IDF strikes reported in Tyre, day after Iran said it would respond to ‘aggression’ in Lebanon
Strikes come after IDF issued evacuation order that included Christian neighborhood where Hezbollah said to be hiding * Iran says at least 2 members of Iranian air defense forces killed in Israeli strikes yesterday
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
Religious Zionism party says it opposes bill equating Torah study with military service
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party announces that it will not support the advancement of a law that equates the status of yeshiva students with soldiers, as the ultra-Orthodox parties push to advance controversial legislation enshrining Torah study as a Basic Law this week.
In a statement, the far-right party says it “will not allow the advancement of a law equating the status and conditions of those who avoid military service” to those of soldiers.
The party says it will only support legislation that establishes Torah study as a foundational value of the State of Israel if it “does not equate yeshiva students with IDF soldiers.”
The proposed law would establish Torah study as a foundational national value and define long-term Torah study as “meaningful service” to the state that is, controversially, equivalent to army service and confers upon those engaged in it equal rights and obligations to those who serve in the army.
According to Hebrew media reports, members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party also object to the wording of the legislation, including ministers Ze’ev Elkin and Amichai Chikli, and are reportedly demanding that the disputed language be removed as a condition for their support.
Shas MK Yoav Ben-Tzur says the ultra-Orthodox parties have agreed to remove the disputed language, at Smotrich’s request.
However, as the bill has already been submitted for a preliminary reading, the explanatory notes cannot be amended before such a vote takes place. Any changes would therefore only be made later in the legislative process, meaning that lawmakers backing the bill in a preliminary vote would be supporting it with the contested language still attached.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties are demanding that the legislation be brought to a vote this week and Shas chair Aryeh Deri has repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for coalition legislation if it isn’t.
The move marks the latest effort by Haredi parties to preserve exemptions from military service for yeshiva students, which the High Court of Justice has deemed unconstitutional, and to reinstate state stipends that have been halted to families of draft dodgers.
Hezbollah urges Lebanese authorities to mend ties with Iran
Hezbollah urges Lebanese authorities to mend their relationship with the terror group’s backer Iran and benefit from Tehran’s support, days after Iran struck Israel in response to strikes targeting the organization in south Beirut.
Last week Lebanon’s president and prime minister issued pointed calls for Tehran to stop interfering in their country’s affairs, after Hezbollah rejected a conditional ceasefire with Israel.
“We call on the Lebanese authorities to seize the opportunity available and correct their official relationship with the Islamic Republic in a way that serves the interest of both states,” a Hezbollah statement says.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into renewed conflict on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
Iran insists a halt to the wider Middle East conflict must include a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Iran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday in response to Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Iran warned it would resume attacks on Israel if the IDF kept striking Lebanon.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
IDF: Two Islamic Jihad operatives killed in Gaza strike yesterday
Two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group who were planning attacks on troops were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the IDF announces.
The military says the strike killed Iyad Nofal, a commander in Islamic Jihad’s elite forces, and Ahmed Marouf, a commander of a cell in Islamic Jihad who carried out rocket attacks on Israel.
“Both terrorists were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces in the immediate timeframe and were eliminated to remove the threat,” the army says.
Man jailed for a year for driving car into crowd of anti-government protesters in 2024
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court sentences Haim Sirotkin, a soccer coach who was convicted of ramming his car into a crowd of anti-government protesters in 2024, to a year in prison for reckless endangerment with a vehicle.
Sirotkin, 52, will also have his license suspended for four years. In addition, he will have to pay damages of NIS 20,000 ($6,800) to one of the people wounded – a woman of around 60, who suffered a head injury and four broken ribs – and NIS 4,000 ($1,360) each to four others.
The five protesters were making their way from a protest that night – April 7, 2024 – against the government and in favor of a hostage deal with the Hamas terror group, which at the time held some 130 captives, living and deceased.
תיעוד דריסת המפגינים בתל אביב. 5 נפגעו. הנהג נעצר לאחר שברח מהמקום
צילום: איתי רזיאל pic.twitter.com/t8Lc54tbfZ
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) April 6, 2024
At the time, Sirotkin claimed he did not mean to hurt anyone, and that he had lost control of his vehicle as a result of some malfunction. In his sentencing decision, Judge Itai Hermelin notes that the accused did not maintain this claim during the trial.
Hermelin also notes that the government did not accuse the former soccer player of driving with the specific intention of hurting the protesters, but rather that he acted recklessly, with indifference to the results of his actions.
However, he writes, “It’s impossible to completely detach the accused’s impatience, which caused him to step on the gas pedal… from the confrontation that developed between the passengers in the vehicle and the protesters.”
Furthermore, the judge argues, “the harm to protesters creates a harm to freedom of political expression, insofar as it clearly arouses fear of participating in any demonstration lest one get hurt.”
At least 2 members of Iranian air defense forces killed in IDF strikes yesterday, state media says
Iranian state television says at least two members of the army’s air defense force were killed in Israeli strikes yesterday.
“These esteemed martyrs of the Army Air Defense Force attained martyrdom while carrying out their mission of defending the country’s skies during yesterday’s aggression by the Zionist regime,” state television says.
Fresh IDF strikes reported in Tyre after evacuation warnings
Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrikes in the coastal city of Tyre a short while ago.
“Enemy warplanes launched a violent raid on Tyre,” Lebanon’s National News Agency says.
Earlier, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for the entire city and its outskirts, including a Christian neighborhood that until now had not faced such orders.
IDF says it struck Hamas naval police HQ, 3 weapons depots in Gaza
The Israeli Air Force bombed the main headquarters of Hamas’s naval police in the Gaza Strip earlier this week, the military announces.
According to the IDF, the airstrike on Sunday in the Khan Younis area killed several terror operatives, including Ismail al-Lahham, a cell commander in Hamas’s military wing.
The military says Hamas’s naval police “operates under the authority of Hamas’s military wing, and works to advance, direct, and carry out terror attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”
“At the headquarters that was struck, Hamas conducted rehabilitation and force-building efforts, in violation of the ceasefire agreement and while exploiting infrastructure presented as civilian,” the IDF says.
In addition, the military says that last week it struck and destroyed three Hamas arms caches, where weapons intended to be used against troops were stored.
Before the strikes, and after the IDF issued warnings to residents of the area, the military says that it identified several Hamas operatives “who began attempting to remove the weapons at the warehouses using vehicles.”
“Following the identification, the IDF struck the terrorists and the weapons,” the military says.
Leaving missiles and proxies out of Iran deal would be ‘strategic disaster’ – European diplomat
A European diplomat warns that the failure to restrict Tehran’s missile program and regional proxy network in the emerging US-Iran deal would amount to a “strategic disaster” for both Israel and Europe.
If negotiators “have stricken out the missiles [and] they have stricken out the proxies… we have a complete strategic disaster,” the diplomat tells The Times of Israel.
“The current US-led track appears to exclude missiles and proxies,” the diplomat says of the emerging Iran deal, details of which have not been publicized.
Despite being repeatedly presented by top American and Israeli officials as key components of Iran’s military leverage, the Islamic Republic’s missile and proxy programs have hardly been mentioned publicly by US, Iranian, or Israeli officials discussing the latest framework of the deal, or in any reported details of the negotiations.
The diplomat, who has held conversations with regional sources familiar with the talks, warns that the apparent omission is significant, as a large enough missile arsenal could deter future attacks by threatening retaliation — and could eventually provide the delivery system for a nuclear weapon — while Tehran’s proxy network allows it to threaten Israel, Western forces, and targets abroad without direct confrontation.
“This is dangerous because Iran may retain enough nuclear capability while Hezbollah and other proxies remain active,” the diplomat says.
Shares on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange slip amid investor uncertainty over Iran
Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange slip amid investor uncertainty over an emerging peace deal between the US and Iran, the day after Tehran and Jerusalem said they were halting strikes after a number of hours of direct conflict.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index drops 0.7 percent around midday trading. The benchmark index has gained almost 16% so far this year, fueled by optimism for an end of hostilities in the region and an improved geopolitical environment.
The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies is down 0.8%. The TA-Insurance index dips 2% and the TA-Oil and Gas Index falls 1.4%.
“Less than 24 hours ago, Iran still fired missiles at Israel, and while both sides announced on Monday they would halt attacks for now, the market is looking for clarity over a peace deal pursued by Washington,” Mizrahi Tefahot Bank chief markets economist Ronen Menahem tells The Times of Israel. “There is still a lot of volatility around the geopolitical situation, as it is not clear if a US-Iran deal remains within reach in the coming days, and whether Israel’s interests will be served.”
Iran says US withdrew its World Cup ticket allocation days before tournament
Iran’s football federation says the United States has revoked its allocation of tickets for its World Cup group games, accusing the co-host of obstructing the attendance of Iranian supporters.
The US has presented a number of bureaucratic hurdles for Iran at the global football spectacle, including refusing to issue visas for some of its support staff.
“With less than three days remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup… the United States has once again acted to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums hosting the national team’s three group stage matches,” the federation says in a statement.
The Iranian football body says FIFA regulations dictate that it should be allocated eight percent of tickets for each match, which are given to participating federations for distribution to their supporters through official channels.
According to the statement, Iran had already begun ticket sales for group stage matches against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt — all to be held in the US — after receiving its quota, with some fans having already made necessary arrangements.
“However, in an unexpected move, the allocation granted to the Iranian Football Federation has been withdrawn, and under the current circumstances, the federation is unable to provide even a single ticket to supporters of the national team,” it says.
The federation describes the move as “contrary to the spirit governing international competitions and the principle of equality among participating countries.”
It also calls on FIFA and tournament organizers “to uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness, and established regulations, to provide the necessary conditions for Iranian supporters.”
Neither FIFA nor US organizers have publicly commented on the Iranian accusation.