June 16: Security cabinet puts off vote on measures to boost settlements, punish PA

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in an English-language video statement says Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group is “bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region.”

“The Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon has been escalating its attacks against Israel. Since deciding to join the war that Hamas started on October 7th, Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 rockets; anti-tank missiles, and explosive UAVs from Lebanon at Israeli families, homes, and communities,” he says.

“Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” Hagari continues.

He says “Hezbollah is jeopardizing the future of Lebanon so that it can be a shield for Hamas. A shield for the Hamas terrorists who murdered the elderly, raped women, burned children, and kidnapped Jews, Muslims, and Christians, during their massacre on October 7th.”

“When we say that we will not let October 7th happen again on any one of our borders, we mean it,” Hagari says.

“Because of Hezbollah’s refusal to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, because of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure; weapons and fire at Israel from the area south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, and because of Lebanon’s failure to enforce 1701 on Hezbollah, Israel will take the necessary measures to protect its civilians, until security along our border with Lebanon is restored,” he vows.

Hagari warns that “one way or another we will ensure the safe and secure return of Israelis to their homes in Northern Israel. That is not up for negotiation.”

“Iran’s terror proxies continue to drag the region to destruction. Israel will continue fighting against Iran’s axis of evil on all fronts — in Gaza, in Lebanon — as we work towards a more secure future for the Middle East,” he says.

“October 7th cannot happen again, on any one of Israel’s borders. Israel has a duty to defend the people of Israel. We will fulfill that duty, at all costs,” Hagari adds.

10:42 pm

IDF says fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in four areas of southern Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets in four areas of southern Lebanon this evening, the military says.

The targets included infrastructure in Shaqra and Taybeh, and buildings in Mhaibib and Kafr Kila, according to the IDF.

מוקדם יותר הערב מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מספר יעדי טרור בארבעה מרחבים שונים בדרום לבנון.

בין המטרות שהותקפו, תשתיות טרור במרחבים שקרא וא-טייבה, לצד מבנים צבאיים במרחבים מחיבב וכפר כילא pic.twitter.com/nmEUrayeUL

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2024

10:32 pm

In Eid al-Adha statement, Biden reiterates US’s commitment to eventual two-state solution

President Joe Biden arrives for a campaign event with former President Barack Obama moderated by Jimmy Kimmel at the Peacock Theater, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In a statement marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, US President Joe Biden acknowledges the difficult circumstances under which people in Gaza are celebrating this year.

“This year, Eid al-Adha comes at a difficult time for many Muslims around the world. In Gaza, innocent civilians are suffering the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel,” Biden says. “Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense.”

The US is doing “everything we can to bring an end to the war,” Biden says, adding that this includes increasing humanitarian aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, working toward an eventual two-state solution and freeing the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

“I strongly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the UN Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” he says.

Biden also addresses Muslim communities impacted by the conflict in Sudan, as well as the Rohingya in Burma and the Uyghurs in China, stressing that “they, like all people, deserve to live free from violence and fear.”

Looking closer to home, Biden reiterates his administration’s commitment to “addressing the scourge of Islamophobia in the United States,” and says that “hate has no place in America, whether it is targeted at American Muslims, Arab Americans including Palestinians, or anyone else.”

“In the spirit of Eid al-Adha, let us all renew our commitment to values that unite us – compassion, empathy, and mutual respect – which are both American and Islamic,” he adds.

10:04 pm

Head of IDF’s Southern Command meets with commanders in Rafah after Saturday’s deadly blast

IDF Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman met with commanders serving in the southern Gaza city of Rafah earlier today to discuss operational achievements and developments in the offensive against Hamas, the IDF says.

During the meeting, Finkelman referred to the deadly explosion in Rafah a day prior, where eight troops were killed inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle.

“We are here after a painful incident that occurred yesterday,” Finkelman says, “we lost fighters and we lost commanders during the attack. These are our best sons.”

Despite the heavy losses, he adds, “Our imperative is to continue moving forward. You are attacking [Hamas’s] Rafah brigade, and we will continue until we defeat it.”

8:53 pm

FM Katz to meet with Hungarian president, foreign minister in visit to Budapest

Foreign Minister Israel Katz will depart Israel for a diplomatic visit to Hungary later tonight, his office says in a statement.

During his visit, Katz will meet with Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó.

He will also meet with the head of Hungary’s Jewish Community and lay a wreath at the country’s Tree of Life Holocaust memorial in Budapest, his office adds.

8:28 pm

IDF names 8th soldier killed in Rafah blast yesterday, announces death of soldier killed earlier today

Left: Sgt. Shalom Menachem, 21, of the Combat Engineering Corps' 601st Battalion. Right: Staff Sgt. Tzur Abraham, 22, of the Nahal Brigade's reconnaissance unit. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF names the eighth soldier killed in Saturday’s blast in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

He is named as Sgt. Shalom Menachem, 21, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Beit El.

Additionally, the IDF announces the death of another soldier killed today in Rafah.

He is named as Staff Sgt. Tzur Abraham, 22, of the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Modi’in.

In the same incident, a reservist officer serving as a field interrogator with the Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 was seriously wounded, and another two soldiers were moderately hurt, the military says.

Abraham’s death brings the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas and in operations on the Gaza border to 312. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor was also killed in the Strip.

6:53 pm

Netanyahu, Gantz bicker over accusations of ‘defeatist’ attitudes toward Gaza war

This combination photograph created on May 30, 2024 shows (L) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 12, 2024, and (R) Minister Benny Gantz on May 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel and Miriam Alster/Flash90)

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused National Unity chair Benny Gantz and lawmaker Gadi Eisenkot of wanting to make “washed-up defeatist decisions” that would “leave Hamas intact,” during a cabinet meeting earlier today, National Unity accuses the prime minister of practicing “defeatism.”

“Defeatism: To be afraid of letting the IDF maneuver. To dissolve the entrance to Khan Younis and Rafah. To hesitate to move operative efforts north, and refuse to define the safe return of northern residents to their homes as part of the goals of the war,” the party says in a statement aimed at Netanyahu.

“In the future, the [war’s] protocols will be revealed, and the public will know who stalled and who strived for a real victory.”

Shortly after, Netanyahu’s Likud party bites back at its former coalition partner, warning that “those who fled the war effort will not preach morals to Prime Minister Netanyahu who is leading the campaign and is not willing to compromise on anything less than complete victory.

“Certainly not Benny Gantz who escaped making difficult decisions, who gave in to all international pressure, who agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and who declared above all that he is ready to end the war before the return of all our hostages and the completion of all our goals,” the Likud statement continues.

Accusing Netanyahu of acting “hysterical,” National Unity retorts that “Gantz and Eisenkot were the first to call for launching the maneuver and aggressive action in Gaza and its expansion to Khan Younis and Rafah,” and that Gantz had been responsible for ensuring Israel had air support from its allies during Iran’s attack in April.

“He never agreed to end the war, nor agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state,” National Unity says of Gantz. “He didn’t deliver the ‘Bar Ilan speech’ and didn’t hand over territory to [Yasser] Arafat, as Netanyahu did.”

6:08 pm

Hezbollah said to have advised Hamas to be ‘flexible’ in response to ceasefire-hostage proposal

A handout picture released by the Lebanese Hezbollah press office on May 15, 2024 shows Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah (2nd R) meeting with a delegation from Hamas headed by Khalil al Hayyeh (2nd L) along with Mohammed Nasr (L) and Oussama Hamdan (R) at an undisclosed location in Lebanon. (Hezbollah Media Office / AFP)

The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has reportedly advised Hamas to be “flexible” in its response to the proposed ceasefire and hostage deal presented by US President Joe Biden last month after the terror group made multiple “amendments” to the offer in its response, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Citing an unnamed Israeli source, Kan attests that Hamas approached Hezbollah to discuss the ceasefire proposal and how it could best respond. In turn, Hezbollah is reported to have urged Hamas not to close the door on negotiations and to continue working with mediators in Qatar and Egypt, but acknowledged that the issue is “in the hands of the Hamas leadership.”

Hezbollah’s advice stemmed in part from the assessment that Hamas would stand to benefit from reacting positively to the plan so long as Israel, and in particular Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seems unenthusiastic, the report adds.

While the ceasefire proposal was put forward by Jerusalem, Netanyahu has insisted that there were gaps between Biden’s presentation of the offer and Israel’s stance, which insists that there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until all the goals of the war are met.

6:05 pm

Animal rights group slams Agriculture Ministry for failing to stop ‘vile’ live export of animals

By Sue Surkes

One of 14,000 animals that arrived in Israel in April for fattening and slaughter after more than three months in transit. (Israel Against Live Shipments)

An animal rights group campaigning to stop the live shipment of animals to Israel for fattening and slaughter slams the Israeli Agriculture Ministry for its lack of action to stop what it calls a “shameful and vile industry.”

This follows an announcement by the Israeli ministry that from May 2028, Australian live lamb exports will cease worldwide, following an Australian government decision.

Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of sheep meat. In 2022–23, the estimated value of Australia’s sheep meat exports was $4.5 billion. However, of this, live shipments accounted for less than 2% of this trade, at around $77 million.

According to the explanatory notes for an Australian parliamentary bill to halt the live exports, the demand for live sheep, which are fattened at their country of destination before slaughter, is mostly driven by Middle Eastern customers who prefer to slaughter the animals according to their cultural or religious customs.

The bill also says that the export of live animals “could” entail significant risks to their welfare.

Animal rights groups from Australia, Israel and elsewhere have repeatedly provided evidence for the substandard conditions on livestock ships, where animals often bathe in their own excrement.

As recently as April, more than 14,000 animals destined for fattening and slaughter in Israel arrived at Haifa Port after more than three months in transit — in one of the longest-ever such shipments from Australia — after the journey was diverted by Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.

A statement from Israel Against Live Shipments says, “While progressive countries like Australia are finally understanding the severity of the suffering and cruelty involved in transporting live animals across continents and are taking action to end this shameful and vile industry, Israel continues to bury its head in the sand and ignore the atrocity against animals in live exports.”

In November 2018, the Knesset passed a bill to stop live exports in a preliminary reading that garnered no opposition.

If passed into law, the bill, put forward by Likud MK Miki Zohar, would have stopped the imports within three years and switched completely to imported chilled meat.

A month later, a law to dissolve the Knesset was approved, heralding four years of inconclusive elections and political instability.

5:29 pm

IDF chief Halevi discusses need for ultra-Orthodox conscription in visit to central Gaza

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi is seen holding a situational assessment in central Gaza in an image published June 16, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi discussed the way in which Haredi enlistment to the IDF could lighten the load for reservists during a visit to the central Gaza Strip over the weekend, the IDF says in a statement.

While in central Gaza, Halevi held a situational assessment with the chief of the IDF’s Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and the commander of the IDF’s 99th Division, Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, as well as several other reserve commanders.

During the meeting, Halevi said that while there was “a desire for change” in ultra-Orthodox society, it was not yet widespread enough and that more needed to be done.

Were Haredi conscription rates to rise, he said, the burden on reservists would be decreased, as there would be less need for them.

The establishment of additional Haredi battalions within the IDF is a “definite need,” he said, noting the difficulties faced by reservists who “have been away from home for almost eight months with few breaks.”

4:59 pm

Knesset revives controversial bill expanding Chief Rabbinate’s influence over local authorities

Illustrative: The Rabbinical Court, in Jerusalem, April 2, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee announces the revival of a controversial bill that would greatly expand the influence of the Chief Rabbinate and the Religious Services Ministry in the appointment of municipal rabbis at the expense of local authorities — while at the same time also eroding the role of women in the process.

