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The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
Mother of hostage Tamir Nimrodi says she hasn’t received any signs of life from her son
Herut Nimrodi, far left, at the most recent Saturday night rally for the hostages on March 22, 2025 at Tel Aviv's Hostages Square (Lior Rotstein)
Herut Nimrodi, mother of hostage Tamir Nimrodi, who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from his base next to Gaza, hasn’t received any signs of life from her son from any of the recently released hostages.
“If he’s surviving, it’s a lot of time,” she tells The Times of Israel. “It’s hard to remain optimistic for 17 months, it’s hard to keep holding on to the hope.”
Nimrodi says it’s been impossible to stay positive since the IDF resumed its military offensive in Gaza, shattering a two-month-long ceasefire, during which 30 living hostages and the bodies of eight slain captives were released.
“It was such a good feeling to see the hostages coming back and to see them alive, and yes, some of them in bad shape but able to recover,” she says. “We hoped it would be like a snowball effect that would continue rolling, that everyone would come back, including the hostage bodies for burial.”
Tamir Nimrodi, center, taken hostage from his army base on October 7, 2023, with his two younger sisters, Mika, left and Amit (Courtesy)
Her fears have grown since the ceasefire ended and are compounded by the knowledge that the two soldiers taken hostage along with Tamir, Ron Sherman and Nik Beizer, were both killed by IDF strikes.
The bodies of Beizer and Sherman were found a month after they were killed in December 2023, along with the body of Elia Toledano, who was abducted from the Nova music festival.
“There aren’t a lot of captives kept in Jabalia,” says Nimrodi, referring to the northern Gaza neighborhood where it’s believed that Tamir is being held.
Nimrodi also rues the antagonism between the government and the hostage families.
“It’s very sad to me that we’ve become some kind of enemy to them or some kind of obstacle in their way,” she says. “I feel they’re controlling the country and giving the directions, and there’s no discussion on the hostages — there’s the argument about the Shin Bet and the attorney general, and all the protests about democracy, but very little about the hostages.”
Nimrodi says she knew that Tamir wouldn’t be on any list of hostages slated for release until the second phase of the now-broken deal and is trying to keep him in the conversation.
“I can’t get people to pay attention to this; we need more of the public out there; you have a feeling that this deal is getting farther and farther away,” says Nimrodi, who attends the hostage rallies in Hostages Square every Saturday night. Tamir’s youngest sister, 15-year-old Amit, spoke at the rally last week.
Nimrodi was in Washington, DC recently, meeting with members of the Trump administration as well as elected officials from the Democratic Party.
“We want them to unite around this issue because it’s not political, it’s humanitarian,” she says, adding that it feels like US President Donald Trump is still clear about the need to bring home the hostages.
“They seem to have a deeper understanding of what we’re going through and what has to be done with Hamas. The feeling is that they get it. Now we just have to keep the deal going.”
IDF says troops killed masked Palestinian who planned to throw rocks at Israeli motorists in West Bank
The IDF says troops killed a masked Palestinian suspect who was intending to hurl rocks at Israeli motorists on the Route 60 highway in the northern West Bank.
Troops of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit had been waiting in an ambush when soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted a masked Palestinian holding a rock in his hand approaching the highway at the so-called Huwara bypass section.
The troops opened fire on the suspect, killing him, the army says.
Houthi media reports fresh wave of US strikes on Yemen’s capital
Houthi media reports that new US strikes have hit the rebel-held capital Sanaa, after earlier reporting 19 American raids elsewhere in Yemen.
“A series of strikes by the US aggression have hit the south and north of the capital,” the Al-Masirah channel says, without providing further details.
The station earlier reported 17 raids by the United States “on the Saada governorate,” on top of two more on Amran.
The Iran-backed rebels’ news agency, Saba, says, “the American aggression targeted the Oncology Hospital building in Saada.”
The hospital, which Houthi media says is under construction, was also hit last week.
The rebel health ministry says two civilians were wounded in the latest hospital strike, which they describe as “a full-fledged war crime.”
Washington announced a military offensive against the Houthis on March 15, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
That day saw a wave of US airstrikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels’ health ministry said killed 53 people.
Since then, Houthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the US.
Lawmakers who broke into Sde Teiman base blame ‘Deep State’ for police investigation, say they won’t answer summons for questioning
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Likud MK Nissim Vaturi say that they will refuse to answer a police summons after it was reported that they will be investigated for their role in a break-in at the IDF’s Sde Teiman base in southern Israel last July.
Along with former MK Zvi Sukkot, the two lawmakers were among dozens of far-right activists who rioted outside the base on July 29, 2024, after nine IDF soldiers were detained by Military Police investigators amid allegations of severe abuse against a Palestinian terror detainee.
In a post on X, Eliyahu says that he will “not submit to a political investigation.”
“In a state government by the rule of law, a Knesset member has a duty to act where crime is suspected,” he says, asserting that his actions at the IDF detention facility were justified under the scope of his job and thus protected under the parliamentary immunity law.
“This is the purpose of the immunity law: Not to protect members of the Knesset, but to protect public representatives and the public itself from the abuse of governmental power,” he argues.
Addressing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who, along with State Prosecutor Amit Aisman, reportedly approved the police investigation, Eliyahu warns that “the era in which you used the authority granted to you to trample on the law is over.”
Meanwhile, Vaturi declares that if the police want to investigate him, they’ll have to “drag me from the Knesset building in handcuffs.”
“You won’t silence me!” writes the backbench Likud lawmaker, implying that the investigation has been orchestrated by the government’s critics. “I won’t submit to a political investigation from the school of the Deep State prosecutor and the attorney general of the Kaplan cult.”
Former MK Zvi Sukkot echoes the same conspiracies in a post on X, declaring that “the Deep State wants us in prison.”
IDF issues evacuation warning for Gaza City area after rocket fired at Israel
Following a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel this evening, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Gaza City area, where the projectile was fired from.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.
One long-range rocket was launched in the attack, which was likely intercepted by air defenses near Beersheba.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad took responsibility.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في الأحياء التالية: الزيتون الغربي والشرقي، تل الهوا، البلدة القديمة، الشيخ عجلين، الشيخ، توسعة النفوذ والرمال الجنوبي
⭕️هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل هجوم!
⭕️تعود المنظمات الإرهابية وتطلق قذائفها الصاروخية من داخل المدنيين. لقد حذرنا هذه… pic.twitter.com/13N4Vl1k2b— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 26, 2025
Lawmakers who broke into Sde Teiman military base to be questioned under caution by police – report
MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) pictured after breaking into the IDF's Sde Teiman detention center, July 29, 2024. (X screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman have authorized a police investigation into two members of the government and one former lawmaker for breaking into the IDF’s Sde Teiman base in southern Israel last July, Channel 12 reports.
According to the report, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit), MK Nissim Vaturi (Likud), and former MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) will be questioned under caution about their role in the riot and subsequent break-in at the base.
The lawmakers were among dozens of far-right activists who rioted outside the base on July 29, 2024, after nine IDF soldiers were detained by Military Police investigators amid allegations of severe abuse against a Palestinian terror detainee.
Sukkot, who was recently forced out of the Knesset under the Norwegian Law, previously defended his actions in breaking into Sde Teiman, saying: “I was doing my job.”
Islamic Jihad takes responsibility for Gaza rocket fire, says it targeted Hatzerim Airbase
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad takes responsibility for the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip a short while ago, claiming to have targeted the Hatzerim Airbase near Beersheba.
The military says the rocket was likely intercepted by air defenses, though it is still investigating the matter.
IDF confirms long-range rocket launched from northern Gaza, success of interception unclear
The IDF confirms one long-range rocket was launched from the northern Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago.
The military says it launched an interceptor missile at the rocket, but the results of the interception are still under investigation.
There are no reports of injuries in the attack.
Sirens did not sound in any towns, but an alert was activated at the Haterzim Airbase near Beersheba over possible falling shrapnel following the interception attempt.
4 US soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania are dead, says NATO chief
A vehicle used by four US Army soldiers that went missing yesterday afternoon in Lithuania has been found submerged in water and the search for the missing soldiers is continuing, the US Army says.
“The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the four missing US Soldiers were operating during a training exercise, has been located in Lithuania,” it says in a statement.
While on a visit to Warsaw, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said earlier today that the soldiers had died but that he did not know any details.
Lithuania’s military writes on social media X that it is continuing an “intensive” rescue operation and has no information confirming the deaths.
The soldiers had been training near Pabrade in eastern Lithuania near the border with Belarus, the US Army says.
Rocket launched from Gaza at southern Israel, but no sirens activated
A rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago.
No sirens sounded in any towns, though an explosion was heard in the Beersheba area, following an apparent interception.
The IDF is looking into the details.
Outside Knesset, Yesh Atid MK says Netanyahu is ‘best thing that ever happened’ to Israel’s enemies
Speaking to the thousands of protesters gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem ahead of the final votes on a highly controversial judicial appointments bill, Yesh Atid MK Merav Cohen accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being “the best thing that has ever happened” to Israel’s enemies.
“Is this what Israel needs now?” she asks of the government’s judicial overhaul legislation. “We have hostages in tunnels, soldiers who are putting their lives in danger, reservists being called up for the fourth and fifth time — and the thing that Netanyahu is busy with — is creating control for himself over the judicial system, and dividing the nation at a time when we need to be united.”
“To tell the truth, Netanyahu is the best thing that has ever happened to our enemies,” Cohen continues. “He is the gift that keeps on giving. He has given cash to terrorists, he has weakened moderate forces, and worst of all — he has torn apart Israeli society and brought forth the [October 7] attack on us.”
Appearing to refer to Netanyahu’s reported efforts to mimic US President Donald Trump’s strategy of keeping only loyalists in positions of power, Cohen warns: Israel is not the US and you are not Trump.”
“Here they send children into war, here they kidnapped the elderly in their pajamas, and here they abused young people at a party,” she says, highlighting the impact of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror onslaught and subsequent war in Gaza.
“If you don’t respect the High Court’s ruling, then the law has no more meaning, and the legislature has no more meaning, and civil obedience has no more meaning,” she warns. “Don’t you dare take us there.”
IDF launches largest drill of war, simulating defense against attacks along Lebanon border
IDF troops carry out a drill on the Lebanon border, March 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
This morning, the IDF launched the largest military exercise it has so far held since the beginning of the war, simulating defending against attacks on the northern front.
The drill is being carried out by the 146th Reserve Division and 91st “Galilee” Regional Division, alongside the Israeli Air Force, Israeli Navy, and civilian authorities including Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Magen David Adom, and local defense squads.
According to the IDF, the exercise, which is taking place along the Lebanon border, is simulating several scenarios, including surprise attacks on Israel from Lebanon.
The drill tests the IDF’s ability to defend against attacks on border communities and army posts, as well as simulating a counter-offensive against an enemy, including inside Israel and over the border.
The drill comes after most Israeli forces were withdrawn from Lebanon amid the ongoing ceasefire. The IDF has remained deployed to five positions in southern Lebanon and has continued to strike Hezbollah targets that Israel says pose a threat.
Report: Histadrut labor union chair meets with industry leaders to plan for possible general strike
Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David held a meeting with industry leaders this evening to discuss the possibility of declaring a general strike in response to contentious steps taken by the government in recent days, Channel 12 reports.
The meeting focused on determining the red line that the government would have to cross for the unions to declare a general strike, the report says.
Earlier this week, the Histadrut, Israel’s largest union, warned the government to respect the High Court of Justice after it imposed a temporary injunction on the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
At the time, Bar-David said that failing to adhere to the court’s ruling would be a “final red line that cannot be crossed,” and warned that the union “will not sit quietly and watch them take apart the State of Israel.”
According to Channel 12, only a small number of individuals were invited to this evening’s meeting at the Histadtrut headquarters, and participants were instructed to leave their phones outside the meeting room to prevent the possibility of leaks.
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv confirms opposition will boycott final vote on judicial appointments bill
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv confirms to The Times of Israel that the entire opposition will boycott the final vote tonight on a controversial bill that will greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process.
Earlier on Wednesday, the heads of the Knesset opposition parties announced that going forward, they will fully coordinate their actions to combat the government’s judicial overhaul agenda.
“This government is undermining the foundations of democracy – and the entire opposition will stand like a wall against it, until every attempt to turn Israel into a dictatorship is stopped,” they said in a joint statement.
The bill, which will change the composition of the judicial selection committee, has drawn harsh criticism from opposition lawmakers who have warned that it will significantly damage Israel’s democracy.
Speaking with Justice Minister Yariv Levin ahead of the final two readings needed to pass the bill into law, National Unity chair Benny Gantz reportedly stated that Israel is on “the brink of a civil war.”
Protesters set up mock Qatari embassy outside Knesset
A person dressed as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is controlled by another protester at a mock Qatari embassy set up at a demonstration outside the Knesset, March 26, 2025. (Sam Sokol/The Times of Israel)
Protesters outside the Knesset set up a mock “Qatari embassy” featuring multiple people in white robes fanning themselves with money as Arabic music plays in the background. One demonstrator uses ropes to control the arms of a person wearing a Benjamin Netanyahu mask as though they are a marionette.
“Welcome to the Qatari embassy in Jerusalem,” they announce on a microphone.
Protesters outside the Knesset set up a mock “Qatari embassy” featuring multiple people in white robes fanning themselves with money as Arabic music plays in the background. One demonstrator uses ropes to control the arms of a person wearing a Benjamin Netanyahu mask pic.twitter.com/qMhiGYfBsy
— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) March 26, 2025
Hebrew media reported yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warned at least twice before the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, that the terror group’s military chief Muhammad Deif was appropriating funds provided by Qatar to Gaza with the premier’s approval.
According to near-identical reports by Channel 12 and the Kan public broadcaster, Netanyahu was warned in 2019 by then-Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman and again in 2020 by the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate.
Under Netanyahu, Israel has allowed suitcases with millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through its crossings since 2018, to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Several of Netanyahu’s top aides are currently under investigation over alleged financial ties with Qatar.
Israel ‘on the brink of civil war’: Gantz tries to convince Levin to abandon controversial judicial appointments bill
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz speaks in the Knesset, March 26, 2025 (Flash90)
National Unity chair Benny Gantz met earlier today with Justice Minister Yariv Levin in a last-ditch attempt to convince him to abandon a highly controversial piece of legislation that will greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process.
The meeting was held ahead of the final two readings in the Knesset plenum needed for the legislation’s passage.
During the meeting, Gantz told Levin that he would be making a “mistake” by bringing the legislation for final votes, Channel 12 reports, while Ynet says he warned Levin that Israel is on “the brink of a civil war.”
In response, Levin told Gantz that the legislation was “intended to heal the rift in the nation,” as it had been introduced to the Knesset by Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as an ostensible compromise over previously proposed legislation that would have given the coalition almost complete control over all judicial appointments.
Reports add that, ahead of his meeting with Levin, Gantz also wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to stop the legislation from progressing any further.
“I’m appealing to you as someone who bears the responsibility of acting on behalf of all citizens of this country,” Gantz wrote to Netanyahu, according to quotes published by Channel 12.
“Our society is wounded and bleeding, divided in a way we have not seen since October 6 [2023]. Fifty-nine of our brothers and sisters are still captive in Gaza, and our soldiers, from all political factions, are fighting on multiple fronts.”
Gantz’s letter continues, warning Netanyahu that returning to the controversial judicial overhaul legislation that divided the national consensus for much of 2023 would be an abandonment of the people.
“The way you are operating, whereby the parliamentary majority will unilaterally approve legislation opposed by the people, will harm the ability to create broad reform that appeals to the whole, will lead to polarization and will increase distrust in both the legislative and executive branches,” Gantz writes.
Opposition lawmakers say Knesset ‘no longer represents the people,’ open temporary outdoor bureaus
Opposition lawmakers open temporary offices outside the Knesset in protest of planned vote on controversial judicial overhaul legislation, March 26, 2025. (Sam Sokol/The Times of Israel)
Opposition MKs set up temporary “bureaus” in two rows of tents lining the road to the Knesset as protesters carrying Israeli flags begin to gather outside the building ahead of a large demonstration planned for this evening.
The protest comes as lawmakers are debating a controversial bill that would greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process.
In a post on X, Democrats MK Gilad Kariv writes that he “opened my office outside the Knesset, along with my other colleagues and MKs, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the protesters and deliver a clear message [that] the people’s house no longer represents the people.”
“The majority of the people are disgusted by this government, the majority of the people are demanding the return of the hostages, the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, and the holding of elections.”
Likud MK Gotliv implies, without evidence, that IDF personnel are being killed for revealing military’s failures on Oct. 7
Likud MK Tally Gotliv speaks during a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 11, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Firebrand Likud lawmaker Tally Gotliv appears to imply without evidence that an IDF serviceman who died had been killed for attempting to prevent the revelation of details relating to the military’s response on October 7.
In a post on X yesterday, Gotliv shared an article about the apparent suicide of an IDF intelligence officer who fell from a window in 2022, writing: “If I fall from a building like this by accident, or if an air conditioner falls on me in the middle of nowhere, don’t be surprised and don’t believe that I probably committed suicide.”
“Also, all kinds of IDF officers who somehow tried to tell or expose something related to the October inferno also died suddenly like this,” she wrote. “What’s going on here?”
The article, published in the Israel Hayom daily in May 2022, predates October 7 by nearly a year and a half.
The article stated that the officer in question was believed to have committed suicide and noted that he had served in the same unit as another officer who had been arrested over alleged security offenses and was later found dead in prison. The article stated that there was no apparent connection between the two cases.
Gotliv subsequently wrote that she had been informed the article was from three years ago.
“I do not delete posts, and whenever I make a mistake or fall into a general error, I add a clarification,” she wrote in a follow-up post, but continued to maintain that “anyone who tries, even tries to point the finger of blame at the top brass of the IDF and the Shin Bet for the murder of our people will be harmed.”
To back up her assertion, she points to the arrest of IDF reservist non-commissioned officer Ari Rosenfeld, who is at the center of the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal, and the recent interrogation of Brig. Gen. (res.) Oren Solomon, an officer who was involved in the Gaza Division’s probe into its failures related to Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Channel 12 news reported last week that Solomon, a member of the hawkish HaBithonistim group, told associates that he believes he was removed from reserve duty because he found fault in the IDF’s top command. The army said that Solomon worked on the probe for a year with full support and that the end of his reserve service was unrelated to the probe and was connected to unspecified “severe operational security violations.”
“By the way, so far I have not found any investigative findings about the deaths of the officers mentioned” in the article, Gotliv continued. “Keep calling me conspiratorial, and I’ll keep saying I have no doubt that there was betrayal in our midst.”
Gotliv has a history of peddling conspiracy theories. In January, she rebuffed a summons for police questioning, citing parliamentary immunity, in a case related to a series of social media posts a year ago in which she revealed that a protest leader’s life partner was a member of the Shin Bet security service, which security officials said posed a risk to national security.
Several days later, Yair Golan, the head of the left-wing Democrats party threatened to bring legal action against Gotliv for alleged defamation over her attempt to link him to a conspiracy theory involving spying against the state in the aftermath of October 7, 2023.
Israeli Air Force publishes footage of recent strikes in Gaza, Syria
The Israeli Air Force releases new footage from several of its strikes in the Gaza Strip this past week, as well as strikes in Syria.
Over 430 targets were hit by IAF fighter jets, drones, and helicopters in Gaza since the military resumed its offensive against Hamas a week ago, according to the IDF.
The IDF says one clip shows a drone strike on a Hamas company commander in a vehicle, and another video shows a strike on several operatives in the Jabalia area.
Footage released by the IDF on March 26, 2025, shows strikes in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)
Another clip released by the IDF shows airstrikes on “military capabilities” at the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria on Tuesday and Thursday.
Footage released by the IDF on March 26, 2025, shows strikes on Syrian airbases near Palmyra. (Israel Defense Forces)
Over the past week, the IAF says it struck 18 targets in Syria and another 40 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The IAF also says it shot down 14 projectiles heading toward Israel in the past week, including six ballistic missiles from Yemen, three rockets from Lebanon, and five rockets from the Gaza Strip.
US authorities detain Turkish PhD student at Tufts who called for university to divest from Israel
US federal immigration authorities detained a PhD student from Turkey studying at Tufts University near Boston late Tuesday and have revoked her visa, according to the university and her attorney.
The Turkish national, Rumeysa Ozturk, was taken into custody near her home in Somerville, Massachusetts, according to her lawyer, who filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court arguing she had been unlawfully detained.
US District Judge Indira Talwani, in response to that lawsuit, orders US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to not move Ozturk out of Massachusetts without first providing advance notice and to keep her in the state for at least 48 hours after.
Representatives for the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted international students as it seeks to crack down on immigration, including ramping up immigration arrests and sharply restricting border crossings.
Trump and his top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in particular, have pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters, accusing them of supporting Hamas terrorists, posing hurdles for US foreign policy, and being antisemitic.
Ozturk, 30, is a Fulbright Scholar and student in Tufts’ doctoral program for Child Study and Human Development, according to her LinkedIn, and had previously studied at Columbia University in New York.
Last year, Ozturk co-authored an op-ed in the university’s student paper, the Tufts Daily, that criticized the school’s response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”
She is in the country on an F-1 visa, which allows a student to live in the United States while studying, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, and was detained while “heading to meet with friends to break her Ramadan fast.”
“Based on patterns we are seeing across the country, her exercising her free speech rights appear to have played a role in her detention,” Khanbabai says.
4 US soldiers go missing while training in Lithuania, 6 miles from Belarus border
Four US Army soldiers have gone missing at a training area outside of Lithuania’s capital, and a search is underway, the US military says.
A statement from US Army Europe and Africa public affairs in Wiesbaden, Germany, says the soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time.
It says further information will be provided as new information becomes available.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reports that four US soldiers and a vehicle were reported missing yesterday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town located less than six miles (10 kilometers) from the border with Belarus.
The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all NATO members and have often had chilly ties with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Israel open to ceasefire extension in Gaza, but ‘won’t wait forever,’ says Sa’ar
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says Israel has not ruled out negotiating a ceasefire extension with the Hamas terror group in Gaza, but that there is limited time to do so.
“Alongside the IDF’s still-limited operations in Gaza, we are still allowing space for dialogue aimed at reaching an agreement to extend the ceasefire and release the hostages — but we will not wait forever,” Sa’ar tells Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, according to a statement put out by his office.
During meetings at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem today, Sa’ar briefed his counterpart on Israel’s resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip, which began last week after the first phase of a hostage-prisoner exchange ended on March 2.
“Hamas, which insists on continuing to hold the hostages and refuses to demilitarize the Gaza Strip, is pushing for the resumption of war in Gaza,” he says.
“If the Arabs put down their weapons, there will be no more war. But if Israel puts down its weapons, there will be no more Israel,” Sa’ar continues, quoting late prime minister Golda Meir.
“Israel will no longer tolerate the ongoing threat from the Gaza Strip to its security and citizens,” he tells Stenergard, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade commander formally announces resignation over Oct. 7 failures
Commander of the Gaza Division's Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen, is seen during a handover ceremony, April 16, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The commander of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, Col. Haim Cohen, has officially told his superiors he is resigning from the military.
In a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, Cohen writes that he takes responsibility for the brigade’s failures during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.
“The results show, I failed!!!” Cohen writes.
Cohen has said in the past that he intends to resign, and he was not promoted by former chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. New IDF chief Zamir, on March 5, already appointed a replacement for Cohen, Lt. Col. Omri Mashiah.
On the morning of October 7, Cohen remained in his war room at the Gaza Division base near Re’im. His counterpart, Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Southern Brigade, was killed fighting Hamas terrorists near Nirim, and his body was abducted to Gaza.
Katz warns Gazans that IDF will expand operations, tells them to demand Hamas’s removal to stop war
Defense Minister Israel Katz warns Palestinians in Gaza that the military will soon operate in additional areas of the Strip, telling them to learn from civilians in Beit Lahiya who have been protesting against Hamas.
“Gaza residents, the IDF will soon operate with intensity in additional areas in Gaza and you will be required to evacuate for your protection from the combat zones,” he says in a video statement.
“The plans are ready and approved. Hamas is risking your life and will make you lose your homes and more and more land that will be added to the Israeli defense array,” Katz says, referring to an expanding buffer zone along the Gaza border.
“Learn from the residents of Beit Lahiiya, as they did, you should also demand the removal of Hamas from Gaza and the immediate release of all Israeli hostages. This is the only way to stop the war,” he adds.
Pentagon’s Hegseth sent start time for targeted killing of senior Houthi member into group chat, leaked texts show
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, left, speaks with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Feb. 24, 2025. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via AP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted the start time for a planned killing of a Houthi rebel in Yemen on March 15, as well as other details of imminent waves of US airstrikes, according to a screenshot of a text chat released by The Atlantic.
Hegseth has repeatedly denied texting war plans as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to contain the fallout from the revelation that it included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal with Trump’s most senior national security advisers to coordinate on the start of an offensive in Yemen.
Trump’s administration said yesterday that no classified information was shared in the chat, bewildering Democrats and former US officials, who regard targeting information as some of the most closely held material ahead of a US military campaign.
Goldberg, who had initially declined to publish the chat details, did so earlier today.
Hours later, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz confirmed to the group the killing of the Houthis’ top missile expert.
“We had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed,” Waltz wrote.
Reuters could not immediately establish what kind of building was brought down in the US military strike, how many occupants were inside, and how the detail squares with Pentagon statements that there were no known civilian casualties.
Asked about The Atlantic report, the Pentagon does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Knesset opposition parties say they will work together to combat judicial overhaul agenda
A 40 signatures debate, at the plenum hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
In a joint statement, the heads of the Knesset opposition parties announce that going forward, they will fully coordinate their actions in order to combat the government’s judicial overhaul agenda.
“Following a joint discussion by the chairmen of the opposition factions, it was decided that the opposition will act with the full cooperation of all its members of the Knesset, and will resolutely fight the judicial coup legislation led by the coalition,” the statement reads.
“This government is undermining the foundations of democracy – and the entire opposition will stand like a wall against it, until every attempt to turn Israel into a dictatorship is stopped.”
The coordination of activity is not limited to the opposition’s Zionist factions, which often work together, but also includes the Islamist Ra’am, or United Arab List, party and the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party.
The statement comes as lawmakers debate a controversial bill that would greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process.
In a separate statement, National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz calls on Israelis to protest outside the Knesset this evening, ahead of the final two readings needed for the legislation’s passage.
“Today, a year and a half after the greatest disaster in the history of the state, what [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin are dealing with is not returning the hostages but bringing back the judicial coup,” he says.
“Today in the Knesset, they want to pass the law to politicize the judicial selection committee. During such days, even when it’s difficult, we must not lose hope – we must all come out and make our voices heard,” he continues, calling on people to gather in front of the Knesset at 7 p.m.
For second day in a row, hundreds said protesting against Hamas in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya
Gaza media outlets report that hundreds of residents of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza are protesting against Hamas and the war with Israel for the second consecutive day.
Earlier today, it was reported that dozens of people also protested against Hamas in the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City.
מומנטום בעזה: דיווחים על התכנסות להפגנה בבית להיא, יום שני ברציפות pic.twitter.com/gfW0jnVHEi
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) March 26, 2025
IDF, Air Force conduct overnight airborne drills amid West Bank counterterrorism operations
IDF troops simulate an aerial evacuation of wounded soldiers near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, in images cleared for publication on March 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
As the IDF continues its counterterrorism operations in the northern West Bank, Central Command forces conducted airborne drills overnight in coordination with the Israeli Air Force, the IDF says.
The drill focused on improving operational readiness, coordination, and synchronization between ground and air units, and the IDF says exercises included emergency evacuations, rapid deployment to combat zones, and precise air support to ground forces.
The IDF statement adds that the military simulated an aerial evacuation of wounded soldiers near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
IDF says it struck Gaza terror operative responsible for rocket fire earlier today
The IDF says it struck a terror operative in the Gaza Strip who was responsible for rocket fire on southern Israel earlier today.
The operative was spotted at the launch site used to fire two rockets at Israel, the military says.
The IDF adds that it struck a building in the area used to set off the launches, and two other nearby rocket launching sites.
It publishes footage of the strikes.
צה"ל תקף מוקדם יותר היום, מחבל שזוהה במרחב ממנו בוצעו השיגורים לעבר עוטף עזה.
בהמשך הותקפו המבנה ממנו בוצעו השיגורים ושני אתרי שיגור במרחב pic.twitter.com/KM18fMA9zI— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 26, 2025
Overturning previous ruling, top court convicts woman on charge of spying for Iran
An Israeli woman has been convicted on a charge of spying for Iran, after the Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling by a district court exonerating her of the charge.
The woman was accused of maintaining contact with an Iranian agent between 2014-2018, and of providing him information, including photographing various sites in Israel. The man presented himself as an Iranian bachelor interested in Judaism, but prosecutors say the woman suspected that he was working for the regime in Tehran.
The Jerusalem District Court had in 2023 convicted the woman of contact with a foreign agent, but cleared her of the charge of conveying information that may benefit the enemy.
The case was one of several related to the agent in question, which led to accusations against a number of Israelis.
Lebanese prime minister rejects idea of normalization with Israel
A Lebanese army officer shows Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam an Israeli military position on the horizon, in the southern village of Khiam, February 28, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says in a meeting with journalists in Lebanon that no one in Lebanon wants normalization with Israel, and everyone opposes it.
He also asserts that the five points held by Israel in southern Lebanon have no military or security value other than to continue to pressure Lebanon.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of an interview the Lebanese prime minister gave to a Saudi channel last week, where he criticized Hezbollah and stated that the war it waged with Israel did not help Lebanon.
Head of Military Intelligence appoints panel to probe soldier’s death
After the death of a soldier during training last night, the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder has appointed a panel of experts to investigate the incident, in addition to a Military Police probe.
Sgt. Yosef Haim Tzvi Serlin, 19, collapsed during Krav Maga training and later died. He was in combat training in the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504.
The panel of experts will be headed by Brig. Gen. “Resh,” the head of the Combat Methods and Innovation Division, a unit under the Planning and Force Design Directorate. He is identified only by his first initial in Hebrew.
Additionally, the commander of the IDF Ground Forces, Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, has ordered a halt to Krav Maga training in the military until Sunday, while the investigation is carried out.
Erdogan accuses opposition of wrecking Turkey’s economy during protests
Protesters shout slogans during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Turkey’s president accuses the political opposition of “sinking the economy” during the country’s largest protests in more than a decade over the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, the biggest challenger to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule.
The party of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has called for a boycott of companies that it says support Erdogan’s government. The Turkish president accuses the opposition of being “so desperate that they would throw the country and the nation into the fire.”
In his address to lawmakers with his Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Erdogan adds that “sabotage targeting the Turkish economy will be held accountable before the courts.”
Imamoglu was arrested a week ago. He faces charges related to corruption and supporting terrorism within the Istanbul municipality alongside some 90 other suspects. A court ordered him to be imprisoned Sunday. A trial date has not been announced. Many consider the case against Imamoglu to be politically motivated. The government says the judiciary is free of political influence.
The evidence against Imamoglu has not been officially disclosed. Many Turkish media outlets have reported that it is largely based on “secret witnesses.” The use of such testimony has been seen in previous criminal cases against opposition politicians.
MKs debate ahead of final vote on bill to boost political control over judicial appointments
Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman leads a vote during a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, on March 26, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash900)
Knesset lawmakers begin to debate ahead of the final vote on a highly controversial bill that would greatly increase political control over the judicial appointments process in Israel.
The legislation would remove the two representatives of the Israel Bar Association currently on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which makes all judicial appointments, and replace them with one lawyer to be directly chosen by the coalition and another chosen by the opposition.
“The fact is that some people in the opposition came to the committee and clearly said that this is a good bill, which is not the end of democracy,” Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice chairman Simcha Rothman tells the plenum. “People who were among the leaders of the protests against the previous version said that this bill is not the end of democracy.”
Rothman says that lawmakers “should be proud” of efforts made to ensure that the bill will be passed “with the broadest possible consensus.”
“This bill is not mine, it belongs to the Constitution Committee, it belongs to this house and it reflects broad consensus in this house,” he says.
Under the bill, appointments to lower courts would be made by a simple majority, but unlike the current system, would need at least one vote each from committee representatives of the coalition, opposition and the Supreme Court, granting all sides a veto.
Until now, neither the judiciary, the coalition, nor the opposition could veto a lower court appointment.
Appointments to the Supreme Court would need at least one vote from the coalition and opposition but not require any votes from the three Supreme Court justices on the Judicial Selection Committee, giving the political representatives on the panel a veto while virtually stripping the judiciary of any influence over appointments to the top court.
In the event that there are two empty slots on the Supreme Court and the coalition and opposition sides veto all of each other’s nominations for a year, the justice minister can activate a deadlock-breaking mechanism whereby both sides nominate three candidates and the other side must pick at least one.
This deadlock mechanism can only be used once in every four-year Knesset term.
The bill was introduced to the Knesset by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as an ostensible compromise over previously proposed legislation that would have given the coalition almost complete control over all judicial appointments.
The law, if passed as expected, would only take effect at the beginning of the next Knesset term, meaning after the next general election, and it would almost certainly be challenged in the High Court of Justice.
Reports: Anti-Hamas protests held in Gaza for second consecutive day
Media outlets in Gaza report that dozens of residents from the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City participated in a protest against Hamas rule. They burned tires and chanted, “Hamas out.”
This is the second day of protests against Hamas, calling for an end to the war. Similar events took place yesterday in Beit Lahiya, the Jabalia refugee camp, and Khan Yunis.
Such protests have been exceedingly rare in the past.
شرارة اليوم بدأت من الشجاعية…????
“مشان الله، حما$ برا”
“يا شيـ ـعة، يا شيـ ـعة”الشجاعية تلفظ خبثها الآن… افعلها يا شعب الجبارين! pic.twitter.com/uhQjDZLuix
— مصطفـ????ـى عصفــور (@ustafa_ad) March 26, 2025
Netanyahu begins interviews for new Shin Bet chief
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office will start interviewing replacements for Shin Bet head Ronen Bar today, multiple outlets report.
Four candidates have been summoned by the prime minister for the position. Later today, he will interview the former deputy Shin Bet heads, identified only by their first initial, “Mem” and “Resh,” and Shalom Ben Hanan, also a former top Shin Bet official, according to Ynet.
The fourth candidate, Eyal Tsir Cohen, a former division head in the Mossad and currently a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, will meet with Netanyahu after his return from an overseas trip.
Yesterday, the High Court extended a freeze on the spy chief’s ouster but scrapped a prohibition on the premier reviewing candidates for the agency’s leadership.
New VIP route at Ben Gurion airport set to make immigration easier
The new VIP immigration office at Ben Gurion Airport (Sivan Shachor/GPO)
New immigrants to Israel will receive a faster, more efficient, and more convenient absorption process with the opening of a permanent VIP route at Ben Gurion Airport, the Aliyah and Absorption Ministry says.
A new absorption complex in Terminal 3 will allow new immigrants to receive all rights and documents in one place upon arrival, including their immigrant certificate, initial ID card, health insurance, financial benefits, and more.
The new facility was inaugurated Tuesday night with the arrival of 49 new immigrants from France and the former Soviet Union.
Approximately 32,000 new immigrants came to Israel in 2024, and more than 4,000 have arrived since the beginning of 2025, the ministry says.
IDF issues evacuation warning for Gaza City after rockets fired from area
Following a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on communities near the border a short while ago, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for Palestinians in the Gaza City area, where the projectiles were fired from.
In a post on X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, publishes a map of the area that is to be evacuated, saying that it is a “final warning” before the IDF carries out strikes there.
The order includes the Gaza City neighborhoods of Zeitoun, Tel al-Hawa, and Sheikh Ijlin. Adraee calls on Palestinians to leave the area and head, via the coastal road, to “known shelters” south of the Wadi Gaza stream.
Two rockets were launched in the attack, one of which was intercepted by air defenses and a second of which impacted outside Zimrat, causing no injuries.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad took responsibility.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في أحياء حي الزيتون الغربي، تل الهوا، الشيخ عجلين، توسعة النفوذ والرمال الجنوبي
????هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الغارات!????
⭕️تعود المنظمات الإرهابية وتطلق قذائفها الصاروخية من داخل المدنيين.لقد حذرنا هذه المنطقة مرات عديدة.
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم عليكم… pic.twitter.com/Vg1z4WdNXl— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 26, 2025
Gantz to PM: ‘You know why you’re afraid of a state commission of inquiry’
National Unity chairman Benny Gantz speaks in the Knesset, March 26, 2025 (Flash90)
“Repeating a lie does not make it the truth,” National Unity chairman Benny Gantz tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, after the former engaged in an extended tirade against the so-called deep state earlier.
Accusing Netanyahu of lying about the existence of a deep state, as well as about Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and the management of the war, Gantz says that “the truth cannot be obscured. Only after we joined the cabinet was the return of the hostages included in the war’s objectives.”
Netanyahu is working to fire both Baharav-Miara and Bar, claiming that the attorney general is working to thwart his government’s agenda and that he cannot work with the Shin Bet chief. Critics assert that he mainly wants to oust Bar because of a Shin Bet investigation into ties between PMO officials and Qatar.
“We pressured you to enter a ground maneuver, otherwise it would not have happened because you were afraid,” Gantz says. “We demanded to advance the entry into Rafah and Khan Younis, and to move north [on Hezbollah in Lebanon] sooner so as not to lose another year, and you said ‘What’s so urgent?’
“You know the truth, you also know why you are so afraid of a state commission of inquiry [into the Oct. 7 disaster] that will expose not only your failures and those of your government’s before the massacre, but also your and your government’s underperformance when the war began,” Gantz alleges.
Lapid to Netanyahu: You failed on October 7, you’ve failed on the economy
Opposition Leader and head of the Yesh Atid party MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on March 24, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Even as the prime minister boasts of leading Israel to “complete victory,” rocket alerts sirens are going off in the Gaza envelope, Opposition leader Yair Lapid declares following a speech by Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum.
Addressing lawmakers following Netanyahu during the so-called 40-signatures debate, Lapid says Netanyahu will be remembered as the “October 7 prime minister.”
“They will not remember anything from you except that: 1,800 dead and murdered, 14,000 injured,” he says, referring to the costs of the attack and the subsequent war. “You are indeed doing something that no government has done.”
Turning to the 2025 state budget, which passed its final reading on Tuesday evening, Lapid accuses Netanyahu of “squeezing the Israeli middle class in order to survive politically.”
“You failed to maintain security on October 7, and now you have failed to manage the economy, and you are again doing everything to shift responsibility onto others,” he continues.
“If you want proof that this is a terrible budget, ask yourself how come we didn’t see Netanyahu in all the budget discussions? He didn’t speak once. He didn’t release a single video. I remember budget discussions with you. Every time there was the smallest achievement, every time there was a tiny piece of news, we would find you in front of the camera,” Lapid says.
“But this time, silence. A budget is passed, [and] you’ve gone AWOL. Not a word. You’re distancing yourself in every possible way from this budget. Suddenly, you respect the finance minister, leaving the stage for him for an opening speech, leaving the stage for him for a closing speech, letting him bury himself before the nation.”
Unlike Argentine President Javier Milei and US Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk, “today you are the head of the fattest, most wasteful and most reckless government in the history of the country,” he says.
Netanyahu accuses opposition of ‘sowing anarchy in the streets’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a debate, at the plenum hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
More from Netanyahu’s speech at the Knesset:
The prime minister says that “in a democracy the people are sovereign, and the people demand that its free vote in the polling booths be practically carried out in decisions, appointments, policies.
“That does not mean that the government has unlimited power,” he says, “but it cannot be that the government has zero power… There must be a balance between the branches of government.”
He accuses the opposition of “sowing anarchy in the streets.”
It is permitted to demonstrate, he says, but then adds, “We see your demonstrations, your roadblocks, your bonfires, your attacks on police officers… the violence against elected officials, not to mention the explicit threats of murder against the prime minister and his family and other elected officials.”
In the past, he says, amid shouting and protest from the opposition, “you said it was forbidden to even use certain words like ‘murder’ and ‘traitor’; that those were terrible things to say. Now it doesn’t matter [to you]. But it does matter, and it’s dangerous.”
Nonetheless, he vows, “It won’t stop us, it won’t deter us. The tyranny of the small minority will not triumph over the will of the great majority.”
New AI tool offers quick answers about Israel and antisemitism
People needing quick answers to questions about Israel, Jewish history, Zionism, antisemitism and similar topics can now ask SWUBOT, an AI-powered assistant created by Israel advocacy group StandWithUs.
StandWithUs says the artificial intelligence tool is designed to provide accurate and timely information to answer questions, clarify misconceptions, and equip users with the knowledge and resources necessary to advocate for Israel and fight antisemitism.
The tool can be found at https://www.standwithus.com/swubot
At Knesset, PM declares: ‘Democracy isn’t in danger, the rule of bureaucrats is in danger’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a debate, at the plenum hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“Israel has been and will remain a democracy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells opposition lawmakers at the Knesset, slamming his fist on the podium.
He rails against “bullying,” “incitement,” and “violence against elected officials” as members of the opposition yell and jeer at him.
Netanyahu slams his critics and accuses them of “calling me a ‘traitor’ every hour.”
Netanyahu is in the Knesset for a so-called 40-signatures debate — a plenum discussion that the opposition can call once a month and that the prime minister is legally obliged to attend — on the topic of “rising crime in Arab society and the neglect of citizens’ lives.” However, much of the debate is focused on the government’s recent moves to fire top officials and gain greater control over the judiciary, which have been slammed by critics as anti-democratic.
“Democracy isn’t in danger; the rule of bureaucrats is in danger. The deep state is in danger,” he says, railing against a “small coterie of officials” who he alleges are working against the elected government. “For you, the biggest danger to democracy — is democracy. For you… the bureaucrats will decide. Democracy is first of all the rule of the people.”
He says the people demand that their votes be actualized through government decisions, adding that “in a democracy, balance between the branches of government is necessary.”
“Democracy is the rule of the majority,” he continues, slamming the “anarchy in the streets” and calling on the opposition to “maybe try for once to respect the will of the people.”
The Democrats party MK Gilad Kariv is removed from the plenum.
Addressing the ongoing war against Hamas, Netanyahu says that “the fighting in Gaza continues. The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the pressure we will exert. And I say to Hamas: This includes seizing territory, and this includes other things that I will not list here.”
Sirens sound as 2 rockets launched from Gaza at border communities
Two rockets were launched from the central Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago, the military says.
Rocket sirens sounded in the Gaza border communities of Alumim, Zimrat, Shuva, Kfar Maimon and Tushia.
According to the IDF, one of the rockets was intercepted by air defenses, while the second struck in the area of Zimrat.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Billionaire industrialist Stef Wertheimer dies at age 98
Stef Wertheimer in Nazareth, Northern Israel, on April 6, 2016 (Mark Neyman/GPO/File)
Israeli billionaire industrialist and former politician Stef (Ze’ev) Wertheimer has died at age 98.
Wertheimer, one of the richest people in Israel, started the ISCAR Metalworking Company in 1952 and remained its principal shareholder until 2006, when American billionaire Warren Buffett, via his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm, bought 80% of the firm for $5 billion. In May 2013, Buffett bought the rest of the company for an additional $2.05 billion.
He is known for founding industrial parks around the country and for his philanthropic work, mainly in the field of education. He also served as a member of the Knesset between 1977 and 1981 under the Democratic Movement for Change and later Shinui.
Security forces arrest 20 terror suspects in raids across West Bank
Weapons seized by the IDF in counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, March 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli security forces arrested 20 wanted suspects overnight in counterterrorism operations across the West Bank, according to an IDF statement.
The IDF says troops seized two firearms, a grenade, and other weapons during the raids.
In a targeted operation in the village of Tayasir in the northern West Bank, IDF forces arrived by helicopter to apprehend a suspect as part of increased coordination between the IDF’s West Bank division and the Israeli Air Force, according to the statement.
Zamir visits Israeli Navy, says it needs to become ‘long-range strategic arm’ of military
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) is seen alongside Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa'ar Salama on an Israeli Navy corvette at the Haifa naval base, March 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited Haifa’s naval base yesterday along with Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa’ar Salama and other officers.
During the visit, Zamir “emphasized the importance of building up the Navy as a long-range strategic arm [of the military], with defensive and offensive capabilities,” the military says.
“We must thwart the threats at sea and ensure we have strong defenses, along with utilizing the maritime space to strengthen security and strike our enemy in all relevant theaters,” Zamir is quoted as saying.
Yazidi rescued from Gaza by Israel thought she was ‘going to be stuck there forever’
Yazidi woman Fawzia Amin Sido (R), who was kidnapped by ISIS in Iraq in 2014 and then transferred to Gaza, Oct. 3, 2024, seen back in Iraq after being rescued recently by Israeli security forces. Iraq made no official mention of Israel's role. (Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
An Iraqi Yazidi woman who was kidnapped to Gaza and rescued by Israel during the war in the Strip has spoken to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
“I told myself I was going to be stuck there forever,” Fawzi Amin Sido tells the paper (the comments are translated to English here from the Hebrew in which they were published). “I was sad because I started to realize that’s it, I would never see my family again. I didn’t even know if they were alive or dead.”
Sido was kidnapped by ISIS in 2014 at the age of 11 and trafficked to the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces extracted her in coordination with other nations and transferred her home to her family in Iraq.
Sido says she underwent rape, sexual assault and other forms of abuse by multiple men throughout her years in captivity. She has left behind two children born in the Gaza enclave.
“Life in the Gaza Strip was very difficult, and every step was accompanied by immense hardship,” she says. “There is no freedom, people constantly tell you what to do. This led me to very difficult mental places and also to suicide attempts. I felt like I was going crazy.”
“I look at everything that happened to me there in Gaza as a nightmare or a bad dream, as if it didn’t even happen to me. Now that I’m in Germany, I’m in an emotional storm. I was happy to return home, but I mourn the fact that I had to leave my children behind in Gaza. One of the things that kept me sane was that I wrote every day. I would like to continue that, but now I need a blank, clean page.”
Argentina to declassify documents about Nazi escape lines after WWII
Busts of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler discovered by police in 2017 are displayed during a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 2, 2019. (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)
Argentina has announced it will move to declassify all government documents relating to Nazi fugitives who settled in Argentina after World War II.
The announcement follows up on a promise made by Argentinian President Javier Milei last month that he will grant access to documents related to the financing of the so-called “ratlines” that helped Nazis escape Europe after the Holocaust.
Argentina’s Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Guillermo Francos says President Javier Milei had ordered the release and declassification of the archives, including documents detailing banking and financial transactions and records held by Argentina’s Defense Ministry.
Soldier collapses and dies after Krav Maga training
Sgt. Yosef Haim Tzvi Serlin, 19, who died after Krav Maga training, March 26, 2025 (Courtesy)
An Israeli soldier collapsed and died following Krav Maga training overnight, the military announces.
The soldier is named as Sgt. Yosef Haim Tzvi Serlin, 19. Serlin, from Jerusalem, was in combat training in the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.
The military says he collapsed following the training at an army base in northern Israel, was treated by medics, and taken to a hospital where his death was declared.
The Military Police has launched an investigation into the incident, the findings of which will be sent to the Military Advocate General for examination.
Shufersal saw net profits more than double in 2024
Shufersal saw its net profit more than double last year as Israel’s largest supermarket chain benefited from price increases amid ample demand for groceries and implemented efficiency measures.
Shufersal reports a net profit of NIS 665 million ($182 million) in 2024, up from the NIS 323 million earned a year earlier. The supermarket chain’s gross profit margin increased to 28.3 percent from 26.5% year-on-year. Revenue rose 3% to NIS 15.6 billion, and same-store sales grew 3.1% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Security forces charge 3 Palestinians for multiple attacks against Israelis
Police, the IDF and the Shin Bet say they arrested three Palestinians suspected of attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers over the past two years.
The attacks included planting bombs, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at vehicles and more.
“One of the serious incidents occurred on January 21, 2024, when the three attacked an Israeli bus carrying about 30 civilians,” a statement says. “The suspects threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the bus, and as a result of the attack, the bus driver was injured in the chest. By sheer luck, the driver managed to stop the vehicle just before it rolled down into a valley.”
In another incident in August 2024, the suspects combined an improvised explosive device with a gas balloon and detonated it near an Israeli settlement, though no one was hurt.
The three have confessed to the charges and have been indicted, the statement says.
IDF to present results of investigation into massacre at Nova music festival
At the Nova rave site in Re'im on January 16, 2025. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Starting next week, the IDF will begin presenting its investigation into the massacre at the Nova music festival near Re’im during the October 7 attack to the families of the hostages murdered and those who survived the attack.
The investigation will be presented by Brig. Gen. (res.) Ido Mizrahi, who led the probe, alongside other officers.
Several separate presentations will be held between March 30 and April 4, as there are numerous families of those murdered and abducted, and many more survivors.
The 344 families of civilians murdered at Nova will receive a text message today to register for one of two presentation dates. The IDF says there will be two presentation dates to not limit the number of family members who wish to attend.
An additional presentation of the investigation will be held for the families of 16 soldiers, many of whom were off duty, who were killed in the attack. Another presentation will be held for the families of 16 police officers and two Shin Bet agents who were slain.
The IDF will also be holding a presentation of the investigation to the families of those abducted from the music festival, including those who have since been returned from captivity.
Lastly, a presentation will also be held for the survivors of the Nova attack. A registration process will begin soon, according to the military.
PM talks to mother of hostage Elkana Bohbot after she said ‘no one is speaking with us’
Hostage Elkana Bohbot seen in a Hamas propaganda video released on March 24, 2025. (Screenshot)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks by phone with the mother of hostage Elkana Bohbot, a day after she criticized the Prime Minister’s Office and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the new head of the hostage negotiating team, for not speaking with her or her family.
Elkana’s two brothers also joined the conversation, says the PMO.
“No one is speaking with us,” Ruhama Bohbot said last night when asked by Channel 12 if any government officials, including Dermer and Netanyahu, had contacted the family.
Hamas published a propaganda video yesterday evening showing Israeli hostages Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, who were both kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and are still being held in Gaza by the terror group.
IDF runs drill for reservist call-up
The IDF says it is carrying out a reservist call-up drill this morning, during which the military is sending text messages and calling reservists on the phone.
The pre-planned drill is intended to test response times by reservists to a sudden call-up to duty.
The IDF says that the reservists are not expected to show up to their units, as it is a drill to test communications.
Houthis claim to have launched drones at central Israel, though no sirens sounded
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have launched an overnight drone attack on central Israel, though no sirens were activated.
The Iran-backed group also says it attacked US warships in the Red Sea that have been used to launch strikes on the Houthis.
US says Rubio expressed concerned to Turkey over recent arrests and protests
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, shakes the hand of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, at the State Department, March 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concerns regarding recent arrests and protests in Turkey in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday, a US State Department spokesperson says.
Rubio “also noted recent advancements in bilateral trade and encouraged even greater economic partnership moving forward,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce says in a statement.
US national security adviser takes responsibility for including journalist in Yemen group chat
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks with the media following meetings with a Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON — US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz claims “full responsibility” for mistakenly adding a journalist to a group chat in which top American officials discussed impending strikes in Yemen.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group; my job is to make sure everything’s coordinated,” Waltz tells Fox News host Laura Ingraham in his first interview on the security breach, adding that he does not personally know Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist who was added to the chat.
Israel loses 4-2 to Norway in World Cup qualifying match
Israeli goalie Daniel Peretz saves an attempt on goal during the 2026 World Cup Group I qualifier soccer match between Israel and Norway, in Debrecen, Hungary, on March 25, 2025. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)
The Israeli national soccer team falls 4-2 to Norway in its second qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup in North America.
After Norway went up 1-0 in the first half, Israel’s Mohammad Abu Fani scored a goal 10 minutes into the second half to tie the game, but the Norwegian squad then rattled off three goals to go up 4-1. Dor Turgeman scored in penalty time to give the Israeli team its second goal.
The loss to Norway comes after Israel won its first game of the qualifying stage against Estonia. The two other teams in Israel’s qualifying group are Moldova and Italy.
UAE president, Trump discuss ceasefire efforts in phone call
CAIRO, Egypt — United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Donald Trump discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza in a phone call, Emirati state news agency WAM reports, as Israel resumed its military offensive in the enclave last week.
Houthi media reports fresh US airstrikes in rebel-controlled Yemen
SANAA, Yemen — Houthi media in Yemen reports new strikes in the Iran-backed rebels’ Saada heartland, blaming the United States for the attacks.
The rebels’ Al-Masirah TV says its correspondent in the area had reported “US aggression with two raids on the Sahar district.”
On March 15, the United States announced a new military offensive against the Houthis, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
That day saw a wave of US air strikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels’ health ministry said killed 53 people.
Since then, Houthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the US, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.
Moody’s says Israel’s economy has been weakened by ‘very high political risks’
A sign for credit agency Moody's, on August 13, 2010, in New York. (AP/ Mark Lennihan/ File)
Moody’s Investors Service warns of Israel’s “very high political risks that have weakened economic and fiscal strength.”
“Uncertainty over Israel’s longer-term security and economic growth prospects are much higher than is typical, with risks to the high-tech sector particularly relevant, given its important role as a driver of economic growth and significant contributor to the government’s tax take,” Moody’s says in a regular update report on the country’s credit rating. “Such negative developments would have potentially severe implications for the government’s finances and may mark a further erosion in institutional quality.”
The rating agency last year slashed Israel’s credit rating by two notches to Baa1 in light of the high geopolitical and domestic political risks the country is facing and maintained a negative outlook.
In the update, Moody’s says that the negative outlook reflects the rating agency’s view that “downside risks” on Israel’s credit score persist.
As challenges to Israel’s credit profile, the rating agency cites “very high exposure to geopolitical risks, polarized political system, which weighs on governance and policy effectiveness, [and] labor-market participation of religious minorities, resulting in high-income inequality and elevated social tensions.”
Moody’s says Israel’s credit profile “remains supported by historically strong economic resilience to shocks, high wealth levels, which provide some shock absorption capacity, a solid external position, and the government’s continued strong market access.”
“We may stabilize the outlook if there are clear prospects for a durable cooling down of the military conflicts, in turn allowing Israel’s institutions to formulate policies that support the recovery of the economy and public finances and restore security while dealing with a wide range of policy priorities,” Moody’s says.
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