June 9: Following Gantz, Eisenkot also resigns, says war cabinet paralyzed by outside considerations

IDF shuts access to area around Shokeda near Gaza border

Residents of Shokeda plant a tree after returning to their moshav from temporary accommodations in Neve Ilan on February 8, 2024. (Nehorai Samimi)

The army says it is declaring a swath of land outside Gaza a closed military zone starting at midnight, restricting access to the area.

The order covers areas near the community of Shokeda, some 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) outside of Gaza. Much of the area between Shokeda and Gaza, including the devastated kibbutzim Beeri and Nahal Oz, have been closed off since October 7.

Shokeda residents were okayed to return in early February.

At the same time, the army says it is lifting restrictions around the community of Gvaram, some 7 kilometers north of Gaza.

The order will remain in place until June 27 at least, the army says.

Fans at Coldplay Athens show chant for hostages’ release

Video shared on social media shows groups of people breaking into chants of “Bring them home,” during a Coldplay concert in Athens.

According to reporter Ben Caspit, the groups chanting were Israelis who had traveled to the show; Athens is among the most popular vacation destinations for Israel, especially with many now avoiding Turkey due to diplomatic tensions over Gaza.

הופעה של קולדפליי באתונה , אלפי ישראלים שואגים bring them home pic.twitter.com/whGBffPq15

— Ben Caspit בן כספית (@BenCaspit) June 9, 2024

At the end of YELLOW thousands of fans from Israel yell ״bring them home now״#bringthemhomenow#ColdplayAthens
🎗️ pic.twitter.com/Uc101BPmO2

— 🇮🇱Coldplay-israel🇮🇱🎗️ (@coldplayisrael) June 9, 2024

The British group last played in Israel in 2022, and frontman Chris Martin has visited the country on his own. In 2017, the band was reported to have been planning an Israeli-Palestinian “peace concert” near the Dead Sea.

Drone alerts were false alarms — IDF

Suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded in Kiryat Shmona and nearby communities a short while ago were determined to be false alarms, the military says.

Drone warning alerts sound in north; all-clear given

Moments after drone infiltration alarms sound in northern Israel, the IDF’s Home Front Command gives the all-clear, without elaborating.

Drone alert alarms sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Metula and several surrounding communities in the Galilee panhandle.

Hezbollah tried to down jets with anti-aircraft missiles, IDF says

A cell of Hezbollah operatives launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli fighter jets over southern Lebanon earlier today, the military says.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the aircraft were never under any serious threat from the attack. However, this appears to be the first use of anti-aircraft missiles in Lebanon against Israeli jets since war broke out eight months ago, and comes after several weeks that have seen Hezbollah slowly ratchet up the scale, intensity and reach of hostilities.

The IDF says a short while after the missiles were launched, a drone struck and killed the cell, near the coastal city of Tyre.

מוקדם יותר היום חוליית מחבלים שיגרה מספר טילי נ"מ לעבר מטוסי קרב שפעלו בשמי לבנון. לא נשקפה סכנה למטוסים ואין נפגעים.
דקות ספורות לאחר מכן, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב צור וחיסל את חוליית המחבלים שביצעה את השיגורים>> pic.twitter.com/QJ16b3Pni7

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 9, 2024

Elsewhere, the IDF says it struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Chebaa, Aitaroun, and Markaba, alongside additional infrastructure in Aitaroun and a rocket launcher in at-Tiri, used in a recent attack on northern Israel.

Another building in southern Lebanon’s Houla, where the IDF says it identified Hezbollah operatives, was also hit by fighter jets.

Macron calls snap poll after being flambéed by far-right in EU vote

A screen broadcasts an address to the nation by France's President Emmanuel Macron calling for new general elections on June 30 during an evening gathering of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) on the final day of the European Parliament election, at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in Paris, on June 9, 2024. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

In a shock move, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced he is dissolving parliament, calling snap legislative elections after the far-right trounced his centrist alliance in EU polls.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she is ready for her National Rally party to take Paris after winning 32% in Sunday’s vote, more than double the 15% Macron’s ticket snagged, according to the first exit polls.

“We are ready to take over the power if the French give us their trust in the upcoming national elections,” Le Pen says during a rally.

The first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on June 30, with the second round on July 7, Macron announces in an address to the nation.

The outcome of the EU elections, he acknowledges, is “not a good result for parties who defend Europe.”

White House decries ‘dangerous’ rhetoric at DC anti-Israel rally

Anti-Israel protesters demonstrate near the White House in Washington, June 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Biden administration slams the “repugnant” rhetoric voiced at yesterday’s anti-Israel protests outside the White House, during which Pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah demonstrators called for “jihad” and for the killing of Zionists.

“President Biden has always been clear that every American has the right to peacefully express their views. But he has also always been clear that antisemitism, violent rhetoric, and endorsing murderous terrorist organizations like Hamas is repugnant, dangerous and against everything we stand for as a country,” White House deputy spokesperson Andrew Bates tells The Times of Israel.

“Like Jake Sullivan said this morning, ‘The best way to get all of the hostages home and to protect Palestinian civilians is to end this war. And the best way to end this war is for Hamas to say yes to the deal [the] President announced and that Israel has accepted, which lays out a roadmap to an enduring ceasefire and the return of all hostages,’” Bates adds.

During the Saturday rally, masked demonstrators chanted slogans urging Hamas’s military wing to “kill another soldier now” and calling on Hezbollah to “kill another Zionist now,” according to reports on social media. Protesters also held signs calling for “Intifada,” a reference to periods of deadly Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli civilians in the late 1980s and early 1990s and again in the early 2000s.

One video posted to X showed a man with a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine headband burning the American flag, while other protesters appeared to be wearing green Hamas headbands.

Eisenkot also resigns, says war cabinet was paralyzed by outside considerations

National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot is following party leader Benny Gantz out of the coalition and giving up his spot as an observer in the war cabinet now being dismantled by the departure.

Like Gantz, Eisenkot has harsh words for the way the panel handled itself during the war in a resignation letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Despite the efforts of many, alongside those of my colleague, the cabinet you headed was prevented for a long while from making determining decisions, which were needed to realize the war’s goals and improve Israel’s strategic position,” the former IDF chief writes.

“Outside considerations and politics infiltrated into the discussions,” he charges. “Therefore, it’s time we left the government.”

Hostage relatives group says Gantz departure shouldn’t affect support for deal

A small airship calling for their release of hostages held in Gaza flies over Tel Aviv on June 9, 2024. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in a statement that the departure of Benny Gantz and his National Unity party from the coalition should not affect support for a deal to free the captives and halt fighting in Gaza.

“The Netanyahu Deal is still on the table, and only it can return all the hostages: The living to rehabilitation and the dead to burial,” the statement reads.

The forum calls on the government to approve a deal, though Hamas has indicated that it will not agree to the terms without a commitment to completely end the war.

“The State of Israel will not forgive leaders who abandon the hostages to the Hamas tunnels,” the statement reads.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet who are opposed to a deal with Hamas have indicated that they will attempt to finagle more influence over government decisions in the wake of Gantz’s resignation.

Ben Gvir demands Netanyahu add him, others to war cabinet as Gantz jets

File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, right, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, left, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 10, 2023. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wastes no time in shooting a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he open the war cabinet to new membership — specifically himself — after Benny Gantz and his National Unity party bolt from the coalition.

In a letter to Netanyahu posted on social media Ben Gvir says the cabinet’s makeup until now only included ministers who follow the military’s accepted conceptual wisdom, with the rest ignored and blackballed. It is time to bring in ministers who “warned in real time against the conception and viewpoint that everyone today accepts was wrong,” he writes, demanding that he be added to the three-man cabinet.

Ben Gvir, widely seen as a firebrand reactionary, had indicated earlier that he planned to jockey for greater power for himself and his far-right party Otzma Yehudit in the wake of Gantz’s resignation.

“It’s time to make decisive, courageous decision,” he writes.

Lapid cheers Gantz for bouncing from coalition

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz’s announcement that he is withdrawing his faction from the coalition.

“Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot’s decision to leave the government is both justified and important,” he says in a statement.

“It’s time to replace this extremist and failing government with a government that will restore security for the people of Israel, bring the hostages home, rebuild the economy and restore Israel’s international standing.”

Gantz asks Gallant to ‘do what’s right’; urges Netanyahu to ‘do everything’ to advance hostage deal proposal

Exiting the coalition, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls on all members of the Knesset “who understand where we are going” to join forces with him and “obey the command of your conscience,” particularly Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“Yoav, we have known each other for many years. Even when there were tensions between us, I always respected and appreciated you. In this war – I learned to appreciate you even more,” he says of his now-erstwhile war cabinet colleague.

