Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.
IDF says drone from Lebanon downed after entering Israeli skies
A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defense over the Upper Galilee a short while ago, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the communities of Dishon and Malkia due to fears of falling shrapnel following the interception.
IDF says 2 rockets fired from Gaza impacted outside kibbutz
Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip an hour ago struck open areas near the southern border community of Ein Hashlosha, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the kibbutz amid the attack.
There are no injuries.
Rocket warning sirens sound in Lebanon border towns
Incoming rocket warning sirens sound in two Israeli communities near the Lebanon border, with anyone there instructed to immediately seek shelter.
Eisenkot: Remaining in government would’ve been a betrayal of soldiers
War cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot attends a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
In his latest television interview since National Unity’s departure from the government, MK Gadi Eisenkot rejects the notion that the centrist party’s decision amounted to a betrayal of Israeli soldiers.
“I think that if I see from up close a mistaken policy and ulterior considerations of the prime minister, and I stay, I would be betraying them,” Eisenkot tells the Kan public broadcaster.
He charges that political factors influenced decision-making on the war, while decrying ministers for leveling accusations against the chiefs of the military and Shin Bet.
“They are not immune from criticism… but at a certain stage you see a guiding hand,” adds Eisenkot, while blaming “Netanyahu’s circle” for this “guided hand.”
“I don’t want to say it was personally the prime minister, but his associates are acting inappropriately,” he says.
During the interview, Eisenkot also jabs at Netanyahu, saying the difference between National Unity leader Benny Gantz and the premier is that “one fought terror his whole life and one who wrote books about.”
Hundreds protest in Paris against antisemitism after rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl
PARIS — Several hundred people protest against antisemitism and “rape culture” in Paris after the gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl at the weekend sparked nationwide outrage.
Various anti-racist, rights and feminist groups had called for the demonstration following Saturday’s gang rape.
Dominique Sopo, president of anti-racist group SOS Racisme, says it was “an antisemitic crime that chills our blood.”
Anne-Cecile Mailfert, the president of the Women’s Foundation, says the incident reflected a rise in antisemitism since Hamas’s October 7 attack that started the Gaza war.
But it also highlighted “a rape culture to which young people are more likely to subscribe,” having been “bottle-fed pornography,” she adds.
Ner Sfez, a 24-year-old Jewish woman, says she came to protest a crime “at the intersection of sexism and antisemitism.”
Hundreds had already protested yesterday in Paris and Lyon in central-eastern France after the incident was reported in the news.
GOP senator: Biden slow-walking aid for Israel using ‘bureaucratic sleight-of-hand’
Sen. Tom Cotton speaks with reporters at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill, March 20, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mariam Zuhaib)
Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas weighs in on the public spat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, accusing the latter of slow-walking arms deliveries to Israel through a “bureaucratic sleight-of-hand.”
Noting a shipment of heavy bombs withheld by Biden over concerns about their potential use in Rafah, Cotton charges that the administration has also held up deliveries of fighter jets, tactical vehicles, mortars, tank shells and other munitions by not informing Congress of plans to ship them.
“Your administration can then claim that the weapons are ‘in process’ while never delivering them,” he writes in a letter to Biden, while saying the US president can bypass the need for Congressional approval by asserting emergency powers but is no longer doing so.
“Though your administration reportedly released a ship carrying at least some of these arms on Wednesday, that modest step doesn’t cure the damage done by the delay,” asserts Cotton. “Any delays to military support to Israel blatantly disregard Congress’s bipartisan mandate to supply Israel with all it needs to defeat the Hamas terrorists and other Iranian-backed groups.”
Rocket sirens activated in kibbutz near Gaza border
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Ein Hashlosha, a kibbutz near the border with Gaza.
IDF says fighter jets struck pair of Hezbollah weapons depots in southern Lebanon
Israeli fighter jets struck two Hezbollah weapon depots in southern Lebanon’s Houla and Tallouseh, the military says.
Additional buildings used by the terror group and other infrastructure in Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun, and Yaroun were also hit, the IDF adds.
מטוסי קרב תקפו מוקדם יותר היום שני מחסני אמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים חולא ותלוסה, לצד מבנים צבאיים ותשתית טרור של הארגון במרחבים מיס א-ג'בל, עיתרון ויארון שבדרום לבנון.
בנוסף, צה"ל תקף בירי ארטילרי במספר מרחבים בדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/dqU7exo1ON
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 20, 2024
Surveillance troops observed ‘highly irregular’ Hamas drill 4 days before Oct. 7 – report
Four days before October 7, surveillance soldiers at the IDF’s Nahal Oz base observed members of Hamas’s Nukhba commando forces taking part in a major drill along the Gaza border, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
According to the report, the “highly irregular” military exercise included the firing of rockets at the same time the Hamas gunmen practiced storming Israeli tanks. But a defense source quoted in the report says commanders dismissed it as “another drill” when alerted by the surveillance troops.
“The IDF is investigating the events of October 7 and what proceeded them. The aim of the investigations is to learn and draw lessons for the continued fighting. The investigations are currently being performed and when they are finished the findings will be transparently presented to the public,” the military says in response.
