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The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they unfolded.
Ukraine’s Zelensky believes he can salvage relationship with US
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says he believes he can salvage his relationship with US President Donald Trump after their explosive meeting in the Oval Office, but that talks need to continue behind closed doors.
In an extraordinary meeting that was broadcast live on Friday, Trump accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for US aid, of showing disrespect to his country, and of risking World War III, casting into doubt Washington’s ongoing support for Ukraine.
Zelensky, talking to reporters after a summit with European leaders in London, says he does not think the US will stop its assistance to Ukraine, because as “leaders of the civilized world” they would not want to help Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sa’ar blasts attorney general’s ‘political document’ against his judicial proposal
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani (not pictured) hold a press conference at the end of their meeting in Rome, January 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar assails Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over her warnings against his and Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s proposal to overhaul the judicial appointments process.
“This is a political document, not a legal one,” he says of her legal position paper. “To be honest, it is difficult to find, in the history of the state and the Knesset, a proposal that was formulated after such extensive public and political discourse.”
He accuses her of “an attempt to stall” legislation by suggesting “a ‘public committee’ or a ‘government bill process’ — all just to buy time and try to prevent legislation that enjoys a sweeping majority in the Knesset.”
Sa’ar, who under the Bennett-Lapid government recommended Baharav-Miara for the post, adds: “I will not even address the attorney general’s many fundamental errors, such as the assumption that the principle of separation of powers necessarily requires judges to have influence over the selection of judges. The attorney general writes that the proposal harms and contradicts democratic principles. The truth is that the one undermining democratic principles is the attorney general herself, who is trying to replace both the government and the Knesset.”
AG says Levin-Sa’ar judicial proposal would cast a heavy political shadow over system, harm democracy
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on November 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says government-backed legislation to change the judicial appointments process would undermine judicial independence and the separation of powers. It would therefore harm Israeli democracy.
Writing to Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has advanced the bill, Baharav-Miara says the legislation greatly increases the strength of politicians in the appointments process over that of legal professionals involved in the process, which would politicize the entire judiciary.
The new legislation removes the two representatives of the Israel Bar Association from the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, and replaces them with two lawyers to be chosen by the coalition and opposition. It also gives the coalition, opposition, and judicial representatives veto power over all judicial appointments, which they never previously enjoyed, and removes all influence of the three Supreme Court judges on the committee over Supreme Court appointments.
Baharav-Miara asserts that due to these changes, political considerations will have much greater weight in the appointments process, and will turn it into “another political arena of agreements and disputes between the coalition and opposition.”
She continues: “The proposed arrangement would cast a heavy political shadow over the judicial system and the motives for appointing or promoting a judge, [and] would harm the objective character of judicial work in all courts in an inappropriate manner.”
The dilution of professional representation on the committee and its power in the appointments process legislation, the attorney general continues, would “weaken the judicial authority and contravene the principle of the separation of powers.”
This would stymie the judiciary’s power to carry out its basic functions, including “independent judicial review over government authorities as a brake against governmental abuse of power against private individuals.”
Levin’s proposed legislation therefore requires “substantive changes” in order to make it commensurate with democratic principles, she says.
European Union condemns Hamas for refusal to extend first phase of ceasefire
People gather by the rubble of destroyed buildings for a mass gathering for a communal iftar fast-breaking meal on the second day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the area of al-Dahduh in Gaza City's Tal al-Hawa district on March 2, 2025, amid the ongoing truce in the war between Israel and Hamas. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
The European Union condemns Hamas for its refusal “to accept the extension of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”
In a statement from its External Action Service, the EU also warns that Israel’s decision to keep aid from entering Gaza “could potentially result in humanitarian consequences,” but avoids directly condemning Israel.
The EU calls for a speedy return to talks on the ceasefire’s second phase.
It also calls for “full, rapid, safe and unhindered access to humanitarian aid at scale for Palestinians in need and for allowing and facilitating humanitarian workers and international organizations to operate effectively and safely inside Gaza.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met EU foreign ministers and leadership last month in Brussels, as ties between the bloc and Israel appear to be on the upswing.
Hamas official rejects extending first phase of Gaza ceasefire
Hamas will not agree to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, as requested by Israel, a senior Hamas official says.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mahmoud Mardawi says Hamas will only release the remaining Israeli hostages under the terms of the already agreed-upon phased deal.
Netanyahu: Israel accepted Witkoff’s plan to extend ceasefire, Hamas rejected it
Screen capture from video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a video statement released March 2, 2025. (GPO)
In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says US President Donald Trump is “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House” and “he has shown it by fully backing Israel and putting the pressure to release the hostages where it truly belongs — on Hamas.”
Netanyahu says Israel “has accepted President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff’s plan to extend the temporary ceasefire by 50 days. During that time, we can discuss the conditions for a permanent ceasefire that will end the war in Gaza.
“In Witkoff’s plan, half of the hostages would be released right away and the remaining half would be released if we reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire,” he says. “Again, Israel has accepted this plan. I accepted this plan. But so far, Hamas has rejected it.”
He says Hamas’s positions so far are “totally unacceptable.” He warns Israel “will take further steps if Hamas continues to hold our hostages.”
He explains that Israel stopped letting goods into Gaza today “because Hamas steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaza from getting them. It uses these supplies to finance its terror machine.”
IDF says drone strike in southern Gaza targeted two suspects
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike targeting two suspects in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, after they were identified near Israeli forces and “posed a threat.”
Thousands in Jerusalem demand Israel continue ceasefire to release hostages
People protest calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, March 2, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
Thousands of people are demonstrating outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem to demand Israel continue the ceasefire agreement in Gaza in order to secure the release of more hostages.
People protest calling for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, March 2, 2025, (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
IDF chief admits: First troops only reached Kibbutz Nir Oz after last terrorists had left
Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas are abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, October 7, 2023. (Screengrab)
In further remarks by IDF chief Herzi Halevi on the IDF’s October 7 failures, broadcast tonight on Channel 12, he addresses the fact that the first IDF troops did not reach Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of residents were killed or kidnapped, until the last terrorists had gone.
Speaking to local council chiefs in southern Israel, Halevi says a lot has been said in the media about too many troops going to Sderot, the Gaza border town that was among the many communities attacked. Two sets of forces were dispatched to Nir Oz, he says, but they got caught up in other battles en route and did not reach the kibbutz. “The results were terrible. As someone from Nir Oz told me, the first soldier arrived after the last terrorist had left. That’s the worst thing that we could hear.”
Halevi says that the absent intelligence material “in this war was a big part of the failure. We would have wanted advance warning, we would have wanted to know [what was about to happen]. That could have changed the reality. We didn’t get it…”
He then discusses the indications of Hamas planning something that were received in the hours before the invasion. “The central question here is: could we have understood what was received that night differently, and obviously then to have made different decisions.”
He notes the fact that Hamas terrorists turned on Israeli SIM cards on Friday evening, October 6, and that this was reported by IDF intelligence. But, he says, this had happened “in the previous year… 10-12 times.” It was checked, he says.
He says the movements of senior Hamas figures were also checked.
The checks indicated that what was going on was “routine” and that there were “good alternative explanations” for what was happening in Gaza.
For instance, he says, Hamas, in the weeks ahead of its invasion and massacre, “was mainly discussing directing attacks from Gaza to be carried out in the West Bank.”
This had been raised with the political leadership, he says, and had prompted talk about carrying out “targeted strikes [on key Hamas figures] in Gaza.”
“A lot of what we saw [in the hours before the invasion], we attributed to their knowledge that the cabinet on Sunday might approve a further targeted strike,” Halevi says.
Halevi says the IDF’s top brass were updated on the worrying indications from Gaza at about 3 a.m. on October 7 and that this was unduly late: “The General Staff, me included, entered the picture at about 3 a.m. I think that was too late. The first signs came at 9 to 9:30 on the [previous] evening… But they were insufficient…”
He says it is not the case that officers were wary of waking up the chief of staff. Rather, “everyone who was looking [at the information] believed [what they were seeing in Gaza] was not about to happen now or tomorrow. [They thought]: There is something. It’s not clear. It’s not [something to justify an urgent] alert.”
Summing up the “main failures,” Halevi says: “The level of alert was not raised.” He adds: “Too many things [that were unfolding in Gaza] were unclear…” And, he says, the IDF needed to be “sharper, and we erred.”
During the IDF’s subsequent probe of that night, he says, a chart had been drawn up that shows, “This is what we knew that night, and this is what we should have known that night.”
When you look at those two sets of data, says Halevi, “and especially at the differences between them, you say, If [only] there had been a single person who had seen that whole chart on that night.”
Relatives of hostages says Israel must move immediately to deal’s 2nd phase
Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran, at a press conference in Tel Aviv held by hostages' families on March 2, 2025. (Video screenshot)
Family members of hostages still held captive in Gaza say phase two of the hostage deal must commence immediately, before any return to fighting in Gaza, at a Sunday night press statement in Tel Aviv.
“Hostages immediately, Hamas afterwards,” says Lishay Miran-Lavi, whose husband Omri Miran, father of their two young daughters, is still held captive in Gaza.
“What are we waiting for?” says Miran-Lavi. “When can I get up in the morning and answer my girls’ questions about when daddy Omri is coming home?”
Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, who appeared in a Hamas propaganda video last week with his best friend, hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, says that was the first time the family saw Evyatar since he was taken captive on October 7, 2023.
“Evyatar and the others have no time left,” says David. “We’re grateful to [US President Donald] Trump. Bring us a stronger, safer deal. No stages, no phases, bring us Trump’s deal,” he says.
Time is of the essence, says Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Haimi was killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage to Gaza.
He says his cousin and the other hostages are the cards that Hamas holds, but the hostages will not survive if Israel resumes fighting in Gaza before bringing them back.
“The living will become the dead,” says Goren.
Ella Ben Ami, whose father Ohad Ben Ami returned gaunt and emaciated during the first phase of the deal, says her father is proof that the hostages must be brought home immediately.
Now at home, Ben Ami eats half a pita after each meal as a way of thinking about the “five brothers” he left behind, says Ben Ami, describing the starvation suffered by her father and his fellow captives left in Gaza.
Report: Incoming IDF chief plans to axe several top generals for their role in Oct. 7
Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)
Incoming IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir is planning a major overhaul of the top command of the military, believing it necessary to restore public trust in the army, after the failures of October 7, 2023, Channel 12 reports.
According to the network, Zamir plans to remove many top generals who were in key posts during the October 7 attacks. The report says among those Zamir is considering removing are Head of the Operations Directorate Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk, Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, Home Front Command Head Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, and Intelligence Directorate Head Maj. Gen Shlomi Binder (Binder assumed the role in mid-2024, having served as head of the Operations Division on October 7. The head of intelligence during the attack, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, has already stepped down).
Saudi Arabia says Israel halting Gaza aid is ‘collective punishment’
Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s decision to block aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, dubbing it “blackmail,” as talks to extend a fragile truce in the war appear at an impasse.
The Israeli decision “to stop the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and its use as a tool of blackmail and collective punishment… is a flagrant violation of international law and a direct violation of the rules of international humanitarian law,” says a foreign ministry statement cited by the official Saudi Press Agency, also urging the international community to “stop these serious Israeli violations.”
IDF’s Southern Command chief: We treated Gaza threat with utmost seriousness, but with incorrect conclusions
Chief of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman (center) meets with officers in central Gaza, April 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Channel 12 also airs recordings from remarks made by Head of Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman at the same meeting with local councils heads.
Finkelman says that the night before the attack was “a sleepless night” for him, as he reviewed the odd intelligence signals coming from Gaza, which the IDF famously decided were concerning but not exceedingly urgent, thus missing its chance to prevent the Hamas-led onslaught.
“I stayed up all night conducting ongoing situational assessments,” Finkelman tells local leaders in the recording. Finkelman insists he was not blasé about the troubling signs. “I challenged and questioned intelligence officials, four different independent officials. The picture they presented to me consisted of two key elements: first, that this was not something imminent in the immediate timeframe. Second, that Hamas’s offensive force, the Nukhba, was operating as usual — it was not in any emergency state.
“These were the intelligence realities I received. By the way, regardless of that, the commander is responsible for everything, including intelligence,” he adds, apparently referring to his ultimate responsibility.
“We took several actions, which in hindsight were of course insufficient. We redeployed commanders to the sector, though not all of them, and that is how it caught us at 6:29,” he says.
Finkelman stresses that the conversations were ongoing throughout the night. “This wasn’t just one or two discussions, it was an entire sequence. We treated it with utmost seriousness. Of course, with incorrect conclusions, but with utmost seriousness.”
Finkelman also defends the conduct of the troops who responded to the attack as it unfolded. Though communities were left defenseless as marauding terrorists spread throughout the region, murdering and committing atrocities, the insufficient forces who were there fought bravely, he said.
“Everyone sought to engage [the enemy],” he says. “We had exceptional cases where they didn’t, and we also investigated and examined those, and we can point them out. I think this was a terrible day in terms of its outcomes. But… the people of Israel and the security forces sought engagement. They ran into gunfire to save civilians.”
He adds that he “made a mistake in something related to you, the civilians. I think the way we handled your evacuation from the communities — both in terms of speed, method, and even attitude — was not good enough, and I see this as my personal mistake.”
IDF chief: Of all borders, I was least worried about Gaza; I know the last words of many people murdered on Oct. 7 were ‘Where’s the IDF?’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks at a military conference, February 24, 2025. (Screenshot: Israel Defense Forces)
Outgoing IDF chief Herzi Halevi has acknowledged that he and the IDF thought Hamas was entirely incapable of carrying out the kind of broad surprise attack it mounted on October 7, 2023, and that he was less concerned by the threat from Gaza than the dangers on every other Israeli border.
In remarks broadcast tonight by Channel 12, Halevi says the IDF’s conception “collapsed” on October 7, and that he knows that the last words of many Israelis murdered that day were, “Where is the IDF.”
Halevi, who is stepping down later this week having taken personal responsibility for the failures, made the comments when presenting the results of the IDF’s own probes into its October 7 failures to southern local council chiefs last week.
At the start of the broadcast recording, he stresses that he, as head of the IDF, and the IDF as a whole, failed to protect the people of Israel. “I know lots of people were murdered, and their last words were, ‘Where is the IDF?’ I know that. It’s very hard for us [to know that].”
He says the IDF “expected something very different of ourselves,” and had never thought anything like October 7 could happen. Obviously, it would have acted differently if it had known this could happen, he says.
“We considered Hamas to be a limited military force. We didn’t see a scenario of a wide surprise [Hamas] attack as a realistic scenario. And if there was to be something like that, our assumption was that we would get a warning ahead of time from [military] intelligence,” Halevi says.
The assessment was that a combination of intelligence warnings, plus the security fence, plus the protection afforded by IDF troops, offered appropriate protection, he says. This assessment “collapsed.”
“When I ranked the borders, I put the Gaza as the last border that needed attention,” Halevi says. “”We felt that the subterranean barrier was very high quality, that intelligence gathering was advanced, that the topography was helpful, and we put the northern border as the most grave [priority]… facing Hezbollah.”
“We thought our situation overall was good.”
Report: Eisenkot seeking centrist party union in next elections, may want to lead it
National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset on July 31, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot is seeking to unite centrist parties in the next elections, possibly under his leadership, Haaretz reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
They say Eisenkot is seeking to prevent former prime minister Naftali Bennett — widely expected to run in the next national vote — from winning opposition votes.
They add that Eisenkot and Lapid are “talking a lot” and that “it’s clear to everyone that Eisenkot has decided that in the next election, he will not be an ineffectual number two.”
The report noted that National Unity leader Benny Gantz does not currently plan to step down from the party’s leadership.
NGOs petition High Court to bar government from cutting aid to Gaza
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 2, 2025. (AFP)
The Gisha human rights organization and four other NGOs file a motion to the High Court of Justice calling for an interim order banning the government from cutting of the supply of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying the step endangers the lives of Palestinian civilians in the territory and therefore violates Israel’s obligations under international law.
Gisha argues that halting the provision of aid is illegal “even if [Israel] claims that the existing aid is sufficient,” and says that recent media reports that six babies in Gaza died of hypothermia in February proved the claim to be false anyway.
“According to humanitarian law, there is an obligation to protect the civilian population and allow the free passage of humanitarian aid to such a population,” writes Gisha in its petition.
“These obligations cannot be made conditional on political considerations, and humanitarian aid cannot be used as a tool of war or a way of exerting pressure,” the human rights groups contends.
Israel cut off the aid supply to Gaza this morning, with the Prime Minister’s Office stating that “Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages.” Hebrew media reported that Israel currently believes enough aid has entered the enclave in recent weeks to last Gaza for several months.
US backs Israeli stance in hostage talks, but doesn’t confirm Witkoff behind proposal
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, on March 2, 2025. (AFP)
The White House says it backs Israel’s approach in the hostage negotiations, but does not specifically confirm Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s characterization of the proposal Jerusalem decided to back last night for a new hostage release framework as one crafted by the Trump administration’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
Earlier today, an Arab official denied to The Times of Israel that Witkoff is behind a proposal announced by Netanyahu’s office last night. That proposal would abandon the second phase framework that Israel and Hamas had agreed to for a new outline of releasing the remaining 59 hostages in two batches toward the beginning and end of the Ramadan and Passover holidays that run through March and April.
The Arab official said the plan Netanyahu described as Witkoff’s was “more of an Israeli plan.”
Asked to comment on the claim, White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes avoids responding directly, instead sending a statement that expresses support for the position of Israel, which decided to stop the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, with the first phase of the deal expiring yesterday.
“Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists. We will support their decision on next steps, given Hamas has indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire,” Hughes says.
Israel and Hamas were supposed to begin negotiations regarding the terms of phase two a month ago, but Israel refrained from doing so, as it requires — in exchange for the release of the remaining living hostages — a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and permanent ceasefire, which Netanyahu has ruled out, despite signing onto those terms.
Saturday was also supposed to see Israel begin to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza, but Netanyahu’s office already said last month that it would not be complying with this requirement.
The Arab official says Hamas made clear before and after Netanyahu’s announcement that it was only prepared to release additional hostages as part of the framework that the sides agreed to in January.
Lapid under fire for saying he ‘deserves raise’ for having to look at far-right’s Orit Strock
Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock attends a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has sparked controversy after saying he “deserve[s] a raise” for having to look at far-right Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism party.
During an interview to the podcast The Dor Kahn Experience, Lapid, speaking about his distaste for religious dogma in politics, said: “I look at Orit Strock — and just for that I deserve a raise — and God’s with her. She says, ‘You might have all sorts of opinions, but God’s with me.'”
Right-wing MKs have assailed Lapid’s comments as misogynistic.
Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich castigated the opposition leader for his “misogynistic attack against Minister Strock — one of the best politicians Israel has known. Apologize.”
Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben Gvir tweeted: “It’s amazing how for years the ‘enlightened camp’ supported a vacuous, ignorant, and mainly foolish person like Yair Lapid, who objectifies women and harms them.”
Education Minister Yoav Kisch of Likud said, “There’s more wisdom and humanity at the tip of Orit Strock’s headscarf than in Mr. Yair Lapid. Shame on you, Lapid, and apologize.”
Lapid responded: “Everyone understands that I was talking about her conduct, not her appearance. It’s a shame I didn’t see such outrage when Orit Strock said that the hostages should be abandoned and left to die. I’m waiting for Strock’s apology [about that].”
Israel’s halt of Gaza aid ‘alarming’ — UN humanitarian chief
The United Nations humanitarian agency’s head condemns Israel’s suspension of aid into Gaza, which he says is contrary to international law.
“Israel’s decision to halt aid into Gaza is alarming. International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid,” OCHA head Thomas Fletcher writes on X.
Israel’s decision to halt aid into Gaza is alarming.
International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid.
We can’t roll back the progress of the past 42 days. We need to get aid in and the hostages out.
The ceasefire must hold.
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) March 2, 2025
Prominent Lebanese Druze leader says he’ll visit Syria as tensions with Israel simmer
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt gestures during a press conference, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/ Hussein Malla)
A prominent Druze leader in Lebanon says he will soon visit Syria to meet its interim leader as tensions simmer between members of the minority group, the war-torn country’s interim government, and Israel.
“The free Syrians must be cautious of the plots of Israel,” veteran Druze leader Walid Jumblatt says at a news conference, accusing Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of creating sectarian division and chaos in the country. “In Syria there is a plot for sabotage. There is a plot for sabotage in the region and for the Arabs’ national security.”
Syrian Druze gunmen have clashed in recent days with government security forces in the city of Jaramana, on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
Since the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has pushed its forces into southern Syria to create a demilitarized buffer zone. Israel’s defense ministry said Saturday that it was instructing the military to prepare to defend Jaramana and protect the Druze.
Syria announces committee to draft ‘transitional’ constitutional declaration
Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa holds a joint press conference following a meeting with the Turkish president, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, February 4, 2025. (OZAN KOSE / AFP)
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announces the formation of a seven-member committee to draft a constitutional declaration for the country’s transition after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
A statement from the presidency announces “the formation of a committee of experts,” including one woman, tasked with drafting “the constitutional declaration that regulates the transitional phase” in Syria, adding that “the committee will submit its proposals to the president,” without specifying a timeframe.
Israeli official says ‘not familiar’ with Egyptian proposal to extend phase one by 2 weeks
Responding to reports in Arabic-language media that Egypt proposed a two-week extension of the ceasefire to Israel and Hamas, an Israeli official says he has no knowledge of such a proposal.
“We aren’t familiar with anything like that,” the official tells The Times of Israel.
Turkish and British officials to discuss post-Assad Syria in Ankara talks
This aerial view shows people walking along a market street with collapsed buildings that were destroyed during the Syrian Civil War, in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan on March 1, 2025. (Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Turkish and British officials will discuss Syria’s future during a meeting in Ankara tomorrow, with security, sanctions and economic development on the agenda, a Turkish foreign ministry source says.
NATO-member Turkey was a main backer of rebels who fought Bashar al-Assad for years and it has forged close ties with the new administration in Damascus following Assad’s ouster last year. It has promised to help rebuild Syria and offered assistance to train and equip its security forces.
Britain said last month it would adapt its Syria sanctions regimes after Assad’s fall but will ensure asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former government remain in place.
The Turkish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Monday’s talks will be led by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz and British junior Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer. Yilmaz will emphasize the need for sanctions on Syria to be lifted unconditionally for rebuilding and economic development, the source says.
Yilmaz will also stress “the importance of the international community backing the Syrian administration’s steps toward achieving national reconciliation within a central government,” and push “to stop Israel’s actions openly violating and threatening Syria’s sovereignty,” the source adds.
Report: Cairo proposes 2-week extension of first truce phase, including return of 6 hostages
Qatari-owned newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports, citing Egyptian sources, that Cairo has proposed to Israel and Hamas to extend the first phase of the ceasefire by two weeks, which will include the release of six Israeli hostages, during which time the sides will hold negotiations on the proposed second phase.
The report says three of the Israelis would be living hostages, and three would be bodies, according to the proposal.
The report says an Israeli team is expected to arrive in Cairo soon to discuss the offer.
Yarden Bibas joins hundreds of families of Oct. 7 victims demanding state inquiry
A car destroyed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists is seen in Sderot, Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
Hundreds of relatives of victims of Oct. 7, as well as former hostages, have joined a group demanding the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the disaster.
Among those joining the October Council, which says it now unites 1,500 families, is freed hostage Yarden Bibas, whose family was murdered in captivity; freed hostages Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, Sharon Aloni Cunio, Keren Munder, Yagil Yaakov, Noga Weiss and Shiri Weiss; the wife of murdered hostage Tsahi Idan; the daughter of murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur; the mother of freed hostage Daniella Gilboa; the mother of freed hostage Karina Ariev; the father of freed hostage Arbel Yehud; the father of freed hostage Omer Wenkert; and more.
“We, the families of the hostages, demand that the Israeli government immediately establish a state commission of inquiry to thoroughly and comprehensively investigate [the events] with full transparency, including the management of the negotiations for the return of our loved ones,” the families say in a statement.
“Only a state commission of inquiry can provide us with answers, offer some solace to our souls, and prevent the next disaster. The failure to establish such a commission and draw lessons would mean harming the security of the state,” they say.
Russian FM calls Ukraine’s Zelensky a ‘traitor’ to the Jewish people
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gives a joint press conference with Iran's Foreign Minister at the foreign ministry headquarters in Tehran on February 25, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calls Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky — who is Jewish — a “pure Nazi” and a “traitor to the Jewish people.”
“Zelensky has turned 180 degrees from a man who came to power on slogans of peace, on slogans of ‘leave the Russian language alone, it is our common language, our common culture,'” says Lavrov in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry outlet Krasnaya Zvezda, “and in six months has turned into a pure Nazi and, as Russian President [Vladimir] Putin correctly said, into a traitor to the Jewish people.”
Lavrov has enraged Israel and other countries during the ongoing war in Ukraine with his comments on Hitler and Jews. In 2022, Lavrov claimed that Adolf Hitler had Jewish heritage and that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews,” in an attempt to explain Moscow’s invasion as an attempt to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
He also accused the US and Europe of seeking a “final solution” to “the Russia question,” comparable to Hitler’s plan to wipe out the Jews in World War II, drawing anger from Israel, Germany and some of Moscow’s other Western adversaries.
Israelis line up to offer condolences to Bibas family in Ramat Gan
Israelis are lining up in Ramat Gan to offer their condolences to the Bibas family for the deaths of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel, who were murdered in Hamas captivity.
The family has invited the general public to come at specific times to the Kfar Maccabia conference center, today until 8 p.m. and tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Channel 12 says people of all ages, from little children carrying drawings they made for grieving family members to the elderly, have come to pay their respects.
Egypt condemns Israel for halting Gaza aid, accuses it of using ‘starvation as a weapon’
Egypt, which has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, condemns Israel’s closure of Gaza crossings to aid supplies and accuses Israel of using “starvation as a weapon.”
Earlier, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected the claim Gazans could face starvation, saying this was “a lie during this whole war.”
“We saw that when our hostages were released, the terrorists and the crowd looked perfectly fine. The only ones that looked that they were starved were our hostages,” he said.
Government approves new boss at directorate tasked with rehabilitation of south
Housing Ministry Director-General Aviad Friedman speaks in Arad, July 7, 2022 (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Just days after the State Comptroller criticized the lack of a full-time boss at the Tekuma Directorate, the government approves the appointment of Aviad Friedman, a former Housing Ministry director general it says has led strategic processes in infrastructure, housing, and public services in senior positions in government and the private sector.
The directorate, established after the deadly invasion of southern Israel by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, is tasked with the region’s rehabilitation.
The Tekuma directorate has been without a full-time director and deputy since August, when Brig. Gen. (Res) Moshe Edri and his deputy left their posts.
Yossi Shelley, director of the Prime Minister’s Office, was sent to run it in addition to his regular duties. In November, it was announced that he had been appointed ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
That same month, responsibility for rehabilitating the Gazan border in the south and the Lebanese one in the north was moved from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Finance Ministry. MK Ze’ev Elkin was appointed a minister there with overall responsibility for both regions.
Egypt says Gaza reconstruction plan completed, will be presented at Arab summit this week
Palestinians gather for a communal iftar, or fast-breaking meal, on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 1, 2025. (AFP)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty says the Egyptian Gaza reconstruction plan, which ensures Palestinians remain in the enclave, is ready and will be presented to the emergency Arab summit on Tuesday.
The Egyptian reconstruction plan, according to Abdelatty, will not be purely Egyptian or Arab but will seek international support and funding to ensure its successful implementation.
“We will hold intensive talks with major donor countries once the plan is adopted at the upcoming Arab Summit,” Abdelatty says in a press conference with the European Union Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica.
Abdelatty says Europe’s role, especially in the economic aspect of rebuilding the war-torn enclave, is critical.
According to reports, the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the Strip’s infrastructure.
The plan comes after an international uproar over US President Donald Trump’s call for the removal of Gaza’s population of some two million Palestinians. Trump suggested the United States would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” though Palestinians would not be allowed back.
Palestinians have widely said they will not leave, while Egypt, and Jordan, backed by Saudi Arabia, have refused Trump’s calls for them to take in Gaza’s population.
Asked about the second phase of the ceasefire deal, Abdelatty says Egypt will continue its intensive efforts to ensure the ceasefire is maintained and negotiations for the second phase can begin.
He stresses the importance of safely executing the ceasefire agreement signed in January, emphasizing Egypt’s commitment to ensuring its proper implementation.
“The first phase has concluded successfully, and now we must shift to discussions on the second phase, which is key to sustaining the ceasefire,” he says.
“Naturally, it will be difficult, but with goodwill and political determination, it can be achieved.”
Sylvan Adams named president of World Jewish Congress in Israel
Philanthropist Sylvan Adams announcing a $100 million donation to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, at an event in Toronto, Canada, on December 3, 2023. (Liora Kogan/courtesy)
Israeli-Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Sylvan Adams is appointed regional president of the World Jewish Congress in Israel.
Adams, a highly visible advocate for Israel, will work to strengthen ties between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, as well as promoting diplomatic support for Israel abroad, the organization says.
Since moving to Israel in 2016, Adams has played a key role in bringing major sporting and cultural events to the country, including the Giro d’Italia’s Grande Partenza bike race in 2018, a performance by Madonna at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, and visits from soccer star Lionel Messi.
“I am honored to join WJC-Israel, a body entrusted with the critical task of boosting the essential ties between Jewish communities and the world’s only Jewish state,” Adams says. “At a historic time of great challenges, and opportunities, our work is more important than ever.”
Sa’ar calls new Syrian government an unelected ‘bunch of jihadists’
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar at a press conference at Villa Madama in Rome on January 14, 2025. (Andreas SOLARO / AFP)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar calls Syria’s new government led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa “a bunch of jihadists” who were “not elected… by the Syrian people.”
Israel has repeatedly declared its mistrust of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist faction that led the campaign that toppled Bashar al-Assad and that emerged from a group that was affiliated to al-Qaeda until it cut ties in 2016.
At a press conference in Jerusalem, Sa’ar affirms Israel’s determination to protect the Druze community in southern Syria, saying that Syria’s new leadership has “no right to initiate hostilities toward minorities, whether it is the Druze, Kurds, or others.”
His remarks come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced yesterday that Israel may take action to protect the Druze near Damascus after an outbreak of deadly violence involving regime forces and Druze fighters.
Sa’ar stresses that “it is important that the new rulers of Damascus respect the rights of minorities,” noting that “we also have a Druze community here in Israel.”
Beersheba man indicted for giving Iran info on Israel’s nuclear program; police say the information was already public
View of the nuclear reactor in Dimona, southern Israel, in 2016. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
A Beersheba resident accused of transferring information about Israel’s nuclear program to Iranian agents is indicted by the Southern District Attorney’s office.
Police and Shin Bet agents conducted a months-long investigation into the suspect, Doron Bokovza, who allegedly initiated contact with Iranian agents and offered to sell them information.
The suspect feigned having access to Israel’s nuclear research center in the Negev, but in fact provided his handlers with public information about the facility, the agencies say in a joint statement.
Police add that Bokovza carried out several tasks for the agents including “photographing facilities and transferring information.”
Bokovza was indicted in the Beersheba District Court on charges of contacting a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.
Southern Israel’s Dimona nuclear research facility, officially called the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, is the home of Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons program, according to foreign reports.
Herzog at funeral of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur: ‘I ask for forgiveness that we did not save you’
People pay their respects to murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur in Rishon Lezion on March 2, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Speaking at the funeral of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur, President Isaac Herzog apologizes that the country did not protect him.
“As a public envoy of the entire State of Israel, I ask you for forgiveness for not being able to protect you in the place that was supposed to be your fortress,” Herzog says, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
“Forgiveness from you, from your family, from Kissufim and from the people of the entire western Negev, for not saving you on that bitter day,” Herzog says.
Herzog also calls for a state commission of inquiry to be established as soon as possible.
“There is no other way [for the country] to repair and heal other than to investigate and find out in depth everything that caused the terrible massacre other than taking responsibility and carrying it, with the full weight of its significance, to ensure that such a terrible disaster is never experienced again,” Herzog says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly put off the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, the body that enjoys the broadest powers under Israeli law, to investigate the government’s failures ahead of the devastating October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Authorities said last month that Mantzur, 85, was murdered during his abduction from Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023.
Born in Baghdad in 1938, he survived the Farhud pogrom in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1951 at age 13, becoming one of the founders of Kibbutz Kissufim, where he worked for years in the chicken coop, as well as at an eyewear factory, and learned carpentry as a hobby.
He is survived by his wife, Mazal, five children, 12 grandchildren, and five siblings.
PM: Israel is fully coordinated with Trump on proposal to extend 1st phase of ceasefire
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, March 2, 2025 (screenshot/GPO)
Israel is “fully coordinated with President Trump and his staff” on the proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas for another 50 days, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
Last night, Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released.
Netanyahu says that Witkoff proposed the extension after he understood there was no way to bridge Israeli and Hamas positions on moving to the second phase of the deal.
“He even defined his proposal as a corridor for negotiations on phase two,” says the prime minister. “Israel is ready for this.”
If Hamas agrees to the extension, Israel will immediately enter into talks, says Netanyahu. “If Hamas thinks that it will be possible to continue the ceasefire, or to enjoy the conditions of phase one, without us receiving hostages – it is very mistaken,” he warns.
As his office did last night, Netanyahu offers a veiled threat that Israel is permitted to return to fighting in Gaza “if it is convinced that the negotiations are ineffective,” and that a US letter affirms this claim.
“Despite this, we agreed to the Witkoff outline because we are committed to returning our hostages,” says Netanyahu, adding that Israeli still assesses that Hamas is holding 59 hostages — up to 24 alive, and at least 35 dead.
On Israel’s decision to halt aid moving into Gaza, Netanyahu says that “Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods sent to the Gaza Strip. It is abusing the Gazan population who are trying to receive the aid, it is shooting at them, and is turning humanitarian aid into a terrorist budget directed against us.”
He threatens “additional consequences” if Hamas doesn’t release more hostages, but doesn’t lay them out.
Sa’ar: Israel open to phase 2 talks in exchange for release of hostages, US ‘accepts and understands’ decision to halt Gaza aid
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (R) holds a joint press conference in Jerusalem with his Croatian counterpart Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, March 2, 2025. (Shlomi Amselam/GPO)
Israel is willing to engage in negotiations on phase two of the ceasefire deal with Hamas in exchange for the release of hostages, says Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, after the Prime Minister’s Office announced it was barring the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel is “prepared to continue negotiations, including on phase two, according to our principles, in exchange for the release of hostages,” Sa’ar says in a Jerusalem press conference.
Referring to the suspension of aid going into the Strip, Sa’ar says the US “accepts our stance and recognizes it.”
“Israel is implementing the principle of ‘no free meals,” the foreign minister says.
Israel is unwilling to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire “for free” without Hamas agreeing to continue the release of Israel’s remaining captives in Gaza, says Sa’ar.
He says that a side letter from the previous US administration specified that there would be no automatic transition between phases of the deal, and since the first phase ended over the weekend, Israel is therefore not required to allow aid in.
“Negotiations without the release of hostages… is not something we accept,” he stresses.
For now, he says, Israel is insisting on a 50-day extension of the first phase of the ceasefire, a proposal Israel says was put forward by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement earlier today warning that Hamas will face “further consequences” should the terror group not relent, Sa’ar says, “You saw the first [consequence] today,” and that “you will see what will be the further consequences.”
The foreign minister additionally claims that Israel has met all commitments to the ceasefire “until the very last day.”
However, the agreement stated that talks on phase 2 of the deal would begin “no later than day 16.” Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the second phase of the agreement.
Additionally, the IDF didn’t start withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border yesterday, despite the deal requiring Israel to start this process on day 42.
Asked how Israel would respond if Gazans face starvation as a result of barring the entrance of aid trucks, Sa’ar calls the starvation of Gazans “a lie during this whole war,” and that “we saw that when our hostages were released, the terrorists and the crowd looked perfectly fine. The only ones that looked that they were starved were our hostages.”
Iran’s parliament fires economy minister over plummeting rial, accusations of mismanagement
Iranian Finance Minister Abdolnasser Hemmati speaks during an open session of parliament for his impeachment, in Tehran, Iran, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s parliament impeaches the country’s economy minister and votes to remove him from office, amid growing concerns over the crashing rial and accusations of mismanagement.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf announces that 182 out of 273 lawmakers voted to dismiss Abdolnasser Hemmati, just six months after President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government took office.
Pezeshkian, who defended Hemmati, emphasizes that the government is locked in a tough battle with the West. He calls for greater unity and cooperation from Parliament to face these challenges.
The decision comes amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and worsening relations with the West.
Iran’s economy has been severely affected by international sanctions, especially after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. In 2015, the rial was worth 32,000 to the dollar, but by the time Pezeshkian took office in July, it had plummeted to 584,000 to the dollar. Recently, it dropped even further, with exchange shops in Tehran trading 930,000 rials for each dollar.
IDF says it has completed security preparations for reopening of Hermon in north Israel
An undated image shows vehicles at the Hermon ski resort in northern Israel (IDF)
The military says it has completed security preparations for the reopening of the Mount Hermon ski resort in northern Israel.
The military shut down the site on October 7, 2023, with the start of the devastating Hamas attack on southern Israel amid concerns the Hezbollah terror group could attempt a similar invasion in the north. The Iran-backed terror group began firing missiles and drones at Israel on October 8, 2023.
While the site will reopen, skiing will reportedly not be permitted due to damage to the ski lifts by Hezbollah rocket fire.
“Over the past few months, forces have conducted ongoing situation assessments, alongside defense activities in cooperation with security and civilian elements, in order to maintain a high level of readiness while dealing with daily challenges in the field,” the military says.
“As part of the operational preparations, security conditions were achieved that allow visitors from all over the country to come to the Hermon site,” the IDF statement reads.
The military says troops will be deployed in the area to maintain security.
Mount Hermon drew 400,000 visitors in the winter of 2022-23.
IDF says drone strike targeted suspects operating near troops in north Gaza, planting explosive device
The Israel Defense Forces says a drone strike targeted a number of suspects who were operating near troops in the northern Gaza Strip and planting an explosive device nearby.
“The IDF will continue to act to eliminate any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF forces,” the military says.
Earlier today, Palestinian media reported several dead and injured in an Israeli drone strike in the Beit Hanoun area.
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.
Thousands line route of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur’s funeral convoy; soldiers salute as coffin passes
Israelis stand on the side of a road for the funeral convoy for the slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur in Rishon Lezion on March 2, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
As the funeral convoy for murdered hostage hostage Shlomo Mantzur nears Kibbutz Kissufim, dozens of soldiers stationed at the side of the road salute.
Thousands of people from across the country and all sectors of society have lined the streets between Rishon Lezion and the kibbutz for the procession, holding Israeli flags and yellow flags. Many wear sweatshirts with mustache symbols in tribute to Mantzur’s distinctive facial hair.
Authorities said last month that Mantzur, 85, was murdered during his abduction from Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023.
Born in Baghdad in 1938, he survived the Farhud pogrom in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1951 at age 13, becoming one of the founders of Kibbutz Kissufim, where he worked for years in the chicken coop, as well as at an eyewear factory, and learned carpentry as a hobby.
He is survived by his wife, Mazal, five children, 12 grandchildren, and five siblings.
השיירה של שלמה מנצור הגיעה סמוך לקיבוץ כיסופים. משפחתו מסמנת ❤️ pic.twitter.com/T0QrViJWGS
— רוני גרין שאולוב – Roni Green Shaulov (@Ronigreensha) March 2, 2025
Shlomo Mantzur (Courtesy)
Woman acquitted for murder of son, 6, while in ‘active psychotic state’ is sent to psychiatric facility for 25 years
Undated photo of Sigal Yana Itzkovich with her son. (Courtesy; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The Tel Aviv District Court acquitted Sigal Yana Itzkovich of criminal responsibility for murdering her 6-year old son Liam, ruling that she was not responsible for her actions at the time of the incident, Hebrew media reports.
The court says that a psychiatric opinion paper submitted in February determined that Itzkovich was in an “active psychotic state” at the time she killed her son, on July 16 last year.
The woman will be committed to a psychiatric facility for 25 years.
Itzkovich was indicted in August 2024 with the aggravated murder of her son, as well as charges relating to aggravated assault, killing an animal, and obstruction of justice.
At the time, reports said she told the court that her family had been “abducted by aliens and we suffered atrocities in a spaceship.”
During police questioning, Itzkovich reportedly claimed that she took drugs and drank nail polish before killing her son, an act that she was said to have confessed to.
According to prosecutors, Itzkovich was alone with her son on July 16 when she took a kitchen knife, stabbed her dog, and then stabbed her son dozens of times in the bathtub, killing him.
The intensity of the attack broke the knife, and left a tip of the blade in her son’s skull, prosecutors said. Itzkovich then returned to kill the dog with a knife and axe, after hearing its wailing, the statement said.
Hostage’s mom says freed son didn’t tell them about Hamas video of him saying goodbye to brother in Gaza: ‘He wanted to protect us’
Brothers Iair (L) and Eitan Horn in a Hamas propaganda video ahead of Iair's release from captivity in Feburary 2025. (Screen capture)
Ruth Strom says her son, freed hostage Iair Horn, did not tell the family about the video Hamas made of him saying goodbye to his younger brother Eitan who is still being held in the Gaza Strip.
“Iair didn’t say they were filmed. He wanted to protect us, but I knew something like this would happen. From day one, I knew they were both together. I imagined the separation,” Strom tells the Ynet news site.
The terror group released the video yesterday.
After approving the publication of the video, Horn’s family demanded the government continue the hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas has rejected an Israeli proposal to extend the first phase, insisting that the deal proceed to stage two, which Israel has largely refused to negotiate for the past month.
Kremlin says rapid US foreign policy shift largely aligns with its vision
US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025 (SAUL LOEB / AFP)
The Kremlin says that the United States’s dramatic shift in foreign policy largely aligns with its own vision.
US President Donald Trump has sought to build ties with Moscow since taking office in January, reaching out to President Vladimir Putin and siding with Russia at the United Nations.
“The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells a reporter from state television.
“There is a long way to go, because there is huge damage to the whole complex of bilateral relations. But if the political will of the two leaders, President Putin and President Trump, is maintained, this path can be quite quick and successful,” Peskov adds.
Peskov made the comments on Wednesday, but the remarks were only made public today.
Trump has since even further aligned himself with Moscow, rebuking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a stunning televised confrontation at the White House on Friday.
Moscow, which launched a full-scale military offensive against its neighbor in February 2022, had railed against former US president Joe Biden’s unconditional support for Ukraine.
Police say woman stabbed, wounded by her son at Pisgat Ze’ev home
Paramedics arrive at the scene of a stabbing in which a 62-year-old woman was severely injured in Jerusalem on March 2, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
A 62-year-old woman was severely injured in a stabbing at her home in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood this morning, paramedics say.
Police say the woman was stabbed by her son, who has fled. Officers opened an investigation and are still searching for the suspect, according to a police spokesman.
Paramedics found the victim unconscious with multiple stab wounds and are taking her to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Liberman slams UTJ for threats over yeshiva funds: ‘The fighters give everything, the dodgers get everything’
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman slams the United Torah Judaism party after it threatens to oppose the state budget unless 1 billion shekels in coalition funds is transferred to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas.
“The fighters give everything, the [draft-]dodgers get everything,” Liberman writes on X.
“The government is issuing 400,000 orders to reservists and at the same time is giving a billion shekels to yeshivas, in addition to the large budget they have already received,” he asserts, adding that “the October 7 government is buying political peace at the expense of the fighters.”
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs on Friday, UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf threatened to oppose the 2025 state budget, which would topple the government, unless it allocates more than a billion shekels in coalition funds for Haredi yeshivas.
Crowds line streets as convoy carrying coffin of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur makes its way to Kibbutz Kissufim
People pay their respects to murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur in Rishon Lezion on March 2, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Crowds are lining the streets as the funeral procession for murdered hostage hostage Shlomo Mantzur makes its way to Kibbutz Kissufim.
People hold Israeli national flags and yellow ribbons, the symbol of the fight to free the hostages.
Some wear sweatshirts with mustache symbols in tribute to Mantzur’s distinctive facial hair.
The family had asked the public to line the route from Rishon Lezion to the Gaza border community.
Authorities said last month that Mantzur was killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and his body taken captive. His body was released on Thursday.
People pay their respects to murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur in Rishon Lezion on March 2, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Shlomo Mantzur (Courtesy)
Shas minister says party won’t vote for budget that ‘starves the Torah world’
Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli attends a session ain the Knesset plenum, April 15, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Speaking with the ultra-Orthodox Kol Hai radio station, Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli from the Shas party says that his party will not vote for a state budget “that starves the Torah world.”
“We know of men [who are studying] and are facing a difficult dilemma of where to send their children following the cancellation of the daycare subsidy” for families of men who did not serve in the IDF.
Shas “will vote for a budget that we are convinced will reflect the commitments we have received and the demands of the Torah world,” Malkieli says.
Turning to the United Torah Judaism party’s threat to oppose the state budget, imperiling the coalition, Malkieli states that coalition funds set to be voted on in the cabinet today include many “gifts” to the Haredim but is also missing “many demands.”
However, “the easiest thing is to send letters, threaten and resign,” he says. “We weren’t sent to the Knesset so we could send letters. We need to do the maximum [possible] to bring results.”
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs on Friday, UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf threatened to oppose the 2025 state budget, which would topple the government, unless it allocates more than a billion shekels in coalition funds for Haredi yeshivas.
It was Goldknopf’s second threat to the continued stability of the coalition in less than a week, and the latest in a string of Haredi ultimatums that so far have all been backed down from.
Coalition lawmakers welcome Netanyahu’s decision to stop entry of aid into Gaza
A sprawling tent camp for displaced Palestinians sits adjacent to destroyed homes and buildings in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, March 1, 2025, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Coalition lawmakers welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to not let any more aid enter Gaza, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept what Israel says is an American proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire through Passover and Ramadan alongside more hostage releases.
Netanyahu’s decision “to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction,” tweets Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israel needs to open the “gates of hell… as quickly and in as deadly a manner as possible” until Israel reaches “complete victory,” he states, adding that his Religious Zionism party had stayed in the government despite opposing the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in order to ensure such an outcome.
“The decision to halt the entry of humanitarian aid until the hostages are returned is important and correct,” tweets Education Minister Yoav Kisch. “Israel must continue to pressure Hamas with all the tools at its disposal, while cooperating with the American administration until the last of the hostages is returned.”
According to Israel’s account of the proposal, half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended first phase of the ceasefire, and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent truce is reached.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi says that “all of the hostages” must return home “immediately” or Israel will rain “fire and brimstone on the despicable terrorists without mercy.”
“The Jews will have light and joy, and the Nazis will have the gates of hell open today,” he writes on X.
Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party left the coalition to protest the hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas, welcomes Netanyahu’s decision “if it is indeed implemented” and says that it is “better late than never.”
“This should be the policy until the last of the hostages is returned,” he says in a statement.
“Now is the time to open the gates of hell, stop the electricity and water, return to war, and — most importantly — not to settle for just half of the hostages, but to return to President Trump’s ultimatum: all the hostages immediately or all hell will break loose in Gaza.”
Hamas: Israeli decision to stop Gaza aid ‘cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack on the deal’
Israeli army soldiers and private security forces stand by Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies for the Gaza Strip waiting at the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the Palestinian enclave in southern Israel on February 16, 2025. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Hamas says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to halt the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza is “cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack on the [hostage-ceasefire] agreement.”
The terror group urges mediators to compel Israel to reverse the decision.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has been a key issue since the war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 to Gaza.
The Hamas statement comes after the Prime Minister’s Office said it was halting the entry of goods into the enclave over Hamas’s refusal to accept what Israel says is an American proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire through Passover and Ramadan alongside more hostage releases.
In its statement, the PMO claimed that Hamas has repeatedly violated the agreement, while Israel is in full compliance. However, the agreement states that talks on phase 2 of the deal would begin “no later than day 16.” Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the second phase of the agreement.
IDF invites state comptroller to examine internal probes into military’s Oct. 7 failures
Destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri, near the Israel-Gaza border, during the October 7 onslaught, as seen on October 14, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
The IDF will be presenting State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman with its investigations into the military’s failures in the lead-up to the October 7 onslaught and on the day itself.
The IDF says it invited Englman to view the probes “as part of the recent dialogue with the comptroller, within the framework of the agreements that were formulated and the IDF’s cooperation with the comptroller’s office.”
The probes will be presented by senior officers involved in the investigations.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman attends a Knesset Finance Committee meeting in Jerusalem, January 6, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israel says it’s stopping entry of aid into Gaza over Hamas’s refusal to extend phase 1 of ceasefire
Palestinian children chase after a truck loaded with humanitarian aid as it drives through Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after crossing through the Kerem Shalom crossing on February 18, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)
Israel is not allowing any more goods to enter Gaza, says the Prime Minister’s Office, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept what it says is an American proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire through Passover and Ramadan alongside more hostage releases.
“With the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal,” says the PMO, “and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease.”
“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office continues, threatening “further consequences” if Hamas continues to say no to the proposal.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israel believes enough aid has entered the enclave in recent weeks to last Gaza for several months.
Israel announced last night it was adopting the “Witkoff” plan, when it was revealed for the first time by the PMO.
According to Israel’s account of Witkoff’s proposal, half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended ceasefire, and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is reached.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces.
Palestinian media reports several dead, injured in Israeli drone strike in north Gaza
Palestinian media reports several dead and injured in an Israeli drone strike in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
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.
Murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur to be buried today; family asks Israelis to honor convoy
Shlomo Mantzur (Courtesy)
Murdered hostage Shlomo Mantzur is set to be buried today in his home community of Kibbutz Kissufim, from which he was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023.
A procession will set out from Rishon Lezion at 9:45 a.m. and head south to the kibbutz.
The family invites Israelis to stand along the roadside with flags to accompany Mantzur.
The procession will pass Yad Mordechai Junction around 10:45 a.m., Sa’ad Junction at 11 a.m., and Gama Junction and Kissufim Junction around 11:15 a.m.
The funeral will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Kibbutz Kissufim.
Authorities said last month that Mantzur was killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and his body taken captive. His body was released on Thursday.
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi to meet Trump this week, brother says
(L) US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025 (SAUL LOEB / AFP)and (R) Eli Sharabi is interviewed on Channel 12's 'Uvda' program, in a segment aired on February 27, 2025. (Channel 12/screenshot)
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi is set to fly to the United States this week to meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, his brother Sharon Sharabi says.
Speaking on Channel 12, Sharon Sharabi says that released captives, including his brother, will meet with Trump on Tuesday.
He does not name any others who will make up the delegation but says they will impress on the president the importance of all the hostages being freed.
Sharon Sharabi says the trip is taking place “due to the generosity” of Miriam Adelson.
In an interview last week, Eli Sharabi described to Channel 12 having been chained, beaten and starved by his captors, with abuse getting worse whenever Israeli leaders touted the worsened conditions of captured Hamas operatives.
Sharon Sharabi says that subtitled segments of the interview were passed to Trump. On Friday, Economy Minister Nir Barkat said he had “more important things” to do rather than watch the interview.
Sharabi, 53, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Sharabi lost 40 percent of his body weight in captivity, and learned upon returning to Israel that his wife Lianne and teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel were murdered in the Hamas onslaught.
His brother Yossi Sharabi was also taken hostage on October 7 and was likely killed in an IDF strike in Gaza. His body is still being held by terrorists.
After Sharabi was released, Trump said he and two others looked “like Holocaust survivors.”
Eli Sharabi was taken captive on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists while his wife Lianne and their two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed. (Courtesy)
Hamas demands 2nd ceasefire stage, claims Israel ‘reneging on the agreements it has signed’
Palestinian terror group Hamas tells AFP it insists on the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire’s second phase, arguing that Israel’s endorsement of what it says is a US-proposed temporary extension of the initial phase means it is “reneging on the agreements it has signed.”
“The only way to achieve stability in the region and the return of the prisoners is to complete the implementation of the agreement… starting with the implementation of the second phase,” Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi said in a statement given to AFP. “This is what we insist on and we will not back down from it.”
US judge declares Trump’s firing of watchdog agency head illegal
A US judge declares President Donald Trump’s firing of the head of a federal watchdog agency illegal, in an early test of the scope of presidential power likely to be decided at the US Supreme Court.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington has previously ruled Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, can remain in his post pending a ruling.
Berman says in her ruling that upholding Trump’s ability to fire Dellinger would give him “a constitutional license to bully officials in the executive branch into doing his will.”
Ben Gvir refuses to apologize to hostages who said his rhetoric prompted Hamas to abuse them
Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a rally for the reestablishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, February 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir defends his conduct and says he’s “proud” of it, refusing to apologize to multiple recently freed hostages who have said his boasting of efforts to significantly deteriorate the conditions of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails led Hamas to worsen the treatment of Israeli abductees in Gaza.
In a lengthy Channel 12 interview broadcast Thursday, captivity survivor Eli Sharabi said his captors had avidly followed the news, cautioning that the responsibility that lies with leaders, in terms of how they express themselves in the media, is very powerful.
“Every irresponsible statement — we’re the first ones to suffer [the consequences],” he told the network’s “Uvda” program. “They come to us and tell us, ‘They aren’t giving our prisoners food — you won’t eat. They’re beating our prisoners — we’ll beat you. They aren’t letting them shower — you won’t get to shower.’”
Sharabi’s comments echoed ones made days earlier by another recently released hostage — Eliya Cohen — who specifically singled out the public remarks made by then-minister Ben Gvir.
But in a combative Channel 13 interview, Ben Gvir refuses to back down or express remorse, accusing the media of “echoing Hamas propaganda.”
“Not only do I not apologize — I’m proud of what I did,” he says, detailing steps he took to worsen the conditions of security inmates.
He claims that Sharabi also said in his interview that Air Force strikes caused Hamas to beat him, asking the interviewers if that means the military should have avoided striking Gaza or talking about striking it.
However, Sharabi only said that in one particular case, one of his captors beat him upon learning that an IDF strike had destroyed his family’s home — not that captors had routinely worsened the hostages’ conditions based on the frequency or intensity of Israel’s strikes.
Rubio says he’s approved expediting delivery of $4 billion in US military aid to Israel
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, listens as US President Donald Trump, left, meets with France's President Emmanuel Macron (not in picture) at the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, February 24, 2025. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via AP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he has signed a declaration to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.
The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio says in a statement, adding that it “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”
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