March 15: US official warns strikes on Houthis in Yemen could go on for days or weeks

Hundreds of thousands take to the streets as anti-corruption protest engulfs Serbia’s capital

A sea of people converged in Serbia’s capital Belgrade yesterday in what was the largest of a series of anti-corruption demonstrations that have upended the Balkan country in recent months.

At one point the crowd stretched for nearly two kilometres, with people filling the streets in and around the parliament and the capital’s main pedestrian square.

“We have gathered in the streets primarily to express our complete dissatisfaction after years of dictatorship, lawlessness, and corruption,” said one demonstrator, Ognjen Djordjevic, a 28-year-old resident from Belgrade.

The movement formed after 15 people were killed when a railway station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in November, igniting long-simmering anger over alleged corruption and lax oversight in construction projects.

After the rally, the interior ministry said that at least 107,000 people had turned out.

The Public Assembly Archive — a group that monitors crowd size — gives a much higher figure. It estimates that between 275,000 to 325,000 people took to the streets.

If that estimate is correct, it would make the protest one of the largest in Serbia’s recent history.

???????? Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, right now. pic.twitter.com/Oir4292B51

— Visioner (@visionergeo) March 15, 2025

Houthis say at least 15 killed in intense wave of US strikes

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say that US strikes have killed at least 15 people, including children, after President Donald Trump announced an attack on the Iran-backed group.

The Houthi’s Ansarallah media raises an earlier death toll of nine, reporting strikes hitting the capital Sanaa as well as the northern Saada region.

Freed hostage Tal Shoham says his Hamas captors ‘never stopped digging tunnels’ in terror group’s underground network

Former hostage Tal Shoham tells Fox News that from June 2024 until his release on February 22, he was held underground in Gaza by captors who were responsible for digging the tunnels that make up Hamas’s vast underground network in the Palestinian enclave.

He was held in the small underground room along with Omer Wenkert — who was released alongside him — and Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal, both of whom are still in captivity.

He says that their captors would constantly dig tunnels even as they guarded the four men.

“Hamas never stopped digging tunnels,” Shoham says. “Not for a single day.”

In July 2024, it was reported that Hamas’s tunnel network was still in a “good functional state” despite the many months of war, and the IDF’s attempts to destroy it.

Their captors provided them with just 300 milliliters of water a day, Shoham tells Fox, and they were given plain rice to eat, which resulted in severe malnutrition. After months in which he was getting progressively more unwell due to the diet of just several hundred calories a day, Shoham says a doctor finally came to see him. By that point, he says, he had already developed a severe infection, and had internal bleeding in his legs.

He says the doctor gave him vitamin supplements to combat the malnutrition, which “tasted like dog food, but it dramatically improved our condition.”

Despite the supplements, Shoham was severely underweight upon his release from Gaza.

Ex-hostage Tal Shoham says he refused to kneel to Hamas captors, wouldn’t show them he was afraid

Freed hostage Tal Shoham reunites with family members at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, February 22, 2025. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Released hostage Tal Shoham, who was returned to Israel on February 22, publicly shares details of his 505 days in captivity for the first time, in an interview with Fox News. 

Shoham was taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri, where he and his family had been visiting his wife Adi’s parents over the Simchat Torah holiday.

Adi was also taken hostage, along with their two children Yahel, then 3, and Naveh, 8. The three were released during the weeklong truce in November 2023.

Shoham tells Fox that he didn’t initially know what had become of his wife and children, as he had been taken hostage separately after he stepped outside to surrender, hoping it would spare the lives of his loved ones.

He recalls being driven into Gaza, hauled out of the trunk of the car he was transported in, and told to kneel. At this point, he says, he believed he was about to be killed.

“I said ‘I can’t control whether you kill me or not,’ and I raised by hands — but I refused to kneel’,” he tells Fox, adding that he told his captors: “If you want to kill me, kill me, but you will not execute me like ISIS.”

As he was taken hostage ahead of his family, Shoham says he spent his first 50 days in captivity not knowing whether his wife and children were alive or dead.

“Never in my life have I experienced suffering like this,” he says of that uncertainty. To survive, Shoham says he had to “accept that my family was dead.”

“I sat on the floor and imagined myself at their funeral. I stood in front of a grave — one large for my wife, and two small for my children — and I eulogized each of them,” he recalls. “I sobbed but didn’t let my captors see me cry. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, burying my family in my mind.”

On his 50th day in captivity, however, Shoham says he received a letter from his wife informing him that she and their two children were alive, and being released from captivity.

Knowing that his family was safe was the “most important thing,” Shoham says. “I didn’t need to be a father and husband protecting them anymore. Now, I could focus on my war, the one I knew how to fight, the one for survival.”

Trump freezes US-funded media outlets worldwide, as critics warn move is ‘gift to America’s enemies’

US President Donald Trump’s administration has put journalists at Voice of America and other US-funded broadcasters on leave, abruptly freezing outlets long seen as critical to countering a Russian and Chinese information offensive.

Hundreds of reporters and other staff at VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other outlets received a weekend email saying they will be barred from their offices and should surrender press passes, office-issued telephones and other equipment.

Trump, who has already eviscerated the US aid agency and Education Department, issued on Friday an executive order listing the US Agency for Global Media as among “elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary.”

The head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which started broadcasting into the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, calls the cancellation of funding “a massive gift to America’s enemies.”

“The Iranian ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years,” its president, Stephen Capus, says in a statement.

“Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker,” he says.

US-funded media have reoriented themselves since the end of the Cold War, dropping much of the programming geared toward newly democratic Central and Eastern European countries and focusing on Russia and China.

Radio Free Asia, established in 1996, sees its mission as providing uncensored reporting into countries without free media including China, Myanmar, North Korea and Vietnam.

The outlets have an editorial firewall, with a stated guarantee of independence despite the funding from the US government.

The policy has angered some around Trump, who has long railed against media and in his first stint in office had suggested that US government-funded outlets should promote his policies.

PM instructs negotiators to prepare for talks on Witkoff proposal, under which 11 living hostages would be freed immediately

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in his office in Jerusalem on January 29, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

After meeting with his top aides, senior ministers, and security chiefs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs the hostage negotiating team to prepare for the next round of talks based on a proposal from US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the proposal would see 11 living hostages and half the slain captives released “immediately.” It is not immediately clear if this is the same proposal as presented by Witkoff in Doha on Wednesday, or an amended version. The Israeli negotiating team returned from Doha on Friday.

The “Witkoff proposal,” which the US envoy has not fully detailed, was said by Israel to call for half the living hostages to be released at the start of an extended ceasefire that would last until the end of the Passover holiday in mid-April, with the possibility of the rest of the hostages being released at the end of the period.

There are believed to be 24 living hostages still held in Gaza, along with 35 hostages confirmed by Israel to be dead.

In its statement, the Prime Minister’s Office says Netanyahu tonight held discussions with ministers, security chiefs and the Israeli negotiating team on the hostage issue. At its conclusion, he “instructed the negotiating team to prepare for the continuation of talks, in accordance with the mediators’ response to Witkoff’s proposal for the immediate release of 11 living hostages and half of those who have fallen.”

US official says strikes on Houthis to continue for days and possibly weeks

Smoke rises from a location reportedly struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

WASHINGTON — An unfolding US military campaign of strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis could last days and maybe weeks, a US official tells Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

US President Donald Trump announced the start of the operation earlier on Saturday, warning the Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping needed to stop, or “Hell will rain down upon you.”

Macron urges ‘clear pressure’ on Russia to accept ceasefire in Ukraine

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron says that Europe and the United States have to put pressure on Russia to accept a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine.

Russia “does not give the impression it sincerely wants peace,” Macron says in a statement provided to AFP following a video conference of countries backing Ukraine organized by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

On the contrary, Russian President Vladimir Putin is “escalating the fighting” and “wants to get everything, then negotiate,” he says.

“Russia must respond clearly and the pressure must be clear, in conjunction with the United States, to obtain this ceasefire,” he adds.

Houthis vows Sanaa ‘will remain Gaza’s shield’ as US airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital

Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, says the airstrikes won’t deter the Yemeni rebels and that they will retaliate against the US. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he adds on social media.

Ex-captive Omer Shem Tov: IDF pressure, protracted hostage deals make captivity ‘very difficult’

Freed hostage Omer Shem Tov remotely addresses a rally calling for the release of Israelis held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, March 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

In a video statement screened at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, freed captive Omer Shem Tov tells the government that it is torturing the hostages by failing to bring them all back in one fell swoop and says Hamas stood ready to execute hostages whenever the IDF approached.

“I don’t know if you realize it, but you’re simply breaking them,” he says. “You reach a place where you eat a crumb a day. It’s very, very difficult.”

“I was alone there for 450 days,” says Shem Tov. “You begin to think horrible thoughts.”

“We felt that our soul — they were just killing it, just murdering it,” he adds.

“Everyone wants to vanquish this enemy,” Shem Tov continues. “Every soldier is a hero of Israel, but still, the military pressure makes it very difficult [for the captives].”

“When I was overground, it was awful bombings,” he says. “When I went underground, there were also bombings, earthquakes and such. I heard the tanks pass over me. I heard the soldiers.”

“And they [the captors] were with their guns out… with weapons at hand, just waiting for [the troops] to come. Standing next to me.”

“And I’m sitting there on that mattress praying to God. Just praying to God.”

“That’s the place where you say to yourself, ‘okay, it’s not in my hands, there is nothing for me to do right now,’ so you sit and pray and just hope for the best,” he says.

“It’s time for the Israeli government to take matters into its own hands and decide that in one blow, we bring everyone home,” adds Shem Tov. “Not in trickles, not in 50-day deals — no. It’s time to get everyone home in a single release.”

He thanks the crowd at Hostages Square for its support and promises: “I’ll do everything so that all the hostages are back home as soon as possible.”

Houthi-run health ministry reports at least 9 killed in US strikes on Sanaa

At least nine civilians have been killed and nine injured in US strikes on Yemen’s Sanaa, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry says on X.

Slain hostage’s brother likens Netanyahu to Purim villain Haman: ‘We’ll put you on trial’

Demonstrator call for the return of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Dani Elgarat, brother of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat, says Israelis will put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “on trial for crimes against the nation of Israel.”

“Netanyahu — it’s happening,” he says to some 2,500 people at the weekly anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road outside the IDF headquarters. “What you see here today is an uprising.”

He urges heads of the private sector to join the uprising. “Shut down the malls, banks, tech sector,” he says.

“Come save the country,” Elgarat continues. “The life of the country depends on the life of the hostages.”

In the spirit of Purim, Elgarat likens the premier to Haman, who, in the Book of Esther, tries to exterminate the Jews of the Persian Empire.

As Elgarat speaks, some protesters wave groggers, noise-makers traditionally sounded each time Haman is mentioned in the scroll, to smite the Purim villain’s name.

Meirav Angrest Rahamim, aunt of captive soldier Matan Angrest, also tears into Netanyahu, accusing him of making her wounded nephew into “a third-class citizen abandoned in captivity.”

Matan Angrest is slated for return only in the ceasefire-hostage deal’s second phase, which would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza and end the war against Hamas — a red line for Netanyahu’s right-wing flank, which has threatened to topple the government.

No male soldiers were released in the 42-day first phase that ended March 2, during which Hamas released 33 “humanitarian cases.”

Angrest Rahamim accuses Netanyahu and his government of “striving to start the next phase of the war, instead of the next phase of the deal that you signed.”

Trump announces ‘decisive and powerful’ strikes on Yemen’s Houthis: ‘Hell will rain down upon you’

The United States has launched “decisive and powerful military action” against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, US President Donald Trump declares.

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump says in a social media post. “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

“We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” he adds, accusing the Iran-backed movement of threatening Red Sea shipping. “Hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before.”

He also warns Iran that it needs to immediately stop supporting the Houthis. Trump says if Iran threatens the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

IDF says troops downed drone being used to smuggle AK-47 from Egypt

The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle an assault rifle into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.

The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, before it was downed by troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion.

Troops at the scene found that the drone was an AK-47 type rifle.

In recent months there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egypt border using drones. There have also been attempts to smuggle similar contraband from Israel into Gaza using drones.

מוקדם יותר היום, כוחות צה״ל זיהו רחפן שניסה להבריח אמצעי לחימה משטח מצרים לשטח ישראל במרחב חטיבת פארן.

הרחפן הופל על ידי כוחות צה״ל שהגיעו לנקודה, ואיתרו כלי נשק מסוג קלאצ׳ניקוב.

הנשק שהוחרם הועבר להמשך טיפול משטרת ישראל pic.twitter.com/ABW5FpKL5J

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 15, 2025

PM rejects Herzog, Supreme Court compromise for state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7

Justice Noam Sohlberg during a High Court of Justice hearing on the state comptroller's investigation into the failings relating to the October 7 Hamas attacks, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, July 17, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to reject a new compromise proposal made by President Isaac Herzog that was accepted by Supreme Court chief Isaac Amit, which is designed to find a pathway for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s catastrophic October 7, 2023, invasion and massacres.

During a meeting on Thursday, Herzog and Amit agreed that the Supreme Court president would consult with incoming Supreme Court deputy Noam Sohlberg when appointing the members of such a state commission, should the government agree to establish one.

Just minutes after the proposal was announced this evening, however, a statement sent out by the Prime Minister’s Office attributed to “[sources] around the prime minister” rejects the Herzog-Amit agreement.

The Netanyahu government has refused to set up a state commission, first arguing that such an inquiry could not be conducted when the war was underway, but in more recent months claiming that such a commission — whose members are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court — would be biased against the government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, March 9, 2025 (screenshot/GPO)

“The public is entitled to a true investigation and not a politically slanted one, whose composition represents the majority of the people and which should investigate everyone, without exception,” says the statement from Netanyahu’s office.

“Unfortunately, this is not what is being proposed,” it adds in reference to the Herzog-Amit agreement.

Incoming Supreme Court President Isaac Amit accepts his appointment from President Isaac Herzog during the swearing-in ceremony for the new chief justice at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, February 13, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Amit, who was installed as Supreme Court president last month, is a liberal justice and his appointment as president was fiercely opposed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is leading the government’s push to weaken the judicial system. That opposition increased even further just days before Amit was due to be elected when allegations of misconduct emerged against him, leading Levin to formally boycott Amit while Netanyahu failed to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

Sohlberg is a conservative justice, and it appears Herzog’s effort to have Amit consult with his incoming deputy is designed to head off claims by Netanyahu and other cabinet ministers that the members of a state commission would be politically biased against the government.

“Supreme Court President Amit expressed his agreement to the proposal out of a desire to come to an agreed way for the establishment of a commission of inquiry,” the president’s statement said when announcing the proposal.

Netanyahu has stridently opposed a state commission into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and slaughter in southern Israel. In the Knesset last week, Netanyahu claimed a state commission of inquiry would be biased and that its findings would be “predetermined.” A member of his Likud party has instead proposed a Knesset-appointed commission.

A state commission of inquiry is the most potent investigative body, with the authority to subpoena witnesses. Most analysts believe its conclusions and recommendations would be deeply damaging to Netanyahu.

A whopping 75% of the public supports the launching of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attack, compared to just 15% of the public that backs Netanyahu’s opposition to such a probe, a Channel 12 poll found last week.

The Democrats leader Yair Golan: ‘We’ll force’ Netanyahu to hold elections

The Democrats chief Yair Golan says “we’ll force” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold elections.

“Only someone who’s afraid of elections runs away from the people,” he says while speaking at an anti-government protest on Habima Square in Tel Aviv.

“We’ll force you because it’s our country,” he says to the crowd of some 500 demonstrators. “We’ll force you because it’s our home.”

The next elections are scheduled for late 2026, but Netanyahu’s critics have demanded he dissolve the government over its failure to prevent the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Golan tells the crowd that Israel is in the throes of an “existential fight between Zionism and messianism” and is currently ruled by a government that is “neither Zionist nor democratic.” He assails the government’s campaigns to weaken the judiciary, formalize exemptions to mandatory military service for Haredi yeshiva students, and oust the attorney general and Shin Bet chief.

“We’re here because we’re committed to an equal draft, to ending the war, to dismantling the Hamas government and bring security to the citizens of Israel,” he says.

Golan, whose party is an alliance of two left-wing parties, makes no mention of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

During his speech, some protesters chant that Netanyahu is a “traitor.”

The rally also features speeches from former deputy attorney general Dina Zilber, actor Yossi Marshak, and prominent anti-government activist Shikma Bressler.

“The country is turning into a state of Netanyahu loyalists,” says Zilber, who frequently drew the ire of Netanyahu’s allies while in office. “They’ll get the opportunities and jobs, and leave the draft orders to us.”

“Government of horrors — your time is up,” adds Zilber. “We won’t let you write the end of Israeli democracy with our blood.”

As she speaks, the crowd chants: “It won’t end until Bibi is arrested,” using the premier’s nickname.

After the speeches, prominent anti-Netanyahu activist Moshe Radman announces that anti-government rallies will return next week to Kaplan Street, where mass weekly protests against the judicial overhaul were held in 2023 before the Gaza war.

“It took us another week,” says Radman, who made the same announcement last week. He adds that on Sunday, March 23, the protest movement will travel to Jerusalem in a massive car convoy.

The rally breaks up after Radman speaks, as the speakers blare upbeat protest songs. The protesters march to the Begin Road entrance of the IDF headquarters, where they will join anti-government hostage families at their weekly protest for a hostage deal.

Houthi TV reports attack on Yemen’s Sanaa

An attack targeted the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV says, without providing further details.

Netanyahu and top officials to be briefed by negotiators on Doha hostage talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his top aides and security chiefs at 8:30 p.m. for a briefing by Israel’s hostage negotiating team, the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.

The team returned from Doha last night, and Netanyahu has yet to decide on a way forward.

The Doha talks are said to be based on a “bridge proposal” by Steve Witkoff, the White House Middle East envoy, to extend the ceasefire’s first phase until April 19 and continue the exchange of living Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Defense minister slams ‘unilateral sending’ of enlistment notices to Haredi conscripts

Defense Minister Israel Katz appears to criticize the draft notices for ultra-Orthodox conscripts that the military sent out this week, while doubling down on his call to “protect the Torah world.”

In a post on X, Katz says the push to increase enlistment — including sanctions on those who don’t heed conscription notices — should be accompanied by efforts to “safeguard and prevent harm to the Torah world, which is an important pillar of our existence here in the Jewish state.”

“Only by moving forward with these principles together can we make a historic change and pass an enlistment law with broad national agreement,” Katz claims. “All other paths tried until now –including the unilateral sending of [draft] orders — failed.”

Father of Hamas hostage: Netanyahu ‘abandoning Jews who are undergoing a Holocaust’

This handout photo shows Itzik Horn, whose son Eitan is held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, giving a statement to the press alongside other relatives of captives, in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2025. (Rani Graff/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

The father of Hamas hostage Eitan Horn calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal for the release of the remaining captives held by the terror group in Gaza.

“This is the 526th day that 59 hostages have been held in the hell of Gaza,” Itzik Horn says during a statement to the press alongside other hostage relatives in Tel Aviv.

“I came here today while recovering from surgery to hold up a mirror to Netanyahu. This mirror reflects the terrible results of Netanyahu’s selection method,” continues Horn, whose other son, Iair, was released from captivity during the now lapsed first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Horn adds: “The prime minister of the Jews is abandoning Jews who are undergoing a Holocaust. Netanyahu, look me in the eyes… We demand that you immediately end the war and bring back everyone all at once, and now.”

Earlier today, Iair attended a game at the stadium of his favorite soccer team, Hapoel Beersheba, where he was honored on the field before the game.

שורד השבי, יאיר הורן, חזר היום לבית השני שלו: היציע הדרומי באצטדיון ❤️
התרגשנו כל כך לארח את יאיר, עמוס, גלי ואריאל, שהפכו מאז ה-7.10 לחלק מאיתנו.
כולנו תקווה כי בקרוב נזכה לארח גם את איתן ושכלל החטופות והחטופים ישובו אלינו ????️ pic.twitter.com/ZiTbKBQZaT

— Hapoel Be'er Sheva ???????? (@HBS_FC) March 15, 2025

War monitor says unexploded ordnance triggered deadly blast on Syrian coast

Unexploded ordnance triggered a blast in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, a war monitor says, after state media reported three deaths in the explosion.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights describes the blast as an “accident” resulting from a resident’s attempt to dismantle unexploded ordnance in the building.

Syrian state media reports at least 3 killed by blast in coastal city

DAMASCUS, Syria — A blast in Syria’s coastal city of Latakia has killed at least three people and injured 12, state media reports citing local authorities, with the cause still unclear.

“The blast in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Latakia city has so far resulted in three deaths and 12 injured,” state news agency SANA cites provincial authorities as saying, adding that “civil defense teams and residents are still searching for others injured and missing.”

Germany’s antisemitism czar pulls out of Jerusalem conference over invites to far right

Germany's Commissioner for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism Felix Klein poses in his office at the Interior Ministry in Berlin on September 19, 2024. (John MacDougall/AFP)

Germany’s antisemitism czar has pulled out of an upcoming conference in Jerusalem on combating Jew hatred after the Israeli government invited members of far-right European parties to join.

Felix Klein’s office tells the Haaretz daily that “he was unaware of the other attendees when he accepted the invitation, and upon learning who the other speakers were, he decided to withdraw.”

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy has also canceled his participation in the conference due to the inclusion of French far-right leaders Jordan Bardella and Marion Marechal.

IDF removes reservists from Gaza over video of them shooting during Purim scroll reading

The IDF has taken out a platoon of reservists from the Gaza Strip after a video posted to social media showed the troops opening fire during the reading of the Book of Esther.

One of the central traditions around the Jewish holiday of Purim is making noise when the name of the villainous Haman is proclaimed during the reading of the Megillah.

The video shows one of the reservists reading the Megillah and other troops — of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade’s 7015th Battalion — stationed in a buffer zone on the Gaza border opening fire toward the Strip when the name of Haman is mentioned.

In response, the IDF says that once the incident was made known to commanders, the platoon commander and soldiers involved in the incident were taken out of Gaza and “will be dealt with disciplinary action accordingly.”

“The behavior of the soldiers in the video is contrary to IDF values ​​and operational procedures,” the army adds.

בניגוד להנחיות: לוחמי מילואים הושעו לאחר שביצעו ירי בעזה כל פעם שנאמר "המן" pic.twitter.com/PMLqYUnVRj

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) March 15, 2025

Zelensky says Russia seeking ‘a stronger position’ by holding off on agreeing to ceasefire

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia wants to achieve a “stronger position” militarily before committing to any ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

“They want a stronger position before the ceasefire,” Zelensky says at a press conference in Kyiv, adding: “I think the delaying of the process is exactly because of what I said. They want to improve their situation on the battlefield.”

Hamas accuses Israel of ‘blatant violation’ of Gaza ceasefire deal

Hamas accuses Israel of a “blatant violation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement after the Palestinian territory’s civil defense agency reported that nine people were killed today in Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

“The occupation [Israel] has committed a horrific massacre in the northern Gaza Strip by targeting a group of journalists and humanitarian workers, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem says in a statement.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon

The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in southern Lebanon a short while ago, saying it targeted a Hezbollah operative who was “engaged in terror activity.”

According to Lebanese media, two people were killed in the strike in the town of Borj el-Mlouk.

Reports of at least 2 killed after an Israeli ???????? drone strike targeted a vehicle in the southern town of Borj al-Mlouk, in South Lebanon ????????, located just north of the Israeli border town of Metula

الدفاع المدني في جنوب #لبنان: شهيدان في غارة إسرائيلية على سيارة في بلدة برج… pic.twitter.com/fe6p6TrcyV

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) March 15, 2025

IDF says strike in north Gaza targeted 2 terrorists operating drone

The IDF confirms carrying out strikes in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya earlier today, which, according to Palestinian media, killed at least nine people, among them journalists.

In a statement, the military says it identified “two terrorists operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF troops in the area.”

The two operatives were targeted in a strike, and a short while later, “a number of additional terrorists collected the drone operating equipment and entered a vehicle,” the military says.

The group of operatives that had collected the equipment was targeted in a second strike, the IDF adds.

Toll reportedly rises to 9 in north Gaza airstrike; journalists said to be among dead

The death toll of an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya rises to nine, according to Palestinian media reports.

The Shehab news agency cites the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center  (PJPC) as saying that three journalists are among the dead.

One is named by Palestinian reports as Mahmoud Isleem, a photographer who has done work for the Anadolu agency.

Hamas says ‘ball is in Israel’s court’ after offer to release Edan Alexander, 4 dead hostages

Israelis attend a rally demanding a deal to bring hostages home from Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Hamas spokeman says that “the ball is in Israel’s court” after the terror group offered to release an Israeli-US hostage and return the bodies of four others as part of Gaza truce talks.

“We want to solidify the ceasefire agreement and force [Israel] to implement its terms,” Abdul Latif al-Qanou tells AFP, accusing Israel of “delaying” its enforcement.

He points to the ongoing blockage of humanitarian aid entering Gaza since March 2.

Following the offer on Friday, Israel said the Palestinian terrorists had “not budged a millimeter” in response to a proposal from US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy that Israel has accepted.

US envoy Steve Witkoff also rejected the Hamas offer, indicating it was disingenuous: Rather than accepting his own “bridge proposal,” Witkoff said in a statement, “unfortunately, Hamas has chosen to respond by publicly claiming flexibility while privately making demands that are entirely impractical without a permanent ceasefire.”

A Hamas political bureau member, speaking anonymously, tells AFP the proposal to release 21-year-old soldier Edan Alexander — abducted during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre — and return the bodies of four other Israeli-American hostages was part of a “unique agreement.”

In exchange, Israel would free Palestinian prisoners, with the number still under negotiation, the Hamas official says.

The official says the proposed exchange was conditioned with simultaneously starting negotiations for the implementation of the truce’s second phase, with the talks ending within a 50-day period, he says.

The proposal also called for the immediate opening of all border crossings to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Philadelphi corridor, he adds.

Israeli drone strike reportedly hits car in southern Lebanese town

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern town of Borj al-Mlouk, located just north of the Israeli border town of Metula.

There’s no immediate comment from the IDF.

عاجل – مسيرة إسرائيلية تستهدف سيارة في بلدة برج الملوك pic.twitter.com/p9kpE4Uxco

— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) March 15, 2025

Palestinian media says 5 killed in airstrike in north Gaza

Palestinian media reports that five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya a short while ago.

The IDF has not yet commented on the incident.

IDF says drone crashed in open area in south while trying to land

An Israeli Air Force drone crashed while attempting to land in an open area in southern Israel this morning, the military says.

The drone was collected by troops, and the incident is under further investigation, the IDF adds.

Police rescue lion cub, adult monkey as efforts against illegal animal trade persist

A lion cub (left) and a monkey rescued by police in operations in Kfar Qasim and Lod, March 15, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police say over the weekend they rescued a lion cub near Kafr Qasim and a monkey in Lod, amid a string of operations against the illegal animal trade.

In Kafr Qasim, investigators initiated a search of an open area near Kfar Qasim, finding the lion cub, which they handed over to the Nature and Parks Authority for medical care.

Police say the cub will later be transferred to an animal shelter in the Kiryat Motzkin Zoo.

In Lod, investigators and Border Police officers searched a home and found an adult monkey inside a carrier too small for its size, tied up with chains and a tight strap around its stomach.

The monkey’s blood was tested for tuberculosis, rabies, and other diseases, the police statement says, adding that the Nature and Parks Authority warns such smuggled animals may carry diseases even if they look healthy.

Starmer tells world leaders they must gear up to defend any Ukraine peace deal themselves

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a Q&A session after delivering a speech on plans to reform the civil service, during a visit to Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, England, March 13, 2025. (Oli Scarff/Pool Photo via AP)

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tells a virtual meeting of about 25 world leaders that they had to be prepared to defend any Ukraine peace deal themselves, urging them to keep up pressure on Russia.

“If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is serious about peace, it’s very simple, he has to stop his barbaric attacks on Ukraine and agree to a ceasefire,” Starmer tells the video call of leaders from nations, including from Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

“We have to keep pushing ahead, pushing forward, and preparing for peace and a peace that will be secure and that will last.”

IDF says it struck 3 terrorists attempting to plant bombs in Netzarim Corridor

The IDF says it carried out a strike against three terror operatives who were spotted trying to plant bombs in the ground in the Netzarim Corridor area of the central Gaza Strip, close to where troops are operating.

Israeli forces are still deployed to a buffer zone along the Gaza border amid the ceasefire, and the IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians against approaching the area.

Hundreds take part in run around Kirya, call for return of hostages

Activists take part in a run around the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, March 15, 2025. (Yair Sagie/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hundreds of activists participate in a run around the Kirya Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding the return of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza.

The runs have taken place every day since the establishment of a protest encampment around the compound last Saturday night.

The crowd participating today appears to be bigger than on previous days.

Participants wear t-shirts calling for all the hostages to be brought home and carry posters of the captives who are held in the Strip.

Syrians to mark 14th anniversary of uprising for first time since fall of Assad

Illustrative: Anti-Syrian government protesters flash Victory signs as they protest in the southern city of Daraa, Syria, March 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrians are set to commemorate the 14th anniversary of their uprising today in public demonstrations in Damascus and other cities for the first time since President Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

A demonstration will be held in Umayyad Square in the capital Damascus, the first after years of repression under Assad during which the square was the sole preserve of the toppled president’s supporters.

Activists also call on people to gather in Homs, Idlib, and Hama at demonstrations raising the slogan “Syria is victorious.”

Qader al-Sayed, 35, tells AFP that “we always used to protest on the anniversary of the revolution in Idlib, but today we will celebrate victory in the heart of Damascus.”

“It’s a dream come true,” he adds from Damascus.

Ukraine says 130 drones launched by Russia downed; Moscow says 126 fired by Ukraine intercepted

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at the private houses following a Russian guided air bombs attack in Kherson, Ukraine, March 15, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Ukrainian air defences destroyed 130 out of 178 drones launched by Russia during its latest overnight strike, Kyiv’s air force says.

It adds that another 38 drones had been “locationally lost,” typically a reference to electronic jamming, and that Russian forces had also fired two ballistic missiles.

Ukraine’s largest private energy provider says that overnight Russian air strikes damaged its energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.

In a statement, DTEK said “damages are significant” and that some consumers in both regions were left without power.

Russia also says it downed 126 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly over its southern Volgograd and Voronezh regions, after Moscow rejected an immediate ceasefire proposed by the United States.

Hamas says it will only release Edan Alexander if ceasefire deal implemented

Varda Ben Baruch, whose grandson Edan Alexander is held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists, wears tape marking the days since his capture, at her home in Tel Aviv, November 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

CAIRO, Egypt — Hamas says it would only release an American-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel implements the existing ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, calling it an “exceptional deal” aimed at getting the truce back on track.

A senior Hamas official says long-delayed talks over the ceasefire’s second phase would need to begin the day of the release and last no longer than 50 days. Israel would also need to stop barring the entry of humanitarian aid and withdraw from a strategic corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Hamas would also demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages, the official says, who speaks on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

Edan Alexander, 21, who grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, was abducted from his military base during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre that ignited the war and is the last living American citizen held in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, where government offices were closed for the weekly Sabbath. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Friday accused Hamas of “manipulation and psychological warfare” when the offer was initially made before Hamas spelled out the conditions.

South Africa calls US expulsion of ambassador ‘regrettable’

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The United States’s decision to expel South Africa’s ambassador was “regrettable,” the office of the president says, urging “diplomatic decorum” between the two nations.

“The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool,” it says in a statement after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the diplomat was no longer welcome because he was “a race-baiting politician” who hates the country and its president.

PA’s Abbas to meet Lebanon’s leaders in Beirut next week — report

PA President Mahmoud Abbas at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/AFP)

PA President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet Lebanese leaders in Beirut next week, according to the pro-Hezbollah Al Akhbar daily.

According to the report, Abbas will discuss the Palestinian Authority’s support for the disarming of various armed groups in Lebanon in meetings with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, President Joseph Aoun, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

Boehler decided to withdraw nomination before holding direct talks with Hamas — US official

US hostage envoy Adam Boehler speaks during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington on March 6, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)

Adam Boehler decided to withdraw his nomination to be special presidential envoy for hostage affairs (SPEHA) several weeks ago, before his secret direct talks with Hamas were uncovered by a furious Israel that leaked them to the press, a senior US official tells The Times of Israel.

However, Boehler will continue to work on the issue on behalf of the president and in particular will continue to assist US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff’s efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, a second US official tell The Times of Israel.

The decision to withdraw his nomination stemmed from his desire to hold a position with a wider mandate.

As SPEHA, Boehler would only legally be mandated to assist in efforts to secure the release of hostages and wrongfully detained Americans.

Those categories don’t include thousands of other Americans worldwide who are held abroad for other reasons or who do not fit into the legal definition of hostages or those wrongfully detained.

Those who do not fall within the SPEHA mandate include 23 Americans who have been held in Kuwait for years on drug offenses.

Given that he has not been confirmed as SPEHA, Boehler was able to play a key role in securing their release, with six of them coming home two days ago.

Involvement in such an effort would have been more legally complicated.

“President Trump’s mission of bringing ALL Americans home expands beyond the SPEHA mandate and involves coordination across government agencies,” the second US official said.

While Boehler’s appointment to the new special government employee post has not yet been announced by the Trump administration, the new role “will add, not subtract, to the work Adam is doing to bring Americans home,” the second US official said.

Boehler pulls his nomination to serve as US presidential envoy for hostage affairs

Adam Boehler speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Adam Boehler has withdrawn his nomination to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, a senior US official tells The Times of Israel, clarifying that he will continue to manage the file, which deals with efforts to release Americans wrongfully detained or held captive worldwide, but from a lower-level position that does not require Senate confirmation.

The move comes amid anger in Israel over the unprecedented direct talks Boehler held with Hamas in recent weeks, aimed largely at securing the release of dual US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander and four slain dual US-Israeli citizens held hostage in Gaza.

The talks were fully coordinated with US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff, but Israel was not fully informed ahead of time and has directed its ire at Boehler since learning about the meetings and leaking them to the press on March 4, the senior US official says.

Boehler sought to calm concerns in Israel during a series of interviews on Sunday, but his comments defending the talks and sometimes dismissing Israeli objections further enraged Jerusalem.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer had been lobbying US officials to sideline Boehler from involvement on the Israel file, and Israeli frustrations have also been voiced to Senate Republicans, some of whom took Jerusalem’s side and voiced their own concerns to the White House, the senior US official says.

US President Donald Trump appointed Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs back in January but his confirmation hearing had not yet been scheduled.

While Boehler considered withdrawing his nomination for several weeks, that decision was further solidified in recent days amid GOP pushback, which likely would have complicated his chances for Senate confirmation, the senior US official says.

Boehler will continue to deal with hostage affairs but only with the title of special government employee, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly tells The Times of Israel.

“Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia,” Kelly continues. “He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home.”

“Adam Boehler is President Trump’s Special Envoy and will continue his work to bring all Americans home through a whole of government approach. President Trump is following through on his promise to Americans and Adam is committed to his agenda,” a second US official tells The Times of Israel.

Amid reports Thursday that Boehler had been sidelined, a senior US official told The Times of Israel that he would continue assisting the Mideast efforts of Witkoff, who has yet to publicly comment on Boehler’s status while also moving to advance the original negotiating track in which Egypt and Qatar serve as mediators between the US and Israel.

Trump says ‘pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,’ thinks Moscow will make deal on Ukraine

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland — US President Donald Trump says that he sees good news coming out of Russia, and he thinks Russia will make a deal on the Ukraine war.

“Pretty good vibes coming out of Russia,” he says.

US expels South African ambassador, saying he ‘hates’ Trump

The United States is kicking out South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, accusing the envoy of hating the country and President Donald Trump.

“We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio posts on X about ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, calling him a “race-baiting politician.”

South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country.

Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS.

We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.https://t.co/mnUnwGOQdx

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 14, 2025

Shin Bet head: I intend to keep organization stately and focused on missions

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar at a state ceremony marking the Hebrew anniversary of the Hamas October 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)

In a missive to retired Shin Bet employees today, Director Ronen Bar distances himself from former chief Nadav Argaman’s statements against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and rejects Netanyahu’s assertions that he is acting against him.

“A state body and its head do not use the organization’s power unnecessarily. This has not been and will not be our way,” Bar wrote. “Not in words, and certainly not in actions. I disapprove of discourse that is not stately.”

Referring to “last night’s events and the various reports, he says the Shin Bet “is a state agency that carries out its missions according to the law. The organization’s strength and resilience lie in its values. I intend to keep the Shin Bet stately and focused on its missions for the sake of the country’s security.”

Trump calls US media outlets critical of him ‘illegal’

US President Donald Trump speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2025. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says in a speech at the Department of Justice that US media outlets that cover him critically are “illegal” and “corrupt.”

Trump says CNN, MSNBC and unidentified newspapers “literally write 97.6 percent bad about me” and “it has to stop. It has to be illegal.”

Speaking to prosecutors and law enforcement officers at the Department of Justice headquarters, Trump describes the media outlets as “political arms of the Democrat party. And in my opinion they’re really corrupt and they’re illegal. What they do is illegal.”

He says the media is “influencing judges and it’s really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal. And they do it in total coordination with each other.”

Trump has made attacks on the US media a central part of his message ever since his first election to the presidency in 2016.