July 7: Trump to reportedly offer Netanyahu peace with Syria if Gaza war ends

Three reservists said summoned for questioning over abuse of Hamas detainees

Three reserves soldiers have been summoned for questioning, amid suspicion that they abused detainees who were under their charge, Ynet reports.

The Israel Defense Forces, responding to the report, confirms in a statement that an investigation was opened “several months ago” following “a suspicion of violence against detainees,” but says it cannot give further details on an ongoing investigation.

The reservists served at a detention facility next to the Pilon military base in northern Israel, according to Ynet.

Among the detainees they are suspected of abusing are members of Hamas’s Nukhba Force, which led the terror group’s October 7, 2023 rampage in southern Israel.

The summonses — to appear within 48 hours — came after a months-long, confidential investigation by the military police, according to the report.

One soldier, a woman, has already given her account of events to interrogators.

The investigation, which is being followed by the military prosecutor, may result in arrests and detentions of additional soldiers, the report says.

IDF says Nir Am siren minutes ago was second false alarm in an hour

The rocket siren that sounded in Nir Am near the Gaza border minutes ago was a false alarm, the Israel Defense Forces says in a statement.

It was the second false alarm within an hour.

Lebanon health ministry says 2 killed in Israeli strikes

Lebanon’s health ministry says two people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon today.

Israel does not immediately comment on the incident.

It is the latest reported attack despite a ceasefire, reached in November, between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to act against immediate threats posed by Hezbollah, but must forward complaints about longer-term threats to an oversight committee.

Rocket siren sounds in Nir Am, just a half hour after false alarm

Sirens sound in Nir Am near the Gaza border, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alert comes only about a half hour after a previous siren, which the army said moments later was a false alarm.

Rocket alert near Gaza border a false alarm, IDF says

The army says a rocket alert that sounded in Nir Am near the Gaza border moments ago has been determined to be a false alarm.

Earlier, the adjacent Sderot municipality warned residents that several neighborhoods would be without power due to a malfunction on a high-tension electricity line in Nir Am.

The same notice indicated that residents were likely to hear heavy gunfire and explosions from Gaza, though there was no link to the power outage.

Yemeni official says Houthis behind second attack on Red Sea ship

This handout picture provided by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly shows members of the Greek owned, Liberian-flagged Magic Seas commercial vessel climbing on board the Safeen Prism, after being rescued following an attack that forced them to abandon ship, in the Red Sea on July 6, 2025. (UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation / AFP)

Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s internationally recognized government that opposes the Houthis, says the rebel group is behind Monday night’s attack on maritime shipping in the Red Sea.

According to the private security firm Ambrey, the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned Eternity C had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones. The security guards on board opened fire in the attack.

“The vessel’s engines had reportedly been disabled and Ambrey observed that the vessel had started to drift,” the firm says.

There were no other immediate details on the attack, which is also acknowledged by the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, center. The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel notes the attack, but the rebels have not claimed the assault.

The US military’s Central Command says it is aware of reports of the attack, but declines to comment further.

The attack occurs in the same area as Sunday’s assault on Magic Seas, another bulk carrier heading north to Egypt’s Suez Canal, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the port of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the Houthis.

Report: Trump to offer Netanyahu Syria normalization if Gaza war ends

US President Donald Trump is dangling the possibility of an agreement between Israel and Syria as a carrot in exchange for Israel agreeing to end the war in Gaza, Israel Hayom reports, citing “sources close to the White House.”

The report claims that Trump sent an envoy to Damascus today to nail down a Syria-Israel agreement with the US as guarantor.

The report does not name the official or say who they are meeting. US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack was in Beirut today, and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was in the United Arab Emirates for talks on improving ties with the Gulf.

Earlier today, the Trump administration announced that it was revoking a foreign terrorist organization designation for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group once linked to Al-Qaeda that is led by al-Sharaa, who took control of Syria in December 2024.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel last week that Israel is holding “advanced talks” with Syria.

“There is absolutely an aspiration to expand the Abraham Accords, and it’s no secret that we want to see Syria in this,” the official continued. “And there may be an opportunity.”

Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are meeting over dinner tonight, but the get-together will be closed to the press. Sources tell Israel Hayom that Trump will pressure Netanyahu on Gaza, while offering diplomatic breakthroughs in the region.

Trump and Netanyahu will “discuss positive developments taking place in the Middle East region during their dinner tonight at the White House,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier.

Israeli father and son killed in fall on Austrian mountain trek

Illustrative: Hikers take a break on the top of the Gaislachkogl Mountain in the Tyrol region in the heart of the Austrian Alps, on July 11, 2018. (VLADIMIR SIMICEK / AFP / File)

An Israeli father and son were killed when they fell hundreds of meters from a mountain pass while hiking in the Austrian alps, according to media reports and Israeli officials.

The pair, who have not been named, were hiking on the Stubai High Trail in the Tryolean mountains near Neustift, when the father, 58, slipped on wet ground and fell off the high-altitude path, the Austria Press Agency reports.

His son, 30, tried to grab the father as he fell and also came off the path, with the deaths of both being declared at the scene.

A second son, 28, had been with them and called for help, according to the APA.

Rescuers trying to reach the two were hampered by heavy rain and fog.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirms that its embassies in Vienna and Bern are dealing with the deadly incident and assisting the families.

Video appears to show damage on ship after Houthi attack

A new video being circulated online purports to show the Magic Seas bulk carrier in the moments after it was attacked by Iran-backed Houthi rebels off of Yemen on Sunday, in an assault they claimed had sunk the vessel.

First video from inside the Magic Seas ship before it was sunk after being targeted by the Yemeni Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/93iZS7kaY4

— Middle Eastern Affairs (@Middle_Eastern0) July 7, 2025

In the video, smoke can be seen rising from the deck and broken glass covers the floor of the bridge. A later scene shows water rushing into living quarters and several crew members wearing life preservers.

The United Arab Emirates said on Monday that it had successfully rescued all 22 people aboard the Magic Seas, after an AD Ports Group vessel, Safeen Prism, responded to a distress call in the Red Sea.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement that the vessel was targeted on Sunday after naval forces issued warnings and calls that were ignored by the ship’s crew. He said it was struck using two unmanned boats, five missiles and three drones.

According to advisories from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and British security firm Ambrey, which both monitor security incidents in the area, the vessel was first approached by eight small boats that opened fire and launched self-propelled grenades. Armed guards returned fire.

It was later struck by four remote-controlled boats, or Unmanned Surface Vehicles, and targeted with missiles, Ambrey said.

“Two of the USVs impacted the port side of the vessel, damaging the vessel’s cargo,” it said. UKMTO said the strikes triggered a fire onboard.

The Magic Seas was taking on water after the attack and remained at risk of sinking, the company’s representative, Michael Bodouroglou, said earlier. The ship had been carrying iron and fertilizer from China to Turkey.

The Houthis said they targeted it due to the fact that it had previously made port calls to Israel.

Edan Alexander told senior Saudis about Hamas captivity in chance White House meeting

This handout photo shows US President Donald Trump, seated, posing for a photo with American-Israeli freed hostage Edan Alexander, at the White House in Washington, on July 3, 2025. (White House)

During an unexpected encounter at the White House last week, freed US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander spoke with Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Riyadh’s Ambassador to Washington Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, recounting his experience in Hamas captivity, Channel 12 news reports.

Following Alexander’s Thursday meeting with US President Donald Trump, who helped secure the 21-year-old’s release from Hamas captivity in May, the young man and his family ran into the two senior Saudi officials, who had met with Trump the same day to discuss de-escalation efforts with Iran.

According to Channel 12, Alexander conversed with the top Saudi diplomat in “fluent Arabic,” which he had picked up in Gaza during captivity, and told them about what he had experienced during his 584 days held by Hamas.

Both the White House and the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington declined to comment, adds the network.

The impromptu conversation came at a time of growing speculation around potential normalization agreements between Israel and nearby Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Syria — topics expected to be on the agenda during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week.

Two hurt, two more missing in second Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping

Two crew members of a Greek-managed vessel have been wounded and two more are missing in a drone attack off Yemen, hours after the Iran-aligned Houthis claim an assault on another bulk carrier in the Red Sea that it claimed to have sunk.

The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C was attacked with sea drones and skiffs off the port of Hodeidah, its manager, Cosmoship Management, tells Reuters.

Two crew members are seriously wounded and two are missing, the company says, adding that armed security guards were on board.

The vessel’s bridge was hit, an official at Cosmoship says, adding that telecommunications are impacted and contacting the crew is hard.

Trump pressuring Israel, Hamas to clinch deal by end of week — sources

Mediators in the ongoing negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal have been notified that US President Donald Trump expects them to secure an agreement this week, an Arab diplomat and a second individual involved in the talks tell The Times of Israel.

The message is being passed along to both Israel and Hamas, the two sources say, warning the sides against disappointing Trump.

The Arab diplomat says that progress was made during proximity talks that have been held over the past two days in Doha, particularly on the issue of humanitarian aid.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s operations will be significantly limited, if not ended completely, the Arab diplomat adds.

Hamas has demanded a surge of aid through the UN and other international organizations, which Israel has massively restricted, save for GHF.

The American aid organization has been criticized for forcing Gazans to walk long distances while crossing IDF lines — often coming under deadly fire as a result — in order to pick up boxes of food. Israel says the mechanism is necessary in order to prevent Hamas from diverting aid.

Negotiators in Doha have also discussed the exact parameters of Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire under discussion, the Arab diplomat says, adding that Israeli officials came to Qatar with a map of the withdrawal that they envision.

While Hamas is demanding that Israel pull back to where its troops were stationed before the previous ceasefire began collapsing on March 2, the Arab diplomat says that the terror group has shown flexibility on this issue.

As for the core disagreement over whether the agreement will be temporary — as Israel seeks — or an effective end to the war — as Hamas demands — the two sources tell The Times of Israel that Trump will discuss the matter during his dinner tonight with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Report: Netanyahu to tell Trump he won’t budge on defeating, exiling and disarming Hamas

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell US President Donald Trump in their meeting this evening that Israel remains firm on three non-negotiable conditions for ending the war in Gaza: the complete destruction of Hamas, the exile of its leadership from Gaza, and the full disarmament of the terror group, Channel 12 reports.

While Israel is reportedly willing to show more flexibility on other matters, such as the distribution of humanitarian aid and IDF repositioning, these three demands “continue to be the point of contention in the efforts to reach a conclusion to the war,” according to the Hebrew network.

Witkoff will go to Doha to push Gaza talks ahead, White House says

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff arrives for a signing ceremony at the Royal Palace in Doha on May 14, 2025. (Karim Jaafar/AFP)

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff will travel to Doha later this week in order to advance a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says during a press briefing.

Leavitt says an “agreeable and appropriate” ceasefire proposal is on the table after Israel backed it, and she urges Hamas to do the same.

Hamas said over the weekend that it responded positively to the proposal, while submitting three reservations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not accept.

Nonetheless, the sides have held proximity talks over the past two days aimed at closing remaining gaps.

Leavitt says Trump’s “utmost priority” is to end the war in Gaza and return all of the remaining hostages.

Optimism for Gaza deal tempered by persisting gaps on Hamas demands, reports indicate

Hamas continues to insist on its three core demands in indirect talks with Israel in Qatar, according to Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, as reports indicate that the sides have yet to bridge the main sticking points holding up an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of hostages.

The demands are described by a Hamas source as “the freedom to bring in humanitarian aid, the full and gradual withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensuring a complete end to the war.”

The chances for reaching a deal depend “primarily on the Israeli occupation’s response to the demands of the Palestinian resistance,” the Hamas source tells the pan-Arabic daily, while expressing optimism for the success of the talks.

Reports indicate that Hamas is demanding that Israel allow the UN to lead aid deliveries, and that troops retreat from the Morag corridor, a belt of land cutting off Rafah from Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

A few more days are needed to reach a deal, Israeli officials involved in the talks tell the Kan public broadcaster. “Talks are not progressing,” says one official. “If the US doesn’t increase its pressure, we could reach a situation in which there is no deal this week.”

Another official tells the outlet that, despite the obstacles, he is optimistic that a deal can be reached.

Earlier today, the Qatari Al-Araby channel reported that the first round of negotiations in Doha ended without a significant breakthrough, and that the second round of talks would begin this afternoon.

Trump and Netanyahu to discuss ‘positive developments’ in Mideast, White House says

US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will “discuss positive developments taking place in the Middle East region, during their dinner tonight at the White House,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says in a press briefing.

Minister Avi Dichter, a member of the security cabinet, earlier told the Kan public broadcaster that he expected the meeting would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalizing ties with Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

“I think it will first of all be focused on a term we have often used but now has real meaning: a new Middle East,” he said.

Houthi ballistic missile — fourth in 2 days — falls short, IDF says

A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a short while ago fell short outside the country’s borders, according to a military official.

The IDF identified the launch, but no sirens sounded in Israel because the missile did not pose a threat.

The launch marks the fourth missile attack in the last 48 hours, along with a drone that Israel says was shot down earlier today, during what appears to be a marked uptick in aerial assaults on Israel by the terror group.

There have been no reports of injuries or material damage in any of the attacks.

Israel said to expect US backing for future strikes if Iran revives nuclear program

Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jets prepare to take off for strikes in Iran, in a handout photo published on June 27, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel anticipates the United States will permit it to launch new strikes on Iran, in the event that the Islamic Republic attempts to restart its nuclear program following last month’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Channel 12 news reports.

Ahead of a meeting this evening between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, the Hebrew-language network reports that “one of the understandings emerging in Israel in recent days is that the Trump administration will give a green light to Israel for additional strikes in Iran on its nuclear facilities if circumstances arise that would justify doing so.”

According to the report, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer came away from meetings last week with US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with the impression that Washington would support fresh Israeli strikes “if Iran were, for example, to attempt to remove the 400 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium currently buried in its nuclear facilities, or to revive the program in general.”

Trump expressed public anger at Israel last month when it looked like Jerusalem would strike Iran in retaliation for a missile strike after the sides agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire.

Channel 12 adds that since returning from Washington, Dermer has emphasized the US continues to demand from Iran “zero enrichment” of uranium on its soil. Iran has insisted that it will continue enrichment, but also has expressed a willingness to engage in talks with the US on the issue.

Dermer declined to comment on the report, the network says.

Likud, Liberman trade barbs over Gaza war deaths, ‘support for terrorists’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party slams Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, accusing him of having partnered with terror supporters and exploiting the deaths of Israeli soldiers.

Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset this afternoon, Liberman declared that all soldiers killed in action in recent months lost their lives “on the altar of preserving the coalition.”

“All the soldiers who fell in the past few months did not fall for the security of Israel,” he said. “They fell on the altar of coalition considerations, on the altar of preserving the coalition.”

The Haredi “draft-dodging law” being advanced by the government is “a true betrayal by the Israeli government of all IDF soldiers, regular and reserve service,” he added.

The Likud shoots back that Liberman sat in the 2021-2022 Bennett-Lapid government, which included the Arab Islamist Ra’am party.

“While the blood of our soldiers is being shed, on the mission of freeing our hostages and defeating Hamas, [Liberman] degrades and exploits their holy deaths as a tool for a shameful political game. He should be ashamed,” Likud states.

In response, a Yisrael Beytenu spokesman insists that a state commission of inquiry would one day “prove beyond any doubt that Netanyahu is the one who provided immunity to the leaders of Hamas and financed them from morning to night.”

“The October 7 government is responsible for the greatest disaster of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It causes our heroes to falter in Gaza, transfers aid to the enemy in wartime, and endangers the lives of IDF soldiers, all for the sake of preserving the coalition. We will ensure that each and every member of the government responsible for this destruction will be held accountable,” it says.

Katz: Iran’s ballistic missiles still a threat, war was launched with ‘greenish’ light from Trump

In his briefing with reporters today, Defense Minister Israel Katz says the existential threat from Iran’s nuclear program has been removed, but Tehran’s missile arsenal will continue to occupy Israel’s attention.

Katz says Iran has decided to restore their ballistic missile capabilities, which were heavily damaged during the 12-day war last month.

Katz also details the preparation for the Iran war, which took place months in advance.

Several meetings were held with the IDF’s top brass regarding the US’s potential involvement in Israel’s war against Iran, with Katz deciding that Israel would accept at least a “greenish” light from America before going ahead with the operation, meaning approval for the opening strikes, but without the promise that the US would be directly involved on the offense or even willing to publicly back Israel.

Katz tells reporters that US President Donald Trump spoke with a senior Israeli official ahead of the opening strikes, telling him, “You better succeed, because if you fail and Netanyahu calls me, I’ll ask, ‘Who is Bibi?'”

Hostage relatives rally for deal in DC

Relatives of hostages protest in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 7, 2025. (Tyler Stewart/Hostages Forum)

Family members of several hostages still held captive in Gaza are gathered in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, as US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepare to meet in the White House on Monday evening.

The family members call on both leaders to secure a comprehensive deal that brings home all 50 remaining hostages held in Gaza, rather than the partial deal being discussed that would free 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 hostages.

Terror groups in Gaza are still holding 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be living.

“A partial deal would mean that some of the hostages would stay in the tunnels for more time and this is would be a death sentence,” says Ilan Dalal, father of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal. “Please make a deal that will bring all the hostages home.”

The family members in Washington include Hagai Angrest, father of hostage soldier Matan Angrest; Rotem Cooper, son of Amiram Cooper, 84, who was killed and his body still held hostage in Gaza; Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, a soldier who was killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage.

Footage shows IDF strike on Houthi-commandeered ship

The IDF publishes footage showing its airstrike on the “Galaxy Leader” vessel overnight, as part of a wave of strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, in response to the group’s attacks on Israel.

Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked by the Houthis in November 2023, was being used by the Iran-backed group for maritime surveillance and operational planning, according to the military.

תיעוד מתקיפת חיל-האוויר אמש בנמל ראס עיסא בתימן, של אוניית הסחר ״GLAXY LEADER” עליה השתלט השלטון הח׳ותי בנובמבר 2023, ושומשה למעקב אחר כלי שיט במרחב הימי הבינלאומי עבור קידום פעילות שלטון הטרור. pic.twitter.com/smLPfEELSa

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) July 7, 2025

Palestinians say Gaza talks stuck over entry of aid

Israel’s refusal to allow the free and safe entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains the main obstacle to progress in the ceasefire talks being held in Qatar, Palestinian sources tell Reuters.

The two sources say mediators hosted one indirect round of ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israeli officials earlier on Monday, and talks were expected to resume in the evening.

EU lifts advisory telling pilots to avoid Israel’s airspace

The European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency has lifted a high-risk advisory recommending that pilots avoid the airspace over Israel and other parts of the region, due to the risk of war reigniting with Iran.

The advisory covering Israel, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Jordan was put in place on June 13 and replaced by a softened version a week ago. It has now been withdrawn, the EASA says.

Meanwhile, a separate advisory for Iran has been issued, telling pilots to avoid overflying the country for fear of being mistaken as an enemy aircraft.

“Iran is likely to maintain elevated alert levels for its air force and air defense units nationwide, particularly in light of the potential for further ad hoc military actions from their adversaries. Consequently, the risk of miscalculation and/or misidentification remains high over FIR Tehran,” it reads.

Israel says drone from Yemen downed, though no alert issued

A drone launched from Yemen at Israel was shot down by the Israeli Air Force earlier today, the IDF says.

No sirens sounded, “according to protocol,” the military adds.

The attempted drone attack came hours after the Houthis in Yemen launched two ballistic missiles at Israel overnight, in the second attack in as many nights.

The IDF conducted airstrikes overnight in response to previous attacks by the Iran-backed group, which also sunk a ship in the Red Sea on Sunday.

IDF chief says Gaza nearing ‘decision point’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks to troops in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on July 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking to troops in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis earlier today, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says all the options that the military is presenting to the political leadership have the goal of returning the hostages and defeating Hamas.

“You have achieved great accomplishments here. These are the greatest achievements since [the start of the war] in the Gaza Strip,” he says to the forces, in a video published by the IDF.

“We are very close to a decision point, but the achievements here are most impressive,” Zamir says.

Zamir says to the soldiers that they are “creating new opportunities that we are discussing with the political leadership, we are presenting all the options.”

“All roads lead to one place. All the options we are presenting and discussing with the political leadership have one goal: hostages and decisive victory. And we are leading to that decisive victory,” he adds.

Israeli official denies Gaza talks stuck, says Doha parley ongoing

Denying that talks in Doha over a hostage release and Gaza ceasefire have reached a “dead end,” an Israeli official familiar with the details says that “the negotiating team is in constant contact with the mediating states.”

The talks are continuing today, says the official.

Netanyahu’s new spokesperson facing suspension by Bar Association

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new acting spokesman, Ziv Agmon, has been suspended by the Israel Bar Association’s disciplinary court for violation of the duty of loyalty to a client and behavior that is unbecoming of a lawyer, Hebrew media reports.

Agmon’s suspension was supposed to have taken affect on July 1, but he has appealed the ruling to the Jerusalem District Court, which has frozen the suspension until it issues a final ruling on the matter.

Agmon was found guilty of the allegations by the Bar Association’s court back in April. The court ruled that within the framework of a property purchase, he had transferred NIS 1.7 million from a trust fund of a client to a seller before receiving the necessary permits, Ynet reports.

Agmon claimed that he had not been actively working in the law firm, run by his mother, at the time, and that the transfer had been made mistakenly by a clerk in the company.

The court rejected these claims, and ruled that the transfer “was not a good-faith mistake,” adding that Agmon had acted in “a totally unacceptable manner,” and operated “with colossal negligence,” toward his client.

Agmon was appointed as Netanyahu’s news acting spokesperson after his predecessor, Omer Dostri, was fired, reportedly because he clashed with Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, though the Prime Minister’s Office has denied the claim.

US revokes terror designation for Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group

The United States has revoked its “foreign terrorist organization” designation for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group once linked to al-Qaeda whose leader took control of Syria in December.

“In consultation with the attorney general and the secretary of the treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a foreign terrorist organization,” says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo, with the move to formally take effect on Tuesday.

A possible rapprochement between Israel and Syria is expected to be on the agenda when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump later today. Netanyahu is also slated to meet with Rubio this afternoon.

Lufthansa carrier group says it will start flying to Israel August 1

A Lufthansa Airbus A380 lands in Frankfurt, Germany, February 14, 2019. (AP/Michael Probst)

Germany’s Lufthansa airline group says it is preparing to gradually resume its flight operations to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport starting August 1.

The carrier group – which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings – halted service to and from Tel Aviv through at least July 31 after Israel’s airspace was closed on June 13 due to the Iran conflict.

Due to “operational reasons,” the group is suspending SWISS flights to and from Tel Aviv through October 25, as previously announced.

Israel reopened its airspace nearly two weeks ago, but several major European and US airlines have not yet announced a resumption date of flight operations to and from Tel Aviv, including British Airways, United Airlines, and Delta.

French carrier Air France resumed nonstop flights between Ben Gurion and Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport today.

Katz calls for plan to confine all Gazans in ‘humanitarian city’ to be built over Rafah’s ruins

Children stand next to tents at a camp housing displaced Palestinians in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 7, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Defense Minister Israel Katz tells reporters in a briefing today that he instructed the IDF and the ministry to bring forward a plan to establish a new “humanitarian city” in the southern Gaza Strip, on the ruins of Rafah.

The idea of the humanitarian area, according to Katz, is to accommodate initially some 600,000 Palestinians who have been living in the Mawasi area on the coast after being displaced from elsewhere in the Strip, after screening them to ensure Hamas operatives are not entering.

Palestinians will not be allowed to leave the zone, he says.

Eventually, the idea is to bring the entire Palestinian civilian population to the zone while the IDF secures it from a distance, as international bodies work to manage the area. An additional four aid distribution sites would be established in the area, according to Katz.

Katz also emphasizes his ambition to encourage Palestinians to “voluntarily emigrate” from the Gaza Strip to other countries, saying this plan “should be fulfilled.”

It’s unclear if the zone would be used as a transit point, as described in a Reuters report earlier today that detailed plans for “Humanitarian Transit Areas” where Gazans could “temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so.”

The director general of the Defense Ministry, Amir Baram, has already begun advancing planning for the zone, which Katz stresses will not be run by the IDF, but instead by international bodies.

Katz doesn’t specify which international organizations would operate the city, and other than the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, it is unlikely that any will cooperate given that the plan aims to displace the entire Palestinian population of the Strip.

There are also concerns that Israel will establish settlements in the areas it forcibly evacuates. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that is not his plan, but he is beholden to far-right coalition partners who are determined to see it through.

Katz says Israel seeks to hold on to the Morag Corridor, north of Rafah, in a hostage deal with Hamas. During a potential 60-day ceasefire, Israel would work to establish the new humanitarian zone south of the corridor, he says.

Katz says in the briefing that the IDF is holding onto nearly 70% of the Strip’s territory.

Hostages’ families rally for Gaza deal outside US embassy

People attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip in front of the US embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP/Oded Balilty)

Relatives of hostages and scores of protesters are gathered outside the US embassy branch in Tel Aviv rallying for a ceasefire deal ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, during which the pair are expected to discuss efforts to reach an agreement.

Demonstrators hold a pink sign reading “President Trump — make history, bring them all home, end the war,” while others hold aloft giant pictures showing the faces of the 50 hostages still being held in the Strip.

“Hostage deal now,” protesters chant in English and Hebrew. Some hold American flags.

Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a leading voice in the movement, stands near the front of the crowd with a sign reading “Everyone in one go, end the war.”

Protesters are rallying for a deal that ends the war and brings home all the hostages, though officials say the agreement under discussion would see approximately half of the captives freed during a 60-day pause in hostilities, during which talks would take place toward ending the conflict and bringing the rest home.

“Once again, they are talking about a deal, once again the words are not everyone, later, and then the heart simply breaks,” former hostage Doron Steinbrecher says in a statement released by the Hostage Families Forum. “I know what it’s like, I was there. I know what it is to think you are coming home, only to discover that you are staying there, in the tunnels, behind, fighting for your life.”

Israel bans anti-Zionist rabbi after he meets with Iran’s FM Araghchi in Brazil

Members of Neturei Karta, an international anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jewish organization, march during a pro-Palestinian protest in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (AP/Emrah Gurel)

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel has permanently barred Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a leader of the fringe anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta, after Weiss met with Iran’s foreign minister in Brazil yesterday.

“I will not allow someone who acts against the State of Israel and identifies with its enemies to enter it,” Arbel says in a statement announcing the decision.

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a prominent anti-Zionist figure, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil, reaffirming solidarity with the Iranian people amid recent tensions. pic.twitter.com/gGgRTvlWKI

— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom) July 7, 2025

Weiss, a 69-year-old resident of New York, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a summit of the BRICS group in Sao Paulo, where leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa delivered harsh criticism of recent Israeli and American strikes in Iran.

According to an Iranian Foreign Ministry readout, “Rabbi Weiss strongly condemned the Zionist regime’s military aggression against Iran” and “reaffirmed anti-Zionist Jews’ support for and solidarity with the people and government of Iran.”

Neturei Karta, estimated at around 100 core members, has long opposed the existence of the State of Israel on religious grounds and frequently engages with anti-Zionist groups. Members of the group have been heartily welcomed to Tehran by Iran’s regime and used as cover against claims of antisemitism.

Justice minister says attorney general has conflict of interest in opposing procedure aimed at her firing

Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a rally outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, June 5, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of hypocrisy and of having a conflict of interest in her opposition to a new process the government has instituted for firing an attorney general.

Earlier today, Baharav-Miara told the High Court of Justice that the cabinet resolution creating the new process for firing the attorney general was “fundamentally illegal,” backing petitions seeking to void the procedure aimed at axing her.

Levin accuses the attorney general of “exploiting state resources to try and prevent her replacement, while having a clear-cut conflict of interest.”

The justice minister says the cabinet resolution was “not only legal but also necessary,” adding “the government of Israel deserves an impartial, professional, straightforward attorney general without a conflict of interest.”

IDF says key arms dealer among two Palestinians killed by troops in West Bank raid

A Palestinian arms dealer and another wanted terror operative were killed by troops in the northern West Bank yesterday, the military says.

According to the IDF, commandos of the Duvdevan unit and soldiers of the Samaria Regional Brigade raided the town of Salem near Nablus following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet on the whereabouts of a “central arms dealer involved in multiple weapons and drug deals.”

The IDF says troops attempted to detain the arms dealer. It does not elaborate why the forces opened fire.

“During the activity, the soldiers fired toward the wanted terrorist and an additional terrorist who was with him,” the military says. It does not say what the second man is suspected of.

The IDF says troops also found a handgun and ammunition in the arms dealer’s car.

No soldiers were injured.

Coalition scotches Knesset agenda after Haredi parties mutiny over military conscription bill

The coalition has removed all bills from today’s Knesset agenda after the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties announced they’d boycott today’s session to protest the lack of a bill aimed at exempting yeshiva students from military service.

In an official statement, the United Torah Judaism party says “in light of the fact that the draft conscription law has not been introduced to date, contrary to commitments made… it will not vote with the coalition until the draft law is presented.”

Following the move, Likud sends a message to all party lawmakers: “You are free for today. Regarding the rest of the week – an announcement will come.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says a statement after the pulling of the bills, “The coalition has stopped functioning. They don’t have a majority among the people. They don’t have a majority in the Knesset.” He calls for early elections.

The Shas-UTJ decision not to vote with the coalition marks a significant escalation, following a previous partial legislative boycott in which the Haredi parties refused to vote on private member bills advanced by coalition lawmakers.

According to Haredi media, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri told party lawmakers today that Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein had sought to change elements of a compromise he reached with the Haredi factions weeks ago.

“Yuli Edelstein said he was done with the wording of the law and now it’s stuck with the committee’s legal adviser. They’re laughing at us. Not only will we not vote on bills, we won’t enter the plenum at all. They tried to tempt us with promoting a law on rabbinical courts — and we refused,” Haredi sources tell Kan radio.

Netanyahu to meet Witkoff, Rubio at guest digs before White House dinner

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the premier will meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff at 3 p.m. at Blair House, the official guesthouse for visiting heads of state and other dignitaries, where he is staying.

At 4:30 p.m. local time, he will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also at Blair House.

At 6:30 p.m., Netanyahu and his wife will join US President Donald Trump and the first lady in the White House for dinner.

According to the White House, their arrival and the dinner will be closed to the press.

Call me, not the media, if you want to discuss blocking hostage deal, Smotrich chides Ben Gvir

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticizes National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for making a public appeal for the pair to unite to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from agreeing to a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal, rather than approaching him directly.

Ben Gvir has made repeated public statements in recent days saying that he wants Smotrich to join him in forming a united front within the coalition, though Smotrich’s office claims the minister has not reached out directly.

Smotrich says during his Religious Zionism faction meeting that it is “interesting” that Ben Gvir turns to the media “every time” rather than calling directly. He proceeds to give reporters his personal phone number.

The number “has been public since I was transportation minister, for those who don’t know, and it is also the same phone that I have had since I was 18 years old,” Smotrich says. “If my friend Itamar really wants to sit down and talk seriously… he is always welcome to do so.”

Smotrich defends criticism of IDF chief in leaked comments

Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defends his clash with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir during a security cabinet meeting on Saturday evening, declaring that leaks of his comments “did not weaken me but [rather] strengthened me.”

“My stand in the cabinet, on what I believe is right for the State of Israel, is not a right, but a duty,” Smotrich tells reporters ahead of his Religious Zionism party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“Anyone who expects a political leadership not to challenge the cabinet or point out failures does not understand how democracy works and has learned nothing from the disaster we went through. Anyone who seeks to silence controversy and prevent criticism will be directly responsible for the next [mistaken strategic] concept and the disaster that, God forbid, will follow it,” he insists.

“And anyone who thinks that petty politicians, who leak half-quotes to journalists, will deter me – does not understand what purpose I’m serving here,” he says.

On Sunday, Hebrew media reported that Smotrich had accused the military of failing to manage the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaz and had said that Zamir had “failed enormously on this matter.”

Iranian president claims Israel tried to kill him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives at Kazan International Airport for the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, October 22, 2024. (Maxim Blinov/Photo host brics-russia2024.ru via AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claims that Israel attempted to assassinate him, in an interview with American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

Masoud Pezeshkian, president of Iran.

(0:00) How Would Iranian President Pezeshkian Like to See This Conflict End?
(0:44) Is Iran Willing to Give Up Their Nuclear Program in Exchange for Peace?
(5:19) Was the International Atomic Energy Agency Spying on Iran and Giving… pic.twitter.com/lMPoFa5ChX

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 7, 2025

“They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,” Pezeshkian says in response to Carlson’s question about whether he believes Israel tried to kill him.

Pezeshkian does not specify the date of the alleged assassination attempt, nor whether it occurred during Israel’s 12-day aerial campaign against Iran last month.

Asked how he is certain of an attempt on his life, he replies: “Of course, it was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life… It was Israel,” according to a Persian-to-English translation provided in the interview.

“I was in a meeting… but thanks to the intelligence by the spies that they had, they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting,” he says.

During the interview with Carlson, Pezeshkian also says his country has “no problem” restarting nuclear talks, provided that trust can be reestablished with the US.

“We see no problem in reentering the negotiations,” the Iranian president says.

“There is a condition… for restarting the talks. How are we going to trust the United States again? We reentered the negotiations, then how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”

Attorney general asks court to void government moves paving way for her firing

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting, in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara calls a government resolution passed in June to change the way an attorney general is fired “fundamentally illegal,” in a legal submission to the High Court of Justice.

In March, the government set in motion the process to fire the attorney general through the designated statutory committee. But after it failed to convene a full quorum of that committee, it passed a cabinet resolution in June establishing a five-member ministerial committee to replace the old panel.

The attorney general’s comments come in response to petitions by government watchdog groups asking the High Court to declare the government resolution void and to freeze its implementation until a final ruling on the issue.

“The decision contradicts the fundamentals of the rules of administrative law, as well as the rulings of the court, including recent ones,” writes the Attorney General’s Office.

The response also notes that all five members of the ministerial committee who are supposed to give Baharav-Miara a hearing pending dismissal have already expressed their position that she should be fired in a no-confidence statement the government issued in March.

This means that the new ministerial committee cannot conduct a fair hearing for the attorney general, the response argues. The hearing for Baharav-Miara in front of the five-member ministerial committee is scheduled for a week from today.

The Attorney General’s Office points out that the new method of firing an attorney general was only adopted by the government after it failed to convene the professional statutory committee that had previously been tasked with firing the attorney general.

This kind of decision — derided by critics as moving the goalposts during the game — is generally frowned upon by the High Court.

“In this state of affairs, it will not be a hearing held in accordance with the law, but rather a hearing for the sake of appearance,” the Attorney General’s Office writes.

Two-day drill planned for Golan starting tomorrow, IDF says

The IDF will carry out a drill in the Golan Heights starting tomorrow morning and ending on Wednesday, the military announces.

“As part of the exercise, there will be increased movement of security forces’ vehicles and aircraft,” the IDF says, adding that there is “no fear of a security incident.”

Haredi party head Deri fumes at Lapid over military exemptions swipe

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri slams Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, accusing him of incitement over his statement that the ultra-Orthodox politician was fine sending other people’s children to fight and die as long as his own are exempted from service.

Speaking with reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid railed against Haredi efforts to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service, stating that Deri and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) “have no problem sending [reserve] soldiers to go fight and die on one condition: that their own children not die.”

In response, Deri claims in a statement that “the percentage of soldiers who serve and risk their lives among Shas voters is higher than among your party’s voters.”

“Stop pointing an accusing finger at an entire community that contributes to the country with dedication… Your words are serious and false incitement,” Deri continues.

He calls on Lapid to retract his “inflammatory slur.”

Bank of Israel leaves interest rate unchanged, trims growth forecast due to war

The Bank of Israel decides to leave interest rates steady at 4.5 percent, citing “high domestic and global uncertainty,” as it lowers the economy’s growth forecast for this year due to the impact of fighting with Iran.

“Economic activity continues to recover at a moderate pace, against the background of high domestic and global uncertainty,” the central bank says in a statement. “Following Operation Rising Lion (the military operation against Iran), Israel’s risk premium declined significantly, but it remains higher than it was before the October 7, 2023, massacre.”

The central bank says it now forecasts that the economy will grow by 3.3% in 2025, down from a previous growth estimate of 3.5% in 2025. But it raises the growth estimate for 2026 from 4% to 4.6%.

Ahead of the interest rate decision, the majority of economists were in consensus that the central bank would take a wait-and-see approach about consumer prices continuing to moderate before rushing to lower the base lending rate. Only one economist forecasted a reduction to 4.25% in the borrowing rate.

Israeli inflation in May retreated to 3.1%, down from 3.6% in April and 3.3% in March. However, it is still above the government’s annual target range of between 1% and 3%.

“There are several risks for a possible acceleration of inflation or for it not converging to the target range: geopolitical developments and their impact on economic activity, an increase in demand alongside supply constraints, and worsening global terms of trade,” the central bank says.

The central bank last lowered interest rates in January 2024, the first cut in almost four years, to support households and businesses as the economy was getting battered by the war with Hamas in Gaza.

Houthis claim attack on ship now sinking in Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim an attack on the bulk carrier Magic Seas, which is now sinking in the Red Sea.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claims in a prerecorded statement that the vessel belonged to a company continuing to make port calls in Israel.

He acknowledges the Houthis attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned vessel with bomb-carrying drone boats and missiles.

The attack Sunday left the Magic Seas ablaze in the Red Sea. Its 22 crew members abandoned the ship and were safely recovered, but the ship is now taking on water and expected to sink.

Plan said to outline ‘humanitarian transit’ camps to house Gazans before possible relocation

A proposal bearing the name of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suggests building camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside — and possibly outside — Gaza to house the Palestinian population, according to a proposal reviewed by Reuters, outlining its vision of “replacing Hamas’ control over the population in Gaza.”

The $2 billion plan, created sometime after February 11 and carrying the name of the US-backed group, was submitted to the Trump administration and recently discussed in the White House, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The plan, reviewed by Reuters, describes the camps as “large-scale” and “voluntary” places where the Gazan population could “temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so.”

A slide deck seen by Reuters goes into granular detail on the “Humanitarian Transit Zones,” including how they would be implemented and what they would cost.

It calls for using the sprawling facilities to “gain trust with the local population” and to facilitate US President Donald Trump’s “vision for Gaza,” which includes relocating Gaza’s population of 2 million Palestinians to an undetermined location.

The proposal does not specify how the Palestinians would be relocated into the camps, or where the camps could be built outside Gaza, but a map shows arrows pointing to Egypt and Cyprus as well as other points labeled “Additional Destination?”

Reuters cannot independently determine the status of the plan, who submitted it, or whether it is still under consideration.

The aid group, responding to questions from Reuters, denies that it had submitted a proposal and says the slides “are not a GHF document.” The GHF says it has studied “a range of theoretical options to safely deliver aid in Gaza,” but that it “is not planning for or implementing Humanitarian Transit Areas (HTAs).”

Rather, the organization says it is solely focused on food distribution in Gaza.

A spokesperson for SRS, a for-profit contracting company that works with GHF, tells Reuters “we have had no discussions with GHF about HTAs, and our ‘next phase’ is feeding more people. Any suggestion otherwise is entirely false and misrepresents the scope of our operations.”

Ultra-Orthodox MKs ramp up measures against coalition over stalled conscription bill

The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties inform the coalition that they will boycott today’s Knesset plenum session to protest the lack of a law exempting yeshiva students from military service, Hebrew media report.

The decision not to vote with the coalition marks a significant escalation, following a partial legislative boycott imposed by the Haredi parties thus far in which they have refused to vote on private member bills advanced by coalition lawmakers.

Speaking with the Israel Hayom daily, senior UTJ officials say that the fact that Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein “is not providing a draft [of the bill] indicates that he has backed away from the agreements reached. The ultra-Orthodox parties will not be able to sit and vote with a coalition that supports such a law.”

Edelstein on Sunday reportedly presented a Haredi representative with a copy of a watered-down compromise bill regulating the conscription of yeshiva student. However, according to Channel 12, Edelstein only presented a general overview of the new, softened version of the conscription bill, rather than the full text.

Asked about what Edelstein had presented during his meeting with former Shas MK Ariel Attias on Sunday, a senior UTJ source tells The Times of Israel that the Likud lawmaker had presented “nonsense” and that they were still waiting to see something serious.

Speaking with The Times of Israel this morning, one member of Edelstein’s committee said he expected the draft of the revised legislation to be presented today but no official announcement has been made.

The Haredi legislative boycott could delay the Knesset’s approval of UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler as housing minister.

Yair Golan shrugs off ‘petty’ coalition-backed bill to strip him of rank

Leader of the Democrats party Yair Golan at a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Democrats chairman Yair Golan dismisses a proposed law denying him of his military rank and privileges as a retired general due to his criticism of the way the war in Gaza is being fought, calling it “some petty uproar surrounding an unimportant law by an unimportant MK who wants to deny me rights.”

On Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation backed a bill by Likud MK Ariel Kallner aimed at penalizing former high-ranking security officials who call for desertion or slander the military, after Golan caused widespread outrage in May by accusing Israel of killing babies in Gaza “as a hobby.”

He also tells his faction that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “wreaking havoc on Israel.”

“A prime minister who refuses to end the war, who passes a draft evasion law, whose son fled to Miami dares to pay for his survival with the blood of others” and “will not defeat Hamas,” Golan tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“The prime minister of neglect and destruction is leading a violent coup d’état, because he knows that he will not win in free and fair democratic elections. And in the face of this real danger, we must not remain silent. We, the opposition, and all of us citizens of Zionist and democratic Israel, must fight and resist. Our mission is existential: to ensure that the next elections are truly democratic, so that we can replace this government and save the State of Israel,” Golan declares.

Ben Gvir criticizes Netanyahu on Gaza, speaks out against deal

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tells reporters, “We are praying for the prime minister’s success while visiting President Trump.”

Speaking before an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting, Ben Gvir says that while he gives credit to the prime minister over the decision to strike Iran, “on the subject of Hamas, he is still not doing what is needed to deliver us a decisive victory.”

“The time has come to focus solely on defeating Hamas,” he says. “We must not be afraid, but go forward with all of our might.”

He speaks out against an emerging ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza being pushed by the US.

“We cannot agree to this deal,” he says. “I love the hostages, they’re my brothers, but I’ll say what I said before the Gilad Shalit deal: that deal cost us an enormous price.”

He says that he “prevented” previous deals and calls on Finance Minister Smotrich to join him in preventing the current one.

Netanyahu, Trump have no White House public appearances or press conference scheduled

US President Donald Trump (left) welcomes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington on April 7, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have no public appearances scheduled for today.

Even Netanyahu’s arrival at the White House at 6:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. Israel time) will be closed to press, according to the White House schedule.

The two will then have a private dinner together with their wives.

Unlike Netanyahu’s previous two visits this year, there is no press conference or Oval Office opportunity for photo ops and questions on the schedule.

Before his dinner with Trump, Netanyahu is slated to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff at the Blair House, where the premier is staying, across the street from the White House at 4:30 p.m. local time.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu is slated to meet with US Vice President JD Vance and with members of Congress on Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, he is planning to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon before hosting a gala for Jewish and Evangelical community leaders.

Netanyahu is scheduled to fly back to Israel on Thursday.

Most of his meetings haven’t been publicly announced yet, and the schedule is seen as very fluid.

Camp Mystic ‘grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors’ following catastrophic Texas floods

A person pulls luggage at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area, July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Camp Mystic says that 27 campers and counselors died in catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in central Texas.

“Camp Mystic is grieving the loss of 27 campers and counselors following the catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River,” the camp says in a statement.

Gantz says he won’t join coalition; says public wants ‘real’ Haredi conscription, not current draft law being pushed

Leader of the Blue and White-National Unity Party MK Benny Gantz ahead of a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“We are not considering joining the coalition,” says Blue and White-National Unity leader Benny Gantz, speaking to reporters before a faction meeting.

He says that the Haredi military conscription law being promoted is not what the public supports, and 80% of the country wants “real” legislation on the matter.

The current proposed law, he says, is very similar to what the “Haredim and then-defense minister Gallant tried to present to us a year and a half ago,” and doesn’t address the needs of the IDF.

The army requires some 12,000 soldiers, he adds, and the government’s stalling on this issue has “harmed national security.”

“I would have expected the prime minister to have insisted on conscription [for Haredi young men] before his flight [to the US] and not to stall in order to preserve the coalition,” he adds.

He also notes that with the prime minister landing in Washington, the time has come to make a hostage deal, which should be the main goal of his trip.

“We have a window of opportunity to return the hostages and to reach a deal that will redesign the Middle East,” he says. “The prime minister has the backing of the nation and political backing to do this.”

Lapid says he hopes Netanyahu will end war with full hostage deal, slams efforts to pass Haredi ‘draft evasion law’

Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid wishes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump, luck in securing a comprehensive hostage deal that will end the war in Gaza.

“What is really needed is not a partial deal, nor a truce, but to stop the war and return all the hostages,” he tells reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

Turning to the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription, Lapid slams the prime minister for his efforts to pass an “evasion law” exempting Haredi men from military service.

“Before Netanyahu got on the plane, he was only concerned with one thing: another attempt to assure the Haredim of a shameful, disgraceful evasion law, designed for only one thing: that the coalition survive for a few more weeks or months,” Lapid states.

The Haredim conditioned the survival of the government on legislation ensuring that “no young Haredi enlists, does not risk his life, does not defend the country,” he says. “This is open blackmail, and [Netanyahu] immediately gave in to it.”

“Netanyahu ordered the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, to show the draft of the conscription law to the representatives of the Haredim so that they would be kind enough to approve the law. The Haredim are seeing the draft before… the head of the IDF, before the reservist organizations, even before the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,” he says.

When the draft of the bill is published, he adds, any clause that delays the application of sanctions against those who dodge military service will mean that the legislation is “not a law, it is fraud.”

Addressing the Haredim, he declares, “This law will not pass, and even if it does, there will be a different government here next year, and the first thing we will do is repeal this law. What has worked for you all these years will no longer work.”

A copy of the revised bill is expected to be presented to lawmakers this afternoon.

Liberman: All soldiers killed in recent months died ‘on the altar of preserving the coalition’; Haredi ‘draft-dodging law’ is a ‘betrayal’

Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 7, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In a devastating critique, former defense minister Avigdor Liberman says all soldiers killed in action in recent months lost their lives “on the altar of preserving the coalition.”

“All the soldiers who fell in the past few months, did not fall for the security of Israel,” declares Yisrael Beytenu chairman Liberman at his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “They fell on the altar of coalition considerations, on the altar of preserving the coalition.”

The Haredi “draft-dodging law” being advanced by the government is “a true betrayal by the Israeli government of all IDF soldiers, regular and reserve service,” he adds.

The bill is “unacceptable” and constitutes an “evasion law for all intents and purposes,” he declares, adding that it doesn’t matter how many draft orders the IDF sends to Haredim if the enforcement of them is lacking.

Liberman expresses his hope that the army actually enforces the upcoming round of conscription orders.

Police expect Tel Aviv resident who allegedly spied for Iran to be charged in coming days

Police say a prosecutor’s declaration has been filed today against a 27-year-old Tel Aviv resident who allegedly gathered intelligence about elected officials and IDF military bases on Iran’s behalf.

The suspect allegedly maintained contact with an Iranian agent over the course of several months. He is suspected of filming politicians’ homes, military bases and spraying graffiti at the agent’s behest.

He received thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency in exchange for carrying out these tasks, law enforcement says.

Officers arrested the unnamed suspect in a raid on his home June 22, where they seized several electronic devices allegedly used to communicate with his Iranian contacts.

With the filing of a prosecutor’s declaration today in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, police expect that the suspect will be formally charged in the coming days.

Court extends detention of man accused of threatening victims of alleged sexual assault by Haredi patrol chief

Chaim Rotter, arrested on suspicion of numerous sex offenses, at a court hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv on July 2, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Tel Aviv judge has extended by two days the remand of an associate of Chaim Rotter, head of the Shomrim patrol in Bnei Brak, who is currently under investigation for multiple sexual assaults of minors and women, police say.

The decision is the latest step in an ongoing investigation into Rotter’s alleged assaults for over a decade, after he was arrested Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport as he arrived back in Israel.

Police say that Rotter’s associate, a Bnei Brak resident in his 20s, will remain in custody until Wednesday, per today’s decision at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court.

Hebrew outlets name the suspect as Yoel Yosef.

He is being investigated on suspicion of threatening Rotter’s victims into silence, assisting him in his crimes, and obstructing the police’s investigation.

Rotter heads the Shomrim patrol, a private security organization that operates in Bnei Brak in coordination with rabbis and law enforcement in the mostly Haredi city.

He is suspected of sexually assaulting many of the young volunteers in the organization and exploiting his position to deter victims from filing complaints with the police.

The investigation into Rotter is being led by a special investigation team in the Dan Region police, in the Tel Aviv District, law enforcement says.

Knesset panel approves changing name of Gantz’s party to Blue and White-National Unity

MK Benny Gantz attends a Health Committee meeting at the Knesset, on July 7, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset House Committee approves changing the name of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party to Blue and White-National Unity.

Following the announcements of MKs Gadi Eisenkot and Matan Kahana last week that they were leaving the faction, the party announced that it would revert to being called Blue and White, but apparently later decided it would combine the two names.

US envoy says Hezbollah ‘needs to see that there’s a future for them,’ warns Lebanon against being ‘left behind’

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on July 7, 2025, shows US envoy Thomas Barrack speaking to the press after his meeting with Lebanon's president at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

US envoy Thomas Barrack, Washington’s ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, warns Lebanon against being “left behind” amid regional changes, adding that Hezbollah “needs to see that there’s a future for them.”

He notes that “the rest of the region is moving at Mach speed, and you will be left behind,” noting in a press conference after meeting President Joseph Aoun that “dialogue has started between Syria and Israel, just as the dialogue needs to be reinvented by Lebanon.”

“Hezbollah is a political party. It also has a militant aspect to it. Hezbollah needs to see that there’s a future for them, that that road is not harnessed just solely against them, and that there’s an intersection of peace and prosperity for them also,” Barrack says.

Crew of Greek ship hit yesterday off Yemen safe, but vessel may sink, operator says

The 19-member crew of a Greek bulk carrier severely damaged in the Red Sea by repeated attacks, most likely by the Iran-backed Houthis, is safe and will arrive in Djibouti today, the ship’s operator says.

However, the fate of the Liberian-flagged Magic Seas is unclear, with the vessel at risk of sinking, says Michael Bodouroglou, a representative of its operator Stem Shipping.

Yesterday’s assault off the southwest coast of Yemen was the first such incident reported in the vital shipping corridor since mid-April. In a raid lasting more than four hours, the Magic Seas was attacked by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from skiffs, as well as by sea drones and missiles.

The ship was carrying iron and fertilizers from China to Turkey, and Stem Shipping received no warning of the attack, Bodouroglou tells Reuters.

“It struck us like lightning,” he says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US envoy ‘unbelievably satisfied’ with Lebanon government’s response to US roadmap to disarm Hezbollah

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on July 7, 2025 shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with US envoy Thomas Barrack (2nd-R) at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut. (Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

US special envoy Thomas Barrack says he is “unbelievably satisfied” with the Lebanese government’s reply to an American proposal on how to disarm Hezbollah, after the terror group signaled in recent days that it would not give up all its arms.

“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time. I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response,” Barrack tells reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, without giving details of the response.

Aoun’s team gave Barrack a seven-page reply to his June 19 proposal.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Palestinian media: West Bank director of Hezbollah-linked Lebanese media outlet arrested by IDF

Palestinian media reports that Nasser Laham, the West Bank director of Al-Mayadeen — a Lebanese channel affiliated with Hezbollah — was arrested overnight by the IDF at his home in Bethlehem.

Laham is a veteran Palestinian journalist who has maintained ties with Israeli reporters for many years.

There is no comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

Last year, the Israeli government approved a proposal to block Al-Mayadeen, and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi signed an order to confiscate the network’s equipment and block its websites in Israel.

Israel, Hamas said to resume indirect talks in Doha as Netanyahu set to meet Trump at White House

People walk past a sign calling for the release of hostages, in Tel Aviv. July 7, 2025 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Hamas and Israel were resuming talks in Qatar, an unnamed Palestinian official says, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump, who has pushed for a “deal this week.”

The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began yesterday in Doha, aiming to broker a ceasefire and reach an agreement on the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

“Indirect negotiations are scheduled to take place before noon today in Doha between the Hamas and Israeli delegations to continue discussions” on the proposal, a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations tells AFP. There is no official comment from Israel.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House since Trump’s return to office this year, the US president said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement.

“We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists.

Netanyahu, speaking before taking off for Washington, said his meeting with Trump could “definitely help advance this” deal, but highlighted his opposition to any agreement that would ultimately leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

However, Palestinian sources claimed that the Israeli delegation didn’t have a sufficient mandate to reach an agreement with Hamas.

Terrorists in Gaza are still holding 50 hostages, with 28 of them confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty of the hostages are believed by Israeli authorities to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said.

Hamas-linked authorities claim that more than 57,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, an unverified figure that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 444.

US envoy arrives in Beirut for talks on Hezbollah disarmament

A handout photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office on July 7, 2025, shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (R) meeting with US envoy Thomas Barrack at the presidential palace of Baabda east of Beirut (Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

US envoy Thomas Barrack is meeting Lebanese officials in Beirut to discuss a proposed plan to disarm Hezbollah, hours after Israel launched new airstrikes on the terror group.

The Israeli strikes were seen by Lebanese officials and diplomats as an attempt to ratchet up pressure on Hezbollah, whose leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech yesterday that the group still needed missiles to defend Lebanon from Israel.

Israel has regularly carried out drone strikes in Lebanon it says are aimed at operatives belonging to the Iran-backed group, despite a ceasefire in November that followed over a year of conflict, and two months of open war, sparked by daily Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks on northern Israel starting on October 8, 2023.

The terror group has been under pressure in recent months both within Lebanon and from Washington to completely relinquish its weapons. It is weighing shrinking its arsenal, sources told Reuters last week, without disarming in full.

Barrack’s proposal, delivered to Lebanese officials during his last visit on June 19, would see Hezbollah fully disarmed within four months in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops occupying several posts in south Lebanon and a halt to Israeli airstrikes.

Lebanon formed a committee to draft a response. Hezbollah was expected to provide its own feedback to its ally, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, to incorporate into a counter-proposal being prepared for Barrack’s visit today.

The group did not make its response public, but two sources familiar with its deliberations said Hezbollah had told Berri it would not discuss giving up any more arms before Israeli troops fully left Lebanon and without guarantees Israel would stop targeting group members.

Executions in Saudi Arabia reach record high, mostly over drug cases, right groups say

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at the Saudi-US Investment Forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Executions in Saudi Arabia surged last year to a record high, Amnesty International says, as activists increasingly warn about the kingdom’s use of the death penalty in nonviolent drug cases.

Saudi Arabia executed 345 people last year, the highest number ever recorded by Amnesty in over three decades of reporting. In the first six months of this year alone, 180 people have been put to death, the group says, signaling that record likely will again be broken.

This year, about two-thirds of those executed were convicted on non-lethal drug charges, the activist group Reprieve says separately. Amnesty also has raised similar concerns about executions in drug cases.

Saudi Arabia has not offered any comment on why it increasingly employs the death penalty in the kingdom. Saudi officials did not respond to detailed questions from The Associated Press about the executions and why it is using the death penalty for nonviolent drug cases.

However, it conflicts with comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s day-to-day ruler, who in 2022 highlighted that he limited its use to just homicide cases.

“Well about the death penalty, we got rid of all of it, except for one category, and this one is written in the Quran, and we cannot do anything about it, even if we wished to do something, because it is clear teaching in the Quran,” the prince told The Atlantic.

IDF says dozens of targets hit in Gaza strikes; terror infrastructure destroyed in ground ops

Palestinians after their home was struck by an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 7, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Dozens of targets were struck by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including dozens of operatives, weapon depots, observation posts, and other buildings used by terror groups, the military says in a daily update.

The strikes come as five IDF divisions, made up of tens of thousands of troops, continue to operate across Gaza.

During ground operations, the IDF, says troops killed numerous operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, buildings used for terror, anti-tank launch posts, and observation posts.

Turkey says 8 soldiers killed by methane gas during search operation in north Iraq caves

Turkey says that three more of its soldiers had died after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in caves in northern Iraq, bringing the total toll to eight.

The incident comes at a sensitive time with Turkey in talks to end the conflict with the Kurds after the PKK militant group agreed to end its decades-long armed struggle.

The conflict, which began in 1984, has cost more than 40,000 lives.

The deaths occurred as the Turkish troops were searching for the remains of a soldier who was shot dead by Kurdish fighters in the area in May 2022 and whose body was never recovered, Turkey’s defense ministry says.

“Three other of our heroic comrades in arms, affected by methane gas, have died, bringing the total number of victims to eight,” the ministry says on X on Monday.

It does not explain the origin of the methane gas in the caves.

Nearly 450,000 Afghans left Iran since June 1 after Tehran ordered them out, UN says

Afghan refugees arrive from Iran at Islam Qala border between Afghanistan and Iran, on July 5, 2025 (Mohsen KARIMI / AFP)

Nearly 450,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the start of June, the United Nations’ migration agency says, after Tehran ordered those without documentation to leave by July 6.

In late May, Iran said undocumented Afghans must leave the country by July 6, potentially impacting four million people out of the around six million Afghans Tehran says live in the country.

Numbers of people crossing the border have surged since mid-June, with some days seeing around 40,000 people crossing at Islam Qala in western Herat province, UN agencies have said.

From June 1 to July 5, 449,218 Afghans returned from Iran, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration tells AFP, adding that the total for the year so far was 906,326.

Many people crossing reported pressure from authorities or arrest and deportation, as well as losing already limited finances in the rush to leave quickly.

Massive foreign aid cuts have impacted the response to the crisis, with the UN, international nongovernmental groups and Taliban officials calling for more funding to support the returnees.

The UN has warned the influx could destabilize the country already grappling with entrenched poverty, unemployment and climate change-related shocks and urged nations not to forcibly return Afghans.

“Forcing or pressuring Afghans to return risks further instability in the region, and onward movement towards Europe,” the UN refugees agency UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.

For 2nd time in days, IDF says troops in south Syria arrested terror cell working on behalf of Iran

IDF troops operate in southern Syria, in a handout photo issued on July 7, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

For the second time in days, the IDF says it captured a cell of operatives operating on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, during an overnight raid in southern Syria.

Reservists of the Alexandroni Brigade and field interrogators of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 operated overnight in the Kwdana area — close to the border and near an IDF post in southern Syria — to detain the cell, the military says.

Several members of the cell who the IDF says were operating on behalf of the IRGC were nabbed.

On Wednesday, several other IRGC-affiliated operatives were captured in a raid in south Syria, according to the military.

Herzog welcomes delegation of imams from Europe at President’s Residence

A delegation of imams and Muslim community leaders from France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK meet with President Isaac Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on July 7, 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)

President Isaac Herzog welcomes a delegation of imams and Muslim leaders from several European countries at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Around a dozen participants from France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK attend the event as part of a delegation organized by the ELNET organization, which works to strengthen relations between Europe and Israel.

“We are here to bring a message of love. We pray that the hostages come back,” says Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, chairman of the Conference of Imams of France, addressing Herzog.

“The war that broke out after October 7 is a war between two worlds. You represent the world of humanity and democracy,” he adds.

PM approved Yemen airstrikes during his flight to US

Israeli Air Force staffers prepare fighter jets for strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, late on July 6, 2025. (IDF)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved from Wing of Zion the overnight Israeli airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

He received updates on the operation during his flight to the United States, the official adds.

Health Ministry moves to integrate mental health centers into general hospitals

The Health Ministry announces that it will begin integrating mental health medical centers into general medical centers nationwide, following the recommendations of the Yarkoni Committee in the Knesset.

The move is to increase accessibility to mental health care services, reduce the stigma associated with mental health treatment, and decrease involuntary hospitalizations.

“When the process is completed, psychiatric hospitalization will be among the most advanced and innovative in the world,” says Inbal Yarkoni, the committee chair and the ministry’s director of the nurses division and mental health sector.

The process is expected to be completed by June 2026.

Footage shows moneychanger being robbed at gunpoint in Afula

Dashcam footage released by police shows the moment a moneychanger was robbed at gunpoint by masked men in broad daylight in Afula.

The man, who was in possession of some NIS 400,000 (approximately $120,000), was driving when his vehicle was blocked by an SUV.

Two masked men are seen getting out of the vehicle and approaching the moneychanger’s car, then taking a bag containing the money.

לאור יום: חלפן כספים יצא מבנק בעיר עפולה עם תיק שהכיל 400,000 ש"ח ונשדד באיומי אקדח | תיעוד

(אורלי אלקלעי)
צילום: דוברות המשטרה pic.twitter.com/6sjpv0TIEs

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 7, 2025

Trump: Nations aligning with BRICS’ ‘anti-American policies’ face additional 10% tariffs

US President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on July 6, 2025, after spending the weekend at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that countries aligning themselves with the “Anti-American policies” of BRICS, will be charged an additional 10% percent tariff.

“Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump says in a post on Truth Social.

Trump does not clarify or expand on the “Anti-American policies” reference in his post.

The original BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates as members. Saudi Arabia has held off formally joining, according to sources.

Netanyahu lands in US ahead of White House meeting with Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara disembark at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, DC on July 7, 2025 (Screen grab)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lands at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, DC, ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday evening local time.

He is met, among others, by Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis, and deputy ambassador Eliav Benjamin.

He will head to the Blair House for the night, and is scheduled to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff later today.

Australia’s Victoria to start anti-hate task force after Melbourne synagogue arson attack

A man walks past the burnt front entrance of the East Melbourne Synagogue in Melbourne on July 6, 2025. (William WEST / AFP)

Australia’s Victoria state will set up a anti-hate task force to help frame laws giving police more powers to tackle violent protests, as it probes a suspected arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue when worshippers were inside, it says.

There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the Jewish community.

“Just as the fire came to the front door here of this [synagogue], it was stopped. So too must we put a stop to antisemitism,” Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan tells reporters outside the synagogue.

“Not only does it have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria, it has no place anywhere.”

Allan says the task force, which will include the premier, state police minister, Mayor of Melbourne and police personnel, will have its first meeting this week. Jewish community representatives will be invited to attend the meeting.

The government is consulting experts while drafting a bill to ban face masks, display of terror symbols and devices used by protesters to attach themselves to objects that makes it difficult for police to remove them, Allan says.

Counterterrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested 34-year-old Sydney resident Angelo Loras, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire. Police said the man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door and set it on fire before fleeing.

He was not named in connection with two other attacks against the Jewish community that took place around the same time.

Texas flash flood death toll tops 80 with at least 40 people still missing

Officials inspect an area at Camp Mystic along the banks of the Guadalupe River after a flash flood swept through the area July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Rescuers in Texas are racing against time to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 82 people, with forecasters warning of new deluges.

US President Donald Trump says he will “probably” visit the southern state on Friday.

The US president brushes off concerns his administration’s wide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had left local warning systems worse-off.

Instead, Trump describes the flash floods as a “100-year catastrophe” that “nobody expected.”

At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha says, while at least ten more people were killed by flooding in nearby areas.

“You will see the death toll rise today,” warns Texas public safety chief Freeman Martin at a press conference.

Gov. Greg Abbott says 41 people are unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing.

Girl aged around 3 killed in East Jerusalem; father arrested for reportedly stabbing her to death

Police at the scene where a 3-year-old girl was stabbed to death and her father arrested as the main suspect, in Sur Baher, July 7, 2025 (Israel Police)

Police say a girl aged around 3 was killed in a “violent incident” in the Sur Baher neighborhood of East Jerusalem and her father arrested.

According to the statement, emergency services were called at around 4 a.m. and medics declared the child’s death on the scene.

Her father, in his 30s, was located and detained by cops a short time later.

According to Hebrew-langague media reports, the girl was stabbed to death.

The Ynet news site says the child’s parents are divorced and she was staying with her father as part of a visitation agreement.

The Kan public broadcaster reports that the child’s father has a history of mental health issues, but was not considered to be violent.

20 fighter jets dropped 50 munitions on Houthi targets in strikes, says IDF

Israeli Air Force staffers prepare fighter jets for strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, late on July 6, 2025. (IDF)

The IDF says its strikes overnight on Houthi targets in Yemen were carried out by around 20 fighter jets, who dropped more than 50 munitions in the attack.

The targets that were attacked include the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, and the Ras Khatib power station, the military says, releasing footage of the Air Force preparing for the attack.

הלילה, כ-20 מטוסי קרב תקפו באמצעות יותר מ-50 חימושים, מטרות טרור של שלטון הטרור החות׳י בנמלים חודידה, ראס עיסא, א-סליף ותחנת הכוח ראס קאנטיב pic.twitter.com/G1sSUjJTwr

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 7, 2025

Senior Hamas official says group’s control over Gaza has ‘completely collapsed’

This picture taken from a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, shows Israeli soldiers and vehicles inside the the besieged territory on July 6, 2025. (Maya Levin / AFP)

A senior Hamas official tells the BBC that the terror group has lost control of around 80% of the Gaza Strip and that there is “barely anything left” of its military structure.

The British news outlet says it received a number of voice messages from a “senior officer” in Hamas, identified only as a lieutenant colonel who was wounded in October 2023.

“Let’s be realistic here — there’s barely anything left of the security structure. Most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead… The active figures have all been killed,” he said. “So really, what’s stopping Israel from continuing this war?”

The official claims that the war “has to continue until the end. All the conditions are aligned: Israel has the upper hand, the world is silent, the Arab regimes are silent, criminal gangs are everywhere, society is collapsing.”

He says since the end of the latest ceasefire in March, Hamas’s security control in Gaza “has completely collapsed. Totally gone. There’s no control anywhere,” pointing to extensive looting of Hamas’s complex with no intervention.

“So, the security situation is zero. Hamas’s control is zero. There’s no leadership, no command, no communication. Salaries are delayed, and when they do arrive, they’re barely usable. Some die just trying to collect them. It’s total collapse.”

IDF: Two missiles were fired from Yemen, attempts were made to intercept

The IDF says that two missiles were fired from Yemen in the latest attack about 30 minutes ago.

The military says that it attempted to shoot the missiles down, and it is still investigating whether the attempts were successful.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said earlier that it had not received any reports about impacts on injuries.

Sirens had sounded in a number of settlements south of Jerusalem, including across the Etzion bloc and in Hebron, as well as near the Dead Sea. A warning of incoming missiles was sent to a wider area, including most residents of the capital.

The missiles were fired just a few hours after the IDF carried out strikes on a number of Houthi targets in Yemen.

MDA says no reports of injuries or impacts after Houthi missile; IDF says incident over

The IDF Home Front Command says that the high alert following the missile fired from Yemen has ended, and that those in shelters can now safely exit.

The IDF does not immediately say whether or not the missile was intercepted or if it fell in an open area.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it did not receive any calls about injuries or impacts.

Sirens sounded in a number of West Bank settlements south of Jerusalem, including in the Etzion bloc, as well as near the Dead Sea. It is possible the missile impacted in or near a Palestinian town.

Sirens sound south of Jerusalem after missile fired from Yemen at Israel

Sirens sound in a number of West Bank settlements south of Jerusalem, including the Etzion bloc, as well as some areas west of Jerusalem and near the Dead Sea, after a missile was fired from Yemen toward Israel.

The missile was fired just a few hours after the IDF carried out extensive strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

IDF says missile fired from Yemen toward Israel, sirens expected to sound

The IDF issues a warning that a siren has been fired from Yemen toward Israel, and sirens are expected to sound in certain areas in the coming minutes, including in Jerusalem.

The IDF says it is working to intercept the missile.

Trump says he’ll talk to Netanyahu about ‘permanent deal with Iran’

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One, en route from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, to Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, July 4, 2025. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

US President Donald Trump says that his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House tomorrow will include talks on a “permanent deal” with Iran.

Trump tells reporters that the United States is “working on a lot of things” with Israel, including “probably a permanent deal with Iran.”

Trump also repeats claims that US strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities during the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict, which ended last month with a US-brokered ceasefire.

First round of indirect Hamas-Israel talks in Qatar end inconclusively, say sources

Anti-government, pro-hostage deal protesters rally outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 5, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The first session of indirect Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks in Qatar end inconclusively, two Palestinian sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters early Monday.

The sources claim that the Israeli delegation does not have a sufficient mandate to reach an agreement with Hamas.

“After the first session of indirect negotiations in Doha, the Israeli delegation is not sufficiently authorized and is not authorized to reach an agreement with Hamas, as it has no real powers,” the sources tell Reuters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on his way to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump, said late Saturday night that Hamas’s latest demands were not acceptable to Israel, but that he was nevertheless dispatching a high-level negotiating team to Doha.

Trump: ‘Good chance’ of deal this week that would see ‘quite a few hostages’ released

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, July 6, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says there is a good chance a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached with Hamas this week.

“I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week, during the coming week,” Trump tells reporters before departing for Washington.

Such a deal, he adds, would mean that “quite a few hostages” could be released.

Trump is due to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow at the White House.

Netanyahu said last night that Hamas’s latest demands are not acceptable to Israel, but he nevertheless dispatched a high-level negotiating team to Qatar for talks.

IDF says strikes in Yemen hit Houthi targets used for terror activity

The IDF confirms it carried out airstrikes on multiple Houthi terror targets in Yemen, including the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, and the Ras Khatib power station.

According to the military, the targets were used by the Iran-backed Houthi regime to transfer weapons and conduct terror activity against Israel and global shipping.

Among the sites hit was the “Galaxy Leader” vessel, hijacked by the Houthis in November 2023 and used for maritime surveillance and operational planning.

The IDF says the strikes come in response to repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory and highlight the group’s ongoing use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes.

Israel carrying out ‘intense’ strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, confirms defense minister

Israel is currently striking targets in Yemen, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirms, shortly after the IDF issued evacuation orders for certain areas.

“The IDF is currently intensely striking targets of the Houthi’s terror regime in the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa, and Salif,” Katz says in a statement, adding that the targets also include a power station and the “Galaxy Leader” ship that the Houthis hijacked and captured two years ago in the Red Sea.

“As I warned, Yemen will be treated like Tehran,” he adds, repeating a threat he made last week. “Anyone who tries to harm Israel will be harmed, anyone who raises a hands against Israel will have it cut off. The Houthis will continue to pay a heavy price for their actions.”

Residents near some of the targets have reported hearing loud explosions.

The strikes come shortly after the IDF issued evacuation warnings for three Houthi-controlled ports and a power plant in Yemen.

The Houthis have continued to fire drones and missiles at Israel even since the ceasefire with Iran went into effect last month.