March 24: Israeli ambassador to UN says Israel not part of any reported Iran talks

Israeli ambassador to UN says Israel not part of any reported Iran talks

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon points toward the Iranian delegation during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at UN headquarters in New York on February 28, 2026. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says as far as he knows, Israel isn’t part of any reported talks between the United States and Iran later this week in Pakistan.

“As we speak, Israel and the US, we continue to target military targets in Iran, and we will continue to do that,” he tells UN reporters.

He says the attacks have “accomplished a lot” but not everything.

Danon accuses Iran’s foreign minister of saying just weeks ago that Iran didn’t have missiles with a range beyond 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) — then launching a missile that went nearly 4,000 kilometers (2,500 kilometers) toward Diego Garcia, a remote Indian Ocean island that hosts a major UK-US military base.

In any negotiations to end of the conflict, he says, Israel is determined to ensure that Iran has no nuclear or ballistic missile capability.

IDF detects Iranian missile launch targeting Jerusalem and central Israel

The IDF has detected another ballistic missile launch from Iran, targeting the Jerusalem area and central Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

No injuries reported in Iranian missile attack on Eilat, 13th of the day

No injuries are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on Israel, the 13th in the past day.

The missile, which triggered sirens in the southernmost city of Eilat, was likely intercepted, according to initial military assessments.

Woman killed in Hezbollah rocket attack named as Nuriel Dubin, 27

Nuriel Dubin (Facebook)

The woman who was killed earlier today in a Hezbollah rocket attack in northern Israel is identified as Nuriel Dubin, 27, from Margaliot in the Upper Galilee.

According to the local municipality, Dubin is survived by her parents, Yoram and Shoshana, her brother Aviram, her sister Sapir and her partner Yadid.

Nuriel and Yadid had gotten engaged in September 2025, and were planning a wedding for September 2026.

Dubin worked as a youth counselor and a preschool caregiver and also served as a combat soldier in the reserves, the municipality said.

She was killed and two others were injured when a Hezbollah rocket struck the Mahanaim Junction in the Galilee earlier today.

IDF detects Iranian ballistic missile strike targeting Eilat area

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting the Eilat area in southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Lawmakers advance death penalty for terrorists bill to Knesset plenum for final vote

Lawmakers take part in a discussion and vote in the Knesset National Security Committee about the death penalty for terrorists bill, March 24, 2026. (Dani Shem-Tov/Knesset Spokesman's Office)

The Knesset National Security Committee votes to advance the coalition’s controversial bill to legislate the death penalty for terror convicts to the plenum for the final two readings needed for it to pass into law.

The vote is held after a marathon session attended by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party colleague MK Limor Son Har-Melech sponsored the legislation.

“The law sets out a clear and unequivocal message: Those who choose to murder Jews because they are Jews lose their right to live,” says Har-Melech, calling the bill’s advancement “a moral and necessary step.”

Ben Gvir says the legislation is a “historic moment of justice for the State of Israel. Those who choose to murder Jews just because they are Jews have one sentence: death.”

“No more revolving door of attacks, imprisonments and releases,” he adds. “This law restores deterrence, restores justice and sends a clear and unambiguous message to our enemies: Jewish blood is not cheap. We will continue to lead an uncompromising policy against terror until victory.”

The bill has been subject to numerous objections and proposed amendments from opposition lawmakers and the committee’s legal adviser, who have argued that the bill is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Significant changes were made last week to “soften” the bill, following pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which argued that the draft was harsher than US capital punishment standards and could expose Israel to diplomatic and legal scrutiny abroad.

According to a statement by Otzma Yehudit, the bill will advance to its second and third readings in the Knesset next week.

Committee chairman Zvika Fogel urges “all members of the coalition” to vote in favor of the bill in its final two readings.

Macron urges Iran to ‘engage in good faith’ in talks to end war

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron calls on Iran to “engage in good faith” in talks to end the war in the Middle East, after a call with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian.

“I called on Iran to engage in good faith in negotiations,” Macron posts on X, saying he had also urged an end to “unacceptable” attacks on countries in the region and to “restore freedom of navigation” in the vital Strait of Hormuz, whose effective closure by Iranian forces has sent global oil and gas prices soaring.

Iraq says it arrests four after rocket attacks on Syria base

Iraq arrested four people in connection with an earlier rocket attack launched against a military base in neighboring Syria, officials say.

“Our security forces, supported by intelligence efforts, moved in and were able to arrest four of the perpetrators,” according to a short statement from the prime minister’s office, adding the suspects had been handed over to the “appropriate authorities” as part of the investigation.

The attack yesterday targeted a northeastern Syrian military base in Hasakeh province that had until recently hosted US forces with an international anti-jihadist coalition.

In call, Macron urges restraint in Lebanon, while Herzog says Hezbollah must be dismantled

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) greets President Isaac Herzog ahead of a reception for heads of state and governments ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on July 26, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron urges Israel to avoid further escalation in Lebanon amid intensified fighting with Hezbollah, during a phone call with President Isaac Herzog, according to a Hebrew-language post on his X account.

Macron says he expressed France’s “full solidarity” with “the Israeli people in the face of the daily attacks by Iran and Hezbollah,” saying the attacks “must cease immediately,” before stressing the “urgency of preventing further escalation in Lebanon.”

“I am convinced that the resumption of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon is an opportunity that must be seized. France is working to promote this goal,” Macron says he told Herzog.

“In the Middle East, I emphasized the absolute necessity for the parties to the conflict to act to preserve civilian and energy infrastructure, on which the lives of millions of people depend, and to commit to a path of genuine renewal of dialogue,” the post reads. Macron also says he called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“The regional crisis must not cause us to forget the situation in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is catastrophic,” Macron adds, also calling for an end to settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

According to a readout from Herzog’s office, Herzog told Macron that “a vision of peace with Lebanon is the right objective, but it requires undermining Hezbollah and dismantling its capabilities in a manner that will ensure the security of Israel’s citizens and communities, and stability in Lebanon.”

Herzog stressed that “the ongoing missile attacks from the Iranian regime and its terror proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon…demonstrate why the war must bring a major change as it pertains to this empire of evil.”

Pope Leo laments that Iran war is only ‘getting worse and worse’

Pope Leo XIV gives a speech to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square during the Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican on March 15, 2026. (Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)

Pope Leo expresses concern about a rising tenor of animosity in the expanding Iran war, repeating calls for a ceasefire amid reports the US is planning to send thousands of soldiers to the Middle East in a military buildup.

Leo, the first US pope, laments that “hatred is increasing, and the violence is getting worse and worse.”

“I want to renew the appeal for a ceasefire, to work for peace, but not with weapons — rather through dialogue, truly seeking a solution for everyone,” he tells journalists as he is leaving his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

“There are more than a million displaced people and many dead,” says the pope. “I invite all the authorities to truly work through dialogue to resolve the problems.”

Police chief who led response to Michigan synagogue attack inundated with threats

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard talks to the media down the street from the scene of a shooting at Temple Israel synagogue, in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, on March 12, 2026. (JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

The police chief who led the response to the attack on a Michigan synagogue this month says in a briefing with Jewish security officials that he has been inundated with threats.

The sheriff of the Oakland County police, Michael Bouchard, says he has been subject to some 330,000 hostile messages, including violent statements.

The comments come on social media and via direct messages, Bouchard says during a briefing hosted by the Secure Community Network, a US Jewish security group.

Bouchard plays a recording of a voice message he received in which a caller derides him as a “Jew lover.”

“I hope you put a gun in your mouth and kill yourself,” the caller says.

Social media shows a flood of messages portraying Bouchard, who is not Jewish, as an Orthodox Jew, with a Star of David on his forehead, alongside antisemitic rhetoric.

“It’s rampant out there and apparently we struck a nerve with a lot of folks,” Bouchard says. “We’re in an environment I’ve never seen and I’ve been in this business for a very long time.”

Jewish groups applauded Bouchard for his handling of the attack.

“If you target our Jewish community, we’re going to stand in front of them to protect them,” Bouchard says in the briefing, adding that he takes his commanders to a Holocaust center for education.

He says the role of Nazi police officers in rounding up Jews during the Holocaust is a “chilling reminder” of where antisemitism can lead.

“You get there by tolerating it, by accepting it,” he says.

During the briefing, Jewish and non-Jewish security leaders, including US Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Matthew Kozma, repeatedly warn about the high threat level against American Jews.

The security officials urge vigilance, security precautions and coordination with law enforcement to protect against the threats.

Likud and opposition lawmakers condemn reported comments made by PM’s spokesman

Ziv Agmon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman, holds up a phone for the premier during a video call with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdallah in December 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Both Likud lawmakers and opposition politicians condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman and acting chief of staff Ziv Agmon, after Channel 12 reports he made multiple racist statements against Sephardi Jews, including Likud MKs, and launched scathing attacks on the premier, his wife and son in private conversations.

“Someone who speaks this way about Mizrahi Jews, about Moroccans, didn’t just ‘have a slip of the tongue’ — he simply said out loud what he truly thinks in his heart,” tweets Likud MK Eli Revivo, whom Agmon allegedly called a “retarded Moroccan.”

“Such a person is not fit to serve the public in any capacity for even one more minute. Anyone who chooses to keep him in their circle or as their representative thinks exactly like him.”

Likud MK Nissim Vaturi, whom Agmon allegedly called a “baboon,” writes: “The frustrated Ziv Agmon, who failed to get elected to the Knesset after several attempts — if these reports are true, he needs to be sent home right now.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that Netanyahu’s associates include “a suspect who admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a state that supports terrorism, a rape suspect, a racist of the lowest kind, and someone who secretly records everyone and gives it to the media.”

Meanwhile, Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz calls on Netanyahu to fire Agmon “tonight,” a sentiment echoed by Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman and The Democrats head Yair Golan, who asserts that “Netanyahu surrounds himself with racists, criminals and vile people.”

5 members of Hezbollah anti-tank unit killed in Lebanon this week, says IDF

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in the southern Lebanese border village of Khiam on March 17, 2026. (AFP)

Five Hezbollah anti-tank missile operatives were killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil earlier this week, the military says.

The IDF says it struck two command centers in the village that had been used by Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit, amid operations by troops of the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division in the area.

In one of the strikes, five members of the Hezbollah anti-tank unit were killed, the army says.

In additional strikes last night, the military says, it struck several more Hezbollah sites in the area, including anti-tank missile launch posts.

כוחות אוגדה 91 חיסלו חוליית מחבלים והשמידו מפקדת נ"ט של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב בינת ג׳בל בדרום לבנון

כוחות אוגדה 91 ממשיכים בפעילות הקרקעית הממוקדת בדרום לבנון, ליצירת מרחב הגנה קדמי ולהגנה על תושבי הצפון.

במהלך הימים האחרונים כוחות האוגדה תקפו מספר תשתיות ויעדי נ"ט, על מנת… pic.twitter.com/W3b4p4fG4m

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 24, 2026

Iran says US and Israel attacked vicinity of Bushehr nuclear plant

The reactor building of Iran's nuclear power plant and electricity poles are seen, at Bushehr, Iran, 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, February 27, 2005. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization says that the US and Israel attacked the vicinity of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power ​plant this evening, IRNA reports.

