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The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
US hostage envoy Boehler visited Iraq last month to push for release of Israeli-Russian Elizabeth Tsurkov — report
Elizabeth Tsurkov in an undated photo (social media; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler traveled to Iraq last month to push for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq nearly two years ago, three sources familiar with the matter say.
Since taking office, Boehler has stepped up efforts to secure the release of Tsurkov, a Princeton University student who went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023, publicly urging the Iraqi government to help her get home.
“The Trump Administration has done more in just a few weeks than the previous administration did in almost two years,” Emma Tsurkov, sister of Elizabeth tells Reuters in a statement.
“I am especially grateful to SPEHA [Special Envoy] Boehler for going directly to meet with Prime Minister [Mohammed Shia al-] Sudani in Baghdad. His engagement with Sudani makes it clear that the US holds Sudani responsible for finding a way to get my sister home.”
An Iraqi official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters confirms Boehler visited in February to discuss the Tsurkov case but did not provide further details.
Tsurkov is being held in Iraq by the Iran-backed Shiite terror group Kataib Hezbollah, according to Israeli officials.
Boehler is trying to negotiate a deal under which Tsurkov will be released in exchange for six members of Iran-aligned Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, one of the sources says.
“The United States cannot tolerate hostage-taking of US nationals or those of our partners such as Israel. We have and will continue to underscore with the Iraqi government the urgency of securing Elizabeth Tsurkov’s release,” a State Department spokesperson at Boehler’s office says.
Under the previous administration of former President Joe Biden, Tsurkov’s family struggled to get Washington to throw its weight behind the efforts to secure her release. US officials then said there was little they could do because she is not an American citizen.
“March 21 will be the two-year anniversary of my sister’s kidnapping. Hopefully she will not endure March 21 in their custody,” Emma Tsurkov says.
Witkoff lands in Doha to join talks aimed at extending fragile Gaza truce
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has landed in Qatar to join indirect talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at extending the current, fragile ceasefire in Gaza, a source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.
Wiktoff will meet tomorrow with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source says.
Israel is hoping that the US can advance a proposal for a roughly two-month extension of the ceasefire, during which Hamas would release about half of the living hostages up front, an Israeli official said earlier today.
Hamas has thus far rejected the proposal, insisting that the sides stick to the framework that was agreed upon in January.
‘I fought, and I fought, and I won’: Ex-hostage Omer Wenkert says Hamas release ceremony didn’t humiliate him
Former hostage Omer Wenkert thanks the crowd as he returns to his home in Gedera, March 4, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)
Recently released hostage Omer Wenkert, who spent over 500 days in Hamas captivity before being released last month, gives his first interview since his release, speaking to Channel 12’s Almog Boker.
He says that the release ceremony held by Hamas terrorists did not humiliate him.
“I fought, and I fought, and I fought, and I won,” says Wenkert, who was kidnapped from a bomb shelter on the side of the road near the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
He says that one of the first things he told his mother upon his release was that he had “defeated captivity.”
Foreign Ministry opens diplomat- and student-staffed ‘media war room’ to combat anti-Israel content
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (R) and Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel inaugurate a “Media War Room” at the Foreign Ministry, March 11, 2025. (Mordechai Gordon/Foreign Ministry)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar inaugurates a “media war room” at the Foreign Ministry to monitor and respond to anti-Israel activity on internet platforms, Sa’ar’s office announces.
The war room, staffed by diplomats and students specializing in international communications, observes around 250 news channels and some 10,000 Israel-related news items daily, “identifies false or biased reports…and acts swiftly by deploying Israeli and pro-Israel spokespersons to debunk accusations and present Israel’s narrative,” the Foreign Ministry says.
During its trial period in recent weeks, the program was “the first” in Israel “to detect… and act against” a BBC documentary about Gazan children that was subsequently found to have been narrated by the son of a high-ranking official in the Hamas terror group’s government in Gaza, says the Foreign Ministry. The ministry says this happened before the program aired.
The ministry explains that “following intelligence from the war room, Israel’s embassy in London engaged with the BBC.”
Later on, an investigative journalist publicly exposed the documentary participants’ ties to Hamas. The journalist in question, David Collier, told The Times of Israel last week that he found out that Abdullah, the narrator and main subject of the BBC documentary, was the son of a deputy minister in Hamas’s government within five hours of its broadcast.
The BBC has since removed the film from its program, issued an apology, and is now under criminal investigation for allegedly transferring funds to Hamas as part of the documentary’s production.
To further strengthen Israel in the “fight for international public opinion,” Sa’ar or a senior Foreign Ministry official are holding weekly press conferences at the ministry with top global media outlets, says the Foreign Ministry.
The ministry has also established “a network of pro-Israel influencers and spokespersons” to advocate for Israel on social media and other online platforms and plans to launch “additional projects” in “the near future” to fight media bias against Israel.
The new initiatives follow an announcement made after Sa’ar assumed his position last November that the Foreign Ministry would receive a budgetary increase of NIS 545 million ($146 million) for efforts to improve Israel’s public diplomacy abroad.
Moroccan man handed two-year jail term after praising terror attack in Israel
A Moroccan Islamist activist has been sentenced to two years in prison for “incitement to hatred” over social media posts praising a terror attack in Israel, his lawyer says.
Redouane El Kastit, a member of the banned but tolerated Al Adl Wal Ihssane movement, was sentenced by a court in Tangier late Monday, his lawyer Mohamed Serroukh tells AFP.
El Kastit was arrested on February 5 and charged with “incitement to hatred,” “discrimination,” and “insulting a public body” after about 15 posts he made on Facebook, his lawyer says.
According to the prosecution, the posts described a late-January stabbing of five people in Tel Aviv by a Moroccan national as the start of a “blessed racist campaign.”
El Kastit denies making the posts on social media, the lawyer adds.
He was also accused of posting a photo of the attacker and praising his Moroccan identity.
“The court considered this an endorsement of a terrorist act,” Serroukh says.
The lawyer says he will appeal the “harsh ruling.”
US resumes military aid to Ukraine as Kyiv says open to 30-day ceasefire with Russia
The Trump administration says it will immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and its intelligence sharing with Kyiv, more than a week after imposing the measures to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces.
The announcement came at talks between Ukraine and the United States in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine also says it is open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, subject to Kremlin agreement.
White House says Columbia University activist detained for distributing ‘pro-Hamas propaganda’
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil on the Columbia University campus in New York at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest encampment on April 29, 2024. (Ted Shaffrey/AP)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says a Columbia University anti-Israel activist was detained for deportation due to support for the Hamas terrorist group.
Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia and a lead protest organizer on the campus, was detained on Saturday by federal authorities and is being held pending legal proceedings in New York.
“Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges and he took advantage of that opportunity by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists,” Leavitt says at a press briefing.
“This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus, but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda fliers,” Leavitt says.
Khalil attended a protest last week at Barnard College, a Columbia affiliate, during which activists handed out pamphlets from the “Hamas media office.”
“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” Leavitt says.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to revoke the green card or visa of an alien whose presence or activity in the US “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” she says.
Leavitt repeats Trump’s stated plan for arresting more foreign protesters but says she does not have an estimate on the number of planned arrests.
The Department of Homeland Security is gathering intelligence on potential targets, she says.
Columbia has been given names of other individuals who have “engaged in pro-Hamas activity” but is refusing to help federal authorities locate the suspects, she adds.
Sa’ar: Israel open to achieving Gaza war goals through negotiations, but will return to fighting if needed
Speaking to ABC News, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that Israel “conveyed our thoughts” to the Donald Trump administration about US officials holding direct talks with Hamas last week.
He says that Israel is still open to achieving its war aims in Gaza through negotiations.
“If we can achieve our goals in political means, okay, very good,” he says.
“But if we will not be able to do that, we will have to resume our military activity.”
IDF chief Zamir tours Nevatim Airbase, receives briefing on Air Force’s wartime activities
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, March 11, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured the Nevatim Airbase earlier today with the chief of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.
Zamir was briefed on the IAF’s activities during the war, as well as the lessons drawn from its investigations into the October 7 onslaught, the military says.
“We have an excellent Air Force, based on excellent soldiers and commanders, and on an outstanding Air Force commander who led the IAF to tremendous achievements,” Zamir says in the statement.
Iran’s president says no to negotiations with US, tells Trump to ‘do whatever the hell you want’
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses members of parliament, during impeachment proceedings against the country's finance minister in Tehran on March 2, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran will not negotiate with the US while being threatened, telling President Donald Trump to “do whatever the hell you want,” Iranian state media reports.
“It is unacceptable for us that they [the US] give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you. Do whatever the hell you want,” state media quotes Pezeshkian as saying.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Tehran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after Trump said he had sent a letter urging Iran to engage in talks on a new nuclear deal.
While expressing openness to a deal with Tehran, Trump has reinstated the “maximum pressure” campaign he applied in his first term as president to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports down toward zero.
Israel offers assistance to Argentina in wake of deadly floods
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar offers Argentina assistance after deadly floods in the port city of Bahia Blanca, southwest of the capital Buenos Aires.
In a post on X, Sa’ar says he spoke with his Argentine counterpart Gerardo Werthein, and expressed “condolences for the victims and offered Israel’s assistance.”
“Israel stands with Argentina during these difficult days,” says Sa’ar.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also posts his condolences to Argentina’s President Javier Milei.
“On behalf of all Israelis, I send my heartfelt condolences to you and the families of those who tragically perished in Bahía Blanca following the horrific floods,” writes Netanyahu on X.
Ya’alon says Netanyahu’s decision to sue him shows PM is ‘feeling the pressure’ of investigations into his staff
Former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon at a protest in Petah Tikva, June 26, 2023.(Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to sue him for alleging that he received money from Qatar shows that the premier “is feeling the pressure” of the investigations into ties between Qatar and members of the Prime Minister’s Office.
“I hear that Hamas’s financier intends to sue me,” says Ya’alon, referring to the millions of dollars sent to Hamas by Doha each month in the years leading up to October 7, 2023, with Netanyahu’s blessing. “Someone is feeling the pressure of the Shin Bet investigation, which has been put under gag order.”
“The messianic, evasive, and corrupt government must be replaced as soon as possible, in order to save the country,” Ya’alon adds.
New judo facility named for slain IDF reservist Omer Smadga to open at Wingate Institute
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar (left) lays the cornerstone of a new judo facility named for slain IDF reservist Omer Smadga, at the Wingate Institute, March 11, 2025. (Wingate Institute)
A new judo hall named for IDF reservist Omer Smadga, who was killed fighting in Gaza last June, is in the works at Israel’s Wingate Institute.
Smadga, 25, was killed in a Hamas mortar attack in the central Gaza Strip on June 20, 2024. His father, Oren Smadga, is the head coach of Israel’s men’s judo team and flew to Paris for the 2024 Olympics just weeks after his son’s death.
Along with Smadga’s family and friends, the cornerstone laying ceremony for Wingate’s new Omer Hall was attended by Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar and the chair of the Olympic Committee of Israel, Yael Arad.
The ceremony was hosted by Israeli judoka and Olympic medalist Or “Ori” Sasson.
“Determination, unity and mutual responsibility are the legacy of Omar, who will forever be remembered,” says Zohar in brief remarks at the ceremony.
“I will not forget the moment when Oren [Smadga] and [bronze medalist] Peter [Paltchik] embraced each other after winning the medal in Paris. It was a distilled moment of the Israeli story. A sport that is all about controversy, faith, and determination that come together and lead to victory.”
According to the Wingate Institute, the new facility is expected to open in two years time.
IDF confirms second strike in southern Lebanon, says it targeted group of Hezbollah operatives
The IDF confirms carrying out a second airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier today, saying it targeted a group of Hezbollah operatives who were identified at a facility belonging to the terror group.
PM says he is suing former defense minister Ya’alon for ‘despicable lie’ about supposed ties to Qatar
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that he is suing his former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon for comments in which he suggested that the premier had received money from Qatar, amid an investigation into alleged ties between Doha and several officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
In an interview with Kan radio, Ya’alon suggested that there was “unproven intelligence information” from Emirati intelligence documents showing “that the prime minister also received $15 million in 2012, and in 2018 received $50 million from Qatar.”
Netanyahu, in a video posted to social media, accuses Ya’alon of spreading “a despicable lie” and warns that he has “decided not to be silent any longer.”
He claims that Ya’alon’s comments are part of a wider “campaign of threats of extortion” against himself and his family.” He says that it won’t stop him “from continuing to make the right decisions for the security of our country.”
“I’ll tell you this — I didn’t receive anything from Qatar, but I will receive from Bogie,” he says, referring to Ya’alon by his popular nickname. “This is just the beginning.”
Earlier today, a sweeping gag order was imposed on the high-profile probe investigating the alleged ties between PMO staff and Qatar.
IDF says target of southern Lebanon strike was commander in Hezbollah’s aerial defense unit
The IDF says the target of a drone strike in the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon today was a Hezbollah commander in the terror group’s aerial defense unit.
He is identified by the military as Hassan Abbas Izzedine. He was killed in the strike on a car.
The IDF says he was a “significant source of knowledge” in Hezbollah’s aerial defense unit and led attempts to rebuild the unit’s infrastructure that was targeted during the war.
Izzedine also worked to procure new equipment for the unit, which posed a threat to Israeli military aircraft, the IDF adds.
US looking to ‘resolve outstanding issues’ between Israel and Lebanon, says deputy Mideast envoy
After Israel announces it is opening negotiations with Lebanon on demarcating a border between the countries, US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus says the White House looks forward to convening talks quickly “to resolve outstanding issues.”
Her announcement comes after military-to-military talks in southern Lebanon between Israel, the US, France, and Lebanon, in which the parties agreed to open working groups on the border, the IDF deployment in Lebanon, and Lebanese detainees held in Israel, according to Israel and the US.
The US has been mediating between Israel and Lebanon — two countries officially at war — for “several weeks,” Axios reports.
A US official tells the outlet that talks on the three issues could begin next month.
In 2022, Israel and Lebanon negotiated a maritime demarcation line through US mediation.
Israel, Lebanon agree to hold talks on border disputes after meeting on issue in southern Lebanon
Israeli military vehicles cross a cement barrier on the border between Israel and the southern Lebanese village of Dhayra, on February 17, 2025 (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to hold talks on a number of issues including the IDF’s continued presence in five locations in southern Lebanon, and various border disputes, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
The decision to hold the talks was made during a four-way meeting held in southern Lebanon between the IDF, the United States, France, and Lebanon, the PMO says.
At the meeting in Naqoura, the sides agree to establish three joint working groups to focus on various issues. The first will look at the five points that Israel still occupies inside of Lebanon; the second will examine the Blue Line that marks the de facto border between Israel and Lebanon and the areas still under dispute; and the third will focus on Lebanese citizens held by Israel.
At the same time, Israel has agreed to release five Lebanese detainees as a “gesture to the new Lebanese president,” Joseph Aoun, says the PMO, adding that the release has been coordinated with the US.
Health Ministry announces probe of healthcare system’s performance during war
Health Ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov announces the formation of six professional teams to assess the actions of Israel’s healthcare system during the war with Hamas, Hebrew media reports.
The teams will analyze key aspects of the health system, including the ministry’s crisis management, logistical operations, emergency preparedness, and protection measures for hospitals and at-risk populations, Walla reports.
Mental health responses and long-term rehabilitation strategies for wounded individuals are also under review.
The findings are expected within three months, and Prof. Arnon Afek, a former director of Sheba’s General Hospital and dean of the new Reichman University Medical School, will manage and coordinate the work.
A new mass casualty evacuation procedure was also put in place early this year. “We want to ensure that next time we will be better prepared,” says Siman-Tov.
Police say raid of East Jerusalem bookshop came after caller reported ‘inciting content’ in books
A portion of the books that were examined by the Israel Police during a raid at the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem, on March 11, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
After police raided a prominent East Jerusalem bookshop earlier today for the second time in as many months, a spokesperson for the law enforcement body says that they did so after receiving a report from a caller who said he had seen “books containing inciting content” while browsing the shelves.
“Upon arrival at the scene, officers seized three books and temporarily detained an individual present at the location to verify his identity and the details of the store,” the police spokesperson says.
The spokesperson adds that police are receiving the confiscated books and weighing whether to “refer the matter to the State Attorney’s Office for further investigation into the suspected sale of inciting materials.”
The Educational Bookshop co-owner Mahmoud Muna told the Times of Israel earlier today that police had arrested his older brother Imad, who manages the store. He said that police did not present them with a court-issued search warrant.
Police detained Mahmoud and his nephew Ahmad last month after conducting a raid on the bookshop, accusing them of incitement and drawing protests from several diplomats and other figures in Jerusalem’s cultural scene.
Hezbollah operative killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, military source says
An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today killed a Hezbollah operative, according to a military source.
Lebanese media also reported one dead in the strike on a vehicle.
Another strike in southern Lebanon targeted Hezbollah operatives who were handling weapons, according to the source.
IDF says it carried out strike in southern Gaza after suspect spotted surveilling troops
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike earlier today against a terror operative in the southern Gaza Strip, after he was spotted carrying out surveillance on Israeli troops in the area.
The strike was carried out because the operative had “posed a threat,” the military adds.
An earlier airstrike in the central Gaza Strip targeted a group of suspects who the IDF says were apparently planting a bomb.
More than 3,500 people have left Gaza via Rafah Crossing since January 31, EU says
Paramedics and ambulances wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on January 18, 2025, to enter into Gaza once the ceasefire-hostage release deal comes into effect. (Photo by AFP)
Some 3,500 people have so far crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing since the European Union restarted its civilian mission to monitor the border crossing on January 31, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas tells the UN Security Council.
Among those who have crossed into Egypt are more than 2,000 people needing medical treatment, Kallas adds.
The crossing was shut to people leaving the Strip from May 2024 until the start of the ceasefire and hostage release deal in January 2025.
Air Canada blames ‘display issue’ after in-flight map of Israel relabeled as ‘Palestinian Territories’
After passengers on a recent Air Canada flight discovered that Israel had been removed from the in-flight interactive map and relabeled as the Palestinian Territories, the Canadian flag carrier says that the change is the result of a “display issue.”
“Air Canada has been made aware of a display issue with the interactive map on the IFE systems of its B737 aircraft,” it says in response to an image posted on X of the altered flight map.
“The issue has affected other carriers using the same system and we are working with the third-party provider on a remedy,” it adds.
Last September, passengers noticed a similar change had been made to the interactive maps aboard a JetBlue flight. The airline similarly said that the map had been provided by a third party company, and decided “after a careful review” to switch to a new map vendor.
Air Canada has been made aware of a display issue with the interactive map on the IFE systems of its B737 aircraft. The issue has affected other carriers using the same system and we are working with the third-party provider on a remedy.
— Air Canada (@AirCanada) March 10, 2025
Hamas showing some ‘readiness’ to agree to long extension of ceasefire, Israeli source says
There is some “readiness” on the part of Hamas to agree to a long extension of the ceasefire without moving to the second phase of the deal with Israel, an Israeli source with knowledge of the details tells The Times of Israel.
Hamas would likely demand the release of senior terrorists being held by Israel, says the source as talks on the deal take place in Doha.
The source says that there is a “gap” between the US and Israeli delegations’ expectations from the talks in Qatar, and their decision-making abilities: While US President Donald Trump will send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, someone who can make decisions, the Israeli delegation — while relatively senior — is not empowered to make decisions.
A reported but unconfirmed proposal by Witkoff would see Hamas release 10 living hostages, including American-Israeli Edan Alexander, in exchange for a further 60 days of ceasefire.
Syrian president says country trying to respond to Israeli actions with ‘patience and wisdom’
This grab from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Photo by Syrian Presidency / AFP)
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says he’s trying to respond to Israeli moves in Syria with “patience and wisdom.”
Speaking to Reuters, Sharaa rejects Israeli accusations that his new government poses a threat to Israel. Israel has occupied a buffer zone along the border and vowed to keep southern Syria demilitarized. Israeli leaders have also kept up a strident verbal campaign against Sharaa, calling him an “al-Qaeda terrorist.”
Israel has also carried out a series of strikes to destroy much of the Syrian army’s military equipment.
“We are trying to use patience and wisdom as much as possible. If there are fears, we have announced from the first moments that Syria will not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world. And if there are expansionist motives, the entire world agreed with Syria to condemn Israel’s steps in advancing on Syrian territory,” he says.
In response to Israeli accusations that his forces could carry out a cross-border attack into Israel, he said: “I mean, a delusional person can say whatever they want. Every person can imagine that he is suffering from some danger and carry out a preemptive strike and kill. But that is not justifiable.”
Gal Gadot reveals new details of emergency surgery for blood clots in brain
Gal Gadot arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Israeli actress Gal Gadot reveals new details on the emergency surgery she underwent last year for blood clots on the brain.
Gadot first spoke in December of the ordeal that occurred when she was eight months’ pregnant with her fourth daughter Ori, now one.
Appearing on the Jimmy Fallon show to promote her new film “Snow White,” Gadot gives further details of her “huge scare.”
“All of a sudden, I realized what it means to be scared to death,” she says, adding that she was talking about the incident to bring awareness to maybe help others with similar symptoms.
“I had a brain clot and it was a huge one. Like three, I had three,” she says, joking that “when I do something, I do it all the way.”
Gadot says she had “major headaches for three weeks.”
“I was seeing doctors and different neurologists and you’ve got to advocate for your health,” she says, recounting how doctors dismissed her concerns as “migraines or hormones.”
She says that after three weeks her mother convinced her to do an MRI.
“We did, they found out this horrible thing and we were rushed to the hospital,” she says. “And they got the baby out immediately. I went through a thrombectomy.”
She gives a shout out to Cedar Sinai hospital, saying that “they saved my life.”
IDF confirms Gaza strike on suspects threatening troops
The IDF confirms it carried out a drone strike in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians said four people were killed.
The military says the strike was ordered “after terrorists were spotted acting in a suspicious manner on land in central Gaza and they posed a threat to troops.”
Palestinians say four killed in IDF strike in Gaza City
Women mourn during the funeral for a person killed in an Israeli strike in Bureij in the Gaza Strip on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
An Israeli air strike killed four Palestinians in Gaza, the territory’s Hamas-affiliated civil emergency service says.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Earlier, the agency said four people were killed by Israeli fire and another 14 wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.
LSE refuses to cancel launch of Hamas ‘propaganda’ book
Hamas fighters are deployed in Rafah ahead of the planned release of two among six Israeli hostages set to be handed over to the Red Cross, Gaza Strip, on February 22, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)
The London School of Economics is refusing to cancel the planned launch of a book that has been accused of providing a platform for the Hamas terror group, the UK’s The Times reports.
About 100 members of the Jewish community took part in a protest at the university last night where a talk was taking place by authors Helena Cobban and Rami George Khouri on their book “Understanding Hamas: And Why That Matters.”
Last week Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely sent a letter to the school saying that “there can be no place for platforming Hamas propaganda.”
At the talk, Cobban argued that Hamas, which actively calls for the destruction of Israel and has carried out hundreds of deadly attacks, had been “systematically misrepresented” in history, the Times reported.
The book also says that the group has been subjected to “intense vilification” that had intensified since the October 7 attacks, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel and took another 251 hostages.
In her letter, Hotovely said she was “deeply concerned that the event is providing a platform for propaganda — a terror organization proscribed under United Kingdom law.
“I worry that promoting such a book, which sympathizes with and justifies the survival and existence of Hamas, will only serve to grow support for a brutal terror organization among your students and beyond.”
The university said the book launch could go ahead, citing its commitment to “free speech and freedom of expression.”
Police again raid prominent East Jerusalem bookshop
A small group of demonstrators protests the arrest of East Jerusalem booksellers Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna on February 10, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Police again raid a prominent East Jerusalem bookshop whose Palestinian owners were briefly detained last month in an incident that sparked an international outcry.
Speaking to The Times of Israel today, Educational Bookshop co-owner Mahmoud Muna says police arrested his older brother Imad, who also manages the store. He adds that police did not present them with a court-issued search warrant.
Police detained Mahmoud and his nephew Ahmad after conducting a raid on the bookshop last month, accusing them of incitement and drawing protests from a several diplomats and other figures in Jerusalem’s cultural scene.
There is no immediate comment from police.
At Tel Hai memorial ceremony, Herzog promises that northern Israel will be fully rehabilitated
President Isaac Herzog speaks at the state memorial ceremony for the defenders who fell in the 1920 Battle of Tel Hai, March 11, 2025 (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
Northern Israel will be entirely rebuilt, promises President Isaac Herzog at the memorial ceremony for those who fell in the 1920 Battle of Tel Hai near the Lebanon border.
“I know that we still face enormous challenges,” says Herzog, referring to the widespread destruction of homes and communities during the conflict with Hezbollah that began on October 8, 2023..
“But I have no doubt that we can overcome them and rebuild everything – down to the last furrow. I have no doubt that the north will once again flourish and prosper; and will become a space of security, of hope, of a model for the revival of Israel after long months of fighting,” he says.
The memorial commemorates eight Jewish defenders of the border outpost who were killed in a battle with a Shiite Arab militia, including commander Joseph Trumpeldor who became a seminal figure in Zionist folklore.
Israel, says Herzog, owes the modern-day residents of the north a debt for their resilience and determination to continue working their lands in the face of months of attack.
“We pledge to do everything to continue to repay the supreme moral, Israeli and human debt,” says the president, “to return home all the hostages – civilians and soldiers – to the very last of them.”
Lapid presents alterative economic plan, says government pushing country into crisis
Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 11, 2025.(Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid presents an alternative economic plan, saying the government was pushing Israel into an economic crisis.
“The current [economic] crisis stems from reckless and incompetent management. It is driven by unprecedented levels of political bribery, harm to the judicial system, and an unprofessional and unfocused approach by the government,” Lapid says in a post on X.
“Israel needs responsible, pragmatic, and efficient economic management—one that is fact-based and prioritizes the Israeli middle class, with a focus on young families,” writes Lapid.
The 26-step “Economic Rescue Plan,” as outlined on Lapid’s Yesh Atid faction website, has two main goals – cutting coalition funding and decreasing the number of government ministries to “a maximum of 18,” and lowering middle-class taxes to “encourage economic growth.”
The program lists several key measures, including investing in the high-tech industry, creating a ministry to reduce the cost of living, supporting small businesses, improving the education and healthcare systems, integrating Haredi men and Arab women into the workforce, and encouraging immigration to Israel.
The plan also includes several national projects such as an affordable housing plan for young families and a reformed defense budget for the IDF.
Extremist settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in West Bank village
Settler extremist forcibly takes the phone of an Israeli activist before smashing it, in the Palestinian village of Hraibat a-Nabi, located in the West Bank's South Hebron Hills on March 11, 2025. (Screenshot/X)
Israeli settler extremists attacked Palestinian residents of the southern West Bank village Hraibat a-Nabi this morning, according to Palestinian media and Israeli activists.
Around 15 assailants from a nearby outpost in the South Hebron Hills reportedly beat and pepper-sprayed Palestinians and Israeli activists who were staying in the village.
Beyond the Herd, an Israeli activist group that supports Palestinian villages targeted by settler violence, says the settlers attacked four activists, pelted their car with stones and punctured its tires with knives.
In a video shared by the group, one of the masked settlers can be seen grabbing an activist’s phone and smashing it on the ground. A camera was also reportedly stolen by the assailants.
Activists say that they called the police, but that IDF and officers called to the scene refused to intervene.
“Throughout the attack, police officers stood just meters away, conversing with the settlers and refusing to intervene even as the attackers fled back to the outpost,” the group writes on social media. They further claim that soldiers arrested a Palestinian resident of the village for allegedly having stolen a donkey from one of the settlers.
Knesset committee head finalizes draft of controversial bill to change Judicial Selection Committee
MK Simcha Rotman speaks during a House Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 11, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash9)
Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman sends a final version of a controversial judicial overhaul law, which would change the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee and how it appoints judges, to members of his committee, ahead of votes to send it to the Knesset plenum.
Committee members can send objections to the bill by 3 p.m. today, and a date will then be announced to begin voting on the bill in committee for approval for its final readings in the Knesset.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the Constitution Committee’s legal adviser have both strongly criticized the bill, saying it would politicize the judicial selection process and thereby politicize the judiciary as a whole and undermine its independence.
These officials have also panned a deadlock-breaking mechanism for appointing justices to the Supreme Court if the Judicial Selection Committee cannot come to an agreement over such appointments, saying it would severely polarize the court and enable the appointment of extreme figures to Israel’s top court.
Three former Supreme Court presidents, Dorit Beinisch, Esther Hayut and Uzi Vogelman, have all denounced the legislation.
Despite the criticism, and proposals by the attorney general and the Constitution Committee’s legal adviser to modify the legislation, almost no changes were made to the initial draft of the bill in the version sent to committee members.
Rothman, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and other proponents of the bill argue that the judiciary has too much control over judicial appointments and that by giving politicians greater control the measure would redress what they say is this imbalance.
Kibbutz Be’eri dental clinic, where 5 were murdered on Oct. 7, demolished
Magen David Adom paramedic and paramedic course instructor Amit Mann was murdered by Hamas terrorists who stormed the clinic in Kibbutz Be'eri where she was treating the wounded on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy of MDA)
A dental clinic at Kibbutz Be’eri in which Hamas gunmen murdered five people on October 7, 2023, is demolished after discussion between kibbutz members.
The clinic became an ad hoc triage center during the Hamas assault as several wounded people were treated by Dr. Daniel Levi and paramedic Amit Mann.
Levi and Mann were murdered along with three members of the kibbutz security team.
The Tekuma Directorate tasked by the government with rehabilitating the Gaza border area says a building with a kindergarten and an educational innovation center will be constructed on the site and that a new community health center including a dental clinic will be built elsewhere on the kibbutz.
Court slaps sweeping gag order on probe of ties between Qatar and top aides in Netanyahu’s office
Demonstrators protest for the release of hostages in Gaza and against the government, with a sign referencing suspicions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's advisers worked for Qatar, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, February 15, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issues a sweeping gag order on the investigation being conducted by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit into alleged ties between Qatar and officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The gag order, in effect for 30 days, includes publishing any details of the investigation including actions such as the questioning of suspects and the findings of such interrogations.
The court also stipulates that details cannot be published on social media in addition to the press, and that Israeli media cannot quote any details of the investigation published by foreign media, cannot direct media consumers to such reports, or even allude in any way to the details of the investigation.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered an investigation last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar.”
This followed revelations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli Feldstein, who has been charged with harming national security in a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF documents, worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories.
Ukraine-US talks begin in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian and US officials began talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia where Ukraine is expected to present the United States with a plan for a partial ceasefire with Russia.
An AFP journalist at the scene reported that the talks had begun, while the Ukrainian foreign ministry posts on social media that “a meeting of Ukrainian and American delegations begins in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
IDF troops kill 3 gunmen, wound 1 in West Bank raid; 10 arrested
Palestinian shopkeepers look as Israeli armored vehicles drive by during a raid in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin amid a weeks-long operation in the West Bank on March 4, 2025. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
The Israel Defense Forces says that troops operating in the northern West Bank killed three gunmen and wounded another one in an early-morning raid.
The military says that troops, working together with police special forces and Shin Bet agents, “encountered a number of armed terrorists who had barricaded themselves in a building in Jenin, and after an exchange of fire, they killed two of the terrorists and wounded another terrorist.”
In a separate incident, also in Jenin, troops from the Duvdevan unit killed a gunman who opened fire on them.
The army says 10 other gunmen were arrested including a senior leader in the Jenin area.
In addition, troops located two vehicles in Jenin that contained weapons and were intended to be used to carry out attacks and destroyed them, the army says.
There were no injuries to Israeli forces.
The raid comes amid a weekslong Israeli operation in the West Bank, dubbed the “Iron Wall.”
PA forces said to kill terror group commander in West Bank
A member of the Palestinian Authority security forces stands at a traffic circle in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank, December 29, 2024. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
Palestinian Authority security forces killed a senior member of the Jenin Battalion in the northern West Bank city last night, says Palestinian media.
Hamas condemned the assassination of Abdel Rahman Abu Muna this morning, calling it a “dangerous escalation” by the West Bank-based PA.
Hebrew media cites a PA spokesman who claims that Abu Muna reportedly opened fire on Palestinian security forces, who returned fire and killed him.
In December, PA forces launched a military operation against the Jenin Battalion — a local militia linked to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.
The IDF began its own raids on the city in late January, announcing a large-scale operation dubbed “Iron Wall” which has since expanded to refugee camps near Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas. PA forces maintain their presence in Jenin.
Ramallah has struggled to exert control over the northern West Bank, particularly in refugee camps in and around Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem.
IDF to test warning sirens in two West Bank settlements
The IDF says it will test warning sirens in two West Bank settlements.
Sirens will sound at 10:05 in Kfar Tapuah and at 10:35 in Nofei Nehemia.
The IDF says that in the event of a real incident, a second siren will sound.
Palestinian steals vehicle and crashes into IDF base, wounding one, and is arrested after chase
A Palestinian man from Jenin who was in Israel illegally stole a vehicle and crashed it into a checkpoint outside an IDF base in central Israel before being arrested, police say.
The suspect, described by police as being in his 20s, stole a car from the Tel Aviv area and moderately wounded a man in his 20s when he crashed it into a barrier next to the Tzrifin IDF base, south of Ben Gurion Airport.
Police say that officers pursued the vehicle until the man was apprehended in Ramle, not far from the base.
According to a report in the Ynet news site, the suspect crashed through the checkpoint and drove inside the base for several minutes before returning to the checkpoint and hitting the young man. Despite this he was still not apprehended until after he had left the base.
Ynet identified the wounded Israeli as an IDF soldier, and said he was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar condemn Israel’s Gaza electricity cut
Palestinians gather around a fire to keep warm in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on March 10, 2025, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia and Qatar condemn Israel’s decision to cut electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip, urging the international community to take action.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry expresses “condemnation in the strongest terms,” while a Qatari statement called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Israel says it has taken the move in bid to pressure the Hamas terror group to move ahead with a ceasefire agreement.
Australian police arrest 14 members of organized crime ring linked to antisemitic attacks
A member of the Jewish community reads messages attached to a fence where flowers have been left at the Adass Israel Synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea on December 9, 2024. (Martin Keep / AFP)
Australian police say they have charged 14 members of an organized crime ring accused of menacing the country with attacks dressed up as antisemitic hate crimes.
Jewish neighborhoods in Sydney city have in recent months seen synagogues daubed in antisemitic graffiti, buildings firebombed in the dead of night and cars torched by vandals.
Although the crime wave stoked fears about rising antisemitic in Australia, police said they no longer believed many of these incidents were driven by “ideology.”
Instead, police said it appeared to be an attempt by organized criminals to gain favor by carrying out high-profile attacks — and then tipping off authorities later.
New South Wales Police said today that 14 people had been arrested and charged with 65 offences, including taking part in a “criminal group,” arson and destroying property.
“None of the individuals we have arrested… have displayed any form of antisemitic ideology,” NSW Police deputy commissioner David Hudson said yesterday evening after a series of raids.
“I think these organized crime figures have taken an opportunity to play off the vulnerability of the Jewish community,” he added.
IDF confirms overnight strikes in south Syria, saying it hit radar and military sites
The military confirms overnight airstrikes in southern Syria, saying the Israeli Air Force hit “radar systems and detection equipment used to build an aerial intelligence picture,” along with “headquarters and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria.”
It says that “the presence of these assets in southern Syria poses a threat to the State of Israel and to IDF operations. These targets were attacked to eliminate future threats.”
Ukraine launches major drone attack targeting Moscow, Russia says
Ukraine targeted the Russian capital early this morning in what seemed to be the biggest drone attack so far, forcing the closure of two of the airports serving the city, sparking fires and damaging houses, officials and media say.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says that at least 60 drones were destroyed on approach towards the city.
“At the moment, the roof of a building in Moscow has been slightly damaged by falling debris from a downed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle),” Sobyanin says in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
In an earlier post, he said there were no injuries, according to preliminary reports.
Moscow and its surrounding region, with a population of at least 21 million, is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe, alongside Istanbul.
Baza, a news Telegram channel that is close to Russia’s security services, and other Russian news Telegram channels, posted videos of several residential fires around Moscow that they say were sparked by the attacks.
Heads of 10 Israeli colleges: Attempt to fire AG is ‘a call to dismantle the rule of law’
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Isaac Amit as president of the Supreme Court, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Ten heads of Israeli colleges have followed university presidents in declaring that they will launch major protest actions if the government should dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Their letter comes after presidents of Israel’s eight research universities warned Sunday that their institutions will go on strike if the government fires Baharav-Miara. Justice Minister Yariv Levin began the lengthy process of removing the attorney general from her post last week, accusing her of having politicized her office and repeatedly thwarting the will of the government.
The college presidents say Levin’s plan represented “a significant and fundamental threat to the rule of law in Israel and to Israel’s status as a liberal democracy.”
“A government that seeks to dismiss the person prosecuting its leader is taking action intended to intimidate all watchdogs. The call by ministers and members of the Knesset to dismiss the attorney general under the current circumstances is, in practice, a call to dismantle the rule of law,” they say.
US judge freezes deportation of Palestinian activist as court considers legal challenge
A federal judge in New York City has ordered that Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil not be deported while the court considers a legal challenge brought by his lawyers.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Khalil, a lawful US resident who was a graduate student at Columbia until December, was detained Saturday by federal immigration agents in New York and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana.
Khalil helped lead anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. President Trump has said he will be the first “of many to come” as his administration cracks down on campus demonstrations against Israel and the war in Gaza.
UN Security Council to meet over Iran’s growing stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium
The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss the situation in the Middle East on November 20, 2024, at UN headquarters in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats say.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members — France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran,” diplomats say.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Syria Kurd forces chief says agreement with Sharaa ‘real opportunity’ to build new Syria
The head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says that an accord reached with the new leaders in Damascus is a “real opportunity to build a new Syria.”
“We are committed to building a better future that guarantees the rights of all Syrians and fulfills their aspirations for peace and dignity,” Mazloum Abdi says in a post on X.
The Syrian presidency announced earlier an agreement with the SDF to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government.
Rubio and Saudi Arabia’s MBS discussed Gaza reconstruction in Riyadh
Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Royal Palace grounds in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 10, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the “reconstruction of Gaza” during their meeting in Riyadh earlier today, the State Department says in its readout.
Rubio thanked the Saudi leader for “hosting Arab countries,” the State Department says in an apparent reference to the summit Riyadh hosted for Arab leaders last month to prepare for another confab held in Cairo last week, where Egypt unveiled its plan for the post-war management of Gaza.
The Trump administration has called the plan a good start, while indicating that it doesn’t sufficiently address Hamas’s role, which Washington wants to be non-existent.
Rubio “reiterated [to MBS] the United States’ firm commitment that any solution to the situation in Gaza must not include any role for Hamas,” the US readout adds.
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