The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Hezbollah confirms death of senior commander in Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a senior commander in an alleged Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier tonight.
Hezbollah in a statement says Taleb Abdullah, from the south Lebanon town of Aadachit, was killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” the terror group’s term for Israeli strikes.
Abdullah was killed in a strike in the town of Jouaiyya.
Hezbollah refers to Abdullah as a commander.
The terror group rarely refers to its senior operatives slain in Israeli strikes as commanders. The only other operative referred to as a commander was Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy head of the terror group’s elite Radwan force, killed by Israel in January.
According to reports, Abdullah commanded a Hezbollah regional division in southern Lebanon.
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier tonight.
Hezbollah in a statement says Taleb Abdullah, from the south Lebanon town of Aadachit, was killed "on the road to Jerusalem," the terror group's term… https://t.co/FUQUrVhS2I pic.twitter.com/QNR5dn7FW5
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 11, 2024
Pentagon chief commends Gallant for hostage rescue, says onus is on Hamas to accept truce deal

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today to congratulate him on the rescue of four hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a readout from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
The two also discussed efforts to “de-escalate tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border in the wake of Lebanese Hezbollah’s increased aggression,” the statement adds.
Lloyd thanked Gallant for “Israel’s support for the comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal,” according to the readout, and the two agreed that “the onus is on Hamas to accept the deal.”
The statement comes hours after Hamas submitted its response to Israel’s latest hostage release and ceasefire offer to Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
New York mayor denounces waving of Hamas, Hezbollah flags at Nova protest: ‘That is pure antisemitism’
New York Mayor Eric Adams denounces anti-Israel protesters who waved flags of terror groups and chanted slogans championing attacks on Israeli civilians during a chaotic demonstration in New York City yesterday.
“Any New Yorker who stands for peace cannot stand next to those waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags, especially at an exhibit commemorating the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre,” he writes in a post on X. “That is pure antisemitism.”
Any New Yorker who stands for peace cannot stand next to those waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags, especially at an exhibit commemorating the victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre. That is pure anti-Semitism.
The NYPD has overseen thousands of peaceful protests, but it is… pic.twitter.com/dhViBGfcMn
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 11, 2024
Organized by the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, the demonstration was dubbed “A Day of Rage for Gaza” and began with a rally at Union Square before participants headed to Wall Street where the exhibit on the Nova festival massacre has been set up since April.
Protesters set off flares, flew flags of Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades terror wing and of the Hezbollah terror group, and carried banners with slogans such as “Long live October 7” and “The Zionists are not Jews and not humans.”
“The NYPD has overseen thousands of peaceful protests, but it is our duty to arrest anyone who breaks the law. New Yorkers will always be safe here,” Adams writes.
Hamas response rejects hostage-ceasefire deal offer presented by Biden — Israeli official
An Israeli official says that Jerusalem has received Hamas’s response to the hostage release and ceasefire deal offer presented by US President Joe Biden late last month, and that the reply from the terror group effectively rejects the proposal.
“This evening, Israel received, via the mediator, the Hamas response. In its response, Hamas has rejected the proposal for a hostage release that was presented by President Biden,” the Israeli official says, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official adds that Hamas has changed the main parameters of the proposal.
The statement comes after Hamas announced that it had submitted a response to Qatari and Egyptian mediators expressing “readiness to positively” come to a deal in the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad response to Israel’s latest hostage-ceasefire proposal reportedly includes amendments to the offer, including a new timeline for the hostage release and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Hezbollah leader reportedly killed in alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon
A Hezbollah leader was killed in an alleged Israeli strike in the south Lebanon town of Jwaya, the Saudi al-Hadath news outlet reports.
The report names the terror group leader as Ali Zufan, adding that the strikes targeted a building next to the home of a Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Jishi.
The coastal town of Jwaya is located some 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the border with Israel.
Lebanese media reported earlier this evening that five people were killed in the strike.
IDF: Some 80 rockets fired at northern Israel today; none hurt in latest barrage
A barrage of some 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee a short while ago, the military says.
According to the IDF, one rocket was intercepted by air defenses, while the rest struck open areas.
Several more rockets were fired at the Zar’it area in the Upper Galilee, the IDF adds.
There are no reports of injuries.
Since this morning, Hezbollah has fired some 80 rockets at northern Israel.
White House says it’s evaluating Hamas response to Israel hostage-ceasefire offer

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says that the US has received Hamas’s response to Israel’s latest offer for a hostage release and ceasefire deal, which was submitted to Qatari and Egyptian mediators this evening.
“We’re in receipt of this reply that Hamas delivered to Qatar and to Egypt, and we’re evaluating it right now,” he tells reporters during a virtual briefing, adding that it is “helpful” that the terror group has submitted its response.
US President Joe Biden presented what he said was the latest Israeli proposal for a hostage deal and ceasefire to end the Israel-Hamas war late last month, and urged the terror group to accept the offer.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
At least five reported dead in alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon
At least five people have been killed in an alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper.
A house near the southern Lebanon city of Tyre was targeted in the strikes, according to the report.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the report, which comes amid near-daily attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon since October 8, after war erupted in Gaza.
The Iran-backed terror group says its campaign is in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing fighting.
ارتفاع عدد إصابات غارة جويا إلى خمسة على الأقل بينهم طفلة pic.twitter.com/toroUfFCEo
— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) June 11, 2024
Hamas said to give amendments to hostage deal offer including new timeline, full withdrawal from Gaza
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad response to Israel’s latest hostage-ceasefire proposal includes amendments to the offer, Al Jazeera reports.
Quoting unnamed sources, the Qatari outlet says that the terror groups’ proposed amendments include Israel’s withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah Border Crossing and so-called Philadelphi Corridor — which runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border.
According to the report, the Palestinian response was sent to Qatari and Egyptian negotiators by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziad al-Nakhaleh.
Reuters quotes an official briefed on the talks as saying that the Hamas response also includes a new timeline for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Channel 12 reported yesterday that Israel’s proposed hostage and ceasefire deal, announced by US President Joe Biden in late May, includes a commitment to end the war in Gaza even before all hostages are released.
Qatar, Egypt confirm receiving Hamas response to hostage deal: ‘Joint mediation efforts with the US will continue’
In a joint statement, Qatar and Egypt confirm receiving a response from Hamas to Israel’s latest offer for a hostage release-ceasefire deal.
The two countries “confirm that their joint mediation efforts with the United States of America will continue until an agreement is reached, and that the mediators will examine the response and coordinate with the parties concerned regarding the next steps.”
The statement does not mention Israel.
Hamas, PIJ submit response to latest hostage-for-truce offer, expressing ‘readiness to positively’ reach deal

In a joint statement, the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups express “readiness to positively” reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, in their first official response since US President Joe Biden presented what he said was Israel’s latest offer for a hostage-for-truce agreement.
“The response gives priority to the interest of our Palestinian people, and the necessity of completely stopping the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip,” the statement says.
They add that they have submitted their response to the proposed Gaza ceasefire deal to Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Doha and Cairo confirm without giving details.
The Hamas response comes after the UN Security Council yesterday adopted a US-led resolution urging Hamas to accept Israel’s latest proposal, as Washington aims to intensify global pressure on the terror group in order to bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
IDF wraps up West Bank counter-terror operation; 6 gunmen killed

The military says it has wrapped up a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank town of Kafr Dan, near Jenin.
In a statement, the IDF says troops of the Duvdevan commando unit encircled a building used by terror operatives and carried out a tactic known as “pressure cooker” that involves escalating the volume of fire directed at a building to force suspects to come out.
The IDF says an attack helicopter was also used to strike the building amid the operation.
The troops killed six gunmen in ensuing clashes and wounded others, the military says.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry confirms that six Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during the raid.
The IDF says the commandos seized two assault rifles and a handgun that belonged to the gunmen, as well as a car with several explosive devices.
No soldiers were hurt in the raid.
German court rejects Palestinian groups’ request to block arms exports to Israel
A Berlin court has rejected an urgent request by a number of Palestinian residents of Gaza to stop the government from approving permits for the export of German weapons to Israel on grounds that they might be used in violation of humanitarian law.
The Palestinians were supported by several organizations including the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Law for Palestine and the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, who allege that there are reasons to believe such violations are happening in Gaza.
Israel declared war after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists murder some 1,200 people and seize 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a wide-scale campaign in Gaza aimed at destroying the terror group’s military and governance capabilities and returning the hostages. It denies violating international law and says it is targeting all areas where Hamas operates, while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.

The Berlin administrative court says the plaintiffs did not show that decisions on arms exports to Israel were actually pending, as Germany has abstained from issuing any this year, or that Germany is likely to permit exports in violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law.
Germany is a major arms supplier to Israel, accounting for 30 percent of all Israeli arms purchases in 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual report for that year, behind only the United States, which provided 69% of Israeli arms purchases in 2023.
The court also notes that the German government has the power to refuse arms export permits, attach additional conditions, or secure commitments from the recipient country to restrict the use of the weapons.
Reacting to the ruling, the lawyers’ groups say the ruling was incomprehensible, charging that the government kept pending arms export applications secret, making it impossible to know of them in advance.
Ahmed Abed, a lawyer from a Berlin legal collective, says the government’s suppression of information about weapons and war crimes “puts the lives of our clients at risk.”
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326 million euros ($354 million), 10 times more than in 2022. But the volume of approvals fell to around 10 million euros in the first quarter of this year, according to Economy Ministry data.
WATCH: Iron Dome intercepts rockets from Lebanon as Israelis gather for Shavuot
A barrage of some 15 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area in northern Israel, the military says, as Jewish Israelis celebrate the Shavuot holiday.
The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses while others hit open areas.
There are no reports of injuries.
Footage from a community in the Kiryat Shmona area shows the Iron Dome air defense system engaging the rockets as Israelis were gathered for Shavuot celebrations.
A barrage of rockets launched from Lebanon at the Kiryat Shmona area in northern Israel is seen being intercepted by the Iron Dome, as Israelis celebrate the Shavuot holiday. pic.twitter.com/4d4wdGWDSv
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 11, 2024
Separately, the IDF says it carried out a strike on a building used by Hezbollah, a rocket launching site, and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun.
At the same time, a Hezbollah rocket-launching cell was targeted in a drone strike in Deir Aames, the military adds.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה ביניהן מבנה צבאי, עמדת שיגור ותשתית טרור של חיזבאללה במרחב עיתרון לצד תשתית טרור של הארגון במרחב מיס אל ג'בל.
במקביל, הותקפה על ידי כלי טיס בדיר עמס שבדרום לבנון חוליית שיגור של הארגון>> pic.twitter.com/VWMeVREjIz
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 11, 2024
Hamas reportedly gives mediators its official response to hostage-ceasefire offer
Hamas has given Qatari and Egyptian mediators its official response to an Israeli hostage-for-ceasefire proposal, according to Israeli reporter Barak Ravid, who cites a pair of unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
BREAKING: Hamas gave the mediators Qatar and Egypt its official response to the Israeli proposal for a hostage and ceasefire deal, according to two sources with knowledge
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 11, 2024
US envoy acknowledges PM hasn’t publicly supported hostage deal he authorized

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield acknowledges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly and clearly come out in support of the hostage deal proposal he authorized late last month.
“He hasn’t said it for reasons that… I can’t get into here, but [in] the conversations between the President and Netanyahu, and Secretary Blinken and Netanyahu, [the prime minister] has been clear that they accept this resolution,” Thomas-Greenfield says in an interview with NPR.
“They are ready to move forward. They want to see the hostages released, and they want to see peace occur along their borders, and they are working with us on this,” she adds.
Netanyahu has issued vague statements asserting that the offer allows Israel to continue the war until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, even though the deal envisions an initial ceasefire with Hamas still in power that is later turned permanent through another round of talks during that first six-week truce.
Top Biden aide insists Hamas can be removed from power once ceasefire deal in place

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan again asserts the Israeli hostage deal proposal can lead to Hamas’s removal from power in Gaza.
By reaching a deal and “working through” its multiple stages, “we can end up with an interim security enterprise and interim governance enterprise that can lead to a Gaza that is no longer a platform for terror,” Sullivan says at a Washington conference hosted by the American Jewish Committee without offering any specifics on how such an outcome would be achieved.
US officials argued to The Times of Israel last month that while the hostage deal it is advancing may allow Hamas to limp on in some form, the broader diplomatic initiative Washington is pushing would see the terror group marginalized in Gaza by alternative forces backed by America’s Arab allies.
Sullivan argues that the Israeli proposal allows for a post-war reality in which “the Arab states play a significant role in both stabilizing and reconstructing Gaza, so that it is not that platform for terror that it has been in the past, and we can begin down a pathway of Israel’s full integration into the region, including normalization with additional countries, including Saudi Arabia, where the end result is embedded in security architecture that makes it more secure.”
He clarifies that the Arab cooperation is contingent on Israel agreeing to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian state — a requirement repeatedly rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sullivan recognizes that Israeli support for a two-state solution is limited, particularly after October 7. However, he insists that the benefits that will come with the necessary compromises to the Palestinians will leave Israel more secure than it currently is due to the united regional front it will build against Iran.
Netanyahu has also chafed at the US approach and has insisted that the Israeli hostage deal offer would allow it to continue the war until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities have been dismantled.
While the offer has not been fully publicized, Channel 12 on Monday revealed what is said were key components of the proposal that contradicted Netanyahu’s claims. The premier’s office denounced the report as “a total lie.”
Sullivan was also pressed on Washington’s abstention on a UN Security Council resolution in March that called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release.
Israel opposed the resolution, arguing that it didn’t directly link the ceasefire to the release of the hostages — an assertion rejected by the US.
Sullivan argues that the resolution was sufficiently in line with US policy for the administration to allow it to pass.
Moreover, he asserts that Washington’s flexibility on the matter allowed it to maintain good enough standing with other Security Council members in order to get them on board with yesterday’s resolution, which singled out Hamas and demanded that it accept the Israeli hostage deal proposal.
Rocket alerts activated in Kiryat Shmona and several other Lebanon border towns
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona and several other northern communities near the border with Lebanon.
Blinken discusses hostage-ceasefire proposal with Jordan’s king

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met earlier today with King Abdullah on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.
The two discussed the latest Israeli hostage-ceasefire proposal, with Blinken lauding Jordan’s support for the offer along with Amman’s efforts to deliver aid for Palestinians in Gaza, a US readout says.
Blinken says countries decrying conditions in Gaza should put their money where their mouths are

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticizes countries who have been speaking out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while not backing up their rhetoric with aid for Palestinians.
“Only one-third of the current United Nations appeal [for Gaza] is funded. That leaves a shortfall of approximately $2.3 billion. Every country can help fill this gap,” Blinken says in a speech to a conference in Jordan aimed at fundraising for Gaza.
“Yet some who’ve expressed great concern over the suffering of Palestinian people in Gaza, including countries with the capacity to give a lot, have provided very little or nothing at all. It is time for everyone – everyone – to step up,” he continues.
“For those who have already given and given generously, give more,” Blinken adds, noting that the US had just announced an additional $404 million in new aid to Palestinians.
Blinken also offers new details on some of the steps Washington has pressed Israel to take in order to alleviate humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
These steps include speeding up the inspection of aid trucks, clarifying and shortening the list of prohibited goods, increasing visas for aid workers, improving deconfliction channels with aid groups, expanding authorizations of equipment for hospitals and for repairing water and sanitation systems, Blinken says.
He notes that Israel has taken steps to improve the humanitarian situation, including by opening additional crossings into Gaza. However, he stresses this has not been enough and calls on Jerusalem to do more, including by taking more steps to reduce the number of civilians killed in its military operations.
Blinken tells Gaza donors that ceasefire is best way to address humanitarian crisis

Addressing an international donor conference for Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the most effective way countries can address the humanitarian crisis is by pushing on Hamas to accept Israel’s latest hostage deal proposal.
Blinken begins his speech by highlighting the dire situation in Gaza.
“More than a million people have been displaced from Rafah alone, in the last month alone – many of whom had already been uprooted multiple times.”
“Ninety-five percent of people there cannot access clean drinking water. Hunger is everywhere. Virtually everyone in Gaza depends on aid to survive. Most of Gaza’s sanitation system has been destroyed. Fewer than a dozen of Gaza’s 40 hospitals are open, and more than 270 humanitarian workers have been killed.”
“The single most effective step we can take to address the urgent humanitarian challenges in Gaza is to reach an immediate – and ultimately, enduring – ceasefire,” Blinken says.
“My primary and first message today to every government, to every multilateral institution, to every humanitarian organization that wants to relieve the massive suffering in Gaza: Get Hamas to take the deal. Press them publicly. Press them privately,” he adds.
Blinken then highlights the plight of Palestinian children in Gaza.
“Ten-year-old Abed lost his parents, his brother, and other family members. They were killed in an airstrike that was targeting terrorists. He said, ‘When my mom and dad were alive, I used to sleep. [Now] I can’t sleep anymore,'” Blinken says.
“There’s an acronym that has become increasingly common for children like Abed in Gaza: WCNSF — wounded child, no surviving family members.”
“Six-year-old Fadi has cystic fibrosis. When the conflict began, his parents could no longer get the food and medicine that he needed to remain healthy. Before he was evacuated to the United States from Gaza just last month, he was so severely malnourished that his legs could no longer support the weight of his body.”
“Eleven-year-old Dunya — she lost her parents, her brother, her sister when their home was struck in Khan Younis. She said this: ‘I lost my leg. I lost my family, but I still have dreams. I want to get a prosthetic leg. I want to travel. I want to become a doctor. I want for this war to end, and our children to live in peace.'”
“These three children – Abed, Fadi, Dunya – and all the Palestinian civilians suffering in Gaza, we know they’re not numbers. They’re not abstractions. They’re human beings. They’re children, they’re women, they’re men who all want the same things that we want for ourselves and for our loved ones, just like the people who were murdered in Israel on October 7th, just like the hostages who continue to be held in Gaza to this day,” Blinken says.
Some 2 dozen arrested in anti-Israel protest at UCLA; rabbi accosted, called a ‘pedophile’

LOS ANGELES — Police have thwarted attempts by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to set up a new anti-Israel encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, where officers cleared a previous camp this spring after it was attacked by counterprotesters following mounting accusations of antisemitic harassment against Jewish students.
Approximately 25 people were arrested late Monday for willful disruption of university operations and one for interfering with an officer, UCLA police say in a statement. The individuals were cited, issued 14-day orders to stay away from UCLA and then released.
The demonstrators repeatedly tried to set up tents, canopies and barriers as they moved to various locations, disrupting nearby final exams. The group also damaged a fountain, spray-painted brick walkways, tampered with fire safety equipment, damaged patio furniture, stripped wire from electrical fixtures and vandalized vehicles, the statement says.
Video clips from UCLA showed masked anti-Israel protesters violently accosting Rabbi Dovid Gurevich and calling him a “pedophile,” and assaulting a security guard.
Second, UCLA Chabad Rabbi Dovid Gurevich, who was called a “pedophile rabbi,” was attacked and harassed: pic.twitter.com/KEbECbTM5u
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) June 11, 2024
IDF attack helicopter involved in clashes with Palestinian gunmen near Jenin
Israeli special forces are carrying out a raid in the West Bank town of Kafr Dan, near Jenin, according to the military and Palestinian media.
As troops entered the town they came under fire by Palestinian gunmen.
The troops returned fire, fired shoulder-launched missiles at a target, and an attack helicopter also carried out a strike in the area. Footage shared online shows a military chopper opening fire over the town.
At least three Palestinians are reported killed in the raid, military sources say.
ثلاثة شهداء نتيجة استهداف من طيران الاحتلال لمنزل في بلدة كفردان بجنين. pic.twitter.com/Z2KJQMwtZi
— شجاعية (@shejae3a) June 11, 2024
Rocket sirens activated in kibbutz near Gaza border
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the border with Gaza.
US jury finds Hunter Biden guilty of all 3 felony gun charges

WILMINGTON, Delaware — Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the US president’s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Jurors find Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
He faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Maryellen Noreika, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether she will give him time behind bars.
UN rejects ‘outrageous’ spying claims against staff held by Yemen’s Houthis
GENEVA — The UN rights chief demands that Yemen’s Houthi rebels “immediately and unconditionally” release detained UN staff and other aid workers, flatly rejecting allegations that they are part of a spy network.
After the Houthis on Monday said the people they arrested last week were part of an American-Israeli spy network, Volker Turk issues a statement saying: “I categorically reject the outrageous allegations against our staff, and am deeply worried about the conditions in which they are being held.”
Gallant says ‘all segments of the public’ must enlist, warns ‘more challenges ahead’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says all parts of Israeli society need to draft to the military, amid the ongoing war.
“We need everyone to protect ourselves in this country. We will bring everyone possible, from all segments of the public, from all levels, we will draft them, we will give them equal opportunity, and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter where you came from, what your parents did, what part of the country you live in, you can reach any unit,” Gallant says while meeting troops from the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.
“There are more challenges ahead,” he adds.
His remarks come hours after lawmakers voted to apply “continuity” to a bill from the previous Knesset dealing with the military service of yeshiva students.
Gallant, of Likud, was the only coalition lawmaker to vote against the legislation, which if eventually approved, would lower the current age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students from 26 to 21 and “very slowly” increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription.
As ultra-Orthodox men are generally exempt from military service due to controversial longstanding arrangements, the IDF has begun to move to extend the period in which conscripted and reservist soldiers serve, as it faces personnel constraints amid the long war, as well as due to the thousands of casualties.
Blinken, Emirati counterpart discuss ceasefire proposal on sidelines of donor confab in Jordan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met earlier today with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Jordan on the sidelines of an international donor conference for the Palestinians.
Blinken and Bin Zayed discussed the ceasefire proposal awaiting Hamas’s response as well as the post-war governance of Gaza, says a US readout.
US to provide another $404 million in aid for Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank
The US announces that it will be providing an additional $404 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, bringing its total amount of assistance for Palestinians since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas to $674 million.
“As the largest single country humanitarian donor to the Palestinian people, we recognize the urgent need for more assistance to reach civilians given the dire humanitarian conditions and call on all donors to support life-saving operations for Palestinians in Gaza and the region,” says a statement from the State Department.
“This new funding will provide essential support to vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region, including food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter and psychosocial support,” the statement adds, urging other countries to follow suit.
Chance for Gaza ceasefire ‘down to’ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Blinken says in Tel Aviv
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushes Hamas to accept the ceasefire proposal put forward by Israel last month and revealed by the US, saying that “everyone’s vote is in, except for one vote and that’s Hamas.”
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Blinken says that while Hamas’s endorsement of the UN decision to back the proposal was a “hopeful sign,” the US still required a definitive word from Hamas leadership inside Gaza.
“That’s what counts, and that’s what we don’t have yet,” he says.
Referring to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Blinken says there is a “strong consensus” in Israel and internationally to move forward with implementing the proposal, but that “it really is down to one person at this point.”
Everyone has agreed to the deal “except Hamas,” he says when asked if he believes the terror group to be leaning toward supporting it.
“If Hamas doesn’t say yes, then this is clearly on them — on them in terms of a vote to continue the war, not end it; on them in terms of the safety, the well-being of hundreds of thousands, millions of Palestinian women, children, and men in Gaza,” he says.
Woman killed, child critically injured in Ashkelon car explosion; police suspect incident is criminal, not terror
A 20-year-old woman was killed and an eight-year-old girl was critically injured in a car explosion in Ashkelon a short while ago, Magen David Adom says.
Police say they suspect the incident is criminal in nature, rather than terrorism.
In a statement, MDA says that it received reports of a car that had burst into flames in the southern city shortly after 4 p.m.
The woman’s death was determined on the scene of the explosion, and the eight-year-old girl was transferred to Barzilai Medical Center for urgent treatment.
An additional two people were also injured – a 28-year-old man in moderate condition and a 45-year-old man who was mildly injured, MDA says.
Blinken meets with PA prime minister in Jordan, welcomes plans to reform governing body

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Palestinian Authority reform announcements in a meeting with PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Jordan, the State Department says in a statement.
“Secretary Blinken welcomed reform announcements by the Palestinian Authority and discussed with Prime Minister Mustafa the need for full and consistent implementation of those reforms to achieve the aspirations of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,” the statement reads.
“He reaffirmed the United States’ support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel,” it adds.
Mediators yet to receive formal responses from Israel or Hamas on ceasefire proposal, official says

Qatari and Egyptian mediators have not received formal responses from Hamas or Israel over a UN-backed ceasefire proposal, an official briefed on the talks tells Reuters.
“Talks are ongoing between mediators and Israel and Hamas in coordination with the United States,” the official says.
Earlier today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the proposal, and urged Hamas to do the same, saying “everyone’s vote is in, except for one vote, and that’s Hamas.”
Funerals held for four Givati Brigade soldiers killed yesterday in Gaza

All four Givati Brigade soldiers killed while fighting in Rafah yesterday are being buried this afternoon in funerals across the country ahead of the start of Shavuot this evening.
Maj. Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, 24, is being buried in Gedera; Staff Sgt. Eitan Karlsbrun, 20, is being laid to rest in Modiin; Sgt. Yair Levin, 19, is being buried in Karnei Shomron; and the funeral of Sgt. Almog Shalom, 19, is being held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
They all served in the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit. Shalom and Levin were still in their training period, and Shaulov was their company commander. Levin is the grandson of former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin.
Israeli official says current truce proposal ‘allows Israel’ to meet its war aims

In response to yesterday’s UN Security Council vote calling for both Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire deal, an Israeli official says that “Israel will not end the war before achieving all of its goals — eliminating Hamas’s military and civil capabilities, returning all of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza never again represents a threat to Israel.”
“The proposal that was presented allows Israel to meet these conditions, and it will do so,” says the official, reiterating previous statements on the ceasefire terms that US President Joe Biden outlined in a speech late last month.
IDF says it downed drone that crossed into Upper Galilee from Lebanon

The IDF says that following recent infiltration alerts in the north, its forces successfully downed a drone that crossed into Israel from Lebanon in the Upper Galilee region.
Sirens sounded in the area of Arab al-Aramshe over concerns about falling shrapnel, the IDF adds.
A number of rocket and drone attacks earlier today sparked fires in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights.
At Gaza aid conference in Jordan, Arab leaders urge boost in humanitarian assistance

Arab leaders urge a boost in humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip during a conference to discuss such assistance in Sweimeh on the coast of the Dead Sea in Jordan.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi calls on nations to force Israel to stop using hunger as a weapon and remove obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Strip.
Jordan’s King Abdullah says that humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip cannot wait for a ceasefire and cannot be subject to a political agenda, Jordan’s King Abdullah says.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says it is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council and the international community to press Israel to open all land crossings into the Gaza Strip.
“The responsibility of the Security Council and all parties of the international community remains great in putting pressure on Israel in order to open all land crossings into the Gaza Strip and hand them over to the new government to let all relief and medical supplies in,” he says during the conference.
Israel was not invited to the Gaza aid conference, a Foreign Ministry official told The Times of Israel yesterday.
Israel maintains that it has worked to boost aid entering Gaza by opening several new crossing points as well as cooperating with the construction of the US-built Gaza aid pier. COGAT said that 197 aid trucks were transferred to Gaza yesterday via Egypt, the Ashdod port and Israel. The Defense Ministry body claimed that the contents of 1,000 trucks are waiting on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing point to be picked up and distributed by UN aid agencies.
Malawi’s VP and nine others killed in plane crash

Malawi’s vice president and nine others were killed in a plane crash, the country’s president says.
The wreckage of the military plane carrying Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima was located in a mountainous area in the north of the country after a search that lasted more than a day. There were no survivors of the crash, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera says in a live address on state television.
Hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers had been searching for the plane that also carried a former first lady after it went missing Monday morning while making the 45-minute flight from the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, around 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north.
Air traffic controllers told the plane not to attempt a landing at Mzuzu’s airport because of bad weather and poor visibility and asked it to turn back to Lilongwe, Chakwera says. Air traffic control then lost contact with the aircraft and it disappeared from radar, he says.
Seven passengers and three military crew members were on board.
IDF’s 98th Division exits Gaza after taking part in anti-terror raids, hostage rescue op

After participating in Saturday’s hostage rescue operation in Nuseirat, the IDF’s 98th Division has been withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, the military says.
In the days ahead of the mission to rescue four Israeli hostages, the division began a new offensive in east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah — east and southeast of Nuseirat, where the hostages were extricated from.
Amid the offensive, the IDF says the division’s forces killed around 100 terror operatives and struck more than 100 sites, including tunnels and rocket launchers, as well as locating weapons.
Two attack tunnels belonging to Hamas, each around a kilometer long, were demolished by combat engineers amid the operation, the military says.
During the hostage rescue, troops of the division aided in extracting special forces, along with the rescued hostages, from Nuseirat.
Speaking to troops after being pulled out of Gaza, the commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, says “there are still 120 more hostages in Gaza, and we will not stop until we bring them home.”
“We are also obligated to destroy the enemy above and below ground. This is what we have done for eight months, and that’s how we will continue,” he adds.
Sirens sound in towns near Lebanon border
Sirens warning of a potential drone infiltration sound in a number of towns near the border with Lebanon, including Hanita, Arab al-Aramshe and Adamit.
All four rescued hostages sent home from hospitals after checkups

All four of the hostages rescued by Israel from Gaza on Saturday have been released from the hospital.
Noa Argamani is released this afternoon from Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv following a series of checks, the hospital says. Her mother, Liora, who has terminal cancer, is being treated there.
Yesterday, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were released from Sheba Medical Center after they were carefully examined following their rescue after eight months of captivity.
Doctors who treated the rescued hostages said they were suffering from malnutrition, were beaten regularly and experienced great psychological distress during their captivity.
Troops wrap up 18-hour counter-terror raid in West Bank, says military
The military says it has wrapped up an 18-hour counter-terrorism raid in the West Bank’s Far’a camp, during which troops killed a gunman and located a bomb-making lab.
At the bomb manufacturing site, the IDF says troops located more than 80 improvised explosive devices, along with barrels packed with explosive material. The bomb lab was later demolished.
Other weapons located inside a car were also seized, the IDF says.
Troops clashed with gunmen amid the raid, killing at least one yesterday morning. A drone strike was also carried out against two armed Palestinians, the army says.
Eight wanted Palestinians were detained amid the raid. The IDF says they were wanted over suspected involvement in terror activities.
No soldiers were hurt in the operation.
Firefighters battle blazes sparked by rocket fire from Lebanon

Firefighters are battling a number of blazes sparked by rockets fired at northern Israel from Lebanon earlier today.
A spokesperson for the Golan-Galilee division of the Fire and Rescue Services says flames erupted at a number of sites, including Had Ness in the Golan and Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar in the Upper Galilee.
The IDF said a barrage of around 50 rockets was fired from Lebanon earlier today, with some intercepted and others falling in open areas.
IDF head met with visiting CENTCOM chief to discuss ‘regional challenges’

United States CENTCOM chief Gen. Michael Kurilla was in Israel over the weekend, amid the hostage rescue operation in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF says Kurilla was hosted by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and the pair held an assessment and discussed “recent regional challenges, and the strengthening of the strategic partnership in the region against the Iranian threat and Iran’s proxies in the region.”
“The developments on the northern border and the war in Gaza were also discussed,” the military adds.
UN: Israel, Hamas could both be responsible for ‘war crimes’ over civilian deaths in hostage rescue

The United Nations human rights office says that the civilian deaths in Gaza during the Israeli operation to secure the release of four hostages over the weekend, and their holding by terror groups in densely populated areas, could both amount to war crimes.
“Hundreds of Palestinians, many of them civilians, were reportedly killed and injured,” said Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN human rights office.
“Furthermore, by holding hostages in such densely populated areas, the armed groups doing so are putting the lives of Palestinian civilians, as well as the hostages themselves, at added risk from the hostilities. All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes.”
Hamas claimed that at least 210 people were killed during the operation, while the IDF said it knew of around 100 Palestinian casualties but could not say how many were civilians and how many were terror operatives.
ADL official: Jewish Diaspora communities are strong despite their fears

Mobilization for Israel in Jewish Diaspora communities shows that they are strong and vibrant despite concerns for their long-term future, a top executive of the Anti-Defamation says.
Marina G. Rosenberg, the ADL’s vice president for International Affairs, says this in an interview with The Times of Israel following a massive rally in support of Israel on Sunday in Toronto, Canada by tens of thousands of participants.
“Yes, there’s concern and there’s fear but Jewish communities are very strong. Jews are going out to the streets in their thousands — in Toronto this weekend, in New York last weekend — in support of Israel and the hostages’ families. People are still having Jewish lives in most parts of the world,” says Rosenberg.
The ADL is among multiple Jewish groups on record as expressing concern for the future of Diaspora Jewry, or its “ability to lead Jewish lives in the West,” as ADL’s annual report for 2024 states.
Buoyed by the rescue of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, the Toronto march had 50,000 participants, organizers at the Jewish Federations of Canada–UIA say — the annual event’s highest turnout in 55 years, according to the organizers.
Blinken: Netanyahu ‘reaffirmed commitment’ to Gaza ceasefire plan, Hamas reaction is ‘hopeful sign’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “reaffirmed his commitment” to a Gaza ceasefire proposal during their meeting in Jerusalem yesterday.
“I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night and he reaffirmed his commitment to the proposal,” Blinken says, adding that Hamas’s welcoming of a UN vote on the US-drafted ceasefire resolution is a “hopeful” sign.
Hamas official says group accepts UN ceasefire resolution, ready to negotiate

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri tells Reuters that the terror group accepts a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details.
Yesterday, the UNSC adopted a US-led resolution that urges Hamas to accept Israel’s latest hostage-for-ceasefire proposal.
Israel came out against the resolution last week, taking issue with some of the amendments that were made to the text. The US addressed one of those concerns, dropping an explicit rejection to the establishment of Israeli security buffer zones in Gaza. The move appeared to be enough to satisfy Israel, whose representative at yesterday’s meeting avoided criticizing the resolution or directly commenting on it.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that Israel will not accept a deal that ends fighting in Gaza without the achievement of its goals in the war.
4 US educators stabbed in northeast China, including Jewish teacher with Israeli roots
Four American educators from a small Iowa university were injured in a stabbing attack in a public park in northeast China’s Jilin province yesterday, according to Chinese and US government officials.
Iowa Representative Adam Zabner tells Reuters his brother was one of the victims from Cornell College in Iowa.
“My brother, David Zabner, was wounded in the arm during a stabbing attack while visiting a temple in Jilin City, China,” he says.
“I spoke to David… He is recovering from his injuries and doing well. My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack.”
Adam Zabner has said that his mother is originally from Israel and his father from the Venezuela Jewish community, and the couple immigrated together to Iowa.
A US State Department spokesperson says in an emailed statement that they are aware of reports of a “stabbing incident” in Jilin, China, and are monitoring the situation.
The educators from Cornell College were on a teaching exchange program with a partner university, Beihua, in Jilin City.
Barrage of 50 rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon, says IDF; no injuries reported

A barrage of some 50 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the central Golan Heights a short while ago, the military says.
Air defenses shot down several of the rockets, while the rest impacted open areas, the IDF adds.
There were no injuries in the attack, claimed by Hezbollah.
The terror group in a statement says it launched dozens of Katyusha rockets at an army base in the Golan Heights, in response to an IDF strike last night in northeastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah also names a third member killed in the strike, which according to the IDF targeted a significant Hezbollah facility.
IDF says Haifa sirens activated after interceptor mistakenly fired at object
The military says sirens in the northern coastal city of Haifa a short while ago were activated due to an Iron Dome interceptor missile being launched at a target later determined to be a “false identification.”
Sirens had sounded due to fears of falling shrapnel.
The IDF says the incident is under investigation.
Blinken meets opposition figures Gantz, Lapid in Tel Aviv

Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets separately in Tel Aviv with opposition figures Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.
In a statement from Gantz’s office, the National Unity party leader says he urged Blinken to apply “maximum pressure” on negotiators to reach a hostage release deal, saying he will “support any responsible arrangement on the matter from outside the government.”
Gantz, who quit the coalition this week, also tells Blinken that if the threat from Hezbollah in the north cannot be removed, “Israel will not hesitate to act forcefully” to protect its citizens.

According to Lapid’s office, the opposition leader told Blinken that “we have one goal — to bring home 120 hostages. Their time is up. We need a deal.”
Blinken also met earlier today with President Isaac Herzog, and yesterday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Protesters linked to the hostage families hold a demonstration outside Blinken’s Tel Aviv hotel demanding the US help reach a deal to free their loved ones.
Rocket sirens sound in a number of towns in Golan Heights and Upper Galilee

Incoming rocket sirens sound in the Katzrin in the Golan Heights and several communities in the Upper Galilee.
Footage posted to social media shows the Iron Dome air defense system active over the area, following an apparent rocket barrage launched from Lebanon.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Several Iron Dome interceptions reported over Katzrin and Hatzor HaGlilit in northern Israel. pic.twitter.com/sNMjELWPLw
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 11, 2024
Rocket alert sirens sound in Haifa for first time since January
Rocket alert sirens are currently sounding in western Haifa.
It marks the first time since January that alerts have been activated in the city.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the cause.
Residents report seeing an interceptor missile launched over the area.
Reports of an interception over Haifa pic.twitter.com/lqthBJ40Sl
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 11, 2024
Shortly afterward sirens also sound in a number of towns in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights.
Earlier this morning, the IDF said it downed a suspected drone off the coast of Haifa, although no sirens sounded amid the incident.
IDF says it struck around 35 targets across Gaza over the past day

The Israeli Air Force struck some 35 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.
The targets included buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, rocket launching sites, sniper positions and other infrastructure, as well as cells of terror operatives.
The strikes come as troops continue to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah and in the Netzarim Corridor in the center of the Strip.
In Rafah, the IDF says troops of the Givati Brigade killed a cell of gunmen in a “close-range encounter.”
Amid several raids in Rafah, Givati troops also located intelligence documents and equipment, which were brought back to Israel for investigation, the army says.
Separately, a Hamas sniper identified by troops in the Rafah area was killed in a drone strike, the military adds.
In the Netzarim Corridor, the IDF says another drone strike was carried out against a cell of operatives.
Hezbollah names two operatives killed in Israeli airstrikes

The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
The announcement comes after an Israeli airstrike on a facility belonging to the terror group in northeastern Lebanon overnight, as well as other sites in southern Lebanon.
The operatives are named as Bilal a-Din, of the south Lebanon village of Majdel Selm, and Abbas Nasser, from Tayr Felsay, a town in the Tyre District.
Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 336.
Report: Sinwar’s messages during war exalt civilian deaths as ‘necessary sacrifices’

A report in The Wall Street Journal cites messages it says have been sent by Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar throughout the war expressing the necessity of civilian bloodshed.
The report says the messages have been sent to Hamas compatriots as well as mediators and shared with the WSJ by a variety of people.
One such message, said to be sent to Hamas leaders in Doha, says mass civilian losses, similar to those seen in the Algerian War of Independence, “are necessary sacrifices.”
He also reportedly wrote to Hamas leader in exile Ismail Haniyeh after three of his sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike, saying their deaths would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.”
Sinwar also reportedly blasted Hamas’s political leaders for engaging in negotiations about the day after the war.
“As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated,” he said. “We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.”
Rocket alert sirens sound in towns near Lebanon border
Rocket alert sirens sound in several towns near the border with Lebanon.
Hamas commander among those killed by Israeli forces in Ramallah, says terror group

Hamas says one of its commanders in the West Bank was killed in a clash last night with Israeli forces.
In a statement, Hamas says Mohammed Jaber Abdo was killed along with three other of the group’s operatives in a village near Ramallah. It says Abdo had spent 20 years in Israeli prisons.
Israel said last night that Border Police officers killed a Palestinian gunman accused of carrying out an arson attack in a West Bank settlement farm, along with another three Palestinian terror suspects. Police said the suspects tried to ram into the officers with their car, and in response they opened fire, killing the four men.
IDF announces names of 4 soldiers killed in Rafah explosion

Four Israeli soldiers were killed by a blast in a booby-trapped building in southern Gaza’s Rafah yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldiers are named as:
Maj. Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, 24, from Gedera.
Staff Sgt. Eitan Karlsbrun, 20, from Modiin.
Sgt. Almog Shalom, 19, from Hamadia.
Sgt. Yair Levin, 19, from Givat Harel.
They all served in the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit. Shalom and Levin were still in their training period, and Shaulov was their company commander. Levin is the grandson of former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin.
According to an initial IDF probe, the troops had thrown an explosive inside a suspicious home in Rafah’s Shaboura neighborhood, in an attempt to trigger any possible traps, and entered after there was no immediate blast. As two soldiers entered the three-story building, it exploded, causing part of it to collapse on some of the soldiers. Inside the home, the IDF later found a tunnel shaft, indicating the building likely belonged to a Hamas operative.
In addition to the four slain troops, another seven were wounded, including five seriously, according to the IDF.
Their deaths bring the toll of slain troops in the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and amid operations along the border to 299.
TV polls: Gantz’s party slips slightly after government exit, remains largest faction

Three TV polls that aired last night following the exit of Benny Gantz from the government show his National Unity party slipping slightly but remaining the most popular faction among potential voters, were an election to be held today.
The often unreliable, but nevertheless influential polls from Channels 11, 12 and 13 show National Unity receiving 22-25 seats in a possible future election, dropping 3-4 seats from earlier polls. The surveys all show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud remaining the second-largest party, with 19-22 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 13-16.
All three polls show the New Hope party headed by Gideon Sa’ar — which split from National Unity and left the coalition earlier this year — failing to cross the electoral threshold. An expected union of the Labor and Meretz parties — championed by new Labor leader Yair Golan — would bring in 9 seats, the polls show.
The Channel 12 poll suggests that a combined slate of right-wing figures Avigdor Liberman, Naftali Bennett, Yossi Cohen and Sa’ar would become the largest party and bring in 23 seats. Such a faction does not and is not likely to exist.
Israel is not currently in an election period. The next vote must be held no later than October 2026, but could be held at any point if the current government collapses.
Russia temporarily suspends new cooperation pact with Iran

A new agreement between Moscow and Tehran on comprehensive cooperation has been temporarily suspended due to issues with Iranian partners, Russia’s RIA state news agency reports, citing a Russian foreign ministry official.
“This is a strategic decision of the leadership of the two countries,” RIA cites Zamir Kabulov, the foreign ministry official as saying. “The process… has stopped due to problems that our Iranian partners have.”
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian side.
IDF says it shoots down ‘suspicious aerial target’ near Haifa
A “suspicious aerial target” identified off the coast of Haifa in northern Israel was shot down by air defenses, the military says.
No sirens sounded, “according to protocol,” and there were no damage or injuries, the IDF adds.
Rocket alert siren sounds in kibbutz near Gaza border
A siren warning of an incoming rocket attack sounds in Ein Hashlosha, a kibbutz near the Gaza border.
IDF says it hit Baalbek compound used by Hezbollah’s ‘logistical force build-up’ unit
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a significant Hezbollah compound deep within Lebanon, the military announces.
According to the IDF, the facility in the Baalbek region belonged to Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which it says is tasked with “logistical force build-up,” including delivering weaponry to Lebanon and within the country.
Lebanese media reported that strikes took place in the nearby Hemel District, and sources told AFP that three Hezbollah members were killed.
Additionally, several more Hezbollah targets, including a military compound and two buildings, were struck in Aitaroun, the military says.
The IDF says the strikes were a response to Hezbollah downing a military drone over south Lebanon yesterday.
IDF says fighter jets downed suspected drone as Iraqi militia claims to attack Israel
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets downed a suspected drone heading toward Israel from the “eastern direction,” the military says.
The IDF has described past attacks launched from Iraq as “from the east.”
The “suspicious aerial target” was tracked throughout the incident and did not enter Israeli airspace, the IDF says.
There were no damage or injuries.
The IDF’s statement comes not long after the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched drones at a “vital target” in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
Gallant calls Gantz’s resignation from government ‘a mistake’
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says he thinks National Unity leader Benny Gantz made “a mistake” in resigning from the emergency government and war cabinet.
Speaking to reporters at the Knesset after voting against reviving an ultra-Orthodox conscription bill, Gallant says he was never “coordinated” with Gantz while stressing he remains a loyal member of the ruling Likud party.
‘Resistance is justified’: Anti-Israel protesters clash with NYPD outside Nova Exhibit
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash with NYPD officers in Manhattan as they protest against Israel outside an exhibit on the Nova music festival, where Hamas-led terrorists massacred some 360 party-goers while committing rapes and other atrocities during the October 7 onslaught.
“Long live the intifada,” the protesters can be heard chanting in video from the demonstration. “Resistance is justified where people are occupied.”
#NOW Cops STOP PROTESTERS after they lit up flares outside of Nova Exhibition, the October 7th Hamas attack exhibit that's taking place on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/wzN4vamaVb
— Oliya Scootercaster ???? (@ScooterCasterNY) June 11, 2024
Intel halts planned expansion of Kiryat Gat factory project
Intel is halting the expansion of a major factory project in Israel, which was going to pump an extra $15 billion toward a chip plant.
The chip giant in December said it was going to expand an ongoing $10 billion plan at the Kiryat Gat site, in the south of the country, currently under construction.
Solicited by AFP, Intel gives no reason for the pause of the next phase and makes no link to the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel continues to be one of our key global manufacturing and R&D sites and we remain fully committed to the region,” the company says in a statement.
It adds that “managing large-scale projects, especially in our industry, often involves adapting to changing timelines.”
“Decisions are based on business conditions, market dynamics and responsible capital management.”
Israel is Intel’s third-largest country of operation by asset size, according to its annual report, after the United States and Ireland.
The semiconductor giant has been present in Israel for fifty years, with the opening of a research center in Haifa.
Hezbollah source says 3 members of terror group killed in Israeli strike on tanker convoy
BEIRUT — Israeli strikes targeting a convoy of tankers in northeastern Lebanon late on Monday killed three members of Hezbollah, a military source tells AFP.
“Three Hezbollah members were killed by nine Israeli missile strikes that targeted a convoy of tankers and a building” in a village in Hermel district on the border with Syria, the Hezbollah source tells AFP, adding that three people were also wounded.
Lapid slams revival of ultra-Orthodox conscription bill as a ‘despicable humiliation’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams the Knesset’s vote to renew a 2022 bill lowering the ultra-Orthodox age of exemption for military service, calling it “one of the most despicable moments of humiliation of the Israeli Knesset ever.”
“In the midst of another day of hard fighting in the Gaza Strip, the reckless government passes a law of evasion and insubordination. It’s all politics. Zero values,” Lapid says in a statement.
Knesset votes in favor of reviving Haredi enlistment bill; Gallant votes against

The Knesset votes 63-57 to apply “continuity”to a bill from the previous Knesset dealing with the military service of yeshiva students, reviving the contentious legislation amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The vote is to renew the legislative process where it left off, without having to start from scratch in the current session. The legislation will now advance to committee to be prepared for the second and third readings it must pass to become law.
If eventually approved, the bill would lower the current age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students from 26 to 21 and “very slowly” increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription.
Following the vote, Benny Gantz’s National Unity party accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of having returned to a pre-October 7 approach.
“While IDF soldiers are fighting for the country, [Netanyahu and the coalition] are fighting to perpetuate the [Haredi] exemption from serving,” National Unity says in a statement. “It is not too late to pass a broad and comprehensive outline that will satisfy the needs of security and society.”
MK Avigdor Liberman, the hawkish chairman of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, also laments the vote, tweeting that during “the dead of night, while the best of our sons and daughters are fighting on the battlefield, the Israeli government took another step toward the evasion law, which is a serious injury to IDF soldiers and reservists and contrary to the needs of the security establishment — all for the sake of political survival.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who opposed the measure, likewise expresses displeasure.
“The people of Israel long for agreements – national changes are carried out with broad agreement,” he tweets. “We must not engage in petty politics at the expense of IDF soldiers.”
AOC slams antisemitism on left, says when Jews threatened progressives are undermined

Squad Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out antisemitism in her own political camp, saying it is “an assault on our values as Americans and especially as progressives.”
“When the Jewish community is threatened, the progressive movement is undermined,” Ocasio-Cortez says during a webinar with Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick and former Anti-Defamation League staffer Stacy Burdett.
Ocasio-Cortez asserts that charges of antisemitism have sometimes been weaponized to silence progressive critics of Israel, particularly women of color.
“Criticism of the Israeli government is not inherently antisemitic and criticism of Zionism is not automatically antisemitic. That being true does not mean that we should not recognize criticism and when that criticism crosses a line into real harms against our Jewish community,” Ocasio-Cortez adds, in a rare event bringing together leaders from legacy Jewish American organizations with one of the most prominent progressive lawmakers in Congress.
“When it comes to the current conflict: it is possible to recognize Jewish pain, fear and grief in this moment. It does not take away from our grief and pain for families in Gaza,” she asserts.
LIVE: Join Rep. AOC, @amyspitalnick of @theJCPA, and Stacy Burdett for a virtual discussion on antisemitism and the fight for democracy. https://t.co/vOxUfWrRXY
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) June 10, 2024
Israeli official insists war goals haven’t changed, further pushing back on TV report
An Israeli official continues the pushback against the Channel 12 report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered an end to the war before all hostages were released.
The official points out that “the outline explicitly states that no later than the sixteenth day, indirect negotiations will begin in which Israel will present its terms for ending the war.”
“These conditions have not changed,” says the official, “the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, the return of all our abductees and making sure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
Israel will insist on achieving these conditions, adds the official, calling the report “devoid of any basis.”
Israel avoids commenting on UNSC resolution after coming out against it last week
Addressing the UN Security Council following its adoption of a US-drafted resolution calling on Hamas to accept the latest Israeli hostage deal proposal, Israel’s representative avoids commenting or expressing opposition to the initiative, which it had been voicing privately for several days.
While Ambassador Gilad Erdan was present for the start of today’s session, the Israeli response was delivered by career diplomat Reut Shafir Ben Naftali, in an apparent attempt to depoliticize the speech by not having a political appointee be the one to present it.
Ben Naftali doesn’t explicitly confirm that Israel has indeed accepted the latest hostage deal proposal, instead echoing points made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past week.
“From the very first days following Hamas’s invasion and brutal massacre on October 7th, Israel’s goals have been very clear: To bring all our hostages home and to dismantle Hamas’s capabilities. Israel is committed to these goals – to free all the hostages, destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future,” she says.
Netanyahu has avoided offering significant comment on the proposal, which hasn’t been fully released to the public and is being interpreted by some as allowing Hamas to remain in Gaza in some form, given that the proposal envisions a phase one temporary ceasefire with the terror group that is later turned permanent in its second phase.
Many of the ambassadors speaking before Ben Naftali welcomes the Israeli operation to release four hostages over the weekend, but also lamented the deaths of Palestinians during the firefight that ensued.
Addressing the issue, Ben Naftali highlights that the hostages were held in civilian homes guarded by terrorists. “These so-called innocent civilians were not only cooperating with the terrorists, but were complicit in their heinous crimes.”
“As the world witnessed on Saturday, Israeli soldiers sacrifice their lives to bring our hostages home, while Hamas intentionally sacrifices Gazan children to prevent us from rescuing our children. Israel regrets any harm to civilians, but it must be emphasized that Palestinians who cooperate with Hamas and take part in their war crimes – are not uninvolved,'” she adds, urging the international community to hold Hamas accountable.
Speaking after the session, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour welcomes the resolution, but says the onus is on Israel to implement it, even though Hamas has yet to even accept it.
Mansour also says that the Palestinians will continue “pursuing justice” against Israel in the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
IDF says ‘suspicious aerial target’ intercepted over Golan Heights
Another “suspicious aerial target,” thought to be a drone, was intercepted by air defenses over the Golan Heights this evening, the military says.
No injuries or damage were caused.
תיעוד: לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו מטרה אווירית חשודה במרחב רמת הגולן
בהמשך להתרעה שהופעלה בשעה 21:50 על חדירת כלי טיס עוין במרחב רמת הגולן, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו בהצלחה מטרה אווירית חשודה שחצתה מלבנון.
אין נזק ואין נפגעים pic.twitter.com/G68yLKOjtx— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 10, 2024
IDF said to strike in northern Lebanon’s Hermel, in potentially deepest attack of war
Lebanese media are reporting Israeli airstrikes in the Hermel District of northeastern Lebanon, in what appears to be a response to numerous Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel over the past day, and the terror group downing an IDF drone.
It also potentially marks the deepest IDF strike in Lebanon amid the war, as Hermel is some 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the Israeli border.
No further details are immediately available.
الغارة الاسرائيليّة على بلدة حوش السيّد علي قضاء الهرمل منذ قليل. pic.twitter.com/Zs4lnojzH9
— Mhammed Allam | محمّد علّام (@mhammedallam) June 10, 2024
لا هي غارة مافيهاش مزح
الهرمل – حوش السيد علييا صاحب الزمان خليك هربان #لبنان pic.twitter.com/8AoB6mEj9P
— Bilal بلال (@Bilal_aljaber18) June 10, 2024
Police say 4 members of cell behind West Bank arson attack killed after trying to ram cops

Police say undercover Border Police officers killed a Palestinian gunman a short while ago, accused of carrying out an arson attack at a settler outpost in the West Bank last night. Another three Palestinian terror suspects were killed in the operation.
Border Police officers and IDF troops operated in the West Bank town of Kafr Ni’ma this evening amid a manhunt for the terrorists behind last night’s attack in the Sde Ephraim outpost.
As the troops arrived at a hideout in Kafr Ni’ma, where the cell that allegedly carried out the attack was gathered, the main suspect and three others attempted to flee in a car, police say.
Police say the suspects tried to ram into the officers, who in response opened fire, killing the four men. In their vehicle, troops found a makeshift sub-machine gun, a military vest, and explosive devices, police say.
One officer was slightly hurt amid the operation, police add.
In the overnight attack in Sde Ephraim, surveillance camera video showed an armed suspect pouring flammable liquid on a trailer used by settlers as a living space, and then setting fire to it, before leaving the scene.
There were no injuries in the attack, as the couple living there were not home at the time.
Sde Ephraim was established illegally on a hilltop that had been part of the Palestinian village next door, Ras Karkar, also known as Risan. Settlers from the outpost have clashed with local Palestinians in the area in the past.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel