a record set the day before, as countries around the world from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus shows that Monday broke the previous day’s record by 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
Climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the very hottest day throughout that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.
The temperature rise in recent decades is in line with what climate scientists projected would happen if humans kept burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate.
“We are in an age where weather and climate records are frequently stretched beyond our tolerance levels, resulting in insurmountable loss of lives and livelihoods,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology says.
Copernicus’ preliminary data shows the global average temperature Monday was 17.15 degrees Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous record before this week was set just a year ago. Before last year, the previous recorded hottest day was in 2016 when average temperatures were at 16.8 degrees Celsius, or 62.24 degrees Fahrenheit.
While 2024 has been extremely warm, what kicked this week into new territory was a warmer-than-usual Antarctic winter, according to Copernicus. The same thing happened on the southern continent last year when the record was set in early July.
A 10-year-old child suffering from encephalitis is on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at Ziv Hospital in Safed, the Health Ministry reports.
The ministry is now conducting an epidemiological investigation to learn if the child contracted the disease as a result of a rare amoeba, Naegleria fowleri.
In early July, a 25-year-old man who contracted encephalitis caused by Naegleria fowleri died. In August 2022, a 36-year-old man died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection caused by the same amoeba.
Those are the only two recorded cases in Israel. Only some 400 cases have ever been diagnosed worldwide.
The Naegleria fowleri amoeba lives in soil and warm freshwater, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is commonly called the “brain-eating amoeba” due to the brain infection it can cause if water containing the amoeba goes up the nose, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
It is not yet known how the boy contracted the disease.
While Naegleria fowleri thrives in warm water, most people who swim in water sources containing the amoeba do not come into contact with it.
The mortality rate from encephalitis — an infection of the brain — caused by the amoeba is extremely high.
Symptoms of infection often include headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, and a stiff neck, as well as neurological symptoms such as confusion, seizures, and hallucinations. It requires immediate medical attention.
The IDF says troops with the 98th Division are advancing in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, amid a new operation there.
The operation, launched on Monday, is being carried out by the division’s 7th Armored Brigade, Paratroopers Brigade and Commando Brigade.
The IDF has said it is operating in Khan Younis after it identified Hamas regrouping there, three months after the IDF withdrew from the city in southern Gaza. The IDF warned civilians to evacuate the area before it launched the new operation.
The troops over the past day located several tunnels, and killed several terror operatives mostly with sniper fire, the military says.
In one incident in the Khan Younis suburb of Bani Suheila, the IDF says troops of the Egoz commando unit spotted a group of gunmen in a vehicle approaching them. The troops called in a drone strike and directed tank shelling against the car, killing the operatives.
Further south, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division raided several sites belonging to terror groups and killed gunmen.
Also over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets and drones struck dozens of targets across Gaza, including buildings used by terror groups, observation posts, and other infrastructure, as well as gunmen, according to the military.
במהלך היממה החולפת צוותי הקרב של חטיבה 7, צנחנים והקומנדו פועלים בחאן יונס בפיקוד אוגדה 98. הכוחות איתרו תוואי תת-קרקע במרחב וכן חיסלו מחבלים, רובם ע״י צלפים.
במסגרת פעילות צוות הקרב של חטיבת הקומנדו במרחב בני סוהילה, זיהו לוחמי יחידת אגוז רכב נע לעברם ובו חוליית מחבלים>> pic.twitter.com/Vssazd9akr
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 24, 2024
A war-managing forum including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir will not be formed, Hebrew media reports, hours after officials in the far-right minister’s party said progress was made in talks to establish the body.
A coalition official tells Kan news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against the forming of such a body “so as not to cause embarrassment during the visit to Washington,” where the premier is set to address Congress later today.
The Ynet news site also reports that Shas chair Aryeh Deri has vetoed the inclusion of Ben Gvir in war-making decisions, even at the risk to his party’s so-called Rabbis Bill, which Ben Gvir says he is holding up until Netanyahu allows him into the high-level war-managing forum.
In response to the Ynet report, Ben Gvir posts on X, “A shame he did not veto the Oslo Accords,” a reference to Shas’s decision to abstain from voting in the Knesset on the Oslo Accords in 1993.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he prayed at the Temple Mount during a visit last week, and declares that he has changed the fragile status quo at the flashpoint site.
“I was at the Temple Mount last week. I prayed at the Temple Mount and we are praying at the Temple Mount. I am in the political echelon, and the political echelon allows Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount,” he says in a speech at a convention encouraging Jewish visits to the holy site.
In a post on X later, Ben Gvir asserts that this has been his position for half a year.
“On my watch, there will not be racist discrimination against Jews, who alone are forbidden from praying … in the holiest place for the Jewish people,” he writes.
Ben Gvir advocates changing a longstanding status quo at the contested Jerusalem holy site, which is the holiest site in Judaism as the historic location of the two Temples, and the third-holiest to Muslims, who refer to it as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound or the Noble Sanctuary.
The vague status quo governing the compound allows Muslims to pray and enter with few restrictions, while non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit only during limited time slots via a single gate, with visibly religious Jews only allowed to walk on a predetermined route, closely accompanied by police. While Jews are not officially allowed to pray, police have increasingly tolerated limited prayer.
Many Palestinians and Muslims reject the very notion that the Temple Mount is holy to Jews, having accused Israel and Zionists for around a century of secretly conspiring to destroy the mosque and replace it with a Jewish temple — a notion that is rejected by mainstream Israeli society.
The Temple Mount has been the scene of frequent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces, and tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence.
Last month, Ben Gvir announced that as far as he was concerned, Jewish prayer was now allowed on the Temple Mount — prompting a quick rebuff from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which said the status quo was unchanged.
Einav Zangauker, who last night publicized brief footage of her son Matan in Gaza, apparently filmed soon after he was abducted on October 7, says “almost 60 families” have seen footage of their loved ones from when they were abducted or early in their captivity and that they should all be allowed to publicize the material if they want to as part of the struggle for their release.
She tells Army Radio that she had to wage a lengthy battle with the authorities for permission to show the brief clip of Matan — including sleeping overnight one night last week at the offices of the government’s point man for the hostages, Gal Hirsch, while she pressed the issue.
She says Nitzan Alon, the general overseeing the hostage negotiations on behalf of the IDF, helped her secure permission to show the footage and dealt with concerns raised by other officials regarding the security implications of showing it.
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
Zangauker says showing the footage of hostages in Gaza is part of the public struggle for a deal for the release of the hostages, and that the Israeli public has the right to know if hostages are alive, were killed in error by the IDF in Gaza, were killed by their captors, or died because of the conditions of their captivity.
Zangauker says it is obvious that Hamas wants a deal. Otherwise, she says, it could execute the hostages. She says Israel has also moved a long way toward a deal. But, she charges, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blocking it. Only Netanyahu, she says, “won’t use the ink to sign.”
She says she hopes Netanyahu, in his speech to Congress today, will tell the hostages “don’t lose hope,” and will promise to bring them home. “There is no security reason” not to do a deal, she says.
PARIS, France — Around 1,000 French police officers will be on duty on Wednesday to protect Israel’s football match against Mali at the Paris Olympics where protests are expected, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says.
The game involving the Israeli team at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, as well as the Ukraine-Iraq match in the southeastern city of Lyon, have been identified by French security forces as high risk.
“All the competitions have a security plan, but it’s true that these two matches, and particularly the match at the Parc des Princes, will have security, an anti-terror perimeter,” Darmanin tells BFM television and RMC radio.
“Tonight at the Parc des Princes there will be a thousand police officers who will ensure that we are there for the sport,” he adds.
All Israeli athletes at the Paris Games, which start officially on Friday, will have round-the-clock personal security provided by elite French police, both inside the Olympic Village and every time they leave the compound in northern Paris.
