May 4: IDF chief said warning Israel ‘could lose’ Gaza hostages if major Gaza op launched

Israel, Cyprus plan to sign key energy agreements in 2025

Israel and Cyprus have agreed to sign a deal later this year to lay an electrical cable connecting the two countries — a central component of the US-backed India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor — as well as a deal to divide the Aphrodite gas field, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Energy Ministry announce in a joint statement.

“One of the ideas we discussed is IMEC — a revolutionary project we want to establish,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says about his meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides today, according to the PMO readout.

The electricity cable, part of a broader project to connect India to Europe, will boost Israel’s energy security and help link East to West, says the readout, adding that Netanyahu discussed the project recently with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meeting also addressed an agreement on the division of the Aphrodite natural gas field between the two countries, which “is expected to be signed within the next two months,” according to the PMO and Energy Ministry.

Netanyahu says he is also seeking to hold a trilateral summit in Israel with Cyprus and Greece “soon.”

Christodoulides says the two countries “need to do much more in the areas of security, intelligence, tourism and trade,” adding that Cyprus, which will assume the presidency European Union Council in 2026, intends to use its position to promote regional interests in Brussels.

“We need to discuss regional developments, particularly concerning the situation in Syria and Lebanon. There is always one neighbor trying to cause problems in our region — and we’ll exchange impressions on that as well,” he adds.

Far-right candidate leads Romania’s presidential rerun

Leader of nationalist sovereign party 'Alliance for the Union of Romanians' George Simion (R) casts his ballot next to former candidate Calin Georgescu during the first round of the presidential election in Mogosoaia on May 4, 2025 (Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP)

Eurosceptic George Simion appears on course for victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential election re-run, partial results show, after a ballot seen as a test of the rise of Donald Trump-style nationalism in the European Union.

Ballots from 50% of voting stations show former senator Crin Antonescu, 65, in second place, with 23%, behind Simion’s 42%. In third place is Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, 55, at 16%. The top two candidates will meet in a runoff on May 18.

A Simion victory could isolate the country, erode private investment and destabilize NATO’s eastern flank, where Ukraine is fighting a three-year-old Russian invasion, political observers say.

“This is not just an electoral victory, it is a victory of Romanian dignity. It is the victory of those who have not lost hope, of those who still believe in Romania, a free, respected, sovereign country,” Simion says.

Benefiting from a wave of popular anger against mainstream leaders, Simion, 38, opposes military aid to neighboring Ukraine, is critical of EU leadership and says he is aligned with the US president’s Make America Great Again movement.

Antonescu, 65, absent from politics for a decade, wants to continue Romania’s substantial role in supporting Ukraine, and is well known by the electorate.

Sunday’s vote came five months after a first attempt to hold the election was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference in favor of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, since banned from standing again.

Simion voted alongside Georgescu, who called the election a “fraud” and urged people to take their country back. As dozens of people thronged outside the voting station chanting “Calin for president,” Simion said his vote was “to restore democracy.”

PMO denies report it blocked bill to label Qatar a terrorist-supporting state

Economy Minister Nir Barkat attends a vote on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Channel 12 reports that the Prime Minister’s Office blocked a Knesset bill initiated during the Israel–Hamas war to legally designate Qatar as a “terror-supporting state.”

The PMO rejects the report as “fake news.”

Economy Minister Nir Barkat originally initiated the bill, but required the assistance of MK Moshe Saada, since ministers can’t initiate bills, the network says. The bill sought to define Qatar as a terror-supporting state, creating such a category for the first time, and would prohibit donations, trade and diplomatic engagement with the country, excluding the issue of the hostages, says Channel 12.

The bill reached the Ministerial Committee for Legislation twice — once at the end of 2024, and once in January — but the report says the National Security Council blocked it at the request of PMO officials, while citing opposition from the security establishment.

The Shin Bet and the Mossad told the news network that neither agency had been consulted or was even familiar with the bill.

The National Security Council says it did not oppose the legislation. The PMO calls the Channel 12 report “fake news,” saying the bill is being “seriously considered,” though there is the possibility of keeping hostage release negotiations beyond the scope of the bill.

Qatar is one of the states mediating the talks, though Israeli officials now publicly blame Doha for Hamas not accepting recent compromise proposals.

Houthis declare they’ll impose ‘aerial blockade’ on Israel by attacking airports

The Houthi military spokesperson in Yemen, Yahya Sarea, announces the imposition of a complete “aerial blockade” on Israel by continuing to launch rockets at Ben Gurion Airport.

He also calls on airlines to cancel their flights to Israel.

The success of such a blockade is highly unlikely, with Israel’s defensive systems expected to be able to tackle most incoming missiles.

#معركة_الفتح_الموعود_والجهاد_المقدس pic.twitter.com/c46X3xpbIe

— أمين حيان Ameen Hayyan (@AminHian) May 4, 2025

Iran’s defense minister: If war initiated by US or Zionists, Iran will target their interests

Iran's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, during a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on November 21, 2024. (MARCELO GARCIA / Venezuelan Presidency / AFP)

More from Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh:

Nasirzadeh says Tehran will strike back if the United States or Israel attacks.

His comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Iran for the Tehran-backed Houthi group firing a missile that landed near Israel’s main airport.

“If this war is initiated by the US or the Zionist regime, Iran will target their interests, bases and forces — wherever they may be and whenever deemed necessary,” Nasirzadeh tells Iranian state TV.

Echoing Iran’s official stance, Nasirzadeh says the Houthis act upon their own motivations.

Netanyahu said to privately express frustration with Trump’s Mideast policies

US President Donald Trump (left) welcomes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington on April 7, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been telling associates privately that he is frustrated with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East policies, according to the Israel Hayom daily.

Netanyahu has expressed that Trump says the right things on Syria and Iran in bilateral meetings, the report says, but his actions are another matter.

Netanyahu has been concerned with Trump’s support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to deepen his hold on Syria, Israel Hayom says, though he simultaneously gives Israel permission to operate where it chooses in the country.

During their hastily arranged meeting in Washington in April, Trump praised Erdogan as Netanyahu sat silently next to him in the Oval Office. Erdogan is a leading critic of Israel, and even prayed for Israel’s demise in a visit to a mosque during Ramadan.

Netanyahu has also been worried by Trump’s decision to open nuclear talks with Iran — announced in the same White House meeting — and concessions supposedly made by the Trump administration with little in return.

According to Israel Hayom, Netanyahu is also frustrated with former US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz being removed from his position.

According to the Washington Post, Trump was angered by Waltz’s hawkish position on Iran and coordination with Netanyahu on military options to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program, contributing to his dismissal last week.

The Prime Minister’s Office responds to the report by stressing that “in their conversation days ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump agreed that the supreme goal is the dismantling of Iran’s ability to achieve a nuclear weapon.”

Iran unveils new ballistic missile with 1,200-km range

Iran unveils a new solid-fuel ballistic missile with a range of 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), state television reports, at a time of rising tensions with the West.

“The solid propellant Ghassem Basir ballistic missile has a range of at least 1,200 kilometers and is Iran’s latest defense achievement,” the broadcaster says.

Iranian state television broadcasts footage of the new missile during an interview with Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.

“If we are attacked and war is waged against us, we will respond with force and will target their interests and their bases,” Nasirzadeh says.

“We hold no animosity towards neighboring states, but American bases are our targets,” he says.

Report: IDF chief warned Israel ‘could lose’ Gaza hostages if it launches major operation

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a Memorial Day ceremony at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Screenshot)

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned ministers in recent days that Israel “could lose” the hostages in Gaza if it launches a major operation in the Strip, Channel 13 news reports.

“In a plan for a full-scale maneuver, we won’t necessarily reach the hostages,” the network quotes Zamir as saying. “Keep in mind that we could lose them.”

Zamir is also quoted as saying that the war’s two goals of defeating Hamas and rescuing the hostages “are problematic in relation to each other.”

Hostages’ families have long argued this, but political leaders, including the prime minister, have insisted that military pressure will aid in reaching a deal for the hostages’ return.

Channel 13 says ministers were not swayed by Zamir’s comments, and that the military is likely to intensify its Gaza operations soon.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in response to the report: “The chief of staff’s warning should keep every Israeli awake at night. An overwhelming majority of the nation is united around the understanding that an Israeli victory cannot be achieved without bringing the hostages home. Losing the hostages would mean an Israeli defeat. National security and social stability depend on the return of all the hostages — every last one.”

Military says interceptor malfunction likely behind today’s Houthi missile impact

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers demonstrate the operation of the Arrow anti-missile mobile launcher at the Palmachim Base in central Israel (AP Photo/Eitan Hess-Ashkenazi)

An Israeli Air Force probe into this morning’s failure to intercept a Houthi ballistic missile, which impacted at Ben Gurion Airport, has found that there was likely a technical malfunction with the Israeli interceptor itself.

“The initial findings indicate that no failure was found in the identification process, the operation of the interception systems and the warning for the Home Front,” the military says.

According to the preliminary investigation, which was led by IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, there was likely a “pinpoint technical malfunction” with the Arrow interceptor launched at the missile from Yemen.

The Americans’ THAAD system deployed to Israel also attempted to engage the Houthi missile, though its interceptor missed the target.

The military says that since the start of the war, it has shot down dozens of missiles launched from Yemen, with a successful interception rate of over 95%.

Comptroller tours areas devastated by fire, warns ‘we were one step away from losing a life’

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman (2nd left) tours the Jerusalem hills with Fire and Rescue Authority Commissioner Eyal Caspi (left) and others, May 4, 2025. (State Comptroller's Office)

Earlier today State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman toured sites impacted by last week’s wildfires near Jerusalem, saying, “We were one step away from losing a life,” and revealing that he warned National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Fire and Rescue Commissioner Eyal Caspi about gaps in fire preparedness in June.

The warnings followed a tour last year of sites of fires in the north sparked by rockets or drones deployed by the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon during its war with Israel.

Concluding his tour of Sha’ar Hagai, Latrun, Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalom with Caspi, Englman said his office will produce two reports this year on local authorities’ handling of fires and the competence of the fire and rescue system, in terms of manpower and readiness.

The comptroller says: “The fires of the past two weeks are a warning sign to the prime minister and the national security minister regarding the necessary preparation and the resources that must be allocated to the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority.”

He adds that it is important to give the service funds as well as legal powers as a security body.

Report: Hamas reestablishes internal security force amid growing chaos in Gaza

Palestinian news outlet Safa reports that Hamas’s interior ministry has reestablished a unit called the “Executive Force,” aimed at restoring order in the Gaza Strip.

The force originally operated in 2006, during the period when Hamas was part of the Palestinian Authority government, and functioned under PA security structures.

Following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 2007, the Palestinian Authority declared the force illegal, and Hamas later dismantled it.

According to the report, approximately 5,000 Hamas operatives have now been integrated into the newly reestablished force, which is tasked with “restoring order and stability and acting against gangs of thieves and collaborators with Israel.”

While Hamas has not officially confirmed the report, a news outlet affiliated with the organization republishes the Safa article.

In recent days, reports from Gaza have described a rise in incidents of theft and looting. One likely contributing factor is the worsening food shortage in the Strip, now entering its third month under a complete Israeli ban on the entry of humanitarian aid.

Netanyahu says Qatar responsible for latest hostage deal failure

This handout picture released by the Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) shows Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides (L) meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an official visit in Jerusalem on May 4, 2025. (Stavros IOANNIDES / PIO / AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a lack of Qatari cooperation in hostage-ceasefire negotiations is what led to the latest hostage deal falling apart, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We are pressing Hamas to [release the hostages] with the support of our friends,” Netanyahu says in a PMO readout from his meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, adding that, “We are asking others to put pressure not only on Hamas but also on Qatar, which has decisive influence over Hamas — an influence that is not always exercised but could be.

“In fact, we had a hostage deal that was about to materialize, one that would have freed almost half of the hostages, with Egypt’s help, but it did not happen. Qatari cooperation…. is what could have brought this deal to fruition,” the premier continues, saying: “That’s what we expect to see: the support of our friends and pressure from those who are in a position to influence Hamas.”

Netanyahu tells his Cypriot counterpart that Israel will take “strong retaliatory action” against the Houthis and “their patron” Iran.

According to the PMO, Christodoulides calls his meeting earlier today with two families of hostages “incredibly moving,” saying: “I want to clearly and publicly restate our position: All the hostages must be released. This is a purely humanitarian issue, and from a humanitarian standpoint, it has no political or geopolitical dimension.

Netanyahu responds, “Unfortunately, Hamas does not recognize that. That’s why we need to increase pressure — both diplomatic and military — which we are about to do.”

Netanyahu: Israel will respond, ‘at a time of our choosing,’ against both the Houthis and Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video he released on May 4, 2025. (PMO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will respond to the strike on Ben Gurion Airport this morning by the Iran-backed Houthi terror group in Yemen, as well as to Iran itself, “at a time and place of our choosing.”

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters,” Netanyahu writes on X, attaching a March 17 post by US President Donald Trump warning Iran that the US will retaliate to Houthi attacks by addressing Tehran directly.

President Trump is absolutely right!

Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran. Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters. pic.twitter.com/eO4hyUzNsI

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 4, 2025

The Foreign Ministry reiterates Netanyahu’s message, writing in a separate post: “The Houthi attacks are Iranian attacks — Iran uses them as a proxy to spread terror and undermine the regional and global order.

“The world must hold Iran accountable for these attacks,” says the ministry, adding that “Israel has the right to defend itself, and it will exercise this right at a time of its choosing.”

Separately, during a meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, Netanyahu says, “We, along with the entire world, are under threat from the Houthis. We will not tolerate it and will take very strong retaliatory action against them.”

“We will always remember that they acted under the orders and with the support of their patron — Iran. We will do what needs to be done to deliver a proper warning to Iran that we cannot tolerate such acts,” the premier continues.

IDF chief: We’re increasing pressure in Gaza to return our people, defeat Hamas

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (right) and Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa'ar Salama speak to commandos of Shayetet 13 at the Atlit base, May 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

During a visit to the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military is increasing pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

“This week, we are sending tens of thousands of draft orders to our reserve personnel to intensify and expand our action in Gaza. We are increasing the pressure to return our people [held hostage] and defeat Hamas,” Zamir says in remarks published by the IDF.

He says the IDF will “operate in additional areas and destroy all of [Hamas’s] infrastructure above and below ground.”

Herzog tells Cypriot counterpart Hamas to blame for stalled hostage talks, not Qatar

President Isaac Herzog (R) meets with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, May 4, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

In a meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, President Isaac Herzog praised Qatar’s mediation efforts in hostage talks, contradicting recent comments from sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Doha has been impeding progress by dissuading Hamas from accepting Israel’s terms.

“There are the mediators, both Qatar and Egypt, who are [making] major efforts to mediate, but at the end, you have to have a party out there that is willing to accept it, and Hamas is always refusing to answer,” Herzog told his Cypriot counterpart about the ongoing negotiations, according to a readout from the president’s office.

Following today’s Houthi missile strike near Ben Gurion Airport, Herzog told Christodoulides that while Israel has “excellent air and defense systems,” the strike “is an example to the entire world community about the violation of all rules of international law by a terrorist organization of about 50,000 people.”

“This shows the empire of evil from Tehran — how it heavily arms its proxies, influencing the cost of living, of travel, of everything. We have a common goal to make sure that stability and security are returned at once,” he continued.

Before meeting with Herzog, Christodoulides met with the families of two hostages, writing on X after the meeting that “all remaining hostages must be released immediately.”

Christodoulides told the hostages’ families that if he does not hear good news about the return of the hostages soon, “then during its European Union Presidency, Cyprus will make this one of the top issues, so the country can do what it can to help,” according to Cypriot news outlet Philenews.

Cyprus will only assume the rotating presidency at the start of 2026.

Herzog said of the hostages: “There’s nothing more urgent on our agenda than bringing them back home.”

Herzog also thanked Cyprus for sending planes to help Israel manage the major wildfires that erupted near Jerusalem last week.

Opposition blasts move toward approving bill to split role of AG

The Democrats party leader Yair Golan speaks to the media outside the Knesset, March 24, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Opposition politicians protest the government’s decision to back a controversial bill splitting the role of the attorney general, framing the move as an effort to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conviction in his ongoing corruption trial.

“A government whose leader is up to his neck in extremely serious criminal and security investigations has no legitimacy to enact laws related to regime change,” tweets The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, calling the bill “an attempt by a person under investigation to escape justice and weaken the prosecutor.”

“We support the attorney general, who stands firm in defending democracy. We will continue to fight this government with all our might and we’ll put Israel back on track,” Golan states.

“They don’t just want to divide the role of the attorney general, they want to divide the people,” states National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, accusing the government of working to “take us back to October 6, on steroids” — a reference to the fight over the government judicial overhaul efforts before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

Man killed, 2 injured in shooting in Shfaram

A 54-year-old man was killed and two others moderately injured in a shooting earlier this evening in the northern city of Shfaram.

Magen David Adom paramedics found the slain victim unconscious and soon pronounced him dead at the scene. Paramedics took the two others to Rambam Hospital in nearby Haifa.

Police are investigating the incident and have not yet arrested any suspects.

Earlier today, police arrested two people on suspicion they launched a missile last night into an empty apartment in Kiryat Ata, which lies just west of Shfaram.

Ministerial committee approves controversial bill to split role of attorney general; AG’s office: Designed to advance personal interests

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a controversial bill that would split the role of the attorney general and create a new prosecutor general position distinct from, and not subject to, the attorney general.

Under the bill, the prosecutor general would be nominated by the justice minister and approved by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

The law would not affect the attorney general’s authority as the government’s legal adviser, who interprets the law for the government, or the attorney general’s role in representing the government in legal proceedings against its actions and legislation.

The bill will now have the support of the coalition when it is brought for its preliminary hearing in the Knesset plenum.

The Attorney General’s Office says it opposes the bill since it would come into force six months after it is passed, and therefore impact key criminal investigations and ongoing trials, including that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the legislation has been advanced as a private member’s bill, however, it does not need the support of the attorney general.

The attorney general’s office says the legislation must not be advanced, due to “a heavy suspicion that it is designed to advance personal interests… which are tied to ongoing criminal proceedings and investigations.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says the legislation is being advanced to “clearly define the authorities of the attorney general and the prosecutor general, [and] the way they are appointed.” He adds the bill is also designed to prevent “selective enforcement” by the head prosecutor, in a none-too-subtle attack on serving Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whom he has frequently accused of targeting figures on the Israeli right.

Trump wants ‘total dismantlement’ of Iran nuke program, but might allow civilian energy

US President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One prior to departing from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 1, 2025 (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says the aim of his administration’s nuclear talks with Iran is to achieve “total dismantlement” of Tehran’s nuclear program, but that he is open to letting the Islamic Republic pursue civilian nuclear energy.

Trump makes the comments in an interview conducted on Friday and airing today on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I think that I would be open to hearing it, you know?” Trump tells Kristen Welker about the possibility of allowing Iran to develop nuclear energy for non-military purposes.

“Civilian energy, it’s called. But you know, civilian energy often leads to military wars. And we don’t want to have them to have a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple deal,” he adds.

El Al says offering special prices to help Israelis get back home from nearby destinations

El Al Israel Airlines says it is offering special flight ticket prices from nearby destinations, Greece and Cyprus, to help Israelis stranded overseas to travel back home after most foreign carriers halted their services to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport following the ballistic missile from Yemen, which hit an area at Israel’s main international airport.

Starting this evening and until Saturday night, Israel’s flagship carrier is selling one-way flight tickets from Larnaca in Cyprus to Tel Aviv for $99 and from Athens in Greece to Tel Aviv for $149.

Roads into and out of Eilat, other highways in south shut due to flooding

Multiple roads in southern Israel, including the main road in and out of Eilat, have been closed off due to flooding after heavy rains.

Route 40 is closed between Mitzpe Ramon and Ketura Junction. Route 90 is closed from Ein Gedi to Eilat. The exit from the city of Eilat is closed.

On Route 204, Halukim Junction is closed heading toward Mitzpe Ramon.

⛔אילת נצורה
הכבישים הבאים חסומים לתנועת כלי רכב, בשני הכיוונים, בעקבות שטפונות
????כביש 90 צומת הערבה – אילת.
????כביש 90 צומת המלונות – עין גדי.
????כביש 40 מצפה רמון – ציחור.
????כביש 90 דרומית לסמר צפונית לבאר אורה.
????כביש 90,מצומת הלידו לכיוון דרום ומצוקי דרגות לכיוון הלידו. pic.twitter.com/mM0DdPJBG8

— Tal Z ????⚜ (@TAL_TALZ) May 4, 2025

United Airlines halts flights to Tel Aviv, is ‘monitoring the situation’

United Airlines commercial jets sit at a gate at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport, July 18, 2018, in Newark, New Jersey. (AP /Julio Cortez)

US carrier United Airlines halts flight services between New York’s Newark airport and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck an area at Israel’s main international airport.

“We have canceled our twice-daily service between Newark and Tel Aviv while we closely monitor the situation,” United says in a statement. “We will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews.”

The flight route from Newark to Ben Gurion Airport is temporarily canceled at least through May 8.

Over 20 flights canceled today after missile strike near airport, more nixed for days ahead

Over 20 flights have been canceled today following the Houthi missile strike on the grounds of Ben Gurion Airport, Walla reports.

Some airlines are also canceling flights for the next two to three days.

British Airways says it is suspending all flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 7. Air India says it has suspended flights until May 6. Lufthansa Group, which includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, has also halted flights until May 6.

Trump says he’s unsure whether people in the US are entitled to due process

US President Donald Trump waves as he walks from the Oval Office to depart on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, May 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump says he’s unsure whether people in the US are entitled to due process rights guaranteed in the US Constitution as his administration pushes aggressively to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally and other noncitizens.

Trump makes the comments during an interview conducted on Friday that is set to air today on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.” Welker asks Trump whether he agrees with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said last month that “of course” all people in the US are entitled to due process, which generally requires the government to provide notice and a hearing before taking certain adverse legal actions.

“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump says, adding that such a requirement would mean “we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials.”

Trump adds that his lawyers “are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”

Herzog urges national unity in call with Ra’anana rabbi after right-wing riot

President Isaac Herzog spoke last night with the leader of the Kehillat Ra’anan Reform congregation in Ra’anana, Rabbi Chen Ben-Or Tsfoni, to “express his concern” after right-wing rioters stormed a Reform synagogue in the city on Memorial Day last week, the president’s office says.

“In these challenging times, we must remember that disagreement is legitimate — but hatred and violence are not. We must stand together, even when we do not see eye to eye,” Herzog said during the phone conversation, according to the statement from his office.

The president “condemned all forms of violence and intimidation, stressing that such acts have no place in Israeli society,” the statement adds.

Herzog “emphasized the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and assembly for all citizens, regardless of political or religious affiliation,” and “reiterated that Israel’s strength lies in its social fabric and diversity, and that national unity must be regarded as a strategic asset.”

The phone call came after Herzog spoke last week with Israel Police Chief Danny Levy, “urging a thorough investigation and calling for accountability for those responsible for the violence.”

Protestors stormed the Beit Samueli Reform synagogue in Ra’anana last Tuesday as people gathered to view a screening of a joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony, lightly injuring four officers and three participants.

Police said they arrested three people suspected of assault during the riot.

Israel has no hope Hamas will accept Gaza deal without upped military pressure — source

Israel has no hope that Hamas will accept Israel’s proposals for a ceasefire-hostage release deal without significantly enhanced military pressure, an Israeli source tells The Times of Israel.

Israel is increasing that pressure in the hopes of getting a ceasefire in place in time for US President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip, which begins on May 13.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also focusing more in his rhetoric on the goal of destroying Hamas, and less on the goal of a hostage release, as part of that pressure campaign, says the source. However, the goals of the war have not changed, the source argues.

