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The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they unfolded.
Syrian authorities evacuate citizens amid major forest fires
This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency's (SANA) telegram page shows a bulldozer attempting to contain a wildfire sweeping through Qatal Maaf in the Latakia province in Syria's Mediterranean West on July 4, 2025. (SANA / AFP)
Syrian rescuers evacuated residential areas in Latakia province because of major forest fires, authorities say.
Fires have spread across large parts of Syria, particularly on the coast, for several days, with firefighters struggling to control them due to strong winds and a drought.
Abdulkafi Kayyal, director of the Directorate of Disasters and Emergencies in Latakia province, told the state SANA news agency that fires in the Qastal Maaf area had moved close to several villages, prompting the evacuations.
Syria’s civil defense warns residents of “the spread of rising smoke emissions to the northern section of the coastal mountains, the city of Hama, its countryside, and southern Idlib areas.”
“Our teams recorded losses in the orchards due to the widespread spread of the forest fire in several areas of the Latakia countryside,” the civil defense adds, calling on citizens to report anyone they suspect of starting fires.
With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has been battered by heatwaves, low rainfall and major forest fires.
Trump signs flagship US tax and spending bill into law
US President Donald Trump has signed his flagship tax and spending bill into law, capping a pomp-laden White House Independence Day ceremony.
“That’s a good one,” he says, as he signed the document with a Sharpie marker, flanked by scores of Republican lawmakers who had fallen into line to support the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Israel has received Hamas response on Gaza ceasefire proposal, Israeli media reports
Israel has received Palestinian group Hamas’ response on the Gaza ceasefire proposal with details currently being examined, Hebrew media reports, citing Israeli officials.
Islamic Jihad says supports Gaza ceasefire talks, demands ‘guarantees’
Palestinian Islamic Jihad says it supports plans for proximity talks on a truce with Israel in Gaza but demands “guarantees” that the process would lead to a permanent ceasefire.
“We presented (Hamas) a number of detailed points on the mechanism for putting in place the mediators’ proposal, and we want additional guarantees to assure us (that Israel) will not resume its aggression after (hostages) are freed,” the terror group says in a statement after Hamas indicated it was ready for talks.
Hamas says it gave ‘positive’ response, ready to start talks ‘immediately’ on implementation of Gaza ceasefire
A banner, referring to the hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is displayed on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Hamas says it has submitted a “positive response” to a hostage-ceasefire proposal and is ready to start talks “immediately” on a mechanism to implement a truce with Israel in Gaza, after holding consultations with other Palestinian factions.
“The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place” the terms of a draft truce proposal received from mediators, the terror group says in a statement.
Hamas said asking for ‘minor changes’ to hostage-ceasefire proposal, including removing GHF from Strip
Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 4, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
A source close to Hamas tells the Ynet news site that the terror group has requested “minor changes” to the US-brokered hostage-ceasefire proposal, even as it responded positively.
According to the official, the terror group asked that the handling of aid to Gaza be returned to traditional agencies like the UN and that the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been distributing aid that bypasses Hamas, be removed from Gaza.
Hamas reportedly also demands that the IDF withdraw to positions agreed in the previous ceasefire.
In addition, Hamas is demanding that the US, Qatar and Egypt guarantee that there will not be a return to fighting after the 60-day ceasefire and that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue, the official tells Ynet.
Israeli officials earlier told Channel 12 that they expected some demands from Hamas and were confident that gaps could be bridged in proximity talks.
French President Macron and Malaysian PM reaffirm calls for Gaza ceasefire
France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) gestures next to Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a joint press statement prior to a working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris on July 4, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reaffirm their calls for a ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza, as Macron hosts Ibrahim in Paris.
“Our two countries are urging, more than ever, for a ceasefire, the release of the hostages, and for aid to get through,” says Macron, referring to Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Hamas said to give mediators a ‘positive’ response to hostage deal proposal
Family and friends of Israeli hostages brothers Ziv and Gali Berman attend a march calling for their release from Hamas captivity in Tel Aviv, July 4, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Hamas has handed its response to the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks tells Reuters, adding that it is “positive and should help reach a deal.”