After objections by National Unity leader Benny Gantz and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar, the bill, which would have paved the way for hundreds of new government-funded rabbinical posts, had been indefinitely put on ice by lawmakers earlier this year.

Both parties objected to the bill on the grounds that it violated the terms of an agreement requiring that all coalition parties agree on any legislation advanced during wartime. However, Sa’ar left the coalition shortly after the bill was shelved, followed by Gantz last Sunday, paving the way for its reintroduction.

If passed into law, the bill could cost taxpayers tens of millions of shekels annually in salaries for hundreds of new neighborhood rabbis employed by local municipalities.

Critics of the bill allege it would benefit Shas, the Sephardi Haredi party, by creating jobs for its apparatchiks and increasing the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate’s say both in appointing rabbis and in how they operate.

“Netanyahu and his coalition prove once again that for them politics is above all else – the main thing is to survive,” the National Unity party says in a statement on Sunday.

“Precisely now, when the north is on fire and the south is at war, the coalition decides to promote a twisted law, inflame the rift in the nation and break new records of disconnection. We prevented the promotion of the law three months ago, and we will do everything to thwart it now as well.”

After the bill was shelved earlier this year, the Religious Services Ministry introduced a set of proposed regulations that would accomplish the same goal while sidestepping intense public and legislative opposition.

If approved by the ministry following the period of public comment, the regulations would have lowered the number of residents required for the appointment of a second municipal rabbi in a city from 100,000 to 50,000, rolled back former religious services minister Matan Kahana’s reform limiting the terms of municipal rabbis to 10 years, and allowed for the appointment of rabbis with full-time jobs.

It would have also dropped the number of women legally required to serve on rabbinical selection committees from 40 percent to one-third as well as greatly reduced the level of representation currently enjoyed by municipalities on these panels.

However, the regulations were never implemented and now appear irrelevant as the matter has returned to the Knesset in legislative form.

Following the announcement of the bill’s revival, Likud lawmakers took to the Constitution Committee’s WhatsApp group to voice their opposition, Army Radio reports.

“Why… are we bringing up a law that is controversial and causes controversy during a time of war,” asks MK Tally Gotliv. “There are enough laws to prepare that are connected to the war. Leave the disputes and this law for better days and take it off the agenda.”

4:48 pm

PM hints at disagreements with IDF: Israel is a ‘country with an army, not an army with a country’

By Lazar Berman

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says he opposed a daily tactical humanitarian pause in southern Gaza announced by the IDF, he expands on ostensible disagreements with his military leadership during a cabinet meeting, according to Channel 13.

“We have a country with an army, not an army with a country,” he reportedly says during the meeting. “In order to achieve the elimination of Hamas, I have made decisions that aren’t always accepted by the military echelon.”

Netanyahu has during the war come out rhetorically against certain humanitarian measures, seen by some as a way of appeasing the right flank of his coalition.

4:33 pm

High Court rules children of Jewish convert who hid them from the state can become citizens

By Canaan Lidor

The High Court of Justice rules in favor of an appellant seeking the naturalization under the Law of Return of children born to him before he converted to Judaism, whom he had hidden from the state.

The ruling, described by the Haaretz newspaper as precedent-setting, relates to an appeal by a man from the Black Hebrew Israelite community in Dimona. It follows a ruling by the Beersheba District Court that rejected the man’s petition to obtain citizenship for seven of his 11 children under the Law of Return as they were born before his 2005 conversion to Judaism in his native United States and subsequent immigration to Israel.

The Law of Return applies to Jews, their spouses, their children and their grandchildren. The man’s naturalization in 2006 under the Law of Return is the basis for the naturalization of his wife. But the seven children born before 2006 are a more complicated issue, further complicated by the fact that the man had hidden their births from the authorities for years.

Justice Ruth Ronnen, who ruled in favor of the appeal along with Justice Uzi Vogelman, cited contradictions stemming from the Population and Immigration Authority’s refusal in 2019 to naturalize the seven children and disputed the relevance of the timing of a parent’s conversion to the eligibility of their children to be granted citizenship under the Law of Return.

Justice Alex Stein in his minority ruling insists that whereas the children may apply to be naturalized under other provisions, the one under the Law of Return does not apply to them. “The law is the law, even when it means we’re unable to bring the human story before us to a happy ending,” he writes.

4:02 pm

Navy says it received second of two new landing craft at Haifa Naval Base

INS Komemiyut landing craft is seen being escorted into Israel's territorial waters by other Navy vessels, June 16, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli Navy says it has received the second of two new landing craft, and a short while ago the vessel docked at the Haifa Naval Base.

The US-built INS Komemiyut is the Navy’s second landing craft, after the INS Nahshon, which was received last year.

The vessel, which weighs 2,500 tons and is approximately 95 meters in length and 20 meters wide, made a lengthy trip to Israel from the Pascagoula shipyard in Mississippi.

Landing craft are primarily used to transport troops and equipment across the sea and deploy them on the shore during an amphibious assault.

The Israeli Navy used such vessels since its inception in 1948 and until 1993, when the last of the aging landing crafts were decommissioned, with the military assessing at the time that it had no use for newer models.

The procurement of new landing crafts for the Israeli Navy began some five years ago.

3:57 pm

Lapid accuses government of discriminating against IDF reservists

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses the government of discriminating “between blood and blood” after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a Defense Ministry-backed bill raising the age at which IDF reservists can cease reporting for military duty.

“The reservists and taxpayers are collapsing and Netanyahu and the extremists put the burden on them and continue to evade responsibility, and smile,” he says in a statement.

The newly approved bill means additional service for those already in the army “while the government promotes a mass evasion law for ultra-Orthodox youth,” he continues — referring to coalition-backed legislation to lower the age at which yeshiva students are exempt from the draft.

Lapid calls on members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party to “stop the madness,” asking how they can support “this painful discrimination between blood and blood.”

“I support the reservists and their families. You are heroes and we will do everything to be worthy of your heroism. The public should receive an exemption from this wicked government,” he declares.

3:55 pm

Government backs draft bill raising retirement age for IDF reservists amid public backlash

The government gives its support to a draft bill delaying retirement for IDF reservists, amidst widespread criticism of its recruitment policies, which many Israelis believe place unequal burdens on different segments of the population.

The Defense Ministry-backed draft bill — which calls for extending a temporary measure raising the age of cessation of reserve military service — was initially passed by the Knesset late last year and is set to expire at the end of the month.

After appearing to postpone an expected cabinet discussion on the measure, the government refers the matter to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, which approves sending the legislation to the Knesset, where it must pass three readings to become law.

The committee only supports a three-month extension, rather than until the end of the year as initially proposed. The committee also approves a draft Basic Law giving reservists preferential treatment in civil service hiring, land purchases and academic admissions.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the government that the bill is legally unacceptable unless an immediate effort is made to draft extra military power “from the entire population,” a reference to the tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who receive blanket exemptions from military service.

The government has faced a harsh public backlash over extending reservists’ service while appearing to take little action to draft the ultra-Orthodox. The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is set on Tuesday to debate a bill lowering the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students despite an ongoing manpower shortage in the IDF.

3:07 pm

IDF says Hezbollah sites targeted in south Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun a short while ago, the military says.

Troops also shelled areas near southern Lebanon’s al-Amra with artillery to “remove threats,” the IDF says.

Last night, another building belonging to the terror group in Kafr Kila, and Hezbollah infrastructure in Marwahin, were struck, the military adds.

Meanwhile, the IDF provides an update that a “suspicious aerial target” intercepted near Nahariya earlier today, was shot down over southern Lebanon’s airspace, not Israel’s.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב יארון.
כמו כן, הכוחות ביצעו ירי ארטילרי להסרת איום למרחב עמרא שבדרום לבנון.

בנוסף, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו מטרה אווירית חשודה בדרום לבנון. לא הופעלו התרעות על פי מדיניות, אין נפגעים>> pic.twitter.com/ODGWORePt9

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2024

3:05 pm

UN welcomes IDF announcement of Gaza ‘tactical pauses’ on key route for aid deliveries

By AFP and ToI Staff

A bundle of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip with the logo of World Central Kitchen (WCK) on a truck at the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel, on May 30, 2024 (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

The UN welcomes an Israeli decision to pause fighting around a south Gaza route daily for aid deliveries, but urges more “concrete measures” to increase the humanitarian response.

Israel’s military announced earlier a “local, tactical pause of military activity” during daylight hours on a route in south Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the war-torn Strip.

“We welcome this announcement,” UN aid agency OCHA’s spokesman Jens Laerke says in an email to AFP, noting though that “this has yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need.”

“We hope this leads to further concrete measures by Israel to address longstanding issues preventing a meaningful humanitarian response in Gaza,” he says.

2:53 pm

High Court orders state comptroller to suspend probe into Oct. 7 failures of IDF, Shin Bet

By Jeremy Sharon

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice issues an interim order instructing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman to suspend any aspects of his investigation into the multi-level failings of the October 7 attack that deal with the IDF and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.

In December Englman began a broad investigation of the events of October 7, what led up to them, and the government’s response to the assault, but good-governance watchdog groups petitioned the court against the investigation, arguing it was not in the purview of the comptroller and would harm the IDF’s operational capabilities, also expressing concern that the investigation would ignore political responsibility for the devastating invasion and massacres.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi also opposed the investigation into the IDF as long as the war against Hamas continues, and the State Attorney’s Office adopted the position of the petitioners opposing the comptroller’s efforts.

High Court Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz initially ruled in May that she would not halt the comptroller’s investigation, but having received classified responses from the security agencies, decides today to order Englman to suspend the investigation until a High Court hearing on the issue is held in July.

“In view of the complex security reality, the planned scope of the investigation, which will deal, among other things, with the combat support system and core operational issues, and the preparation required to respond to it [the investigation] at the current time… I order the suspension of the investigation procedures in everything that relates to the IDF and Shin Bet,” rules Canfy-Steinitz.

2:41 pm

Government extends funding for Gaza border area evacuees’ hotel accommodation for 2 months

The government announces that it has extended the stay of evacuees from Gaza border towns in hotels and in temporary housing funded by the state until August 15.

The announcement says that around 70 percent of the residents of the Gaza Strip border area have returned to their homes over the past few months.

Many of those who have not yet returned home were residents of the communities hit hardest in the October 7 onslaught.

“As part of the decision, the directorate will regulate the format to determine the return dates for communities to their homes, in coordination with the Finance Ministry and in consideration of the security and rehabilitation conditions,” says the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Tekuma Authority, the government body responsible for rehabilitating the 20-plus border communities affected by October 7.

2:21 pm

Israel Defense Prize ceremony postponed due to ‘recent events’

By Lazar Berman

Interception tests of the David's Sling Aerial Defense System on March 19, 2019. (Defense Ministry)

Citing “recent events” — difficult ongoing combat operations and the deaths of IDF soldiers over the weekend — the Defense Ministry and President’s Residence decide to postpone the 2024 Israel Defense Prize ceremony scheduled for Tuesday.

The winners this year — announced in late May — include the David’s Sling air defense system, the Namer APC, and the IDF’s technology-enhanced target bank project, among others.

1:59 pm

IDF says ‘suspicious aerial target’ intercepted over Nahariya; no sirens sounded

A “suspicious aerial target” was shot down by air defenses over the sea off the coast of the northern city of Nahariya a short while ago, the military says.