State Department says Blinken to discuss hostage-ceasefire deal with Netanyahu’s advisers
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will discuss ongoing work on a deal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages in a meeting today with Israeli officials, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.
Blinken will also discuss the situation along Israel’s border with Lebanon in the meeting with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Miller tells reporters.
Protesters rally outside Netanyahu’s homes to call for elections and hostage deal
Protesters outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea hold signs with names of communities on the northern border with Lebanon affected by fires due to Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks, June 20, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Amos Gil)
Continuing their “week of disruption,” anti-government protesters hold demonstrations near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residences in the northern coastal town of Caesarea and on Jerusalem’s Azza Street, as they call for new elections and the return of all the hostages held by Hamas.
4 arrested for blocking highway during protest against Haredi enlistment
Ultra-Orthodox Jews block a highway during a protest against conscripting Haredi yeshiva students to the IDF, in Bnei Brak on June 20, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Police say they arrested four people on suspicion of rioting during a protest against military conscription that ultra-Orthodox extremists held on Route 4.
Police say the highway has been reopened to traffic after the demonstrators blocked a junction near Bnei Brak.
Treasury said to urge Smotrich to curb ballooning deficit spending amid war
Religious Zionism party leader Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting in northern Israel, May 19, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
During marathon discussions this week on the 2025 budget, treasury officials recommended to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that cuts and taxes be imposed next year to raise an extra NIS 30-50 billion to fund war costs, according to Channel 12 news.
The television report says the officials told Smotrich that Israel needs to send a message to credit ratings agencies that it is serious about proper financial oversight, and cannot continue increasing deficit spending.
Among the specific moves they’re reportedly proposed are raising the current VAT tax of 17 percent by two points to 19%; cutting child allowances; freezing public sector wages; halting inflation adjustments to income tax rates in order to bring in more revenue; curbing tax breaks on workers’ saving funds that are primarily funded by employers; and slicing coalition spending.
Netanyahu: ‘Ready to suffer personal attacks if Israel gets the ammo it needs from US’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a defiant response to the White House after the Biden administration tore into him for publicly accusing it of holding up arms deliveries to Israel.
“I’m ready to suffer personal attacks as long as Israel receives the ammo it needs from the US in a war for its existence,” the premier says in a statement.
Energy minister said to rebuke official for warning power grid not readied for major war
Illustrative: Firefighters try to put out a blaze on an electricity pylon in central Israel after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza, October 26, 2023. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
Energy Minister Eli Cohen and the director-general of his ministry have rebuked the head of the state firm that manages Israel’s power grid for publicly warning that sufficient steps haven’t been taken to protect the national electricity system if a major war erupts, according to Channel 12 news.
Shaul Goldstein, the head of Noga, reportedly responded that he was tired and a little sick when he made the remarks earlier today and had no issue with putting out a clarification.
In his remarks, Goldstein said Israel was “not in a good situation” and that “we are not preparing for a real war.”
“We are living in a fantasy world in my opinion,” he added. “We are completely exposed, particularly against the threat of drones.”
Goldstein also warned that in the case of a blackout lasting more than 72 hours, “it will be practically impossible to live here.”
“You don’t understand how much our lives depend on electricity.”
Netanyahu meets with hostage who was freed in rescue mission
This handout photo shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embracing rescued hostage Shlomi Ziv on June 20, 2024. (Maayan Taof/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with freed hostage Shlomi Ziv after he and several other Israelis held in Gaza by Hamas were rescued from captivity earlier this month.
US said to fear Iron Dome could be overwhelmed in all-out war with Hezbollah
Illustrative: The Iron Dome air defense system intercepts rockets fired from Lebanon, as seen over the Hula Valley, April 12, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Three US officials tell CNN that they’re seriously concerned Israel’s air defense systems, including Iron Dome, would be overwhelmed in the case of an all-out war with Hezbollah.
The officials say their Israeli counterparts have shared these concerns and are planning to move systems around Gaza to the north.
“We assess that at least some” Iron Dome systems “will be overwhelmed,” a senior US administration official is quoted as saying.
Lapid: US criticism of Netanyahu is also heard in Riyadh, Moscow and Beijing
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tears into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the White House upbraided up for a video statement the premier released earlier this week, saying the US criticism is also heard in the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and elsewhere.
“In these places, everyone is reaching the same conclusion: Israel is no longer the closest ally of the US. This is the damage Netanyahu is causing us. This is his terrible irresponsibility and these are consequences,” Lapid says in a statement.
US defense official confirms humanitarian aid being unloaded at Gaza pier
WASHINGTON — The US military-built pier in Gaza is unloading humanitarian aid again today after being removed for a second time last week because of rough seas, a US defense official says. The pier was reattached to Gaza’s shoreline yesterday, the official says, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss US military operations.
2 IDF soldiers seriously wounded by anti-tank fire in Rafah
Two soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion were seriously wounded during fighting in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier today, the military says.
The pair were wounded as a result of anti-tank fire, according to an initial IDF probe.
They were taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.
Top Netanyahu advisers to also meet with Blinken during DC visit
File: (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)
WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top advisers will meet White House adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Washington today amid tensions between the two allies over Israel’s war in Gaza, officials say.
