Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Pro-Palestinian Cornell student activist told to surrender to immigration authorities
People walk on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, February 2, 2024. (AP/Seth Wenig)
A Cornell University student who sued the Trump administration because he feared it would try to deport him for participating in pro-Palestinian protests has been asked to surrender to immigration authorities.
Momodou Taal, a PhD student in Africana studies, got a notice Friday telling him to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to his attorneys. The agency did not set a deadline.
Taal, 31, filed a lawsuit March 15 seeking to block enforcement of executive orders by US President Donald Trump that have led to a growing crackdown on international students who participated in campus protests against Israel. Taal is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Gambia.
In a court filing, US Department of Justice lawyers said Taal’s student visa had also been revoked, even before he filed his lawsuit, but ICE agents had trouble locating him.
The revocation is based on Taal’s alleged involvement in “disruptive protests,” disregarding university policies and creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, the government said.
Taal was suspended from Cornell for a second time last fall after a group of pro-Palestinian activists disrupted a campus career fair. He has limited access to the upstate New York campus as he continues his studies remotely.
IDF chief hits back at defense minister: I don’t ‘receive instructions through the media’
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)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir hits back at Defense Minister Israel Katz for instructing him via a statement to the media to examine the conduct of the Military Advocate General, after a senior reserves officer — involved in an IDF October 7 probe — was summoned for a Military Police investigation.
“The chief of staff does not receive instructions through media announcements,” Zamir says in a statement released by the IDF.
“The claim that the officer was being investigated because of his part in the October 7 investigations is false and unfounded,” he says.
“The officer was summoned for questioning on suspicion of serious operational security violations. The investigation will continue to be conducted professionally,” Zamir says.
“I support the IDF’s law enforcement bodies, which are acting in accordance with the law to investigate suspicions, as required,” he adds.
Iran condemns US threats to use force and vows to defend its sovereignty
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani speaks at the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at the United Nations headquarters on October 2, 2024, in New York. (Bryan R. SMITH / AFP)
The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in a letter to the UN Security Council, slams “baseless accusations” and threats by senior US administration officials and President Donald Trump against Iran while trying to justify what he said were unlawful attacks against Yemen.
Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani warns that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the United States will bear full responsibility.”
He says Iran will “resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests under international law against any hostile action.”
The US has launched a series of airstrikes against strongholds of Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have disrupted international maritime trade by targeting ships in the Red Sea.
He urges the Security Council to speak out against the US’s “blatant provocations.” But since the US has veto power in the council, there is no chance of that happening.
Katz asks to meet dismissed senior officer involved in Oct 7. probe; IDF: He’s under investigation for ‘severe’ security violations
Defense Minister Israel Katz says he seeks to meet a senior reservist IDF officer who was responsible for the Gaza Division’s October 7 probe, after he was booted from reserve duty and is currently being investigated by the Military Police.
“I instructed Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon to be summoned to me as soon as possible so that he can present me with the investigation he conducted into October 7, which I have not yet seen,” says Katz in a statement.
Solomon’s investigation, which has not yet been made public, reportedly found fault in the higher echelons of the military. Many other IDF probes have come to similar conclusions.
Channel 12 news reported last week that Solomon, a member of the hawkish HaBithonistim group, told those close to him that he believes it is because he found fault in IDF’s top command he was removed from reserve duty.
“The fact that Brig. Gen. Solomon, who carried out with permission and authority an investigation… that criticized the senior IDF echelon, is called in for interrogation, is puzzling. I intend to ask the chief of staff to examine the conduct of the Military Advocate General,” Katz says.
Katz adds that “it cannot be perceived that Military Police investigations are a tool for silencing internal criticism in the IDF.”
The army responds to the incident, saying that Solomon was not arrested, but a Military Police investigation was opened into “severe operational security violations” by the officer.
The IDF says that after an initial examination of the findings, Solomon was called in for questioning, to which he showed up.
“The investigation is in its early stages and it is not possible to comment on the actions taken,” the military adds.
The army said last week that Solomon worked on the probe for a year with full support, that the end of his reserve duty is unrelated to the probe, which is still going on.
It added that the probe will be presented to the relevant communities and the public when finished, as all probes are.
After further rocket fire, IDF issues evacuation warning for Gaza’s Jabalia area
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, March 14, 2025. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)
Following the latest rocket attack by Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the northern Gaza Strip on Sderot and nearby communities this evening, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Jabalia area, where the projectile was fired from.
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.
Earlier this evening, two rockets were launched from north Gaza at Sderot. The IDF later issued an evacuation warning for the Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة جباليا
???? 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 جنوباً إلى مراكز الإيواء المعروفة. pic.twitter.com/HkFrb5lApp— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 24, 2025
Qatar condemns new Israeli measures on Gaza emigration, West Bank development
Qatar harshly rejects recently approved policies in Israel regarding the relocation of Gazans and bolstering of West Bank settlements.
“The State of Qatar condemns, in the strongest terms, the Israeli occupation’s announcement to establish an agency targeting the displacement of Palestinian brothers from the Gaza Strip, as well as its approval of the separation of 13 illegal settlement neighborhoods in the West Bank,” announces Doha’s Foreign Ministry on X.
“Any form of Palestinian displacement constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. Furthermore, the expansion of settlements represents a blatant disregard for international legitimacy,” the post continues.
Last night, the security cabinet approved a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz to establish a new administration in the Defense Ministry tasked with enabling Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Katz’s office said the new directorate will work to “prepare for and enable safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents for their voluntary departure to third countries.”
The security cabinet also approved yesterday a decision to split off 13 so-called “neighborhoods” of existing West Bank settlements from their “mother settlements,” thereby turning them into 13 independent settlements.
Qatar calls “for strong international solidarity to hold the occupation accountable for complying with the will for peace and to immediately end the brutal war on the Gaza Strip,” reaffirming its support for “the Palestinian cause and the resilience of the Palestinian people, based on international legitimacy and the two-state solution.”
Police looking for suspect who stole mezuzahs from London restaurant and synagogue
Authorities in London are investigating a potential antisemitic hate crime, after a masked man was seen tearing mezuzahs from the entrances of a kosher restaurant and a Chabad synagogue on Saturday.
The suspect, dressed in a hooded jacket, approached a kosher restaurant in West Hampstead and ripped the mezuzah from its doorpost just before 7 a.m. on Saturday.
Shortly afterward, he arrived at nearby Chabad synagogue, where he also wrenched the mezuzah from the entrance and pocketed it before walking away.
Both incidents were caught on security cameras. Police have yet to locate the suspect.
After mention in Hamas hostage video, freed captive Ohad Ben Ami vows to bring them home
Freed captive Ohad Ben Ami speaks in a video message published February 15, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
After he was mentioned by name by hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana in a Hamas propaganda video, released hostage Ohad Ben Ami says he will not rest until all of the captives are returned home.
“I love you and I miss you and the other three hostages who for now I can’t say their names,” Ben Ami writes in a Facebook post, saying he saw the video clip where Bohbot and Ohana beg for him to speak up about their conditions in captivity.
“They fear for their lives, they are lacking all hope and as we speak the conditions of their captivity are being worsened and their food is being reduced since we returned to fighting [in Gaza],” writes Ben Ami, who says he is currently in Germany as part of efforts to lobby for their release.
Ben Ami demands that every hostage returns home, “not today, but already yesterday! Even if it means an immediate stop to the fighting.” He says that Israel can always deal with Hamas later, but the hostages must be brought home now, “as it is not certain that they will continue to live in the coming days, since they are in constant danger of death from the moment the fighting resumed.”
He promises to “do everything in my power to bring you and all the hostages home to your families alive!!!”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad again claims responsibility for Gaza rocket fire
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claims responsibility again for shooting rockets at Sderot today.
The second round of rocket fire came about two hours after two rockets were shot toward the Sderot area earlier this evening, also claimed by PIJ.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
IDF to carry out exercise near Lebanon border tomorrow morning
An IDF Merkava main battle tank is deployed by the concrete border wall at a position along Israel's northern border with Lebanon on February 18, 2025. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
The IDF says that tomorrow morning it will be carrying out a military exercise in the Western Galilee and near the Lebanon border.
The drill will last for several hours, and there will be an increased presence of aircraft and forces in the area, the army adds.
