July 5: Hostage families say no more ‘Schindler’s lists’ amid reports of emerging partial hostage deal

IDF successfully downs missile launched from Yemen

The IDF says it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel.

Sirens had sounded in the Dead Sea and Judean Desert areas.

Sirens sound in Dead Sea area after missile launched from Yemen

Warning sirens sound in the Dead Sea area following a missile launch from Yemen.

The IDF says it is working to intercept the missile.

IDF says working to intercept missile launched from Yemen

The Israel Defense Forces says a missile has been launched toward Israel from Yemen, and that air defense systems are working to intercept it.

It urges the public to follow IDF Home Front Command instructions, if any are issued.

Report: 5 IDF bases were struck by ballistic missiles during Israel-Iran war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Nof airbase on June 16, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Iranian ballistic missiles struck five IDF bases during the 12-day war with Israel, The Telegraph reports, citing satellite data shared by Oregon State University.

According to the UK report, the bases include the Tel Nof airbase, the Glilot intelligence base, and the Zipporit armor and weapons production base.

Details on strikes on IDF bases are under military censorship in Israel.

“What we can say is that all relevant units maintained functional continuity throughout the operation,” the IDF tells The Telegraph.

Analysis by the outlet indicates that Iran’s success in getting its missiles through Israeli defenses grew to an apex of 16% by the 7th day of the war, then declined thereafter.

PM’s office says Hamas seeking unacceptable changes to hostage deal proposal

The Prime Minister’s Office confirms in a statement that an Israeli negotiating team will head to Qatar on Sunday for hostage talks.

“The changes that Hamas is seeking to make to the Qatari proposal were delivered to us last night and are not acceptable to Israel,” says the PMO.

According to a source involved in the mediation efforts, Hamas wants three core changes. It wants the agreement to say that talks on a permanent ceasefire will continue until an agreement is reached; that aid will fully resume through mechanisms backed by the United Nations and other international aid organizations; and that the IDF withdraw to positions it maintained before the collapse of the previous ceasefire in March.

Dozens of protesters in Jerusalem demand Haredi men enlist in military

Protesters demand mandatory conscription for ultra-Orthodox men in Jerusalem on July 5, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

A few dozen protesters gather at the entrance to Jerusalem to demand that the government conscript ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, amid increased calls to pass a law drafting Haredim.

The demonstrators, mostly Orthodox women, are protesting on the edge of a Haredi neighborhood while holding signs that read: “One who believes does not draft-dodge” and similar slogans.

“These young women that are here, their husbands are all on reserve duty,” says protest organizer Esthie Voltz to The Times of Israel.

She adds that her son-in-law — who is 45 with four children — was fired from his job after spending 13 months in the reserves.

Organizer Tehila Elitzur, speaking to the crowd, attests to mounting frustration amid the general public due to the lopsided burden religious Zionist, secular, and Druze populations have shouldered during the Gaza war.

She calls on the government to “lighten the burden of reserve duty” by passing a draft law, adding that the IDF suffers a severe personnel shortage.

“These groups [secular, religious Zionist, and Druze] are already conscripted to the furthest extent they can be; it must come from the Haredim,” she says.

Protesters recite the prayer for the State of Israel and sing the Israeli national anthem to conclude their demonstration, then disband.

Elon Musk says he has formed new US political party, the ‘America Party’

US President Donald Trump, from right, speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A day after asking his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created, Elon Musk says that the “America Party is formed.”

“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” he says in a post on X.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

Tucker Carlson says he interviewed Iran’s Pezeshkian, will upload talk in coming days

American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson says he interviewed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and will upload the conversation on his website in the coming days.

Our interview with the president of Iran.

Watch it first at https://t.co/sLkXnGLauL. pic.twitter.com/SY4KvgA1lb

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 5, 2025

Hostage families, rallying at Sha’ar Hanegev, urge government to seal hostage deal, end Gaza war

Lishay Miran Lavi (L), the wife of hostage Omri Miran, speaks alongside Avital Dekel Chen (R), the wife of released hostage Sagui Dekel Chen, at a rally at Sha'ar Hanegev, urging the government to seal a one-phase hostage deal with the Hamas terror group, July 5, 2025. (Erez Wallach/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Relatives of hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip rally at Sha’ar Hanegev, on Israel’s border with the Palestinian enclave, urging the government to seal a deal with the Hamas terror group for the release of their loved ones, all in one go.

“We are in critical days at a crossroads that won’t come again,” says Lishay Miran Lavi, the wife of Omri Miran, a captive father of two who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

“I hope so much that we won’t be disappointed again. I hope so much that the reality the decision-makers are painting will become real. That all our children will be able to sleep peacefully because their father, their brother, their uncle is at home and not in captivity or in combat,” she says.

Jerusalem decided this evening that it will send a delegation of negotiators to Qatar for hostage-ceasefire talks with Hamas, according to a senior Israeli minister’s office.

The terror group on Friday responded “positively” — with several crucial conditions — to a US-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire that would see the return of roughly half the remaining living hostages, and the bodies of about half of the remaining slain hostages, in five phases.

Avital Dekel-Chen, the wife of released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, calls the phased release of hostages “the cruelest thing the State of Israel has ever known,” adding: “You cannot imagine what it’s like to stand before our children and tell them… yes, there’s a deal, but Daddy won’t return in this deal.”

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, and 28 are confirmed dead; there are “grave concerns” about the remaining two.

Netanyahu condemns Hamas, thanks US for support after attack on American aid workers in Gaza

A Palestinian boy picks up aid at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center on June 8, 2025. (GHF)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns an attack by terrorist operatives on American workers at an aid distribution site in Gaza today.

“I wish to extend a speedy recovery to the staff of the American aid foundation who were injured today in the terror attack carried out by Hamas terrorists,” says the premier in a statement from his office, referring to the Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Earlier in the day, GHF reported that two American aid workers were wounded when assailants threw two hand grenades at a distribution site, blaming the attack on “hostile action by Hamas.” The IDF later confirmed that terror operatives threw grenades at a distribution center in Rafah, accusing “terror groups in Gaza” of continuing to sabotage humanitarian efforts, though without naming Hamas directly.

Netanyahu praises the GHF staff, saying they “are doing important work, and I thank them and [US] President [Donald] Trump for their support.”

He adds: “The entire world must stand up and condemn this grave incident, which once again exposes the brutality of Hamas. The United Nations must stop opposing the foundation’s operations and instead work in partnership to ensure it can continue its mission safely for the benefit of Gaza’s residents.”

Khamenei appears in public for first time since before war with Israel

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appears for the first time in public since before the 12-day war with Israel last month.

Reports said Khamenei, 86, sheltered in a bunker during the war and remained there afterward due to fears of being assassinated.

عه، خامنه ای زندس ولی قیافه مرده داره…‌ معلومه در تونل موشها حسابشو رسیدن pic.twitter.com/rllANm0SKF

— BenSabti (@BeniSabti) July 5, 2025

Yair Lapid evasive when asked if Gadi Eisenkot could take helm of Yesh Atid party

L: Gadi Eisenkot holds a press conference after announcing his resignation from the Knesset, in Tel Aviv, July 1, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90); R: Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party, leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 30, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party, is evasive when asked whether fellow opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot could take his spot as party leader in the next elections.

Eisenkot quit the Knesset on Monday, leaving the centrist National Unity party, in which he held the No. 2. role, citing differences of opinion with party leader Benny Gantz.

“I’ll agree to do whatever is necessary to replace the government in Israel,” Lapid says, on Channel 12’s “Meet the Press.”

“These are processes, they should be done wisely; certainly, with a man like Gadi, to whom discretion is important, as it is to me, I will manage these things with him, not with you,” the opposition leader continues.

“I think I am the right man to lead Israel,” says Lapid, who served as prime minister for about six months in 2022; but, he adds: “Part of why I’m the right man is that I’m ready to do whatever is good for the state.”

Polls since October 7, 2023, have consistently shown that, were elections to be held immediately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose his premiership.

The next election is due in October 2026 but may be called earlier if the current coalition collapses.

Rocket sirens blare at shooting range near Gaza border

A red alert siren was activated moments ago in the Nir Am shooting range area near the Gaza border, the IDF says.

Further details are under investigation.

Ben Gvir says proposed hostage deal a ‘reward for terrorism,’ only solution is occupying Gaza

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 30, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir comes out against a ceasefire-hostage release deal proposal being discussed, insisting that Hamas must be destroyed in the ongoing war.

“A promise in credit of ‘demilitarizing the Strip’ in the future and a partial deal that now includes the withdrawal of IDF forces from the conquered territories, the release of hundreds of murdering terrorists, and the revival of Hamas with large amounts of humanitarian aid, take us further away from achieving this goal, and is a reward for terrorism,” he writes on X.

Ben Gvir says the only way to return the hostages safely is the complete occupation of Gaza, an end to humanitarian aid and the encourage the Gazans to leave the Strip.

Netanyahu, Sa’ar, Herzog condemn ‘vile antisemitic attacks’ in Melbourne, demand action from Australian gov’t

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and President Isaac Herzog condemn the “vile” and “antisemitic” attacks on a synagogue and an Israeli-owned restaurant in Melbourne last night, calling on the Australian government to prevent similar acts in the future.

“These vile antisemitic attacks — accompanied by chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ and an attempt to harm a house of worship — are serious hate crimes that must be uprooted at their source,” says Netanyahu in a Hebrew-language statement from his office.

“Israel will continue to stand with the Jewish community in Australia, and we call on the Australian government to take all necessary measures to bring the rioters to justice and to prevent such attacks in the future,” adds the premier.

In a post on X, Sa’ar says he “strongly condemn[s] last night’s vile antisemitic attacks in Melbourne,” and that “Israel stands firmly with the Jewish community in Australia.”

“There have been too many antisemitic attacks in Australia. The Australian government must do more to fight this poisonous disease,” Sa’ar adds.

Herzog also writes on X: “I condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together. It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an attempt to burn Jews alive as they pray, and attacks on Jewish businesses.”

“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months,” Herzog says, adding that “Antisemitism is a stain on any society,” and “Australian authorities must take all steps necessary to protect their Jewish citizens.”

I condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together. It is intolerable that in 2025, we are still faced with the chilling image of an…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 5, 2025

A wave of antisemitic attacks has swept through Australia in recent months, fueled by tensions surrounding the Israel–Hamas war.

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

Ex-hostage Gadi Mozes: I wanted to tell PM ‘You abandoned us,’ but I didn’t, ‘out of politeness’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara with freed hostage Gadi Mozes, at Kibbutz Nir Oz on July 3, 2025. (X screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Released hostage Gadi Mozes, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, tells Channel 12 that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the devastated border community on Thursday, he wanted to tell the premier, “You abandoned us” — but refrained from doing so “out of politeness.”

“After the meeting with him, I was exhausted. I really wasn’t able to hold it together,” Mozes, 80, tells “Meet the Press.”

“I’d hoped Bibi would come much earlier,” says the former hostage, using the prime minister’s nickname.

Despite repeated requests that Netanyahu visit the community — the hardest hit in the Hamas-led invasion that started the ongoing war —  the premier declined to come until Thursday, 636 days after the onslaught.

“I’d hoped that I’d be able to tell him, ‘You abandoned us,'” Mozes says.

“Did you say that to him?” the hosts ask.

“No,” he says.

“Why?” they ask.

“Out of politeness,” he responds.

Mozes also tells the hosts that Nir Oz has not received the money it’s been promised by the government for rehabilitation.

“I asked [Netanyahu] to reduce the bureaucracy. I told him that his officials were making our lives difficult. They aren’t releasing the funds,” says Mozes. “In his role as prime minister, [Netanyahu] said things that he didn’t fulfill.”

Gadi Mozes is escorted by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen as he is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

Mozes, who was released as part of a hostage-ceasefire deal earlier this year after 482 days in captivity, also says that his captors in Gaza lied to him about the fate of his partner, Efrat Katz, who was killed amid the Hamas-led onslaught, saying she was alive and held captive.

When Mozes’s captors allowed him to listen to the news on a transistor radio, “the broadcast opened with an Air Force investigation into the death of Efrat Katz, from Nir Oz. I threw the radio at [the guard] and shouted at him — ‘Why did you lie to me?’ He laughed,” Mozes recalls.

The investigation found that, amid the chaos of the invasion, Katz, 68, was likely killed as a result of Israeli Air Force fire on a vehicle targeting several terrorists, who were at the time attempting to kidnap her to Gaza.

Rally at Hostages Square demands a comprehensive Gaza truce: ‘It’s time for a deal that saves everyone’

A rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, July 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Speakers at the hostages’ families’ rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv demand a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire deal that will return all the captives, amid reports that the emerging deal will include just a 60-day truce and the release of roughly half the hostages.

“It’s time for a deal that saves everyone, living and fallen — a deal without selektziya,” says Maccabit Meyer, aunt of twin-brother hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, referring to the Nazi practice of selecting Jews deemed fit for hard labor and those sent straight to the slaugher during the Holocaust. “We need a time-limited deal that secures the release of everyone, down to the last hostage.”

Yuval Sharabi, daughter of slain hostage Yossi Sharabi, tells the 2,000-odd crowd that Israel’s accomplishments in the 12-day war with Iran last month “were incredible, but if we don’t leverage that to a single comprehensive deal, it’ll be an unbearable diplomatic failure.”

“This country, Dad, is not what you remembered,” she says, addressing her father. “We’re working every day to bring back the values that used to be self-evident. To remind that the living hostages have to return before we lose them like we lost you.”

After reports of firing, PMO says Netanyahu spokesman will ’embark on new path’

Omer Dostri, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson for the past year, has notified the premier that he will leave his position, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

Dostri “has informed the Prime Minister of his intention to end his role and embark on a new path,” according to the PMO.

The statement follows Hebrew media reports that Dostri was fired by the premier, just before his departure to Washington tomorrow.

The PMO praises Dostri’s work “during one of the most turbulent and complex years…amid a multi-front war,” saying Netanyahu thanks Dostri “for his principled, dedicated, and professional work…in one of the most challenging and complex periods Israel has ever known.”

Dostri says he “had the opportunity to see up close how the prime minister makes fateful decisions for Israel and the entire Jewish people,” and that he is “confident that Prime Minister Netanyahu will continue to steer Israel safely toward a bright future,” the statement adds.

Earlier. Channel 13 reported that Dostri was being removed because of a series of conflicts with the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, though sources close to Netanyahu later denied this, saying the move stems from the premier’s view that Dostri is inexperienced and incompetent.

Hostage’s brother: Why the hell are we going for a partial hostage-ceasefire deal?

Protesters demand an end to the war in Gaza and the return of hostages in a rally outside the Defense Ministry headquarters, Tel Aviv, July 5, 2025. (@sha_b_p/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Speaking to some 1,500 protesters at the anti-government hostage families’ demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, Yotam Cohen, brother of captive soldier Nimrod Cohen, assails the emerging Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, which would pause the fighting for 60 days and see roughly half the hostages released in five phases.

“Why the hell are we going for a partial deal?” he says. “A deal that will leave Hamas in place for at least two months takes and will take a heavy toll on the Israeli economy, and worst of all — leave 10 living hostages in captivity.”

Cohen accuses National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of dragging Israel into an interminable “religious war.”

“We must not let the terrorists Ben Gvir and Smotrich sacrifice more soldiers [and] sentence more hostages to death on an altar of settlements and messianism,” says Cohen.

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, also calls for a deal to end the war and release all the hostages.

“Nothing has been promised to me. We don’t know if Matan will get out” in the emerging deal, she says. “What I do know is that after the 60th day of this deal, after the end of the ceasefire, there will still be hostages in Gaza.”

Hanging from the pedestrian bridge where the speakers stand is a large banner demanding the release of “everyone in a single phase.” Underneath, protesters chant: “We’re all hostages of the government of blood.”

Dozens show support for Israeli Miznon restaurant in London after attack on Melbourne branch

Dozens of demonstrators show their support for Israeli-owned restaurant Miznon in London after the Melbourne branch was attacked Friday night by anti-Israel protesters.

Demonstrators show up with Israeli and pride flags to show solidarity with the restaurant, owned by Israeli celebrity chef Eyal Shani.

Hundreds in Tel Aviv hold silent vigil for slain Gaza children

Left-wing activists hold up candles and pictures of slain Gaza children as protesters march from one anti-government protest to another, on Tel Aviv's Kaplan Street, July 5, 2025. Hadash MK Ofer Cassif is second from the left. (Noam Lehmann/The Times of Israel)

Some 400 left-wing protesters hold a silent vigil for slain Gaza children on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street.

The protesters stand on the sidewalk holding up candles and pictures of children Israel has killed in the Strip since renewing hostilities there on March 18. Each picture includes the child’s name, date, and place of death where they were killed.

The silence is punctuated when anti-government protesters from the Habima demonstration march through en route to a hostage families demonstration on nearby Begin Road. Afterward, the left-wing activists march in silence to that protest.

Among them is MK Ofer Cassif of the binational communist Hadash party.

This is the first such silent vigil since the 12-day war with Iran last month, during which an Iranian ballistic missile hit an adjacent building and forced shut part of the sidewalk usually used by the vigil-holders. Last weekend, left-wing activists flocked instead to Haifa for a large anti-war rally.

At weekly Tel Aviv rally, reservist tells crowd: Government must do everything so we don’t have to fight anymore

Anti-government protesters attend a weekly rally at Habima Square, in Tel Aviv, July 5, 2025. (Adar Eyal/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Protesters rally at Habima Square for a weekly demonstration against the government, calling for a deal to end the war and the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Itai Shteinmetz, 25, a reservist combat medic, tells the crowd, “We are demanded to go from 0-100 so many times, that we seem to have forgotten what it’s like to live in a proper country, in a country where the aim of a war is to stop fighting.”

“Our leadership thinks that we live here with the aim of fighting forever for their seats; they have it all wrong. Their job is to do everything they can so we don’t have to fight anymore,” he says.

Protesters at the square light a small bonfire on the street as others march onto the Begin Road hostage families’ protest following the demonstration here.

A handful of activists stand around the fire and yell: “A raised fist, everyone resists.”

Though there are several police officers in the area, none of them intervene to put out the fire or arrest protesters on the street, which is still open for traffic. One woman from the protesters puts out the fire with water from her bottle.

Israeli official says negotiating team to head to Doha for talks with Hamas on hostage deal

Demonstrators demand a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, July 5, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Israel will send a negotiating team to Doha tomorrow, the office of a senior Israeli minister tells The Times of Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet at 10 p.m. tonight to discuss the upcoming proximity talks, and Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, DC tomorrow.

Netanyahu will take off at 4 p.m. from Ben Gurion Airport, and is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday. He is currently scheduled to fly back on Thursday, but regularly extends his visits abroad over the Jewish Sabbath.

Israeli officials tell the Kan public broadcaster that Hamas has eased its demands due to pressure from mediators Qatar and the United States, adding that, “there is something to work with.”

The Israeli delegation is set to head to Doha tonight or tomorrow.

IDF says it downed two rockets fired from Gaza

Following the siren that sounded a few moments ago in the community of Kissufim, the IDF says that two rockets were launched from southern Gaza toward Israeli territory.

Both were intercepted by the Air Force. No injuries or damage have been reported.

Incoming rocket sirens sound in Gaza border community

A red alert siren was activated moments ago in the southern community of Kissufim, the IDF says.

Further details are under investigation.

Police say they nabbed three terror cell members planning imminent attack

Illustrative: Police officers operate in the West Bank town of ad-Dhahiriya, April 14, 2025. (Israel Police)

Security forces arrested this morning three wanted members of a terrorist cell who had been plotting an imminent attack, police say.

After receiving intelligence about their whereabouts from the Shin Bet, officers in the police’s Yamam counter-terror unit and Shin Bet agents arrested two suspects within Israeli territory in Barta’a, an Arab village bisected by the Green Line.

Later that day, IDF soldiers disguised as civilians raided the home of another member of the cell in the northern West Bank, arresting him.

The three detained suspects are to be questioned by Shin Bet officials.

Officials say Netanyahu will decide to send team for hostage talks in Doha

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will decide this evening to send a negotiating team to Doha for “proximity talks” with Hamas to reach a ceasefire-hostage release deal, two Israeli officials tell the Walla news site.

Hostages Families Forum decries ‘Schindler’s lists’ amid reports of emerging partial deal

Protesters demand a deal to release hostages held in Gaza, in Rehovot, July 5, 2025. (Ori Koren/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum decries reports that an emerging deal to release hostages would ensure the release of only some of the captives in multiple stages.

“At this critical time, it is forbidden to conform to the various Schindler’s lists being dictated, as if it was impossible to bring them all back a long time ago,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in a statement, referring to Oskar Schindler’s list of Jewish employees who were saved from being transported to Nazi extermination camps during the Holocaust.

Hostage families have previously compared the phased, selective releases of hostages to the Nazi “selection” that doomed some at concentration camps to death, while others were chosen for forced labor.

“All of the abductees could have been returned for rehabilitation and burial many months ago if only the government had chosen to do so and not for considerations of political survival.”

The forum says the method of releasing hostages via lists and stages creates “unbearable uncertainty” for the families.

Einav Zangauker appeals to PM to honor vow and bring back all hostages by accepting US proposal

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage in Gaza, demands Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honor his promise to her to bring back all the hostages by accepting a US-backed ceasefire proposal.

In a weekly press conference, Zangauker says that if the deal is implemented, it will be possible to return all the hostages and end the war.

“If Netanyahu didn’t thwart the previous deal, the hostages would have already been at home,” she says, referring to the January ceasefire deal. “But at this moment, when there is a grave fear for the lives of hostages due to military pressure, when our heroic soldiers are falling in a war that has already achieved its goals, a ceasefire is the order of the day.”

“A ceasefire chooses life. The Israeli government must do everything so that the proposal is implemented this week. My Matan, who is held alone in a tunnel, sick with muscular dystrophy, has run out of time,” she says.

“I call on the prime minister from here — Netanyahu, two days ago, you promised me you would bring back everyone. This is the time for actions,” she says, urging him to accept the proposal and send a negotiating team to reach the deal.

According to an unsourced Channel 12 report Thursday, US President Donald Trump has offered a direct guarantee to Hamas that if it agrees to the so-called Witkoff framework — which includes the release of 10 living hostages in two phases and 18 bodies in three phases over the course of a 60-day ceasefire — the US will ensure efforts continue to reach a lasting end to the conflict.

British FM meets with Syrian president in Damascus in bid to boost ties

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (R) welcoming with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Syrian capital Damascus on July 5, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

DAMASCUS, Syria — British Foreign Secretary David Lammy meets in Damascus with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to discuss boosting cooperation, after the UK began lifting sanctions against Syria.

Syria has been improving relations with Western countries following the fall of President Bashar Assad in December in an offensive led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group.

Al-Sharaa’s office says Lammy and the president discussed mutual relations and ways of boosting cooperation and the latest regional and international developments. Lammy later met his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shibani, state media reports.

In April, the British government lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, to help the country rebuild after Assad’s ouster. Weeks earlier, the UK had dropped sanctions against two dozen Syrian businesses, mostly banks and oil companies.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending many American economic sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise he made to al-Sharaa.

Syria’s new leaders have been struggling to rebuild the country’s decimated economy and infrastructure after nearly 14 years of civil war that has killed half a million people. In recent months, al-Sharaa visited oil-rich regional countries and France in May on his first visit to the European Union.

18 hurt fleeing Ryanair plane in Majorca after false fire alarm

Eighteen people were lightly injured after they fled from a Ryanair plane at Majorca Airport during a false fire alarm, local emergency services say.

Footage shows passengers fleeing the plane when a fire alarm was activated just after midnight.

Ryanair says that when passengers used inflatable slides to return to the terminal, some suffered minor injuries, such as ankle sprains.

The airline says a replacement aircraft was arranged to take the passengers later in the morning to Manchester.

Among those injured, six were hospitalized.

Ryanair 737-800 evacuated at Palma de Mallorca Airport after a fire indication developed on board during taxi.

The SAMU061 coordination center received a call at a.m, reporting a fire on flight RK3446 to Manchester.

A total of 18 people were injured during the evacuation, six… pic.twitter.com/XpCCejGq2t

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) July 5, 2025

Sources close to Netanyahu deny spokesman leaving role due to bad relations with PM’s wife

Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tell the Ynet news site his outgoing spokesperson, Dr Omer Dostri, is leaving the position because he has no experience in the field.

The sources deny a report earlier that his departure is due to troubled relations with the premier’s wife, Sara.

“He was incompatible. He didn’t have any experience. He was never in this profession,” the sources say, adding that he was recently told he would not be accompanying the prime minister on his trip to Washington, DC, this week.

“It wasn’t connected to Sara. The prime minister was not satisfied with him. In the meantime, Ziv Agmon will fill the position, and it is possible he could receive the role,” the sources add.

IDF backs GHF claim terrorists threw two grenades at GHF aid site earlier

The IDF reports that terror operatives threw two grenades at a humanitarian aid distribution center in Rafah this morning after an aid delivery operation, appearing to confirm a previous statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Civilians were still present in the area at the time of the attack, the military says.

According to the GHF, which operates the facility, one of the grenade explosions wounded two American humanitarian workers. IDF forces coordinated and secured the safe evacuation of the injured for further medical treatment.

The military condemns the attack, saying terror groups in Gaza “continue to sabotage the distribution of humanitarian aid” and are “cynically harming the Strip’s residents.”

London police arrest activists backing banned anti-Israel group Palestine Action

LONDON — Police arrest protesters in London for supporting the anti-Israel activist group Palestine Action, which was on Friday banned under anti-terror laws.

“Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made,” Metropolitan Police writes on X.

UPDATE: Officers have arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.

They have been taken into custody.

Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed.

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) July 5, 2025

Campaign group Defend Our Juries says in a press release that a group of 27 people, including a priest and a number of health professionals, had been arrested for offenses under the Terrorism Act.

They were holding cardboard signs, saying: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” adds the campaign group.

BREAKING: 27 Arrested underneath Gandhi statue in Parliament Sq for alleged supporting of a proscribed organisation.

The group of 27 people, including a priest, an Emeritus Professor and a number of health professionals.

Full Press Release: https://t.co/lbfpFN9cy7 pic.twitter.com/DXDzs1MIAT

— Defend our Juries (@DefendourJuries) July 5, 2025

Police warned on Friday that expressing support for Palestine Action would be a criminal offense after the ban kicked in at midnight.

“This includes chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos,” the force says

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries says: “We commend the Counter Terrorism police for their decisive action in protecting the people of London from some cardboard signs opposing the genocide in Gaza and expressing support for those taking action to prevent it.”

The proscription cleared parliament on Thursday, with a court challenge to try to stop it from becoming law that failed on Friday.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Netanyahu’s spokesman quitting due to troubled ties with PM’s wife — report

Omer Dostri, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former spokesman. (Courtesy)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Dr. Omer Dostri, is resigning from his role with immediate effect due to what unnamed sources describe as troubled ties with the premier’s wife, Sara, Channel 13 reports.

Dostri entered the role in August.

Reports over the years have claimed that Sara Netanyahu has a significant influence over top appointments.

Yisrael Beytenu leader and former finance and defense minister MK Avigdor Liberman testified in court in 2023 that she was routinely involved in political and professional appointments during her husband’s time as premier.

IDF says it eliminated terrorist linked to Radwan force in southern Lebanon

The IDF announces that earlier today, its forces carried out a targeted strike in the area of Aynata in southern Lebanon, eliminating a terrorist affiliated with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

Lebanon says person hurt in additional Israeli drone strike in Bint Jbeil

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says one person was wounded in a drone strike on a car in Bint Jbeil, hours after one was killed and six wounded in the same town.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire with Hezbollah. The agreement required Hezbollah to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier.

The IDF was to withdraw from all of Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers, but has kept troops in five points Israel deems strategic.

Israel reserved the right under the agreement to act against imminent threats by Hezbollah and has also accused Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the terror group.

Erdogan says asked Trump to intervene over shootings at Gaza aid centers

Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, June 15, 2025. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he asked US President Donald Trump to intervene to stop the Gaza aid center shootings which the UN says have killed more than 500 people.

Erdogan said when he met Trump at a NATO summit in late June, he told him: “There are people who are being killed in food queues. You need to intervene here so that these people are not killed,” the Anadolu state news agency reports.

Mother of hostage Alon Ohel to go to Washington ahead of PM’s meeting to ‘look decision-makers in the eye’

Alon Ohel and his mother Idit, pictured before October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, is traveling to Washington to call for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of the captives, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, she says in a video posted to social media.

“The progress in negotiations and Hamas’s response necessitate an end to Alon’s and all the hostages’ nightmare,” she says. “I’ve decided to travel to Washington tonight to look decision-makers in the eye, both in [Israel] and the United States, so they’ll know it’s time to save the life of my dear son Alon.”

“Alon is seriously wounded. He lost an eye and is suffering from a head wound that has not been treated,” she says. “His life is in danger.”

“Alon is alone, in harsh and cruel conditions,” says Idit Ohel. “If we don’t save Alon now, then when?”

“We’ve won,” she says. “We’ve won the war against Hamas, against Hezbollah and Iran, and now it’s time to win the most important war: bringing back Alon and bringing back the rest of the hostages.”

Alon Ohel, 24, was abducted from the Re’im area Nova music festival during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023. He is one of 20 hostages still thought to be alive in Gaza, all of them young men.

The ceasefire-hostage deal on the table would secure the release of half of those hostages known to still be alive, with eight freed on the first day and two released on the 50th day, according to an Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries. Roughly half of the remaining slain hostages would also be released, with five being freed on the seventh day, five more freed on the 30th day and eight more freed on the 60th day.

Hamas said Friday that it had submitted a “positive” response to the proposal, but a source involved in mediation told The Times of Israel that the terror group expressed reservations on three core issues that could pose significant hurdles in negotiations.

Netanyahu has publicly vowed to keep fighting in Gaza until Hamas is vanquished but is reportedly working with Trump on a plan that would end the war, re-commit Israel to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and normalize Israeli-Saudi and Israeli-Syrian relations.

Australian PM condemns synagogue arson attack

Australia’s prime minister condemns an arson attack on a busy city synagogue, saying it was a “cowardly” act of antisemitism.

Police are searching for a man who set the front door of a Melbourne synagogue ablaze on Friday night as around 20 people ate dinner inside.

The worshippers — eating a meal in observation of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest — escaped unscathed through the back of the synagogue before firefighters doused the blaze.

“Last night’s arson attack on the synagogue in east Melbourne is cowardly, is an act of violence and antisemitism, and has no place in Australian society,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in a statement.

“It is to be hoped that the perpetrator is brought to justice urgently, and that he faces the full force of the law, and anyone involved in this attack faces the full force of the law.”

Albanese did not mention a mob attack on an Israeli restaurant in the city that occurred at the same time.

Antisemitism has no place in Australia. Those responsible for the shocking acts in Melbourne last night must face the full force of the law and my Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort. pic.twitter.com/jyFO2odHgK

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 5, 2025

Gaza aid group says two US workers injured, blames ‘hostile action by Hamas’

Illustrative: Palestinians pick up food parcels from a distribution point set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on June 25, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

The Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says that two American aid workers were injured this morning, blaming the attack on “hostile action by Hamas.”

“This morning, two American aid workers were injured distributing food as part of GHF activities. Early indication is that this was hostile action by Hamas. GHF continues to investigate and will update with more information as it becomes available,” the group says in a statement.

GHF says assailants threw two hand grenades at the workers, adding that the injuries are not life-threatening.

Gaza medics say 20 killed in latest Israeli strikes

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)

Gaza’s Hamas-linked civil defense agency says Israeli military operations killed 20 people across the Strip today.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal, whom Israel has accused of being an active Hamas terrorist,  says five of the dead were killed in a strike on a school in Gaza City.

A second strike near another school in the city where displaced civilians had found shelter killed three people and wounded around 10, including children, he says.

The tolls cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military says it could not comment on specific attacks without precise coordinates.

The military says it does not deliberately target civilians and notes that Hamas has been using civilian sites, like hospitals, schools and displaced centers, as cover for their operations.

The latest strikes came hours after Hamas said it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire.

Lebanon says 1 killed in Israeli strike on south

Lebanon says one person was killed today in an Israeli strike in the country’s south, the latest deadly raid despite a ceasefire between Israel and terror group Hezbollah.

An “Israeli enemy drone strike on a vehicle” in Bint Jbeil “killed one person and wounded two others,” Lebanon’s health ministry says in a statement carried by the official National News Agency (NNA), noting the toll was provisional.

Earlier, the ministry reported that a separate Israeli drone strike wounded one person in Shebaa, elsewhere in the south, with the NNA saying that the raid targeted a house.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Lebanese media report two Israeli airstrikes within minutes targeting two vehicles in the area of Bint Jbeil and Shaqra, southern Lebanon. Local authorities say at least one person was killed and two were injured. pic.twitter.com/W18z0sDbns

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) July 5, 2025

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire with Hezbollah. The agreement required Hezbollah to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier.

The IDF was to withdraw from all of Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers, but has kept troops in five points Israel deems strategic.

Israel reserved the right under the agreement to act against imminent threats by Hezbollah, and has also accused Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the terror group.

3 mayors arrested in southern Turkey as part of Erdogan’s crackdown on opposition

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

The mayors of three major cities in southern Turkey were arrested today, state-run media report, joining a growing list of opposition figures detained since the mayor of Istanbul was imprisoned in March.

Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of Adiyaman, and Zeydan Karalar, who heads the Adana municipality, were detained in early morning raids, according to Anadolu Agency. Both are members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.

The CHP mayor of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek, was arrested with two other suspects in a separate bribery investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Anadolu reports.

Karalar was arrested in Istanbul and Tutdere was arrested in the capital, Ankara, where he has a home. Tutdere posted on X that he was being taken to Istanbul.

Ten people, including Karalar and Tutdere, were arrested as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into allegations involving organized crime, bribery, and bid-rigging.

Details of the charges against them were not immediately released by prosecutors but the operation follows the arrests of scores of officials from municipalities controlled by the CHP in recent months.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely considered the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule, was jailed four months ago over corruption allegations.

CHP officials have faced waves of arrests this year that many consider aimed at neutralizing Turkey’s main opposition party. The government insists prosecutors and the judiciary act independently but the arrest of Istanbul’s Imamoglu led to the largest street protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade.

Israel condemns antisemitic ‘terrorism’ in Australia after synagogue, restaurant attacked

Israel condemns the attacks on a synagogue and an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne as racist, antisemitic terrorism and calls on Australia to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The horrifying attacks overnight on a synagogue and an Israeli business in Melbourne are yet another reminder of how far racist, antisemitic hate crimes have spread in the heart of Australia,” says Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.

“Targeting Jewish houses of worship and an Israeli restaurant is terrorism, aimed at intimidating an entire community simply because of their religion and identity,” she says.

The attacks are the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents in Australia in recent years.

“Let me be clear: these attacks are happening because, for too long, there have been no real consequences for those spreading hate and inciting violence. Weakness and silence only embolden the extremists,”

“There is no justification — ever — for violence and hatred directed at Jews, Israelis, or any minority. The perpetrators of this terrorism must be brought to justice,” she says.

Australian authorities condemn arson attack on Melbourne synagogue

Rabbi Dovid Gutnick walks past damage to the exterior of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, July 5, 2025, after an arsonist set fire to the door. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)

Australian authorities condemn an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue that took place while worshippers were in the building, the latest in a spate of incidents against the nation’s Jewish community.

The fire at the entrance to the synagogue in the east of Victoria’s state capital was sparked on Friday night, police said in a statement. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and there were no injuries to the 20 people inside.

The attack, one of several recent antisemitic incidents in Australia, comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists who set a blaze that injured one and caused widespread damage.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan says it was “absolutely appalling” that a second Jewish synagogue had been attacked.

“Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,” Allan says in a statement.

Police say they believed the attack, in which flammable liquid was poured on the synagogue’s front door and set alight, was carried out by a male suspect. He has not been identified but is thought to be white and aged in his 30s.

There is “no place in our society for antisemitic or hate-based behavior,” police say.

Man killed in West Bank road accident while receiving treatment for earlier crash

The scene of a fatal car accident on Route 443 on July 5, 2025 (Magen David Adom)

A man was run over and killed while receiving treatment at the side of the road for a previous accident near the West Bank settlement of Beit Horon, medics say.

The man was lightly hurt in an accident on Route 443. Magen David Adom medics responded to the incident and were treating him, when they were hit by a different vehicle, killing the man.

Two other people, including a medic, were wounded.

Trump reiterates belief that Gaza ceasefire deal can be reached next week

US President Donald Trump reiterates his belief that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal could be inked next week.

A reporter aboard Air Force One tells him that Hamas responded positively to the latest ceasefire proposal.

“Well, that’s good,” Trump responds, before acknowledging that he hasn’t been briefed yet on the matter.

Asked about Iran, Trump says its nuclear program was set back “permanently,” but says Tehran may restart its program in different locations than the ones hit by the US and Israel last month.

Trump says Iran has not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.

He says that he’ll discuss the issue with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli premier’s visit to the White House on Monday.

Report: Health and intel officials working to determine which hostages to prioritize in potential deal

Two Israeli committees are reportedly gathering information on the well-being of the remaining living hostages in order to determine which ones should be prioritized in the phased ceasefire deal currently under discussion.

While all 20 of the hostages still believed to be alive are considered “humanitarian,” a Health Ministry committee and an IDF Military Intelligence committee will recommend to the hostage negotiating team who should be released first, Channel 12 says.

The deal under discussion will see the release of eight living hostages on the first day, two living hostages freed on the 50th day and the remaining 10 hostages freed when an agreement is reached on the terms of the permanent ceasefire, which could take place by the 60th day of the truce.

It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether the hostage negotiating team will be able to use the list supplied to it by the professional committees. In the last hostage deal, an Israeli list was submitted to Hamas ahead of time.

Entire Bedouin community flees West Bank hamlet after enduring repeated settler attacks

Residents of Mu'arjat flee their village due to settler violence. (Peace Now/X)

An entire Bedouin community fled their village north of Jericho on Thursday night, succumbing to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from surrounding illegal outposts, Peace Now reports.

Hundreds of Mu’arjat residents are now looking for a home elsewhere, the settlement watchdog says.

In recent months, settlers from nearby outposts routinely harassed Mu’arjat residents, blocking grazing, issuing threats, attacking people and stealing livestock, according to Peace Now.

“In recent weeks, harassment intensified, with settlers walking between homes, threatening residents and demanding that they leave,” Peace Now says.

On Wednesday, settlers established a new outpost several feet outside the community school. The family living nearby was forced to flee, and their property was looted, according to the watchdog.

“Israeli security forces ignored repeated calls from residents to remove the invading settlers. Soldiers and Border Police officers were even documented sitting with them in the new outpost adjacent to the community,” Peace Now says.

On Thursday night, dozens of settlers again entered the village, in what was the final blow, leading the entire community to flee.

Ex-senior security officials urge Trump to leverage Netanyahu meeting to end Gaza war

US President Donald Trump talks to journalists as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on July 4, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

The head of a group representing over 550 former senior Israeli security officials has penned a letter to US President Donald Trump, urging him to leverage his upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza.

“It is our professional judgement that the IDF has long accomplished its dual mission of dismantling Hamas governance and essentially destroying its military capabilities,” Commanders for Israel’s Security chair Maj. Gen. (ret) Matan Vilnai writes.

Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel, and as demonstrated this year on multiple fronts, Israel possesses overwhelming power and ability to neutralize any threat that might arise from Gaza in the future,” he continues.

Coming out against Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war, Vilnai writes that further fighting “risks the lives of hostages, will continue to cost yet more IDF casualties and prolong the suffering of innocent Palestinians.”

“More broadly, it is likely to cause a loss of momentum in leveraging military achievements in Gaza, Lebanon and most recently Iran, towards implementing your vision for a regional strategic transformation.”

“Furthermore, it is also the professional judgement of the hundreds of CIS retired generals that a partial and staggered hostage deal and a limited ceasefire entail the same risks to the lives of remaining hostages, to IDF soldiers and to innocent Palestinians, and will most likely lead to renewed fighting, all while reducing prospects for expanding the Abraham Accords and forging a regional alliance that includes Israel,” he adds.

Hamas leader says he’s prepared for ‘war of martyrdom’ if ‘honorable deal’ not offered — NYT

Izz al-Din Haddad, commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, in a video released by Hamas’s military wing, May 2022.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the latest commander of Hamas’s military wing, is said to have told counterparts in recent weeks that he will either achieve an “honorable deal” to permanently end the war in Gaza or the conflict will become “a war of liberation or a war of martyrdom,” The New York Times reports, citing an unnamed Mideast intelligence official.

The comment highlights the hardline stance of Hamas’s Gaza leaders, as mediators work to secure a ceasefire in the coming days.

Haddad has spent time with hostages in northern Gaza and is currently believed to be in Gaza City, NYT reports.

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.