July 26: Halevi says IDF applying pressure on Hamas to reach ‘good conditions’ for hostage deal

Israeli athletes pose in front of the Eiffel Tour during Paris Olympics opening ceremony

Members of Israel’s delegation to the Paris Olympics pose in front of the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony.

A historic boat parade down the River Seine launched the Paris Olympics with spectacular French flair earlier this evening, as the City of Light welcomed the world’s greatest athletes for a sporting extravaganza.

Braving torrential rain, some 300,000 people lined the river banks to cheer on the armada carrying competitors past the city’s iconic sights: the Eiffel Tower bearing the five Olympic rings, the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Team Israel with the lovely view of Eiffel Tower at @Paris2024 😍 pic.twitter.com/JWjWidAKim

— Team Israel (@Olympic_Israel) July 26, 2024

The wildly ambitious display was the first time the Olympic opening ceremony has been staged outside the main stadium, making it the biggest-ever launch for the “Greatest Show on Earth.”

With extra security for Israeli athletes, plus a call from the Palestinian team for Israel to be excluded over the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, geopolitics has been an unwelcome intruder in the run-up.

Report: Netanyahu still considering offering Sa’ar defense minister role to bring him back into coalition

A composite image shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Gideon Sa'ar, right. (Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar, Channel 12 reports, without citing sources, echoing previous reports on the potential move to bring him back into the coalition.

According to the report, Netanyahu is holding consultations on the matter during the Knesset’s three-month summer recess.

Sa’ar announced his party’s departure from the coalition in March after his demand to be admitted to the high-level war cabinet was denied. He has since harshly criticized the government’s management of the war in Gaza and has said he would be willing to make “concessions” to create a right-wing bloc opposing Netanyahu.

The network says Sa’ar is considering the offer favorably, while also reporting that sources close to the MK deny he has received any such proposal.

UN rights agency: 180,000 Gazans displaced from Khan Younis in 4 days amid IDF raid to extract hostages’ bodies

A Palestinian family rests is the shade of a vehicle parked near the rubble of a building, as thousands of Palestinians who fled following the Israeli army's temporary evacuation order for parts of Khan Younis arrive in an another area of the southern Gaza Strip city on July 23, 2024 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

More than 180,000 Palestinians have fled fierce fighting around the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis in four days, the United Nations says, after an IDF operation to extract bodies of hostages killed and seized by Hamas on October 7.

Recent “intensified hostilities” in the Khan Younis area have fueled “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza,” the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, says.

It says “about 182,000 people” have been displaced from central and eastern Khan Younis between Monday and Thursday, and hundreds are “stranded in eastern Khan Younis.”

The IDF on Monday ordered the evacuation of parts of the southern city, announcing its forces would “forcefully operate” there, including in an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone.

IDF troops are seen at the entrance to a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis where the bodies of five Israeli hostages were held, July 24, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

On Wednesday, IDF troops recovered five bodies of captives seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack and brought them back home to Israel.

The IDF said this morning that its forces had “eliminated approximately 100 terrorists” in the city this week.

Poll: Israelis prefer Netanyahu as PM over Lapid, Bennett and Gantz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

More Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is better suited to lead the country than Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, former premier Naftali Bennett, and National Unity chair Benny Gantz, according to a new television poll.

Asked who they prefer for the role of prime minister, 32 percent of respondents to the Channel 12 news survey say Netanyahu and 28% Lapid, while 31% said neither and 4% didn’t know.

Between Netanyahu and Bennett, 33% of respondents say they prefer the premier while 32% voice support for the former prime minister, with 31% saying neither is fitted to the role and 4% answering “don’t know.”

Between Netanyahu and Gantz, 32% say they prefer the incumbent, while 28% say they’d back the National Unity chair.

The poll, which appears to mark a rise in support for Netanyahu, comes two days after he addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington.

But the Channel 12 poll says 65% of respondents say the speech didn’t change their views on the prime minister, while 48% believe he went to Washington to pursue his own personal interests, rather than those of the state (44%).

US envoy says Albanese ‘not fit’ for position as UN expert after post comparing Netanyahu to Hitler

File - UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese addresses the UN, October 2022. (Screenshot/ YouTube, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Francesca Albanese is “not fit for this or any other position at the UN,” in the closest Washington has come to calling for the ouster of the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories.

Yesterday, Albanese endorsed a post on X that featured a picture of Adolf Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being greeted by US congressmen this week.

History is always watching. pic.twitter.com/QwxdZpQrLM

— Craig Mokhiber (@CraigMokhiber) July 24, 2024

“There is no place for antisemitism from UN-affiliated officials tasked with promoting human rights. While the United States has never supported Francesca Albanese’s mandate, it is clear she is not fit for this or any position at the UN,” Thomas-Greenfield writes in a post on X.

Albanese is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but does not speak on behalf of the UN.

Last night, Israel slammed the UN rights expert for “antisemitism,” calling her “beyond redemption.”

“It is inconceivable that Albanese is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread anti-Semitism,” it said.

Biden grants deportation reprieve to Lebanese nationals already in US, citing Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Israel in the southern Lebanese border village of Tayr Harfa on July 24, 2024. (Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

The White House will offer deportation relief and work permits to an estimated 11,500 Lebanese nationals already in the United States, due to conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, US President Joe Biden announces in a memo.

The measure, under an authority known as Deferred Enforced Departure, will allow Lebanese nationals to remain in the US for 18 months and could be renewed.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 18 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 377 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 68 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.

US Representative Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, home to Lebanese Americans in Detroit and elsewhere, applauds the move.

“Michigan is home to many Lebanese Americans who continue to watch their families suffer as Lebanon faces an unprecedented economic, political, and financial disaster,” she says in a statement.

Former US president Donald Trump, a Republican seeking another term in the White House, has pledged mass deportations if reelected. His campaign does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several protesters from anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demos in Washington this week facing federal charges — report

A person sprays pro-Hamas graffiti on the base of the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain as pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators protest near the US Capitol as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Thomas/AFP)

Several protestors at the anti-Israel demonstrations at Union Station in Washington on Wednesday are facing federal charges, Fox News reports.

At least six people were arrested in the protest of thousands, which featured antisemitic and pro-Hamas slogans and signs, the vandalism of property, the torching of an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the burning of an American flag.

The report adds that more charges could be coming.

Nine people were arrested across Washington, including four people on charges of assaulting a police officer outside Union Station near the Capitol as Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Lady Gaga delivers dazzling — but prerecorded — French performance at Olympics opening ceremony

Lady Gaga performs in Paris, France, ahead the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

PARIS — Lady Gaga delivers a dazzling performance as the first musical act during the Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony — except it was all prerecorded.

The Grammy- and Oscar-winning performer kicks off her performance on steps along the Seine River, singing Zizi Jeanmaire’s “Mon Truc en Plumes.”

She is accompanied by a troupe of eight dancers carrying pink feather fans before she moves on to the piano.

The singer’s representatives do not immediately respond to a request for comment about why her performance was prerecorded.

An Associated Press reporter saw Gaga begin to warm up around three hours before the opening ceremony started, performing for about an hour before waving to fans as she walked off.

Gaga’s appearance comes as a surprise — she was not listed on a program provided to the media in advance — but was heavily rumored after the singer and actor was spotted in Paris.

Biden briefs Jordan’s Abdullah on ‘preparations’ for surge in humanitarian aid to Gaza ‘during ceasefire period’

Jordan's King Abdullah II shakes hands with US President Joe Biden in the Cross Hall of the White House, February 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON/CAIRO – US President Joe Biden and Jordan’s King Abdullah discussed efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza during a call today, the two sides say.

In a statement, the White House says Biden briefed Abdullah on “preparations for a surge in humanitarian assistance during a ceasefire period.”

Earlier today, a source familiar with the matter said that CIA Director William Burns is set to meet this weekend in Rome with Mossad chief David Barnea, along with Egypt’s spy chief and Qatar’s prime minister, for talks on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas.

Biden and Abdullah also discussed reforms to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and ensuring it has access to revenue, the White House says.

Jordan’s royal palace says the two men discussed what it described as the “dangerous developments in Gaza.”

Abdullah reaffirmed “the important role of the United States in creating a political horizon to achieve just and lasting peace on the basis of the two-state solution,” the palace says in a statement.

Boat carrying Israel’s Olympic delegation makes its entrance at Paris opening ceremony

The boat carrying Israel’s Olympic delegation makes its entrance on the River Seine at the opening ceremony in Paris.

Under the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war, with a heightened threat level against the Israeli delegation, 88 athletes representing the Jewish state will compete in 15 different sports at the Paris Olympics.

A huge security operation is in place for the ceremony, with a security perimeter erected along both banks of the Seine.

The ceremony is being guarded by 45,000 police and paramilitary officers and another 10,000 soldiers, along with 22,000 private security guards.

Police snipers are positioned on high points along the river, which is overlooked by hundreds of buildings.

The #Paris2024 Olympics – the delegation from Israel just debuted in the opening ceremonies!

88 athletes – Jewish, Muslim, and Christian – will be competing for Israel 🇮🇱 in these games. pic.twitter.com/8MirpuqeNU

— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 26, 2024

IDF: Fighter jets strike Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon

A Hezbollah rocket launcher was struck by fighter jets in southern Lebanon’s Houla a short while ago, the IDF says.

Another two sites used by the terror group in Ayta ash-Shab and Kfarchouba were also hit, the military adds.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו שתי תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים עייתא א-שעב ושובא.
בנוסף, הותקף משגר במרחב חולא.

כמו כן, במהלך היום הותקפו מרחבים נוספים בלבנון להסרת איום pic.twitter.com/SxNtOthahY

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 26, 2024

Israeli negotiating team fears Netanyahu’s extra conditions for hostage deal ‘intended to cause a crisis’ — reports

Families and friends of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas hold a vigil on the National Mall calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a permanent ceasefire deal to bring the hostages home, July 23, 2024. (Justin Sullivan /Getty Images /AFP)

The Israeli negotiating team is concerned that extra conditions Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently added to the current hostage-ceasefire deal on the table are “intended to cause a crisis,” according to sources close to ongoing talks cited by Hebrew media.

“He thinks that if he hardens Hamas’s positions he will break them, but he’s taking a dangerous bet on the lives of the hostages. There is no more time,” the sources are quoted as saying by outlets including the Kan broadcaster and the Ynet news site.

They add that Netanyahu had “built up expectations before his trip to the US so that we can improve our position afterward.”

The prime minister is currently in the US, having addressed a joint session of Congress and met with President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris in Washington yesterday, and former US president Donald Trump in Florida this evening.

The premier’s speech to Congress disappointed relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 who hoped he would commit to a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, talks for which have been said to be in the home stretch.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, center, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, along with other families of hostages in Gaza, speaks with reporters following their meeting with US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Families of American-Israeli hostages who met with Biden and Netanyahu at the White House yesterday said they were told Israel would submit an updated deal proposal to Hamas within days.

“Netanyahu is single-minded, and his position does not allow for negotiations to begin,” the sources are quoted as saying. “It’s not clear if he wants a deal.”

First boat emerges for Olympic opening ceremony parade along the River Seine

A boat with the delegation from Greece sails in front of a boat with the delegations from Afghanistan, South Africa, Albania, Algeria and Germany during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Damien Meyer/AFP)

PARIS – The first boat emerges from under the Austerlitz bridge to kick off a spectacular parade along the River Seine for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

As tradition dictates, the Greek delegation has the honor of leading out the flotilla, as the cradle of the modern Olympic movement.

For the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony is taking place outside the main stadium, with some 300,000 people watching in person from specially built stands on the river banks, and another 200,000 from overlooking balconies and apartments.

‘I actually don’t know how a person who’s Jewish can vote for her,’ Trump says of Harris during Netanyahu meeting

Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump calls recent comments by US Vice President Kamala Harris about the war in Gaza “disrespectful” to Israel, during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.

“I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who’s Jewish can vote for her. But that’s up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel, in my opinion,” Trump says, according to a readout from the meeting at his home in Palm Beach.

Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, insisted yesterday that she would not be “silent” on suffering in Gaza, in comments made shortly after meeting Netanyahu at the White House.

Her remarks drew furious Israeli complaints that they could complicate efforts to reach a deal with the Hamas terror group to free hostages and end the war in Gaza.

“If we win, it’ll be very simple. It’s all going to work out and very quickly. If we don’t, then you’ll end up with major wars in the Middle East and maybe a third world war. You are closer to a third world war right now than at any time since the Second World War. We’ve never been so close because we have incompetent people running our country,” Trump says before reporters are ushered out.

During the meeting, Netanyahu also thanked Trump for working to promote stability in the Middle East during his term as president, according to the readout.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report. 

Olympics opening ceremony kicks off in Paris

Spectators with a French flag sit on a roof ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024, as the Eiffel Tower is seen in the background. (Philippe Lopez/AFP)

The Olympics’ opening ceremony kicks off in Paris, in a much-anticipated, unprecedented ceremony along the River Seine.

In an ambitious, high-risk departure from past opening ceremonies, up to 7,500 athletes are poised to sail down a six-kilometer (four-mile) stretch of the Seine in an armada of 85 boats.

Despite the rain that forecasters say is likely to fall during the ceremony and a wave of attacks that paralyzed France’s rail system this morning, organizers say they’re confident of pulling off the audacious opening extravaganza.

Basketball superstar LeBron James, who will be one of two Team USA flagbearers along with tennis star Coco Gauff, was seen being equipped with a clear plastic poncho to protect him from the predicted deluge.

“We’ll see tonight… but the closer it gets the more the models suggest we’re likely to get rain,” chief Games organizer Tony Estanguet tells France Inter radio, while adding that there would be some modifications to the show if it was wet.

“It’s going to be a beautiful moment, it’s going to be a great party,” he added.

Trump says he has ‘always had a very good relationship’ with Netanyahu

Republican presidential candidate former US president Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Former US president Donald Trump says he has “always had a very good relationship” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking after a meeting at his Florida resort with the Israeli premier.

An Israeli official told reporters this morning that the prime minister had called the former US president on July 4 to wish him a happy US Independence Day, apparently, the first time the two had spoken since Trump’s presidency ended in January 2021.

But despite the yearslong silence, the Israeli official also said that the relationship between the two is “good.”

The premier’s relationship with Trump soured when Netanyahu congratulated Biden for winning the 2020 election, which Trump falsely denies losing.

Netanyahu, sitting across from Trump at a table alongside advisers, says Israel will be dispatching a negotiating team to Gaza ceasefire talks in Rome, “probably at the beginning of the week.”

The Axios news site reported earlier this evening that CIA director Bill Burns is also heading to Rome this weekend to try to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report. 

Netanyahu poses alongside Trump with contentious ‘Total Victory’ cap

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poses alongside former US president Donald Trump with a hat with the inscription “Total victory,” a reference to Israel’s ongoing war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The prime minister posts a photo of himself holding out the hat alongside Trump on X with the words “Shabbat shalom,” with emojis of the American and Israeli flags.

Netanyahu and Trump are currently meeting at the Republican presidential candidate’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.

שבת שלום 🇮🇱🇺🇸 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/37BhM5HgYS

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 26, 2024

The cap caused an uproar online this week after the prime minister was photographed next to it with his wife Sara in the meeting room of Wing of Zion, Israel’s so-called “Air Force One,” en route to Washington.

That photo was reportedly removed from official channels following assertions the hat is related to a marketing campaign run by a Channel 14 television anchor.

Netanyahu has consistently used the phrase since Israel vowed to destroy the Hamas terror group after its October 7 massacre.

‘Convicted criminal invites war criminal’: Anti-Israel protesters gather near Trump’s home in Palm Beach

Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet with former US president Donald Trump, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

A group of anti-Israel protesters gather near former US president Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, to protest his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The protesters wear keffiyeh scarves and wave Palestinian flags and hold signs reading, “Convicted criminal invites war criminal” and “Ceasefire now.”

Protesters demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet with former President Donald Trump, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

Photos show security forces on alert next to the demonstration ahead of Netanyahu’s arrival, which is notably smaller than protests in Washington this week, where the premier addressed the US Congress and met with President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris.

Security forces prepare for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet with former US president Donald Trump, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)

Thousands of anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters converged on Washington on Wednesday to condemn Netanyahu’s visit, chanting “Free, free Palestine,” daubing pro-Hamas graffiti, burning an effigy of the prime minister and clashing with police as they marched toward the Capitol.

‘Come on in’: Trump greets Netanyahu and his wife Sara warmly at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida

Former US president Donald Trump greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Florida, July 26, 2024. (Prime Minister's Office)

With a “Now I’m honored. Come on in, come on in,” former US president Donald Trump greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara warmly at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

“We’ve missed you,” says Sara as she and Trump exchange kisses.

“It was the greatest dinner I’ve ever had,” says Trump to Netanyahu, perhaps referencing a previous dinner the two shared while he was in the White House.

Trump and Netanyahu lock hands as Trump says “Let’s get a good, a beautiful picture.”

The Netanyahus pose on either side of Trump, who smiles while giving a thumbs up to assembled photographers.

Trump and Netanyahu then hold up a photo of one of the Bibas children, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 by Hamas, at the request of their grandfather Eliyahu Bibas.

Trump says, “We’ll get that taken care of.”

Netanyahu’s office has yet to offer any account of the meeting.

President Trump greets Prime Minister Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago 🇺🇸🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/UTrjCDar4h

— Margo Martin (@margommartin) July 26, 2024

Report: CIA director to meet Mossad chief, Qatari, Egyptian officials in Rome on Sunday for hostage deal

CIA chief William Burns, Egyptian intel chief Abbas Kamel, Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. (Collage/AP/AFP)

CIA director Bill Burns is reportedly heading to Rome this weekend to meet with Mossad chief David Barnea, along with Qatari and Egyptian officials, to try to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, the Axios news site reports, citing officials in Washington and Jerusalem.

According to the report, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani and Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel will attend the Sunday meeting, which will focus on strategy moving forward rather than closing the remaining gaps in the deal currently on the table.

An Israeli official quoted in the report cast doubt on the chances of a breakthrough, citing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent hardening of Israel’s demands for a deal.

“Netanyahu wants a deal that is impossible to get. At the moment he isn’t willing to move and therefore we might be headed for a crisis in the negotiations rather than a deal,” the official is quoted as saying.

Netanyahu is believed to be apprehensive of agreeing to a deal, which would cause his far-right partners Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to bolt the coalition, as they’ve warned they would do, fearing it would end the war before Hamas is fully defeated.

The report also cites an unnamed source as saying that US President Joe Biden is still unsure if Netanyahu genuinely wants to close the deal or is just buying time to keep his coalition from breaking up.

Netanyahu, who has been in Washington since Monday, held a three-hour meeting with Biden in the White House yesterday.

He also met separately with US Vice President and presumed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Washington yesterday and is currently meeting with the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, in Florida.

Israeli delegation dressed and ready for opening ceremony of Paris Olympics

Members of Israel's Olympic delegation pose for a photo before the opening ceremony in Paris, July 26, 2024. (Olympic Association of Israel)

The Olympic Association of Israel releases a photo of some members of the Israeli delegation in their uniforms ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony in Paris.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to turn out to watch the 10,500 Olympic athletes parade down the River Seine in boats, in an event watched by hundreds of millions around the world on TV.

A huge artistic display has also been kept tightly under wraps in the run-up to the event.

AFP contributed to this report. 

IDF chief says military is applying pressure on Hamas to reach ‘good conditions’ for hostage deal

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) holds an assessment in southern Gaza's Khan Younis with chief of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman (left) and the commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus (left), on July 25, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking to officers in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is working to apply pressure on Hamas to reach “good conditions” for a hostage deal.

“A hostage deal is something we are pressing to reach and bring under good conditions, which is a task of utmost importance. This is a defined war objective; we don’t need it defined for us either. This is a basic moral issue,” he says.

Halevi says the IDF will not stop battling Hamas “until we return the hostages” and “until we dismantle the last battalion, the last company” of the terror group.

Rocket sirens sounding in Gaza border communities

Sirens sound in communities near the border with Gaza, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alerts come a short while after the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group fired three rockets from Gaza at the southern city of Ashkelon.

Red Alert [18:26:00] – 2 Alerts:

• Gaza Envelope — Holit, Sdeh Avraham#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/H8XGxj1af7

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 26, 2024

A short while later, the IDF says it was determined to have been triggered by a “false identification,” meaning not a threat.

Olympic flame cruises into Paris on tug boat, after Snoop Dogg takes part in relay

US rapper Snoop Dogg holds the torch as part of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Torch Relay, on the day of the opening ceremony, in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on July 26, 2024. (Stephane De Sakutin/AFP)

PARIS – The Olympic flame cruises into Paris on a diesel-belching tug, the torch held aloft by its white-clad bearer, having earlier been carried by US rapper Snoop Dogg, as it passed under the peripherique motorway.

The 68th stage of the relay since its arrival in Marseille on May 8 is entitled the “Epilogue.”

The torch passed through Paris before, on July 14, the Bastille Day national holiday, and July 15, before circling the suburbs, starting its final journey in Saint-Denis today.

Earlier in the morning, the flame visited the athletes’ village where International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took turns as torchbearers.

Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon (C) runs with the Olympic torch during the Olympic village torch relay in the Olympic Village in Paris on July 26, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Leah Millis/Pool/AFP)

Phones in hand and wearing broad smiles, athletes from all over the world filmed the torch.

“It’s a moment that gives you goosebumps, it’s beautiful to see,” says Judith Vandermeiren, a Belgian field hockey player.

The torch passed through Saint-Denis, where rapper MC Solaar, who is from the region, carried the flame, and stopped at the Stade de France where Snoop Dogg took his turn.

Did somethin today. 💯👊🏿🔥 #FollowTheDogg pic.twitter.com/G4ugnUFssO

— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) July 26, 2024

The flame made its way down the Canal Saint-Denis, handed off to a beaming 17-year-old schoolboy from the area.

It then boarded the first of a series of canal boats, to cruise past the concrete factories and housing blocks to Paris accompanied by a crowd of spectators, security, officials and even canoeists in fancy dress.

The relay toured the Parc de la Villette, turned into the Parc des Nations housing the ‘clubhouses’ of a string of countries, dominated by France in the Grande Halle, and including Brazil in a circus tent, and Mongolia in yurts.

The relay then took to the water and cruised down the Canal de l’Ourcq toward the Canal Saint-Martin and the Seine.

Herzog meets Macron in Paris ahead of Olympics opening ceremony, thanks him for fighting antisemitism

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) greets President Isaac Herzog ahead of a reception for heads of state and governments ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on July 26, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)

President Isaac Herzog meets French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris ahead of tonight’s Olympics opening ceremony.

The president thanks Macron for his “efforts in the fight against antisemitism,” according to a statement from Herzog’s office.

He also notes the French president’s “contribution to ensuring the ability of the excellent Israeli delegation to compete proudly and fairly in the Olympic Games.”

Both the Israeli and Palestinian delegations have been given extra protection, amid tension over the ongoing war in Gaza, which began on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.

Israel’s 88 athletes’ security detail comprises both French officers and Shin Bet agents.

“The State of Israel is proud to participate in the Olympics and to raise its flag on this important world stage. With every jump and step, with every kick, lift, and hit – we stand together with our sons and daughters who are on the front lines, we stand together with those displaced from their homes in the north and south of the country, and we continue to demand the immediate release of the hostages held captive by Hamas,” he adds.

I thank President of France @EmmanuelMacron for the warm welcome and congratulate him on hosting the Olympics in Paris. I appreciate his efforts in the fight against antisemitism, and his contribution to ensuring the ability of the excellent Israeli delegation to compete proudly… pic.twitter.com/qTcM72psc5

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 26, 2024

Earlier today, French sports outlet L’Equipe reported that local police had opened an investigation into a social media user who posted threats against Herzog in Paris.

IDF: Troops recently demolished kilometer-long Hamas attack tunnel in northern Gaza

In a recent operation in the northern Gaza Strip, a kilometer-long Hamas attack tunnel in the Beit Lahiya area was demolished by combat engineers, the IDF says.

The IDF says the tunnel began in a residential neighborhood of Beit Lahiya.

In the underground route, troops found weapons including anti-tank missiles, and infrastructure that would allow terror operatives to reside in the tunnel for long periods, the military says.

In a separate operation in the nearby town of Beit Hanoun, troops of the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda battalion raided sites used by Hamas, and destroyed anti-tank launching posts, booby-trapped buildings, and other infrastructure used by the terror group, the IDF says.

‘I don’t know what they’re talking about’: VP aide hits back at Israeli official who criticized her comments on war

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear before a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON — An aide to US Vice President Kamala Harris hits back at a senior Israeli official who told reporters that her remarks regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza risk harming efforts to secure a hostage deal.

The senior Israeli official briefing reporters earlier took issue with Harris’s highlighting of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that the vice president was exaggerating the issue. The Israeli official also said Harris’s talk of the need to end the war was also unhelpful as Jerusalem is seeking to ensure that the hostage deal allows it to continue fighting after phase one.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” the Harris aide tells The Times of Israel.

“President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu: It’s time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done, and this is what the Vice President said publicly as well,” the aide says.

“Her public comments on Thursday tracked with her previous comments on the conflict. She started her Thursday remarks with rock-solid support for Israel, and then she expressed her concern about civilian causalities and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as she always does,” the aide continues

“The meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Vice President Harris was serious and collegial,” the aide adds.

Factory in northern border town damaged in Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack

An anti-tank guided missile launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon struck a factory in the border community of Avivim, local authorities say.

The Merom Hagalil Regional Council says the factory was damaged in the attack.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the missile fire, saying it struck a building where IDF troops were gathered.

Sirens sounded in the border town a short while ago.

Red Alert [17:01:57] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Misgav Am#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/nJREg8giJy

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 26, 2024

IDF: One rocket fired from Gaza at Ashkelon shot down, two strike open areas

Three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the southern coastal city of Ashkelon a short while ago.

According to the IDF, one was shot down by the Iron Dome, while the other two struck open areas.

Over 250 people test negative for ‘brain-eating’ amoeba after possible exposure at Tiberias water park

A 3D illustration of the brain-eating infectious amoeba Naegleria fowleri.(iStock)

More than 250 people who visited Gai Beach water park in Tiberias have gone to hospitals for medical evaluation for Naegleria fowleri, the “brain-eating” amoeba, the Health Ministry announces.

They all tested negative for the disease.

The directive comes after an otherwise healthy 10-year-old child hospitalized at Ziv Medical Center in Safed suffering from encephalitis was in critical condition, a hospital spokesperson said yesterday.

The boy contracted the disease at the water park.

This is the same location where a 25-year-old man contracted the Naegleria fowleri disease and died early this month.

The Health Ministry ordered the park closed on Wednesday.

The amoeba, known as Naegleria fowleri, 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.

While Naegleria fowleri thrives in warm water, most people who swim in water sources containing the amoeba do not come into contact with it.

On the Ministry’s website are detailed guidelines for properly maintaining water facilities.

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.

These are the only three recorded cases in Israel. Only some 400 cases have ever been diagnosed worldwide.

The hospital reported that the child’s condition remains critical while sedated and ventilated.

“The medical team continues to provide him with optimal care, and we’re all praying for his recovery,” a Ziv Medical Center spokesperson says.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for rocket fire on Ashkelon

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the rocket fire on Ashkelon a short while ago.

There are no reports of injuries in the attack.

Rocket sirens sounding in southern city of Ashkelon, nearby communities for first time in a month

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in Ashkelon and nearby communities, following apparent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

It marks the first time in a month that sirens have sounded in the southern coastal city.

Red Alert [17:00:01] – 7 Alerts:

• Gaza Envelope — Karmia, Zikim, Yad Mordechai, Erez, Netiv HaAssara
• Western Lakhish — Ashkelon – South, Ashkelon Southern Industrial Zone#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/h3i6tbZixp

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 26, 2024

UN chief calls on all countries to pause armed conflict for Paris Games as part of Olympic truce

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the impacts of cyber threats on international peace and security at UN headquarters on June 20, 2024, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AFP)

PARIS (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges countries around the world to stop armed conflict as part of the Olympic truce, with the Paris 2024 Olympics set to open later today.

Meeting with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Guterres says the Games are a chance for peace.

“I want to express the total support of the United Nations to the IOC,” Guterres says. “We live in a divided world where conflicts are proliferating in a dramatic way.

“The horrendous suffering in Gaza, the seemingly endless war in Ukraine, terrible suffering from Sudan to the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), from the Sahel to Myanmar.

“In a moment like this it is important to say that the first recorded, in history, real peace initiative was the Olympic truce.”

During the Olympics in Ancient Greece, all conflicts ceased for the duration of the Games to allow for the competitions to go ahead.

“In a moment in which the Olympic Games will start it is time to remind the world of the importance of the Olympic truce and to make the world understand that we must silence the guns,” he adds.

The Games kick off later today and end on August 11, with the participation of more than 10,500 athletes representing 206 nations and territories.

These include a Palestinian team, which while not a full member of the United Nations, has an official national Olympic Committee, as well as athletes from Russia and Belarus, who will compete as neutrals without a flag or emblem following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“So this is the moment in which my strong appeal is for countries to come together with the same spirit as athletes will be coming together during the Olympic Games in Paris,” Guterres says.

Court approves state’s request to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in Israel

Communications Ministry inspectors raid the Al Jazeera network's Nazareth office, May 9, 2024. (Communications Ministry)

The Tel Aviv District Court has accepted the state’s request to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in Israel, calling it “a real violation of state security.”

The ruling states that there was enough evidence to show that content broadcast on the Qatari news network had incited terror attacks including a fatal stabbing in the south of Israel in March and “attacks in East Jerusalem.”

“This is, therefore, a real danger to the state’s security, although it doesn’t necessarily imply an intent to cause harm on the part of the channel,” the ruling reads.

The judge’s ruling also notes an Al Jazeera live feed broadcast from Gaza this month that showed Israeli missiles landing in the Strip, “providing the exact location of impact, for the convenience of any terrorist who happens to be in the area,” and an instructional video that was aired on how to damage a tank with a proximity charge.

Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel were first taken off the air, its website taken offline, its equipment seized and its offices sealed on May 5 in accordance with an emergency law passed in April allowing for foreign outlets deemed violating national security to be temporarily blocked.

It is the only outlet against which the law has been enacted.

The Knesset is in the process of turning the so-called Al Jazeera Law into permanent legislation, passing a preliminary reading earlier this week.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report. 

UN expert endorses social media post comparing Netanyahu to Hitler; Israel slams her for ‘antisemitism’

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference following a session of the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March 27, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

A United Nations rights expert has endorsed a social media post comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, drawing rebuke from Israel and the US.

Yesterday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, responded to a post on X that featured a picture of Hitler being celebrated by a crowd with Nazi salutes and cheers above a shot of Netanyahu being greeted by US congressmen this week.

UN Special Rapporteur Albanese is beyond redemption. Once again she spreads vile hatred and abuses the memory of the Holocaust.

It is inconceivable that @FranceskAlbs is still allowed to use the @UN as a shield to spread antisemitism. #UNseatAlbanese pic.twitter.com/Gy4kHi3KNp

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 25, 2024

“History is always watching,” Craig Mokhiber, a former UN human rights official who resigned late last October after accusing the world body of failing to prevent the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, wrote in the post.

“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022 but who does not speak on behalf of the UN, said in her response.

Albanese has faced harsh criticism from Israel in the past, especially after she presented a report in March accusing the country of committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel rejected the report at the time as an “obscene inversion of reality.”

Last night, Israel slammed the UN rights expert for “antisemitism,” calling her “beyond redemption.”

“It is inconceivable that Albanese is still allowed to use the UN as a shield to spread anti-Semitism,” it says.

Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva also chimes in.

“When a current UN ‘expert’ endorses Holocaust distortion spread by the former (UN rights office) director in New York… the system is rotten to its core,” it says.

“It’s high time to #UNseatAlbanese!”

Israel’s new ambassador in Geneva, Daniel Meron, uses the same hashtag, decrying that “Francesca Albanese abuses her (UN) title to spread hatred and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Washington also weighs in, with US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Michele Taylor writing on X that the comparison of Netanyahu to Hitler is “reprehensible and antisemitic.”

“There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric. Special rapporteurs should be striving to improve human rights challenges, not inflame them,” she adds.

Albanese hits back at the criticism, insisting in a follow-up post on X that “the memory of the Holocaust remains intact and sacred thanks to people of conscience worldwide.”

“Institutional rants and outbursts of selective moral outrage will not stop the course of justice, which is finally in motion,” she writes.

Hostage families slam Herzog for suggesting Israeli Olympics athletes could ‘give strength’ to captives in Gaza

President Isaac Herzog, left, his wife Michal, center, and OCI chief Yael Arad take a selfie with Israeli athletes at the Olympic village in Paris, July 24, 2024. (Oded Karni/Olympic Committee of Israel)

Relatives of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 react angrily to comments President Isaac Herzog made to Israeli athletes ahead of the Paris Olympics yesterday.

“Instead of going to warm the hearts of the athletes, I demand you do your job and take care of the return of the hostages via the deal on the table, which the prime minister continues to torpedo,” says Einav Zangauker, whose son was kidnapped from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, in a statement.

The president had told the Israeli delegation in Paris yesterday that perhaps “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.”

“President Herzog, Matan’s heart does not warm to see the president of the country normalizing the holding of hostages for the benefit of the Olympics, and the same goes for the women who are being sexually abused and all the other captives,” Zangauker responds.

Herzog’s office issues a statement responding to the criticism, saying that the president’s comments were taken out of context.

“The president was speaking about the mental strength of the athletes and the souls of the hostages who we can’t forget for a moment — even on the world stage of the Olympics,” reads a statement from his office.

The president also reiterated the need to reach a deal to bring the hostages home as soon as possible, the statement adds.

IDF Northern Command chief says military has killed more than 500 terror operatives in Lebanon

The chief of the IDF Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin speaks to Golani officers in northern Israel, in a handout image published July 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The chief of the IDF Northern Command says the military has killed more than 500 terror operatives in Lebanon in the past nine months of skirmishes.

“We have already eliminated more than 500 terrorists in Lebanon, most of them from Hezbollah, and we have destroyed thousands of infrastructures,” Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin says to troops of the Golani Brigade in northern Israel.

“Our backs are the residents, our backs are the citizens and our faces and our barrels are aimed at the enemy. When the moment comes and we launch an attack, it will be a decisive attack,” he says.

French police probing threats against Herzog ahead of Olympics opening ceremony – report

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, shakes hands with Israeli President Isaac Herzog after their meeting at the Elysee Palace, ahead of the opening ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

French police have opened an investigation into a social media user who posted threats against President Isaac Herzog, who is in Paris for the start of the 2024 Olympic Games, French sports outlet L’Equipe reports.

According to the report, the investigation was opened after an anonymous user on X who had called for Herzog to be attacked during the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday evening was traced to the southeastern Paris suburb of Val-De-Marne.

The anti-terrorism unit of the Val-De-Marne police department is involved in the investigation, the report adds.

Basel-Mulhouse airport in France reopens after evacuating due to bomb alert

The Franco-Swiss airport of Basel-Mulhouse is reopening and flight operations will gradually resume after it was briefly evacuated due to a bomb alert, airport officials say.

“For safety reasons, the terminal had to be evacuated,” the airport said on its website while it was closed.

An air traffic controller at the airport told Reuters it was the seventh alert since last October.

Katz claims Iran, ‘radical Islam’ behind attack on French railways, but France points to ‘criminal’ motive

Foreign Minister Israel Katz claims that the malicious acts of sabotage committed across France’s high-speed railway this morning were carried out “under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam.”

Katz says he warned his French counterpart this week “based on information held by Israel” that Iran was “planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants.

“Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot,” he adds. “The free world must stop Iran now – before it’s too late.”

The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the @Paris2024 Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran's axis of evil and radical Islam. As I warned my French counterpart @steph_sejourne this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 26, 2024

French intelligence services have said it is not yet clear who was behind the attacks on the railways, which have caused widespread chaos hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Two security officials say, however, that initial suspicions fell on hardline leftists or environmental activists, and that the attacks were likely “criminal acts” rather than part of a terror plot.

French officials have also said there was no direct link between the sabotage and the Olympic games.

The crimes could carry sentences of 15-20 years.

IDF says it struck a cell of Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon’s Markaba

A cell of Hezbollah operatives was struck in southern Lebanon’s Markaba a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military says the operatives were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit entering a building used by the terror group, and a short while later, a fighter jet carried out an airstrike.

Separately, overnight, the IDF says it struck another building used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab

Meanwhile, one rocket launched from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee a short while ago was intercepted by air defenses, the IDF adds.

במהלך היום כוח מיחידה 869 זיהה מספר מחבלים נכנסים למבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב מרכבא, זמן קצר לאחר הזיהוי מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו את המבנה ובו המחבלים.

כמו כן, במהלך הלילה הותקף מבנה צבאי נוסף של הארגון, במרחב עייתא א-שעב>> pic.twitter.com/wT6ShbqFZk

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 26, 2024

UK’s Starmer withdrawing previous government’s objection to ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant – spokesperson

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers' Questions session in parliament in London, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirms that the country will withdraw the previous government’s objection to the International Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The spokesperson says that the decision of whether or not to issue the warrants is for the ICC to make.

Franco-Swiss airport evacuated due to bomb alert, French police say

The Franco-Swiss airport of Basel-Mulhouse has been evacuated and closed due to a bomb alert, the French police say.

The alert follows several acts of sabotage across France’s high-speed rail network, causing severe delays just hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, but there is no immediate indication that the two incidents are connected.

Israeli official questions ‘bizarre’ Hamas rejection of changes to hostage deal draft that have yet to be submitted

After Palestinian and Egyptian sources claimed overnight that Hamas has rejected one of the new demands Israel has said it will add to the hostage release and ceasefire deal proposal, an Israeli official tells Reuters that the terror group has yet to even receive the amendment texts.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Western official charged that Israel had complicated efforts to reach a final deal, and specifically noted Israel’s insistence on amending the deal to include a stipulation for the implementation of a vetting mechanism to screen displaced Palestinians returning to the north of the Strip in the event of a truce.

The demand was reportedly rejected by Hamas, according to Egyptian and Palestinian sources.

However, speaking to Reuters, an Israeli official calls the messages from Hamas regarding the amended proposal “bizarre,” because Israel hasn’t “sent it yet, nobody has read it yet.”

“Even the negotiators haven’t got it yet. They will read it before transferring it to Hamas for their reaction,” says the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Haifa woman seriously injured in car bombing near Nazareth, police say

A 34-year-old woman from Haifa was seriously injured in a car bombing near Nazareth earlier today, the Israel Police says.

An investigation has been opened into the incident, the police say in a statement, and a search to locate the perpetrators is underway.

The statement adds that police are treating the incident as “criminal,” indicating they don’t suspect a terror motive.

Obama backs Harris’s presidential bid after initially withholding endorsement

(L-R) Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Barack Obama attend an event to mark the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House on April 5, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)

Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle endorse Kamala Harris’ bid for president in a roughly one-minute-long video that captured a private phone call between the couple and the current vice president.

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama tells Harris.

“I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” the former first lady told Harris.

Talking into a cell phone and cracking a few smiles, Harris expresses her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.

“Thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this too,” Harris says.

The campaign says the video was the actual call, not a reenactment.

Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in… pic.twitter.com/0UIS0doIbA

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2024

Harris’s surprise bid against Republican rival Donald Trump continues to gain steam from supporters, donors and politicians less than a week after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race amid slumping poll numbers.

Obama, the first Black US president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even after more than a decade has passed since he was last elected.

The endorsement could help activate and sustain energy and fundraising for Harris’ campaign and it signals he is likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris once she is officially the presumptive nominee.

Obama initially withheld his endorsement even as Biden, his former vice president, anointed her as his heir apparent, as he reportedly did not want to put his thumb on the scale as the party worked through the process of determining its nominee.

Shin Bet publishes image of detained Palestinian aiding forces in operation to recover slain hostages

Members of the Shin Bet security agency and a detained Palestinian suspect in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, July 24, 2024. (Shin Bet)

An image published by the Shin Bet from Wednesday’s operation to recover the bodies of five slain hostages in the Gaza Strip shows a detained Palestinian aiding members of the security agency to locate the tunnel where the remains of the abductees were held.

The Palestinian suspect is seen wearing a military uniform and protective gear, but he is handcuffed. He is unarmed and also seen wearing blue sneakers and not army boots like the other Shin Bet agents.

IDF troops and members of the Shin Bet recovered the remains of Ravid Katz, 51, Oren Goldin, 33, Maya Goren, 56, Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, and Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20, in Khan Younis, all of whom were killed and abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

The IDF said that in recent weeks it obtained intelligence, including from Shin Bet interrogations of detained terrorists in Gaza, on the location of the tunnel where Hamas was holding the bodies of the hostages.

Algerian judoka expected to withdraw from Olympic match rather than compete against Israeli in first round – report

Algeria's Messaoud Redouane Dris competes in the men's under 73 kg category elimination round bout during the 2022 World Judo Championships at the Humo Arena in Tashkent on October 8, 2022. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)

Algerian judoka Messaoud Dris is expected to withdraw from his first match of the 2024 Paris Olympics after being selected to compete against Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul in the first round of the under 73kg competition, French news outlet Ouest France reports.

According to the report, the Algerian athlete is expected to forfeit the match as his country does not recognize the State of Israel.

The implications of his decision could be far-reaching, Ouest France states, as he could be banned from future competitions by the International Olympic Committee and the World Judo Federation.

Butbul, who is ranked ninth in the world in the Under 73kg division, was part of the Israeli team that won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Hours before Olympic opening ceremony, France’s high-speed rail network damaged by series of ‘malicious acts’

Travelers check trains on an electronic board at the Gare de Montparnasse, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Yasin Dar)

High-speed trains around France have been hit by several “malicious acts,” causing traffic to be heavily disrupted on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics,  according to the national rail company SNCF.

Travel to and from London beneath the English Channel, to neighboring Belgium, and across the west, north and east of France were affected by what SNCF says was a series of coordinated overnight incidents.

Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete says in a post on X that he “firmly condemns these criminal incidents,” and that SNCF is working to restore traffic.

There was no immediate sign of a link to the Olympic Games and national police say authorities are investigating what happened.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera says authorities are working to “evaluate the impact on travelers, athletes, and ensure the transport of all delegations to the competition sites” for the Olympics. Speaking on BFM television, she says, “Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country,” but doesn’t identify who was behind the vandalism.

UNESCO puts 4th century Gaza monastery on list of endangered World Heritage sites

A picture shows a view of the archaeological site of Saint Hilarion in the centre of the Gaza Strip, on June 8, 2022. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body says.

UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the “imminent threats” it faced.

“It’s the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context,”  Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, tells AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught in southern Israel.

In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant the site “provisional enhanced protection” — the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention.

At the time, UNESCO said it was “already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture” in Gaza.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand issue joint call for hostage deal, Gaza ceasefire

The leaders of Australia, New Zealand and Canada issue a joint statement calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

The three reiterate their support for the Israel-approved proposed hostage release and ceasefire deal presented by US President Joe Biden at the end of May, and urge “all involved actors to exercise restraint and deescalate” after months of war between Israel and the Hamas terror group.

“Civilians must be protected, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation,” the statement reads.

The leaders add that they “remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas.”

Smotrich: Harris proves Israel would be ‘surrendering to Sinwar’ if hostage deal goes ahead

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticizes the terms of the proposed hostage release and ceasefire deal after US Vice President Kamala Harris urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “get the deal done” in order to return the hostages to Israel and provide relief to citizens of the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“Kamala Harris revealed to the whole world what I have been saying for weeks, what is really behind the deal,” Smotrich writes on X.

Committing to the deal in its current iteration would mean “surrendering to Sinwar, ending the war in a way that would allow Hamas to rehabilitate, and abandoning most of the hostages in Hamas captivity,” he warns. “Do not fall into this trap!”

קמלה האריס חשפה בפני העולם כולו את מה שאני אומר כבר שבועות, מה באמת עומד מאחורי העסקה.
כניעה לסינוואר, הפסקת המלחמה באופן שיאפשר לחמאס להשתקם והפקרת רוב החטופים בשבי החמאס.
אסור ליפול למלכודת הזו!

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) July 26, 2024

His fellow coalition hardliner National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also reacts to Harris’s comments, writing on X: “There will be no ceasefire, Madam candidate.”

IDF: More than 100 terror operatives killed in Khan Younis since start of new operation

IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on July 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

More than 100 terror operatives have been killed by troops with the 98th Division during a new operation in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says.

The offensive in Khan Younis was launched on Monday, after the IDF said it identified Hamas terrorists regrouping there, three months after the IDF withdrew from the city in southern Gaza. The offensive was also aimed at enabling Wednesday’s operation to recover the bodies of five slain hostages.

The IDF says that Israeli Air Force drones directed by the 98th Division also struck seven mortar-launching cells in Khan Younis in the past day.

Further south, in Rafah, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division killed numerous terror operatives as well as located tunnels and weaponry, including long-range rocket launchers.

Also in Rafah, the military says an IAF drone strike killed two gunmen spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit. A short while later, another terror operative was spotted trying to take a gun from one of the dead gunmen. The IDF says a second strike killed the additional operative along with another gunman.

Meanwhile, IAF fighter jets, combat helicopters, and drones struck some 45 targets across Gaza over the past day, the military says.

The targets included cells of gunmen, tunnel shafts, buildings used by terror groups, and other infrastructure, including rocket launchers previously used to attack the southern city of Beersheba.

Ending years of silence, Netanyahu called Trump on July 4 to mark US Independence Day

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

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with former US president Donald Trump on July 4, calling him to wish a Happy Independence Day, an Israeli official reveals to reporters in what appears to have been the first time the two have spoken since January 2021.

Netanyahu infuriated Trump after the premier congratulated US President Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claims was stolen.

Trump wrote Netanyahu off, telling Israeli reporter Barak Ravid, “F**k him” in an interview months later. The former president has also criticized Netanyahu for what he said was his failure to stop the October 7 Hamas terror assault, and accused him of failing to cooperate with the 2020 assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, which Trump had ordered.

But hours before they are due to meet for the first time since Trump was president, the Israeli official tells reporters that the relationship between Netanyahu and the former president is “good.”

US knows Israel will do whatever is necessary to push Hezbollah back from northern border, official says

Israel will not wait for the US to green-light any military activity it chooses to take in order to push Hezbollah away from the Israel-Lebanon border, an Israeli official says in a briefing with reporters in Washington.

The official says that the US knows Israel will not allow the situation on the northern border — where Hezbollah forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts on a near daily basis — to remain as it is.

Israel is hoping that a solution can be reached through diplomatic measures, the official stresses, but will not hesitate to take military action if this proves to be impossible, the official says. They add that Israel is not prepared to give up territory to restore calm in the north.

Only once it is deemed safe for the tens of thousands of displaced people to return to their homes in northern Israel will the threat posed by Hezbollah be considered resolved, the official adds.

Official says Israel to proceed with plans to sanction Palestinian Authority officials

WASHINGTON — Israel will move forward with initial plans to sanction senior Palestinian Authority officials after it appeared to have held off doing so last month, an Israeli official tells reporters in a briefing from Washington.

The stripping of VIP permits from PA officials, which would limit their movement in the West Bank and prevent them from entering Israel, was one of the moves that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced would be taken against Ramallah over its support for dragging Israel before international tribunals and for countries recognizing a Palestinian state.

Smotrich sought to impose the punitive measures, along with steps to massively expand Israel’s footprint in the West Bank, as part of a quid pro quo that saw the finance minister agree to partially release hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues that he has been withholding from the PA.

While the settlement expansion moves were ultimately advanced, the sanctions against the PA were not.

However, the official briefing reporters says the sanctions will still be implemented. “It takes time,” they say.

Despite pushback from Netanyahu, US official says sanctions against Israeli extremists to continue

In conversations Thursday with both US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forcefully raised his objection to the sanction campaign being waged by the US against other Israeli extremists accused of destabilizing the West Bank, says the Israeli official briefing reporters.

The US began imposing the sanctions in February amid what it points to as the overwhelming impunity enjoyed by settlers who regularly target Palestinians in the West Bank.

Netanyahu asserted that there are far more attacks against Israeli civilians in the West Bank than Palestinian ones and that the rate of Palestinian terrorists to civilians killed in the territory has been 50 to 1, the Israeli official briefing reporters says.

A US official tells The Times of Israel that Sullivan told Netanyahu in response that the administration’s sanctions against Israeli extremists will continue.

Israeli-Saudi normalization still possible before US elections in November, Israeli official says

WASHINGTON — A normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is still possible before the November presidential election, an Israeli official tells reporters in a briefing, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the matter with US President Joe Biden during their Thursday meeting.

“If the prices are acceptable to us. It could develop there even before the elections. Israel and Saudi Arabia share a common interest,” the Israeli official says, ostensibly referring to efforts to curb Iran’s influence in the region.

Senior Congressional sources told The Times of Israel earlier this month that there is no chance for a deal before the election because there isn’t enough time left for Congress to authorize the security package that Riyadh is seeking with Washington as part of the broader initiative being advanced by the Biden administration.

The Congressional sources didn’t completely rule out a deal between the election and the inauguration of the next president, but they stressed that it was still very unlikely.

Israeli official: US no longer considering sanctions against Smotrich, Ben Gvir

WASHINGTON — The US is not considering sanctioning far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, of the Otzma Yehudit party, an Israeli official says, days after White House aides told The Times of Israel that the step was being weighed by the administration during a recent high-level meeting.

The idea of designating one or both of the ministers has been raised several times since US President Joe Biden signed an executive order in February which allowed the levying of sanctions to clamp down on those destabilizing the West Bank, US officials said earlier this week.

Biden had initially rejected the idea of sanctioning the two far-right ministers, arguing that the US should not be sanctioning elected officials, but the idea reportedly resurfaced as Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians continued, and as Israeli authorities continued taking steps to expand their footprint in the West Bank.

Harris ‘expressed concern’ about West Bank settler violence, settlement expansion in meeting with Netanyahu

US Vice President Kamala Harris broached the issue of extremist settler violence in the West Bank during her meeting with Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu, her office says in a readout of the conversation.

Harris “expressed her concern about actions that undermine stability and security in the West Bank, such as extremist settler violence and settlement expansion,” the readout states.

Settlement expansion has increased sharply since Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the helm of a hardline pro-settler coalition, and violence committed at the hands of vigilante settlers has spiked in the months since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught.

In recent months, the Biden administration has sanctioned 11 individuals and 11 entities, and dozens of settlers have been hit with visa bans through the act signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Israeli public harming hostage deal chances by pressuring Netanyahu, official says

WASHINGTON — The Israeli public’s pressure for a hostage deal has been one-sided, directed only at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and “is harming chances for an agreement with Hamas,” an Israeli official tells reporters in a briefing.

The official denies that Netanyahu has added any of his demands in the negotiations, though the text of Israel’s May proposal obtained by The Times of Israel indicates otherwise.

The official also says Netanyahu wanted Israel’s hostage negotiating team to depart for talks with mediators in Doha on Friday. However, it will likely be delayed for logistical reasons and issues beyond Israel’s control.

The hostage release and ceasefire agreement was the overwhelming focus of Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Joe Biden, the official says.

The families of American hostages being held in Gaza then joined the leaders after an hour and a half, the Israeli official says

Netanyahu told the hostage families that the US and Israeli positions are aligned and that Israel is taking steps that improve the chances for the deal to be implemented.

The official claims Netanyahu is working to maximize the number of living hostages who can be released in the first stage of the deal and confirms that Jerusalem will be transferring an updated Israeli proposal in the coming days.

The meeting with the hostage families was very moving, the Israeli official says, adding that the relatives are enduring unimaginable suffering and that he doesn’t judge people under such distress, even though they made very serious charges against him throughout the sit-down.

‘I don’t know what they’re talking about’: VP aide hits back at Israeli official who criticized her comments on war

WASHINGTON — An aide to US Vice President Kamala Harris hits back at a senior Israeli official who told reporters that her remarks regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza risk harming efforts to secure a hostage deal.

The senior Israeli official briefing reporters earlier took issue with Harris’s highlighting of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that the vice president was exaggerating the issue. The Israeli official also said Harris’s talk of the need to end the war was also unhelpful as Jerusalem is seeking to ensure that the hostage deal allows it to continue fighting after phase one.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” the Harris aide tells The Times of Israel.

“President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu: It’s time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done, and this is what the Vice President said publicly as well,” the aide says.

“Her public comments on Thursday tracked with her previous comments on the conflict. She started her Thursday remarks with rock-solid support for Israel, and then she expressed her concern about civilian causalities and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as she always does,” the aide continues

“The meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Vice President Harris was serious and collegial,” the aide adds.

Israeli official: Harris calling to end Gaza war will lead Hamas to take tougher stance

WASHINGTON — Harris’s public highlighting of a “dire humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and the need to “end the war” was harmful to the hostage negotiations, an Israeli official says, rejecting both messages.

The vice president also raised her concern regarding the Gaza humanitarian situation during her meeting with Netanyahu, the Israeli official notes, adding that the premier offered Harris a “detailed factual” account of the situation on the ground in Gaza, which pushed back on her claims regarding acute food insecurity, the suffering of civilians and high numbers of innocent people killed.

The official points to a directive Netanyahu gave after Israel came under fire earlier in the war over photos of bound Palestinian men stripped down to their underwear after being arrested by Israeli troops. The suspects were Hamas fighters who Israel wanted to confirm were not wearing explosives. Following outcry over the footage, Netanyahu ordered the IDF to allow the suspects to immediately put their clothes back on after the inspections were complete.

“The harm to Palestinian civilians is really the problem right now?” the Israeli official asks.

“What is Hamas supposed to think when it hears this?” the official continues, suggesting such talk will lead the terror group to toughen its demands. “I hope it won’t lead to regression in the talks because we’ve made a lot of progress.”

Despite the Israeli official’s disappointment with Harris’s public remarks, they speculate that ties with the Biden administration won’t deteriorate as the vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee takes a larger role.

“We are on a path of cooperation and closing gaps…. but that is why Harris’s press conference was so problematic,” the Israeli official says.

Israel ‘deeply disappointed’ by UK’s reported plan to withdraw objection to ICC arrest warrants, official says

WASHINGTON — A senior Israeli official tears into the United Kingdom for its reported plan to withdraw its objection to the International Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

״Israel is deeply disappointed by this fundamentally wrong decision,” the senior official says in a briefing with reporters.

“It is contrary to justice and truth and violates the right of all democracies to fight terrorism,” the official adds.

Top Israeli official says Harris comments could hurt chances for hostage deal

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON — A senior Israeli official accuses US Vice President Kamala Harris of putting ongoing efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire agreement at risk with her public statement on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.

“Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure,” the senior official says in a briefing with reporters on condition of anonymity.

The senior official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the importance of there being no perceived gaps between the stances of Israel and the US during his Thursday meeting with US President Joe Biden.

“The more our enemies see that there is complete alignment of positions between Israel and the US, the more we increase the chance of securing the release of the hostages and decrease the chance of a regional war,” the senior official says. “The more the gap widens between our countries, the more we move away from a deal and thus also increase the possibility of a regional escalation.”

The senior Israeli official says the meeting with Biden was productive and helped move efforts to secure a hostage deal in a “positive direction.”

The official does not make a point of describing Netanyahu’s meeting with Harris in the same manner.

According to an Israeli official, Jerusalem had been uncomfortable with Harris’s tone throughout her remarks and thought they overly stressed the importance of ending the war in a manner that appeared to show the US and Israel not in lockstep.

Harris did indeed declare that, “It is time for this war to end,” but specified that it must be done “in a way where Israel is secure.”

Almost the entirety of her five-minute speech consisted of talking points that both she and Biden have used throughout the war, though there was more of an emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” she said.

Reservist killed in southern Gaza fighting, IDF says

Moti Rave. (Courtesy)

A reservist soldier was killed during fighting in southern Gaza’s Rafah yesterday, the military announces.

The slain soldier is named as Cpl. (res.) Moti Rave, 37, from the community of Shani, also known as Livne, which straddles the southern West Bank border.

Rave served as an engineering vehicle operator in the Givati Brigade.

According to an initial probe, Rave was killed by anti-tank fire that hit a D9 bulldozer he was operating.

His death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in other military operations along the border with the Strip to 330.

Hamas urges attacks on Israelis following death of jailed leader

The Hamas terror group is calling for supporters to carry out violent attacks against Israelis to avenge the death of a leader of the group who was in Israeli custody.

Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, a senior Hamas figure in the West Bank, died after being transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel, Palestinian officials said early Friday.

Hamas claims in a statement that Abu Ara is the victim of a “slow killing,” alleging that Israeli prison officials refused to provide him medical treatment for an unspecified chronic condition.

“We call on all fighters to aim bullets and explosives at occupation soldiers and settlers in revenge for the blood of the martyr and other righteous martyrs,” the terror group says.

There is no comment from Israel.

Biden discussed closing remaining gaps in hostage deal with Netanyahu — White House

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden in his meeting earlier today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “expressed the need to close the remaining gaps” in the negotiations for a hostage release and ceasefire agreement in order to bring about “a durable end to the war in Gaza,” the White House says.

Biden “also raised the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the need to remove any obstacles to the flow of aid and restoring basic services for those in need and the critical importance of protecting civilian lives during military operations,” a White House statement says.

The president “reaffirmed the US ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,” it says.

Netanyahu’s office has not yet issued a statement on the meeting.

Overnight rocket siren in Gaza-area community declared false alarm

A rocket siren that sounded near the Gaza periphery was a false alarm, the Israel Defense Forces says.

Sirens had rung out at 3 a.m. in the community of Yated, some five kilometers (three miles) from the Gaza border.

Israeli demands in hostage talks complicating deal, sources say

Officials speaking to Reuters say changes to a hostage deal proposal demanded by Israel have complicated efforts to reach a final deal to halt nine months of combat and free over 100 hostages held in Gaza since October 7 or longer.

According to a Western official and a Palestinian and two Egyptian sources, Israel wants displaced Palestinians to be screened as they return to the enclave’s north when a ceasefire begins, retreating from an agreement to allow civilians who fled south to freely return home.

Israeli negotiators “want a vetting mechanism for civilian populations returning to the north of Gaza, where they fear these populations could support” Hamas fighters who remain entrenched there, the Western official says.

Hamas has rejected the Israeli demand, according to the Palestinian and Egyptian sources.

Another sticking point, Egyptian sources say, is over Israel’s demand to retain control of Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Cairo says is also outside the contours of what the sides have agreed to.

The Israel Defense Forces says the nine-mile (14 km) strip of land, referred to as the Philadelphi Corridor, hosts smuggling tunnels through which Hamas has received weapons and other supplies. Egypt says it destroyed tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago and created a buffer zone and border fortifications that prevent smuggling.

The last several days have seen efforts to “work around” that issue, either through an Israeli withdrawal “or there could be some understanding about how that is managed,” says the Western official, who does not elaborate.

Israel has long demanded the deal include a mechanism to control access to Gaza’s north, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for weeks insisted that he will not agree to withdraw troops from the Philadelphi Corridor.

Relatives of hostages who met with Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden Thursday said they had been told that an updated Israeli proposal was slated to be sent to Hamas within days.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri also rejects the assertion from a senior Biden administration official who said Wednesday that Hamas had yet to detail “the hostages who are going to come out” in the first phase of a deal.

“The US administration is trying to cover up for Netanyahu’s undermining of the deal by saying there are things demanded from the two sides. This isn’t true,” he says.

Hamas leader in West Bank dies in Israeli custody

A Hamas leader in the West Bank has died in Israeli custody after a deterioration in his health condition, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs says in a statement.

Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel, the PA body says.

“Before his arrest, he was suffering from serious health problems and needed intensive medical follow-up. However, from the moment of his arrest, Sheikh Abu Ara, like all prisoners, has faced unprecedented crimes … since the beginning of the war of extermination,” the commission says.

⚡️ Martyrdom of #Hamas leader Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara in the occupation prisons.

Sheikh Mustafa is from the first generation of #Hamas in the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/XxuK63bTOV

— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) July 25, 2024

Abu Ara was arrested in October, and spent a total of 12 years behind bars, according to Hamas.

There is no immediate comment from Israel.

Harris says she told PM ‘time to get deal done,’ vows to speak up on Gazan suffering

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris says “there has been hopeful movement” hostage talks and that she told Prime Minister Netanyahu in their meeting earlier today at the White House that “it is time to get this deal done.”

Harris makes the comments in her first major public remarks regarding the Israel-Hamas war since she became the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

The vice president makes a point of reading out the names of all eight American-Israel hostages still held captive by Hamas — something no US official has done in this manner.

Harris says she has met several times with their families, telling them, “They are not alone, and I stand with them.”

“Let’s get the deal done, so we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home, and let’s provide much-needed relief to the Palestinian people,” she says.

The vice president says she had a “frank and constructive” conversation with Netanyahu during which she pledged to him that she will “always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself,” including from Iran and its proxies.

Highlighting her long history with the state of Israel, Harris recalls how she raised money as a child to plant trees in the Jewish state. It has been a go-to anecdote for her in engagements with pro-Israel audiences and it seems she’ll be using the recollection the way US President Joe Biden has with his story about meeting former prime minister Golda Meir as a young senator.

“From when I was a young girl, collecting funds to plant trees for Israel, to my time in the United States Senate and now at the White House, I’ve had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security, and to the people of Israel,” Harris says in an apparent effort to boast her pro-Israel bonafides amid a drumbeat of reports that she has served as the bad-cop foil to Biden — a narrative US officials have dismissed to The Times of Israel.

“Israel has a right to defend itself and how it does so matters,” she says.

Harris brands Hamas a “brutal terror organization” that triggered the ongoing war with its October 7 onslaught, noting that it included “horrific acts of sexual violence.”

At the same time, she expresses her “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.”

“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there with over two million people are facing high levels of food insecurity,” she adds.

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety — sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”

“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”

Harris says she remains committed to “a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution,” acknowledging that it cannot be reached immediately but that it is still the best framework for both sides.

Addressing the American public, she urges it to remember that the Israel-Hamas war “is not a binary issue.”

“I asked my fellow Americans to help encourage efforts to acknowledge the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region,” she says.

“Let us all condemn terrorism and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians, and let us condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate of any kind,” Harris adds.

Netanyahu-Harris meeting ends after 40 minutes

US Vice President Kamala Harris, right, shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

A meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Vice President Kamala Harris has ended after 40 minutes, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says.