Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they unfolded.
Trump says he still has ‘great relationship’ with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
US President Donald Trump says he still has a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he held several summits during his first term, and refers to North Korea once again as a “nuclear power.”
Asked by reporters during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte whether he has plans to reestablish relations with Kim, Trump said: “I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, and we’ll see what happens, but certainly he’s a nuclear power.”
On January 20, when he was inaugurated for his second term, Trump said North Korea was a “nuclear power,” raising questions about whether he would pursue arms reduction talks rather than denuclearization negotiations in any re-engagement with Pyongyang.
Ex-Shin Bet chief says he is sitting on trove of incriminating information about Netanyahu; PM accuses him of blackmail
Then-Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend an awards ceremony at the Shin Bet's headquarters in Tel Aviv honoring agents who excelled in intelligence operations in 2017 and 2018, on December 4, 2018. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
During a wide-ranging interview with Channel 12 that aired earlier this evening, former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman says he is sitting on a trove of information regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he will share with the public someday if he deems it necessary.
He had hinted earlier in the interview at disagreements he had with the premier during his tenure from 2016 to 2021 — in particular, surrounding the matter of Qatari money being allowed into the Gaza Strip — but says toward the end that he is “currently keeping everything that happened between myself and the prime minister” out of the public sphere.
But, he says, “it’s quite clear that I have a great deal of knowledge, which I can put to use.”
Pushed to clarify, Argaman says that, “If the State of Israel or if I come to the conclusion that the prime minister has decided that he is going to act in contradiction to the law, then I will not have a choice and I will say everything I know and have withheld myself from saying until today.”
In response to Argaman’s comments, Netanyahu accuses the former Shin Bet chief of blackmail.
“Tonight, another dangerous red line was crossed for Israeli democracy,” the PMO says. “Never, in the entire history of Israel, and the history of democracy, has the former head of a secret service carried out blackmail against a sitting prime minister on live television.”
“The criminal mafia-style threats will not deter me,” says Netanyahu. “I will do whatever is necessary to ensure Israel’s security.”
Netanyahu also turns on the current Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, whom he has reportedly been preparing to fire, and accuses him of also taking part in a blackmail campaign against him “through media briefings in recent days.”
“The only goal is to try and prevent me from making the decisions needed to restore the Shin Bet after its abysmal failure on October 7,” says the premier.
The Shin Bet pushes back against the “serious accusation” of blackmail.
“Shin Bet head Ronen Bar devotes all of his time to security matters, efforts to recover the hostages, and the defense of democracy,” the security agency says. “Any statement to the contrary is devoid of any truth.”
Ex-Shin Bet chief says PM ‘bought peace in Gaza with Qatari money,’ but always knew it would backfire someday
Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman in a television interview aired March 13, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman, who served in the post from May 2016 until October 2021, asserts that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to “buy peace [in Gaza] with Qatari money,” even though it was clear that the strategy would eventually backfire.
Argaman, during a wide-ranging interview with Channel 12, says that Netanyahu decided in 2018 to allow Qatari money into the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority cut off funding to Hamas, leaving Israel fearful of unrest in the coastal enclave.
“The State of Israel wanted peace in the Gaza Strip and was looking for ways to bring in the money, and they chose Qatar because Qatar agreed to it,” Argaman says, adding that he believed the idea to be a “very serious mistake” from the get-go.
He says that Netanyahu nevertheless went ahead with the plan, despite the security service’s stance, as “the strategy of his government was peace in the Gaza Strip.”
“We bought peace with Qatari money — it was clear to everyone that this would backfire on us one day,” he says. “The prime minister knew, the cabinet knew, the issues were presented more than once or twice.”
He acknowledges, however, that the Shin Bet, as well as the IDF, “should have done everything in their power to stop the Qatari funds” from flowing into Gaza.
Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman in a television interview aired March 13, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
During the interview, Argaman also touches on the ongoing investigation — which has been placed under a sweeping gag order — into ties between members of the Prime Minister’s Office and Doha, and allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars had flowed from Qatar to figures linked to the premier.
Asked whether the alleged ties, should they be proven to be true, could have occurred without Netanyahu’s knowledge, Argaman says the prime minister “knows everything that happens in his office, nothing happens without his approval.”
“I think the first person who should have jumped to demanding a Shin Bet investigation…into whether there were Qatari ties to the prime minister’s office, is the prime minister himself,” says the ex-Shin Bet chief.
Argaman doesn’t hide his distaste for the Qatari government during the interview, telling Channel 12 that he believes forging ties with Doha is akin to “dancing with the devil.”
“Qatar is part of the Shiite axis,” he says of the majority Sunni nation. “They’re the ones that allowed Hamas to build its terrorist army in the Gaza Strip. If, god forbid, it managed to gain control of the Prime Minister’s Office, it would mean that it influences the prime minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the State of Israel’s policy toward Hamas in general, and the hostage deal specifically.”
“That sounds to me like a catastrophe, and I hope that there’s nothing true about it,” he says of the allegations.
Argaman also tells Channel 12 that he believes the ongoing investigation into his office is the reason that Netanyahu has yet to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, as doing so could be flagged as a conflict of interest.
He urges Bar to hold off on resigning over the failures leading up to the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught — although he says Bar should eventually do so — as he does not believe Netanyahu would make an apolitical decision regarding his successor.
“I am extremely afraid of the possibility that an appointment made by this government, an appointment made by this prime minister, could be a political appointment,” Argaman says.
PM’s office denies report that Israel has withdrawn demand for Hamas’s exile from Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denies a news report that Israel recognizes that Hamas leaders will never accept exile from Gaza, and is no longer insisting on that as part of its demands for an end to the war.
“Fake news once again,” says the Prime Minister’s Office. “In contrast to the false report from Channel 12 this evening, the exile of senior Hamas officials has not been taken off the agenda.”
FM Sa’ar holds closed-door meeting with Greek prime minister in Athens
Cap: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (R) meets with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens, March 13, 2025. (Shlomi Amselam/Foreign Ministry)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar concluded a short while ago “a lengthy one-on-one meeting” in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Sa’ar’s office says in a statement.
Sa’ar arrived in Greece earlier today for trilateral meetings with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in an effort to bolster the “Hellenic Alliance” between the three Mediterranean countries.
The prime ministers of Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are set to hold a tripartite summit later this month, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Following the meeting with the prime minister, Sa’ar participated in a ritual reading of the Scroll of Esther on the Jewish holiday of Purim, alongside the leaders of the Jewish community in Athens, says the Foreign Ministry.
Sa’ar slams UN report on Gaza war, warns against Iran nuclear program in Athens visit
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (L) at a trilateral summit in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis (C) and Cypriot Foreign Minister Kostantinos Kombos, March 13, 2025. (Shlomi Amselam/Foreign Ministry)
On a visit to Athens, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemns a United Nations report accusing Israel of “genocidal acts” in Gaza and warns against Tehran’s plans to obtain nuclear weapons, according to Sa’ar’s office.
“Today, we witnessed an unbelievable blood libel,” Sa’ar says of the UN report during a trilateral summit with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts.
The report, which alleges that Israel systematically destroyed Gazan healthcare facilities and used sexual violence as a war strategy, was also rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, women’s groups, and Israel’s mission to the UN, who said that the document attempted to equate the IDF’s conduct in Gaza with the horrific acts of sexual violence committed by Palestinian terrorists during the Hamas-led atrocities on October 7, 2023.
In further remarks, Sa’ar emphasizes that Tehran is “more desperate than ever” to develop nuclear weapons, “especially following the severe blows inflicted by Israel on Iranian proxies across the Middle East.”
The comments come as US President Donald Trump pushes for nuclear talks with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The foreign minister also updates his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, Giorgos Gerapetritis and Kostantinos Kombos, on an Israeli Air Force strike in Damascus today targeting a terrorist command center of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The three foreign ministers agree to hold a monthly consultation, establish a joint committee of foreign ministry directors-general to enhance economic relations, and to coordinate an upcoming summit between the leaders of the three nations, adds Sa’ar’s office.
‘I am Omer Shem Tov and I am free!’: Released hostage takes down banner calling for his release
Released hostage Omer Shem Tov (center) stands with Itay (L) and Maya Regev as he addresses a crowd gathered to watch him take down a banner calling for his release, Herzliya, March 13, 2025. (Adar Eyal/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Released hostages Omer Shem Tov takes down a banner calling for his release that has been displayed in his hometown of Herzliya since his abduction from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Shem Tov, who was released on February 22, after 505 days in captivity, is joined at the ceremony by siblings Maya and Itay Regev, who were freed from captivity during a weeklong truce in November 2023 and whose names are emblazoned on the banner alongside his.
“The last time I stood on a stage was the Hamas stage, so forgive me if I’m excited about this occasion,” Shem Tov says with a broad smile, to laughter from the crowd gathered around him at the so-called “Dancers Roundabout” in Herzliya.
“If anyone wants a kiss on the head, they can come over here,” he adds, referring to the moment in his release when he was directed to kiss two of the masked Hamas gunmen on the top of their heads.
עומר שם טוב בהצהרה: "אני חופשי, לרגע לא איבדתי תקווה. עכשיו אני פה בשביל מי שנשארו מאחור – חייבים להחזיר את כולם"https://t.co/DXAo11pmXn@danzilb pic.twitter.com/oCUAPGWs8f
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) March 13, 2025
His mother takes him up on the offer, and he kisses her forehead.
“I am Omer Shev Tov, and I am free!” he says to applause.
Israeli civilian hostage Omer Shem Tov, center, wearing an approximation of an IDF uniform, is flanked by armed Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in a propaganda ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
As the mood turns serious, he says: “I was abducted on October 7 and held hostage for 505 days.
“I didn’t lose hope for a moment,” he says. “I always believed that I would come home, even though there were difficult moments.
He says that after Itay Regev was released on November 29, 2023, his captors transferred him to a 40-meter tunnel where he was held alone, “with little food and no light,” for 50 days.
On the 50th day in the pitch-black tunnel, Shem Tov says he “prayed to God to get me out of there, because I couldn’t take it anymore.”
“After five minutes, my captor arrived, and told me I was being moved to a different tunnel,” he says.
He says that while alone in captivity, he would “imagine laying my head on my mother’s lap. I imagined us sitting in the living room watching a movie.”
“The daydream became a reality,” he says.
Netanyahu to meet on hostage talks Saturday night, as Witkoff seeks to extend ceasefire
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets then-US president-elect Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, at his office in Jerusalem, January 11, 2025. (Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene top aides and security chiefs on Saturday night for a situational assessment on the hostage talks in Doha, according to Hebrew media reports.
If no breakthrough is achieved by then, the reports say, Netanyahu will bring his negotiating team home.
Meanwhile, US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal for further hostage releases and an extended ceasefire, as set out during negotiations in Qatar, provides for five living and 10 dead hostages to be returned, Channel 12 reports.
The ceasefire would be extended for a further 42-50 days, and the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza would be resumed.
In the course of the extended ceasefire, discussions would take place on “final summations” — an apparent reference to the end of the war.
Israel, the Channel 12 report says, has demanded that a larger number of living hostages be freed.
Hamas, for its part, presented a demand that the US guarantee that there will be discussions on phase two of the current deal, which provides for the full withdrawal of the IDF and the end of the war.
If the sides cannot reach an agreement on the basis of the new Witkoff proposal, the report says the mediators are expected to push Israel and Hamas toward a smaller interim arrangement, under which a “solitary few” living hostages would be freed and the ceasefire maintained.
The purpose of the smaller arrangement would be to buy more time for negotiations and avoid the complete collapse of the talks and a return to the fighting.
“If there is no progress in the next 48 hours, the Israeli delegation will return to Israel,” it quotes a senior Israeli source as saying.
Channel 12 also says that Israel’s demand for Hamas leaders to go into exile is “off the agenda” given the “stubborn opposition” from Hamas’s leaders in Gaza. It quotes sources in Israel’s negotiating team saying this demand is not going to be raised as an option in the ongoing talks.
IDF confirms strike on Hezbollah weapons facility in northeastern Lebanon
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike against a Hezbollah “strategic weapons” manufacturing and storage facility in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley a short while ago.
“The IDF will continue to work to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” the military adds.
Lebanese media reports Israeli strike on Hezbollah facility in Beqaa Valley area
Lebanese media reports an Israeli airstrike in the Beqaa Valley area in northeastern Lebanon.
The target of the strike is reportedly a Hezbollah facility that has been hit several times by Israel in recent months.
The site has previously been described by the IDF as a “strategic weapons” manufacturing and storage facility belonging to the terror group. The IDF has previously targeted it after identifying Hezbollah activity there.
غارات إسرائيلية على منطقة جنتا عند الحدود اللبنانية السورية شرقي لبنان pic.twitter.com/M8JtYMcOmi
— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) March 13, 2025
US antisemitism task force to visit leadership of 4 major cities
The US Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism tells the leaders of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston that the task force will visit to “discuss their responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses” over the past two years.
The task force plans to meet with mayors, district attorneys, local law enforcement, students and community members, the US Department of Justice says in a statement.
“Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023,” says US Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Actions have consequences – inaction does, too.”
The statement says the visits will happen soon without providing a date.
The visits are part of a broader crackdown on antisemitism by the Trump administration that has mostly focused on college campuses.
The task force has also announced plans to visit 10 campuses around the country to discuss antisemitism, including some in the cities the group will visit, such as Columbia University in New York City and Harvard University, outside of Boston.
Families of hostages express ‘serious concern’ over reported US outline for Gaza truce extension
The families of the Gaza hostages have been left with “serious concerns” amid reports that US special envoy Steve Witkoff has presented a new proposal to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip by several weeks in exchange for five living and nine slain hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum says.
“The reports about the outline for the return of just a few hostages raise serious concerns among the families of the hostages that their loved ones will be left in captivity for a long and undetermined length of time,” the forum says.
The forum demands a “comprehensive and immediate agreement that will return all 59 hostages in one fell swoop and leave nobody behind.”
“Otherwise, the living hostages who remain in the tunnels will be sentenced to death, and we will not be able to locate and return the dead for burial,” it adds.
Jewish anti-Israel protesters storm Trump Tower in New York City
Demonstrators from the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace protest inside Trump Tower in support of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Dozens of protesters storm Trump Tower in New York City to demand the release of detained Columbia University protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil.
The anti-Zionist activist group Jewish Voice for Peace posts images showing dozens of protesters chanting in the midtown Manhattan building lobby.
“Free Mahmoud, free them all,” the protesters chant.
The demonstrators carry signs that say, “Fight Nazis, not students,” and “Jews for Palestinian Freedom.” They wear red shirts that say “Stop arming Israel.”
“As Jews, we are taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal,” JVP says in a statement.
As Jews, we are taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal. We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalize Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people. And we will never… pic.twitter.com/t2Ql8qRBgw
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) March 13, 2025
Lebanon names new head of armed forces to succeed Joseph Aoun
Lebanon has named a new head of the armed forces to succeed Joseph Aoun, who was appointed president earlier this year.
“Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal was named commander in chief of the armed forces,” Minister of Information Paul Morcos says after a cabinet meeting, also confirming a number of other security appointments.
Haykal, 56, was made the army’s chief of operations last June, having previously served as the commander of the army sector south of the Litani River, according to the army’s website.
That area bore the brunt of the near-daily exchange of fire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group during more than a year of hostilities that ended with a November 27 ceasefire.
Haykal is expected to play a key role in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, a security source tells AFP, adding that he was Aoun’s favoured candidate for the post.
According to multi-confessional Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the army chief must be a Maronite Christian.
Morcos also announced earlier today the appointment of the heads of the internal security, general security and state security apparatuses, as well as the approval of the defense ministry’s request to recruit 4,500 soldiers to reinforce troops in the south, where the army is deploying alongside UN peacekeepers as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Putin says he backs 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but has ‘serious questions’ about how it will work
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow backs the US proposal for a Ukraine ceasefire, but has “serious questions” that he needs to discuss with the United States, possibly directly with President Donald Trump.
Putin says he is “for” the proposal of a 30-day ceasefire “but that there are nuances” and that he has “serious questions” about how it would work. “I think we need to talk to our American colleagues… Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,” he tells reporters.
Sa’ar’s New Hope signs agreement to merge with Netanyahu’s Likud in next elections
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) shakes hands with New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar after the latter announces his reentry into government, September 29, 2024. (Chaim Tzach/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope announce that they have signed an agreement to run together on a merged list in the next elections.
The two parties will remain separate entities for the remainder of the current Knesset, but following the next elections, scheduled to take place in 2026, New Hope will be absorbed into Likud, the parties say.
According to Ynet, New Hope will likely be given two spots on the combined list with Likud, one of which will go to Sa’ar and the other to Minister Ze’ev Elkin.
Sa’ar, once a leading Likud minister, quit the party after a failed leadership bid in 2019 and vowed not to work with Netanyahu again in the future.
He nevertheless returned to government as part of the National Unity alliance with Benny Gantz following the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught, but then quit in March, returning New Hope to the Opposition.
He returned to government in September and was appointed foreign minister in November.
Polls have consistently shown New Hope falling short of the voter threshold needed to return to the Knesset if elections were held now.
US Treasury imposes sanctions on Iran’s oil minister
The US Treasury Department issues sanctions against Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad, as President Donald Trump seeks to increase pressure on Tehran.
“The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a statement.
The sanctions also designate three entities engaged in the Iranian oil trade in China, and names three shipping vessels as blocked property for their use in the transactions.
“These entities provide services to the ghost fleet vessels…enabling Iran’s attempts to disguise its illicit oil trade,” US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce says in a statement.
“Today’s action advances President Trump’s policy of maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.”
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has called for a new nuclear deal with Tehran while reinstating his “maximum pressure” policy of sanctions.
The latest sanctions come after the Trump administration sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging negotiations and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.
Report: Witkoff presented new proposal for Gaza ceasefire extension to Israel, Hamas
Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy for the Middle East, speaks with reporters at the White House, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)
After arriving in Doha earlier this week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff has presented Israel and Hamas with a new outline to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Axios reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The proposal, which differs from a previous outline put forward by Witkoff, would extend the current ceasefire by several weeks, until the end of both Ramadan and Passover, in exchange for the release of additional hostages, Axios says.
At the same time, Israel would also be required to resume the flow of humanitarian aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave, it says.
One source with knowledge of the proposal’s contents says that Hamas will be required to release at least five living hostages and return the bodies of nine others on the first day of the extended truce.
Citing two named sources, Axios reports that the extension, should all parties agree to implement it, will give the US additional time to negotiate a more concrete, long-term truce agreement.
Should a long-term ceasefire agreement be reached, the report says that Hamas will be required to hand over all remaining hostages, living and dead, on the last day of the temporary truce extension, before the concrete ceasefire comes into effect.
Citing two unnamed sources, Axios says that the extension, should all parties agree, will give the US additional time to negotiate a more concrete truce agreement.
According to the report, Israel has given “a positive response” to Witkoff’s latest proposal, while Qatar and Egypt are still awaiting Hamas’s response after delivering it the details of the outline last night.
Amid reports of sidelining, US official tells ToI Boehler to continue supporting Witkoff’s efforts in Mideast
Adam Boehler speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
US hostage envoy Adam Boehler will continue assisting Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, a senior US official tells The Times of Israel following reports that Boehler has been sidelined from the Israel file amid frustrations in Jerusalem with his decision to hold unprecedented, secret talks with Hamas.
“Adam’s role is hostages across the world,” the senior US official tells The Times of Israel.
“He and his team will continue to support the team in the Middle East led by Steve Witkoff,” the senior US official says.
Boehler’s talks, leaked to the media last week, were largely aimed at securing the release of five American-Israeli hostages.
The talks were approved by Witkoff, but Israel was not fully informed ahead of time, a second US official says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top aide, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, lashed out at Boehler during a call last week, hours after finding out about the latest meeting with Hamas, the second US official says.
Boehler conducted a series of media interviews on Sunday during which he defended the talks but also hit back at Dermer’s frustration, arguing that the US has its own interests at play.
Dermer has since lobbied other Trump officials to have Boehler removed from the Israel file, the second US official says.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Boehler’s talks were a “one-off” and that the main channel for hostage negotiations would remain the one led by Witkoff.
New temporary Syrian constitution, based on Islamic code, promises to uphold women’s rights
Syria's interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, center, signs a temporary constitution for the country in Damascus, Syria, March 13, 2025. At left foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shiban.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syria has kept a central role for Islamic law in a constitutional declaration issued today, which guarantees women’s rights and freedom of expression during a five-year transitional period, according to a summary read on TV.
The declaration is designed to serve as the foundation for the interim period being led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a Sunni Islamist who spearheaded a lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad from power in December.
Islamic jurisprudence will be “the main source” of legislation, according to the summary read out during the signing ceremony. This seems to differ from the previous constitution which called it “a main source” of legislation.
“We have kept Islamic jurisprudence as the primary source of legislation among sources of legislation,” says the summary, read out by a member of the committee that drafted the declaration. “This jurisprudence is a true treasure that should not be squandered,” it says.
Sharaa, who has promised to run Syria in an inclusive way, has been grappling with the biggest test of his leadership in the wake of a wave of sectarian killing in the coastal region, blamed on fighters aligned with his government.
He appointed the committee to draft the declaration less than two weeks ago.
The declaration guarantees women’s “right to education and participation in work, and guaranteed them political rights” and provides “for freedom of opinion, expression, media, publication and the press,” according to the summary.
“We hope that this will be a good start for the Syrian people on the path of construction and development,” Sharaa says in televised remarks during the signing ceremony.
Sharaa in February said it would take four to five years to hold a presidential election.
Syria’s previous constitution, which became law in 2012, was suspended in January.
US Mideast envoy Witkoff said in Moscow for talks on Ukraine war
US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials about the war in Ukraine, a source briefed on the matter says.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, does not have details of Witkoff’s itinerary in the Russian capital. But US President Donald Trump is seeking Russian support for a ceasefire deal that Ukraine agreed to during US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
Report: Herzog tried to influence, shorten proceedings in Netanyahu corruption case
President Isaac Herzog attends a state ceremony for fallen Israeli soldiers whose burial place is unknown at Mount Herzl Military cemetery in Jerusalem on March 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
A new report alleges that President Isaac Herzog has attempted several times over the last two years to influence the proceedings in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial.
According to the Haaretz daily, Herzog played a behind-the-scenes role in two separate attempts to have the case moved to mediation, which, if successful, could have shortened the lengthy legal proceedings and potentially allowed Netanyahu to reach a plea deal.
In the first instance, Haaretz reports that Herzog was involved in a 2023 attempt by the defense attorney to move the premier’s corruption case to mediation. The efforts fell through, however, after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara came out against the idea, believing it could have been a tactic to buy time.
Citing an unnamed political source, the report says that Herzog tried to intervene due to his concerns over the government’s contentious judicial overhaul legislation and the security risks that it posed.
He again worked behind the scenes to push for mediation in early 2024, Haaretz says, but Baharav-Miara again turned down the request due to the terms Netanyahu’s team set for a plea deal.
The report adds that Herzog also approached Baharav-Miara to speak to her about accepting Netanyahu’s various requests to delay the testimony in his corruption trial, due to the security situation.
Netanyahu’s testimony was indeed delayed several times before it finally began on December 10, 2024, although Haaretz does not specify whether this was the result of Herzog’s intervention.
Again citing an unnamed source, Haaretz says that the end goal of Herzog’s interventions is unclear, as sometimes it appears that he’s “trying to influence” the attorney general “after being approached by Netanyahu,” while at other times, “it looks like he genuinely wants to bring the Netanyahu saga to an end.”
Health Ministry inks deal to raise salary for public sector psychologists
The Health Ministry has signed a deal to change the salary structure for psychologists employed in the public sector.
The deal affects about 5,000 psychologists employed by the Education Ministry as well as health insurance providers, local authorities, hospitals and government ministries. The agreement will raise salaries by around 40 percent on average.
Under the new salary structure, entry-level psychologists will receive a monthly salary of NIS 11,000 ($3,006), with that of senior supervisors reaching up to NIS 17,500 ($4,782).
The new wages also include increases based on seniority, IDF service and position in the managerial hierarchy.
The salary reform agreement is a joint effort of the Finance Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry and the Histadrut labor federation.
“This is a significant milestone in strengthening the status of psychologists in the public sector and correcting an injustice that has persisted for years,” says Health Minister Uriel Buso, stressing that “psychologists are the backbone of Israel’s mental health system.”
“Not all wounds are visible, and the war has only reinforced the need for high-quality, accessible public psychological services to help people cope,” says Histadrut Labor Federation chairman Arnon Bar-David.
Buso calls on psychologists to “join the public health system, help shape the future of mental health in Israel, and be part of creating a stronger and fairer system.”
Gavriel Fiske contributed to this report.
IDF says it carried out strike on terror operatives trying to plant bomb in central Gaza
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a group of terror operatives in the central Gaza Strip today after they were spotted trying to plant a bomb in the ground.
Tehran summons UK, French, German ambassadors over ‘provocative’ UN meeting on Iranian nuclear program
Iran summoned diplomats representing the United Kingdom, France and Germany in protest over a UN Security Council meeting on Tehran’s nuclear program, an official statement says.
There was “no technical or legal justification” for the meeting, the statement says, calling it “provocative and political, in line with the unilateral and nervous approach of the United States.”
Armenia says it’s ready to sign peace agreement with Azerbaijan
Armenia’s foreign ministry says that a draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan has been finalized from its side and that it is ready to discuss a date and location to sign a final deal.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly Armenian population at the time, broke away from Baku with Yerevan’s support.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan retook Karabakh by force, prompting almost all of the territory’s 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Both sides have long said they want to sign a treaty to end the long-running conflict but have wrangled for years over the details of what it might look like.
“The peace agreement is ready for signing. The Republic of Armenia is ready to start consultations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on the date and place of signing the agreement,” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
Lapid accuses Netanyahu and co. of hypocrisy over Lebanon talks they once denounced
Head of the opposition and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who oversaw a landmark 2022 arrangement with Lebanon as foreign minister during his rotational government with Naftali Bennett, says in an interview that the same politicians who criticized the deal to demarcate maritime borders and offshore riparian rights are now negotiating a much more significant pact.
Israel said Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks with Lebanon on delineating a border between the two countries. An official said Wednesday that Israel was aiming for an agreement to establish full diplomatic relations with Lebanon.
“I made a deal on economic waters — an economic deal with the Lebanese government, the Americans and French. And they yelled [that it was a] ‘deal with Hamas,’ ‘deal with Hamas,” Lapid tells the Ynet news site, referring to criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing allies who were in the opposition at the time over the agreement.
A UNIFIL Navy vessel seen through barbed wires patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, next to a UN post along the border known as Ras Naqoura, where Lebanese and Israeli delegations met to finalize a maritime border agreement, off the southern town of Naqoura, Lebanon, October 27, 2022. (Mohammed Zaatari/AP)
He calls the situation “comical.”
“The talks were over some two kilometers of saltwater with a few fish far from the sea’s depths. There wasn’t even gas there,” he claims.
Lapid claims that he refused at the time to entertain discussion over five points along the border that are inside Israel but claimed by Lebanon, which will now be among the issues discussed in the upcoming talks.
“Now the government is conducting talks on Israeli territory, after they made a deal with Hezbollah, something we never did. But fine, I’ll support whatever is best for the country,” he says.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November, though Lebanon technically negotiated on Hezbollah’s behalf.
Hamas praises UN report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza
The Hamas terror group welcomes a report from the UN accusing Israel of a “genocidal” campaign in Gaza against women’s health centers and of using sexual violence as a war tool.
“The UN’s investigation report on Israel’s genocidal acts against the Palestinian people confirms what has happened on the ground: genocide and violations of all humanitarian and legal standards,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem tells AFP.
Israel hit home of Islamic Jihad leader Nakhaleh, terror operative says
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member at the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Syria tells The Associated Press that the attack on the outskirts of Damascus targeted the home of the group’s leader Ziad Nakhaleh.
Ismail Sindak says the apartment has been empty for years, adding that Nakhaleh is not in Syria. Asked whether anyone was killed in the strike, Sindak says “the house was empty.”
It is not immediately clear where Nakhaleh is but he is believed to spend his time between Lebanon, Iran and Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, says the targeted building is located in the suburb of Dummar, northwest of the capital, and was inhabited by Palestinians. It says one person was killed.
Putin appears to reject Ukraine ceasefire proposal
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide says he told Washington that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to pause the war in Ukraine would simply give Kyiv’s forces a much-needed battlefield respite.
Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow to meet Putin. Russian officials said earlier that US national security adviser Mike Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and Russia was ready to discuss it.
Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Putin on major foreign policy issues, tells state television that he outlined Russia’s position on the ceasefire to Waltz on Wednesday.
“I stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Ushakov says. “Our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns. It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation.”
Asked if Russia is therefore rejecting the proposal, Ushakov says Putin will likely speak to the media later on Thursday and outline Russia’s position in more detail.
Separately, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says contacts with the US administration are becoming more active.
The two countries’ embassies and diplomats have intensified contacts, she adds.
Iran says it’s open to nuclear talks with US if pressure campaign dropped
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but says they can only take place if both countries are on “equal terms,” an Iranian state-run newspaper reports.
US President Donald Trump said last week he had sent a letter to Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing nuclear talks, but also warned that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal.”
“If we enter negotiations while the other side is imposing maximum pressure, we will be negotiating from a weak position and will achieve nothing,” Araghchi is quoted saying.
“The other side must be convinced that the policy of pressure is ineffective — only then can we sit at the negotiating table on equal terms.”
While leaving the door open for a nuclear pact 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 towards zero.
Israel says it hit Islamic Jihad nerve center in Damascus
Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters in the Syrian capital of Damascus a short while ago, the military says.
According to the IDF, Islamic Jihad planned and carried out terror activity from the command centers.
לפני זמן קצר, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונת פיקוד הצפון ואגף המודיעין תקפו מפקדת טרור של ארגון הטרור גא״פ בשטח דמשק, ממנה תכננו וניהלו פעולות טרור של הארגון.
צה״ל לא יאפשר לארגוני טרור להתבסס בשטח סוריה ולפעול כנגד מדינת ישראל ויפעל בעוצמה כנגד כל התבססות שכזאת>> pic.twitter.com/SHrMbQCbgU
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 13, 2025
“The IDF will not allow terrorist organizations to entrench themselves in Syrian territory and operate against the State of Israel, and will respond forcefully to any such entrenchment,” the military says.
The military releases footage of the strikes.
Purim cavorters urged to put away firecrackers that can set off trauma survivors amid war
The United Hatzalah emergency service urges the public to avoid setting off firecrackers during Purim activities, noting that many loud noises can trigger distress among soldiers and survivors of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack, especially those with PTSD.
“Firecrackers may seem harmless fun to children, but can bring soldiers right back to the battlefield,” says United Hatzalah chief paramedic Liad Ohana.
The Israel Police also warns the public to avoid using firecrackers because they can cause severe injuries and panic, according to Hebrew media reports.
US hostage envoy Boehler reportedly taken off Israel file after interviews go sideways
Illustrative: US President Donald Trump listens as Adam Boehler, CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)
US President Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly stripped US hostage envoy Adam Boehler of responsibility for negotiating the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, after he angered some in Israel by holding direct talks with Hamas and conducted a series of shambolic interviews trying to defend the effort.
The move is reported by Jewish Insider, citing three GOP sources.
Boehler this week gave a series of interviews on US and Israeli outlets in which he angered Israeli officials, got the name of the sole living US hostage wrong, and appeared to speak about the humanity of the Hamas terror group.
According to JI, the offices of Republicans on the Hill spoke to Boehler this week about his interviews, which were described as “unproductive.”
“It’s like he’s in Never Never Land,” said one senator about Boehler’s inability to recognize why his comments were problematic.
According to the report, the Trump administration told Israeli officials that Boehler would not be handling the Hamas hostages moving forward.
Many GOP lawmakers want Boehler out of the administration entirely, according to the report.
“I don’t know why we’d be interested in him doing anything going forward after what we saw,” one is quoted saying.
Katz confirms strike on Damascus, threatens Syria’s Sharaa
Defense Minister Israel Katz confirms that the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike in the Syrian capital of Damascus a short while ago, while threatening the country’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“Wherever terror activity against Israel is organized, the extreme Islamic leader al-Jolani will find the Air Force aircraft flying above and striking terror targets,” Katz says, using Sharaa’s nom de guerre.
“Islamic terrorism will not have immunity in Damascus nor anywhere else,” he adds.
He does not say what was targeted in the strike.
Israel said to hit Islamic Jihad HQ in Damascus
Israeli aircraft targeted a building on the edge of Damascus today, Syria’s state news agency reports, while two Syrian security sources tell Reuters the target was a Palestinian person.
One of the sources says the building hit was the headquarters for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization.
There is no comment from the Israeli military.
Police say settler attacked while herding sheep in West Bank
A picture published by a settler activist group showing the victim of an alleged Palestinian attack in the West Bank on March 13, 2025. (Courtesy Hilltop Settlements WhatsApp Channel)
A resident of the illegal settlement farming outpost of Givat Mikne Avraham in the southern West Bank was attacked and injured by at least one Palestinian assailant close to the settlement of Maale Amos, the police report.
Images posted to social media by settler activists show a man badly bloodied due to a wound to his head.
According to the police the settler, who was described as a shepherd, was alone in an area close to Maale Amos, an isolated settlement under the jurisdiction of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, when he was attacked by a masked Palestinian.
Activists representing residents of illegal outposts claim that the Israeli was herding his goats and was attacked by six assailants, although the police confirmed only one suspected attacker.
“According to the report, the suspect arrived at the place and began throwing stones at the shepherd. When the latter tried to flee, the suspect chased after him and brutally attacked him with a club, striking him on the head and in the ribs,” the police say.
The outpost resident managed to make his way to Maale Amos, where medical professionals gave him first aid. He was sent to a hospital with mild injuries.
Police Commander of the Judea and Samaria District Moshe Pinchi instructed police forces to “use all operational and technological means in order to find the assailant and bring him to justice,” the police say in a statement.
Police say they launched an “intense” manhunt for the suspect.
“We view the attack severely and will use all tools in order to get to those who carried it out,” the statement reads.
Civil rights activists campaigning for Palestinian rights have posted reports and footage of several incidents of alleged settler violence which took place yesterday in the West Bank. The police have yet to comment on those.
Givat Mikne Avraham was established last year, according to the Peace Now organization, which campaigns against settlement activity.
It appears to be populated by a handful of activists who raise livestock. The explicit goal of such agriculture outposts is to seize control of as much land as possible in Area C of the West Bank.
Women’s groups condemn UN report, slam silence on Israeli victims
Cochav Elkayam-Levy, who heads the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, an independent body that chronicles accounts of sexual violence against victims in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, says a report accusing Israel of using sexual violence as a strategy against Gazans follows the pattern of “efforts to create a false comparison between Israel and Hamas, especially in the context of sexual violence.”
“Sadly, this pattern has repeated itself across various UN bodies since October 7th,” she says in a statement. “This moral comparison is painful and wrong because its purpose is to establish false historical narratives and inflicts irreparable harm both on the victims and on justice.
“We have always believed in international institutions and the human rights system, but such conduct, which seeks to entrench false historical narratives, must end. We owe the truth to the victims.”
Hagit Peer, president of Israeli women’s rights group Na’amat, says the “outrageous report attempts to turn the victim into the aggressor” and accuses international groups that campaign against sexual violence of ignoring Israeli and Jewish victims.
“This report reeks of blatant antisemitism. There is an effort here to create an alternative and inverted reality regarding the sexual massacre carried out by Hamas against Israeli women and men, while international institutions remain deafeningly silent.”
Netanyahu slams UN council behind ‘genocide’ report as ‘antisemitic, irrelevant’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Aviv District Court for the 17th day of his testimony in his corruption trial, March 12, 2025. (Yair Sagi/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the UN Human Rights Council “an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body,” after a commission set up by the body accused Israel of carrying out “genocidal acts” against Palestinian reproductive health in Gaza.
“Instead of focusing on the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organization in the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, the UN is once again choosing to attack Israel with false accusations, including unfounded accusations of sexual violence,” Netanyahu says in a statement.
In its report, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel says Israel “intentionally attacked and destroyed” Gaza’s main fertility center, and simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care. It also accuses troops of using sexual violence as part of the army’s standard operating procedure.
Israeli jets reportedly strike Damascus
Israeli aircraft carried out a strike in the Syrian capital of Damascus a short while ago, according to local reports.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
انفجار في مشروع دمر بالعاصمة #دمشق pic.twitter.com/tcdMRk7S4b
— وكالة الآن الإعلامية (@alaanmedia_sy) March 13, 2025
Israel says UN report alleging ‘genocidal’ attacks on Gaza women ‘among worst blood libels ever’
Israel says a UN report alleging “genocidal” attacks on women’s reproductive health in Gaza and systematic use of sexual violence as a tool in war is on par with the most damaging antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history.
“It is one of the worst cases of blood libel the world has ever seen (and the world has seen many),” the Foreign Ministry says in a tweet. “It accuses the victims of the crimes committed against them. Hamas is the organization that has committed horrendous sexual crimes against Israelis. It is indeed a sick document that only an antisemitic organization such as the UN could produce.”
The term blood libel historically referred to accusations against Jews in Europe of using Christian blood for ritual purposes, which often inspired deadly attacks on Jews, but has in recent years been adopted as a phrase used to denote especially malignant claims against Israel or Jews.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, tells The Times of Israel that the UN report “is yet another example of the blood libel that actors within the UN perpetuate against Israel in a futile attempt to accuse it of acts that were never committed, while diverting attention from the war crimes of terrorist organizations and the states that support them.”
He adds, “Instead of fabricating accusations, it is time for the UN to explicitly condemn Hamas for its actions and to expose in its discussions the horrific sexual violence committed against Israelis on October 7 and afterward.”
The Permanent Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva says in a press release that the Commission of Inquiry “deliberately adopts a lower level of corroboration in its report, which allowed it to include information from second-hand single uncorroborated sources. This is inconsistent with established UN verification standards and methodologies.”
#PressRelease Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations made by the Commission of Inquiry pic.twitter.com/R5RvIrEpdU
— Israel in UN/Geneva???????????????? | #BringThemHome (@IsraelinGeneva) March 12, 2025
Netanyahu to visit Hungary soon, Budapest says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Hungary on an official visit in the next few weeks, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff says at a news conference.
Orban invited Netanyahu to visit Hungary in November, saying he would guarantee that an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against the Israeli premier, issued a day earlier, would “not be observed.”
The visit will take place sometime before Easter, which falls on April 20 this year, the Orban aide says.
The once-globe-trotting Netanyahu has restricted his visits to only the United States since the October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel says 10,000 aid packages sent to Syrian Druze, part of ‘minority alliance’
Trucks are seen carrying aid packages to Syrian Druze, in an undated photo released by the Foreign Ministry on March 13, 2025. (Sivan Shachor/GPO)
Israel sent 10,000 food packages to Druze in Syria in recent weeks, the Foreign Ministry says.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who is credited by his office with initiating the effort, says the packages are part of a pact between minority communities in the Middle East.
“We have a courageous alliance with our Druze brothers,” he says in a statement. “It is a privilege to help them. In a region where we will always be a minority – it is necessary and right to help other minorities.”
Most of the packages reached the Suwayda area, some 75 kilometers from the border with Israel, while others were given to Druze communities closer to the border, says the Foreign Ministry.
The packages contain oil, salt, flour, sugar, rice, and other staples.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the operation was conducted in cooperation with the IDF; Sheikh Muafak Tarif, who is spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel; the Druze Religious Council; and “other parties in the region.”
China urges diplomacy to deal with Iran nuclear issue
China is calling for a “diplomatic” resolution to the Iran nuclear issue as it prepared to host diplomats from Tehran and Moscow for talks in Beijing.
“In the current situation, we believe that all parties should maintain calm and restraint to avoid escalating the Iran nuclear situation, or even walking towards confrontation and conflict,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning says.
Beijing will host Russia and Iran for trilateral talks on Tehran’s nuclear program on Friday.
Beijing says the talks with Russia and Iran will aim to “strengthen communication and coordination, to resume dialogue and negotiation at an early time.”
“China sincerely hopes that all parties can work together, continuously increase mutual trust and dispel misgivings, and turn the momentum of restarting dialogue and negotiation into reality at an early date,” Mao says.
Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, its stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity — close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level — has jumped, the International Atomic Energy Agency said late last month.
Russia says largest town in Kursk region retaken from Ukraine
In this grab taken from a handout footage released by the Russian Emergencies Ministry on March 13, 2025, emergency specialists evacuate residents from the Sudzha district of the Kursk region amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. (Handout / Russian Emergencies Ministry / AFP)
Russia’s Defense Ministry says it has taken over Sudzha, the biggest town in the western Kursk region to have been overrun by Ukrainian forces since a surprise cross border offensive in August 2024.
The announcement comes as Russian troops are close to driving out Ukrainian troops from their last foothold in the Kursk region, according to Moscow.
In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, accompanied by Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, second left, visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited military headquarters in the region yesterday and spoke to military commanders there.
Witkoff leaves Doha for Russia as Moscow says it’s ready for talks on Ukraine
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, center, accompanied by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The plane of US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has crossed into Russian airspace, the state-run TASS news agency says, citing flights-tracking service Flightradar.
Witkoff had been in Doha, where the US, Egypt and Qatar are mediating indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over the war in Gaza and hostages still held by the terror group there.
But Witkoff, who is officially Trump’s Middle East envoy, has also played a growing role in efforts to bring about an end to the three-year-old Ukraine war.
The US and Ukraine are waiting on Russia to respond to a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says Russia is ready to talk to the US about the peace initiative, and contacts could take place on Thursday.
In a press conference, the Kremlin declines to comment on whether Russia had presented the US with a list of its demands to end the war in Ukraine.
Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Russian and American officials had discussed Moscow’s terms during in-person and virtual conversations over the last three weeks.
It is not clear what exactly Russia’s stipulations are, they said.
Israel says Netanyahu to meet Greek, Cypriot leaders to beef up ‘Hellenic alliance’
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiadis, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for a photograph ahead of a signing ceremony in Athens for a pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe January 2, 2020. (AP Photo)
The prime ministers of Israel, Greece, and Cyprus are set to hold a tripartite summit to strengthen the “Hellenic Alliance” between the Mediterranean countries, says the Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will fly to Athens today for trilateral and bilateral meetings with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, in a visit that “will precede the anticipated summit of the three countries’ prime ministers, scheduled to be held in Israel later this month,” Sa’ar’s office says in a statement.
During this week’s summit — the first held by the countries since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 — Sa’ar aims to “renew the operations of the trilateral forum with our friends Greece and Cyprus” and “engage in discussions with my counterparts on regional issues of shared interest among the three countries,” according to his office.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last met with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in Cyprus in September of 2023, after which plans to outline a route for Israel to export natural gas to Europe along the two islands were to be finalized, according to the embassy of Israel in Nicosia.
During the trio’s first summit, discussions centered on energy cooperation regarding newly found offshore gas reserves in Israel as well as migration, counter-terrorism, and tourism. The countries signed a cooperation agreement on water resource management, and later agreed on a joint emergency rescue force for instances of natural disasters.
Israel rejects UN report alleging ‘genocidal’ attacks on Gaza reproductive centers
A UN report accuses Israel of carrying out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by systematically destroying women’s healthcare facilities during the conflict in Gaza, and using sexual violence as a war strategy.
The report is rejected by Israel as unfounded, biased and lacking credibility.
In its report, the the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel says Israel had “intentionally attacked and destroyed” the Palestinian territory’s main fertility center, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.
“Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group, including by imposing measures intended to prevent births, one of the categories of genocidal acts in the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention,” the report reads.
Those actions, in addition to a surge in maternity deaths due to restricted access to medical supplies, amounted to the crime against humanity of extermination, the commission says.
The report also alleges Israel’s security forces used forced public stripping and sexual assault as part of their standard operating procedures to punish Palestinians following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel accuses the commission of advancing a “predetermined and biased political agenda… in a shameless attempt to incriminate the Israel Defense Forces.”
“The IDF has concrete directives… and policies which unequivocally prohibit such misconduct,” Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva responds, adding that its review processes are in line with international standards.
In March of 2024, the UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict said there were reasonable grounds to conclude that victims in Israel had been raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence by Palestinians during the October 7 attack. At least one freed hostage has also reported being raped by her captor and others have recounted sexual harassment and assaults in captivity.
Lebanon says fifth soldier returned by Israel
The Lebanese army says it has received a soldier who had been detained by Israel on Sunday.
It says the soldier, whom it does not name, was transferred to Lebanon by the Red Cross, and has been taken to a hospital.
The soldier is the last of five Lebanese troops Israel said it would release in a “gesture to the Lebanese president,” amid talks between the countries.
Lebanon received four of them on Tuesday.
Citing two US officials, Axios reported yesterday that one of the Lebanese nationals released by Israel is a member of Hezbollah.
According to reports in Lebanon, a total of 11 Lebanese nationals are currently being held by Israel.
Bibas family moved as Israelis pay tribute to murdered kids amid Purim revelry
Freed hostage Yarden Bibas holds a sign that says, 'David and Ariel Cunio can still be saved!' in a picture posted to Facebook on March 12, 2025. (Courtesy)
As Israelis gears up for the holiday of Purim, with children going to school in costumes, the Bibas family has posted on social media about the pain of experiencing this celebratory period without Ariel and Kfir Bibas. The two boys, 4 years old and 10 months old, respectively, and their mother, Shiri, were killed in captivity in Gaza, their bodies released by Hamas for burial in Israel two weeks ago.
A post on a Facebook page managed by the family writes that they were moved to see pictures posted on social media of classes of schoolchildren throughout the country, as well as adults, dressed as Batman, some carrying orange balloons or wearing orange masks, as a homage to Ariel Bibas and his love for the masked and caped superhero.
The Bibas family, from left: father Yarden, Ariel, Shiri and baby Kfir (Courtesy)
“The heart missed a beat twice today,” writes the family in English. “Once, when we woke up to a morning without new photos of Ariel and Kfir dressed up for Purim and the second time when we saw all the incredible gestures on the streets of Israel. Time after time during the last almost year and a half and especially during the last few weeks, you have shown us that Ariel and Kfir will never leave us. They are in the heart of the nation and will always remain so. Those who were a symbol of Hamas’ cruelty, are now a symbol of unity and hope for the people of Israel.”
The family writes that they were also moved to see thousands of Israelis at the funeral procession, paying condolence calls, and at protests calling for the the release of the rest of the hostages.
School kids, their teachers and parents dressed up in costumes seen at the Gabrieli Carmel School in Tel Aviv, ahead of the the Jewish holiday of Purim, March 13, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
“Thank you, our dear people of Israel,” writes the family.
The message includes a picture of bereaved dad and husband Yarden Bibas holding a sign calling for the release of fellow Nir Oz abductees Ariel and David Cunio. “For Ariel, for Kfir and for Shiri – please continue calling for the return of the 59 hostages that remain in captivity, among them Yarden’s best friend, David Cunio and his brother Ariel Cunio. Until everyone is home. We love you the most in the world.”
Egypt praises Trump for saying Gazans won’t be forced to leave
Egypt says it appreciates US President Donald Trump’s remarks on not demanding that residents of Gaza leave the enclave.
“This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair, sustainable solutions to the Palestinian issue,” the Egyptian foreign ministry says.
Last month, Trump proposed a US takeover of Gaza and suggested that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced.
But on Wednesday, he appeared to change his tune, saying that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza,” in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
Earlier, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem welcomed Trump’s comments, urging him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the “extreme Zionist right.”
“If US President Trump’s statements represent a retreat from any idea of displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed,” Qassem said.
Police accuse Taybeh man of joining Islamic State, spying on troops
Police say they arrested a man from the Arab town of Taybeh who swore allegiance to the Islamic State group and sought to attack Israel to avenge the war in Gaza.
The suspect, named in a statement from the police and Shin Bet as Kamel Nashef, 21, is also accused of tipping off operatives in the West Bank city of Tulkarem by sending them photos of troops on their way there.
Nashef is accused of making contact with figures who identify with ISIS, also known as Daesh, starting in summer of 2024.
“Nashef swore allegiance to the Daesh terror group, saw himself as part of the group and even held materials identified with the group which were seized during his arrest,” the statement reads.
A video published by police of the arrest shows a rifle and Palestinian and Islamic state flags allegedly found in his home. It is unclear when the arrest took place.
Nashef is set to be indicted today, the statement says.
In shift away from state commission, new IDF chief said to back comptroller probe of army
New IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir has okayed the transfer of sensitive documents about the army’s conduct around October 7 to the State Comptroller, marking a sharp shift from his predecessor, Haaretz reports.
According to the report, the documents had been intended for use by an eventual state commission of inquiry, which many have demanded be formed to probe all aspects of Israel’s failures surrounding the surprise Hamas attack, though the government has refused to appoint one while the war is ongoing.
Former IDF chief Herzi Halevi had avoided cooperating with the ombudsman, also citing the ongoing war, and was thought to back a state commission.
A source familiar with Zamir’s thinking is quoted telling the paper that “he is ambivalent toward [a state inquest] and it seems that from his perspective the comptroller’s probe can suffice.”
The report claims that Zamir and State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman met several times in recent days and agreed to a probe by the ombudsman that will cover the army’s conduct leading up to the attack and also look into the intelligence and operations branches as well as the army’s Southern Command.
Critics say a fully independent state commission is required to delve into a catastrophe of the magnitude of October 7 and the ensuing war and hostage crisis, but political leaders with the power to appoint one are thought to fear being blamed as part of its conclusions.
The army recently began publishing the results of an internal probe it conducted, though Englman criticized the effort as lacking credibility due to a lack of independence.
Jewish, Muslim groups condemn Trump use of ‘Palestinian’ to put down Schumer
US President Donald Trump meets with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
US Muslim and Jewish advocacy groups are criticizing US President Donald Trump for referring to Senator Chuck Schumer as a Palestinian, with the organizations saying the president used the term as a slur.
“President Trump’s use of the term ‘Palestinian’ as a racial slur is offensive and beneath the dignity of his office,” says Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Awad, who is of Palestinian heritage, says Trump’s comments show the “continuing dehumanization” of Palestinians.
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America also condemns Trump’s remarks as does Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Donald Trump doesn't get to decide who is Jewish. @SenSchumer is the country's highest ranking elected Jewish American, and "Palestinian" should not be used as an insult.
These comments are abhorrent but revealing of why the vast majority of Jewish voters have not and will… https://t.co/vT7FOCjG8W
— Halie Soifer (@HalieSoifer) March 12, 2025
“The goal for this administration isn’t to counter antisemitism or protect Israel. It’s to weaponize antisemitism to go after their political enemies, advance an extreme agenda, and undercut democracy — and it only makes Jews *less* safe,” Spitalnick writes on microblogging platform Bluesky.
Trump, a Republican, was asked by reporters at the White House about US corporate tax rate policy during an Oval Office meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, and in response expressed displeasure with congressional Democrats not supporting his agenda.
“Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian,” Trump said.
Schumer is the highest-ranking elected US Jewish official and is not of Palestinian heritage.
Russia says 77 Ukrainian drones knocked down, Kursk nearly retaken
Russia says it downed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight, a day after the US said Kyiv had agreed to a ceasefire pending Russia’s response.
Thirty drones were intercepted and destroyed over the western Bryansk region bordering Ukraine while 25 more were downed over Kaluga, Russia’s defense ministry says.
More drones were intercepted over the regions of Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod, it adds.
The latest barrage comes after Russia said it downed 337 Ukrainian drones across the country Tuesday, including more than 90 in the capital region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also says Russia’s operation to eject Ukrainian forces from the western Russian region of Kursk has entered its final stage, state news agency TASS reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday visited the western Russian region of Kursk for the first time since Ukrainian forces seized some territory in the region.
Ukraine is hoping to use the land it captured as a bargaining chip as it is pushed by the US toward talks to end the war.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it would review details from Washington about the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before responding, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hoped a deal would be struck within days.
Canada announces plans to ease Syria sanctions, appoint ambassador
OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada announces plans to ease its financial sanctions against Syria and to appoint an ambassador, as the Damascus interim government seeks international support.
Canada’s special envoy for Syria, Omar Alghabra, says: “Canada can play a meaningful role in enabling Syrians to build an inclusive country that respects all of its citizens. We also can help prevent Syria from falling into chaos and instability.”
Truck driver dies after tanker falls off highway overpass in central Israel, flips over
Paramedics have pronounced the death of a truck driver whose tanker flipped over after falling off an overpass along Route 6 onto another highway near the Ben Shemen Interchange in central Israel.
נהג נהרג בהתהפכות משאית שנפלה מכביש 6 לכיוון צפון סמוך למחלף בן שמן
צילום: תיעוד מבצעי מד"א pic.twitter.com/2OG4Ur4wPP
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 13, 2025
Trump administration drops planned appointment of Israel critic to key intelligence post
Tulsi Gabbard, US President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, has decided not to appoint a harsh critic of Israel to a key intelligence post, the Jewish Insider and New York Times report.
Gabbard’s decision not to name Daniel Davis as her deputy came after news of the planned appointment was met with criticism in light of his comments on Israel, which include saying that America’s support for Israeli operations in Gaza against Hamas is a “strategic and moral mistake” and opposing a military attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the New York Times, the position that Gabbard was considering Davis for is responsible for the daily presidential briefing.
Trump: Chuck Schumer ‘used to be Jewish’ but is now ‘a Palestinian’
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the press at the US Capitol on March 6, 2025, in Washington. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP)
US President Donald Trump falsely says that Senator Chuck Schumer is no longer Jewish and calls him a “Palestinian” while speaking to reporters.
The remarks are the latest instance in which Trump has used “Palestinian” as an epithet to refer to Schumer, whom he once also falsely called “a proud member of Hamas.” Generally, Trump has opted for such language to disparage Democrats whom he sees as inadequately supportive of Israel.
In this case, by contrast, Trump makes the comments alongside Irish leader Micheál Martin while talking about corporate tax rates. After saying that the American public will blame Democrats for high taxes, Trump launches into an aside on the New York senator, his top adversary in Congress who on Wednesday was opposing a Republican-drafted funding bill. (The setting is ironic for the comments as the Irish government is staunchly pro-Palestinian.)
“And Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned,” Trump says. “You know, he’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian.”
Schumer, the New York Democrat and Senate minority leader, has spoken frequently about his Jewish identity throughout his political career. He is soon to release a book about fighting antisemitism.
A spokesperson for Schumer does not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both Trump’s supporters and opponents are sharing clips of the remark online, and it has drawn criticism from some liberal Jewish organizations.
Syria’s interim president Sharaa forms national security council
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has issued a decree to form the country’s national security council, according to a statement by the Syrian president’s office.
The council will take decisions related to the country’s national security and challenges facing the state.
Israeli hostage negotiating team to remain in Doha as talks continue
Israel’s hostage negotiating team will remain in Doha tonight, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
There was a possibility that they would return this evening.
Citing a Palestinian source, the Kan public broadcaster reports that the US is pushing a 60-day ceasefire in return for the release of 10 hostages.
If that does not work, the US could work to free only the US hostages. One — Edan Alexander — is alive, and another four have been killed.
An Israeli official pushes back on the reports on the US ceasefire proposal, saying that the negotiating team “has not received at all any proposal for the return of 10 hostages in exchange for 60 days of ceasefire.”
Petah Tikva hospital treating 18-year-old moderately wounded by West Bank gunfire
A car that came under fire in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel, March 12, 2025. (Samaria Regional Council)
An 18-year-old Israeli civilian wounded in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel this evening was taken to Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment.
Magen David Adom says the victim is in moderate and stable condition, after he was shot in the arm.
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