March 3: US VP Harris cheered over ‘immediate ceasefire’ call, clarifies she means 6-week truce

Despite being heavy favorite, Palestinian singer loses bid to rep Iceland at Eurovision

Palestinian singer Bashar Murad performs at the Iceland Songvakeppnin final on March 2, 2024. (Screenshot used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Jerusalem-born Palestinian artist Bashar Murad loses out to singer Hera Bjork to represent Iceland at this year’s Eurovision competition, despite being the heavy favorite to advance.

Murad — who took to the stage tonight in a white jacket dotted with red, as well as an embroidered broken heart — had entered his song “Wild West” for contention, and while he made it to the top two “super-finalists,” he ultimately lost to Bjork’s “Scared of Heights.”

His song, he said, is “about longing for freedom of movement,” and includes lyrics “I’m on the road again, how did it come to this?/ Don’t know where I’m going, but I’m looking for eternal bliss,” while the music video includes heavy use of the colors of the Palestinian flag.

After his performance tonight, Murad says on air that he feels it is strange “to be here celebrating while my people are being exterminated. I hope that I can keep telling the story of Palestine and Palestinians.”

Israel’s participation, meanwhile, hangs in the balance while the Kan public broadcaster and the Eurovision organizers are locked in a standoff over the lyrics for its submission, which the EBU has reportedly disqualified for being too political.

UN Security Council conveys ‘deep concern’ over Gaza aid convoy debacle

The UN Security Council issues a statement calling on “all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance” and to urgently increase the delivery of aid to the war-torn territory.

The members express “deep concern” over a Thursday incident in which over 100 Gazans reportedly died as crowds rushed an aid convoy in Gaza City. Israeli troops fired at several who were endangering the soldiers, according to the IDF which also said most were killed in a crowd crush or were run over by the trucks amid the chaos.

Hamas blames the IDF for at least 115 deaths in the incident and claims over 700 were injured. The military said that fewer than 10 of the casualties were a result of Israeli fire and released new details Thursday night claiming that soldiers had fired warning shots and attempted to ease the crush of people looting the convoy of aid trucks that entered northern Gaza early Thursday morning.

Israel has vowed to investigate the deadly incident, which drew renewed attention to the rapidly declining humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The Security Council members say they “take note that an Israeli investigation is underway” and “extend their sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish a swift and complete recovery for those who have been injured.”

The statement comes less than two days after the US blocked a previous UN Security Council statement blaming Israel for the aid disaster.

The Security Council members “urge Israel to keep border crossings open for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, to facilitate the opening of additional crossings to meet humanitarian needs at scale, and to support the rapid and safe delivery of relief items to people in all of the Gaza Strip.”

They urge for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and remind all parties that they “must comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

The council members say they also have “grave concern” over the estimation…that all 2.2 million people in Gaza would face alarming levels of acute food insecurity,” and call “for parties to the conflict to allow, facilitate, and enable the immediate, rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Mediators expected in Cairo for Gaza truce talks as soon as Sunday, sources say

Mediators are expected to reconvene in Cairo as soon as Sunday and search for a formula acceptable to Israel and Hamas for a temporary truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal, sources with knowledge of the talks say.

Israeli and Hamas delegations were expected to arrive in Cairo today, two Egyptian security sources say, although another source briefed on the talks says Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of hostages who are still alive.

Hopes for the first pause in fighting since November rose last week following a previous round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt in Doha, and indications from US President Joe Biden that an agreement was close.

A senior US official said earlier that the framework for a six-week pause in fighting was in place, with Israel’s agreement, and now depended on Hamas agreeing to release hostages it has held in Gaza since its shock attack on southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists went on a killing rampage, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.

“The path to a ceasefire right now literally at this hour is straightforward. And there’s a deal on the table. There’s a framework deal. The Israelis have more or less accepted it,” the official told reporters. “The onus right now is on Hamas.”

Biden has said he hopes a deal will be in place by the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10.

Trump wins party vote in 3 US states, edging toward nomination

Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump looks on during a 'Get Out the Vote' rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, on March 2, 2024. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Donald Trump is inching ahead in his quest to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, winning internal party elections in the states of Missouri, Michigan and Idaho, US media reports.

The former president has now won every state nominating contest heading into next week’s “Super Tuesday,” when voters in 15 US states choose their preferred candidate for each party.

Trump has gained huge momentum in the race to capture the Republican nomination at the party convention in July and Tuesday is expected to all but secure the result.

He is likely to face President Joe Biden in November elections, pitting the two for the second time since 2020.

The voting Saturday in Missouri, Michigan and Idaho were hybrid internal elections with differing rules, in some cases reflecting rifts and tensions despite Trump’s formidable sway.

In Missouri, Trump swamped his main opponent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, winning every county caucus in the state, The New York Times reported.

Anyone who expressed an “allegiance to the Missouri Republican Party” could vote in the county caucuses.

In Michigan, around 2,000 party activists voted in a caucus convention, and Trump won all 39 delegates up for grabs, CNN reported.

The limited vote came in the wake of chaos within the state party, including allegations of overspending and mismanagement.

Trump had grabbed 16 Michigan delegates earlier in the week in a limited primary vote.

The former president also handily won Republican caucuses in the western state of Idaho, NBC and ABC projected.

Haley has raced around the country in the run-up to Super Tuesday, trying to make an increasingly hard case against the inevitability of Trump’s nomination

Canada, Italy leaders cancel Toronto event over security concerns amid pro-Palestinian, anti-Trudeau protests

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday canceled a joint visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto for security reasons, according to a Canadian spokesperson.

Two groups of protesters, one against Trudeau’s government and another of pro-Palestinian protesters, had gathered outside the gallery. There were also numerous police.

Jenna Ghassabeh, a spokesperson for Trudeau’s office, confirmed the event was called off for security reasons but referred questions to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which had no immediate comment.

Meloni is visiting Canada in Italy’s role as president of the Group of Seven nations for 2024 after visiting Washington on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Canada and Italy agreed to enhance cooperation in various areas, including energy security and the shift to a sustainable energy future, over the next three to five years, according to a statement.

Leading candidate in EU election calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire, lashes ‘extreme-right’ Netanyahu government

Europe’s Socialists launched their campaign for June’s European Parliament elections in Rome on Saturday, with the leading center-left’s candidate for the European Commission presidency calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and launching into a scathing assault of the Netanyahu government.

Luxembourg’s Nicolas Schmit is running against incumbent Ursula von der Leyen, who is expected to campaign again for the job.

In an address Saturday, he said it was “our duty to urge for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza,” and accused the far-right, right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to “abolish” Israeli democracy with its pre-October 7 plans to overhaul the judicial system and curb the High Court’s independent powers.

He went on to say that “members of the government also killed the peace process in ’95” and “killed the peace process by first killing our friend Labor Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,” Schmit said, of the late premier who was assassinated by an extremist Jewish activist who was opposed to the 1993 Oslo Accords and the handing over of control of parts of the West Bank to the Palestinians as a part of a landmark peace agreement.

Netanyahu has been repeatedly accused by the left over the years of encouraging incitement that led to Rabin’s killing, or at the very least of contributing to the incendiary political climate that led to the murder. He has rejected such claims as “attempts to distort the historical truth” and has denied responsibility for the incitement that led to the killing.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir first captured national attention when he was filmed as a teen boasting about stealing an emblem from Rabin’s car a short time before the assassination.

Schmit said he was a “great friend of Israel, but I never forget that this government … is a far-right, extreme-right government.”

Airstrikes reported overnight in central Gaza

A number of airstrikes were reported overnight in central Gaza, according to Palestinian media reports cited by the Hebrew-language press.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency, one of the airstrikes hit a home in the northern part of Gaza City, leading to casualties.

Earlier Saturday, Palestinian media reported a large wave of Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and in Khan Younis in the Strip’s south.

The IDF has not yet issued a comment on the strikes.

US warns of environmental risk from fertilizer cargo of ship sunk by Houthi fire in Red Sea

This undated photo released March 3, 2024, by the US military's Central Command shows the Belize-flagged vessel Rubymar sinking in the Red Sea after being struck by Houthi rebels some two weeks beforehand (US military's Central Command via AP)

The US echoes warnings that a ship that sunk in the Red Sea after it was hit by Houthi missile fire, poses an environmental risk due to its cargo of fertilizer.

“The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) says on X.

“As the ship sinks it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway,” the US military says.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government said yesterday that the Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthi terrorists last month, had sunk in the Red Sea, and warned of an “environmental catastrophe” from the ship’s cargo of fertilizer.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have been attacking vessels in the vital shipping lane since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack.

Israeli embassy in US told not to facilitate Gantz’s visit to Washington — report

Minister Benny Gantz joins a march by the families of hostages held in Gaza toward Jerusalem on March 1, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Israeli embassy in Washington has been instructed not to facilitate war cabinet minister Benny Gantz’s trip to the US after it was not authorized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

Additionally, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog will not take part in the visit, the report says, without clarifying where the order came from.

Netanyahu was reportedly infuriated by Gantz’s decision to travel for meetings with senior US officials without his approval.

A source close to Netanyahu said the premier “made it clear to Minister Gantz that the State of Israel only has one prime minister,” Ynet reported.

The source said the trip was organized contrary to government regulations that require “every minister to clear travel in advance with the prime minister, including approval of the travel plan.”

A former military chief and defense minister, Gantz is Netanyahu’s main political rival in opinion polls. Gantz brought his National Unity party into the government after the October 7 attack by Palestinian terror group Hamas that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Senior member of Hamas military wing shot, wounded by Palestinian security forces in West Bank

A senior member of the Hamas military wing was shot and wounded by Palestinian security forces in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, Palestinian media reports.

According to the reports, cited by the Kan public broadcaster, witnesses said Qais al-Saadi managed to escape, despite being moderately injured when he was shot at close range.

Saadi who was previously jailed in Israel, has been wanted by Israel for two years, Kan reports.

דיווחים פלסטיניים: כוחות הביטחון של הרשות הפלסטינית ירו בבכיר בזרוע הצבאית של חמאס, קיס א-סעדי, שמבוקש ע"י כוחות הביטחון הישראליים זה שנתיים. א-סעדי נפצע בינוני, אך הצליח לחמוק מידי כוחות הביטחון הפלסטיניים >>> https://t.co/Aq4suKvcoj@migansh5 https://t.co/yue29qMvUT

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 3, 2024

Rocket sirens sound in Shlomi and Betzet, near the Lebanon border

Sirens sound in Shlomi and Betzet, close to the Lebanon border, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The communities have been largely evacuated of civilians since Hezbollah-led forces began launching daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border on October 8.

The Iran-backed terror group says it is doing so to support Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas, triggered by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned last week that Hezbollah would “pay a very high price” for its continued attacks on northern Israel.

Ultra-Orthodox man stabbed, seriously hurt in Zurich; teen attacker said to have shouted ‘Death to all Jews’

A teen stabbed and seriously injured an ultra-Orthodox man in Zurich, reportedly shouting “Death to all Jews” as he carried out the attack.

The 15-year-old attacker was arrested on the scene, Swiss media reports.

While witnesses said the attacker shouted antisemitic statements before and during the attack, police have not yet declared the attack to be a hate crime.

There was reportedly an altercation between a number of individuals before the stabbing.

In a statement to Swiss media, the Swiss Association of Jewish Communities (SIG) says it is “deeply shocked” by the attack.

Noting that “physical attacks on Jewish people in Switzerland are very rare,” the organization notes that they have been on the rise amid soaring antisemitism worldwide.

À Zurich, un juif orthodoxe poignardé par un ado de 15 ans criant «Mort aux Juifs» & «Mort à Israël». La tragédie prévisible, alimentée par la haine d’Israël. Aux pyromanes : épargnez-nous votre présence à la prochaine manifestation contre l’antisémitisme.
On vous voit ! pic.twitter.com/6B0DeEDF15

— Simone Rodan-Benzaquen (@srodan) March 3, 2024

Hamas official: ‘Big price’ must be paid to get further information on the hostages

A protester holds a placard calling for action to obtain the freedom of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza during a demonstration close to the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem on March 2, 2024. (GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

An unnamed Hamas leader reportedly says that the terror group will not provide any further details on the hostages in Gaza without a “big price” being paid.

The terror leader makes the comments in an interview with the UK-based Qatari outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

“A big price must be paid in terms of alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza and establishing a ceasefire,” he says.

Israeli and Hamas delegations were expected to arrive in Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian security sources have said, although another source briefed on the talks said Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of hostages who are still alive.

It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 31 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Liberman: Government has ‘no right to exist,’ there must be elections

Yisrael Beytenu party head MK Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 26, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

In an apparent change of course, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman says the time has come for the country to go to the polls for a new government.

“I gave the government credit for five months, but after the last ten days, the government has no right to exist and we must have elections,” the opposition lawmaker tells Army Radio.

“The government is unable to lead the people of Israel when three of its members are unable to come together with one message. This is the end of its path,” Liberman says, an apparent reference to the potential coalition crisis over the drafting of members of the ultra-Orthodox community.

Liberman addresses war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, saying that he expects him and his National Unity party to announce that “this government is finished.”

In January, Liberman said that the country “needs unity” and that he believed elections were divisive.

1,200 volunteers search for 9-year-old Haymanut Kasau, missing for nearly a week

Haymanut Kasau, 9, who went missing on February 25, 2024, from a Jewish Agency absorption center in Safed, northern Israel. (Courtesy)

Some 1,200 volunteers joined efforts yesterday to find a 9-year-old girl from the northern city of Safed who has been missing for almost a week, Channel 12 reports.

The outlet says that police still do not have any solid leads on Haymanut Kasau’s whereabouts.

The girl was last seen in security footage at 7:45 p.m. last Sunday handing out municipal election leaflets outside the Jewish Agency absorption center, where she has lived for the past three years since immigrating with her family from Ethiopia.

According to a description, Kasau stands at 1.20 meters (3’11”) and is slim with dark hair and dark eyes. She was wearing pink pants, a black skirt, and a white shirt at the time of her disappearance.

Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo for talks on temporary truce and hostage deal — Palestinian reports

A delegation from the Hamas terror group has arrived in Cairo for talks on a potential temporary truce and hostage deal, according to Palestinian media reports cited by the Ynet news outlet.

An Israeli delegation is also expected in the Egyptian capital later today although a source briefed on the talks said Israel would not send a team until it got a full list of hostages who are still alive.

Hopes for the first pause in fighting since November rose last week following a previous round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt in Doha, and cautious indications from US President Joe Biden that an agreement was close. The president acknowledged Friday that it remains elusive for now.

A senior US official said Saturday that the framework for a six-week pause in fighting was in place, with Israel’s agreement, and now depended on Hamas agreeing to release hostages it has held in Gaza since its shock attack on southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists went on a killing rampage, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.

IDF says 50 Hamas targets hit in 6 minutes during overnight Khan Younis strikes

Israeli troops operating in the Gaza Strip in a photo released for publication on March 3, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

Overnight, the IDF says it carried out a wave of airstrikes against some 50 Hamas targets in western Khan Younis, within just six minutes.

The concentrated wave of strikes was to enable ground troops of the 98th Division to maneuver into new areas of the city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF says the targets included underground infrastructure, buildings used by Hamas, anti-tank launch positions, booby-trapped buildings, and staging grounds where operatives were gathered.

After the wave of strikes, the 98th Division “began a surprise assault on the area, during which the troops raided terror targets and eliminated terrorists,” the IDF says.

Intensive fighting is still ongoing this morning.

Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Brigade killed dozens of Hamas operatives over the past day, including by calling in airstrikes, as well as captured weapons.

Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll passes 30,410

At least 30,410 Palestinians have been killed and 71,700 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says.

The terror group’s figures are unverified, don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, and list all the fatalities as caused by Israel — even those believed to have been caused by hundreds of misfired rockets or otherwise by Palestinian fire.

Israel has said it killed some 13,000 Hamas members in Gaza fighting, in addition to some 1,000 killed in Israel in the aftermath of the terror group’s October 7 invasion and onslaught.

Israel says working with Eurovision to ensure song will be permitted in contest

Eden Golan (Shai Franco)

Israel announces that it will be working with Eurovision organizers to ensure that one of its two contending songs be accepted to this year’s song contest, so that it can participate in the competition especially in a year when it has faced boycott calls.

The statement from the Kan public broadcaster comes after Israel’s participation was thrown into question when the European Broadcasting Union, which runs the annual competition, disqualified its submission for being too political, and Kan had originally stated that it would refuse to alter or change the song it submitted.

Kan now says, however, that it has accepted the position called for by President Isaac Herzog that “particularly at a time when those who hate us are trying to push us out and boycott the State of Israel on every stage, Israel must have its voice heard with its head raised high and fly its flag in every global forum, particularly this year.”

For months, some activists have called for Israel to be barred from the competition over growing international criticism of its war against Hamas in Gaza, although the EBU has repeatedly rejected such calls.

Kan says that it reached out to the writers of the two top songs, “October Rain” and “Dance Forever,” and asked them to “readjust the texts, with full artistic freedom,” so it can then choose one to send to the EBU, which will still have to approve the song. The EBU told The Times of Israel over the weekend only that “the EBU and KAN are still in the process of discussing their entry and that remains a confidential process until a final decision has been reached.”

Kan says that the song to be performed by Eden Golan in Malmo this year will be announced during a live broadcast on March 10.

Zurich police suspect antisemitism as motive behind stabbing of Haredi man by teen

Zurich police say they suspect antisemitism as the motive in the stabbing attack last night in which an ultra-Orthodox man was critically wounded.

Police say they received a report of an argument involving several people at 9:35 p.m. According to their initial findings, the perpetrator attacked the 50-year-old man “and critically injured him with a stabbing weapon.”

Police describe the perpetrator as 15-year-old Swiss citizen, and said they arrested him at the scene.

Eyewitnesses told Swiss media the attacker shouted “Death to all Jews.”

IDF says it ‘coordinated’ 21 humanitarian aid airdrops in Gaza in recent weeks

Palestinians run along a street as humanitarian aid is airdropped in Gaza City on March 1, 2024 (AFP)

The IDF says it has “coordinated” a total of 21 airdrops in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, by the United States, Jordan, France, the UAE, and Egypt, with more than 450 packages of food and medical aid distributed to Palestinian civilians.

The latest airdrop was carried out Saturday by the US and Jordan.

“We will continue expanding our humanitarian efforts to the civilian population in Gaza while we fulfill our goals of freeing our hostages from Hamas and freeing Gaza from Hamas,” says IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in an English-language video statement.

Qatari, US delegations arrive in Cairo in addition to Hamas officials

Delegations from Qatar and the US have arrived in Egypt in addition to officials from the Hamas terror group for “a new round of negotiations” on a temporary truce and hostage deal, Egypt’s state-linked Al-Qahera News reports.

It remains unclear if Israel will send a team without receiving a list from Hamas of the living hostages.

Body of suspected female murder victim found, the second within hours

A woman has been found dead in the northern town of Nahariya, police say, adding that there is suspicion she was murdered.

The woman’s body was found at a place of business. No further details are given in the statement.

She is the second woman whose body was found today. Earlier, a woman was stabbed to death in her car in I’billin, also in the north. Her husband later turned himself in to police.

In a statement to Channel 12 before the announcement of the second suspected murder, Hagit Pe’er, head of women’s organization Na’amat slams National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s decision last month to cease funding the Michal Sela Forum’s security programs for women at risk of domestic abuse.

“Another woman was murdered while the national security minister is busy withholding budgets for victims of violence,” Pe’er says. “In the days when the minister is busy stopping the meager budget for the Michal Sela Forum, which provides protection solutions for victims of violence, and distributing weapons to anyone who needs them, we are witnessing another murder of a woman that might have been prevented.”

There were 22 incidents of femicide in Israel during 2023, a slight increase over the previous year.

As Sderot schools open for first time since Oct. 7, ministry says 55-60% of kids in attendance

Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, center, and Education Minister Yoav Kisch, right, at an informal press conference in Sderot, on March 3, 2023. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)

The education system in Sderot officially returns to operation, with some 100 schools and kindergartens opening across the beleaguered southern city.

Between 55 and 60 percent of K-12 Sderot students have officially returned, an Education Ministry spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.

The southern city of approximately 30,000 has been largely evacuated for some five months due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, with residents living in hotels or other temporary conditions elsewhere in the country, mostly in Eilat.

Sderot was one of many locations overrun by Hamas on October 7, with terrorists moving through the city on foot and in pickup trucks and slaughtering at least 50 civilians and 20 police officers.

The number of students returning to school and kindergarten in the city “was a surprise, we thought it would be lower,” says Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, speaking at an informal press conference outside an elementary school in the city alongside Education Minister Yoav Kisch and other officials.

Because of manpower and staffing issues, reopening the schools in Sderot necessitated closing the temporary education systems set up for evacuated Sderot residents in other areas, the education minister says.

Mellanox CEO Waldman: ‘I believe minister’s instructions came from above’ to stop my Israel Prize nomination

Mellanox founder Eyal Waldman speaks at the Knesset on March 3, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Mellanox founder Eyal Waldman, whose nomination for an Israel Prize allegedly led to the scrapping of a number of award categories this year, tells the Knesset Science Committee that he has been told that an associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to ensure he would not get the nod for the award.

Waldman, a prominent government critic, charges that businessman Shlomi Fogel exerted heavy pressure on the members of the nominating committee so that they would recommend another candidate “from the right sector.”

The entrepreneur says that his potential nomination for the award “did not go down well with Education Minister Yoav Kish, the prime minister’s associates, and perhaps the prime minister himself.”

“I believe [Kisch] did not act on his own accord but according to instructions from above,” Waldman says.

Kisch, whose ministry is responsible for the annual prize, decided to shrink the award to a couple of war-related categories this year reportedly in order to prevent Waldman from winning after the selection committee wouldn’t back down.

“The claim that awards are not given out in time of war is not only an invented claim, but it is also a ridiculous claim,” Waldman says, according to Channel 12. “It is precisely in time of war that the civilian fields of entrepreneurship, science and culture must be strengthened.”

“Families sacrifice what is dearest to them and the best of our children have lost their lives to protect and preserve civil society. A country where culture, science and entrepreneurship are abolished ceases to be a democratic country. Precisely in these terrible times, civil society must be strengthened,” Waldman says.

Waldman’s daughter Danielle was among 364 people who were slaughtered by terrorists at a music festival on October 7 when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating attack that killed 1,200 people amid horrific atrocities. The thousands of attackers who burst through the border from Gaza also abducted 253 people who were taken as hostages and held in the Strip.

Houthis vow to keep targeting UK ships for ‘sponsoring crimes against civilians in Gaza’

This undated photo released March 3, 2024, by the US military's Central Command shows the Belize-flagged vessel Rubymar sinking in the Red Sea after being struck by Houthi rebels some two weeks beforehand (US military's Central Command via AP)

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis vow to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.

The US military confirmed on Saturday that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni Houthi militants on Feb. 18.

“Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain’s bill,” Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government, says in a post on X.

“It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza,” he claims.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Soccer fan arrested for waving Palestinian flag at game; Ben Gvir: ‘Zero tolerance’

A fan of the soccer team Hapoel Umm al-Fahm has been arrested and questioned for waving a Palestinian flag at a match against Maccabi Haifa last Tuesday.

The police say that the 18-year old resident of Umm al-Fahm was arrested on Friday after an “operative and strenuous investigation” by police officers in the Umm al-Fahm police station.

The individual waved the flag at the beginning of the game, played in Umm al-Fahm’s stadium, which the police said was likely to disturb public order.

The suspect was released with restrictions by the police after being questioned.

Several media reports after the game noted that the flag had been waved, and a Ynet report said it had “aroused the anger of the guests and that of the fans in the stadium,” although there was no mention of violence or disturbances as a result of the incident.

There is currently no law against flying the Palestinian flag, but the police make arrests for doing so on the claim that the flag is likely to lead to a disturbance of the peace, a policy that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai reiterated to police officers in January.

Ben Gvir praised the police for arresting the individual, saying, “On my watch someone who stokes the flames and supports terrorism will be dealt with severely and with zero tolerance.”

Official: Hamas refuses to supply list of living hostages, Israel won’t send team to Cairo talks today

A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas-led cross-border terror onslaught in Israel, seen in Jerusalem, February 26, 2024. (Leo Correa/AP)

Israel received an answer from Hamas about the framework for a hostage deal hammered out in Paris last weekend, but the Gaza-based terror organization refused to address Jerusalem’s demand to receive a list of living hostages and how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every hostage freed, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

In the wake of the unsatisfactory response, Israel is not sending a delegation to Cairo today, says the official.

Abbas to visit Turkey for talks with Ergdogan on Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian reconciliation

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on February 5, 2024 (Nasser Nasser / POOL / AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Turkey on Tuesday for talks about Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and reconciliation efforts between Palestinian factions, the Turkish foreign minister says.

The visit comes as intensive diplomacy is underway to pause the fighting and secure a deal to release hostages.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have mediated in weeks of talks to secure a temporary truce by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a week.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says: “There is a serious desire and effort to reach a ceasefire before Ramadan,” in closing remarks to an annual diplomacy forum in the Mediterranean holiday resort of Antalya.

Fidan confirms that Abbas will visit the Turkish capital Ankara at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a vocal advocate of the Palestinian cause.

The leaders will discuss “the developments in Palestine, the current course of the war as well as the intra-Palestinian” dialogue, Fidan says.

Israel has publicly opposed a possible PA return to Gaza after it was booted from the Strip by the Hamas terror group in a bloody coup in 2007.

Official says Israel looking for new solutions for delivery of aid to north Gaza

Palestinians gather in a street as humanitarian aid is airdropped in Gaza City on March 1, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group. (AFP)

Israel will try new solutions for delivering aid to the northern Gaza Strip this week, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

One option is for the convoy to be secured by IDF forces without handing it over to local guards.

Entering the Gaza Strip through the northern border, instead of sending the convoy through Kerem Shalom, is also a possibility.

“We expect to see much more humanitarian aid reaching northern Gaza,” says the official.

The comments come after the deaths of Palestinians queuing for aid in Gaza last week, an incident that has drawn condemnations and calls for an international inquiry. Dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more wounded while swarming aid trucks in Gaza City.

Hamas accused Israeli troops of shooting at the crowd of thousands, while the IDF says many of the casualties were trampled in a chaotic crush for the food aid, and that its troops only fired at a few individuals who rushed toward them in a threatening manner.

38 children were killed, 20 orphaned on Oct. 7: ‘The state did not pass the test of protecting them’

The parents of Tamar Kedem Siman Tov, who was killed along with her husband and three young children in Nir Oz on October 7, holds up a photo of the slain family at a protest in Tel Aviv on March 2, 2024 (Jack Guez / AFP)

According to data released by Israel National Council for the Child, 38 children were killed in Israel on October 7 during the Hamas-led terrorist onslaught.

Three of those children were under the age of three, and four were aged 3-6.

In addition, 42 children were abducted to the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terrorist organizations, nine of them under the age of five and nine of them over the age of 18. Forty of them were released during a temporary ceasefire last November, which classified a child as someone under the age of 19 who was not in military service.

Two of the children kidnapped on October 7 — Kfir and Ariel Bibas — remain in Gaza.

Fifteen of the children who were held hostage in Gaza still have a parent in captivity in the Strip.

In addition, 20 children were orphaned and 96 lost one parent, the organization says.

The head of the Israel National Council for the Child, Vered Windman, says they are figures that “the mind cannot digest and the soul cannot bear.”

“The situation of the children in Israel in the first months of the war shows to a large extent that the state did not pass the test of protecting them,” she says.

French police searching for suspect who assaulted man near Paris synagogue

A French riot policeman stands guard outside the Paris Synagogue, two days after security measures were reinforced near Jewish temples and schools, in central Paris, on October 9, 2023. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

French authorities are searching for an assailant who attacked a man leaving a synagogue in Paris, says Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

Darmanin says the alleged attack on a man in his early 60s was “a new antisemitic attack that occurred in Paris” Friday evening.

“Everything is being done to apprehend the perpetrator of this unspeakable act,” Darmanin says in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Reports in French media say that an assailant was seen physically and verbally assaulting a man in his early 60s on Friday around 5:30 p.m. local time as he was leaving a synagogue in Paris’s 20th arrondissement.

The assailant kicked and punched the man several times, and shouted an ethnic slur at him, according to a report by French broadcaster BFM, citing police sources. The victim of the attack was taken to a hospital. The suspected attacker fled on foot, the report also said.

Gallant denies that he plans to leave Likud: ‘Sorry to disappoint’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks with Israeli soldiers at a staging area not far from the Israeli-Gaza border, October 19, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant denies that he has any plans to leave the Likud party, defending his press conference last week over a proposed IDF draft law.

“I’m sorry to disappoint some of the people here, but my place is in Likud and I will stay in Likud,” Gallant says during a cabinet meeting, according to Hebrew media reports.

Gallant originally entered politics with ex-Likudnik Moshe Kahlon’s now-defunct Kulanu party, which he left to join Likud in 2019.

The defense minister says he made a statement last week demanding consensus on the issue of drafting Haredim into the military, because “there is no place for attacks on Israel Defense Forces soldiers, not even by politicians… remember that our soldiers are at war – this is neither the time nor the place.”

Iran’s Raisi discusses Gaza during visit to Algeria

This handout picture taken and released by the Iranian Presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi praying at the tomb of the Islamic Republic's late founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran on January 31, 2024 (Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi discusses bilateral relations, energy cooperation, trade and Gaza with Algeria’s leader Abdelmadjid Tebboune on a one-day state visit, according to Algeria’s presidency.

Algeria, a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, backs the Palestinian cause and has called several times for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Extremist Haredi protesters shut down main highway in central Israel

Extremist Haredi protesters angry at discussions over efforts to draft ultra-Orthodox youth into the IDF have shut down a central highway in the country.

מאות חרדים מהפלג הירושלמי מפגינים וחוסמים את כביש 4 באזור צומת קוקה-קולה בעקבות הבג"ץ בנושא חוק הגיוס@OrRavid pic.twitter.com/jlCvSY92ds

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) March 3, 2024

The crowd has succeeded in closing off the Route 4 highway near the Coca Cola junction next to Bnei Brak in both directions. Police are working to reopen the main thoroughfare, with concerns about major backups during rush hour.

IDF announces death of soldier killed fighting in Gaza yesterday

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Dennis Yekimov (IDF)

The IDF announces the death of a soldier killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, bringing the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 246.

He is named as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Dennis Yekimov, 33, of the Bislamach Brigade’s 17th Battalion, from Beersheba.

Zurich hikes security at Jewish institutions after stabbing of Orthodox man

Zurich police say they are hiking security at Jewish institutions after a suspected antisemitic knife attack left an Orthodox Jewish man in serious condition.

Police in Switzerland’s largest city said the 50-year-old was “critically injured” in the attack late last night and a 15-year-old Swiss boy suspected of being the perpetrator had been arrested on site.

The police say they consulted with various Jewish institutions in the city following the incident and decided to increase security around the institutions as a “precautionary measure.”

IDF says it killed over 100 Hamas gunmen in 2-week operation in Gaza City’s Zeitoun

Troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in Gaza City's Zeitoun, in a handout image published by the IDF on March 3, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has wrapped up a two-week-long raid in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, during which troops of the 401st Armored Brigade and additional forces of the 162nd Division destroyed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sites and killed more than 100 operatives.

Some 35 sites were located and destroyed during the operation, including weapon depots and manufacturing sites, tunnel infrastructure, rocket launching sites with hundreds of launchers, and a site belonging to the commander of the Gaza City Brigade, Izz ad-Din Haddad, according to the IDF.

Using drones, the IDF says the 401st Brigade identified and captured dozens of Hamas operatives, who, following interrogations, provided intelligence information. Some of the Hamas gunmen were hiding among the civilian population in Zeitoun, according to the IDF.

The brigade killed at least 113 Hamas operatives in Zeitoun over the past two weeks, the IDF says, those that troops were able to identify with the naked eye or using drones.

The Hamas gunmen are operating in Zeitoun without a “military framework,” and in relatively small cells, according to the IDF, after the military says it dismantled the terror group’s battalions in the area in the early stages of the ground offensive.

Troops came under gunfire, RPG fire and explosive devices amid the operations, with at least four soldiers being killed and several more wounded. According to the IDF, most of the attacks on troops in Zeitoun occurred during the day, rather than at night.

In one incident, the IDF says a Hamas cell fired anti-tank missiles from a close range at troops. An Israeli Air Force drone spotted and struck the cell, killing several of the operatives, while others were spotted fleeing in an ambulance, the IDF says.

In another incident, the brigade called in an airstrike against a building from which a Hamas sniper was shooting at troops.

The raid in Zeitoun was the 401st Brigade’s fourth operation in Gaza, previously battling Hamas in Beit Lahiya, then in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods of Gaza City, before a raid in the Rimal and Shati neighborhoods. The IDF will soon decide where to send the brigade for its next mission.

Hamas source to CNN: No hostage deal without agreement to end war

A view of the skyline of Cairo from the promontory of the Cairo Citadel on February 19, 2024. (Amir Makar/AFP)

Hamas will not agree to a hostage deal without Israel consenting to an end to the war in Gaza, CNN reports, citing “a highly placed source” in the terrorist group.

The two other areas of disagreement holding up a deal are the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza, and Gazan civilians being allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip, adds the Hamas source.

The official also tells CNN that Hamas is demanding a certain amount of aid be allowed into both the southern and northern Strip before the organization agrees to a deal.

Sirens sound in Upper Galilee warning of potential drone infiltration

Sirens sound in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon, warning of a potential drone infiltration into Israeli airspace.

It is not immediately clear what set off the sirens.

Relative of Bedouin hostages: I’m praying for their release, I sent letters to Hamas

Hamza Ziyadne (left) and his father Youssef Ziyadne (Courtesy)

Ali Ziyadne, a relative of the two Bedouin hostages still being held captive in Gaza, says he has even appealed to Hamas to have them released, to no avail.

“We are praying that they will release them before Ramadan,” says Ali, the brother of Youssef Ziyadne and the uncle of Hamza Ziyadne, to Army Radio. “I’m running from place to place, I sent a letter to Hamas, that they should take them into consideration and let them go.”

IDF says sirens in north were caused by ‘suspicious aerial object’ from Lebanon

Sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee a short while ago due to a “suspicious aerial target” that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, the IDF says.

An interceptor missile was fired at the target, the IDF says, adding that the incident is over.

Sirens had sounded in the communities of Gadot, Yesod Hama’ala, Sde Eliezer, Amuka, Hulata, Mishmar HaYarden and Ayelet HaShahar.

Gazan mother mourns deaths of twin babies said killed in airstrike

This picture taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing over the territory on March 3, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

As men searched for survivors beneath a Gaza home in Rafah believed to be hit by an Israeli airstrike, Rania Abu Anza gazes down at two children who did not survive: her infant twins.

The Palestinian woman says she went through multiple rounds of fertility treatment to achieve her dream of becoming a mother, only to have it taken away by the carnage in the Gaza Strip.

“Who will call me mother from now on? Who will call me mother?” she says through tears as she clutches her lifeless babies, the face of one still spattered with blood.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the twins, Wissam and Naeem, not yet six months old, were among 14 people killed in the overnight strike in Rafah.

The IDF did not provide comment on the Rafah strike. Yesterday it said it struck a group of Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were gathered at a Hamas site in Rafah.

Light rail in Petah Tikva also shut down by extremist Haredi protest

The light rail in the center of the country is also shut down in Petah Tikva amid an ongoing protest by extremist Haredi activists against the Haredi draft.

Police are still working to clear Route 4 near Bnei Brak which has been closed due to the protest for at least two hours.

תיעוד: לוחמת מג"ב בועטת במפגין נגד חוק הגיוס בכביש 4 סמוך למחלף גבעת שמואל – שחסום לתנועה לשני הכיוונים כבר יותר משעתיים@galdjerassi pic.twitter.com/544gZzd42k

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 3, 2024

Russia says it killed six ISIS terrorist operatives in the North Caucasus region

Six alleged members of the Islamic State group were killed in a shootout in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region, in what the country’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) describes as a “counterterrorism operation.”

According to a statement by the NAC, the six men barricaded themselves in a third-floor apartment in Karabulak, a town of about 30,000 in Russia’s semi-autonomous Republic of Ingushetia. A shootout with security services followed, as surrounding streets were blocked off and residents of the apartment block evacuated to a nearby school, according to Russia’s Interfax agency.

Heavy gunfire and blasts appearing to come from inside an apartment block could be heard in videos posted by Karabulak residents on social media.

The NAC claims that security services found automatic weapons, ammunition, hand grenades, and homemade explosives inside the apartment where the men were hiding out.

Gallant says IDF troops will not leave Gaza ‘without eliminating Hamas’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with troops of the 98th Division on the Gaza border, March 3, 2024. (Elad Malka/ Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel will not end the war in the Gaza Strip until Hamas is completely dismantled.

“There is no one to help the terrorists, it’s only a matter of our decision of what we take care of first and what second,” says Gallant to troops of the 98th Division on the Gaza border.

“We will not end this war without eliminating Hamas. There will be no such situation. There will be no Hamas as a ruling organization. It will take the time it takes,” he adds.

Israel teases its new, reworked song for Eurovision: ‘Hurricane’

Israeli singer Eden Golan recording a new version of the Eurovision song, titled, 'Hurricane,' on March 3, 2024. (Courtesy Kan)

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster says the song it will resubmit to Eurovision organizers for approval in the contest is called “Hurricane,” and is based on the same melody as the disqualified “October Rain.”

Kan releases a photo of this year’s Israeli entrant, Eden Golan, recording a version of the new song earlier today. The reworked song, Kan says, tells the story of a “young woman who is surviving a personal crisis.”

Israel submitted both “October Rain” and a second song, “Dance Forever” to the European Broadcasting Union and they were both “informally disqualifed” over purported political messages, says Kan.

The public broadcaster says the new song will be revealed live on TV next Sunday, March 10 — although it notes that the new submission has yet to receive formal approval from the EBU. If the EBU disqualifies “Hurricane,” Kan says, Israel will be able to appeal the decision.

“This is a different and distinct year, and we are dealing with things we did not deal with in past years,” says Golan in a statement. “It is more important to me than ever to represent my country with pride and if that happens, I will work as hard as possible to know that I did everything I could do.”

Earlier today, Kan announced that it was reversing its earlier decision to refuse to edit or change the lyrics to the songs it had already submitted, and would instead rework the song in order to take part in the competition.

Police finally clear highway shut for 3 hours during extremist Haredi protest

Ultra-Orthodox Jews block Route 4 during a protest against the drafting of Haredim to the IDF, next to Bnei Brak, March 3, 2024. (Itai Ron/Flash90)

Police say they have finally succeeded in clearing an extremist Haredi protest which blocked off a central highway for more than three hours.

According to police, hundreds of protesters shut down Route 4 at the Coca Cola junction next to Bnei Brak and clashed with police, including shouting “Nazis” at officers.

Police did not indicate if any arrests were made during the clashes.

US envoy slated to visit Israel, Lebanon tomorrow as tensions high along border

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, speaks to journalists at Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport after his meeting with Lebanese officials, in Beirut, Lebanon, August 31, 2023. (AP/Bilal Hussein)

US envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to visit both Israel and Lebanon tomorrow to continue diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating the conflict across the Lebanon-Israel border, according to officials.

Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker Elias Bou Saab, one of the officials due to meet Hochstein, tells Reuters that he believes the timing of his visit points to progress in efforts to secure a Gaza truce “within the next few hours or days.”

“If this happens, I believe that Hochstein’s visit this time will be of great importance to follow up on the truce on our southern borders and to discuss what is needed for stability and ending the possibility of the expansion of the war with Lebanon,” he says

Yesterday, Hebrew media reported that Hochstein is also expected to visit Israel tomorrow and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Mossad chief David Barnea and other senior officials.

Gantz arrives in US ahead of slated meetings with Blinken, Harris, Sullivan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Minister Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv on November 3, 2023. (State Department)

War cabinet Minister Benny Gantz has arrived in the US ahead of a series of meetings with high-level officials, his office says.

Tomorrow, Gantz is slated to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk.

On Tuesday, he is scheduled to sit down with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. After his trip to DC, Gantz is slated to fly to London and meet with Foreign Secretary David Cameron as well as other officials.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly furious that Gantz is heading to DC without his approval, and is said to have instructed the Israeli embassy in Washington not to facilitate his meetings.

COGAT says 50 hospital incubators entered into Gaza earlier today

COGAT, the Defense Ministry body which coordinates Israeli activity in Palestinian territories, says that 50 incubators designated for hospitals in Gaza entered the territory this morning.

COGAT did not say who provided the incubators and through which point of entry they crossed into the strip.

The incubators are designated for Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, European Hospital, Nasser Hospital and Aqsa Hospital, according to COGAT.

50 incubators designated for hospitals in northern and southern Gaza Strip have entered Gaza this morning.
List of hospitals these incubators will be delivered to: Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan, Hospital, European Hospital, Nasser Hospital, and Aqsa Hospital. pic.twitter.com/PoYE3BMmbx

— COGAT (@cogatonline) March 3, 2024

Report: Israel believes Sinwar wants escalation of violence over Ramadan instead of truce

This picture taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing over the territory on March 3, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Israeli officials are reportedly increasingly pessimistic over the likelihood of reaching a hostage and truce deal before Ramadan.

According to similar comments from unnamed officials cited in several Hebrew media reports — generally indicating a coordinated leak — officials now believe that Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar has no intention of agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in the coming days.

Instead, the officials say, Israel believes Sinwar wants to escalate the violence further over Ramadan.

In such a scenario, Israel is wary of an escalation not just along its borders with Gaza and Lebanon, but also across the West Bank, where tensions are high, as well as in Jerusalem, where clashes over the Temple Mount and access to the holy site are widely expected.

Ramadan is expected to begin next Sunday evening.

Iran says it executed ‘terrorist’ accused of working with Mossad to bomb defense site

Iran’s judiciary has executed a “terrorist” over a drone attack that targeted a defense ministry site in central Iran last year, state media reports.

According to state TV, the person “planned to explode the workshop complex of the Ministry of Defense in Isfahan under guidance of the intelligence officer of Mossad,” Israel’s spy agency.

The date of the execution and the identity of the accused person were not immediately clear.

Iran has several known nuclear research sites in the Isfahan region, including a uranium conversion plant. The country’s sanction-hit nuclear program has been the target of sabotage, assassinations of scientists and cyber-attacks. Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out several covert actions on its soil.

Israeli TV airs audio of hostages calling for help days before they were accidentally killed by IDF

Alon Shamriz (Courtesy)

The Kan public broadcaster airs an audio recording of hostage Alon Shamriz calling for help during a gun battle between IDF troops and Hamas terrorists holding him and two others captive in Gaza City in December.

The audio was obtained from a GoPro camera mounted on a dog from the military’s Oketz canine unit, which was sent into the building where hostages Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samar Talalka, were held.

The dog was killed by the Hamas terrorists during the battle, and the camera was only recovered days later, after IDF troops mistakenly killed the three escaped hostages in another area of Gaza City.

“Help! Hostages Alon and Yotam! Help! We are by the stairs, under the stairs! Under the stairs! Please help!” Shamriz can be heard shouting in the leaked recording.

בלעדי: הקלטות הגבורה של אלון שמריז – כך ניסה להציל את עצמו ואת חבריו מהשבי בלב עזה | לכתבה המלאה >>> https://t.co/imzN4qKlSi

@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/NYSy6NniAG

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) March 3, 2024

Soldiers had heard shouting of “Help” and “Hostages” in Hebrew from the building, but they believed it was an attempt by Hamas to lure them into an ambush, according to an IDF probe.

Alon’s brother posts on X that the family was not notified by the IDF that the recordings had been leaked to the media.

He says the Shamriz family was presented with the probe months ago, but when it came to the recordings, their mother “left because she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“I thought it was behind us… no one needs to hear this. And here the IDF is leaking it and subjecting us to Hamas psychological terror. Now it’s out… forever,” he adds.

A reporter for Kan posts on X that the audio was approved for publication by Alon’s father, Avi.

Herzog tells visiting president of Guinea-Bissau: ‘You are a true friend of Israel’

President Isaac Herzog (right) meets with Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló in Jerusalem on March 3, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog welcomes President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau to his office, the first visiting African leader since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas.

Herzog tells Embaló, “You are a true friend of Israel, and I was pleased to hear that you studied here in Israel,” according to his office. “We will never forget our friends and you were with us even in this difficult time. You supported our position in the African Union and showed true friendship.”

Embaló tells his Israeli counterpart that he is coming as a “messenger of peace,” according to Herzog’s office.

“We know very well the price and the burden of war, and that war is always the last and most terrible resort,” he says. “Anything that Guinea-Bissau can contribute in this modest effort to bring about negotiations, know that Guinea-Bissau and the people who live there are by your side and ready to help in any way possible to promote understandings, agreements and dialogue between you and your neighbors.”

Amid overall shakeup, spokesman for Hostage Families Forum also steps down

An undated photo of Haim Rubinstein. (Courtesy Hostage Families Forum)

Haim Rubinstein, spokesman for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, announces that he is stepping down as the spokesperson, after co-founding the headquarters nearly five months ago with Ronen Tzur and Dudi Zalmanovich.

Both Tzur and Zalmanovich have also since stepped down from their roles — both were separately asked by the families to leave at different points over the last months.

Rubinstein says that he had put his personal life on hold for nearly five months and survived on very little sleep with the 24/7 nature of the hostage family situation.

“I stressed to the families that I do not intend to go anywhere,” writes Rubinstein, who said he will pivot to the strategy department of the forum, continuing to advise and accompany the families.

Report: UNRWA accuses Israel of abusing Gazans detained for questioning

IDF troops seen operating in Gaza in this handout photo cleared for publication on February 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

An unpublished report by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees accuses Israeli troops of abusing hundreds of Palestinians detained in Gaza and brought to Israel for questioning, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper says the report alleges that some detainees were “beaten, stripped, robbed, blindfolded, sexually abused, and denied access to lawyers and doctors, often for more than a month.”

The report claims that such alleged behavior was “used to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish.”

The IDF said that any mistreatment is “absolutely prohibited,” denied all allegations of sexual abuse, and said it is investigating any complaints of inappropriate behavior, the report said.

UNRWA is itself being investigated on claims that more than a dozen of its employees took part in the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel alongside Hamas.

Jordan asks to extend water deal with Israel, which seeks reconciliation in return — report

An aerial picture taken on July 15, 2021, shows a section of the Jordan River flowing along the border with Jordan (background), south of the Sea of Galilee, one of the main water sources in Israel. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Amid bumpy relations, Jordan has asked Israel to extend a water supply deal by an additional year, and Israel has responded by seeking to smooth overall tensions between the nations, according to a report in the Kan public broadcaster.

Relations between Amman and Jerusalem have been markedly tense since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas.

According to the report, Israel has replied to Jordan with a request that Jordanian officials moderate their vocal criticism of Israel, and to return their ambassadors to their respective posts.

Senior Hamas operative killed in IDF airstrike on Gaza, says military

This picture taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing over the territory on March 3, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

The IDF and Shin Bet say a senior Hamas operative was eliminated in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip this morning.

Mahmoud Muhammad Abed Khad was tasked with recruiting new operatives to Hamas, specifically to the terror group’s Zeitoun Battalion, according to a joint statement.

The IDF and Shin Bet say Khad was also involved in raising funds for Hamas military activity.

A video published by the IDF shows the strike on a vehicle the operative was driving.

Protesters rally outside Red Cross office in DC demanding hostage deal

Israel supporters attend a rally in Washington calling for the release of the hostages on March 3, 2024. (Ronnen Paytan/UnXeptable protest group)

Several hundred Israel supporters hold their weekly rally outside the office of the American Red Cross in Washington, urging the agency to act in order to secure the release of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas.

Among the speakers are Boaz Atzili — whose nephew Aviv was killed during Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught and whose body is being held in Gaza — and Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman.

“Israel’s government told us in early December that only military pressure would bring Hamas to comply and would bring the release of the hostages. Yet, 134 hostages are still there, in the dark tunnels of Gaza for 150 days! Five months! Within these five months only three hostages were rescued by forces, and who knows how many lost their lives,” Atzili says.

“I’m begging the government of Israel to take the deal now — there is no time. There is no choice,” he adds.

After the speeches, participants — many of whom hold flags from countries around the world to highlight that many of the hostages are dual citizens whose governments also have a responsibility to work toward their return — march around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

According to organizers from the DC chapter of the UnXeptable group of Israeli expat activists in the US, war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz — who arrived in the US earlier today for meetings this week with top US officials — was slated to speak but canceled over what his office said was a scheduling conflict with his afternoon meeting with AIPAC executives.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon after rocket fire on Israel

An Israeli warplane in the sky after an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, as it seen from the Israeli side of the border, March 3, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The IDF says it struck a building and other infrastructure used by Hezbollah in the south Lebanon towns of Ayta ash-Shab and Kafr Kila a short while ago, in response to attacks on northern Israel today.

Rockets and missiles were fired today the Metula, Ghajar, and Malkia areas, causing no injuries, according to the IDF.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר מבנה צבאי ותשתית צבאית של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א-שעב. תשתית צבאית נוספת של הארגון נתקפה במרחב כפר כילא.

במהלך היום זוהו מספר שיגורים משטח לבנון לשטח ישראל במרחבים מטולה, רג'ר ומלכיה pic.twitter.com/bs9jtByi7M

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 3, 2024

US VP Harris calls for ‘immediate’ implementation of 6-week ‘ceasefire currently on the table’

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event in Selma, Alabama, on March 3, 2024. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

A crowd listening to US Vice President Kamala Harris speak in Selma, Alabama reacts elatedly after she calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, drowning out her subsequent qualification that she is referring to the six-week truce the Biden administration is trying to negotiate, which would see the hostages released and humanitarian aid surge into Gaza.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire,” Harris begins, causing the crowd in Selma to erupt in applause, before she can finish her sentence, when the seemingly thrown off vice president adds: “for at least the next six weeks, which is what currently is on the table,” Harris continues, barely heard over the sustained cheers from ostensibly progressive supporters who have long pushed the administration to call for an immediate ceasefire.

“This is what will get the hostages out and a significant amount of aid in,” Harris adds. “This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self determination,” the vice president says.

Vice President Kamala Harris calls for "an immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war during a speech in Selma, Alabama. pic.twitter.com/z0a2TG5TsF

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Her remarks are consistent with longstanding US policy that the best way to secure a truce is through a hostage deal.

However, the increasing comfort with which administration officials have been using the term “ceasefire” in recent weeks could indicate that the White House is inching toward demanding an unconditional ceasefire, regardless of whether the hostages are released.

Harris is slated to meet with visiting war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in Washington tomorrow.