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, minister for strategic affairs, will speak with Sullivan as a larger, more formal “strategic dialogue” meeting was being rescheduled, according to a White House official who speaks on the condition of anonymity.
Blinken will meet with the Israelis at 3 p.m. local time, according to a senior State Department official.
US says reprioritization of missile deliveries to Ukraine won’t impact Israel
In this image released by the US Department of Defense, German soldiers fire the Patriot weapons system at the NATO Missile Firing Installation, in Chania, Greece, on November 8, 2017. (Sebastian Apel/US Department of Defense, via AP, File)
Israel will not be impacted by the Biden administration’s decision to reroute planned deliveries of Patriot and other missiles to Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby says during a briefing.
During his meeting at the White House later today with National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will discuss the war in Gaza and tensions between Israel and Lebanon, Kirby says.
There are no updates to provide regarding the hostage talks, as Qatari and Egyptian mediators are still in talks with Hamas officials aimed at bridging gaps between the terror group and Israel.
White House blasts Netanyahu for ‘bottleneck’ claim: No one’s helped him more than US
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message issued on June 18, 2024. (Screenshot: GPO)
The White House further stresses its frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his video statement accusing the US of withholding weapons and ammunition shipments from Israel.
The Biden administration has several times voiced its frustration over the video, but the sides appeared to put the episode behind them yesterday, as Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying the US had provided him assurances regarding his concerns. Meanwhile, the White House issued a fierce denial of reports that it had canceled a high-level meeting with Netanyahu’s top aides over the video and moved forward with plans to host those aides for a separate meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later today.
But asked about the video again during a phone briefing with reporters, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterates that Netanyahu’s claims were “vexing and disappointing to us as much as it was incorrect.”
The US insists that it has only upheld one shipment of bombs, which it has been upfront about for over a month. Netanyahu has yet to disclose what other weapons shipments he was referring to when he blasted the “inconceivable” US “bottlenecks” in weapons transfers.
Kirby says he has no idea what prompted the premier to make the claim, “given that no other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself against the threat by Hamas and other threats that they are facing in the region.”
“This president put fighter aircrafts up in the air in the middle of April to help shoot down several hundred drones and missiles, including ballistic missiles that were fired from Iran proper at Israel,” he continues. “There’s no other country that’s done more or will continue to do more than the United States to help… Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Kirby says the US has passed along its displeasure with Netanyahu to Israel through various channels.
IDF video shows Nahal troops uncovering tunnel, weapons cache in Rafah
IDF soldiers operate at the entrance to a Hamas tunnel in Gaza in this undated photo from the 2023-2024 Israel-Hamas war. (Courtesy: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF releases footage of the Nahal Brigade’s recent operations in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Videos published by the IDF show a cache of weapons found by Nahal troops in a home, as well as a tunnel located in another building.
The weapons cache, including RPGs, grenades, explosive devices, and other military equipment, was found in wardrobes inside the home, the military says.
The tunnel was located in a child’s bedroom using a small drone, the IDF says. In an adjacent room, the soldiers found a hole in a wall which the IDF says was used by Hamas operatives to move between buildings in the neighborhood.
Netanyahu meets with families of hostages killed in Gaza: ‘Committed to returning everyone’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a rare meeting with the families of hostages who have been killed in Hamas captivity.
“We are committed to returning everyone, all of the 120 hostages, both the living and dead. We won’t give up on anyone,” he is quoted as saying in a statement from his office.
“We won’t leave the [Gaza] Strip until all the hostages return and we won’t leave until we eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” he adds.
The statement doesn’t say which families took part in the meeting, which was also attended by the premier’s wife Sara Netanyahu and several other officials, and no images are released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu to be interviewed on right-wing TV channel after ignoring Hebrew media since Oct. 7
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he’ll be interviewed this evening on Channel 14, a right-wing network considered a mouthpiece for the premier.
Netanyahu has avoided giving interviews to Hebrew media outlets since Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, but has regularly given appearances on non-Israeli programs.
Swiss museum pulls down paintings by Monet, van Gogh as origin of Nazi-looted art probed
GENEVA — A Swiss museum pulls down five paintings, including a van Gogh and a Monet, after the foundation that owns them called for a deeper look at their origins following new US guidelines on how to handle artworks once confiscated by the Nazis.
The Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, which owns the works formerly shown at the Kunsthaus Zürich museum, says it’s looking to reach a “fair and equitable solution” with the legal successors of the former owners, who are not identified.
The foundation’s board calls for a new assessment of the works under new “best practices” published by the US State Department in March on how to deal with Nazi-confiscated art, as an upgrade to principles adopted in 1998.
The works include the oil paintings “Jardin de Monet à Giverny” by Claude Monet from 1895, and “Der alte Turm” by Vincent van Gogh, of 1884.
A sixth painting, Edouard Manet’s “La Sultane,” is also considered “a case deserving particular attention,” the foundation said in a statement last Friday.
It said it was ready to make a financial contribution to the estate of Max Silberberg, a German Jew and art collector who died with his wife at the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, in connection with the Manet out of respect to his “tragic destiny.”
Haredi extremists block highway in central Israel to protest military conscription
Ultra-Orthodox extremists from the so-called Jerusalem Faction are blocking part of Route 4 outside Bnei Brak to demonstrate against the military conscription of Haredi yeshiva students.
"נמות ולא נתגייס": כמו שהבטיחו כ-100 חרדים קיצוניים בהנהגת הרב צבי פרידמן את כביש 4 ברקע הדיונים על חוק הפטור מגיוס לחרדים. זה קורה רגע לפני סוף השבוע בשעה שעורק התחבורה הראשי עמוס מאוד. מי שמנסים לשמור על הסדר הציבורי הם שוטרי מרחב דן ושוטרי מג"ב. נעדכן @N12News pic.twitter.com/gpwdINwORL
— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) June 20, 2024
Israeli startup, medical innovation center to jointly develop saliva test for oral cancer
The Israeli start-up Salignostics and the Arc Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center announce a collaboration to develop a saliva-based test for early diagnosis of oral cavity cancer.
The test will be one of the first in the world to provide early detection of oral cavity cancer and to diagnose other cancers based on saliva samples, according to a Sheba Medical Center press release.
“Early detection may increase the chance of extending the lives of oral cavity cancer patients and recovery,” says Dr. Guy Krief, co-founder and deputy CEO of Salignostics.
Every year, more than 400,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with oral cavity cancer. Of those, 50% have an estimated 5-year survival rate. A saliva-based test will enable doctors to detect the disease in its early stages before it has spread.
Salignostics launched Salistick, the first-ever saliva-based pregnancy test, last year in several European countries. It has been sold in Israel since March. The company also developed several rapid saliva tests, including for COVID-19.
“If the development is successful, the path will be opened to diagnose additional types of cancer, which may prolong and save many lives,” Krief says.
UN officials call for arms makers to stop supplying Israel
GENEVA — A group of United Nations experts warns arms and ammunitions manufacturers against taking part in the transfer of weapons to Israel, saying it could make them complicit in alleged human rights abuses and violations of international law.
The group of 30 experts, including several UN Special Rapporteurs, says arms manufacturers supplying Israel should halt their transfers of war materiel, “even if they are executed under existing export licenses.”
“These companies, by sending weapons, parts, components, and ammunition to Israeli forces, risk being complicit in serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws,” the experts say in a statement.
There is no immediate comment from Israel which has repeatedly denied carrying out abuses during its Gaza operations, saying it is acting to defend itself and is fighting Hamas terrorists who carried out the October 7 onslaught that started the war, not the Palestinian population.
Government spokesman: IDF systematically dismantling Hamas’s ‘final stronghold’ in Rafah
Government spokesman David Mencer says Hamas’s “final stronghold” in Rafah on the border with Egypt is systematically being taken apart.
“And we will win,” he tells a press briefing.
Cyprus announces US aid pier in Gaza is again functioning
The image provided by US Central Command shows American and Israeli forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. (US Central Command via AP)
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry says the US military-built pier in Gaza is up and running again after being detached for a second time last week because of rough seas.
Cyprus plays a key role in the pier because a security and inspection station it built screens the international aid destined for Gaza. There is no immediate confirmation from the US.
Theodoris Gotsis, a spokesperson for the Cypriot foreign ministry, says the pier and the causeway in Gaza are both functioning. He says over the past 40 days, Cyprus has screened and loaded onto boats some 10,000 tons of aid for Gaza.
The US military detached the causeway last week to prevent it from breaking apart again, as it did late last month when it was hit by bad weather.
The pier, used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza, has faced a number of setbacks since it was erected. It was operational for only about a week when it was blown apart by high winds in May and then removed again earlier this month.
The UN’s World Food Programme, one of the main aid agencies to make use of the pier, had paused its distribution of aid coming from it earlier this month over security concerns. WFP cannot immediately be reached for comment on whether it’s resuming distribution.
EU says Hezbollah’s threats to Cyprus threaten all its member states
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A spokesman for the European Union’s executive arm says any threat against Cyprus is a threat against the bloc’s 26 other member nations.
Peter Stano makes the remarks in response to a question regarding Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s threat that Cyprus could be implicated in a wider conflict if the island nation allows Israel to use its ports and airports to target Lebanon.
Stano says the EU fully supports Cyprus and that the trade bloc is in contact with “a number of partners in the region,” including Lebanon and Hezbollah, in order to de-escalate tension.
Cyprus has enjoyed increasingly tight relations with Israel in recent years, spawned by the discovery of undersea natural gas deposits in waters between the two neighbors. Cyprus has hosted joint Israeli-Cypriot military exercises, but has not been involved in any military operations.
Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis repeats that any suggestion that Cyprus – either through its infrastructure or territory – would be involved in any military operation in Lebanon is “totally groundless.”
Letymbiotis reiterates that the island nation “is not part of the problem” but “part of the solution” thanks to its regional diplomatic footprint.
Army says 20 more rockets shot from Lebanon at Western Galilee; no injuries reported
Another 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee a short while ago, according to the IDF.
The rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries, it says.
NYPD releases photo of suspect who led ‘raise your hands if you’re a Zionist’ chant on subway
The NYPD releases a photo of a suspect wanted for recently leading masked anti-Israel protesters in chanting “raise your hands if you’re a Zionist, this is your chance to get out” on a crowded subway car.