Netanyahu on Thursday angered hostages’ families when he said that while bringing back hostages was “very important,” the “supreme goal” of the war was victory.

The IDF later appeared to contradict Netanyahu and said bringing back the hostages was the “supreme mission.”

Netanyahu says cabinet to discuss ‘next stage’ of Gaza escalation this evening: ‘In wars you reach a decision – victory’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video he released on May 4, 2025. (PMO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the military campaign in Gaza is designed “to defeat Hamas.”

Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel repeatedly that it is meant to pressure Hamas to accept Israel’s terms for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

In a video posted to his personal X account, Netanyahu says the plan has stages and that the cabinet will discuss the next stage this evening. “We are focused on two missions,” he says, “One, to bring our hostages back. Two, to defeat Hamas. Hamas will not be there, you have to understand this.”

“In wars you reach a decision — victory,” he says as he raps the table. Netanyahu rejects the notion that he is pursuing the war for political benefit, saying the refusal to let Hamas and Hezbollah stay on Israel’s borders is not political.

צפו בעדכון חשוב ממני אליכם >> pic.twitter.com/hLLodqVnPz

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 4, 2025

Netanyahu stresses that calls to refuse call-up orders must cease, saying it encourages Hamas.

“We will achieve full victory in Gaza, total,” he adds. “Victory will bring the hostages.”

Families of hostages have increasingly doubted such assertions, arguing the military campaign has led to many hostages’ deaths and could lead to more.

Regarding the Houthis, who struck Ben Gurion Airport with a missile this morning, Netanyahu says Israel will take action against the Yemeni group. “We operated against them in the past and we will operate in the future,” he says.

“It’s not ‘bang — that’s it,'” he says, “but there will be bangs.”

Hamas says it executed looters in Gaza, claims some working with Israel

Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Hamas has executed a number of alleged looters after several incidents in which heavily armed gangs attacked food stores and community kitchens in the Gaza Strip this week, sources close to the Palestinian terror group say.

Hamas officials have accused some of the looters of working in collaboration with Israel, which has sealed off aid from entering Gaza for the past two months.

Israel says Hamas regularly steals and hoards humanitarian aid intended for the civilian population.

In one incident, the Hamas-run interior ministry says a police officer was killed and others were wounded when an Israeli drone fired a missile at a police unit chasing criminals in Gaza City.

“We will strike with an iron fist all these renegades, and we will take the necessary measures to deter them, no matter the cost, and we will not allow them to continue terrorizing citizens, threatening their lives, and stealing their property,” the ministry says in a statement, referring to the alleged looters.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Hamas-run government media office, says some of the looters acted under a clan umbrella and others acted as organized groups, some of whom he says received direct support from Israel. He says a number of “revolutionary execution rulings” have been carried out against “several top criminals” proven to have been involved in looting.

Reports of blasts and fires in Iranian cities Mashhad and Qom

There are preliminary reports and videos circulating on social media of purported explosions and fires in the Iranian cities of Mashhad and Qom.

Some of the reports say the blast in Mashhad occurred at a factory.

????
Initial report on an explosion in the “Motorcycle factory” Tiz Pertuz in Mashhad, Iran. pic.twitter.com/DEiV7SsDgi

— Voice From The East (@EasternVoices) May 4, 2025

Modeling agent accused of sexual assault to be freed after pleading to lesser charges

Modeling agent Shai Avital, who is accused of sexual assault, in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court, January 10, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Modeling agent Shai Avital is convicted by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court in a plea bargain between him and the State Attorney’s Office on charges of providing drugs to a minor and assault.

Avital is sentenced to six months in prison and a fine, but since he already served six months in detention while awaiting extradition to Israel from the Netherlands, he will not return to prison.

Avital was originally indicted on charges of sexual assault against two women, after some 30 women filed complaints against him for sexual harassment and assault. Most of the complaints against him were dismissed, however, since they were filed after the statute of limitations expired.

Avital, 47, was extradited from the Netherlands in 2022 after spending over a year on the run while Israeli police sought to question him over the dozens of complaints of sexual assault.

Shares in Israeli airlines soar amid cancellations by foreign carriers after Houthi attack

An El Al flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 25, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Shares of El Al and local low-cost carrier Israir soar as a raft of foreign airlines pause their flight services to Tel Aviv following a ballistic missile attack from Yemen that struck an area at the country’s international Ben Gurion Airport.

El Al shares jump 6.9 percent and are up almost 40% this year, as the flagship carrier has been generating record-high profits, benefiting from uninterrupted flight services during the war period. Israir’s stock rises 3.8%.

Major foreign airlines, including German carrier Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Hungarian low-carrier Wizz Air suspended their flights to Tel Aviv until at least Tuesday. Spanish airline Air Europa halted its scheduled flight departing today from Madrid to Tel Aviv, citing “security reasons, joining Air France and other foreign carriers.

The hiatus by foreign airlines cedes the market to El Al, some smaller Israeli carriers, and a handful of other airlines that have not interrupted their flight services.

Hamas hands over member suspected of rocket attacks on Israel to Lebanese army

Hamas hands over to the Lebanese Armed Forces a member of the terror group suspected of involvement in two March rocket attacks on Israel, according to Lebanese media.

The suspect is given to the military at the entrance to Sidon’s Ain al-Hilweh camp, says the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

Lebanon has warned Hamas not to conduct operations that compromise the country’s security or sovereignty, Beirut’s Supreme Defense Council said on Friday.

The Lebanese Army reportedly arrested Hamas members in Ain al-Hilweh and another refugee camp in April over alleged involvement in the rocket attacks.

IDF says troops found weapons cache near school and hospital in south Gaza

Weapons cache found near a school, hospital in south Gaza, in an undated photo released by the army on May 4, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says troops operating in southern Gaza’s Rafah located a cache of weapons near a hospital and a school.

The find was made by the Iron Fist Reserve Armored Brigade.

The military says the weapons were located 80 meters from a former school and around 100 meters from a hospital.

Israel’s Arrow air defenses, US THAAD system both failed to intercept Houthi missile, sources say

Security forces inspect a crater at the site where a missile fired from Yemen hit an area of Ben Gurion Airport, May 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Both the Israeli Air Force’s long-range Arrow air defense system and the American THAAD system failed to intercept the Houthi missile this morning, defense sources say.

The IDF says it made several attempts to down the missile, which ultimately landed within the perimeter of Ben Gurion Airport.

The US deployed the THAAD to Israel last year amid tensions with Iran.

West Bank popemobile to be transformed into ‘mobile clinic’ for wounded children in Gaza

Pope Francis waves to the crowd from his popemobile, as he arrives at the Manger Square on May 25, 2014, outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem (ABBAS MOMANI / AFP)

The popemobile made for Pope Francis’s 2014 visit to the West Bank is being transformed into a “mobile clinic” for wounded children in Gaza, The New York Times reports.

The pope gave the initiative his blessing in November of last year, according to the report.

Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas donated the Mitsubishi for the pope’s use during his papal visit, after which it was given to the Franciscan order. The order passed it along to the Jerusalem branch of Catholic aid organization Caritas Internationalis, which came up with the idea for it to be used by a medical team.

The converted popemobile will carry a doctor and nurse, and will have equipment to test for infections and suture wounds, says the Times.

It will take three weeks to transform the vehicle and install blast-proof windows.

Caritas Jerusalem has yet to request approval from Israel for the delivery of the clinic into Gaza.

Defense Ministry announces drill at Gilboa Crossing in West Bank, says explosions may be heard

The Defense Ministry announces that it will hold a security drill today at the Gilboa Crossing in the northern West Bank between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.

It warns that during the exercise, sounds of gunfire and explosions may be heard in the area.

7 Palestinians killed in Gaza strikes, Hamas-run authorities say

Palestinians inspect the damage following overnight Israeli strikes, at the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Hamas-run authorities say at least seven Palestinians including two parents and their two children, ages 2 and 4, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern and central Gaza Strip.

Asked about the strikes, the Israeli military has no direct comment.

There is no verification of the toll and Hamas-run authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

These two angels, Karam, and Kareem Qann—just 2 and 5 years old—were killed along with their parents by an Israeli airstrike in the so-called “safe zone” of Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Gaza. pic.twitter.com/ErsBRketlM

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) May 4, 2025

Herzog meets with Ecuador president ahead of opening of Jerusalem innovation office

President Isaac Herzog meets Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, May 4, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar hold separate meetings this morning with officials from Ecuador on a visit during which the South American country will open a new Innovation Research and Development Center with diplomatic status in Jerusalem.

Herzog welcomed Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, marking Noboa’s first visit to Israel, says Herzog’s office.

“We are very grateful… for declaring the opening of your representative office in Jerusalem, which will be a diplomatic representative office. It is a huge step forward,” Herzog tells Noboa.

Herzog stresses the importance of bringing home the remaining hostages, calling their continued captivity in Gaza “a stain on humanity, which also impacts the future of the region and the ability of… Israel and its neighbors, to move forward towards peace.”

Noboa responds in agreement, saying, “We need to bring your citizens back home,” and adds that his nation “advocate[s] for peace, but we understand sometimes that peace has to be attained through strength.”

“We respect and value your expertise in technology and defense. We would like to work together,” continues Noboa, noting Ecuador’s own domestic struggle against terrorism.

Meanwhile, Sa’ar met with Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, Defense Minister Giancarlo Loffredo, and Interior Minister John Reimberg at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, according to his office.

“Ecuador is on the right side of history. Jerusalem is our eternal capital,” Sa’ar tells the ministers.

“During the meeting, the parties also discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and regional issues, with Iran at the forefront,” Sa’ar’s office adds in a statement, saying that the foreign minister “emphasized that a nuclear Iran poses the greatest threat to regional and global peace.”

In March, after speaking with Sommerfeld, Sa’ar announced Quito’s intention to open the Jerusalem office.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (center right) meets with Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld (center left), Defense Minister Giancarlo Loffredo (far right), and Interior Minister John Reimberg at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, May 4, 2025. (Shlomi Amselam/GPO)

Currently, six countries have embassies in Jerusalem — the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay. Fiji said in February that it would move its embassy as well.

Wizz Air suspends Israel flights for 48 hours after Houthi missile attack on airport

A Wizz Air flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, July 22, 2019. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Hungarian low-cost airline giant Wizz Air announces it is canceling its flights to Israel for the next 48 hours after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck an area of Ben Gurion Airport.

Wizz Air says it is suspending its flights until May 6 in the morning and is “closely monitoring the situation.”

Wizz Air joins major airlines, including German carrier Lufthansa, Air France, Air Europa, Austrian, and Swiss Airlines in halting flight services to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Earlier on Sunday, Ben Gurion Airport temporarily halted takeoffs and landings following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen, a number of minutes before the projectile entered Israeli airspace. The IDF failed to intercept the missile. The airport was fully reopened an hour later.

Report: Some 25,000 teachers, kindergarten staff nationwide called in sick in strike action

View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike, on May 4, 2025 (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

An estimated 25,000 members of teaching staff called in sick nationwide today amid action over surprise government salary cuts, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The figure represents some 10 percent of teachers and kindergarten staff, the report says, meaning that many educational institutions were shut today.

The Israel Teachers Union had announced on Friday that it would strike until 11 a.m., a measure taken to protest a surprise 3.3 percent drop in government salaries for April. The strike ended at 10 a.m. in accordance with a decision by the Tel Aviv Labor Court.

2 arrested on suspicion of firing anti-tank missile at empty apartment in Kiryat Ata

Police say they arrested two Kiryat Ata residents on suspicion of firing an anti-tank missile at an empty apartment in the northern city last night.

There were no injuries in the incident.

Officers plan to bring the suspects, ages 44 and 66, to court to request to extend their detention. The investigation is ongoing.

It is unclear how the suspects were in possession of both the missile and the means to fire it.

According to the Ynet news site, police are investigating whether the apartment owner targeted in the attack owed money to criminal organizations.

PM to consult with top officials on response to Houthi missile attack on airport

Israeli security forces at the scene after a missile fired from Yemen hit an area of Ben Gurion Airport, May 4, 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a meeting by telephone with Defense Minister Israel Katz and other top defense officials after the Houthis in Yemen struck Ben Gurion Airport with a ballistic missile, says an Israeli official.

The 3 p.m. meeting will examine potential responses, including a direct Israeli strike on Houthi assets in Yemen.

At 7 p.m., Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet in person to discuss the expansion of the military campaign in Gaza, fighting in Syria, the Houthi attack, and more.

IDF to raze some 90 homes in refugee camps near Tulkarm in 1st large-scale demolition in the area

Israeli army vehicles enter the Nour Shams camp east of the West Bank city of Tulkarm, on March 2, 2025 (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

The Israeli military is set to demolish approximately 90 homes in the Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps near the city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank.

According to a notice delivered by the IDF to Palestinian residents, the demolitions are being carried out for “clear security needs.”

This marks the first significant wave of home demolitions in the area as part of the ongoing IDF counter-terror operation in Tulkarm, which has been underway for three months. According to Palestinian media reports, some 25,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the two camps amid the operation.

While the military has previously operated in the refugee camps, demolitions on this scale have not occurred until now.

Roughly a month ago, the IDF demolished around 100 homes in the Jenin refugee camp, as part of the ongoing IDF operation there, also citing operational necessity.

PM sends condolences to families of 2 soldiers killed in Gaza over weekend

Staff Sgt. Cpt. Noam Ravid (L) and Yaly Seror (R), who were killed in a tunnel blast in Rafah, Gaza on May 3, 2025 (IDF)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offers his condolences to the families of two Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed yesterday in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

“Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife Sara and I send our heartfelt condolences to the families of Captain Noam Ravid and Staff Sergeant Yaly Seror, of blessed memory, who fell in battle in Gaza,” the premier says in a statement from his office.

“We share in the unbearable grief of the families who lost what was most precious to them. We will forever remember our heroes, Noam and Yaly, who defended our country and its citizens,” the statement continues.

Ravid, 23, from Sha’arei Tikva, and Seror, 20, from Omer, were killed in an explosion at a booby-trapped tunnel shaft, the military announced earlier today. Both served in the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

Lufthansa, Air Europa halt Sunday’s Tel Aviv flights after Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport

View of the Ben Gurion International Airport, May 4, 2025 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

German carrier Lufthansa and Spanish airline Air Europa halt flights to and from Tel Aviv today after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck an area at the country’s main Ben Gurion Airport.

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, cancels all flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport scheduled for today, according to its website.

Earlier, Ben Gurion Airport temporarily halted takeoffs and landings following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen, a number of minutes before the projectile entered Israeli airspace. The IDF failed to intercept the missile.

The airport was fully reopened an hour later.

Lapid: AG must take ‘decisive action’ on hotlines advising Haredi callers to ignore draft orders

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid gives a press conference on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to take “swift and decisive action” against ultra-Orthodox telephone hotlines encouraging draft evasion, stating that those behind such operations “should be treated as criminal offenders.”

Asked by The Times of Israel about the growing ecosystem of groups (including one linked to Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush) running hotlines counseling Haredi callers on how to respond to enlistment orders, Lapid responds that unless the Attorney General’s Office takes action soon, his Yesh Atid party will turn to the police.

Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak submitted a query on the matter to the Attorney General’s Office in mid-February “and we expect swift and decisive action from the attorney general and the legal system,” Lapid states. “Otherwise, Yesh Atid will file a complaint with the police. On the face of it, these are criminal offenses, and the people who commit them should be treated as criminal offenders.”

Since the High Court of Justice’s ruling in June 2024 that the government must draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, multiple initiatives affiliated with various Haredi factions have sprung up to guide young men through their new post-exemption reality — and encourage them to disregard IDF enlistment orders.

Porush’s hotline has told callers to “just ignore” summonses to the IDF’s recruitment bureau while another advice line run by the the “Vaad HaYeshivot” (Yeshiva Committee) has insisted that yeshiva students “not report [to the army] under any circumstances.”

The Israel Police and the attorney general appear to have failed to crack down on such groups, despite demands for investigation by advocacy groups and lawmakers. Under the law, someone inciting others to evade service during wartime is liable for a prison term of 15 years.

Lapid’s call for action comes less than a week after the hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu party demanded that the Attorney General’s Office prosecute Israelis engaged in “inciting” against draft evasion, after extremist demonstrators attempted to physically prevent ultra-Orthodox recruits from entering the IDF’s induction center at the Tel Hashomer military base.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting, in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

IDF says it struck over 100 targets in Gaza over the weekend

People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

The IDF says it struck over 100 targets in the Gaza Strip over the weekend.

The targets hit by Israeli Air Force aircraft included cells of operatives, tunnel infrastructure, and buildings used by terror groups, the military says.

The strikes come as ground troops continue to operate across the Strip.

In northern Gaza, the IDF says the 252nd Division located a cache of weapons and killed several operatives; in southern Gaza’s Morag Corridor, the 36th Division located additional weapons and killed operatives by directing airstrikes; and in Rafah, the Gaza Division destroyed dozens of “terror infrastructures” and killed several operatives.

Hamas-run authorities said dozens were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Friday and Saturday. The numbers cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Herzog to meet Cypriot president in Jerusalem as planned despite Houthi missile attack

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and President Isaac Herzog at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on May 11, 2023 (Haim Zach/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog’s meeting at 3:30 p.m. today with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will take place as scheduled in Jerusalem, the President’s Residence tells The Times of Israel.

The comment comes after a Houthi missile hit the area of Ben Gurion Airport in the hours ahead of Christodoulides’ arrival.

Earlier today, Herzog hosted Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa.

Lapid says if opposition takes power, benefits for Haredi men who don’t enlist in IDF will be cut

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)

When the opposition takes power it will cut government benefits for every ultra-Orthodox man who refuses to enlist in the IDF, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares, calling such people “criminals” who “shouldn’t receive a reward from the state.”

Speaking with reporters ahead of a meeting of his Yesh Atid party in Tel Aviv, Lapid notes that while the IDF is now calling up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of an expected expanded Gaza offensive, tens of thousands of “young Haredi men of draft age are currently evading conscription with the active encouragement of the Netanyahu government.”

“There have been nearly a thousand deaths in the security forces since October 7, half of them are under the age of 21,” Lapid states. “What they all have in common is that they were called up and they came. They received a draft order, and it never occurred to them to dodge or refuse.”

“Why are they being called again? Because the IDF doesn’t have enough soldiers,” he continues, noting recent IDF figures showing that out of 18,915 Haredi men issued conscription orders during the current enlistment cycle, only 232 have joined the army.

Overall, just over 1,800 Haredim have enlisted in the IDF since last summer, far less than the military’s goal of 4,800.

“Almost 99 percent of the Haredim who received an order did not enlist in the IDF. They evade because the government lets them. In the past year, the number of Haredim who were detained for questioning because they did not report for enlistment is 340. How many of them are currently in custody? As far as we were able to tell, one,” Lapid says, adding that the government is spending billions of shekels for government benefits for draft dodgers.

However, there would be no need to go after draft dodgers on the streets if benefits are cut, he declares.

“This is the law. The law says that every young man in Israel must enlist, and anyone who doesn’t enlist is a criminal. Anyone who is a criminal shouldn’t receive a reward from the state. I’m announcing [that] the day we form the government, the principle will be simple: anyone who doesn’t enlist, won’t receive a single shekel from the State of Israel.”

Senior Houthi official: We demonstrated our capabilities by striking Ben Gurion Airport

The scene after a missile fired from Yemen hit an area of Ben Gurion Airport, May 4, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior official in Yemen’s Houthi rebel movement, tells the Qatari Al-Araby TV channel that the Houthis demonstrated their ability to strike sensitive targets in Israel.

He adds that the Iran-backed group has “no red lines” in its fight against Israel.

In addition, Nasser al-Din Omar, media head for the Houthis, reportedly warns airlines against operations in Israel, stating that it endangered the safety of their aircraft.

Earlier this morning a Houthi ballistic missile struck inside the area of Ben Gurion Airport after the Israel Defense Forces failed to intercept it. Landings and takeoffs had been halted before the projectile struck.

6 wounded in airport missile attack — one in good-to-moderate condition and 5 lightly hurt

Emergency services at Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Magen David Adom)

In an update, Magen David Adom says six people were physically hurt in the Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport.

They include a man in his 50s in good-to-moderate condition with trauma to his limbs and two women, aged 54 and 38, in good condition who were hit by the shockwave.

A man, 64, was lightly hurt after he was hit by an object that flew from the impact site, and two more women, aged 22 and 34, were lightly hurt while running for shelter, MDA says.

Another two people were treated for acute anxiety.

The wounded were taken to hospitals in central Israel.

After airport attack, Katz warns ‘whoever harms us, we will strike them sevenfold’

Defense Minister Israel Katz attends a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 24, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a terse statement following the Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport, says, “Whoever harms us, we will strike them sevenfold.”

Israel has avoided striking in Yemen in response to the recent Houthi attacks as the United States wages a major campaign against the Iran-backed group.

3 moderately to lightly wounded amid Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport

Three people were wounded in the Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport, medics say.

Magen David Adom says it treated a man in his 50s in good-to-moderate condition and a 54-year-old woman in good condition, who were wounded by the blast of the missile impact.

Another woman, 32, was slightly hurt while running for a bomb shelter. Two others are treated for acute anxiety, MDA adds.

3 men jailed for terror attack plots, including plan to assassinate Ben Gvir with rocket-propelled grenade

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir outside a court hearing in Lod, April 15, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

A Beersheba court sentences three men to three and a half years in prison for plotting a series of terror attacks in Israel — including a plan to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Last April, the Shin Bet security agency announced that it had foiled plans by a cell of Arab Israelis and West Bank Palestinians to carry out terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank, including assassinating Ben Gvir.

According to the Shin Bet, the cell planned attacks against IDF bases and other sensitive sites, including Ben Gurion Airport and the government complex in Jerusalem.

The men, two from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the northern Negev and one from the West Bank, received lighter sentences after reaching a plea bargain in which the charges against them were downgraded from “conspiracy to aid the enemy” to “disclosure of a decision to betray.”

Following the sentencing, Ben Gvir decries the plea agreement as a “disgrace” and accuses the state prosecutor of “endangering him and all the ministers of the government of Israel.”

Ben Gvir asserts that such a move “sends a message encouraging terrorism: Continue to try to carry out assassinations and damage symbols of government – ​​and you will get away with it cheaply.”

“The absurdity is doubly serious when you realize that no one bothered to talk to me before the [plea] agreement, and did not accept my position – contrary to the law. This is not harm to me personally, but to the entire country,” Ben Gvir says in a statement.

Ben Gurion Airport reopens airspace following Houthi missile attack

Smoke in the area of Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Ben Gurion Airport reopens its airspace after temporarily halting takeoffs and landings following the firing of a ballistic missile from Yemen that impacted an area at the country’s main airport.

The airspace was closed for around an hour.

“Ben Gurion Airport is open for operations,” Israel Airport Authority says in a statement. “Takeoffs and landings have returned to normal.”

Top IDF general, officials visited Syria to meet Druze leaders – report

Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, Head of Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) arrives to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem for court hearing on the entering of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, July 21, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, who heads the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, was in Syrian territory recently to meet leaders of the Druze community, Army Radio reports.

He was joined by other officials and IDF officers to discuss the community’s humanitarian and security needs, according to the report.

On Friday night, an Israeli Air Force helicopter ferried humanitarian aid to the Sweida area of southern Syria. The delivery came amid Israeli warnings to Syria’s new Islamist rulers not to harm their country’s Druze minority following deadly sectarian clashes.

Ben Gurion Airport temporarily halted takeoffs and landings following detection of Houthi ballistic missile launch

Screen grab from CCTV footage shows impact of ballistic missile near Ben Gurion Airport on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Ben Gurion Airport temporarily halted takeoffs and landings following the detection of the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen that struck an area at the country’s main airport.

There are a number of minutes between the detection of the firing of the missile in Yemen and its potential arrival in Israeli airspace.

“An investigation is underway regarding the impact at the Ben Gurion Airport area. As per normal procedure, there is a freeze and no landings or takeoffs are taking place,” the Israel Airport Authority says in a statement.

Surveillance camera footage shows moment of Houthi missile impact at Ben Gurion Airport

Smoke in the area of Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Surveillance camera footage shows the moment of the Houthi missile impact at Ben Gurion Airport.

The missile struck a grove adjacent to an access road, within the airport’s perimeter.

Surveillance camera footage shows the moment of the Houthi missile impact at Ben Gurion Airport.

The missile struck a grove adjacent to an access road, within the airport's perimeter. pic.twitter.com/AUyQwKrEOy

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 4, 2025

Footage shows the moment of the Houthis ballistic missile impact in the area of Ben Gurion Airport this morning. pic.twitter.com/fMbijXsv8p

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 4, 2025

IDF confirms it failed to intercept Houthi ballistic missile that landed in area of airport

Smoke in the area of Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The IDF confirms it failed to intercept the Houthi ballistic missile that impacted in the area of Ben Gurion Airport.

The military says it made several attempts to intercept the missile fired from Yemen. “An impact was identified in the area of Ben Gurion Airport,” it says.

The Israeli Air Force’s aerial defense array is investigating the failure.

Gantz says Israel must hold Iran accountable for Houthi missile fire

National Unity leader MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz calls on Israel to hold Iran accountable after a Houthi missile fired from Yemen apparently impacted in the area of Ben Gurion Airport.

“This is not Yemen, this is Iran. It is Iran that is firing ballistic missiles at the State of Israel, and it must bear responsibility,” writes the former defense minister on X.

“The Israeli government must wake up,” he insists, arguing that fire on Israel “must lead to a severe response in Tehran.”

One person lightly wounded by Houthi missile fired at Ben Gurion Airport

Smoke in the area of Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

First responders have received reports of at least one lightly wounded person as a result of the Houthi missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport.

The person was reportedly hurt in one of the airport’s parking lots.

The Houthi missile, which the IDF says it attempted to intercept, impacted in a grove adjacent to an access road, inside the airport’s perimeter.

Ballistic missile fired by Houthis apparently impacts in area of Ben Gurion Airport; no injuries reported

Smoke in the area of Ben Gurion Airport after a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen on May 4, 2025 (Screen grab from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a short while ago apparently impacted in the area of Ben Gurion Airport.

The IDF says it fired interceptors at the Houthi missile, and is investigating the impact at the airport.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

The ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a short while ago apparently impacted in the area of Ben Gurion Airport.

The IDF says it fired interceptors at the Houthi missile, and is investigating the impact at the airport.

There are no immediate reports of… pic.twitter.com/oCmasSxfOu

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 4, 2025

IDF says it’s looking into result of attempt to intercept missile

The IDF says it is investigating the results of interception attempts of a ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen a short while ago.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.

Sirens had sounded across central Israel, in the fourth Houthi missile attack since Friday.

The Iran-backed group in Yemen also launched two drones at Israel over the weekend.

Sirens sound throughout central Israel after rocket launched from Yemen

Sirens are sounding across central Israel following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen.

The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.

Since Friday, the Houthis in Yemen have fired now four missiles and two drones at Israel.

IDF says ballistic missile launched from Yemen at Israel; sirens expected in central Israel

A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel, the military says.

Sirens are expected to sound in central Israel in the coming minutes. An early warning is issued for a wide area across the country.

The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.

Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out 1st drone attack on Port Sudan, army says

The Sudanese army spokesperson says that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military airbase and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, the first time RSF attacks have reached the eastern port city.

An army spokesman, Nabil Abdullah, says the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched several “suicide drones” at the coastal city, targeting the airport as well as “a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan” and causing no injuries but “limited damage.”

Court rules teachers, kindergarten staff can only strike until 10 a.m. this morning

View of an empty classroom at a school in Jerusalem, during a strike, on September 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Tel Aviv Labor Court rules that teachers will only be permitted to strike until 10 a.m. this morning amid action taken by education staff against the surprise 3.3 percent drop in government salaries for April.

The strike is taking place in preschools, elementary schools and middle schools, but special education institutions are not affected. It had been initially expected to be held until 11 a.m.

Despite the court ruling, many educational institutions are expected not to open at all, with teaching staff calling in sick.

UK gigs by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli singer Dudu Tassa canceled, apparently amid BDS pressure

Dudu Tassa (left) and Jonny Greenwood. (Shin Katan)

Two UK shows featuring Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Israeli artist Dudu Tassa have been canceled amid protests by the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, British media reports.

The duo were set to perform at Bristol’s Beacon on June 23 and London’s Hackney Church on June 25, but both gigs were canceled in recent days, the NME reports.

According to the Telegraph, the concerts were canceled by their promoter.

Greenwood partnered for a 2023 album with Tassa, along with artists throughout the Middle East, including Palestinian singer Freteikh, Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma and Moroccan singer Mohssine Salaheddine.

Radiohead, which has won several Grammy Awards and sold millions of records since the 1990s, has been the target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, especially in the lead-up to its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv. In response, lead singer Thom Yorke called BDS protesters “offensive” and “patronizing.”

The BDS campaign advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, universities and artists. Supporters say BDS is a nonviolent movement for Palestinian independence. Israel and its supporters say the movement aims to delegitimize and eradicate the Jewish state, and it has been condemned by many as antisemitic and discriminatory.

JTA contributed to this report.

As teachers strike, union chief says won’t give up battle against surprise salary cuts: ‘How much can teachers be humiliated?’

Yaffa Ben David, the secretary general of the Israel Teachers Union speaks at a conference of the Federation of Local Authorities ahead of the opening of the school year in Ganei Tikva, August 18, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

With hundreds of thousands of children home amid a strike by teachers, Israel Teachers Union chief Yaffa Ben David says education staff will not give up their fight against the surprise 3.3 percent drop in government salaries for April.

“We are not weakened, we will continue this struggle until the end,” she tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“How much can the teaching staff be humiliated? How much will they be disrespected? The system is collapsing, there is no staff, the good ones are leaving,” she says.

The strike until 11 a.m. is taking place in preschools, elementary schools and middle schools, but special education institutions are not be affected.

According to reports, many teaching staff are calling in sick and some schools and kindergartens may not open at all.

Having initially said it was not against the strike, the Education Ministry backtracked yesterday and said it would go to court on the matter.

The Labor Court began a hearing on the strike a short time ago.

IDF announces 2 soldiers killed, 2 wounded in blast at booby-trapped Rafah tunnel

Staff Sgt. Yaly Seror (L) and Cpt. Noam Ravid (R), who were killed in a tunnel blast in Rafah, Gaza on May 3, 2025 (IDF)

Two IDF soldiers were killed and another two were wounded by a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in southern Gaza’s Rafah Saturday, the military announces.

The slain troops are named as Cpt. Noam Ravid, 23 from Sha’arei Tikva and Staff Sgt. Yaly Seror, 20, from Omer. Both served in the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

According to an initial IDF probe, the Yahalom soldiers, operating under the Golani Brigade, were scanning the entrance to a tunnel inside a building, when they were suddenly hit by an explosion.

One of the wounded soldiers is listed in serious condition while the other is moderately hurt.

In another incident yesterday, a reservist with the Jerusalem Brigade’s 7007th Battalion was seriously wounded in northern Gaza. The circumstances of his injury are still are under investigation, the military says.

Also yesterday, two soldiers of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 46th Battalion were wounded, one moderately and one lightly, by a blast in an army encampment in the area of Gaza City’s eastern Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods.

According to an initial IDF investigation, the blast was apparently caused by a tank shell that prematurely detonated when it was being fired. Another possibility being looked into is that a mortar struck the area.

Ex-security chiefs, Nobel laureates urge IDF to reverse dismissal of reservists who called to free hostages by ending war

Roughly 180 former senior officials from the security establishment and current academics have signed a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miarai and Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi urging them to reverse the IDF’s decision to dismiss the reservists who joined a public call for the government to free the remaining hostages by ending the war in Gaza.

“The IDF is not permitted to censor the statements of civilians, even if they are members of the reserve forces, when those statements are not made during active service,” the letter reads.

“It is also not permitted to demand that they refrain from a moral call to make the issue [of the hostages] a priority. Whether it is a formal decision to dismiss them or a ‘quiet dismissal’ in the form of a policy of not calling up those who signed such letters for reserve duty, this is an invalid sanction that violates the basic civil right to freedom of expression.”

Signatories of the letter include former IDF chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya’alon; former Mossad chief Danny Yatom, former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gillon; retired IDF generals Nimrod Shefer and Guy Tzur; former deputy national security adviser Eran Etzion; and former Nobel Prize winners Aaron Ciechanover, Ada Yonath and Dan Shechtman.

Hegseth said slated to visit Israel ahead of Trump’s trip to the Mideast

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly planning to visit to Israel just before President Donald Trump’s trip to the region later this month.

Hegseth will arrive in Israel on May 12, just one day before Trump travels to Saudi Arabia, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Axios reports.

It will be Hegseth’s first trip to Israel as defense secretary and he is slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Former hostage says ‘evil’ government ‘led us like sheep to the slaughter’

Freed hostage Gadi Mozes addresses a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, April 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former hostage Gadi Mozes calls on the government to end the war in Gaza in order to save the remaining captives in Gaza.

Mozes spoke earlier tonight at a protest calling for a hostage deal in Kiryat Gat.

“For the first time in my life, I could not say ‘Glory of the State of Israel,’… on Independence Day,” Mozes laments.

He blasts the “evil” government that did not protect Israelis on October 7, “led us like sheep to the slaughter” and does not take responsibility for what was allowed to unfold on October 7.

He says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has managed to dent all state institutions, from the High Court of Justice, to the Attorney General’s Office, to the IDF.

“This war is pointless and wastes the state’s resources,” Mozes says. “The two million Gazans will not disappear.”

He says the IDF must pursue any hostile actor, but at the same time, Israel must prioritize the hostages.

“The military conflict must end and everyone must be brought home,” Mozes says.

Anti-tank missile fired at Kiryat Ata home in what police say is criminal incident; no injuries

Police say a M72 LAW single-use anti-tank missile was fired at a residential building in the northern town of Kiryat Ata on Saturday night.

No one was injured, and police say they have opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

אירוע חריג בקריית אתא: טיל לאו נורה לעבר בית, אין נפגעים. המשטרה פתחה בחקירה

(אורלי אלקלעי)
צילום: שימוש לפי סעיף 27 א לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/1ufSt5ivgu

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 3, 2025

4 Iranians among 5 arrested in UK for ‘terrorism offenses’

British police say they have arrested five men, including four Iranians, on suspicion of “terrorism offenses.”

The arrests were carried out in London, Swindon and the Greater Manchester area and were related to “a suspected plot to target a specific premises,” London’s Metropolitan Police says in a statement.

The men aged between 29 and 46 were arrested on suspicion of “preparation of a terrorist act” and remain in custody, the police say.

The nationality of one of the men is still being established, they say.

“This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated,” says Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism chief Dominic Murphy.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” he says.

Hitting back, Qatar says PM portraying Gaza op as ‘defense of civilization’ echoes dark regimes of old

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares in a statement on his official X account that it’s time for Qatar to “decide if it’s on the side of civilization or… Hamas barbarism,” Doha hits back that the premier’s portrayal of the IDF’s ongoing military operation in Gaza “as a defense of ‘civilization'” echoes the justifications of dark regimes throughout history.

“Portraying the ongoing aggression against Gaza as a defense of ‘civilization’ echoes the rhetoric of regimes throughout history that have used false narratives to justify crimes against innocent civilians,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says.

Recalling Qatar’s extensive role in hostage deal negotiations, the spokesperson, Majed Al Ansari, says that “a legitimate question must be raised.”

“Were the releases of no fewer than 138 hostages achieved through so-called ‘just’ military operations, or through the very mediation that is now being unjustly criticized and undermined?” he asks.

“Meanwhile, the Palestinian people in Gaza are enduring one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of modern times—marked by a suffocating blockade, systematic starvation, denial of medicine and shelter, and the use of humanitarian aid as a tool of political coercion,” Ansari continues. “Is this truly the model of ‘civilization’ being promoted?

He stresses that Qatar will continue to work with both Egypt and the US to secure a long-lasting ceasefire and hostage release deal, and to “advance a just and lasting peace — one grounded in justice and humanity, not violence and double standards.”

The State of Qatar firmly rejects the inflammatory statements issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which fall far short of the most basic standards of political and moral responsibility. Portraying the ongoing aggression against Gaza as a defense of “civilization”…

— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) May 3, 2025

Report: Netanyahu forced to cancel Azerbaijan visit because Turkey barred him from airspace

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara exit the official Wing of Zion plane in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/ Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not forced to cancel his planned visit to Azerbaijan because of regional developments and a “tight political and security schedule,” as his office had said, but because Turkey refuses to allow the Wing of Zion state airplane to pass through its airspace, the Walla news site reports.

According to the report, the Prime Minister’s Office examined the possibility of traveling to Baku on an alternate flight route, namely over Greece and Bulgaria, but decided against doing so as the flight time would almost double.

This would not mark the first time that Turkey’s increasingly sour relations with Israel have reportedly interrupted senior officials’ travel plans.

In November 2024, President Isaac Herzog canceled his planned visit to the United Nations COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan at the last minute, citing “security considerations” as the reason.

Reports at the time suggested, however, that the real reason for the cancellation was because Turkey had refused to allow Wing of Zion to fly through its airspace.

Direct flight routes from Israel to Azerbaijan are limited, as most require flying over Turkey, or alternatively, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

Egyptian security source: 2 Israelis sentenced to 5 years in jail for assaulting hotel staff in Taba

An Egyptian court has sentenced two Israeli citizens to five years in jail for assaulting hotel workers in the Red Sea town of Taba near the border with Israel last year, an Egyptian security source says.

In August, three Arab Israeli tourists and two Egyptian hotel workers were injured when a fight broke out at a hotel after one of the tourists insulted one of the employees, security sources said at the time.

A video of the clash posted to social media at the time of the incident showed over a dozen people milling about and trading blows amid shouting and screams from others. One man was hit in the head from behind and then collapsed on the ground, while others rushed to help him.

According to media reports citing sources familiar with the incident, the Israelis refused to pay for alcohol and services they received.

סרטון נוסף מטאבה: קטטה בין צעירים מנצרת לעובדי מלון מצריים מביאה ל-6 פצועים ומעצרים. pic.twitter.com/jaxrDmuArM

— כל החדשות בזמן אמת (@Saher_News_24_7) August 30, 2024

Israeli strikes in Syria ‘hinder’ peace efforts and regional stability, UAE says

The United Arab Emirates “strongly condemns” recent Israeli strikes in Syria, which have come amid deadly sectarian violence against the country’s Druze minority.

In a statement published online, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the country has “condemned in the strongest terms the continuous Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, reaffirming the UAE’s commitment to Syria’s unity, stability and territorial integrity.

“These attacks are in violation of Syria’s sovereignty and in contravention of international law,” the statement continues, adding that the ministry has “underscored the UAE’s categorical rejection of such practices, which threaten further escalation and tension in the region, and hinder efforts to achieve peace and stability.”

Netanyahu: Time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides in hostage talks

On his official X account, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasts Qatar, one of the three countries serving as a mediator between Israel and Hamas on hostage talks.

“Israel is fighting a just war with just means,” writes Netanyahu. “After the October 7 atrocities, Prime Minister Netanyahu defined the War of Redemption as a war between civilization and barbarism.”

“The time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it’s on the side of civilization or if it’s on the side of Hamas barbarism. Israel will win this just war with just means.”

Anonymous Israeli officials have been telling journalists recently that Qatar is urging Hamas not to accept the terms of an Egyptian compromise deal, telling the group it should hold out for better terms.

Qatar denies the allegations.

Israel is fighting a just war with just means. After the October 7 atrocities, Prime Minister Netanyahu defined the War of Redemption as a war between civilization and barbarism.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 3, 2025