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The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they unfolded.
At least 100 rockets, 30 drones said fired Thursday afternoon, in largest Hezbollah attack yet
Two men stand by a truck as they watch smoke plumes rising from a fire in a field after rockets launched from southern Lebanon landed near Katzrin in the Golan Heights on June 13, 2024. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
The Hezbollah terror group fired at least 30 drones at Israel in a single coordinated strike, a security source tells Reuters, marking the group’s largest yet drone attack on Israel.
According to the Iran-backed group, the attack drones were fired at the headquarters of Israel’s northern command, an intelligence headquarters and a military barracks.
According to Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet al-Manar, the group also fired 100 rockets in a single instance, which also marked its largest such attack since it began firing at Israel on October 8.
Hezbollah said in an earlier statement that it had targeted military sites in the attacks, which triggered sirens throughout northern Israel at around 2 p.m.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, some 40 rockets and seven drones crossed the border from Lebanon in the attack, which sparked fires in the Golan Heights and northern Israel.
Two people were injured as a result of falling shrapnel, medical officials said.
Reports: At least 7 casualties in Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border with Israel on May 29, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike on a building in the town of Jannata in the Tyre district.
The reports say there are at least seven casualties.
حجم الدمار الذي خلفته الغارة التي استهدفت منزلأ من عدة طبقات في جناتا. pic.twitter.com/DiClgsTPdz
— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) June 13, 2024
Parks Authority says it has cut, frozen jobs for close to half its workers amid budget woes
An endangered Gilboa iris pokes up from a field of wild flowers on Mount Barkan, northern Israel, in March 2024. (Roi Federman/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority reveals that it has cut 300 day jobs, and sent an additional 300 out of a total of 1,300 workers to forced unpaid leave.
The “efficiency” moves form part of an agreement with the Finance Ministry to underwrite a NIS 200 million (just under $55 million) budget deficit.
Around 40 percent of the organization’s income is raised independently, chiefly through entrance fees to nature reserves and national parks. Reduced numbers of visitors since the start of the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza have hit this income badly.
According to an INPA spokeswoman, the consequences of the cuts will include delays in developing new nature sites, and a freeze on projects that are in their early stages of planning. Contracts for new workers have been put on hold, and overtime pay has stopped.
Civilian sailor severely wounded by Houthi attack on cargo ship, says US military
This photograph shared by Indian navy on the X platform shows a firefighting team from Indian Navy vessel INS Kolkata responding to a fire on Liberian-flagged Merchant ship MSC Sky II caused due to a suspected drone/missile attack in the Gulf of Aden, March 5, 2024. (Indian Navy on X via AP)
Two cruise missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a bulk cargo carrier in the Gulf of Aden today, severely injuring a sailor who was evacuated by American forces, the US military says.
The M/V Verbena — a Palauan-flagged, Ukrainian-owned, Polish-operated ship — “reported damage and subsequent fires on board. The crew continues to fight the fire. One civilian mariner was severely injured during the attack,” the US Central Command says in a statement.
Over 11,000 acres of land in Israel has burned over past 2 weeks, says Parks Authority
Firefighters battle flames sparked by rockets fired from Lebanon, in the northern town of Katzrin, June 13, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
More than 60,000 dunams (14,830 acres) of land have been burned since the start of the year, 45,000 (11,120 acres) of them since the beginning of the month, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority reports.
This exceeds the 25,000 dunams (6,200 acres) of forest destroyed by fire in the Jerusalem Hills in 2021, and even the more than 50,000 dunams (12,000 acres) that went up in flames in the Carmel Nature Reserve in northern Israel in 2010, taking the lives of 44 people.
Half the affected areas, ignited by rockets from the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, are in nature reserves and national parks in the Galilee and Golan Heights in northern Israel, with the rest in other open areas and forests in the region.
With Israel heading for a weekend heatwave, the authority reminds the public that lighting fires in open areas is prohibited.
Macron says France, US Israel working on ‘roadmap’ to defuse Hezbollah escalation
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the press during the G7 summit in Fasano, southern Italy, June 13, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
The United States, France and Israel have agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron says.
France and the US have in recent months worked to try to defuse tensions with Paris submitting written proposals to both sides aimed at stopping worsening exchanges between them on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
“With the United States we agreed on the principle of a trilateral [contact group], Israel, the United States and France to advance on the roadmap that we proposed and we will do the same with the Lebanese authorities,” Macron tells reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
A senior French official says there was an urgency for the US and France to step up their efforts given the dangerous escalation over the past few days, with intense cross-border fire escalating.
Court warns museum in Jerusalem’s Old City against canceling gay pride event
The restored Tower of David, near the Jaffa Gate entrance in the Old City of Jerusalem, February 25, 2023. (DH/Times of Israel)
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court orders the city’s Tower of David Museum to reinstate a gay pride event it had canceled upon a rabbi’s request.
Judge Yael Sharon, in a hearing on an appeal by the event’s organizers, orders the municipally-funded museum, which is devoted to the history of Jerusalem, to go ahead with the event tomorrow as canceling it would be an warranted violation of the venue’s contract with the organizers, Ynet reports.
The cancellation earlier this month follows at least one letter of protest sent to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion by Avigdor Nebenzahl, the rabbi of the Ramban Synagogue, the second oldest active synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem, and Eliyahu Medina, another prominent rabbi in the Old city.
“We demand you cancel this display of obscenity,” they write, adding that the organizers “write that King David was a homosexual, may earth cover their months.”
The organizers at Tipulei Harama — a gay rights group whose name is a play on the Hebrew phrase for conversion therapy — release a recording of a museum representative telling them that her institution “received a letter from rabbis, and then we lose a year’s income” and therefore needs to cancel.
“Jerusalem is home to all of us and we don’t give up so quickly,” Tipulei Harama writes on its Facebook page, using feminine pronouns in Hebrew.
An earlier post threatens to “make Jerusalem shake” unless the event is held. “If they are afraid from a happy and festive gay community in Jerusalem, just wait till they meet a furious one,” it reads.
Tipulei Harama thanks Deputy Mayor Yossi Havilio and Reform Movement’s Israel Religious Action Center for their “fast and total mobilization” to make sure the event is held.
US official: Netanyahu refusal to release PA tax funds due to pressure from right
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on March 31, 2024, in Ramallah. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu skirted a request from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to release hundreds of millions of shekels that Israel is withholding from the Palestinian Authority because he doesn’t want to risk a spat with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a US official tells The Times of Israel.
Blinken raised the issue during their Sunday meeting in Jerusalem, but Netanyahu avoided giving a commitment that he would follow through, the officials say, confirming a report in the Axios news site.
Smotrich has been withholding the tax revenues since May, with US officials and the Israeli security establishment fearing that it could lead to the collapse of the already cash-strapped PA.
The tax revenues make up roughly 70 percent of the PA’s annual budget.
Biden: Hamas is still the ‘biggest hang-up’ to reaching a truce-hostage deal
US President Joe Biden speaks on the sidelines of the G7 Summit hosted by Italy in Apulia region, on June 13, 2024 in Savelletri. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
US President Joe Biden says that “the biggest hang-up so far” to a deal on a Gaza truce and hostage release is Hamas.
“I’ve laid out an approach that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council, by the G7, by the Israelis, and the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on even though they have submitted something similar,” he tells reporters at a G7 summit.
Dermer, Hanegbi heading to Washington next week for national security meetings
From left to right: Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Council chairman Tzachi Hanegbi at the State Department in Washington on March 7, 2023. (Antony Blinken/Twitter)
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will fly to Washington, DC next week to hold national security meetings with their White House counterparts, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.
“The meeting will take place as part of the security dialogue between Israel and the US,” the PMO continues, “and representatives of the defense and diplomatic bodies of both countries will take part.”
Forest fire still raging in Upper Galilee, flames under control in Golan Heights
A firefighting plane battles flames in the Biriya Forest in northern Israel, sparked by a Hezbollah attack, on June 13, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Firefighters are still battling a blaze in the Biriya Forest in the Upper Galilee that was sparked earlier today after a missile attack from Lebanon.
The Fire and Rescue Service says in a statement that firefighters successfully got the flames at two locations in the Golan Heights under control, but are still working in the Galilee.
Firefighters, the IDF and other forces are working “in the heavy heat, under constant alerts of rocket fire” to quash the blaze.
IDF strikes Hezbollah building as two rockets fired from Lebanon at Israel
Smoke rises as a fire burns in the Golan Heights following Hezbollah strikes from Lebanon, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon a short while ago, the military says.
Meanwhile, two rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Ya’ara area in northern Israel. The IDF says both hit open areas, causing no injuries.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב אל-ג'רמל שבדרום לבנון.
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בצפון הארץ ב-20:01 מחשש לחדירת כלי טיס עוין, מדובר בזיהוי שווא>> pic.twitter.com/dWRm4fqt9Y
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 13, 2024
Police chief to A-G: Ben Gvir sought to interfere in policing, stop protection of Gaza aid convoys
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai at the scene of a fatal shooting attack in Re'em Junction, on February 16, 2024. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has sought to repeatedly interfere in operational police matters in recent months, a letter by outgoing Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara reveals.
According to the letter from May 27, Ben Gvir told senior police officials behind Shabtai’s back that he did not want police providing protection for humanitarian aid convoys crossing through Israel from attack by Israeli extremists.
In another incident, Shabtai alleges that Ben Gvir intervened with other senior police officials to have police officers who were involved in violent conduct on Mount Meron on May 26 suspended.
In January, the attorney general told the High Court that the national security minister could set policy, but not instruct police on specific enforcement after activist groups petitioned the court to prevent Ben Gvir from giving orders on how to police protests. The court ruled that the minister had violated a decision by the court last year that said he was not permitted to issue such orders.
According to Shabtai’s letter to the attorney general, Ben Gvir held a conference call with the deputy police commissioner and the police commander of the southern district in January after the IDF chief of staff had spoken with Shabtai about police protection for the convoys.
“The national security minister gave instructions that it was his policy that [the police] should not help on the issue of [aid convoy protection] since it is the IDF’s responsibility,” Shabtai said he was told by the head of the southern police district. He added that he had however told Ben Gvir that this was a police function, and that the minister had threatened “consequences” as a result.
Then in May, Shabtai said Ben Gvir protested the police protection for the convoys to Shabtai again.
“I made clear to the minister that the police is carrying out and will continue to carry out its job on this issue,” Shabtai told the attorney general.
Regarding Ben Gvir’s alleged interference in the disciplining of border police officers after the Meron incident, Shabtai said that he had become aware after the events that “the minister spoke with the commander of the northern district and with the commander of the Border Police and concluded with the Border Police commander on the suspension of some of the officers involved.”
Wrote Shabtai: “Neither the minister nor the Border Police commander have the authority to suspend the police officers, certainly not before an investigation of the incident.”
Gantz says he did his best in ‘bad government,’ it is now time for election
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz attends a plenum session and a vote on reviving the Ultra Orthodox enlistment bill at the assembly hall of the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Days after exiting the government, Benny Gantz gives interviews to Channels 11, 12 and 13, discussing his exit from the coalition and the future of the ongoing war against Hamas.
Speaking to Channel 12, Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of introducing political considerations “more and more” into decisions about the war as fighting dragged on.
Asked why he is comfortable leaving such decisions now to right-wing firebrands Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, Gantz replies that he has “told Netanyahu and the cabinet what to do, they know what to do.”
He says he joined the government “knowing that it was a bad government” in order to do what he could to contribute, but now a national election is necessary.
As heavy cross-border fire rages in the north, Gantz says that residents must be able to return to their homes by September 1.
In response, the Likud party issues a statement saying it is unfortunate that Gantz “decided to sit in the TV studios instead of sitting in the cabinet which is continuing to do everything it can to return all our hostages and destroy Hamas.”
US State Department says IDF operations in Rafah continue to be ‘limited’
Troops of the Nahal Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo published June 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The United States has not yet seen Israel launch a major military operation in the Gaza city of Rafah, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says.
Israel’s military operations in Rafah are not of the “size, scope or scale” of operations conducted elsewhere in Gaza, Miller says in a briefing for reporters. “It’s been a more limited operation.”
Reports in Hebrew media outlets citing Israeli officials suggest that the IDF is planning on wrapping up its operations in Rafah in the coming weeks in order to prepare for an intensive offensive along the northern border with Lebanon.
Court approves request to extend ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel
Police raid the Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court approves Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s request to renew the temporary ban on the Al Jazeera news network in Israel, whose broadcasts and website will now be blocked for an additional 45 days.
In its decision, the court finds that there is a direct and causal connection between individuals who have carried out terror attacks inside Israel and the consumption of Al Jazeera content.
It also determined that there was a “close connection” between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza had turned themselves into “assistants and partners” with Hamas, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.
The court’s findings are similar to its previous ruling on the first order banning Al Jazeera in Israel.
Deputy President of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court Judge Haggai Brenner writes in his decision that from raw, classified material presented to him by the state to justify the ban demonstrated “the existence of a close connection” between Hamas, Al Jazeera and its reporters.
“The picture that is formed is that Al Jazeera has a number of reporters in the borders of the Gaza Strip (for sure not all of them, and not even most of them) who have crossed the line between a legitimate connection of source-journalist relations, to a connection of another type, and turned themselves into de facto assistants and partners of the Hamas terror organization, while preserving close ties and passing mutual messages,” Brenner writes.
“Other classified documents establish the conclusion that Al Jazeera is seen by the Hamas terror organization as its public diplomacy and intelligence arm,” he adds.
Brenner also says that there is a “very hard and very worrying influence” of Al Jazeera broadcasts on specific population groups in Israel, and that “this content has been the motivator, the catalyst, and the incentivizer for the activities of terrorists inside the borders of Israel,” adding that “there is no doubt that for these terrorists there is a clear and proven causal relationship between the content which Al Jazeera broadcasts and the terror attacks they carried out.”
He concluded: “We are therefore talking about actual harm to the security of the state (even if Al Jazeera did not intend for this harm).”
Al Jazeera’s broadcasts in Israel were first taken off the air, its website taken offline, its equipment seized and its offices sealed on May 5 in accordance with an emergency law passed in April allowing for foreign outlets that are deemed to be violating national security to be temporarily blocked.
Gantz says he believes Israel knows the fate of the Bibas family
Chairs are set for missing members of the Bibas family who are held hostage in Gaza at a symbolic Passover Seder table on April 11, 2024, at the communal dining hall at Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)
Asked about the fate of the Bibas family, held hostage in Gaza since October 7, Benny Gantz says he believes Israel knows their fate, but will not currently confirm the details.
In an interview with Kan 11, the National Unity party leader says “I think yes,” when asked if Israel knows the fate of Shiri, Yarden, Ariel and Kfir.
Gantz says the public will know their fates “when things come to fruition.”
The former IDF chief tells Channel 12 news that bringing home the hostages must be a top priority, even at the expense of “changing the fighting in Gaza.” He says that Israel should not be the one managing life in Gaza after the war, and Jerusalem needs to look “years ahead” to prepare for a secure and safe future.
He tells Channel 13 news that the longer Israel has “waited and waited” for a hostage release deal, “the cost has risen… Sinwar sits in the tunnels and doesn’t really care about his people and all the pressure only increases on Israel.”
IDF says 7 rockets fired toward Sderot, Ashkelon, no injuries reported
A picture taken from Sderot shows a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip toward Israel on November 3, 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Seven rockets were launched from northern Gaza at Sderot, Ashkelon, and other communities near the Strip, the IDF says.
Four of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while the other three struck open areas, according to the military.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
Surveillance camera footage shows two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at the Ashkelon area this evening. (Video: Dadi Fold) pic.twitter.com/yr3NyNKyvh
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
IDF chief says Israelis don’t have the right ‘to consider whether to enlist or not’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to graduates at the IDF Command and Staff College, June 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
As the government is advancing a bill to exempt ultra-Orthodox Israelis from military service, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says “we do not have the right to consider whether to enlist or not.”
“The ‘people’s army’ is more relevant than ever. it is correct professionally, and it is correct ethically,” Halevi says to graduates of the IDF Command and Staff College.
Biden at G7 says Hamas is the one who ‘has to move’ on ceasefire deal
US President Joe Biden (C), Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a meeting at the G7 Summit in Savelletri, Italy, June 13, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
US President Joe Biden says he discussed a Gaza ceasefire during the Group of Seven summit and that he has not lost hope — but that the Hamas terror group has to step up.
Asked if he was confident about reaching a deal, Biden says “no,” adding, “I haven’t lost hope, but it’s going to be tough.”
“Hamas has to move.”
IDF wraps up raid in northern West Bank; soldier lightly hurt, 2 Palestinian gunmen killed
A handout photo shows IDF troops operating near Jenin in the West Bank on June 13, 2024. (IDF)
An IDF soldier was lightly hurt during clashes with Palestinian gunmen amid a raid in the Jenin area in the northern West Bank, the military says.
The IDF says the 13-hour raid has concluded, during which Duvdevan commandos killed two “senior” Palestinian gunmen in Qabatiya, just south of Jenin.
Several suspects were arrested in the Jenin area, and combat engineers uncovered explosive devices planted under roads, the army says.
Colombia says it will take in wounded Palestinian children for treatment
The government of Colombia, a fierce critic of Israel, says it will receive injured Palestinian children and provide them with medical care.
“We have taken the decision to provide humanitarian support to Palestinian children who will travel with their families to Colombia for rehabilitation,” Colombian Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs Elizabeth Taylor Jay announces.
She is speaking in Stockholm, where she was on a state visit with Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
Jay does not say how many children will be taken in by Colombia, nor how they would be removed from war-torn Gaza.
Last month, Colombia announced it was severing ties with Israel and opening an embassy in Ramallah.
Drone warning sirens sound in Ma’alot-Tarshiha, surrounding towns
Sirens sound in the city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha and a number of surrounding towns near the northern border with Lebanon warning of a potential drone infiltration.
Rocket sirens sound in Sderot, Ashkelon surrounding areas
Rocket alert sirens sound in Sderot, Ashkelon and other towns near the border with Gaza, including Nir Am, Netiv Ha’asara, Melfasim and Zikim.
Two IDF soldiers wounded in anti-tank guided missile attack from Lebanon
Police at the site where a rocket fired from Lebanon hit and caused damage in the northern town of Katzrin, June 13, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
Two IDF soldiers were lightly and moderately wounded as a result of an anti-tank guided missile attack from Lebanon, the military says.
The troops were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The attack took place in the Galilee Panhandle area.
Erdogan says US stance on Israel’s war on Hamas is ‘truly upsetting’ Turkey
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan walk together at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid on June 13, 2024. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calls on members of the United Nations Security Council, particularly the United States, to pressure Israel into a ceasefire in Gaza after the Council backed a US proposal earlier this week.
Speaking in Madrid alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Erdogan says Ankara welcomes any ceasefire proposals that will end the Gaza war, adding that Washington’s stance on Israel’s operations there is “truly upsetting” Turkey.
UN watchdog says Iran has installed more centrifuges at Fordow enrichment plant
A satellite image from September 15, 2017, of the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran. (Google Earth)
Iran has rapidly installed two more cascades, or clusters, of uranium-enriching centrifuges at its Fordow site and begun work on more while also planning others at its underground plant at Natanz, a UN nuclear watchdog report seen by Reuters says.
“On 9 and 10 June… Iran informed the Agency that eight cascades each containing 174 IR-6 centrifuges would be installed over the next 3-4 weeks in Unit 1 of FFEP (Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant),” the confidential International Atomic Energy Agency report sent to member states today says.
“On 11 June 2024, the Agency verified at FFEP that Iran had completed the installation of IR-6 centrifuges in two cascades in Unit 1. Installation of IR-6 centrifuges in four additional cascades was ongoing,” the report says, referring to one of one of Iran’s most advanced centrifuge models.
Ben Gvir demands Netanyahu convene security cabinet meeting
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet with the troops who participated in a hostage rescue operation in Gaza on February 12, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convene a meeting of the security cabinet tonight, accusing him of deliberately freezing out the wider body in favor of the narrow war cabinet.
In a letter to Netanyahu, the far-right politician says that the prime minister has been managing the war “in an unknown manner, through narrow forums… all for the purpose of sole control over decisions and avoiding discussions of other positions which would challenge the old conceptions.”
Ben Gvir says that despite the exit of Benny Gantz from the government as well as the three-member war cabinet, Netanyahu continues to conduct affairs while ignoring the other ministers in his government.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the ministers of the cabinet are not a decoration. Your partners in the government are not air. The situation in the north is unbearable. And the exclusion of ministers and the cabinet from every discussion on the topic is unacceptable,” he adds.
Two Palestinian gunmen killed during IDF raid in West Bank
An Israeli army bulldozer operates at the entrance of Jenin in the West Bank, during a raid on June 13, 2024. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed by troops of the Duvdevan commando unit in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, near Jenin, military sources say.
The commandos had 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. Amid the operation, the troops fired shoulder-launched missiles at the building.
In ensuing clashes, the pair were killed.
The IDF continues to operate in the Jenin area since launching a raid there overnight. At least two wanted Palestinians were detained in the operation so far, the sources say.
High Court orders Levin to explain his blocking of votes on Supreme Court appointments
Justice Minister Yariv Levin arrives for a court hearing in the trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Jerusalem District Court on May 21, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The High Court of Justice issues an interim order against Justice Minister Yariv Levin ordering him to explain why he should not bring to a vote the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices and a Supreme Court president in the Judicial Selection Committee.
Such orders in effect mean that the state, and in this case Levin, needs to convince the court why it should not accept the petitions requesting that the court indeed order the minister to allow a vote on the open positions on the court.
The High Court says however that it is issuing the interim order, which switches the burden of proof from the petitioner to the respondent, “for reasons of efficiency in dealing with the petition” alone, and without it expressing “any position on the essence of the issue.”
In February, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed a petition to the High Court asking it to order Levin to call votes on the appointments, arguing that his refusal to do so violated his constitutional obligation to fill the positions and was motivated by inappropriate political considerations designed to damage the independence of the judiciary and Israel’s system of checks and balances on government authority.
Levin has until June 23 to respond and a hearing has been set for the petition on July 2.
The justice minister, a strident critic of the Supreme Court, has refused to consider candidates for the two empty positions on the court, or appoint a president, since coalition backers hold a minority on the Judicial Selection Committee, and cannot positively control the outcome of such votes.
The Movement for Quality Government accuses Levin of politicizing Supreme Court appointments and says his refusal to convene votes to fill the appointments demonstrates “a lack of good faith” and is motivated by “immaterial considerations,” both of which are violations of administrative law.
Firefighters still battling blazes in Upper Galilee, Golan Heights sparked by missiles
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire sparked by rockets launched from Lebanon, at the Biriya Forest in northern Israel, June 13, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Fires are still blazing at at least main locations in the north following a barrage of rocket and drone attacks launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon, amid unusually hot weather.
A spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Services says that efforts are being focused on fires blazing in the Biriya Forest in the Upper Galilee, as well as several locations in the Golan Heights, near Katzrin and Kidmat Tsvi.
Firefighters are being joined by forces from the IDF, local security forces as well as forces from Keren Kayemet Le’Israel and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority working to get the flames under control.
Netanyahu to Yamam officers: Hostage rescue brought ‘an entire nation’ great pride
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Yamam officers on a Yamam base on June 13, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
Visiting the elite Yamam police counterterrorism unit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the same heroism they displayed in freeing four hostages from central Gaza over the weekend “will allow us to overcome our enemies in both the south and the north, and to return the residents safely home.”
“You caused an entire nation to stand straight,” Netanyahu tells the commandos, “and you showed that we are willing to do everything in order to save our hostages.”
Netanyahu is joined by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, and Border Police commander Brik Yitzhak.
IDF strikes Hezbollah infrastructure in south Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin in southern Lebanon, on June 12, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon’s Deir Seryan a short while ago, the military says.
The IDF also says that suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded in the Golan Heights an hour ago were triggered by three targets that were identified.
The three targets, possibly drones, were downed by air defenses, the military says.
Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon's Deir Seryan a short while ago, the military says.
The IDF also says that suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded in the Golan Heights an hour were were triggered by three targets that were… pic.twitter.com/Dzbaxmiys1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
Levin pushes to tap Justice Yosef Elron as Supreme Court president, breaking protocol
Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron at a book launch event at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, on January 19, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Justice Minister Yariv Levin proposes to appoint Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron as president of the court, despite him not being the next most senior justice on the court, during a meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee.
The position of president has been vacant since Esther Hayut retired last October, and Justice Uzi Vogelman has served as acting president ever since, a situation unprecedented in the history of the court.
The position of president has always been gone to the justice with the most years on the court, but Levin opposes this system and seeks to have a conservative appointed to push the court in a more conservative direction.
According to sources close to the committee, Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar, the opposition’s representative on the panel, raised the issue during the hearing today, pointing out that Vogelman himself is due to retire in October.
Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock reportedly chastised Elharrar, accusing the Supreme Court of exceeding the boundaries of its authority, followed by Levin berating the court for its intervention in Knesset legislation.
Levin said he wouldn’t bring the selection of a president to a vote without the unanimous agreement of all nine members of the committee. He proposed that Elron, a staunch conservative, serve as president for a year until he too reaches the age of retirement, but did not say what would happen after that.
Since at least five of the six committee members on the panel who do not represent the government or coalition oppose abolishing the seniority system, and appointing a president requires a majority on the panel, the discussion did not advance further.
The justice next in line to the presidency after Vogelman, if the principle of seniority were to be used, is Isaac Amit, a strong liberal.
G7 nations to express concern over escalation along Israel-Lebanon border
Group of Seven leaders are very concerned by the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border and endorse US efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a draft communique due to be released following this week’s G7 summit.
The statement adds that the Western leaders reiterated their unwavering commitment to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace side by side.
In addition, they call on Israel to refrain from a full-scale offensive in Rafah, “in line with their obligations under international law.”
The G7 is made up of the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Barbra Streisand denounces ‘horror’ facing female hostages in Gaza
Barbra Streisand accepts the life achievement award during the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Singer Barbra Streisand tweets about the “horror” of female Israeli hostages being held in Gaza and calls for them all to be released.
Sharing a link to a New York Times article from March in which released hostage Amit Soussana spoke out about her sexual abuse during captivity, Streisand says that it “goes without saying that hostages are suffering and must be released now.”
She adds that: “There is an additional horror for female hostages. What they endure in terms of sexual violence should be – as the UN said, ‘clear and convincing’ to all. It should also be unequivocally denounced.”
It goes without saying that hostages are suffering and must be released now. There is an additional horror for female hostages. What they endure in terms of sexual violence should be – as the UN said, “clear and convincing” to all. It should also be unequivocally denounced.…
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) June 12, 2024
Anti-Israel protesters take over Cal State university building
Anti-Israel student protesters barricade the entrance to the student services building at California State University in Los Angeles, June 12, 2024. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
Anti-Israel demonstrators take over a building at California State University, Los Angeles, where campus police are monitoring the situation as employees inside shelter in place, an official says.
University spokesperson Erik Frost Hollins says a group of 50 to 100 people barricaded exits on the first floor and blocked paths around the building, so the university asked employees to shelter in place, The Los Angeles Times reports. The university president’s office is in the building, but Hollins wouldn’t confirm whether she was one of the people inside.
The university posted a “protest action alert” on its website announcing that all main campus classes and operations would be remote until further notice and asking people not to go to the main campus.
Images from the scene showed graffiti on the building, furniture blocking doorways and overturned golf carts, picnic tables and umbrellas barricading the plaza out front.
Israeli forces clashing with gunmen in West Bank city of Qabatiya
Israeli troops are clashing with Palestinian gunmen holed up in a building in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, near Jenin, military sources say.
The IDF operation in the area began overnight.
Supreme Court hears petition seeking release of body of Arab-Israeli terror convict
An undated image of Palestinian security prisoner Walid Daqqa (Courtesy)
The Supreme Court hears a petition calling for the IDF to release the body of Palestinian terror convict Walid Daqqa, who died in April.
The petition, filed by Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, on behalf of Daqqa’s family, seeks a reversal of the decision to hold onto Daqqa’s body to serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Hamas.
On Tuesday, the government informed the Supreme Court that the security cabinet ratified Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s decision to withhold Daqqa’s body for future negotiations with Hamas. In its notification, the government noted that the decision was exceptional, since the bodies of Israeli citizens are not normally held for prisoner exchange deals.
The government claimed that the decision was “proportionate and reasonable” given the current circumstances, i.e., the war with Hamas and the months of negotiations to free Israeli hostages by the terror group in Gaza.
Following today’s hearing, the court may issue a provisional order demanding that the government provide further reasoning for its decision.
Daqqa, an Israeli citizen from the central Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiya, died of cancer in prison on April 7 at age 62, after 38 years behind bars. He had been sentenced to life behind bars for being part of a terror cell responsible for the abduction and killing of Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984.
Adalah claims in a statement that the Israeli cabinet has decided to hold all bodies of Arab citizens of Israel accused of terror attacks until a decision is made by the government on its overarching policy on the matter.
Troops wrap up two-week drill simulating war in Lebanon
Troops of the 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade carry out a drill in northern Israel, in a handout image published by the IDF on June 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the Kiryati Reserve Armored Brigade and 226th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade have wrapped up a two-week drill simulating fighting in Lebanon, the military says.
The IDF says the drill simulated a combat scenario involving moving in complex terrain and advancing along a “mountainous route.”
The troops also practiced logistical support and communications in enemy territory, extracting wounded troops, and the operations of the brigades’ headquarters.
The exercise comes amid daily attacks by the Hezbollah terror group on northern Israel amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has warned it can no longer tolerate Hezbollah’s presence along its border following the October 7 atrocities, and has warned that should a diplomatic solution not be reached, it will turn to military action to push Hezbollah northward.
Fresh drone warning sirens sound in Golan Heights
Fresh sirens warning of a possible drone attack sound in several towns in the Golan Heights, including Majdal Shams and Katzrin.
Earlier barrages of rockets and drones have sparked fires at a number of locations near the border with Lebanon.
Missiles set ship in Gulf of Aden ablaze in suspected Houthi attack
A handout picture released on February 23, 2024, shows the M/V Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier leaking oil in the Gulf of Aden after taking significant damage after an attack by Iran-backed Houthi terrorists on February 18. (CENTCOM)
A suspected attack today by Yemen’s Houthi terrorists saw missiles strike a ship in the Gulf of Aden, authorities say, setting the vessel ablaze, in the latest such assault in their campaign over the Israel-Hamas war.
The attack happened in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center says, adding that the vessel caught fire in the attack.
The private security firm Ambrey says a merchant vessel made a radio distress call saying it had been struck by a missile.
The ship “was en route from Malaysia to Venice, Italy,” Ambrey says. It adds that the ship was “aligned with the Houthi target profile,” without elaborating.
Drone warning sirens sound across Upper Galilee
Sirens warning of a possible drone attack blare in a number of towns across the Upper Galilee including Neot Mordechai and Kfar Blum.
Today has seen some of the most intense cross-border fighting with Lebanon in recent months, with repeated waves of rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel.
Lapid says government’s Haredi enlistment bill is a ‘betrayal’ of IDF soldiers
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a meeting of his Yesh Atid party at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 10, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses the government of betraying its soldiers and their families, saying that the coalition’s efforts to excuse the ultra-Orthodox from military service are set to extract a high cost from those already serving.
“After the evasion law, on Sunday the government will drop the cost on us,” Lapid says in a video message posted to social media. “Three resolutions will be voted on: more reserve days per year, more years in the reserves and the extension of regular service.”
If, in order to spare the ultra-Orthodox from serving, the government extends the service of the regular and reserve soldiers, “this is a betrayal of the fighters, a betrayal of the reservists, a betrayal of families,” he continues. “I call on the members of the Knesset from all factions — including Likud: let’s stop this madness. This is our emergency mobilization order.”
Lapid’s comments come days after the Knesset voted 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 against Hamas in Gaza. The legislation will now advance to the Foreign Affairs and Defense 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.
Russian prosecutors accuse WSJ reporter Gershkovich of working for CIA
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, left, stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the First Appeals Court of General Jurisdiction in Moscow, Russia, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Russian prosecutors have sent the case of detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich to court after concluding that he collected information for the US Central Intelligence Agency about a Russian tank factory, they says in a statement.
The office of Russia’s General Prosecutor says Gershkovich’s case will be heard by a court in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where the reporter was arrested in March 2023 on suspicion of espionage.
Gershkovich and his employer reject the espionage allegation as false.
Hezbollah takes responsibility for barrage of rockets and drones on northern Israel
Interceptors target rockets from Lebanon as seen from the northern Israeli city of Safe on June 13, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Hezbollah takes responsibility for the barrage of rockets and attack drones on northern Israel this afternoon, claiming to have targeted several military bases.
The terror group in a statement says it launched Katyusha and Falaq rockets at six army bases in northern Israel, and several more swarms of explosive-laden drones at three more bases in the area.
The IDF reported that some 40 rockets crossed the border, many of which were intercepted by air defenses, but others impacted, causing at least 15 fires. Two men in their 20s were also lightly hurt by shrapnel.
Another seven “suspicious aerial targets” — thought to be drones — were identified, the military said. Four of the suspected drones were shot down by air defenses, the IDF says, adding that there were no injuries.
Israel says Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iran bear ‘full responsibility’ for escalation
Interceptors target rockets from Lebanon as seen from the northern Israeli city of Safe on June 13, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Israel says Thursday that Hezbollah, its patron Iran and the government of Lebanon bear “full responsibility” for spiraling violence across the Israel-Lebanon border, and hints that a further escalation could be in the works.
“Lebanon and Hezbollah, under the guidance of Iran, bear full responsibility for the deterioration of the security situation in the north,” government spokesperson David Mencer says. “Whether through diplomatic efforts — or otherwise — Israel will restore security on our northern border.”
Visiting Madrid, Erdogan thanks Spain for ‘consistent’ anti-Israel stance
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan walk together at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid on June 13, 2024. (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hails Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his stance on the Gaza war, which has seen the Spanish leader emerging as an outspoken critic of Israel.
“Mr. Sanchez has pursued a principled and consistent policy from day one [of the war] and has a special place in the hearts of the entire Turkish nation,” Erdogan says.
“In the name of my people, I congratulate” Sanchez for his attitude, he adds on an official visit to Spain as the two leaders open an economic forum in Madrid.
Erdogan, a harsh critic of Israel, once again accuses the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza, which he says “hurts everyone with a conscience.”
“We are faced with an [Israeli] arrogance that responds even to ceasefire calls with bloodshed,” he says.
US very concerned about escalation on Israel-Lebanon border
Interceptors target rockets from Lebanon as seen from the northern Israeli city of Safe on June 13, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
The United States is very concerned about an escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border leading to a full-out war, a senior US official says, adding that specific security arrangements are needed for the area and a ceasefire in Gaza is not enough.
Over 40 rockets, 5 suspected drones fired at northern Israel
Interceptors target rockets from Lebanon as seen from the northern Israeli city of Safe on June 13, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Some 40 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Galilee and Golan Heights in the past hour, according to the IDF.
The military says several rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while others impacted, causing fires and lightly injuring two people.
At the same time, five “suspicious aerial targets” — thought to be drones — were identified from around 2 p.m., setting off sirens across northern Israel.
The IDF says three of the targets were intercepted by air defenses, without elaborating on the other two.
Health Ministry urges precautions amid extreme heat wave
Men shower at a public beach as they take refuge from a summer heat wave in Tel Aviv on Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Health Ministry urges the public to take precautions amid extreme heat conditions over the next several days. The heat wave, including exceptionally dry and windy conditions, will affect most areas of Israel.
Children, the elderly, pregnant individuals and those with preexisting health conditions should be extra careful about not exposing themselves to the heat and sun, staying in air-conditioned spaces if possible. They should drink water and not exert themselves physically.
The ministry reminds parents and other adults to be extremely mindful of not leaving babies and children in cars, which heat up quickly, often leading to serious injury or death within a short period.
Heatstroke and exhaustion can result from traveling, working, or hiking outside during extreme heat conditions. The public is asked to consider putting off such activities until temperatures drop.
More than half of cropland in Gaza is damaged, UN says
Farmers work in a field east of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on November 18, 2023 (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
More than half of Gaza’s agricultural land has been degraded by conflict, satellite images analyzed by the United Nations shows.
The data reveals a rise in the destruction of orchards, field crops and vegetables in the Palestinian enclave.
Using satellite imagery taken between May 2017 and 2024, United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that 57% of Gaza’s permanent crop fields and arable lands essential for food security had shown a significant decline in density and health.
“In May 2024, crop health and density across the Gaza Strip showed a marked decline compared to the average of the previous seven seasons,” UNOSAT says. “This deterioration is attributed to conflict-related activities, including razing, heavy vehicle movement, bombing, and shelling.”
As well as damage to crop fields and orchards, greenhouses across the Gaza Strip had also sustained significant damage, UNOSAT says.
The Gaza Strip has an estimated 151 square kilometers of agricultural land, which makes up about 41% of the coastal enclave’s territory, according to data from UNOSAT.
Rockets spark 15 fires in northern Israel
The Fire and Rescue Service reports some 15 fires sparked as a result of the rocket barrages from Lebanon on the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, as well as falling shrapnel following interceptions.
The Fire and Rescue Service reports some 15 fires sparked as a result of the rocket barrages from Lebanon on the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights, as well as falling shrapnel following interceptions. pic.twitter.com/FMFsif9XSI
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
Russian-Israeli journalist blacklisted by Moscow banned from entering Serbia
A Russian-Israeli journalist labeled a “foreign agent” by Moscow was banned from entering Serbia over alleged security risks, he says in a video.
Roman Perl says he was on a private visit when he landed at Belgrade airport Saturday.
He was kept waiting for hours before finally being handed an order banning him from entering the country, he says in the video posted by the Voice of America broadcaster.
“They gave me a paper stating that there are security risks if I were to be on Serbian territory,” Perl said, speaking in English but with his remarks voiced over in Serbian.
The journalist said that he had only come to visit a friend.
Moscow labeled Perl a “foreign agent” in October 2021, based on a law condemned by the international community.
The controversial law allows the authorities to crack down on organizations, media outlets and others deemed “foreign agents.” Adopted in 2012, it has since been hardened several times.
It was this legislation that prompted Perl to move to Israel.
Two hurt by rocket shrapnel in Golan, fires sparked near Katzrin
Firefighters and police have received reports of numerous rocket impacts in northern Israel, following a barrage fired from Lebanon.
According to MDA, two men in their 20s are lightly hurt in the Katzrin area in the Golan Heights after being hit by shrapnel.
Rockets that hit the Katzrin area sparked several fires, footage purportedly from the area shows.
Firefighters and police have received reports of numerous rocket impacts in northern Israel, following a barrage fired from Lebanon.
According to MDA, two men in their 20s are lightly hurt in the Katzrin area in the Golan Heights after being hit by shrapnel.
Rockets that hit… pic.twitter.com/dOxFDTzpLB
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
Drone alert sounds in northern Israel
Sirens warning of suspected drone infiltrations are sounding across northern Israel.
The alarms are activated in Safed, Katzrin, Majdal Shams, and many other communities in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights.
✈️???? Hostile Aircraft Intrusion Alert – 5 Alerts [14:17:56]:
• Upper Galilee — Biriyeh, Safed
• Southern Golan — Katzrin – Industrial Zone, Katzrin, Kidmat Zvi pic.twitter.com/MVXC1MDSMT— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 13, 2024
There wasa series of false alarms this morning, although in the last hour, there have been rocket barrages from Lebanon.
Earlier, the IDF said a suspected drone infiltration siren that sounded in Safed at 1:31 p.m. was a false alarm.
The IDF says an interceptor missile was launched at a target that was later determined to have been a “false identification.”
Sirens sound in Safed as Iron Dome seen intercepting rockets from Lebanon
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in several communities in the Upper Galilee, close to the northern city of Safed.
Footage shows the Iron Dome air defense system active over the area, amid what appears to be a major barrage from Lebanon.
Sirens also sound in Katzrin in the Golan Heights.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
The sirens come after a series of false alarms this morning.
Several Iron Dome interceptions reported over the area. https://t.co/8rfF07MjaA pic.twitter.com/p2wrWNj8Dv
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
Police say body found near Sha’ar Hanegev most likely Oct. 7 terrorist
A shirt with Arabic writing on it found near a body discovered at Sha'ar Henegev, most likely belonging to an Oct. 7 terrorist (Israel Police)
Police say that a body found this morning near Sha’ar Hanegev is most likely that of a terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacres.
Police say that after finding the body, further searches were carried out in the area and an empty military vest and a shirt with Arabic written on it were found. The writing on the shirt appears to be the logo of Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
Police are still waiting for the identification process to be completed at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.
The IDF says it killed some 1,000 Hamas operatives inside Israel on October 7 and in the days following.
IDF: Troops complete raids on Gaza’s Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods
Troops of the 99th Division operate in the central Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published June 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the 99th Division completed a raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun and Sabra neighborhoods this week, the military says.
The pinpoint operation was carried out by the Carmeli and Yiftah brigades, along with the elite Multi-Domain Unit aka the Ghost Unit.
Amid the operation, the IDF says troops killed dozens of gunmen and demolished some 50 sites belonging to terror groups, including rocket launchers and weapon depots.
Meanwhile, the Alexandroni Reserve Infantry Brigade and 8th Reserve Armored Brigade were deployed this week to the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip, where the 99th Division has been based.
The division, along with troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, recently demolished an 800-meter-long tunnel in the Juhor ad-Dik area in the corridor, the IDF says.
According to the IDF, the tunnel, some 30 meters deep, had several rooms and blast doors, and had been used by Hamas operatives.
Former PM Bennett hints at political comeback
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett arrives at a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on October 23, 2022. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool)
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett appears to hint at a return to politics, tweeting that it is possible to rebuild a wide unity coalition similar to the one he established with now-Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in 2021.
“Three years ago today, I took the oath of allegiance as the 13th prime minister of the State of Israel. For a little over a year, I served you, the citizens of Israel, when I was at the head of a government that up until that moment would have seemed impossible,” he writes in an lengthy post on social media platform X, noting that “ministers from the left and the right decided to put aside all the differences and come together for the sake of saving the State of Israel.”
“Today more than ever, the unimaginable reality in which we have been living since October 7 requires a leadership that knows how to unite the people and do the most basic thing that a government should do: to put the interest of the State of Israel before any other consideration, to act wisely in front of the international community, to bring all parts of the people into the circle of service and to conduct the campaign with clear goals until our enemies are defeated,” Bennett continues.
Though many Israelis are suffering from “existential anxiety,” he writes, “Even now when everything seems impossible, it is possible.” He adds: “Friends, we did it then, and you can do it again.”
Retweeting Bennett, Lapid quotes his statement, insisting that “with a professional government, real leadership and unity among us, it is possible, And much faster than you think. We will still establish a state here that is worthy of this people.”
A Channel 12 poll this March found that if Bennett and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar were to form a new party with ex-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, it would take 17 seats in the Knesset.
IDF: 2 sirens in north were false alarms, 1 triggered by ‘suspicious aerial target’
Sirens that sounded in the Western Galilee at 12:26 p.m. and 1:19 p.m. were determined to be false alarms, the military says.
The IDF also says that sirens at 1:04 p.m. in the Upper Galilee were triggered after a “suspicious aerial target” was identified.
The incident is over, and there are no damage or injuries, the military says, without elaborating on whether the target was shot down.
UK’s Labour pledges to recognize Palestinian state as part of peace process
Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks to the audience, during the Sky News election debate, in Grimsby, England, Wednesday June 12, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain’s opposition Labour Party, which is far ahead in polls before a July 4 election, pledges to recognize a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process.
“Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people,” says Labour’s election manifesto – the collection of policies it would enact if it forms the next government.
“We are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.”
The current Conservative-led government has previously said Britain could formally recognize a Palestinian state before the end of a peace process, and that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip must be given “the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future.”
In May, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized a Palestinian state, prompting an angry reaction from Israel, which said the move served as a reward for Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Ex-minister says he finally received condolence call from Netanyahu for son who fell fighting on Oct. 7
Yaron Oree Shay, who was killed in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on October 7, 2023, in an undated photo from his father Izhar Shay. (used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).
Eight months after his son was killed fighting Hamas on October 7, former science and technology minister Izhar Shay tweets that he finally received a condolence call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Only days after complaining online that he had not heard from the prime minister, Shay writes that following the end of yesterday’s Shavuot holiday, Netanyahu finally picked up the phone and “expressed to me deep shock that he had not heard about it until now.”
“I told the prime minister that I personally did not need this call, but when I expressed criticism I was speaking on behalf of everyone he has not bothered to call to this day, the families of those murdered… the families of the hostages who were murdered, the families of the kibbutzniks, the families of the ‘failures,’ not only the families of the success stories,” he tweets — referring to Netanyahu’s recent visit to the families of four rescued hostages.
“I told him he was responsible for everything that happened here, not just the successes, that he was supposed to be the prime minister of all of us, not just his voters, and that I am expressing the pain of millions of citizens who do not have a prime minister who addresses their pain,” he continues.
Shay urges Netanyahu “to call or visit to console the families of the fallen and murdered, even those who did not vote for him, even those who did not fall in heroic battles but rather those whose deaths symbolize the terrible disaster, the failure and the great pain of all the citizens of the State of Israel following” October 7.
Izhar Shay speaking at the anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv, May 11, 2024. (Lior Segev)
Shay and Netanyahu’s call comes after the former minister tweeted a photo of his son standing behind Netanyahu, describing himself as “one of those bereaved parents whom the prime minister did not bother to call,” adding that “a moral and honorable prime minister would have called to comfort and strengthen” us.
Last December, Shay told Army Radio Tuesday that he has received threats and abuse since the death of his son IDF Sgt. Yaron Oree Shay, who was killed on October 7 defending an Israeli community during Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Hamas says 30 people killed in Gaza in past 24 hours, raising war toll to 37,232
Displaced Palestinians gather in a damaged building used as a temporary shelter in al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 12, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours, raising the overall war death toll 37,232.
The IDF says several Hamas operatives were killed in clashes in Rafah, while more than 10 were killed in battles in central Gaza.
The Hamas toll cannot be verified. Of these, some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals or through self-reporting by families, with the rest of the figure based on Hamas “media sources.” The tolls include some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel-born far-right senator tapped to serve as Dutch immigration minister
Gidi Markuszower. (Party for Freedom)
An Israel-born Dutch lawmaker, Gidi Markuszower, is tapped to serve as the Netherlands’ immigration minister, local media reports.
Markuszower, who moved at a young age from his native Tel Aviv to Amsterdam with his family, is a longtime member of the anti-Islam, far-right Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders, which won the largest share of the vote in last year’s general election.
He is also one of three coalition ministers who will hold the title of deputy prime minister, which means they take on some of the prime minister’s responsibilities when the prime minister is away or indisposed.
The Party for Freedom and its three smaller coalition partners are in agreement in principle on tapping counter-terrorism professional Dick Schoof as prime minister. This follows the decision by Wilders and his party to outsource the job to a nonpartisan individual to facilitate the power-sharing deal.
Markuszower, 46, who in 2021 called the Netherlands’ immigration policy “a crime against the Dutch People,” is expected to set out a hard line when it comes to immigration and asylum applications.
Markuszower is a supporter of Israel and has been an active member in the Jewish community of the Netherlands, including within the Maccabi sports team. He is on record as calling in 2010 for a boycott of Jewish community members — whom he called “traitors in our midst” in an email — who supported the UN’s 2009 Goldstone Report, which accused Israel of breaking international humanization law in Gaza.
Markuszower, currently a senator, dropped out of an election campaign in 2010 due to a warning issued about him by the AIVD secret service, which said he had had contacts with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency.
Markuszower, who speaks Hebrew fluently, did not immediately reply to a request for an interview by The Times of Israel.
Smotrich says he transferred $35 million in PA funds to terror victims
Religious Zionism party leader Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting in northern Israel, May 19, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Declaring that the move constitutes “historic justice,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweets that he has signed an order to transfer some NIS 130 million ($35 million) of tax funds Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to victims of terror.
“The Palestinian Authority encourages and favors terrorism by paying the families of terrorists, prisoners and released prisoners. In accordance with the judgments that awarded compensation to the victims of terrorism, we offset the same amounts from the PA’s funds and are transfering the awarded money to the families of the victims of terrorism,” he says.
“At this time, I signed an order that transfers about NIS 130 million from the PA’s frozen funds to victims of terrorism.”
Body found near Sha’ar Hanegev, police investigating if it’s connected to Oct. 7
View of Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine near Tel Aviv, June 13, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Police say that a body has been discovered in the Sha’ar Henegev area near the Gaza border and that it has been sent to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification.
Police say the body was found in a state of extreme decomposition.
Hebrew media report that police believe the body, which was found during construction work, could be linked to the October 7 Hamas massacre in the area.
One person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown. In several instances remains have been discovered of people initially thought held hostage.
It is also possible that the body is that of one of the terrorists killed in fierce battles in the area.
Ben Gvir to submit bill that would split powers of attorney general
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (left) speaks during an official Memorial Day ceremony at the Ashdod Military Cemetery, May 13, 2024. (Liron Moldovan/Flash90); Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara addresses the Israel Bar Association's annual conference in Eilat, May 27, 2024. (Courtesy Israel Bar Association)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he intends to bring back a judicial overhaul-era proposal to split the position of the attorney general and will request that it be brought to a vote in the key Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday.
Ben Gvir says that he is reviving the bill, a component of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda in 2023, because Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has not opened an investigation into comments made by new Labor leader Yair Golan in May seemingly encouraging the refusal of reserve duty.
Golan denied doing so, saying he had been speaking hypothetically.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin opposes the bill, however, and there is little chance it will be approved in committee. This means it cannot be advanced as a government bill, but Ben Gvir could push it forward as a private member’s bill.
“The attorney general’s tune on Yair Golan shows us that the institution of the Attorney General’s Office is biased, in particular the current attorney general,” says Ben Gvir, who has clashed repeatedly with Baharav-Miara in his role as minister.
According to his statement, the bill would grant exclusive authority over prosecutions to the state attorney.
Right-wing legislators have long sought to split the position of the attorney general, arguing it combines several powerful roles, including that of the government’s chief lawyer, its legal adviser, and the head of the public prosecution, which proponents of the measure say should not be controlled by one individual.
University students on partial strike in solidarity with hostages
Demonstrators call for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, June 8, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
Students at universities across Israel are staging a partial strike today in solidarity with Israeli abductees held by Hamas in Gaza.
Organized by the National Union of Israeli Students, students are to walk out of classes and hold rallies for either 250 minutes, to mark the 250th day of the Israel-Hamas war, or for 120 minutes, in honor of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
At some universities, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the student organization called for a full day’s strike, Ynet reports.
Some family members of hostages are to participate in the day’s events, and the walkout is held with the support of the Hostage and Missing Families’ Forum, who in a statement expressed support for the student walkout and called for continuing negotiations with Hamas in order to “bring everyone home.”
A large number of university students were present at the Supernova dance party, which on October 7 was one of the targets of the Hamas terrorists. One of those abducted from there was the recently rescued Noa Argamani, who was a student at Ben-Gurion University.
“The 120 abductees held captive by Hamas in Gaza are going through 250 days of unimaginable agony. We were thrilled to see the return of Noa Argamani, a Ben-Gurion University student, along with three other abductees, but we shouldn’t accept the unbearable situation in which 120 other are still in captivity, including our students whom we all hope will return soon,” National Union of Israeli Students chair Elchanan Felhimer says in a statement.
Son of former Israeli ambassador found decapitated in north
Police say they have discovered the decapitated head of a man in the northern Druze town of Maghar.
The victim is identified as Rabia Araidi, 43, the son of the late Druze author and scholar Naim Araidi who also served as Israel’s ambassador to Norway in 2012-2014.
Police say they are investigating what they called a particularly gruesome murder.
The killing takes the number of Arab victims of violent crime this year to 93.
Law enforcement have been unable to stem the tide of violence in the Arab community, in what State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman has said is a “resounding failure” by authorities.
The Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence advocacy group, has pinned the blame on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for having gutted a program put in place by the previous government to reverse the worrying trend.
In its 2023 year-end report — which found that year to have been the bloodiest on record for Arab citizens of Israel — the Abraham Initiatives found that a plurality of the 244 homicides had happened in the north, which the group attributed to turf wars among rival gangs.
ADL: 56% of Americans report online harassment or hate
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt at the Never is Now conference in New York, March 5, 2024. (courtesy)
The Anti-Defamation League reports that more than half of Americans experience online hate and harassment in their lifetimes and numbers are rising.
The ADL says its sixth annual survey on the issue says that among adults the groups most affected by the issue were transgender (63 %), LGBTQ+ (49 %) Muslim (47 %) and Jews (34%)
Harassment of teens ages 13-17 remained steady at 50 percent this past year, the ADL says.
“The hate we’re seeing online, doesn’t stay online – it causes real harm and violence in peoples’ lives. It’s high time everyone stepped up to keep communities and marginalized groups safe from hate and harassment,” says Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO.
“Despite many promises made by online platforms, hate and harassment are still plaguing the internet. Policymakers and big tech companies must deliver on their commitments to address hate and harassment online,” he says.
Footage shows troops using trebuchet to launch incendiaries at Lebanon
Footage circulating on social media shows Israeli soldiers using a trebuchet to launch incendiaries at Lebanon, to set fires on the other side of the border.
The Lebanon border area has dense vegetation which poses a challenge to Israeli forces deployed to the area. It is believed such fires are intended to aid the army in identifying terrorists trying to infiltrate into Israel or carry out other attacks.
Footage circulating on social media shows Israeli soldiers using a trebuchet to launch incendiaries at Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/PYMyCZcOWM
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2024
IDF says series of drone alerts in Kiryat Shmona were false alarms
Suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded in Kiryat Shmona and nearby communities at 9:30 a.m. and 10:23 a.m. were determined to be false alarms, the military says.
White House says Israel is backing ceasefire-hostage deal, world should pressure Hamas
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Israel is standing behind a ceasefire proposal for the eight-month-old war in the Gaza Strip, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says, and the goal is to bridge gaps with Hamas and get to a deal soon.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) meeting of leaders in southern Italy, Sullivan says the world should encourage Hamas to accept the proposal and avoid stalemate.
Police say remnants of weapon found near car that exploded in Rehovot
Police say that sappers inspecting a vehicle that exploded in Rehovot have discovered “remnants of a weapon” near the car.
Police give no further details, but say the vehicle will be taken to the police laboratories for further inspection.
Police had initially said it was likely that the blast was caused by an accident, but the findings strengthen the possibility the incident was criminal.
French citizen Louis Arnaud released from Iran
French citizen Louis Arnaud returns to Paris after being held in Iran since September 2022 and sentenced last year to five years in jail on national security charges.
Emerging from a small plane at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, a visibly tired but smiling Arnaud shook hands with Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne before embracing his parents, according to images aired on television.
L'arrivée de Louis Arnaud, ancien otage détenu depuis 2022 en Iran, à l'aéroport de Paris-Le-Bourget, en Seine-Saint-Denis pic.twitter.com/vb7wg3ONEo
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 13, 2024
IDF says strikes hit 45 targets in Gaza over last day; terror operatives killed in clashes
IDF troops in the Gaza Strip in a picture published on June 13, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli fighter jets and drones struck some 45 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.
The IDF says the targets included buildings used by terror groups, cells of gunmen, rocket launchers — including a primed one in Rafah — tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure.
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 several gunmen in close-quarters combat over the past day.
At least 10 more operatives, including a terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught, were killed in central Gaza, the military adds.
Two wounded in Rehovot car explosion; police say blast likely caused by accident
First responders at the scene of a car explosion in Rehovot on June 13, 2024 (Magen David Adom)
Two people are wounded when the car they were traveling in in Rehovot exploded, police and rescue workers say.
The Magen David Adom rescue service says medics are treating the two men at the scene, one in a serious condition and one lightly hurt.
Police say they are investigating the blast, but from an initial examination, it appears the vehicle caught fire after an accident.
However, police say they have not completely ruled out that the blast could have been a criminal act.
Hamas claims proposed amendments to Gaza ceasefire plan ‘not significant’
Ismail Haniyeh, the Qatar-based leader of Hamas, during a visit in Tehran, May 22, 2024. (Iranian Supreme Leader's Website / AFP)
DOHA — The changes that Hamas have requested to a ceasefire proposal presented by the United States are “not significant” and include the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, a senior leader in the group tells Reuters.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that Hamas had proposed numerous changes, some unworkable, to the US-backed proposal, but that mediators were determined to close the gaps.
Hamas demands it select a list of 100 Palestinians with long term sentences to be released from Israeli jails, says the senior Hamas leader.
Hamas objected to the Israeli document’s exclusion of 100 Palestinian prisoners with high sentences, whom Hamas would identify, as well as the restriction on the time period for the release of prisoners with high sentences to no more than 15 years remaining of their sentences, says the Hamas official.
“There are no significant amendments that, according to Hamas leadership, warrant objection,” says the Hamas leader.
IDF says drone alert near Kiryat Shmona a false alarm
Suspected drone infiltration sirens that sounded in Kiryat Shmona and nearby communities a short while ago were determined to be false alarms, the military says.
Drone infiltration alerts sound near Kiryat Shmona
Drone infiltration warning sirens are sounding near the town of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.
The alerts also sound in several surrounding communities.
???? Large Red Alert [07:57:40] – 10 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Ma'ayan Baruch, Misgav Am, Kfar Yuval, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Manara, Kiryat Shmona, Beit Hillel, Metulla, Margaliot#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/3ib7RAypzn
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 13, 2024
IDF denies carrying out strikes in Gaza safe zone
The IDF denies carrying out strikes in the al-Mawasi area on the coast of southern Gaza, designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone.”
“Contrary to reports from the last few hours, no attack by the IDF took place in the humanitarian area in al-Mawasi,” the IDF says in a short statement.
Report: Israeli forces striking targets in Gaza safe zone
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces are conducting strikes in Gaza’s al-Mawasi humanitarian zone west of Rafah.
Wafa says the strikes on the coastal area were being carried out by air, land and sea.
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in the area.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
IDF strikes Hezbollah targets overnight, says some sirens in north triggered by interceptor
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab, the military says.
Additional Hezbollah infrastructure was stuck in Aynata, the IDF adds.
Meanwhile, the IDF says that sirens that sounded earlier this morning in the northern towns of Klil and Yehiam were triggered by an interceptor missile launched at a target that was later determined to be a false identification.
מטוסי קרב תקפו במהלך הלילה מבנים צבאיים במרחב עייתא א-שעב לצד תשתית טרור נוספת במרחב עינתא שבדרום לבנון.
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו על ירי רקטות וטילים בצפון הארץ בשעה 05:04, מיירט שוגר לעבר מטרה חשודה שהתבררה כזיהוי שווא. התרעה על ירי רקטות וטילים הופעלה בעקבות חשש לנפילת שברי יירוט pic.twitter.com/OK4oMALp8x
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 13, 2024
Negotiations on hostage deal to continue despite Hamas’s response — report
Negotiations for a potential hostage and ceasefire deal will continue, despite Israel viewing Hamas’s response to the latest proposal as a full-on rejection, Haaretz reports, citing an Israeli official and a foreign official, both familiar with the talks.
“The talks will continue now through the Qatari and Egyptian envoys in coordination with the US, to see if an agreement can be reached,” the outlet quotes one of the unnamed officials as saying.
Rocket sirens sound in several northern towns
Early morning rocket alarms sound in the Galilee towns of Yehiam and Klil, and a while later at Moshav Shtula.
There are no immediate reports of impacts or further details.
Foreign Ministry: UN report ‘ridden with lies and blood libels,’ describes ‘fictional reality’
The Foreign Ministry has strongly rejected the UN report accusing Israel of “extermination” and crimes against humanity, casting it as “ridden with lies and blood libels against IDF soldiers.
“The report describes a fictional reality in which decades of terror attacks have disappeared, there are no continuous rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, and this is not a democratic country defending itself from a terror assault,” the ministry charges.
“This is another example of the low the organization has stooped to under UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.”
Main sticking point in hostage talks is Hamas demand for up-front Israeli vow to end war — officials
The primary issue complicating negotiations after Hamas’s response to the Israeli hostage deal proposal is that the Palestinian terror group is demanding an Israeli guarantee up front that it will agree to a permanent ceasefire, two officials familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.
The Israeli proposal submitted on May 27 stopped short of this, instead requiring the sides to first agree to a six-week phase-one truce, during which they would hold talks on a permanent ceasefire that will begin in phase two of the deal.
The phase-one negotiations regarding the terms of a permanent ceasefire can extend beyond the initially allotted six-week timeframe if talks are ongoing, but Hamas took issue with the proposal’s giving Israel the right to resume fighting if the terror group is deemed to not be meeting its commitments, an Arab diplomat and a second source familiar with the matter explain.
The officials acknowledge that there were other revisions that Hamas’s response sought to make to the Israeli offer, but they insist that those amendments are marginal and can be solved if Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire up front.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that Israel will not agree to a deal that ends the war before Hamas’s governing and military capabilities are dismantled.
He has claimed that the not-fully-publicized Israeli proposal would have allowed Israel to fulfill this war aim, but portions leaked to the press earlier this week have contradicted this.
Hamas is making the demand for a commitment to a permanent ceasefire up front because it fears Netanyahu would have only implemented phase one of the deal — which would see the release of the remaining living female, elderly and sick hostages — before finding a pretext to resume the fighting, the two officials say.
‘An affront to diplomatic norms’: US slams Houthis’ arrests of US, UN officials
The US State Department “strongly condemns” the Houthis’ recent arrests of UN officials, diplomats and aid personnel in Yemen, which the rebels have claimed was a crackdown on an alleged Israeli-American spy cell.
“We also strongly condemn the Houthis’ efforts to spread disinformation regarding the role of detained current and former US mission local staff through televised forced and fake ‘confessions,'” says a statement by department spokesperson Matthew Miller. “Yet again the Houthis are seeking to use disinformation to shift blame to the United States and other outside actors for their own failures.
“These Houthi actions reflect a blatant disregard for the dignity of the Yemeni people and individuals who – contrary to the Houthis’ lies – have dedicated themselves to their country’s betterment. Their detention, and that of the UN staff, is an affront to diplomatic norms, and they should be released immediately. We will not rest until they are,” the statement adds.
Hamas said to demand halt to war even if no agreement reached regarding deal’s 2nd phase
Channel 13 news publishes what it claims to be details from the Hamas terror group’s amendments to the Israel-American proposal for a truce and hostage deal, though it doesn’t say how these were obtained.
The Hamas demands include a complete halt to the war, even if no agreement is reached regarding the second stage of the three-phase deal. The current proposal said such negotiations would start during the first phase, and Hamas is said to contend that it won’t agree to a deadline after which fighting could renew if no agreement is reached.
Hamas is also reportedly demanding that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip start during the first phase of the deal, rather than the third phase; that Israel not be allowed to veto the release of any Palestinian security prisoner, after Israel agreed to compromise greatly on this matter; and that no murder convicts be deported abroad or to the Gaza Strip.
“This is the most extreme response Hamas could have given,” the network quotes an unnamed Israeli official as saying. “It is apparent that the American pressure has not worked. It is hard to start a negotiation in these conditions.”
In addition, Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar outlet has reported that Hamas is demanding that the IDF will start its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on the first day of the first phase, with the key Salah a-Din and Al-Rashid highways, the army facilities in Netzarim, the Philadelphi Route along the Egypt-Gaza border and the Rafah Border Crossing all vacated by the seventh day.
If Israel doesn’t commit to a full withdrawal from Gaza by the seventh day, the release of hostages will stop, according to the reported Hamas response.
Hamas urges US to pressure Israel, claims no indication Jerusalem agrees to truce deal
Palestinian terror group Hamas claims it has shown “full positivity” in efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel in the Gaza Strip conflict.
In a statement, Hamas says it urges the US to direct its pressure against Israel to accept a deal leading to a permanent ceasefire in the enclave.
Hamas says that while US officials have said Israel has accepted a ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden on May 31, “we have not heard any Israeli official confirm this acceptance.”
Hamas rejected the proposal, waiting two weeks to submit a list of amendments, some of which Washington has said are “not workable.” The Biden administration has been putting extensive pressure on the terror group, questioning whether it is negotiating in good faith.
Yemen’s Houthis claim to target sites in Israel’s Ashdod and Haifa, ship in Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthis targeted “Tutor ship” in the Red Sea, the Iran-aligned group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree says in a televised speech.
The ship was hit and is facing the danger of sinking, Saree claims.
The rebels also claim to have carried out a joint military operation with Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeting sites in Israel’s Ashdod and Haifa, without elaborating.
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