A French police source tells AFP that security forces were “expecting actions and disturbances around the stadium” on Wednesday and says it was possible that “people shout insults from the stands” or that there is “whistling and flags shown during the hymns, for example.”
The game kicks off 9 p.m. (1900 GMT).
Europalestine, a French activist group behind recent protests, tells the Guardian newspaper that it was planning a peaceful demonstration inside the stadium to protest the “genocide” in Gaza.
The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian demand that Israel be barred from the Paris Games over the war in Gaza.
Five Palestinian terror suspects were detained near the West Bank city of Tulkarem overnight, including two are are suspected of carrying out a bomb attack near the settlement of Hermesh last week, police say.
Members of the Yamam counter-terrorism unit and the Shin Bet security agency operated in the town of Seida to detain two suspects believed to be behind the attack near Hermesh on July 18, in which four Israelis were wounded.
Police say that one of the suspects behind the attack was shot by the officers amid clashes in Seida.
Another three suspects were detained during the operation, police say.
Sirens that sounded in the Western Galilee a short while ago were triggered by an interceptor missile fired at a “suspicious aerial target,” the IDF says.
The target was later determined to have been a false identification, meaning not a threat.
The sirens sounded in Yarka, Yanuh-Jat, Abu Snan, Julis, Klil, and Amka amid fears of falling shrapnel from the interceptor missile.
There are no injuries.
Incoming rocket alerts are activated in Western Galilee communities.
Sirens sound in Yanuh-Jat, Julis, Klil, Amka, Abu Snan and Yarka.
Red Alert [09:54:54] – 6 Alerts:
• Upper Galilee — Yanuh-Jat, Julis, Klil, Amka, Abu Snan, Yarka#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/GT8cO8yA64
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 24, 2024
The Environmental Protection Ministry reports that mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus were captured in the Central District, as well as in the Haifa District, and the Northern and Southern Districts.
The ministry instructs all authorities to further expand monitoring. It notes that the placement of traps across the country is random; even if infected mosquitoes are not captured in a certain area, “this does not guarantee that the area is free of mosquitoes,” the ministry says.
As of the start of this week, the number of patients diagnosed with West Nile virus stood at 566, according to the Health Ministry. A total of 38 people who were diagnosed with the virus have died since the outbreak began in June.
West Nile fever is a disease caused by the West Nile virus.
The virus is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes, particularly species of mosquitoes that feed on birds. The virus does not spread from person to person.
According to the Health Ministry, about 80% of people infected with West Nile virus show no symptoms at all. About 20% may experience varying symptoms, including fever, headaches, and body aches.
Less than 1% of those infected will have possible rare complications such as acute inflammation of the brain or meningitis.
The ministry recommends using mosquito repellent products and suitable devices to repel mosquitoes in living areas, wearing long attire at night when mosquitos are most active, installing screens in windows, and using fans.
The ministry also recommends draining sources of standing water that could serve as mosquito breeding sites, including old tires, buckets, and barrels, flower vases and pet bowls, and gutters.
Coalition whip MK Ofir Katz says in a statement he is postponing a Knesset vote on the so-called Rabbis Bill to Sunday.
If passed into law, the bill, pushed by Shas, could cost taxpayers tens of millions of shekels annually in salaries for hundreds of new neighborhood rabbis employed by local municipalities.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he is holding up the legislation, as well as other coalition bills, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allows him into a high-level war-managing forum.
Katz’s statement comes shortly after officials in Otzma Yehudit claimed that there was progress in talks to include Ben Gvir in the forum.
“I will not endanger important laws for Israelis and the security of Israel that were meant to pass here today,” Katz says in his announcement of the postponement.
“Also, the prime minister’s visit to the US is of crucial importance and nothing should be allowed to interfere with it,” he adds.
A dean of one of the world’s largest Christian universities visits Israel at the head of a delegation of US students to signal their opposition to boycotts of the Jewish State.
“I felt it was important to come to Israel, especially at this time, when it is under threat from enemies that surround it, and from those who call for boycotts from afar, like at American universities,” says Tim Griffin, dean of students at the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
The visit led by Griffin is the first student delegation since October 7 by Passages, a US-based Christian nonprofit that has an annual budget of about $15 million and has brought thousands of students to Israel on study and activism trips.
Griffin, whose university has some 100,000 students in nine colleges, says he hopes his 10-day visit serves “as an example for other Christian educational institutions […] to visit, engage and partner with the Israeli people.” Unlike at some US universities, he adds, “Grand Canyon University students overwhelmingly support Israel.”
The trip includes meeting with officials and visits to some of the scenes of the October 7 onslaught as well as places where victims receive help and emotional support. It’s about “doing and listening, acts of kindness and solidarity,” and understanding Israel’s current complexities, says Rivka Kidron, cofounder of Passages and a former advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Chihine which the IDF says was used by Hezbollah to fire rockets at Israel yesterday.
Additionally, a Hezbollah weapons depot was struck in Kfarhamam, the military adds.
The IDF publishes footage of the strike and says that secondary blasts seen in the clip indicate the presence of numerous weapons at the site.
במהלך הלילה מטוסי קרב תקפו מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב שיחין, ממנו בוצעו שיגורים לשטח הארץ אתמול.
בנוסף, הותקף מחסן אמל״ח במרחב כפר חמאם.
במהלך התקיפה זוהו פיצוצי משנה אשר העידו על הימצאות אמצעי לחימה רבים במחסן pic.twitter.com/sCYGNAOx4U— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 24, 2024
Officials in the far-right Otzma Yehudit party say there is “positive progress” in talks with the ruling Likud to include National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for a forum to manage the ongoing war.
Speaking to Hebrew media outlets, the officials say they appreciate the prime minister for “not planning on surrendering to the ugly delegitimization campaign against Ben Gvir” by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and National Unity chair Benny Gantz.
It adds that if an agreement is reached, it will vote for legislation pushed by fellow coalition party Shas that it has thwarted in order to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to include him in the decision-making process of the war.
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a swift denial Tuesday night of a Kan news report that talks were taking place to create a new body to manage the war in Gaza that will include Ben Gvir.
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.”
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
BERLIN, Germany — German authorities ban the Hamburg Islamic Centre, a Muslim religious association that has been under investigation for several months over its alleged support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group, which is backed by Iran.
The German Interior Ministry says in a statement that it “banned the Hamburg Islamic Centre and its affiliated organizations throughout Germany to date, as it is an Islamist extremist organization pursuing anti-constitutional objectives,” adding that “searches” were being carried out Wednesday morning in 53 properties associated with the group.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
A high-level Israeli delegation is set to touch down in Cairo later this evening for talks with mediators on a hostage-truce deal with Hamas, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese Al-Akhbar daily reports.
According to an informed Egyptian source, the focus of the talks will be the issue of an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Route on the Egyptian-Israeli border, which has become a major sticking point in the negotiations.
The report says that mediators in Cairo and Doha believe that implementing the first phase of a deal is possible, but are concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may sabotage it with last-minute “surprises.”
The IDF says fighter jets shot down two unmanned drones making their to Israel from the east overnight.
The military says the drones did not cross into Israeli airspace.
The pro-Iran Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility for the attack, saying it launched the drone at a legitimate target in Eilat.
The Israel Defense Forces says a soldier has been hospitalized after being injured Tuesday by rocket fire on the northern border.
The soldier “was seriously injured as a result of projectiles launched from Lebanon at the Har Dov area.”
The IDF said Tuesday evening that several projectiles had been fired at the Har Dov area, alongside some 15 rockets launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area, some of which were shot down.
Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israel throughout Tuesday.
Capitol Police say around 200 people were arrested during a protest against military aid for Israel at a congressional office building earlier in the day.
In a short statement, police say the demonstrators were arrested for violating a Washington DC law against “crowding, obstructing, or incommoding,” and note that “demonstrating inside the Congressional Buildings is against the law.”
Jewish Voice for Peace, which had organized the protest at the Cannon Office Building, had earlier claimed that some 400 people were arrested, including several rabbis.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wrote to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to express his outrage over the assassination attempt on the former president earlier this month.
“Acts of violence must not have a place in a world of law and order,” Abbas wrote in a letter to Trump obtained by The Times of Israel.
Trump sent the letter, dated July 14, back to Abbas with the message “Mahmoud – So nice – Thank you – Everything will be good,” scrawled on the bottom.
The former president has now published a picture of the letter, in an apparent attempt to strike a balance between Israel and the Palestinians hours after announcing that he’ll host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida.
“Looking forward to seeing Bibi Netanyahu on Friday, and even more forward to achieving Peace in the Middle East!” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform.
In the letter to Trump, Abbas wrote, “It is with grave concern that I have received news and later on watched footage of your attempted assassination.”
“Acts of violence must not have a place in a world of law and order. Respect for the other with tolerance and valuing of human life is what must prevail,” he continued. “Despicable acts of attempted or successful assassinations are acts of weakness with failed understanding of peaceful measures to resolve conflicts.”
Trump campaign communication director Steve Cheung tells The Times of Israel the letter “was presented to President Trump after the heinous assassination attempt on his life. As he has said previously, President Trump wants to end all wars and bring peace to the region so that ‘everything will be good.’”
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is repeating his assertion that no American who is Jewish should support Democrats over their stance on Israel.
Asked during a Newsmax telephone interview Tuesday evening how bad Democrats’ agenda is for “international affairs and our allies, such as Israel.” Trump answers:
“Well, it’s amazing actually, that they, that any Jewish person, any person that is Jewish, and frankly, that has even a little respect — because, you know, this country, a lot of Jewish people are not big fans of Israel, which is something that they’ve never been able to explain to me — but that any Jewish person or any person that believes in Israel and loves Israel can even think about voting for a Democrat.”
The former president also claims that Vice President Kamala Harris is “refusing to meet” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his US visit, though the two are scheduled to meet Thursday.
Harris, however, will not be present when Netanyahu addresses a joint session on Congress Wednesday, due to what her office says is a previously scheduled campaign event in Indianapolis.
Newsmax host Sebastian Gorka, who worked in Trump’s administration, does not ask the former president why his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would not be in attendance for Netanyahu’s speech before Congress.
Addressing Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, Trump says, “You got to get it settled. You got to get it finished. You got to get it over with. They’ve got to do their job.”
Israel’s point man on hostages Gal Hirsch has met with US Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Dustin Stewart in Washington, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
According to the PMO, the two discussed the status of hostage talks and cooperation between their two offices.
Tech mogul Elon Musk says his Starlink satellite-based internet service is now active at a Gaza hospital, with the backing of Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Starlink is now active in a Gaza hospital with the support of @UAEmediaoffice and @Israel
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2024
Musk does not specify where the service is being used, but in February, Israel approved the use of Starlink services in a field hospital funded by the UAE in the Gaza Strip, and also paved the way for it to be used in Israel.
Starlink is a network of satellites operated by Musk’s SpaceX in low Earth orbit that can provide internet to remote locations, or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled.
“The use of the company’s services will be limited at first, with broader use expected in the future,” the Communications Ministry said at the time.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said in October the country would cut ties with Starlink after Musk offered the service to the Gaza Strip, sparking concerns that it could be used by the Hamas terror group.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is “horrified” by criticism aimed at rescued hostage Noa Argamani over her decision to accompany the premier to Washington.
“I am horrified by the defamation campaign directed against Noa Argamani. Noa went through atrocities in Hamas captivity,” Netanyahu says in Hebrew at the start of a meeting with US Christian Zionists.
“Is there no limit?” asks Netanyahu. “There is a limit. This is the limit. Enough.”
Argamani, who was rescued last month from captivity in Gaza along with three other hostages seized by terrorists during the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, is accompanying Netanyahu on his trip to the United States alongside her father Yaakov and other relatives of captives.
Explaining his remarks to the Christian leaders, Netanyahu says in English, “Now that she joined our delegation, there are voices who said how dare you go? You should have stayed in captivity.'”
“There is a fringe minority that is devoid of any scruples,” says Netanyahu. “Enough is enough.”
Argamani and her father have faced virulent criticism in Israel for agreeing to accompany Netanyahu on his visit to the US and during his speech to Congress tomorrow; both coalition and opposition lawmakers have condemned the pushback.
Family members of other hostages held by Hamas and others opposed to the premier claimed the Argamanis appearance would bolster Netanyahu, whom many blame for failing to secure a deal to free the hostages after more than nine months of war.
In a post on Facebook Monday, 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 and retired journalist Dan Margalit called Argamani’s presence in Netanyahu’s delegation a “disgrace,” in a tweet to his 164,000 followers.
The US Capitol police say they have arrested a group of demonstrators who held an anti-Israel demonstration in the rotunda of the Cannon House of Representatives Office Building.
Deafening protest in cannon rotunda. pic.twitter.com/DuM6Fmbg4C
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 23, 2024
Jewish Voice for Peace says some 400 members of the far-left anti-Israel group had gathered at the rotunda to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress and US arms being sold to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
“We are arresting a group that is illegally demonstrating inside the Cannon Rotunda,” Capitol Police say in a statement. “Demonstrations are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings. We told the people, who legally entered, to stop or they would be arrested. They did not stop, so we are arresting them.”
A congressional aide for Michigan Democrat Dan Kildee tells Politico their office called the police for help as demonstrators were “violently beating on all three of our congressional office doors” and “violently shouting.”
Police do not say how many people were detained, but JVP claims that over 300 people were arrested, posting pictures online of demonstrators being ziptied and led out of the building.
⚠️⚠️⚠️ 300+ ARRESTS HAPPENING NOW INSIDE CONGRESS: HUNDREDS OF JEWS AND ALLIES ARE GETTING ARRESTED FOR DEMANDING OUR GOVERNMENT STOP ARMING ISRAEL. CEASEFIRE NOW — END THE PALESTINIAN GENOCIDE. pic.twitter.com/PvthT4vfCu
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) July 23, 2024
Senior Democratic lawmaker Jerrold Nadler is calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago.”
But while the Jewish representative from New York lists a myriad of criticisms of the premier, he announces in a lengthy statement that he will still attend Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress tomorrow.
“I feel my voice is more impactful in the room, holding the Prime Minister accountable,” Nadler says.
Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago. The Prime Minister is putting the security of Israel, the lives of the hostages, the stability of the region, and longstanding Israeli… pic.twitter.com/76gE5JePj8
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) July 23, 2024
A survivor of the Hamas massacre at the Supernova music festival on October 7 speaks up about Hamas terrorists allegedly raping him during their attack, the first male victim of rape to recount their story in their own voice since most such victims ended up being murdered.
The man, only identified by his first Hebrew initial Dalet, tells Channel 12 news about how he was fleeing the onslaught on his own when forces from Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit caught up.
“They pin you to the ground, you try to resist, they take of your clothes, laugh at you, humiliate you, spit at you,” he says, his face blurred and his voice distorted to avoid recognition. “They touched [private] parts, they rape you.”
“There is a circle, [people] laugh, and you don’t know what to do in the moment, whether you should resist or let it pass, how to deal with the situation. There was a very difficult rape. At some point more people arrived and called for them and so they had to stop,” adds Dalet.
“It’s a very tough moment. Weakness in the entire body. As if your blood is cheap. They were wildly intoxicated, celebrating, laughing with their pistols, with their knives. You disassociate yourself from the situation, but on the other hand experience it very strongly. Very difficult,” he says.
The network says Dalet eventually managed to escape, with the help of Israeli forces that showed up.
Dalet’s testimony has been handed to a police unit investigating sexual crimes committed by the terrorists on October 7, after he filed a complaint, Channel 12 says.
