Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Maersk Sentosa ship in Arabian Sea
Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian sea with several ballistic and wing missiles.
“The American ship Maersk Sentosa was targeted in the Arabian Sea by naval forces and missile force in a joint operation,” Yahya Sarea, the Yemeni group’s military spokesperson, says in a televised speech.
Earlier today, shipping giant Maersk says one of its vessels, the Maersk Sentosa, reported being targeted by a flying object in the north of the Gulf of Aden.
Maersk tells Reuters that no injuries to the crew or damage to the ship or cargo were reported.
Israeli jets strike south Lebanon site of deadly Hezbollah rocket launch, says IDF
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Habbariyeh, near the border with Israel on July 9, 2024. (Rabih Daher/AFP)
Following this evening’s deadly barrage on the Golan Heights, the IDF says it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon’s Qabrikha, from which the estimated 30 rockets were launched.
Separately, fighter jets hit buildings used by the terror group in Kafr Kila, the IDF adds.
Following this evening's deadly barrage on the Golan Heights, the IDF says it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon's Qabrikha, from which the estimated 30 rockets were launched.
Separately, fighter jets hit buildings used by the terror group in Kafr Kila, the IDF… pic.twitter.com/q4S0R0K3gZ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 9, 2024
Meta says it will remove a wider swath of hate speech posts targeting ‘Zionists’
In this file photo from March 13, 2019, Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps are displayed on an iPhone in New York. (AP/Jenny Kane)
Social media giant Meta announces that it will ban derogatory or threatening references to “Zionists” in cases where the term is used to refer to Jews or Israelis rather than supporters of the movement to establish a Jewish polity.
The change means that posts on Facebook and Instagram will now be removed if moderators determine they use “antisemitic stereotypes, or threaten other types of harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists,” Meta says in a blog post.
Under Meta’s hate speech policy, users are not allowed to attack people on the basis of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, disability and gender identity. Existing rules already prohibited using the word “Zionist” to refer to Jews or Israelis in two narrowly defined situations. Meta said that those rules didn’t account for the broad range of ways that people use the term.
Weeping Aryeh Deri eulogizes his brother: ‘The head of our family is gone’
Shas chief Aryeh Deri attends the funeral of his brother, Yehuda Deri, in Jerusalem on July 9, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Weeping uncontrollably, Shas leader Aryeh Deri delivers a deeply personal eulogy at the funeral of his older brother Yehuda, the chief rabbi of Beersheba, who died earlier today at 66.
Normally an eloquent and composed speaker, Aryeh Deri breaks down repeatedly during his eulogy at the Sanhedria cemetery in Jerusalem. He punctuates his sentences with yelps that resemble reactions to physical pain, prompting waves of weeping in the crowd.
“We were together all the way for all those dozens of years, how did you leave and at such a difficult period for people of Israel,” Deri weeps.
דרעי בהספד על אחיו: בחודש האחרון מאז שנודע לי על המחלה שלך, אני עושה חשבון נפש ואני לא ישן בלילות איך לא ידעתי את זה? איך נעלם ממני כל הדבר הזה כל השנה, איך לא הרגשתי את זה, אך העלמת את זה מאיתנו? היינו מטפלים בך. תמחל לנו pic.twitter.com/pd9YZUNfxp
— עקיבא ווייס Akiva Weisz (@AkivaWeisz) July 9, 2024
He beseeches his late brother to pray for Israel’s sake. “Don’t let them forget us,” he says of other sages, including the late Shas founder Ovadia Yosef, whom Aryeh Deri imagines greeting Yehuda in the afterlife. “We have deep divisions in the people of Israel, we have hostages, we have casualties, also today, God have mercy. Look at us, two young boys from Bat Yam, look what a revolution, look what we have done,” he cries out.
“I’m sorry, forgive me brother, that I wasn’t with you in those last moment, please forgive me, please I beg you forgiveness,” he weeps. Deri extolls his late brother’s “seriousness in everything he did” and his “ability to reach out to people who disagreed with him.” With Yehuda gone, “we have no compass, the head of our family is gone,” Deri says.
The Shas leader composes himself and tells the crowd he could “go on for hours, but the hour is late, there will be other times.” He thanks the physicians of Hadassah Ein Karem hospital where Yehuda died: “They tried everything with endless devotion, but it was decreed by G-d,” he says, as he almost stumbles off the stage weeping.
US-built Gaza aid pier to resume for several days, then be permanently removed
The image provided by US Central Command shows American and Israeli forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. (US Central Command via AP)
The pier built by the US military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled tomorrow to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several US officials say.
It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.
The officials say the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to the secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that has been done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials speak on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out.
US troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel. But distribution of the aid had already stopped due to security concerns. The UN suspended deliveries from the pier on June 9, a day after the IDF used the area around it for airlifts during a rescue of four hostages. US and Israeli officials said no part of the pier itself was used in the raid, but UN officials said any perception in Gaza that the project was used may endanger their aid work.
As a result, aid brought through the pier into the secure area on the beach piled up for days while talks continued between the UN and Israel. More recently, the World Food Program hired a contractor to move the aid from the beach to prevent the food and other supplies from spoiling.
At Yehuda Deri’s funeral, ex-chief rabbi defends Torah study against ‘allegations’
Mourners attend the funeral of Rabbi Yehuda Deri, the chief rabbi of Beersheba, in Jerusalem on July 9, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
His voice trebling with emotion, the former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef begs the late Rabbi Yehuda Deri to pray from heaven for the people of Israel so that “the controversies stop and the allegations against those who toil for the Torah,” among other perceived problems.
This plea at the funeral of Deri, the chief rabbi of Beersheba who died earlier today at age 66 from a pulmonary infection, is an indirect but clear reference to the current controversy surrounding the High Court of Justice’s ruling last month that the state must enlist previously exempted Haredi yeshiva students and end funding for their yeshivas.
Yosef also asks for Deri to pray “so that the wrath of the almighty at the people of Israel subsides, and also our security situation is improved.”
Deri, the brother of Shas leader Aryeh Deri, was widely seen as a leading candidate for succeeding Yosef as chief Sephardi rabbi. Yosef is introduced at the funeral as the chief Sephardi rabbi, even though his term ended on July 1 without a successor for him or his Ashkenazi counterpart David Lau due to disagreements between the Chief Rabbinate and the Justice Ministry on the representation of women in the assembly that elects new chief rabbis.
“Those who put away the burden of the study of Torah take on other burdens, and give away their kingdom and intellect,” Yosef adds at the Sanhedria cemetery in Jerusalem, where thousands of people are gathered in near silence.
Lau stays off politics in his less emotional eulogy, wishing strength to Deri’s family and recalling his “great energy” at Torah study sessions.
US intelligence chief says Iran has sought to stoke Gaza protests to sow discord
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters block the parade route during the NYC Pride March, June 30, 2024, in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
The US director of National Intelligence reveals that Iranian government actors in recent weeks have sought to take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza in order to stoke discord in the US.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” Avril Haines says in a statement.
“I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza. This intelligence does not indicate otherwise… But it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” the US intel chief adds, urging Americans to remain vigilant when engaging with online actors they don’t know.
In May, Haines warned in congressional testimony that Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to undermine confidence in American democratic institutions, particularly in the lead-up to presidential and congressional elections.
“They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives,” Haines says.
US envoy Lew says public daylight between Jerusalem, DC should be kept ‘to a minimum’
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew speaks during a Reichman University conference on July 9, 2024. (Screenshot)
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew hints strongly that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should change his approach to Jerusalem’s disagreements with Washington over the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“My view is you try to keep the daylight to a minimum, not look for things that exaggerate how much space there is,” says Lew, without mentioning Netanyahu by name.
Israel “does have some work to do” in restoring bipartisan support in the US, says Lew, but the country “has to do it without questioning the motives of people asking questions. Especially your best friends.”
Speaking at Reichman University’s Aaron Institute for Economic Policy’s annual conference, the envoy adds that US-Israel ties are “not in a bad place substantively, but the image that has been created is not a great one.”
Israel needs to do a better job telling its side of the war in Gaza to the US and to the world, he argues.
“The images in America are brutal. There are enemies of Israel that are actively telling the story in a very negative way,” he says.
Lew blames domestic political considerations for Israel’s middling performance in public diplomacy: “Part of the reason the world hasn’t seen everything Israel has done is because it was done in an environment where it would be great for the story to be told outside of the country, but not so much interest in advertising it inside the country.”
The Biden administration has been working hard to help get Israel’s side across, he argues.
“We’ve been telling the story very clearly that Israel had a right and responsibility to defend itself,” says Lew. “We work day and night to make sure things like humanitarian assistance are provided. And Israel needs to tell the story that it is making sure that people are getting what they need for there not to be a famine.”
Lew underscores that there is no famine in Gaza: “It’s a really hard situation, but there is not a famine.”
Police confirm deaths of 2 civilians in Hezbollah rocket attack on Golan
Firefighters are seen at the scene of a rocket impact near the Nafah Junction in the Golan Heights, July 9, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Services)
A man and a woman were killed by the rocket impact near the Nafah Junction in the Golan Heights earlier this evening, police say.
According to rescue services, the rocket directly struck a vehicle they were in.
The pair are civilians and were passing by the Nafah Junction amid the barrage of some 40 rockets launched by Hezbollah. The terror group claims to have targeted a nearby army base.
TV report: Ahead of Doha talks, Israeli official sees ‘genuine opportunity for a deal’ but many tough issues to solve
CIA chief William Burns, Egyptian intel chief Abbas Kamel, Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. (Collage/AP/AFP)
After talks in Cairo yesterday, and ahead of talks tomorrow in Doha on a hostage-ceasefire deal, a senior Israeli source tells Channel 12 news that “Egyptian reports of progress are premature,” and that “difficult and complex negotiations are expected.”
The unnamed source also notes that “there are still unresolved issues to deal with that are not simple.”
Nonetheless, the source says, “an immense effort will be made to achieve a breakthrough,” and “there is a genuine opportunity to reach a deal. The goal is to produce the best deal possible within a few weeks.”
The Israeli delegation heading to Doha will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and the IDF’s chief negotiator Nitzan Alon. CIA head Bill Burns is expected to attend, as are Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
The Channel 12 report says the talks will focus on the latest Israeli proposal, parts of which were detailed by US President Joe Biden at the end of May, which was followed by an initial Hamas rejection and more recent reported Hamas flexibility — notably as regards its previous insistence on an upfront Israeli commitment to end the war.
The TV report says the sides are broadly agreed on a three-stage deal, with a 42-day halt to the war in the first stage, and on the “categories” of Israeli hostages to be released — with the “humanitarian” hostages to be freed in stage one to include women, the elderly and the sick. It says there is also agreement, crucially, that there will be no upfront Israeli commitment to end the war. Without Hamas’s consent to this, it says, the talks would not be going ahead.
Among the areas yet to be finalized, it adds, are the question of how many Palestinian security prisoners will be freed for each hostage, and the identity of those prisoners; whether Israel will have a veto on specific prisoners; and the procedures surrounding the halt in fighting in the first phase and specifics of troop withdrawal.
Most importantly, the sides do not agree on core aspects of the transition from the halt in fighting in the first stage to a potential permanent ceasefire. Israel is demanding “an exit point” between the two stages, in line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, by contrast, wants the initial ceasefire maintained for as long as is needed until negotiations are finalized on a permanent ceasefire and end to the war.
The report also says that there was “a certain amount of progress” in yesterday’s talks in Cairo, which focused on the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Delta says it plans to start operating flights between the US and Saudi Arabia
An Airbus A220 is sprayed as part of deicing training for Delta Air Lines employees in preparation for winter weather at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, September 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Delta Air Lines says it has entered into a partnership with startup Riyadh Air with the goal of operating flights between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh Air, which plans to begin passenger flights next summer, is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and is part of the country’s plan to diversify its oil-based economy and boost tourism.
Atlanta-based Delta and Riyadh did not give a timetable for beginning flights or financial details around their partnership. Their CEOs said neither airline is taking an ownership stake in the other.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian and Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas say they envision selling tickets on each other’s flights — a practice known as codesharing — that requires approval from the US Transportation Department.
No US airline flies to Saudi Arabia. Saudia, the kingdom’s flag carrier, operates nonstop flights between Saudi Arabia and New York, Dulles International Airport outside Washington, and Los Angeles.
Gazans report at least 10 dead in Israeli airstrike near school in Khan Younis
An Israeli army vehicle rolls in an area near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip on July 9, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
A hospital source in southern Gaza says at least 10 people have been killed in a strike on a school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians.
The source from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis says that the Al-Awda school in the city was hit, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.
Other reports say that the strike hit tents set up outside the school, which is located in Abassan on the outskirts of Khan Younis.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Last week the IDF told those in that area of Gaza to evacuate.
US official says significant progress made in truce-hostage talks in Cairo
Protester at a demonstration calling for elections and a hostage deal outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv, July 7, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Significant progress was made during the hostage negotiations Israeli, Egyptian and American officials held yesterday in Cairo, a US official tells The Times of Israel.
The US official says that the talks focused on issues regarding the implementation of the first phase of the deal and clarifies that there is still a long road ahead before an agreement can be reached.
13-year-old Palestinian killed in clash with Israeli troops, says PA health ministry
The Palestinian Authority health ministry says a 13-year-old by was killed earlier today in clashes with Israeli forces.
The WAFA news agency names the teen as Ghassan Gharib Zahran, and says he was shot by troops in the town of Deir Abu Mash’al.
The IDF says that its forces fired on Palestinians who were hurling rocks at their vehicles. In a statement, the Israeli military says a number of Palestinians “hurled rocks at Israeli vehicles adjacent to the area of Deir Abu Masha’al. Israeli security forces at the scene responded by firing toward the terrorists. As a result, one of the terrorists was hit.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has dismantled an armed group in northwest, says state TV
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard forces have dismantled armed bandits in the northwest of the country, state TV reports.
The report says ground forces of the Revolutionary Guard, known as IRGC in West Azerbaijan province, dismantled a counter-revolutionary terrorist team that was planning to enter Iran from its northwestern borders.
Several members of the “terrorist” team were killed and wounded in the operation, and their equipment was confiscated by the Guard, says state TV.
The TV report did not elaborate on the exact location of the operation.
IDF says around 40 rockets fired at Golan Heights in latest barrage
Firefighters are seen at the scene of a rocket impact near the Nafah Junction in the Golan Heights, July 9, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Services)
The IDF says some 40 rockets were launched at the Golan Heights in the latest barrage from Lebanon.
One of the rockets directly struck a car near the Nafah Junction, critically wounding a man and a woman, medics say.
Separately, the IDF says it struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Kafr Kila earlier today.
מוקדם יותר מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב כפר כילא.