“You are a brave and determined leader and above all – a patriot. At this time, leadership and courage are not only saying what is right – but doing what is right,” he adds.

He tells the nation he is not a conman and nor is he a politician who will put his political career above the needs of the state. “I will promise you one thing: I’m prepared to die for your children,” he says. “My colleagues and I will always stand up and be counted when the country needs us… at any political price. I risked my life for the state in the line of fire dozens of times,” he says, and vows he won’t be deterred by political risk.

Gantz also apologizes to the families of the hostages for failing to save their loved ones.

“We did a lot [but] failed when it came to results,” he says. “We haven’t been able to get many of them back home yet. The responsibility is also mine.”

Speaking a day after four hostages were rescued in a daring raid, he offers full-throated backing to a deal with Hamas to free the rest as presented by US President Joe Biden.

“I stand behind the outline we accepted in the war cabinet, whose principles were presented by President Biden, and demand from the Prime Minister the necessary courage to stand behind it and do everything to advance it,” he continues.

He adds that though he will be moving to the opposition, he will back “any responsible plan” regarding the hostages: “I also commit today, when we are in the opposition, we will support every responsible plan. We will support our fighters, Israeli society, and every right move the government will make. When we go out to demonstrate, we will do so according to the law, out of solidarity and a desire to embark on a new path, and not out of hatred. And I call on the citizens of the country who serve – keep showing up.”

He says Israel showed resilience after October 7 and proved “that we can meet any challenge.”

“If we stay strong within, we will defeat any enemy,” he says. “For that, we must investigate], choose and come together,” he concludes, referencing the imperative to probe the October 7 disaster, to hold new elections, and to unify as a nation.

Asked by a reporter whether his departure will not merely strengthen the influence of the far-right in the coalition, Gantz does not directly answer the question, but says: “I fear for the State of Israel. We know the fighting will go on for a long time… many years. So we need to choose the correct priorities, the correct [battle] fronts, the correct [military] campaigns, and the correct unity.”

Netanyahu to Gantz: Don’t abandon the campaign now

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, June 9, 2024 (Screen grab)

As Benny Gantz announces that he is leaving the government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for the National Unity party leader to remain.

“Israel is in an existential war on multiple fronts,” Netanyahu writes on X, while Gantz is still speaking. “Benny, this is not the time to abandon the campaign — this is the time to join forces.”

Netanyahu promises to keep going until victory and the attainment of all the war aims, “primarily the release of hostages and the elimination of Hamas.”

“My door will remain open to any Zionist party willing to shoulder the burden and help attain victory over our enemies, and ensure the safety of our citizens,” he concludes.

Gantz urges Netanyahu to call new elections in the fall

After announcing his resignation and his party’s departure from the government, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to set an agreed election date.

“To ensure a real victory, it is appropriate that in the fall, a year [after] the disaster, we will go to elections that will eventually establish a government that will win the people’s trust and be able to face [Israel’s] challenges,” he says.

“I call on Netanyahu: Set an agreed election date. Don’t let our people be torn apart.”

He says the elections will yield “a unity government — Zionist, patriotic, and statesmanlike: a true unity government.”

He also demands the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 disaster.

Gantz announces he is leaving coalition, says Netanyahu preventing ‘true victory’

Benny Gantz delivers remarks to the media on June 9, 2024. (screen capture)

Declaring that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “preventing us from reaching true victory,” National Unity chairman Benny Gantz says that his party is pulling out of the government, making good on an ultimatum he issued last month.

His party joined the coalition following October 7 for the sake of the country, “even though we knew it was a bad government; we did it because we knew it was a bad government,” he says. “The people needed unity and support.”

But as the months have passed, “fateful, strategic decisions have been pushed aside because of political considerations,” he says.

The reality facing Israel “is not simple” and the [military] campaign will take years,” he warns. “I won’t promise you easy and rapid victory.”

The people of Israel deserve more than “empty promises,” he continues, stating what he believes constitute the elements of an eventually attainable “true victory”:

“True victory places the return of the hostages ahead of surviving in power…, combines military success with diplomatic and civilian initiative…, means destroying Hamas and replacing it…, brings the residents of the  north safely home.”

“True victory is to solidify a regional alliance against Iran, led by the US, together with the entire West,” he adds. “True victory is to change national priorities and widen the circle of service,” he says, referring to the coalition’s insistence on maintaining widespread ultra-Orthodox military exemptions.

“Unfortunately, Netanyahu prevents us from reaching true victory,” he says.

“So we’re today leaving the unity government,” he announces, saying he is doing so “with a heavy heart” but certain that it is the right move.

“We are reporting for duty today in the campaign for the destiny of the State of Israel for generations ahead,” he declares.

The departure of Gantz and his National Unity party reduces the Netanyahu-led coalition to its original five parties — right-wing Likud, far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, and ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism. They hold a total of 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset, and therefore the loss of Gantz’s eight-strong party does not deprive the coalition of its parliamentary majority.

IDF chief: Return of hostages is ‘moral obligation,’ but operations carry high risk

IDF chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (left) meets with soldiers in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on June 9, 2024. (IDF)

IDF Chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi tells soldiers during a visit to Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip that their mission is to bring the hostages home — both those who are alive and the bodies of those who are already dead.

“Bringing the hostages home is a moral obligation that we must strive for,” he says. “Yesterday we implemented one very, very important part. We have many more,” he adds, praising the actions of the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Yamam police force who took part in the rescue of Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv and Almog Meir Jan.

Halevi says that when they sat down in the war room at the start of the mission, they did not know if the misson would succeed.

“We know that we are taking huge risks and fateful decisions, and these risks are the risk of human life,” he says. “It’s not a gamble, it’s a calculated risk… and I know that we have very high quality commanders and the confidence to carry out bold operations for worthy goals,” he said.

Video shows emotional reunion between rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov and parents

Andrey Kozlov (C), freed from Gaza in an Israeli military operation a day earlier, meets with his parents at Sheba Medical Center, June 9, 2024. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

Video footage shows the emotional first reunion between rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov and his parents, who flew to Israel today from St. Petersburg, Russia, after he was brought back to Israel following eight months in captivity.

In the video, Kozlov falls to his feet in tears after seeing his mother at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. The two embrace in the hospital as his girlfriend looks on. Kozlov had been living in Israel for a short while before he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7, where he was working as a security guard.

Video of the emotional reunion today between rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov and his parents, who arrived in Israel today from Russia after he was freed from 246 days of captivity in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/XnZ5GlDE4F

— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) June 9, 2024

IDF confirms Abdallah Aljamal, Hamas terrorist and news contributor, was holding 3 hostages in his home in Nuseirat alongside his family

Rescued hostages Andrey Kozlov (center, with hand over mouth) and Almog Meir (in black sleeveless shirt) seen on their return to Israel, June 8, 2024. (Channel 13 screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright law)

The Israeli military says it has confirmed that Abdallah Aljamal, a Hamas terrorist, was holding hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.

According to the IDF, the three hostages were held by Aljamal alongside his family. They were rescued yesterday by special forces.

“This is further proof that the Hamas terrorist organization uses the civilian population as a human shield,” the military says.

צה"ל: בדיקות העלו כי העיתונאי העזתי עבדאללה ג'מל שהחזיק בשלושה מהחטופים ששוחררו הוא פעיל חמאס, גם בני משפחתו היו בבית כמגן אנושי@Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/Xni15Jon4H

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 9, 2024

Earlier today, rumors circulated regarding Abdallah Aljamal following a post by Ramy Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, who said that soldiers climbed into the Aljamals’ home during the raid and killed several members of the family, including Abdallah and his father, Dr. Ahmed Aljamal.

Abdallah was previously a spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza and has contributed to several news outlets in the past. He wrote one column for Al Jazeera in 2019, prompting rumors that he was a Gazan correspondent for the Qatari news outlet who had been detaining a hostage in his home — an unsubstantiated claim that the network stridently denied on Sunday. He has written for other news outlets since then.

Yamam officer Ch. Insp. Arnon Zmora was fatally wounded by Hamas terrorists’ gunfire during the raid on Aljamal’s home.

IDF’s Gaza Division head announces his resignation: ‘I failed in my life’s mission’

Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, the commander of the Gaza Division during a handover ceremony in August 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

The commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Avi Rosenfeld, announces that he is resigning from the military over his involvement in the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

In a letter to the head of the Southern Command and IDF chief of staff, Rosenfeld writes that “on October 7, I failed in my life’s mission to protect the [Gaza border communities].”

“I have decided to end my position as commander of the 143rd Division (the Gaza Division) and my service in the IDF, as part of my responsibility as a commander. Everyone has to take responsibility for their part and I am the one in charge of the 143rd Division,” he writes.