No sirens had sounded amid the incident.

1:42 pm

Anti-government protest leaders announce week of disruption, demand elections by Oct. 7 anniversary

A large sign reading 'No to the government of destruction' in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2024 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Organizers of anti-government protests give further details on the ongoing week of disruption, which began with the blocking of major highways this morning.

“Our goal is clear – to return the mandate to the people immediately and go to elections before the anniversary of the failures of October 7,” says Eran Schwartz, head of the Free in our Land protest group.

“The government repeatedly fails to protect Israel’s security and care for its citizens,” he says. “It prioritizes political survival over the national interest, as we have seen in dozens of examples in recent months, from the shameful [military draft for Haredim] evasion law, through the failure to promote the hostage deal or [a plan for] the day after in Gaza, to the abandonment of the citizens of the north.”

Schwartz calls for local authorities and business leaders to join the protests, citing the need for the “establishment of a broad, agreed-upon and acceptable government.”

Protest leader Moshe Radman says that only elections can bring hope.

“This is a government that abandons its people. But on the other hand, we have an amazing and determined nation and this nation deserves leadership with a vision, and not just despair and bereavement. Only elections can start the healing process,” he says. “Netanyahu, what are you afraid of? Only a dictator is afraid of his people.”

The press conference features the leaders of a number of protest groups including Brothers in Arms, Elections Now group, Free in our Land, Building an Alternative, the Pink Front, the Change Generation, the fighters from the 1973 Yom Kippur War and more.

Local rallies and events are set to be held nationwide tomorrow, then a large protest will take place at the Knesset in Jerusalem at 7 p.m. before demonstrators march to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence.

Another rally will be held at the Knesset on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.

A rally is also to be held in the south on Wednesday evening, with the location to be announced.

On Thursday, protests will be held outside Netanyahu’s residences in Jerusalem and Caesarea.

1:20 pm

AG: Legally unacceptable to extend reservists’ service without reducing inequality in bearing military burden

By Jeremy Sharon

File - Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara arrives at a Jerusalem Day conference at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, June 5, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells the government that its temporary bill to extend a previous raise to the age of exemption from reserve military service is legally unacceptable unless an immediate effort is made to draft extra military power “from the entire population,” a reference to the tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who receive blanket exemptions from military service.

The attorney general says there is a “legal impediment” to increasing the burden of military service on those already serving without at the same time taking steps to “reduce the inequality in the burden of service and without exhausting all the legislative and other possibilities for the full realization of the military draft potential, and the [imposition of] the burden of service on the entire population.”

Baharav-Miara says that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told her that failing to keep the higher age of exemption from reserve duty in place would have immediate, direct negative security consequences, and that she is therefore allowing the temporary bill to pass but only for three months.

That period of time must, however, “be immediately used beginning this coming month for formulating answers to the issue of the burden of military service, and executing them through legislation and non-legislative [means].”

The ongoing military service exemptions enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men has become a huge legal and political problem for the government. The framework allowing such exemptions expired at the end of March and it now appears that the High Court of Justice is very likely to order the government in the coming days or weeks to begin drafting at least several thousand Haredi men into the army.

The government is trying to advance a bill to restore those blanket exemptions due to the fierce opposition of the Haredi parties to members of their community being drafted, although such a bill would face heavy opposition in the Knesset, including from the defense minister.

1:16 pm

Report: Egypt pressuring Hamas to accept 1st phase of hostage-ceasefire deal without amendments

By Gianluca Pacchiani

Protesters demand early elections and a deal to release hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv on June 15, 2024. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Cairo is pressuring Hamas to accept the first phase of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal without amendments, an Egyptian source tells the Qatar-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper.

Last week, the terror group submitted its formal response to the hostage release-ceasefire proposal that US President Joe Biden said had been proposed by Israel, and declared that it had made “amendments” to the offer, which Israel deemed to be drastic changes that made the deal unacceptable. Mediators Egypt and Qatar have pledged to continue their efforts until a deal is reached.

According to the Egyptian source quoted by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Cairo and Washington have been exerting intensive pressure on the Hamas leadership over the past days to agree to the first phase of the deal.

In addition, Hezbollah urges Hamas to “deal flexibly” with the proposal and to “be patient” and not close the door to ongoing negotiations, diplomatic sources told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat daily on Saturday.

The report, first cited by the Kan public broadcaster, says the Hezbollah position is based on the assumption that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not really stand behind the offer.

12:34 pm

Smotrich blasts IDF’s ‘delusional announcement’ of pause in fighting on key Gaza road to increase aid flow

File - Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich addresses the press ahead of his Religious Zionism's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, June 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slams the IDF’s “delusional announcement” that it has begun to implement daily humanitarian pauses in fighting on a key road in the southern Gaza Strip to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians.

In a tweet, the far-right minister complains that “the ‘humanitarian aid’ that continues to reach Hamas keeps it in power and may pour the achievements of the war down the drain.

“The manner in which the humanitarian effort in the Gaza Strip is being managed, in the framework of which aid goes largely to Hamas and helps it to continue civilian control of the Strip in direct contradiction to the goals of the war, has been bad throughout the last few months,” he argues — adding that he had repeatedly warned that “this is one of the reasons for the continuation of the war and the resounding strategic failure” of the war effort.

“The [IDF] chief of staff and the defense minister have for six months been firmly refusing the only way that will allow victory, which is the occupation of the Strip and the establishment of a temporary military government there until the complete destruction of Hamas, and unfortunately Prime Minister Netanyahu is either unwilling or unable to force this on them,” he says.

“So what is the problem with this announcement, which yesterday they worked for half a day in the General Staff and COGAT to make every word precise, and today, five minutes after its publication, the IDF is required to retract and clarify?! The problem is that the General Staff is completely disconnected from the existence of the forces in the field [if] it is able to issue such a message on a day when we are burying 11 of our best warriors,” he adds.

Smotrich’s comments come after the IDF stated that “a local, tactical pause of military activity for humanitarian purposes will take place from 08:00 until 19:00 every day until further notice along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then further north.”

The military said in a separate, follow-up statement that it “clarifies that there is no suspension of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and the fighting in Rafah continues.”

Smotrich, who is a member of the security cabinet but not the smaller war cabinet, has been involved in an ongoing feud with the defense establishment, clashing over budgets and arguing against the wartime appointment of senior officers.

12:05 pm

IDF releases name of 7th soldier killed in Saturday explosion in Rafah

Sgt. Yakir Ya'akov Levi, killed in a blast in Rafah on June 15, 2024 (Courtesy)

The IDF has released the name of the seventh of eight soldiers who were killed in a blast in southern the Gaza Strip’s Rafah yesterday morning.

He is named as Sgt. Yakir Ya’akov Levi, 21, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Hafetz Haim.

The name of the eighth soldier is due to be released later.

11:51 am

Haniyeh claims Hamas response to hostage-ceasefire proposal ‘consistent’ with principles of plan

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Ismail Haniyeh, the Qatar-based leader of Hamas, during a visit in Tehran, May 22, 2024. (Iranian Supreme Leader's Website / AFP)

Hamas Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh claims the terror group’s response to the latest Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal proposal is “consistent” with the principles put forward by US President Joe Biden, in a televised speech on the occasion of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha.

Biden said last week that he doesn’t expect a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza to be reached in the near future, saying Hamas needs to shift its position closer to Israel’s US-backed proposal on the table.

Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have tried for months to mediate a ceasefire in the conflict and free hostages taken from Israel on October 7.

Late last month, Biden publicly laid out the contours of a deal he said had been proposed by Israel that would freeze fighting and free the 116 hostages held in the Strip in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Despite winning the support of the international community, the offer was rejected by Hamas for failing to contain an Israeli commitment to a permanent ceasefire.

11:34 am

Diplomatic source: Rafah fighting continues as planned despite humanitarian pause

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (Tomer Appelbaum/POOL/Flash90)

Upon hearing the military’s announcement of an 11-hour humanitarian pause on a key road in the southern Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contacted his military secretary and “made it clear that this is not acceptable to him,” a diplomatic source says.

“After an inquiry, the prime minister was informed that there was no change in IDF policy and that the fighting in Rafah continues as planned,” the source adds.

11:14 am

Amid growing criticism, cabinet appears to cancel discussion on extending IDF reservists’ service

Mothers lead a protest calling for all sectors of society to be recruited into the army, outside the IDF recruitment center in Tel Hashomer on June 16, 2024 (Ronit Ben David via the pro-democracy protest movement)

The cabinet appears to postpone an expected discussion on extending an emergency measure delaying retirement for IDF reservists that was widely expected to take place today.

Leaked copies of the government’s agenda do not show the Defense Ministry-backed “draft Security Service Law” — which calls for extending a temporary measure raising the age of cessation of reserve military service from 40 to 41 for soldiers, from 45 to 46 for officers and from 49 to 50 for specialists such as doctors and air crewmen — until the end of the year.

The current increase in the exemption age, which was initially passed by the Knesset late last year, is set to expire at the end of the month.

If eventually approved by the Knesset, the draft bill would mark the second extension of the measure, which was intended as a stopgap solution to prevent a mass release from the reserves of soldiers reaching the exemption age amid ongoing combat operations in Gaza.

The discussion had been expected to be held in the shadow of the announcement that 10 soldiers, including two reservists, were killed in Gaza, while an 11th succumbed to wounds sustained earlier in the week.

The government is facing criticism as the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is set to debate a bill lowering the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students despite an ongoing manpower shortage that has required extended terms of service for IDF reservists.

10:23 am

US naval forces say they rescued crew from ship hit by Houthis

The US Naval Forces Central Command says that it rescued crew from the Liberian-flagged Greek-owned bulk carrier M/V Tutor struck by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on June 12 in the Red Sea.

10:10 am

Ben Gvir slams IDF over daily pauses in fighting to allow aid through key Gaza road

Head of the Otzma Yehudit party and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir leads a faction meeting of the Otzma Yehudit party at the Knesset, June 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Responding to the IDF’s announcement that it will implement daily humanitarian pauses in fighting on a key road in the southern Gaza Strip to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says that whoever decided on such a policy is a “fool who should not stay in his position.”

“Unfortunately, this move was not brought before the cabinet and is contrary to its decisions. It’s time to get out of the [outdated pre-October 7 security] concept and stop the crazy and delusional approach that only brings us more dead and fallen,” he says in a statement.

Humanitarian pauses in Gaza are a military decision and have never previously been brought before the cabinet. Ben Gvir is against any aid entering the Strip.

10:01 am

Mothers call for equality in IDF draft at induction center protest

A group of mothers protest at the military induction center in Ramat Gan, calling for the burden of service to be shared equally across society.

The women hold signs declaring “recruitment for everyone” and “there’s no difference between blood and blood.”

The protest comes with the cabinet set today to discuss extending an emergency measure raising the retirement age for IDF reservists, just days after the coalition voted to apply “continuity” to a bill from the previous Knesset lowering the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students.

9:23 am

Uncles say soldier killed in Rafah blast was wounded on Oct. 7 but insisted on returning to battle

Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, a deputy company commander in the Combat Engineering Corps' 601st Battalion from Beit Jann, who was killed fighting in Gaza on June 15, 2024. (Courtesy)

Relatives of Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, killed in a blast in Rafah yesterday, say that he was injured on October 7 but returned to the battlefield.

Mahmoud’s uncle Yusef tells Channel 12 news that his nephew didn’t tell the family of his hospitalization and insisted on returning to battle.

“Wassem served as a fighter and officer in the engineering battalion. On October 7, when the fighting started, he was wounded. He didn’t tell his parents or anyone else, he was hospitalized and returned to fighting with shrapnel in his hand and neck,” Yusef says. “He insisted on continuing to fight until he met his fate.”

The slain soldier’s uncle Sharif says the village of Beit Jann will be burying Mahmoud rather than celebrating Eid al-Adha.

“It’s hard, it’s a day of mourning. Instead of celebrating Eid al-Adha, we will accompany Wassem on his last journey,” says Sharif.

“The village canceled the events for Eid al-Adha in order to participate in the funeral. It is a tragic day for the people of Israel, for the State of Israel, a great loss,” Sharif says. “Wassem was meant to go and study, that was the last conversation I had with him. He was chosen as a representative from the battalion to go and study.”

8:38 am

Anti-government protesters block major highways, interchanges

Route 4 near Ra'anana in the direction of Tel Aviv is blocked by protesters calling for elections, on June 16, 2024 (Danor Aharon via anti-government protest movement)

Anti-government protesters block a number of major highways and interchanges across the country.

Blocked roads include Route 1 toward Jerusalem, Route 4 heading south from Raanana, and the Ayalon in north Tel Aviv.

According to reports, the Kfar Tavor, Gazit, Yavor, Einat and Nahalim interchanges are also blocked.

Activists have organized a week of protests in which they say they aim to get a million people onto the streets in a call for elections and a hostage deal.

The protests come amid growing public anger additionally over the coalition vote to apply “continuity” to a bill from the previous Knesset lowering the age of exemption from mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students, and with the cabinet set today to discuss extending an emergency measure delaying retirement for IDF reservists.

בפתח ״שבוע ההתנגדות״ של ארגוני המחאה – מפגינים חוסמים הבוקר כבישים מרכזיים ברחבי הארץ. בין השאר: כביש 1 לכיוון ירושלים בשער הגיא, כביש 4 דרום ליד רעננה, והצמתים כפר תבור, גזית, יבור, עינת ונחלים pic.twitter.com/eiCG8IB6n2

— אורי סלע Uri Sela (@uri_sela) June 16, 2024

8:20 am

Iran rebukes G7 for nuclear program escalation warning: ‘Destructive policies of the past’

A satellite image from September 15, 2017, of the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran. (Google Earth)

Iran calls upon the Group of Seven to distance itself from “destructive policies of the past,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani says, referring to a G7 statement condemning Iran’s recent nuclear program escalation.

On Friday, the G7 warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment program and said they would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.

“Any attempt to link the war in Ukraine to the bilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia is an act with only biased political goals,” Kanaani says, adding that some countries are “resorting to false claims to continue sanctions” against Iran.

Last week, the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution calling on Iran to step up cooperation with the watchdog and reverse its recent barring of inspectors.

Iran responded by rapidly installing extra uranium-enriching centrifuges at its Fordo site and began setting up others, according to a International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report.

Kanaani adds Tehran will continue its “constructive interaction and technical cooperation” with the IAEA, but calls its resolution “politically biased.”

7:59 am

Two explosions near vessel off Yemen’s coast, UK maritime firm says

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says a vessel 40 nautical miles south of al Mukha in Yemen reported two explosions nearby, adding that the vessel and its crew were safe and proceeding to their next port of call.

Authorities are investigating, UKMTO says.

7:30 am

IDF announces daily ‘tactical pause’ along south Gaza road to enable increased aid flow

The Israeli military says it will carry out a daily “tactical pause of military activity” in areas of the southern Gaza Strip to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to Palestinians.

The IDF says the pause will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. every day along a road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah a-Din road, and then northward toward the Khan Younis area.

“This is an additional step in the humanitarian aid efforts that have been conducted by the IDF and COGAT since the beginning of the war,” the military says.

The IDF says the move began yesterday.

A graphic released by the IDF showing the aid route that will see humanitarian pauses on June 16, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

7:00 am

Anti-Israel protesters gather outside LA theatre ahead of Biden fundraiser

Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles ahead of a fundraiser for US President Joe Biden.

Police in riot gear were set up at the venue before the event, as such demonstrations against the US administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza have become common wherever Biden goes in recent months.

The Hollywood Reporter says that police officers stopped protesters from blocking an entrance to the venue.

Photos on social media show protesters holding signs and wearing shirts reading, “Stop funding genocide,” “All colonizers see themselves in Israel,” and “Stop killing Palestinians.”

Pro Palestine supporters protest outside as President Joe Biden and former President Obama hold a fundraiser inside the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 15, 2024. pic.twitter.com/UsrtYFa0P4

— Keith Birmingham (@photowkb) June 16, 2024

6:41 am

IDF releases names of five soldiers killed in south Gaza blast yesterday, two reservists slain in battle in north of Strip

Seven of the soldiers killed in fighting in Gaza on June 15, 2024. From left, top row: Sgt. Itay Amar, Sgt. Stanislav Kostarev, Sgt. Or Blumovitz, Sgt. Oz Yeshaya Gruber, Bottom row: Sgt. Eliyahu Moshe Zimbalist, Cpt. (res.) Eitan Koplovich, Warrant Officer (res.) Elon Weiss. (Courtesy)

The Israel Defense Forces has released the names of five of the eight Israeli soldiers who were killed in a blast in southern the Gaza Strip’s Rafah yesterday morning, in what marked the deadliest incident for the Israel Defense Forces in the enclave since January.

The slain soldiers are named as:

Sgt. Eliyahu Moshe Zimbalist, 21, from Beit Shemesh

Sgt. Itay Amar, 19, from Kochav Yair

Staff Sgt. Stanislav Kostarev, 21, from Ashdod

Staff Sgt. Orr Blumovitz, 20, from Pardes Hanna-Karkur

Staff Sgt. Oz Yeshaya Gruber, 20, from Tal Menashe

According to an initial IDF probe, the troops, all of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, were all killed inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle (CEV) that came under attack by an explosive device or an anti-tank missile. There were no survivors.

Yesterday, the IDF named one of the eight troops: Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, a deputy company commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Beit Jann.

The names of the final two soldiers are due to be released later today.

The IDF also announces the deaths of two soldiers killed in fighting in northern Gaza over the weekend:

Cpt. (res.) Eitan Koplovich, 28, from Jerusalem.

Warrant Officer (res.) Elon Weiss, 49, from Psagot.

Both had served in the 8th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 129th Battalion.

According to an initial IDF probe, the two were killed by an explosive device detonated against their tank.

Another two soldiers in the tank were seriously wounded in the same incident.

6:04 am

Haaretz photographer detained at anti-government rally in Tel Aviv said released an hour later

Police have released a photographer for the Haaretz daily who was detained last night at an anti-government rally in Tel Aviv last night.

Hebrew media reports that Itay Ron was released around an hour after he was arrested.

Videos posted to social media show the photographer being grabbed by an officer and pushed towards a bus of detainees, despite appeals from passersby that he is a journalist.

Ron was one of 12 people arrested at the demonstration last night, according to police, for alleged violations of public order, including blocking roads and demonstrating past the permitted time.

צלם ״הארץ״ איתי רון נעצר בהפגנה בעת פינוי המפגינים. לא היתה כל סיבה לעצור אותו, שוטר התלבש עליו בזמן הפינוי ולקח אותו לאוטובוס העצורים למרות שנאמר לו מפורשות, גם על ידי שמדובר בעיתונאי. בושה pic.twitter.com/lwmaZpkA5G

— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) June 15, 2024

5:43 am

UK maritime body gets report of incident 40 nautical miles south of al Mukha in Yemen

By Reuters and ToI Staff

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it has received a report of an incident 40 nautical miles south of al Mukha in Yemen.

Authorities are investigating, UKMTO adds, without giving further details.

Since November, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched scores of drone and missile strikes targeting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war.

5:01 am

Trump blasts immigrants for taking jobs, as he courts Black voters in Detroit

By Steve Peoples and JOEY CAPPELLETTI

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign event at 180 Church, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Detroit, as Itasha Dotson and Carlos Chambers listen. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump blames immigrants for stealing jobs and government resources as he courts Black voters and hardcore conservatives in battleground Michigan.

“The people coming across the border — all those millions of people — they’re inflicting tremendous harm to our Black population and to our Hispanic population,” Trump tells a cheering crowd of thousands of conservative activists packed into a vast convention hall.

“They’re not human beings. They’re animals,” he says later in referencing members of violent immigrant gangs.

Few states may matter more in November than Michigan, which Biden carried by less than 3 percentage points four years ago. And few voting groups matter more to Democrats than African Americans, who made up the backbone of Biden’s political base in 2020. But now, less than five months before Election Day, Black voters are expressing modest signs of disappointment with the 81-year-old Democrat.

Trump, who turned 78 on Friday, is fighting to take advantage of his apparent opening.

He argues that the Black community “is being hurt” by immigrants in the country illegally.

“They’re invading your jobs,” he says.

Meanwhile, Democrats offer a competing perspective from afar.

“Donald Trump is so dangerous for Michigan and dangerous for America and dangerous for Black people,” says Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, who is African American. He calls it “offensive” for Trump to address the Turning Point conference, which was taking place at the same convention center that was “the epicenter of their steal the election effort.”

Trump argues he can pull in more Black voters due to his economic and border security message, and that his felony indictments make him more relatable.

At a church in Detroit on Saturday afternoon, Trump repeatedly vows to “bring back the auto industry” while also noting, “The crime is most rampant right here at African American communities.”

5:00 am

US: Qatari, Egyptian mediators to talk to Hamas soon, see if there’s a path ahead

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan briefs reporters at the White House, May, 13, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP)

BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says that mediators for Qatar and Egypt plan to engage Hamas soon to see if there is a way to push ahead with the Israeli hostage-ceasefire proposal presented by US President Joe Biden.

Sullivan speaks to reporters on the sidelines of a Ukraine peace summit and was asked about diplomatic efforts to get an agreement for Hamas to release some hostages held since October 7 in exchange for a ceasefire lasting at least six weeks.

Sullivan says he spoke briefly to one of the main interlocutors, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and that they would speak again about Gaza on Sunday while both are in Switzerland for the Ukraine conference.

Biden said Thursday that he doesn’t expect a ceasefire and hostage release deal to be reached in the near future, saying Hamas needs to shift its position closer to Israel’s US-backed proposal on the table.

Hamas insists any agreement must guarantee an end to the war, a demand Israel rejects, even though its proposal apparently provides for a potential permanent cessation of hostilities. Israel has described Hamas’s response to its latest proposal as total rejection.

Sullivan says US officials have taken a close look at Hamas’s response.

“We think some of the edits are not unexpected and can be managed. Some of them are inconsistent both with what President Biden laid out and what the UN Security Council endorsed. And we are having to deal with that reality,” he says.

He says US officials believe there remains an avenue to an agreement and that the next step will be for Qatari and Egyptian mediators to talk to Hamas and “go through what can be worked with and what really can’t be worked with.”

“We anticipate a back-and-forth between the mediators and Hamas. We’ll see where we stand at that point. We will keep consulting with the Israelis and then hopefully at some point next week we’ll be able to report to you where we think things stand and what we see as being the next step to try to bring this to closure,” Sullivan adds.

5:00 am

Top UN officials: Real danger of miscalculation leading to sudden, wider Israel-Lebanon conflict