Anti-government protesters continue to rally near prime minister’s residence
Singer Achinoam Nini joins the drummers at the March 24, 2025 protest near the Prime Minister’s Residence on Jerusalem's Azza Street. (Zohar Bar-Yehuda/ Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Anti-government protests continue on Jerusalem’s Azza Street throughout the day and night, bolstered by protesters arriving from Haifa in the morning. Singer Achinoam Nini joined the drummers in the evening near the prime minister’s private residence, where the protests have taken place every night.
The demonstrators chant, “We, the majority, have returned to the street!”
The louder, more raucous evening protest follows the silent Shift 101 sit-in participants who sat on the asphalt all afternoon, calling for the return of the hostages. Later, a “teach-in” about the law and the role of the attorney general was held in light of the unanimous cabinet vote yesterday in favor of a no-confidence motion against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Oscar-winning Palestinian activist injured, arrested, after attack by settlers in Susya
Palestinian sources report that dozens of settlers arrived this evening near the village of Susya in the southern West Bank and threw stones at residents, cars and houses. According to the police, Palestinians responded by throwing stones back.
Footage from the scene shows a masked individual throwing stones and attacking Palestinians and hitting the car of activists who had come to assist the residents. According to a Palestinian at the scene, another Palestinian vehicle was also damaged by stones.
Four Palestinians were injured by stones, most of them lightly, according to eyewitnesses. Police say that three Palestinians were arrested.
One eyewitness reports that Hamdan Ballal, one of the creators of the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” was among the arrested and injured. He was hit in the head by a stone, and his condition remains unclear.
An Israeli minor was also arrested, but was released due to injuries from a rock, and will be summoned for questioning by the police at a later time, they said. There was no immediate response from the IDF.
Breaking: settlers attack Palestinians and international activists in Masafer Yatta pic.twitter.com/Q9FMHjzI6w
— Anna????????️ (@anna_lippman) March 24, 2025
At start of budget debate, Lapid accuses government of ‘stealing money’ from working Israelis
Yesh Atid party chair Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, on March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Addressing the Knesset plenum at the beginning of an extended debate prior to the passage of the 2025 state budget, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of knowingly “hurting working people.”
Netanyahu “sacrificed them on the altar of politics” and is “stealing their money and transferring it to coalition partners,” Lapid alleges, insisting that the budget “brings us dangerously close to the point where this country will not be able to support itself.”
“What you see on the Knesset channel is people sitting and voting. What is really happening is that the Israeli government is entering our homes, entering our bank accounts, stealing the money of the productive and working public and transferring it to the draft dodgers and the corrupt,” he argues.
“The government no longer even pretends to be managing the economy. Notice how Netanyahu distances himself from this budget. He has not said a word about the economy for months. [This is] not by chance. He knows what’s going on here.”
“Trust Netanyahu, if this were a good budget, if there were any good news in it, he would be standing here right now with his chest puffed out and explaining that it was all because of him,” Lapid continues. “If you take NIS 1.3 billion from the convalescence payments of working people, and give it as a coalition bribe to people who do not work – that is not a budget. It is theft,” he says.
“If during a time of war, you distribute NIS 5.4 billion of coalition funds to corrupt wheeler-dealers and yeshivas of draft dodgers, that is not a budget, it is theft. If you maintain 15 unnecessary government ministries, which cost endless money and only create more and more bureaucracy – that is not a budget. It is theft.”
IDF says it intercepted another rocket fired from Gaza at Sderot
One rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel was intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in Sderot and nearby communities.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Shrapnel from intercepted Houthi missile lands in Beit Shemesh
Shrapnel following the interception of a Houthi ballistic missile fired at Israel from Yemen is seen in Beit Shemesh, March 25, 2025. (Fire and Rescue Service)
Several pieces of shrapnel following the interception of this evening’s Houthi missile landed in the city of Beit Shemesh, outside Jerusalem.
No major damage was caused, and there were no injuries, according to rescue authorities.
The IDF said the missile from Yemen was intercepted outside the country’s borders. Still, shrapnel following the interception continued to fall and reached Israel.
Family of hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana approves publication of Hamas propaganda video
Hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana (left) and Elkana Bohbot seen in a Hamas propaganda video released on March 24, 2025. (Screenshot)
The family of hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana also approves the publication of a Hamas propaganda clip released earlier today, showing him in captivity alongside fellow hostage Elkana Bohbot.
In the video, the pair laments the terrible conditions inside a tunnel in Gaza, and accuse the government of trying to silence former hostages from speaking out. They say their conditions have worsened after the end of the ceasefire and Israel’s resumption of airstrikes in Gaza.
The pair appeal directly to freed hostage Ohad Ben Ami, who was held alongside them, begging him to speak about their conditions while in captivity.
אות חיים מהשבי: משפחותיהם של אלקנה בוחבוט ויוסף חיים אוחנה אישרו את שידור הסרטוןhttps://t.co/S4VrVMq5LN@maya_aidan pic.twitter.com/s3XUFyjx0L
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) March 24, 2025
Rocket sirens sound again in Sderot and nearby towns
Incoming rocket sirens are again sounding in Sderot and nearby towns.
The IDF says it is investigating.
Earlier this evening, two rockets were launched from northern Gaza at the area.
Military confirms accidentally firing on Red Cross building today in Gaza, says it is investigating
IDF troops operate in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, in southern Gaza, on March 23, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The military says it is investigating after its tanks shelled an office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza earlier today.
According to the IDF, troops operating in Rafah opened fire on a building after spotting suspects in it and believed it to be a threat.
“After an examination, it emerged that the identification was incorrect, and the building belongs to the Red Cross,” the army says.
The IDF says that the troops did not know the building belonged to the Red Cross when they opened fire on it. This is despite the organization’s flag flying over the building.
No injuries were caused in the incident, but damage was caused to the building.
The military says the incident is under further investigation.
???? دبابات الاحتلال تقصف مقر الصليب الأحمر الدولي غرب مدينة #رفح جنوب #غزة. pic.twitter.com/zHDe6X6Qns
— عربي بوست (@arabic_post) March 24, 2025
White House accidentally texted reporter its plans for strikes on Houthis in Yemen
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 White House confirms that a journalist was included in a text group in which US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others planned military strikes in Yemen.
“We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain,” National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said.
The Atlantic magazine published a story by editor Jeffrey Goldberg which said that “US national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.”
IDF issues evacuation warning for Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun after rocket fire at Sderot
Smoke rises from a strike carried out by Israeli forces on a Palestinian building in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on March 24, 2025. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)
Following rocket fire by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the northern Gaza Strip on Sderot and nearby communities a short while ago, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas, where the two projectiles were fired from.
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.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة بيت لاهيا وبيت حانون. 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/PU3uzAE4C9— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 24, 2025
IDF arrests around 30 suspects in Rafah, kills approximately 20 terror operatives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing the city of Rafah amid ongoing Israeli military operations, arrive in Khan Younis, Gaza, on March 23, 2025. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
IDF troops have detained some 30 suspects during operations in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip, including a terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught, according to military sources.
Tel Sultan was encircled by the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade yesterday in a four-hour-long offensive. During the operation, the IDF estimates that some 20 terror operatives were killed, including in airstrikes.
The troops also raided a Hamas command center in the neighborhood, the IDF says.
The IDF’s Gaza Division continues to operate in the Rafah area and on the outskirts of Khan Younis. The military says the operation is intended to expand a buffer zone along the border with the Strip.
UN says it is pulling approximately a third of its staffers from Gaza
People load their carts with sacks of flour at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aid distribution center in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 3, 2024. (Eyad Baba / AFP)
The United Nations says it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer and wounding five others.
Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the UN guesthouse in central Gaza. In a statement today, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric says that “based on the information currently available,” the strikes on the site “were caused by an Israeli tank.”
The IDF did not immediately comment.
Dujarric says the UN “has made the difficult decision to reduce the organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.”
He says the world body is cutting back about a third of its approximately 100 international staffers in Gaza. He says the UN “is not leaving Gaza,” pointing out that it still has about 13,000 national staff in Gaza, mainly working for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
IDF says Houthi missile intercepted by air defenses outside country
The interception of a Houthi ballistic missile fired from Yemen at Israel, March 24, 2025. (Courtesy of Bareket Askeloni)
A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
The IDF says the missile was shot down before crossing the country’s borders. Footage appears to show shrapnel falling following the interception.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.
Sirens had sounded across central Israel and in several communities near Jerusalem.
It marks the sixth Houthi attack on Israel in the past week.
A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
The IDF says the missile was shot down before crossing the country's borders. Footage appears to show shrapnel falling down following the… https://t.co/5233s1NspG pic.twitter.com/8egpoSBPks
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 24, 2025
Houthi missile triggers sirens across wide swath of central Israel
A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel.
Sirens are sounding across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot and the outskirts of Jerusalem.
The IDF is looking into the details.
Netanyahu tells High Court it has no authority to intervene on firing of Ronen Bar
Illustrative: All 15 High Court justices preside over a court hearing on petitions against the government's 'reasonableness law' at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government argue in legal submissions to the High Court of Justice that the court does not have scope for judicial intervention over their recent decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar since who heads the agency is a matter of state security, a policy forum over which the court has traditionally refused to intervene.
The government’s submission also points out that Bar wrote a damning letter detailing numerous allegations against Netanyahu and the government, and argues that the court cannot force the prime minister and the government to work with a Shin Bet chief they do not trust.
The government further contends that Bar decided not to appear before the cabinet to rebut the claims against him and did not petition the court himself, arguing that previous court rulings have held that petitions by public groups regarding an individual who did not himself challenge the decision should not be heard.
The submission also argues against claims that Netanyahu and the government had a conflict of interest in firing Bar due to the Shin Bet’s ongoing investigation into allegedly unlawful ties between Netanyahu’s aides and Qatar, claiming that the investigation was initiated to thwart Bar’s dismissal.
The submission comes in response to petitions to the court by several political parties and government watchdog groups demanding an interim injunction freezing Bar’s dismissal. The court already issued a temporary injunction freezing the government’s firing of the Shin Bet chief, but an interim injunction would remain in place until the court makes a final decision.
A hearing has been set for the petitions for April 8, although the court may rule on the request for an interim injunction before that date.
In symbolic move, Goldknopf resigns secondary ministerial role but will stay housing minister
Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf at a United Torah Judaism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Yitzhak Goldknopf, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, resigns from his secondary ministerial position as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, citing the government’s lack of progress on passing a bill exempting yeshiva students from military conscription.
The move is symbolic as Goldknopf retains his position as minister of housing and construction, and therefore remains in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Writing to Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, Goldknopf states that he had accepted the position on the orders of his rabbis as a “guarantee for advancing the law regulating the status of Torah scholars.”
“Last night, the leadership of the United Torah Judaism faction, our teachers and rabbis, met and took upon themselves the responsibility for continuing to advance the issue. In light of this, I return the guarantee and hereby submit my resignation from the position of minister in the Prime Minister’s Office,” he explains.
Goldknopf and several other members of his Agudat Yisrael faction had previously threatened to vote against the state budget, bringing down the government, if it did not first deal with the conscription issue. Despite his threats, following the far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s return to the government, Goldknopf lost his leverage and backed down, with all of his faction’s MKs voting in favor of the Economic Arrangements Law last Thursday.
IDF says two rockets fired toward Sderot were intercepted; PIJ claims responsibility
Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel were successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in Sderot and several nearby communities.
It marks the third rocket attack from Gaza on Israel since the military resumed its offensive against Hamas last week.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for shooting the rockets.
Trump predicts more countries will join Abraham Accords
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. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)
US President Donald Trump vows that more countries will be added to the Abraham Accords, the series of normalization agreements his administration negotiated between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during his first term.
Trump, speaking to reporters at a cabinet meeting at the White House, says more countries want to join the accords.
US Vice President JD Vance touts the achievement of the Abraham Accords and alleges that “the Biden administration did absolutely nothing with it. Built on it not at all. Added zero additional countries. Purely out of political spite.”
Vance says that with the return of Trump to the White House, they are being tasked with “building out the Abraham Accords, adding new countries to it,” and that while it’s “early, we’ve made a lot of progress.”
Rocket alert sirens sounding in Sderot, Zikim, Nir Am and other Gaza border towns
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in Sderot and several other communities near the border with the Gaza Strip.
The alerts are activated in Sderot, Netiv Ha’asara, Karmia, Zikim, Nir Am and Ibim.
The IDF is looking into the details.
Family of hostage Elkana Bohbot: You can see in video that ‘he is in bad shape’
Hostage Elkana Bohbot seen in a Hamas propaganda video released on March 24, 2025. (Screenshot)
The family of hostage Elkana Bohbot approves the publication of a Hamas propaganda video released earlier today featuring him, although the family of hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana, who appears alongside him, has yet to do so.
In a statement, Bohbot’s family says they can see “in the video that he is in bad shape, that he has lost a lot of weight from continued starvation, that he is suffering from problems with his skin and his breathing,” noting that he suffers from asthma and “hasn’t seen the light of day for almost a year and a half!”
משפחתו של אלקנה בוחבוט אישרה לפרסם את החלק את החלק בסרטון חמאס בו הוא מופיע: "הוא זועק לעזרה וזועק שלא נשכח אותו במנהרות הגיהנום. מדי יום ראם, שואל מה עם אבא. מתי נוכל להגיד לו שהוא חוזר? גם הילד הזה נמצא במנהרה חשוכה ובשבי"@AnnaPines_ @NOFARMOS https://t.co/QUQbVQVRZ4 pic.twitter.com/snm0JWjJPv
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 24, 2025
Bohbot’s family adds that the video is “further proof that Elkana has to return home to his family, to his wife Rivka and his son Re’em David. Elkana is screaming for help and screaming that we don’t forget him in the tunnels of hell.”
His family issues an appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to “think that this is your son, your father or your grandson, who is waiting to see the light of day.”
In the clip, the hostages beg freed captive Ohad Ben-Ami, who was held alongside them during captivity, to speak out about their horrible conditions inside the tunnel.
Rebel Otzma Yehudit MK being pressured to take ministerial role to oust him as MK
Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen in the Knesset, January 20, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party is pressuring rebel MK Almog Cohen to accept a deputy ministerial position in order to get him out of the Knesset, according to Hebrew media reports.
Getting Cohen to accept such an appointment would allow him to resign his seat, allowing former Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot to rejoin the Knesset under the so-called Norwegian Law — which allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats filled by members of their parties.
When Amichai Eliyahu resigned as heritage minister in January, his exit forced the resignation of Sukkot, who held a lower spot on the two parties’ joint electoral list in the 2022 legislative election.
Speaking with The Times of Israel last week, an Otzma Yehudit source said that following the party’s return to the government, neither Eliyahu nor Yitzhak Wasserlauf, who’s the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister, would be able to resign under the Norwegian Law. Eliyahu had already resigned once and is barred from doing so again and Wasserlauf represents a one-man faction within the party that would no longer have Knesset representation were he to do so.
The source says today that Cohen’s resignation would help the party sideline an MK who has consistently bucked party discipline and continued to vote with the coalition during the party’s time in the opposition.
In a WhatsApp message to The Times of Israel, Cohen says he was offered a position “unofficially” through intermediaries but would not accept even a full ministerial position.
“Jobs and positions are less interesting to me,” he says.
Ben Gvir denies physical confrontation with Shin Bet chief during security meeting
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (left) and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar (Flash90/composite image)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir denies media reports that Mossad head David Barnea and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir were forced to intervene to prevent a physical confrontation between him and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar at a security consultation last night.
While Ben Gvir has confirmed confronting Bar during the meeting, as initially reported, he vehemently denies a new Channel 12 report stating that the two men had to be kept separate as he “lost his temper,” requiring intervention by Barnea and Zamir.
The confrontation came in the wake of a previous Channel 12 report that the Shin Bet conducted a covert probe into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police following suspected political meddling in the force by Ben Gvir’s office.
“Any statement that even hints at a physical confrontation in the room between Minister Ben Gvir and Ronen Bar, or an attempt at such a confrontation, is not only a spin designed to divert attention from the political and mafia investigation that Bar has led but also constitutes defamation,” Ben Gvir’s office says in a statement.
“A number of reporters published the lie and were forced to publish a clarification or delete it. The minister clarifies that any false publication on the subject will result in a defamation lawsuit,” the statement continues.
Ben Gvir admits that he sharply criticized and raised his voice against Bar, but says that there was “no incident that came close to a physical confrontation. This is a complete lie.”
Addressing reporters in the Knesset earlier today, Ben Gvir accused Bar of collecting intelligence on Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, stating that he “should sit in prison” for having “conspired” against Israeli democracy.
Deputy Minister Avi Maoz quits government, railing against pressure of ‘deep state’
Noam party chairman Avi Maoz speaks during a function at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, March 20, 2023. (Erik Marmor/ Flash90/ File)
Following through on a threats, Deputy Minister Avi Maoz submits his resignation letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, railing against an alleged “deep state,” which he claims has taken over the Justice and Education Ministries.
This alleged cabal of officials is “instilling a hyper-progressive, anti-Jewish and anti-national worldview into the education and legal system in Israel,” he writes.
Maoz, who as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office oversaw educational vendors who supplement curricula in public schools by way of his Jewish National Identity Office, claims that under pressure from the “deep state,” the Education Ministry halted collaboration with him.
The sole lawmaker representing the anti-LGBTQ, anti-feminist Noam party also blames the “deep state” for preventing the allocation of additional budgets for national religious schools and claims that no part of his coalition agreement with Netanyahu’s Likud has been fulfilled — leaving him a deputy minister in name only.
This is the second time that Maoz has quit the government. In February 2023, he resigned, stating that he did not believe he would be put in charge of a “Jewish national identity” hierarchy, as stipulated in his coalition agreement.
Then in May, he returned, after being granted the authority to exercise oversight over educational vendors in public schools, following a cabinet decision handing him NIS 285 million ($76 million) in funding for his Jewish National Identity Office.
Hamas publishes propaganda clip featuring hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana
People walk in the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, on September 27, 2024, next to the market stand belonging to Elkana Bohbot, who was kidnapped from the Nova festival. (AP /Ohad Zwigenberg)
Hamas publishes a propaganda video showing a sign of life from Israeli hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, who were both kidnapped from the Nova festival on October 7 and are still being held in Gaza.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
The Hostage Families Forum asks that Israeli media not publish the video or stills from the clip until the family approves them.
Gantz: Menachem Begin is ‘spinning in his grave’ over Netanyahu’s actions
National Unity party head MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The late prime minister Menachem Begin, founder of the Likud party, is “spinning in his grave” over the behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz avers, arguing that growing divisions in Israeli society pose a threat to national security.
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are once again firing rockets and missiles at Israel, “terrorism is hitting us in the heart of the country” and “despite all the military achievements and American backing, Iran is not advancing a nuclear agreement,” he says,
“Anyone who ignores it now is knowingly harming the country’s security,” he continues, slamming Netanyahu for taking action against Israeli institutions.
“Prime Minister, what are you doing? The firing of the head of the Shin Bet, the firing of the attorney general, the return to the coup d’état, talk about the deep state, and working against the state institutions, the passage of the evasion law and the evasion budgets are how we tear the people apart and give a gift to our enemies,” Gantz continues.
“Instead of taking advantage of the backing we receive from the White House, we are dismantling our own house,” he says, calling on Netanyahu to resign.
“There is no deep state, and we have no other country,” Gantz says, arguing in favor of “a broad, Zionist consensus government.”
“The prime minister said on Friday that there will be no civil war. I remind him that Menachem Begin did not just speak, he acted. He did what was right for the people during the war and his friends paid a bloody price. Netanyahu is not even willing to pay a political price. Begin is spinning in his grave when he sees what Netanyahu says about the supremacy of the law,” Gantz says — promising to “follow Begin’s path.”
In 1948, Begin refused to allow followers of his Irgun militia to fire back at forces loyal to prime minister David Ben Gurion during the sinking of the Altalena, an Irgun arms ship, instead stating that his men would “not raise arms against fellow Jews” and would “not start a civil war, no matter the provocation.”
In an apparent effort to project harmony within the party, National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot addresses the press following Gantz, arguing that, since October 7, “no war aims have been achieved” and that the government is instead “focused on its struggle against the gatekeepers and the justice system.”
Tensions have been growing between Gantz and Eisenkot, who polls show enjoys mounting support to replace Gantz as the head of the National Unity party. According to the Haaretz daily, Eisenkot is seeking to unite center-left parties in the next elections, possibly under his leadership, in a bid to prevent former prime minister Naftali Bennett — widely expected to run — from winning opposition votes.
Red Cross says its office in southern Gaza damaged by projectile
An office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza was damaged by an explosive projectile on Monday, the aid organization says, adding that no one was injured in the incident.
“The ICRC strongly decries the attack against its premises,” the organization says in a statement. The attack has a direct impact on the ICRC’s ability to operate, it adds.
The ICRC does not directly blame any party for the attack.
דיווח: מטה של הצלב אדום באזור רפיח הופגז ע"י טנק של צה"ל. הצלב האדום בתגובה: "לא נפגעו אנשי צוות, אבל לנזק יש השפעה על יכולת הארגון לפעול באזור"@OmerShahar123 @itamargalit pic.twitter.com/uagcr1eXd4
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 24, 2025
There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
Iran denies reports its tankers have been seized by the US
The Iranian supertanker Grace 1 is seen off the coast of Gibraltar on August 15, 2019. (Jorge Guerrero/AFP)
Iran’s oil ministry denies reports, attributed to the Iraqi oil minister, about Iranian oil tankers being seized by the United States, Iran’s oil ministry news agency SHANA reports.
Iraq’s oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, has said that Iranian oil tankers seized by US forces in the Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents.
IDF says it destroyed more than 100 pickup trucks in Gaza used by Hamas
A Toyota pickup truck ablaze in Gaza after an IDF raid, March 24, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
The IDF says it destroyed over 100 pickup trucks used by Hamas terrorists in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip today.
The trucks were used by Hamas in its October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in southern Israel, as well as for other operations in Gaza, including to transfer weapons, the army says.
Armed Hamas gunmen were also seen parading in the vehicles during recent hostage release propaganda ceremonies.
The airstrikes targeting the pickup trucks were carried out in all areas of Gaza. One strike hit a building where several pickup trucks were being stored, the military adds.
This video released by the IDF on March 24, 2025, shows strikes on Hamas pickup trucks in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
Yair Golan: Netanyahu is too busy with his ‘war on the country’ to protect Israel
The Democrats party leader Yair Golan speaks to the media outside the Knesset, March 24, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is so “busy with its war on the country and its citizens” that it is “leading to the collapse of Israel’s security in all respects,” accuses The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, calling on President Isaac Herzog to “choose a side.”
Speaking with reporters in the Knesset ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting, Golan says the government is “busy with political survival” and is “increasingly distancing itself from the public, ignoring its needs.”
Golan calls on President Isaac Herzog to speak out about the immediate “danger to Israeli democracy.”
“We are in an era of decisions, [we must] recognize that there is a government here that has no intention of uniting the people or bringing about reconciliation. This is not a rift in the people, this is a bad government that is destroying the people,” Golan adds.
“Are you with the government or with the people?” he asks.
Knesset committee to select MK for panel that will weigh firing of attorney general
Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman leads a committee meeting at the Knesset on February 25, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will convene to chose the Knesset representative for the five-member statutory committee for hiring and firing an attorney general on April 8.
The government resolved to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara yesterday by passing a motion of no-confidence against her, although that motion itself is not part of the formal process to remove the attorney general from office.
The justice minister must first inform the statutory committee of the government’s desire to fire the attorney general. That committee currently lacks two members, an MK and a former justice minister or attorney general.
Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman states in a letter to committee members that all MKs who are not ministers or deputy ministers are entitled to submit their candidacy for the position by April 2.
The entire process for firing Baharav-Miara is likely to take many weeks and possibly months, especially since the government has yet to find a former justice minister or attorney general willing and able to fill that position on the committee.
The final and likely inevitable decision by the government to fire her will almost certainly be challenged by petitions to the High Court of Justice, which has the power of judicial review over administrative action by the government.
Liberman says he will ask president to intervene if government ignores High Court ruling
Yisrael Beytenu party chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Should the government ignore a potential High Court of Justice ruling blocking the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman says he will appeal to President Isaac Herzog to intervene.
Railing against “the transformation of the State of Israel from a democratic state into a dark dictatorship,” Liberman tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset that such a move would be a “red line that separates democracy from dictatorship.”
As he speaks, he holds up a picture of an old-fashioned bomb with a red line across it, similar to a prop displayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in 2012.
“Should the government decide not to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling, I will appeal to the president of the state by virtue of his authority as stipulated in Basic Law: The President of the State,” he says, in a statement widely interpreted by the Hebrew press as a threat to have President Isaac Herzog remove Netanyahu from office.
However, the clause quoted by Liberman says that the president may appoint and remove judges and other officeholders from their positions in line with Knesset legislation, none of which grants him the power to impeach the prime minister.
“The president of the state must appeal to all state institutions and bodies in the country and make it clear to them that they are obliged to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling and not with any other directive,” Liberman continues, saying that Herzog will also need to instruct the Shin Bet “to act decisively and do everything in order to preserve the democratic regime and its institutions in the State of Israel.”
“The president of the state will also have to instruct the IDF and the police to act in accordance with this law, and to provide full support to the General Security Service in its efforts to preserve the democratic nature of the state,” he adds. “We all need to remember that every officeholder and all state institutions must be loyal to the kingdom and not to the king. As soon as this changes, democracy becomes a dictatorship, and we will prevent this.”
Asked if Liberman meant that he would ask Herzog to remove Netanyahu, a spokesperson replies that what he was saying “is that when the State of Israel becomes a dictatorship, the president’s role is to protect democracy.”
A spokesman for the president’s office declines to comment.
According to Dr. Dana Blander, a research fellow at the israel Democracy Institute, the law cited by Liberman “says that the president will fulfill the duties he has in law regarding the appointment of judges and other office holders and their removal from office.”
“But there is no law that gives the president the authority to remove a prime minister from office,” she says.
Report: Al Jazeera reporter identified by IDF as Hamas operative killed in strike
Gaza media reports that Hossam Shabat, an Al Jazeera channel reporter in northern Gaza, was killed in an Israeli airstrike while he was in his car.
A short time before that, Gaza media reported that Mohamad Mansor, a reporter in Falstin Al-Yom channel of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was also killed in a strike.
Last October, the IDF said it had uncovered documents in the Gaza Strip that showed that Shabat is a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion.
There is no official comment from the IDF at this time.
IDF says Hamas lying about top official being killed in strike under medical care at hospital
The IDF says Hamas’s claim that top official Ismail Barhoum was receiving medical treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, before he was killed in a strike last night, is “completely false.”
“The claim that Barhoum was in Nasser Hospital for medical treatment is completely false and was spread to mislead the public and the media,” says IDF international media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani on X.
“Barhoum was in the hospital in order to commit acts of terrorism, cynically using hospital patients and the population in the area as human shields. He remained in the hospital for many weeks, during which he held meetings with other terrorists and senior figures in the terrorist organization,” he says.
Shoshani says the IDF suggests that “the media refrain from echoing the falsehoods of the Hamas terrorist organization and its members and check the facts before publishing such claims.”
“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law and takes over civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, in a way that prevents the rehabilitation and livelihood of the civilians of Gaza,” he adds.
Lebanese leaders in contact with US, France, to prevent Israeli strikes on Beirut
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)
Lebanese leaders have been in intensive contact with Washington and Paris to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut, a Lebanese official says, after Israel responded to rocket fire on Saturday morning with strikes on the country.
It was the first time rockets were fired from Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect on November 27.
The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, says Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam “made diplomatic contact with France and the United States… as well as with the UN, to achieve de-escalation following Israeli threats to target Beirut.”
The US, France, and the United Nations belong to a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.
During two months of full-scale war leading up to the ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes pounded the south Beirut bastion of Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group but sometimes also struck in the city center.
Salam “emphasized the need to control security and prevent a repeat of rocket fire” against Israel, the official adds.
No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said was launched from an area north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire agreement.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Wave of IDF strikes in Gaza targets pickup trucks used by Hamas terrorists
A Toyota pickup truck ablaze in Gaza after an IDF raid, March 24, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Over the past few hours, the Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of airstrikes targeting empty cars, including pickup trucks and other industrial vehicles, in various locations across the Strip, according to Palestinian media reports.
The military confirms to The Times of Israel that it has carried out dozens of airstrikes in Gaza since last night, targeting Hamas infrastructure, including vehicles in use by the terror group.
An Israeli soldier stands next to a pickup truck from Gaza mounted with a machine gun in the southern city of Sderot on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian terror group Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel, (Oren ZIV / AFP)
According to the reports and footage, many of the targeted pickup trucks are white Toyota models, which are commonly used by Hamas’s military wing.
Such pickup trucks were used by Hamas terrorists during the October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.
Hamas gunmen ride Toyota pickup trucks through Gaza City ahead of the release of Israeli hostages on February 1, 2025. (Reuters screenshot)
Armed Hamas gunmen were also seen parading in the vehicles during recent hostage release propaganda ceremonies.
#فيديو | اللحظات الأولى بعد قصف الاحتلال مركبة للنازحين في أرض المشتل غرب غزة قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/lDHFEgeEsZ
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) March 24, 2025
The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on several empty pickup trucks and other industrial vehicles across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media reports.
Such vehicles are commonly used by Hamas's military wing.
The IDF has not yet commented. pic.twitter.com/3oTPr5xnTQ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 24, 2025
IDF said to launch probe of unauthorized demolition of central Gaza hospital
The IDF blows up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, in a video circulated on social media on March 21, 2025. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The military has reportedly launched an investigation into the apparent unapproved demolition of a hospital in the central Gaza Strip last week.
Footage posted to social media on Friday showed that the IDF blew up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, located in the Netzarim Corridor area.
In response to a query, the IDF claimed that it carried out an airstrike on a group of Hamas operatives who were residing at the hospital, which the terror group had turned into “terror infrastructure.”
But the clip posted online showed a controlled demolition of the hospital, rather than an airstrike.
The Haaretz daily now reports that the army has launched an investigation into the incident and it is suspected that the commander of the 252nd Division, Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach, ordered the demolition without receiving approval from his superiors.
The demolition of sensitive sites in Gaza, such as hospitals and universities, requires the approval of senior officers, including the chief of the Southern Command and the IDF chief of staff.
Haaretz reports that the Military Advocate General instructed Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor to investigate the matter.
Vach’s name was brought up in a separate Haaretz investigation in January, claiming that the division commander had endangered the lives of troops with an aggressive attitude to operations and sent forces into combat areas without adequate preparation.
Israel confirms top Hamas official killed in strike on Gaza hospital
Ismail Barhoum of Hamas, who was killed in an IDF strike on March 23, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law.)
The IDF and Shin Bet confirm that top Hamas official Ismail Barhoum was targeted and killed in a strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis last night.
Not long after the strike, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Barhoum had been eliminated. Hamas also made an announcement.
According to the military and Shin Bet, Barhoum, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, was chief of the terror group’s finances and the successor to Issam Da’alis, the de-facto prime minister of Gaza, who was killed last week.
“Barhoum was a key figure in Hamas’ political bureau and was actively involved in the military decision-making process that directly impacted Hamas’ operations,” the joint statement says.
The IDF and Shin Bet say that he oversaw Hamas’s “financial management in the Gaza Strip, channeling funds to Hamas’s military wing, financing and planning the execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel. These funds financed the organization’s continued survival in the Gaza Strip and were used to carry out terror attacks and to purchase weapons, which posed a threat to Israeli civilians.”
While Hamas had claimed that Barhoum was at Nasser Hospital for medical treatment after being wounded in a previous strike, the IDF says he was operating from within the medical center.
“This is yet another example of the way that the Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law while taking over civilian infrastructure in a manner that prevents the rehabilitation and livelihood of the Gazan population, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terror attacks against the State of Israel,” the statement adds.
Ex-IDF deputy chief Amir Baram appointed Defense Ministry director general
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and new Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram are seen at a ceremony at the ministry, March 24, 2025. (Defense Ministry)
Former IDF deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, has been appointed the Defense Ministry’s director general.
Former director general and current IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir attended a handover ceremony today at the Defense Ministry.
Itamar Graf, the Defense Ministry deputy director and head of its planning division, had been acting director since Zamir was appointed as head of the military.
Baram, Zamir, and a third general, Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, were named by Katz as potential successors to former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Zamir was chosen as IDF chief, and Yadai was selected as his deputy — replacing Baram — leaving Baram without a role, until Katz appointed him as director of the defense ministry, replacing Zamir.
Israel has not received new hostage deal proposal, official says
Israel has not received any new proposal for a hostage release, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
An Egyptian official told the AP earlier today that Hamas “responded positively” to an outline that would see five living hostages released for an extended pause in the fighting.
“We haven’t heard of any new proposal,” says the official.
Israel is still trying to get Hamas to agree to the US-backed “Witkoff proposal,” says the official. The proposal, rejected by Hamas thus far, would have seen the ceasefire extended through April 19 and have Hamas release five living hostages in exchange for a large number of Palestinian security prisoners. Israel says it accepted Witkoff’s proposal, but the proposal would only have freed 11 living hostages.
If Hamas doesn’t agree to Israel’s terms, “we will keep increasing the pressure until Hamas breaks,” says the official.
If that doesn’t happen, Israel “will embark on a widespread ground campaign” in Gaza, according to the official.
Israel has not yet decided on what it will do “on the civilian side” in Gaza, including whether it will implement a military government over the Strip.
Karem Jabarin, 25, resident of Arab town, named as perpetrator in morning terror attack
The perpetrator of this morning’s deadly combined ramming, stabbing and shooting attack near Yokne’am is identified by defense authorities as Karem Jabarin, 25, from the Arab-majority town of Ma’ale Iron.
He was killed by Border Police officers at the scene.
Lapid: 2025 state budget is ‘greatest robbery in the history of the country’
Yesh Atid party chair Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, on March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The 2025 state budget is the “greatest robbery in the history of the country,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of stealing billions of shekels from the middle class in order to serve his own political interests.
“What is on the Knesset table is not a budget, it is theft. Billions upon billions that are stolen from the money of the middle class, reservists, and taxpayers, are going into the pockets of corrupt businessmen, dodgers, and refusers,” Lapid tells reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“Billions are being stolen and given to yeshivas where Goldknopf dances and sings against those who enlist. Yesterday, Minister Goldknopf gave new meaning to the phrase ‘dancing on blood,'” he says, using a Hebrew expression for gloating.
Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf caused a political uproar Sunday evening after a video emerged of the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party dancing to an anti-Zionist, anti-enlistment song at his nephew’s wedding.
In a widely distributed clip, Goldknopf could be seen in the middle of a circle of young Haredi men singing that they “don’t believe in the government of infidels” and “won’t show up at their [army] recruitment offices.” The lyrics also included: “We will die and not enlist.”
“He should have been fired last night. Goldknopf is the most authentic representative of this government: an anti-Zionist minister, who helps his voters dodge the draft, sends other people’s children into battle, and then steals their money,” Lapid says. “Billions are being stolen to maintain completely unnecessary government ministries. Billions are being stolen and distributed for corrupt and shameless political bribery.”
Recalling his own stints as finance minister and prime minister, Lapid says that “this is not a budget” but rather an attack on the “productive and serving public thanks to whom the country exists.”
“The state exploits them, then ignores them,” he continues. “They didn’t raise taxes because of the war. The war is financed in other ways. They raised taxes because they can’t stop spending money on themselves. This is their solution to every political crisis.”
“Are the Haredim unhappy that the [draft] evasion law didn’t pass? We’ll give them billions from the money of working citizens,” he says. “This needs to change. The only way to get the country back on track is to strengthen the working and serving public. Lower their taxes, lower their cost of living. If the middle class is strong, the country is strong, if the government continues to weaken it, it weakens the country. If it continues to steal from the citizens, the economy will collapse.”
Asked about his recent comments calling for a tax rebellion and general strike if the government ignores the High Court should it block the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Lapid replies that he would endorse such a course of action only if the government ignores the judiciary, setting off a constitutional crisis.
Lapid also rejects the refusal by reservists to serve in the IDF.
“I completely condemn that. We are against all insubordination and we are against the government supporting mass insubordination and evasion,” he says.
Moshe Horn, 85, named as fatality of deadly terror attack in north
Security forces at the scene of a terror attack near Yokne'am, March 24, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Moshe Horn, 85, is named as the fatality of this morning’s terror attack on Route 66, near the northern town of Yokne’am.
Horn, a resident of Kibbutz HaZore’a, was killed while his 51-year-old son sat next to him in his car, the Walla news site reports.
Gantz: Netanyahu chooses to include Kahanists in government
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bringing Kahanists into the government after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir demanded an investigation into Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar for allegedly spying on senior officials.
“Netanyahu chose to bring Ben Gvir into the Knesset, he chose to form a government with him, he chose to return him to the government,” Gantz tweets. “He is not being ‘blackmailed’ by the Kahanists, he chooses to bring them into the holy of holies of state security — and to harm the security of us all.”
Ben Gvir does not have the standing to judge Bar “and the first person responsible for the enormous damage Ben Gvir is causing is Netanyahu,” he writes.
Lapid: Ben Gvir’s accusations against Shin Bet chief are ‘violent and dangerous incitement’
Yesh Atid party chair Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, on March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Responding to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s allegation that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar collected intelligence on Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says, “The National Security Offender who dares to speak like this about the head of the Shin Bet is proof that the Israeli government has lost all its inhibitions.”
In a statement, the former premier says that Ben Gvir’s words “are violent and dangerous incitement” and that “a prime minister in a civilized country would have removed him from office and not crawled to him to come back and save his government.”
Ben Gvir says Shin Bet chief Bar ‘should sit in prison,’ claims he ‘conspired’ against democracy
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on March 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar collected intelligence on Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and “should sit in prison,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir alleges, accusing the senior security official of having “conspired” against Israeli democracy.
“Ronen Bar conspired against the democratic state, he ordered the collection of incriminating information against a government minister, he is a criminal, a danger to democracy, he belongs in prison,” Ben Gvir tells reporters ahead of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Bar’s alleged actions sought to undermine senior appointments made by Ben Gvir, actions which constitute an attack on “every one of my voters” and the Israeli right, Ben Gvir alleges.
“No so-called Kahanistic element was appointed or infiltrated the Israel Police,” Ben Gvir insists. “All of my appointments were of veteran, respected, and senior officers from within the police force.”
“I do not intend to remain silent about these things. I intend to demand that the prime minister immediately establish a government investigation committee to investigate the attempted coup and the criminal conduct of the Shin Bet head.”
Ben Gvir’s comments come after Channel 12 news reported that the Shin Bet conducted a covert probe into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police following suspected political meddling in the force by Ben Gvir’s office. The Shin Bet security agency initially seemed to confirm it was examining the concerns but later issued a denial.
Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security services, May 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
On Friday morning, the cabinet voted unanimously to dismiss Bar, the first time in Israeli history that the government has fired the head of the domestic security agency. Netanyahu told the cabinet in a meeting that started late Thursday night that he lost faith in Bar after October 7, although critics allege that Bar is being dismissed over a Shin Bet investigation into Qatari influence in the premier’s office.
Asked by a reporter what the government would do if the High Court of Justice, which issued a temporary injunction preventing Bar’s dismissal, rules against his firing, Ben Gvir replies that the court cannot leave Bar in charge of the Shin Bet and alleges that he was working to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s no longer a question of impeachment, Ronen Bar should sit in prison” on suspicion of looking to carry out “a coup d’état,” he insists.
Meanwhile, the far-right Ben Gvir called the development an “earthquake” that he said justified the government’s recent move to dismiss agency chief Ronen Bar.
Speaking with the right-wing Arutz Sheva news site ahead of Monday afternoon’s meeting, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of Ben Gvir’s party, says that Bar needs to be interrogated to find out “whether he had attempted to launch a coup.”
Germany says civilian fatalities in renewed Gaza op ‘extremely worrying’
Palestinians at the site of an Israeli airstrike at the surgical department of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 24, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Germany says that civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip were “extremely worrying” as Israel’s military presses a renewed assault on Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
“It is now very clear that we must quickly return to negotiations and to the ceasefire that was in place,” foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner says in Berlin.
Israel renewed the operation in Gaza on Tuesday after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that the ongoing offensive against Hamas was “expanding,” vowing that Israel would continue its strikes until the 59 hostages still held by terrorists in Gaza are released.
Netivot resident, 65, indicted after spying for Iran in exchange for $41,000
The State Attorney’s Office files an indictment at the Beersheba District Court on charges of treason against Eduard Yusupov, a 65-year-old resident of Netivot, for having allegedly conducted spying activities on behalf of Iran.
Yusupov carried out various acts of espionage for an Iranian agent and received $41,000 in payment for his work, offenses which carry with them sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Yusupov, an immigrant who came to Israel from Azerbaijan, contacted an old acquaintance of his by the name of Tair in November 2024, who introduced him to a man called Mousa.
Mousa claimed to be seeking to open a business in Israel but was an Iranian agent and, communicating via WhatsApp, gave Yusupov a series of spying missions to carry out.
At Mousa’s request, Yusupov collected, photographed, and documented sensitive information about “national infrastructure sites” around the country, including IDF bases, military sites in the Negev, the Haifa port, as well as parks, libraries, zoos, and commercial and leisure centers.
Yusupov also rented an apartment for Mousa in Hafia with a view of the port from where he photographed ships and industrial chimneys in the port zone.
The indictment notes that Yusupov was careful to work in secret and operated with caution in order not to be discovered.
“The accused committed security offenses at a time when the State of Israel was conducting one of the toughest wars it has known, on multiple fronts, including against Iran,” the prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
“The accused suspected that Mousa was a foreign agent who was hostile to the State of Israel but continued to cooperate with him.”
Yusupov is charged with transmitting information to an enemy to harm state security, transmitting information to an enemy designed to assist them, contact with a foreign agent, and demonstrating a decision to commit treason.
Iran says it’s open to ‘indirect negotiations’ with US over nuclear program
A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010. (Majid Asgaripour/Mehr News Agency via AP)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran says it is open to indirect talks with the United States after US President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum for a new nuclear deal.
“The way is open for indirect negotiations,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says, dismissing the prospect of direct talks with Washington “until there is a change in the other side’s approach towards the Islamic Republic.”
Soldier seriously hurt in terror attack in north; terrorist stabbed him, then grabbed his rifle
Security forces at the scene of a terror attack near Yokne'am, March 24, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)
An Israeli soldier was seriously wounded in a terror attack near the northern town of Yokne’am earlier today, the military announces.
The terrorist initially rammed his vehicle into people waiting at a bus stop at Tishbi Junction on Route 66, then exited his car and stabbed the 20-year-old soldier.
He then grabbed the soldier’s rifle and opened fire, killing an elderly man who was driving on the road.
The soldier, who serves as a heavy-load truck driver in the Armored Corps, was taken to Rambam Hospital for treatment, where he is listed in serious condition.
Sa’ar: We haven’t decided yet on military rule in Gaza
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (right) with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Jerusalem, March 24, 2025. (Lazar Berman/The Times of Israel)
Israel hasn’t come to a decision on whether it will impose a military government in Gaza, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says.
“It has not yet been decided by our cabinet,” Sa’ar says in response to a question from The Times of Israel at a Jerusalem press conference.
Standing alongside European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Sa’ar insists that Israel is following international law in Gaza. He points to Article 70 of the Additional Protocol of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which states that humanitarian aid must be allowed if the civilian population “is not adequately provided” with supplies. He indicates that the 25,000 trucks Israel let in during the ceasefire with Hamas are adequate for the needs of Gaza’s population.
Arguing that Hamas uses aid packages to fund its attacks and recruit new terrorists, Sa’ar also brings up Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which says that a party is not required to allow in aid if it is diverted for the enemy’s military efforts or economy.
“No country is obliged to facilitate a war against itself,” he says. “Israel must not be held to a different standard.”
Kallas laments the resumption of fighting in Gaza, arguing that “resuming negotiations is the only feasible way to end the suffering on all sides.”
“Violence feeds more violence,” she says, adding that the renewed fighting is causing “unbearable uncertainty” for the hostages and their families, and “horror and death for the Palestinian people.”
“Israelis must be able to feel safe in their own homes,” she stresses. “Israel has the right to self-defense against terror attacks, whether from Hamas, the Houthis, or Hezbollah. However, military actions must be proportionate.”
Kallas also says that the EU welcomes Egypt’s plan for Gaza reconstruction and that the bloc sees “no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.”
Responding to a question about Israeli strikes in Syria, Kallas says that “these things are unnecessary because Syria is right now not attacking Israel, and that feeds more radicalization that is also against Israel, which we don’t want to see.”
Shin Bet chief Bar said to tell ministers: You’ve accused me of treason and threatened to jail me; tomorrow you will execute me
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, on April 4, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO/File)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar told ministers last night that their ongoing accusations against him will lead them to execute him, according to quotes reported in Hebrew media.
“Yesterday you accused me of treason, today you are threatening to send me to jail, tomorrow you will execute me,” he says, according to quotes reported by Channel 12.
Earlier in the meeting, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly said: “The Shin Bet chief is a liar, a criminal who should sit in prison. He spies on the political echelon. Collects information and evidence to stage a coup.”
Ben Gvir’s anger follows a report that the Shin Bet has conducted a covert probe into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police following suspected political meddling in the force by the office of Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the police.
Bar was ordered fired by the cabinet in a unanimous vote on Thursday night, but the High Court of Justice has issued a temporary injunction on the move until petitions can be heard on the matter.
False alarm rocket sirens sound in Gaza border community
Rocket sirens are sounding in the Gaza border community of Netiv Ha’asara.
The IDF says the siren was a false alarm.
Grandfather of fallen soldier confronts Netanyahu in court, tells him to remove hostage pin
The grandfather of Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Gur Kehati, 20, who was killed during a gun battle with Hezbollah operatives on November 20, 2024, tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove his yellow hostage pin while in the courtroom during his criminal trial.
“The prime minister with a hostage pin is abandoning the hostages,” Asaf Agmon says. “Remove the symbol of the hostages from your lapel!”
Kehati was killed while in southern Lebanon, alongside Zeev Erlich, 71, who was in IDF uniform and with a senior officer, but had no official authorization from the army to be in Lebanon, where he was reportedly attempting to study antiquities.
תא"ל במיל' אסף אגמון ששכל את נכדו גור קהתי במלחמה פונה לנתניהו באולם ביהמ"ש: "הנכד שלי מתהפך בקבר שלו כשהוא רואה אותך עם סיכת החטופים, מפקיר את החטופים. תוריד את הסמל של החטופים מדש מעילך" pic.twitter.com/RsdCUC2Utt
— Nitsan Shafir ניצן שפיר (@nitsanshafir) March 24, 2025
Sa’ar blames deadly terror attack in north on PA’s incitement
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says this morning’s deadly terror attack in the north “is a result of the ongoing incitement of the Palestinian Authority.”
Sa’ar says it is “only natural” for Israel to expect the European Union’s support in the ongoing conflict against Islamic terrorism, at a press conference with his European Union counterpart Kaja Kallas in Jerusalem.
“We are now fighting the war of the free world. Iran, Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah attack us because we are nearby. But make no mistake, the war is against Western civilization. Against its values and its ways of life,” he says.
Hamas says terror group has ‘responded positively’ to Egyptian ceasefire proposal
Demonstrators demand the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, March 23, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A Hamas official tells The Associated Press that the terror group has “responded positively” to an Egyptian proposal to try to get the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal back on track, without elaborating.
Hamas would release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, in return for Israel allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and a weeks-long pause in the fighting, an Egyptian official says. Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Both officials speak on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media on the closed-door talks.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
17-year-old Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli prison, prisoners NGO says
The Palestinian Prisoners Club non-governmental organization says that a Palestinian 17-year-old died in Israel’s Megiddo prison in unknown circumstances.
In a statement, the Palestinian body in charge of coordination with Israeli authorities announces “the death of Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad (17 years old), a minor detainee from the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, in Megiddo Prison” in Israel, adding he was the 63rd Palestinian to die in Israeli jails since the start of the war in Gaza.
AFP could not immediately confirm the death with Israeli prison authorities.
Footage shows terrorist shooting at passing car before being neutralized
Footage shows a terrorist running with a rifle along Route 66 as he carries out an attack, in which a 75-year-old man was killed and a man in his 20s injured.
The man can be seen shooting at a passing vehicle, then falling over to the ground after being shot by Border Police officers who arrived at the scene.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says the 20-year-old who was injured was stabbed by the attacker, and is in an unstable, serious condition.
תיעוד פיגוע ירי סמוך ליוקנעם! המחבל חוסל! הרוג ופצוע! pic.twitter.com/e9lrrykqCB
— יוני בן מנחם Yoni Ben Menachem (@BwMnhm) March 24, 2025
Jailed Erdogan rival named opposition candidate for Turkey’s 2028 presidential vote
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the main center-left opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) receives official mandate to serve five more years in Istanbul on April 3, 2024. (Yasin Akgul/ AFP/ File)
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Istanbul’s embattled Ekrem Imamoglu is officially nominated as a presidential candidate by the opposition CHP party for the 2028 elections, a party spokesman tells AFP on Monday.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) — the main opposition party and the second largest party in parliament — held a primary election on Sunday, at which the only candidate was Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Imamoglu was arrested, interrogated, jailed, and stripped of his mayorship in less than a week, following a graft and terror probe that the opposition has slammed as a political “coup.”
Man shot dead in terror shooting in north; attacker killed
Paramedics on the scene of a terror attack near Yokne'am, March 24, 2025. (MDA Spokesperson)
A 75-year-old man has been shot dead in a terror attack near the northern town of Yokne’am, the Magen David Adom ambulance says.
Another person has been injured in the attack, MDA says.
The terrorist was killed at the scene.
Police say that the terrorist initially rammed his vehicle into several people waiting at a bus stop at Tishbi Junction, then exited his car and opened fire on the civilians, injuring several people.
Hebrew media reports possible terror car-ramming, shooting in north
Hebrew media outlets report a possible terrorist attack involving a car-ramming and shooting near the northern town of Yokne’am.
Reports say two people are injured and an assailant has been neutralized.
Netanyahu testimony canceled Wednesday due to key Knesset debate
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court to testify in his corruption trial, March 17, 2025. (Tomer Appelbaum/Pool)
Judges postpone Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled testimony for Wednesday at his criminal trial so that he can attend a Knesset debate on a bill to change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee.
Netanyahu will take the stand three times next week.
Instead of Netanyahu, a witness on behalf of the defense will testify.
The prime minister’s testimony was also canceled last Tuesday due to the launch of an offensive in Gaza.
Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000.
He denies wrongdoing in all the cases and claims the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.
19th wild monkey rescued amid string of illegal wildlife trade incidents
Another wild monkey is found overnight abandoned in the central city of Rishon LeZion.
Tomer Nisiman, a vet with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, says the animal has a large cut on its left arm which was badly stitched up and has become infected.
To date, 19 wild monkeys, and four lion cubs, have been confiscated as part of a campaign against the illegal wildlife trade.
Saudi report says high-level Houthi official killed in US airstrikes
A Yemeni checks debris at his home after US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo)
A very senior Houthi official was eliminated in overnight US airstrikes in Sanaa, the Saudi Al Hadath network reports.
The report does not identify the official by name or by position.
IDF to test rocket sirens in three northern communities
The IDF says it will test rocket sirens in the northern communities of Dmeide at 11:05 a.m., Kaukab Abu al-Hija at 12:05 p.m., and Hararit at 2:05 p.m.
The military says in case of a real attack, sirens will sound twice and the IDF Home Front Command app will also send out an alert.
Doctors Without Borders: Palestinians displaced in West Bank op in ‘extremely precarious’ situation
IDF soldiers in the West Bank village of Husan, March 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounces the “extremely precarious” situation of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank.
According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21, when the Israeli army launched an operation targeting Palestinian terror groups in the north of the territory.
The situation of the displaced Palestinians is “extremely precarious,” MSF says, which is operating in the area.
Palestinians “are without proper shelter, essential services, and access to healthcare,” the NGO says.
“The mental health situation is alarming.”
In a statement to AFP, the Israeli military (IDF) says it had been operating “against all terrorist organizations, including Hamas, in a complex security reality.”
“The IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals,” the statement says.
MSF says the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps “has not been seen in decades” in the West Bank.
“People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure,” MSF Director of Operations Brice de la Vingne says
“Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up.”
PMO says Shin Bet chief’s probe into Ben Gvir’s office meant to topple government
Left: Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Dudu Bachar/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says in a statement that a Channel 12 report indicating that the premier knew about an alleged Shin Bet probe into Itamar Ben Gvir’s National Security Ministry is “another lie that has been shattered.”
The PMO says that a reported letter from embattled Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar ordering the probe into the political echelon “is reminiscent of dark regimes, undermines the foundations of democracy, and aims to overthrow a right-wing government.”
The report said that the Shin Bet conducted a covert probe into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police following suspected political meddling in the force by Ben Gvir.
“The Prime Minister was never informed by the Shin Bet chief that he intended to collect evidence on the political echelon behind his back,” said Netanyahu, “and did not give permission for this.”
Netanyahu’s office says that on June 19, 2024, Bar told Netanyahu about his suspicions about the infiltration of far-right, Kahanist figures into the police. “The Prime Minister unequivocally instructed the Shin Bet chief to present to him support for this claim, to raise it directly and immediately with the National Security Minister, and in no way to act behind the minister’s back.”
According to the PMO, Bar agreed to do so but never presented the evidence.
The Shin Bet issued a statement denying opening the probe mentioned in the report, despite its initial reaction which appeared to confirm it. The second statement clarified that “there was no Shin Bet investigation on the matter, toward police or politicians, and there is no Shin Bet probe now either.”
Kisch says video of Goldknopf dancing to anti-enlistment song made his ‘blood boil’
Education Minister Yoav Kisch hold a press conference on the new AI program in the education system at the Education Ministry in Tel Aviv, February 3, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Education Minister Yoav Kisch says he is infuriated by the Haredi leadership’s lack of understanding over their attitude to military enlistment after a video emerged of Housing Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf dancing to an anti-Zionist, anti-enlistment song at his nephew’s wedding.
He notes he doesn’t believe that enlistment can be forced upon the ultra-Orthodox community, but through discourse and agreements, which is why such scenes frustrate him.
“The first time it’s an accident, the second time it’s a coincidence, the third time makes your blood boil,” he says.
“If the Haredi leadership does not follow the Haredi public, which in increasing parts is begging for change, they will make a historic mistake for which we will all pay the price,” he adds.
IDF to hold exercise in Petah Tikva midday
The Israel Defense Forces says it will hold a drill in the area of Petah Tikva midday.
The military says military vehicles will be seen in the area as part of the exercise, and assures their presence is not connected to a security incident.
Hamas education official in Gaza said killed in Khan Younis airstrike
Palestinian media reports several deaths in an IDF strike on southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, naming one of those killed as Manar Abu Khater, director of education at the eastern Khan Younis education directorate for the Strip’s Hamas government.
عاجل | استشهاد الأستاذ منار أبو خاطر، مسؤول تعليم شرق خانيونس، مع عدد من أفراد عائلته جراء قصف منزله في منطقة معن بخانيونس. pic.twitter.com/Jg6gCsoAks
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 24, 2025
Another death and several injuries are reported in a separate Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat area of central Gaza.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
Lawmakers allocate NIS 3.5 billion for upgrading wastewater infrastructure for farmers
The Knesset Economy Committee approves for second and third reading an amendment to the Water Law which will see some NIS 3.5 billion ($940 million) invested in upgrading treated wastewater infrastructure, including building a national wastewater carrier.
Farmers have long complained about steep water costs, saying it affects their competitiveness.
Israel is already a world leader in the use of treated wastewater for agriculture. Roughly 85% of all sewage and grey water is treated for use in farmers’ fields.
Wastewater is cheaper than freshwater. In areas where wastewater is limited, the cost of freshwater will be reduced.
Tekuma head meets Nir Oz survivors to resolve funding spat
Israeli soldiers walking next to buildings destroyed by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, November 21, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The new head of the Tekuma Directorate, Aviad Friedman, is meeting members of Kibbutz Nir Oz to try to find a way around a shortfall in state funds for post-October 7 rehabilitation, says the directorate, which is overseeing the rebuilding of communities in Israel’s south.
The kibbutz was largely destroyed on October 7, 2023 — terrorists entered all but six of some 100 homes in the small community — and Nir Oz says that the extreme damage wrought on October 7 means that it has extreme needs, including in mental health and education.
However, due to a funding shortfall of NIS 200 million ($53.8 million) between what the kibbutz says it needs and what the Tekuma Directorate says it can provide, Nir Oz is the only community not to have an approved rehabilitation plan.
In the meantime, it has been funding its rehabilitation itself.
Much of the kibbutz remains destroyed and surviving members of Nir Oz are currently living in the Karmei Gat neighborhood of Kiryat Gat.
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