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו לפני זמן קצר בצפון הארץ, זוהו כ-40 שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון למרחב מרכז רמת הגולן, זוהו נפילות במרחב pic.twitter.com/Q5wqPjj52o
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 9, 2024
2 critically wounded in Hezbollah rocket attack on Golan Heights, say medics
Firefighters are seen at the scene of a rocket impact near the Nafah Junction in the Golan Heights, July 9, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Services)
Two people are critically wounded in a rocket impact in the Golan Heights a short while ago, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.
According to initial reports, the pair were injured by a rocket that struck a car they were in or next to at the Nafah junction.
Hezbollah takes responsibility for launching dozens of rockets in the attack.
In a statement, the terror group claims to have targeted the IDF’s Nafah base, located just south of the community of Ortal.
Hezbollah says the attack is a response to the killing earlier today of Yasser Qarnabash, a member of the terror group, in a purported IDF strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway, in Syria.
Separately, Hezbollah says it fired missiles at a home in Manara, in response to an earlier IDF strike in the south Lebanon town of Rab al-Thalathine.
IDF says dozens of rockets fired from Lebanon toward Golan Heights
Missiles fired from Lebanon are intercepted near the Israeli border with Lebanon, July 9, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Dozens of rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Golan Heights a short while ago, according to initial IDF assessments.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is heading to sites of reported impacts.
An hour ago, five rockets were launched at the same area, and all struck open areas, the IDF says.
Fresh sirens sound in Golan Heights
Sirens sound in the Golan Heights towns of Kidmat Tzvi and Sha’al, warning of a potential missile attack.
Mother of hostage says mediators Qatar, Egypt must be pushed to reach deal
Simona Steibrecher, mother of captive Doron Steinbrecher, shows reporters pictures of her daughter as she describes the horrors of Hamas brutality, April 3, 2024. (Maya Zanger-Nadis/Times of Israel).
Simona Steinbrecher, the mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, says during a Zoom press conference alongside other mothers of captives that the world must push mediators Qatar and Egypt to force a hostage-truce deal to move forward.
“My life stopped on October 7,” says Simona. “I don’t stop to think about me or what I need. I push people until a deal will come because they’ll come home only with a deal. We need to push Qatar and Egypt to make the deal.”
Simona says that “when I go to sleep, I see Doron in my eyes and think about what happens to her and the terrible things that happen there… we cry to all the world to bring them home.”
Dr. Einat Yehene, a psychologist working with the Hostages Families Forum says “we must be ready to adapt comprehensive tailor-made rehabilitation when the hostages return.” Yehene adds that the families of the hostages, who have put their lives on hold for the past nine months, also need assistance: “We must support the families who are gatekeepers to help them in their reintegration into life.”
Macron complained to Netanyahu after Likud minister publicly backed Marine Le Pen
France's President Emmanuel Macron leaves the polling station after voting for the first round of parliamentary elections in Le Touquet, northern France on June 30, 2024. (Ludovic Marin / AFP)
During their phone call last week, French President Emmanuel Macron protested to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over comments made by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, a French official tells The Times of Israel.
The official confirms earlier reporting by the Walla news outlet.
The day before last Wednesday’s call, Chikli indicated in an interview that the Israeli leadership would be happy to see Marine Le Pen of France’s far-right National Rally party eventually become president of the country.
הייתה לי הזכות לפגוש בשבוע שעבר את מארין לה פן @MLP_officiel בכנס מפלגת ווקס @vox_es במדריד. שוחחנו על מצב האנטישמיות והאסלאם הקיצוני בצרפת ומלחמתנו בטרור.
לה פן הייתה הפוליטיקאית הבכירה ביותר שהגיעה לעצרת הזדהות עם הקהילה היהודית בעקבות אירועי השבעה באוקטובר, עצרת שהנשיא… https://t.co/cpvyU0SFfk pic.twitter.com/JlWryb1V6U
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) May 30, 2024
Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Chikli noted Le Pen’s support for Israel and her recent participation in a march against antisemitism, which Macron did not attend.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) sits with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, at the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, June 26, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“It is excellent for Israel that she will be the president of France, with 10 exclamation marks,” he said. Asked whether his party leader, Netanyahu, agrees, Chikli said: “I think I and Netanyahu are of the same opinion.”
National Rally ultimately finished in third, behind a left-wing alliance and Macron’s centrist bloc.
Netanyahu to begin testimony in his corruption trial in December, court rules
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen at the Jerusalem District Court for the testimony in his corruption trial of businessman Arnon Milchan, July 6, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin his testimony in his ongoing corruption trial on December 2, 2024, the Jerusalem District Court says in a ruling.
In its ruling, the judges overseeing the trial say that they weighed “the ability to prepare the prime minister to do so during a time of war with the public interest in advancing the case.”
Two weeks ago, Netanyahu’s criminal defense attorney said the prime minister needed until at least March 2025 due to the ongoing war against Hamas in Israel. The State Attorney’s Office earlier this week expressed opposition to the request, demanding instead that Netanyahu’s testimony start no later than November 1.
Rothman kicks 4 opposition MKs out of hearing on appointing judicial ombudsman
MK Simcha Rothman, head of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, leads a meeting in the Knesset on July 9, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesman)
Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) orders the removal of four opposition lawmakers during a stormy debate over a government-backed bill relating to the selection of the state ombudsman for judges.
Faced with vocal opposition, Rothman ejects Yesh Atid MKs Yorai Lahav Hertzanu, Yoav Segalovitz and Moshe Tur-Paz, as well as Labor lawmaker Gilad Kariv, for disrupting the proceedings.
יו"ר ועדת החוקה ח"כ שמחה רוטמן פתח הבוקר בסערה את הדיון בהצעת החוק לשינוי אופן הבחירה בנציב תלונות הציבור על שופטים והעברת המינוי מהוועדה לבחירת שופטים לידי הכנסת: בתוך דקות ספורות הוציא רוטמן מהדיון 3 ח"כים מהאופוזיציה: יואב סגלוביץ @YSegalovitz (פה בסרטון), משה טור-פוז וגלעד… pic.twitter.com/OxsQgDdbnj
— עמיר קורץ (@Amirkurz1234) July 9, 2024
During the meeting, critics of the bill accuse Rothman of seeking to revive the government’s controversial judicial overall, with Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar asserting that he is working toward “the blatant politicization” of the position of ombudsman and that it is “not a far-fetched scenario that the commissioner will be asked to recommend the removal of judges who are ‘not nationalistic enough.'”
The ombudsman provides oversight and investigates complaints against judges and has until now been chosen by the Judicial Appointments Committee — a body that includes representatives of the High Court, Knesset and Bar Association — following a joint nomination by the justice minister and the president of the High Court.
Under the new bill, which was authored by Rothman — one of the architects of the government’s deeply controversial judicial overall proposals — the ombudsman would be appointed by the president following a vote in the Knesset, with representatives of the judicial system cut out of both the nomination and selection process. Instead, a group of 10 lawmakers or the justice minister would be empowered to nominate candidates.
The measure was approved in a preliminary reading in the plenum last week and is now being debated in committee in preparation for its first reading in the Knesset.
Sirens sound in Golan Heights community
Sirens sound in the town of Kela in the Golan Heights warning of a possible missile attack.
Israel slams UN experts who accuse Israel of ‘targeted starvation campaign’ in Gaza
A boy pushes a wheelchair carrying water containers past the rubble of destroyed buildings along a street in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
UN rights experts accuse Israel of carrying out a “targeted starvation campaign” that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza.
“Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza,” 10 independent United Nations experts say in a statement. The UN has not officially declared a famine in the Gaza Strip.
But the experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri, insist there is no denying famine is underway.
“Thirty-four Palestinians have died from malnutrition since October 7, the majority being children,” say the experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
Israel’s mission to the UN in Geneva slams the statement, charging that “Mr. Fakhri, and many so-called ‘experts’ who joined [him], are as much accustomed to spreading misinformation as they are to supporting Hamas propaganda and shielding the terrorist organization from scrutiny.”
The Israeli mission points to the latest assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which determined that famine had not materialized after aid access improved somewhat.
“Israel has continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the delivery of humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip,” it says, claiming Hamas operatives “intentionally steal and hide aid from civilians.”
Israeli officials have also pointed to aid piling up on the Gaza side of border crossings as agencies refuse to distribute it over fears of looting and violence.
Mother of hostage says ‘I let myself be more optimistic’ over possible deal
From right to left: Freed hostage Louis Har, and hostages' relatives Sharon Sharabi, Mor Korngold, Ruby Chen, and Orly Gilboa at a press conference in Tel Aviv, June 26, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
The mother of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 7 says she has allowed herself to feel some optimism as hostage-truce talks ramp up in Cairo and Doha this week.
Speaking during a Zoom press conference, the families of four young women still being held hostage discuss psychological support and adaptation strategies for returning hostages.
Orly Gilboa, the mother of Daniella Gilboa, 20, says, “I can see her in a very bad mental situation.”
“It’s a very hard day, but I let myself be more optimistic because we understand there is a deal on the table,” Gilboa says. “I call on the prime minister not to give up and to make this deal.”
Earlier today, Gilboa’s family allowed the full release in Israeli media of a Hamas propaganda video disseminated by the terror group in January.
Shlomi Berger, the father of hostage Agam Berger, 20 says at the press conference: “I speak to the international community, make Hamas bring back all the hostages and if that won’t happen, it will never end.” He calls on Netanyahu to finalize a deal with Hamas before he heads to the US to speak to Congress on July 24.
Shin Bet, Mossad chiefs said set to meet with mediators in Qatar tomorrow
Ronen Bar (left), head of the Shin Bet security services, speaks with Mossad chief David Barnea during the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, Jerusalem, May 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar will join Mossad director David Barnea tomorrow for his meeting in Qatar with CIA director William Burns, Egyptian intelligence head Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Kan news reports.
Barnea was in Doha over the weekend for initial talks on restarting intensive negotiations over a potential hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Yesterday, Bar met in Cairo with Burns, White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk, and senior Egyptian officials.
Hezbollah says former Nasrallah bodyguard killed in alleged Israeli strike in Syria
Hezbollah operative Yasser Qarnabash (Courtesy)
An alleged Israeli strike in Syria earlier today killed a former personal bodyguard of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, an official with the Lebanese terror group says.
The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, right, escorted by his bodyguard Yasser Qarnabash, waves to his supporters during a rally, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, on Sept. 22, 2006. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Earlier, Hezbollah announced the death of Yasser Qarnabash in a purported Israeli strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway, but did not detail his role or rank in the terror group.
Al Arabiya reports that Qarnabash was responsible “for transporting personnel and weapons to Syria.”
His death brings the terror group’s toll amid the war in Gaza to at least 364.
IDF says it struck two Hezbollah operatives shortly after they launched rockets at Israel
Missiles fired from Lebanon are intercepted near the Israeli border with Lebanon, July 9, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Rab al-Thalathine where two operatives were spotted after launching rockets at Israel earlier today, the IDF says.
According to the IDF, several rockets were launched from Rab al-Thalathine at the Misgav Am area in northern Israel. Most of the rockets were shot down by air defenses, it says.
A short while after the rocket attack, two Hezbollah operatives were spotted entering a building in the town. A fighter jet then struck the site.
מוקדם יותר היום זוהו מספר שיגורים משטח רב א-תלתין שבלבנון למרחב משגב עם, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו בהצלחה את מרבית השיגורים>> pic.twitter.com/N2GqLiviiI
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 9, 2024
Lisbon Jewish community defends new EU president against antisemitism charge by Jews in Porto
Portuguese Prime Minister and Socialist Party leader Antonio Costa raises his fist while addressing supporters following the announcement of election results in Lisbon Sunday night, Oct. 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
A Jewish community in Portugal levels antisemitism allegations against incoming European Council President Antonio Costa, prompting a congregation in Lisbon to dismiss the charge outright.
The Jewish Community of Lisbon’s defense of Costa, a former prime minister of Portugal, follows statements by Gabriel Senderowicz, the president of the Jewish Community of Porto, to the Jewish News Syndicate.
Costa “has a history of animosity towards Jews, the law, and the Jewish community and tried to shrink and attack it in his home country during his tenure as prime minister,” Senderowicz is quoted as telling JNS in an article published yesterday.
The Lisbon Jewish community responds in a statement that “at no point did anyone feel concrete expressions of antisemitism” by Costa.
The Jewish Community of Porto is on record as claiming that it’s currently the victim of “Soviet-style antisemitism,” as stated in a short documentary film on the community’s official YouTube channel.
The alleged persecution is over an ongoing criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud into the Porto community’s handling of applications for Portuguese citizenship under a law that went into effect in 2015 that facilitates the naturalization of descendants of Sephardic Jews who had been expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition.
He did “complicate” the naturalization process of applicants for citizenship, the Lisbon community says, but he did it “temporarily” and due to “alarm over reports… of abuse in the process,” and “not for any antisemitic motive.”
Hamas source refutes claims that group has agreed to deal without full ceasefire
IDF troops operate in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood, in a handout image published July 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
A Hamas source tells the Saudi Al Arabiya outlet that reports about the terror group agreeing in principle to a hostage deal that doesn’t guarantee a “comprehensive ceasefire” are inaccurate.
The Hamas official stresses that the group’s other fundamental demand is “a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
Israel continues to insist that it will not agree to an end to the war in Gaza before all of its war aims are met, including the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing authority, and the return of all 120 hostages still in Gaza.
In addition to talks in Doha tomorrow, the source adds that there will also be discussions in Cairo on Thursday.
Mossad chief David Barnea is scheduled to meet tomorrow with his US and Egyptian counterparts, along with the Qatari prime minister.
“There is agreement on many of the outstanding points between Hamas and Israel,” reports the Saudi outlet.
However, the Hamas source alleges that Israel only wants to discuss the release of security prisoners, “while Hamas wants comprehensive negotiations.”
Yehuda Deri, brother of Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Beersheba chief rabbi, dies at 66
Rabbi Yehuda Deri (R), chief rabbi of the southern city of Beersheba, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on December 12, 2012. (Yoav Ari Dudkevitch / FLASH90)
Yehuda Deri, the chief rabbi of Beersheba and the brother of Shas leader Aryeh Deri, has died at the age of 66, his brother says.
Deri’s passing at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem is from complications related to an infection that led to his hospitalization last month, the Kikar Hashabat Haredi news site reports. His condition worsened gradually over the past 24 hours, the report says.
In a statement, Aryeh Deri eulogizes his late brother as “the leader of a tremendous revolution of Torah and Judaism, a vigilant keeper of kashrut who has redeemed many from sin.” He adds that Yehuda Deri “with his pleasant conduct and eloquence know how to make his listeners love Judaism.” Yehuda Deri’s death is “a tremendous loss to his thousands of students” and the Jewish people, adds Aryeh Deri, who recalls also his late brother’s tendency to “swim against the current.”
Yehuda Deri’s death is connected to a pulmonary condition that required he be put on an inhalator, the report also says, adding the rabbi was taken off the machine last week.
A prolific author and rabbinical judge, he was considered a leading candidate for succeeding Yitzhak Yosef as the chief Sephardi rabbi of Israel, according to sources with knowledge of the succession process. Some believe his illness was part of the reason for the stalling of the succession process, which the Chief Rabbinate says is connected to demands for women’s representation under the title of “rabbi” in the assembly that elects the chief rabbis.
Before becoming Beersheba’s top Orthodox rabbi some 30 years ago, Yehuda Deri was the rabbi of Ramot, a neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Gallant says IDF will start drafting ultra-Orthodox men next month
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men near a sign reading 'army recruitment office' during a protest against the drafting of Haredim to the military, in Jerusalem, May 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Defense Minster Yoav Gallant says the military will begin to draft ultra-Orthodox Israeli men starting next month.
Gallant held an assessment on the matter with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other officials this morning, his office says.
Following the meeting, Gallant “approved the IDF’s recommendation to issue [draft] orders” to members of the Haredi community next month, “in accordance with the [IDF’s] absorption and screening capabilities, and after a significant process of refining the existing data regarding possible recruits is carried out,” the statement says.
Gallant and Halevi say in the meeting that drafting ultra-Orthodox Israelis into the army is a “operational necessity and a complex social issue,” which requires allowing Haredi soldiers to “maintain their lifestyle,” according to the ministry.
Defense Ministry rehab center says it treated 9,250 soldiers since Oct. 7, 70% of them reservists
The Defense Ministry rehabilitation center says it has received some 9,250 soldiers since the beginning of the war which began on October 7, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to the ministry, some 3,600, or 21 percent, of those received by the rehab center amid the war are suffering from PTSD.
Among the 9,250, around 70% are reservists.
The ministry expects 14,000 more wounded soldiers by the end of the year, as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip and on other fronts.
Knesset committee advances trio of bills aimed at sharply curtailing UNRWA activities
An UNRWA funded school in East Jerusalem, January 29, 2024 (Jamal Awad/FLASH90)
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approves three bills aimed at significantly curtailing the activities of UNRWA, amid a wave of popular anger against the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants in the wake of the October 7 attack and the ongoing war.
The first bill, proposed by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, would ban the organization from operating on Israeli territory and effectively erase its presence in East Jerusalem.
The second, promoted by Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, would brand UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — a terrorist organization and require Israel to cut ties with it.
The third proposal — a merger of two almost identical bills submitted separately by Yesh Atid MK Ron Katz and Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz — would strip UNRWA personnel of the legal immunities and privileges afforded to United Nations staff in Israel, such as exemptions from property taxes.
The bills, which the committee had initially considered combining into a single piece of legislation, will now go to the Knesset plenum for their first readings.
“This bill will allow us to enforce the law against UNRWA. It is a crucial law for our national security,” Illouz says in a statement following the vote. “After October 7, we cannot continue as if nothing happened.”
UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel alleges that some 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite to hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
Egypt says Sissi, Burns discussed efforts to secure hostage-truce deal
Demonstrators protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, July 7, 2024. Photo by Itai Ron/Flash90
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and US CIA Director William Burns discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the Egyptian presidency says.
“The president affirmed the Egyptian position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.
Senior US officials are in the region to push for a ceasefire and hostage deal, but Hamas has said a new Israeli military operation threatened the talks at a crucial moment, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “nonnegotiables” ahead of the discussions.
An Egyptian security delegation will head to Doha tomorrow “on a mission to bring viewpoints closer between Hamas and Israel in order to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News cites a senior source as saying.
Egypt and Qatar have been leading mediating efforts in the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in hopes of ending the fighting and securing the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
IDF says it intercepted 2 explosive-laden drones launched toward Israel from Lebanon
Two explosive-laden drones heading toward Israel from Lebanon were shot down by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says.
The drones did not enter Israeli airspace, according to the military.
Lebanese media: Israeli strike on vehicle on Beirut-Damascus highway, near border crossing
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike against a vehicle on the Beirut-Damascus highway, near a checkpoint between Lebanon and Syria.
Unconfirmed reports suggested the strike was carried out on the Syrian side of the border.
No further details are immediately available.
أنباء عن إستهداف سيارة على طريق الصبورة في #الشام pic.twitter.com/M4eK2MUQfy
— Lebanon Trend (@LebanonTrend_) July 9, 2024
Hezbollah releases detailed drone footage of Israeli military bases in Golan Heights
A screen grab of footage from a Hezbollah drone over military bases and sites in the Golan Heights, released July 9, 2024 (Courtesy)
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video showing drone footage of Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights.
The end of the video also shows an Israeli city, which Hezbollah says will be featured in an upcoming clip.
Weeks ago, Hezbollah published a similar video of Israeli sites in the Haifa area.
The IDF has not yet commented on the footage. It is unclear when the video was made.
Hezbollah has launched hundreds of drones at Israel amid the ongoing fighting, many of them laden with explosives but also some used for surveillance.
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video showing drone footage of Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights.
The end of the video also shows an Israeli city, which Hezbollah says will be featured in an upcoming clip.
The publication of the footage comes… pic.twitter.com/mi07SymTT3
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 9, 2024
Iranian warship Sahand sinks at Bandar Abbas port, despite rebalancing efforts
The new Iranian destroyer Sahand sails in Persian Gulf waters, in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on December 1, 2018. (Iranian Army via AP)
The Iranian Navy frigate Sahand entirely sank in shallow waters in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, Nournews agency says, after it was briefly repositioned following its initial capsizing on Sunday.
“The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke,” says Nournews, a news agency affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council.
On Sunday, state media said the ship had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that efforts were being made to rebalance it.
The Iranian-built stealth warship was first launched in 2018 and is equipped with a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities according to local media.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
It launched its first locally made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment, which dates from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is mostly US-made.
In 2021, the Iranian Navy ship Kharg sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman during a training mission, without causing casualties.
Coalition whip pulls all legislation from Knesset agenda today, blaming ‘irresponsible’ Otzma Yehudit
Otzma Yehudi chief Itamar Ben Gvir (left) and Shas leader Aryeh Deri seen speaking separately in the Knesset in this composite image. (Flash90)
In the wake of rising coalition tensions following the far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s tanking of a Shas-backed amendment to the Religious Services Law yesterday, coalition whip Ofir Katz (Likud) announces the withdrawal of all legislation from the Knesset plenum’s agenda today.
According to Hebrew-language reports, Katz informs Likud lawmakers that “due to the irresponsible behavior of Otzma Yehudit, no laws will be put on the agenda today.”
“I am not willing to rely on any party other than the coalition parties, and am not willing to manage [the coalition] according to the moods of its members. I hope that the situation in which the coalition is helping the opposition to hurt us will stop,” he writes.
Katz’s announcement comes after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir entered into a bitter dispute with Aryeh Deri’s ultra-Orthodox Shas party on Monday evening, vowing not to vote with the coalition, as the escalating interparty bickering aggravated already strained relations between members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition.
Ben Gvir, who has been angling for months for a greater say in the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, threatened to pull his support from a Shas-fronted bill on funding religious councils if he is not given a spot on the now-disbanded war cabinet or is involved in high-level discussions on war matters. The Shas bill was removed from a scheduled vote in the Knesset last night.
Sirens warn of rocket attack on northern border towns
Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the northern border, warning of incoming rocket fire.
IDF demolishes 6 tunnels in Shejaiya, including Islamic Jihad’s ‘flagship’ Gaza City passageway
IDF troops operate in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood, in a handout image published July 9, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli troops operating in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood have demolished six Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnels amid the latest operation there, launched less than two weeks ago, according to the IDF.
At least three more tunnels have been located and are in the process of being mapped out and demolished.
One of the destroyed tunnels is considered by the IDF to be Islamic Jihad’s “flagship” tunnel in Gaza City. The recently discovered 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) tunnel was used by the terror group for command and control, according to military assessments. Troops found laptops, weaponry, and intelligence material inside, indicating it was still being used by the terror group recently.
The operation carried out by the 98th Division in Shejaiya, launched on June 27, came after the IDF said it had identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area, as well as new intelligence on the terror group’s existing infrastructure.
The IDF first operated in Shejaiya during the initial months of the ground offensive against Hamas, announcing that it had dismantled the terror group’s local battalion there in December. It last returned to the Gaza City neighborhood in April, as the military shifted its operations in the Strip to targeted raids against attempts by terror groups to regroup.
Other tunnels found by the 98th Division in Shejaiya included a significant Hamas tunnel within the heart of the neighborhood and several attack tunnels that were dug toward Israel, at least two of which reached close to Israel’s border barrier — just across from Nahal Oz — according to the IDF. Those tunnels did not cross into Israel, and were not believed to have been used by terrorists on October 7.
In all, at least six kilometers’ worth of tunnels have so far been demolished in Shejaiya.
Military sources say the latest operation in Shejaiya has so far been highly effective, highlighted by the fact that troops managed to locate around nine significant tunnels in just 12 days.
The operation in Shejaiya began with a raid against a school complex that according to the IDF had been used by Hamas. Around 100 gunmen were hiding at the school, among around 1,000 civilians. The terror operatives mostly fled the area as the IDF reached the school, leaving behind weapons and valuable intelligence material, according to the military.
Intelligence obtained by troops in Shejaiya has provided the IDF with insights on Hamas’s attempts to regroup, as well as its infrastructure in the area, the IDF sources say.
More than 150 gunmen have been killed by troops in Shejaiya, according to the IDF.
Four IDF soldiers have been killed in the operation.
IDF says rocket fired at Gaza border towns was intercepted by Iron Dome
One rocket was launched from southern Gaza’s Rafah at communities in southern Israel a short while ago.
According to the IDF, the rocket was shot down by the Iron Dome, and there are no injuries.
Sirens had sounded in the communities of Yevul, Avshalom, and Yated.
Health Ministry: West Nile fever death toll reaches 15
Illustrative: Mosquitoes cling to the inside of a jar loaded with repellent during a test as part of a tour of the Centers for Disease Control laboratory, April 4, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colorado. (David Zalubowski/AP)
The Health Ministry reports that 299 patients have been diagnosed with West Nile Fever in the current outbreak.
Fifteen people have died from the disease, caused by a mosquito-borne virus.
Two people are hospitalized in serious condition at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The two apparently contracted the virus while they were in the center of the country in recent days.
“The fact that they were hospitalized at Rambam does not indicate the presence of infected mosquitoes in the northern region at this stage,” notes Dr. Michal Paul, director of the Infectious Diseases Institute at Rambam.
UN says ‘high likelihood’ Kyiv children’s hospital suffered direct hit from Russian missile
Emergency services work at the site of Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8, 2024 (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
The United Nations says there is a “high likelihood” that the children’s hospital in Kyiv suffered “a direct hit” yesterday from a missile “launched by the Russian Federation.”
Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, says a deeper investigation is needed but video footage “shows the weapon directly impacting the hospital,” she tells reporters in Geneva.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 38 people across Ukraine were killed — including four children — and 190 wounded in the wave of nearly 40 missiles that targeted several towns and cities.
Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border towns
Sirens in a number of communities close to the Gaza border warn of incoming rocket fire.
Alerts are heard in Avshalom, Yevul and Yated.
Prison officer found dead with stab wounds in burnt-out West Bank home named as Yochai Avni
An employee of the Israel Prison Service who was found dead yesterday in his burnt-out home in the West Bank settlement of Givon Hahadasha is named as 40-year-old dog handler Yochai Avni.
A gag order on many details of the case was issued by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court following a request from the police.
Police’s initial suspicions were of a “criminal incident,” since the body was found with stab wounds.
Later in the day, the Shin Bet security agency joined the investigation into the alleged murder — indicating that there are suspicions that it may have been terror-linked.
יוחאי אבני ז"ל, כלבן בשירות בתי הסוהר, הוא איש השב"ס שנמצא מת בדירתו. יהי זכרו ברוך https://t.co/cDrXTR6Xv1 pic.twitter.com/dDzM3b4CKt
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) July 9, 2024
IDF troops find explosive devices, booby-trapped car in raid in West Bank’s Nur Shams
Smoke plumes billow during an Israeli army raid in Nur Shams, east of Tulkarm in the West Bank on July 9, 2024. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Israeli troops are carrying out a raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem.
According to a military source, troops have so far located 12 explosive devices and neutralized a booby-trapped car.
The operation was launched overnight.
Syria says damage but no casualties in Israeli overnight strike; monitor says 2 buildings near Baniyas targeted
The Syrian defense ministry says an Israeli strike caused damage but no casualties near the Mediterranean coastal city of Baniyas overnight.
“At approximately 12:20 am (2120 GMT)… the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea… targeting a site near the city of Baniyas,” the defense ministry says.
It was the third such attack in the Baniyas area this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
The British-based war monitor of unclear funding says “two Israeli missiles targeted at least two buildings, one of which belonged to an air defense battalion.”
It says Iranian military advisers were based in the area, a stronghold of President Bashar Assad’s government.
There has been no comment from the IDF on the alleged strike.
Ship reports nearby explosion east of Nishtun on Yemeni coast, maritime agency says
The captain of a merchant ship reported an explosion close to the vessel some 180 nautical miles (333 kilometers) east of Yemen’s Nishtun, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says in an advisory note.
UKMTO adds that the vessel and its crew are safe.
Man jailed for 17.5 years for mowing down, killing volunteer cop at sobriety checkpoint
Amichai Carmely. (Courtesy)
A man is sentenced to 17.5 years in jail by the Lod District Court for mowing down and killing a volunteer police officer at a checkpoint set up to catch drunk drivers.
Amichai Carmely, 46, was killed when a vehicle plowed into the checkpoint in the central city of Rishon Lezion in 2022. He is survived by his wife and two teenage children.
Rani Al-Kimlat, 31, from Rahat, is convicted of negligent homicide, drunk driving, grievous bodily harm and reckless driving.
He is ordered to pay compensation to Carmely’s family and the other officers injured in the incident, the Ynet news site reports.
Man dies after becoming trapped in pit in Modi’in Illit; 2nd man rescued, in moderate condition
A man has died after he became trapped in a narrow pit in the West Bank settlement Modiin Illit, Magen David Adom says.
The emergency service says the man was aged around 50.
The second man who was trapped has been rescued and taken to a hospital in moderate condition.
2 people unconscious, trapped in narrow pit in West Bank settlement Modi’in Illit
Emergency services are working to rescue two people trapped in a narrow pit in the West Bank settlement Modiin Illit.
According to reports, the two are unconscious due to high levels of toxicity in the hole on Avnei Nezer Street.
Firefighters are trying to extract the two, and medics are on the scene to provide care after they are rescued.
Family of hostage Daniella Gilboa permits publication of Hamas propaganda video from January
Daniella Gilboa in a Hamas propaganda clip published January 26, 2024. (Screenshot: Telegram)
The family of Daniella Gilboa permits the publication of a Hamas propaganda clip from January in which the hostage says she has been abandoned by the government and begs to be brought home.
While the existence of the video was reported at the time it was released, most Israeli media outlets did not publish it.
Gilboa’s mother, Orly Gilboa, tells the Kan public broadcaster that the family decided to permit publication of the clip in the hope it would show the importance of the renewed talks for a hostage-truce deal.
At the beginning of the clip, Gilboa identifies herself as a soldier kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base on October 7. She says that she has been held for 107 days, although the date of the video cannot be verified. Gilboa was likely coerced when she made the video.
“I am under bombardment and fire 24 hours a day and I am very afraid for my life,” she says. “Your bombs nearly killed me on one occasion.”
“Where were you on October 7 when I was kidnapped from my bed? Where are you now?” she says.
“Why should I as a soldier… feel that I have been abandoned and thrown away?” she says.
“Get over yourselves dear government and start doing your job as is necessary. Bring us home alive,” she says, then sends a personal message to her family, telling them how much she misses them.
“I hope she doesn’t lose hope, that she knows they’ll get out of there,” her mother, Orly, tells the Kan public broadcaster.
The original clip also featured Karina Ariev and Doron Steinbrecher.
Gilboa, 19, was in touch with her family on the morning of the attack and sent her boyfriend videos that morning.
She is seen in the harrowing footage of her abduction along with four other female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists which was released by the families in May.
אות החיים האחרון של החטופה דניאלה גלבוע – סרטון של חמאס מהיום ה-107 למלחמה | מפורסם באישור המשפחה@NOFARMOS pic.twitter.com/zV1F0hpaYU
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 9, 2024
PM to High Court: Controversial Sde Teiman site meant to hold Palestinian security detainees only briefly
This undated photo taken in the winter 2023 and provided by Breaking the Silence, a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers, shows blindfolded Palestinians captured in the Gaza Strip in a detention facility on the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. (Breaking The Silence via AP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the High Court of Justice that the Sde Teiman army detention facility should be used only for the short-term detention and questioning of Palestinian security detainees caught in Gaza during the ongoing war.
His position was relayed by the State Attorney’s Office in response to a petition to the court demanding the facility’s closure due to allegations of severe abuse against Palestinian detainees at the site.
Netanyahu’s position is opposed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has opposed the closure of Sde Teiman, opposed any improvements to conditions at the facility, and opposed the transfer to Israeli prisons of detainees suspected of taking part in hostilities against Israel or involvement with terror groups in Gaza.
“The position of the prime minister is that all necessary steps must be taken so that the Sde Teiman facility remains open as a short-term, temporary detention facility for prisoners for the purposes of questioning and processing alone before being transferred to permanent detention facilities, so that prisoners are held there for a short and limited time,” the State Attorney’s Office writes in an update to the court on Monday night.
The prime minister will hold a meeting Thursday with the defense, justice, national security, and finance ministers, along with the attorney general, military advocate general, head of the police, head of the Israel Prison Service, and security chiefs to implement this policy, the response says.
The state also tells the court that the number of detainees at Sde Teiman has risen over the last week, from 124 to 166, due to the ongoing operations in Gaza by the IDF.
Last week, Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara told Netanyahu in a letter that Ben Gvir is preventing the transfer of the remaining Palestinian terrorists held in Sde Teiman to the Israel Prison Service, which she said would have “very serious and broad consequences” in light of the allegations of abuses at the detention facility.
IDF says dozens of gunmen killed in Gaza City operation
A soldier operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released for publication by the military on July 9. 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
Dozens of gunmen have been killed by Israeli troops so far in a new operation launched yesterday in Gaza City, the IDF says.
Amid the raid, carried out by the 99th Division, the military says forces also located weaponry.
The IDF said yesterday it launched the operation in southern and western neighborhoods of Gaza City after identifying Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure and operatives in the area.
Meanwhile, the 98th Division continues to operate in the eastern Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, where over the past day the IDF says troops killed gunmen, located weapons, and demolished a tunnel.
In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, dozens more terror operatives were killed over the past day, in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes, the military says.
Across Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck numerous targets over the past day, including buildings used by terror groups, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.
Rocket sirens sound in northern border communities
Sirens sound in a number of communities near the northern border, warning of incoming rocket fire.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the Iran-backed terror group saying it is doing so to support Palestinians in Gaza amid the war against the Hamas terror group there.
Lebanese report: Israel would withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor, but take action if needed on arms smuggling
A view of the Philadelphi Corridor, the Egypt-Gaza border area in Rafah, on June 18, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
An Israeli proposal would see Israeli security forces monitoring the so-called Philadelphi Corridor after a military withdrawal, on the condition that they could take action if there is evidence of arms smuggling from Egypt across the border into Gaza, a Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper in Lebanon reports.
The proposal, made as part of discussions for a potential hostage-truce deal, is reported by Al Akhbar and cited by Hebrew-language media.
The report says the military withdrawal would take place on an “agreed-upon schedule.”
The Philadelphi Corridor runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Yesterday it was reported that Egypt has sent a message to Israel that if an agreement for a hostage deal and ceasefire is reached, Cairo will work with the United States to help build a high-tech underground barrier to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Troops have discovered at least 25 cross-border smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. The existence of some of the tunnels was previously known to the IDF, and others were discovered for the first time when troops entered the border area.
NATO leaders to meet in Washington under shadow of questions over Biden’s political survival
US President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 7, 2024, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/ Susan Walsh)
NATO leaders will gather today in Washington for a summit aimed at showing resolve against Russia and support for Ukraine — but the meeting is set to be overshadowed by US President Joe Biden’s fight for political survival.
The 81-year-old leader will try to use the three days of pomp marking NATO’s 75th anniversary to reassure allies over US leadership, and his own ability to govern, as calls grow for him to quit the fight for a second term in office.
Biden has so far defied pressure from some within his own party to step aside, after a disastrous debate against election rival Donald Trump last month threw into stark relief fears he lacks the mental acuity and physical fitness to serve a second term.
“Our allies are looking for US leadership,” Biden said in an interview Monday.
“Who else do you think could step in here and do this? I expanded NATO. I solidified NATO.”
As doubts swirl over Biden, the rest of the 32-nation alliance is nervously eyeing a potential return to the White House by Trump after elections in November.
On the campaign trail the volatile ex-reality TV star has threatened to blow apart the principle of mutual self-defense that has underpinned NATO since it was founded in the wake of World War II.
But it’s not just the United States that faces political questions.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives after fending off a push by the country’s far-right to win power, new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has his first international outing, and Hungary’s premier Viktor Orban flies in after a much-criticized meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
While they wrestle with the minefield of US politics, NATO leaders will have to show they haven’t been distracted from the reality of the battlefield in Ukraine.
Gazan anti-Hamas activist critically wounded in attack by some 20 men said to be from terror group
The family of a well-known Gaza activist who had organized anti-Hamas protests say he was assaulted by a group of men wielding batons and knives.
Amin Abed, 35, is in critical condition in a hospital in northern Gaza after being attacked on Monday while walking home. His father, Salah Abed, detailed the attack in a Facebook post without saying who was responsible.
Amer Balousha, a friend of the activist, says more than 20 masked men attacked him. He said that when bystanders intervened, the attackers fired shots in the air and claimed to be from Hamas’s internal security.
There was no comment from Hamas.
Amin Abed had helped organize protests in 2019 over the harsh economic conditions under Hamas rule and taxes it imposed. Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007. More recently, he has criticized Hamas’s devastating Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war, which has brought unprecedented devastation and hunger to the Strip.
The Hamas-run police, which maintained a high degree of public order before the war, have largely vanished from the streets after being targeted in Israeli strikes, but the terror group still exerts control across the territory. Criminal gangs and other armed groups have exploited the breakdown of law and order, robbing aid convoys and further complicating humanitarian efforts.
Hamas militants brutally kidnapped Palestinian political activist Amin Abed, viciously assaulting him with batons and striking him on the head with sharp tools. He is now in critical condition in the hospital, fighting for his life.
Our hearts go out to Amin as he battles to… pic.twitter.com/m2c9BuXzrs
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 8, 2024
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF to test siren systems in Sha’al at 11:05 a.m. and Katzrin at 2:05 p.m.
The IDF says it will hold a test of siren systems in the northern localities of Sha’al and Katzrin later this morning.
The sirens will sound in Sha’al at 11:05 a.m. and Katzrin at 2:05 p.m.
In the case of an actual attack, the sirens will sound twice, the military says.
Australian PM announces appointment of envoy to combat antisemitism
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a virtual National Cabinet meeting May 1, 2024. (Gaye Gerard/Pool Photo via AP)
Australia’s prime minister appoints a special envoy to tackle antisemitism in the country, urging his compatriots to avoid being “torn apart” by tensions over the war in Gaza.
An envoy on Islamophobia will also be named “shortly,” Anthony Albanese says.
As in many countries, Palestinian supporters in Australia have held street rallies and university protests against the war between Hamas and Israel, with some slogans sparking concern of a rise in extremism and antisemitism.
“There is no place for violence or hatred of any kind in Australia,” Albanese says.
The naming of the antisemitism special envoy, Jillian Segal, is a “critical step” to easing tensions in Australia as a result of the Middle East fighting, he says.
“Australians are deeply concerned about this conflict, and many are hurting. In times like this, Australians must come together, not be torn apart.”
The Australian leader tells reporters in Sydney that the government will soon announce an envoy on Islamophobia, adding: “That will be important as well, working with that community to promote social cohesion.”
Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party has itself been split over how to respond to the conflict.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Jillian Segal speaks during a media conference in Sydney on October 9, 2023 (DAVID GRAY / AFP)
Hostage freed in rescue op says Hamas guards threatened to murder him in captivity
Andrey Kozlov speaks to Channel 12 in a clip that aired July 8, 2024. (Screen capture/Channel 12)
Andrey Kozlov, who was freed from captivity last month along with three other hostages in an IDF rescue operation, says he was convinced by his Hamas guards that they would kill him in captivity.
Kozlov, 27, conducts a series of interviews with Hebrew media for the first time since he was rescued on June 8.
Kozlov, who moved from Russia to Israel some 18 months prior to October 7, conducted the interviews in somewhat broken English.
“In some moments, I was sure that they took us for killing, for murdering and filming this process,” he tells Channel 12, which releases a preview of the full interview that will air in full on Friday.
Kozlov recalls a man with a beard and no mustache coming one day and removing his blindfold. Kozlov was then told that he would be filmed the next day in a propaganda video and then be killed by his captor.
“I was like, so that will be [the end] of my story… Really?” he tells Channel 12.
Speaking to Channel 13, Kozlov says the fear of being killed constantly weighed over him. His captors always had a big knife on them and he was often tied up.
“I felt only one goal that I need to survive and come back home,” he recalls.
He says his time in captivity was so emotionally trying that he now has a hard time feeling anything since his release.
“My source of feelings is empty. Now, I understand everything in my mind, but a lot of things I don’t feel here,” he says, pointing to his heart.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Kozlov says his Hamas captors constantly told him and the other hostages that the Israeli government wanted them to die and that they would be killed the moment the IDF tries to rescue them.
Kozlov quipped that the captors didn’t recognize the dissonance in claiming that Israel didn’t care about the hostages while also suggesting that the IDF might come and rescue them.
Israel launches airstrike near Syria’s Baniyas, Syrian news agency says
Israel has launched an air attack targeting a site in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Baniyas that caused some material losses, the Syrian state news agency says, citing a military source.
Local media reports say the target was Iran-linked.
IDF says fighter jets intercepted suspicious object heading toward Israel from the east
The IDF says that its fighter jets successfully intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” heading toward southern Israel from the east.
The object did not cross Israeli airspace and no sirens were activated, the IDF adds.
Hosting ‘survivor’ of Hamas captivity in Oval, Biden promises to free remaining hostages
US President Joe Biden meets with freed hostage Liat Atzili at the White House on July 8, 2024. (White House/X)
US President Joe Biden met earlier this afternoon with Liat Beinin Atzili, an Israeli-American who was released as part of the hostage agreement Washington helped broker in late November.
Atzili was joined by members of her family, and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also sat in on the meeting, the White House says.
Biden later tweets, “Liat Beinin Atzili is a survivor.”
“It was my honor to welcome her to the White House this evening, hear firsthand about her resilience despite enduring the unthinkable, and promise her that my work isn’t done until we secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.”
Brazil adopts free trade with Palestinian Authority in show of support
Brazil has put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority that has been waiting for ratification for more than a decade, in a show of support for the Palestinian people.
“The agreement is a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbors,” Brazil’s foreign ministry says in a statement.
It says Brazil, which recognizes a Palestinian state and allowed a Palestinian embassy to be built in the Brazilian capital in 2010, ratified the agreement on Friday between the Mercosur trade bloc of South America and the Palestinian Authority that had been signed in 2011.
It is not clear whether other Mercosur members would follow suit. Argentina’s right-wing government of President Javier Milei is not expected to do so.
The foreign ministries of Uruguay and Paraguay did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Palestinian ambassador in Brasilia, Ibrahim Al Zeben, calls Brazil’s decision “courageous, supportive and timely.”
It is “the effective way to support peace in Palestine,” he says in a message to Reuters, adding that he hopes Palestinian trade with Mercosur, currently only $32 million a year, will grow.
Zikkim beach 3 km from Gaza border said set to reopen for first time since Oct. 7
Israeli police officers walk on Zikim Beach close to the Gaza border after it was closed to visitors, on April 24, 2021. (Flash90)
The Zikim beach located just three kilometers from the Gaza border will reopen to the public on August 1 for the first time since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Channel 13 reports.
Some of the 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists who invaded Israel in that attack, infiltrated through the Zikim beach, slaughtering roughly 19 people.
In recent months, Israeli authorities have worked to revive the beach after it incurred significant damage during the attack. The renovations included the construction of a large bomb shelter.
Channel 13 says that 20 IDF soldiers will be stationed at the beach and an outpost will be built where they will sleep. The beach will initially only be opened during daylight hours, the network says.
Senior State Department official heads to region for talks on Gaza war
Barbara Leaf, US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, speaks to reporters at a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP/ File)
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf has departed for the region where she will meet with various government officials to advance diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war, the State Department says.
Leaf will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Italy, returning to the US on July 14.
“The assistant secretary will meet with government officials on continued diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire agreement, secure the release of all hostages and ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza. She will also have further discussions on the post-conflict period in a way that builds lasting peace and security,” the State Department says.
IDF says it struck Hamas, PIJ operatives gathered at school in central Gaza
A group of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives gathered at a school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat were struck by Israeli fighter jets earlier this evening, the IDF says.
According to the military, the operatives were carrying out “terror activity” from within the school and “using it as a shield for terror.”
The IDF says it used precision munitions in the strike to mitigate harm to civilians.
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