“As I promised, I will stay until my replacement takes over the role, and I will transfer command over the division in an orderly and responsible manner,” Rosenfeld continues.

“I intend to continue to take part in the investigations and the learning of lessons, to do everything so that what happened on October 7 does not happen in the future,” he says.

Rosenfeld is only the second senior officer in the IDF to resign over the October 7 attack, after the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate announced he was quitting in April.

Far-right seen notching strong gains as European voting wraps up

The first major exit polls coming out of the European Union parliamentary elections suggest that the hard right will rise in the legislature despite a series of scandals in Germany, the bloc’s biggest nation.

An exit poll in Germany indicates that the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, rose to 16.5%, while the governing coalition led by Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost, falling to 14%. It comes on the heels of major gains for the far right in the Netherlands, where the party of Geert Wilders is in a neck-and-neck race with a Socialist-Green alliance.

In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party was predicted to win by a polling-based “trend forecast” that has proved accurate in the past.

Surveys suggest that mainstream and pro-European parties will retain their majority in parliament, but they will lose seats to hard right parties like those led by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France.

“Right is good,” Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, who leads a stridently nationalist and anti-migrant government, tells reporters after casting his ballot. “To go right is always good. Go right!”

Sunday’s voting marathon winds up a four-day election cycle that began in the Netherlands on Thursday.

Unofficial estimates are due to begin trickle in starting now. The first official results will be published after the last polling stations in the 27 EU nations close in Italy at 11 p.m. (midnight in Israel), but a clear picture of what the new assembly might look like will only emerge on Monday.

Lapid demands attorney general crack down on police violence after video of doctor’s arrest

Writing to Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demands increased oversight of the police in light of Saturday evening’s violent arrest of a doctor treating a woman at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv.

“Week after week the harsh scenes of violence and the use of inappropriate force against the people repeat, just yesterday tough footage was published of policemen beating and dragging a doctor while he was providing medical aid on the sidewalk. These are unimaginable pictures. The conduct of the police crossed every line,” he writes.

Calling the protesters non-violent “loyal patriots,” Lapid writes that the police have a “responsibility to protect them, not to attack them with violence” and that the “role of the police is to allow them to protest and express their concern and pain in the public space.”

הבוקר אנחנו שולחים חיבוק לאח שלנו לנשק, ד"ר אודי בהרב, שהותקף אמש ע"י שוטרים ואז נעצר בזמן שהעניק טיפול רפואי למפגינה שנפצעה, בעודם עומדים על המדרכה.

תקיפה של רופא שמגיש עזרה לאדם אחר היא מעשה שאסור שיקרה המהווה חציית קו אדום.

אנחנו רואים את האירוע בחומרה ומצפים מהשר לביטחון… pic.twitter.com/nxYUwNmYNg

— אחים לנשק 🎗️ (@ahimlaneshek1) June 9, 2024

“I would ask you to exercise your authority… and instruct the police to act sensitively and above all according to the law and to preserve freedom of expression and protest,” he adds.

Claims of police violence against protesters have linked officers’ conduct to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has pushed police operating under his ministry to ratchet up enforcement actions against demonstrators critical of the government, particularly those who are not right-wing or Haredi.

“This is the time to exercise supervision and monitor the conduct of the police officers and remind them that this is not Ben Gvir’s police. This is the Israel Police,” Lapid adds.

Earlier in the day, President Isaac Herzog also spoke out against the actions seen on the video, saying it was “disturbing,” and calling for the issue to be “checked into deeply and comprehensively.”

Netanyahu to anti-hostage-deal group: We’re not abandoning push for ‘total victory’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he remains committed to “total victory” against Hamas in Gaza, but is also planning on seeing the remaining 116 hostages in captivity freed “via various means.”

Speaking to the Gvura Forum, made up of relatives of soldiers killed during the war against Hamas who oppose a deal ending the fighting, Netanyahu says that he hasn’t considered abandoning the Gaza battlefield “even for a second.”

“We are committed to total victory. We don’t want to and cannot abandon the arena not just because of the amazing boys that were killed, but because it’s the future of our country, we have no choice,” he’s quoted saying by his office. “We are committed to returning the hostages via various means, I won’t elaborate.”

Addressing talks for a hostage deal, he says that the main dispute is “over Hamas’s demand, which unfortunately has enjoyed support from within our ranks, that we commit to stopping the war without achieving our goals — destroying Hamas as much as possible — I’m not prepared for that, that’s clear.”

Netanyahu also tells the group that Israel is fighting on seven fronts, including the International Criminal Court in the Hague alongside Hamas and Iran proxies around the region.

War cabinet meets ahead of expected Gantz resignation

The war cabinet was set to convene in Jerusalem at 6:30 p.m., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says. The meeting is slated to be followed by a security cabinet meeting at 8:30 p.m.

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz is expected to announce that he is leaving the unity coalition after the war cabinet meeting.

According to Channel 13 news, neither Gantz nor fellow National Unity party member Gadi Eisenkot, a war cabinet observer, are attending the meeting.

Ben Gvir says he’ll resume voting with government, but not for hostage deal

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party will resume voting with the coalition, after halting cooperation Wednesday in order to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reveal details of an Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.

“In light of what appears to be the rejection of the reckless deal by Hamas and the expected departure of Gantz from the government, Otzma Yehudit will continue to vote with the coalition as usual as long as there is no reckless deal on the table,” the party says in a statement.

“We call to keep increasing military pressure [on Hamas], which has been proven once again to be the only effective tool to return our hostages without surrender,” it adds.

On Wednesday, Otzma Yehudit stated that it would no longer vote with the coalition “in light of the fact that the prime minister is hiding the draft agreement with Hamas that includes a clause to end the war.”

Ben Gvir and other far-right lawmakers have asserted they will not agree to a deal with Hamas that ends the war in exchange for the release of hostages, threatening to bring down the government if such a deal is adopted by the government.

Ben Gvir last week accused Netanyahu of refusing to share details of the deal, asking, “If the deal is not reckless and does not include a commitment to end the war for Hamas’s collapse, why do you refuse to present it to me?”

Hamas has reportedly rejected the proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal, claiming it was fundamentally different from the deal presented by US President Joe Biden.

Gallant visits northern border, tells troops to keep killing Hezbollah commanders

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) walks with the acting commander of the 146th Division, Brig. Gen. Amit Fisher, in northern Israel, June 9, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held an assessment with military officials on the Lebanon border today, his office says.

The assessment comes amid heightened tensions on the border with daily Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

The Defense Ministry says Gallant met with the chief of staff of the Northern Command, Brig. Gen. Sagiv Dahan, the acting commander of the 146th Division, Brig. Gen. Amit Fisher, and the commander of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, Col. Ori Daube.

Gallant was briefed on recent IDF operations in the area and Israel’s efforts to foil Hezbollah’s drone attacks, the ministry says. Tellingly, it does not quote Gallant offering tough warnings about expanding Israel’s military operation should hostilities continue, as has become common as of late.

The minister “emphasized [to the officers] the importance of continuing to eliminate Hezbollah terrorists and commanders,” his office says.

Army publishes footage of rescued hostages before airlift to safety

Screen capture from bodycam video during the rescue of hostages from Gaza on June 8, 2024. (Screen capture: IDF)

The military releases headcam footage showing the moment when the Israeli hostages rescued from Hamas captivity in central Gaza’s Nuseirat by special forces were brought to a helipad to be airlifted to Israel.

The video comes from the camera of a soldier in the Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 commando unit, the IDF says.

The military says the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit had also aided in the extraction of the Yamam officers and Shin Bet agents with the four rescued hostages from Nuseirat, while under fire.

At the same time, the IDF says members of the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag and 669 units worked to treat wounded Yamam officer Ch. Insp. Arnon Zmora, who was fatally shot by Hamas terrorists guarding three of the four hostages.

Zmora died upon arriving at a hospital in Israel, and the rescue mission was later named “Operation Arnon” in his honor.

Top Biden aide appears to blame Hamas for high death toll during hostage rescue

A Palestinian man inspects damage a day after a hostage rescue operation by Israel in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip on June 9, 2024. (Eyad Baba/AFP)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan appears to place the blame on Hamas for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in yesterday’s IDF hostage rescue operation.

“The Palestinian people are going through sheer hell in this conflict because Hamas is operating in a way that puts them in the crossfire that holds hostages right in the heart of crowded civilian areas, that puts military emplacements right in the heart of crowded civilian areas,” Sullivan tells CNN.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says at 274 Palestinians were killed, and hundreds more were wounded, in the Israeli operation that rescued four hostages held by Hamas. As usual it does not differentiate between civilians and fighters, but it says the toll, which is unverified, included dozens of minors.

Sullivan indicates that Washington’s preferred approach for releasing the hostages is through a negotiated deal, saying the Israeli proposal currently on the table awaiting Hamas’s answer is the best and surest way to do so.

The senior Biden aide calls on the international community to demand that Hamas accept the terms of the deal.

‘The diamonds have departed’: IDF publishes new footage from hostage rescue

The military releases footage from yesterday’s hostage rescue operation in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, showing the moment when Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman notified the IDF chief of staff that three of the four hostages had been extracted.

“Chief of staff I want to report to you that the three diamonds have departed [by helicopter] from the helipad just now toward the country,” Finkelman is heard saying in the video, using a codeword for hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. (Hostage Noa Argamani had been rescued from a separate building.)

The military says that the Paratroopers Brigade aided in extracting the special forces with the rescued hostages, bringing them to a makeshift helipad in Gaza, where they were then airlifted to Israel.

The IDF also publishes a clip showing troops of the Kfir Brigade operating in central Gaza amid the nearby rescue operation. The 7th Armored Brigade also battled Hamas operatives in the area, aiding in the rescue, the military says.

Thousands pay last respects to officer killed in rescue op

Israelis lining roads in Jerusalem wave flags on June 9, 2024, as they pay respects to the funeral procession for officer Arnon Zamora, who was killed in battle in a special forces operation in Gaza where four Israeli hostages were rescued a day earlier. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Thousands of mourners, including the families of hostages held in Gaza, attended a funeral in Jerusalem for Arnon Zmora, the police counter-terror officer killed during an operation to rescue four captives in central Gaza Saturday, Channel 12 news reports.

Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, who was killed in a mission to rescue hostages held in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Israel Police)

“Arnon was always first and, during the heroic operation he led, he acted with courage and was a model for his fighters,” the head of the Yamam counter-terror unit says in eulogy at the funeral. “His actions brought light to the people of Israel and unfortunately he paid for it with his life. Instead of being part of the national jubilation, we are going into deep mourning.”

The channel also quotes Aviram Meir, uncle of rescued hostage Almog Meir, addressing Zmora’s family to pay his respects: “The blood of your children is mixed with ours. This is an unbreakable bond.”

Army says repeated rocket alarms in northern towns false alarms

Successive sirens that sounded in the northern communities of Avivim, Yir’on, and Malkia in the past hour were all determined to be false alarms, the military says.

Rocket alarms sounded in the towns eight times between 3:45 and 4:45 p.m.

The army does not say what caused the scares.

UK denies warship in Red Sea targeted by Houthis

Britain’s defense ministry says a statement by Yemen’s Houthis that they fired ballistic missiles at a British destroyer in the Red Sea was false.

The Houthis did not say whether the attack they said they had carried out on the HMS Diamond had caused any damage, but described it as “accurate.”

“These claims are untrue,” a British Ministry of Defense spokesperson says.

The Houthis said they had also attacked two commercial vessels which they identified as the Norderney and Tavvishi.

The statement said the Tavvishi – which was in the Arabian Sea – and the Norderney had both been hit, and that a fire broke out on the Norderney.

Private security firm Ambrey says a missile hit the Norderney’s forward station late Saturday, starting a fire that those on board later put out. A second missile fired at the ship missed and people “on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident,” Ambrey adds, though no one was hurt onboard.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center similarly reported the attack on the Norderney and fire in the same area off Aden, saying “damage control is underway.”

Ben Gvir excitedly awaits Gantz departure to reclaim sway over government

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir seen during Jerusalem Day celebrations outside the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, June 5, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he will demand increased say over government decisions, including in the war cabinet, following the National Unity party’s expected exit from the government this evening.

After National Unity leader and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quits, “I will demand that [the electoral strength I hold] be given expression and not as it has been until now,” the far-right minister states at the Muni Expo 2024 conference in Tel Aviv — adding that if those in power had listened to him “maybe October 7 would have looked different.”

Gantz’s entry into the government shortly after war broke out in October diluted Ben Gvir’s influence by giving the government enough support to maintain a majority even if his ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party bolted the coalition. With Gantz’s exit, that coalition calculus will change, once again making Netanyahu reliant on Ben Gvir for his government’s survival.

Ben Gvir says that his vision is to “conquer Gaza and [go to] war with Hezbollah,” adding that if Netanyahu agrees to a “reckless” hostage deal, “I’m not there.”

He also offers Gantz a good riddance, welcoming his impending resignation.

“We agreed that he would enter the government, and we thought he came to create unity, but in reality he came to create chaos and promote his political agenda,” Ben Gvir says, according to Hebrew media. “I think their departure is important, and I need to return to being a leading force like I was before Gantz entered the government.”

Danon tapped for fresh stint as envoy to UN

Then Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon listens to speakers at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, September 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Likud MK Danny Danon has been appointed as ambassador to the United Nations, replacing Gilad Erdan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announces.

This is Danon’s second stint at Turtle Bay. He previously was Israel’s envoy to the UN in 2015-2020.

“MK Danon has extensive experience in the international arena,” says the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement, “and he will undoubtedly bring his talents and experience to bear at this time.”

The appointment, also made by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, must be approved by the government.

In a statement responding to the appointment, Danon says he is willing to use his diplomatic chops to help Israel in the decidedly unfriendly forum, noting that he’s been doing what he could throughout the war, including hosting visiting dignitaries on tours of the south.

“At a time when the State of Israel is fighting on a large number of fronts, each of us must do the best within our skills and experience,” he says. “In the face of the diplomatic terror that rears its head these days, I am obliged to present the truth for the sake of the people of Israel and our common future in our homeland.”

Rescued hostage Kozlov doing relatively well, speaking to family

Rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov looks at his phone at Sheba Medical Center on June 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The father of rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov says his son is recovering and has begun to speak about his experiences in Gaza.

“Andrey is in relatively good condition. He is speaking and sharing with us what happened,” Michael Kozlov says at a press conference at Sheba Medica Center after arriving from Russia.

He adds that 27-year-old Andrey’s thoughts for his family and partner Jenifer Master “were what kept him together during his captivity, every day he thought of his family.”

Al Jazeera denies rumor that hostage was held at employee’s home

Qatari news network Al Jazeera is stridently denying any link to Gaza-based journalist Abdallah Aljamal, amid unverified rumors that hostage Noa Argamani had been held at his home in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.

According to various rumors, some of which have been picked up by Hebrew-language media with varying levels of credulity, Argamani was held at the home of Dr. Ahmed Aljamal and his son Abdallah. They also claim that Abdallah is an employee of Al-Jazeera.

The reports base the claim on Rami Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, who tweeted that soldiers climbed into the Aljamals’ home during the raid and killed several members of the family, including Ahmed and Abdallah. He notes that Abdallah is spokesman for the Hamas-run labor ministry in Gaza and has contributed to several news outlets in the past.

In an initial testimony documenting the killings committed by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat camp today, the @EuroMedHR reported that the Israeli army used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal. The army immediately executed 36-year-old Fatima Al-Jamal upon… pic.twitter.com/DjfjerIZTf

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 8, 2024

“This man is not from Al-Jazeera, and he did not work for Al-Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al-Jazeera neither now nor in the past,” al-Jazeera Jerusalem bureau chief Omar al-Walid says. “We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.”

He adds that the network plans to sue anyone spreading rumors claiming a link to Abdallah Aljamal.

Sirens sound on northern border

Rocket sirens have sounded in the northern communities of Yaron and Avivim, near the Lebanon border, as a busy day for air defenses in the north appears to continue.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the apparent attack.

Ben Gvir brushes aside relative of hostage as a ‘leftist’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir dismisses the relative of a hostage held in Gaza seeking answers by calling them a “leftist.”

Ben Gvir is confronted by Snir Daan, cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, outside a conference in Tel Aviv. Asked what he is doing to free Gat, Ben Gvir responds that he will cut off fuel supplies to Gaza.

בן גביר ובן דוד של כרמל גת, שניר דן, מחוץ לכנס בגני התערוכה. נשאל איך עזר היום לשחרר את כרמל משבי חמאס, עונה שצריך לעצור את הדלק לעזה ומוסיף: "צא מהדעות השמאלניות שלך, תפסיק להיות שמאלן" pic.twitter.com/jLGfDhvfRL

— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) June 9, 2024

Challenged as to how that would advance the hostages’ freedom, the far-right minister turns and brusquely says, “Stop being a leftist.”

Ben Gvir then walks away and refuses to answer when asked by Daan why his political views are a factor in the fate of his cousin.

Report: Special forces posed as displaced Gazans moving into building where hostage held

Some of the special forces that entered the Nuseirat camp in Gaza yesterday to conduct a large-scale operation to free four hostages posed as displaced Gazans from Rafah, according to local residents who spoke with the Saudi-owned Asharq news channel.

Ynet claims that the special forces belonged to Israeli units that operate in Palestinian areas by blending in with local Arabs, including speaking the language fluently.

The unit, which also included women, reportedly entered the Nuseirat camp from an area close to the American aid pier and the Netzarim corridor, an east-west passage bisecting Gaza north of the camp which has been held by the IDF and is used as a jumping off point for raids in northern and central Gaza.

The disguised forces arrived in a white car carrying mattresses on top, and the women were dressed in the clothes “that women are wearing here in the war,” Asharq reports.

Locals asked the newcomers where they came from, and the latter answered that they were escaping the IDF operation in Rafah, and had rented a place in the area around the market in Nuseirat, pointing at the building where Noa Argamani was being held. The three male hostages (Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv and Almog Meir Jan) were detained in another building 200 meters away.

The unit then reportedly split into two groups, each heading towards one of the two buildings, in preparation for the operation.

Eyewitnesses tell Asharq that beside the disguised troops, other special forces snuck into the Nuseirat camp inside an aid truck. The IDF has denied using humanitarian transports for the operation.

Iran okays 6 candidates for presidential race, but again blocks Ahmadinejad

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seen after registering his candidacy for Iran's upcoming presidential election in Tehran, June 2, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

Iran’s Guardian Council approves the country’s hardline parliament speaker and five others to run in the country’s June 28 presidential election following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others.

The council again bars former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a firebrand populist known for the crackdown that followed his disputed 2009 re-election, from running.

The council’s decision represents the starting gun for a shortened, two-week campaign to replace Raisi, a hardline protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once floated as a possible successor for the 85-year-old cleric.

The selection of candidates approved by the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei, suggests Iran’s Shiite theocracy hopes to ease the election through after recent votes saw record-low turnout and as tensions remain high over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, as well as the Israel-Hamas war.

The Guardian Council also continues its streak of not accepting a woman or anyone calling for radical change to the country’s governance.

The most prominent candidate remains Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, 62, a former Tehran mayor with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, many remember that Qalibaf, as a former Guard general, was part of a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered live gunfire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief.

The Guardian Council disqualifies Ahmadinejad, the firebrand, Holocaust-denying former president. Ahmadinejad increasingly challenged Khamenei toward the end of his term and is remembered for the bloody crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests. He was also disqualified in the last election by the panel.

Photo shows Andrey Kozlov reunited with parents after rescue from Gaza

Andrey Kozlov (C), freed from Gaza in an Israeli military operation a day earlier, meets with his parents at Sheba Medical Center, June 9, 2024. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

A photo is released showing Andrey Kozlov, freed from Gaza in an Israeli military operation yesterday, meeting with his parents for the first time.

Kozlov’s parents, who live in Russia, landed in Israel this morning and immediately went to see their son at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.

Rocket sirens in Sufa near Gaza border

Sirens in Sufa along the border with Gaza warn of incoming rocket fire for the second time within two hours.

At least one rocket landed in an open area near the kibbutz earlier this afternoon.

Pope calls for Israel and Hamas to immediately accept hostage-ceasefire deal

A seagull flies in front of Pope Francis during his appearance at his studio's window overlooking St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, June 9, 2024 (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Pope Francis calls for humanitarian aid to urgently reach Palestinians in Gaza and for Israel and Hamas to immediately accept proposals for a ceasefire and release of hostages.

Francis also thanks Jordan, which this week will host an international humanitarian aid conference for Palestinians.

“I encourage the international community to act urgently, with all means, to come to the aid of the people of Gaza, worn out by the war,” he says. “Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need, and no one can impede it.”

He recalled that Saturday marked the 10-year anniversary of a peace prayer he hosted in the Vatican gardens, attended by then-Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

“This meeting showed that shaking hands is possible, and that to make peace, you need courage — much more courage than to make war,” he says.

Francis threw his support behind ceasefire proposals and said he hoped the terms would be quickly accepted by both sides, even though he acknowledged negotiations “are not easy.”

“I hope that the peace proposals on all fronts that have been presented and for the release of hostages will be accepted immediately for the sake of the Palestinians and Israelis,” he says.

US President Joe Biden announced last month what he described as an Israeli proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas has not yet formally responded to the proposal, but officials in the terror group have reiterated their insistence that any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, a demand Israel has repeatedly ruled out.

Yaakov Argamani tells of Noa’s meeting with terminally ill mother: ‘There was half a response. I believe Liora understood’

Noa Argamani is embraced by her father, Yaakov, at Sheba Medical Center after being rescued from Hamas captivity, June 8, 2024. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Yaakov Argamani says the meeting yesterday between his daughter Noa and her mother Liora, who is in serious condition with brain cancer, was very difficult.

“Unfortunately her mother is in a a very difficult situation,” he tearfully tells Army Radio. “Her mother barely looked at Noa. This was not the reaction I was hoping for for the meeting after eight months. It was very difficult.”

“I believe that [Liora] understood. There was a response, or half a response. She understood but was unable to convey her emotions and can’t say what she has really been waiting to say to [Noa] when she saw her,” he says.

Liora Argamani, 61, has stage four brain cancer and has said that her last wish was to see her daughter again.

Liora Argamani in a recorded video message on November 29, 2023, for her daughter, Noa Argamani, held hostage by Hamas since October 7, 2023. (Courtesy Sarai Givaty and Keren Kozlova)

Comptroller begins examining IDF’s medical readiness and response on Oct. 7

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman has begun looking into the IDF’s medical readiness and response on October 7, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

This is part of the comptroller’s investigation into the IDF Technological and Logistics Directorate.

Englman announced in December the parameters of his massive investigation into the policy, civil and military failures that occurred before, during, and after the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre.

In May, the Supreme Court ruled against the IDF’s attempt to delay Englman’s probe into the military failures around the Hamas attacks.

Fiscal deficit climbs to 7.2% GDP in May, swelling above 2024 target

Israel’s fiscal deficit climbs to 7.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), or NIS 10 billion ($2.66 billion), in May over the prior 12 months, as the government continues to pour billions of shekels into funding the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry.

It marks the second month that the deficit swelled above the government target of 6.6% of national output set for 2024. Israel posted a budget deficit of 4.2% in 2023.

The May deficit widened from 7% of GDP in April, 6.2% in March, and 5.6% in February, amid increased military and civilian spending.

In May, government expenditure amounted to NIS 54 billion, taking spending since the start of the year to NIS 249.3 billion, an increase of 35% compared with the same period in 2023. War costs since the outbreak of the fighting with Hamas on October 7 ballooned to NIS 69.7 billion.

White House declines to say whether Biden will meet Netanyahu on Washington visit

File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with US President Joe Biden in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)

The White House declines to say whether US President Joe Biden will meet Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister visits Washington next month to address the US Congress.

“I don’t have anything to announce today,” Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan says in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” adding the two men were in regular communication.

“He’s coming to address the Congress. The president talks to him all the time,” Sullivan says.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. Biden has been a staunch supporter of Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza, but there have been tensions between the two men over how Israel is conducting the war.

Biden, who is running for reelection in November, has faced criticism over his support for Israel from his left-leaning political base as the Palestinian death toll mounts from Israel’s assault.

Sullivan says he hopes a ceasefire and hostage deal will be in place by the time Netanyahu comes to Washington. Hamas must simply say “yes” to the proposal on the table, he says.

Biden, who returns to the United States from France later today, has welcomed the rescue by Israeli forces of four hostages held by Hamas and vowed to keep working until all hostages were released and a ceasefire achieved.

Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border towns

Sirens warn of incoming rocket fire toward Holit and Sufa near the Gaza border.

Communications minister extends order banning Al Jazeera in Israel for 45 more days

Police raid the Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi extends the orders banning the broadcast of the Al Jazeera news network in Israel and blocking access to its website for a new, 45-day period.

According to a statement by Karhi’s office, the decision was adopted unanimously by the cabinet after security agencies submitted updated position papers “which unambiguously determined that the broadcasts of the channel constitute actual harm to state security.”

Karhi points out that the judge who last week reviewed the original ban issued on May 5 wrote in his ruling that there was “no room for doubt” that Al Jazeera content serves Hamas’s goals “and does significant harm to state security.”

Karhi’s order, which requires the approval of the prime minister, a vote in cabinet, and review by a district court within three days, is based on a temporary law passed in April allowing the government to shut down a foreign news outlet for a 45-day period if the security services deem that outlet to be causing “actual harm” to Israeli national security.

The temporary bans can be renewed for further periods of up to 45 days until the law expires on July 31, after which the legislation would need to be extended if the government wishes to continue banning the outlet.

Karhi’s office has not responded to questions regarding whether the government intends to extend the law.

Earlier on Sunday, the High Court of Justice took up a petition against the law that argues that the measure violates constitutional principles of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and ordered the government to respond by August 8. Alternatively, the court said that if the government will not be extending the law it can simply give notice to that effect.

Gantz to give press conference this evening, is expected to announce his exit from government

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz at a Jerusalem Day ceremony in Jerusalem, on June 5, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz will hold a press conference in Kfar Maccabiah this evening at 8 p.m., after scrapping a news conference planned for Saturday night in which he was expected to announce his party’s exit from the government.

The cancellation of Saturday’s announcement was apparently a tactical decision in light of yesterday’s rescue of four Israeli hostages from Gaza, with the party still intending to bolt the coalition due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to address Gantz’s concerns.

Following the rescue, the prime minister tweeted a plea to Gantz not to leave, stating that it was “the time for unity and not for division.”

In response, Gantz — one of three members of Netanyahu’s war cabinet — replied that “alongside the justified joy in the achievement, we must remember that all the challenges Israel faces have remained as they were. Therefore, I tell the prime minister and the entire leadership — today, too, we must consider responsibly how it is best and possible to continue from here.”

Last month, Gantz went on television to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless the premier commits to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict by June 8.

His party later submitted legislation to dissolve the Knesset, in the clearest indication to date that the alliance was nearing its end.

National Unity’s exit would not topple the government, which holds 64 of 120 Knesset seats without the centrist party.

IDF: 2 explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon hit open areas in Golan Heights

Two explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon at Israel an hour ago struck areas in the northern Golan Heights, sparking fires, the military says.

The IDF says it is investigating the incident. Firefighters are meanwhile working to extinguish the blazes.

A short while before the drone attack, a barrage of some 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon, hitting open areas in the northern Golan, the IDF says.

The rocket attack also sparked a fire.

The IDF says it is shelling the launch sites with artillery.

PM eulogizes officer killed in hostage rescue: ‘Forever remembered in the history of our people’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, June 9, 2024 (Screen grab)

At the outset of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at length about the operation to rescue the four hostages yesterday.

“The massive achievement yesterday raised the caused the nation to stand up taller,” says Netanyahu, “and I must say, it caused Israel’s supporters around the world to stand taller as well.”

“But it came with great pain, the fall of the hero of Israel, the IDF warrior, the late commander Arnon Zmora,” he continues.

He relates a story told by Amir Ofer, a commando who freed hostages from Entebbe Airport in 1976 under the command of Netanyahu’s brother Yoni, about meeting Zmora. After October 7, Zmora called Ofer to recount the battles he took part in against Hamas terrorists in Israeli towns and on roads near the border. “How did you succeed and we didn’t?” Zmora asked Ofer.

“It took me a few hours to digest your story. You were really heroes and you performed in an extraordinary way under the most difficult conditions,” Ofer wrote to Zmora.

“Arnon will forever be remembered in the history of our people,” says Netanyahu. “Just like the Rabin government supported the proposal to call the operation to free the hostage in Entebbe ‘Operation Yonatan’ after the commander of the assault force who fell in battle, I am sure that our government also unanimously supports the proposal to name the operation to free the hostages in Gaza ‘Operation Arnon’ after the commander of the force who fell in battle — the hero of Israel Arnon Zmora.”

Sirens in northern border towns warn of suspected drone attack

Sirens warning of a suspected drone attack sound in a number of communities close to the northern border.

The sirens come shortly after several rockets were fired from Lebanon.

Hamas sources deny Egypt, Qatar threatened arrest of leaders if they didn’t okay Gaza deal

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, right, talks to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, before their meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not in picture), in Cairo, Egypt, March 21, 2024. (AP/Amr Nabil)

Egypt and Qatar did not threaten to arrest Hamas leaders if they did not accept the latest hostage deal proposal, Hamas sources tell the state-owned Saudi Al Arabiya outlet.

The Hamas sources reject a Wall Street Journal report from Friday that claimed the two mediator countries turned up the pressure on Hamas’s leadership in Doha to sign a deal presented by the White House for a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages held there.

According to the Journal, which cited unnamed officials familiar with the negotiations, the two countries threatened the terror group’s leaders with sanctions, including the freezing of their assets, expulsion from the Qatari capital and arrests. This was reportedly at the prodding of the Biden administration.

The Al Arabiya report only mentions the threat of arrest, and does not address the claims of warnings of other potential sanctions.

War cabinet, including Gantz, to meet later today

National Unity party chief Benny Gantz holds a press conference in Ramat Gan, May 18, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The meeting of the war cabinet this evening will take place at 5:30 p.m., an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

It will include war cabinet minister and National Unity party chief Benny Gantz, who pushed off his expected departure from the emergency government last night.

Rocket sirens sound in communities close to northern border

Sirens warn of incoming rocket fire toward multiple communities close to the northern border.

Hezbollah-led forces have been attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis since October 8, a day after its ally, Palestinian terror group Hamas, carried out its October 7 onslaught, triggering the waר in Gaza.

Medical groups call for probe into violent arrest of doctor treating protester

A number of member organizations from the Israeli Medical Association meet in response to the violent arrest by police of Dr. Udi Baharav as he treated a woman at a rally last night in Tel Aviv calling for elections and a hostage deal.

The IMA plans to call on the Department of Internal Police Investigations to investigate the incident and bring the law to bear on all police officers and commanders involved.

According to a statement from the White Coats and No Mental Health Without Democracy public health activist groups, Baharav was violently arrested while wearing a vest clearly identifying him as medical staff.

“The arrest was violent and the doctor was detained until the morning hours…In addition to his arrest, other medical personnel were attacked and arrested. Their arrests symbolize the arrest of all medical professionals in Israel. This is an unprecedented low,” the statement said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz and Health Minister Uriel Busso have also condemned the incident.

הזייה !!! רופא בקפלן מטפל במפגינה שנפלה / נפצעה, שוטרים מתנפלים עליהם באלימות לא נתפסת וככל הנראה עיכבו את הרופא pic.twitter.com/fxuW5iJx2h

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) June 8, 2024

ADL study finds harassment, antisemitic hate on ‘toxic’ US neighborhood Facebook groups

People talk near a Meta sign outside of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Some Facebook groups in local communities have become “toxic sites of harassment,” for Jews, women, LGBTQ+ advocates, immigrants and people of color, the Anti-Defamation League says.

Researchers at the ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS) examined Facebook groups or pages in three local regions — a suburban county outside New York City where neighbors organized against a growing Orthodox Jewish community, a town near Boston where there was backlash when a woman of color won a local election, and in a small town in Ohio where a reproductive rights activist running for the council was forced to leave their home amid harassment by extremist groups.

“Unlike other forms of online harassment, such as trolling campaigns where targets don’t know their perpetrators, targets of local harassment are more likely to interact with their harassers in everyday life, inhabiting the same town or region, and often know people in common, making this form of harassment even more harmful,” the report says.

In addition, ADL researchers examined the levels of antisemitic content in those online communities on Meta’s Facebook, and found they had 5-10 times as much antisemitic content as control pages.

“You are more likely to be harassed on Facebook than on other platforms, yet this harassment is rarely visible to researchers,” says Jordan Kraemer, גirector of Policy and Research, ADL Center for Technology and Society.

“Facebook has become a key platform for neighborhood news and discussion groups, serving as a new ‘public square.’ However, harassment remains rampant and reporting inefficient, with the platform rarely if ever taking action to protect the targets,” Kraemer says.

High Court orders government to respond to petition against so-called Al Jazeera law

Police raid the Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice orders the government to respond to a petition demanding the annulment of a temporary law that allows the government to shutter foreign news outlets, on the basis that the law harms freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The court instructs the government to file its response by August 5, or alternatively to inform the court that it will not be extending the law’s duration when it expires on July 31.

The petition claims that the temporary law, passed in April in order to shut down the Al Jazeera news network in Israel, is unconstitutional due to alleged harm it does to the separation of powers, the rule of law, and the independence of the judicial authority.

The court says it is issuing the order “without taking a position, and given that we are talking about a law of an unprecedented nature for which it is fitting that it be reviewed by an expanded panel [of justices]” and that the government must explain why the law should not be annulled.

Such orders flip the burden of proof from the petitioners to the respondents, indicating that the court has concerns over the constitutionality of the law.

After the law was passed in April, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi with approval of the government ordered that Al Jazeera be shuttered for a 45-day period on May 5. The channel’s broadcasts were taken off air, its website blocked in Israel, and its equipment seized.

The Tel-Aviv Jaffa District Court approved Karhi’s order last week but reduced its duration to 35 days, meaning that the ban has now expired.

Al Jazeera has said it will resume broadcasts from Israel tomorrow, unless the government renews the ban today.

After hostage rescue, IDF presses on with operations in central Gaza and Rafah

Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released for publication by the military on June 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli troops continue to operate in the central Gaza Strip following yesterday’s hostage rescue mission in Nuseirat, the military says.

The IDF’s 98th Division launched an offensive last week in east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah — east and southeast of Nuseirat, where the rescue operation took place.

The division had participated in the operation, striking numerous targets and terror operatives in the area as special forces rescued the four hostages, the military says.

Meanwhile, operations also continue in southern Gaza’s Rafah, where the IDF says troops of the 162nd Division located several tunnel shafts, mortar launchers, and other weapons over the past day.

And in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, the IDF says a drone strike was carried out against a cell that had opened fire at troops operating in the area.

Another airstrike was carried out against a mortar launcher at the Islamic University in southern Gaza City, after several projectiles were launched at troops in the corridor. No injuries were caused in the mortar attack.

Numerous more strikes were carried out across Gaza over the past day. The IDF says one strike killed an Islamic Jihad field commander.

Parents of hostage Andrey Kozlov arrive from Russia to see him after his rescue from Gaza

The parents of Andrey Kozlov arrive at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan to see their son for the first time since he was rescued from Gaza in an Israeli military operation yesterday.

Kozlov’s parents live in Russia and arrived at Ben Gurion Airport a short time ago before they were whisked to the hospital to see their son, who is said to be in good condition.

Lapid establishes police violence ‘documentation center’ after chaos at anti-government protest

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during his Yesh Atid party's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, June 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid announces the establishment of a “documentation center” for police violence in the wake of an incident last night in which police violently arrested a doctor treating a woman at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv.

“There is no explanation and it is impossible to accept the photos in which police officers brutally beat and drag away a doctor who is providing treatment in the field, even though he identifies himself as a medical professional,” Lapid writes on X, calling for an investigation into the officers involved.

“This is not Ben Gvir’s police force but that of the citizens of Israel,” he states, referring to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose ministry oversees law enforcement.

Lapid provides an email address to send documentation of police brutality “to make sure that the information is not ‘lost.'”

Widely shared video from last night’s protest in Tel Aviv shows a police officer trying to grab a man wearing an orange emergency vest as he is treating an injured protester. The man, identified by Walla News as Dr. Udi Baharav, pushes her away and is then violently detained by a group of police.

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz and Health Minister Uriel Busso also condemn the incident.

In a statement, Gantz calls for an investigation, emphasizing that the police “must remember that their job is to protect the citizens” and allow demonstrations. Police commanders “should act according to the law and not according to the spirit of the minister,” he says.

Busso echoes Gantz’s call for an investigation, stating that police must “refine their procedures and make sure that what we saw last night does not happen again.”

According to police, 33 protesters were arrested during demonstrations in Tel Aviv yesterday.

הזייה !!! רופא בקפלן מטפל במפגינה שנפלה / נפצעה, שוטרים מתנפלים עליהם באלימות לא נתפסת וככל הנראה עיכבו את הרופא pic.twitter.com/fxuW5iJx2h

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) June 8, 2024

Father of hostage Almog Meir Jan died hours before rescue: ‘He didn’t get to see his son return’

Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan is reunited with his family at Sheba Medical Center, June 8, 2024. (IDF)

The father of rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan died hours before he could learn his son was coming home.

“My brother died of grief and didn’t get to see his son return. The night before Almog’s return, my brother’s heart stopped. He didn’t get to see his son return,” Dina Jan, Almog’s aunt, tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“We are very happy about Almog’s return, but the brain is unable to absorb that this is the end. We are broken,” she says, explaining that her brother lived alone in Kfar Saba.

“Yossi, my brother, Almog’s father, was glued to the television for the whole eight months, clinging to every piece of information,” she says.

“He loved Almog so much, cared for him so much, wanted to know what was happening to him and what he was going through. He could not bear it, every [potential hostage deal] that exploded in his face broke his heart,” she says.

“He lost 20 kilos, he couldn’t bear it in any way,” she says, “He closed himself off, didn’t want to see people. Everyone was worried about Yossi, but he wasn’t able to communicate with anyone.”

Dina says that she received a phone call from the army telling her that her nephew had been rescued, and the officer told her they had been unable to reach Yossi.

“I was so happy I didn’t know what to do,” she tells Kan, adding that she went to her brother’s home to tell him the good news.

“I drove like crazy, I knocked, ‘Yossi, Yossi, Yossi’ and nothing. I got no answer. The door of his house was open and I saw him sleeping in the living room. I screamed ‘Yossi’ to him and he didn’t answer me. I saw the color of his skin, I touched him, but he was dead,” she says.

Yossi Jan, who died at the age of 57, will be buried later today. His family have asked the public not to attend.

IDF denies reports claiming troops used aid trucks to carry out hostage rescue mission

The IDF denies reports claiming that Israeli special forces who carried out yesterday’s hostage rescue snuck into central Gaza’s Nuseirat using a humanitarian aid truck.

Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, says in a post on X that “our special forces did not enter the Nuseirat area via any car or aid truck.”

He also adds that Israeli forces did not use the US-built floating pier for aid on the coast of the central Gaza Strip, known as JLOTS, for the mission.

Adraee calls both claims “lies spread by Hamas media.”

IDF says jets hit Hezbollah targets, rockets fired at northern Israel

Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon last night and this morning, the military says.

The IDF says the targets hit last night included infrastructure in Aitaroun and buildings used by the terror group in Rab al-Thalathine

This morning, a rocket launcher in Houla was struck, the IDF adds.

Also this morning, several rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Misgav Am area. According to the IDF, the rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.

Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon last night and this morning, the military says.

The IDF says the targets hit last night included infrastructure in Aitaroun and buildings used by the terror group in Rab al-Thalathine

This morning, a… pic.twitter.com/deG1rQppw3

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 9, 2024

Lapid, bereaved father criticize PM for not meeting families of those killed: ‘You’re the PM of both successes and failures’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan after visiting four rescued hostages and their families there, June 8, 2024. (JACK GUEZ / POOL / AFP)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not meeting with the families of those killed on October 7 or the hostages killed in Gaza.

“If you are the prime minister – you are the prime minister of both successes and failures,” Lapid tells the Kan public broadcaster. “Disappearing when things don’t go your way is disgraceful, but is this something we didn’t know about before?”

There has been growing criticism of Netanyahu for meeting personally with the families of the hostages rescued yesterday, while sufficing with sending a written message when rescue attempts go awry, or nothing at all in many cases.

Former minister Izhar Shay, whose son IDF Sgt. Yaron Oree Shay was killed on October 7 defending an Israeli community during Hamas’s attack on Israel, posts a photo of his son with Netanyahu.

“I am one of those bereaved parents who the prime minister did not bother to call. My son fell among heroes and in his death saved the lives of hundreds of citizens,” Shay writes.

“But even if he had been murdered in his sleep or kidnapped from his home, a moral and honorable prime minister would have called to comfort and give strength. And to apologize that it happened on his watch. I’m not mad at him. Not at all. I despise him, wretched man,” he writes.

https://twitter.com/Izhars7/status/1799667294760775685

Millions to vote in EU elections’ super Sunday, with polls suggesting shift to the right

People walk past elections posters for the European elections in Frankfurt, Germany, June 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Voting begins across Europe on the final — and biggest — day of marathon EU elections, with balloting due in 21 countries, including France and Germany, where support for surging far-right parties is being tested.

Official results of the elections, which are held every five years and began in the Netherlands on Thursday, cannot be published before the last polling stations in the 27 EU nations close — those in Italy at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT). Unofficial estimates are due to trickle in from 1615 GMT.

The polls also mark the beginning of a period of uncertainty for the Europeans and their international partners.

Beyond the wrangling to form political groups and establish alliances inside parliament, governments will compete to secure top EU jobs for their national officials.

Chief among them is the presidency of the powerful executive branch, the European Commission, which proposes laws and watches to ensure they are respected. The commission also controls the EU’s purse strings, manages trade and is Europe’s competition watchdog.

Other plum posts are those of European Council president, who chairs summits of presidents and prime ministers, and EU foreign policy chief, the bloc’s top diplomat.

Widow of officer killed in hostage rescue raid: ‘An amazing partner, a perfect father’

Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, who was killed in a mission to rescue hostages held in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Israel Police)

The widow of the officer killed in yesterday’s hostage rescue operation asks that he be remembered as “an amazing partner, a perfect father” in addition to being a hero.

Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, 36, from Sde David, an officer of the elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit, was critically wounded during the operation and died a few hours later.

“Everything is now filled with the image of the hero Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora,” writes Michal Zmora on Facebook. “But long before he was a warrior and hero he was a sweet and charming man.

“An amazing partner, a perfect father. A man who was loving and loved. That’s how we’ll remember him, and I’d love for you to too,” she writes.

Survived by Michal and their two children, Zmora will be laid to rest at 4 p.m. in the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

Two ships catch fire after missile strikes off Yemen’s Aden; no reports of casualties

Two ships caught on fire after being hit by projectiles off Yemen’s Aden, two UK maritime agencies report.

The British security firm Ambrey says an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged general cargo ship was struck by a missile 83 nautical miles southeast of Aden and caught fire. The fire was later contained.

Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report from a captain of a vessel of an incident 80 nautical miles southeast of Aden.

“The ship was heading southwest along the Gulf of Aden at a speed of 8.2 knots when the forward station was struck by a missile. A fire started but was neutralized,” Ambrey says in an advisory note.

“A second missile was sighted but did not hit the ship. Persons on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident.”

Ambrey says the ship changed course to port and increased speed, adding that “no injuries were reported.”

Separately, Ambrey and UKMTO say they received a report about another incident 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden.

“The master reports that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile on the aft section, which resulted in a fire. Damage control is underway,” UKMTO say in advisory note.

They add that no casualties were reported and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control 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 Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Houthi fighters have launched drone and missile attacks in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden, forcing shippers since November to take longer and more costly journeys around southern Africa.

The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

US VP Harris welcomes rescue of hostages, mourns innocent lives lost in Gaza

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the press in Parkland, Florida, March 23, 2024. (Drew Angerer/AFP)

US Vice President Kamala Harris welcomes the rescue of four hostages yesterday, and reiterates Washington’s call for the war to end.

“Before I begin, I just say a few words about the morning which I know weighs heavily on all of our hearts,” she tells the Michigan Democratic Party dinner.

“On October seventh, Hamas committed a brutal massacre of 1,200 innocent people and abducted 250 hostages,” she says. “Thankfully four of those hostages were reunited with their families tonight. And we mourn all of the innocent lives that have been lost in Gaza, including those tragically killed today.”

At this stage, Harris is heckled by a protester, who is quickly removed from the room. The vice president says that while she values that person’s opinion, she is the one who has the stage.

“We have been working every day to bring an end to this conflict in a way that ensures Israel is secure, brings home all hostages, ends ongoing suffering for Palestinian people and ensures that Palestinians can enjoy their right to self determination, dignity and freedom,” she says. “As President Biden said last week, it is time for this war to end.”

Wife of soldier killed in hostage rescue: ‘Long before he was a hero he was a sweet and charming man’

Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, who was killed in a mission to rescue hostages held in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Israel Police)

The wife of Chief Inspector Arnon Zmora, who was critically wounded during yesterday’s hostage rescue operation and died shortly after, remembers her husband as “an amazing partner, a perfect father. A loving and loved man.”

“Now, everything is filled with the image of the late hero Arnon Zmora,” she writes in a post on Facebook.

“But long before he was a warrior and a hero he was a sweet and charming man.”

Zmora will be laid to rest this afternoon at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

After his death was announced, the name of the hostage rescue operation in which he was killed was changed from “Seeds of Summer” to “Operation Arnon” in his memory.

Cargo ship hit by missile southeast of Yemen’s Aden — UK maritime security firm

British security firm Ambrey says an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged general cargo ship has been struck by a missile 83 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Aden. The vessel caught fire before the blaze was contained.

Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report from a captain of a vessel on an incident 80 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Aden.

UKMTO says it also received a report from a master of a vessel about another incident 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control 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 Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“The ship was heading southwest along the Gulf of Aden at speed 8.2kts when the forward station was struck by a missile. A fire started but was neutralised,” Ambrey says in an advisory note.

“A second missile was sighted but did not hit the ship. Persons on board small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship during the incident.”

Ambrey says the ship changed its course to port with increased speed, adding that “no injuries were reported.”

The Houthi fighters have aimed drone and missile strikes at the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden, forcing shippers since November to take longer and more costly journeys around southern Africa.

US military: Gaza aid pier was not used in IDF hostage rescue operation

The United States Central Command says that its humanitarian aid pier in Gaza was not used in the Israeli operation that successfully rescued four hostages yesterday morning.

“The humanitarian pier facility, including its equipment, personnel, and assets were not used in the operation to rescue hostages today in Gaza. An area south of the facility was used by the Israelis to safely return the hostages to Israel,” CENTCOM says in a statement on X.

“Any such claim to the contrary is false. The temporary pier on the coast of Gaza was put in place for one purpose only, to help move additional, urgently needed lifesaving assistance into Gaza.”

The statement comes as the US resumed aid deliveries via the temporary pier yesterday, after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port.

“Today at approximately 10:30 am (Gaza time) US Central Command (USCENTCOM) began delivery of humanitarian assistance ashore in Gaza. Today, a total of approximately 492 metric tons (~1.1 million pounds) of much needed humanitarian assistance was delivered to the people of Gaza,” CENTCOM writes in a separate post on X.

The pier was repaired in the Israeli port of Ashdod before being brought back to the Gaza coast and reestablished on Friday.

Humanitarian Aid Flow Resumes in Gaza

Today at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Gaza time) U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) began delivery of humanitarian assistance ashore in Gaza. Today, a total of approximately 492 metric tons (~1.1 million pounds) of much needed humanitarian… pic.twitter.com/NBOzeoAEzL

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 8, 2024

Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Gaza rescue operation won’t affect hostage-ceasefire deal

Israel’s military operation that freed four hostages held by Hamas in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp will not affect the current prisoner-hostage swap deal, according to the deputy chief of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.

Mohammad Al-Hindi says that conditions for the deal remain the same, in comments to Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV.

PIJ is an ally of Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli troops rescued four hostages from Hamas captivity yesterday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip.

US President Joe Biden announced last week what he described as an Israeli proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas has not yet formally responded to the proposal, but officials in the terror group have reiterated their insistence that any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, a demand Israel has repeatedly ruled out.

‘Blatant lie’: IDF dismisses Hamas claim that other hostages were killed in today’s rescue

An Israeli army spokesman denies a claim by Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida that some Israeli hostages were killed during the IDF’s rescue operation of four hostages late this morning.

“It’s a blatant lie,” Israeli military spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN.

Report: US provided intel that helped Israel’s hostage rescue operation

Intelligence provided by the United States helped Israel carry out the successful mission to rescue the four hostages from Gaza, according to The New York Times.

Citing unnamed American and Israeli officials briefed on the matter, the outlet says a team of American officials in Israel helped by “providing intelligence and other logistical support.”

The report says that “Intelligence collection and analysis teams from the US and the UK have been in Israel throughout the war, assisting Israeli intelligence in collecting and analyzing information related to the hostages.”

Relatives of dead hostages chide Netanyahu: ‘When it ends badly, he doesn’t come or call’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024 (Maayan Toaf / GPO)

Some relatives of hostages who died in Gaza criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for personally meeting the families of today’s rescued hostages, while sufficing with sending a written message when rescue attempts go awry.

Avi Marciano, father of Noa Marciano who was murdered in captivity before her body was returned from Gaza, writes on Facebook: “I’m looking at Yaakov, the father of Noa Argamani, and can’t not be moved. I’m genuinely happy for all the families who got to embrace their loved ones. I’m also jealous.

“This highlights how our ending was bad. When it ends badly, the prime minister doesn’t come. He also doesn’t call.”

Yonatan Shamriz, whose brother Alon was mistakenly killed by IDF troops along with two other hostages, chastises Netanyahu for “taking half a day to get a grip” on October 7, yet rushing today to meet the rescued hostages and their families “within 15 minutes.”

Referring to comments by military officials that today’s rescue mission was a “hair’s breadth” between success and failure, Shamriz claims Netanyahu gambled “50-50” on the hostages’ lives, and that had it failed the families would “only have gotten a letter.”

Police say 33 arrested as Tel Aviv protesters tried to block road; all routes now open

Police say that 33 protesters were arrested during demonstrations in Tel Aviv this evening calling for new elections and the return of the remaining hostages held in captivity in Gaza, hours after the military announced that four hostages were rescued alive from central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp.

The police statement adds that all roads near the protest have now been opened to traffic.

It says that while most demonstrators attended the preapproved rally and then dispersed, some stayed and marched along Begin and Kaplan roads, “while trying to block a traffic route.

“Police forces at the scene dispersed the protesters from the road, while employing riot control methods and arresting disrupters of public order,” the statement added.