Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
Netanyahu denies report he authorized arms deals with Qatar
The Prime Minister’s Office calls a report that Benjamin Netanyahu approved major arms deals to Qatar before October 7 “totally fake news.”
“The Prime Minister has not instructed the Defense Ministry to sign any export licenses for Qatar,” the PMO tells The Times of Israel.
“Only deals above a certain sum reach the Ministers Committee for Exports, chaired by the Prime Minister – and concerning Qatar, there was no such deal,” says the PMO.
“In accordance with the export supervision law, the Prime Minister does not sign export licenses, and the authorized officials who may approve export and marketing licenses are the Director General of the Defense Ministry and the head of DECA.”
US, European powers submit Iran resolution at UN nuclear agency
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (2nd R) and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) chief Mohammad Eslami (R) during the 'National Day of Nuclear Technology,' in Tehran, on April 9, 2025 (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
European powers and the United States submitted a resolution to the UN’s nuclear watchdog board condemning Iran’s “non-compliance” with its nuclear obligations, in a bid to up pressure on Tehran, diplomats tell AFP.
It is the latest move in a years-long effort to restrict Iran’s nuclear activities over fears that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The diplomatic maneuver comes as the United States and Tehran have held several rounds of talks mediated by Oman, aimed at securing an agreement on limiting Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
“The text has been submitted,” three diplomatic sources tell AFP on Tuesday night.
Paris, Berlin, London and Washington formally tabled the resolution at this week’s board meeting of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is expected to come to a vote on Wednesday evening at the earliest.
The draft resolution obtained by AFP calls on Iran “to urgently remedy its non-compliance” with its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
It also “deeply regrets” that Tehran “despite repeated calls from the Board and many opportunities offered… has failed to cooperate fully with the Agency.”
The agency’s “inability… to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC),” which can draw up sanctions.
The resolution follows an IAEA report in late May that showed “a general lack of cooperation” by Tehran, diplomats said, including in providing “credible” answers to questions by the agency as well as the theft of confidential documents and the cleaning up of undeclared sites.
The report also criticized “less than satisfactory” cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining nuclear material found at undeclared sites in the past.
For years, the agency has been trying to obtain clarification on nuclear material and equipment found at undeclared sites and resulting from undeclared activities carried out until the early 2000s.
Tehran, which vows to destroy Israel, has also accelerated its production of near-weapons-grade uranium in recent months.
Police to close airspace around venue where Netanyahu’s son is getting married
(From left to right) Avner, Sara, Benjamin and Yair Netanyahu tour the Golan Heights, on April 23, 2019. (PMO)
Police will close the airspace around the wedding next week of Avner Netanyahu, the youngest son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ynet reports.
Citing a notice to pilots, the report says that the airspace within a 1.5 kilometer radius around the Ronit Farm in central Israel will be closed Monday, except for police helicopters.
Media reports said that the wedding was postponed last year due to Netanyahu’s fear that it could have been targeted amid the multifront war and the drone threat.
A Hezbollah drone last year hit the bedroom window of the premier’s private residence in Caesarea, causing damage. The Netanyahus weren’t home at the time.
In April, hundreds of anti-government protesters demonstrated outside a pre-wedding event hosted by the family of the bride, Amit Yardeni, that was attended by the Netanyahus.
High Court gives government 5 days to respond to petitions against firing AG
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Isaac Amit as president of the Supreme Court, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The High Court of Justice orders the government to respond by Sunday (June 15) to petitions demanding that a cabinet resolution passed this week, to change the way the attorney general is fired, be frozen.
Justice Noam Sohlberg adds that if Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara decides not to represent the government’s position, the government will be able to file its own response separately.
On Sunday, the government passed a cabinet resolution giving a five-member ministerial committee the authority to recommend to the government whether or not to fire the attorney general, bypassing the professional, statutory committee that had been tasked with that duty until now.
The government had failed to fully staff the professional committee, so it amended the dismissal process through its cabinet resolution in order to proceed with firing Baharav-Miara, with whom the government has repeatedly clashed.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the primary petitioning organizations, claimed in its petition that the government’s decision to change the dismissal process was made “with a clear conflict of interest between the prime minister and nine other ministers who are under criminal investigation, without a factual foundation, with extreme arbitrariness and with a single goal: to dismiss the legal advisor as soon as possible.”
The petitions request that the court invalidate the resolution and freeze its implementation until a final decision is made.
“The court’s decision to set a close date for response testifies to the seriousness of the situation,” says head of the Movement for Quality Government Eliad Shraga.
“We call on the court to stop this unacceptable move and save the country’s most senior [law enforcement] gatekeeper from arbitrary dismissal. The fight for the future of Israeli democracy is currently underway in the High Court, and the clock is ticking.”
Trump administration condemns ‘extremely unhelpful’ sanctions on Smotrich, Ben Gvir
Then-National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (R) with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (L) at a 'Victory Conference' calling for renewed Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, January 28, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Trump administration condemns the “extremely unhelpful” sanctions that the UK, Canada, Australia, Norway, New Zealand imposed earlier today against far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
“It will do nothing to get us closer to a ceasefire in Gaza. They should focus on the real culprit, which is Hamas,” says State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce when asked about the unprecedented sanctions during a press briefing.
“We remain concerned about any step that would further isolate Israel from the international community,” she continues. “If our allies want to help, they should focus on supporting special envoy Witkoff’s negotiations and backing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation when it comes to food and aid.”
While Bruce focused her answer on Gaza, the British-led move came in response to Israel’s policy in the West Bank, where they said Smotrich and Ben Gvir have incited extremist violence against Palestinians. Settler attacks have been taking place there unchecked on a near-daily basis and the head of the police’s West Bank division is currently under investigation for ignoring the phenomenon to curry favor with Ben Gvir.
State Department declines to say if US still supports two-state solution
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce repeatedly declines to say whether Washington still backs a two-state solution after US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said otherwise in an interview with Bloomberg.
“I’m not going to parse the ambassador’s remarks,” Bruce says.
Bruce says that the foreign policy issue is a question for the White House, not the State Department.
Q: Is the two-state solution a goal of the State Department currently?
TAMMY BRUCE: When it comes to the policy of the United States, that sits with President Donald Trump
Q: But the secretary of state is in charge of foreign policy
BRUCE: Secretary Rubio implements President… pic.twitter.com/sU8puD3Lhb
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 10, 2025
Leading rabbi accused of sexually assaulting young girls
Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Abergel. (YouTube screenshot)
Several young women accuse a leading rabbi of repeatedly sexually assaulting them and others in interviews with Channel 12.
The women describe how Rabbi Haim Yosef Abergel, A prominent Sephardic rabbi from the southern city of Netivot, repeatedly molested them in recent years, with some of them as young as 12 when the assaults started.
The young women describe how aides to the rabbi tried to silence them and their families with threats and bribes.
One of the women, who spoke on camera but was not identified, filed a complaint with police this morning. Channel 12 says police are likely to launch a formal investigation.
A lawyer for Abergel denied the accusations, calling them completely false and a blood libel.
Abergel made headlines recently with reports he was planning on establishing a new Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party to compete with Shas.
Abergel is the son of the late Rabbi Yoram Abergel, a popular rabbi who himself split with Shas in 2015. In 2013, the senior Abergel was arrested on suspicion of extortion in connection with threats against a mayoral candidate in Netivot, but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
US-Israeli hiker missing in northern India amid harsh weather conditions
US-Israeli hiker Samuel Vengrinovich who is missing in India. (Courtesy)
An Israeli-American man has been missing since Friday after hiking in the mountains near Dharamshala in northern India, prompting an extensive search effort by local authorities, Israeli volunteers, and private rescue teams.
Samuel Vengrinovich, a 44-year-old resident of Jaffa, was last seen on Friday during a trek to the Triund Ridge, a popular hiking destination in the Himachal Pradesh region.
According to fellow hikers, Vengrionovitch left his bag, including his cell phone, at the overnight campsite and continued toward the nearby snow line — a higher, more dangerous section of the trail – despite deteriorating weather.
Hagai, an Israeli hiker who encountered Samuel on the trail, says the conditions were tougher than usual. He fears Samuel may be stranded and in urgent need of rescue.
When Vengrinovich failed to return to the campsite or make contact with friends, alarmed travelers notified local authorities and the Foreign Ministry. The Israeli Embassy in India has since been coordinating with police and rescue officials in the region.
Over the weekend, a number of Israeli backpackers joined the search, along with Chabad of Dharamshala and Magnus International Search & Rescue, a private Israeli firm specializing in emergency response.
Vlad Vengrinovich, the father of the missing hiker – who did not have travel insurance – has launched an online fundraising campaign to help cover search and rescue expenses, including a potential helicopter operation.
Trump said to tell Netanyahu his threats to attack Iran are not helpful
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House where he is met by US President Donald Trump (L) in Washington DC, April 7, 2025 (Avi Ohayon/GPO)
US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday that his threats to attack Iran are not helping, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The negotiations with Iran are futile, Netanyahu told Trump during their 40-minute phone call yesterday. He argued that Iran is playing with the US, and all it’s trying to do is drag out talks.
Trump retorted that Netanyahu’s statements about attacking Iran aren’t helping while he is working on an agreement with Iran.
