Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Ambrey says vessel was reportedly targeted northwest of Yemen’s Hodeidah
A handout picture provided by the Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV on February 26, 2024, shows the Rubymar cargo ship sinking off the coast of Yemen. (Al-Joumhouriya TV/AFP)
British maritime security firm Ambrey and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) report an incident near Yemen’s Hodeidah where the Iran-aligned Houthis continue to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The crew was reported safe, Ambrey says
Ambrey reports in an advisory note that a vessel was targeted approximately 80 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah while UKMTO says an incident 65 nautical miles west of Hodeidah.
It is unclear if Ambrey and UKMTO are reporting the same incident.
Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilize the wider Middle East.
The US and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping.
Guterres meets with families of American hostages in Gaza, calls for their unconditional release
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks aduring a press briefing at UN headquarters on February 8, 2024 in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres just met with the families of American hostages held in Gaza, his spokesman says.
Guterres during the meeting “reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, including human remains,” the spokesman adds.
Hebrew media calls into question Netanyahu’s declaration that he approved IDF plan for Rafah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address by video to an AIPAC conference, March 12, 2024 (GPO screenshot)
Channel 12 and the Ynet news sites are calling into question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim earlier today that he had approved military operational plans for an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
On February 9, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying he had “ordered the IDF to prepare for an intense operation in Rafah.”
On February 25, Netanyahu told CBS that he was meeting with IDF brass later that day to review their plan for evacuating civilians from Rafah and dismantling the remaining Hamas battalions there.
The networks indicate that despite Netanyahu’s declarations, an operation in Rafah is not imminent.
The tens of thousands of reservists who were stationed in Gaza withdrew from the Strip weeks ago, and will have to return en masse if the IDF wants to carry out a massive operation in Rafah.
During the security cabinet meeting earlier today, Hebrew media reports that New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar asked Netanyahu for an update on Rafah, given that war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and others claimed that Israel would enter Rafah if no hostage deal was secured by Ramadan.
“We did not say that we would be in Rafah on Ramadan, we said that we will move forward according to our plans,” Netanyahu responded.
Netanyahu’s talk of an imminent operation in Rafah appears more geared toward pressuring Hamas to agree to a hostage deal.
IDF says it struck north Gaza launcher within minutes of rocket fire at Sderot
Footage of an IDF strike in Gaza on March 15, 2024. (Screen capture/IDF)
Within minutes of rocket fire on the southern city or Sderot this evening, the IDF says it struck the launcher in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF, one rocket was launched in the attack, and it was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
The IDF says the launch site and rocket launcher were hit by an aircraft and artillery shelling.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.
מוקדם יותר היום זוהה שיגור מצפון רצועת עזה לעבר העיר שדרות, שיורט בהצלחה על ידי לוחמי ההגנה האווירית.
בסגירת מעגל מהירה, תוך דקות אחדות מרכז האש של פיקוד הדרום, חיל האוויר וחטיבת האש 215 הכווינו תקיפה של המשגר שנמצא בצפון הרצועה באמצעות כלי טיס ובארטילריה, כתוצאה ממנה הוא הושמד pic.twitter.com/csoYXLQP3O— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 15, 2024
After hailing Schumer speech, White House says elections a matter for Israeli people to decide
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat-New York, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, February 13, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
After US President Joe Biden hailed the speech Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave yesterday in which he called for elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby is asked whether the US is directly calling for elections in Israel.
“That’s going to be up to the Israeli people to decide,” Kirby says during a press briefing.
US sanctions network smuggling American tech to Iran’s central bank
The Central Bank of Iran (Courtesy)
The US Treasury Department unveils sanctions against a network of companies and individuals for facilitating illegal technology transfers from dozens of US firms to Iranian entities, including the country’s central bank.
The sanctions relate to Informatics Services Corporation (ISC), the technology arm of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Treasury Department says in a statement.
It also sanctions a number of alleged ISC subsidiaries and front companies based in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and three individuals allegedly linked to them including Pouria Mirdamadi, a French-Iranian dual national.
Brian Nelson, the US Treasury under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, says the CBI “has played a critical role” in providing financial support to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the Quds Force.
“The United States will continue to use all available means to disrupt the Iranian regime’s illicit attempts to procure sensitive US technology and critical inputs,” he says in a statement.
The Treasury’s move freezes any US assets associated with the sanctioned individuals and entities, and generally prohibits Americans from doing business with them.
White House: Hamas response to hostage deal framework ‘within the bounds’ of what has been negotiated
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks at a press briefing on March 15, 2024. (Screen capture/YouTube)
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the Hamas response to the latest hostage agreement framework is “within the bounds of the deal that we’ve been working on for several months.”
“The fact that there’s another delegation heading to Doha… the fact that this proposal is out there, that there are conversations about it, that’s all good,” Kirby says during a press briefing.
“It’s within the broad brushstrokes of the deal that we’ve been talking about,” Kirby reiterates.
Kirby says the US will not be sending a delegation to the next meeting between negotiators in Doha but that the administration remains engaged on the matter.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that things are moving in a good direction, but that doesn’t mean that it’s done, and we’re going to have to stay at this to the very, very end,” he adds.
PIJ said to fire 2 rockets at Sderot; one intercepted, the other lands in open area
Trails of rockets fired towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, January 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot a short while ago, according to local authorities.
According to the municipality, one rocket was intercepted while the second landed in an open area outside the city.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack.
Sirens had sounded in Sderot due to the rocket fire.
Hamas said demanding release of over 1,000 security prisoners in exchange for release of 40 hostages
Activists and families of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza since October 7 block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv with large cutouts of their portraits, during a protest calling for their release, March 14, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Hamas, in its Thursday response to the latest hostage deal framework, is demanding Israel release over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners, including roughly 100 serving lifetime sentences for murdering Israelis in exchange for the release of 40 female, elderly and wounded hostages, the Walla news site reports.
The ratio of security prisoners to hostages is lower than it was in Hamas’s previous response, but it is still more than double the framework that Israel agreed to last month during a Paris summit with intel chiefs from Israel, the US and Egypt along with the prime minister of Qatar, which envisioned Israel releasing 400 security prisoners, including 15 sentenced to life for murdering Israelis.
For the release of each of the five female soldiers — who are believed to be among the first 40 who would released during the six-week, first stage of the truce deal — Hamas is demanding 50 security prisoners, including 30 convicted of murder.
The two most difficult Hamas demands for Israel, however, are for the IDF to withdraw from the corridor it created south of Gaza City to prevent Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, and for Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire during the second stage of the deal. This would come after the initial six-week ceasefire and be in exchange for the release of the remaining male hostages. Israel will also have to release a large number of Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for those remaining male hostages.
In the third stage, when Israel seeks the release of bodies being held by Hamas, the terror group is demanding agreements regarding the reconstruction of Gaza and the removal of Israel’s blockade on the compound.
Gaps between the sides following Hamas’s response remain large, but the fact that the terror group finally provided a response yesterday was enough for Israel to decide that it will send a delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea on Sunday for another round of talks in Doha, where a Hamas delegation will be as well.
What still must be decided, though, is the mandate the Israeli delegation will have. This has been a question debated for days, but Netanyahu put off answering it until Hamas provided a response.
It was initially discussed in the war cabinet earlier this week, but Netanyahu pushed the matter to the broader security cabinet, which held a meeting earlier today but had to pause in the middle before they could finish because many of the members observe Shabbat.
The war cabinet will meet on Saturday to make a final decision regarding how much leeway to give the Israeli negotiating team.
IDF says 115 tons of food, water were offloaded from World Central Kitchen boat off Gaza coast
Aid offloaded from World Central Kitchen boat off coast of Gaza on March 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says that 115 tons of food and water from the barge were offloaded to 12 trucks, which will be distributed in northern Gaza by the World Central Kitchen aid organization.
The IDF confirms the WCK aid boat arrived a short while ago at the Gaza coast after it had undergone a “comprehensive security check.”
In a statement, the IDF says the delivery of the aid is being “carried out in coordination and subject to an agreement with the civilian company.”
“We emphasize that the entry of humanitarian aid does not constitute a violation of the maritime security blockade,” the IDF adds.
Lebanon says French plan for Hezbollah-Israel truce could be ‘step’ to stability
A UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) patrol is pictured at the site of an overnight Israeli bombardment in the southern Lebanese village of Kafra, on February 29, 2024. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP)
Lebanon sees a French proposal meant to end hostilities with Israel and settle a border dispute as a possible “significant step” towards peace, according to a letter by Lebanon’s foreign ministry dated today and seen by Reuters.
Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel across Lebanon’s southern frontier since October in parallel with the Gaza war. Diplomatic efforts have sought to halt hostilities to prevent a wider conflict from breaking out.
The French plan was submitted to Lebanon last month and the details were first reported by Reuters. It outlines three phases in which military operations would cease, Lebanese armed groups would withdraw combat forces and Lebanese regular army troops would be deployed in the south.
To succeed, any deal would need approval from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which holds significant sway over the Lebanese state. Hezbollah says it will not stop clashing with Israel until an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
In its letter addressed to the French embassy, the Lebanese foreign ministry said Beirut “believes that the French initiative could be a significant step” towards peace and security in Lebanon and the broader region.
It did not address the specific steps outlined in France’s proposal, but said UN Security Council Resolution 1701 — which ended the last big war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 — was the “cornerstone to realizing enduring stability.”
That resolution calls for non-state armed actors to quit south Lebanon and for Lebanese army troops to deploy there.
Today’s letter says that “Lebanon does not seek war” but wanted a halt to what it called Israeli violations of Lebanon’s territorial sovereignty by land, air and sea.
Once violations stop, it says, Lebanon would commit to resuming tripartite meetings with UN peacekeepers and Israel “to discuss all disputes and reach an agreement on a full and comprehensive implementation of UNSC 1701.”
US envoy Amos Hochstein is also in talks with Lebanon on reaching a diplomatic resolution to the border fighting.
IDF strikes additional Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon after projectiles fired at Mount Dov
Footage of the IDF fighter jets striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on March 15, 2024. (Screen capture/IDF)
The IDF says fighter jets struck additional Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon a short while ago, including a compound in Houla and an observation post in Marwahin.
Troops also shelled the Hamoul area with artillery to “remove a threat,” the IDF says.
Earlier today, the IDF says it also struck Hezbollah infrastructure in Kafr Kila and Labbouneh.
Several projectiles were fired by Hezbollah at the Shtula, Zar’it and Mount Dov areas on the border, with no reports of injuries.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר אתר צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב חולא ועמדת תצפית של הארגון במרחב מרווחין. כמו כן, צה״ל תקף בארטילריה להסרת איום במרחב ודאי חמול.
מוקדם יותר, הותקפו תשתיות טרור של הארגון במרחב כפר כילא ובמרחב לבונה>> pic.twitter.com/SKmkSUxGWh
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 15, 2024
Aid supply ship from Cyprus reaches Gaza coast but weather slows delivery
A ship belonging to the Open Arms aid group with aid on a platform ferrying some 200 tonnes of rice and flour directly to Gaza, departs from the port from southern city of Larnaca, Cyprus, March 12, 2024 (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A ship towing a barge loaded with food arrived off Gaza today, witnesses say, in a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the devastated Palestinian enclave where famine looms after five months of Israel’s military campaign.
The ship, arranged by the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, is carrying nearly 200 tons of aid to be delivered via a jetty being prepared in Gaza, with a second ship expected to sail soon.
Floating on a barge attached by rope to a salvage ship, rough seas appeared to slow down the cargo reaching land, footage posted by a WCK official on social media showed.
WCK has been constructing a makeshift jetty which would allow the flat-bottomed barge to approach Gaza’s shallow waters for lack of proper port infrastructure.
“So far 2 crates already delivered from the barge,” WCK founder Jose Andres, a Michelin-starred chef, says in a post on X. “But still more to do next few (h)ours.”
The IDF confirms the WCK aid boat arrived a short while ago at the Gaza coast after it had undergone a “comprehensive security check.”
115 tons of food and water from the barge were offloaded to 12 trucks, which will be distributed in northern Gaza by WCK, the IDF says.
In a statement to The Times of Israel, the IDF says the delivery of the aid is being “carried out in coordination and subject to an agreement with the civilian company.”
“We emphasize that the entry of humanitarian aid does not constitute a violation of the maritime security blockade,” the IDF adds.
There are few details on how the aid delivery and distribution will work once it is ready to unload in Gaza, with UN relief agencies having described huge obstacles to getting relief supplies to those in need.
If the new sea route is successful, it may help to ease the hunger crisis affecting Gaza, where much of the population faces malnourishment and hospitals in the worst-stricken northern areas have reported children dying of starvation.
However, bringing in aid by sea and through airdrops will not be enough to make up for difficulties getting in supplies by land, aid agencies have repeatedly said.
International pressure won’t weaken our resolve to destroy Hamas, PM aide writes in WSJ
Palestinians walk past stalls set up in a street in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on March 10, 2024, as Muslims prepare for the holy month of Ramadan. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pens an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing that “mounting international pressure to end the war won’t weaken Israel’s resolve to accomplish its mission of destroying Hamas.”
“Detractors dismiss total victory as implausible, but the facts on the ground indicate otherwise,” Ophir Falk writes.
“Israel has already dismantled 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions, incapacitated more than 21,500 Hamas terrorists — about two-thirds of its force, including two of the top four leaders — and destroyed significant terror tunnels. By contrast, it took US military forces nine months to take out 5,000 ISIS fighters in Mosul.”
“Israel doesn’t need prompting to provide humanitarian aid or to act with caution,” the Netanyahu aide claims.
“High-intensity combat will wind down after Rafah, humanitarian aid will no longer be hijacked by Hamas, and safety for civilians can be realized. Total victory is within reach. Israel will finish the job.”
IDF releases footage showing Palestinian gunmen opening fire on Gaza civilians waiting for aid yesterday
IDF aerial footage of Palestinian gunmen opening fire amid a crowd of Gazan civilians waiting for aid at Kuwait Square in Gaza City on March 14, 2024. (Screen capture/IDF)
The IDF releases aerial footage of what it says shows Palestinian gunmen opening fire amid a crowd of Gazan civilians waiting for aid at Kuwait Square in Gaza City last night.
According to the IDF, the footage is from an hour before the aid trucks had arrived at a corridor in northern Gaza where the convoy later drove through.
Hamas health authorities accused Israeli troops of opening fire from “tanks and helicopters” at the civilians waiting for aid, killing 21 people and wounding more than 150 others.
The IDF said that according to an initial probe, Israeli forces did not open fire at any stage during the incident.
The probe found that Palestinian gunmen opened fire in the crowd an hour before the trucks arrived, as well as later when the convoy drove through.
The IDF says it is continuing to investigate the incident.
Biden, Irish PM talk Gaza ceasefire in St. Patrick’s Day event
US President Joe Biden meets with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Joe Biden and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledge to work to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza cast a shadow on the annual St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House.
“We both know a lot more has to be done,” Biden says about the situation in Gaza ahead of the bilateral meeting with Varadkar.
The Irish leader, after talking about the strong cultural and economic ties between the two countries, said he would like to see a ceasefire in fighting as soon as possible, and that the two leaders will discuss ways to make that happen.
Earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hosted a breakfast during which Varadkar commended Harris on her recent remarks in support of an immediate six-week ceasefire.
“Like you, we call for the unconditional and immediate release of all of the hostages, a very significant increase in humanitarian aid, food, medicine, sanitation, electricity, and an end to the fighting by both sides, Israel and Hamas,” Varadkar says. “And we support the work of the United States.”
Biden, who often speaks of his Irish heritage and is fond of quoting Irish poets, visited Ireland last April to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and expressed his support for the peace deal.
The US president is also expected to speak at the Friends of Ireland Luncheon at the US Capitol hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican. Biden and Johnson have publicly sparred over funding for Ukraine and Israel and the event will offer a rare occasion for the two to demonstrate they can find common ground.
“I am urging our Congress to do its part,” Biden says on Friday regarding stalled legislation to provide aid to Ukraine and Gaza.
G7 warns Iran not to give Russia ballistic missiles for Ukraine war
A handout picture from Iran's Defense Ministry shows a 4th generation Khorramshahr ballistic missile being launched at an undisclosed location in Iran, May 25, 2023. (AFP)
The Group of Seven (G7) industrialized powers tell Iran not to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia to use in its conflict with Ukraine, warning that they would take action against Tehran if it did so.
“Were Iran to proceed with providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia, we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran,” the G7 leaders say in a statement.
US working to bridge gaps on Gaza hostage deal, says Blinken
People walk by photographs of Israelis still held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv. March 14, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
The United States is working intensively with Israel and intermediaries Qatar and Egypt to bridge remaining gaps for a hostage deal that would see a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.
Blinken, speaking during a visit to Austria, says Israel sending a team reflected “a sense of both possibility and of urgency” to reach an agreement on the release of hostages.
“Yes, there has been a counter-proposal put forward by Hamas. I obviously can’t get into the details of what that involves, but what I can tell you is we’re working intensively with Israel, with Qatar, with Egypt, to bridge the remaining gaps and to try to reach an agreement,” Blinken says.
“We have conversations that are happening now, as we speak here, and I am convinced they’ll go on into the coming days,” Blinken tells reporters.
Blinken says US still hasn’t seen Israeli plan for Rafah op after PM announces it approved one
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, at the Federal Chancellery, in Vienna, Austria, Friday March 15, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)
The United States needs to see a clear and implementable plan for Rafah, including to get civilians out of harm’s way, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had approved plans for a military operation in Rafah.
Blinken tells reporters in Austria that the US has not yet seen such a plan for a military operation in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people are sheltering.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the US would “welcome” the opportunity to see the Israeli plan.
Biden: Schumer gave ‘good speech’ on Israel, his concerns are shared by many Americans
US President Joe Biden, center, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, talk to reporters before a lunch with Senate Democrats on his upcoming budget and political agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 2, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
US President Joe Biden says that Chuck Schumer made a “good speech” yesterday in which the Senate majority leader called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he branded as an obstacle to peace.
“He made a good speech,” Biden says in the White House’s Oval Office, when asked by reporters about Schumer’s remarks on the Senate floor.
“He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him, but by many Americans,” Biden says, adding that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer’s office.
Biden commends Schumer for his speech denouncing Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/0SyswCatE2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 15, 2024
IDF chief ‘severely reprimands’ division commander who challenged political leadership
The commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, speaks to the press from the Gaza border, March 13, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
The IDF says the commander of the 98th Division, Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, received a “severe reprimand” by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi for his off-script remarks directed at Israel’s political leaders during a press conference Wednesday.
“The chief of staff severely reprimanded the division commander for acting contrary to what was expected of a senior commander in the IDF,” the military says.
Halevi told Goldfus that he “used the trust given to him in a way that harmed the dignity of the IDF, and the boundaries between the political and military echelons in a democratic country.”
The chief of staff also said he “appreciates his professionalism and deep contribution to the IDF, certainly during the war in the last months, but this does not allow him to behave in the way he acted.”
Goldfus, according to the IDF, accepted Halevi’s rebuke, admitted his actions were wrong and contrary to military protocol, and apologized for them.
Goldfus had addressed Israel’s political leadership after a prepared and approved statement, telling them they must “be worthy of us,” that the military would “not run away from responsibility,” and that they must push away extremism.
The additional remarks were not approved by Goldfus’s superiors.
Iran Air could be banned from Europe if Tehran sends missiles to Russia, US warns
An Airbus A321 bearing the logo of Iran Air is pictured on January 11, 2017 at the Airbus delivery center, in Colomiers southwestern France. (AFP PHOTO / PASCAL PAVANI)
G7 nations are prepared to respond with severe new penalties that could include a ban on Iran Air flights to Europe if Iran proceeds with the transfer of close-range ballistic missiles to Russia, a senior US official says
“Our message today is, if Iran proceeds with providing Russia with ballistic missiles, the response from the international community will be swift and severe,” the official tells a small group of reporters.
Gallant says PA-tied Palestinians are least bad option for Gaza rulers, is lambasted by fellow Likud ministers
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks to Duvdevan troops at the unit's base, March 11, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a security cabinet meeting earlier today that the best option Israel has for who will rule Gaza will be local Palestinians affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, Channel 13 reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has all but rejected the idea, instead trying to promote clans unaffiliated with Hamas or the PA, despite the idea widely being understood to be completely unviable.
Gallant told security cabinet ministers that Israel faces several options, the worst being continued Hamas rule if the IDF fails to completely dismantle the terror group’s military infrastructure. The next slightly less bad option would be permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza, which the IDF would pay for in blood and significant resources that it wouldn’t be able to use in the West Bank and on the Lebanon border.
Another potential scenario would be chaos in Gaza — potentially of the kind that led to last month’s aid convoy incident in which dozens were killed. This would lead to significant pressure from the international community and Israel would still have to devote a significant amount of energy to Gaza, Gallant said.
According to the defense minister, the least bad option would be having local Palestinians govern the Strip. But because this body won’t be Hamas, it means that “once in a while it will look at what is being said in Ramallah,” Channel 13 quotes Gallant as having said.
The stance infuriated fellow Likud ministers Miri Regev and Yariv Levin who accused Gallant of “promoting the Palestinian Authority.”
Gallant hit back saying that the ones paying the price for the government’s indecision on this issue have been IDF soldiers.
Migrant boat sinks off Turkey, children among 22 dead
Illustrative: A migrant boat in Mediterranean waters east of Cape Greco in southeastern Cyprus in August 2023 (Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JCC) / AFP)
At least 22 people have drowned, including seven children, when a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off Turkey’s northwest province of Canakkale, the local governor’s office says, adding that search and rescue efforts continued.
In a statement, the Canakkale governor’s office says that two people had been rescued by the coast guard and two others had survived “by their own means” after the boat capsized.
It says a plane, two helicopters, and a total of 18 vessels from the coast guard and other rescue authorities were involved in the search and rescue efforts, along with 502 personnel.
Footage from Kabatepe port showed a boat taking part in search and rescue operations returning to port with body bags on the deck. Health workers and security personnel could be seen carrying the body bags off the boat and onto ambulances waiting there.
Earlier, Canakkale Governor Ilhami Aktas told the state-run Anadolu news agency that the four rescued migrants were admitted to hospital.
It is not immediately clear how many migrants were on the boat, the governor told Anadolu.
Biden denounces resurgence of Islamophobia amid Israel-Hamas war
US President Joe Biden speaks at the National League of Cities at the Marriott Marquis, March 11, 2024, in Washington. (AP/ Andrew Harnik)
US President Joe Biden condemns what he calls an ugly resurgence of Islamophobia since the October 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.
He issues a statement on the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, established in 2022 by the United Nations on March 15, the anniversary of the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shootings in which 51 people were killed during Friday prayers.
“We recognize the violence and hate that Muslims worldwide too often face because of their religious beliefs — and the ugly resurgence of Islamophobia in the wake of the devastating war in Gaza,” Biden says in a statement released by the White House.
“Islamophobia has no place in our nation. Yet Muslims in the United States frequently endure baseless fear-mongering, blatant discrimination, harassment and violence in the course of their everyday lives,” Biden says.
Hamas lashes out at Abbas’s ‘unilateral’ designation of new PM
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) with Prime Minister-desigate Mohammad Mustafa in Ramallah on March 14, 2024. (Wafa)
The Hamas terror group criticizes the “unilateral” designation by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of an ally and leading business figure as prime minister with a mandate to help reform the PA and rebuild Gaza.
Mohammad Mustafa’s appointment comes after mounting pressure to overhaul the governing body and improve governance in the West Bank where it is based.
Hamas says the decision was taken without consulting it, despite recently taking part in a meeting in Moscow also attended by Abbas’s Fatah movement to end long-time divisions weakening Palestinian political aspirations.
“We express our rejection of continuing this approach that has inflicted and continues to inflict harm on our people and our national cause,” Hamas says in a statement.
“Making individual decisions and engaging in superficial and empty steps such as forming a new government without national consensus only reinforces a policy of unilateralism and deepens division.”
At a time of war with Israel, Palestinians needed a unified leadership preparing for free democratic elections involving all components of their society, it adds.
Hamas says any attempt to exclude it from the political scene after the war was “delusional”.
EU close to sanctioning a dozen violent settlers, after Hungary indicates acquiesce — diplomats
Israeli soldiers scuffle with Jewish settlers from the Einav settlement, trying to storm the West Bank town of Deir Sharaf, near Nablus, November 2, 2023. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP)
The European Union is close to agreeing on sanctions on Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank after Hungary signaled an end to its opposition, European diplomats say.
While much international attention has focused on Hamas’s cross-border assault from Gaza and Israel’s subsequent war there, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
But the EU’s 27 member countries have struggled to agree on sanctions against those responsible, even after the United States and Britain imposed such measures.
Some EU members close to Israel, such as Germany and Austria, had said they were ready to approve sanctions on violent settlers after more had been imposed on Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.
Hungary, a staunch ally of the Israeli government, had been the most vociferous opposing sanctions on settlers.
But diplomats say Budapest has now allowed proposed sanctions to pass through the EU system. Some say the sanctions could be approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday but others said more time would be needed.
A Palestinian man inspects a car damaged during an alleged attack by Israeli settlers in the village of Asira al-Qibliyah, south of Nablus, in the West Bank on February 13, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
The struggle over the proposed sanctions reflects broader divisions on the Middle East, with some EU countries strongly backing Israel and others leaning more towards the Palestinians.
The EU has not spelled out what the sanctions would entail, but officials have said they would include bans on travel to the EU.
Ministers said briefed that all signs indicate top Hamas leader Issa was killed in IDF strike
Marwan Issa, the deputy head of Hamas’s military wing, circled in a photo circulated on social media in 2015. The photo or its source could not be immediately verified.
Security officials briefed ministers at today’s security cabinet meeting that all signs indicate that Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing in the central Gaza Strip, was killed when he was targeted by an IDF strike earlier this week, Hebrew media report.
The Ynet news site quotes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailing the news as “a great achievement for Israel.”
The IDF on Monday confirmed that it had targetted Issa in a strike on central Gaza’s Nuseirat, but said it did not have enough information that would confirm whether the hit was successful.
Issa is considered the number three in the terror organization in Gaza and serves as the deputy of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Together with Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, they are believed to have masterminded the group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war.
IDF hits Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as projectiles fired at northern communities
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah observation post in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab, a building used by the terror group in Aalma ash-Shab, and another infrastructure in Labbouneh a short while ago.
Another building used by Hezbollah was targeted overnight in Labbouneh, and troops shelled areas near Hamoul and Houla with artillery to “remove threats,” the IDF says.
Several projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the northern communities of Margaliot, Malkia and Shtula, with the IDF saying it also shelled the launch sites with artillery.
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah observation post in southern Lebanon's Ayta ash-Shab, a building used by the terror group in Aalma ash-Shab, and another infrastructure in Labbouneh a short while ago.
Another building used by Hezbollah was targeted overnight in Labbouneh, and… pic.twitter.com/xNySszW0w2
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 15, 2024
Israel Democracy Institute runs newspaper ads calling out Haredim for not serving in IDF
An Israel Democracy Institute advertisement patterned on ultra-Orthodox pashkeveils, or broadsheet posters, calling out the Haredim for refusing to enlist in the army, March 15, 2024 (IDI)
The Israel Democracy Institute runs advertisements patterned on ultra-Orthodox pashkeveils, or broadsheet posters, calling out the Haredim for refusing to enlist in the army.
The ads, which decry the “insult to the heroes of the army…who give their lives for the sanctity of God,” run in the Friday editions of national-religious newspapers Makor Rishon and B’sheva.
The IDI says such ads would not be accepted by ultra-Orthodox newspapers.
The use of this format and language echoing that of anti-enlistment posters used by the ultra-Orthodox “is another tool in our arsenal of tools, in addition to publishing data, in-depth studies and policy proposals, to deal with the issue of recruitment and equality of the burden,” says Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, head of the IDI’s Center for Shared Society, arguing that avoiding the draft contradicts an “honest interpretation” of the Torah.
The IDI is addressing the Haredim in the “language of the Torah and clarifying the urgent need for a new social contract, even at the cost of risking the coalition,” she says.
Netanyahu rejects ‘still absurd’ Hamas demands but will send team to Qatar; approves IDF plan for Rafah operation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a meeting of the security cabinet in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2024 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the latest proposal put forward by Hamas for a release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a truce, saying its demands “are still absurd.” But he says he will send Israeli delegates to Qatar to continue truce efforts.
He also approves an IDF plan of operation to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah, his office says in a statement after a meeting of the war cabinet.
“The IDF is prepared for the operation and to evacuate the [civilian] population.”
The decision comes despite widespread warnings from the international community, including from the US and Egypt, not to enter Rafah where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
The statement also says that Israel will send a delegation to Qatar to continue talks on a truce deal “once the security cabinet discusses the Israeli position.”
Police say first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Temple Mount end peacefully
Muslim worshippers perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Police say tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers took part in the first Friday prayers of Ramadan on the Temple Mount and the prayers ended without incident.
More than 3,000 police officers and Border Police soldiers were deployed across the Old City of Jerusalem ahead of the prayers amid fears of disturbances after Hamas called on Palestinian worshipers to barricade themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
However, a police statement says there are no “unusual” incidents.
The Islamic Waqf that administers the mosque compound estimated that 80,000 people took part in the prayers.
War cabinet convenes amid efforts to secure hostage release, truce
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a meeting of the war cabinet in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2024 (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes his war cabinet at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv amid stepped-up efforts to reach a truce deal that would see the release of hostages.
That meeting was followed by a gathering of the larger security cabinet.
No details were released of the decisions made at the war cabinet meeting.
Families of the hostages protested outside calling on Netanyahu and the ministers to do everything possible to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.
The meeting comes a day after Hamas presented a counter-proposal to the one being mediated by Qatar, the US and Egypt.
Germany’s Scholz to make second trip to Israel since Oct. 7
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making his second trip to the Middle East since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. He plans meetings with the leaders of Jordan and Israel.
Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit says Scholz will depart Saturday for Jordan, where he will meet King Abdullah II. He plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Israel on Sunday.
Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and has repeatedly expressed its solidarity with the country in its war against Hamas. But it has pressed for better aid supplies and for an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Berlin plans to have its air force participate in Jordanian-initiated airdrops of aid to Gaza. But Hebestreit stressed on Friday that deliveries by sea or air are “at best a second-best solution” and aid should be sent to Gaza overland, as well as renewing calls for Hamas to free Israeli hostages.
Hamas says 149 Palestinians killed in last day, bringing Gaza toll to 31,490
Palestinians carry away the body of a man from the morgue of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, March 15, 2024. (AFP)
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says 149 Palestinians were killed over the last day, bringing the Gaza death toll to 31,490.
That number apparently includes 21 Palestinians killed waiting for an aid convoy. Hamas blamed Israel, but the IDF says Palestinian gunmen opened fire and there was no Israeli fire at all at the scene.
Hamas’s figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 13,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Rocket warning siren sounds in north
A rocket warning siren sounds in the northern community of Margaliot.
The warning comes amid reports that the IDF was hitting targets in southern Lebanon.
Rocket Alerts [13:14:52] – 1 Alert:
• Confrontation Line — Margaliot#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/jq5hpnu5ap
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) March 15, 2024
Former Polish PM to testify in parliament on use of Israeli spyware
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the opposition conservative party Law and Justice, speaks to a crowd protesting against the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in Warsaw, Poland, on Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
A former Polish prime minister is set to testify before a special parliamentary committee about his government’s purchase and allegedly illegal use of advanced spyware.
The NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used to spy on mobile devices belonging to opponents of the governing Law and Justice Party. Recent findings suggest it was also used to eavesdrop on some key members of the right-wing party, as well.
The revelations, first reported by the Associated Press in 2021, shocked Poland and added to the European Union’s concerns that the Law and Justice government was undermining the rule of law.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski was prime minister in 2006-2007, but continued to play a key role in Poland’s politics after leaving the job office, especially when his Law and Justice party ruled again in 2015-2023. He was considered Poland’s most powerful politician during the period the spyware was used and held a variety of posts, including deputy prime minister for security.
In January 2022, Kaczynski, 74, acknowledged that the country bought advanced spyware from the Israeli surveillance software maker, but denied that it was being used to target his political opponents.
McDonald’s system outages are reported worldwide
A McDonald's employee bows in front of its store amid the company's system outages in Tokyo, Friday, March 15, 2024. Reports of system outages at McDonald's are growing around the world, shuttering restaurants and leading to social media complaints. M(Kyodo News via AP)
System outages at McDonald’s have been reported worldwide, shuttering some restaurants and leading to social media complaints, while other locations have returned to functioning after the failures, with people ordering and getting their food at locations in Bangkok, Milan and London.
McDonald’s in Japan posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “operations are temporarily out at many of our stores nationwide,” calling it “a system failure” and apologizing for the inconvenience.
The website Downdetector also reported a spike in problems with the McDonald’s app in the last several hours.
There were no immediate reports of problems in Israel.
“We are aware of a technology failure that has affected our restaurants. The issue has now been resolved and our restaurants are open,” Fannie Pramming, communications manager for McDonald’s Denmark, said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“The issue is not related to a cybersecurity incident,” Pramming said.
Merchant vessel hit by missile, damaged off Yemen
Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US airstrikes on Yemen and the war in Gaza, in Sanaa, Yemen, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
A merchant vessel reported it had been hit by a missile and sustained damage 76 nautical miles west of Yemen’s Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and the British security firm Ambrey say.
“The vessel has sustained some damage. The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call,” the UKMTO said in an advisory note.
Ambrey also reported that the ship, which it said was a tanker, was subject to a missile strike on the starboard side.
The Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking shipping, claiming it’s in support of the Palestinians amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
IDF probe: Palestinian gunmen killed Gazans waiting for aid, no army fire at all
Illustrative: Palestinians wait for the humanitarian aid to be dropped by the US Air Force in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Essa)
The IDF says that last night, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Gazan civilians waiting for aid at Kuwait Square in Gaza City, leading to casualties. It says IDF troops did not open fire at any stage during the incident.
According to the IDF’s probe, a convoy of 31 trucks containing food and other humanitarian aid for civilians made its way to northern Gaza.
An hour before the convoy arrived at an IDF-established corridor, armed Palestinians opened fire while civilians were waiting for the aid trucks, the probe finds.
“As aid trucks were entering [the corridor], the Palestinian gunmen continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks,” the IDF says, adding that it also identified several civilians who had been run over by the trucks.
Hamas health officials said at least 21 people were killed and more than 150 were wounded in the incident.
The IDF says that after conducting an “intensive preliminary review,” it found that “the IDF did not open fire at the aid convoy at Kuwait Square.”
“A review of our operational systems and IDF troops [on the ground] found that no tank shelling, airstrike or gunfire was carried out toward the Gazan crowd in the area of the aid convoy,” the military says.
The IDF adds that it is continuing to investigate the incident.
“While the IDF continues its humanitarian effort to supply food and humanitarian aid to the civilians of the Gaza Strip, Hamas terrorists continue to harm Gazan civilians who are seeking food. and Hamas is blaming Israel for it,” the military says in a statement
“As a result, on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan, a smear campaign was created with the aim of spreading baseless misinformation for the sake of instigating violence in other arenas,” the IDF adds.
Biden hosts Irish PM as delegation boycotts White House St. Patrick’s Day over Gaza
President Joe Biden meets virtually with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 17, 2022 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
US President Joe Biden will host Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar for the annual St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, even as a portion of the usual Irish delegation boycotts the event over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.
During a speech in Boston on Tuesday, Varadkar said he will use the opportunity to tell Biden “how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a ceasefire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza.”
Ireland has traditionally been one of Western Europe’s strongest critics of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.
The SDLP, Northern Ireland’s smaller nationalist party, said it was not sending any representatives to Washington this week.
Police say 40,000 worshipers at Temple Mount for first Friday Ramadan prayers
A Muslim devotee offers first Friday noon prayers of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 15, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai says some 40,000 worshippers are at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Thousands of police were deployed Friday across the Old City of Jerusalem in case of disturbances after Hamas called on Palestinian worshipers to barricade themselves inside the mosque during the first Friday prayers of the holy month of Ramadan.
There are no immediate reports of unrest, but Shabtai says there are still warnings of possible terror attacks.
Far-Right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also visited a police command post set up by the Western Wall ahead of the prayers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last week that the number of worshipers allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in the first week of Ramadan would be the same as in previous years and that no restrictions would be imposed on Arab Israelis, overruling the wishes of Ben Gvir.
COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of civilian affairs in the West Bank, has ruled that Palestinian residents’ access to the site for Friday’s prayers will be limited to men over 55, women over 50, and children under 10.
IDF finds Hamas tunnel under bell pepper field near Khan Younis
The entrance to a Hamas tunnel near the Hamad Town residential complex in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout image published by the IDF on March 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it uncovered a Hamas tunnel under a bell pepper field near the Hamad Town residential complex in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
In the 200-meter-long tunnel, the IDF says troops found weapons belonging to Hamas operatives. The underground passage was subsequently destroyed by combat engineers.
Hostage families demonstrating outside military HQ, call on cabinet to take deal
Hostage family members are protesting outside the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv where the war cabinet will be meeting later today, urging them to accept a deal being mediated with Hamas.
“The time has come to bring them home,” they chant as they block Begin Road.
The cabinet is meeting to consider a response after Hamas put forward its latest proposals for a deal that could see the terror group release some of the captives in exchange for a truce and the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
ברקע תגובת החמאס על העסקה לשחרור החטופים וישיבת הקבינט, כמה מאות מפגינים ובני משפחות חטופים חוסמים לסירוגין את דרך בגין בסמוך לקריה pic.twitter.com/WuKekYmYwr
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) March 15, 2024
Sissi says Egypt is striving to secure a truce in Gaza, warns against Rafah op
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, on January 11, 2024 (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP)
Egypt is seeking to reach a deal for a truce in Gaza, increase entry of aid and to allow displaced people in the south of the enclave to move to the north, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi says.
Sissi also warns against the danger of an Israeli incursion into the city of Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people have sought shelter next to Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Aid officials have warned of looming famine in the coastal enclave.
“We are talking about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, meaning a truce, providing the biggest quantity of aid,” Sisi said in a message recorded during a visit to a military academy.
This would include “curbing the impact of this famine on people, and also allowing for the people in the center and the south to move towards the north, with a very strong warning against incursion into Rafah,” he says.
“We warned of what is happening, that aid not entering would lead to famine,” Sissi says.
Egypt, which fears the displacement of Palestinians crowded near its border, has been trying, along with Qatar and the United States, to mediate between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.
On Thursday, Egypt’s foreign minister called on Israel to open land crossings with Gaza to let in more aid.
Eliezer Fishman, tycoon involved in biggest bankruptcy in Israeli history, dies at 80
Israeli businessman Eliezer Fishman, seen at court in Tel Aviv on January 1, 2017. (Flash90)
Media and real estate mogul Eliezer Fishman who became embroiled in Israel’s largest-ever bankruptcy dies aged 80, Hebrew media report.
Fishman was a prominent Israeli businessman often described locally as a “tycoon,” a member of a class of a few dozen magnates who are said to have outsize control over Israeli politics and the economy. In 2013, Forbes Israel estimated his net worth at NIS 2.7 billion ($765 million).
However, in 2015 press reports, followed by court proceedings, revealed that his business empire was a house of cards. Far from having assets in the billions, he owed over NIS 4 billion ($1.13 billion) to Israel’s major banks, a fact that both he and the banks kept quiet for years, while he and his family maintained an opulent lifestyle.
He was declared bankrupt when creditors refused to agree to a deal that would have wiped out 92 percent of his personal debt, estimated at some NIS 1.5 billion ($425 million).
The liquidator of his assets called Fishman the “biggest bankruptcy in Israeli history.”
Among his many holdings, which included real estate, retail chains (Celio, Zer4U, MegaSport), cable television, telecommunications infrastructure and gas stations, Fishman was also the owner of the Globes business daily and held a 38 percent stake in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. Many observers contended that Bank Hapoalim and Fishman’s other creditors continued to lend him money because of the power he had to shape public opinion in their favor.
Spanish aid vessel arrives off Gaza coast
A ship belonging to the Open Arms aid group with aid on a platform ferrying some 200 tons of rice and flour to Gaza, departs from the port from southern city of Larnaca, Cyprus, March 12, 2024 (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
The first aid vessel heading to the Gaza Strip via a new maritime corridor is visible off the coast of the war-ravaged territory, an AFP journalist says.
The reporter sights the Open Arms, which the Spanish charity operating it says is carrying 200 tonnes of food for Gazans threatened with famine after more than five months of war.
Polls open in Russian vote to extend Putin’s reign
Two women vote at a polling station during a presidential election in in Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo)
Russians start voting in a three-day presidential election that is set to hand veteran leader Vladimir Putin another six-year term as the raging conflict in Ukraine spreads further into Russian territory.
In power as president or prime minister since the final day of 1999, the former KGB agent is casting the election as a show of Russians’ loyalty and support for his military assault on Ukraine, now in its third year.
Polling stations in a country spread over 11 time zones opened at 8:00 am on the Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula and will close Sunday at 8:00 pm in Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, wedged between EU members Poland and Lithuania.
Putin yesterday urged Russians to back him in the face of a “difficult period” for the country, in a pre-election message broadcast on state TV.
“We have already shown that we can be together, defending the freedom, sovereignty and security of Russia … Today it is critically important not to stray from this path,” he said.
With all of Putin’s major opponents dead, in prison or in exile, the outcome of the vote is not in any doubt.
A state-run pollster predicted earlier this week that Putin would secure more than 80 percent.
Victory will allow him to stay in power until 2030, longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the eighteenth century.
Hezbollah said to tell Tehran it would not drag Iran into fight if war with Israel erupts
This handout picture provided by Hezbollah's media office on February 10, 2024 shows Lebanese Shiite terror group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at an undisclosed location in Lebanon. (Photo by Hezbollah's Media Office / AFP)
Hezbollah has reportedly told its main backer Iran that it would fight a war against Israel on its own if the conflict escalates and not drag Tehran into the conflict, Reuters reports.
According to the report, citing seven sources, the head of Iran’s Quds Force visited Beirut in February to discuss the risk posed if Israel launched a full-scale assault on Hezbollah.
In Beirut, Quds chief Esmail Qaani met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the sources said, for at least the third time since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The conversation turned to the possibility of a full Israeli offensive to its north, in Lebanon, the sources said. As well as damaging the Shi’ite Islamist group, such an escalation could pressure Iran to react more forcefully than it has so far since Oct. 7, three of the sources, Iranians within the inner circle of power, said.
At the previously unreported meeting, Nasrallah reassured Qaani he didn’t want Iran to get sucked into a war with Israel or the United States and that Hezbollah would fight on its own, all the sources said.
“This is our fight,” Nasrallah told Qaani, said one Iranian source with knowledge of the discussions.
Israel has repeatedly warned that it will no longer tolerate Hezbollah on its northern border and says it will launch an offensive if diplomatic efforts fail.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in seven civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of ten IDF soldiers and reservists.
There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries. Hezbollah has named 244 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 41 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 30 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
Airstrike hits explosive laden car as heavy fighting continues in Gaza
Fighting continues in the southern and central Gaza Strip, with the IDF saying troops killed numerous Hamas gunmen over the past day.
In Khan Younis, the IDF says troops directed several airstrikes on Hamas operatives and captured weapons.
The 7th Armored Brigade killed several gunmen with tank shelling and sniper fire in the Khan Younis area, as well as destroyed sites where Hamas operatives were gathered, the IDF says.
In one incident, troops of the 7th Brigade spotted a Hamas cell loading a vehicle with explosives and called in an airstrike. Later, the IDF says troops spotted another group of gunmen planting explosives in the area, and called in a new strike.
In central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Brigade killed some 10 Hamas operatives over the past day, including in close-quarters combat and by directing tank shelling.
In northern Gaza, after rockets were fired yesterday at Israeli border communities, the IDF says it carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling against several Hamas sites identified in the area of the launch.
A video released by the IDF shows several of the airstrikes in Gaza over the past day.
Salim Joubran, first Arab Israeli Supreme Court Judge, dies at 76
Deputy President of Supreme Court Judge Salim Joubran in the court in Jerusalem on June 14, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Salim Joubran, the first Arab Israeli Supreme Court Judge, has died at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.
A Christian who grew up in the north of Israel, Joubran was the first Arab Israeli to be appointed to a permanent seat on the Supreme Court, eventually serving as deputy president of the court. Jubran retired in 2017.
He was also the first Arab Israeli to chair the Central Elections Committee.
In March 2012, Joubran was criticized by some on the right when he refrained from singing the national anthem during a swearing-in ceremony for new Supreme Court justices. His position was supported by his predecessor in the post, fellow justice Elyakim Rubinstein, who wrote in a letter that while non-Jewish citizens should show respect for the anthem by standing, they should not feel obligated to sing words that do not speak to their hearts.
‘We can envisage embracing them again:’ Hostage families urge war cabinet to seize on emerging deal
People walk by photographs of Israelis still held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv. March 14, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
The Hostages Families Forum headquarters releases a statement, appealing to the war cabinet ahead of its meeting later in the day to deliberate on the possibility of finalizing a hostage deal, following the Hamas response to a deal outline.
“For the first time, we can envision embracing them again, please grant us this right,” state the families.
They call on the prime minister and war cabinet not to postpone the deal and to save all 134 “daughters and sons who were cruelly taken, solely for being Israelis,” state the families. “For the first time, we can envision embracing them again. Please grant us this right.”
Representatives of about 20 families were invited for a personal meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara last night, after not meeting with the prime minister for more than six weeks. The families tell the prime minister that these meetings with him and members of the war cabinet are “vital” and asked that they take regularly and frequently, after weeks of asking for meetings and noting the far more frequent meetings with US administration officials.
The families emphasize that it is the prime minister’s “responsibility and commitment to secure the release of all the hostages, both the living and the murdered,” they say in a statement, and tell him their sense of feeling invisible in the process of a hostage deal.
Hamas proposal: Female soldiers to be included in first release, date for IDF withdrawal to be set in second stage
IDF troops seen operating in the Gaza Strip in a picture released on March 15, 2024 (Israel Defense Force)
Hamas has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators which includes a first stage of releasing Israeli women, children, elderly, and the ill hostages in exchange for the release of 700-1000 Palestinian prisoners, according to a proposal seen by Reuters.
The releases would include 100 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons and the release of Israeli “female recruits.”
Hamas says it would agree on a date for a permanent ceasefire after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, according to the proposal.
A deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would be agreed upon after the first stage, Hamas says in its proposal.
Hamas says all detainees from both sides would be released in a second stage of the plan.
Ship in Red Sea damaged in missile attack — UK
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center says a ship has been struck by a missile while traveling through the Red Sea off of Yemen.
According to the UKMTO, the merchant vessel sustained damage, but is heading to its next destination.
The organization says the crew is safe following the attack, some 76 nautical miles northwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeida.
The ship is not identified.
UKMTO WARNING INCIDENT 052-ATTACK UPDATE 001https://t.co/fX3hWupi7g#Maritimesecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/HoGO3fmxTE
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) March 15, 2024
US announces strikes on Houthi missile, drones
The US military’s Central Command says it destroyed nine anti-ship missiles and two drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The army says Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden and two missiles toward the Red Sea, but there were no injuries or damage reported to US or coalition ships.
Australia ending UNRWA funding freeze
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong listens beside Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo during a joint press conference at a hotel in Makati City, Philippines on Thursday May 18, 2023. (Lisa Marie David/Pool Photo via AP)
Australia will resume funding to the United Nations’ main Palestinian relief agency, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says, almost two months after it paused ties over allegations some of the agency’s employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attack.
“The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, and that existing additional safeguards sufficiently protect Australian taxpayer funding,” Wong says, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
She says Canberra is working on signing a new funding agreement with UNRWA, after Israel provided information that led Australia to conclude it could resume contributing some $6 million to the aid agency.
“I don’t know what I don’t know. What I do know is this, I know there’s people starving in Gaza … I know that UNRWA is critical to providing this assistance to people who are on the brink of starving,” she says.
White House welcomes new PA premier, calls on him to implement reforms
The White House says it welcomes the appointment of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, calling on him to quickly deliver credible, sweeping reforms it sees as necessary for the PA to regain control of Gaza.
“We urge the formation of a reform cabinet as soon as possible,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The United States will be looking for this new government to deliver on policies and implementation of credible and far-reaching reforms.”
“A reformed Palestinian Authority is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people and establishing the conditions for stability in both the West Bank and Gaza,” the statement adds.
Mustafa, a US-educated economist, is a close ally of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, though he is politically independent. There had been questions over whether his appointment would satisfy US demands for reforms that shift power away from Abbas and toward a technocratic administration.
Missiles buzz ship off Yemen, UK marine tracker says
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization says it has received a report that missiles passed near a ship 50 nautical miles (93 kilometers) southwest of Hudaydah, Yemen.
“The Master reported two missiles flying over the vessel and heard two loud blasts in the distance,” the UKMTO says in an advisory note, referring to the person in command of the ship.
It adds that the vessel reported no damage and that the crew are reported safe.
“The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. Authorities are investigating,” the advisory says.
US House speaker floats standalone Israel aid bill to put Democrats in hot seat
US House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana arrives for a closed-door Republican caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, February 14, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
US House Speaker Mike Johnson tells Fox News that he is considering introducing an aid package for Israel as a standalone bill, spurred on by comments by Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel.
“There’s discussion in the last two hours about running Israel as a separate stand-alone because of the events of today,” Johnson is quoted telling Fox. “Frankly, Leader Schumer and his comments made the situation even more urgent.”
“There’s enough members now saying let’s just get Israel done,” he adds.
The introduction of the proposal will likely put pressure on Schumer and other Democrats to show support for the Jewish state.
The Senate has already passed a bill sending some $14 billion to Israel in aid, but Johnson has refused to advance the measure due to the inclusion of around $60 billion in funding for Ukraine.
The House has already passed two standalone funding bills for Israel, but Schumer has refused to have the Senate take them up.
Johnson says that Democrats who opposed the previous attempts “might be more open to consideration of that, given where we are right now and the urgency of the moment.”
IDF denies shooting at Gazans waiting for aid
Israel Defense Forces Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee denies reports in Palestinian media that Israeli troops opened fire on people waiting for aid in Gaza City, killing at least 21.
“Reports that the IDF targeted dozens of Gazans on Thursday evening at a humanitarian aid distribution point are incorrect,” he says in a tweet on social media platform X.
Adraee says the incident is under investigation, and calls on the media to only report “reliable information.”
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says 21 killed awaiting aid in Gaza City
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has raised the number of Palestinians it says were killed while awaiting aid in two separate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Thursday to 29.
Palestinian health officials say at least 21 people were killed and more than 150 were wounded by Israeli gunfire at a crowd awaiting aid trucks at a northern Gaza roundabout, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Earlier, eight people were killed in an airstrike on an aid distribution center in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Hamas claims.
The tolls cannot be independently verified.
An AFP journalist on the scene in Gaza City reports seeing several bodies and people who had been shot.
Mohammed Ghurab, director of emergency services at a hospital in northern Gaza, tells AFP there were “direct shots by the occupation forces” on people waiting for a food truck.
The Israeli military has not commented on the accusations.
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