NYPD Detectives are looking for this individual – wanted in connection to a criminal incident on 6/10 inside a packed subway car at Union Square station – where he shouted “raise your hands if you’re a Zionist, this is your chance to get out.” If you know who he is – contact… pic.twitter.com/Yj4aFsDA6O
— NYPD Chief of Transit (@NYPDTransit) June 19, 2024
The chanting occurred on the same day that anti-Israel demonstrators rallied outside a Manhattan exhibit dedicated to the Nova outdoor rave massacre, where more than 360 people were killed. Mask-wearing participants held a banner calling for repeat attacks and waved flags belonging to terror groups, including Hamas which carried out the devastating October 7 attack on southern Israel.
And in other incident that purportedly happened earlier the same day, a man in Union Square was recorded yelling, “I wish Hitler was still here. He would’ve wiped all you out.”
Anti-Zionism is a modern manifestation of antisemitism.
Example:
An Anti-Zionist declaring on a NYC subway car: “Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.”Anyone threatening to purge “Zionists” (i.e. most Jews) from public places is an… pic.twitter.com/e3Wh6Ztp32
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 12, 2024
Lebanon touts relations with Cyprus after Hezbollah chief’s threats
After the Hezbollah leader’s threats against Cyprus, Lebanon’s foreign ministry says that “relations between Lebanon and Cyprus are based on a rich history of diplomatic cooperation.”
Contacts and consultations continue between the two countries “at the highest levels,” a foreign ministry statement says, without making specific reference to Hassan Nasrallah’s remarks.
In a conversation with his Cyprus counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed “Lebanon’s constant reliance on the positive role that Cyprus plays in supporting regional stability,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reports.
Nobel panel condemns Iran for imposing more jail time on imprisoned laureate
This photo taken in 2021 shows Narges Mohammadi in Tehran, Iran. (Reihane Taravati via AP)
OSLO, Norway — The Norwegian Nobel Committee criticizes an Iranian court’s decision to slap an additional one-year jail term on imprisoned 2023 Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, calls it “a flagrant violation of human rights and a travesty of justice.”
Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021 over several past convictions relating to her campaigns against the obligatory hijab for women and capital punishment in Iran.
Her lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said on X on Tuesday: “Mohammadi was sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the system.”
The Nobel Committee says it “strongly condemns the harsh and unjust sentencing.”
Nili said the sentence was in response to calls to boycott parliamentary elections, letters to Swedish and Norwegian lawmakers, and comments made about journalist and student Dina Ghalibaf.
Rights groups said Ghalibaf was taken into custody after accusing security forces on social media of putting her in handcuffs and sexually assaulting her during a previous arrest at a metro station.
Ghalibaf has since been released.
The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on April 22 that Ghalibaf “had not been raped” and that she was being prosecuted for making a “false statement.”
Mohammadi refused to attend a trial hearing in Tehran earlier this month, and in March shared an audio message from prison in which she decried a “full-scale war against women” in the Islamic Republic.
She was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in October “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
Israeli forces enter West Bank city in search for violent car robber
Israeli forces have entered the West Bank city of Qalqilya to search for Palestinians who allegedly carried out a violent car robbery in the area earlier today.
A military source says violent riots erupted as troops entered Qalqilya. The soldiers returned fire at Palestinians hurling stones, hitting at least one, the source says.
The Israeli man in his 70s, whose car was stolen, is listed in serious condition, medics said.
IDF says 25 rockets fired in barrage from Lebanon
A barrage of some 25 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee an hour ago, the military says.
There were no injuries in the attack.
Incoming rocket sirens sound in Western Galilee towns
Incoming rocket sirens sound in several Western Galilee communities near the border with Lebanon. Anyone there is instructed to immediately take cover.
Incoming chief of IDF’s Central Command promoted to major general ahead of entering role
Avi Blot, the incoming head of the Central Command, is awarded the rank of major general by his wife and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, June 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Avi Blot, the incoming chief of the IDF’s Central Command, is promoted to the rank of major general.
Blot is replacing Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, who is retiring from the IDF after three years as the general in charge of the West Bank region, ending a 36-year military career.
The ceremony earlier today is attended by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, as well as other generals.
Blot is due to enter the role in the coming weeks, the IDF says.
Blot previously commanded the Central Command’s West Bank division and is an observant Jew, making him a favorable choice for the role in the eyes of some.
Operations officer of Hezbollah’s Jouaiyya regional unit killed in drone strike – IDF
Hezbollah operative Abbas Ibrahim Hamza Hamada on a poster published on June 20, 2024. (Hezbollah media office)
The operations officer of Hezbollah’s Jouaiyya regional unit was killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier today, the military says.
Abbas Ibrahim Hamza Hamada, also known as Fadl Ibrahim, was killed in a drone strike in the southern Lebanon town of Deir Kifa.
According to the IDF, Fadl Ibrahim was in charge of operations in the Jouaiyya area, a town close to Deir Kifa.
The military says he was responsible for planning and carrying out attacks against Israel while commanding Hezbollah’s ground forces in Jouaiyya.
In recent months, the IDF says Fadl Ibrahim “advanced the entrenchment of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, while attempting to improve the organization’s ground combat.”
Hezbollah announces his death but does not call him a commander. Fadl Ibrahim’s death brings the terror group’s toll amid the war to at least 349.
Simultaneous to the drone strike that killed the operations officer, the IDF says fighter jets struck a Hezbollah surface-to-air missile launcher in Rihan, which it says posed a threat to Israeli aircraft.
Haniyeh tells Iran’s acting foreign minister that Israel failed in its war with Hamas
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh meets in Doha with Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, and says that Israel has failed in its war objectives in Gaza, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
Bagheri says that “it is necessary to take advantage of all capacities to make the aggression and crime of the Zionists costly and the resistance should not be limited in armed resistance against the invaders. ”
He calls for legal, political and diplomatic means to fight Israel, “along with the armed resistance.”
Lapid at ‘Democracy Under Fire’ conference: If we act like our enemies, we will become like them
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid attends a protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip and against the current Israeli government outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, June 15, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Israel is in “existential” danger because its Western allies no longer believe that it is “the only reliable representative of democratic and liberal values in the Middle East,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares at Reichman University’s “Democracy Under Fire” conference.
“The American government, the European Union, and the liberal countries, no longer believe that we are a sane, serious, and liberal country” that is “bound by international law,” he says, arguing that despite “waging the most just war in history,” Jerusalem is “failing to rally the world to our side.”
“What is happening before our eyes is an avalanche. Spain, Norway, Ireland and Slovenia have already announced unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, there are more countries on the way,” he continues.
Lapid says he recently met with the national security advisor of a central European country who warned that if international arrest warrants are issued for Israeli leaders he would “have no discretion” and that the legal authorities in his country have said that “as soon as Netanyahu lands in Paris or Berlin or Madrid, you will have to arrest him.”
“No one will accuse me of being a big fan of Netanyahu, but this is a political disaster. It should not have been allowed to happen, and it could have been prevented,” he continues, dismissing the tendency to accuse all critics of antisemitism and complaining that despite “loudly and unblinkingly acknowledged that we have the right to defend ourselves,” the government has squandered its “almost infinite” post-October 7 credit.
“To relieve pressure, we tell ourselves that we know Amichai Eliyahu and [Shlomo] Karhi and [Nissim] Vaturi, they don’t know what they are talking about, and they have no influence. This is not true. Don’t make assumptions – they are ministers in the government, they are senior in the coalition, the world is not wrong, it sees the truth: this is our government. This is its path,” he says.
Arguing against far-right members of the government’s statements “that in times of war, values such as human dignity, or upholding international law, are a liberal western indulgence,” Lapid says that “if we act like [our enemies], then we will become like them. Values are not something you keep only when it’s convenient. Values and principles are meant exactly for difficult moments. If we give up our values, this country is in existential danger.”
Medics resuscitate man violently attacked in West Bank car robbery
A man in his 70s was seriously injured in a violent car robbery close to Qalqilya in the West Bank a short while ago, Magen David Adom says in a statement.
The man’s heart was forcibly restarted with a defibrillator at the scene of the incident and he was taken to Meir Medical Center in serious condition, MDA says
COGAT pushes UN to ‘scale up’ and distribute aid piling up at Gaza border crossings
The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories presses the United Nations to “scale up” and distribute aid that Israel has processed and transferred to the Gaza side of the crossings.
“On the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, where over 1,000 trucks are awaiting collection and distribution, here too in the JLOTS collection and distribution compound, there are hundreds of aid pallets awaiting collection and distribution by the UN aid agencies,” says Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian in a statement.
“We have said in the past, and we continue to say so now – the UN has a duty to scale up its logistical capabilities of collecting and distributing the humanitarian aid. We [are continuing] with our efforts – now it is your duty to complete the job.”
Yesterday, COGAT says, 285 aid trucks were transferred to the Gaza Strip through the Erez and the Kerem Shalom crossings. Some 88 aid trucks were collected by UN aid agencies and the private sector, according to COGAT, 33 trucks from the Erez crossing, and 55 trucks from Kerem Shalom.
COGAT also releases footage of hundreds of packages awaiting distribution in the unloading area of the US JLOTS pier.
Last night, UN Gaza aid coordinator Sigrid Kaag told Foreign Minister Israel Katz that lawlessness in Gaza prevents the UN from distributing aid, and Israel risks being left alone to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This is an areal view of the loading and unloading area of the JLOTS.
Here too, just like the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom pallets of aid are waiting to be picked up and distributed by the @UN aid agencies for days.
We've said it before, the UN needs to scale up. pic.twitter.com/VQMWsnI796
— COGAT (@cogatonline) June 20, 2024
Hamas official: Israel’s ‘intransigence’ entirely to blame for failed hostage deals
Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad blames Israel for a failure to reach a ceasefire-for-hostages deal, saying Israel’s “intransigent position is what makes it impossible to reach an agreement, as it rejects the formula of a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal, the return of (the population), or anything else.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera last night, Hamad argues that the Biden administration is “not an honest broker” and calls the US “a partner in aggression and genocide.”
The senior Hamas official also insists that the organization can regroup after the war.
After Hagari says Hamas can’t be defeated, terror group crows over ‘admission that Israel failed’
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas's political bureau, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, Lebanon, October 26, 2023. (AP/Bilal Hussein)
A senior Hamas official says IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari’s statement that Hamas cannot be eliminated is “an admission that [Israel] has already failed.”
Calling Hagari’s statement a “frank confession,” Hamas politburo member Ghazi Hamad says in an interview with Al Jazeera that after nine months of war, it is clear that Hamas cannot be eliminated even if Israel uses hundreds of times more munitions.
“This will change the course of history and will convince the international community that the Hamas movement will remain in the political scene, and will be a permanent part of the social fabric and the fabric of resistance,” Hamad, who fled Gaza shortly before October 7, continues.
Hamad argues that Hagari’s comments are evidence of discord within the Israeli government and that Israelis are telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war.
“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” Hagari told Channel 13 news in an interview.
“Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people — anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong,” he continued.
The statements led to a swift response by Netanyahu’s office that the security cabinet “has defined as one of the war goals the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.”
“The Israel Defense Forces is of course committed to this,” the statement added.
Biden aide warns Lebanon: If Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw, Israel could attack with US support – report
US special envoy Amos Hochstein warned Lebanese officials that if Hezbollah doesn’t cease its near-daily attacks on northern Israel, it could find itself the target of a limited Israeli operation, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
According to the report, Hochstein told the officials that a diplomatic solution was needed to force the Iran-backed terror group back from the Israel-Lebanon border, or else Israel could launch a limited attack with the backing of the United States.
The Biden aide is in the region in an attempt to prevent the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah from spiraling further after the terror group began attacking Israel on October 8, one day after the deadly Hamas onslaught in the south.
The skirmishes on the northern border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 15 IDF soldiers and reservists. Hezbollah has named 342 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, as well as dozens of civilians.
Swedish court acquits high-ranking Syrian military official of war crime charges
A Stockholm court has acquitted one of the highest-ranking Syrian military officials to be tried in Europe on war crimes charges, saying in a statement the prosecution did not prove his alleged involvement.
Former brigadier general Mohammed Hamo, 65, was declared innocent of the charges of “aiding and abetting” war crimes in 2012, the court says.
While the Syrian military had used “indiscriminate attacks” at that time, the prosecution did not prove that Hamo’s division was involved in those attacks, nor that he had a role in providing arms for the attacks, the statement says.
IDF: Nukhba force squad commander who invaded Israel on October 7 killed in airstrike
A squad commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba force during the October 7 terror onslaught was killed in a recent airstrike in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, the military says.
Ahmed Hassan Salameh a-Swarkeh, according to the IDF, invaded Israeli towns on October 7, and was later behind sniper attacks against Israeli forces in Beit Hanoun.
The IDF says it was tracking a-Swarkeh for a lengthy period, and he was eventually spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, whereupon an Israeli Air Force drone struck and killed him.
“Before the strike, steps were taken to prevent harm to civilians. No civilians were harmed,” the military says in a statement.
The IDF releases footage of the strike it says shows a-Swarkeh being targeted.
US officials estimate that as few as 50 hostages are still alive – Wall Street Journal
Passersby observe the photos of hostages held in the Gaza Strip that are plastered to the walls of a plaza known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 17, 2024 (AP Photo/Oded Balilty).
US officials estimate that of the 116 hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, just 50 are still alive, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The assessment, based on a combination of Israeli and US intelligence, puts the number of deceased hostages at 66, a far higher number than Israel has publicly confirmed.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 41 hostages still in captivity, based on intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the head of the medical team for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Hagai Levine says there is cause to be “extremely worried.”
“It seems like every week more hostages are dying or getting in danger or very sick,” he says.
The Wall Street Journal adds that both the Prime Minister’s Office and the IDF declined to comment on the estimation.
Israeli officials were in Qatar this week in attempt to nail down hostage deal – report
A person walks past photographs of people held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. June 16, 2024 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
The Saudi-owned Elaph news outlet reports that Israeli officials held a secretive meeting in Qatar earlier this week to try and bridge the gap between the agreed-upon hostage deal outline and Hamas’s demands for alterations.
Citing an unnamed official familiar with the negotiations, Elaph reports that the meeting focused largely on fine-tuning technical aspects of the outline that was presented by US President Joe Biden last month, such as the number of living hostages that will be released in the first phase, and how long it will last.
According to the report, Qatar has continued to pressure Hamas into accepting the deal as it was offered, after the terror group responded with an altered version that included demands the US said were “not workable.”
Palestinians report Hamas-affiliated politician arrested in Hebron overnight
Palestinian media report that the Hamas-affiliated speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Aziz Dweik was arrested by Israeli forces in his hometown of Hebron overnight.
According to the reports, Dweik’s arrest comes just days after he was released from an eight-month stint in detention following his arrest at the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in October 2023.
As a member of Hamas’s political party and the speaker of the largely obsolete Palestinian Legislative Council, Dweik has been arrested by Israel several times over the years. In 2009-2014, the Hamas terror group recognized him as the interim Palestinian Authority president following the end of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s agreed-upon term, though Abbas continued to serve regardless.
Iran: Canada’s decision to list Revolutionary Guards as terror group is ‘unwise’
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani speaks in Tehran, Iran, in a photo released August 11, 2022. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP, File)
Tehran condemns Canada’s listing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization as “an unwise and unconventional politically-motivated step,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani is quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.
“Canada’s action will not have any effect on the Revolutionary Guards’ legitimate and deterrent power,” Kanaani says, adding that Tehran reserves the right to respond accordingly to the listing.
On Wednesday, Ottawa listed the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, a step that could lead to the investigation of former senior Iranian officials now living in Canada.
Canada already listed the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force, as a terrorist group, and Ottawa broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2012.
The IRGC, a powerful armed militia that controls a business empire as well as elite armed and intelligence forces in Iran, has been accused by Western nations of carrying out a global terrorist campaign, something which Iran vehemently rejects.
Relatives of hostages, women’s protest group block Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv
Relatives of hostages block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv amid pressure on the government to agree to a deal with Hamas for their release from captivity in Gaza, June 20, 2024. (Aviv Atlas/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Family members of hostages held in Gaza block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, along with members of the women’s protest group, on the fifth day of an organized “Week of Destruction” aimed at pressuring the government to call early elections and agree to a deal with the Hamas terror group to secure the release of the hostages.
According to the Walla news site, among those blocking traffic on the key artery are Yifat Calderon, whose cousin Ofer Calderon is held hostage, and Shay Moses, nephew of Gadi Moses.
The women’s protest group slams the government for engaging in “petty politics” while 120 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza.
“The most burning issue on the agenda is political deals, exemptions from the draft [for Haredim] and the recruitment of rabbis,” the group says of the government. “Wake up! There are hostages in Gaza who see in the news that the people are fighting for them while the government is abandoning them for petty politics.”
North Korea: Deal with Russia requires use of all military means ‘without delay’ in case of war
Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, second right, shake hands during the official welcome ceremony in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea — A new agreement between Russia and North Korea reached by their leaders requires the countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war, North Korean state media says.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reports the language of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement reached by its leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The agency says Article 4 of the agreement states that if one of the countries gets invaded and is pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.”
The deal could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. Both Kim and Putin described it as a major upgrade of their relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.
The summit came as the US and its allies have expressed growing concerns over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Sullivan to host top Netanyahu advisers at White House amid latest Israel-US spat
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)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Thursday with visiting Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a White House spokesperson confirms to The Times of Israel.
The meeting will come against the backdrop of another spat between the countries sparked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration yesterday that the US has been withholding weapons and ammunitions shipments from Israel.
Netanyahu’s announcement baffled and angered the White House, which has insisted that it has only withheld one shipment of high-payload bombs, which it has been open about for over a month while all other weapons transfers have continued.
The meeting will likely cover the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Hezbollah tensions and US concerns about the potential collapse of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank due to Israel’s continued withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues from the PA.
‘Raped at 12 because she was Jewish’: Protests held in Paris and Lyon after charges filed
Protesters hold a placard which reads as "Raped because she is Jewish" and wave an Israeli flag as they gather to condemn the alleged antisemitic gang rape of a 12 year-old Jewish girl, at the Paris city hall square on June 19, 2024. (Alain Jocard/AFP)
Hundreds took part demonstrations against antisemitism in Paris and Lyon, following Wednesday’s indictment of two teenage boys for gang raping a 12-year-old Jewish girl.
France has the largest Jewish community of any country outside Israel and the United States as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community. There has been a surge in antisemitic acts since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel set off the Gaza war.
“Raped at 12 because she was Jewish,” says one banner at a demonstration in central Paris where Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti was among well-known figures to take part.
US officials hoping troubled Gaza aid pier can resume operations on Thursday
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before entering the beach in Gaza, May 17, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/US Army Central via AP)
WASHINGTON — The US military’s on-again, off-again floating pier in Gaza is expected to resume operations on Thursday to unload sorely needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians, two US officials tell Reuters.
The officials, who speak on condition of anonymity, say the pier was reattached to the shore on Wednesday after being temporarily removed last Friday due to poor sea conditions.
Aid began arriving via the U.S.-built pier on May 17, and the UN says it has transported 137 trucks of aid to warehouses, some 900 metric tons.
But then rough seas damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather and security considerations have limited the number of days it has been operational.
The US military estimates the pier will cost more than $200 million for the first 90 days and involve about 1,000 service members.
It is unclear how much longer it will be operational, though a New York Times report said it could be dismantled early next month.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US military announces strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen
WASHINGTON — The US military says it has destroyed one ground control station and one command and control node in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.
In a statement, the US military’s Central Command adds its forces also destroyed two Houthi drone boats in the Red Sea.
The Iran-aligned Houthis first launched drone and missile strikes in the key waterway in November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. In over 70 attacks, they have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.
4 killed in car crash on Route 90 in Negev
Four people have been killed after two cars crashed on Route 90 in the Negev, north of Moshav Ein Hatzeva, medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says medics pronounced the deaths of four people at the scene, and took two others in moderate condition to Soroka hospital in Beersheba.
Police officers arrive at the scene to direct traffic and start probing the deadly incident.
כביש 90 ליד חצבה תאונה קטלנית : לפי מד"א כרגע 6 מחוסרי הכרה במקום, בנוסף פצוע אחד קשה..
(תיעוד מזירת התאונה) pic.twitter.com/fYlhqF7CX6— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) June 19, 2024
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