Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Activists hold protest in Tel Aviv advocating for animal rights
Animal rights activists take part in a protest in Tel Aviv against meat consumption on June 2, 2024. (Courtesy Animals Now)
Around 200 activists in Tel Aviv join fellow campaigners in more than 170 cities worldwide countries to press for animal rights.
Holding pictures of animals exploited for meat and of stray dogs destined to be put down, they move around to form a shape filmed by a drone of a fish on a plate that transforms into a fish swimming freely in the sea.
Their slogan is “Our planet is theirs too.”
A statement issued by several organizations taking part notes that over 300 million creatures are killed annually in Israel for the food industry.
Tens of thousands march in London calling for release of hostages in Gaza
Pro-Israel protesters gather in Richmond Terrace after a 'United we Bring Them Home' march, in central London, on June 2, 2024. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Tens of thousands of pro-Israel activists march through central London calling for the return of the hostages being held captive in Gaza.
According to The Jewish Chronicle, around 40,000 people took part, the largest pro-Israel gathering in the UK since the October 7 attack.
An event organised by 7/10 Human Chain, calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, is taking place in central London.
Participants walked from Lincoln’s Inn Fields to Whitehall.
A policing operation is ongoing to ensure the safety of all involved. pic.twitter.com/xjaVxbMbmN
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 2, 2024
At Israel Day parade, NYC mayor says ‘loudest is not the majority’ in the city
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (C) joins people marching on Fifth Avenue as they participate in the annual Israel Day parade on June 2, 2024, in New York City. (John Lamparski / AFP)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams says at the start of the annual Israel Day parade that he resisted pressure to cancel the event, and believes most New Yorkers supported it.
“There was a desire for those who [wanted to] cancel this parade… Our message is extremely clear: destroy Hamas, bring home the hostages, let’s bring peace so we don’t lose lives of innocent people,” says Adams.
“Today, you see the solidarity, the loudest is not the majority in the city, the majority of the city support the Jewish community here, they support destroying and moving hate out of our city,” he adds.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also marches in the parade, as do tens of thousands of Israel supporters from around the country. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and Foreign Minister Israel Katz are among the Israeli officials attending the event, alongside this year’s Israeli Eurovision representative, Eden Golan.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams at the Celebrate Israel parade on 5th Ave:
“Our message is extremely clear: destroy Hamas, bring home the hostages. let's bring peace so we don't lose lives of innocent people.
“Today you're seeing solidarity. The loudest is not the majority in the city.” pic.twitter.com/QDL3CmB4XG
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) June 2, 2024
IDF says it failed to intercept drone which crashed in Nahariya, setting fire
Israeli firefighter teams try to extinguish huge wildfires following a missile attack from Lebanon in the Golan Heights on June 2, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
The IDF says it attempted, but failed, to intercept a drone launched from Lebanon at the Nahariya area earlier this evening.
The drone impacted in the city, causing a fire that is being extinguished by firefighters, the military adds.
There are no injuries in the attack.
Sirens sounded during the incident, as interceptor missiles were fired at the drone.
Footage from Nahariya appears to show an explosive-laden drone impacting near the coast, following Iron Dome interceptions in the area. pic.twitter.com/qEK2CGJFeg
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 2, 2024
German police officer dies after stabbing attack against anti-Islam rally
Members of the fire brigade clean away the blood at the scene where several people were injured in a knife attack on May 31, 2024, in Mannheim, western Germany. (Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
A 29-year-old police officer dies after being repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in Germany.
A knife-wielding man attacked and wounded several people Friday on the market square in the city of Mannheim in southwest Germany. Five people taking part in a rally organized by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, were wounded in the attack.
The policeman was “stabbed several times in the area of the head” while trying to intervene, local police say in a statement. Immediately following the attack, he underwent “emergency surgery and was put in an artificial coma,” but “died of his injuries” today, police say.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner told German daily Bild that the death of the police officer “moves me deeply and makes me angry about what is happening in our country.”
“We must defend ourselves against Islamist terrorism with determination, and we will also strengthen the security authorities financially,” Lindner says.
‘Symbol of national unity’: Herzog, Netanyahu eulogize former minister David Levy
Left to right: Then-justice minister Tzachi Hanegbi, foreign minister David Levy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cabinet secretary Danny Naveh, unidentified, attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein, health minister Yehoshua Matza, then-Netanyahu-aide Avigdor Liberman, before a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, April 18, 1997. (AP Photo/ Zoom 77 /File)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog eulogize former Likud minister and longtime Mizrahi activist David Levy, who died today at age 86.
Netanyahu expresses condolences to the family of Levy, “a public servant for decades… who paved his way in life with his own two hands.” Hinting at their once fierce rivalry within the Likud faction, the prime minister notes that “we did not always agree on everything, but I always appreciated his sense of mission.”
In his own statement, Herzog says that “Levy will go down in Israeli history as a symbol of national unity and social action who left his mark on society and the State of Israel.”
Levy’s life story was a “incredible expression of true social leadership and a source of inspiration, which reflects the beautiful face of Israeliness… his rich and unique language was a distinct voice for development towns and the periphery for decades.”
War cabinet meeting convenes to discuss latest hostage deal proposal
The Israeli war cabinet and top security officials meet in Tel Aviv on April 14, 2024, hours after Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)
The narrow war cabinet convenes this evening to discuss the latest hostage release and truce proposal, laid out in a public speech by President Joe Biden on Friday.
The proposal put forth by Biden, which is based on an Israeli framework, is a three-phase plan that would result in the release of all hostages, the end of the war, and a rebuilding of the Gaza Strip without Hamas in power.
Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have threatened to bolt the coalition if the war cabinet — of which they are not a part — approves such a deal.
IDF says it struck Hezbollah building in south Lebanon
This picture taken from northern Israel shows smoke billowing during Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on May 25, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab and additional infrastructure in Tayr Harfa a short while ago.
It publishes footage of the strike.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנה צבאי של חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א-שעב, ותשתית טרור של הארגון במרחב טיר חרפא שבדרום לבנון.
בנוסף, כוחות צה"ל ביצעו ירי להסרת איום במרחב רשיא אל פוחר שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/ONtbzcN2L1
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 2, 2024
Qatar, Saudi Arabia condemn Knesset bill aimed at labeling UNRWA a terror group
Activists protest against United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) outside their offices in Jerusalem, March 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemn a Knesset bill that seeks to label UNRWA as a terrorist group, joining a growing number of nations opposed to the proposal.
The bill, which passed a preliminary vote in Knesset last week, is not expected to progress further, according to Hebrew media reports, which suggest the coalition intends to derail it down the line.
Israel has accused UNRWA of terrorist links, providing evidence that some of its staffers participated in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, and that a main Hamas data center was built underneath the agency’s Gaza headquarters. Those allegations led to a freeze in funding by many donors to the agency at a time when Gaza has been buckling under a humanitarian crisis triggered by the war.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry says the attempt to brand UNRWA a terrorist organization is “an extension of the systematic campaign aimed at dismantling the agency at a time when the need for its humanitarian services is dire due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.”
Saudi Arabia also condemns the move, saying UNRWA employees “are doing their duty to alleviate the severity of the humanitarian catastrophe that the Palestinian people are going through.”
Interceptions seen over Nahariya after drone alert sirens sound in city
Interceptor missiles are seen launched over the coastal city of Nahariya, as sirens warn of a suspected drone infiltration.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
The IDF says that sirens which sounded in the same area about an hour ago were false alarms.
Several interceptor missiles reportedly launched over Nahariya, as sirens warn of a suspected drone infiltration.
Sirens about an hour ago in the same area were false alarms, the IDF says. pic.twitter.com/vFzFILSLMd
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 2, 2024
WATCH: Subdued Israel Day parade underway in Manhattan
People march on Fifth Avenue as they participate in the annual Israel Day Parade on June 2, 2024, in New York City. (John Lamparski / AFP)
The annual Israel Day parade has officially kicked off down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Usually branded a celebration, this year’s parade is instead labeled “Israel Day on Fifth,” taking a more somber note in light of the October 7 Hamas assault and the ensuing war.
Many of the marchers are floats are dedicated to the hostages who are being held in Gaza.
Security is high along the parade route, although police stressed in advance that there were no known threats.
Fresh sirens sound in Nahariya, Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi
Sirens warning of a drone attack are signing in Nahariya, Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi and other areas near the northern border with Lebanon, amid a day of heavy cross-border violence.
Israel warns Israelis against traveling to Maldives on foreign passports after country announces ban
Illustrative: Foreign tourists arrive in a resort in the Kurumba island in Maldives, February 12, 2012. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)
After the Maldives announces Israelis will be banned from the island nation, the Foreign Ministry recommends that Israeli citizens — including those with other passports — avoid traveling there.
Israel also recommends that citizens living in the archipelago weigh leaving, as it would be difficult to assist them should they find themselves in danger.
Nearly 11,000 Israelis visited Maldives last year, which was 0.6% of the total tourist arrivals.
In December, Israel issued a travel warning to Israelis against visiting the Maldives, citing increased anti-Israel sentiment during the war with Hamas. The warning came “due to the heightened anti-Israel atmosphere, including public comments by officials.”
Israel does not have diplomatic ties with the Muslim-majority nation, but Israelis were allowed to visit the country before the current ban.
Visiting Israel, actor Michael Douglas suggests anti-Israel campus protesters are ‘brainwashed’
Actor Michael Douglas (left) meets with President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem on June 2, 2024. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
Veteran Hollywood actor Michael Douglas meets with President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem after visiting the sites of Kibbutz Be’eri and the Supernova massacre, where Hamas carried out atrocities on October 7.
Herzog presents Douglas with a yellow hostage pin and a dog-tag necklace reading “Our heart is held captive in Gaza.”
“We have met with families of the hostages… we spent the day today down in the south in the area close to Be’eri, and at the Nova exhibition,” Douglas tells Herzog, according to the President’s Office. “It’s a very difficult time. You sense the deep shock of this whole experience. We’re just happy to be here in support of Israel, and to share with you the fact that America is definitely your ally as our president has shared with you. I just hope that the latest negotiations will [be] reached, and the hostages will be back soon.”
Speaking to President Herzog in Jerusalem, Michael Douglas references the pro-Palestinian protest movement on college campuses, suggesting they were subject to "brainwashing" and they have "no education, no knowledge." pic.twitter.com/FIWsyPKqkC
— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) June 2, 2024
The Oscar-winning actor, whose father, the late actor Kirk Douglas, was Jewish, said it was “tough in Be’eri, seeing what happened” there, during his visit to the Gaza border kibbutz which was one of the hardest hit in the October 7 assault.
In his meeting with Herzog, Douglas also refers to feeling a sense of “big shock” at the wave of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests on US college campuses, suggesting that the students involved went through “brainwashing… because when you try to talk to many of them, there is no education, there’s no knowledge.”
Drone alert sirens sound in Nahariya, surrounding areas
Red alert sirens sound in Nahariya and the surrounding communities, warning of a potential drone infiltration from Lebanon, after a wave of attacks on the north earlier today.
Mizrahi activist David Levy – a Likud deputy PM and foreign minister – dies at age 86
Former foreign minister David Levy, seen on March 3, 2003. (Flash90)
David Levy, a longtime Likud politician known for breaking the glass ceiling for Mizrahi Jews in Israeli politics, dies at the age of 86.
Levy played a central role in breaking down social and economic barriers to Mizrahi political involvement in the 1970s and 1980s, in addition to solidifying Likud’s working-class Mizrahi voter base, which remains until today.
Born in Rabat, Morocco, Levy immigrated with his family to Israel in 1957, at age 20. They settled in Beit She’an, a development town, where he lived until his death.
Starting out in municipal politics, Levy was first elected to the Knesset in 1969. Following a landslide victory in 1977 for Begin’s Herut party, now modern-day Likud, Levy was able to leverage his proximity to the Mizrahi working class and act as an intermediary between it and the prime minister.
His effort to secure economic benefits for Mizrahi communities is perhaps the most enduring aspect of his legacy. Likud’s resulting success in creating a Mizrahi middle class solidified the community as its core constituency, an electoral trend that continues to this day.
After 37 consecutive years in the Knesset, during which he rose to the post of deputy prime minister and served three times as foreign minister, Levy lost his seat in the 2006 elections, subsequently ending his political career. He is survived by his wife Rachel and 12 children, including politician Orly Levy-Abekasis, who was most recently a Knesset member for the Likud party, but has since exited politics.
2 wounded lightly by shrapnel in latest barrage of rockets on Kiryat Shmona
A composite image of damage caused by rockets from Lebanon in the city of Kiryat Shmona on June 2, 2024. (Kiryat Shmona Municipality)
Two people are lightly wounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona in the latest rocket barrage from Lebanon, the municipality says.
The city says that at least three impact sites were reported in the city in the latest barrage, and two people lightly wounded by shrapnel were brought to Ziv Medical Center in Safed for treatment.
ירי הרקטות לקריית שמונה: תיעוד הנזק מהנפילות באזור@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/0FVIZpGjsY
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 2, 2024
Major damage was caused to buildings and infrastructure in the city in the latest barrage, the municipality added.
The city was largely evacuated at the start of the war, but some residents have since returned despite the persistent threat of rockets and drones.
Maldives says it will ban Israelis from entering the country, citing Gaza war
Illustrative: Tourists sunbathe in Paradise Island Resort in Male Atoll, Maldives, Feb. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
The Maldives government will ban Israelis from the Indian Ocean archipelago, known for luxury resorts, as public anger in the predominantly Muslim nation rises over the war in Gaza.
The president’s office says that the Cabinet decided to change laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the country and to establish a subcommittee to oversee the process.
Nearly 11,000 Israelis visited Maldives last year, which was 0.6% of the total tourist arrivals.
In December, Israel issued a travel warning to Israelis against visiting the Maldives, citing increased anti-Israel sentiment during the war with Hamas. The warning came “due to the heightened anti-Israel atmosphere, including public comments by officials.”
Israel does not have diplomatic ties with the Muslim-majority nation, but Israelis had been allowed to visit the country famed for its island atolls.
Security high as Israel Day parade set to kick off in New York City
People hold Israeli flags and signs ahead of the annual Israel Day Parade on June 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Security is tight as the annual Israel parade in New York City is set to kick off soon along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The event, which will adopt a more somber note than in other years due to the October 7 attack and the ensuing war, is slated to draw tens of thousands of marchers and attendees.
Security will be even tighter than usual along the parade route and nearby, amid fears of anti-Israel attacks.
Eden Golan, who represented Israel at the Eurovision last month, coming in 5th overall, is slated to take part in the event.
City officials said there are no specific threats to the parade but the NYPD will deploy a high police presence including drones, K-9 units, bike patrols, fencing and barriers and designated entry points for spectators all along the parade route.
Backpacks, large bags and coolers will be prohibited. Spectators will have to pass through metal detectors and only be allowed to line the east side of Fifth Avenue, with police blocking off the west side.
White House official says Israel has ‘accomplished most military goals in Gaza’
Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo published June 2, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel has accomplished most of its military goals in the war against Hamas, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says.
Asked for the basis of US President Joe Biden’s assertion on Friday that the Hamas terror group can no longer carry out another attack akin to the one it launched against Israel on October 7, Kirby responds, “It is based on accumulation of our own intelligence assessments across the intelligence agencies.”
“We’re also not saying that Hamas has been wiped off the face of the map. We have not said that Hamas has no military capabilities,” Kirby says in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” program. “We have not said that they don’t still represent a viable threat to the Israeli people. Of course they do.”
“But they don’t have the military capabilities to do what they did on the 7th of October. From a military perspective only — as President Biden said — the Israelis have accomplished most of their goals in Gaza,” Kirby asserts.
This gap between Hamas being unable to carry out another October 7-like attack and still representing a viable threat to Israel will likely lie at the heart of deliberations by Israel as to whether it will stick with the hostage deal proposal its war cabinet authorized last week.
Cairo sticks to refusal to reopen Rafah Crossing unless Israel withdraws from Gaza side – Egyptian TV
Israeli forces operating on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces/AFP)
Delegations from the United States and Israel end a meeting in Cairo aimed at discussing the reopening of the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, according to Egypt’s al Qahera News TV.
The network, citing a senior source, says that during the talks Egypt stuck to its position that Israel must withdraw from the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing for it to operate again.
The IDF took control of the Gazan side of the crossing from Hamas in early May, and since then Egypt has refused to allow goods to cross through the terminal. Last week the IDF said it had discovered many cross-border tunnels and rocket launchers positioned by Hamas just along the border with Egypt.
US expects Israel to stick to hostage proposal it made if Hamas agrees
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The US expects Israel to stick to the hostage deal proposal it made last week and greenlight it if Hamas gives its approval as well, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says.
“We have every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal — as was transmitted to them, an Israeli proposal — that Israel would say ‘Yes,'” Kirby says in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.”
While Israeli officials have confirmed that the offer publicly laid out by US President Joe Biden on Friday is in fact the proposal Jerusalem submitted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also asserted that he will not agree to a permanent ceasefire unless Hamas’s military capabilities have been destroyed. Biden said the deal would remove the terror group from power, but the publicized parts of the offer did lack specificity as to whether Hamas would be able to limp on after the war in some capacity.
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have pledged to bolt the government if the premier gives a final okay to the proposal his war cabinet signed off on last week. It could still have enough support to pass the broader security cabinet, but National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to bring down the government, and Netanyahu has a history of backing out of deals he’s made due to fears of losing the support of right-wing coalition partners whose support he needs to remain in power.
IDF says 15 rockets fired from Lebanon intercepted by Iron Dome
Puffs of smoke are seen in the sky above Safed after the Iron Dome anti-missile system fired interceptors at incoming rockets launched from Lebanon on May 23, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
A barrage of 15 rockets was launched from Lebanon a short while ago.
All of the projectiles were intercepted over the Kiryat Shmona area, according to the IDF.
In a separate attack, a building in the border community of Metula was damaged by anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon.
Some 40 rockets and missiles have been fired at northern Israel today, in addition to several drones.
IDF completes drill simulation of war along northern border
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (center) attends a war drill at the Northern Command, in a handout image published June 2, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it completed a war simulation exercise over the past week, as part of preparations for an escalation in northern Israel amid daily attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
The drill, carried out by the Northern Command and other General Staff directorates and wings, included “many scenarios that simulate the expansion of the war in the northern arena, and multi-front war scenarios,” the military says.
The IDF also says that as part of the drill, the 36th Division simulated “combat scenarios in the northern arena.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited the Northern Command’s underground command center, the Israeli Air Force’s command center, and other war rooms amid the drill, the military adds.
Gallant says Israel working on ‘a different government’ to replace Hamas in Gaza
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) meets with IDF Southern Command chief, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman (center), at the unit's HQ in Beersheba, June 2, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel is working on finding a replacement for Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip, vowing that the war will not end until the terror group is dismantled of both its military and governmental capabilities.
“In any process of ending the war, we will not accept the rule of Hamas. We are advancing an alternative government to Hamas, within the framework of which we will isolate areas, remove the Hamas members and bring in other forces that will enable a different government,” Gallant says following an assessment at the Southern Command in Beersheba.
“On one hand, military action, and on the other, the ability to change the government, will lead to the achievement of two of the goals of this war, the dismantling of the Hamas government and its military power, and the return of the hostages,” he adds.
IDF says it struck Hezbollah weapons depot, rocket-launching site in south Lebanon
Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on the south Lebanon village of Siddiqin on June 1, 2024. (KAWNAT HAJU / AFP)
The IDF says it carried out a strike against a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon’s Mays al-Jabal earlier today.
The strike was carried out after a Hezbollah operative was spotted entering the site. A short while later, a fighter jet struck the building.
The IDF says secondary blasts were seen after the strike, indicating the site was used to store munitions.
חטיבת האש של אוגדה 91 בשיתוף חיל האוויר זיהתה היום באמצעות כלי טיס מחבל נכנס למחסן אמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב מיס אל ג׳בל שבדרום לבנון. זמן קצר לאחר מכן, מטוסי קרב תקפו את מחסן האמל״ח בו שהה המחבל>> pic.twitter.com/u8i2J8kiDO
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 2, 2024
The military also says it struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Hula, which it says was used to launch a barrage of rockets at the northern community of Margaliot.
All of the rockets fired at the largely evacuated border community were intercepted by the Iron Dome, according to the IDF.
Lebanese media claimed that two shepherds were killed in the Hula strike.
Sirens that sounded in the Nahariya and Acre area earlier were triggered after an interceptor missile was launched at “a target suspected of being a suspicious aerial target,” the military says.
The IDF says the incident is over and is under investigation, without elaborating further.
Some 15 rockets were also launched at the Katzrin area, hitting open areas and sparking a large fire near the city, the military adds.
Major fire near Katzrin in the Golan Heights following a rocket barrage fired from Lebanon. https://t.co/OdXwpeEbcW pic.twitter.com/nNkRNXSwiK
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 2, 2024
Air raid sirens sound again in Kiryat Shmona
Air raid sirens sound again in Kiryat Shmona after several waves of rockets and drones fired from Lebanon earlier today.
Extremist Haredi protesters block major highway amid High Court hearing on conscription
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, June 2, 2024, during a hearing on Haredi enlistment in the IDF. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Extremist Haredi protesters with the Jerusalem Faction block the Route 4 highway near Bnei Brak in protest of the possibility of being conscripted to the IDF, amid a key High Court hearing on the issue.
Protesters also block streets in Jerusalem near the Supreme Court, where the hearing is being held.
ברקע הדיון בבג"ץ: חרדים קיצוניים חסמו את כביש 4, סמוך לגשר קוקה קולה@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/0xe7rohQAJ
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 2, 2024
Gantz: Government should have passed Haredi conscription law instead of judicial overhaul
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz holds a press conference in Ramat Gan, May 18, 2024, at which he delivered an ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz issues a statement slamming the government for continually failing to create any framework for Haredi IDF service, leading to today’s pivotal High Court hearing.
“The government should have created a service framework a year ago, way before the war started, but it was busy with a regime overthrow,” he says, referencing the highly contentious judicial overhaul that was largely shelved at the start of the war.
Gantz, a former defense minister and former IDF chief, says the government’s most recent proposal “won’t bring about enlistment, certainly not in the numbers that the defense establishment and the State of Israel need.”
The Hamas onslaught of October 7, he says, “proved once again that an army of the people is an existential need” and that a national service system that includes Haredim, Arabs and all sectors of society “is the way to ensure our security.”
“It’s not too late to come to your senses and advance it,” he adds.
Air raid sirens sound in Kiryat Shemona and surrounding areas
Air raid sirens sound in the city of Kiryat Shemona and surrounding areas near the border with Lebanon.
A wave of rocket barrages and drone infiltrations from Lebanon set off sirens in the north earlier today.
Lebanon state media says 2 shepherds killed in Israeli strike; agriculture ministry office damaged
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border with Israel on May 29, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Two Lebanese shepherds were killed in an Israeli strike that hit their house in the town of Hula near the Lebanon-Israel border earlier today, state media reports.
Lebanon’s National News agency says the men were civilians who used to sell sheep milk to neighboring villages.
Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan says in a statement that a separate Israeli strike this morning damaged his ministry’s office in the town of Bint Jbeil, as well as the city’s commercial market and local government headquarters.
The IDF does not immediately comment on the alleged strikes. Earlier, several large rocket barrages as well as waves of drones launched from Lebanon targeted locations in northern Israel.
Israel Museum: Youth wing roof damaged in fire, no works in danger
A fire which broke out in the Valley of the Cross near the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, June 2, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A fire that broke out in the Valley of the Cross next to the Israel Museum caused some damage to the roof of the youth wing building, according to a statement from the museum.
The museum says fire and rescue services now have control over the blaze and none of the museum’s works are in danger.
IDF: Barrage of at least 10 rockets fired at Katzrin from Lebanon
A barrage of at least 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Katzrin area in the Golan Heights a short while ago, according to the military.
The Fire and Rescue Service says the rockets sparked several fires, in an area just south of the city.
There are no reports of injuries in the attack.
Several drones launched from Lebanon toward Nahariya
Several drones were identified by the IDF as crossing into Israel from Lebanon, heading toward the Nahariya area on the coast.
Footage purportedly from the area shows an Iron Dome interceptor missile engaging one of the drones.
Further details are not immediately known, although there are no reports of injuries.
Several drones were identified by the IDF as crossing into Israel from Lebanon, heading toward the Nahariya area on the coast.
Footage purportedly from the area shows an Iron Dome interceptor missile engaging one of the drones.
Further details are not immediately known,… https://t.co/5Aa0DTkQjY pic.twitter.com/gff8iykz9Y
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 2, 2024
Sirens in Acre, Nahariya warn of suspected drone attack, incoming rocket fire
Sirens warning of a suspected incoming drone attack sound in the northern coastal towns of Acre and Nahariya, as well as a number of surrounding communities.
A minute later, a second round of sirens in Nahariya warns of incoming rocket fire.
Leaders of UAE, Qatar discuss Biden-announced proposal for hostage-ceasefire deal
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani discussed in Abu Dhabi proposals for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal that were laid out on Friday by US President Joe Biden, the UAE state news agency (WAM) reports.
The two leaders expressed support for all “serious initiatives and efforts” toward a lasting peace in the region, it says.
Biden announced what he described as an Israeli proposal for a hostage release and truce deal. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that while there is still work that needs to be done on the deal, Israel has agreed to the framework.
Sirens in Katzrin warn of incoming rocket fire
Sirens warning of incoming rocket fire are sounding in Katzrin in the Golan Heights.
It is the third round of sirens to sound today in the northern border town.
Fire breaks out in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross; Israel Museum evacuated
Israeli firefighters try to extinguish a fire which broke out in the Valley of the Cross near the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, June 2, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A large fire has broken out in the Valley of the Cross in Jerusalem.
Fire and Rescue Services are evacuating the nearby Israel Museum.
Teams are battling the flames from the ground and the air.
The cause of the fire is unclear. The country is sweltering under unseasonably high temperatures today.
שרפה פרצה בעמק המצלבה בירושלים: 14 צוותי כיבוי והצלה ממרחב תחנת "הבירה" מבצעים כעת פעולות לכיבוי מוקדי השרפה ומניעת התפשטותה. לאחר הערכת מצב הוחלט לפנות את מוזיאון ישראל. צילום: יוחאי תמיר pic.twitter.com/vmCCaToA4J
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) June 2, 2024
IDF says troops operating in Yabna camp in central Rafah
Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo published June 2, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The military says it recently began to operate in the Yabna camp in southern Gaza’s Rafah, located in the central part of the city, adjacent to the border with Egypt.
Troops of the Givati Brigade killed several terror operatives and located military infrastructure during recent operations in the area, the IDF says.
The IDF says the troops also located many weapons, including anti-aircraft machine guns.
Troops of the 9th Armored Battalion, operating under the Givati Brigade in the area, located several rocket launching pits on the Gaza-Egypt border.
South Africa’s ANC: Demands for Ramaphosa to step down for coalition talks a ‘no-go’
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa greets African National Congress supporters at the Siyanqoba rally at FNB stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 25, 2024 AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
South Africa’s African National Congress party will not consider any demands from possible coalition partners that President Cyril Ramaphosa step down, a top official says, as the ANC attempted to present a united front after a stinging election result ended its 30-year majority.
As South Africa heads for a series of complex talks to form a national coalition government for the first time and establish stability, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says Ramaphosa would remain as party leader and any demands from others that he resign for talks to go ahead were “a no-go area.”
“President Ramaphosa is the president of the ANC,” Mbalula says in the ANC leadership’s first public comments since the landmark election results. “And if you come to us with that demand that Ramaphosa is going to step down as the president, that is not going to happen.”
Mbalula says the ANC is open to talks with every other political party in an effort to form a government, but “no political party will dictate terms to us, the ANC. They will not … You come to us with that demand, forget (it).”
Mbalula concedes the ANC, which has dominated South African politics since the end of apartheid in 1994, “suffered heavily” in the election but says it was “not booted out.”
The ANC received just over 40% of votes, falling well short of the majority it has held for all of South Africa’s young democracy. It will still be the biggest party by some way. But it needs to talk with others to form a government and to reelect Ramaphosa for a second and final term. South Africa’s president is elected by Parliament after national elections.
Cornerstone laid for new University of Haifa Medical School
Dignitaries attend the cornerstone ceremony for the new Herta and Paul Amir School of Medicine at the University of Haifa, on June 2, 2024. (courtesy)
An official ceremony is held to lay the cornerstone for the Herta and Paul Amir School of Medicine at the University of Haifa, a new facility scheduled to open at the end of 2025.
The new school is to work in conjunction with the Carmel Medical Center and will have a six-year program to train new doctors, with a special emphasis on incorporating new technologies into the field such as AI, virtual reality simulations, remote medicine and advanced diagnostic tools.
Another feature of the program is to be community, therapeutic and social aspects of the medical field, a track planned together with the Welfare and Health Sciences faculty at the University of Haifa.
“The establishment of the school comes against a background of a severe shortage of doctors in Israel, and as compared to the center of the country, the shortage of doctors in the north is much greater… One of the main goals of the University of Haifa School of Medicine is to strengthen medicine in the north, not only through studies and clinical training of students at Carmel Hospital, but also through scholarships and other activities that will keep graduates as doctors, in the north,” the university says in a statement.
The establishment of the school has been funded by a NIS 200 million ($54 million) donation from the Amir family, along with an additional NIS 50 million ($13.5 million) raised by the university. The proposed curriculum still needs final approval by the Council of Higher Education, the statement notes.
Yeshiva representative to High Court: Draft of Haredi men would violate freedom of religion
The nine-justice panel at the High Court of Justice hearing petitions demanding the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox young men to the Israel Defense Forces, June 2, 2024. (Amit Shabi/ POOL)
Justices hearing petitions to the High Court demanding the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox men to the army engage in a debate over freedom of religion with the attorney for the Union of Yeshivas in the Land of Israel, Shmuel Horowitz.
Horowitz tells the justices that ordering the IDF to draft Haredi men against their will would be a violation of their right to freedom of religion since their rabbis have ruled that they should not enlist.
“The court would be saying to those men ‘do not listen to your rabbi,'” argues Horowitz.
“No, the court would be saying ‘obey the law,'” retorts Justice Yael Wilner.
Horowitz demands to know whether the court hypothetically ordering ultra-Orthodox men to violate the Sabbath would also not be a violation of freedom of religion.
Justice Ofer Grosskopf asks: “If a rabbi says you don’t need to pay taxes, then do we need to exempt people from paying them on the basis of freedom of religion?”
Justice Daphne Barak Erez sharpens Grosskopf’s point, saying that Horowitz’s argument would mean that every ruling by every rabbi would be protected under freedom of religion.
But Horowitz also argues that the highly sensitive societal issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment should not be resolved by a decision of the High Court just because the law previously regulating Haredi enlistment has expired.
He points to other contentious issues the court has faced, such as the state’s failure to evacuate the illegal Palestinian Bedouin Khan al-Ahmar encampment in the West Bank, where the court has given the state a large degree of flexibility.
“We are not in calm waters, we are in a state of war and we need to address it,” insists Justice Noam Sohlberg, who throughout the hearing has repeatedly pointed to the urgent need of the IDF for increased manpower as a result of the multi-front war Israel is facing.
Disabled IDF veteran throws explosive object at Defense Ministry office at Tel Hashomer base; no injuries
A disabled IDF veteran with a history of violence threw an explosive object at the Defense Ministry office at the Tel Hashomer base, the Defense Ministry says.
The object exploded in an open area of a parking lot, causing no casualties or damage.
The statement says a security guard fired in the air and the suspect fled the scene.
“This is a suspect with a history of serious incidents of violence against the employees of the rehabilitation department, including threats of murder against employees and managers,” the defense ministry says.
Lebanese media: 2 killed in Israeli strike on building in south Lebanon
Lebanese media reports two people were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on a building in the village of Hula in south Lebanon.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
National Cyber Directorate: Immediately update Check Point software
The National Cyber Directorate calls on Israeli organizations to immediately install the latest updates for products make by the Check Point cybersecurity giant.
“A serious security weakness (a flaw in the technology that allows cyber attacks to be carried out through it) that was recently discovered in the remote connection technology (VPN) made by Check Point exposes organizations that use the product to attacks,” the directorate says in a statement.
“According to information received by the directorate, the weakness is already being used around the world to carry out cyberattacks and the fear is that organizations in Israel that have not implemented the latest security update for the product will also be attacked very soon,” the statement reads.
PA health ministry: 2 teens shot dead by troops; IDF: Suspects were throwing explosives at settlement
Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli troops overnight in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority health ministry says.
The PA health ministry says a 16- and a 17-year-old were killed west of Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, near Jericho.
One teen was shot in the head and the other in the chest, the Palestinian health ministry says.
The Israeli military does not confirm the deaths but says two suspects hurled explosives toward a settlement, endangering civilians, and troops responded with live fire.
“Hits were identified,” the military says in a statement.
IDF: Several rockets intercepted in barrage fired at Margaliot from Lebanon
Several rockets are intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense following a barrage launched from Lebanon at the Margaliot area in northern Israel, the military says.
Footage shows trails of smoke from the Iron Dome interceptor missiles.
There are no reports of injuries.
Several Iron Dome interceptions seen over the Margaliot area in northern Israel. pic.twitter.com/9rlBVQo9yr
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 2, 2024
IDF says 1,858 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza over past week
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid are pictured at the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on May 28, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
In a weekly summary, the IDF says 1,858 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip after being inspected by Israeli authorities.
It says the trucks — carrying food, water, medical equipment, and shelter equipment — entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing in the Strip’s south and the Erez West Crossing in the north of the territory.
The numbers include 764 trucks from Egypt, the IDF says. Egypt had briefly halted humanitarian aid deliveries after the IDF took over the Rafah Crossing last month, before agreeing, in coordination with the United States, to resume deliveries via Kerem Shalom.
There is no mention of airdrops of aid.
Rocket sirens sound in Margaliot near northern border
Sirens sound in Margaliot warning of incoming rocket fire.
High Court justices demand to know why 3,000 Haredi men can’t be conscripted immediately
The nine-justice panel at the High Court of Justice hearing petitions demanding the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox young men to the Israel Defense Forces, June 2, 2024. (Amit Shabi/ POOL)
Justices give the government’s legal counsel a rough time in the High Court of Justice at the beginning of a critical hearing on conscripting ultra-Orthodox men into the army, pressing him as to why he cannot say whether the government will agree to draft even a small percentage of such men who are eligible for the draft.
Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman points out that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has said that even though there is no longer a legal framework for the mass exemptions from military service that Haredi yeshiva students have enjoyed until now, the IDF does not need to draft every single one of the approximately 63,000 Haredi men who are now eligible for the draft and instead has said that the conscription could be done gradually — as long as the process actually starts.
Attorney Doron Taubman, serving as an independent lawyer for the government, tries to argue that the government cannot pressure the IDF and Defense Ministry over how to draft Haredi men.
Vogelman retorts by insisting that those agencies needs to take into account High Court rulings, including one from 2017 when it determined that mass military service exemptions are illegal and discriminatory.
Taubman says in response that there are numerous considerations to take into account, including the need for the army to prepare to accept ultra-Orthodox men, who have unique religious lifestyle requirements, as well as the societal effects of drafting such men, and what he says is the limited capacity of the army to accept large numbers of Haredi soldiers.
Justice Noam Sohlberg points to the fact that even in 2017 there was a declared capacity by the IDF to accept 3,000 ultra-Orthodox soldiers.
“Now at a time of war, the army can’t absorb 3,000 soldiers?” Sohlberg questions Taubman.
Justice Yael Wilner then presses Taubman even further, demanding to know if the government supports or opposes the limited conscription of 3,000 ultra-Orthodox men out of the 63,000 who are currently eligible for the draft.
“We have not addressed the conscription of 3,000 men in principle,” is Taubman’s response.
Herzog thanks Biden for speech, says will give Netanyahu ‘full support’ for hostage deal
President Isaac Herzog speaks in Jerusalem, June 2, 2024 (Screen grab. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Speaking at a conference at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, President Isaac Herzog thanks US President Joe Biden for his speech on Friday outlining an Israeli proposal for a hostage deal, and for “his ongoing efforts to bring about the release of all the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.”
Herzog also says he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would give him “full support” for a hostage-release deal.
“We must not forget that according to Jewish tradition, there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives and hostages — especially when it comes to Israeli citizens who the State of Israel was not able to defend,” says Herzog at the conference, named after his father Chaim Herzog. “It is our inherent obligation to bring them home within the framework of a deal that preserves the security interests of the State of Israel.”
IDF says jets hit over 30 Gaza targets over past day
Israeli fighter jets struck more than 30 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.
According to the IDF, the targets included Hamas infrastructure, weapon depots, and cells of gunmen.
In southern Gaza’s Rafah, the IDF says troops of the Nahal Brigade directed an airstrike against a rocket launcher moments after it was used to attack troops in the area. There were no injuries in the rocket attack.
IDF: 2 explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon hit open areas near Katzrin
Two explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon this morning struck open areas near Katzrin in the Golan Heights, the military says.
A drone sparked a fire that was extinguished a short while later. The IDF says there are no injuries in the incident.
Hezbollah claims to have targeted an Iron Dome battery in the area with several explosive drones.
Sirens had sounded throughout the area during the attack.
IDF: Jets hit Hezbollah compound in northeast Lebanon’s Baalbek overnight
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah compound in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek, the military says.
The IDF says the strike came as a response to Hezbollah shooting down a military drone over southern Lebanon yesterday.
In addition to the compound, the IDF says fighter jets also struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil, and command rooms in Qana and Baraachit.
בתגובה להפלת כטמ"ם צה"ל שפעל בשמי לבנון על ידי טיל קרקע אוויר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מתחם צבאי המשמש את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב בקעא>> pic.twitter.com/Hpf0DmBqoh
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 2, 2024
High Court to start hearing petitions calling for immediate Haredi military draft
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)
A nine-justice panel at the High Court of Justice is set to begin hearing petitions demanding the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox young men to the Israel Defense Forces.
The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to last several hours. It will be broadcast live.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara came out in support of the petitions on Thursday, writing in the state’s response that the government was acting “without authority,” “violating express rules of the court,” and “undermining the rule of law” in the manner it is addressing the new legal situation regarding ultra-Orthodox Jews, also called Haredim, who are eligible for conscription.
The government has sought private representation in the High Court instead of that of the attorney general, since she opposes its position in which it seeks to continue funding ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and not enforcing military conscription on young Haredi men until it passes a new law allowing for ultra-Orthodox service exemptions.
Frustration over the exemptions for Haredi men has peaked in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught – which saw nearly 1,200 people killed and 252 kidnapped – and amid the war that ensued, with the military death toll mounting, soldiers being asked to serve longer due to a manpower shortage, and the threats facing Israel growing.
East Jerusalem man arrested on suspicion of murdering man in Bethlehem
A resident of East Jerusalem has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a Palestinian man in the West Bank city Bethlehem, police say.
The 31-year-old suspect turned himself in to law enforcement authorities.
According to police, the victim was stabbed on Thursday and later succumbed to his wounds.
Police say the motive was believed to be a criminal dispute between the two men.
Sirens warning of suspected drone infiltration sound in northern border towns
Sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration are sounding in a number of communities along the northern border.
Towns and cities on the northern border have been largely evacuated since October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces in Lebanon began attacking Israeli communities and military posts on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war against Hamas there.
Report: Erdan wrapping up tenure after finance official refused request for additional US residence
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting on a resolution that would have recognized the Palestinians as a full UN member state, at United Nations headquarters, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan is wrapping up his tenure in New York and will not serve as Washington envoy after his request for an additional official residence in New York was refused, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The outlet says the accountant general refused Erdan’s request for an official apartment in New York in addition to the residence in Washington, at an estimated cost to the state of about one million shekels per year (approximately $270,000).
The report says that Erdan requested the apartment so that he could be near his children who are studying in New York, and the request was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However the accountant general refused, saying that it was a large expense that should not come from state coffers.
An official close to Netanyahu tells Kan: “One official foils the most senior and important appointment in a time of war.”
Kan reports that the UN post may go to Likud MK Danny Danon, who has previously served in the role.
Netanyahu’s office said Friday that the premier offered Erdan the option of staying in the US and becoming Israel’s ambassador in Washington — a post he held for a year simultaneously with his role at the UN — but the former Likud minister declined.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Erdan cited family considerations, noting that Erdan has two children who will be enlisting in the IDF in the coming year.
Netanyahu has reportedly decided not to extend the tenure of Israel’s current ambassador to Washington Michael Herzog. The prime minister reportedly blamed Herzog for not doing enough to secure Netanyahu an invitation to the White House last year.
Ex-IRGC commander sanctioned by US launches Iranian presidential bid
A handout picture released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (L) giving his official seal of approval during the swearing in ceremony of President Hassan Rouhani (R) to serve his second term, as deputy chief of supreme leader's office Vahid Haghanian (C) looks on in Tehran on August 3, 2017. (IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER'S WEBSITE / AFP)
A former commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who is under US sanctions registers his candidacy for next month’s presidential election, Iranian state media reports.
Like other hopefuls, Vahid Haghanian, will have to wait to see if his candidacy is okayed by the Guardian Council, a 12-strong body of jurists dominated by conservatives that vets all candidates for public office.
Little information has been made public about Haghanian’s career in the Guards.
Like late president Ebrahim Raisi whom he is seeking to succeed, Haghanian has been under US sanctions since 2019 for his role in supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s “inner circle responsible for advancing the regime’s domestic and foreign oppression.”
Haghanian says his candidacy was a “personal decision” but he was “fully familiar with the issues of the country.”
He says he forged close ties with key officials in state institutions “during 45 years of service in the presidential administration and the office of the supreme leader.”
The June 28 election was called after Raisi was killed in a May 19 helicopter crash.
Candidate registration opened on Thursday and closes on Monday.
Others who have announced their candidacies include Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani and former lawmaker Zohreh Elahian, the first woman to enter the race.
Moderate ex-parliament speaker Ali Larijani, reformist former central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili have also registered.
The Guardian Council will announce the final list of candidates on June 11 after it has completed its vetting procedures.
The council disqualified several reformist and moderate candidates from the last presidential election in 2021, including former speaker Larijani.
US military says it shot down Houthi drone, missiles in two separate Red Sea incidents
A drone and two missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been shot down in two separate incidents over the southern Red Sea yesterday, the US military says.
No injuries or damage was reported by any ships in the busy trade route after the incidents, US Central Command (CENTCOM) says in a social media post.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have launched dozens of drone and missile strikes into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November, describing their attacks as a campaign of support for Palestinians in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.
The drone was shot down during the day, the CENTCOM post says, adding that two other drones had crashed into the water.
Later in the evening, CENTCOM forces “successfully engaged” two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea, according to the post.
The missiles “were fired in the direction of USS Gravely and were destroyed in self-defense, with no damage or injuries reported,” it says, referring to a US Navy missile destroyer.
The rebel attacks have prompted reprisal strikes by US and British forces and the formation of an international coalition to protect the vital shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
Tehran slams Sweden’s ‘spiteful accusations’ of Iran backing Israeli embassy attacks, summons envoy
Tehran has summoned Sweden’s temporary charge d’affaires over “baseless and spiteful accusations,” the Iranian foreign ministry announces, after Stockholm’s intelligence agency said the Islamic Republic was “using criminal networks” inside the country to attack Israel.
The Swedish diplomat was summoned by the assistant of the foreign ministry’s general directorate for Western Europe, the ministry posts on the social media platform X.
Sweden’s Säpo security service on Thursday confirmed a Mossad report that Iran was behind a string of terror attacks by criminal networks on Israeli embassies in Europe since October 7, adding that Tehran has been for several years carrying out activities inside the country that threaten security.
The Mossad spy agency said there have been dozens of Iran-backed terror plots against Jewish and Israeli targets uncovered in recent months, many of which use local criminal networks.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
Republican senator calls on Biden to confirm hostage-ceasefire proposal won’t stop Israel from destroying Hamas
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on state, foreign operations, and related programs hearing on Capitol Hill on May 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images/AFP)
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham calls on US President Joe Biden to clarify that the hostage-ceasefire deal offer that he presented on Friday will prevent Israel from destroying Hamas.
“The enduring defeat of Hamas — ending this barbaric terrorist organization forever — is not only in the region’s interests, it is in America’s interests,” he writes in a post on X.
He insists that Biden “needs to be crystal clear that this ceasefire proposal does not prevent Israel from continuing military operations to destroy Hamas and to ensure they have no role in the future.”
“Please be clear, Mr. President,” he adds.
In a high-stakes speech on Friday, the US president presented what he said was the latest Israeli proposal for a hostage deal and ceasefire to end the war in Gaza, and called on Hamas to accept the offer.
Biden laid out the details of three phases, with particular emphasis on the first six-week phase, which was largely similar to the framework that was discussed in previous rounds of negotiations but included some new conditions.
China probe successfully lands on far side of Moon to collect lunar samples
A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (AFP)
BEIJING – China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe HAS successfully landed on the far side of the Moon to collect samples, state news agency Xinhua reports — the latest leap for Beijing’s decades-old space program.
The Chang’e-6 set down in the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system, Xinhua says, citing the China National Space Administration.
Moments in control center of Chang'e 6 landing on the far side of the moon. Camera videos coming in soon. Full HD:https://t.co/eJWrRH9trj pic.twitter.com/SDEUaVyeY2
— CNSA Watcher (@CNSAWatcher) June 1, 2024
It marks the first time that samples will be collected from the rarely explored area of the Moon, according to the agency.
The Chang’e-6 is on a technically complex 53-day mission that began on May 3.
Now that the probe has landed, it will attempt to scoop up lunar soil and rocks, and carry out other experiments in the landing zone.
That process should be complete within two days, Xinhua says. The probe will use two methods of collection: a drill to collect samples under the surface and a robotic arm to grab specimens from the surface.
Then it must attempt an unprecedented launch from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth.
Scientists say the Moon’s dark side — so-called because it is invisible from Earth, not because it never catches the sun’s rays — holds great promise for research because its craters are less covered by ancient lava flows than the near side.
Material collected from the dark side may better shed light on how the Moon formed in the first place.
Chile joins South Africa’s Gaza genocide case against Israel at ICJ
Chile's President Gabriel Boric gives his "State of the Nation" annual message to the country at the Congress in Valparaiso, Chile, on June 1, 2024. (Francesco Degasperi/AFP)
Chilean President Gabriel Boric says his country is joining South Africa in its case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking to the National Congress, Boric decries the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza and calls for “a firm response from the international community.”
“Chile will become a party to and support the case that South Africa presented against Israel before the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Boric says.
The ICJ is considering South Africa’s case, but in the interim has brought in “preliminary measures” ordering Israel do everything it can to prevent acts of genocide during its military campaign against Hamas.
Chile has recognized Palestine as a state since 2011, and Boric has previously said the war in Gaza has “no justification” and is “unacceptable.”
Senior Netanyahu adviser on Biden’s Gaza truce offer: ‘It’s a deal we agreed to… not a good deal, but we dearly want the hostages released’
Ophir Falk (Youtube screenshot: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted as saying that there are “a lot of details to be worked out” in the latest hostage release and ceasefire deal presented by US President Joe Biden last night, but acknowledges that the proposal laid out by Biden is “a deal we agreed to.”
“There are a lot of details to be worked out and that includes there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met,” Ophir Falk tells the British Sunday Times.
He is also quoted as saying Biden’s address was “a political speech for whatever reasons.”
According to the report, Falk stressed that Israel was not rejecting the deal, which he characterized as “a deal we agreed to — it’s not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them.”
But echoing an earlier statement by Netanyahu, the adviser added that Israel’s conditions to end the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre, “have not changed — the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization.”
Houthis claim six operations in Red Sea, Indian Ocean including strike on US aircraft carrier
CAIRO – Yemen’s Houthis conducted six operations targeting a US aircraft carrier, a US destroyer and three vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Iranian-backed group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree says.
The Houthi militia, which controls the most populous parts of Yemen, has attacked ships off its coast for months, saying it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The group “targeted the American aircraft carrier, the Eisenhower, north of the Red Sea, with a number of missiles and drones,” Saree says, adding it was “the second targeting operation against the carrier during the past 24 hours.”
The spokesperson also adds that the other operations have targeted a US destroyer and the ABLIANI ship in the Red Sea, along with “the MAINA ship that has been targeted twice in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea as well.”
Additionally, “the ship ALORAIQ has been targeted in the Indian Ocean,” he added.
The Houthi fighters’ drone and missile strikes have been aimed at the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, forcing shippers since November to re-route cargo on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
New York Police arrest 22 at anti-Israel demonstration at Brooklyn Museum
New York police have arrested at least 22 people after anti-Israel protesters picketed New York’s Brooklyn Museum, charging some with offenses including assault, according to officers, with the gallery reporting damage to artwork.
Hundreds of demonstrators had descended on the art museum yesterday, chanting anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian slogans, and carrying banners and placards, an AFP correspondent reports seeing.
While many remain outside, some enter the museum, with a giant black and white banner reading “Free Palestine, divest from genocide” unfurled above the museum facade’s six distinctive columns.
A pro-Palestinian organization named Within Our Lifetime urged demonstrators to “flood Brooklyn Museum for Gaza,” alluding to the name that Hamas gave to its October 7 terror onslaught that started the war in Gaza. Within Our Lifetime, which praised the Hamas-led attack in the immediate aftermath of the atrocities, says activists occupied the museum to compel it to disclose any Israel-related investments and to divest any such funding.
The moment that our march arrived at the doors of @brooklynmuseum, which they closed early to arrest activists de-occupying the inside demanding they divest from the Gaza genocide ???????? WOL chair @NerdeenKiswani was targeted and brutally arrested by the NYPD#BoycottBrooklynMuseum pic.twitter.com/1RkOoH6TmA
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) June 1, 2024
There have been waves of protests in New York and across the United States, both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli, since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’s massacre in southern Israel on October 7.
Those arrested are accused of offenses ranging from assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and riding a bicycle on the sidewalk.
Lesser action was taken against seven others, police say.
“Unfortunately, there was damage to existing and newly installed artwork on our plaza, and our public safety staff were physically and verbally harassed,” says a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn Museum, confirming that the site was closed early yesterday morning.
Rocket alert sirens sounding in northern community of Arab al-Aramshe
Rocket alert sirens are sounding in the northern community of Arab al-Aramshe, warning of incoming rocket fire.
Towns and cities on the northern border have been largely evacuated since October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces in Lebanon began attacking Israeli communities and military posts on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Red Alert [00:12:11] – 1 Alert:
• Confrontation Line — Arab al-Aramshe#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/80z7qb2Fa7
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 1, 2024
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