March 20: Gantz says firing of Bar a ‘mark of Cain’ on all ministers who back move

Netanyahu tells cabinet he lost faith in Ronen Bar after Oct. 7

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem on March 19, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the cabinet that has met to vote on firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar that he lost faith in him after the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on southern Israel.

“I have not had faith in the head of the Shin Bet since October 7th,” Netanyahu is quoted as telling the cabinet in remarks leaked to the Hebrew media.

“In the IDF they took advantage of the lull [in the fighting] to change the leadership, we need to do so here too,” he says, according to Ynet.

Gantz says firing of Bar a ‘mark of Cain’ on all ministers who vote in favor

Demonstrators outside the Prime Minister's Office as the cabinet meets on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire the head of Shin Bet Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, March 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Unity leader Benny Gantz says the decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is a “mark of Cain” on all ministers who vote in favor.

“The dismissal of the Shin Bet chief for political reasons is a mark of Cain on every government minister who raised his hand tonight, and will be remembered with eternal shame.”

The Democrats leader Yair Golan says that Bar’s letter to the cabinet is “an unprecedented indictment.”

“This letter should shake every home in Israel because one of the people most responsible for our security says in a clear voice — the Prime Minister’s conduct is a direct danger to the security of the state.”

Sa’ar says he supports firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar leads a faction meeting of his New Hope party, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In the ongoing cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expresses his appreciation for Shin Bet director Ronen Bar’s many years of service to the country.

In a statement circulated by his office, Sa’ar argues that the law makes clear that the Shin Bet is subordinate to the government, which is legally empowered to dismiss its director.

“The main reason why I will vote in favor of removing the head of the Shin Bet from his position is his responsibility for the October 7th failure, a responsibility that he explicitly acknowledged,” says Sa’ar, pointing out that many other senior defense and security officials have stepped down.

The government, on the other hand, serves only with the consent of the Knesset, which can replace it through a vote of no-confidence.

“Anyone who does not understand the difference between who determines the responsibility of the elected echelon — the people or the parliament — and the subordination of professional actors to the government and their responsibility to it – has missed a fundamental lesson on the essence of a democratic government,” argues Sa’ar.

Trump signs order aimed at closing US education department

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order aimed at shutting down the Education Department in the East Room of the White house in Washington, DC, on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

US President Donald Trump signs an order aimed at shutting down the Department of Education, a decades-long goal on the US right that objects to federal involvement in school systems run by individual states.

“We’re gonna shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It’s doing us no good. We want to return our students to the states,” he said at a signing ceremony at the White House, which was attended by Republican lawmakers and a group of schoolchildren.

Bar says firing him a ‘fundamentally invalid’ attempt to undermine Shin Bet as it probes Qatar’s influence on PM’s office

Left: Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Dudu Bachar/POOL)

In a scathing letter to cabinet ministers explaining why he won’t attend the meeting tonight in which they vote on his dismissal, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar blasts the government’s “unfounded claims that are nothing more than a cover for completely different, extraneous and fundamentally invalid motives designed to disrupt the ability of the Shin Bet to fulfill its role.”

He warns that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking steps that weaken the country “both internally and against its enemies.”

Bar pushes back on the idea that there is a breakdown in trust between him and Netanyahu, which the premier presented as a central reason to replace his spy chief.

“There has been intensive and effective cooperation between the Shin Bet under my leadership and the Prime Minister, which is leading to significant results in thwarting terrorism,” Bar writes.

Backing up his claim, Bar says that the recent hostage release deal with Hamas came about because of a “unique action that I personally led, with the knowledge of the Prime Minister.”

Bar says there is no basis for Netanyahu’s insistence that there is no trust between them, “except if the real intention, which I apparently failed to understand, was to negotiate without reaching a deal.”

He adds that Netanyahu’s decision to remove him and Mossad chief David Barnea from the hostage negotiations “harmed the team and did not advance the release at all.”

Turning to “Qatargate” – what Bar calls the “ongoing complex, extensive, and highly sensitive investigation currently underway into Qatar’s involvement in the heart of Israeli decision-making, the Prime Minister’s Office” — the Shin Bet chief says that completing the investigation in full is “a public duty of the highest order.”

Dismissing the Shin Bet head during the investigation, Bar argues, is tainted with “extraneous considerations and a personal and institutional conflict of interest that could not be more serious.” It risks jeopardizing the investigation, he says, which is a danger to the country’s security.

He also pushes for a state commission of inquiry into October 7: “The urgent national need for such an investigation cannot be subordinated to the personal considerations of those involved in the matter, as it is the only way to ensure that such a multi-system failure will not occur again.”

Bar says the government meeting tonight was convened in contradiction of Israel’s laws and against the attorney general’s position.

“My decision not to attend the government meeting stems solely from my understanding that this is a discussion that is not in accordance with the provisions of the law and the rules concerning the termination of the term of office of any employee, let alone one holding a senior position, and the position of head of the Shin Bet in particular,” he explains.

“A substantive response to such claims requires an orderly process, including the presentation of relevant documents, and not a seemingly premeditated process whose outcome is predetermined,” says Bar.

Ra’am party leader presents Herzog with plan to end Gaza war, free hostages

Ra'am chair Mansour Abbas presents his "Bridges of Reconciliation and Peace Initiative" to President Isaac Herzog at the latter's office in Jerusalem on March 20, 2025. (Mansour Abbas/X)

Ra’am chair Mansour Abbas presents to President Isaac Herzog his “Bridges of Reconciliation and Peace Initiative” for ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of all remaining hostages.

“This is the way to end the conflict and stop the bloodshed between the two peoples,” Abbas tweets after his meeting at the President’s Residence.

“This is a realistic, value-based path of mutual recognition of each side’s rights to self-determination, to live in security and peace in partnership and tolerance and with regional peace, together with bilateral Israeli-Palestinian peace and reconciliation,” adds the chair of the Islamist faction, which has long sought to build bridges between Jewish and Arab societies.

Abbas does not go into further detail about the plan, but earlier this month, he called on Arab leaders to adopt it ahead of their summit in Cairo where they adopted Egypt’s plan for the post-war management of Gaza. He has also presented the plan — which is based on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Cabinet meeting starts to discuss Netanyahu call to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar

Protesters demonstrate outside the Prime Minister's Office as the cabinet meets on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, in Jerusalem, March 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

A cabinet meeting begins to discuss Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, which would mark the first time in Israeli history that the government has fired the head of the domestic security agency.

Netanyahu cited “persistent personal and professional distrust” of Bar that harms both the government and the security service.

Thousands are protesting outside the office with critics fearing that the prime minister is seeking to replace Bar with a loyalist who will quash the Shin Bet’s ongoing probe into ties between officials in his office and Qatar, as well as further solidify and potentially politicize the government’s hold over the country’s security apparatuses.

Bar is not taking part in the meeting even though he was invited, however, he sent a written response to the cabinet.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who told the government that it could not push ahead with the move before it obtains a recommendation from an advisory committee on the issue, is attending.

Bar and Baharav-Miara are two officials who have drawn the ire of Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition in recent months. Reports indicated the cabinet could attempt to oust Baharav-Miara next week.

Police seen breaking windows of cars at Jerusalem anti-government protest

Police are seen using hammers and rocks to break windows of cars blocking roads at a protest in Jerusalem against the government’s plans to fire Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar.

The cabinet meeting to discuss firing Bar is delayed with some ministers unable to reach the Prime Minister’s Office due to blocked roads.

המחאה נגד הדחת ראש שב"כ: שוטרים תועדו שוברים חלונות רכב של מפגינים שחסמו את התנועה בירושלים https://t.co/MGAlR6hEVR pic.twitter.com/9WeePQGDKU

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) March 20, 2025

Israel’s ambassador in Germany hosts celebration for Kurdish new year

(From left - Ambassador Ron Prosor, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff, , German Kurdish leader Ali Ertan Toprak celebrate Nowruz at Prosor's residence, March 20, 2025 (Ruti Tzunes/Israeli Embassy in Germany)

Israel’s ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor hosts a Nowruz celebration at his residence to mark the Kurdish new year.