According to Channel 12, Trump told Netanyahu that attacking Iran was off-limits.
Report: Foreign Ministry stopped Katz from forcing Thunberg, detained activists from watching Oct. 7 atrocity film
Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists upon her arrival to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, after being deported by Israel on a flight to Sweden via France, following her detention along with other activists aboard a Gaza-bound boat, on June 10, 2025. (Hugo MATHY / AFP)
The Foreign Ministry stopped Defense Minister Israel Katz from forcing Greta Thunberg and 11 other detained activists to watch a film of the October 7, 2023, atrocities, Channel 12 reports.
According to the report, the foreign ministry intervened after Katz announced his plans, fearing that it could create a diplomatic incident and undermine Israel’s largely successful handling of the interception of the vessel, the Madleen, to prevent it from sailing to Gaza.
However, Katz felt it was important to show the hypocrisy and ignorance of the activists regarding what Israel faced on October 7, when terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people amid widespread atrocities, and taking 251 hostages.
In the end, the activists were put in a room, and the film began playing. They were asked if they wanted to continue watching, and they declined. At that stage, the screening was halted, Channel 12 says.
Haaretz reports that Katz had also wanted to film the activists watching the October 7 footage but that the Foreign Ministry successfully pushed back on the effort, fearing that the move would draw more attention to the activists’ initiative.
The harrowing 43-minute video produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch footage of people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the Hamas-led onslaught, much of it taken from terrorists’ bodycams.
Trump said to have told Netanyahu to end Gaza war, attacking Iran off limits for now
US President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he leaves the West Wing of the White House, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mark Schiefelbein)
United States President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their phone call yesterday that he wants to see an end to the war in Gaza and that attacking Iran’s nuclear sites is off limits, reports Channel 12, without naming sources.
In an unprecedented message by the president to the premier, Trump told Netanyahu that he expects him to end the war in Gaza – not only to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal through the Witkoff framework in the ongoing negotiations, but to ensure the war ends altogether, says the network.
Ending the war will aid negotiations with Iran and Saudi Arabia, the president reportedly said. The understanding is that Washington is prepared to offer Hamas strong guarantees to end the war, adds Channel 12.
The reported conversation may explain Netanyahu’s statements earlier today that new progress is being made in the hostage negotiations, the network says.
Trump also clarified that he has not completed his efforts in the US-Iran nuclear talks, saying, despite his disapproval of Iran’s last offer, the door has not closed. Netanyahu replied that a credible military threat must be kept on Iran at all times, to which Trump again asserted that a strike should be taken off the table as negotiations continue.
According to two sources familiar with the details of the conversation, Netanyahu did not receive a clear answer from Trump as to whether the US would give Israel a green light to act alone, or whether Washington would want to participate in or lead a strike — if the negotiations with Iran fall through, says the report.
The report said there would be no discussions on a military strike until Trump concludes that talks had failed.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the details of the conversation, adds Channel 12.
Arab official denies progress in hostage talks, says Netanyahu’s public optimism aimed at keeping coalition afloat
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, speaks at a protest outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv along with other relatives of the Gaza captives, on June 9, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
An Arab official familiar with the hostage negotiations says there hasn’t been a major development in efforts to secure a deal, and speculates that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expressing public optimism to “spook” ultra-Orthodox lawmakers against voting tomorrow to dissolve the coalition.
“The disagreements over whether the deal can lead to a permanent ceasefire remain,” the Arab official tells The Times of Israel, noting that Netanyahu is not prepared to end the war while Hamas won’t agree to release hostages unless it has assurances from mediators that the temporary truce on the table will lead to a permanent one.
“The public statements seem to have more to do with internal politics,” the Arab official says.
“Could a breakthrough be achieved soon? Yes. But this will require one of the sides moving from their long-held position, which hasn’t yet happened,” the official adds.
IDF brings down missile from Yemen; multiple interceptors launched as projectile breaks up
Smoke trails seen after a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted, as it seen from Jerusalem, June 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
One ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the military says.
The missile broke up into multiple parts after being hit by an interceptor, leading the Israeli Air Force to launch additional interceptors to shoot down the fragments.
At least seven interceptors were seen launched. In the past, intact warheads from partially intercepted Houthi missiles have fallen to the ground and caused harm.
Sirens had sounded across central Israel, the Jerusalem area, southern West Bank settlements, and some areas in southern Israel. Preceding the sirens by two minutes, an early warning was issued to residents, alerting civilians of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 48 ballistic missiles and at least 11 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.
Netanyahu meets security chiefs, top ministers on hostage talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of senior officials this evening to discuss “next steps” in the ongoing hostage talks, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.
“In light of certain progress in the negotiations,” the PMO writes, Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and members of the negotiation team “in order to receive updates on the framework for the release of our hostages and to discuss next steps.”
Knesset passes law requiring governments to set a national security policy
A law requiring every government to formulate a national security policy passes its third and final reading 19-0 in the Knesset plenum on Tuesday.
The bipartisan bill — sponsored by National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot and committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) — requires the National Security Council to formulate a national security strategy in consultation with the foreign and defense ministries, intelligence agencies and other government bureaus.
In the bill’s explanatory notes, Edelstein and Eisenkot assert that a lack of an explicit security doctrine in favor of unwritten rules has damaged the country’s preparations and readiness in the face of threats, paving the way for the events of October 7, 2023.
The strategy — which will have to be approved by the government within 150 days of its formulation and be updated regularly — will identify Israel’s national security challenges and establish its strategic goals, and provide a “critical assessment” of the country’s existing national security strategy.
“The law was also born against the backdrop of the lessons from the October 7 attack, which radically clarified the lack of a national security concept,” says Eisenkot, expressing the law’s importance in ensuring that Israel remains “strong and powerful in a way that ensures the existence of the state forever.”
Sirens sound across central Israel, Jerusalem area, south following ballistic missile launched from Yemen
Smoke trails seen after a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted, as it seen from Jerusalem, June 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Sirens are now sounding across central Israel, the Jerusalem area, southern West Bank settlements, and some areas in southern Israel following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen.
The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.
The attack comes hours after the Israeli Navy struck the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida this morning, in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated attacks on Israel.
Missile launched at Israel from Yemen, IDF working to down it
A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel, the military says.
Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.
The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.
Top US general says he presented Trump with plans to hit Iran, military ready to strike if ordered
Lt. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, testifies during a Senate committee hearing March 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The top US military commander for the Middle East says he has presented US President Donald Trump with military plans to strike Iran and is prepared to do if so ordered.
“I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” Central Command head Gen. Michael Kurilla says during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions.
“I take that as a yes?” the Alabama Republican asks, after Kurilla responds.
“Yes,” Kurilla says.
UN peacekeepers attacked, slapped by ‘civilians’ in south Lebanon
United Nations peacekeepers say rock-throwing individuals confronted them during a patrol on Tuesday in south Lebanon, calling repeated targeting of their troops “unacceptable.”
The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978 to separate Lebanon and Israel, sits on a five-member committee to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In a statement, UNIFIL says peacekeepers conducting “a planned patrol” coordinated with the Lebanese army were “confronted by a group of individuals in civilian clothing in the vicinity of Hallusiyat al-Tahta, in southern Lebanon.”
“The group attempted to obstruct the patrol using aggressive means, including throwing stones at the peacekeepers,” the statement read, adding that “one peacekeeper was struck,” but no injuries were reported.
The situation was defused when the Lebanese army intervened, allowing the peacekeeping force to continue its patrol.
“It is unacceptable that UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to be targeted,” the statement adds.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti tells AFP a Finnish soldier was slapped during the confrontation.
The slap that has become famous in #Lebanon: Earlier today, plain cloth #Hezbollah militants physically assaulted the UN “interim” since 1978 peace keeping force UNIFIL, blocking its inspection of a likely Hezbollah arms depot. UNIFIL costs $500 million a year, money’d be better… pic.twitter.com/XtvQo4n29W
— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) June 10, 2025
There have been several confrontations between people in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, and UN peacekeepers in recent weeks.
Peace Now lambastes US envoy’s comments on Palestinian state: Trying to ‘realize his religious fantasies’
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee holds a press conference at the US embassy in Jerusalem, May 9, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)
The dovish Peace Now organization lambastes US Ambassador Mike Huckabee over his comments that the US no longer fully supports the establishment of a Palestinian State, accusing him of seeking to “realize his religious fantasies,” in reference to his strong association with the Evangelical movement.
“After intervening in internal Israeli politics yesterday, today Mike Huckabee turned himself into the spokesperson for [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Orit] Strok,” Peace Now, which advocates for a two-state solution, says in response to the ambassador’s comments, as well as his reported efforts on Monday to stop the ultra-Orthodox parties voting to dissolve the Knesset.
“This is not an ambassador, this is an Evangelist who is dreaming of the war of Gog and Magog in the Middle East in order to realize his religious fantasies,” continues the organization in reference to Biblical prophecies about the end of days.
“It can only be hoped that President Trump will prove that he is a friend of Israel, repudiate the comments of the ambassador, which contradict the position of the US, his vision for the region, and the Israeli interest.”
IDF says it killed 2 terror operatives in south Lebanon strike
A Hezbollah operative and a member of an allied terror group were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Shebaa earlier today, the military says.
The second operative was a member of the Lebanese Resistance Companies.
According to the IDF, the two operatives were involved in “handling weapons used by Hezbollah for terror purposes and for observation of IDF soldiers in the area.”
Their activity “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF adds.
Lebanese soldier Mohammad Kanaan and his son were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.@PressTV pic.twitter.com/7hHd09uzQL
— Azadar Hussain (@Azadar04) June 10, 2025
Trump says Iran becoming ‘much more aggressive’ in nuclear talks
US President Donald Trump speaks during an 'Invest in America' roundtable with business leaders at the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump tells Fox News that Iran is becoming “much more aggressive” in the ongoing nuclear talks.
“Iran is acting much differently in negotiations than it did just days ago… Much more aggressive. It’s surprising to me. It’s disappointing, but we are set to meet again tomorrow – we’ll see,” Trump says.
Fox also cites a senior administration official who says Iran appears to be dragging its feet in negotiations, while still moving forward in its nuclear enrichment efforts.
Yesterday, Trump told reporters that the Iranians are “tough negotiators,” while reiterating that he would not allow Tehran to enrich uranium on its soil.
The US proposal for a nuclear deal would reportedly allow just that, though, for a temporary period of time.
Iran is slated to issue a counter-proposal in the coming days, as the sides gear up for a sixth round of nuclear talks over the weekend.
Cuomo scores slew of Jewish community endorsements ahead of NYC mayoral primary
Democratic mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo speaks during a Democratic mayoral primary debate, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo secures a series of Jewish community endorsements ahead of New York City’s Democratic party primary later this month.
The primary will likely decide the next mayor of the mostly Democratic city, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. The general election is in November.
Cuomo’s campaign announces an endorsement from the Ahronim faction of the Satmar Hasidic movement in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg.
Yesterday, Cuomo secured the endorsement of the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition and the Sephardic Community Federation.
In the past week, Cuomo also won the backing of Bobov community leaders, two Jewish groups in Crown Heights, the stronghold of the Chabad Hasidic community, and the Far Rockaway Jewish Alliance.
Orthodox Jewish groups have been lining up behind Cuomo, despite lingering bitterness over COVID restrictions Cuomo enacted while he was governor during the pandemic. Religious Jewish communities felt some of the virus policies targeted their communities, but are endorsing him amid the perceived threat from his leading opponent in the primary, State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel.
Cuomo has sought to make amends with Orthodox communities during the campaign, as part of his broader outreach to Jewish voters.
Some Jewish leaders in Boro Park Orthodox communities announced their endorsement of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as their first choice vote, and State Senator Zellnor Myrie as their second choice. The city’s ranked-choice voting system allows voters to select up to five candidates.
US issues sanctions against charities supporting Hamas, PFLP
Illustrative: Cash confiscated from an East Jerusalem charity, with alleged ties to Hamas, in February 2022. (Israel Police)
The United States imposes sanctions targeting individuals and sham charities that it says were prominent financial supporters of the Palestinian groups Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The individuals and groups targeted were funding Hamas’s military wing under the pretense of doing humanitarian work, in Gaza and internationally, the Treasury Department says.
The Treasury says it will continue to seek disruptions to the financial capabilities of Hamas, which still holds hostages it seized in the group’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel.
The entities sanctioned included the Gaza-based Al Weam Charitable Society, the Turkey-based Filistin Vakfi, the El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work, which is based in Algeria, the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation, and the Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro, based in Italy, the department says in a statement.
The five individuals targeted were leaders associated with the groups, it says.
“Today’s action underscores the importance of safeguarding the charitable sector from abuse by terrorists like Hamas and the PFLP, who continue to leverage sham charities as fronts for funding their terrorist and military operations,” Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender says in the statement.
Hamas and PFLP have a long history of abusing non-profit organizations and charities, the Treasury said.
Slain Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta honored as body returns home
A ceremony is held as the coffin of Thai national Nattapong Pinta, whose body was returned from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, departs for Thailand, outside Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, June 10, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Israel “does not forget its friends,” says Interior Minister Moshe Arbel at the farewell ceremony to see off the body of slain Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta, who Hamas-led terrorists abducted on October 7, 2023.
“Pinta came here to support his family, and in the end, he paid with his life for unimaginable barbarity,” says Arbel.
Pinta’s body is being flown back to Thailand. His remains were recovered in a joint Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet operation in the southern Gaza Strip, officials announced Saturday morning.
He was kidnapped alive by terrorists of the Mujahideen Brigades — a relatively small terror group in the Strip and somewhat allied with Hamas — from the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he worked as a farmhand.
The IDF said it believed that the terror group murdered Pinta in captivity during the first months of the war.
Gaza aid group says it distributed 35,520 boxes of food at three sites in Gaza today
Displaced Palestinians receive humanitarian aid packages from a US-backed foundation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 10, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it distributed 35,520 boxes of food at three sites in central and southern Gaza today.
The US- and Israeli-backed foundation says each box contains meals for 5.5 people for 3.5 days.
However, its contents are largely dry food products that require community kitchens or cooking equipment to prepare, which are very scarce in war-ravaged Gaza.
GHF says aid was distributed without incident, but Palestinian media reported that 20 people were killed while en route to one of the distribution sites, in what has become a near-daily allegation.
The IDF said its troops fired warning shots at Palestinians who approached forces “and posed a threat” in the Netzarim Corridor area. The military said it was aware of the reports of casualties by its gunfire in the area, but “the reported number of casualties is inconsistent with the information available to the IDF.”
Horrific: A video from one of the so-called ‘humanitarian distribution sites’ of GHF in Gaza today.
Does this look like humane to you? pic.twitter.com/evx6R7llFR
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) June 10, 2025
Settler filmed blocking sole entrance to Palestinian town as soldier looks on
Footage from early this morning shows an Israeli settler closing a military-installed gate and throwing large stones on the concrete to prevent Palestinian vehicles from passing through the lone remaining entrance to the northern West Bank town of Salfit.
The IDF has blocked off all other entrances to Salfit and has erected countless yellow gates — like the one seen in the clip — to shut down roads across the West Bank over the past year for what it says are security purposes. The roadblocks and checkpoints have caused massive congestion throughout the territory where commutes for millions of Palestinians that once took 15 to 30 minutes now regularly take several hours.
יאסוף, נפת סלפית. בוקר בדרך לעוד יום עבודה. מתנחל סוגר את היציאה היחידה מהכפר לכיוון סלפית.
המפקד בשטח – המתנחל. הצבא מציית בהרכנת ראש. הבוקר זה סגירת שער ומניעת יציאה, מהכפר. בדרך כלל גניבה, חבלות ואפילו הצתת בתים על יושביהם. עומדים מנגד.
עוד יום בממלכת האפרטהייד ושירות… pic.twitter.com/wbiDZnFQUV
— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) June 10, 2025
The IDF allows the yellow gate in Salfit to be opened for just two hours in the morning and two hours at night, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
But this morning, a settler from a nearby illegal outpost appears to decide on his own that the gate will be closed.
A soldier is seen standing by without reacting, as the settler closes the gate, stranding Palestinian vehicles indefinitely.
The Yesh Din rights group says that the footage is “further evidence of who determines and implements Israeli policy in the West Bank: the settlers lead, while the army watches and enables.”
US envoy: Washington does not currently support establishment of a Palestinian state
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attends a memorial event at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem for two murdered staffers from the Israeli Embassy in Washington, May 26, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Washington does not fully back a Palestinian state under the current circumstances, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says.
“Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” Huckabee tells Bloomberg News, adding that the changes are unlikely to occur “in our lifetime.”
He adds that he doesn’t think that a Palestinian state is still a goal of US policy.
A Palestinian state does not need to be established in the West Bank, the ambassador argues, insisting that it could be created by taking territory from a Muslim country.
Huckabee, 69, has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent supporters of Israel. He has called Israel’s claim to the West Bank stronger than American ties to Manhattan and laid bricks in 2018 as ground was broken on a new housing complex in the settlement of Efrat.
Israel denies sending Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine
A Patriot missile mobile launcher is displayed outside the Fort Sill Army Post near Lawton, Oklahoma, on March 21, 2023. (AP/Sean Murphy, File)
Israel denies that it gave Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, after the Israeli envoy to Kyiv indicated that it had.
“It is not correct,” says the Foreign Ministry in a statement. “Israel did not transfer Patriot systems to Ukraine.”
“These systems are now in Ukraine,” said Ambassador Michael Brodsky in an interview with a Ukrainian YouTube channel on Sunday. “Israeli systems that were in service in the early 1990s, we agreed to transfer them to Ukraine, and unfortunately we did not talk about it very much.”
In May, The New York Times reported that a Patriot system based in Israel would be sent to Ukraine after it is refurbished.
A diplomatic source tells The Times of Israel that interceptor missiles were given by Israel to the US earlier this year, but none have been received by Ukraine.
Comptroller: Most evacuated residents of the north unlikely to return; untenable government delays in rehabilitating the area
Residents of northern communities and their supporters protest demand early elections, the restoration of security in the north and the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in Karmiel, July 25, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
In a report issued today, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman says that 54% of the 60,000 residents evacuated from 43 northern communities said there is a high chance that they won’t return to the community where they lived before the war, according to the Kan news outlet.
“The ongoing delay in formulating a government policy to address the conflict-line communities is a fundamental deficiency in the government’s treatment of the residents, many of whom have experienced considerable suffering,” Engelman writes, placing responsibility for the matter on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister’s Office director general Yossi Shelley.
Only 65% of the NIS 940 million ($269 million) allocated to northern communities in May 2024 had been transferred by July of that year. In August, the government decided to reduce the budget by 14% to NIS 804 million ($230 million).
In the report, the auditor says that the responsibility of caring for northern residents was transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Finance Ministry, which in turn transferred it to the Prime Minister’s Office. Tasks to be carried out within one to three months from May 2024 were not completed four months later.
The comptroller recommends that the government expedite a comprehensive and systematic response to the rehabilitation of the northern communities. He says that the finance minister must act decisively to implement the rehabilitation plans.
Engelman notes that compared to the 54% of northern residents who say they will not return to their former communities, only 13% of evacuees from the south stated that there is a high chance that they will not return to the place where they lived before the outbreak of the war.
Residents were evacuated from southern communities after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. Northern residents were also evacuated when Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day later.
UK joins Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway in sanctioning Smotrich, Ben Gvir over settler violence
A Palestinian stands beside a torched car in the aftermath of an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jinsafut, January 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom issue a joint statement announcing sanctions on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for “inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
“Settler violence is incited by extremist rhetoric which calls for Palestinians to be driven from their homes, encourages violence and human rights abuses and fundamentally rejects the two-state solution,” say the five countries’ foreign ministers. “Settler violence has led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities.”
Over the past two years, Palestinian villages have been targeted in an increasing number of attacks by extremist Israeli settlers, which go unpunished in the vast majority of cases.
Law enforcement and military responses to settler violence have faced mounting scrutiny amid concerns that members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline right-wing cabinet are unwilling to tackle extremist attacks on Palestinians. Police officials have pushed back against the criticism.
The statement claims that Ben Gvir and Smotrich “have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights.”
The foreign ministers say they have discussed the issue at length with the Israeli government, but “violent perpetrators continue to act with encouragement and impunity.”
“The Israeli Government must uphold its obligations under international law and we call on it to take meaningful action to end extremist, violent and expansionist rhetoric,” they say.
The five countries stress their support for Israel’s security, and say that Ben Gvir and Smotrich undermine Israel’s security and standing in the world.
Turning to Gaza, they say they are “appalled by the immense suffering of civilians, including the denial of essential aid,” and insist that there be no transfer of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank.
They call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and the unhindered flow of aid.
“We want to see a reconstructed Gaza no longer run by Hamas and a political pathway to a two state solution,” they say.
IDF: 2 Palestinians killed, 4 troops injured during attempt to snatch soldier’s gun in West Bank
A masked Palestinian holds rocks during clashes with Israeli forces following a military raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Two Palestinians were killed while attempting to snatch a soldier’s gun in the West Bank city of Nablus earlier today, the military says.
Four soldiers were also hurt in the incident.
According to the IDF, the incident began as several suspects were being questioned by troops amid an ongoing counter-terror operation in Nablus.
During the questioning, two Palestinians tried to snatch a gun from one of the soldiers. Several bullets were fired from the gun as it was being grabbed by the Palestinians, moderately injuring a soldier and lightly injuring three others.
The other troops then returned fire, killing the two.
Footage from the incident shows one of the men approaching troops with his hands raised and lifting his shirt, before a soldier kicks him. The soldiers are then seen attacking and scuffling with the man, as gunfire is heard.
فيديو كامل لما حدث وسط نابلس
يظهر فيه اعتداء الجنود على احد الشبان وكان يدافع عن نفسه
ويظهر بالفيديو اصابة جنود pic.twitter.com/wkbXkG1fTT
— Mohmd Saad ???????? محمد سعد (@MhmmedSd) June 10, 2025
IDF says it targeted two Hamas operatives disguised as women in Gaza
During recent operations in the northern Gaza Strip, troops of the Givati Infantry Brigade spotted two Hamas operatives who the IDF says were dressed up as women.
The operatives were carrying sacks from a structure known to be used by Hamas, the military says. A short while later the pair were targeted in a drone strike.
In another operation carried out by Givati troops, the IDF says the soldiers located a rocket launcher and other weapons belonging to Hamas.
Additionally, the IDF says the Israeli Air Force hit dozens of targets across Gaza in the past day, including cells of terror operatives, buildings used by terror groups, tunnels, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.
Lapid welcomes US envoy’s clarification he’s not meddling in Israeli politics
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s statement denying that he has been meeting with ultra-Orthodox coalition members as part of efforts to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from collapsing.
“We are grateful to Ambassador Huckabee for this important statement that he has not, and will not, get involved in the coalition crisis here in Israel,” Lapid posts on X.
“Ambassador Huckabee is a great friend of Israel and we had no doubt about his objectivity and integrity. Thank you Mike.”
We are grateful to Ambassador Huckabee for this important statement that he has not, and will not, get involved in the coalition crisis here in Israel. Ambassador Huckabee is a great friend of Israel and we had no doubt about his objectivity and integrity. Thank you Mike https://t.co/fgPUPo1j1y
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) June 10, 2025
In a post on X, Huckabee wrote that there had been “no attempt to influence Haredi Knesset members regarding a decision to dissolve the government.”
Citing diplomatic and political sources, Channel 13 news reported Monday that Huckabee told senior Haredi politicians “government stability is important for addressing the Iranian issue,” and that early elections would be a mistake.
One of the meetings was held Thursday with Minister Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism party. According to the network, Huckabee urged Porush “not to break up the government.”
In first, Palestinian Authority’s Abbas condemns Hamas’s October 7 attack
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech during the opening of the Istishsari cancer center in Ramallah on May 14, 2025 (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemns Hamas’s October 7 attack for the first time, while reiterating his call for the terror group to release the remaining hostages.
“What Hamas did on October 7th in killing and taking civilians hostage is unacceptable and condemnable and Hamas has to immediately release all hostages and captives,” Abbas writes in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who this month will co-chair a UN conference aimed at advancing a two-state solution.
While Abbas has long rejected violence as a tool for advancing Palestinian self-determination, he has refrained from specifically publicly condemning Hamas’s actions on October 7, with at least one of his aides arguing that he wouldn’t do so while Israel’s offensive in Gaza was ongoing.
But Abbas is looking to gain support from the international community so that the PA can replace Hamas as the governing authority in Gaza.
In recent months, he has repeatedly condemned Hamas, while also instituting a series of reforms, including one that would end the PA’s controversial policy of rewarding the families of Palestinian security prisoners and slain terrorists who had carried out attacks against Israelis.
Netanyahu to hold talks with top ministers on hostage deal negotiations
Protesters against the government and for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip hold a sign reading, 'Rescue the hostages, end the war,' in Tel Aviv, June 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that there was progress in hostage talks, he will hold a phone consultation on the issue with his small circle of top ministers and advisers, the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also says “there has recently been certain progress. In light of past experience, I don’t want to overstate it at this point.”
“But we are interested in reaching a deal, which will include a ceasefire,” says Sa’ar.
Suspect in Jerusalem synagogue arson to be held for 7 days – reports
The scene of suspected arson and vandalism at a Jerusalem synagogue that is often attended by Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, June 8, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)
The man arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Jerusalem synagogue earlier this week will remain in custody for at least another seven days, Hebrew outlets report.
Police announced their arrest of the suspect, a man in his 20s, last night in a joint operation with the Shin Bet. Further details regarding the case are under a gag order.
The suspect is thought to have broken into a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Sanhedria neighborhood frequented by former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. He allegedly set fire to a corner of the building, torched its books and broke a window before dawn Sunday.
The man is suspected of arson, intentional damage to property, defacing property and issuing threats, Kan reports.
The judge who extended the suspect’s remand reportedly said there is a high level of suspicion he is responsible for both the arson attack and another vandalism incident that same night, in which a cross and the surname “Rubin!” were spraypainted on the door of a nearby apartment.
Many hostages’ family members suffer health challenges, Knesset committee hears
Families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip attend a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset on June 09, 2025.(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Dr. Einat Yahana, a psychologist with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, tells the Knesset Health Committee that more than 38% of family members of hostages suffer from extreme fatigue, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and depression.
More than 36% of the members experience systemic difficulties dealing with medical bureaucracy. Some 12% of family members experience chronic pain without relief, which directly affects daily functioning, she says.
Mor Goldstein, a resident of Beersheba, whose parents were murdered during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, describes the medical problems of her young children, including epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sharon Rothschild, a representative from the Health Ministry, says that the ministry is working to provide representatives who will personally assist each family, offering services tailored to their complex needs with sensitivity.
Dan David Prize bestows award on 9 researchers who study the past
The Dan David Prize has awarded nine historians, archaeologists and filmmakers from around the world with $300,000 for their research, the foundation announces.
The award winners are researching a vast array of topics, from the notebook of Isaac Newton’s roommate to the history and culture of Ethiopian Jews. The academics recently received the prize during a ceremony in Italy.