“We have handed the mediators, Qatar and Egypt, our response to the ceasefire proposal,” a Hamas official tells Reuters on condition of anonymity.
“The Hamas response is positive and I think it should help and facilitate reaching a deal,” says the Palestinian official close to the talks.
UK’s Palestine Action loses bid to pause ban as terrorist group
Palestine Action activist Lisa Luxx speaks to supporters and members of the media outside the High Court in London on July 4, 2025. A High Court judge in London on Friday dismissed an attempt to derail a government ban of the Palestine Action campaign group under anti-terror laws. (Photo by BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP)
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campaign group Palestine Action’s co-founder loses a bid to pause the British government’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, though the group is launching an urgent appeal.
Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London’s High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful later this month.
British lawmakers this week decided to ban Palestine Action after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group says is Britain’s support for Israel.
Proscription would make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Judge Martin Chamberlain rules against Ammori’s bid to pause the ban, meaning the proscription of Palestine Action will come into force at midnight.
Husain asked for a temporary pause until Monday pending an appeal but Chamberlain refuses, saying: “You are going to have to trouble the Court of Appeal tonight.”
Ammori says in a statement that “We are seeking an urgent appeal to try to prevent a dystopian nightmare of the government’s making”.
Netanyahu, IDF chief said to clash in stormy meeting over plans for Gaza
Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at his office in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Nava Freiberg/Times of Israel); IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in Jerusalem on March 5, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir are said to have clashed at a stormy meeting between security chiefs and senior ministers last night over future military plans for the Gaza Strip.
According to quotes from the closed-door meeting reported by Channel 12, Netanyahu ordered Zamir to prepare a plan to relocate the vast majority of the population to southern Gaza.
“Do you want a military government? Who will govern two million people?” Zamir reportedly asks.
“IDF and the State of Israel,” Netanyahu is said to have raised his voice and shouted at Zamir. “I don’t want a military government, but I’m not willing to leave Hamas behind in any way. I won’t allow this.”
Netanyahu says the alternative to the evacuation plan was to capture the entire Strip, including areas the IDF has not operated in until now for fear of harming the hostages.
“The alternative to evacuation to the south is to run over the whole Strip and capture all of it, and that means killing the hostages which I don’t want and not prepared to do,” the report quotes him as saying.
Zamir retorts to Netanyahu that such a plan could lead to a loss of control.
“We need to talk about this, we have not agreed to this. To control these people who are hungry and angry could lead to a loss of control and as a result of that loss of control they could turn on the IDF, ” Zamir warns.
Netanyahu dismisses his concern: “Prepare an evacuation plan – I want to see it when I return from Washington.”
IDF confirms killing Lebanese Quds Force operative in strike near Beirut
Lebanese emergency responders inspect the debris at the site of an airstrike on a vehicle in Khalde, south of the capital Beirut on July 3, 2025. (IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
The IDF and Shin Bet confirm that they killed Qassem Al-Husseini, a Lebanese operative affiliated with Iran’s Quds Force, after he was targeted in a strike yesterday.
Al-Husseini was killed in an Israeli airstrike near the village of Sil, near Beirut, following precise intelligence provided by the Shin Bet, Northern Command and Military Intelligence.
According to the IDF, who was advancing terror plots against Israel along the northern border and played a central role in smuggling weapons from Iran through Syria into Lebanon and the West Bank, working closely with Syrian and Lebanese arms dealers.
His death, the military says, deals a significant blow to Iranian-backed efforts to arm terror groups across the region.
IDF says it holds operational control over around 65% of Gaza
IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, in a handout cleared for publication on July 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it now holds operational control over roughly 65% of the Gaza Strip, following intensified military action across the territory.
Over the past week, Israeli forces eliminated more than 100 Hamas operatives, including senior commander Hakem al-Issa.
Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, the Israeli Air Force has struck over 7,500 terror targets, including weapons sites, tunnels and rocket launchers.
The military says its campaign will continue in pursuit of its war goals and to protect Israeli civilians.
Trump shares footage of meeting with Edan Alexander, says he’s committed to returning all hostages
US President Donald Trump shares footage of his meeting with released American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander yesterday.
“It was my great honor to welcome Edan Alexander, held hostage by Hamas for 584 days — to the Oval Office with his loved ones. We remain committed to bringing every hostage home!” Trump writes on his Truth Social account.
הנשיא טראמפ שיתף תיעוד של עידן אלכסנדר בבית הלבן: "כבוד גדול"https://t.co/NAqAd6EyOx pic.twitter.com/NNINkbKSNS
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) July 4, 2025
IDF says soldier killed during fighting in Gaza’s Khan Younis
IDF Sgt. Asaf Zamir, 19. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF has announced that Sgt. Asaf Zamir, 19, from Dimona, a soldier in the 53rd Armored Battalion of the 188th Brigade, was killed during combat in the southern Gaza Strip.
In the same incident, which took place this morning in the Khan Younis area, a tank was fired upon, resulting in several casualties.
Two additional soldiers from the same battalion were severely wounded and evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment. Their families have been notified.
Sources say UBS, Goldman Sachs refused GHF requests to set up Swiss accounts
This photo, provided by an American contractor on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, shows Palestinians behind gates before entering a food distribution site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May 2025, shortly after the start of the organization's distribution sites. (AP Photo)
LONDON/GENEVA — UBS declined a request by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to open a bank account in Switzerland, while Goldman Sachs did not set up a Swiss account for GHF after initial talks, two people with knowledge of the discussions tell Reuters.
GHF is a US- and Israeli-backed organization that began delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinian civilians in Gaza in May, bypassing traditional aid channels, including the United Nations.
GHF had sought to open a bank account for a unit based in Geneva to help facilitate donations from outside the United States, two other people with knowledge of its plans say.
The foundation started talks with lawyers and banks, including UBS and Goldman, last autumn about the Swiss entity’s structure, before deciding to withdraw from Switzerland in May, they say.
The two people decline to say which other banks GHF had engaged with, and Reuters cannot establish that information independently. GHF did not respond to questions about whether it had spoken to other banks.
According to two of the people, the foundation’s plans for a Geneva branch faced setbacks, including a lack of donations and resignations of founding members, including GHF executive director Jake Wood, as well as difficulties opening a Swiss bank account.
A GHF spokesperson tells Reuters by email that the decision to withdraw from Switzerland was not because of any setbacks, adding: “It was a strategic decision to be located in the US.”
One stumbling block in talks with banks was a lack of transparency about where the foundation’s funds would come from, one of the people with knowledge of the discussions tells Reuters. Before accepting clients, banks must conduct due diligence to establish their identities and ownership, the nature of their business activities, and their sources of wealth.
GHF has not disclosed details of its finances. A GHF spokesperson says it has “spoken about initial funding from Europe, but we don’t disclose donors for their privacy.”
Anti-Israel protesters attack Israeli-owned restaurant in Melbourne; attempted arson reported at synagogue
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters rush the Melbourne branch of the Miznon restaurant in Melbourne, smashing a window and terrifying diners, the Herald Sun newspaper reports.
Activists say they targeted the restaurant, owned by Israeli celebrity chef Eyal Shani, because his business partner, entrepreneur Shahar Segal, advocates on behalf of the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid group.
Meanwhile, the local Jewish Community Security Group reports an attempt to burn down the East Melbourne Synagogue.
The group says the door to the synagogue was burned, but no injuries were caused and the rest of the building remained untouched.
Police declare Miznon Hardware Lane crime scene after protesters clash with restaurant over alleged ties to American-Israeli aid group implicated in killings. Many arrests. This is a developing story pic.twitter.com/Gp30uIUkdg
— Alex Zucco (@zucco_alex) July 4, 2025
Neturei Karta members visit Iranian embassy in London, sign book honoring slain IRGC commanders
Members of the anti-Zionist extremist Jewish sect Neturei Karta visit the Iranian embassy in London, where they sign a book in memory of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders killed in the 12-day war with Israel.
רועי קייס: משלחת יהודים מנטורי קרתא ביקרה השבוע בשגרירות איראן בלונדון כדי לחתום על ספר הנצחה למחוסלים ממשמרות המהפכה במהלך העימות בין איראן לישראל pic.twitter.com/fWYMu6hO3X
— יוסי ריינר | Yossi rainer ???? (@yossi_rainer) July 4, 2025
Netanyahu associates reportedly tell UAE officials hosting Lapid was ‘political interference’
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, left, with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, July 3, 2025 (X/Yair Lapid)
Associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Emirati officials they view Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s visit to Abu Dhabi and his meeting with the UAE’s president as “political interference,” the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Lapid yesterday conducted the visit, meeting UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Netanyahu associates told Emitati officials that, “it can not be that you invite the opposition head for a meeting before you invite the head of a country.”
“Especially after the attack on Iran and the prime minister’s decision, we expected a different course of action. Apparently, fear of Iran outweighs good judgment,” the associates added.
Netanyahu has yet to meet the UAE president or be invited to visit the UAE since signing the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties with Abu Dhabi in 2020.
עם חברי, שר החוץ האמירותי השייח׳ עבדאללה בן זאיד, אמש באבו דאבי. דנו בהתפתחויות באזור ובמאמצים להסכם בעזה והשבת החטופים pic.twitter.com/1GBotRXT7y
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) July 4, 2025
IAF struck some 100 terror sites across Gaza over past day, military says
IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, in a handout cleared for publication on July 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli Air Force struck around 100 terror targets across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the military says, as ground forces continue operations against Hamas and other terror groups.
Targets of the airstrikes included rocket launchers, military buildings, weapons depots and other infrastructure used by terror operatives.
Simultaneously, IDF ground troops from multiple divisions continued operations in Gaza City, northern Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, locating and destroying underground tunnels, weapons stockpiles and explosives planted to harm Israeli forces.
UN nuclear watchdog pulls its inspectors out of Iran after Tehran suspends cooperation
File: An unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector disconnects the connections between the twin cascades for 20 percent uranium production at the nuclear research center of Natanz, some 300 kilometers south of Tehran, Iran, on January 20, 2014. (KAZEM GHANE/IRNA/AFP)
UN nuclear watchdog inspectors left Iran earlier today, according to the agency, which calls for the resumption of its “indispensable monitoring” after the Islamic Republic officially suspended its cooperation.
The suspension came after last month’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and escalated tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA says in a post on X.
“IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” it adds.
Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog on Wednesday.
On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to suspend the cooperation.
Washington, which has been pressing Tehran to resume the negotiations that were interrupted by Israel’s resort to military action on June 13, has hit out at the Iranian decision, calling it “unacceptable.”
Syria says ready to work with US on return to 1974 disengagement deal with Israel
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani says that Damascus is willing to cooperate with Washington to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel.
In a statement following a phone call with his American counterpart Marco Rubio, Shaibani says he expressed Syria’s “aspiration to cooperate with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement.”
Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948.
Israel’s takeover of the buffer zone along the Syrian border following the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December is considered by the United Nations to be a violation of the 1974 disengagement accord.
Israel says the accord has fallen apart since one of the sides was no longer in a position to implement it, and that the takeover was a defensive move to protect the country from potential hostile forces that could have exploited the power vacuum.
UN rights office says more than 600 people killed near Gaza aid sites since late May
Palestinians gather at an aid distribution point set up by the privately-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 25, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
The UN human rights office says it has recorded at least 613 killings both at aid points run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups since GHF began operating in the Strip in late May.
“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys. This is a figure as of June 27. Since then…there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), tells reporters in Geneva.
She says the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings, but adds that “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by GHF.
Of the 613 people killed, 509 were killed near the GHF distribution points, the OHCHR says, and the others were near other aid distribution sites or trucks.
The OHCHR says its figure is based on a range of sources such as information from hospitals, cemeteries, families, Gaza health authorities, NGOs and its partners on the ground. It says it is verifying further reports and cannot yet give a breakdown of where they were killed.
Death tolls provided by Hamas-run Gaza health authorities cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also tells Reuters that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on truck drivers, which it describes as unacceptable.
GHF operations have since been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.
The IDF acknowledged earlier this week that Palestinian civilians have been harmed at the aid distribution sites, but that troops only used live fire when a threat was posed to them, including when dozens of suspects approached forces outside of the designated routes to the aid sites operated by the GHF, or outside operating hours.
Asked about normalization with Israel, Saudi FM says Gaza ceasefire takes priority
When asked about the possibility of normalizing ties with Israel, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud says that the kingdom’s current priority is reaching a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
He is speaking during a visit to Moscow.
Separately, he calls for all parties to return to diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and says that Tehran needs to fully cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Man and woman found dead in apartment on outskirts of Jerusalem in possible murder-suicide
Two people were found dead in an apartment in Mevaseret Zion on the outskirts of Jerusalem a short while ago, police say, in an incident being investigated as a possible murder-suicide.
The two, a 30-something man and a woman in her 80s, were pronounced dead by Magen David Adom medics who were called to the apartment by the person who discovered them there.
Police say in a brief statement that they have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Forces from the local police station and the Jerusalem District Forensic Unit are working at the scene of the incident.
Influx of Gazans injured at aid sites has turned Nasser Hospital into ‘one massive trauma ward,’ WHO says
Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis is operating as “one massive trauma ward” due to an influx of patients injured at humanitarian aid distribution sites, the World Health Organization says.
“Already for weeks they’ve seen daily injuries… with (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites,” WHO representative Rik Peeperkorn tells reporters in Geneva, apparently referring to sites operated by the controversial US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“The hospital is now operating as one massive trauma ward,” he says.
GHF operations have since been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on those waiting to collect aid.
The IDF acknowledged earlier this week that Palestinian civilians have been harmed at the aid distribution sites, but that troops only used live fire when a threat was posed to them, including when dozens of suspects approached forces outside of the designated routes to the aid sites operated by the GHF, or outside operating hours.
First international flight since Israel-Iran war lands at Tehran airport, state media says
FlyDubai became the first international carrier to land at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on Friday at the end of a 20-day suspension of flights that was imposed due to the recent 12-day war with Israel, the official IRNA news agency reports.
The arrival of Flight FZ1930 at Iran’s biggest airport from the airline’s base in the United Arab Emirates marks the start of a gradual return to normal operations in Iranian airspace, IRNA says.
FlyDubai is a low-cost carrier and a sister airline to Emirates.
Local authorities describe the landing as a sign of restored stability and effective crisis management in the country’s aviation sector. Passenger services were carried out under full safety and security protocols, IRNA reported.
International and domestic air traffic had been halted following Israeli airstrikes and heightened security concerns across Iranian skies.
Iran’s airports have reopened for domestic and international flights, except for those in the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz, and the country’s airspace is also open for international transit flights, state media reports.
Israel approves new humanitarian aid package for Ukraine, aimed at increasing access to clean water
Local residents collect clean drinking water from a water station in the city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, on October 29, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP)
The Foreign Ministry announces that it has approved a new humanitarian aid package for Ukraine, intended to provide clean water to areas that no longer have functioning water infrastructure as a result of more than three years of Russian bombardment.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, yesterday and shared the details of the aid package with him, the Foreign Ministry says.
Included in the package are several water systems, each one with the capacity to provide clean drinking water to tens of thousands of people, the ministry says.
They will be installed across eastern Ukraine, where Russian shelling has left much of the water infrastructure heavily damaged and non-functioning.
In 2024, Global WASH Cluster, a UNICEF-led water sanitation monitoring network, estimated that some 9.6 million people in Ukraine, or roughly a quarter of the population, are without adequate water and sanitation services.
Israel has periodically provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its war there in February 2022.
It has declined, however, to send military aid — a decision that has irked Kyiv — due to the need to maintain relations with Moscow.
15 people said killed in Israeli strikes on southern Gaza overnight
Gaza’s Hamas-linked civil defense agency says overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 15 people in the southern Gaza Strip.
Civil defense official Mohammad al-Mughayyir tells AFP that seven people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli air strike on displaced people’s tents near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Mughayyir says eight more people were killed in two other strikes on tent encampments on the coast of Khan Younis, including one that killed two children in the early hours of the morning.
The IDF tells AFP that it cannot comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates, but notes it is “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities.”
The death toll could not be independently verified, and Hamas does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
IDF says soldier killed in operational accident in northern Gaza Strip overnight
Sgt. Yair Eliyahou, 19, of the Combat Engineering Corps. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF announces that Sgt. Yair Eliyahou, 19, from the community of Ezer, a Combat Engineering soldier in the Northern Brigade, was killed overnight during a combat-related operational accident in the northern Gaza Strip.
The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.
After IDF shares probe into failures at Moshav Mivtahim on Oct. 7, community calls for state commission of inquiry
A memorial at Moshav Mivtachim near the Gaza border to five members of the Mivtachim and Yesha moshavim killed fighting Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, photographed on January 16, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
Following the publication of an IDF probe this morning into its failures to defend Moshav Mivtahim during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, the community is calling for the establishment of an independent state commission of inquiry to investigate systemic shortcomings across all levels of leadership.
“Only such an investigation can ensure historical justice, public trust, and true accountability to the fallen, the abducted, the survivors, and the entire communities of the Gaza border region,” the community says in a statement.
The residents also pay tribute to members of the moshav’s emergency squad and an off-duty soldier from nearby Yesha who were killed defending the community on that fateful day, as well as two young residents murdered at the Zohar Junction.
While welcoming the IDF’s apology and acceptance of responsibility, the community stresses that “an investigation is never the final word,” and calls for swift and meaningful action to ensure such a failure never happens again.
Katz, Zamir hail Israel’s war against Iran as ‘defining milestone’ in country’s history
Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, June 20, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir release separate statements praising Israel’s achievements during Operation Rising Lion as a historic turning point in Israel’s defense against Iran’s most dangerous threats, following a joint situational assessment yesterday.
Katz hails the operation as a strategic triumph.
“The IDF achieved remarkable successes in thwarting Iran’s nuclear program and missile production system — the two threats that posed the greatest danger to Israel,” Katz says.
“The IDF must prepare both intelligence-wise and operationally to ensure air superiority over Tehran and to prevent Iran from rebuilding its capabilities,” he adds.
Zamir echoes the sentiment, calling the operation a defining moment in Israel’s security history.
“Operation Rising Lion is a defining milestone in the campaign for the security of the State of Israel,” he says. “It once again demonstrated the strength of the IDF, the depth of its operational capabilities, and the determination of the people of Israel to defend their existence.”
Zamir says that the operation was years in the making, built on “thousands of hours of planning, intelligence gathering, and training.”
“In recent months, intelligence sharpened, capabilities matured, and the plan became feasible. Air Force planes controlled the skies over Tehran, intelligence demonstrated groundbreaking capabilities, and our air defense protected the home front,” he says.
Reflecting on the broader war since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, Zamir adds, “The operation is over — but the campaign is not.”
Drone shot down near Iraqi airport hosting US troops, security forces say
A drone was intercepted late last night near Arbil airport, which houses US-led anti-jihadist coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, Kurdish security forces say.
“At 9:58 p.m., an explosive-packed drone was downed near Arbil International Airport, without causing casualties or damage,” says the counterterrorism services of the Kurdistan region.
Arbil airport, which includes a military base of the international anti-jihadist coalition, was a frequent target in previous years for rocket and drone attacks.
A US defense official tells AFP, “We are aware of an explosion from a UAV that occurred outside of the airbase in Arbil,” adding that the “incident is under investigation.”
“All US personnel are accounted for and there were no injuries or damage to the base or US assets in the area,” he says.
Dana Tofeek, the airport’s interim director, tells AFP that the facility is “safe,” adding that “only one flight was slightly delayed due to security measures.”
There has been no claim of responsibility for the drone attack.
In the past days, drone and rocket attacks have been reported in different parts of Iraq, including drones that landed in open spaces.
After lambasting ‘shylocks’ in tax cuts speech, Trump says he didn’t know term was antisemitic
US President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, July 3, 2025, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
US President Donald Trump says he didn’t know that the term “shylock” has antisemitic connotations, after he lambasted “shylocks and bad people” in a speech last night celebrating passage of his massive tax-cut and border security bill among supporters at the Iowa State Fairground.
The term “shylock,” used as a stand-in for aggressive moneylender or loan shark, is considered by many to be antisemitic, as it is the name of the Jewish moneylender and villain in William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” which draws heavily on antisemitic stereotypes of Jews being stingy and greedy.
Lauding his “big beautiful bill,” Trump said that the tax cuts included within it meant that there would be “no death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases shylocks and bad people.”
“They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite,” he proclaimed.
Upon his return to the White House, Trump is asked by a reporter about his use of the term Shylock, and says he “never heard that” it has links to antisemitism.
“I’ve never heard it that way,” he says. “The meaning of Shylock is somebody that’s a moneylender at high rates.”
“You view it differently,” he insists. “I’ve never heard that.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Saudi report says Hamas could offer guarantees on disarmament, paving way for lasting Gaza ceasefire
Hamas fighters are deployed in Rafah ahead of the planned release of two among six Israeli hostages set to be handed over to the Red Cross, Gaza Strip, on February 22, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas officials have shown “flexibility” on the issue of disarmament, which Israel has demanded as a condition for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Saudi outlet Asharq News reports, as Israel awaits the Palestinian terror group’s response to a ceasefire and hostage deal proposal.
Citing unnamed Hamas officials familiar with the matter, Asharq News reports that the terror group may commit, through mediators Qatar and Egypt, to put an end to weapons smuggling, shut down weapons manufacturing operations in the Gaza Strip, and hand over their existing weapons supplies to be stored in a location without any Hamas presence.
Additionally, the officials say that the terror group could agree to temporarily exile a symbolic number of its officials who currently reside in Gaza, as a way of compromising with Israel’s demand to deport Hamas leaders out of the Palestinian enclave.
Even if Hamas successfully meets Israel’s conditions for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war that has been raging since October 7, 2023, the sources tell Asharq that there is still a way to go regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and its governance.
Israel has said that Hamas cannot have any role in running the war-torn Palestinian enclave, but mediators believe that this cannot happen overnight, and that there will need to be a transitional phase. Speaking to Asharq, the unnamed Hamas sources say that the terror group will likely insist on maintaining control over law enforcement systems inside the Strip.
“The movement is the only entity capable of understanding the dynamics of Gazan society and maintaining security there,” one source tells the Saudi news outlet, adding that this is truer than ever “after two years of war, during which societal collapses occurred as a result of killing, destruction, starvation and displacement.”
Lapid meets with UAE president, foreign minister on brief trip to Abu Dhabi
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says he has concluded a brief visit to Abu Dhabi, where he met with the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
He says they discussed “regional developments and the utmost importance of returning all the hostages.”
Trump says Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire should come in 24 hours
US President Donald Trump says it will probably be known in 24 hours how Palestinian terror group Hamas will respond to a proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel.
Earlier reports indicated that Hamas would issue a formal response at some point today.
Report: US justice department cancels inquiry into US lobbyist suspected of involvement in Qatargate case
The US Department of Justice has canceled a judicial inquiry into pro-Qatari American lobbyist Jay Footlik, an American lobbyist for the Qatari government who is suspected of directly financing Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich’s alleged activities, i24 News reports.
The inquiry was to take place in the US in coordination with the Israel Police, and was expected to bring investigators and prosecuting attorneys one step closer to deciding whether or not to indict Urich, a close aide of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is suspected of being paid to boost Qatar’s image while in his employ.
According to i24, however, the US Justice Department informed Footlik yesterday that it had cancelled the July 9 inquiry, without offering any explanation as to why.
Israeli officials involved in the investigation have also been left in the dark as to why it was canceled, Hebrew media outlet Ynet reports.
They suspect, however, that it may be due to the personal and political considerations of US President Donald Trump, i24 says, as both Qatar and the US are major players in the efforts to forge a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Rocket sirens in Gaza border community were false alarm, IDF says
The IDF says the sirens that sounded moments ago in the southern community of Netiv Ha’asara were triggered by a false identification.
IDF investigating after sirens sound in Netiv Ha’asara, near the Gaza border
Sirens sounded moments ago in the southern Israeli community of Netiv Ha’asara, near the Gaza border, the IDF says.
The circumstances are under investigation.
Saudi defense minister met with Trump to discuss Iran de-escalation, Fox News reports
Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with US President Donald Trump and other officials at the White House on Thursday to discuss de-escalation efforts with Iran, Fox News reports, citing multiple sources.
Hamas says it’s still discussing latest proposal for ceasefire-hostage deal with other factions
Hamas says it is holding discussions with all Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip regarding a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal it received from the mediators, and that it will make a decision — which will be announced officially — after the consultations conclude.
The statement comes after unverified reports by Hamas-linked outlets claimed the terror group had given a “positive answer” to the latest proposal for a truce and hostage deal. This includes an anchor on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV channel who wrote on his Facebook account that Hamas had agreed to the deal.
Trump: ‘I want the people of Gaza to be safe; they’ve been through hell’
US President Donald Trump says Gazans have “been through hell,” dodging a reporter’s question about whether he still plans for the US to take over the Strip.
“I want the people of Gaza to be safe,” he answers. “They’ve been through hell.”
Trump, in response to a question about whether he intends to control the Gaza Strip: I want the people of Gaza to be safe; that’s more important than anything else. They’ve been through hell pic.twitter.com/pcXiPpwDBz
— mahmoud khalil (@zorba222) July 3, 2025
Speaking to journalists at Joint Base Andrews while on his way to a rally in Iowa, Trump also says Iran wants to speak to the US, and that he would meet with representatives of the country “if necessary.”
“Iran does want to speak, and I think they’d like to speak to me, and it’s time that they do,” Trump says.
“We’re not looking to hurt them. We’re looking to let them be a country again.”
Netanyahu also visits Ofakim, hails local bravery on Oct. 7, says Israel’s ‘spiritual power’ is defeating Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, visits Ofakim and meets local Oct. 7 hero Rachel Edry, July 3, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
After visiting Kibbutz Nir Oz near Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara also visited the nearby city of Ofakim earlier this evening, meeting with local victims of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, as well as with soldiers who fought off terrorists that day, the premier’s office says.
The Netanyahus, accompanied by Ofakim Mayor Itzik Danino, Deputy Minister Almog Cohen and Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, meet local hero Rachel Edry, who calmly offered cookies to terrorists who invaded her Ofakim home on October 7, and her son Evyatar. They also light memorial candles and meet bereaved families.
“There were supreme acts of bravery here by men and women who showed up at the right moment,” Netanyahu says in remarks provided by his office. “I think the nation of Israel is showing immense mental strength, valor and bravery, and a great striving for life in the face of those seeking to destroy us. Our willpower is stronger than theirs, our fighting power is stronger than theirs. And in the end, this spiritual power of ours is defeating them.”
He says Israel will return “all our hostages” and “eliminate” Hamas.
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