Prosor is joined by Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of the German state Saxony-Anhalt, senior Kurdish leader in Germany Ali Ertan Toprak, and other senior German politicians.

“If you ask the minorities in Syria — the Alawites, the Druze, and the Kurds — if they would rather live under HTS rule or in a union with Israel, they would choose Israel,” says Toprak.

Prosor says that Kurds and Israelis have much in common: “Both want a peaceful Middle East, both are threatened by extremists, but we won’t let ourselves be afraid.”

At Jerusalem protest, Golan calls to throw government in garbage can of history

Demonstrators protest against the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire head of Shin Bet Ronen Bar, outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, March 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan speaks to thousands of protesters gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to oppose the government’s anticipated dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

Protesters, many holding umbrellas amid on-and-off rainfall, cheer for Golan as he calls for new elections to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We will throw this government into the garbage can of history,” he says, expressing his hope for Israel to be a “just, equal democratic state, state that our children and grandchildren will want to live in.”

The politician was shoved to the ground during an earlier protest outside the premier’s home today.

Former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gilon denounces Netanyahu’s attempts to fire his successor as well as Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing him of “sacrificing the Shin Bet.”

“It could very well be that we are standing here today at one of the last democratic demonstrations to take place in the democratic State of Israel,” he continues.

IDF strikes Hezbollah facilities in eastern Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley, after identifying activity by the terror group there.

One site included underground infrastructure, and another was used to store rocket launchers, according to the military.

Thousands brave rain to protest outside Netanyahu’s office ahead of vote to fire Shin Bet chief

Israelis attend a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Thousands of people are protesting in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office where the cabinet is set to meet to vote on firing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The demonstrators march from Netanyahu’s residence to the nearby office amid driving rain.

The demonstrators are also protesting the government’s efforts to renew highly controversial legislation to increase political power over the judiciary, and the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal.

Speaking at the protest former Likud minister Dan Meridor says Netanyahu is a danger to democracy.

“I am convinced that when [former Prime Minister] Yitzhak Shamir called Netanyahu an angel of destruction, he did not imagine the destruction Netanyahu would bring to Israeli society,” Meridor says.

“The destruction he is trying to bring on the country — it happened in Turkey and Hungary, and now it is happening in Israel. Our democracy is in danger,” says Meridor, a former justice minister.

The demonstration comes after a day of protests that saw clashes with police who used water cannons on protestors.

Ex-Supreme Court chief Barak says he would nullify firing of Shin Bet head if he was on bench today

Illustrative: Ronen Bar, chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency, attends a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel's wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery, May 13, 2024. (Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool photo via AP)

Former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak tells Channel 12 news he would overturn a government decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar if he served on the bench today.

Barak explains he believes the ousting of Bar from the role in the middle of his term is illegitimate because it is not a “role of confidence” with the political echelon. Instead, the person in the job is meant to carry out the role as it is explicitly written in legislation.

“There is authority to dismiss, but no reason to dismiss,” he adds.

He says he would also strike down the firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, another top official whom the government seeks to oust.

Barak appeals directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to halt the process of firing Bar and Baharav-Miara, and other policies the former justice considers destructive.

He answers in the affirmative when asked if he thinks Netanyahu should take a plea deal in his criminal trial.

“I think that it is right for Netanyahu. It is right for his legacy. And it is right for the State of Israel. And I think it is possible,” he says. “Otherwise, the trial will continue. The rift between [those] for Bibi, against Bibi will continue,” he says, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

Asked by the interviewer what he would say to Netanyahu if he could talk to him, Barak answers, “This is your policy, I am completely against it. I ask you don’t implement it beyond what you have done today. Stop. Stop, ” he urges.

“There will be elections. You will be elected. You will have time to achieve what you want, but don’t take the rift beyond what it already is.”

Report: Herzog distances himself from controversial Israeli antisemitism conference

President Isaac Herzog attends a state ceremony for fallen Israeli soldiers whose burial place is unknown at Mount Herzl Military cemetery in Jerusalem on March 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog is the latest high-profile figure to distance himself from Israel’s upcoming conference on combating antisemitism over the inclusion of far-right European politicians, Ynet reports.

The website quotes officials in Herzog’s office as saying, “The president will not take part.”

However, Herzog’s office denies he is boycotting the conference, saying that he was never scheduled to directly take part.

Herzog will host Jewish leaders alongside the conference, but he was never appearing at the conference on Thursday, his office says.

The report comes a day after Herzog offered a compromise to try and salvage the meeting: a private meeting with world Jewish leaders at his home the night before the main event, without those controversial figures.

Among those who have canceled are Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, UK government adviser on antisemitism Lord John Mann, veteran academic and activist David Hirsh, German antisemitism czar Felix Klein, and German politician Volker Beck.

The conference guest list includes controversial European right-wing politicians Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right French National Rally party founded by noted antisemite and Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen; Marion Marechal, a far-right French member of the European Parliament and Le Pen’s granddaughter; Hermann Tertsch, a far-right Spanish member of the European Parliament; Charlie Weimers of the far-right Sweden Democrats party; and Kinga Gál, of Hungary’s Fidesz party.

Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who organized the conference, has said that he sees Europe’s far-right parties as allies countering the rise of Muslim fundamentalism and antisemitism on the continent.

IDF says it has expanded Gaza ground operation in Rafah

Troops of the Gaza Division operate in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued on March 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has expanded its ground operations in the southern Gaza Strip.

In the past few hours, troops advanced into the Shaboura camp in Rafah, and destroyed “terror infrastructure,” the military says.

Meanwhile, troops continue to operate on the coast in the Strip’s north and the Netzarim Corridor area of central Gaza.

In northern Gaza, the IDF says soldiers destroyed infrastructure that was used by Hamas as a command center in recent months to plan and launch attacks on troops and civilians.

Additionally, airstrikes were carried out across Gaza in the past few hours, targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sites, the military adds.

Ex-Supreme Court chief Aharon Barak says he fears Israel headed to civil war

Retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak sworn in as Israel’s appointee to the bench at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, January 11, 2024 (ICJ)

Israel’s most revered jurist, the former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak says that he fears the government’s latest actions, including efforts to fire the Shin Bet chief and attorney general, are pushing the country to civil war.

Speaking to the Ynet news site about the moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Barak says that “the main problem is Israeli society is the eighth front,” a reference to Israel’s battles against Iranian proxies on seven fronts.

“And that’s the severe rift between Israelis and themselves,” he says.

“This rift is deteriorating and in the end, I fear, it will be like a train that goes off the tracks and plunges into a chasm causing a civil war,” he says.

“We have to prevent the tyranny of the majority,” he says.

High-level delegation headed to Washington for talks on Iran nuclear issue, Lebanon

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer attends a Knesset plenum session on January 22, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi are flying to Washington next week for meetings with senior US officials, an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel.

According to Walla, the senior Benjamin Netanyahu advisers will discuss the Iranian nuclear program, the possibility of US-Iran talks, the war in Lebanon, and upcoming talks between Israel and Lebanon on establishing an internationally recognized border between the enemy countries.

Gaza hostage talks is notably not on the agenda.

This is the first meeting of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group since Donald Trump returned to the White House, says Walla. The forum met twice in 2024 during the Joe Biden administration to discuss the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

According to Walla, the two Israelis will lead a delegation from the National Security Council, the IDF, the Mossad, the Foreign Ministry, and the Atomic Energy Agency.

They will meet US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other senior intelligence, defense, and diplomatic officials.

US reportedly launches four strikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah

Yemen’s Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported at least four US strikes on the Al Mina district of the city of Hodeida, an area that houses the port and the headquarters of the naval forces.

The US strikes launched in response to the Houthis’ attacks on Red Sea shipping are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Shortly after the report of the raids, the Houthis launched a missile at Israel that was intercepted by the IDF.

IDF says it intercepted missile from Yemen, no injuries or damage reported

A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack. The IDF says the missile was shot down before crossing the country’s borders.

Sirens had sounded in Jerusalem and numerous surrounding towns, West Bank settlements, the Dead Sea area, and some parts of central Israel.

It marks the third Houthi attack on Israel in the past two days, and the second since early this morning.

Sirens sound in central Israel, Jerusalem amid missile fire from Yemen

Houthi supporters raise weapons as they shout slogans during an anti-US and Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.(AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel.

Sirens are sounding across the Jerusalem area, near the Dead Sea, and some areas in central Israel.

The IDF is looking into the details.

US said to ask Israel not to respond to Houthi missile attack amid American campaign

This image taken from video provided by the US Navy shows an aircraft launching from the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea before airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, March 15, 2025. (US Navy via AP)

The US has asked Israel not to respond to an overnight missile attack by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the Ynet news site reports citing an Israeli official.

The request comes as the US has carried out widespread strikes against the Houthis in recent days.

According to the report, the US told Israel to “let them deal with it.”

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier that it downed a missile fired from Yemen before the projectile entered Israeli airspace overnight, with the Houthis claiming responsibility for its second attack on the country this week.

The attack triggered sirens across a wide swath of central Israel, including the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, sending millions scrambling to reach bomb shelters at 4 a.m.

EU leaders deplore breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas refusal to return hostages

EU leaders say that they deplore the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza and Hamas’ refusal to hand over remaining hostages.

“The European Council deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, which has caused a large number of civilian casualties in recent air strikes. It deplores the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages,” it says in a statement.

Israel denies targeting civilians and says it has killed several top Hamas leaders.

Kirsty Coventry elected first woman president of Olympic movement

Zimbabwean candidate for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kirsty Coventry delivers a speech after being elected during the 144th IOC Session on the day of the election of the next President of the International Olympic Committee, in Costa Navarino, Greece on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry becomes the first woman and African to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, declaring it to be an “extraordinary moment.”

At 41, the two-time Olympic swimming champion is also the youngest person ever to be elected to the most powerful position in sports governance.

The Zimbabwean Sports Minister succeeds Thomas Bach, who steps down after 12 years, saying she would work with the six other heavyweight rivals she beat.

“This is an extraordinary moment. As a nine-year-old girl I never thought that I would be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours,” Coventry says.

Coventry, who was strongly believed to be Bach’s favored candidate, was thought to be in a tight-run race with IOC veteran Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior and World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe.

However, to general surprise, the race was over after the first round of voting with 49 of the 97 votes cast by the IOC members placing their faith in her.

Samaranch Junior garnered 28 votes and two-time Olympic 1500 meters champion Coe a humbling eight.

Herzog criticizes government, PM for attacking civil servants, opposing state Oct. 7 probe

President Isaac Herzog issues a video message on March 20, 2025. (Screenshot/ President’s Residence)

Without mentioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name, President Isaac Herzog blasts the government for pursuing “divisive” and “unilateral” policies at the same time as it returns to fighting in Gaza.

“It is impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes,” says the president in a video message.

“Thousands of reserve call-up orders have been issued recently. It is inconceivable to send our sons to the front while at the same time pursuing controversial moves that deepen division within the people.”

Netanyahu is convening his cabinet tonight to vote to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

“It is impossible to renew the fighting to fulfill the sacred command to bring back the hostages, and at the same time not listen to and support their desperate families who are going through hell on earth,” Herzog continues, as massive protests continue in Jerusalem against Bar’s firing and against the end of the Gaza ceasefire.

He says that he meets bereaved families that “are begging and crying out to avoid deepening the rift and division, asking for unity, love of Israel, asking to preserve the state, asking for a full, thorough, and independent investigation of the terrible disaster.”

Netanyahu opposes a state commission to investigate the October 7 attacks, arguing it will be biased against him.

“Unfortunately,” Herzog continues, “we are witnessing a series of unilateral actions, and I am deeply concerned about their impact on our national resilience.”

As Netanyahu releases a series of videos and speeches blasting the “deep state,” Herzog says Israel’s civil servants “are the target of an ongoing campaign against them.”

“These are dedicated civil servants who do their job faithfully, including reservists, bereaved families, and the neighbors of each of us,” he says, adding that “they should not be the subject of slander.”

“I demand that every step be carefully considered and examined to see whether it contributes to national resilience, and especially whether it contributes to the war effort and the return of the hostages,” he concludes.

Katz approves new Gaza battle plans

Defense Minister Israel Katz meets with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, and other top officials during an assessment, March 20, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz approved the military’s battle plans for the Gaza Strip a short while ago during a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, his office says.

“We already see that the military pressure affects Hamas’s position. We will not stop until the hostages are released,” Katz says during the assessment.

Other top military and defense officials participated in the meeting.

IDF arrests nine Palestinians in West Bank raid

IDF soldiers in the West Bank village of Husan, March 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli security forces arrest nine suspects in the West Bank village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, after they threw stones at Israeli vehicles on civilian roads, the IDF says.

According to the IDF, the arrests take place as part of a broader counterterrorism effort across the West Bank, with security forces arresting 70 wanted individuals and seizing multiple weapons over the past week.

The IDF emphasizes that security forces will continue working to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians and security personnel.

White House says Trump ‘fully supports’ Israeli actions in Gaza

US President Donald Trump tours the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Monday, March 17, 2025. (Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump “fully supports” this week’s resumption of IDF military activities in Gaza, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says after being asked whether Trump is working to restore the ceasefire in Gaza.

“The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages, there would be all hell to pay. Unfortunately, Hamas chose to play games in the media with lives,” Leavitt tells reporters outside the White House, apparently referring to the terror group’s Friday announcement that it had agreed to release American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander along with four other dual nationals.

The offer was based on what Hamas officials had discussed with US hostage envoy Adam Boehler earlier this month, but the group failed to give the Trump aide a final answer in those secret meetings, a senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.

After those direct talks were leaked to the press by Israel, the Trump administration stopped proceeding with the direct channel, the Arab diplomat said.

Accordingly, when Hamas said Friday that it was prepared to release the American hostages, the Trump administration was no longer interested. Witkoff by then had already presented his bridge proposal to extend phase one of the deal and called the Hamas offer a “nonstarter” on Sunday.

“This situation is completely the fault of Hamas when they launched that brutal attack on Israel on October 7th. The president has made it very clear that he wants all of those hostages to come home,” Leavitt tells reporters.

Trump “fully supports Israel and the IDF and the actions that they have taken in recent days,” she adds.

The White House quickly came out in support of Israel’s renewed bombing campaign overnight Monday-Tuesday, but the president himself has yet to comment.

On Wednesday, the State Department called on Hamas to seize Witkoff’s bridge proposal while it still remains on the table.

Visiting Damascus, German foreign minister reopens embassy in Syria

This photo released by the official Syrian news agency SANA, shows Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, left, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, pose for a photograph in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Germany’s foreign minister reopens its embassy in Damascus, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria’s civil war, saying that Europe needs “eyes and ears” on the grounds as it follows the Syrian political transition.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reopens the embassy before meeting interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others during a visit to Damascus, her second since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in December.

Among the European Union’s 27 members, Italy reopened its embassy last year before the fall of Assad, and Spain reopened its embassy after his ouster.

“With this embassy opening, we are saying very clearly that Germany is back in Damascus, Germany has a paramount interest in a stable Syria,” Baerbock told reporters.

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi asks ‘Where was the world?’ during harrowing testimony at UN

Eli Sharabi, a former hostage, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting recounting his time in Hamas captivity in Gaza on March 20, 2025, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

Eli Sharabi speaks before the United Nations Security Council in New York, describing the horrors of his 491 days in Hamas captivity before his release last month, telling them how he was abandoned to his fate by international humanitarian organizations.

“Where was the UN? Where was the Red Cross? Where was the world?” Sharabi asks members of the Security Council at a special briefing on the hostage crisis.

“Every day [Hamas] told us: The world has abandoned you, no one is coming,” Sharabi continues.

He describes the psychological and physical torture he endured in Hamas captivity, including being held “50 meters underground” in “chains so tight they ripped my skin.”

According to Sharabi, hostages received “one bath a month” with a bucket of cold water, were fed “a piece of pita, maybe a sip of tea,” at best, and endured brutal beatings and ridicule at the hands of their captors.

He gives firsthand testimony of witnessing Hamas terrorists “eat many meals a day,” from stolen UN aid which they withheld from hostages and civilians.

Sharabi tells the Security Council that just before his release, Hamas terrorists showed him a picture of his older brother, Yossi, laughing as they told him that he had been murdered in captivity. “It was like they brought a massive hammer down on me,” says Sharabi.

Yossi’s body is still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Holding up a picture of his family members’ graves, Sharabi describes the moment he discovered, after returning to Israel in February, that rather than waiting for him at home, his wife and two daughters had been murdered on October 7.

He recalls the day they were murdered, saying “As they dragged me out, I called out to my girls, I will be back. I had to believe that. But that was the last time I ever saw them. I didn’t know I should have said goodbye, forever.”

“I’m here today because I survived and I prevailed,” says Sharabi, “but that is not enough…not when 59 hostages are still there.”

“I am not a diplomat. I am a survivor,” he tells the UN, after the gruesome account.

“If you stand for humanity, prove it,” he concludes. “Bring them all home.”

IDF says it killed two senior Hamas leaders in Gaza strikes

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The IDF and Shin Bet announce that another two top Hamas officials were killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

One is named by the military as Rashid Jahjouh, the head of Hamas’s “general security mechanism.” Jahjouh had replaced Sami Odeh, who was killed, along with other top Hamas officials, in an Israeli airstrike in July 2024.

Another top Hamas official killed in a recent airstrike in Gaza is named by the IDF as Amin Eslaiah, the head of the security mechanism in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The security mechanism, according to the military, is a clandestine Hamas body responsible for uncovering “collaborators” with Israel; security for top Hamas officials and assets in Gaza and outside of the Strip; and oppression of opponents to Hamas’s rule.

The mechanism is also charged with building intelligence pictures for top Hamas officials on which they could make decisions, the IDF says.

Jahjouh, as part of his role, was also responsible for Hamas’s internal propaganda.

Separately, the military says that a strike killed a prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in smuggling weapons to the terror group.

Ismail Abd al-Alal, according to the IDF, “led most of the weapon smuggling efforts for the PIJ in recent years.”

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi tells UN Security Council how Hamas steals UN aid to ‘eat like kings’ and starve the hostages

Released hostage Eli Sharabi holds up a photo of his family as he speaks at the UN Security Council in New York on March 20, 2025. Sharabi’s wife Lianne and their daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were killed by terrorists in their home’s safe room at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023 (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

In his address to the United Nations Security Council, Eli Sharabi, a former hostage released by the Hamas terror group in Gaza last month, describes how Hamas terrorists stole UN aid and withheld it from Israeli hostages and Gazan civilians.

“Remember this,” says Sharabi, “Hamas eats like kings, while hostages starve.”

“I know you discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza very often,” Sharabi tells members of the Security Council, who held a meeting on the topic of aid entering Gaza on Tuesday, “but let me tell you as an eyewitness, I saw what happened to that aid: Hamas stole it.”

“I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNWRA emblems on them into the tunnels, dozens and dozens of boxes, paid for by your government,” Sharabi continues.

“They would eat many meals a day from the UN aid in front of us, and we never received any of it,” continues Sharabi.

He calls for the UN to work tirelessly for the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza, who are being “chained, starved, beaten, and humiliated” in captivity.

“No more excuses, no more delays,” says Sharabi. “Bring them all home.”

Golan vows to ‘continue to struggle’ against government after being knocked down by police

Yair Golan, the leader of The Democrats opposition party, promises to “continue to struggle” against the government after being knocked to the ground by police during a mass demonstration in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. After 38 years in the IDF, a few shoves won’t stop me and us,” he posts on X, pledging not to “stop for a moment” in leading a “determined struggle” to halt the coalition’s judicial overhaul agenda, bring home the hostages and “replace the government.”

Police question former Shin Bet chief on suspicion of threatening to blackmail Netanyahu

Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman in a television interview aired March 13, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Police interrogate former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman on suspicion of making threats against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the premier filed a police complaint accusing him of blackmail.

Netanyahu made the complaint after Argaman threatened to reveal compromising information about the prime minister during a TV interview.

Argaman told Channel 12 news that he has “a great deal of knowledge” about Netanyahu that he can put to use, but said he is “currently keeping everything that happened between myself and the prime minister” out of the public sphere.

However, he warned that he will reveal everything he knows should “the State of Israel or if I conclude that the prime minister has decided that he is going to act in contradiction to the law.”

Netanyahu  then filed a complaint accusing Argaman of threatening him with “criminal use of information he gained within the framework of his role in the Shin Bet agency.”

After announcing that they were checking the former security official’s statements, law enforcement on Sunday summoned Argaman for questioning, which he showed up for today, according to Hebrew news outlets.

WATCH: Released hostage Eli Sharabi addresses the UN Security Council

Eli Sharabi, a former hostage, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting recounting his time in Hamas captivity in Gaza on March 20, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

Released hostage Eli Sharabi is addressing the UN Security Council.

‘I was treated worse than an animal’: Freed hostage Eli Sharabi says of his captivity, ahead of UN address

Released hostage Eli Sharabi speaks at UN headquarters in New York on March 20, 2025 (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

Speaking ahead of his address to the United Nations Security Council, Eli Sharabi, a former hostage released by the Hamas terror group in Gaza last month, gives a harrowing account of his time in captivity.

“I was treated worse than an animal,” says Sharabi.

“The chains they kept me in tore into my skin from the moment I entered until the moment I was released,” he continues. “Begging became my existence.”

Sharabi says that just before his release, Hamas showed him a picture of his murdered brother, Yossi, laughing as they told him of his death. Yossi’s body is still being held in Gaza.

Sharabi adds that during his time in captivity he received no help from ordinary Gazans or international organizations.

“No one in Gaza helped me. The civilians saw us suffering and they cheered our kidnappers. They were definitely involved,” says Sharabi.

“Where was the Red Cross? Where was the United Nations?” he asks.

“Now I will stand before the UNSC to say this: no more excuses, no more delays, no more moral blindness,” says Sharabi, minutes before entering the meeting.

Gantz accuses Netanyahu of inciting violence after police clash with demonstrators

Israeli protesters and police scuffle during a demonstration calling for an end to the war in Gaza and to bring home all the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attacks, in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of inciting violence, following an incident in which police are filmed forcefully shoving leader of The Democrats party Yair Golan and knocking him and several others to the ground during an anti-government demonstration in Jerusalem.

“What we have seen in the last few days was not born in a vacuum,” he posts on X, noting that on Wednesday a taxi driver rammed into a protester in what looked to be an intentional attack.

“All of this is a direct result of an extremist government that has lost its restraint and is busy widening the division among the people instead of [promoting] unity. Stop before a disaster happens,” Gantz says.

IDF gives Gazans ‘final warning’ to evacuate from area where rockets were launched

The IDF issues an evacuation warning to Palestinians in the Bani Suheila area of the southern Gaza Strip, following Hamas’s rocket fire on central Israel.

In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.

“Terror organizations are once again launching their rockets from within civilian areas. We have warned this area many times,” he says.

Adraee calls on Gazan civilians to head west for recognized humanitarian shelters.

Hamas fired three rockets at central Israel from the area earlier today.

#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في المنطقة المحددة في بني سهيلا
⭕️هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الغارة!
⭕️تعود المنظمات الإرهابية وتطلق قذائفها الصاروخية من داخل المدنيين. لقد حذرنا هذه المنطقة مرات عديدة.
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم عليكم الانتقال بشكل فوري غربًا إلى مراكز الإيواء… pic.twitter.com/tGwzdtufnF

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 20, 2025

WATCH: Eli Sharabi speaks at UN headquarters

Released hostage Eli Sharabi speaks at UN headquarters in New York on March 20, 2025 (UN screenshot)

Released hostage Eli Sharabi is speaking at UN headquarters in New York, and will address the UN Security Council shortly.

Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Italy’s Lazio soccer teams forge partnership to fight discrimination

Lazio fans display banners from the stands reading 'Auschwitz is Your Homeland. The Ovens are Your Homes' during a Serie A match between Lazio and AS Roma, at Rome's Olympic stadium, on November. 29, 1998. (Plinio Lepri/AP)

Italian Serie A club Lazio and Israel’s top flight Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv have forged a partnership for projects against discrimination, a joint statement says.

The announcement comes after a meeting between club representatives in Israel, which marks the beginning of a cooperation to develop “synergies in football” while “promoting values of integration and social inclusion.”

“The collaboration will focus on awareness projects and the fight against all forms of discrimination,” the statement says.

“We wish all sides the best of luck in such an important relationship between the clubs and between Israel and Italy,” says Lion Cohen, vice CEO and director of football at Maccabi Israel, which includes the two clubs of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Instances of racism and antisemitism are commonplace in Italian stadiums, with fans regularly booing or shouting abuse at Black players, using the word “Jew” as an insult and displaying Nazi or fascist symbols.

Lazio, which along with city rivals AS Roma are the main soccer teams in the Italian capital, has been struggling for years to crack down on far-right fans chanting racist and fascist slogans.

“We will soon draft a Memorandum to create technical synergies in football and promote cultural exchange, launching an awareness campaign against hatred and racial discrimination,” says Lazio chairman Claudio Lotito, who is also a senator with the co-ruling center-right Forza Italia party.

Lapid condemns police violence after cops shove opposition MK to the ground at protest

Israeli protesters and police scuffle during an anti-government protest in front of the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on March 20, 2025. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid “strongly condemns” police violence after two officers are filmed forcefully shoving leader of The Democrats party Yair Golan, knocking him and several others to the ground during an anti-government demonstration in Jerusalem.

The former IDF deputy chief of staff and opposition party leader “cannot be harmed while demonstrating for Israeli democracy,” Lapid says in a statement calling on Police Commissioner Daniel Levy to “order an immediate investigation into the incident.”

״הדמוקרטים״ מפרסמים תיעוד נוסף של הרגע שבו הוטח גולן אל הקרקע pic.twitter.com/IxFwrb5UBl

— מורן אזולאי Moran Azulay (@moran_azulay) March 20, 2025

Jerusalem police use water cannons on anti-government protesters, shove MK Yair Golan to the ground

Police fire water cannons at protesters during demonstrations against the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, in Jerusalem, March 20, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police are using water cannons on protesters during a demonstration outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, ahead of the government’s anticipated firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The protesters reportedly attempted to breach barricades before police deployed cannons using water as well as high-powered streams of foul-smelling “skunk” water in an attempt to disperse them.

Police officers shove leader of opposition Democrats party, MK Yair Golan, knocking him and several others to the ground. According to reports, Golan had been trying to aid another protester when he was pushed.

Videos and photos show another protester sprawled on the ground after he was apparently hit by one of the police water cannons, while another demonstrator is seen bleeding, also apparently after being hit by the crowd dispersal tool.

שוטר מעיף על הרצפה את יאיר גולן @YairGolan1

צילום: עפרי איתן

ירושלים 20/03/2025 pic.twitter.com/u9lNjyxclc

— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) March 20, 2025

Led by a group of Jerusalem-based academics, the hundreds of demonstrators marched in the rain from Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus to the nearby neighborhood of Rehavia, where Netanyahu’s home is located. Border police officers barricaded part of the street leading to the residence.

The demonstration was organized by Tel Aviv University president Ariel Porat and Israel Bar Association head Amit Becher, among other academics living in the capital. Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, an outspoken critic of Netanyahu after serving in his government until 2016, is also in attendance at the protest.

Yesterday, at least 12 protesters were arrested during a rally outside Netanyahu’s home. Police clashed with demonstrators as many attempted to break through crowd control barriers and block roads to traffic.

Netanyahu’s office informed cabinet members yesterday that they will hold a vote on this evening on the dismissal of Bar, which would mark the first time in Israeli history that the government has fired the head of the domestic security agency. The protesters are also calling for a hostage deal and for the government to halt its contentious judicial overhaul.

Paris kosher supermarket that was scene of deadly 2015 terror attack damaged by arson

A woman walks by the Hypercacher Jewish supermarket after its facade was set ablaze overnight in Paris on March 20, 2025 (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

A kosher supermarket in Paris that was the scene of a deadly terror attack in 2015 was targeted in an overnight arson attack, reports say.

The front of the Hyper Cacher supermarket was damaged and there was some damage to the interior of the store.

A man was seen on CCTV setting fire to four containers placed in front of the entrance to the supermarket, before setting fire to a nearby dumpster, reports say.

Twelve people were massacred at Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices on January 7, 2015, by the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who said they were acting on behalf of Al-Qaeda to avenge the paper’s decision to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

A day later, Amedy Coulibaly killed a 27-year-old police officer during a traffic check outside Paris, before killing four Jewish men during a hostage-taking at the Hyper Cacher supermarket on January 9, claiming to act in the name of the Islamic State terror group.

Shares on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange drop amid Hamas, Houthi attacks on central Israel

Illustrative: View of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. (Courtesy)

Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange drop further as the Hamas terror group resumes rocket attacks at central Israel, with sirens sounding in the Tel Aviv area.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index falls 1.2% after slipping 0.4% earlier in the day. The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies is down 1.1%. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, declines almost 1.3%, and the TA-Insurance and Financial Services index dives 2.3%.

The shekel depreciates for the fourth day this week, declining 0.3 percent, trading around NIS 3.6670 per dollar.

Overnight, Israel Defense Forces downed a missile fired from Yemen before the projectile entered Israeli airspace, with the Iran-backed Houthi terror group claiming responsibility for its second attack on the country this week.

Police say no injuries caused by rocket shrapnel from Hamas attack

Police say no injuries were caused by rocket shrapnel that landed in the central region during a Hamas rocket attack from Gaza earlier this afternoon.

Officers are sweeping the area for additional shrapnel that may have landed nearby, a spokesman says.

The statement further advises residents to immediately report any shrapnel to police.

Three long-range rockets were fired from the southern Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago, triggering sirens in the Tel Aviv area.

Former chief rabbi grilled over suspected blackmail case — reports

A former chief rabbi has been summoned for questioning by the police in a case surrounding blackmail suspicions in the state’s rabbinical court system, Hebrew media reports.

The move was approved by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The name of the former chief rabbi is gagged by court order.

He is questioned under caution, meaning he could face charges, in connection with suspicions that a rabbinical judge closely associated with the former chief rabbi blackmailed a subordinate to influence his rulings.

According to the Walla website, investigators from the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit raided the offices of the Grand Rabbinical Court this morning in search of emails and documents.

Antisemitism in Switzerland reached ‘unprecedented level’ in 2024, study finds

Antisemitic incidents in Switzerland have reached an “unprecedented level,” rising 43 percent in 2024, according to a new report by the Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities (SIG) and the GRA Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism.

Some 221 antisemitic incidents were recorded during the year, compared to 155 in 2023 and 57 in 2022, the report says.

The report notes a sharp rise in physical violence during the year, including an attempted arson attack on a synagogue and 11 cases of assault.

A knife attack in Zurich by a teen who is said to have shouted “Death to Jews” nearly killed a 50-year-old man, the report notes.

Another 1,596 incidents were recorded online, with over 55% found on the Telegram platform. The figure is based on new software used for monitoring online media, and cannot be compared with previous figures, SIG says.

The rise in antisemitism since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023, has significantly affected the Jewish community’s sense of security, with many now avoiding displaying religious symbols in public out of fear of harassment or violence, the report says.

The SIG and GRA call for stronger government action, including increased security for Jewish institutions and legal measures to combat online hate speech.

Rocket shrapnel said to hit Rishon Lezion

Reports in Hebrew media indicate several pieces of shrapnel hit areas of Rishon Lezion after Hamas fired rockets at the area from Gaza.

There are no reports of injuries, but pictures show at least one piece of a projectile sitting on a sidewalk in the city.

Sirens in central Israel from Hamas rockets fired from the south, 3 rockets fired. 1 intercepted with some shrapnel falling in Rishon Lezion, 2 fell in open areas. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/TWLnfh923A

— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) March 20, 2025

It is unclear if the shrapnel came from Hamas rockets or interceptors. There is no immediate comment from police, who said earlier that officers had been dispatched to look for possible shrapnel.

There are also unconfirmed reports of injuries suffered by people rushing to get to safety, including a man in Holon who chopped off a finger while trying to close a shelter door.

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi to testify before UN Security Council

Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is paraded by Hamas gunmen before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Eli Sharabi, a former hostage released by the Hamas terror group in Gaza last month, will speak at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York today, sharing his firsthand account of captivity.

“Eli Sharabi’s presence at an official Security Council briefing at this moment is particularly significant,” says Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who initiated Sharabi’s invitation to the event.

“Just as the UN believes it can continue its attacks on Israel, Eli, with his courageous and unfiltered testimony, will look them in the eye and remind the world who we are fighting for,” says Danon in a statement from his office.

At today’s meeting, focusing “on [the] hostages still held in Gaza,” Sharabi will open with his testimony and “share his harrowing account with the Council members,” says Danon.

The meeting follows a briefing this week by the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Sharabi’s participation marks a continuation of his global campaign 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.

The Security Council will convene at 10 a.m. New York time (4 p.m. Israel time), according to Danon’s office.

The meeting comes as a result of efforts by Danon for a Security Council briefing dedicated to the hostage crisis, the ambassador’s spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.

Hamas claims rocket attack on Tel Aviv

Hamas swiftly claims responsibility for shooting rockets at Tel Aviv, in what appears to be the group’s first response to Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, says in a statement that it bombed Tel Aviv with a barrage of M90 rockets, in response to “the Zionist massacres against civilians.”

Three rockets fired from Gaza, one intercepted — army

Three long-range rockets were launched from the southern Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago, the military says.

According to the IDF, one of the rockets was intercepted by air defenses, while the other two struck open areas.

There are no immediate reports of injuries in the attack, the first by Hamas on central Israel since October 7, 2024 — the first anniversary of the terror group’s onslaught.

Rocket sirens sound in Tel Aviv area

Sirens are sounding in central Israel following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The alerts are activated in Tel Aviv and several suburbs.

The IDF is looking into the details.

Kafr Kanna resident accused of plotting ramming attack

Books and Palestinian and Hamas flags which police say were discovered during an investigation into a Kafr Kanna resident suspected of plotting a ramming attack, published on March 20, 2025. (Israel Police)

The Shin Bet and Israel Police say they foiled a plot to carry out a ramming attack against Israeli soldiers last month. Prosecutors in the State Attorney’s office plan to file an indictment against the suspect later today, spokespeople for the agencies say in a joint statement.

Kafr Kanna resident Jihad Zureiqat was arrested in February on suspicion of committing security offenses. They say that the suspect, who allegedly identifies with the Hamas terror group, began to plan and intended to carry out a car ramming attack against soldiers “following violent incidents.”

Police say an investigation turned up wills written by Zureiqat as well as “nationalist materials” including Hamas instructional booklets on how to carry out terror attacks.

IDF says troops deployed along northern Gaza coast

IDF troops of the 252nd Division operate in northern Gaza, in a handout photo issued by the military on March 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it launched ground operations along the coast of the far north of the Gaza Strip, close to Beit Lahiya, early this morning.

Over the past few hours, troops of the 252nd Division pushed into the coastal road area, and are currently deployed there, the army says. Two tank battalions of the 188th Armored Brigade are leading the operation.

Ahead of the offensive, the IDF says it carried out airstrikes on some 40 targets in the Beit Lahiya area, including tunnels, anti-tank missile launch posts, Hamas operatives and other threats to troops.

Additionally, the IDF says it carried out strikes on dozens of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza overnight.

Fighter jets and other Israeli Air Force aircraft hit terror operatives, buildings used by the terror groups, weapons and other infrastructure that posed a threat to Israel, the military and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.

The IDF adds that it is currently continuing strikes across Gaza.

There have not been any reports of actual clashes since Israel resumed military action in Gaza on Tuesday.

Khamenei calls for protesters in US, Europe to ‘stop’ Israeli military in Gaza

A handout picture released by the official website of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him giving an annual address to the nation on the occasion of Nowruz in Tehran on March 20, 2025. (Photo by IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER'S WEBSITE / AFP)

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls in a speech for anti-Israel activists in the United States and Europe to step up protests against the renewed Israeli military campaign in Gaza “to strongly oppose this treacherous, horrendous act.”

“Once again children are being killed, homes are being destroyed, and civilians are being displaced. The people must stop this tragedy,” Khamenei says in a Nowruz address, according to an English transcript posted on his website.

He adds that recent deadly US strikes on the Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen are a “crime that must be stopped.”

The Iranian leader praises the country for sending aid to Lebanon, but makes only passing reference to Israeli actions that decapitated the Hezbollah terror group, an Iranian proxy.

“Various events took place in Tehran and later in Lebanon, resulting in the loss of valuable figures for both the Iranian nation and the Islamic [world],” he says. “These were indeed bitter tragedies.”

Much of the speech is focused on economic issues, with Khamenei saying the country needs to ramp up production and suggesting it could nationalize some industries.

UNRWA says five staffers killed in resumed Gaza offensive

Five staff members of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, have been killed in the past few days, the agency’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini says.

“In the past few days another five UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed, bringing the death toll to 284. They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable,” he said in a statement posted on X.

On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned attacks on the organization’s personnel after a United Nations Office for Project Services staff member died in an alleged strike on UN guesthouses. Israel has denied carrying out an airstrike on the facility in Deir al-Balah, and photos from the scene show that those hurt were from the United Nations Mine Action Service, which deals with clearing leftover explosive devices.

Israel says Hamas and other Gazan terror groups use UN facilities to hide weapons, personnel or other infrastructure. It has also published evidence showing UNRWA staffers were among the thousands of Hamas-led Gazans to take part in massacres across southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Central bank chief says budget must boost economic growth to offset war costs

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron is urging the government to make changes to its planned annual budget to bolster economic growth in light of higher defense spending.

“The past year was undoubtedly one of the most difficult and complex that Israel has known, in every possible respect,” Yaron says at a conference in Tel Aviv. “In addition to the heavy human cost, the war that began on October 7, 2023, also brought with it a significant economic shock, of a magnitude and scale we had never known before.”

Yaron emphasizes that the 2025 budget arrangements bill passed overnight includes significant adjustments to build market confidence, but calls on the government to go further by focusing on increasing labor productivity. He suggests reducing negative incentives to go to work, investment in the education system to improve the quality of education, and reducing expenditures that do not contribute sufficiently to the economy’s future growth potential.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch – fiscal priorities in the present must be paid for in the future, and in light of the significant increase in current and expected defense spending, we recommended that the government take significant adjustment steps,” he says. “Alongside the important fiscal adjustment measures, there is room to change the composition of the budget to drive the growth engines of the economy.”

The Arrangements Law passed overnight sets spending priorities for the upcoming year, paving the way for the government to pass the full 2025 budget before a March 31 deadline, which if not met would force new elections.

Yaron says the past year also illustrated how “central and significant” the Bank of Israel has become as the economic adviser of the government.

Government pushing bill to automatically give freed hostages full disability benefits

The government is advancing legislation to expand benefits for hostages who were abducted on October 7 and have since returned from captivity, according to a joint statement from the Defense Ministry, the National Insurance Institute, and the Hostages, Missing Persons and Returnees Directorate of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Under the proposed change, all returning hostages — both civilians and soldiers — will automatically receive full benefits equivalent to those granted to IDF veterans with 100% disability or to victims of hostilities, without needing to appear before a medical committee.

These rights will be permanent and cover medical and psychological care, employment assistance, education, housing, transportation, a full tax exemption and more. Additionally, all released hostages will be entitled to state-funded medical treatment in perpetuity.

According to the statement, the amendment is based on a holistic approach to the hostages’ rehabilitation, taking into account the severe physical and psychological trauma they endured during captivity in Gaza.

Israel drops to 8th place, from 5th, in world happiness ranking

A man rides a bike past graffiti calling for the release of the hostages, in Tel Aviv. March 18, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israel is the eighth happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025, marking the second straight year it has fallen in the rankings after reaching fourth place in 2023.

The annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford names Finland the happiest place in the world for the 8th straight year.

The showing marks Israel’s lowest ranking since 2020, when it was given the ninth spot. It dropped slightly to fifth place last year.

Country rankings are based on answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. The study is done in partnership with the analytics firm Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

On the rubric of freedom, Israelis rank their country 87th out of the approximately 130 countries studied, while on graft it is seen as only the 32nd most corrupt place. On inequality, it snags the 15th highest score, where a higher score means less inequality.

Germany reopens Syria mission as foreign minister set to visit Damascus

Germany has officially reopened its embassy in Syria, a foreign ministry source says, with a small diplomatic team working in Damascus.

The move comes as outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is set to visit Damascus and meet with the country’s new rulers.

Germany’s mission closed in 2012 amid the Syrian civil war. Consular affairs and visas will continue to be handled from Beirut given the precarious security situation, the source adds.

Before leaving for Syria, Baerbock spoke out against internecine violence that broke out there in recent weeks, saying the new leadership must do more to control “groups in its own ranks.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, security forces and allied groups killed at least 1,500 civilians, most of them Alawites, the same minority to which former president Bashar al-Assad belongs.

Baerbock said she would use her trip to tell Syria’s government that a “fresh start” between Europe and Germany on one side and Syria on the other was conditional on all Syrians enjoying freedom and security regardless of faith, gender or ethnicity.

Tehran says it will mull threats, opportunities in Trump letter on nuclear talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says a letter from US President Donald Trump urging Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal is “mostly a threat,” but also contains opportunities for Tehran.

He says Iran will contemplate both the threats and opportunities contained in the letter, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Hostages’ families roiled as cabinet meeting on Gaza delayed so government can vote on firing Bar

Relatives of hostages still held in Gaza say they are “fuming” over reports that the government has delayed a planned meeting on the Gaza war in order to discuss the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

In a harshly worded statement issued by the Hostage Families Forum, the relatives accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet of ignoring them and endangering their loved ones.

According to the families, the security cabinet was supposed to convene Thursday evening “to discuss the fate of [the hostages] who are currently at risk of death and disappearance in Hamas’s Gaza tunnels.”

“The families demanded at the start of the week, and throughout all the past months, an urgent meeting with the prime minister and cabinet,” the statement reads. “Not a peep and not an answer.”

Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday that it would hold a vote on firing Bar at 9:30 p.m., defying the attorney general, who says such a move contravenes protocol.

According to Hebrew media report, the meeting on Gaza initially slated for tonight will be pushed off until next week.

Gazans warned away as Israeli troops advance through Netzarim belt

Displaced Palestinians cross the Netzarim corridor as they make their way to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip on February 9, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

The IDF is warning Palestinians to avoid a main Gaza artery as troops advance in the Netzarim Corridor area in the Strip’s center.

In a post on X, IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee says “over the past day, IDF troops began a targeted operation” in central Gaza, and are “deployed up to the center of the Netzarim Corridor.”

“For your safety, do not travel on the Salah a-Din road between the north of the Gaza Strip and the south and vice versa,” he says.

Traveling from the north of the Strip to its south is only permitted via the coastal road, known as al-Rashid, Adraee adds.

The IDF is currently engaged in military action aimed at expanding its buffer zone along the Gaza border, including in the south near Khan Younis and in the Strip’s north near Beit Lahiya.

The military has warned Palestinians against approaching areas where troops are operating.

Hamas says mediation efforts ramping up, but no breakthrough

A Hamas official tells Reuters that mediators have stepped up their efforts to halt renewed fighting in Gaza, but adds that “no breakthrough has yet been made.”

Gazan media sources, meanwhile, report that Israeli airstrikes are continuing to pound the Strip.

There is no comment from Israel.

Rubio says Trump will take action against Iran if nuclear diplomacy falls short

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump will order military action against Iran to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon, albeit reluctantly.

“If you asked him, he would tell you he would much prefer to work this out diplomatically without a war,” Rubio tells conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “But if you force him to choose between a nuclear Iran or taking action, the president has been clear he will take action.”

Hewitt had asked Rubio whether the US would act alone “if it comes to blows.”

“If the president makes the decision that we need to take action to prevent Iran from having a nuclear capability, we have the ability to do that, and to go further, perhaps even threaten the regime,” he top US diplomat adds.

If diplomacy with Iran fails “then I have to turn these things over to Pete Hegseth at the Department of Defense,” Rubio adds.

Defending antisemitism confab invites, minister says Europe’s far-right ‘supports us the most’

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli speaks at the AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv, on June 14, 2023 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli says European Jews should be more worried about Islamic extremism than the far-right, defending his decision to invite far-right European politicians to Israel’s upcoming conference on combating antisemitism.

“The real threat to European Jewry is radical Islam, not the right,” Chikli tells Israel Hayom in an interview published this morning.

Chikli blames the left-wing newspaper Haaretz for pushing a campaign that has led to a wave of cancellations of conference participants ahead of the Jerusalem event planned for March 26-27.

Among high-profile figures to pull out have been Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, and others.

Chikli criticizes them for “delegitimizing the people who support us the most,” calling it a “terrible injustice.”

“How can we boycott people who come to a conference against antisemitism in the State of Israel?” Chikli asks.

Chikli tells Israel Hayom that while many of the political parties in question have histories rooted in racism, they are currently fighting against antisemitism.

For example, Jordan Bardella, president of the French National Rally party founded by noted antisemite and Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen, recently challenged the European Union about the connection between UNRWA and Hamas, and has spoken out against a Palestinian state after October 7, Chikli says.

Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference, June 24, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

Bardella also condemned arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, Chikli notes.

In contrast, he says, French President Emmanuel Macron is “weak” and a “disappointment for Israel.”

On Wednesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog offered to hold a private meeting with world Jewish leaders at his home the night before the main event, without those controversial figures, in an effort to reduce tensions.

Police say 16th smuggled monkey found in south

A monkey thought to have been smuggled into Israel following its rescued by police in southern Israel on March 20, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police have rescued yet another monkey from a Bedouin village in the Negev, the 16th primate seized in recent weeks as part of an ongoing investigation into an animal trafficking ring that has been smuggling monkeys and lion cubs into Israel.

The monkey was located in an open area near the Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj by detectives from the Segev Shalom police station and the Border Police’s southern district, police say.

It has been transferred to the Nature and Parks Authority for further treatment.

Police note that some of the lion cubs and monkeys are in poor health, presumably following abuse endured in captivity.

A monkey located by police in Tel Sheva earlier this month died of tetanus due to the harsh conditions it was kept in.

Police say that they have rescued 10 monkeys and two lion cubs in the Negev region alone, and a total of 16 monkeys and four lions in total as part of the ongoing investigation.

Aussie opposition leader vows to restore ties with Israel and Netanyahu if elected

Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton addresses Parliament House in Canberra, July 24, 2019. (Rod McGuirk/AP)

Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton says one of his first acts if elected premier in May will be to bolster ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

In his first major foreign policy address, Dutton says calling Netanyahu will be among his first official acts, calling the current government’s stance toward Israel one of its “most egregious foreign policy failures.”

“Instead of treating Israel like the ally it is, this Government has treated Israel like an adversary,” he says, according to a transcript of the speech released by his office.

The Liberal Party leader promises that Canberra will end funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the main agency providing aid for Palestinian refugees, citing its employment of Gazans who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

He adds that Australia will resume voting with Israel at the UN, accusing the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of adopting “adversarial positions towards Israel to shore-up Labor votes in certain seats where there are, undeniably, anti-Israel and antisemitic views.”

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (C) and Rabbi Shlomo Kohn visiting the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 10, 2024, days after it was set ablaze. (Handout / DEPARTMENT OF PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET / AFP)

He does not address a rash of antisemitic attacks in Australia seemingly linked to the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Dutton also says he will make Washington his first overseas stop if elected, seemingly marking a pivot toward the US and away from Southeast Asia where Canberra has normally focused its foreign policy efforts.

Elections in Australia are scheduled for mid-May.

Qatari report: Hamas team headed to Cairo after lightning visit by Israeli negotiators

Palestinians inspect a destroyed car after an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 19, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo today to meet with senior Egyptian officials on efforts to reach a renewed ceasefire in Gaza, Qatari-owned newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.

Egyptian sources tell the newspaper that an Israeli military delegation also made a short visit to Cairo last night and met with Egypt’s intelligence chief, Hassan Rashad.

The delegation discussed the Israel Defense Force’s limited ground operation in Gaza and the reinforcement of forces across the entire Strip, the newspaper says.

According to the report, Hamas informed mediators that it is willing to release Israeli hostages, provided that this is part of the transition to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement. Israel has refused to advance to the second phase of the now-defunct ceasefire deal, which would see Israel’s military pull out of Gaza, unless all hostages are released.

Iran frees French citizen held since 2022, Macron says

Relatives rally in Paris in support of French nationals being held by Iran Cecile Kohler, Jacques Paris and Olivier Grondeau on February 1, 2025. (Sébastien DUPUY / AFP)

Iranian authorities have released French citizen Olivier Grondeau, detained by the country since October 2022 on security charges, and he has returned to France, President Emmanuel Macron announces.

Grondeau, 34, “is free and with his loved ones,” Macron writes on X, adding that “our mobilization will not weaken” to ensure the release of French citizens Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who still detained by Iran.

Olivier Grondeau est libre, en France, parmi les siens ! Nous partageons l'immense bonheur et soulagement de sa famille.

Je remercie tous les services de l'État, notre ambassadeur en Iran et le Centre de Crise et de Soutien du Quai d'Orsay, de leur action décisive.…

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 20, 2025

Paris says it views the arrests as state hostage-taking.

Macron does not say what, if anything, France gave Iran in return for Grondeau’s release.

Russia says 132 Ukrainian drones knocked down overnight

Russia’s Ministry of Defense says it destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones launched in overnight attacks in several regions throughout the country, as foreign powers press for a ceasefire in the three-year-old conflict.

“Over the course of the past night, air defense systems on duty destroyed 132 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles,” Moscow’s defense ministry says in a Telegram post.

The governor of Russia’s Saratov region says an airfield there is on fire following a Ukrainian drone attack, forcing some nearby residents to evacuate.

Over 70 Gazans reported killed in overnight strikes

Gaza’s pro-Hamas Quds News outlet reports that 71 people were killed in Israeli strikes across the Strip overnight, which would raise the death toll to over 540 since Israel resumed its military campaign in Gaza on Tuesday morning.

The news outlet reports that airstrikes took place around Khan Younis, Rafah and other parts of Gaza overnight.

The death toll cannot be verified, and figures from Hamas-controlled health authorities in the Strip have been questioned.

Israel says it is only targeting terrorists and terror infrastructure and blames Hamas and allied groups for collateral damage, saying they use civilians as human shields.

Knesset passes budget disbursement bill in overnight vote

Lawmakers passed a key budget bill overnight, a spokesperson for the Knesset says, paving the way for the government to pass a budget before a deadline forces new elections.

The Economic Arrangements Law — which determines how funds in the annual budget will be disbursed — passes by a vote of 63 to 50, largely along party lines.

The law is usually the final precursor for passing the budget. If the coalition does not pass the budget by March 31, the Knesset will automatically be dissolved — by law — and new elections called.

Touting the bill, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claims the measure contains “massive sums” for reserves soldiers and for rehabilitating the north and south of the country.

“We are serving all the needs of the front lines and the home front [and] embracing reservists at unprecedented levels, because they deserve it,” Smotrich says according to a Knesset statement.

Houthis claim responsibility for overnight ballistic missile attack

Yemen’s Houthi rebels issue a statement claiming responsibility for the ballistic missile fired at Israel, saying the Palestine-2 projectile targeted Ben Gurion Airport.

Citing alleged Hamas ties, Trump administration seeks to deport Georgetown student

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s administration has detained an Indian man studying at Washington’s Georgetown University and is seeking to deport him after deeming him a harm to US foreign policy, the student’s lawyer say.

The US Department of Homeland Security accuses Badar Khan Suri of ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and says he has spread Hamas propaganda and antisemitism on social media, according to a statement it shared with Fox News.

The DHS statement to Fox News, which was reposted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, does not cite evidence. It says Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Suri’s activities “rendered him deportable.”

Suri — who is living in the US on a student visa and is married to an American citizen — has been detained in Alexandria, Louisiana, and is awaiting a court date in immigration court, his lawyer says. Federal agents arrested him outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, on Monday night.

IDF says air force downed Yemen missile before it entered Israeli airspace

The military says the missile fired from Yemen was downed by the air force before entering Israeli airspace.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces says “the sirens were activated in accordance with protocol,” apparently due to concerns of falling debris.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it has received no direct reports of injuries from debris, though medics are treating several people suffering acute anxiety or who were hurt while rushing to shelters.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the missile attack, which comes after the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group vowed to resume attacking Israel in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

Missile fired from Yemen triggers sirens across central Israel and Jerusalem area

Warning sirens are activated throughout central Israel and the Jerusalem area, including parts of the capital, with the military reporting a missile was fired from Yemen.

Investigators finish questioning second suspect detained in Qatar probe

Investigators have also finished questioning the second suspect detained as part of a probe into the alleged illicit ties between Qatar and several top aides of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Ynet news site, which like Hebrew media outlets describes the two suspects as “central figures” in the affair.

Macron says France and Saudi Arabia to co-chair conference on two-state solution

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets with Saudi's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during an official visit in Riyadh on December 2, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron says he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and that the two leaders condemn the resumption of Israeli strikes in Gaza.

Macron says they will co-chair a conference on a two-state solution, aimed at “helping revive a political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

Macron also says he welcome the crown prince’s Jeddah initiative, which enables the start of peace negotiations in Ukraine.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Suspect sent home after being grilled by police about Qatari payments to PM’s aides

A suspect detained by police Wednesday evening has been released from custody after being questioned as part of a probe into whether thousands of dollars were funneled from Qatar to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides over the past few months.

According to Hebrew media reports, the suspect has been released to his home under unspecified conditions, while a second suspect is still being questioned.

Haredi extremists attack Beit Shemesh mayor and his family, injuring one of his kids

Ultra-Orthodox extremists attack Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg and his family, overturning the mayor’s car and injuring one of his children.

In a statement, the municipality says that Greenberg, a member of the Haredi Degel Hatorah party, “was attacked by extremists while leaving a family celebration.”

“His vehicle was smashed and vandalized, but the mayor and his family were rescued from the scene. The mayor’s son required medical treatment. Mayor Greenberg trusts the Israel Police to bring the lawbreakers to justice,” his office says.

הזוי: קבוצת קיצונים יצרה הערב אנרכיה ברחובות בית שמש, כאשר במהלך מחאה סוערת הפכו את רכבו של ראש העיר. תושבים מזועזעים מתיעוד האירוע וקוראים למשטרה לפעול ביד קשה נגד המתפרעים ולעצור את המעורבים.
📷 צילום: הפרגוד מקומי בית שמש pic.twitter.com/Rp1m91DPqz

— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) March 19, 2025

Video from the scene shows black-clad Hasidic Jews rocking the vehicle back and forth while someone screams in the background. Another clip shows the mayor, wearing a helmet, being rushed out of a building by armored police as a baying mob screaming “Nazi” chases him. He is then placed in another car and rushed from the scene.

Dramatic footage of Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg being rescued by police from an ultra-Orthodox mob screaming "Nazi" at him this evening. The mayor's car was overturned pic.twitter.com/761DW7K4KF

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) March 19, 2025

The incident was far from the first mob attack against a mayor of Beit Shemesh.

In August 2023, in the second attack against in less than two months, dozens of extremists rioted outside a local school while then-mayor Aliza Bloch was touring the building, hurling objects, starting a fire and vandalizing her car — effectively holding her hostage for nearly two hours until she was rescued by police.

While violence has decreased significantly in recent years, extremists have long sought to forcibly impose their way of life on residents, posting modesty signs, tearing down Israeli flags and burning down a cellphone store in the moderate Haredi neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef.