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The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they unfolded.
Houthi media reports US strikes on Hodeida airport
Houthi rebel media in Yemen accuses the United States of striking the airport in Hodeida, the latest such claim since Washington announced heavy strikes against the rebels one week ago.
Al-Masirah TV, blaming “American aggression,” says three attacks targeted the airport in Hodeida on the Red Sea coast.
Police recover wild monkey in southern Bedouin village
This handout photo shows a wild monkey recovered in the Arur Bedouin village in southern Israel, March 22, 2025. (Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
Police find and confiscate a 17th wild monkey smuggled into the country, this time in the Arur Bedouin village in southern Israel.
After receiving reports earlier in the day of a monkey in the trees, police arrived to find that the animal had run into a house and was hiding in a closet.
This is the 11th guenon monkey captured so far in a dayslong swoop which has also netted four lion cubs.
The monkeys are passed on to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and taken to the Israel Primate Sanctuary in central Israel, where they are quarantined for up to a fortnight pending the results of blood tests for various diseases.
‘I cannot walk freely in my city,’ says Beit Shemesh mayor after assault by Haredi mob
Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg (in helmet) is rescued by police from a mob of ultra-Orthodox extremists, late March 19, 2025. (Screen capture X)
Following Thursday night’s mob attack in which dozens of ultra-Orthodox extremists assaulted him and his family, Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg laments that his freedom of movement is restricted due to threats against him.
In an interview with the Walla news site in the wake of the incident, during which his car was overturned and his teenage son was lightly wounded, Greenberg, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Degel Hatorah party, asks “How is this possible?”
Video from the scene showed black-clad Hasidic Jews rocking the vehicle back and forth while someone screamed in the background. Another clip showed the mayor, wearing a helmet, being rushed out of a building by armored police as a baying mob chased him amid shouts of “Nazi.” He was then placed in another car and rushed from the scene.
“I am the mayor here but I am also a human being. I cannot walk freely in my city. The city is supposed to be a public space where everyone can walk without fear,” he says.
Greenberg — a clean-shaven former IDF serviceman with a master’s degree in public policy who until recently served as a senior education official in the Jerusalem Municipality — has earned the ire of more extreme segments of the Haredi population in Beit Shemesh over his administration’s orders to dismantle illegally built structures, including synagogues.
“It was a feeling of real danger to my life. The police demanded that I put on a helmet — they threw stones, sticks and bottles at me. Without the police, it would have ended differently,” Greenberg tells Walla.
For the extremists, “I am a symbol of the government. At a time like this when the Haredi are trying to oppose the government in every way, every symbol becomes a target,” he adds.
The incident was far from the first mob attack against the mayor of Beit Shemesh.
In August 2023, in the second attack in less than two months, dozens of extremists rioted outside a local school while then-mayor Aliza Bloch was touring the building. The rioters hurled objects, started a fire and vandalized 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 last year.
France condemns Lebanon rocket attack while calling on Israel to exercise restraint
France’s Foreign Ministry expresses in a statement its “deep concern” at the renewed outbreak of fighting in southern Lebanon.
The Quai d’Orsay condemns rocket attacks against Israel from Lebanon over the weekend, while calling on Israel to exercise restraint in its response.
“France reiterates the importance of not compromising the significant progress made in recent months to ensure the security of Israelis and Lebanese people on both sides of the Blue Line,” the statement reads, adding that French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot conveyed these messages to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.
Contradicting known timeline, PM claims Shin Bet chief opened Qatar probe to prevent his firing
Left: Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Dudu Bachar/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet security agency chief Ronen Bar only opened an investigation into his senior aides’ financial ties with Qatar in order to prevent Bar’s firing.
The premier’s assertion appears to be based on little evidence and contradicts the known sequence of events, as he only initiated the process to dismiss Bar after the investigation into Qatar had already been launched.
In a prerecorded video message containing what he describes as “a dramatic revelation of facts that will shake you,” Netanyahu presents what he says are “shocking” documents to back up his claim, though they appear fundamentally unrelated to the timeline of the Qatar probe, and do not support his assertions.
“The facts prove unequivocally that the dismissal was not intended to prevent the investigation — the investigation was intended to prevent the dismissal,” Netanyahu says, having offered no evidence. “So tell me, who here is acting with ulterior motives.”
At the start of the video, Netanyahu pushes back against legal petitions to prevent Bar’s dismissal, stating that he “will not remain head of the Shin Bet” and that “there will be no civil war, and Israel will remain a democratic state.”
“We are a nation of laws, and the law in the State of Israel, simply put, means that the government is entitled to fire the Shin Bet chief before the end of his term,” Netanyahu states — dismissing “claims that the dismissal of the Shin Bet head was done to prevent the investigation into the issue of Qatar.”
Netanyahu then says that his distrust of Bar began on October 7, 2023, blaming the Shin Bet director for not waking him as security chiefs discussed worrying signals from Gaza. He says his distrust of Bar grew as the war raged on.
He then appears to claim that the Shin Bet chief, realizing he was about to be fired, put off submitting the agency’s probes into its failures surrounding Oct. 7, and then colluded with Baharav-Miara to launch the Qatar investigation in an attempt to prevent his dismissal.
“I thought that the appropriate time to end the Shin Bet head’s tenure would be after he presented me with the Shin Bet’s probes into the failures of October 7. Thus it was with the IDF chief of staff. I instructed the Shin Bet head to present me with the probes by February 15,” Netanyahu says.
“On February 15, the date by which he should have presented the probes, Ronen Bar sent me a letter,” he says, holding up the letter in question. “And [Bar writes], ‘I wish to update you that I am unable to present the probe of the Shin Bet on the date you requested.’ He ends the letter by saying, ‘In light of this, I ask to hand in the main findings no later than February 27.'”
(Netanyahu does not mention this in the video, but the letter from Bar also notes that Netanyahu had only informed him at the start of that month of his expectation to receive the Shin Bet October 7 probe’s findings within two weeks — a deadline Bar explains he could not meet. He says rushing the report within two weeks would force the Shin Bet to resort to unacceptable “shortcuts” in its investigation — something “to which we cannot agree.” Bar states in his letter that he is responding to a letter from Netanyahu on February 10. The Shin Bet presented its Oct. 7 probe findings on March 4.)
נתניהו ניסה לחשוף את ראש השב״כ אבל חשף את עצמו: מכתב הפיטורים לראש השב״כ נשלח יממה לאחר פתיחת חקירת קטארגייט: נתניהו חשף הערב מכתב ששלח לו ראש השב״כ במטרה ״לחשוף שאין קשר לחקירת קטארגייט״, בעיה קטנה התאריך עליו הגיב ראש השב״כ, ״במענה למכתבך מ10/02/2025- זהו יום אחד לאחר שנפתחה… pic.twitter.com/QbTYLTFuHI
— daniel amram – דניאל עמרם (@danielamram3) March 22, 2025
Netanyahu continues in the video: “But on February 27, he didn’t present me with the investigation, instead asking for several more days. Again, I agreed to his request. But look what happened: That very same day, on February 27, in the evening hours, in a rare coincidence one couldn’t invent, the attorney general announces the opening of a probe into Qatar!”
“The facts prove unequivocally that the dismissal was not intended to prevent the investigation — the investigation was intended to prevent the dismissal,” Netanyahu declares.
In fact, however, the “Qatargate” probe was launched before the February 27 announcement Netanyahu pointed to. February 27 was indeed the date that Baharav-Miara announced a criminal investigation. She was only able to do so because the Shin Bet had already been probing the matter for at least 12 days after gathering information on the alleged ties of Netanyahu’s office to Qatar.
Though an exact date for when the Shin Bet probe into “Qatargate” was launched is not publicly available, the first query from a reporter on the matter is known to have been submitted as early as February 9 — before any of the letters Netanyahu pointed to were sent. The allegations of Netanyahu’s aides’ ties to Qatar were aired by Channel 12 on February 10. By February 15, the Shin Bet had already confirmed a probe was underway.
Channel 12’s political reporter Daphna Liel writes, “Netanyahu tried to prove this evening that the “Qatargate” affair has no connection to [his decision to dismiss] the head of the Shin Bet, but he did exactly the opposite. The request for a response to the affair was submitted by Ofer Hadad on February 9, and Netanyahu’s letter to Ronen Bar to expedite the investigations he requested was sent the next day — the day the affair was revealed. An incredible coincidence!”
Israeli whose husband and son were murdered in 1993 terror attack urges Haredim to join hostage protests
Miriam Lapid, whose husband and son were killed by terrorists near Hebron in 1993, speaks at the Jerusalem rally.
“There is such corruption, lack of morality,” says Lapid. “Where are the Haredim, those with sidecurls, those who cover their hair?”
She calls on every ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemite to come out to the protests, “to see the light.”
“You have no conscience, what will you tell your children? What will you say to this history?”
Ex-hostage Doron Steinbrecher slams resumed Gaza fighting: ‘How are you not listening to us?’
Former hostage Doron Steinbrecher speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, March 22, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Speaking at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, freed captive Doron Steinbrecher says she feels “anger toward those who think it’s okay to go back to fighting” in Gaza rather than cleave to the ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas.
“Where are you? How are you not listening to us? How?” she asks.
“The feeling there, after so much time, is that you’ve been abandoned. And that’s a pain that is impossible to put into words,” she says.
Until her release in January as part of the deal with Hamas, Steinbrecher used to dream about coming to Hostages Square, she says.
“We knew there was a square, we knew there was a place where people came every Saturday,” she says. “That that was a group of people who knew there are hostages and who didn’t carry on with life as usual.
“It gives you power, a lot of power,” she says. “It even makes you forget for a few moments the fear that you’ll be forgotten.”
Steinbrecher says that at the end of the first truce-hostage deal in November 2023, she had been told she would be released the next day.
“I didn’t sleep the entire night from the excitement that I’m coming home,” she says. “Unfortunately, the morning began with sounds of bombing, and with them, the realization that I’m not going home.”
“I come here,” she says, “because it’s the right thing because the public needs to understand it’s the only thing that matters, that it can’t get out of the headlines… and because I promised myself to always ask what needs to be done.”
“I have fears and pains, but they’re not what’s important,” Steinbrecher continues. “We, the returned hostages, can’t begin rehabilitating until everyone is here. But the country can’t either.”
Father of slain soldier: ‘Will fight to my last day’ for a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7
This handout photo shows Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was killed during the October 2023 Hamas-led attack while serving as a surveillance soldier, calls for a state commission of inquiry into the onslaught during a protest on Tel Aviv's Begin Street, March 22, 2025. (Dana Reany/ Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Eyal Eshel, father of slain surveillance soldier Roni Eshel, says he “will fight to my last day” for the formation of a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected such a commission — Israel’s highest investigative body — since it is appointed by the judiciary, which the premier claims is biased against him.
Speaking to thousands of protesters at the anti-government, pro-hostage deal rally on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, Eshel accuses the government of trying to distort the catastrophe that happened under its watch — an effort that Eshel says is akin to denying the onslaught.
He also assails government efforts to appoint a “political whitewashing committee,” whose members would be chosen by the Knesset, to probe the Hamas atrocities.
“Those being investigated can’t pick their own investigators,” he says. “I won’t rest until a state commission of inquiry is founded, nothing else.”
He says the commission will have to probe whether the government missed chances to rescue hostages who came back dead.
“If Roni were here, she would have called out in a clear voice: Bring our brothers and sisters home now!” says Eshel.
The Begin Road protest has drawn thousands of people this week, who practically fill the stretch of the road from Kaplan to Shaul HaMelech streets — about double the turnout of recent weeks.
The demonstrators are set to be joined by the crowd from the Hostages Square rally, which typically strikes a less adversarial tone toward the government.
Brother of slain hostage warns more captives will be killed as Gaza fighting resumes
A protestor standing in Jerusalem’s Paris Square on March 22, 2025. (Ofra Kupferman/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Dani Elgarat, whose brother of Itzik Elgarat was killed in captivity and recently returned to Israel for burial at home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, speaks at the Jerusalem rally for the hostages on Saturday night, saying number of captives killed will rise due to the resumption of the fighting in Gaza.
“It’s his direction that killed them,” says Elgarat, speaking of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He is directing events, he is acting against the interest of the country. He wants the captives dead, silent and not telling details.”
Elgarat calls on the attorney general to prevent the prime minister from moving forward and for the IDF chief of staff to stop following Netanyahu’s orders and calls for a general strike.
The weekly Jerusalem rally is larger, louder and angrier than usual, as demonstrators yell about the government’s actions, bang on drums and shout “Shame!” into bullhorns.
Lebanon health ministry reports 1 killed, 7 wounded in Israeli strike on Tyre
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announces that one man was killed and seven others were injured in an Israeli strike on the city of Tyre. It also reports that five people were injured in another Israeli strike on Harmal in northwest Lebanon.
US Embassy issues security alert for Jerusalem due to Houthi missile fire, anti-government rallies
Illustrative: A road sign shows the way toward the US embassy in Jerusalem on April 19, 2024. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)
The US Embassy in Jerusalem publishes a security alert for Americans in the Israeli capital.
The statement cites “the resumption of red alerts and large-scale demonstrations,” referring respectively to Houthi ballistic missile attacks from Yemen and mass protests against the government’s efforts to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
IDF says Hezbollah operatives, command posts and rocket launchers among the targets in latest strikes
In the IDF’s latest wave of airstrikes in Lebanon, the military says it targeted Hezbollah command centers, infrastructure, operatives, rocket launchers, and a weapons depot.
The strikes were carried out across Lebanon.
It comes in addition to a first wave of strikes earlier today. Both waves were a response to rocket fire from Lebanon on northern Israel this morning.
Ex-PM Ehud Barak urges AG to order that Netanyahu recuse himself from premiership
Former prime minister Ehud Barak. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Speaking with Israel’s Channel 12 news, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak calls on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to declare that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must recuse himself.
“The attorney general should declare Netanyahu incapacitated,” Barak states. A bill shielding Netanyahu from being ordered to recuse himself from office was passed by the Knesset in 2023, but its implementation was delayed by the High Court of Justice until the beginning of the next Knesset term after elections are held.
Barak’s remarks come a day before Netanyahu’s cabinet is slated to take up a motion of “no confidence” in Baharav-Miara, whom Justice Minister Yariv Levin has accused of politicizing her office and repeatedly thwarting the will of the government amid its push to radically overhaul the judicial system.
In a tweet ahead of tomorrow’s vote, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi claims that Netanyahu “carries the burden of the Jewish and democratic state with determination, responsibility, and with a clear mandate from the public — while the attorney general, with the backing of the High Court of Justice, wants to run over the people and their elected officials.”
“Tomorrow, with God’s help, we will begin to fix this,” he tweets alongside a graphic of Baharav-Miara crushing Netanyahu and Israel under her shoes.
Government invites Ronen Bar to security cabinet meeting on hostages despite firing him
The security cabinet will convene this evening for deliberations on the hostages held by Hamas and renewed fighting in Gaza, according to Hebrew media reports.
The meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday night but delayed so the government could instead approve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motion to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
Despite the vote to dismiss Bar and Netanyahu’s assertion that he has no trust in the Shin Bet head, the spymaster has been invited to take part in the security cabinet meeting.
Liberman says he’s ‘not calm about Netanyahu’s mental state’ following PM’s ‘deep state’ claims
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 questions Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sanity over the premier’s claim that an alleged “deep state” within the Israeli government is working against him.
“I’m not calm about Netanyahu’s mental state,” the former Netanyahu ally tells Channel 13. “I’ve known him for years. Deep State? We have a deep fake prime minister,” Liberman adds, predicting that the prime minister will “crash” in the next election.
Netanyahu last week tweeted that “in America and in Israel, when a strong right-wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s will.”
Netanyahu also later published a campaign-like social media video expounding in Hebrew on the term, which he described as “the permanent bureaucracy that is barely replaced and sits deep in the Israeli government, and decides that it knows better than the voters.”
The X post and video came after police announced that they detained and questioned under caution two suspects as part of an ongoing investigation into whether thousands of dollars were funneled from Qatar to one or more of Netanyahu’s aides.
Strikes reported in east and north Lebanon as IDF confirms latest wave of attacks on Hezbollah
The IDF confirms it has launched a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
It says further details will be provided later.
Lebanese media report strikes in the south of the country, near the coastal city of Tyre, in the eastern Beqaa Valley, and in the Hermel area in northern Lebanon.
Responding to Witkoff, Hamas vows no demilitarization ‘as long as the occupation exists’
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, speaks to the press outside of the White House on March 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America via AFP)
Senior Hamas official Hussam Badran tells the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian news agency Shabakat Quds that US envoy Steve Witkoff’s remarks about the terror group needing to demilitarize if it wants to remain politically involved in Gaza is “a meaningless proposal as long as the occupation [Israel] exists.”
“When we talk about the weapons of the resistance, they are the weapons of the Palestinian people. Therefore, these weapons are carried by Palestinians to resist the occupation, as guaranteed by international laws and conventions,” adds Badran.
Netanyahu, Katz order IDF to carry out another wave of strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to carry out a second wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A statement from Katz’s office says he and Netanyahu told the IDF to target dozens of Hezbollah targets in response to the rocket fire earlier today.
Fresh Israeli strikes reported in southern Lebanon
Lebanese media report renewed Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
Earlier, the IDF said it struck dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center in response to a rocket attack on northern Israel this morning.
Yair Golan: Government ‘must be overthrown’ if it refuses to obey the law
Leader of The Democrats party Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yair Golan, the chairman of the opposition The Democrats party, warns of a nationwide general strike if the Israeli government does not obey the High Court of Justice when it rules on the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
“The democratic State of Israel will not fall! The Jewish, democratic, Zionist and liberal State of Israel, you will not fall,” Golan tells anti-government protesters at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square. “We will not let it fall!”
“The government has launched a direct, violent and unrestrained attack: On us. On our democracy. On our values. On our future. And on the lives of our children. And it will not win,” he continues — arguing that Israel finds itself in “an unprecedented historical moment” when the government is “turning its back on the law, on the High Court of Justice, and on the public.”
“A government in Israel that refuses to obey the High Court of Justice’s ruling — is illegal and dangerous” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is not above the law. No one is above the law. And a government that refuses to obey the law — is a dangerous government that must be stopped. It must be overthrown!”
“We are stopping the economy, the ports, transportation, the schools, the academy, businesses, the streets. We are stopping the country — to save it,” he says. “The law comes before everything. Democracy comes before everything. The state comes before the government.”
Arguing that now is “not the time for petty politics” nor “personal considerations,” Golan calls on Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz to “establish a single democratic front” against the government that can serve as “the backbone of the new Israel” which will conscript the ultra-Orthodox and investigate October 7.
“Benny, Gadi, Yair, let’s establish Israel’s liberal democratic bloc. This struggle is not another protest. This is a struggle for the face of Israel. This is a struggle for our home.”
IDF chief appoints external panel to evaluate army’s Oct. 7 probes, implement findings
Incoming IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on March 5, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has appointed an external panel of former senior officers to evaluate the military’s October 7 probes and implement its conclusions.
The move is made by Zamir out of “the IDF’s deep commitment to learning, streamlining and improving processes, especially during the war, and for an analysis and examination of the operational, professional and organizational insights,” the military says.
The panel will be headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman, a former head of the Southern Command. The other members include former Navy chief Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit; former IAF chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin; Maj. Gen. (res.) Yossi Baidatz; Brig. Gen. (res.) Yuval Bazak; Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Levi; Brig. Gen. (res.) Meir Finkel; Brig. Gen. (res.) Yom-Tov Tamir; Col. (res.) Avi Eliyahu; Col. (res.) Talya Lankri; Col. (res.) Benny Da-Levi; Col. (res.) Gila Goldrat; and Lt. Col. (res.) Livnat Bar David.
The IDF says the team was chosen based on their “rich experience and in-depth acquaintance with different and varied areas of work in the military, and out of a desire to reach diverse perspectives.”
The team will “formulate the mechanisms and processes required to implement lessons learned from the investigations.” It will also add to or reexamine parts of the investigations “as required” and will recommend re-investigating, if necessary.
The IDF says the team will present its initial conclusions to Zamir in the coming weeks, and subsequently provide a plan to implement its recommendations.
Lapid, at rally, urges tax rebellion, general strike if government defies ruling of High Court
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting for his Yesh Atid party at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is “doing everything to start a civil war here, Netanyahu is openly pushing for it,” declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid during a protest at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square this evening.
“We will not let it happen. We will fight for the country, but we will not let them destroy the country. They use the word ‘unity’ to silence us. It will not work for them. Silence in the face of a destructive government is not unity,” Lapid states — promising to oppose the government every time it crosses “red lines.”
“If the October 7 government decides not to obey the court’s ruling, it will turn itself that day, that moment, into a criminal government,” he adds, referring to statements by senior ministers promising to defy the High Court of Justice if it blocks the cabinet’s unanimous decision on Thursday night to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security service.
“If that happens, the entire country must stop. The only system that is not allowed to stop is the security system. We will oppose any kind of refusal, but apart from that – everything,” Lapid insists.
“The economy needs to strike, the Knesset needs to strike, the courts need to strike, the local authorities need to strike, not only the universities need to strike, but also the schools. If we can organize a tax revolt, we will organize a tax revolt. We will not be accomplices in the destruction of democracy.”
Turnout up at weekly anti-government rally in Tel Aviv as PM moves to oust AG, Shin Bet head
Anti-government protesters rally at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, March 22, 2025. (Noam Lehmann/The Times of Israel)
Several thousand people are at the weekly anti-government demonstration at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, a marked increase over previous weekends.
While protesters in previous weeks took over roughly half of Habima Square, this week they appear to fill the plaza.
The spike in participation comes amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bid to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and Israel’s resumption of hostilities in Gaza, which ended the weeks-long ceasefire.
A large screen mounted on a stage reads, “Stopping the dictatorship mania.”
Anti-government protesters rally at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, March 22, 2025. (Amir Goldstein / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Protesters chant: “Netanyahu is an abandoner, Netanyahu isn’t competent!”
The crowd is awash in Israeli flags, and some flags and banners of center-left opposition parties Yesh Atid and The Democrats, whose respective heads Yair Lapid and Yair Golan are set to speak.
IDF says air force launched over 200 strikes this weekend in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria
Over the weekend, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes against over 200 targets in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria, according to the military.
Father of captive soldier: ‘After the deal blew up, Netanyahu is now blowing up the hostages’
Some relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gather outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv for their weekly statement to the press, slamming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not prioritizing the captives’ return over the destruction of Hamas.
“After the [hostage release and ceasefire] deal blew up, Netanyahu is now blowing up the hostages in Gaza,” says Yehuda Cohen, the father of hostage soldier Nimrod Cohen. “Netanyahu is killing the hostages and destroying the country.”
“Come out to the streets, this is an emergency,” Cohen adds in an appeal for Israelis to join the demonstrators.
Yifat Calderon, the cousin of freed hostage Ofer Calderon, urges US President Donald Trump to “not fall for Netanyahu’s tricks,” accusing the prime minister of “waging an influence campaign of deception against the American administration.”
Ballistic missile fired at Israel from Yemen lands in Saudi Arabia
A ballistic missile launched from Yemen a short while ago, apparently aimed at Israel, fell short in Saudi Arabia, according to a defense source.
The missile was identified by the military, but sirens were not activated due to it not posing a threat to Israel.
It is not immediately clear why the missile failed to reach Israel.
Police produce video for Ben Gvir’s party in which top cop praises the far-right leader
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party has shared a video produced by police in which Commissioner Daniel Levy praises the far-right leader, with the force claiming to the Haaretz daily that it did not similarly send out the clip “due to a mistake.”
In the short video, Levy also voices support for officers at an anti-government protest in Jerusalem who were filmed smashing the windows of cars while passengers were inside so they could be towed away.
The release of the video comes after the government ignored the attorney general’s objections by voting this week to reappoint Ben Gvir as national security minister.
Detained Istanbul mayor denies terror charges as ‘unimaginable accusations and slanders’
ANKARA, Turkey — Detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has denied terrorism charges brought against him, according to a court document seen by Reuters, after he was detained on Wednesday for alleged corruption and terrorism.
“I see today during my interrogation that I and my colleagues are faced with unimaginable accusations and slanders,” Imamoglu said in his defense during a hearing, the document shows.
Imamoglu is a key opposition figure and potential challenger to longtime Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
IDF releases video of strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
The IDF releases footage showing some of its strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon earlier today.
The strikes targeted a Hezbollah command center and dozens of rocket launchers, according to the military.
A video released by the IDF on March 22, 2025, shows strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. (Israel Defense Forces)
Syrian media reports Israeli airstrike near town outside Damascus
Syrian media report an Israeli airstrike near the town of Najha, outside of the capital Damascus.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
عاجل | غارة إسرائيلية تستهدف بلدة نجها بريف #دمشق pic.twitter.com/Bis5t8JKof
— Nedaa Post نداء بوست (@NEDAAPOST) March 22, 2025
Fatah calls on Hamas to relinquish power to avoid ‘end of Palestinians’ existence’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement calls on its rivals, the Hamas terror group, to relinquish power in order to safeguard the “existence” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas must show compassion for Gaza, its children, women and men,” Fatah spokesman Monther al-Hayek says in a message sent to AFP from Gaza. He calls on Hamas to “step aside from governing and fully recognize that the battle ahead will lead to the end of Palestinians’ existence” if it remains in power in Gaza.
IDF: 6 rockets fired this morning from Lebanon, probe ongoing into who’s responsible
Smoke at the site of reported Israeli artillery shelling of a Hezbollah target in the Lebanese village of Yohmor in response to earlier rocket fire on Metula, March 22, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Six rockets were launched from Lebanon in the attack on the northern Israeli border community of Metula this morning, three of which crossed the border and were intercepted by air defenses, according to the military.
The other three rockets fell short in Lebanon.
The military is still investigating which group was behind the attack. There has been no claim of responsibility yet, and Hezbollah in a statement denies it launched the rockets.
Immediately after the rocket fire, the IDF carried out artillery shelling toward the source of the rocket fire and later carried out a wave of airstrikes on dozens of Hezbollah launchers and a command center.
The IDF says that it will act against any threat in Lebanon, regardless of the group involved.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire in Lebanon, the IDF says it has killed over 100 terror operatives and targeted over 120 sites in Lebanon that posed a threat to Israel, including efforts by Hezbollah to rebuild its infrastructure and rearm.
Hezbollah denies responsibility for morning rocket fire at north
The Hezbollah terror group denies being responsible for this morning’s rocket fire on northern Israel.
In a statement, Hezbollah says it “reiterates its commitment to the ceasefire agreement and stands behind the Lebanese state in addressing this dangerous Zionist escalation against Lebanon.”
Lebanese media says two killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Two people including a girl were killed in an Israeli attack on a southern Lebanese town, state media reports, after Israel launched airstrikes targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center in response to cross-border rocket fire.
“The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Touline resulted… in the death of two people, including a girl, and the injury of eight others, including two children,” the National News Agency cites the health ministry’s emergency unit as saying, describing it as a “preliminary toll.”
IDF says it struck dozens of Hezbollah launchers, command center after rocket fire
The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center used by the terror group in Lebanon, in response to this morning’s rocket attack on Metula.
The rocket attack “is a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a direct threat to Israeli citizens,” the military says, adding that “the State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement.”
https://twittter.com/yeghig/status/1903409773988466951
Mayor says some Metula residents evacuated town after morning rocket fire
A view of the once bustling main street of Metula on February 17, 2025. (Lindy Barnett/courtesy)
Metula Mayor David Azoulai says of the eight percent of the town’s residents that have returned since the November ceasefire with Lebanon, some left after this morning’s rocket attack.
“The return of residents to Metula under the current conditions is unreasonable. Metula residents won’t be held hostage to a security compromise,” he says in a statement carried by Hebrew media.
Lebanese media says person killed, 3 wounded in Israeli strike
CAIRO, Egypt — One person was killed and three wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a village in south Lebanon, Lebanese state TV reports as Israel struck Hezbollah targets in response to a cross-border rocket salvo.
It is not immediately clear if the casualties are civilians or combatants.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Hamas says US accusation it ‘chose war’ over hostage deal is ‘a distortion’
Hamas accuses the United States of distorting the truth by saying the Palestinian terror group had chosen war with Israel by refusing to release hostages.
“The claim that ‘Hamas chose war instead of releasing the hostages’ is a distortion of the facts,” Hamas says in a statement in response to the accusation from US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes on Tuesday.
UNIFIL says Lebanon rocket fire, Israeli strikes risk ‘consequences’ for region
An armored vehicle of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) approaches a Lebanese army roadblock near a checkpoint in the village of Burj el-Meluk in Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on January 25, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, says today’s rocket fire from Lebanon and Israeli response “could have serious consequences for the region.”
“We strongly urge all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made, especially when civilian lives and the fragile stability observed in recent months are at risk,” UNIFIL says in a statement.
“The situation remains extremely fragile, and we encourage both sides to uphold their commitments. UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions.”
IDF launches airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
The IDF says it has begun launching airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Further details will be provided later, it adds.
Netanyahu, Katz order IDF to carry out strikes on Lebanese terror targets
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to carry out strikes on “dozens of terror targets” in Lebanon in response to this morning’s rocket fire on Metula, their offices say.
“The Lebanese government is responsible for everything from its territory. Israel will not allow any harm to its citizens and sovereignty, and will work in every way to ensure the security of Israeli citizens and the northern communities. The IDF is prepared and ready for any command,” the statement says.
Lebanese army says it found 3 rocket launchers used in morning attack
The Lebanese army says it located three makeshift rocket launchers between the south Lebanon towns of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, which were used in this morning’s attack on Metula.
In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces says it dismantled the launchers.
“Military units continue to take the necessary measures to control the situation in the south,” the LAF adds.
على أثر إطلاق صواريخ من الأراضي اللبنانية نحو الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة، أجرى الجيش عمليات مسح وتفتيش وعثر بنتيجتها على ٣ منصات صواريخ بدائية الصنع في المنطقة الواقعة شمال نهر الليطاني بين بلدتَي كفرتبنيت وأرنون – النبطية، وعمل على تفكيكها.
تستمر الوحدات العسكرية في اتخاذ… pic.twitter.com/iIfoZO9vRu— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) March 22, 2025
There has been no claim of responsibility for the rocket fire yet.
Turkey says 343 people arrested nationwide during overnight protests
Protesters clash with Turkish anti-riot police as they use tear gas and water cannons during a demonstration following the arrest of Istanbul's mayor, in Ankara on March 21, 2025. (Adem ALTAN / AFP)
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry says.
Demonstrations took place in more than a dozen cities including Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the ministry says in a statement.
It says the detentions were made to prevent “disrupting of public order” and warned that authorities would not tolerate “chaos and provocation.”
Istanbul mayor, Erdogan rival grilled for 2nd day after arrest sparks major rallies
Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu addresses his supporters in front of the Istanbul courthouse, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu appears before police for questioning on terror-related charges, a day after his interrogation over corruption allegations. His arrest this week has sparked widespread protests across Turkey, with demonstrators rallying in multiple cities to voice their opposition.
The mayor, who is a popular opposition figure and seen as a top challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday following a dawn raid on his residence over allegations of financial crimes and links to Kurdish militants. Dozens of other prominent figures, including two district mayors, were also detained.
Many view the arrest as a politically driven attempt to remove a popular opposition figure and key challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential race, currently scheduled for 2028. Government officials reject accusations that legal actions against opposition figures are politically motivated and insist that Turkey’s courts operate independently.
On Friday, police questioned Imamoglu for four hours over the corruption accusations, during which he denied all of the charges, Cumhuriyet newspaper and other media reported. He was expected to be transferred to a courthouse later on Saturday for questioning by prosecutors and to face possible charges.
His arrest has ignited protests that have steadily increased in intensity.
On Friday, police in Istanbul used pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets to push back hundreds of protesters who tried to break through a barricade in front of the city’s historic aqueduct while hurling flares, stones and other objects at officers. Police also dispersed groups that had rallied outside of the city hall for a third night running, after the opposition Republican People’s Party leader, Ozgur Ozel, delivered a speech in support of the mayor.
Simultaneously, police broke up demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, as well as in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, resorting to forceful measures at times, according to television images. Thousands marched in several other cities calling on the government to resign.
A total of 97 people were detained nationwide in the protests, the Interior Ministry said. At least 16 police officers were injured.
Liberman: ‘The prime minister of October 7 is a threat to Israel’s security’
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman calls Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “threat to Israel’s security” after a day of rocket fire from three fronts.
“Rockets from Gaza, Yemen, and Lebanon within a day. The prime minister of October 7 is a threat to Israel’s security,” he writes on X.
Metula mayor says IDF, government trying ‘to normalize’ rocket fire after morning attack
Metula Mayor David Azoulai accuses the government and the IDF Northern Command of trying “to normalize” a situation of occasional rocket fire from the north, after launches from Lebanon this morning.
“We won’t allow them to normalize this. I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and of course IDF Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin to act offensively and make it so that not one bullet is fired ever again at northern communities,” he tells the Ynet news site.
“This is a failure, this is exactly the policy of containment of October 7. Instead of dealing with nonsense, start providing security to the country’s residents,” he says.
Lebanon’s PM asserts only state should decide ‘matters of war and peace’
A Lebanese army officer shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam an Israeli military position on the horizon, in the southern village of Khiam, February 28, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
CAIRO, Egypt — Lebanon’s prime minister warns of the potential renewal of military operations in the south of the country.
“All security and military measures must be taken to show that Lebanon decides on matters of war and peace,” Nawaf Salam says in a statement after Israel struck towns in southern Lebanon in response to a cross-border rocket launch.
IDF chief holds situational assessment after rocket fire from Lebanon
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir held a situational assessment over rocket fire from Lebanon at the northern town of Metula this morning, the IDF says.
The military says it holds the Lebanese government responsible for the ceasefire violation and will respond to the attack severely.
It adds that there are no changes to IDF Home Front Command instructions.
Kiryat Shmona mayor asks IDF Northern Command chief if he still thinks its safe to return to north
Kiryat Shmona mayor Avichai Stern casts his vote at a voting station on the morning of the Municipal Elections, in Kiryat Shmona, on February 18, 2025. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern asks the military’s Northern Command chief if he still believes it is safe for people to return to the north after at least five rockets were fired from Lebanon at Metula this morning.
“I have just one question for the head of the IDF’s Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, that said there is nothing preventing a return to the north — do you still think that?” Stern says in a statement cited by Hebrew media outlets.
Katz instructs IDF to respond to rocket fire: ‘The fate of Metula is the same as Beirut’
Defense Minister Israel Katz says he instructed the IDF to respond to the rocket attack from Lebanon this morning.
“We will not allow a reality of fire from Lebanon on the Galilee communities. We have promised security to the Galilee communities, and that is exactly what will happen,” he says.
Katz says that “the fate of Metula is the same as Beirut,” in an apparent threat to strike the Lebanese capital after five rockets were launched at the Israeli border community.
“The Lebanese government bears responsibility for any fire from its territory. I have instructed the IDF to respond accordingly,” he adds.
IDF said responding with artillery fire after rockets launched from south Lebanon
The IDF is reportedly responding with artillery fire against southern Lebanon after rockets were launched a short while ago at northern Israel.
At least five rockets were launched in the attack on the border community of Metula, with the IDF reporting that it intercepted three projectiles that crossed the border. The other two rockets apparently fell short in Lebanon.
الغارة الاسرائيلية المعادية التي استهدفت بلدة #يحمر #الشقيف قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/bIFIplchgH
— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) March 22, 2025
3 rockets fired from Lebanon at Metula, in first attack since December
Three rockets were fired from Lebanon a short while ago at the northern border community of Metula.
According to the IDF, all three rockets were intercepted by air defenses. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Sirens had sounded in Metula amid the rocket attack, the first from Lebanon since December.
There is no immediate claim of responsibility by Hezbollah for the rocket fire.
Rocket sirens sound twice in Metula
Incoming rocket sirens sound twice in the northern town of Metula.
The northern border has been calm since a ceasefire went into effect on November 27.
The military says it is looking into the matter.
צבע אדום (22/03/2025 07:32): מטולה pic.twitter.com/RqTuKAmLFF
— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) March 22, 2025
Thailand ‘disappointed’ by renewed Gaza fighting, urges release of Thai hostage
Thailand says it’s “disappointed” by the return to hostilities in Gaza and calls for the release of hostages, including a Thai national.
“Thailand is profoundly concerned about and disappointed at the return to hostilities in the Gaza Strip,” says a Thai foreign ministry statement.
The Southeast Asian nation urges “all sides to exercise utmost restraint, cease the hostilities and resume negotiations to implement the ceasefire and hostage agreement.”
It calls for the release of remaining hostages in Gaza — including one Thai — and the repatriation of the bodies of two Thai nationals.
Trump to revoke temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States, according to a Federal Register notice, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration.
It will be effective April 24.
Witkoff says Trump trying to build trust with Iran in order to prevent an armed conflict
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff says the US president is trying to head off armed conflict with Iran by building trust with Tehran in remarks broadcast.
In an interview with online news anchor Tucker Carlson published on X, Witkoff says Trump’s recent letter to the Islamic Republic had not been intended as a threat.
Witkoff, defending Trump’s outreach, tells Carlson that Trump has the military upper hand and it would be more natural for the Iranians to push for a diplomatic solution.
“Instead, it’s him doing that,” he says of the letter.
“It roughly said: ‘I’m a president of peace. That’s what I want. There’s no reason for us to do this militarily. We should talk,'” Witkoff says.
“We should create a verification program so that nobody worries about weaponization of your nuclear material… because the alternative is not a very good alternative.”
Witkoff says that US discussions with Iran continue through “back channels, through multiple countries and multiple conduits.”
Trump, he says, is “open to an opportunity to clean it all up with Iran, where they come back to the world and be a great nation once again… He wants to build trust with them.”
Trump revokes security clearances of his ex-presidential rivals Harris and Clinton
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump rescinds the security clearances for former vice president Kamala Harris and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and others, according to a memorandum issued by the White House.
The Republican president, who has also revoked the security clearance for former President Joe Biden, faced Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Harris in last year’s election.
German, French and UK FMs urge ‘immediate return’ to Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain call for an “immediate return” to a Gaza ceasefire, as Israel’s military presses its renewed offensive against Hamas.
“The resumption of Israeli strikes in Gaza marks a dramatic step backward for the people of Gaza. We are appalled by the civilian casualties and urgently call for an immediate return to a ceasefire,” the ministers say in a joint statement.
The joint appeal came after Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened Friday to annex parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas does not release the remaining Israeli hostages being held there.
The ministers — Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and Britain’s David Lammy — call on “all parties to reengage with negotiations to ensure the ceasefire is implemented in full and becomes permanent.”
They say Hamas must release the dozens of hostages remaining in the Palestinian territory and that the terror group “must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel anymore.”
The allies say Israel must “fully respect international law” and allow the flow of aid into the territory.
Houthis claim ballistic missile attack, threaten to keep targeting Ben Gurion Airport
Yemen’s Houthis take responsibility for Friday’s night ballistic missile attack against Israel, again claiming to have targeted Ben Gurion Airport.
In a statement, the Iran-backed rebels “warn all airlines that the so-called Ben Gurion Airport has become unsafe for air traffic and will remain so until the aggression against Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted.”
The Houthis also say they launched more drones at US warships in the Red Sea that have been involved in strikes against them.
IDF confirms airstrikes on Syrian military airbases targeting ‘remaining strategic capabilities’
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes on the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria a short while ago.
According to the IDF, the strikes targeted “remaining strategic military capabilities” at the two sites.
The airstrikes were carried out after the Israeli Air Intelligence Group — the Israeli Air Force’s intel unit — had been monitoring weapons and other strategic capabilities at the two military sites in central Syria over the recent period.
The strikes carried out by IAF fighter jets on the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase are described by military sources as “extensive,” taking out capabilities that will preserve Israel’s aerial superiority in the region.
Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel has vowed to destroy weapons in Syria it fears could fall into the hands of “hostile forces” that may seek to attack Israel.
צה"ל תקף לפני זמן קצר יכולות אסטרטגיות צבאיות שנותרו במרחב הבסיסים הצבאיים הסורים תדמור ו-T4.
צה״ל ימשיך לפעול על מנת להסיר כל איום על אזרחי מדינת ישראל pic.twitter.com/NQzQXJjz7f
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 21, 2025
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