The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they happened.

‘He’s got your back’: Huckabee says Trump’s decision to skip Israel on Mideast visit isn’t a snub

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee holds a press conference at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 9, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee holds a press conference at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 9, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says Israelis should not feel snubbed by US President Donald Trump’s decision to skip Israel in his upcoming visit to the Middle East, which will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

“His first trip is about economic opportunity. That’s where his focus is,” Huckabee says in an interview with Hebrew news network Channel 12.

“What he’s doing is not because he’s snubbing Israel. There are 200 nations in the world, almost, so there are a lot of them he hasn’t gone to yet, a lot of them he isn’t going to right away — he’s spent more time with the prime minister of Israel than he has with any other world leader. I think that says a lot.”

“I would just say to people, ‘relax, calm down, Donald Trump loves you, there’s no doubt about that, he’s got your back,'” says the ambassador. “He is the same Donald Trump that, for four years as president, did more for Israel than any other American president.”

Turning to the ongoing nuclear talks between the US and Iran, Huckabee is asked whether Washington would allow Israel to carry out independent military action against Iran if a deal is signed, should it still deem it to be a threat.

He answers that the US believes “Israel has the right to do what it has to do,” and that Trump knows “nobody can tell Israel what to do. He says, however, that the White House would definitely have “recommendations” in this regard.

Huckabee also defends Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump, after recent reports suggested that their relationship may have soured.

He says that the interviewer’s suggestion that Trump has thrown Netanyahu “under the bus” is a “very unfair characteristic.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has spent more time with President Trump than I have in the past couple of months, and it’s a warm and personal, cordial relationship,” says Huckabee.

Slain captive’s mother: Netanyahu sends our children to die for his ‘lust for power’

Yael Adar, whose son Tamir was snatched to Gaza after he was killed defending Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, tells the anti-government demonstration at Tel Aviv’s Begin Road that the government is “sending our children to die in the name of lust for power.”

She slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to bring back the remains of her son, who was part of Nir Oz’s civilian defense squad, which fought for hours before the IDF arrived.

“How is it that the person who went out first became transparent?” she asks. “How is it that someone who fought for the country is not being fought for by the country?”

Adar urges Netanyahu to follow in the footsteps of Menachem Begin, who also served in the premiership while heading up the Likud party, and to resign immediately.

Begin quit in 1983 amid the IDF’s rising death toll in the First Lebanon War, which he had launched the previous year.

“It’s called taking responsibility,” says Adar.

After her speech and as the 1,500-odd crowd melts away, some 100 activists, many of them bearing torches, light a bonfire on the road in front of the entrance to the IDF headquarters. They chant: “Enough of the killing and grief, the hostages are above everything.”

Mother of captive soldier slams ‘insufferable abandon’ with which politicians, media talk about number of living hostages

Herut Nimrodi, the mother of captive IDF soldier Tamir Nimrodi, speaks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on May 10, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Herut Nimrodi, the mother of captive IDF soldier Tamir Nimrodi, speaks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on May 10, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Herut Nimrodi, whose captive soldier son Tamir was said by an Israeli official this week to be feared dead, demands that “members of Knesset and media figures exercise discretion before talking about our loved ones.”

“There is just one status — hostages,” she says. “There are 59 pure souls who fit that definition, and each and every one of them must come home now.”

“Bring back the hostages, end the war,” she adds, addressing decision-makers.

Fears for Tamir Nimrodi’s life grew this week after US President Donald Trump said 21, not 24, hostages in Gaza were still alive. An Israeli official later said there was grave fear for the lives of three hostages — two foreigners and an Israeli. Tamir Nimrodi’s family identified him as the Israeli feared dead, but added that they have received no new information about him.

Speaking at Hostages Square, Tamir’s mother says the family found itself this week thrown into “a discourse of numbers tossed into the air with insufferable abandon.”

She adds that there has been no certainty about his condition since he was kidnapped in the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, “and hence the grave fear for his life.”

Other speakers at the Hostages Square rally highlight opinion polls indicating some 70% of the public supports an end to the fighting in Gaza as part of a deal to bring back the hostages.

The comments came after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — who opposes a truce-hostage deal and who has consistently failed to cross the electoral threshold in recent surveys — reportedly told hostage families that he represents the majority of the public.

Ilan Dalal, whose son Guy Gilboa-Dalal is among the living captives, cites the reported 70% support, saying: “According to every poll, the nation has already chosen. It’s chosen the hostages.”

In Hamas propaganda video, hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana says Elkana Bohbot has stopped eating, drinking

Hamas hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana and Elkana Bohbot appear in a Hamas propaganda video published by the terror group on May 10, 2025. (Screenshot)
Hamas hostages Yosef-Haim Ohana and Elkana Bohbot appear in a Hamas propaganda video published by the terror group on May 10, 2025. (Screenshot)

The families of hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana grant media outlets permission to air a video of the two men that was published by Hamas earlier this evening.

In the video, Ohana sits on the ground next to Bohbot, who lies under a blanket and appears as though he is asleep.

“I am prisoner number 21. This is prisoner number 22,” says Ohana, gesturing to Bohbot, whom he says he will talk about.

The video is almost certainly dictated by their captors.

“His medical and psychological conditions are very difficult,” says Ohana of his companion. “Ever since we heard that the war had been going on for months, we realized how dangerous it was to our lives.

“Since then, he has not stopped trying to harm himself,” he says. “Since then, we have lost our world and our hope. A few days ago, he tried to hurt himself, and I, along with a Qassam fighter, jumped on him to try and stop him, and as a result, he tried to hurt us too.”

“How did things get to this point?” asks Ohana. “Our lives are in imminent danger, every minute here is critical!”

“We can’t even sleep. Prisoner 22 is refusing to eat or drink. He cannot do anything except daydream and think about his son Reim and his wife Rivka. He cannot do anything. He cannot function.”

“What are you waiting for? What will happen if I can’t stay with him and I leave him alone? I can’t even imagine that,” says Ohana.

He says that he has also decided to stop eating, “because my friend’s fate is my fate, and our fate is in your hands.”

He then turns his attention to the Israeli Air Force, asking the pilots how they can continue to carry out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip when they know it could endanger the hostages and Palestinian civilians.

“What do you tell your families? What do you tell our families?” he demands.

“How is this war still going? How has this war not ended?” Ohana says. “What needs to happen that hasn’t happened yet? What needs to be done that hasn’t been done?”

An entire country wants this nightmare to end — from now on, every drop of blood spilled, every additional deterioration that you see with your own eyes — is on your hands. It is only in the hands of the decision makers.”

Enough! The time has come to stop! Time is running out,” he ends his plea.

The video concludes with an animation of a clock with spinning hands, and the words “Only a ceasefire agreement brings them back alive” superimposed on top in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

Police arrest 18 suspects thought to be involved in shooting of child in southern Israel

Police arrest 18 suspects thought to be involved in the shooting of an eight-year-old boy yesterday near Tel Sheva, a Negev Bedouin town.

“Over the course of the night and today, 18 participants in the criminal, bloody conflict between families were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the incident and planning a revenge attack,” says a law enforcement spokesperson this evening.

The victim of yesterday’s shooting, Yousef Awad Abu Rqayiq, was being driven as part of a wedding convoy Friday afternoon when masked gunmen opened fire on the cars, and shot him at close range, killing him and injuring six others, one of whom is in serious condition.

Over 80 bullet casings were recovered at the crime scene.

One of the convoy’s drivers took the wounded to Soroka Medical Center, where Abu Rqayiq was pronounced dead by medical staff.

Police say the shooting incident was a revenge attack carried out as part of an ongoing blood feud between families in Tel Sheva.

The murder rate in Arab society has spiraled in recent years, claiming over 90 lives since the start of 2025, with many community leaders blaming police for not doing enough to deter violent crime.

Speaking anonymously to Channel 12, a Tel Sheva resident tells the outlet earlier today that “there are no police in the south.”

“There are no officers, there is no presence on the roads… They [police] come here once every few months, put on a show for Minister [Itamar] Ben Gvir, do a silly operation and then disappear,” the resident laments.

Last Thursday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited Rahat for a large police operation in the Bedouin city meant to combat crime in the Arab sector. The operation focused mainly on financial crime and illegal construction, leading to asset seizures and raids on dozens of businesses.

The same day that Ben Gvir, police chief Danny Levy and over 1,000 police officers were in Rahat, a masked man entered a laundromat in the city and shot an employee, moderately injuring him. The culprit has not been arrested.

Iran won’t give up on its ‘nuclear rights,’ FM says ahead of upcoming talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says that if the United States’ goal is to deprive Tehran of what he says were its nuclear rights, Tehran will not back down from “any of our rights.”

Araghchi is speaking in Doha a day ahead of another round of planned nuclear talks between Iran and the US in Oman.

Weekly Tel Aviv vigil memorializes slain Gaza children

Activists hold up candles and pictures of slain Gazan children, outside the Kaplan Street entrance to the IDF headquarters, Tel Aviv, May 10, 2025. (Noam Lehmann/The Times of Israel)
Activists hold up candles and pictures of slain Gazan children, outside the Kaplan Street entrance to the IDF headquarters, Tel Aviv, May 10, 2025. (Noam Lehmann/The Times of Israel)

As they have every Saturday for several weeks, about 200 left-wing activists stand in silence on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, outside the IDF headquarters’ southern entrance, holding candles and pictures of children killed by the IDF in Gaza since Israel renewed hostilities there on March 18.

Each picture states the child’s name, as well as the date and place of death.

The silent protest is in stark contrast with the noisier, contemporaneous anti-government demonstrations at Habima Square and Begin Road, on either end of Kaplan Street.

Some protesters marching from Habima to Begin via Kaplan ask to join the Kaplan activists.

PA’s Abbas meets with Putin in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas enter a hall for their talks in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 10, 2025. (Yury Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas enter a hall for their talks in the Grand Palace at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 10, 2025. (Yury Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier today.

The two last met in October 2024.

According to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, the meeting dealt with developments in the Middle East, and Abbas emphasized the importance of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.

Ex-Shin Bet chief Dichter among names weighed by PM to head the agency — report

Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter attends a Knesset Economy Committee meeting on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter attends a Knesset Economy Committee meeting on March 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In his ongoing search for a new head of the Shin Bet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly considering appointing Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter to the post.

Current chief Ronen Bar will step down on June 15, even as the Supreme Court weighs petitions against the cabinet’s decision in March to fire him — a decision the cabinet rescinded when he agreed to resign last month.

Dichter, a member of Likud, headed the Shin Bet from 2000-2005, and is regarded as having played a central role in subduing the Second Intifada.

A Channel 12 report says Dichter’s name first came up a month ago, and has again been raised now, though Netanyahu is also considering numerous other candidates. In Dichter’s case, the report says, Netanyahu is thinking of placing him in the post for two years as a “professional appointment” to revitalize the agency.

Dichter would likely be endorsed, as needed, by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, although there could be issues regarding his immediate shift from government minister to security chief without a cooling-off period.

The TV report says Dichter did not deny the story when asked, but did say the reporter has a “highly developed imagination.”

Ex-hostages’ son at Tel Aviv protest: Netanyahu, not Hamas, is the ‘real enemy’ of Israel

Protesters hold signs with images of the hostages at a weekly anti-government protest at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, May 10, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
Protesters hold signs with images of the hostages at a weekly anti-government protest at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, May 10, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Shai Mozes, whose parents, Margalit and Gadi Mozes, were kidnapped in the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, and later released in separate hostage deals, says Israel’s “real enemy is not Hamas, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is destroying Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

He speaks at the weekly anti-government protest in Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, which has drawn some 500 people thus far. The crowd is dotted with Israeli flags, and chants: “The entire nation knows that Bibi is a crook,” using the premier’s nickname. The protest starts with a moment of silence for five IDF soldiers killed fighting in Gaza this week.

As the protest begins, 50-odd left-wing demonstrators from an earlier protest pack up their equipment — including a large sign reading “We will not kill and be killed for the settlements” — and march over to the joint anti-government and hostage families’ protest on Begin Road. The rest of the Habima protesters are set to follow.

Media personality linoy Bar Geffen, who emcees the Habima rallies, says the demonstration is calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza, the return of the remaining 59 hostages in a single deal, a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, an end to the governmemt’s judicial overhaul, and new elections.

“What are you afraid of?” she asks members of Netanyahu’s coalition.

Shirel Hogeg, a Sderot resident who survived the Hamas onslaught and rose to prominence after an anti-Netanyahu diatribe went viral, says the demonstration’s purpose is to make Israel “a country that’s worthwhile to live for, not just to die for.”

Gal Elkalay, a social activist who has served hundreds of days in reserves, slams the government’s decision to call up tens of thousands of reservists yet again to wage a war she says has become futile.

“Not the hostages, not dismantling Hamas — this war is a war to protect the coalition,” she says. “There is no more Israel Defense Force, only a Coalition Defense Force.”

“This is not leadership, this is a criminal organization that glorifies death,” she says. “Why are we going back to war?”

Responding to calls from the audience for soldiers to refuse to serve, she says, “We will not refuse,” but urges members of the audience to take sick days and effectively shut down the economy until the government gets the message.

Hostages Forum: Israel faces ‘lost opportunity of the century’ because of insistence on war

The Hostages and Missing Families forum warns that “Israel faces the ‘lost opportunity of the century,'” a play on US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” peace plan, responding to reports in recent days that Israel would be left out of a major defense deal between Washington and Saudi Arabia.

“The government must adopt a broad regional deal that will bring change to the Middle East, end the war, and return all the 59 hostages,” the forum says in a statement.

“The historic opportunity will go down the drain due to the insistence [by the government] to continue the war and abandon the hostages,” the forum says. “The government is acting against Trump’s policies and in complete opposition to the wishes of the vast majority of the Israeli public.”

The statement comes after sources told Reuters that the US is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks.

B’nai B’rith uncovers antisemitic social media posts of Quebec med school applicants, students

The Canadian B’nai B’rith Jewish non-profit says it has “exposed” a server on a social media platform used by Quebec medical school applicants and students to spread antisemitic and other hateful content.

On the public Discord server, the “aspiring doctors openly posted Holocaust denial, praise for the ‘Final Solution,’ hurled racial slurs, glorified terrorism, and degraded women,” the B’nai B’rith says, releasing screenshots of the French-language posts.

One post reads: “Don’t worry. You can trust me as long as you don’t have a kippa under your wig.”

Another appears to call for an “Islamic State of Quebec,” and that “Quebec is done. We’ll dominate soon.”

“This content wasn’t buried. It was shared in open channels, visible to over 1,400 members. Almost no one spoke up. These aren’t anonymous trolls. They are future doctors. And this kind of hate doesn’t stay online. It follows them into classrooms, clinics, and operating rooms,” the B’nai B’rith organization says.

“Silence enables this rot to spread. Institutions must act — now. Hate like this has no place in healthcare—or anywhere in Canadian society.”

German FM says Gaza humanitarian situation ‘unbearable’ ahead of trip to Israel

Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) and her successor German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul talk as they arrive to attend a commemoration ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of Germany's surrender that ended the Second World War in Europe, on May 8, 2025 at the Bundestag, in Berlin. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)
Former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) and her successor German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul talk as they arrive to attend a commemoration ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of Germany's surrender that ended the Second World War in Europe, on May 8, 2025 at the Bundestag, in Berlin. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)

BERLIN, Germany — Germany’s new top diplomat Johann Wadephul calls for “serious discussions for a ceasefire” in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation “is now unbearable.”

Ahead of a visit to Israel, Wadephul says it was “imperative” to start talks to “free all hostages and to ensure that supplies reach the population of Gaza,” according to comments reported by his ministry.

While reaffirming Germany’s unwavering support for Israel, the official says he would “inquire about the strategic objective of the fighting that has intensified since March.”

In Israel, Wadephul is expected to meet his counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

Blasts heard in Indian Kashmir; New Delhi source says Pakistan broke truce

Explosions were heard across the city of Srinagar in Indian Kashmir on Saturday evening, hours after India and Pakistan agreed on a ceasefire, Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the federal territory, says in a post on X.

“What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar,” Abdullah posts.

An Indian government source tells AFP that Pakistan has violated the arrangement.

Hamas publishes hostage video of Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana

Elkana Bohbot, 35 (left) and Yosef-Haim Ohana, 25 (right) who were taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
Elkana Bohbot, 35 (left) and Yosef-Haim Ohana, 25 (right) who were taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Hamas’s military wing releases a propaganda video featuring hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana.

Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has asked that Israeli media not publish the video or stills from the clip until the family approves them.

Huckabee says report Trump to recognize Palestinian state ‘nonsense’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee calls a Jerusalem Post report that President Donald Trump is set to recognize a Palestinian state during his upcoming Middle East visit “nonsense.”

“Hmm. @Jerusalem_Post needs better sources than this unidentified ‘source.’ My 4 yr old grandson Teddy is more reliable. And take it from Teddy. This report is nonsense. @Israel doesn’t have a better friend than @POTUS!,” the envoy’s post on X reads.

Kremlin accuses European countries of ‘confrontational’ stance after they back Ukraine truce

MOSCOW, Russia — The Kremlin accuses European countries of making contradictory and confrontational statements, Interfax news agency reports, after European leaders backed a US plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and threatened Russia with “massive” sanctions if it failed to comply.

“We hear many contradictory statements from Europe. They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is quoted as saying.

Beirut Airport security overhaul thwarting Hezbollah smuggling, satisfying Israeli, US officials — report

Illustrative: A Middle East Airlines commercial aircraft prepares for takeoff on the tarmac of the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, November 1, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Illustrative: A Middle East Airlines commercial aircraft prepares for takeoff on the tarmac of the Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, November 1, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Lebanon has conducted a major overhaul of security at its sole international airport in Beirut to prevent Hezbollah smuggling, satisfying Israeli and US officials and giving them hope that the Lebanese state will take full control over the country’s ports of entry from the terror group, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“You can feel the difference,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tells the WSJ. “We’re doing better on smuggling for the first time in the contemporary history of Lebanon.”

Senior Lebanese security and military officials tell the outlet that no planes are now exempt from security checks, while flights from Iran have been suspended since February. Airport staff linked to Hezbollah have been fired, smugglers detained, and new surveillance mechanisms using AI are being put into place, the report says.

In one of the recent achievements, Lebanese security thwarted an endeavor to smuggle over 50 pounds of gold to Hezbollah through Beirut’s international airport, a senior security official tells the WSJ.

“There is reason for hope here,” says a senior US official working for the ceasefire mechanism overseeing a deal that ended over a year of Hezbollah-instigated fighting in November.

“It has only been six or seven months, and we have stepped to a place that I am not sure I thought was achievable back in November.”

The report says the Israeli and US officials feel there is work to be done, however. Israeli strikes continue to target Hezbollah operations in Lebanon, it says are in violation of the November ceasefire.

Ibrahim Mousawi, a Hezbollah member of Lebanon’s parliament, tells the WSJ that the terror group sustained heavy losses but claims there are ways for them to rearm: “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

He also says that allegations of the terror group’s control over the airport were exaggerated: “We are part of the system, just like any other Lebanese constituency.”

Airlines extend cancellation of Tel Aviv routes after Houthi attack on airport

International airlines continue to extend their suspensions of services to Israel after a Houthi missile hit the area of Ben Gurion Airport earlier this week.

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air extends its cancellation of its Tel Aviv services until May 14, while Italy’s ITA halts its services until May 19.

IAF struck around 60 terror sites across Gaza over past day, military says

Troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on May 10, 2025. (Israel Defense FOrces)
Troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on May 10, 2025. (Israel Defense FOrces)

Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force struck some 60 “terror targets” across the Gaza Strip, the military says.

Hamas authorities reported 23 killed and dozens more wounded during the previous 24 hours.

The strikes come as ground troops continue to operate in Gaza.

In the Strip’s north, the IDF says troops of the 252nd Division killed two armed terror operatives who approached forces; in the Morag Corridor area, the 36th Division struck a booby-trapped building where several operatives were; and in Rafah, Gaza Division forces destroyed Hamas infrastructure both above and below ground.

Trump announces India-Pakistan ceasefire, ending cross-border attacks

Explosives and debris of a drone are pictured after it was intercepted by the Indian air defense system, on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on May 10, 2025. (Narinder NANU / AFP)
Explosives and debris of a drone are pictured after it was intercepted by the Indian air defense system, on the outskirts of Amritsar, India, on May 10, 2025. (Narinder NANU / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that India and Pakistan have agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire,” amid both countries launching strikes and counter-strikes against each other’s military installations.

“After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” he says in a post on Truth Social.

Israeli authorities did not allow fuel into Gaza this week, contrary to Walla report

Contrary to a report by the Walla news site, Israeli authorities did not allow 75,000 liters of fuel into the Gaza Strip this week.

Walla, without citing sources, claims two tanks with 75,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) denies this, saying that no aid, including fuel, entered Gaza this week. There are no Palestinian reports of the fuel entering the Strip either.

Israel stopped allowing aid into Gaza on March 2 after the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release deal concluded. It is set to resume aid deliveries in the coming weeks, as part of a US-backed plan that aims to prevent food and supplies from reaching Hamas.

Ukrainian FM: Kyiv, allies ready for unconditional, 30-day ceasefire with Russia starting Monday

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the visiting leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland held a phone call with US President Donald Trump today and discussed their peace efforts, the Ukrainian foreign minister says.

In a statement on X, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says Ukraine and all its allies were ready for a full, unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting on Monday.

He describes the phone call as “productive.”

IDF says fighting in Rafah now limited to just one neighborhood

Troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on May 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on May 10, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it is close to defeating all the remaining Palestinian terror operatives in southern Gaza’s Rafah, with fighting now only taking place in the Janina neighborhood.

Troops of the Golani Brigade have been operating in Janina in recent days. The IDF says the soldiers have destroyed dozens of “terror infrastructures,” located dozens of tunnel shafts, and killed dozens of operatives.

“Janina is the last area where fighting against terrorists in the Rafah Brigade is taking place,” the military says.

Four IDF soldiers have been killed and several others have been wounded during fighting in the Janina area in the past week.

Hamas-run civil defense agency says 5 killed in Israeli strike on tent in Gaza City

Displaced Palestinians walk amid the rubble of an UNRWA aid supply depot and shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Displaced Palestinians walk amid the rubble of an UNRWA aid supply depot and shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says that five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent in Gaza City — all members of a single family, according to relatives.

The figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

“Three children, their mother and her husband were sleeping inside a tent and were bombed by an [Israeli] occupation aircraft,” family member Omar Abu al-Kass tells AFP.

The strikes came “without warning and without having done anything wrong,” Abu al-Kass adds, who says he was the children’s maternal grandfather.

AFP images from the scene showed mourners, some of them weeping, gathering alongside five white shrouds of different sizes.

“Five martyrs and wounded in an [Israeli] occupation airstrike on a tent in the Sabra neighbourhood” of Gaza City, civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal tells AFP.

The Israeli army, which resumed its offensive in Gaza on March 18 after a two-month truce, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the strike.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

F-16 munition dropped in open area due to malfunction that prevented landing, IDF says

An Israeli F-16 of the 117th Squadron takes off at Ramat David Airbase. (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)
An Israeli F-16 of the 117th Squadron takes off at Ramat David Airbase. (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)

An Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet dropped a munition in an open area near the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel this morning, due to a technical malfunction that had prevented the plane from safely landing, the military says.

The bomb was dropped “in a controlled manner,” according to the IDF. No injuries were caused.

The military says the incident is under further investigation.

9 IDF soldiers lightly hurt by explosive in Gaza City overnight, army says

Nine IDF soldiers, including two senior officers, were lightly wounded by an explosive device in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood overnight, the military announces.

The troops of the Jerusalem Brigade were carrying out scans in Shejaiya when the blast went off.

Among the wounded are the commander of the Jerusalem Brigade’s 6310th Battalion and the deputy commander of the 252nd Division.

All of the forces were taken to a hospital in good condition, the army says.

Trump said to admit troubles with Gaza truce efforts: ‘They’d been fighting for a thousand years’

US President Donald Trump speaks while signing legislation, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks while signing legislation, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with his promised tasks of ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza in a meeting with top donors in Florida last week, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people who were in the room.

On Gaza, Trump says finding a solution was difficult because “they’d been fighting for a thousand years,” the report quotes the US president as saying.

On Ukraine, Trump told the donors that the war kept him up at night, and that dialogue with Putin was a challenge because he “wanted the whole thing,” referring to all of Ukraine.

On the campaign trail, the US president boasted that he could bring the conflicts to a quick end, but has yet to do so after over 100 days in office.

Pakistan’s PM says its response to India ‘avenged the blood of innocent lives’

A man stands on top of the hotel roof next to a screen displaying images of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (L) and the country's Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, in Islamabad on May 8, 2025. (Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
A man stands on top of the hotel roof next to a screen displaying images of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (L) and the country's Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, in Islamabad on May 8, 2025. (Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the military had given “a befitting response” to India after the worst confrontations in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

“Today, we have given India a befitting response and avenged the blood of innocent lives,” he says in a statement issued by his office, after speaking with all political parties.

Pakistan launched counterattacks against India overnight, saying it targeted multiple bases in India, including a missile storage site in India’s north, in response to prior attacks by the Indian military.

Indian Wing Commander Vyomika Singh told a briefing that there were “several high-speed missile attacks” on air bases, but “limited damage” to equipment.

Pakistan earlier accused India of targeting three of its bases with missiles — including one in Rawalpindi, some 10 kilometres (six miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

At least 13 civilians were killed in Pakistani Kashmir in 12 hours until noon today, the region’s disaster authority says, as India and Pakistan traded fire after Islamabad’s military action against India in the early hours of the day.

More than 50 people were also injured in the region, the authority says.

Tensions between India and Pakistan, both of whom rule Kashmir in part, have escalated since India struck “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s foreign minister says his country would consider de-escalation if India end strikes

Indian army personnel stand next to explosives, carried by a drone, after it was intercepted by India, on the outskirts of Amritsar, on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)
Indian army personnel stand next to explosives, carried by a drone, after it was intercepted by India, on the outskirts of Amritsar, on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Narinder NANU / AFP)

Pakistan’s foreign minister says his country would consider de-escalation if India stopped further attacks.

However, Ishaq Dar warns that if India launched any strikes, “our response will follow.”

Dar tells Pakistan’s Geo News that he also conveyed this message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he contacted him after speaking to New Delhi two hours ago.

“We responded because our patience had reached its limit. If they stop here, we will also consider stopping,” he says.

Rubio urges India, Pakistan to communicate to ‘avoid miscalculation’

Damaged vehicles are pictured following overnight Pakistani artillery shelling in Jammu on May 10, 2025.  (Photo by Rakesh BAKSHI / AFP)
Damaged vehicles are pictured following overnight Pakistani artillery shelling in Jammu on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Rakesh BAKSHI / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urges India and Pakistan to restore direct lines of communication to “avoid miscalculation” in their growing conflict, the State Department says.

In separate telephone calls with the rivals’ foreign ministers, Rubio “emphasized that both sides need to identify methods to de-escalate and re-establish direct communication to avoid miscalculation,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce says.

G7 urges maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan amid escalating fighting

The Group of Seven major countries urges maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan and calls on them to engage in direct dialogue amid rising hostilities between the two nuclear-armed Asian neighbors.

S&P reaffirms Israel’s credit rating after downgrades in 2024, outlook stays ‘negative’

The S&P Global logo is seen outside a building in Washington, on July 25, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP)
The S&P Global logo is seen outside a building in Washington, on July 25, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP)

S&P reaffirms Israel’s A/A-1 credit rating — which it downgraded twice last year — while keeping its outlook negative, warning that “the conflict between Israel, Hamas, and other proxies of Iran could substantially weaken Israel’s economy, public finances, and balance-of-payments position, particularly if the conflict escalates.”

“We could lower our ratings on Israel in the next 24 months if the military conflicts hamper the country’s economic growth, fiscal position, and balance of payments more than we currently anticipate,” the credit ratings agency writes in its report. “This could be the case, for example, if the ongoing conflict persists, raising the risks of retaliatory attacks against Israel, or if the prospect of a direct war between Israel and Iran increases.”

Despite these risks, S&P says it could revise the outlook to stable from negative “if we observed a reduced likelihood of military escalation and broader security risks reduced.”

Former EU top diplomat Borrell accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks to the press as he arrives for a meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Brussels on November 19, 2024. (NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks to the press as he arrives for a meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Brussels on November 19, 2024. (NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP)

The European Union’s former foreign policy chief accuses Israel of “genocide” during the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“We’re facing the largest ethnic cleansing operation since the end of the second world war in order to create a splendid holiday destination once all the millions of tons of rubble have been cleared from Gaza and the Palestinians have died or gone away,” Joesp Borrell says, in apparent reference to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a Middle Eastern “Riveria.”

“Three times more explosive power has been dropped on Gaza than was used in the Hiroshima bomb,” he continues, according to the Guardian. “And for months now, nothing has been getting into Gaza. Nothing: no water, no food, no electricity, no fuel, no medical services. That’s what [Benjamin] Netanyau’s ministers have said and it’s what they’ve done.”

“We all know what’s going on there, and we’ve all heard the objectives stated by Netanyau’s ministers​, which are clear declarations of genocidal intent. Seldom have I heard the leader of a state so clearly outline a plan that fits the legal definition of genocide.”

8-year-old killed, several others hurt in shooting on wedding convoy near Tel Sheva

An eight-year-old boy was shot dead near the southern city of Tel Sheva while partaking in a wedding convoy Friday, police and paramedics say.

The shooting injured six other people, one who is in serious condition, the other five with minor injuries.

The victim, Yousef Awad Abu Rqayiq, succumbed to his wounds after being taken by paramedics to Soroka Medical Center.

Haaretz reports that eyewitnesses say the boy was shot at close range, raising police’s suspicions that he was the intended target of the shooting, which officers speculate was a revenge attack related to feuding criminal groups in Bedouin society.

Police say that large number of forces from the Southern District are operating in Tel Sheva and its surrounding area to probe the incident and locate suspects.

Violent crime in Arab society has spiraled in recent years, claiming 91 lives since the start of 2025.

Earlier this week, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported an 84% jump in the number of Arab community homicides compared to the same time last year, citing the Abraham Initiatives organization.

Trump says US to maintain 10% tariff ‘baseline’ even after trade deals reached

US President Donald Trump says that the United States will maintain a baseline 10 percent tariff on imports even after trade deals are struck, adding there could be exemptions when countries offer significant trade terms.

Trump says to expect new trade deals in the coming weeks, but “we always have a baseline of 10%.”

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