The prize, based at Tel Aviv University, is awarded each year to academics in the early and middle stages of their careers who are conducting “innovative research on the human past.”
“By making groundbreaking discoveries or applying new methods to historical research, our winners constantly challenge us to think about the past while rethinking how we shed light on it,” says Ariel David, whose father, Dan David, founded the prize in 2001.
One of the winners is Beth Lew-Williams of Princeton University, a historian whose work has focused on how legal discrimination impacted Chinese immigration to the US and the experience of Chinese immigrants.
Another is Fred Kudjo Kuwornu of Do The Right Films, a filmmaker whose work focuses on Black representation and identity. His recent film, “We Were Here: The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe, was presented at the 2024 Biennale in Venice.”
Another awardee is Dmitri Levitin of the University of Utrecht and All Souls College, Oxford, a history of scholarship who is collaborating on research into the newly discovered notebook of Isaac Newton’s university roommate.
Other winners are Abidemi Babatunde Babalola of the British Museum, Mackenzie Cooley of Hamilton College, Bar Kribus of Tel Aviv University, Hannah Marcus, Harvard University, Alina Șerban, Founder of Untold Stories, and Caroline Sturdy Colls, University of Huddersfield.
Among the ranks of past winners are Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease expert.
The award was originally launched to focus on academic work that rewarded humanity. It has since shifted to focus specifically on those who study the past, with the idea that the prize will greatly enhance their research abilities.
Netanyahu says ‘significant progress’ in hostage talks, but ‘too early to raise hopes’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message on June 10, 2025 (Screencapture/GPO)
There has been “significant progress” in hostage talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a video statement.
“It’s too early to raise hopes,” he continues, “but we are working tirelessly right now, and all the time. I hope we will be able to move forward.”
Gantz urges UK to rethink plans to sanction Smotrich and Ben Gvir
Leader of the National Unity Party MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 9, 2025.(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls on the British government not to sanction far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, stating that such a move would “fuel global terrorism.”
“I deeply disagree with Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir – but the imposition of sanctions on ministers in the Israeli government by the British government is a profound moral failure and a bad message to the entire world,” Gantz tweets.
“The State of Israel is fighting enemies who have proven that they intend to destroy it, the pressure and sanctions should be directed at Iran, Hamas and the Houthis. I call on the British government to stop this process that will fuel global terrorism.”
Netanyahu meeting Edelstein in last-ditch effort to reach compromise on Haredi draft law
MK Yuli Edelstein attends a plenum session in the Knesset, June 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summons Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein to a meeting to discuss the ultra-Orthodox enlistment issue.
According to Hebrew media reports, the premier is reaching out to the Likud lawmaker in a final bid to reach a compromise that can head off tomorrow’s scheduled preliminary vote on a bill to dissolve the Knesset, which would bring down his government and force new elections.
The heart of the current crisis lies with the ultra-Orthodox leadership’s frustration with Edelstein, who has been blocking in his committee the passage of a government-backed bill enshrining the broad exclusion from IDF service for Haredim, as demanded by the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, and has been pledging that any law coming out of his committee would levy strong financial sanctions on draft dodgers.
According to reports, a revised draft of the bill by Edelstein’s committee includes a raft of harsh penalties, including the loss of property tax and public transportation discounts, the removal of tax benefits for working women married to dodgers, exclusion from the housing lottery, and the cancellation of daycare and academic subsidies.
The bill would also prevent draft dodgers up to the age of 29 from receiving driver’s licenses or traveling abroad and would open them up to the threat of arrest.
Edelstein’s unwillingness to back down from this position in last-ditch talks with the Haredim brokered by Netanyahu was what led the leaders of Degel HaTorah — one of the two factions that make up UTJ — to support dissolving the Knesset. While he has shown somewhat more flexibility in subsequent talks over recent days, it was not enough to prevent Shas from following UTJ’s lead.
According to Channel 12, in the last round of talks, Edelstein expressed willingness to back off the cancellation of property tax discounts and allow the Haredim to receive tax breaks on the purchase of their first apartments.
Nevertheless, significant gaps remain, with the veteran lawmaker continuing to insist that the sanctions be applied immediately, while the Haredim are pushing for any penalties to be delayed by up to a year, in an apparent effort to weaken the pressure on draft evaders.
Speaking anonymously with Channel 13, a senior Haredi political figure states that “without a final wording that is agreed upon by the parties, the decision to support the dissolution of the Knesset tomorrow stands.”
After being deported, Thunberg repeats she was ‘kidnapped’ by Israeli forces, claims she was interrogated
Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists upon her arrival to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, after being deported by Israel on a flight to Sweden via France, followig her detention along with other activists aboard a Gaza-bound boat, on June 10, 2025. (Hugo MATHY / AFP)
Anti-Israel activist Greta Thunberg reiterates her claim she was kidnapped in international waters by Israeli forces as she arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport after being deported from Israel.
“We were kidnapped in international waters,” she tells reporters upon her arrival in Paris.
Thunberg, 22, arrived in Paris a day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza.
Israeli forces boarded their vessel as it neared Gaza early on Monday, trying to break through a naval blockade of the coastal enclave, and seized the 12 people aboard, including Thunberg.
Thunberg called for the release of the other activists. She describes a “quite chaotic and uncertain” situation during the detention.
She says the conditions they faced “are absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now.”
“We were well aware of the risks of this mission,” Thunberg adds. “The aim was to get to Gaza and to be able to distribute the aid.” She says the activists would continue trying to get aid to Gaza.
Asked why she agreed to deportation, she says, “Why would I want to stay in Israeli prison more than necessary?”
Asked whether she was “interrogated” in Israel, she says “Erm,” pauses, and says, “Yeah.”
Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists upon her arrival to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, after being deported by Israel on a flight to Sweden via France, followig her detention along with other activists aboard a Gaza-bound boat, on June 10, 2025. (Hugo MATHY / AFP)
She also laughs off criticism from US President Donald Trump, who had described her as an angry person, saying: “I think the world needs a lot more young angry women to be honest, especially with everything going on right now.”
Israel dismissed the effort as a publicity-seeking “selfie yacht” and says that it was hardly carrying any aid.
Smotrich vows new settlements, Ben Gvir expresses his ‘contempt’ as UK to sanction them
Far-right leaders Itamar Ben Gvir (left) and Bezalel Smotrich at the Knesset on December 29, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/ File)
In response to the British decision to impose sanctions on him and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir expresses “contempt for the White Paper,” comparing the move to the 1939 UK policy paper limiting Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine.
“We survived Pharaoh, we will also survive Keir Starmer,” he continues in a statement. “I will continue to work for Israel and the people of Israel without fear or intimidation!”
At a dedication ceremony for a new settlement near Hebron, Smotrich says “the timing couldn’t be better.”
Smotrich also calls the decision “a White Paper.”
“Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland and we will not allow it to do so again,” he continues. “We are determined to continue building.”
At a joint statement with Zambia’s Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar calls British move “outrageous.”
He says he discussed the issue with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We will hold a special government meeting early next week to decide on our response to this unacceptable decision.”
Report: UK to impose sanctions on Smotrich, Ben Gvir over comments on Gaza
Religious Zionism party party chief Bezalel Smotrich (right) and Otzma Yehudit party chief Itamar Ben Gvir are seen during a vote at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The UK will join Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries in sanctioning National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over comments about Gaza, The Times of London reports.
The UK outlet reports that the countries will freeze the assets of the two far-right ministers and impose travel bans.
In May, British Foreign Minister David Lammy announced that the United Kingdom was suspending free trade agreement negotiations with Israel and taking other punitive measures, including the imposition of sanctions on some West Bank settlers, in response to Israel’s wartime policies during its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking to parliament, Lammy accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “planning to drive Gazans from their homes into a corner of the Strip to the south and permit them a fraction of the aid that they need.”
“Minister Smotrich even spoke of Israeli forces ‘cleansing’ Gaza, ‘destroying what’s left,’ of resident Palestinians ‘being relocated to third countries,'” Lammy said. “We must call this what it is. It is extremism. It is dangerous. It is repellent. It is monstrous. And I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Huckabee denies he’s been involved in efforts to prevent Haredim from collapsing Israeli government
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee meets with Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush on June 5, 2025. (Courtesy)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee denies a Channel 13 report revealing that he has been meeting with ultra-Orthodox coalition members as part of efforts to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from collapsing.
“There has been no attempt to influence Haredi Knesset members regarding a decision to dissolve the government,” Huckabee writes on X, adding that it is not his job to choose the country’s government.
Hours earlier, the US Embassy issued a statement that didn’t deny the Channel 13 report, instead saying that the contents of Huckabee’s meetings are private.
“Israel needs both scholars and soldiers but how they determine the balance is not something I could or would weigh in on,” the ambassador says in his updated statement.
He acknowledges that he was asked about the US reaction to a collapsed government, and that he responded that most Americans would see it “as an unstable one given an ongoing war, daily threats from Houthi missiles, and a possible nuclear threat from Iran.”
“I emphatically stated it was our responsibility to work with the government that Israelis chose,” Huckabee insists. “There was no attempt to instruct or advise other than mentioning that the conflict between scholars and soldiers might best be settled by someone they were all familiar with, King Solomon, who faced difficult choices and found a way to resolve them.”
“Reports that go beyond that are either misleading or untrue,” he concludes.
Citing diplomatic and political sources, Channel 13 news reported Monday that Huckabee told senior Haredi politicians “government stability is important for addressing the Iranian issue,” and that early elections would be a mistake.
One of the meetings was held Thursday with Minister Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism party. According to the network, Huckabee urged Porush “not to break up the government.”
PM to convene cabinet Thursday to discuss hostage talks amid ‘tentative progress’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his cabinet on Thursday to discuss hostage talks, The Times of Israel has learned.
Israeli officials describe “tentative progress” in talks with Hamas over a hostage release/ceasefire deal.
Katz tours Nevatim Airbase with IDF chief, Air Force commander
Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visit the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, June 10, 2025. (Elad Malka/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz toured the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel today with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, his office says.
“During the visit, the minister and the chief of staff received an overview of the operational achievements in Gaza, Yemen, and Lebanon and the readiness to expand the operation as necessary,” the statement says.
UK civil servants who penned letter warning of ‘complicity’ in Gaza war reportedly told to resign if they disagree with government policy
More than 300 civil servants at Britain’s foreign ministry have written to Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressing concerns about Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the BBC reports.
The officials warned of potential UK “complicity” in what they called “Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law” during the war in the Palestinian territory, sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault on southern Israel.
The letter dated May 16 questioned the continuation of some UK arms sales to the country, according to the broadcaster.
“In July 2024, staff expressed concern about Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and potential UK government complicity,” the staff wrote, according to excerpts cited by the BBC.
“In the intervening period, the reality of Israel’s disregard for international law has become more stark,” they added, citing the killing of humanitarian workers, restrictions on international aid and violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Israel denies having violated international law amid the fighting in Gaza.
The letter added that the UK government had contributed to “the erosion of global norms,” including through weapons exports, the broadcaster reports.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government suspended some 30 of 350 arms export licenses to Israel in September 2024, citing a “risk” they could be used in violations of international law.
London has also sanctioned settlers in the West Bank and suspended negotiations on a new free trade agreement with Israel.
But it continues to supply components for F-35 fighter jets to a global pool that Israel is able to access.
The BBC reports that the two most senior officials in the FCDO replied to the letter by saying the signatories could “resign” if they disagreed with government policy.
“This is an honourable course,” they told staff, the BBC reports, adding that the response shocked the civil servants.
The FCDO spokesperson says, “It is the job of civil servants to deliver on the policies of the government of the day.”
“There are systems in place which allow them to raise concerns if they have them,” they add.
Herzog urges public day of fasting and prayer for hostages, Sephardic chief rabbi agrees
Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef speaks to President Isaac Herzog at the swearing-in of new rabbinical judges at the President's Residence, June 10, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
During a swearing-in ceremony of new rabbinical judges at the President’s Residence, President Isaac Herzog asks the rabbis to declare a national day of fasting and prayer for the remaining hostages held by terror groups in Gaza — a request Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef says he accepts, according to Herzog’s office.
“I call on you to mobilize, and I urge you to act with all your strength, first and foremost by proclaiming a nationwide day of fasting and prayer for our sisters and brothers held by murderers,” Herzog says at the ceremony, per a statement from his office.
“May it be God’s will that through such steps — also paving the way for the necessary diplomatic moves — our brothers and sisters soon go from distress to relief, from darkness to light, and from bondage to redemption,” he continues.
Yosef, the head of the Grand Rabbinical Court, agrees to the request, though only specifies statewide prayer, and not a day of fasting, in his response, also published by Herzog’s office.
“We accept the president’s request. In the coming days, we will proclaim a day of prayer and outcry for all our brothers and sisters in distress and captivity, and for our soldiers on the battlefield,” he says. “With God’s help, may we receive good news even before we have time to do so.”
“These are turbulent, challenging days,” Herzog tells the rabbis, who are being appointed to both the Grand Rabbinical Court and regional rabbinical courts. “Intensive negotiations have been underway in the past 24 hours. We must use every avenue, step, and tool at our disposal — and with creativity, responsibility, and commitment initiate moves that will bring them home urgently, all of them, down to the last.
He stresses that as public and religious leaders, the rabbis have a “vital role” to play, and must “awaken the hearts of the nation and decision-makers” to the plight of the hostages.
The president says that Israel needs Torah scholars who not only pursue knowledge in Jewish and worldly studies, but who “above all… dwell among their people — sharing in the public’s pain and joy.”
Israel says 62 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza yesterday
The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces that 62 humanitarian aid trucks carrying food entered the Gaza Strip yesterday.
Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2. Since then, 1,351 trucks have entered the Strip.
Some of the truckloads have been taken to the new aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The contents of many of the trucks that entered Gaza in recent weeks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The aid underwent an inspection by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the crossing.
Israeli Navy ships fired missiles from hundreds of kilometers away in attack on Houthi-controlled port in Yemen
Israeli Navy Sa’ar 6-class corvettes launched missiles at the Hodeida port in Yemen during the strike on the Houthis this morning from hundreds of kilometers away, according to the military.
Two long-range guided missiles were fired, destroying infrastructure at the port, which the IDF says was used by the Houthis to smuggle weapons into the country.
The Houthi-controlled Hodeida port has been struck several times by the IDF in the past year, and the military says the repeated attacks are intended to cause merchants to “understand that this is a combat zone and reduce their transfers there.”
Lashing out at hostages’ families, Likud MK says he wonders how they’ll spend their free time once loved ones are back
Likud MK Eliyahu Revivo lashes out at relatives of the Gaza hostages during a meeting of the Knesset Special Committee on the Rights of the Child, and asks how they’ll manage to fill their spare time once the hostages are returned.
He makes the remark after Yosef Engel, the grandfather of ex-captive Ofir Engel, inquired as to why lawmakers who believe in the importance of recovering the hostages haven’t threatened to dissolve the Knesset over the issue, as the ultra-Orthodox parties are threatening to do over the issue of Haredi military conscription.
“For Haredi conscription, they’ll dissolve the government, but you won’t dissolve the government for the hostages,” says Engel. “If this is so important to you, why won’t you dissolve the government because they’re not [bringing them back]?”
He posits that doing so would have ensured the release of the hostages within a week.
Revivo doesn’t answer the question, saying instead that he is “just interested to know what you’ll do in your day-to-day life once the hostages return?”
The comment is met with outrage from the families, with one saying they “wish to God we could reach that day already.”
Vicky Cohen, the mother of hostage soldier Nimrod Cohen responds to Revivo on X: “Since you’re curious, this is what I’ll do after Nimrod returns: I’ll go back to sleeping at night without sleeping pills, I’ll finally be able to eat, I’ll no longer have constant anxiety, but above all else, I’ll hug Nimrod nonstop — that’s what I’ll be busy with.”
ח״כ רביבו, מכיוון שאתה סקרן, זה מה שאעשה אחרי שנמרוד יחזור:
אחזור לישון בלילה בלי כדורי שינה, אצליח סוף סוף לאכול, כבר לא אהיה בחרדה תמידית, אבל מעל הכל: אחבק את נמרוד ללא הפסקה – בזה אני אהיה עסוקה#היכן_הילד_שלי— ויקי כהן, אמא של החייל החטוף נמרוד כהן (@bringnimrod) June 10, 2025
The Likud MK, whose interactions with hostages’ families have drawn backlash in the past as well, says following the exchange that he wasn’t referring to the hostages’ families but rather to those who “cynically exploit the families’ pain” in order to “attack the government.”
In January, Revivo lashed out at Yehuda Cohen, father of Nimrod Cohen, who said he was willing to go to the International Criminal Court and say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for “war crimes” against not only Palestinians but also Israelis.
Revivo, in response, shouted at Cohen, “Your contemptible words are condemning your son to the Hamas dungeons for many more years. Who do you think you are?”
13-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of vandalism at behest of Iranian agent
A 13-year-old boy from Tel Aviv has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out acts of vandalism on behalf of Iran in exchange for financial compensation, the Israel Police and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.
They say the boy spray-painted graffiti in the Tel Aviv area at the behest of an Iranian agent, but do not elaborate on what the content of the graffiti was.
The minor, a resident of Tel Aviv, was contacted by the foreign agent via the Telegram messaging app.
Past Iranian espionage cases have alleged that suspects hung posters with pro-Iran messaging, while other suspects are said to have been enlisted to spray paint anti-Netanyahu slogans.
The agent also reportedly requested the youth take photographs of the Iron Dome missile defense system, but he refused.
A spokesman for law enforcement says the 13-year-old was released to house arrest.
Police call on parents to be vigilant in monitoring their children’s internet activity to ensure they do not make contact with foreign agents.
IDF says troops fired warning shots at Gazans who ‘posed threat’ in Netzarim Corridor area, after Palestinians say 20 killed
Overnight, the IDF says troops fired warning shots at Palestinians who approached forces “and posed a threat” in the Netzarim Corridor area.
The incident took place hundreds of meters from an aid distribution site, hours before it opened, according to the IDF.
The military says the Palestinians approached the troops “despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone.”
Palestinian media reported that some 20 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the incident.
The military says it is aware of the reports of casualties by its gunfire in the area, but “the reported number of casualties is inconsistent with the information available to the IDF.”
The IDF says it is further investigating the incident.
Argentina’s Milei to meet with Netanyahu, Herzog in Jerusalem today
Argentinian President Javier Milei (C) visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, June 9, 2025 (Argentinian Embassy in Israel)
Argentina’s President Javier Milei will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his office in Jerusalem today, the Argentinian embassy tells The Times of Israel.
President Isaac Herzog will also host Milei at an official reception at his residence at 2:30 p.m.
On Wednesday evening, Milei will receive the Genesis Prize in the Knesset, and will address Israeli lawmakers. He will also give a lecture at Hebrew University on Thursday before flying home.
Milei visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem after landing in Israel last night, accompanied by his close friend, Argentina’s Ambassador Shimon Axel Wahnish; Argentinian Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein; his sister and Presidential Secretary Karina Milei; and his wife. He offered a prayer for the hostages while wearing a kippah with his name written on it in Hebrew.
Milei is on a 10-day foreign trip. which has taken him to the Vatican, Rome, Madrid, and Nice.
IDF says it foiled attempt to smuggle in weapons from Egypt via drone
The IDF says it foiled yet another attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt using a drone today.
The drone had been spotted crossing the border from Egypt into Israel before it was downed.
The drone was found to be ferrying seven rifles, 10 handguns, and ammunition. The contraband and drone were handed over to the police.
In recent months, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egypt border using drones. There have also been attempts to smuggle similar contraband from Israel into Gaza using drones.
כוחות צה”ל סיכלו ניסיון הברחת אמצעי לחימה ממצרים לישראל
כוחות צה”ל איתרו מוקדם יותר היום, במרחב חטיבת פארן, רחפן שחצה משטח מצרים לשטח ישראל בניסיון להבריח אמצעי לחימה.
לוחמי צה״ל איתרו את הרחפן אשר נשא שבעה נשקים ארוכים, עשרה אקדחים ותחמושת.
אמצעי הלחימה הועברו להמשך טיפול… pic.twitter.com/5Erxptp6YS
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 10, 2025
IDF issues evacuation warning for part of northern Gaza following earlier rocket fire
Following rocket fire from the northern Gaza Strip at southern Israel, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for the area of the launch.
The area is already under an existing evacuation warning issued by the military in late May.
“The IDF is operating with great force in the areas where you are located to destroy the capabilities of terror organizations. The IDF will respond firmly to every terror act or rocket attack,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee says on X.
Civilians are called to head for “known shelters” in Gaza City.
#عاجل ‼️ الى كل المتواجدين في شمال قطاع غزة وتحديدًا في أحياء الكرامة، عبد الرحمن، النهضة ومعسكر جباليا في بلوكات 975, 979, 980, 982, 983, 1814
⭕️جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي يعمل بقوة شديدة جداً في مناطق وجودكم لتدمير قدرات المنظمات الإرهابية.
⭕️سيرد جيش الدفاع بشكل صارم على كل عملية… pic.twitter.com/bv3YjWr6BU— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 10, 2025
At least 5 reported killed in school shooting in Austrian city of Graz
At least five people have been killed in an attack at a school in the Austrian city of Graz and others are injured, Austrian media reports.
Citing local police, Austrian state media ORF says several people have been seriously injured, including students and teachers.
Police say an operation was underway in a street called Dreierschuetzengasse, where the secondary school is located, but declines further comment.
Police are currently evacuating the building, ORF says.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspect is among the reported victims.
IDF says troops demolished over 1,200 ‘terror infrastructures’ in Khan Younis suburb serving as Hamas stronghold
IDF troops demolished over 1,200 “terror infrastructures” in the Khan Younis suburb of Khuzaʽa during a recent operation in the area, as part of efforts to expand Israel’s buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip, the military says.
The operation in Khuzaʽa in recent weeks was led by the 188th Armored Brigade.
“The forces worked to locate and destroy terror infrastructure in the [Khuzaʽa] area, which served as a central Hamas terror stronghold,” the IDF says.
Hundreds of Hamas terrorists set out from Khuzaʽa during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, especially to Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of civilians were murdered and abducted.
During combat engineering operations and airstrikes, the IDF says it killed dozens of terror operatives and destroyed 1,200 sites, both above and below ground, to “remove the threat to the border communities.”
Among the destroyed infrastructures was a tunnel that was 500 meters long and 25 meters deep, the military adds.
A Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza town of Khuzaʽa is demolished, in a video published June 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Abbas tells Macron he supports demilitarization of Hamas, commits to holding PA elections within year
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during a press conference at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on July 20, 2022. (Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Hamas “must hand over its weapons” and called for the deployment of international forces to protect “the Palestinian people,” France announces.
In a letter addressed yesterday to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who this month will co-chair a conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, Abbas outlined the main steps that he thinks must be taken to end the war in Gaza and achieve peace in the Middle East.
“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces,” wrote Abbas.
He said he was “ready to invite Arab and international forces to be deployed as part of a stabilization/protection mission with a (UN) Security Council mandate.”
“We are ready to conclude within a clear and binding timeline, and with international support, supervision and guarantees, a peace agreement that ends the Israeli occupation and resolves all outstanding and final status issues,” Abbas wrote.
“Hamas has to immediately release all hostages and captives,” he added.
In a statement, the Elysee Palace welcomes “concrete and unprecedented commitments, demonstrating a real willingness to move towards the implementation of the two-state solution.”
Macron has said he is “determined” to recognise a Palestinian state, but also set out several conditions, including the “demilitarization” of Hamas.
In his letter, Abbas reaffirmed his commitment to reform the Palestinian Authority and confirmed his intention to hold presidential and general elections “within a year” under international auspices.
“The Palestinian State should be the sole provider of security on its territory, but has no intention to be a militarized State.”
The Palestinian Authority has been under pressure from Arab and Western states to undergo significant reform as they push for the body to replace Hamas as Gaza’s governing authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused, however, to entertain the option of allowing the PA to return to governing Gaza. This has stopped nearly half a dozen Arab countries from committing to participating in the postwar management of the Strip, as they have conditioned their support on the establishment of a political horizon for an eventual two-state solution.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Rocket fired from northern Gaza intercepted by air defenses, IDF says
One rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip at southern Israel was intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
Sirens had sounded at Zikim Beach.
Sirens sound at Zikim Beach, close to Gaza border; IDF investigating
Rocket sirens are sounding at the Zikim Beach in southern Israel, close to the Gaza border.
The IDF says it is investigating the cause.
Independent UN commission says Israeli attacks on Gaza’s schools, religious sites amount to crimes against humanity, extermination
An independent United Nations commission says Israeli attacks on schools, religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Israel has obliterated Gaza’s education system and destroyed over half of all religious and cultural sites in the Gaza Strip — part of a widespread and relentless assault against the Palestinian people in which Israeli forces have committed war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination,” the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory says in a report.
Israel vehemently rejects allegations that it has committed crimes against humanity amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza, which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
It says it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Two senior Shas rabbis hint they may not want to dissolve Knesset over Haredi conscription law
Two of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party’s senior rabbinic leaders express support for their representatives’ efforts to pass a law regulating Haredi enlistment while also potentially hinting that they may not be in favor of a push to force new elections over the issue.
In a letter, rabbis Moshe Maya and Shlomo Machpud, both senior members of the party’s Council of Torah Sages, state that Shas MKs are dealing with the issue and when it “comes to fruition, the matter will be discussed and a decision will be made at a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages.”
Shared with the press by a spokesman, the party says that the letter represents “words of encouragement and support to Shas representatives dealing with the issue of the enlistment law.”
On Monday morning, a spokesman for the party told the Kol Beramah radio station that Shas lawmakers will vote in favor of a bill to dissolve the Knesset, set for a preliminary vote Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition entered a crisis last week when the two ultra-Orthodox parties announced they would leave the coalition and vote to dissolve the Knesset if the government does not pass a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service.
Palestinian media reports some 20 dead, dozens wounded by IDF fire near Gaza aid center
Palestinian media reports some 20 dead and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near a humanitarian aid distribution site in central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor.
The tolls cannot be verified. The reports say the people were waiting to pick up supplies at the site.
The IDF does not immediately comment on the claims.
Activist Greta Thunberg put on plane to France en route to Sweden after trying to reach Gaza by boat
Greta Thunberg on a plane leaving Israel, June 10, 2025 (Foreign Ministry via X)
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activist Greta Thunberg is on a plane to France en route to Sweden, says the Foreign Ministry on X.
Photos shared by the Foreign Ministry show the 22-year-old sitting in an aisle seat near the bathrooms as she awaits takeoff.
Israeli forces took control of the Gaza-bound boat Madleen early Monday and detained the group of 12 activists, including Thunberg, who were on board, following repeated warnings to the activists against attempting to sail to the Gaza coast, which is under a strict maritime blockade.
Thunberg claimed in a video after the boat was intercepted that she and her fellow activists had been kidnapped by Israel.
An Israeli soldier offers activist Greta Thunberg water and a pastrami sandwich after the military intercepted and boarded the boat on which she and other activists were seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza, early on June 9, 2025. (Foreign Ministry)
On arrival in Israel last night, the activists refused to watch a video showing atrocities committed by the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
All the activists will be deported, says Israel.
Greta Thunberg just departed Israel on a flight to Sweden (via France). pic.twitter.com/kWrI9KVoqX
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 10, 2025
French flotilla activist to return to France today, 5 others will face judge for deportation hearing, French FM confirms
One of the French citizens aboard the Madleen ship intercepted on its way to Gaza signed an Israeli deportation form and will return to France today, says French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
He doesn’t name the activist who has agreed to leave voluntarily.
The other five French citizens aboard the boat refused to sign, and will appear before a judge in the coming days, says Barrot.
The activists are in a detention center in Ramle, near the airport.
French consular officials contacted relatives of the detainees overnight, after visiting the activists.
Report: PM approved multimillion dollar deals between top Israeli defense companies and Qatar
Elbit Systems offices in Jerusalem on December 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved multimillion dollar defense deals between Israel’s top defense companies and Qatar, according to the Walla news outlet.
The report comes a day after the publication of documents seized by Israel in Gaza that show Qatar’s intense collaboration with Hamas over the course of several years.
Elbit, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries all received authorization for major deals with the wealthy Gulf country.
According to the report, Elbit agreed to deals with Qatar worth more than $100 million; Rafael inked contracts worth tens of millions of dollars; and IAI executives visited Doha more than 20 times and held a daylong meeting with a high-level Qatari delegation at its headquarters in Israel.
The deals were given the green light by Netanyahu, the Defense Ministry, and the IDF.
Earlier this week, Channel 12 news reported that documents taken from Gaza during the war reveal that in May 2021, immediately after the conclusion of an 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, then-Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh told the terror group’s leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar that Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had privately “agreed on discreet financial support” for the group’s “resistance” efforts.
In addition to Doha’s cash, Qatari intelligence officials reportedly met with a Hamas representative at one point — the report did not provide a date — to discuss supervising special training units for Hamas fighters on military bases in Qatar and Turkey, and for the integration of Syrian Palestinians who fled to Lebanon amid the Syrian civil war into Hamas’s Lebanese battalions.
The Prime Minister’s Office does not respond to The Times of Israel’s request for comment on the Walla report.
“Elbit Systems’ activity in the international market is subject to the guidelines and restrictions of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and accordingly, the company operates under these guidelines,” Elbit says.
“Rafael does not provide information about business partners,” the company tells Walla. “Rafael has operated and operates according to the most stringent international standards, with regard to the compliance of its business partners and in accordance with the Export Control and Licensing Law.”
After Hodeida port strikes, Katz warns Houthis against further attacks on Israel
Following the Israeli Navy strike on the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida, Defense Minister Israel Katz warns the Iran-backed group against continuing its attacks on Israel.
“We have warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to shoot at Israel, they will face a powerful response and be under a naval and aerial blockade,” Katz says.
“This is what we did today, and we will continue to do so in the future,” he says.
IDF confirms Israeli Navy struck Houthi-controlled Hodeida port in response to recent missile fire
Israeli Navy missile boats launched strikes against infrastructure at the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in western Yemen this morning, the military confirms in a statement.
The IDF says the strikes come in response to recent Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel.
Since the last Israeli airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen on May 28, the Iran-backed group has fired seven ballistic missiles and at least one drone at Israel. A missile fired last night fell short before reaching Israel.
In its statement, the IDF says the strike this morning “was intended to deepen the damage to the military use of the port, which has been targeted by the IDF over the past year and continues to be used for terror activity.”
The port is used by the Houthis to “transfer weapons and serves as yet another example of the Houthi terror regime’s cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure to advance terror operations,” the IDF says.
Last night, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for the port, along with the nearby Ras Isa and Salif ports, the latter of which were not targeted today.
In apparent first, Israeli strike in Houthi-controlled Hodeida said to be carried out from the sea, not the air
Contrary to the initial reports, the Israeli strike in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida was carried out by the Navy from the sea, rather than an airstrike.
There is no official comment from the IDF yet.
Yesterday, the military issued evacuation warnings for the port of Hodeida and two other ports on Yemen’s western coast.
Teen shot while playing with firearm with friends dies of his wounds
Magen David Adom medics attend to a 14-year-old boy who was injured apparently while playing with a gun, near Rishon Lezion, June 8, 2025. (MDA)
The 14-year-old boy who was shot in Rishon Lezion on Sunday while playing with a handgun with his friends has died, Hebrew media reports.
The teen is identified in the reports as Uri Portal.
Police suspect that Portal and two of his friends, one aged 13 and one aged 16, were playing with a firearm belonging to the 16-year-old’s father. According to the initial investigation, the teens fired several bullets, and one of them hit Portal in the chest, fatally wounding him.
He was taken to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon in critical condition, where he died of his wounds.
The two teens involved in the incident were detained for questioning on Sunday, and the father of the 16-year-old, who was abroad at the time of the incident, will be questioned upon his return to Israel as well.
The 13-year-old was holding the gun at the time of the shooting, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The two boys are expected to be charged with negligent homicide, the report adds, but due to their age, they will likely be sentenced to a rehabilitation program, rather than prison.
Yemeni media reports Israeli strikes in port city of Hodeida; no comment from IDF
Israeli jets are carrying out airstrikes in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, according to local media.
The IDF has not yet confirmed the reports.
Yesterday, the military issued evacuation warnings for the port of Hodeida and two other ports on Yemen’s western coast.
Settlers reportedly torch vehicle in northern West Bank village
Settlers torched a vehicle overnight in the northern West Bank Palestinian village of Immatain, according to Arabic media reports.
Footage from the scene shows a car in the village going up in flames along with the Hebrew word “revenge” graffitied onto the wall of a nearby home.
There are no arrests reported in the latest incident of settler violence, which for months have taken place on a near-daily basis with near-complete impunity.
Tonight at 4 a.m. Palestine time, Israeli settler terrorists stormed the village of Immatain in the West Bank.
They torched a car, attempted to set the car owner’s home on fire, and sprayed hateful graffiti "Revenge."
In the West Bank, Palestinians wake up to settler terrorists… pic.twitter.com/jL7oPL8iUQ
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) June 10, 2025
#متداول | مستوطنون يشعلون النار بمركبة فلسطيني في بلدة إماتين شرق قلقيلية pic.twitter.com/YRzueBQNCt
— قناة فلسطين اليوم (@Paltodaytv) June 10, 2025
Detained flotilla activists brought to airport, with deportations to start in coming hours
Pro-Palestinian activists on a boat that sought to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza have arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, from where they will be deported to their home countries in the coming hours, the Foreign Ministry says, disparaging their initiative as a “selfie-yacht.”
“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority, in accordance with Israeli law, to authorize their deportation,” the Foreign Ministry adds, noting that consuls from the activists’ home countries met them at the airport.
Qatar hits out at ‘fabricated’ Israeli TV report on its ties to Hamas before Oct. 7
Qatar blasts a Channel 12 news report that claimed to uncover documents shining a light on Doha’s alleged collaboration with Hamas in the lead up to the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
Qatar’s International Media Office issues a statement charging that the documents are “fabricated” and decrying the Channel 12 report as another “attempt to sow tension and division between Qatar and the United States at a crucial stage in our efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.”
The Channel 12 documents would appear to contradict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent characterization of Qatar as a “complicated state, but not an enemy state,” and his attempts to downplay years of Qatari cash infusions of millions of dollars a month to Hamas in Gaza, which he last month claimed didn’t play a significant role in allowing the terror group to prepare for, and execute, its ongoing war against the Jewish state.
Further hitting out at the report, Qatar’s International Media Office calls it a “deliberate distraction deployed by those who want to deflect attention from negative coverage of their own irresponsible actions in Gaza, including those reported in the news over the past week, at a moment when a breakthrough is within reach.”
“This tactic has been used previously by those who want diplomacy to fail. They do not want Qatar’s work with the Trump administration – on the Gaza file and other regional files – to succeed in bringing peace to the region,” the Qatari statement continues.
“Similar methods have been used against those who have spoken out against the continuation of the war or worked diplomatically to bring the hostages home including members of President Trump’s administration, in an effort to discredit them and undermine the diplomatic process.”
“Their efforts will not succeed. No fabricated documents will weaken the bond between Qatar and the United States,” the Qatari statement adds.
Next round of US-Iran nuclear talks planned for Sunday in Oman — Iranian foreign ministry
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says the “next round of Iran–US indirect negotiations was being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,” the ministry says on its Telegram channel early on Tuesday.
PM said to tell Dermer, Mossad chief to meet with Witkoff before next US-Iran talks
L to R: US envoy Steve Witkoff meets families of hostages in Tel Aviv, on May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty); Mossad chief David Barnea attends a ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, on April 23, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer speaks at the Jewish News Syndicate conference in Jerusalem, on April 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea to meet with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in the near future, Channel 13 reports.
The two senior officials are meant to meet Witkoff before the next round of US-Iran nuclear talks, which are expected to be held this weekend.
The development takes place after Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump spoke at length on Monday about Iran’s nuclear program.
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