The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they unfolded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump speak by phone about the emerging deal with Iran, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
In a statement that seeks to downplay the significance of the potential agreement, Netanyahu’s office says the two spoke about “the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran regarding entry into negotiations.”
In the conversation, Netanyahu expressed a rather optimistic take on an agreement, according to his office.
“Although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding,” says the PMO, “the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement reached at the conclusion of the negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limitations on missile production, and the cessation of Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies in the region.”
In recent weeks, Trump has only talked about a deal on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and has moved away from demands on ballistic missiles or support for terrorism, issues Iran says it will not discuss.
US President Donald Trump acknowledges that the deal he is touting with Iran is one that only “conceptually” deals with the issue of Iran’s nuclear material.
Trump has long asserted that Iran would have to hand over its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, but the memorandum of understanding that he is hoping to sign over the weekend merely sets the stage for subsequent talks on the issue.
The MOU will, however, include a commitment from Iran not to obtain a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has long said it wasn’t interested in pursuing, while Washington to date had cast doubt on the Islamic Republic’s sincerity.
Trump appears unbothered, though, by the deal’s failure to concretely address Iran’s uranium stockpiles, telling reporters in the Oval Office that “nobody has gotten close” to them” because they’re “buried under a mountain” after the US strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities in June of last year.
Asked how confident he is that the deal will actually be signed, given that he has repeatedly jumped the gun in the past, Trump responds that he’s “pretty confident” the deal will be inked soon, “maybe over the weekend.”
He adds that the US will immediately lift its blockade of Iranian ports once the deal is reached.
Trump says he believes Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has personally approved the deal: “I understand the answer is yes,” he says when asked if Khamenei gave the nod.
Pressed on whether Iran could again be stringing the US along again, as Trump claimed yesterday, the president responds that he doesn’t think that’s the case this time, because the US has hit Iran so hard, including in recent days.
He adds that the brewing agreement will be a “great deal for Iran because they’ll be able to build up their country” — an ostensible reference to the sanctions relief that Tehran will enjoy if it complies with the terms of the deal.
“It’s a very strong MOU,” Trump says, adding that it could be signed on Saturday or Monday.
While the deal discussed envisions a 60-day ceasefire extension during which nuclear talks will be held, Trump declines to give such a timeline, saying he doesn’t want to be called out again for not adhering to it.
He says the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened as part of the deal before claiming that the channel has been open for months, “and you just didn’t know about it.”
He is referring to the US having quietly succeeded in getting oil through the strait, though navigation through the channel was significantly obstructed for much of the rest of the world.
After claiming earlier today that a deal with Iran was all but final, US President Donald Trump now clarifies that it will likely take another few days until it is signed.
“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, subject to finalization of documents. It should get done in the next few days,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump has repeatedly claimed a deal was just about reached only for the talks to drag out after.
Since his latest announcement on a near-deal, both Israeli and Iranian officials have told the media that the agreement is not yet complete.
Nonetheless, Trump now says that a signing ceremony might take place this as soon as this weekend in Europe. He says he won’t attend, but that US Vice President JD Vance and his top negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be there.
Trump insists the deal set to be inked will ensure Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we went through.”
“The documents are in pretty final shape… They [Iran] want it as much as everyone else wants it,” Trump says, adding that he just held phone calls with many leaders in the region including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump notes that the Strait of Hormuz will immediately reopen as a result of the deal. Reopening the strait was not an initial war aim for the US, given that freedom of navigation in the channel wasn’t an issue before the war began.
Pending an agreement is a memorandum of understanding that will extend a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, while setting up subsequent negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump held a phone call today in which they reviewed the results of US-Iran consultations that had led to progress on understandings proposed within a negotiating track, the Qatari Emiri Diwan says.
Trump told the emir that efforts were continuing to complete final procedures before announcing arrangements to sign an agreement, the Diwan adds in a statement.
A suspect arrested yesterday for her alleged role in an anti-Israel terror campaign worked for the far-left US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, The Detroit News reports.
Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn, Michigan, is one of eight anti-Zionist activists charged with “terrorizing” University of Michigan leaders, Jewish sites and police due to their perceived support for Israel.
The suspects allegedly surveilled and threatened their targets, vandalized their homes and businesses, and discussed killing and torturing their opponents and their families.
El-Sayed is a far-left, harsh critic of Israel who is running for the US Senate in Michigan.
Odeh worked for El-Sayed’s campaign between February and April, the report says.
Kuwait’s civil aviation authority says that an Iranian attack targeting Kuwait International Airport’s radar earlier today caused injuries and serious material damage to radar facilities and equipment linked to air traffic management.
“The airport’s radar was targeted this morning,” Kuwait’s civil aviation body says in a letter addressed to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
It adds that the attack “injured people and caused significant material damage and losses affecting radar facilities, equipment and air traffic management systems.”
A police officer in Toronto, Canada, is killed during a shootout with apparent links to an Iran-backed terror campaign targeting Jewish, Israeli and American targets.
Police were executing a search warrant early this morning in the York district of Toronto when the officer was shot, Toronto police say.
Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw identifies the slain officer as Marc Pinizzotto, 43.
A police spokesperson says several officers entered an apartment on the fourth floor of a high rise.
A 19-year-old fired at the officers, striking Pinizzotto. Another officer shot the suspect multiple times, sending him to the hospital in critical condition, the spokesperson says.
Demkiw says another suspect, Zara Jabbi, 19, is on the lam and considered armed and dangerous.
Canadian police say the arrest was related to “a number of shootings,” including an attack at the US consulate in Toronto in March, according to the Toronto Star.
The alleged mastermind behind the consulate shooting was Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, according to a criminal complaint filed in a New York court in April.
Al-Saadi is an Iraqi-Iranian national with deep ties to the Iranian regime who orchestrated a terror campaign against Jewish, Israeli and American targets in the US, Europe and Canada, according to US federal prosecutors.
According to the investigation, Al-Saadi said “our people” were behind two attacks in Canada, describing the targets as “the consulate and the Knesset.” Investigators said the description referred to the March shooting at the consulate and an attack on a Synagogue.
“In Canada, we have our guys,” Al-Saadi told a confidential source.
Iran has not approved any text for an initial memorandum of understanding with the United States, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency cites an informed source close to Iran’s negotiating team as saying.
US President Donald Trump names New York prosecutor Jay Clayton as his new intelligence chief, after a backlash from Republicans over his bid to install an inexperienced ally in the post.
“I am pleased to announce the Nomination of very Highly Respected Jay Clayton… to be the next Director of National Intelligence,” Trump says on social media, urging the US Senate to confirm him “as soon as possible.”
Trump said loyalist and head of the federal housing agency Bill Pulte would take over as acting director on June 19 to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned effective June 30. Pulte’s appointment sparked a political standoff that derailed renewal of an expiring surveillance law.
A senior Israeli official tells Channel 12 news that Jerusalem has not been made aware of a finalized US-Iran deal, seemingly contradicting an announcement made by US President Donald Trump a short while ago.
Earlier this evening, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that an agreement between Washington and Tehran had been approved by all parties involved, including Israel and other regional powers, and that an official signing ceremony would be announced shortly.
Iran has yet to publicly confirm that an agreement has been reached.
Oil prices tumble while US stocks surge after US President Donald Trump canceled military strikes on Iran and teased a possible peace deal.
Both major oil futures contracts are down more than three percent, while major US equity rises sharply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1.7 percent at 50,753.64.
US President Donald Trump announces that an agreement has been reached with Iran, pending a signing to be announced shortly.
“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as president of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump announces on Truth Social.
“Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and others,” Trump says.
“The [US] naval blockade will remain in full force and effect until this transaction is finalized — time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” Trump adds.
Iran has yet to confirm that the sides are on the verge of an agreement.
Trump has several times in the past claimed that a deal with Iran was all but signed only for talks to hit a snag. It is also far from the first time that Trump has threatened to carry out a major attack against Iran only to subsequently pull back.
The fact that Trump says that the US is keeping its blockade of Iranian ports in place would indicate that a deal hasn’t really been finalized yet.
On the table has been a memorandum of understanding extending a fragile ceasefire currently in place, while launching subsequent talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the Axios news site, key gaps between the sides “were narrowed” during talks yesterday in Tehran between Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Following years of public struggle, the government approves NIS 32 million ($10.8 million) to help slash polluting emissions in the Ashdod industrial zone in southern Israel.
The move is aimed at improving air quality for hundreds of thousands of people living in Ashdod, Yavne, Gedera and many surrounding kibbutzim and moshavim.
During recent years, the ministry and local authorities have been bombarded with calls complaining about pollution, bad smells and headaches.
The Ashdod industrial zone is a hub of Israel’s logistics and maritime trade. It incorporates shipping, railways and pipelines, along with an oil refinery, power stations, chemical and recycling plants, fuel farms and wastewater treatment facilities.
According to the Environmental Protection Ministry’s Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), the zone emitted the highest amount of volatile organic compounds in the country in 2024. Many volatile organic compounds — mixtures of organic substances containing mainly carbon and hydrogen — can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, nausea and dizziness. Some, such as benzene, are known to cause cancer.
The plan, according to an Environmental Protection Ministry announcement, is to slash, by 2028, volatile organic compound emissions by 56%, nitrogen oxides (which affect respiration) by 44%, and large particulate matter (PM10) by 29%. Particulate matter is made up of tiny particles of soot, dirt, carbon, and minerals that penetrate deep into the respiratory system and can cause severe respiratory illness.
To reach these targets, the ministry will add air monitoring stations, expand environmental sampling, increase patrols and surprise sampling of smokestacks, boost enforcement and improve responses to the public. The ministry and the Water Authority will form a joint team to investigate how best to reduce odor emissions from the Yuvalim wastewater treatment plant. Furthermore, plans will be advanced for a modern facility for sorting and treating organic waste to replace the old waste transfer station, which smells badly.
To reduce pollution from transportation, the plan includes electrifying municipal and other operational vehicles, installing more chargers for electric cars, connecting ships to shore-side electricity to reduce the operation of polluting engines while docking, and encouraging green upgrades at Ashdod Port.
Palestinian media outlets report that Hassan Yousef, one of Hamas’s founders in the West Bank, has been released from two and a half years of administrative detention without charges.
Yousef, 71, was arrested on October 19, 2023, at his home near Ramallah as part of a wave of arrests of Hamas operatives in the West Bank following the October 7, 2023 massacre.
His son confirms the release to AFP.
In footage published following his release, he is seen being treated at a Palestinian hospital shortly after leaving prison, with his hand bandaged. The circumstances surrounding the injury are unclear.
Yousef has been arrested numerous times by Israel in the past and has spent many years in prison, both under administrative detention and following convictions related to his activities in the terror organization.
الاحتلال يفرج عن القيادي الشيخ "حسن يوسف" بعد اعتقاله إدارياً منذ بداية الحرب على غزة. pic.twitter.com/HXVWseGrYH
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) June 11, 2026
Israeli firm BlackCore, suspected of interfering in France’s local elections in March, is also suspected of meddling in elections in New York City and Scotland, and operating in Angola and Togo, the head of France’s disinformation detection service Viginum says.
Last month, Reuters reported that French authorities suspected BlackCore was behind an online smear campaign targeting three candidates from the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) ahead of municipal elections in March this year.
“This modus operandi was not limited to municipal elections in France,” says the head of Viginum, Marc-Antoine Brillant. “It also appears to have been used to carry out foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and the 2025 municipal election in New York.”
Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, says the United States will receive a more severe response than before if it attacks Iran, after President Donald Trump said the US would strike Iran again.
“Considering recent US threats against Iran’s oil infrastructure, either oil and gas exports are for everyone or they will be available for no one,” the command says in a statement carried by state media.
“If the United States once again seeks to carry out attacks against heroic Iran, it will receive a harsher response than before, and the flames of war, in addition to creating insecurity in the region, will become more widespread and far-reaching,” adds the statement attributed to General Ali Abdollahi.
Greek judges order the detention pending trial of a Palestinian accused of being part of a Hamas-linked network plotting attacks on Israeli targets in Europe and Asia, legal and police sources say.
The 37-year-old suspect, who denies wrongdoing, was detained on June 6 on the island of Crete, in a joint operation by Greece’s intelligence service and police anti-terrorism unit, authorities said.
Police confiscated mobile phones, a laptop and hard discs from his residences and investigators found evidence he had ordered online materials that could be used to make explosives but had not received them.
His lawyer tells Reuters that the evidence is thin and reveals inconsistencies.
“The defendant’s character, mindset and overall demeanor bear no resemblance to the profile of a criminal or terrorist. Rather, he appears to have been cast as a scapegoat in a case founded on tenuous evidence and riddled with significant gaps,” claims criminal defense lawyer Spyridon Pantazis.
Haredi demonstrators blocking roads appear to have largely dispersed following more than two hours of protests, which brought traffic on three major highways in central Israel to a standstill.
Police say that Routes 1, 4 and 6 have been reopened to traffic. As the protests die down, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men are seen walking along the shoulders of the highways.
Leaders of the hardline Jerusalem Faction movement, which called for the mass rallies, announce that the thousands of demonstrators “are receiving the order to disperse.”
The massive protests that began at 5 p.m. today were organized against the police’s transfer of 19 draft dodgers to IDF custody, after they were arrested last week during destructive riots outside Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg’s house.
Jerusalem’s Gazelle Valley Park reopens to visitors more than a month after it was closed to protect its herd of gazelles from a national outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
As a precaution, the public will be required to enter through one gate, and to walk and push strollers, wheelchairs and other mobility aids through a disinfection station.
Slovenia’s government revokes a 2025 decision banning the export and transit of weapons and military equipment to Israel, as well as most arms imports from the country, the Defense Ministry says.
The ministry says the ban, introduced in July, is no longer necessary as the trade in arms is already governed by national law and European Union rules. It adds that existing legislation and regulations already define licensing procedures and controls, and today’s decision is also aligned with the EU Common Position on arms export controls.
The 2025 measure barred the export, transit of military goods to Israel and imports from Israel, exempting equipment needed for Slovenia’s security.
The measure was introduced under then-prime minister Robert Golob, who said Slovenia was the first EU country to impose such an embargo. In June, Slovenia’s parliament approved Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s center-right government, ending a political deadlock since a March election produced no outright majority. The new leader has reversed many of his predecessor’s anti-Israel measures, setting Jerusalem and Ljubljana on a new diplomatic path.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomes the Jansa’s “swift and just decision to lift the distorted anti-Israeli measures taken by Slovenia’s previous government,” calling him a “bold leader and a true friend of Israel.”
New Mossad director Roman Gofman has appointed a new deputy after dismissing the previous one last week.
In a statement, the Mossad says “Aleph” — identified only by his first initial in Hebrew — will immediately enter the role of deputy director and head of operations in the spy agency.
“Aleph served in a variety of roles at the core of operational activity and brings with him knowledge, experience, and a deep familiarity with the organization,” the statement reads.
Gofman’s appointment of Aleph was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the statement adds.
Last week, just days into the role, Gofman dismissed the agency’s deputy director, also identified as “Aleph.”
A clause granting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expanded authority over media organizations was inserted into Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s controversial media overhaul bill Thursday, before being removed after outrage from opposition lawmakers, who warn it would grant the government sweeping powers over news organizations just months before national elections.
The bill was advanced in a vote in the Knesset in January and requires two more votes before it can be passed into law.
A similar provision, to go into effect during states of emergency and which would apply to communications distribution platforms such as cable TV, had previously been removed from the legislation.
The revised clause that surfaced overnight would also apply to news broadcasters and other content providers, giving the prime minister unprecedented power over news organizations while campaigning and into elections, including the authority to shut them down after consulting with Shin Bet chief David Zini.
In a joint statement, opposition lawmakers on the committee accuse Karhi of attempting to use the legislation to “control what is seen on television during elections” and to hand out benefits to media outlets close to the government.
Elections are set to be held by October 27, although the final date has not been established.
“We never discussed this in committee. I never saw a legal opinion on it. No security official sat here and discussed it with us,” says Yesh Atid MK Shelly Tal Meron, noting sarcastically that the provision “suddenly appeared in the middle of the night, just before the vote.”
סתימת פיות בשידור חי! ????
שר התקשורת קרעי עשה מחטף וניסה להעביר שורה של תיקונים אנטי-דמוקרטיים לחוק השידורים כדי שהממשלה תוכל לשלוט במה שנראה בטלוויזיה בזמן הבחירות, וכדי לחלק מתנות לערוצים שמקורבים אליו.הבוקר הגענו לוועדה חברי האופוזיציה, דרשנו תשובות ולא הסכמנו שיעבירו את… pic.twitter.com/nBpcSgVEhY
— MK Shelly Tal Meron – שלי טל מירון (@Shellytalmeron) June 11, 2026
Democrats MK Efrat Rayten says to Karhi: “The fact that this is happening right before the election reveals your intentions.”
Karhi ultimately backs down from including the clause, saying that security officials advised that the provision was unnecessary.
Tal Meron questions whether the proposal originated with security officials at all, suggesting instead that it came directly from Netanyahu, who is on trial in a corruption case involving allegations that he accepted bribes in the form of positive media coverage from the Walla news site in return for providing regulatory benefits in the telecommunications field to Shaul Elovitch, who owned both Walla and the Bezeq telecommunications company.
Lawmakers also object to another last-minute amendment lifting restrictions on the i24NEWS channel, owned by Netanyahu ally and French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi, from broadcasting on cable and satellite platforms.
“Netanyahu is deeply involved in this legislation,” Rayten says, adding that “this is government corruption at the highest level.”
A 93-year-old man has been injured by a driver who slammed into a crowd of Haredi protesters at Geha Junction near Bnei Brak, as demonstrations continue to disrupt traffic throughout the country.
Medics say the elderly man suffered a head injury and is currently in moderate to serious condition. He is being taken to the hospital from the scene of the protest on Route 4.
מפגין חרדי במצב קשה לאחר שנדרס בצומת גהה | תיעוד הדריסה@Roi_Yanovsky @daniel_grovais pic.twitter.com/5dUonJweQr
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 11, 2026
According to Channel 12, the suspected perpetrator of the hit-and-run claims she was mobbed and cursed by the protesters, who threw stones at her car. Attempting to flee, the driver stepped on the gas and accelerated into the crowd of protesters, injuring the man.
She continued on her way until reaching a police checkpoint on the road where she stopped and admitted to having tore through the crowd. She is currently being questioned by Tel Aviv District police investigators, the outlet says.
Further south down the highway at Ganot Junction, medics say a young man has been moderately injured after a car crashed into him.
Police have not yet commented on the second incident.
The IDF says it killed several Hezbollah operatives who tried to flee from a major tunnel system near the Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon.
Several days ago, a drone piloted by commandos of the Egoz unit identified Hezbollah operatives inside one of the tunnel routes.
Footage published by the IDF shows one of the Hezbollah gunmen firing on the drone.
The military says that as the operatives fled out of the tunnel, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed them.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says she discussed the recent escalation in the war with Iran with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and she reiterated the need for a diplomatic way out of the conflict.
“I spoke to Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi about the latest escalation in the Gulf and the state of negotiations with the US. I’ve also been in touch with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The resumed attacks on the Gulf countries and their critical infrastructure are unacceptable,” writes Kallas on X.
“A return to full-scale war would come at a tremendous cost to the entire region. The diplomatic route remains the best path out of this war,” she adds.
Hundreds of passengers on a train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv are forced to disembark at Ben Gurion Airport due to massive Haredi protests throughout central Israel.
The demonstrators have not only managed to bring road traffic to a standstill on three major highways, but are also blocking railways in Tel Aviv.
Many of the passengers are en route to major concerts scheduled for tonight in Tel Aviv, including by popular singer Omer Adam. A large crowd of passengers are seen flooding the airport’s bus terminal after coming up from the station.
תנועת הרכבות נעצרה בעקבות פריצת מפגינים למסילה; תיעוד: המוני נוסעים הורדו בתחנת נתב"ג@hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/Dhw8s72nMV
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 11, 2026
The Israeli military is poised to launch an offensive against Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon city of Nabatieh, one of the terror group’s strongholds, according to an IDF official.
The IDF’s 36th Division pushed deeper into southern Lebanon in recent days and is now operating on the outskirts of Arnoun, a village just a few kilometers from Nabatieh, according to the military.
According to the military official, the division conducted clandestine operations along the Litani River ahead of the push, building a new bridge to cross the waterway in a valley that was not under surveillance by the terror group. Once the bridge was built, armored vehicles were able to cross and quickly advance northward undetected.
The official says that depending on the decisions of Israeli leaders, the division could advance further north, into Nabatieh, or alternatively head west and continue operations against the terror group along the Litani River.
The goal of either operation would be to further weaken Hezbollah, the official says.
Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, warns against targeting Iranian infrastructure after US President Donald Trump vowed continued strikes on the Islamic Republic this evening, saying such attacks will create an “endless quagmire” of conflict.
“Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years,” Ghalibaf writes on X.
“You will see a different Iran,” he adds.
Despite the recent escalation, neither the US or Iran has formally disavowed negotiations for a deal, which Trump has said for weeks are nearly complete.
Thousands of Haredi protesters have brought traffic on Israel’s central highways to a standstill during massive demonstrations against the arrests of draft evaders.
At the moment, Routes 1, 6 and 4 are blocked to traffic as demonstrators throng the roads. Traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway is also stopped, and trains that run through the coastal city have been halted after protesters went down onto the tracks.
The central protest location announced by the hardline Jerusalem Faction is along Route 4, where demonstrators are seen clashing with officers as police try to clear them off the road. Many of the participants were bused to the location from Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and other places throughout the country.
Smaller protests are also occurring in the Judean foothills at Ben Shemen Interchange, which connects Routes 1 and 6.
Footage from the junction shows Haredi men sitting in front of halted cars on the pavement. Some of the demonstrators wear yellow Star of David pins reminiscent of the patches Jews were forced to wear during the Nazi regime.
Police say protesters are also blocking traffic in Netivot, in what appears to be a smaller demonstration than those ongoing in the center of the country. One protester sits in front of a car holding up a sign that reads, “The new equation: A young man detained = blocked route.”
Senior national security officials from the United Arab Emirates and Iran met in person this week for the first time since the US-Israeli campaign against Tehran, sources with knowledge of the matter tell Bloomberg.
The meeting marked “a stark turnaround” for the two countries amid an increasing understanding of the need to de-escalate bilateral tensions, the sources tell the outlet, without providing further details on the meeting’s purpose or content.
The report indicates a potential shift in Abu Dhabi’s approach to the Iran war, after weeks of drone and missile bombardment from Iran drew a more hawkish response from the Gulf country, which in turn reportedly aligned itself further with Israel, including through coordinated attacks on Iran and military intelligence sharing.
The tenure of Gal Hirsch as the government’s hostage point man has ended without a replacement being appointed, the Prime Minister’s Office confirms in a statement, saying the PMO is working to renew its contractual arrangement with him.
Despite Hirsch’s tenure ending on June 6, “the operational and national need for the continued work and responsibilities of the Coordinator for Hostages and the Missing remains unchanged, and its importance is unequivocal,” the PMO says, amid concerns that the vacant position will harm Israel’s ability to advance the release of any Israelis taken hostage, detained, or missing.
The PMO does not say how many Israelis remain hostage, but few cases are publicly known. They include three Israelis captured during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, including airman Ron Arad, whose burial locations remain unknown.
“This field requires professional continuity, leadership of Israel’s POW and MIA missions, preservation of the expertise and institutional knowledge that has been accumulated, preparedness for emergencies, and the continued management of complex coordination efforts with all relevant bodies in Israel and abroad. Accordingly, the office is working to advance a renewed engagement arrangement to ensure functional continuity and provide the best possible response to the ongoing missions related to prisoners of war and missing persons,” the statement adds.
Hirsch began serving as hostage point man on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in which 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken hostage. All of them have since been released, though dozens were killed during the onslaught or in captivity in Gaza.
Hirsch established the government framework responsible for overseeing hostage recovery efforts and managing relations with the Gaza hostages’ families, and was also involved in securing the release of Israeli detainees in Jordan, Lebanon, and South America. His tenure was extended twice, in February of last year and March of this year, before expiring this past weekend.
Throughout his service, Hirsch faced sharp criticism from former hostages and family members of captives, who criticized his conduct toward them. After he spoke out against public rallying for a hostage deal, suggesting that such demonstrations emboldened Hamas, six former hostages and over 70 relatives of hostages called for his resignation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “following the path of Hitler” as the two continue to trade barbs after the Israeli leader alleged he was an “antisemitic dictator” who had committed a “genocide” against the Kurds.
“Those who follow Hitler’s path should not forget their fate will be like that of other tyrants in history,” Erdogan says.
“Under the current administration, Israel has become a factory churning out distress, fueled solely by blood and tears, and producing nothing but instability and chaos,” he adds, vowing to “ensure the perpetrators of such massacres were held accountable.”
The latest exchange erupted after Erdogan on Wednesday said Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Syria were a threat to Turkish security.
Netanyahu hit back, pledging to continue military action wherever needed to deal with the security threat from Iran and its proxies.
“The antisemitic dictator Erdogan, who commits genocide against the Kurds, supports the Hamas terrorist organization, oppresses his own people and imprisons political rivals, is the last person who can lecture Israel on morality,” he said in a statement.
The Israeli military says it has achieved “operational control” over the Wadi Saluki stream area in southern Lebanon, around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border.
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and Egoz Commando Unit “completed an operation to achieve operational control and clear the area north of the Saluki stream” of Hezbollah infrastructure, the IDF says.
The IDF says the operation is part of its efforts “to strengthen operational control in southern Lebanon and remove the direct threat to the communities of the Galilee Panhandle and Metula.”
“The Saluki stream area is used by the Hezbollah terror organization as infrastructure for operating explosive drones and carrying out rocket fire against IDF troops operating in the area,” the military says.
During the operation, the ground troops and the Israeli Air Force struck and destroyed hundreds of Hezbollah sites and killed over 50 members of the terror group, the IDF says, adding that troops also captured weapons, including anti-tank missiles and explosives.
Traffic-tracking apps show virtual gridlock on many main highways around Tel Aviv as hundreds of Haredi protesters begin demonstrating against the military draft and arrests of service-evaders.
At the Ganot Interchange on Route 4, which was shut by police an hour earlier, dozens of men in typical Haredi garb are seen walking down the empty highway.
Protests blocking traffic are also reported in areas where cars had still been allowed, including the Ben Shemen Interchange on Route 1 and the Aluf Sade Interchange further north on Route 4.
המוקד: החלה החסימה במחלף גנות pic.twitter.com/TYgA0yrbvq
— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) June 11, 2026
Police have advised drivers to avoid the Tel Aviv area and have expressed concerns that Haredi demonstrators may once again attempt to block commuter trains as they did a week ago, Channel 12 news reports.
Authorities have also told travelers to use public transportation to reach Ben Gurion International Airport, with protests also expected near there.
US President Donald Trump says he “disagreed” with the decision to send weapons to Kurdish militants in Iraq in order to try and overthrow the Iranian regime toward the beginning of the war.
Numerous reports have described a joint US-Israeli plan to send arms to Kurdish groups and possibly provide cover for an armed insurgency against Tehran. Leaks to the media, lobbying by international actors — including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and wariness among the Kurds themselves reportedly led Trump to eventually pull the plug on the idea.
Trump has several times claimed the US had sent weapons to the Kurds, who instead kept them, rather than using them to take on Iran. The accounts have not been independently confirmed, though.
“To be honest with you, the Kurds let us down. I disagreed with the decision. I was saying, ‘No, I don’t believe they’ll deliver,’” he tells Fox News.
The comments from Trump, who would have needed to sign off on any such operation, appear to be aimed at distancing him from the unsuccessful plan, with the US seemingly no longer pursuing regime change.
“I think they kept (the US weapons) for themselves. I think it’s a disgrace, but I’ll remember that, Kurds,” Trump adds.
An 80-year-old woman was killed in a gas explosion in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, authorities say.
A man in his 50s is listed in serious condition with extensive burns, the Magen David Adom emergency service says.
The Fire and Rescue Service says the explosion was likely caused by a gas leak that came from the kitchen of an apartment.
Widespread damage was caused to the home, according to the service.
Police have closed Route 4 to traffic in both directions ahead of ultra-Orthodox demonstrations expected to draw thousands of protesters to central Israel.
The north-south highway, a main artery that traverses the eastern part of the Tel Aviv region, is blocked from Hashiva Junction near Holon to Messubim Junction about 3.5 kilometers (roughly 2 miles) further north.
The protests are expected to cause major traffic jams tonight, which will only be exacerbated by the thousands of concertgoers traveling to Tel Aviv for three major music performances in the city.
The protests were announced by the hardline Jerusalem Faction after police transferred some 17 draft evaders to IDF custody yesterday. Similar demonstrations were held last night outside detention centers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in protest of the move.
Major congestion is also expected on routes leading to Ben Gurion Airport, as the group calls on its followers to demonstrate in the area. The airport has advised those trying to make their flights to arrive by train, rather than by bus or car.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene top ministers and aides for a security discussion this evening, the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.
The meeting comes amid ongoing fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and after a new wave of US strikes on Iran, which has targeted US military sites in Arab states.
Trump tells Fox News that the US will attack Iran again with intensified strikes tonight but he would rather not hit bridges and power plants.
“There will be more bombing tonight. It will be bigger – bigger, more powerful,” he says on the “Fox & Friends” program.
Asked if the US would start attacking power plants and bridges as he has previously threatened, he replies, “Yeah, but I’d rather not do it, because once you do that, the people suffer.”
The Tel Aviv District Court rejects a request by the State Attorney’s Office to immediately bar Jonatan Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office after he was indicted today on a charge of transmitting classified information with the intent to harm state security.
Urich, a senior media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was indicted for his alleged role in the Bild leaked documents scandal, and the State Attorney’s Office requested a series of restrictive conditions against him as a result.
Judge Ala Masarwa decides that the request for restrictive conditions will be dealt with in a court hearing on July 5, Kan News reports.
Urich was indicted over his alleged role in the leak of a classified document from IDF military intelligence to Germany’s Bild newspaper in September 2024 as part of an effort to buttress Netanyahu’s claim that it was Hamas, not the prime minister, that was holding up a deal for the release of the hostages held by the terror group in Gaza.
After threatening to take key Iranian energy installations, including Kharg Island, US President Donald Trump says that he is not convinced that Americans are willing to pay the price of taking the strategic site.
“We are talking to them, and all, but you know, look, my preference has always been — take Kharg Island,” he tells the “Fox and Friends” morning show.
“I don’t know that America has the stomach for it,” he acknowledges. Analysts say capturing the island would require putting thousands of ground troops in harm’s way.
“I think they’d like to see us come home,” Trump says of the American public.
Iran is “dying to make a deal” and “is being decimated,” the president says
“They’re really in submission,” he says. “They just don’t know it yet.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is vowing to use Iranian funds to pay for damages that the country causes to Gulf allies of the US, warning of sharp economic consequences from Tehran’s attacks.
“Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts,” Bessent writes on X.
The Iranian regime will lose the zero-sum game it is playing.
Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts.
Any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) June 11, 2026
He also adds that “any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.”
The UK, Australia and Canada announce an “International Peace Fund” for Israelis and Palestinians, meant to “support peacebuilding efforts to establish the conditions for a lasting peace.”
The three countries will give £1 million (NIS 4 million) each over the next three years, with the hope that other countries will contribute as well. Israeli and Palestinian civil society organizations will be eligible for grants from the fund, according to a joint statement by the British, Australian, and Canadian foreign ministers.
It will invest in initiatives that “advance a two-state solution, help reduce division, strengthen civil society, and support dialogue and cooperation within and between Israeli and Palestinian communities, building the foundations for peace.”
“We are doing so at a moment of acute crisis in Israel and Palestine,” they say. “The last three years have exacted a devastating and dehumanizing toll on civilians and deepened mistrust and division between communities. At the same time, civil society has faced increasing restrictions and unprecedented pressure.”
They say the fund will help marginalize Hamas and other extremists.
Iranian state television says a blast was heard in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of the southern port city Sirik, with the cause unknown.
“A few minutes ago, an explosion was heard in the Sirik area at sea,” a state television reporter says from the area, without providing further information.
The IDF says it is working to establish a permanent military post in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, for the first time since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s.
Earlier today, during a scan conducted by troops in the area ahead of the establishment of the post, an explosive device detonated near soldiers, seriously wounding an officer and lightly injuring an NCO.
The move to establish the post marks the first time since the Oslo Accords that the IDF has sought to put a permanent military presence within Area A of the West Bank, which is supposed to be under full civil and security control of the Palestinian Authority.
The Jenin camp has been sealed off by the IDF since early 2025 amid a counter-terrorism operation.
The Haaretz daily reports that the military, in response to a petition against the displacement of tens of thousands of residents of the camp, says the post is “intended to replace the presence of forces in residents’ homes and regulate the deployment of forces in the area from a long-term perspective, as part of implementing the operational conditions for a safe exit from the camp.”
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators affiliated with the hardline Jerusalem Faction are expected to block highways in central Israel this afternoon, causing major traffic congestion in a protest against the recent transfer of some 17 draft evaders to IDF custody.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Jerusalem Faction complained that the decision to hand over the men, who were arrested during a violent riot at the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg last week, constituted the crossing of a “red line” and “a serious escalation in the obsessive persecution.”
The Jerusalem Faction, numbering some 60,000 members, regularly holds rowdy demonstrations against the military enlistment of yeshiva students.
The demonstrations are expected to snarl traffic in the Tel Aviv area, creating headaches for those planning to attend three large concerts taking place tonight, according to Channel 12 news.
Channel 12 quotes the Israel Police as stating that its traffic division “is prepared with increased forces and a wide deployment, in light of the expectation of a large number of large events and protests today in the central region” and that it will “allow the exercise of the right to protest but will not permit a violation of public order, harm to police officers, or a violation of the safety of motorists.”
Recent weeks have seen a significant uptick in ultra-Orthodox anti-conscription demonstrations. On Wednesday, protesters gathered outside prisons in major cities across the country to rally against the arrests of the draft evaders. Three protesters were arrested on suspicion of rioting and attacking police officers in Jerusalem, with police saying they “attacked officers, threw objects and refused to obey the instructions of forces at the scene.”
US President Donald Trump announces that the United States will be “hitting Iran…VERY HARD TONIGHT,” in his latest threat suggesting that efforts to finalize an agreement between the countries are not going well.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their oil and gas markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” Trump adds on Truth Social.
Given the heads-up that Trump is giving in the post, it’s not immediately clear whether the threat is yet another tactic by the US president aimed at coaxing Iran to make concessions at the negotiating table.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash massive military force against Iran, only to pull back at the last minute due to purported subsequent progress in negotiations.
An IDF soldier was moderately injured by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says the servicewoman, who serves in the Artillery Corps, was taken to a hospital for treatment, and her family was notified.
After the leaders of more than two dozen yeshivas threatened to stop sending their students to serve in tank units because of a pilot program integrating women into the Armored Corps, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the initiative will not come at the expense of one population over another.
“The IDF is the people’s army, and therefore sees paramount importance in integrating all populations into its ranks, especially in combat roles,” he says at a conference.
“This complex integration will always be carried out in a manner that allows one community to serve alongside another, and not at its expense,” Zamir adds.
A content creator sees Jerry Seinfeld outside an NBA finals game at Madison Square Garden, asking the Jewish comedian if “I can get a ‘Free Palestine.'”
Jerry Seinfeld appears amused by the request by the creator, who goes by the name FinesseFave, and simply replies, “It doesn’t exist,” before walking off.
Seinfeld has been ambushed by pro-Palestinian activists before.
FinesseFave asks Jerry Seinfeld to drop a Free Palestine after the Knicks game
"It doesn't exist” pic.twitter.com/0AExhRVL33
— yeet (@Awk20000) June 11, 2026
An IDF officer was severely wounded and a noncommissioned officer was lightly hurt when an explosive device hit Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier today, the military announces.
During operational activity in Jenin, troops spotted a suspicious object, which then exploded, wounding the two soldiers. The military is still probing what set off the blast.
The two wounded troops were taken to a hospital, and their families were notified, the army adds.
The American military says it has disabled another tanker transporting Iranian crude oil in the Gulf of Oman, the third commercial ship hit this week after attempting to violate a US blockade.
In a statement, the US Central Command says it struck the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer “as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman.”
“A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces,” CENTCOM says.
U.S. forces disabled a third oil tanker this week in the Gulf of Oman after it allegedly violated the blockade on Iran by transporting Iranian oil.
The tanker, M/T Jalveer, was struck in its engine room after ignoring U.S. orders. pic.twitter.com/TgfEhHolfW
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 11, 2026
It marks the third time this week that the American military has disabled ships in the area, after Palau-flagged vessels M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello were disabled on Monday and Tuesday.
“Marivex violated the blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port and Settebello attempted to transport Iranian oil,” according to CENTCOM.
CENTCOM says it has “disabled nine non-compliant vessels, redirected 135 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13.”
LONDON — British Defense Secretary John Healey has resigned over a disagreement about defense spending, he says in a letter posted on X.
Britain’s defense and finance ministries have been locked in talks for months over how to meet rising demands to expand military spending, delaying Britain’s Defense Investment Plan since last year.
“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats,” Healey says in his letter to Starmer.
The delay has infuriated Britain’s defense industry, which says it cannot invest in long-term programs for the country’s security at a time of huge geopolitical volatility and as the United States pivots away from protecting Europe.
My letter to the Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/j9z9nmLCb1
— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) June 11, 2026
Speaking at a special cabinet in the Galilee city of Nof HaGalil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges the ongoing challenge posed by Hezbollah attack drones.
“We are striking Hezbollah very hard, eliminating hundreds of terrorists every week,” he says at the start of the meeting. “We still have more challenges. A particular challenge is drones. We are working on it.”
Explosive-laden first-person-view (FPV) drones launched by Hezbollah have caused dozens of IDF casualties in Lebanon in recent weeks, including a number of deaths.
“We will restore security to the north and create security in the north just as we did in the south,” Netanyahu promises. “People did not believe us when we said the south would recover and prosper — they said it was boastful talk, an empty promise. Today, they can see the results.”
“What we did in the south, we will do in the north,” he continues. “The challenges are not exactly the same — they are somewhat different — but the outcome will be the same.”
“Therefore, security comes first.”
Thirteen Hesder yeshiva rabbis add their names to a letter saying that they would no longer send their students to join tank units because of a pilot plan to integrate women into the Armored Corps.
The yeshivas, which now total 25 are all part of the Hesder program, which allows observant young men, typically national religious, to combine several years of Torah studies with a shortened military service, currently set at 17 months.
In the letter published yesterday, the rabbis wrote that they “take a very serious view of the decision by the High Court of Justice to require the IDF to integrate female combat soldiers” in the Armored Corps.
“Virtue… is the foundation for the spirit of the IDF and its success in eradicating the enemy,” they said. Putting female soldiers in tanks alongside with male soldiers “has a spiritual and practical impact on combat ability.”
Despite the claims that men would be forced to serve inside tanks with women, the military has been planning only gender-segregated tanks. This is due in large part to concerns surrounding modesty. If the number of recruits allows, platoons or companies would also be divided by gender. An Armored Corps company is normally composed of 11 tanks.
The IDF responded to the letter yesterday by insisting men and women would be serving in separate frameworks and would not be in the same tanks.
French journalist Alice Froussard was denied entry into Israel after the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry deemed statements she made hostile to Israel.
Froussard arrived in Israel this morning for work, but was intercepted and put back on a flight to France, the ministry says. The French Embassy in Israel has expressed outrage over the move, Hebrew media reports.
Froussard is a prominent French journalist who has spent the last six years living and working in the areas of Jerusalem and Ramallah. She reports for broadcasters and newspapers including Radio France (RFI, France Culture), Le Figaro, TV5Monde, and Mediapart.
As she arrived in Israel today for a long-term work posting, investigators determined that she had made a string of anti-Israeli statements, including legitimizing the October 7 massacre, referring to IDF activity in Gaza as a “massacre,” and accusing the State of Israel of apartheid, the ministry says.
The decision is in line with a Diaspora Affairs Ministry recommendation that was accepted by the Population and Immigration Authority. It follows recent decisions to block entry to other figures deemed by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli as being antagonistic to the Jewish state, including American political activist Linda Sarsour.
“Like Linda Sarsour and other instigators before her, Alice Froussard has also realized that we have changed the rules of the game,” Chikli says in a statement. “Anyone who supports Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the State of Israel will not enter it. Bon Voyage!”
I am pleased to announce that at this very moment, Alice Froussard, a French journalist who supports Hamas, and who claims that the October 7 massacre must be viewed “in context,” is making her way from Ben Gurion Airport back to Paris.
Like Linda Sarsour before her, she too has…
— עמיחי שיקלי – Amichai Chikli (@AmichaiChikli) June 11, 2026
Amihai Chikli, ministre de la diaspora:
“J’ai le plaisir d’annoncer qu’à cet instant même, Alice Froussard, journaliste française qui soutient le Hamas et qui affirme que le massacre du 7 octobre doit être considéré « dans son contexte », est en route depuis l’aéroport Ben pic.twitter.com/6J6lrdb5eR
— RACHEL- CHAOUAT (@chaouat1) June 11, 2026
The IDF says it has established another Israeli Air Force technicians unit for male members of the ultra-Orthodox community, allowing them to maintain their religious lifestyle while serving in the military.
The unit is based out of one of the 106th Squadron’s reinforced aircraft shelters at the Tel Nof Airbase in central Israel. The squadron operates F-15 fighter jets.
The military says 20 male soldiers, 15 of them Haredi, recently completed their training and are now certified “level A” technicians for the F-15.
In the past two years, the IDF established the first two IAF technician units for Haredi soldiers at the Ramat David Airbase.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz confirms a complete closure order for the strategic waterway until further notice, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the move overnight.
“Due to the tensions caused by the aggression of the American forces in the region and the announcement made last night by the Iranian armed forces, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice,” the Persian Gulf Strait Authority says in a post on X.
“Applicants who have been granted a transit permit are asked to be patient and wait for instructions from the PGSA.”
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Iran and the United States must stop their renewed attacks and return to negotiations to avoid any further escalation.
Speaking in Sofia, Fidan says the recommendation to both sides from Turkey, which is in close contact with Washington, Tehran, and mediator Pakistan, is to aim to conclude talks over a peace deal.
Neither Washington nor Israel has received official notice of any decision reached by Hamas and mediators in Cairo on a disarmament deal, a source familiar with the status of the negotiations tells The Times of Israel, following reports on Tuesday that said the sides had agreed on a draft proposal under which the group would hand over its weapons in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The source adds that complications are expected down the road, pointing to remarks by Palestinian officials to AFP on Tuesday that “clearly differing visions” persist, with weapons remaining “the most contentious issue,” and that progress will depend on Israel and the mediators.
A second source from one of the mediating countries says that “Hamas still insists on the full implementation of the first stage [before agreeing to disarmament]: stopping strikes, allowing more aid and more free movement at the crossings.”
Israel and Hamas have each blamed the other for the current impasse in advancing Washington’s 20-point Gaza peace plan. Israel has demanded Hamas’s complete disarmament before further progress under the plan, which envisions a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza — of which Israel currently controls roughly 60 percent — only in the long term, while Hamas accuses Israel of failing to honor its commitments under the first stage of the plan, particularly on humanitarian matters.
Air Canada further extends its suspension of all flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, as well as Dubai, through October 24, citing the “ongoing situation in the Middle East.”
Previously, Air Canada had canceled all flights to and from Tel Aviv through September 8, after Israel’s airspace was closed on February 28 following the outbreak of war with Iran.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemns the latest US strikes on the country, saying the attacks rendered the two-month ceasefire “practically meaningless.”
In a statement, the ministry says “the illegal and criminal attacks perpetrated by the United States in recent hours not only constitute a flagrant violation… but also render the ceasefire practically meaningless.”
It adds that the “responsibility for the extremely serious consequences of this criminal act lies with the leaders of the United States.”
The State Attorney’s Office indicts Jonatan Urich, a senior media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a charge of transmitting classified information with the intent to harm state security over his involvement in the leaked documents affair.
The prosecutors request that the Tel Aviv District Court bar Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office and from all security facilities and places where classified documents might be kept, and from contacting anyone involved in the case, until the end of legal proceedings against him.
The charges relate to Urich’s role in the leak of a classified document from IDF military intelligence to the Bild newspaper in September 2024 as part of an effort to buttress Netanyahu’s claim that it was Hamas, not the prime minister, that was holding up a deal for the release of the hostages held by the terror group in Gaza. The document was allegedly leaked to the German Bild newspaper in order to bypass Israel’s military censor.
The indictment alleges that Urich, together with Netanyahu’s former military affairs spokesman Eli Feldstein, leaked the document they obtained from IDF Military Intelligence NCO Ari Rosenfeld, knowing it was classified and that the military censor had blocked publication in Israel, “while taking a real risk that critical security interests would be harmed” by the leak.
The indictment adds that Feldstein passed the classified information to other unauthorized individuals as well, in coordination with Urich.
Urich is also charged with destroying evidence by switching phones the day after Feldstein and Rosenfeld were arrested.
“The actions of Urich, Rosenfeld and Feldstein led to the disclosure of the existence of a secret intelligence asset, its capabilities and the methods by which it was used,” the State Attorney’s Office says in a statement to the press.
“The disclosure of the secret information to the public could cause real damage to the security interests of the State of Israel, mainly in the field of intelligence gathering and the disclosure of intelligence sources, through whom human lives are saved, since [the leak] could reveal missions, capabilities, methods of operation and the classified methods used by the intelligence community in various arenas.”
AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan’s military says it had intercepted 20 missiles launched from Iran, after Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it had fired at a US command center in the kingdom.
“At dawn on Thursday, Jordanian air defense systems and the Royal Jordanian Air Force intercepted and shot down 20 missiles that had been launched from Iran towards the Azraq area in Zarqa governorate,” a statement quotes a military official as saying, referring to an area about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Amman.
“The interception resulted in the fall of a number of fragments, without any human casualties or material damage,” the statement adds.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatari negotiators have departed Tehran following discussions on the Middle East war, a diplomat tells AFP, as the US and Iran traded strikes once more.
“The Qatari delegation departed from Tehran this morning following talks with Iranian officials… that lasted into the early hours of this morning,” the diplomat says on condition of anonymity, adding the discussions were “conducted in coordination with the United States.”
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian cargo barge was hit by a US projectile in the Gulf of Oman early today, the Iranian governor of Sirik county says, according to Mehr news agency.
The 150-ton cargo barge, owned by locals from Sirik and carrying essential goods from the Omani port of Khasab, was hit about 5 nautical miles off Khasab, the Iranian official says, adding that all five crew members were rescued by passing vessels and taken to Oman.
Talks to reach a deal between Washington and Iran are still on track after overnight negotiations, CNN reports, citing a diplomatic source.
Efforts to reach a preliminary deal between Iran and the US have intensified, three Iranian sources later confirm to Reuters, as they discuss a mechanism for releasing frozen Iranian funds.
The US and Iran traded air attacks for a second straight day on Thursday, with US President Donald Trump vowing further strikes if Tehran does not immediately agree to a peace deal.
Separately, Pakistan’s foreign ministry says the country’s leaders were still engaged in mediation efforts to end the US-Iran war despite a surge in conflict, calling for a “negotiated settlement.”
“It is hard to be an optimist in the new exchange of hostilities. We haven’t lost hope, we remain engaged,” foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi tells journalists.
“Let’s not draw curtains on Pakistan’s mediation approach,” he adds.
“Pakistan remains deeply concerned at the situation in the region marked by recent escalation,” Andrabi says.
“We are of the view that diplomacy and dialogue should be the guiding principles for achieving a negotiated settlement of all contentious issues.”
He adds that Pakistan’s interior minister had returned from a visit to Tehran in recent days, confirming he had given a message and letter from the prime minister to the Iranian leadership as part of the mediation efforts.
TEHRAN, Iran — US strikes overnight on Iran wounded at least three people at sites in Tehran province, Iranian media reports.
“Three people were injured in incidents related to the brutal US attacks in Tehran province,” says head of the province’s emergency services Mohammad Esmail Tavakoli, according to the Fars news agency.
The strikes were largely focused on southern Iran, but the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said other sites near the capital were hit, including in Karaj, Nazarabad, and Pishva.
A worker has been killed after being hit by a heavy object while working on a project in the Sha’ar Hashomron Regional Council in the northern West Bank, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.
After extracting the worker from under the object, paramedics declared him dead from his wounds, MDA says.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Indian official says that three Indian mariners were killed on board a tanker targeted by the US military over allegedly violating America’s blockade on Iran.
Sarbananda Sonowal announces the three mariners’ killing on X in the attack on the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello.
“Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after two bodies were recovered,” he writes. It isn’t clear where the third body was.
The US military’s Central Command had accused the Settebello of having “violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran.” It fired into the ship’s engine room to stop it.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain’s Interior Ministry says that an 11-year-old girl suffered minor injuries, while vehicles caught fire and homes were damaged in Hamad Town and the capital Manama after debris fell from Iranian drones that were intercepted and destroyed.
The ministry publishes pictures showing firefighters trying to put out blazes in several homes.
As of the Iranian aggression against Bahrain,a girl11, sustained minor injuries & treated at the scene.Vehicles caught fire & houses were damaged in Hamad Town & Manama due falling debris of drones interception.Civil Defence & National Ambulance have taken necessary measures. pic.twitter.com/e1SOp6omVY
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) June 11, 2026
The IDF denies Lebanese reports of an Israeli strike in the Beqaa Valley this morning.
In response to a query, the military says it is unaware of any Israeli strikes in the area this morning.
A suspected Hezbollah drone triggered sirens in the northern border community of Misgav Am.
The military says the “suspicious aerial target” did not cross into Israeli territory, and the “incident has concluded.”
No injuries are reported.
Lebanese media reports an Israeli strike in the eastern Beqaa Valley.
The strike reportedly takes place on the outskirts of the town of Taraiyya, some 90 kilometres from the border with Israel.
Israeli strikes in the Beqaa Valley have been relatively rare amid the ceasefire.
غارة استهدفت منزلاً في سهل طاريا بالبقاع pic.twitter.com/vqx7D1TQ5I
— kataeb.org (@kataeb_Ar) June 11, 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait resumes air traffic and Kuwait International Airport returned to normal operations after a temporary suspension prompted by Iranian attacks, the civil aviation authority says.
Kuwait had closed its airspace and suspended air traffic earlier today as a precautionary measure following Iranian attacks, diverting flights to alternative airports.
France and Germany are discussing proposals for an overhaul of the EU’s 15-year-old diplomatic service to improve the bloc’s response to geopolitical crises, the Financial Times reports.
Paris, Berlin, and other capitals are considering options that include stripping powers from the EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, and her 1 billion euros-a-year ($1.15 billion) External Action Service (EEAS) and returning them to the European Commission and member states, the FT reports, citing five senior officials briefed on the discussions.
The cabinet is set to approve today a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the West Bank, Axios reporter Barak Ravid posts on the social media platform X.
The reported proposal, supported by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, includes government funding for homes and facilities at temporary settlement sites, but also sets aside funds for the permanent communities that would follow — including permanent infrastructure.
“In practice, it would allow the government to establish temporary settlement sites while planning procedures are still underway, creating facts on the ground that could later evolve into permanent settlements,” Ravid says.
???????????????????? While the Trump administration – along with governments across Europe and the Middle East – is focused on the escalating crisis with Iran, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve on Thursday a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the occupied…
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 11, 2026
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it fired ballistic missiles at a US command center in Jordan, according to state media.
This “punitive operation against the aggressor” targeted “Al-Azraq Air Base and its control center, using 12 ballistic missiles,” the IRGC says, as quoted by the Tasnim news agency, claiming to have destroyed these facilities “and a large number of fighter aircraft.”
Kuwait says it has closed its airspace over ongoing Iranian attacks and that flights are being diverted to alternative airports, without elaborating.
Flights had been circling outside of Kuwait for some time before the announcement after it said its air defenses were firing.
Kuwait International Airport has taken a direct Iranian hit in recent days, which killed one person and wounded dozens.
After sirens sound in northern towns, the IDF says that two rockets fired by Hezbollah impacted in an area near where troops are operating in southern Lebanon.
Warning sirens sound in a pair of northern Israeli towns near the Lebanon border, after the military warned residents of numerous communities in the area of impending Hezbollah rocket fire.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says that it struck bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to the latest US strikes.
“During two waves of operations, eighteen important targets belonging to the US Army in the bases of Ali and Ahmad Ahmad Air Force (were hit),” the Guards says in a statement quoted by state-run IRNA, adding that they also “hit and destroyed Sheikh Isa air bases.”
The US military says it carried out a second wave of overnight strikes against Iran.
According to US Central Command, the strikes hit “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites” across the Islamic Republic, with American forces using “precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.”
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression. US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” CENTCOM adds in a statement posted to X, which is accompanied by video of Tomahawk cruise missiles being fired from a guided missile destroyer.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 11, 2026
Iranian media reports that Iran had attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, after US strikes on its territory.
“In this wave of army drone strikes, communication antennas and radar facilities of the Patriot system of the 5th Fleet were targeted,” the Mehr and Fars news agencies post on Telegram.
An air raid alert has been issued in Bahrain and residents have been urged to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place” the Gulf country’s interior ministry says on X.
Twenty-two countries including the United States and European nations warn Iran to stop attacking people “on our soil.”
“Attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack people on our soil, undermines national sovereignty and international norms. These actions must stop immediately,” they say in a joint statement.
Iran’s state media cites a senior official as denying that Iranian officials were in contact with US President Donald Trump in the wake of US attacks on areas in southern Iran.
“Trump’s false claim that Iranian officials contacted him is a cover to evade war with Iran,” the unnamed official is cited as saying.
US Central Command denies Iran’s claim that it again shuttered the Strait of Hormuz following the latest American strikes, saying that “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of” the key waterway.
It also denies Iranian claims to have struck two ships in the strait.
US President Donald Trump tells Fox News that he spoke directly with Iranian officials who asked him to stop strikes on the country, according to a reporter at the network.
He is also quoted saying the bombing will stop shortly and that Israel is not involved in the strikes.
Iran’s top joint military command announces the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including oil tankers and commercial ships, saying any vessel that will attempt passage will be shot at.
The Knesset votes 43-39 to approve into law highly controversial coalition legislation giving the justice minister control over the Department for Internal Police Investigations.
The law gives the justice minister control over the appointment of DIPI’s director, and creates a new, politically appointed official within the department to arbitrate disputes over investigations.
Critically, it removes the department from under the authority of professional prosecutors and sets it up as an “independent” agency within the Justice Ministry.
Although nominally independent, the DIPI director will now be chosen by a five-member committee in which the justice minister will control the appointment of a majority of members.
US Central Command confirms it has launched fresh “self-defense strikes” on “multiple targets in Iran at the direction” of President Donald Trump, who announced earlier that the United States would attack the Islamic Republic for a second night in a row.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” says CENTCOM.
Iranian media reports the sound of explosions in several areas across the country, including around the Strait of Hormuz and in western Tehran, where the Mehr news agency says air defenses have been activated.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the United States will hit Iran hard and bomb “key facilities.”
“President Trump said we’ll be hitting Iran hard, and we will be because Iran has a chance to make a good deal,” Hegseth tells journalists at US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. “You can see when someone is trying to tap, tap, tap on a deal. Instead, they’re going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran.”
“We don’t have to restart,” Hegseth continues, saying that Pentagon is “prepared to set the terms to ensure we get the kind of deal that President Trump expects.”
“Those strikes, that will happen tonight, they will be strong, they will be clear. If they happen tomorrow night, they will be strong, they will be clear, and throughout Iran has an opportunity to make a deal — that’s the point.”
He also says the pilots of an Apache helicopter that was shot down in the Strait of Hormuz are in “good shape.”
US Vice President JD Vance says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “certainly gotten some things wrong” in his relations with Washington amid the Iran war, but adds that he’s a “good partner.”
Vance also says that when US and Israeli interests diverge, the US must pursue its own interests, “unfortunately for the Israelis.”
Vance makes the comments in an interview with CBS News one day after he said the potential US-Iran deal was a “home run for the American people,” though Israel may not like it. His comments also follow flare-ups between Iran and Israel, and Iran and the US.
“Even when we’ve been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned,” Vance says of Israel and the US. “And what I’ve seen with the prime minister is that he aggressively asserts the interests of his country.”
Vance adds, “We have to fundamentally be focused on what is in the United States’ best interest. So they’ve been a great partner in a lot of ways, but we also have to focus on what is in America’s best interest, and where that diverges, we, unfortunately for the Israelis, have to choose the side of the American people, which we always do.”
Asked if Netanyahu has made mistakes in his relations with the US regarding Iran, Vance responds, “Look, he’s certainly gotten some things wrong,” but declines to elaborate.
Vance adds, “He’s been a good partner, we’re going to keep on working together, but where interests diverge, the United States is going to pursue the best interests of our nation, and that’s how it’s going to be.”
Vice President JD Vance says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “certainly gotten some things wrong,” but has ultimately “been a good partner” to the U.S.
“Sometimes, we have interests that are perfectly aligned and sometimes, we have interests that are… pic.twitter.com/Cy29agRXPK
— CBS Sunday Morning ???? (@CBSSunday) June 10, 2026