It says the attack caused no technical damage or human casualties based on initial reports.

Report: PM’s acting chief of staff said Netanyahu was ‘finished’ after Oct. 7, made racist comments about Likud MKs

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with his spokesman Ziv Agmon (right) before boarding a plane in Washington on February 12, 2026. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman and acting chief of staff reportedly called his boss “finished” after October 7, declaring that “he must go home,” in addition to making several racist statements against Likud lawmakers of Sephardi origin, calling some of them “baboons.”

According to Channel 12, Ziv Agmon criticized Netanyahu as “old” and declared him “finished” after October 7.

“The question is whether we’ll still have a state. He must go home. I wonder who will be responsible for negotiating for the hostages, [Ministers Shlomo] Karhi or [David] Amsalem?

“It’s over for the Likud,” he also reportedly said, adding that “the Egyptians need to release the recording of the conversation with Bibi” — a reference to claims that Egypt warned Netanyahu ahead of October 7. “And then he’s finished.”

Recalling that Netanyahu “fainted in the synagogue on Yom Kippur [in 2022], Agmon reportedly mused, “Why isn’t [opposition leader Yair] Lapid playing on the fact that he’s old and we need a leader for the long-term?”

All of the quotes broadcast by the network were said to have come from private conversations. No recordings were shared. Agmon declined to respond to a request for comment, Channel 12 stated.

Agmon also allegedly used extreme rhetoric when referring to Likud lawmakers of Middle Eastern descent, calling MK Nissim Vaturi a “baboon” and Eli Revivo a “retarded Moroccan,” adding that “it’s not clear how these people get elected to the Knesset.”

Agmon was said to have called MK Eli Dallal a “nobody,” adding “what baboons. It’s a shame we can’t just appoint the entire list and finish with the primaries.”

In a further attack on the party, Agmon reportedly said “We should publish a wanted ad for rapists and murderers for the Likud list for the Knesset, because there is already a thief, a burglar and a kidnapper.”

Turning to the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Agmon was quoted as saying that it “only knows how to take money,” while describing members of Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party as “monkeys.”

In addition, Agmon was reported to have criticized Netanyahu’s wife Sara for owning “a Dior bag that is worth as much as a Rolex” and his son Yair for having “forced” former foreign minister Eli Cohen “to issue him a diplomatic passport, even though there is no justification for it.” He also reportedly sent friends an anti-Netanyahu meme.

Medics say wounded toll in Bnei Brak Iranian missile impact rises to 9

First responders at the scene of an Iranian cluster munition impact in Bnei Brak, March 24, 2026. (MDA)

Magen David Adom updates the wounded toll of the Iranian cluster bomb impacts in Bnei Brak to nine.

They include a man aged 23 in moderate condition, who was hit by shrapnel, and eight others in good condition — including six children — who were hit by a blast or shrapnel, MDA says.

US said to propose peace summit with Iran in Islamabad; Tehran approval uncertain amid internal ‘chaos’

The United States — together with mediators Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey — is currently discussing holding a “peace summit” with Iran as early as Thursday, where the sides would discuss a new 15-point agreement proposed by the US, reports Channel 12, citing three sources familiar with the plan.

The summit would likely be held in Islamabad, the Hebrew network says, although it says two sources note that Iran has not yet agreed to such a summit.

Iran’s newly elected leader, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, needs to approve Iran’s attendance, the network says, though he was reportedly injured during the ongoing US-Israeli campaign and has not been seen or heard since his appointment.

It is unclear at what level the talks would take place, the report continues. While the US is said to prefer a high-level meeting — such as between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — they could also be held at a lower level, such as between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and top Trump aides Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

Regardless of Washington’s negotiations with Iran, US and Israeli officials tell Channel 12 that they do not see the war ending or even pausing in the next two to three weeks, as reaching a deal is expected to take longer.

The report adds that the US has given Israel a 15-point plan for ending the war that it has submitted to Iran. US President Donald Trump said yesterday there were many points of agreement with Iran on terms for ending the war, and a serious chance for a deal. However, Israeli intelligence estimates that the gaps between the sides are very large, the report notes.

It remains unclear what kind of negotiation channel has been established with Iran by Kushner and Witkoff, the report continues. American officials tell Channel 12 that the Iranian government “is in a state of chaos” and is struggling to communicate even internally.

Iraq authorizes Iran-backed militia to respond to attacks on its positions

Iraq’s National Security Council has authorized the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a mostly Iranian-backed coalition of Shi’ite armed groups, to exercise the right of self-defense and respond to any attacks targeting their positions, state media reports.

The green light from the National Security Council, chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, follows a deadly attack on PMF headquarters that killed at least 15 fighters, including a commander.

Report lays out Trump’s 15-point proposal for ending war, but says Israel fears he’ll instead push for a monthlong ceasefire

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during the swearing-in ceremony for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the Oval Office of the White House, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump’s administration has conveyed 15 conditions to Iran as its terms for ending the current war, Israel’s Channel 12 reports, setting out what it says are the key points.

The conditions appear to cover all of the United States’ and Israel’s war goals, the report indicates.

No official text of the proposal has yet been published.

Nonetheless, Channel 12 says, Jerusalem is concerned that Trump and his team want to push quickly for “a framework agreement, an agreement in principle” with Iran, rather than insisting on these demands as a condition for halting the war.

According to three sources familiar with the details, the president’s top aides, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, have fashioned a mechanism involving “the declaration of a monthlong ceasefire period, during which the sides would negotiate a 15-point agreement,” much like previous Trump administration-brokered agreements with Hamas in Gaza and with Lebanon.

Trump said yesterday that he had reached some 15 points of agreement on a potential deal in indirect negotiations with a key figure in Iran.

“The scenario of a rapid, ambiguous agreement in principle is giving Israel’s political and security leaders sleepless nights,” the report says, since it risks a situation in which the Iranians would essentially have emerged with the upper hand, with the conflict ending before the precise terms are agreed.

The report specifies 14 of the 15 demands and benefits that the US has conveyed to Iran as follows, citing a Western source:

US demands of Iran:

1. Iran must dismantle its existing nuclear capabilities.

2. Iran must commit never to pursue nuclear weapons.

3. There will be no uranium enrichment on Iranian territory.

4. Iran must hand its stockpile of some 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent to the International Atomic Energy Agency in the near future, in a timetable to be agreed.

5. The Natanz, Isfahan and Fordo nuclear facilities must be dismantled.

6. The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, must be granted full access, transparency and oversight inside Iran.

7. Iran must abandon its regional proxy “paradigm.”

8. Iran must cease the funding, direction and arming of its regional proxies.

9. The Strait of Hormuz must remain open and function as a free maritime corridor.

10. Iran’s missile program must be limited in both range and quantity, with specific thresholds to be determined at a later stage.

11. Any future use of missiles would be restricted to self-defense.

In return, Iran would benefit as follows:

12. Iran would receive a full lifting of sanctions imposed by the international community.

13. The US would assist Iran in advancing its civilian nuclear program, including electricity generation at the Bushehr nuclear plant.

14. The so-called “snapback” mechanism, which allows for the automatic reimposition of sanctions if Iran fails to comply, would be removed.

Other reports have also suggested that the Trump proposal requires an Iranian commitment to stop “exporting the revolution” or interfering in the internal politics of neighboring Gulf states, and that it provides for a “long-term roadmap” aimed at de-escalating the “state of war” between the US and the Islamic Republic.

Israel offically approves site for construction of new US embassy in Jerusalem

Illustrative: A road sign shows the way toward the US embassy in Jerusalem on April 19, 2024. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)

Israel officially allocates land in southern Jerusalem for the construction of a new US embassy, say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Housing Minister Haim Katz in a joint statement.

They say that construction of the building “constitutes a tangible, central and long-term expression of the United States’ commitment to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to the strength of the special relationship between the two countries.”

“At a time when Israel and the United States stand side by side in the campaign against the Iranian terrorist regime, the decision carries special significance and serves as further evidence of the strength of the relationship, the solid alliance, and the shared values and strategic partnership between the two nations,” they say.

They thank US Ambassador Mike Huckabee for his close cooperation.

The embassy will be built on the abandoned Allenby military base on the outskirts of the Talpiot neighborhood, which was constructed by the Ottomans and later used by the IDF until the 1990s.

The embassy will be situated between Hebron Road, Hanoch Albek Street and Daniel Yanovski Street — an area that is just inside the 1949 Green Line that separates Israel from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

US President Donald Trump decided in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there.

The current US Embassy in Jerusalem opened in temporary premises on May 14, 2018, Israel’s 70th Independence Day, on the site of the relatively small former US Consulate General in the Arnona neighborhood, not far from the newly confirmed embassy site.

7 wounded in Iranian cluster bomb strike on central Israel

First responders at the scene of an Iranian cluster munition impact in Bnei Brak, March 24, 2026. (MDA)

Seven people were injured by Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack on central Israel, during which a cluster bomb warhead spread bomblets in Bnei Brak and nearby cities.

Magen David Adom says it treated a man aged 23 in moderate condition, after he was hit by shrapnel. Six others, including an infant, are listed in good condition, MDA adds.

All seven were wounded in Bnei Brak and are being taken to hospitals.

British FM says she’s ‘concerned’ Iran war is taking focus away from Gaza

Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper speaks to the media at 1 Carlton Gardens in London on January 19, 2026. (Jack Taylor / POOL / AFP)

British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper says she is “deeply concerned” that the conflict in the Middle East has shifted focus away from the Gaza peace plan and violence in the West Bank.

“I am particularly concerned at the moment about what is happening in the West Bank. I am also deeply concerned about the Gaza 20-point plan process being kept on track exactly because of the wider conflict in the Middle East,” Cooper tells a parliamentary committee.

“I think there is a real deep concern at the moment about what is happening in the West Bank and the scale of settler violence,” she adds.

“In other circumstances it [Gaza peace, West Bank violence] would have been a huge focus for us all globally, but in the current circumstances there is so much happening that there is a danger of those issues not being focused on sufficiently,” Cooper continues.

“We are going to need to build a broader regional security and stability picture that has to include Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as a broader approach,” she adds.

3 lightly injured after Iranian cluster munition impacts in Bnei Brak

Damage is seen to a building from an Iranian cluster munition impact in Bnei Brak, March 24, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

At least three people are lightly injured after Iranian cluster munitions hit the central city of Bnei Brak, first responders say.

Magen David Adom says they include a man aged 23 who was hit by shrapnel, and a woman aged 80 and a 7-year-old boy who were hit by glass shards.

Several more bomblets struck Petah Tikva, with no reports of injuries there.

Damage was caused to several residential buildings in the central cities by the cluster munitions.

Trump: Iran gave US a present worth a ton of money, related to oil, gas and Hormuz

US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 24, 2026. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that Iran gave him a “present” worth a “tremendous amount of money” related to the Strait of Hormuz and matters of oil and gas.

Asked by reporters in the Oval Office why he trusts the Iranians, he first insists that he doesn’t trust anyone before revealing, “They did something yesterday that was amazing — they gave us a present… that arrived today.”

“It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money, and I’m not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize,” Trump says.

“They gave it to us, and they said they were going to give it. That meant one thing to me. [That we’re] dealing with the right people… They’re the only ones [who] could have done it.”

“It wasn’t nuclear related, it was oil and gas related,” he adds when pressed to clarify the nature of the gift.

Asked if the gift is related to the flow in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump responds, “Yeah.” Asked if the US will control Hormuz after the war, Trump says, “We’ll have control of anything we want.”

“I think we’re going to end [the war],” he adds.

Trump quips that when he told his defense secretary and military chief that he thinks the Iran war will be settled soon, the latter two were upset because they want to keep fighting.

Rescue forces responding to reports of cluster bomb impacts in central Israel

Medics and rescue forces are responding to reports of suspected cluster munition impacts in central Israel following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Footage showed that one of the missiles fired at central Israel carried a cluster bomb warhead, spreading bomblets over a wide area.

השיגור מאיראן למרכז הארץ: תיעוד של טיל מצרר בשמי ישראל@ItayBlumental @Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/XerApWH4HN

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 24, 2026

One of Iranian ballistic missiles targeting central Israel had cluster bomb warhead

One of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran at central Israel a short while ago carried a cluster bomb warhead, footage shows.

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and surrounding cities.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

One of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran at central Israel a short while ago carried a cluster bomb warhead, footage shows. pic.twitter.com/kaIdFcyKuj

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 24, 2026

Trump says US ‘talking to the right people’ in Iran, who ‘badly’ want to make a deal

Attorney General Pam Bondi administers the oath during the swearing in for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin as President Donald Trump listens in the Oval Office of the White House, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump claims his administration is “talking to the right people” in Iran, adding that the Islamic Republic “wants to make a deal so badly.”

Iran has denied engaging in talks with the US, and officials familiar with the matter have clarified that what has taken place in recent days has been more of a passing along of messages through mediators.

“We’re in negotiations right now… We have a number of people doing it,” Trump tells reporters in the Oval Office, referring to his negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.

He reiterates that he was planning to bomb Iran’s main power plant until Tehran purportedly reached out over the weekend, expressing interest in negotiating a deal to end the war.

Trump says he’s demanding in talks that Iran not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and insists that Tehran has already agreed to that. Iran has long said it’s not pursuing a nuclear weapon, but has been enriching uranium at weapons-grade levels.

Asked if he’d like to see Gulf allies get more involved in the war against Iran, Trump responds, “A little bit, but more NATO.”

“I think our Gulf allies have been pretty good,” he adds.

IDF detects ballistic missile attack targeting central Israel

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting central Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Iranian soldiers responsible for missile attack on Arad were killed, says IDF

A damaged building at the site of a ballistic missile impact in Arad, March 22, 2026. (Stav Levaton/Times of Israel)

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says Iranian soldiers responsible for the missile fire on the southern city of Arad on Saturday night were killed in an airstrike.

“We continue to hunt and eliminate the soldiers and commanders of the missile array. We can now say that yesterday we eliminated the cell that was responsible for the fire toward Arad,” he says.

“We will continue to hunt them down, the launchers and the cells,” Defrin adds.

The missile strike in Arad wounded dozens of people, including 10 seriously, and caused extensive damage to homes.

In addition, the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate says it has identified low morale among soldiers in Iran’s ballistic missile units, following extensive Israeli strikes.

According to the IDF, more than 600 waves of strikes have been conducted against Iran’s ballistic missile array since the start of the war, as part of efforts to decrease the fire on Israel. Iran’s missile fire on Israel has slowed to around 10-15 missiles a day in recent days, down from around 90 on the first day of the war.

“Over the past week, based on cross-referencing various intelligence sources, including sources from within Iran, the Military Intelligence Directorate has identified low morale, absenteeism and burnout among soldiers of the IRGC’s ballistic missile units following IDF strikes,” the military says.

The IDF says that Iranian soldiers are also “afraid and are refusing to reach launch sites due to the IDF’s systematic targeting.”

Footage released by the IDF on March 24, 2026, shows airstrikes on Iranian ballistic missile launchers in Iran. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Home Front Command extends restrictions through at least Thursday night

People walk in the rain at the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, March 24, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The IDF Home Front Command says its current wartime guidelines are being extended until Thursday night at least, meaning educational activities will remain prohibited in most parts of the country.

By Thursday at 8 p.m., another assessment will be conducted by the Home Front Command.

Under the current guidelines, educational institutions can operate, provided there is an adequate shelter that can be reached in time, in some areas of the north, south, and West Bank.

A full list of locales can be found on the Home Front Command’s website.

Gatherings of up to 100 people indoors and 50 people outdoors are also permitted, under the same conditions in those areas.

In the rest of the country, educational activities are still prohibited. Gatherings are limited to 50 people, provided a shelter can be reached in time, and workplaces can operate under the same conditions.

UK to lead coalition to clear Strait of Hormuz – report

A cargo ship carrying vehicles sails through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz in the United Arab Emirates, March 22, 2026. (AP)

The UK’s Royal Navy will lead a “Hormuz Coalition” to reopen the key strait, The Times reports.

The UK will send mine-clearing ships along with the US and French navies, British officials tell the news outlet. Some of those vessels could be autonomous.

The UK has also offered to host a summit for the over 30 nations that signed a joint statement offering “appropriate efforts” to ensure shipping, Politico reports.

Israeli Air Force bombed key Iranian explosives facility in Isfahan, says IDF

The Israeli Air Force bombed Iran’s “main” explosives production facility, located in the Isfahan area, earlier today, the military says.

According to the IDF, the site was targeted as part of a wave of strikes in Isfahan against Iran’s “production industries.”

The factory was used to manufacture explosives for various weapons, the military says, noting that it had been targeted by Israel during the June 2025 war, and in recent months, Iran worked to restore the facility.

Dozens more Iranian targets were struck today by IAF jets that dropped over 120 bombs, the IDF says, adding that they included ballistic missile launch sites, weapon production facilities and air defense systems.

Iranian ballistic missile fell in Beirut earlier today, confirms IDF

Lebanese soldiers stand at the site where fragments from an Iranian missile interception fell in the town of Sahel Alma, north of Beirut, on March 24, 2026. (FADEL itani / AFP)

The IDF says an Iranian ballistic missile struck Beirut earlier today.

“Following a review and based on the data available to the IDF, in parallel to the launches carried out toward the State of Israel earlier today, a ballistic missile launched by the Iranian terror regime fell in Beirut,” the military says.

Lebanese security sources told Reuters earlier that an Iranian ballistic missile was intercepted over Lebanon by a “foreign naval vessel,” apparently referring to the United States.

Falling fragments following the interception struck towns north of Beirut, causing light injuries, according to Lebanese media.

US expected to send thousands of additional soldiers to Middle East, sources say

The Pentagon is expected to send thousands of troops from the elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter tell Reuters, adding to the massive military buildup even as the Trump administration seeks talks with Iran.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not specify where in the Middle East the troops would be sent to and when they would arrive in the region.

The US military referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sara Netanyahu calls out ‘shaming’ of her sons at education summit hosted by Melania Trump in DC

Sara Netanyahu addresses the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit in Washington on March 24, 2026. (Screen capture/YouTube)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, highlights what she says is the plight of her two sons in her remarks at a Washington summit on empowering children through education hosted by First Lady Melania Trump.

“Children cannot navigate alone in the digital world. They need protection, guidance and responsible adults who will ensure that the online space is positive, ethical and educational,” says Netanyahu, who is one of 45 representatives from countries around the world to participate in the gathering

“As a mother, I feel this on a personal level. When I raised my sons, I learned that reality moves so fast, bringing new challenges to every generation. My children have suffered shaming and violence simply because they are the children of the prime minister. We must condemn personal attacks on children in any setting, whether in person or ongoing online,” she adds.

Netanyahu’s oldest son, Yair, has become a target of government critics in Israel over his provocative social media presence. He is 34-years-old.

He has repeatedly clashed with public figures, both at home in Israel and abroad, and has been sued multiple times. In August last year, he suggested that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was behind a “rebellion and attempted military coup,” after he was reported to have disagreed with the government’s preferred mode of operation in Gaza.

2 lightly hurt by glass shards following Iranian missile impact in Safed, say medics

Magen David Adom says it treated two people who were hurt by glass shards following the Iranian ballistic missile impact in Safed.

Neither required hospitalization, MDA adds.

White House says possible talks with Iran are a ‘fluid situation’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, on March 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The White House spokeswoman describes the possibility of US-Iran talks as a “fluid situation.”

When asked about the possibility of the US participating in talks in Pakistan, press secretary Karoline Leavitt says in a statement that “these are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the US will not negotiate through the press.”

“This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House,” Leavitt says.

Rescue forces responding to reports of Iranian missile impact in Safed

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on March 24, 2026. (JACK GUEZ / AFP) /

Medics and rescue forces are responding to reports of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in the northern city of Safed.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Sirens had sounded across northern Israel amid the Iranian attack, the 11th today.

AIPAC pushes back after Democratic presidential hopefuls reject its support

US Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks on the Senate floor, April 1, 2025. (Senate Television via AP)

The US pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC pushes back after Democrats considering campaigns for the US presidency reject its support.

“AIPAC has never given to a presidential campaign,” the group says in a statement. “Millions of Democrats are AIPAC members who will support candidates that best reflect their values, including a strong US-Israel partnership.”

“Singling out and excluding millions of pro-Israel Democrats is wrong and undemocratic,” the statement says.

The statement comes in response to a report from the Politico news site about Democratic legislators disavowing any support from AIPAC, including some who are weighing a 2028 presidential run.

The lawmakers who have rejected AIPAC include New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, says he has never taken or solicited support from AIPAC.

Soroka doctor among wounded in Iranian missile attack, says hospital

Rescue services at the scene where a missile fragment impacted a mobile home, injuring three, in an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev, March 24, 2026. (MDA)

A staff doctor at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba was wounded after he had just returned from a shift at the hospital when an Iranian missile launched at Israel was intercepted near Nevatim and munitions fragments fell near his house in the Bedouin village of Alsira.

Soroka reports that the doctor, Asra Abu Rafa, in his 30s, is in moderate condition, and his wife and infant daughter are in good condition.

Seventeen other people are also being treated for severe anxiety at the hospital after the attack.

IDF detects incoming Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting north

The IDF has detected a new ballistic missile attack from Iran, targeting northern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Erdogan says Turkey exploring ways to bring an end to Iran war

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a signing ceremony during his official visit at the National Palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 17, 2026. (Marco Simoncelli/AFP)

Turkish President Receip Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will continue working with all its resources to establish peace in the Iran war, which he says has hit the Turkish economy and the whole world.

Erdogan says the government is considering various measures to protect the economy from the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has engulfed the region and sent energy prices soaring.

Woman declared dead after Hezbollah rocket attack, say first responders

First responders at the scene of a deadly Hezbollah rocket strike in northern Israel on March 24, 2026. (MDA)

A woman in her 30s was killed by a rocket impact at the Mahanayim Junction in northern Israel, first responders say.

Magen David Adom says its medics declared the woman’s death at the scene, and treated two others who were lightly hurt by shrapnel.

Saudi Arabia, UAE could join war on Iran if energy, water infrastructure attacked – report

Vehciles drive along the King Fahad road, a principal transport arteries that links the city's southern and northern districts, in the Saudi capital Riyadh on March 3, 2026. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are “losing patience” with Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure and airports and could join attacks on Iran, Bloomberg reports, citing “several people with knowledge of the situation.”

The Gulf states could join the US-Israeli campaign against Iran if Tehran strikes their major energy and water sites, say the sources.

3 injured, 1 critically, after Hezbollah rocket impact in northern Israel

Three people are injured, including one critically, by a rocket impact near the Mahanayim Junction in northern Israel a short while ago, medics say.

Hezbollah launched a barrage of some 30 rockets toward the area, according to the military.

Sirens also sounded in the Western Galilee and Galilee Panhandle, warning of suspected drone attacks from Lebanon.

Hezbollah demands Lebanon ‘immediately reverse’ expulsion of Iran ambassador

Hezbollah calls the decision by Lebanon’s foreign ministry to expel the newly appointed Iranian ambassador a “sin,” and demands authorities “immediately reverse” the move.

“Hezbollah calls on the president of the republic and the prime minister to demand that the minister of Foreign Affairs… immediately reverse this decision because of its dangerous repercussions,” the Iran-backed group says in a statement, calling the move a “national and strategic sin.”

The foreign ministry had earlier given the Iranian diplomat until Sunday to leave the country.

Iranian source to CNN: There’s been outreach from US to Iran, but not full negotiations

An unnamed Iranian source concedes that there has been “outreach” between the White House and Tehran, CNN reports. The source adds that Iran is open to discussing “sustainable” frameworks to end the conflict.

Top Iranian officials have publicly denied US President Donald Trump’s claims that the US and Iran have been talking about an end to the war in recent days.

“There has been outreach between the United States and Iran initiated by Washington in recent days,” the Iranian source tells CNN, “but nothing that has reached the level of full-on negotiations.”

“Iran is not asking for a meeting or direct talks with the United States but is willing to listen if a plan for a sustainable deal comes within reach that would preserve the national interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” says the source, adding that any deal must end all sanctions on Iran.

“Iran is ready to provide all the necessary guarantees that it will never develop nuclear weapons,” says the source, “but is entitled to peaceful use of nuclear technology.”

The source adds that messages have been sent through mediators “to scope out whether an agreement to end the war can be reached.”

“The proposals being looked at are aimed not merely at achieving a ceasefire, but a concrete agreement to end the conflict between the US and Iran,” says the source.

Sirens sound in border communities following rocket fire from Lebanon

A rocket barrage was launched from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee a short while ago, setting off sirens in several border communities.

A short while earlier, sirens warning of a suspected drone infiltration sounded in Metula, Margaliot, and Ghajar, also on the border.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Lawmakers approve 2026 defense budget of NIS 143 billion

MK Hanoch Milwidsky leads a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset during the war with Iran and Hezbollah, March 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Joint Committee for the Defense Budget unanimously approves a 2026 defense budget of NIS 143 billion ($45.8 billion), as well as an additional NIS 22 billion in income-dependent expenditure (including American aid grants) and NIS 82.2 billion ($26.3 billion) in authorization to commit for future spending.

The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department will receive NIS 10 billion ($3.2 billion) while the Families and Commemoration Department will be allocated approximately NIS 2.7 billion ($865 million).

“The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is currently conducting intensive and continuous work surrounding the war… [and] today completed the passage of the defense budget,” says Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud).

“Amounting to tens of billions of shekels, a significant portion of this budget is designated for funding combat and operational needs. Under my leadership, the committee will continue to oversee, track and utilize all tools at its disposal for the security of the State and the resilience of its citizens.”

Due to the sensitivity of the defense budget, including sensitive information regarding the structure and capabilities of the defense system, it does not receive final approval from the Knesset plenum like the rest of the state budget, but rather by a Joint Committee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Finance Committee, whose approval replaces the final two readings the rest of the budget goes through.

According to the Knesset spokesman, “parallel to the 2026 budget approval, a dialogue is ongoing between the Finance and Defense ministries, in cooperation with the National Security Council, to finalize a multi-year plan for the defense establishment’s force building. This plan, spanning a decade starting in 2027, is valued at NIS 350 billion ($112 billion), of which NIS 50 billion ($16 billion) will come from internal defense establishment sources via efficiency measures.”

Yesterday, the Knesset Finance Committee voted to advance the 2026 state budget to the final two readings necessary for it to pass into law.

In first, Iranian ballistic missile intercepted over Lebanon, say sources

An Iranian ballistic missile was intercepted over Lebanon this afternoon, in a first, three Lebanese security sources tell Reuters.

Two of the sources say the interception was carried out by a “foreign naval vessel,” apparently referring to the United States.

Fragments from the interception struck towns north of Beirut, according to Lebanese media, causing light injuries.

On Sunday night, two ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel instead struck Lebanese territory, according to the IDF.

Earlier today, Lebanon said it was kicking the Iranian ambassador out of the country, possibly sparking an angry response from Tehran.

Woman shot and killed in Arab village of Reineh, police say

The scene of a homicide in Reineh, March 24, 2026. (Magen David Adom)

A woman in her 30s was shot and killed today in Reineh, an Arab village just north of Nazareth, first responders say.

Paramedics found the victim without signs of life after having sustained several bullet wounds, Magen David Adom says. It appears that her body was located on the outskirts of town.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident. No arrests have yet been reported.

The slain woman is the latest person to fall prey to a violent crime wave besetting Arab cities and towns. With her death, 74 members of the Arab community have been killed in crime-related incidents since the start of the year, among them five women.

IDF publishes footage of airstrike on missile launcher in western Iran

Illustrative: An Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet prepares to take off for strikes in Iran, in a handout photo published on March 19, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF publishes footage showing a recent airstrike on an Iranian ballistic missile launcher in western Iran that it says was primed for an attack on Israel.

In additional strikes yesterday, the military says, the Israeli Air Force hit several ballistic missile storage and launch sites where Iranian soldiers were gathered.

IDF denies reports of abuse of Gaza toddler, says father used him as a human shield

The IDF has flatly denied a report circulating online that a Gazan toddler was detained and abused by Israeli forces as part of an interrogation.

In recent days, Gaza media outlets affiliated with Hamas have reported that Karim Abu Nassar, a toddler, was detained together with his father near the Yellow Line in the central Gaza Strip. According to the reports, the child was abused while being held for several hours before being returned to his family without his father — who was arrested by Israeli forces — including allegations that cigarettes were extinguished on his legs, resulting in documented injuries.

In response to a query from The Times of Israel, the IDF says the claims are false and baseless. The military says that on Thursday, “troops identified a suspect approaching them in the Yellow Line area while holding a 3-year-old toddler. Despite calls to stop, the man continued advancing and posed an immediate threat, prompting warning shots that were fired along the side of the road.”

According to the IDF, fragments caused by the gunfire were likely responsible for the toddler’s injuries.

The IDF says the father admitted during questioning that he had brought his young son with him so that troops would not harm him. He was arrested after identifying himself as a Hamas operative and admitting that he had infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7 massacre.

The military says the toddler underwent a medical examination, was provided with food and water, and was kept under continuous medical supervision before being transferred to representatives of the Red Cross after they located his family in Gaza. The IDF provided The Times of Israel with a video documenting the toddler’s handover to the Red Cross.

IDF soldiers hand over a Palestinian child to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on March 19, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

UAE: Moroccan contractor, not Emirati soldier, killed in Iran attack on Bahrain

After earlier reports that an Emirati soldier was killed in an Iranian attack in Bahrain, the UAE’s Defense Ministry says that it was a Moroccan national working as a contractor for the UAE who was killed during “a routine mission.”

Five UAE soldiers were also hurt, says the Defense Ministry.

IDF says strike on Beirut yesterday killed a member of Iran’s Quds Force

The site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik neighborhood on March 24, 2026 (AFP)

An Israeli Navy strike in Beirut yesterday killed a member of the Quds Force, the extraterritorial arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military announces.

The IDF says Muhammad Ali Kourani had been “advancing terror attacks directed by Iranian intelligence officials.”

The strike was carried out by the Navy following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency, the military adds.

Judge: Palestinian teen apparently starved in detention before his death; body still being held by Israel

A Hadera Magistrate’s Court judge ruled that a Palestinian minor was “apparently starved” while in Israeli detention, where he collapsed and died last year.

“The fact that he was apparently starved cannot and should not be hidden,” Judge Ehud Kaplan writes in his decision.

That ruling from December, however, was barred from publication until this week following a petition by the Haaretz daily.

Despite Kaplan’s statement, he went on to argue in the ruling that no causal link could be established between the poor physical condition of 17-year-old Walid Ahmad and his death.

A resident of the central West Bank village of Silwad, Ahmad was arrested on allegations that he threw a Molotov cocktail, though he was never formally charged, and was instead held under a controversial practice known as administrative detention, which Israel only uses against Arabs and Palestinians, ever since the defense minister ended the practice for Jews last year.

After roughly six months in prison, Ahmad collapsed and was pronounced dead in March of last year. He also suffered from scabies.

Even though over a year has passed since his death, Israel still continues to hold on to his body. His family is petitioning Israeli courts for its release and says a rationale has never been given for why it is being held in the first place.

Israeli Air Force investigating failure to shoot down missile that struck Tel Aviv

Security and rescue forces respond at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Flash90)

The Israeli Air Force is investigating the failure to shoot down the Iranian ballistic missile that struck Tel Aviv this morning.

According to the military, the Iranian missile carried a conventional warhead, not a cluster bomb. The impact lightly injured four people and caused extensive damage to several buildings.

The IDF says several attempts to intercept the missile were made, but air defenses failed to knock the projectile down.

The missile used in the attack has been intercepted before, and is not considered a new threat, the IDF adds.

Jerusalem-area brothers indicted for spying for Iran in exchange for NIS 100,000

Authorities have cracked a new case of Iran-linked espionage involving two brothers from the Jerusalem area, police say, after the pair was indicted today on security offenses.

The suspects are both Israeli citizens in their 20s. Due to national security concerns, the case was kept under a gag order that lasted until today. The suspects’ names are still barred from publication.

The brothers were arrested in January and have been charged in the Jerusalem District Court of contact with a foreign agent, passing intelligence to the enemy and impersonating an individual.

According to the indictment, the brothers received more than NIS 100,000 ($32,000) from several Iranian operatives while fully aware they were interacting with hostile actors.

They made extensive use of artificial intelligence to create fake maps and military reports, and even posed as an IDF intelligence officer in Unit 8200, prosecutors write.

West Bank District police investigators worked with the Shin Bet to probe the suspicions and completed the joint investigation last month.

“While some of the information that was transferred was not necessarily credible, it still had the potential to be used by the hostile actor,” police say.

Ariel Atari, the pair’s defense attorney, decries the indictment as “outrageous” and claims the investigation material proves the brothers are “Zionist patriots who sought to ‘sting’ the Iranians.”

The lawyer says his clients should not be indicted but rather awarded the Israel Prize for their “contribution to the security of the state” through what he insists were successful efforts to “harm the Iranian enemy.”

Still searching for next Iranian leader, Trump said certain ‘loser prince’ shah not an option

Iran's former crown prince and now key opposition figure Reza Pahlavi attends a discussion during the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC) on February 13, 2026 in Munich, southern Germany. (Alexandra BEIER / AFP)

While US President Donald Trump’s administration is still searching for a leader it can work with in Iran, one thing American officials are reportedly certain of is that the exiled son of Iran’s former shah is not the right fit.

Trump has several times downplayed Reza Pahlavi’s potential as the postwar leader of Iran due to him not having lived in the country since he was a child. He has instead said he prefers finding someone from within the country who is willing to work with the US, like Washington did with Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. The US has most recently set its sights on Iran parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, though he is seen as particularly close to the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and therefore unlikely to capitulate to Washington’s demands.

As for the son of the former shah, one US official tells the Politico news site, “Now do you put in Reza Pahlavi? God, no… He grew up outside. That is the last thing you want to install there. That’ll mean chaos.”

A second US official confirms to the news site that Pahlavi is “not on the table.”

The New Yorker reveals that Trump and his aides have been referring to Pahlavi as the “loser prince.”

China’s FM tells Iran that talking is ‘better than fighting,’ urges dialogue

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 13, 2026. (AP/Michael Probst)

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi calls on parties to seize all opportunities to start peace talks as soon as possible in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, according to a statement from Wang’s ministry.

Talking is always “better than fighting,” Wang tells Araghchi, adding that “all hotspot issues should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, not by using force.”

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince pushing Trump to keep fighting Iran, put boots on the ground – report

US President Donald Trump stands with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his visit to the White House, November 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been urging US President Donald Trump to continue the war against Iran, The New York Times reports, citing people briefed by American officials.

Bin Salman has spoken to Trump several times over the past week, pushing the president to keep fighting until the regime in Iran is toppled, according to the report. The Saudi prince sees Iran as a long-term threat that will persist as long as the Islamic Republic exists. He also believes that Iran could continue to target Saudi Arabia and threaten shipping after the war, the newspaper says.

According to the Times, bin Salman fears a failed Iranian state, with military factions continuing to strike the kingdom.

Publicly, Riyadh, which has been hit by numerous Iranian drone and missile attacks, says it wants to see a diplomatic solution.

But, according to the sources, MBS wants to see US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure in order to weaken the regime. He even advocated for US boots on the ground in order to take control of energy sites and topple the regime, they said.

He has told Trump that spikes in oil prices are only temporary.

Recognition of the need to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities is widespread enough that multiple Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are considering joining the US and Israeli strikes against Iran, a senior Gulf official told The Times of Israel last week.

Intercepted missile fragments of unclear origin said to hit north of Beirut

Lebanese media reports that fragments from an intercepted missile hit the coastal city of Jounieh and the nearby town of Sahel Alma, just north of Beirut, a short while ago.

Some unverified reports say the missile was launched from Iran.

The IDF denies carrying out an airstrike in the area, and says it is looking into the reports.

سقوط أجزاء من صواريخ اعتراضية في جونيه، قضاء كسروان.#لبنان #الميادين_لبنان pic.twitter.com/Lrkgux25nv

— الميادين لبنان (@mayadeenlebanon) March 24, 2026

Bahrain says Emirati soldier killed by Iranian attack on its soil

Authorities in Bahrain say an Emirati soldier has been killed there in an Iranian attack.

The Defense Ministry in Bahrain says he was killed while responding to the Iranian attacks along with Bahraini forces.

It said a number of Bahraini and Emirati forces were wounded.

The ministry didn’t elaborate on the circumstances of his death.

France urges Israel to refrain from seizing south Lebanon zone

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot gives a press conference after a crisis meeting in Paris on March 2, 2026. (Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP)

Israel should “refrain” from sending in troops to take control of a zone in south Lebanon, France’s foreign minister tells AFP, saying such a move would have “major humanitarian consequences.”

“We urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from such ground operations, which would have major humanitarian consequences and would exacerbate the country’s already dire situation,” Jean-Noel Barrot says.

Israel said earlier its military would take control of south Lebanon up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border.

Barrot also hails the decision of the Lebanese government to withdraw its approval of the Iranian ambassador’s accreditation today, calling it “courageous.” Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani was told to leave Lebanese territory by Sunday.

“I wish to commend the statements and actions of the Lebanese government… which this morning took a courageous decision by expelling the Iranian ambassador,” Barrot says, accusing Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into a new conflict.

Vance’s office denies he chided Netanyahu over rampant settler violence

US Vice President JD Vance, left, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on October 22, 2025. (Nathan Howard/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

US Vice President JD Vance’s office forcefully denies a Hebrew media report claiming that he had a tense conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days during which the second most powerful official in the Trump administration berated the Israeli premier over Jerusalem’s failure to crack down on rampant settler violence across the West Bank.

“This story is completely false. The vice president’s discussions over the last week with the prime minister have been solely focused on Operation Epic Fury. The subject of this article was not even discussed,” Vance’s press secretary Taylor Van Kirk tweets.

The Israel Hayom report that she denied was one of several Hebrew media reports in recent days purporting to reveal frustration in Washington at Israel regarding the near-daily, unchecked settler attacks.

It has been months, however, since a Trump official has publicly weighed in on the phenomenon.

Pakistani PM says Islamabad ‘ready’ to host talks to end Iran war

Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, left, and Chief of the Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir wait for their meeting with US President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House, September 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says Islamabad is prepared to host negotiations to stop the US-Israeli war with Iran, after mounting speculation it could act as a mediator.

“Pakistan welcomes and fully supports ongoing efforts to pursue dialogue to end the WAR in Middle East, in the interest of peace and stability in [the] region and beyond,” he writes on X.

“Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict.”

11% of Tel Aviv residents don’t have adequate access to shelter, says city official

Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene where a missile fired from Iran at Israel caused damage in Tel Aviv, March 24, 2026. (Flash90)

Eleven percent of Tel Aviv residents do not have proper access to a shelter, a representative of the local municipality tells the Knesset Special Committee for Foreign Workers, while locals complain to lawmakers that available shelters in the south of the city are overcrowded and suffer from neglect, vandalism and sanitation issues.

“We have placed 20 portable shelters throughout the city. In Tel Aviv, there are 560 standard protection facilities,” but despite this, “11% of Tel Aviv residents do not have a standard protected space that allows them to reach a shelter within a reasonable time during a siren,” says the Tel Aviv Municipality’s Shai Gateño.

According to Tel Aviv City Council member Shula Keshet, there has been violence in south Tel Aviv’s shelters — while far-right anti-migrant activist Sheffi Paz says that people do not go to the shelters due to the congestion and smell.

Gateño says the city is working on cleaning and maintaining the shelters but lacks the tools to prevent vandalism.

“It is difficult for us to enforce, but we try to carry out repairs and maintenance to maintain basic serviceability of the shelters, but after 10 minutes the situation returns to normal,” he says.

“I received testimonies of cases where elderly residents, women and children were left outside shelters during sirens because the area is home to a high concentration of infiltrators, asylum seekers, and both legal and illegal foreign workers. Since illegal workers are not registered in municipal records, it leads to extreme overcrowding in the shelters,” says committee chairwoman Etty Hava Atia (Likud) — adding that “every human being is entitled to enter a shelter.”

According to a recent state comptroller report, some three million Israelis don’t have access to bomb shelters.

No injuries reported after Iran’s 10th missile attack of the day targets south

No injuries or impacts are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack — the 10th since midnight — and a concurrent Hezbollah rocket attack.

The Iranian missile had triggered sirens across southern Israel, and the Hezbollah rockets from Lebanon set off alerts in Karmiel and nearby towns in the Galilee.

Israel strikes gas stations in Lebanon it says are owned by Hezbollah

The Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of strikes against gas stations in Lebanon that it says are owned by Hezbollah.

Al-Amana, a fuel distribution company that is owned by Hezbollah, has been under US sanctions since February 2020.

The IDF says the company “serves as a significant economic infrastructure for [Hezbollah’s] terror activity” and is used by the terror group to “refuel trucks transporting weapons and terrorists.”

חיל-האוויר השלים גל תקיפות נוסף ברחבי לבנון לעבר תחנות דלק הממנות את פעילות ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה:https://t.co/GiWy1k586X pic.twitter.com/4suVlL6Nhf

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 24, 2026

The IDF struck a series of Al-Amana gas stations in Lebanon last week as well.

Sirens sound in Galilee amid Hezbollah rocket attack

Sirens sound in the northern city of Karmiel and nearby towns in the Galilee amid a Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon.

The rocket fire comes shortly after Iran launched a ballistic missile at southern Israel, where sirens are set to sound in the coming minutes.

IDF: Troops killed 8 Hezbollah operatives in south Lebanon raid last week

Illustrative: IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued by the military on March 20, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Troops of the Golani Brigade killed eight Hezbollah operatives during a raid last week in southern Lebanon, the military says.

According to the IDF, the operatives were killed during an exchange of fire with troops and in airstrikes. One of the eight was a member of the sniper unit of Hezbollah elite Radwan Force, the army says.

The military does not report any injuries in the incident.

The IDF says the Golani soldiers also located a tunnel used by the operatives, inside which numerous weapons were found. The tunnel was then destroyed.

First responders now say only 3 hurt in missile attack in Negev

Rescue services at the scene where a missile fragment impacted a mobile home, injuring three, in an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev, March 24, 2026. (MDA)

Magen David Adom revises the wounded toll of the impact at an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert to three.

MDA says a man in his 40s was moderately hurt after being hit by a blast, and a woman aged 26 and a 2-month-old baby were lightly hurt in the village of Alsira.

All three were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, the ambulance service adds.

According to the IDF, an Iranian missile fired at the area was intercepted, and falling fragments likely caused the injuries.

Footage shows the damage caused to a home in an unrecognised Bedouin community in the Negev Desert by a fragment from an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile.

Three people were injured, including an infant. pic.twitter.com/47PIW024cY

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 24, 2026

IDF detects Iranian missile attack targeting southern Israel

The IDF has identified another Iranian ballistic missile attack, again targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Lapid says he’ll present bill designating Qatar an enemy state, named after PM’s aide Urich

Opposition Leader and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 16, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid announces that he will present a bill designating Qatar an enemy state to the Knesset tomorrow, adding that the legislation will be named after Jonatan Urich, an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Urich is accused of taking money to spearhead a public relations campaign to cast Qatar in a positive light for over a year after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

“A situation in which employees in the Prime Minister’s Office receive money from a country that is the world’s largest funder of terrorism is unacceptable. I am sure there are many supporters for this within the coalition as well,” says Lapid.

Urich’s work for Qatar was conducted despite the Gulf state’s backing for Hamas and while he was working in the PMO. Netanyahu has defended Urich, stating last April that the Gulf emirate was “not an enemy country.”

Four hurt, including two infants, as missile fragment hits home in southern Bedouin community

Rescue services at the scene where a missile fragment impacted a mobile home, injuring three, in an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev, March 24, 2026. (MDA)

Four people are injured after an intercepted missile fragment hit a mobile home in an unrecognized Bedouin community in the Negev Desert, medics say.

According to Magen David Adom, a man in his 40s is listed in moderate condition, and three others — including two infants and a woman in her 40s — are lightly hurt.

As many Bedouin communities in the Negev are not recognized by the state, there are few public bomb shelters and residents largely lack private protective rooms.

Philippines declares ‘national energy emergency’ due to Mideast war

This file photo taken on July 6, 2022, shows a coal fired power plant in Oyon Bay in Masinloc town, Zambales province, in the Philippines (Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declares a state of “national energy emergency,” citing risks to the domestic fuel supply and energy stability created by the Middle East war.

The state of emergency is declared just hours after the country’s energy secretary said the Philippines planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaks havoc with gas shipments.

“A state of national energy emergency is hereby declared in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and the resulting imminent danger posed upon the availability and stability of the country’s energy supply,” the executive order says.

The order authorizes the country’s Department of Energy to make advance payments of 15 percent to secure fuel contracts while taking direct action against hoarding or profiteering.

“The declaration… will enable the government, through the [energy department] and other concerned agencies, to implement responsive and coordinated measures under existing laws to address the risks posed by disruptions in the global energy supply and the domestic economy,” the order says.

The order also grants the transportation department the ability to direct public transportation fuel subsidies and reduce or suspend toll charges and aviation fees, while fast-tracking aid to individuals in “crisis situations.”

The Philippines, which has some of the region’s highest energy costs, is heavily dependent on imported fuel to keep its power plants running.

Iran toughens negotiating stance amid mediation efforts, sources say

Reuters appears to confirm a Channel 12 report from yesterday on Iran’s demands for a ceasefire.

Three senior sources in Tehran tell the news agency that the country’s negotiating posture has hardened sharply since the war began, with the Revolutionary Guards exerting growing influence over decision-making, and it will demand significant concessions from the United States if mediation efforts lead to serious negotiations.

In any talks with the US, Iran would not only demand an end to the war but concessions that are likely red lines for US President Donald Trump — guarantees against future military action, compensation for wartime losses and formal control of the Strait of Hormuz, the sources say.

Iran would also refuse to negotiate any limitations to its ballistic missile program, they say, an issue that was a red line for Tehran during the talks that were taking place when the US and Israel launched their attack last month.

Haredi leader blasts critics of new rabbinic courts law as ‘a disgrace’

Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni addresses the Knesset, February 9, 2026. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Moshe Gafni, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah faction, declares that former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s and other opposition leaders’ public condemnations of the newly passed rabbinic courts law are “a disgrace.”

The passage of the law, which gives rabbinic and sharia courts the power to arbitrate civil disputes that are currently the purview of the secular court system, “is a move that respects Israel’s character as a Jewish and democratic state and grants freedom of choice to those who desire it,” insists Gafni, who was one of the sponsors of the law.

This morning, Bennett promised to roll back the law should his anti-Netanyahu bloc win the next election, stating that “there will be no state within a state here.”

Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court decision determined that they had no standing to do so. The new law, passed overnight, stipulates that religious courts will only be allowed to rule on such issues with the consent of both parties. But critics say members of the relevant communities will likely face intense communal pressure to agree to the courts’ jurisdiction.

Rescue services responding to report of impact on mobile home in Negev

Rescue services say they are responding to reports of a missile impact in the Negev Desert, following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

According to the fire service, a mobile home was hit.

It is not immediately clear if the report refers to a direct missile impact or falling fragments following interceptions.

Hezbollah says it will fight any Israeli move to occupy south Lebanon, calls it existential threat

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah speaks to the press in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil on November 27, 2024, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (Anwar Amro / AFP)

Lebanese terror group Hezbollah will fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying southern Lebanon, one of the group’s top lawmakers, Hassan Fadlallah, tells Reuters, saying such an occupation would pose an “existential threat” to Lebanon as a state.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier that he had instructed the military to establish a “security zone” south of the Litani River, which runs about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

The group has resisted international calls and demands by the Lebanese government to disarm and halt its attacks on the Jewish state.

Sirens expected in south as Iran launches missile

The IDF has identified a new Iranian ballistic missile attack, targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Iranian media says energy infrastructure attacked

Iranian media reports that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.

“As part of the ongoing attacks carried out by the Zionist and American enemy, the gas administration building and the gas pressure regulation station on Kaveh Street in Isfahan were targeted,” says the Fars news agency.

The facilities in central Iran were “partially damaged,” adds Fars, which does not provide a source and is Iran’s only news outlet to report the incident.

It says an attack also targeted the gas pipeline of the Khorramshahr power plant, in the country’s southwest.

“A projectile hit the area outside the Khorramshahr gas pipeline processing station,” Fars reports, quoting the governor of the city bordering Iraq.

The governor says the infrastructure is operating normally and there is no disruption to the gas supply.

Iran Guards threaten ‘heavy’ missile fire on Israel in support of Lebanese, Palestinians

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threaten to conduct “heavy” missile and drone attacks on Israel in what it describes as support for Lebanese and Palestinian civilians.

“We warn the regime’s criminal army that if its crimes against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine persist,” Israeli forces “will be the target of heavy missile and drone strikes,” the Guards say in a statement.

Iran is at war with Israel and the United States, while Israel is also battling Tehran-backed terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran has already been firing missiles at Israel multiple times a day, and it is unclear whether it is able to significantly expand its attacks.

Iran arrests over 460 people accused of seeking to destabilize country

Iranian authorities announce the arrest of 466 people accused of seeking to destabilize the country through their online activity, state media reported, as the war with the US and Israel ground on.

“These individuals sought to sow confusion in public opinion, create fear and anxiety in society, promote insecurity and spread propaganda in favor of the enemy” online, state news agency IRNA says, citing Iranian police.

The news agency does not specify the exact nature of the online activity nor the dates of the arrests.

Iranian authorities have completely cut off the internet since war erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on the country.

Internet monitor Netblocks writes on X that “Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 25th day after 576 hours.”

For nearly a month, only a handful of authorized people have had access to the worldwide internet in Iran. Others have sought to overcome the blackout by connecting sporadically via VPNs or Starlink — a jailable offense in Iran.

Police detective Rinat Saban gets promoted over Ben Gvir’s objections

After a yearlong legal battle over her promotion, police detective Rinat Saban is granted the rank of chief superintendent, despite National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s vehement opposition to the move.

Since March last year, the far-right minister has refused to sign off on Saban’s promotion — which is widely supported by police senior command — due to her role in probing and later testifying in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption case.

שמעו זה לא יאמן.
מפכ"ל המשטרה הבריז מטקס הענקת הדרגה לרינת סבן.
ראש אגף החקירות בועז בלט העניק את הדרגה בעצמו. pic.twitter.com/yHpiyw39FA

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) March 24, 2026

The Jerusalem District Court issued a ruling last month calling Ben Gvir’s refusal unlawful, saying it likely stemmed from “extraneous considerations.” The judge ordered him to sign off on her promotion, but the politician did not budge.

Last week, the court gave Ben Gvir a five-day deadline to comply with the decision, by the end of which Saban would be promoted — with or without his approval.

Today, Saban was promoted without the minister’s signature in a small ceremony in Jerusalem attended by her commanding officer, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt, who heads the police’s investigations and intelligence division.

The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in the Tel Aviv District police station in the presence of chief commissioner Danny Levy, but the top cop declined to attend at the last minute, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

“When there is something worth fighting for, we will fight for it,” Saban is quoted by Kan as saying.

“God willing, we will celebrate Ruti [Hauslich] at her promotion ceremony,” she adds, referring to another female police investigator whose promotion is being stonewalled by Ben Gvir.

FM Sa’ar: Lebanon’s expulsion of Iranian envoy ‘justified and necessary’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praises Lebanon’s decision to expel the Iranian ambassador, calling it a “justified and necessary step toward the state responsible for violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, for its indirect occupation through Hezbollah, and for dragging it into war.”

Writing on X, he calls on Lebanon’s government to take “meaningful steps” against Hezbollah.

German president calls Iran war a disastrous mistake, in rare rebuke of Trump

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun (not in picture) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The Iran war is a “disastrous mistake” that breaches international law, Germany’s president says in an unusually blunt rebuke of US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, which he says marked a rupture for German ties with its biggest postwar ally.

In a scathing verbal attack, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose largely ceremonial role allows him to speak more freely than politicians, takes a far more critical line than Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has skirted questions on the war’s legality.

“Our foreign policy does not become more convincing just because we do not call a breach of international law a breach of international law,” Steinmeier, a former foreign minister from the center-left Social Democratic Party, says in a speech at the foreign ministry.

“We must address this with regard to the war in Iran. For, in my view, this war is contrary to international law,” he says, adding he has little doubt that the justification of the imminent nature of an attack on US targets does not hold water.

Calling the war unnecessary and a “politically disastrous mistake,” Steinmeier says Trump’s second term marks a rupture in German foreign relations as profound as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Just as I believe there will be no going back in relations with Russia to before February 24, 2022, so too do I believe there will be no going back in transatlantic relations to before January 20, 2025,” says Steinmeier.

After Trump reveals Iran talks, Netanyahu holds meetings with coalition heads, security chiefs

After US President Donald Trump’s bombshell announcement yesterday that he was in talks with Iran about ending the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a series of high-level meetings to discuss the next steps in the campaign.

The premier called the heads of the coalition parties to discuss the talks and the impact on the war last night, the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.

This morning, Netanyahu met with security chiefs on the same topic.

Unnamed senior Israeli officials tell Israeli media and Reuters that Trump seems determined to end the war with a negotiated deal, but that they see that outcome as unlikely at present, because Iran won’t agree to US demands.

World Economic Forum postpones planned Jeddah meeting, Saudi Arabia says

The World Economic Forum has postponed a meeting that had been due to take place in Saudi Arabia next month on global collaboration, growth and energy “in light of current regional developments,” Saudi Arabia’s state news agency says.

The WEF Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting had been scheduled to be held in Jeddah on April 22–23 but Iran, which is at war with United States and Israel, has been launching missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

The Saudi Press Agency says the decision to postpone the meeting was made following consultations with the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning. It says another date for the event will be announced in due course.

Iran appoints Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr to replace security chief Ali Larijani

Iran's Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr in 2023 (YouTube screenshot/CCTV)

Iran names a former Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, as the new chief of the Supreme National Security Council to replace his slain predecessor Ali Larijani, state television says.

Larijani, a powerful figure in the Islamic Republic, was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

Missile fragment hits house in unrecognized Bedouin village

A home damaged by a missile fragment in Tel Arad, March 24, 2026 (Jihad Amor)

A fragment from an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile hit a home this morning in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Tel Arad in the Negev, according to the Arab majority Hadash-Ta’al party, causing significant damage.

No injuries were reported. The family is one of the few in the village with a safe room, which is where they were when the fragment hit their home.

Jihad Amor, a resident of Tel Arad, tells The Times of Israel that the fragment hit his uncle’s home, about 20 meters from his own house.

He says he felt “total fear” when he heard the fragment hit at about 6 a.m.

Because Tel Arad is not recognized by the state, it has few public bomb shelters, and residents largely lack private safe rooms. The incident highlights the vulnerability of the roughly 130,000 residents of some 35 unrecognized villages.

Amor says residents feel abandoned by the state.

“For our neighbors in Arad, the Home Front Command arrives, and the police come. The prime minister was there. The whole world was there,” he says, referring to the recent direct missile impact in the nearby city of Arad, which saw some 90 people wounded.

“When we call the police or the Home Front Command, or the regional council, they don’t answer. No one pays attention. They don’t think of us as people, but as animals,” he charges.

In a statement following the strike, the Hadash party’s Negev branch says that the government’s neglect of these villages reflects “an explicitly racist policy” and “blatant discrimination against Arab citizens in the Negev.”

No injuries reported in latest Iranian missile attack

No injuries or direct impacts are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack, the eighth since midnight.

The missiles had triggered sirens in the Judean Foothills, the Lachish region, and in the southernmost city of Eilat.

‘Persona non grata’: Lebanon boots Iran’s ambassador after proxy Hezbollah drew country into war

Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani (left), shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on February 25, 2026. (Iranian Embassy in Beirut)

Lebanon has declared Iran’s ambassador to the country persona non grata and instructed him to leave the country by Sunday, amid the regional war.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi writes on X: “I instructed today the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to summon the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon to inform him of the decision to withdraw the agrément for the designated Iranian Ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani, declare him persona non grata, and request that he leave Lebanese territory no later than 29 March 2026.”

The ministry also summons the Lebanese ambassador to Iran back for consultations, citing what it describes as Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.

Lebanon has been drawn into the war by Iranian proxy Hezbollah, which has refused the government’s demands to disarm and continued to attack Israel, leading to an intense Israeli bombing campaign and ground operations in southern Lebanon, and the displacement of over a million people.

IAF carries out wave of airstrikes against Iranian ‘production sites’

The Israeli Air Force completed an “extensive” wave of airstrikes against Iranian “production sites” in Isfahan and other areas of Iran a short while ago, the military says.

The IDF says it will provide further details on the strikes later.

UAE says it intercepted 5 missiles, 17 drones from Iran today

The United Arab Emirates intercepted five ballistic missiles and 17 drones fired by Iran today, says the Emirati defense ministry.

Since the start of the US-Israel campaign against Iran on February 28, the UAE has been the country most targeted by Iran, facing 357 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,806 drones. The number of daily attacks has been steadily dropping throughout the war.

IDF says soldier moderately hurt in operational accident in south Lebanon

An IDF soldier was moderately hurt in an “operational accident” during military operations in southern Lebanon earlier today, the army says.

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldier was hit by shrapnel and not by enemy fire.

The military says the soldier was taken to a hospital and his family was notified.

Sirens sound in south amid Iranian missile attack

The IDF says it has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Sirens are sounding in several areas of southern Israel, including the southernmost city of Eilat.

IDF strikes ‘key’ Litani River bridge used by Hezbollah

The IDF says it struck another bridge on the Litani River that it says was a “key” crossing used by Hezbollah to move operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon.

The al-Dalafa Bridge, located on the eastern portion of the river, was struck yesterday following a warning by the military.

The military issues footage of the strike.

צה"ל תקף מעבר מרכזי נוסף בנהר הליטאני ששימש את מחבלי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

צה"ל תקף במהלך הלילה מעבר מרכזי נוסף ששימש את מחבלי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה לנוע מצפון לדרום נהר הליטאני.

מחבלי ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה השתמשו במעבר שהותקף להעברת אמצעי לחימה, רקטות ומשגרים במטרה לקדם ולהוציא… pic.twitter.com/zLGacFzuow

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 24, 2026

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier that all bridges over the Litani River that had been used by Hezbollah “have been blown up, and the IDF will control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani.”

Bennett vows to reverse new law expanding authority of rabbinic and sharia courts

File: Naftali Bennett at the scene of a ballistic missile impact in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2026 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett promises to roll back — should he be elected — a controversial law passed last night significantly expanding the authority of the state’s rabbinic and sharia court systems, declaring that “there will be no state within a state here.”

The bill, sponsored by Degel Hatorah — half of the United Torah Judaism party — and Shas, gives the religious tribunals the power to arbitrate civil disputes, which are currently under the purview of the secular court system. Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court decision determined that they had no standing to do so.

The legislation stipulates that religious courts would only be allowed to rule on such issues with the consent of both parties, but Bennett expresses skepticism that it can be applied fairly, as many may not be able to resist pressure to engage in rabbinic arbitration.

“While you were in the shelters, the government last night passed a law that both tears the nation apart in wartime and seriously harms individual rights,” Bennett states, arguing that the law means that the ultra-Orthodox “will de facto be able to control the lives of more and more citizens.”

“We will soon abolish all these extreme laws and strengthen Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and united state,” he says.

The law is also condemned by the Israeli Reform Movement, whose CEO, Anna Kislensky, accuses the government of having “paid a political bribe to the Haredi and religious parties” by creating a “parallel judicial system that will rule according to Torah law and will harm all of our rights.”

“We should recall that decisions in the rabbinical courts are made in a room full of men — Orthodox only — according to halachic law, in which the law for a woman is different from that for a man,” Kislensky says, declaring that the new law is neither democratic nor Jewish.

Meanwhile, Shas welcomes the passage, calling it a “historic move” that “brings back to the [rabbinic] courts authority that was previously taken from them by the High Court of Justice, and gives citizens the option of choosing to resolve disputes according to Torah law, in a professional, efficient and transparent process.”

“This is a significant step toward strengthening the status of the rabbinical courts and Judaism in the State of Israel,” the party says.

Sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona amid Hezbollah attack

Sirens sound in the Kiryat Shmona area amid a Hezbollah attack from Lebanon.

The alerts activated in the northern city and nearby communities in the Galilee Panhandle warn of rocket fire and a suspected drone infiltration.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Katz says Israel will hold ‘security zone’ in south Lebanon until Hezbollah threat removed

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will control a “security zone” in southern Lebanon, up to the Litani River, until the threat of Hezbollah is removed.

“The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon with full force against Hezbollah. Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated northward will not return south of the Litani River until security for the residents of the north is ensured,” he says during an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers this morning.

Katz says that all bridges over the Litani River that had been used by Hezbollah to move operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon “have been blown up, and the IDF will control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani.”

“The principle is clear: Where there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will be inside,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the IDF says that troops operating on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov recently located a Hezbollah tunnel shaft, and demolished other structures used by the terror group.

Minister submits position paper on PM’s pardon request to president

Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu during a meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 7, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, acting in place of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has submitted his position paper on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pardon request to President Isaac Herzog.

A statement put out by Herzog’s office in response thanks Eliyahu, and adds that he will not be swayed in his decision by external pressure “from any direction” –an apparent reference to US President Donald Trump, who has harshly criticized Herzog for failing to immediately grant the pardon.

Usually the justice minister submits the position paper, but Levin delegated the matter to Eliyahu due to a possible conflict of interest.

Eliyahu has not stated openly what his position is although Hebrew media reports he backed Netanyahu’s pardon request. The far-right minister strongly indicated in several posts on social media in recent weeks that he favors issuing a pardon.

Together with his own position paper, Eliyahu also submits that of the Justice Ministry’s pardons department, which has said that it cannot recommend issuing the pardon since it found Netanyahu’s request did not meet the relevant criteria.

All the documentation submitted by Eliyahu has been passed to the president’s legal adviser Michal Tzuk. Tzuk will evaluate the position papers and then draw up her own position paper which she will submit to Herzog, who will make the final decision.

“Any attempt to influence the president’s decision-making process in any way, from any direction, will not affect the president’s judgment and will not change a thing. The president will act solely in accordance with the law, his conscience, and the good of the country,” Herzog’s office states.

Three Palestinians indicted for beating Jewish teen in West Bank village

Prosecutors have indicted three Palestinians who allegedly beat a Jewish teenager until he lost consciousness after he entered the West Bank village of Huwara earlier this year.

Police say the attack, which took place January 25, amounted to a lynching attempt and nearly resulted in the teen’s death.

The teenager “was violently attacked by several local residents. As a result of the attack the youth lost consciousness and the suspects assumed he was dead,” police add in a statement.

Border Police officers arrested six suspects, but only three of those detained have been charged so far. The investigation, conducted jointly by the Shin Bet and police, was completed at the end of last week.

IDF says Air Force destroyed Beirut buildings used as Hezbollah command centers

The Israeli Air Force leveled a multistory building and struck other structures in Beirut overnight that the military says were being used by Hezbollah as command centers.

According to the IDF, the strikes in the Lebanese capital targeted Hezbollah headquarters, including one belonging to the elite Radwan Force and another of the terror group’s intelligence division.

Another overnight strike in the southern Lebanon town of at-Tiri targeted a Hezbollah command center that had been embedded within a studio of the terror group’s Al-Nour radio station, according to the IDF.

The military says the headquarters was struck while Hezbollah operatives were operating at the site.

צפו בתיעודים מהלילה: צה"ל תקף תחנת שידור הפועלת בחסות חיזבאללה ומפקדות של יחידת 'כוח רדואן'

לאורך הלילה, צה"ל תקף תשתיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בביירות ובמרחבים נוספים בלבנון.

בתקיפות שבוצעו בביירות, הותקפו מפקדות של ארגון הטרור, בהן מפקדה של יחידת 'כוח רדואן', ממנה פעלו מחבלי… pic.twitter.com/0PTCNeutAz

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 24, 2026

Knesset advances tax benefit bill for West Bank settlements

The Knesset votes 37-33 in favor of a first reading of a bill granting additional tax benefits to settlements in the West Bank deemed to be facing security threats.

The bill will now move to the Knesset Finance Committee, where it will be prepared for the two additional votes it must pass to become law.

The bill proposes adding a new security threat criterion to the existing formula for determining eligibility for tax breaks. Eligible settlements will get a 25% boost in tax benefit points, according to the bill, similar to those offered to residents of Israeli border towns.

Proponents of the bill argue the change corrects an existing gap, noting that while some West Bank settlements are officially recognized as facing security risks, that factor has not been taken into account when determining tax benefits.

No injuries reported after Hezbollah fires some 30 rockets at Haifa Bay area

No injuries are reported after Hezbollah fired a barrage of some 30 rockets from Lebanon at the Haifa Bay area.

According to the military, most of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and there are no immediate reports of impacts in residential areas.

Magen David Adom says it has not received any reports of injuries.

Sirens had sounded in Acre and the Krayot suburbs of Haifa.

Sirens, interceptions over Acre amid Hezbollah rocket attack

Sirens have sound in Acre and the Krayot suburbs of Haifa amid a Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon.

Eyewitnesses report seeing multiple interceptions over the area.

Number of people hurt in Iranian attack on Tel Aviv revised to 4; none hospitalized

Medics now say they treated four people at the site of the Iranian ballistic missile impact in Tel Aviv this morning, but none required hospitalization.

“As soon as we received reports of the impact, we responded with large forces and arrived at the scene within minutes. We saw destruction, smoke, and chaos. We immediately began conducting searches. Four casualties were walking around in mild condition and did not require further medical treatment,” says a Magen David Adom medic.

Ben Gvir files appeal against promotion of officer involved in PM corruption probe

Police Supt. Rinat Saban arrives for a hearing at the District Court in Jerusalem, January 25, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir appeals the promotion of Supt. Rinat Saban, a police investigator whose advancement he has blocked since she testified last year in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

He files the High Court appeal in what seems to be a last-ditch effort as police chief Danny Levy — who has been pushing for Saban’s advancement — is reportedly set to promote her to the rank of chief superintendent today.

In his court filing, Ben Gvir writes that Saban is “an unworthy officer,” claiming she violated the rights of individuals under investigation.

“A minister is not a rubber stamp and he will not lie to himself and appoint someone who violated the law a countless number of times,” he writes.

Last week, the Jerusalem District Court allotted Ben Gvir a five-day deadline to sign off on Saban’s promotion, saying that otherwise she would be advanced without his approval.

The court had been following up on its ruling a month prior that determined the far-right minister’s refusal to approve Saban’s promotion was unlawful and likely motivated by “extraneous considerations.”

Saban, who serves in the police investigations and intelligence division, helped probe Netanyahu and later testified in his corruption case. Ben Gvir began blocking her promotion last spring shortly after her testimony, and last month admitted that he sought to stifle her career due to her involvement in what he deemed the “illegal” investigation of the premier.

IDF says it struck Iranian missile storage facilities and regime headquarters

During waves of airstrikes in Iran yesterday and overnight, the Israeli Air Force struck ballistic missile storage facilities and various Iranian regime headquarters, the IDF says.

The military says that in Tehran yesterday, it struck two intelligence headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a headquarters of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.

Also in the capital, IAF aircraft hit weapon storage sites and air defense systems, the military says.

Overnight, the IDF says, it struck more than 50 targets in northern and central Iran, including sites used to store and launch ballistic missiles.

Reports: Settlers set fire to home in South Hebron Hills, spray graffiti

Palestinian media outlets report that settlers set fire overnight to a house in the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills and sprayed graffiti at the scene.

The graffiti reportedly included the phrases “Bluth, revenge,” apparently referring to Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, who recently spoke out against settler violence, and “Regards from Yehuda” — referring to Yehuda Sherman, who was killed in a suspected ramming attack by a Palestinian man four days ago.

No injuries were reported in a-Tuwani.

عاجل | مصادر محلية: مستوطنون يحرقون منازل المواطنين في مسافر يطا جنوب الخليل pic.twitter.com/NAh2NSdsXn

— سم𓂆ح (@samah_0000) March 24, 2026

No injuries reported in ballistic missile attack on south

No injuries are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack, the seventh since midnight.

The missile, which triggered sirens in the southern city of Dimona and nearby towns in the Negev Desert, was likely intercepted, according to initial military assessments.

Iranian missile part falls in West Bank

A piece of an Iranian missile fired at central Israel in the barrage earlier fell near a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

רסיס מטיל איראני שנפל בשומרון. pic.twitter.com/MCRzOg4SDb

— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) March 24, 2026

Home Front Command official: Iranian warhead badly damaged 3 Tel Aviv buildings

Home Front Command official Col. Miki David says an Iranian warhead that impacted this morning on street in Tel Aviv caused significant damage to three nearby buildings, but resulted in no serious injuries.

“I’m happy to say that in this incident you’re seeing behind me, which appears visually dramatic, there are only three light injuries,” he tells reporters at the scene, adding that most residents took cover in a nearby bomb shelter.

David further assesses the considerable damage caused by the projectile indicates that it did not split off from a cluster munition, but notes it still appears to have been smaller than the conventional, non-cluster, warheads previously launched by Iran.

New Iranian missile launch targets southern Israel

The IDF has detected another Iranian ballistic missile launch, targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

Officials say munition that hit Tel Aviv carried 100kg of explosives

Security officials say a munition carrying some 100 kilograms of explosives impacted in central Tel Aviv, leading to widespread damage to buildings and vehicles.

בניין בתל אביב נפגע במטח לעבר המרכז הבוקר, מכוניות עלו באש; מד"א: אין נפגעים@tuvyayagelnik pic.twitter.com/vKPDvZZ0WA

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 24, 2026

Missile parts impact in Rosh Ha’ayin, causing damage

Media reports indicate missile parts impacted in Rosh Ha’ayin, east of Tel Aviv, causing damage.

There are no reports of injuries at this time.

6 lightly hurt as Tel Aviv hit in Iranian missile attack

A fire is seen at an impact site in Tel Aviv following an Iranian missile attack, March 24, 2026 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Impacts are reported in central Tel Aviv following the latest Iranian missile attack.

Six people are lightly wounded in four sites in the city, according to Magen David Adom.

Multiple buildings and vehicles were damaged.

Missile launch detected from Iran, sirens to sound in center

The IDF has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack, targeting central Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

WSJ: Saudi Arabia and UAE ‘inching toward’ joining fighting against Iran

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, right, and his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani attend the consultative ministerial meeting in Riyadh, on March 19, 2026. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly moving closer toward actively joining the fight against Iran, as the war in the Middle East drags on.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Gulf states are “inching toward” a more active role, after Riyadh allowed US forces to use an air base within its borders.

A source cited by the news outlet said it is “only a matter of time” before Saudi Arabia enters the war, after its foreign minister said last week that its patience for Iranian attacks “is not unlimited.”

No injuries reported after Iranian missile attack on southern Israel

No injuries or direct impacts are reported following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack, the fifth since midnight.

The missile fire triggered sirens across southern Israel. One projectile apparently hit an open area outside of Beersheba.

Police and medics say they are scanning sites of possible fragments that fell in the Beersheba area.

Lebanon says Israel struck 7 areas in southern Beirut overnight

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut's southern suburbs on March 24, 2026. (Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israel targeted seven areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, Lebanese state media reports.

“Enemy warplanes launched seven raids overnight on the southern suburbs,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports, adding that seven areas were targeted.

Last night the IDF reiterated an evacuation warning for Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, ahead of strikes on the terror group’s sites.

IDF detects Iranian missile heading toward southern Israel

The IDF has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack, targeting southern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.

No injuries reported after Iranian missile targeting central Israel falls in open area

No injuries have been reported after the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack on central Israel.

The missile is believed to have fallen in an open area.

Sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva and the surrounding areas, including some West Bank settlements.

The IDF Home Front Command says residents can now leave their protected spaces.

IDF detects Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting central Israel

The IDF has detected an Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting central Israel, including Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion and Netanya.

Sirens are slated to sound in the affected communities in the coming minutes.

No injuries reported after Iranian ballistic missile falls in open area in north

No injuries have been reported following the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack on northern Israel.

The IDF Home Front Command says that residents in the affected communities near the border with Lebanon can leave their protected spaces.

The missile is believed to have impacted in an open area, without causing any damage.

IDF detects Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting northern Israel

The IDF says it has detected an Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting northern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in communities near the Lebanon border and in the Golan Heights and Galilee.

Price of Brent crude oil jumps back above $100 a barrel

Brent crude oil jumps back above $100 a barrel, a day after plunging more than 10 percent in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay fresh strikes on Iran as he hailed “very good” talks with Tehran.

Brent rises 2.9% to $102.84, while West Texas Intermediate jumps 3.5% to $91.20.

EU chief says ‘negotiated’ end to Iran war is of the ‘utmost importance’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as she delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen calls for an immediate end to hostilities in the Middle East, describing a “critical” situation for energy supply chains globally.

“We all feel the knock on effects on gas and oil prices on our businesses and our societies,” von der Leyen says alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra.

“It is of utmost importance that we come to a solution that is negotiated, and this puts an end to the hostilities that we see in the Middle East,” she adds.

Sirens sound in Western Galilee amid rocket fire from Hezbollah

Sirens are sounding in a number of areas in the Western Galilee amid rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Bill expanding rabbinic and Sharia court systems passes into law 65-41

Illustrative: MK Oded Forer addresses a wartime plenum debate in the fortified Knesset auditorium, March 9, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Following an hours-long opposition filibuster, a government-backed law significantly expanding the authority of the state’s rabbinic and Sharia court systems is passed into law by the Knesset, with 65 lawmakers voting in favor and 41 against.

The bill, sponsored by the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah and Shas parties, gives the religious tribunals the power to arbitrate civil disputes which are currently the purview of the secular court system. Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court decision determined that they had no standing to do so.

The law, which initially allowed the courts to rule on child custody issues, was amended during the legislative process so that it does not apply to married or formerly married couples. It also does not apply to labor law cases unless the matter was freely initiated by an employee rather than an employer.

The legislation stipulates that religious courts will only be allowed to rule on such issues with the consent of both parties and that the rulings reached through rabbinic arbitration cannot violate the Women’s Equal Rights Law or other civil rights statues.

However, critics have asserted that such protections are not enough, given the pressures litigants in religiously conservative communities are likely to face, and the fact that the bill would create a power imbalance that can hurt weaker segments of society, with women’s rights likely to be harmed.

US strike in western Iraq said to kill 7 members of former paramilitary coalition

A strike in western Iraq kills fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, a source from the group tells AFP.

Seven fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), were “killed and 13 wounded in a US strike” targeting their base in western Anbar province, a PMF source says.

The PMF is now part of Iraq’s regular army, but also includes some pro-Iranian groups.

Knesset members take shelter after warning of Iranian missile attack

Lawmakers in the Knesset leave the auditorium being used as a wartime plenum chamber to take cover after the IDF detected an Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting Jerusalem and central Israel.

MKs are currently debating a bill significantly expanding the authority of the state’s rabbinic and Sharia court systems.

המוקד: הדיון על חוק בתי הדין נעצר בגלל התראות, המליאה יוצאת להפסקה בעקבות שיגורים מאיראן (ירחי) pic.twitter.com/keihHRSS5b

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) March 23, 2026

Sirens ultimately did not sound inside Jerusalem after the initial early warning.

Sirens sound along border with Lebanon amid suspected drone attack

Sirens sound in a number of towns near the Lebanon border amid a suspected drone attack.

No injuries reported after Iranian missile sets off sirens in Ashkelon area

No injuries have been reported after an Iranian ballistic missile salvo set off sirens in Ashkelon, Beit Shemesh and surrounding areas.

The IDF Home Front Command says the public can now leave their protected areas.

Man lightly wounded after stepping on missile fragment in north

A man who stepped on a fragment of a missile following an Iranian attack on northern Israel is lightly injured and being treated for his wounds, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

MDA says it is also treating some people for extreme anxiety in the wake of the attack.

IDF detects Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting Jerusalem, central Israel

The IDF has detected an Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting Jerusalem and central Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in those areas in the coming minutes.

Home in suburb of Haifa damaged by Iranian cluster munition

The scene of an Iranian cluster munition impact in Nesher, March 24, 2026. (Courtesy)

Damage was caused to a home in the Haifa suburb of Nesher by a cluster munition from Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

Medics say there are no reports of injuries.

Rescue forces responding to reports of suspected cluster munition impact in Haifa area

Medics and rescue forces are responding to reports of a suspected cluster munition impact in the Haifa area, following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

There are no reports of injuries, Magen David Adom says.

Footage shows that the missile launched by Iran at the Haifa area carried a cluster bomb warhead, which spreads dozens of bomblets over a wide area.

The missile attack triggered sirens across northern Israel.

תיעוד: יירוט טיל מתפזר לחיפה לאחר הירי מאיראן לצפון@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/P2rVLQAwMM

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 23, 2026

IDF detects Iranian ballistic missile targeting northern Israel

The IDF has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack, targeting northern Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes.