Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they happened.
Protesters start fires, clash with police at anti-government after-rally
Hundreds of protesters split off the weekly anti-government rally in Tel Aviv to launch unauthorized protests that escalate into clashes with police in front of the Likud party headquarters and the Histadrut labor union offices.
Outside the Histadrut building, where protesters demand the organization’s leadership support their call for an early election, protesters started fires that firefighters have extinguished, Ynet reports. Police shove protesters and remove several of them from the scene. One police officer is documented threatening a protester by saying: “I’ll rape your mother,” Ynet reports.
In videos of another clash near the Histadrut building, officers appear to try to remove lawmaker Naama Lazimi of the Labor opposition party from the protest. She tells Channel 12 that “policemen assaulted” her and pulled her hair while she was “trying to help another protester.”
שוטרים התנפלו על ח״כ נעמה לזימי, תפסו ודחפו אותה ונתנו לה מכה בפנים לאחר שניסתה לסייע לעצורה. פשוט בושה וחרפה. זו פעם נוספת שבה שוטרי משטרת ישראל משתמשים באלימות נגד חברת הכנסת שמסייעת למוחים נגד האלימות המשטרתית pic.twitter.com/LVn7ecliTg
— בר שם-אור Bar Shem-Ur (@Bar_ShemUr) June 29, 2024
Police spokespeople are not immediately available to comment on Lazimi’s claims.
A police spokesperson tells Ynet that the protester who allegedly got threatened was a repeat provocateur. The spokesperson also condemns the officer’s conduct as “incompatible with the norms expected” of him, adding his action will be “checked and dealt with.”
‘I’ll rape your mother’: Cop recorded threatening detained protester in Jerusalem
A policeman is recorded telling a detained protester “I’ll rape your mother” and calling him a “son of a bitch” during a protest near the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.
In the short clip, the officer can be seen getting in the face of a man and cursing at him, before other officers move him away.
In response, the Israel Police say the officer’s conduct “is not in line with the expected discourse and behavior from every officer, even in turbulent situations like these.”
“Therefore, [the incident] will be checked and dealt with accordingly,” the police statement adds.
אחלה של חומר אנושי: יסמניק לעצור במחאה בירושלים ״אאנוס את אמא שלך״. המשטרה בתגובה: ״התנהלות השוטר במקום אינה עומדת בקנה אחד עם נורמות השיח וההתנהלות המצופות מכל שוטר גם במצבים סוערים מעין אלו, ולכן היא תיבדק ותטופל בהתאם.״ pic.twitter.com/Lbtdy3GinB
— לירן תמרי | Liran Tamari (@liran__tamari) June 29, 2024
Chief Sephardic rabbi lashes out at High Court after Haredi conscription ruling
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attends a prayer for the release of Israelis held hostage in Gaza, at Rachel's Tomb, near the Palestinian West Bank city of Bethlehem, October 25, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
In his latest controversial outburst, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef lashes out at the High Court of Justice after it ruled this week that ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students must enlist in the military.
During his weekly sermon, Yosef charges that secular judges “don’t know a single page” of Talmud.
“It’s all gentile laws,” Yosef says in a video clip from the sermon.
“They can’t hold a candle to our rabbis. I need to be afraid of them?” he adds rhetorically.
Police forcibly clear protesters outside PM’s residence in Jerusalem
Protesters demonstrate for a hostage deal and end to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, in Jerusalem's Paris Square on June 29, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Police are forcefully dispersing a group of protesters calling for an end to the war outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem.
“We will not abandon them,” the demonstrators chant, referring to the hostages, before police begin shoving them off of the street.
The protesters are part of a larger, thousands-strong rally against the government and for a hostage deal.
The main protest is jointly organized by Safeguarding Our Shared Home, Jerusalem’s main anti-government protest group, and the local branch of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Police have detained multiple protesters and arrested at least one over the course of the evening.
31 שניות של מעצר אלים במהלך המחאה נגד הממשלה בירושלים pic.twitter.com/kzPqF3ji1Z
— לירן תמרי | Liran Tamari (@liran__tamari) June 29, 2024
FM Katz responds to Iranian threat: ‘Regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed’
Foreign Minister Israel Katz responds to Iran’s threat of an “obliterating war” if Israel launches a full-scale offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah.
“My response to Iran is clear: 1. If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and residents can return to their homes,” Katz writes on X. “2. A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed.”
Suspects in Serbia attack include man previously held for running jihadi websites
Serbia’s interior minister says the suspects arrested after the attack on Israel’s embassy include a man from Belgrade who was already held two years ago for being the administrator of several militant internet sites that called for “jihad,” or holy war, but was released from custody.
“It is suspected that he directly participated in the logistical support and organization of this terrorist act,” says Minister Ivica Dacic.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Israel Katz thanks Serbian authorities for their “strong support and cooperation following the attempted terror act on the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade today.”
“Terrorism cannot be tolerated!”
IDF says 2 soldiers killed fighting in northern Gaza, bringing ground op toll to 318
Staff Sgt. Yair Avitan (L) and Sgt. First Class (res.) Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum (R), killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on June 28, 2024. (Courtesy)
Two Israeli soldiers were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The slain troops are named as:
Staff Sgt. Yair Avitan, 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion, from Ra’anana.
Sgt. First Class (res.) Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum, 21, of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, from Ma’ale Adumim.
The soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Gaza City’s Shejaiya.
Their deaths bring the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas and in operations on the Gaza border to 318. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission.
Mother of slain hostage: ‘Burial is a basic right, not a luxury’
The mother of Tamir Adar, whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed fighting terrorists at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, implores decision-makers not to deprioritize the return of hostages’ remains.
Yael Adar begins her address at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv by noting that it’s her late son’s 39th birthday. “I became a mother 39 years ago,” she says of the birth of her first-born.
Adar says she felt “shame” when Yaakov Amidror, a former chairman of the National Security Council, recently said that of the remaining hostages in Gaza, “30-40 are no longer living.” She charges his remarks downplayed the significance of retrieving their bodies, “but burial is a basic right, not a luxury.”
Her speech was preceded by that of her daughter Roni, who speaks of the pain of watching her brother’s young children grow up without him.
The organizers of the weekly rallies on Hostages Square dedicated this week’s demonstration to siblings of hostages. Among them is Danny Elgarat, the brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted from Nir Oz. Danny casts doubt on the effectiveness of operations like the one in which four hostages were freed on June 8 to bring the back the rest of the captives.
“These rescue operations here and there will not remedy the situation,” he says, arguing instead for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas. ” Itzik, his brother says, “would rather die than have anyone risk their life to save him.” Danny Elgarat accuses the government of “abandoning” Israelis “for the sole purpose of remaining in power.”
Official says ‘no change’ to Israel’s support for hostage deal presented by Biden
After reports emerge that the White House is working on new language for parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal in an effort to reach an agreement, Israel indicates its displeasure with any changes to the terms laid out by US President Joe Biden on May 31.
“Israel is committed to the terms of the proposal that [US] President Biden endorsed,” says an Israeli official. “There is no change at all in its position.”
“As of now, Israel has not received a response from Hamas to this offer,” the official continues.
Citing three sources with direct knowledge of the talks, the Axios news site earlier reported the US, with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, is focused on amending Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal, concerning negotiations to be held during the six-week ceasefire stipulated by the agreement’s first stage. Clause 14, which deals with the transition between stage one and stage two of the deal, is also being reexamined, Channel 12 news reported this evening.
Rescued hostage Noa Argamani: Main concern in Hamas captivity was for my parents
A screenshot of video released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on June 29, 2024, shows rescued hostage Noa Argamani speaking. (Screen capture)
During her eight months in captivity in Gaza, Noa Argamani thought mostly about her parents, she says in a video message broadcast at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Argamani is one of four hostages rescued by Israeli special forces in Gaza on June 8. She is an only child and her mother has terminal brain cancer, as she notes in the video, her first public remarks since being rescued. She calls on those watching to remember the remaining captives held in Gaza, including her partner Avinatan Or.
“We can’t forget about those 120 hostages in Gaza, who are waiting for a happy ending,” she says.
In the video statement, Argamani stops short of calling for the government to make a deal with Hamas for the hostages’ release. Avinatan Or’s family belongs to the Tikvah Forum, a group of hostage families who have not joined calls for a ceasefire deal as advocated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organizes the weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Images from the kidnapping of Argamani, who terrorists took to Gaza on a motorcycle, and Or are among the most well-known images from Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
She expresses her condolences to the family of Arnon Zmora, a police counter-terror officer killed during the rescue mission. Being with her mother “after eight months of uncertainty is a great privilege, as is seeing my parents surrounded by so many good people.”
” Although I’m home now, we can’t forget about the hostages who are still in Hamas captivity, and we must do everything possible to bring them back home,” Argamani adds.
She ends her address with the words: “May we know how to love and not to hate.”
Anti-government protesters block highway junction in north
This handout photo shows protesters blocking the Amiad Junction in the Upper Galilee on June 29, 2024. (Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Nir Dafna)
Hundreds of protesters block traffic at the Amiad Junction in the Upper Galilee as part of the weekly anti-government protests held in locales across Israel.
Turnout for protest at Amiad Junction on Route 90 is an unusually high attendance and follows a march by from the kibbutz, which has recently been targeted multiple times by Hezbollah terrorists. The protesters carry signs against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, with one accusing them of “abandoning the north, south and everything in between.”
Tens of thousands of protesters also gather in Tel Aviv, where the recent largest anti-government rally has been held in recent weeks. Thousands more march in Haifa and gather in Jerusalem, as well as in the southern cities of Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon.
There are usually only a handful of road closures in the dozens of areas where protest rallies have occurred in recent months.
Separately, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some relatives of captives kidnapped on October 7, is holding its weekly rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Unlike the nearby anti-government rally, the demonstration at Hostages Square has a stated policy of nonpartisanship.
The organizers are seeking to pressure the government to make a deal with Hamas for the return of the hostages. Hamas is demanding an end to the war started by its October 7 terror onslaught, which Netanyahu has rejected, vowing to continue fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed.
UN moves humanitarian aid from US aid pier in Gaza for first time in weeks
US Army soldiers gesture as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Humanitarian workers have started moving tons of aid that piled up at a United States-built pier off the Gaza coast to warehouses in the besieged territory, the United Nations says, an important step as the US considers whether to resume pier operations after yet another pause due to heavy seas.
This is the first time trucks have moved aid from the pier since the UN’s World Food Program suspended operations there due to security concerns on June 9. Millions of pounds of aid have since piled up. In just the last week, more than 10 million pounds were moved ashore, according to the US military.
A WFP spokesperson, Abeer Etefa, tells The Associated Press this is a one-time operation until the beach is cleared of the aid and is being done to avoid spoilage.
If WFP trucks successfully bring the aid to warehouses inside Gaza, that could affect the US military’s decision whether to reinstall the pier, which was removed due to weather yesterday. US officials said they were considering not reinstalling the pier because of the possibility that the aid would not be picked up.
Senior Hamas figure says no progress in hostage-for-ceasefire talks with Israel
Osama Hamdan, a senior official with the Hamas terror group, attends a conference of the International Union of Resistance Clerics, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 4, 2024. (AP/Hussein Malla)
A senior official of the Islamist terror group Hamas, Osama Hamdan, says there has been no progress in hostage-for-ceasefire talks with Israel over the Gaza war.
The Palestinian terror group is still ready to “deal positively” with any ceasefire proposal that ends the war, Hamdan tells a news conference in Beirut.
Serbian president vows ‘no mercy for terrorism’ after crossbow attack on Israeli embassy
Armed Serbian police officers are stationed close to Israel's embassy in Belgrade, on June 29, 2024. (Oliver Bunic/AFP)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic makes a hospital visit to a police officer wounded in a crossbow attack on Israel’s embassy in the Balkan country, promising a sweeping crackdown against “terrorists.”
“We are hunting them down,” he says. “We will have no mercy for terrorism in Serbia.”
Hostage families rally at army HQ in Tel Aviv: ‘Don’t allow Netanyahu to again torpedo a deal’
Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas and their supporters rally outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to back an agreement for the return of their loved ones.
This week’s demonstration come after a report this morning that the Biden administration is rewording the latest hostage-for-ceasefire proposal in an effort to reach an agreement, days after the US described Hamas’s response to the Israeli offer as a rejection for the first time.
“What stands between us and our loved ones is [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s insistence not to end the war as part of a deal,” charges Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of murdered hostage Yoram Metzger.
“Don’ t allow Netanyahu to again torpedo a deal this time,” she adds in an appeal to security chiefs.
Hezbollah announces operative’s death after Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Abbas Atwi, from the town of Shaqra.
The announcement comes following Israeli strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today, including a building in Houla where several operatives were gathered.
His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 355.
Weekly rallies urging return of hostages and fresh elections kick off around Israel
This handout photo shows demonstrators calling for the return of hostages held by Hamas and fresh Knesset elections, in Rehovot on June 29, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Meir Conforti)
Protests calling for the return of hostages held by Hamas and new elections are starting to be held at sites across the country.
IDF says troops found long-range Hamas rocket launcher next to school in Gaza City
This handout image shows a long-range rocket launcher located by the IDF near a school in Gaza City's Shejaiya neighborhood, June 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade located a long-range Hamas rocket launcher adjacent to a school in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, the IDF says.
The finding comes amid a pinpoint raid in the neighborhood, launched on Thursday. The military said the operation, carried out by the 98th Division, comes after it identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area.
The military says that so far, dozens of gunmen have been killed in clashes with troops and in airstrikes.
The 7th Brigade also located Hamas observation posts, drones, and other weapons, the IDF says. The Paratroopers Brigade separately located tunnel shafts and additional weapons, the military adds.
EU denounces Israel for legalizing 5 West Bank settler outposts
The European Union’s foreign affairs branch releases a statement denouncing Israel’s legalization of five settler outposts in the West Bank, slamming the move as “another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts.”
The EU also condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, which he agreed to release in exchange for the approval of the outpost legalization.
“The EU stresses that actions weakening the Palestinian Authority must stop and calls on Israel to release withheld clearance revenues and to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place,” the EU statement says. “The EU reiterates its unwavering commitment to lasting and sustainable peace in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, on the basis of the two-State solution, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition.”
3-year-old boy in critical condition after being stung by scorpion near Arad
Magen David Adom paramedics are rushing a three-year-old boy to the hospital after he was stung by a scorpion near the southern city of Arad.
The boy is listed in critical condition.
Video shows masked settlers smashing windows of home in Palestinian town
A rights group releases video showing masked settlers smashing the windows of a home yesterday in the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya.
Yesh Din rights, which published the footage, says the same home was targeted by settlers the day before, with Israeli security forces doing nothing to apprehend the suspects.
Meanwhile, settlers established an illegal outpost outside Turmus Ayya.
Arrests and prosecutions by Israeli authorities of violent settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank are exceedingly rare, leading the US and a growing list of Western countries to begin sanctioning such individuals.
Our documentation via residents of Turmusaya: This morning, settlers attacked a house in the village, a few days after entering without causing harm. Today they came back and vandalized it, in front of a security camera. Several days ago a new outpost has been erected nearby. pic.twitter.com/gv45z6gcd4
— Yesh Din English (@Yesh_Din) June 28, 2024
Serbian authorities say Wahhabi-link suspected in crossbow attack on Israeli embassy
Police officers block off traffic at an intersection close to the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Serbian authorities say some arrests have been made and a number of people known to the security services are suspected of being linked to a crossbow attack on Israel’s embassy in Belgrade.
The officer “used a weapon in self-defense and defeated the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries,” says Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.
He says the incident happened at around 11:00 a.m. local time in the Serbian capital, when an “unknown person… shot a member of the gendarmerie, who was on duty securing the Israeli embassy, from a crossbow and hit him in the neck.”
The officer, who has undergone surgery in hospital, was in his guard booth when the attack happened.
Dacic tells reporters later that there are early indications connecting the attack with people suspected of being linked to the Wahhabi movement — an ultra-conservative branch of Islam that dominates in Saudi Arabia.
“Some suspicions are already present that we are talking about persons already known to the security services, and we are talking about the Wahhabi movement,” Dacic says.
He says several people have been arrested for “prevention reasons” and that overall security had been stepped up in Belgrade.
Special prosecutors have taken over the case, adds Dacic.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Family in northern town says Hezbollah rocket struck barn, killing 2 horses
A rocket fired in a Hezbollah barrage last night struck a barn inside the Western Galilee of Betzet, killing two horses, after Israeli forces failed to down the projectile.
Idan Ishach Erez says the two horses belonged to her 14-year-old daughter Shahar, whose bedroom window looked out onto their pen.
“Who will look out for and care mentally for our children, who together with us were forced to hear the horses crying out in pain and asking we help them, but we couldn’t do more than put them to sleep to prevent their continued suffering,” she tells the Ynet news site.
She adds that the rocket attack came as the family was eating Shabbat dinner on their porch, from where they rushed inside their home to take shelter.
“There was crying and hysteria. It did not matter [to my children] that the house was also struck. They cried about the horses, who are family members in all senses.”
Report: Shin Bet warns bill barring use of administrative orders against Israelis will harm ability to prevent terror
The Shin Bet security service has expressed alarm over a bill advanced by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman that would mostly forbid administrative detention orders from being used against Israeli citizens, saying it would cause “serious harm” to their ability to thwart terror attacks perpetrated by both Jewish and Arab citizens, the Walla news site reported.
The bill, set to be discussed tomorrow by ministers, forbids the use of administrative detention or administrative restraining orders to prevent terror attacks by Israeli citizens unless they are members of a certain restricted list of terror groups to be approved by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which Rothman chairs.
According to Walla, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar’s office sent a letter to a number of government officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s military secretaries, stating the prohibition of such measures “will result in an immediate, severe, and serious harm to the security of the state” in cases where there is clear information that a suspect may carry out a terror attack.
The Defense Ministry’s controversial policy of administrative detention, involving holding suspects without charge, is largely deployed against Palestinians, but also used against extremist Jewish Israelis.
It can also deploy administrative restraining orders to bar people from certain areas or communicating with certain people.
Israel says administrative detention is a tool that helps keep dangerous terrorists off the streets and allows the government to hold suspects without divulging sensitive intelligence. Critics say the policy denies prisoners due process.
The detentions must be renewed by a military court every six months, and Palestinian prisoners can remain in jail for years under the mechanism. Some resort to life-threatening hunger strikes to draw attention to their detentions.
Far-right members of the government such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have called on Gallant to cease use of the tool against Jewish Israelis while backing its continued use against Palestinians and its expansion against Arab Israelis.
IDF jets strike Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon’s Houla
Israeli fighter jets struck a building in southern Lebanon’s Houla where a group of Hezbollah operatives were gathered, the military says.
The IDF says the operatives were spotted by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, and a short while later the airstrike was carried out.
Another building used by Hezbollah in Houla was also struck, the IDF adds.
It publishes footage of the strikes.
כוח מיחידה 869 זיהה לפני זמן קצר מחבלים נכנסים למבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב חולא שבדרום לבנון.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו את המבנה בו שהו המחבלים, לצד מבנה צבאי נוסף של הארגון>> pic.twitter.com/z8Xc76PjUM— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 29, 2024
Earlier, two anti-tank guided missiles launched from Lebanon struck the Misgav Am area in northern Israel. The IDF says there were no injuries in the attack, and troops shelled the launch sites with artillery.
Foreign ministry says ‘attempted terror attack’ outside embassy in Serbia under investigation
The Foreign Ministry labels an incident outside Israel’s embassy in Belgrade, Serbia an “attempted terror attack.”
“Today an attempted terror attack occurred in the vicinity of Israel’s embassy in Belgrade. The embassy was closed and none of the embassy staff were hurt. A local policeman was injured. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated,” the statement read.
Earlier, a man fired a crossbow, injuring a Serbian policeman. The officer then shot the attacker, killing him.
Man attacks policeman with crossbow at Israel’s embassy in Serbia, is shot dead
A man was shot dead after he fired a crossbow at a police officer in front of Israel’s embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, Serbian media reports.
The embassy itself is closed today and its staff is absent.
The officer was injured in the neck by the arrow fired by the attacker and managed to shoot back, killing him, according to the reports.
Deputy Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić says in a statement the policeman is conscious and is at the hospital, adding the attack is under investigation.
3 anti-tank rockets launched from southern Lebanon; no injuries reported
Three anti-tank guided missiles were fired from southern Lebanon a short while ago, the military says.
One lands next to Tel Hai, while the others hit near the community of Misgav Am. No injuries were reported.
The army is responding with artillery strikes to the source of the fire.
Rocket sirens blare in Kiryat Shmona and Tel Hai
Incoming rocket alerts are activated along the northern border.
Sirens are heard in Kiryat Shmona and Tel Hai.
Red Alert [12:41:26] – 2 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/gFzJRJ7N1j
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 29, 2024
Israeli tourist missing for four days in Sri Lanka, search and rescue group says
An Israeli woman has been missing for four days while traveling alone in Sri Lanka, the Magnus International search and rescue group says.
Tamar Amitai, 25 was last seen traveling around the city of Trincomalee and has not returned to her hostel, the Rolex Guest House, according to the group’s information.
Magnus is conducting a search operation and is requesting anyone with information on her whereabouts to come forward.
IDF says troops kill numerous terrorists in Shejaiya, Rafah and central Gaza battles
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in images released on June 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli troops killed numerous terror operatives over the past day during fighting in Gaza City’s Shejaiya, in Rafah in the Strip’s south, and in the Netzarim Corridor area of central Gaza, the IDF says.
In Shejaiya, where the 98th Division launched a new pinpoint operation two days ago, the IDF says “many terrorists” were killed in exchanges of fire. It also says troops located a weapons depot in a school.
Israeli Air Force drones struck targets in Shejaiya amid the operation there, including several cells of gunmen who were planned to attack troops, the military says.
Meanwhile, in Rafah, the military says troops under the 162nd Division killed several operatives, while the IAF struck many sites belonging to terror groups, including tunnel shafts.
In central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, troops under the 99th Division killed several more operatives with machine gun fire, and by directing airstrikes, the military says.
The IDF also says that an anti-tank missile launch site previously used to attack troops was also struck in central Gaza.
A separate drone strike targeted a tunnel shaft adjacent to a rocket launch site in the northern Gaza Strip, used to launch two rockets at Sderot on Friday night, the military says. One of the rockets was intercepted while the other hit an open area.
Reformist, ultraconservative to go head to head in Iranian presidential runoff on July 5
An Iranian woman casts her ballot during voting at a polling station in Tehran for the Islamic Republic's presidential election on June 28, 2024. (Raheb Homavandi/AFP)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili are set to go to runoffs after securing the highest number of votes in Iran’s presidential election, the interior ministry says.
“None of the candidates could garner the absolute majority of the votes, therefore, the first and second contenders who got the most votes will be referred to the Guardian Council” for the second round scheduled for July 5, says Mohsen Eslami, an interior ministry spokesman.
Lebanon’s PM tours country’s southern border, says he is working to restore calm
Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says his country faces “psychological warfare” in clashes with Israel, but is working to reach calm on the border, according to quotes reported in Hebrew media.
Mikati is touring southern Lebanon to check in on matriculation exams, which are being held despite daily clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the border.
“The army is Lebanon’s wall. If the army does not have a presence in southern Lebanon, the exams could not be held,” he is quoted as saying.
#لبنان | الرئيس #ميقاتي ووزير التربية عباس #الحلبي يتفقدان مراكز الامتحانات الرسمية في #صور @Najib_Mikati @HalabiAbbas pic.twitter.com/3tn0Z6scnB
— إرتكاز نيوز (@Ertikaznews) June 29, 2024
Two rockets land in open field near Kerem Shalom; no sirens activated
Two rockets landed in an open field near Kibbutz Kerem Shalom on the Gaza border in the past hour, without triggering rocket sirens, the Ynet news site reports.
Lebanese media reports drone strike on motorcycle in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media report a drone strike on a motorcycle between the southern Lebanon towns of Mays al-Jabal and Houla.
No further details are immediately available.
Schumer reportedly voiced openness to replacing Biden before Thursday debate
US President Joe Biden shakes hands with US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (left) during an event marking the 12th anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 18, 2024. (Drew Angerer/AFP)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hinted to associates before Thursday night’s US presidential debate that he was open to fielding other candidates if US President Joe Biden performed badly, Axios reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, the senior Democratic politician supported the early debate schedule, since it could give Biden a chance to recover from potential blunders, but also allow the party to consider their options in case of such a performance.
Biden’s halting delivery and meandering comments, particularly early in Thursday night’s debate, fueled concerns from even members of his own party that at age 81 he’s not up for the task of leading the country for another four years.
Even before the debate, Biden’s age had been a liability with voters, and Thursday night’s faceoff appeared to reinforce the public’s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will garner before ballots are cast.
For the time being though, Schumer is standing behind Biden, the report says.
Schumer’s spokesperson tells Axios that the Democrat “has always supported and continues to support President Biden as the nominee and believes he will be re-elected.”
AP contributed to this report.
Palestinian report says six killed in Gaza City airstrikes overnight
The Palestinian Wafa news outlet reports six people, two of them children, were killed in airstrikes in Gaza City overnight.
The report says the military fired artillery and launched airstrikes in several areas of the Strip overnight, including refugee camps in the center of the enclave, Rafah, Khan Younis, and Gaza City.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Former nuclear negotiator Jalili pulls ahead in Iranian presidential vote count
In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, hardline former Iranian senior nuclear negotiator and candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili casts his ballot at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2024. (Alireza Sotakabr, ISNA via AP)
Saeed Jalili, steadfastly loyal to Iran’s supreme leader, pushes slightly ahead of the sole moderate candidate as more votes are counted from a tightly controlled snap presidential election held amid growing public frustration and Western pressure.
Among more than 10.3 million ballots from yesterday’s election counted so far, hardline former nuclear negotiator Jalili won more than 4.26 million votes and his low-profile moderate challenger lawmaker Massoud Pezeshkian gained about 4.24 million, Interior ministry official Mohsen Eslami tells state TV.
Some insiders say the turnout was around 40%, lower than expected by Iran’s clerical rulers, while witnesses told Reuters that polling stations in Tehran and some other cities were not crowded.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency says a run-off election is “very likely” to pick the next president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic Republic’s policies, its outcome could influence the succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.
The clerical establishment sought a high turnout to offset a legitimacy crisis fuelled by public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedom.
The next president is not expected to usher in any major policy shift on Iran’s nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters.
However, the president runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran’s foreign and domestic policy.
Jalili, a former diplomat and nuclear negotiator, describes himself as a pious believer in “velayat-e faqih”, or rule by supreme jurisprudence, Iran’s system of Islamic government that provides the basis for Khamenei’s paramount position.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
US said to float new language for hostage-ceasefire deal in effort to get Hamas buy-in
The United States has proposed new language for parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in an effort to reach an agreement, Axios reports, citing three sources with direct knowledge.
The news site says the amended text, which the US is working on as part of the latest mediation push with Qatar and Egypt, concerns negotiations set to be held after the deal takes effect that are meant to determine the conditions for the second phase of the agreement. Hamas reportedly wants these talks to solely address how many and which Palestinian prisoners will be released in return for all living male hostages, while Israel wants to discuss the demilitarization of Gaza and other matters.
“The US is working very hard to find a formula that will allow reaching a deal,” one of the sources is quoted as saying, while the other predicts that the agreement can be sealed if Hamas okays the changes.
Two-thirds of Israelis want Netanyahu to leave politics, not seek reelection — poll
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a "40 signatures" debate, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 24, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Around two-thirds of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should leave politics and not seek reelection, according to a new television poll.
That figure falls to 37% among voters for parties in Netanyahu’s right-religious bloc, 53% of who think Israel’s longest-serving leader should stick around, the Channel 12 news survey says.
Overall, 27% of poll respondents want him to compete in the next elections, versus 66% who say otherwise and 7% who do not know.
Asked who should lead a prospective right-wing electoral alliance, a plurality — 30% — say former prime minister Naftali Bennett, followed by Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman and former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen at 10% each. Four percent of respondents say New Hope faction head Gideon Sa’ar and the remainder of respondents say none of them or don’t know.
A whopping 85% of respondents want a state commission of inquiry to probe the failures surrounding October 7, with only 6% opposed and the rest not knowing.
Additionally, in the wake of this week’s High Court ruling, 66% of respondents say ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students must enlist in the military versus 24% who say they do not, while the remaining 10% aren’t sure.
The survey was conducted by the Midgam polling firm with iPanel. The network didn’t say how many respondents were included or provide a margin of error.
Iran’s UN mission threatens ‘obliterating war’ if Israel launches offensive against Hezbollah
Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, addresses the United Nations Security Council chamber during an emergency meeting at UN headquarters, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s UN mission says that if Israel embarks on a “full-scale military aggression” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, “an obliterating war will ensue.”
The Iranian mission also says in the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that in such an event “all options, incl. the full involvement of all resistance fronts, are on the table.”
Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) June 28, 2024
US says it destroyed 7 Houthi drones, ground control station in Yemen
The US military says that it destroyed seven Houthi drones and one ground control station vehicle in Houthi-controlled Yemen.
US officials say thousands of 2,000-pound bombs shipped to Israel since Oct. 7
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has sent to Israel large numbers of munitions, including more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles, since the start of the war in Gaza, says two US officials briefed on an updated list of weapons shipments.
Between the war’s start last October and recent days, the United States has transferred at least 14,000 of the MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions, according to the officials, who are not authorized to speak publicly.
While the officials don’t give a timeline for the shipments, the totals suggest there has been no significant drop-off in US military support for its ally, despite international calls to limit weapons supplies and a recent administration decision to pause a shipment of powerful bombs.
The delivery numbers, which have not been previously reported, provide the most up-to-date and extensive tally of munitions shipped to Israel since the Gaza war began.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the start of the Gaza war, and concern is rising that an all-out war could break out between the two sides.
The White House declines to comment. Israel’s Embassy in Washington doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
NYT editorial board calls on Biden to quit race: ‘Failed his own test’ in debate
US President Joe Biden speaks at the grand opening ceremony for the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, June 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
NEW YORK — America’s most influential newspaper, The New York Times, calls in an editorial for US President Joe Biden to step aside and allow another Democrat to challenge Donald Trump for the White House in November.
Describing Biden as “the shadow of a great public servant,” the newspaper’s editorial board — which is separate from its newsroom — says Thursday’s debate between the president and Trump proved the 81-year-old “failed his own test.”
His determination to run again is a “reckless gamble,” it says, adding: “the greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.”
Counting begins after polls close in Iran, with initial results expected Saturday
Polls closed shortly after midnight across Iran, following three extensions of voting hours.
Iranian state media says those who were still waiting at the polling stations were allowed to cast their ballots but no one else was be allowed in after that. Counting began immediately, with initial results expected on Saturday, the reports say.
Earlier in the evening, as the weather cooled off a little, more people headed to vote and long lines formed outside polling stations in downtown Tehran and in southern parts of the Iranian capital.
IDF says fighter jets carried out ‘wave of attacks’ against Hezbollah in southern lebanon
After Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel this evening, the IDF says it struck several sites belonging to the terror group in southern Lebanon.
The targets include a military site in Zibqin, infrastructure in Khiam and Houla, and a building used by Hezbollah in Odaisseh, according to the military.
The IDF publishes footage of the strikes targeted in what it describes as the “wave of attacks” against Hezbollah.
מטוסי קרב תקפו בשעות האחרונות מספר מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.
בין המטרות שהותקפו, אתר צבאי של חיזבאללה במרחב זבקין, שתי תשתיות מבצעיות במרחבים אל-חיאם וחולא ומבנה צבאי של הארגון במרחב אל-עדייסא pic.twitter.com/nlsBuOrppE
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 28, 2024
Trump again uses ‘Palestinian’ as slur, this time employing it against Schumer
Former US president Donald Trump again uses the term “Palestinian” as a slur after branding his successor Joe Biden a “weak Palestinian” at last night’s debate.
At a campaign rally in Virginia, Trump says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also become a Palestinian.
“He’s Jewish but he’s become a Palestinian,” he says, apparently suggesting that the Democratic senator has become too critical of Israel
Trump: Schumer has become a Palestinian. He’s Jewish but he’s become a Palestinian pic.twitter.com/w95R9AbA8X
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 28, 2024
Trump says he does not think Biden will quit race
Republican Donald Trump says he does not believe US President Joe Biden will exit the 2024 White House race, after the incumbent’s lackluster debate performance sparked alarm within the Democratic Party.
“Many people are saying that after last night’s performance that Joe Biden is leaving the race. But the fact is, I don’t really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the Democrats they’re talking about,” Trump tells a campaign rally in Virginia.
read more: