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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Lebanon and Syria agree to ceasefire after two days of border clashes
Lebanese and Syrian defense officials have reached an agreement for a ceasefire to halt two days of clashes along the border, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reports.
The agreement also stipulates “enhanced coordination and cooperation between the two sides,” the statement from the Syrian Ministry of Defense says.
Lebanon’s president earlier today ordered troops to retaliate against the source of gunfire from the Syrian side of the border after more deadly fighting erupted overnight along the frontier. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that seven Lebanese citizens were killed and another 52 injured in the clashes, including a 4-year-old girl.
The fighting happened after Syria’s interim government accused operatives from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group of crossing into Syria on Saturday, abducting three soldiers and killing them on Lebanese soil. Hezbollah denies involvement and some other reports pointed to local clans in the border region that are not directly affiliated with Hezbollah but have been involved in cross-border smuggling.
It was the most serious cross-border fighting since the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.
Iranian air force says it encountered US spy drone close to Iran’s airspace
Iran’s air force says that a US spy drone retreated from near Iranian airspace, after encountering Iranian F-14 fighter jets and reconnaissance drones, the country’s Nournews reports.
Iran accuses US of making ‘provocative statements’ about Tehran’s ties to the Houthis
Iran complains to the United Nations Security Council that US President Donald Trump and other US officials have made “reckless and provocative statements” that leveled “baseless accusations” and threatened the use of force against Tehran.
“Iran strongly and categorically rejects any accusation on the violation of relevant Security Council resolutions on arms embargoes in Yemen or involvement in any destabilizing activities in the region,” Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani writes in the letter, seen by Reuters.
Earlier today, Trump said that the US would hold Iran directly responsible for any further Houthi attacks, and that there would be “dire” consequences in store.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
Columbia protesters called janitors ‘Jew-lovers’ during 2024 building takeover, complaint says
Students with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Anti-Israel activists at Columbia University in New York derided janitors as “Jew-lovers,” during protests on campus last year, according to a discrimination complaint.
The incidents occurred last spring as the activists held a protest encampment at the center of Columbia’s campus and took over Hamilton Hall, a campus building.
The janitors filed a discrimination complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year. The commission was working on an investigation last month, according to records obtained today by The Times of Israel. The investigation was first reported today by The New York Post.
The civil rights complaint that sparked the investigation says the two janitors, Lester Wilson and Mariano Torres, began finding graffiti, including swastikas, on blackboards in Hamilton Hall in November 2023, shortly after the October 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel.
Torres says he found and was forced to clean swastikas “dozens of times,” on a near-daily basis, in Hamilton Hall classrooms. He began throwing away chalk in the classrooms so the vandals would not be able to leave graffiti, and was reprimanded for doing so.
Neither Torres nor Wilson are Jewish. Torres says that, as a Latino, he felt the swastikas were aimed at him as well as at Jews on campus.
Last spring, the janitors started finding people hiding in Hamilton Hall at night when the building was closed, and found doors left ajar after hours.
The two janitors were in Hamilton Hall when the protesters invaded the building in April and say they feared for their lives.
Torres says masked protesters surrounded him while he was cleaning and blocked him from reaching another colleague.
Torres says that the takeover appeared coordinated, with two masked demonstrators giving orders to the protesters and directing them around the building. The rioters brought supplies including water, food, mattresses, tape, and rope into the building as others put vending machines in front of the building’s entrances.
Two protesters trailed Torres around the building, and a group of masked individuals surrounded him, repeatedly calling him a “Jew-lover,” the complaint says.
One man threatened Torres, telling him, “I’m going to get 20 guys up here to fuck you up,” according to the complaint. Another protester repeatedly hit him in the back.
During the Hamilton Hall takeover, Wilson says in his complaint, the protesters shoved him, rammed furniture into him, and trapped him. When he asked the protesters to release him, they repeatedly called him a “Jew-lover,” “Jew-worker,” and “Zionist,” the complaint says.
During the encampment, Wilson says he saw a colleague cleaning up after the protesters, who called the other janitor a “Jew-lover” and “Zionist.” One protester said the other janitor was “working for the Jew-man,” the complaint says.
The complaint claims Columbia administrators failed to take action against the protesters in the lead-up to the building takeover.
Torres and Wilson suffered physical injuries and psychological trauma that has prevented them from returning to work, the complaint says.
Mass protests against firing of Shin Bet chief moved to Tuesday after PM brings forward vote
People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the District Court in Tel Aviv, where he was testifying, on March 17, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was moving the cabinet meeting to vote on dismissing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to Tuesday instead of Wednesday, protest organizers say they too have rearranged their plans.
Instead of the day-long protests in Jerusalem on Wednesday that were initially planned, demonstrators will set out on a march from the Harel junction outside of Jerusalem at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
Protesters will reach the Prime Minister’s Office at 6:30 p.m. and will remain there overnight and throughout the day on Wednesday.
A large demonstration will also be held at Habimah Square in Tel Aviv at 19:30 tomorrow, with the participation of former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, former deputy chief of the Shin Bet Roni Alsheich, and former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo.
Police present findings on Oct. 7 battle at Kibbutz Be’eri to families of slain officers
The remains of the destruction caused by Hamas terrorists when they infiltrated Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, 2023, near the Israeli-Gaza border, southern Israel, January 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Israel Police presented earlier today the main findings of their probe into the battle at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, to bereaved families of officers who were slain during Hamas’s brutal attack on the border community.
A police spokesperson says that, despite the confidential nature of the investigation, Israel Police chief Daniel Levy deemed it important to convey its main points to the bereaved relatives.
The investigation was carried out under Commander Ronen Hagdush and presented to the families by Deputy Commissioner David Filo, head of the police’s operations division.
On the day of the attack, seven officers from the coordination of enforcement operations unit, alongside another Yoav unit officer and a civilian, entered the embattled kibbutz in two armored jeeps. They were ambushed almost immediately by Hamas gunmen, and seven of the eight police officers were killed, after RPGs and later gunfire hit their vehicles.
The fallen officers include Chief Supt. Avi Amar, Police Supt. Vadim Blih, Supt. Dan Ganot, Sgt. Maj. Boris Danilov, Master Sgt. Eliran Abergel, Sgt. First Class Mulugeta Gadif, Sgt. First Class Orel Alon, Sgt. 1st Class Dor Mangadi, alongside slain civilian Ziv Shopen.
In all, 101 civilians and 31 security personnel were killed in Be’eri — a community of around 1,000 residents — and a further 30 residents and two more civilians were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. At least 125 homes in the community were damaged and destroyed during the fighting.
Police seize crocodile, anaconda, and exotic reptiles from central Israel locality
An exotic reptile seized by the Israel Police during a raid for illegally held animals, March 17, 2025. (Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
Continuing a swoop that has seen the rescue of 12 illegally held monkeys and four lion cubs in recent weeks, mostly from Bedouin towns in the Negev, the police confiscate several wild animals from a moshav in central Israel.
Among the confiscated animals are a crocodile, an anaconda, poisonous frogs, and several other lizards of various types, all of them foreign, exotic species. One local pond turtle was also seized by police, having apparently been captured from the wild.
All of the animals were taken for further treatment by the Nature and Parks Authority.
Netanyahu’s office: Shin Bet document citing his Qatar funds-for-Gaza policy as a cause of Oct. 7 is ‘complete lie’
Responding to Channel 12’s earlier report about a Shin Bet document citing Netanyahu’s support for Qatari funding in Gaza as a cause of the October 7 invasion and massacre, the Prime Minister’s Office claims the allegation is “another complete lie by the outgoing head of the Shin Bet, who is trying to deflect attention from his October 7 failures.”
“In security discussions held in 2023, all the security [services] assessed that Hamas was deterred, and recommended a policy of economic incentives,” the PMO says.
“The prime minister warned about efforts by groups in the region to lead to escalation, and ordered preparations for targeted strikes on Hamas leaders,” the statement says.
Israelis oppose Netanyahu’s firing of Shin Bet chief Bar by 46-31%, poll shows
Forty-six percent of Israelis oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, compared to 31% who back the dismissal, a Channel 12 poll finds.
This contrasts with 64% who said Bar should resign in a poll two weeks ago, and 18% who said he should not.
Today’s poll also finds that 51% of Israelis believe Netanyahu is firing Bar for personal reasons, compared to 34% who believe there are substantive reasons.
The poll also finds that Israelis strongly support President Isaac Herzog’s formula for appointing a state commission of inquiry into October 7’s failures. The president’s idea is that Supreme Court President Isaac Amit should appoint the panel, in consultation with his incoming Supreme Court deputy Noam Sohlberg, a staunch conservative. The idea, backed by Israelis in the poll by 65% to 22%, was accepted by Amit, but rejected by Netanyahu, who flatly opposes a state inquiry.
The poll also asks how Israelis would vote if elections were held today and finds that if former prime minister Naftali Bennett runs, as expected, he would be able to form a coalition of 67 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
The parties would score as follows: Likud: 22; Bennett’s party: 22; The Democrats: 12; Yesh Atid: 11; Shas: 9; Otzma Yehudit: 9; United Torah Judaism: 8; National Unity: 7; Ra’am: 5; Hadash-Ta’al: 5. Religious Zionism and Balad would win no seats.
The blocs in this scenario would be: Bennett-led anti-Netanyahu bloc 67; Netanyahu-led bloc 48; with Hadash-Ta’al unaffiliated with either bloc.
If only the current Knesset parties ran, they would score as follows: Likud: 24; National Unity: 15; Yesh Atid: 14; Yisrael Beytenu 14; The Democrats 14; Otzma Yehudit 10; Shas: 10; United Torah Judaism: 8; Ra’am: 6; Hadash-Ta’al: 5. Religious Zionism and Balad would again fall below the threshold.
The blocs would be: Anti-Netanyahu parties: 63 seats; Netanyahu bloc: 52 seats.
‘We are a democratic country’: Former police chief warns PM against firing Bar for personal reasons
Then-police commissioner Roni Alsheich (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a welcoming ceremony for Alsheich at the start of his term, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, December 3, 2015. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90/ File)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the right to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet before the end of his tenure, but must do so in the right way, asserts former police chief Roni Alsheich.
“We are in a democratic country,” he tells Channel 12. “It cannot be tainted, or done for personal reasons. It must be based only on relevant considerations.”
He says he does not believe that the Shin Bet’s part in the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught is the reason for Netanyahu’s decision to fire Bar, as the security chief had already decided to resign in due course.
Instead, Alsheich points to the timing of Netanyahu’s announcement, which comes during an investigation into senior members of his office over their alleged ties with Qatar, suggesting it has more to do with that than anything else.
“It can’t be that this is how one acts in a democratic country,” he says.
Alsheich served as Israel Police chief from 2015 until 2018. Prior to that, he was the deputy head of the Shin Bet.
During his time as police chief, Alsheich oversaw the police investigations into Netanyahu that concluded with an indictment against the premier on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Report: ‘Unusual incident’ in Gaza indicates Hamas gearing up to carry out new raid in Israel
Israel recently identified “an unusual incident” in Gaza, which points to Hamas gearing up for a renewed raid, penetrating into Israel, Channel 12 says, in an unsourced report that it says was approved for publication by the military censor.
The report also says Israel has identified a “sharp rise” in Hamas efforts to carry out attacks on Gaza border kibbutzim and communities, and on IDF troops stationed inside Gaza.
It further quotes Defense Minister Israel Katz recently telling residents in communities close to Gaza: “Hamas has sustained a heavy blow, but has not been defeated. There are ongoing efforts for its recovery. Hamas is constantly gearing up to carry out a renewed raid into Israel — similar to October 7.”
The TV report comes a day after opposition MK Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF chief, and other opposition legislators warned of an alarming resurgence by Gaza’s terror groups.
“In recent days, we have been informed that the military power of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has been restored, to the point where Hamas has over 25,000 and PIJ has over 5,000 armed terrorists,” wrote the MKs, all of whom are members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
IDF says it is striking military targets in southern Syria
The IDF says it is currently carrying out airstrikes on military targets in southern Syria.
The sites include headquarters and other facilities used to store weapons and equipment belonging to the former Syrian regime, the military says, adding that it has identified attempts by unspecified groups to use those weapons.
“The presence of these [weapons] in southern Syria is a threat to the State of Israel. The IDF will not allow the existence of a military threat in southern Syria and will act against it,” the IDF adds.
Asked about rising West Bank violence, State Dept. spokesperson says US stands ‘steadfastly’ with Israel
Asked whether the US is concerned about rising violence in the West Bank, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce says the Trump administration “stand[s] steadfastly with Israel.”
“Israel has seen security concerns, and they’re taking actions regarding those security concerns, and we stand with those decisions and what the Israelis choose to do in that framework,” she says, backing intensified Israeli counterterror operations in the northern West Bank that have displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Bruce does not comment on Israeli settler violence, which has continued on a near-daily basis unabated.
Report: Shin Bet probe tied Oct. 7 directly to PM’s policy of sending Qatari money to Gaza, may be another reason he’s firing Bar
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar attends a farewell ceremony in honor of then-police chief Kobi Shabtai (not pictured), at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, on July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
An annex to the Shin Bet’s internal probe of its own October 7 failures, which has not been published, but was given to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, directly ties the prime minister and his policies to the catastrophe, Channel 12 reports.
The TV report suggests that the annex, which it says amounts to an “astounding indictment” of Netanyahu, constitutes a “possible further reason” why the prime minister is firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
The document, which is entitled “The Path to October 7,” makes clear beyond all doubt that Netanyahu’s policy of buying calm in Gaza, by having Qatar send vast sums of money into the Hamas-run Strip, was maintained “despite multiple warnings issued by the Shin Bet to the prime minister [ahead of the Hamas invasion] that Israel was facing a disaster,” the TV report says.
It says the document, whose findings and conclusions were also based on Hamas documentation found in Gaza tunnels and on interrogations of Hamas detainees, establishes that the Qatari money was used to strengthen Hamas.
The Shin Bet document further reportedly says that “the entire security doctrine that Netanyahu had led for years collapsed” on October 7. Therefore, the document reportedly states, “a thorough investigation of the nature of a state commission is needed.”
The Shin Bet released a summary of its internal probe on March 4. Its published summation cites several factors that enabled Hamas to build up its forces for the October 7 onslaught, and decide to carry out the attack. Among the reasons cited: Israel’s policy vis-à-vis Gaza was to maintain periods of quiet, which enabled Hamas’s massive force build-up; the flow of money from Qatar to Gaza and its delivery to Hamas’s military wing; an ongoing erosion of Israel’s deterrence, and an attempt to deal with a terror organization based on intelligence and defensive measures, while avoiding offensive initiatives.
Channel 12 further reports that an official known only as “Mem,” the current deputy of the Shin Bet, is Netanyahu’s leading candidate to succeed Bar, but that this is not final. It notes that “Mem” held that position on October 7 and that might prevent his appointment.
The TV report also quotes sources close to Bar saying that he feels that he is defending values that are “larger than the security service,” and that he regards the current crisis as “a real threat to democracy and to the state.”
The issue is not the fate of Ronen Bar, the sources are quoted saying, but rather the well-being of the state.
IDF confirms airstrikes against Hezbollah military sites in Lebanon
The IDF confirms carrying out a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon a short while ago, saying it targeted Hezbollah military sites.
The sites were targeted after the IDF says it identified Hezbollah operatives and weapons at them.
“The terror activity at these sites poses a threat to the State of Israel and is a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military says.
The strikes were reported by Lebanese media in the Beqaa Valley area and in southern Lebanon.
PM says AG ‘abusing her authority’ by opposing Shin Bet chief’s firing, claims her Qatar probe is politically motivated
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, November 1, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO); Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of abusing her authority, after she tells him that he cannot proceed with his dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar unless a “factual and legal basis” for doing so could be established.
He also claims that her decision to open a probe last month into alleged illicit ties between his aides and Qatar was politically motivated.
In a letter published this evening, Netanyahu reiterates that decisions relating to the firing of a Shin Bet chief are under his “exclusive authority,” and says that by suggesting otherwise, Baharav-Miara is engaging in “dangerous heresy.”
He says that Baharav-Miara’s warning about the process of firing Bar potentially being “tainted by illegality and conflict of interest” is “a complete inversion of justice.”
“Your instructions to open a series of investigations against the prime minister’s staff… are an abuse of your authority and an improper practice that has already become a method, the whole purpose of which is to deny authority to the political echelon,” Netanyahu charges.
He claims that “even the Israel Police don’t understand” why senior members of his office are being investigated for, among other things, alleged ties to Qatar.
“The decision to end the Shin Bet chief’s term was not made against the backdrop of the investigation,” Netanyahu alleges. “On the contrary, the ‘investigation’ was born after the possibility of dismissing him arose and was leaked to the media.”
He says that the attorney general is welcome to sit in on the cabinet meeting tomorrow in which the government will vote on dismissing Bar, telling her that she will “be able to hear in detail the reason for the proposed decision and voice your legal position before the government’s decision is made.”
Cabinet to vote on Shin Bet chief’s dismissal tomorrow, rather than on Wednesday
Left: Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Dudu Bachar/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves a cabinet meeting on the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to tomorrow, after it was initially scheduled for Wednesday.
The reason for the change is not immediately stated, although mass demonstrations against the decision were being organized for Wednesday.
Reports in Lebanon say several Israeli strikes carried out in country’s east
Media in Lebanon report at least four Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon’s Baqaa area, earlier this evening. So far, there are no reports of casualties.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Earlier today, Israel launched a strike on southern Lebanon, killing two.
First petition against Shin Bet chief’s dismissal submitted to the High Court
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel has filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against the planned dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Channel 13 reports.
The organization asked that the court issue an interim order to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from convening his cabinet to vote on Bar’s dismissal.
The petition is the first of several that are expected to be lodged with the High Court in the coming days.
Earlier today, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that the opposition parties will also petition the court over Bar’s ouster and were working together “to stop this reckless act.”
Lebanese president says forces will respond to Syrian fire after child killed
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says that his country’s forces will respond to incoming fire from neighboring Syria that authorities said killed a child.
Clashes broke out late Sunday at the Syrian-Lebanese border, with the new authorities in Damascus accusing the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.
A Lebanese security source tells AFP that Syrian forces fired shells into Lebanon after the three security personnel were killed in the Lebanese village of Qasr by local gunmen involved in smuggling.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) says the border clashes resumed on Monday following fresh Syrian shelling.
“What is happening on the eastern and northeastern borders cannot continue,” Aoun says in a post on X. “I have directed the Lebanese army to respond to the source of the fire.”
The army says that it undertook “exceptional security measures and intensive communications” since last night that had led to the return of the three Syrian soldiers’ bodies to authorities there.
It says Lebanese border towns and villages have seen “shelling from the direction of Syrian territory,” noting that army units responded with “appropriate weapons, reinforced their deployment and controlled the security situation.”
Communications were ongoing between “the army command and Syrian authorities to restore security and preserve the stability of the border area,” it adds.
Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos says one child was killed and six other people wounded by the Syrian shelling, adding that many civilians had also been displaced in the border area.
Hezbollah was a key backer of Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad before he was toppled in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels in December.
Azerbaijan’s economy minister visits Israel for talks on strengthening economic, energy ties
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar meets with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov in Jerusalem, where the two discuss strengthening strategic economic and energy ties, says Sa’ar’s office.
Earlier in the day, Jabbarov signed an agreement giving the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan exploration rights to joint natural gas exploration in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea.
Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country that borders Iran, is an important security and energy ally for Israel.
Jabbarov also met with President Isaac Herzog, Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Energy Minister Eli Cohen.
According to Sa’ar, the Joint Economic Commission between the two allies will soon convene, headed on the Israeli side by Ze’ev Elkin, a minister within the Finance Ministry.
Israel, Azerbaijan, and the US have been working to strengthen trilateral ties, and to connect Baku to Abraham Accords initiatives. Last week, US special envoy Steve Witkoff flew from Moscow to Baku and met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a visit arranged by Israel, The Times of Israel has learned.
Azerbaijan has also served as a quiet mediator between Israel and Turkey. Aliyev’s adviser Hikmet Hajiyev was in Israel last month to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Turkey and Syria, and flew from Israel to Turkey.
As part of our working visit to Israel, a #MemorandumofUnderstanding was signed between #SOCAR (@SOCARofficial) and Union Energy on joint exploration activities in Israel's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The implementation of this agreement will drive the expansion of the… pic.twitter.com/VpmgiHBuqU
— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 17, 2025
Liberman suggests Netanyahu, emboldened by Trump, could try to postpone future elections
Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman suggests that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could attempt to delay the next elections in Israel, which are scheduled to take place in 2026.
He tells Army Radio that Netanyahu has been emboldened by US President Donald Trump, who has seemingly been testing the limits of the US Constitution by suggesting, in off-the-cuff remarks at political rallies, that he could run for a third term in office.
“In 2026, they’ll tell us, ‘Who says we need elections? we’re in the middle of a war,'” Liberman posits, recalling the government’s reasoning for not resigning in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023, onslaught.
“Because there’s no intention of ending the war, the election date can be postponed,” he says, adding: “It’s not a nightmare I dreamed up at night, it’s a real scenario.”
US to hold Iran directly responsible for any further Houthi attacks, Trump says
US President Donald Trump says that Iran will be held responsible and face “dire” consequences for any further attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.
“Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump says on Truth Social.
IDF says it struck operatives in Gaza trying to plant bomb; Palestinians report 2 killed
The IDF says it carried out another airstrike in the central Gaza Strip earlier today, targeting two terror operatives attempting to plant a bomb in the ground.
According to Palestinian media reports, two were killed in the strike, in the Bureij area.
It comes after a similar strike in the same area earlier today with three more Palestinians reported killed.
Iranian reformist Karroubi to be released from house arrest, 14 years after leading Arab Spring protests
Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi casting his ballot at a polling station in Tehran, June 12, 2009. (ATTA KENARE / AFP/ File)
Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi will be released from house arrest today, state media reports, 14 years after he was detained for calling for a rally in support of protests that swept the Arab world in 2011.
“My father was told by security agents that his house arrest will end today,” his son Hossein Karroubi tells state news agency IRNA, adding that security agents will remain at the premises until April 8 due to security concerns.
The 87-year-old, ailing mid-level cleric has remained defiant, questioning the legitimacy of the clerical establishment in statements published by pro-reform websites.
After calling for a rally in solidarity with pro-democracy uprisings, Karroubi – along with ex-prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a prominent academic – was put under house arrest in February 2011.
They have not been put on trial or publicly charged.
Former parliament speaker Karroubi and Mousavi ran for election in 2009 and became figureheads for Iranians who staged eight months of mass protests after a vote they believed was rigged to bring back hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Karroubi’s son Hossein tells pro-reform Jamaran news website that his father demands the release of Mousavi.
“They told my father that the same process … would be carried out for Mousavi within the next few months and Mousavi too would be released,” the Jamaran website quotes him as saying.
Iran’s judiciary makes no comment.
Karroubi, like Mousavi and Rahnavard, had been under round-the-clock surveillance by security guards initially living in his home. But conditions improved in past years for Karroubi, with some family and politicians allowed to visit him.
Suffering from various medical complications, Karroubi has been taken to hospital several times for heart surgery and treatment.
During his election campaign, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian promised to make an effort for their release.
Tens of thousands flock to Houthi rallies across Yemen in protest of US airstrikes
Tens of thousands of people are protesting in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, the Iran-backed rebels’ Al-Masirah TV shows, two days after US airstrikes killed dozens across the country.
Demonstrators wave placards and assault rifles, chanting “Death to America, death to Israel,” at a huge protest in the capital Sanaa, while rallies are also held in Saada, Dhamar, Hodeida and Amran.
The demonstrations were called by Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi.
In the capital, seized by the Houthis in 2014, giant Yemeni and Palestinian flags punctuated a sea of demonstrators at Al-Sabeen Square, the site of weekly anti-Israel protests throughout the war in Gaza.
“Yemen will never back down — we defy the Americans, we defy the Zionists,” says a man shouting slogans to the crowd.
US President Donald Trump ordered Saturday’s strikes following months of Houthi attacks on the vital Red Sea maritime trade route, despite a pause since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began in January.
In retaliation, the rebels claimed to have attacked a US aircraft carrier group twice within 24 hours, although the US did not immediately comment on the claim.
???? Yemen: The Houthis in Sanaa organized a popular power demonstration today in al-Sabain Square in Sanaa in support of Gaza and opposition to Trump's policy following the recent attack pic.twitter.com/2MMJwIlhEq
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) March 17, 2025
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hebrew U, Sapir College sign research agreement with South Carolina’s Clemson University
Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, Sapir College in southern Israel, and South Carolina’s Clemson University sign a partnership for joint research in agricultural, nutritional, and environmental issues, particularly those relevant to the Western Negev region.
The collaboration will help Sapir College expand its agricultural technology programs and strengthen its role in the region hit by the deadly Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023.
The partnership will include student exchange programs.
The signing ceremony at Clemson University is attended by, among others, former US ambassador to the United Nations and US presidential contender Nikki Haley, a 1994 Clemson graduate, Clemson Board of Trustees member and former South Carolina governor.
“Today, we celebrate two agriculture giants, two leaders in innovative farming coming together,” Haley says. “Through this partnership, we are sowing seeds that will sprout and bear fruit for generations to come.”
The collaboration follows Haley’s visit to the Negev city of Sderot in May 2024, where she met Amit Kochavi, senior adviser to Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi. Kochavi spoke of his idea to revitalize agricultural communities near Sderot and Sapir College after the Hamas attack, in which 1,200 people from the area were slaughtered and 251 abducted to the Gaza Strip.
Ministries once recommended for closure set to receive hefty funding boost in 2025 budget
MK Moshe Gafni leads a vote during a Finance Committee meeting, at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Several government ministries previously classified as superfluous by financial experts are set to receive a substantial last-minute funding boost in the 2025 state budget.
Channel 12 reports that members of the Knesset Finance Committee were informed today that an additional NIS 51 million would be allocated to the Settlements and National Missions Ministry, bringing its 2025 budget to NIS 391 million, a roughly 194% increase from its 2023 budget of NIS 133 million.
Settlements Minister Orit Strock is a member of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party.
Meanwhile, the allocated budget for the Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition Ministry, headed by United Torah Judaism lawmaker Meir Porush, will see its budget increase from NIS 28 million to NIS 118 million.
The Heritage Ministry will reportedly receive a somewhat more modest budget increase of NIS six million, bringing its total to NIS 78 million.
In December 2023, the Finance Ministry recommended that all three of the ministries be shut down, along with seven others it deemed superfluous, in order to offset the strain put on the budget by the war in Gaza.
To date, of the 10 ministries included in the proposal, only the Advancement of the Status of Women Ministry has been closed.
Report: US, Israel looking at Syria as new home for Gazans
Israel and the US are interested in resettling Gazans in Syria, CBS News reports, citing “three sources familiar with the effort.”
One source says the White House reached out to Syria’s new government through a third party. Another source “from the region” tells CBS that Damascus has been approached with the idea, but a senior Syrian official says the country is not aware of any such outreach.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Trump administration have also spoken to the Sudanese and Somali governments about accepting resettled Gazans, says CBS.
The Prime Minister’s Office declines to comment on the report.
An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that most of the outreach is coming from the US, but does not lay out which countries have been approached.
Somalia’s US ambassador denies to CBS that the US or Israel approached the country’s government.
According to a recent AP report, US and Israeli officials also reached out to the breakaway region of Somaliland.
Under Trump’s plan, Gaza’s more than 2 million people would be permanently sent elsewhere. He has proposed the US take ownership of the territory, oversee a lengthy cleanup process, and develop it as a real estate project. Israel has embraced Trump’s plan, which he presented during Netanyahu’s visit to the White House in February.
Lapid says opposition will petition High Court against firing of Shin Bet head
Opposition head and leader of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 17, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says following a meeting of opposition leaders this morning that the party chiefs decided to petition the High Court of Justice against the firing of Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar.
Lapid says the parties are “coordinating our steps in order to stop this reckless act.”
Israeli negotiators returned from Cairo last night, Hamas to go there tomorrow
Israeli negotiators returned from Cairo last night, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
They met earlier in the day with senior Egyptian officials.
“The team is prepared to head out to additional talks,” says the Israeli official, “in accordance with the updates that will be received by the mediating countries.”
A Hamas delegation is expected in Egypt tomorrow.
Report: Otzma Yehudit to abstain on key budget vote due to move to fire Shin Bet chief
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir chairs a faction meeting at the Knesset, February 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Otzma Yehudit will abstain from voting on the state budget’s key Arrangements Law this week as a gesture toward the coalition, due to its moves — long sought by the far-right party — toward firing the Shin Bet chief and the attorney general, Channel 12 reports.
Talks on the party’s return to the coalition will continue ahead of the budget vote next week, the report says.
Jon Polin: Ronen Bar has shown highest level of accountability, integrity, decency
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was abducted from the Nova music festival in the October 7 attacks and later murdered in captivity, speak to Channel 12's Ilana Dayan, January 16, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planning to force Shin Bet head Ronen Bar out of his post this week, bereaved father Jon Polin, whose hostage son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered in late August by his Hamas captors, writes on social media that Bar has conducted himself with nobility over the last 17 months.
“We have met many people in positions of power in the past 528 terrible days,” writes Polin. “One of those people who has shown the highest level of personal accountability, integrity, decency and humanity is Ronen Bar.”
He goes on: “While admitting his responsibility for the failure of October 7 and saying he will step down, Ronen has been committed to bringing home all hostages, returning the security of the State of Israel, strengthening national unity, and most recently, to establishing a state commission of inquiry that will examine everything and everyone, including himself. There is a nobility in how Ronen Bar has conducted himself in these 528 black days.”
The cabinet is set to meet on Wednesday to vote on dismissing Bar.
Protest groups are planning major rallies in Jerusalem against the move.
Qatar to UN envoy: We must confront Israel’s ‘starvation’ of Gaza
United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag in Amman on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
Hosting United Nations Gaza aid coordinator Sigrid Kaag, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani accuses Israel of starving Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Qatari readout, Al-Thani stresses “the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and to firmly confront the starvation policy pursued by the Israeli occupation in its brutal war against the brotherly Palestinian people.”
Qatar plays a key role in mediating talks between Israel and Hamas over hostages and the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
The two also discuss ways to work together “to deliver humanitarian aid sustainably and without hindrance to all areas of the Strip.”
Earlier this month, Israel announced it was halting the entry of goods into Gaza, over what it said was the Hamas terror group’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, and threatened “additional consequences” and a return to war.
Protest groups plan huge Wednesday rally against firing of Shin Bet chief
Anti-overhaul activists protest outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 11, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Dozens of leaders of protest groups throughout the country say they plan a major demonstration in Jerusalem Wednesday, calling on Israelis to go to the capital to protest the government’s intention to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
After meeting in Tel Aviv this morning, the groups announce their plan for a large-scale rally outside government offices as ministers meet to vote on dismissing Bar. The event will start at 8 a.m. with a large march from Motza, outside the capital. The rally will culminate at the government quarter.
Once the vote ends, demonstrators plan to march on to the Prime Minister’s Residence in central Jerusalem, where they are gearing up for a long-term stay, with tent camps.
Eran Schwartz, CEO of the Hofshi B’Artzenu (Free in Our Land) protest group, says: “We cannot allow the coalition to fulfill its vision and completely destroy Israel. The protest is the people’s way of expressing their opposition to the regime. The majority of the people understand that what is at stake is the future of the coalition or the future of the state, and many want to come and demand the future of the state.
“The dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet while he is investigating the prime minister’s associates is not only illegitimate but also illegal, according to the attorney general’s directive. Therefore, we will join with all protest organizations and tens of thousands of citizens to protest against the dismissal of the Shin Bet head, against the [Haredi] draft-dodging law, and against the continuation of the regime coup.”
Katz confirms Lebanon strike: ‘Our policy is clear: Zero tolerance for violations’
Smoke rises from a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on March 17, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/ Flash90)
The IDF and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirm carrying out a drone strike in southern Lebanon a short while ago, targeting Hezbollah operatives.
The army says it struck a pair of Hezbollah operatives who were carrying out surveillance operations and were directing “terror activity” in the Yohmor area.
Lebanese authorities have said the strike killed at least one person.
Katz says in a statement: “The IDF just now struck Hezbollah terrorists in the Yohmor area, after they engaged in terror activities against Israel.”
“Our policy is clear: Zero tolerance toward any violation [of the ceasefire]. We will not allow any violation of the agreement and we will not allow the Hezbollah terror organization to restore its capabilities,” he says.
Katz adds that “any terrorist who tries to harm Israeli civilians is a dead man.”
Lebanese media reports 2 injured in Israeli strike on car in south Lebanon
Lebanese media reports an Israeli strike on a car in the village Yohmor, in south Lebanon.
Two people were injured, according to the reports.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
مراسلة «#الأخبار»: مسيّرة إسرائيلية استهدفت دراجة نارية في #يحمر الشقيف ما أدّى إلى إصابة شخصين وتضرر مبنى سكني وآلية pic.twitter.com/1G4GsmTmcH
— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) March 17, 2025
IDF says it struck terror operatives planting bombs in central, south Gaza; 3 said killed
The military says it carried out a drone strike against three terror operatives who were spotted trying to plant a bomb near troops in the central Gaza Strip a short while ago.
Palestinian media reported three killed in the strike, in the Bureij area.
Separately, the IDF says it carried out another strike against a group of terror operatives who were trying to plant a bomb in the ground near troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Palestinian media reports several wounded in the Rafah strike.
Minister threatens funds for school after principal says he’ll cancel classes for protests
Zeev Degani, school principal of Tel Aviv's Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium, in 2023 (video screenshot DemocraTV; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Education Minister Yoav Kisch has threatened to withhold funding from a Tel Aviv school after its principal said he would cancel classes on Wednesday and encourage students to go protest in Jerusalem against the government’s plan to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
In a missive to teachers, Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium’s Ze’ev Degani said, “Our democracy is on the verge of collapse.”
“We can no longer remain silent. The prime minister is turning the country into a dictatorship by acting against the law. On Wednesday, it will be impossible to teach history and math at school.”
In a video statement, Kisch says Degani “is a criminal. His decision to shut down classes and send students to a political protest is a severe and direct violation of the Compulsory Education Law.”
He adds: “We will not allow schools to become arenas for political clashes… Degani and the management board of Herzliya Gymnasium have been summoned for an urgent hearing on Wednesday. If the school is indeed shut down, the funding Herzliya Gymnasium receives from the education system will be immediately suspended.”
US piles pressure on Yemen’s Houthis with new airstrikes
The United States carried out new airstrikes on Yemen today, the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV says, expanding the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Responding to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement’s threats to international shipping, the US launched a new wave of airstrikes on Saturday. On Monday, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and Al Jawf governorate north of the capital Sanaa were targeted, Al Masirah says.
At least 53 people have been killed in the attacks, Anees Alsbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry, said on Sunday. Five children and two women were among the victims and 98 have been hurt, Alsbahi added on X.
The strikes, which one US official told Reuters might continue for weeks, come as Washington ramps up sanctions pressure on Iran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.
Haredi minister Meir Porush’s son attacked, apparently over army enlistment fight
United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush attends the Jerusalem Masters 2024 chess event, at Safra Square in Jerusalem, September 26, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Haredi Minister Meir Porush’s son was beaten yesterday in Jerusalem by assailants who reportedly tried to snatch the minister’s infant grandson — an attack thought to be linked to the politician’s support for the state budget.
The attackers, said to be neighbors affiliated with the Gur Hasidic dynasty, nabbed the stroller from Moshe Porush, tore his clothes and pulled at his beard, according to eyewitnesses speaking to Channel 12.
The younger Porush was badly bruised and taken to the hospital by Magen David Adom paramedics, while his baby was rescued after some 10 minutes.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, a spokesman for Porush says the minister’s grandson is “physically fine” and that his son was released from the hospital with bruising.
The spokesman adds that the assailants shouted at Moshe Porush: “Your father is harming the admor of Gur, we will avenge him,” referring to the sect’s spiritual leader Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter.
The attack comes amidst sharp disagreements between ultra-Orthodox factions regarding efforts to pass a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service.
Lawmakers within the United Torah Judaism party, which Porush is a part of, are divided over how to advance the legislation. Party chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf and other members of his Agudat Yisrael faction recently wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn that they will vote against the state budget if the government does not deal with military enlistment first. The party’s non-Hasidic Degel Hatorah faction as well as the Sephardic Shas party have not signed on to Goldknopf’s ultimatum. Neither has Porush, whose Shlomei Emunim subfaction is part of Agudat Yisrael.
Expressing his hope that police will find those who carried out the attack, the spokesman notes that Porush has “refused to sign” Goldknopf’s ultimatum to Netanyahu.
A Jerusalem District police spokesman tells The Times of Israel that they are investigating the attack on Porush’s son, but are not treating the incident as a kidnapping attempt.
IDF says troops killed suspected smuggler on Egyptian border
Part of the fence along the Israeli-Egyptian border, north of Eilat. (Idobi, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Israeli troops killed a suspected smuggler on the Egyptian border overnight between Saturday and Sunday, according to the military.
The IDF says that it spotted two suspects in a car on the Israeli side of the border who were trying to use a drone for smuggling.
In recent months, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egypt border using drones. The drones are sent from the Israeli side into Egypt, where they are loaded up with contraband and sent back over the border.
Troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion were dispatched to the scene and began a “suspect arrest procedure,” the IDF says. The military says two suspects approached the forces in a suspicious manner and were perceived as a threat. The troops then opened fire on them.
Both suspects were hit, one of whom later died of his injuries, a military source says.
Business leaders warn Netanyahu against ‘destructive’ move to fire Shin Bet head
The Israel Business Forum, which represents most private-sector workers from 200 of the country’s largest companies, calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to backtrack from his intention to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, calling it a “destructive” move.
“Israel is in the midst of one of the most difficult periods in its history — from a security, economic and social perspective,” the business forum says in a statement. “The last thing Israel needs is an internal battle in which the prime minister, in a severe conflict of interest, fires gatekeepers, in violation of the law — especially at this difficult time.”
“Israel’s enemies are watching with pleasure as Israel returns to the same path that led the country to the October 7 attack,” the forum warns.
Instead, the forum urges Netanyahu to focus on “what is truly important now: the return of the 59 hostages who were kidnapped under his watch… establishing a state investigation committee, according to the president’s agreement, and rehabilitating deterrence, the economy and society.”
Netanyahu at court for his latest day of testimony
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the District Court in Tel Aviv, before the start of his testimony in his corruption trial, March 17, 2025 (Tomer Appelbaum/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at the Tel Aviv District Court for another day of testimony in his criminal trial.
Coalition members: AG doesn’t know the law, her letter to Netanyahu ‘should be shredded’
Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli speaks at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 25, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition insist that he has the absolute right to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar over what the premier said was a breakdown of trust, and push back against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s insistence yesterday that “the process [of firing him] may be tainted by illegality and conflict of interest” and that “the role of the head of the Shin Bet is not a personal trust position serving the prime minister.”
“In what normal country would you even need a special reason to dismiss the head of an intelligence organization who is personally responsible for a terrible intelligence blunder that led to the greatest disaster in the history of the State of Israel?” tweets Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. “Perhaps if Bar had guarded Gaza’s threshold instead of some imaginary political threshold, the October 7 massacre would have been avoided.”
In an interview with Radio Kol Barama, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli declares that the attorney general’s letter to Netanyahu asserting that he cannot fire Bar without a prior legal examination “should be shredded.”
“The government has the authority to dismiss him,” he argues, also alleging that “all of the investigations against the prime minister’s associates are [meant] to deflect criticism of the Shin Bet.”
The Shin Bet is currently looking into suspicions that top aides to the prime minister had illicit ties to Qatar.
Speaking with the Ynet news site, Likud MK Moshe Saada says the law gives the prime minister the authority to fire the head of the Shin Bet and that, unlike with the dismissal of an attorney general, no reason is needed. Saada asserts that Baharav-Miara does not know the law.
Meanwhile, doubling down on his criticism of the move, Yair Golan, head of opposition party The Democrats, tweets that “the greatest existential threat to Israel is not external, it is internal, and it is Netanyahu himself.”
“He fires the head of the Shin Bet because he is afraid of what will be revealed in ‘Qatargate.’ Netanyahu knows it is either him or the democratic state of Israel,” Golan writes, pledging to “fight and prove that the democratic State of Israel is stronger than him!”
Israeli burn specialists head to North Macedonia after deadly nightclub fire
An Israeli Sheba Medical Center delegation heads for North Macedonia after a deadly nightclub fire, March 17, 2025 (Sheba Medical Center)
An Israeli medical delegation takes off for North Macedonia after a nightclub fire left at least 59 people dead early Sunday morning.
The Sheba Medical Center delegation, which was announced yesterday, includes burn and orthopedic specialists, says the Foreign Ministry, adding that they will provide “urgent medical assistance to local hospitals, which are struggling with heavy patient loads.”
Israel’s non-resident envoy to North Macedonia, Simona Frankel, is also joining the delegation.
The five-member team will remain in the country as long as needed, says the Foreign Ministry.
“The departing medical delegation will do its utmost to assist local medical teams in treating the injured and mitigating the severe impact on the local healthcare system as it deals with a mass casualty event,” says Frankel in a statement.
After meeting Trump and Starmer, released hostage Eli Sharabi to address UN Security Council
Eli Sharabi is interviewed on Channel 12's "Uvda" program, in a segment aired on February 27, 2025. (Channel 12/screenshot)
Eli Sharabi, a former hostage released from Hamas captivity in Gaza last month, will speak before the United Nations Security Council this week about what he endured in captivity.
The upcoming address, set to take place on Wednesday or Thursday, comes at the initiative of Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who tells Ynet he has “no doubt that the Security Council ambassadors will no longer be able to turn a blind eye to reality and do nothing for our hostages. We will not stop, and we will not be silent, until all the hostages are brought home.”
This continues a global campaign by Sharabi to advocate for the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza, after he met earlier this month with US President Donald Trump in the White House, and with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street.
This followed Sharabi’s harrowing interview with Channel 12’s “Uvda” program, in which he described the nearly 500 days he was held in Hamas tunnels, when he lost some 30 kilograms (66 pounds).
Sharabi was released from captivity on February 8, and only then learned that his wife Lianne and their daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in their home’s safe room in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, while he and his elder brother Yossi were taken captive. The IDF said last month that Yossi was likely accidentally killed in an IDF strike in Gaza. His body is still being held by Hamas terrorists.
Police rescue another monkey from wildlife trafficking ring
A monkey thought to have been smuggled into Israel is located by Southern District police on March 17, 2025. (Israel Police)
Police say they have rescued yet another monkey from a Negev Bedouin village this morning, as cops continue trailing a wildlife trafficking ring said to be smuggling monkeys and lion cubs into Israel by way of Jordan and Egypt.
The injured monkey was found by Southern District police near the village of al-Athamin, south of Beersheba.
It was transferred to the Nature and Parks Authority for medical examination and treatment.
All in all, police have rescued 12 monkeys and four lion cubs in recent weeks, the bulk of them from Bedouin towns in the Negev.
Law enforcement officials suspect that smugglers have been using drones to fly monkeys and lion cubs into Israel by way of Egypt and Jordan, a police spokesman confirmed to The Times of Israel on Sunday.
Yesterday, police located two illegally held monkeys, one trapped in a Ramat Gan apartment and the other near a farm in Daburiyya.
Iran says official to meet UN nuclear chief on Monday
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a meeting with the Japanese government in Tokyo, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, will meet UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna today, the foreign ministry says.
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says the meeting, which comes after Gharibabadi took part in talks with his Russian and Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Friday, is “part of our ongoing engagement with the agency.”
Iran says it will respond to Trump letter after ‘full scrutiny’
Iran will respond to a letter by US President Donald Trump “after full scrutiny,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says.
Last week, an Emirati official brought a letter from the US president proposing nuclear talks with Tehran, which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemingly rejected, saying such a proposal was “deception” from Washington.
Palestinians in southern West Bank say settlers attacked their village, injuring two
Palestinians were attacked with stones this morning in Susiya in the southern West Bank, and two people were injured, locals say.
Palestinians from the village south of Hebron tell The Times of Israel that this morning eight masked men and one known settler from the area came to the village and began throwing stones at the residents. They say the men also destroyed a few olive trees.
Two Palestinians, a 60-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman, were lightly injured. Police and IDF forces were not present during the attack.
ראשוני: כעשרה מתנחלים תוקפים את הכפר סוסיא, מיידים אבנים על בית תושבים ושוברים עצי זית. המתנחל הידוע שם טוב לוסקי הגיע ותועד יחד עם התוקפים pic.twitter.com/pRHrmb1gCV
— מחוץ לעדר (@masafering) March 17, 2025
Once police arrived, the attackers began to flee, according to the Palestinians. One Palestinian was detained by the police but was released shortly afterward.
There is no word on any attackers being detained.
Israelis have been banned from entering Susiya for years after repeated incidents of trespassing and violence.
Trump says no exemptions on US steel and aluminum tariffs
US President Donald Trump says he has no intention of creating exemptions on steel and aluminum tariffs and said reciprocal and sectoral tariffs will be imposed on April 2.
Last month, Trump raised tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to a flat 25%, without exemptions or exceptions, in a move that was designed to help US industry while contributing to an escalating trade war.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump says reciprocal duties on US trading partners will come alongside auto duties.
“In certain cases, both,” Trump says when asked if he will be imposing sectoral and reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
“They charge us, and we charge them. Then, in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminum, we’re going to have some additional,” he says.
Trump says he will be speaking with Russia’s Putin on Tuesday
US President Donald Trump says he plans to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
“I’ll be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday. A lot of work’s been done over the weekend,” Trump tells reporters on Air Force One during a late flight back to the Washington area from Florida.
“We want to see if we can bring that war to an end. Maybe we can, maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” Trump says.
Man in his 40s killed in northern Bedouin town, amid crime wave
A man in his 40s has been killed in an incident of violence in the northern Bedouin town of Bir al-Maksur, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.
An MDA statement cites a medic saying a team found the man with stab wounds, tried to save his life but ended up pronouncing him dead.
The incident comes amid a prolonged epidemic of violent crime in Israel’s Arab community.
Iran-backed Houthis claim second attack on US ships in 24 hours
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claim responsibility for a second attack on an American aircraft carrier group in 24 hours, calling it retaliation for US strikes.
A spokesperson for the group says that “for the second time in 24 hours,” Houthi fighters launched missiles and drones at the USS Harry S. Truman and several of its warships in the northern Red Sea.
The statement also vows to keep targeting Israeli vessels until the “siege” on Gaza is lifted.
Fundraiser for Yarden Bibas surpasses its goal, reaches $1.6 million in some 24 hours
Yarden Bibas covering the coffin of his wife Shiri and sons Ariel and Kfir during the slain hostages' funeral near Kibbutz Nir Oz, February 26, 2025. (Eitan Uner/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
A fundraiser by the family of released hostage Yarden Bibas has surpassed its $1,371,086 goal within 24 hours of its launch, reaching more than $1.6 million.
The campaign is aimed at helping to fund Bibas’s rehabilitation and memorialize his wife Shiri and young sons Kfir and Ariel, who were abducted in the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, and murdered in captivity.
The funds, collected via the Lehosheet Yad (Lend a Hand) foundation, will assist with “professional support, mental health assistance and financial resources to gradually regain a sense of normalcy,” Yarden’s father Eli has written on the campaign’s English-language page.
US said to launch 2 strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah
Yemen’s Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV says the US has launched two strikes targeting Hodeidah.
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