May 13: ‘Torch-dousing’ ceremony, rally for hostages counter state independence confab

Amsterdam University closed for 2 days after masked anti-Israel activists storm building in violent sit-in

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – The University of Amsterdam says it will remain closed for two days, after police moved in to end an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protest at one of its campuses earlier today.

The university’s board says it had cancelled all classes tomorrow and Wednesday and will close all buildings, as it says it cannot guarantee safety for those on campus.

The university has been the scene of violent clashes between protesters and riot police three times in the past week, as activists who demand that the university cuts all ties with Israeli institutions blocked and occupied campuses.

Today’s protest started as a walk out by university staff and students in response to the violent end to an occupation of a university building on Wednesday.

The university’s board says this protest was peaceful until a group of masked outsiders joined the original group and started blocking entrances and emergency exits, causing serious damage to the building and its library.

Dit is geen demonstratie, dit is mob rule. Een paar extreem vernielzuchtige klootzakjes en een heleboel onverschillige domme meelopers. En één opportunistisch wijf dat een koekschap staat te plunderen. pic.twitter.com/euB3gY4a1j

— Bart Nijman (@BartNijman) May 13, 2024

The protests join a wave of unrest on US university campuses, where students set up anti-Israel protest encampments and called for their schools to dives from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Sinwar ran secret police force with network of informants to quash dissent in Gaza — report

Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, greets his supporters during a meeting with leaders of Palestinian factions at his office in Gaza City, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/ Adel Hana/ File)

Internal Hamas documents reveal that the terror group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has been running a secret police force that conducts surveillance on Palestinian civilians in order to quash dissent, according to a US newspaper report.

The report in The New York Times, which reviewed a 62-slide presentation on the activities of Sinwar’s General Security Service, says that the force built dossiers on “young people, journalists and those who questioned the government.”

The unit relied on a network of informants who reported Palestinians for publicly criticizing Hamas, protesting, or “carrying on romantic relationships outside marriage,” according to the New York Times.

“The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent,” the report says.

‘Completely and utterly unacceptable behavior’: US slams right-wing activists blocking Gaza aid trucks

Right-wing activists look at damaged trucks that were carrying humanitarian aid supplies on the Israeli side of the Tarqumiyah crossing with the West Bank on May 13, 2024, after they were vandalized by other activists to protest against aid being sent to Gaza while Israeli hostages are being held there by terror groups. (Oren Ziv/AFP)

Washington has raised with Israel an incident of protesters blocking aid trucks headed for Gaza, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel says, adding that humanitarian assistance into the enclave should not be impeded.

The Tzav 9 activist group, which seeks to end transfers of humanitarian supplies into Gaza as long as Israelis are held hostage there, blocked a shipment as it traversed the Turkumiya checkpoint between the southern West Bank and Israel earlier today.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan also comments on the incident, saying, “It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these conveys. It is completely and utterly unacceptable behavior.”

Former US military intel official says he resigned over Washington’s support for Israel in Gaza war

A former US military intelligence official says that his November resignation was in fact due to “moral injury” stemming from Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and the harm caused to Palestinians.

In a letter to his colleagues at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Harrison Mann, an Army major, says he kept quiet about his motives for resigning for months out of fear.

“I was afraid. Afraid of violating our professional norms. Afraid of disappointing officers I respect. Afraid you would feel betrayed. I’m sure some of you will feel that way reading this,” Mann writes in a letter shared with colleagues last month and published on his LinkedIn profile today.

WOW. Another resignation from the Biden Admin just hit, this time from a uniformed officer, U.S. Army Major Harrison Mann. Read is letter here: pic.twitter.com/4cUxB7QhoX

— Tariq Habash (@tariqhabash_) May 13, 2024

He is the first known DIA official to quit over US support to Israel.

The Defense Intelligence Agency does not respond to a request for comment.

Mann’s case differs from other US government officials, including several State Department officials, who publicly deplored US policy as they resigned rather than waiting months to explain their departure.

He says he felt shame and guilt for helping advance US policy that he said contributed to the mass killing of Palestinians.

“At some point — whatever the justification — you’re either advancing a policy that enables the mass starvation of children, or you’re not,” Mann writes.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and 78,827 injured in Israel’s resulting military offensive in Gaza, according to unconfirmed figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Hezbollah chief: Displaced Israelis won’t return to their homes in the north if Gaza war persists

A supporter films a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with a mobile phone as speaking via a video link, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatens that residents of northern Israel will not be able to return home for the start of the next school year in September if the government presses on with its fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.

“The link between the supportive Lebanese front and Gaza is definitive, final, and conclusive,” he says in a televised address. “No one will be able to de-link them.”

Around 60,000 residents of towns and villages along Israel’s northern border have been forced from their homes since October due to near-daily cross-border rocket and anti-tank missile attacks by Hezbollah and other terrorists in southern Lebanon.

Nasrallah addresses the displaced Israelis, saying, “If you want to solve the issue, go to your government and tell them to stop the war on Gaza.”

White House: We don’t believe Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza war

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says President Joe Biden’s administration does not view the killings of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel during the war with Hamas as a genocide.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Sullivan says the US wants to see Hamas defeated, that Palestinians caught in the middle of the war were in “hell,” and that a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be a mistake.

“We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We have been firmly on record rejecting that proposition,” Sullivan says.

JUST IN—National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan:

"We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide." pic.twitter.com/qsjOJKhsZJ

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 13, 2024

Reiterating a comment Biden made over the weekend, Sullivan says there could be a ceasefire in Gaza now if Hamas would release hostages.

The world should be calling on Hamas to return to the negotiating table and accept a deal, he says, adding that Washington is working urgently for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, but cannot predict when or if such an agreement will be sealed.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many in acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Health authorities in Gaza say over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, though figures issued by the Hamas-run health ministry cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires.

An estimated 15,000 terror operatives have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to Israeli officials. The IDF also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

The IDF says 267 soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and in operations along the Gaza border.

Israel last week offered PA to take part in operating Rafah Border Crossing; proposal reportedly rejected

A tank with an Israeli flag on it enters the Gazan side of the Rafah Border Crossing on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

Israel last week offered the Palestinian Authority to send representatives to take part in running the Rafah Border Crossing, according to four senior American, Israeli, and Palestinian officials quoted in a report published by the Walla and Axios news sites.

The offer came on the condition that the representatives not act officially on behalf of the PA, according to the report.

A US official confirms the report to The Times of Israel.

Sky News Arabic reports that the PA rejected the offer.

Axios quotes an unnamed source as saying that Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar has told his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, that Israel wants to reopen the Rafah Crossing, but will not allow Hamas to return to the area.

The Rafah Crossing has been closed since Monday, when Israel seized the Palestinian side of it in an early morning raid. Egypt has since suspended the transfer of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and is demanding Israel withdraw forces from the crossing.

The proposal marks the first time since war erupted with Hamas’s October 7 massacre that Israel has offered the PA to be involved in the management of the Gaza Strip.

The US sees the PA as a key part of its preferred plans for post-war Gaza, on a pathway to a two-state solution with Israel.

‘Am Yisrael Chai’ in Hebrew, Arabic and English: 3 influencers light Independence Day torches

Three outspoken advocates for Israel — especially since Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza — light a torch during Israel’s 76th Independence Day ceremony, reciting “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel lives) in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Yoseph Haddad is Arab-Israeli influencer and social activist; Ella Keinan is a blogger and influencer, who came up with the #HamasisISIS hashtag, and Nathanial Buzolic is an Australian actor and born-again Christian who has visited Israel several times since October 7.

את המשואה הזו הדלקנו שלושתינו אבל היא בשמם של מאות אלפי הפעילים שלוקחים חלק בהסברה הישראלית ופועלים בזירה הזו בלי הפסקה ובנחישות אדירה!
המשואה הזו שייכת לכולכם???????????? pic.twitter.com/FgTCPQVJN5

— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) May 13, 2024

IDF marching display features hostages ribbon along with menorah, Israeli flag

IDF soldiers form the pattern of the hostages ribbon during the official Independence Day ceremony, May 13, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

At Israel’s annual Independence Day ceremony, IDF soldiers engage in a marching display, with flags, in formation, in a “76” pattern in honor of the country’s 76th year, a menorah, a Star of David, an Israeli flag, and a ribbon patterned after symbol in support of the hostages.

Among those marching are members of the Knesset Guard, the participation of which was initially withdrawn, due to a spat between Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who organized this year’s event.

Israel’s 76th year ‘marked by enormous pain and loss’ — Herzog to Diaspora Jews

Israel’s 76th year “has been marked by enormous pain and loss,” not just for the residents of the Jewish state “but for Jewish communities throughout the world,” President Isaac Herzog declares in a special greeting to Jewish Diaspora communities on Israel’s 76th Independence Day.

Citing the “murder, torture, rape, and abduction of hundreds of our people by Hamas,” the grief over Israel’s fallen and the “shocking scale of the reemergence of antisemitism in so many forms throughout the world,” Herzog says in a video posted online that “there is no question that this year, our Yom Ha’atzma’ut celebrations are different.”

But while the past seven months have been filled with suffering, they have “also been a time of important achievements,” he declares. ” They have reminded us why we rose up from tragedy and found the strength and determination to establish a beautiful and beloved national home — the miracle that is the State of Israel.”

“They have reminded us, also, of our core qualities, of our power as a people to stand up, again and again, against hatred. To survive and speak our truth. Of our deep and sustaining caring for one another. Of our connection to the call that we have carried across the ages: To do good, to pursue peace, tikkun olam, and to repair our fractured world,” he says.

“My friends, we have seen our people step forward this year for one another. To offer one another protection, support, empathy, and care and love. We have shown that we truly belong to one another. And that, no matter what happens, we can tap into deep resources of caring, connection, love and belonging.

“May we continue to raise our voices and fight for what matters — for the immediate release of our hostages. For our safety and our future in a thriving and secure Jewish and democratic State of Israel, and for a world of peace, harmony, and goodwill.”

October 7 survivors, hostage families, grieving parents extinguish torches for Independence Day

Eyal Eshel extinguishes a torch at an alternative Independence Day ceremony in Binyamina on May 13, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/ The Times of Israel)

Eyal Eshel, whose daughter Roni was murdered at a military base on October 7, extinguishes a torch at an alternative Independence Day ceremony attended by over 1,000 in Binyamina.

“I hereby extinguish the torch of the sin of conceit,” says Eshel.

The gesture is part of an initiative co-organized by Noam Dan, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is presumed to be held in Gaza.

The ceremony, led by journalists Jackey Levi and Lucy Aharish, features the ceremonial extinguishing of torches by multiple speakers who accuse the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the army’s top echelon for allowing Hamas terrorist to murder some 1,200 people and abduct another 252 on October 7.

Michal Lahav, a resident of Kibbutz Gadot who has been evacuated from her home for the past seven months, accuses the government of “abandoning the north” to Hezbollah’s rockets before bringing down a large douter, an implement to snuff out flame, on one of the burning torches.

Ravid Menashe, a leader of the Building an Alternative Feminist and anti-government group, extinguishes a torch for “the abandonment of the personal safety of women.”

She accuses the government of “appropriating the suffering of women to justify the war” on Hamas while “sabotaging deals to retrieve the female hostages undergoing abuse daily.”

Lior and Amos Alon, survivors of the massacre in Be’eri, extinguish what they call “the torch of indifference,” as Lior says the gesture is “make sure that those whom lead Israel now will no longer lead it going forward.”

עוד מסימני הממשלה האנטי-ציונית של בנגביר-נתניהו:

משטרת ישראל אסרה להכניס דגלי ישראל לטקס כיבוי המשואות שמתקיים כעת באמפי שוני, בהובלת משפחות חטופים (אלטרנטיבה הולמת לטקס המוקלט של מירי רגב).

שימו לב לקהל בתמונה: אין אפילו דגל ישראל אחד. ???????? דרשו מכולם להפקיד אותם בכניסה.

למי יש… pic.twitter.com/2zyq1favqd

— Nava Rozolyo נאווה רוזוליו (@rozolyo) May 13, 2024

Oldest active IDF reservist, 95, lights Independence Day torch: ‘The people of Israel are eternal’

Ezra Yachin, Israel's oldest active reserve soldier, lights a torch for Israel's 76th Independence Day, May 13, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Lighting a torch representing “victory of the spirit,” 95-year old Ezra Yachin, the oldest active duty reservist in the Israeli army, says that he is celebrating the “spirit of heroism” that has marked Jews “from generation to generation.”

“I am proud to serve until this day as a loyal soldier,” he declares. “The people of Israel are eternal.”

A former member of the underground Lehi militia who enlisted at the age of 15 and was wounded in the War of Independence, Yachin returned to uniform following October 7 to share his experiences with current IDF soldiers.

"לכבוד רוח העם שלעולם לא נשברת. לכבוד היכולת להאמין, ולראות את הטוב בחברה הישראלית. לכבוד האחדות": איריס חיים, רביב כנר, עברי לידר, חיים אוליאל ועזרא יכין – השיאו את משואת הרוח@yairweinreb pic.twitter.com/gOcjo2uDZj

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 13, 2024

Greek PM tells Erdogan: ‘Let’s agree to disagree’ on whether Hamas is a terror group

Greece and Turkey cannot agree on all issues related to the ongoing war in Gaza, but they can agree that violence must end, and that a long-term ceasefire is needed, Greece’s prime minister says after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

“Let’s agree to disagree,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis says, after Erdogan expressed sadness over the Greek view that deems Hamas a terrorist organization.

The Iran-backed group is designated as a terrorist organization by a host of countries including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, along with the European Union.

‘Our hope is not yet lost’: 100,000 gather in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to mark Independence Day

Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza since October 7, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on the eve of Israel's 76th independence day, May 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

An estimated 100,000 people are gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square to mark Israel’s 76th Independence Day, with family members of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7.

The rally opens with a speech from former politician Haim Jelin, who leads the crowd in a Yizkor memorial prayer adapted to address Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which devastated southern communities, including Kibbutz Be’eri, where Jelin resided.

Those participating in the rally, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, united by the plight of the 132 hostages still languishing in Hamas captivity, are nevertheless gathered under a hopeful slogan: “Our hope is not yet lost.”

כיכר החטופים עכשיו. הרבה כאב וגם קצת תקווה. החזירו אותם בכל מחיר! pic.twitter.com/qzK4ppLiE1

— Erez Herzl Ruder????️ (@Ein_ZoAgada) May 13, 2024

Rabbi Zvi Hasid, the director-general of ZAKA rescue service, said that although this moment may be one of “mourning, crying, tears,” there is still a place for hope, assuring the crowd that from the “despair and destruction… the Jewish people will grow and fulfill its glory.”

“We see this in the last generation as well — from the Holocaust came a rebirth, and the Jewish people returned to its land and founded a state,” he adds.

Rabbi Tamir Granot, who leads the crowd in a prayer for the safety of the hostages and soldiers, concurs with the rescue organization head.

“When everything is good, when there is no anger or pain, one doesn’t need hope. It’s possible just to live well,” he says. “Exactly when it hurts, when we are angry, when the heart burns, when there is tension, when our children are captives under cruel enemies, we need that material called hope.”

Sharon Sharabi, the brother of Eli and the late Yossi Sharabi, who were both captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7, the latter likely killed mistakenly by the IDF in Gaza, lauds the audience gathered before the stage.

Sharon Sharabi, brother of Hamas hostages Eli and the late Yossi Sharabi, speaks onstage at an Independence Day rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on May 13, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Sharabi tells the crowd that “we don’t feel independence tonight, but we feel each other, that everyone is looking at the person next to him and honoring the other.”

He honors his late brother, Yossi, who he calls the “heart of the family,” noting that he “cared for [other hostages] Ofir Engel and Amit Shani so that they wouldn’t be beaten in captivity, who every day gave up half a pita to give to the children [in captivity] so that they wouldn’t starve.”

“That is mutual responsibility, and for that we are all standing here. For Yossi, all the captives, and God willing, for Eli who will return,” he says.

In Independence Day address, Knesset speaker tells Oct. 7 hostages: We’re working every day to bring you home

Addressing the hostages in Gaza during the official state ceremony marking the country’s 76th Independence Day, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana declares, “The State of Israel was not there on October 7 in its full strength and power as we all expected it to be, but since then, it has been working every day to return you home to your families.”

“All of those serving in all the security forces of the State of Israel are fighting tirelessly for your release. All Israelis are looking forward to your return. All synagogues in Israel and in the Diaspora are praying for your peace. We will not despair and we will not give up — you, please, do not lose hope,” he appeals.

For a hundred generations the Jewish people “were a child without a home, a nation without a country,” but “we were privileged to be born into another world,” Ohana continues. “A world in which there is a state for the Jews, whose independence we celebrate tonight. A country that, even if we have arguments about its nature, whose existence is all of our good fortune.”

Turning to the current political situation, Ohana states that the last time the Independence Day ceremony was held without an audience was during the pandemic and just like during COVID-19, today another pandemic “threatens us — the plague of strife, polarization, and bigotry.”

But while Israelis were able to put away many of the political differences of the past year following October 7, “we have not yet completed the journey,” he says, insisting that “our enemies had hoped and still hope that the quarrel will intensify, until it will be an opportunity for them to unite and hit us with all their strength.”

But while internecine fighting led to the end of the Second Jewish Commonwealth, “this is not fate,” and “it is also possible that in the book of the chronicles of the Jewish people we will write — together — a new chapter, the chapter of unity.”

“We will have to shout less and listen more, even to our political opponents. These too proved that they are ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will have to meet at the Shaar HaGay interchange,” he insists.

“These are fateful days for our future as a country and a people. We learned in the last year that for our small and threatened nation, unity is not a luxury. It is a basic need,” like air or water.

Netanyahu calls for victory over Hamas in pre-recorded video message for Israel’s 76th Independence Day

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a pre-recorded address to mark Israel's 76th Independence Day, May 13, 2024. (Screenshot/PMO)

Tying the current war in Gaza to Israel’s War of Independence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a call for full victory over Hamas in a pre-recorded video message broadcast during the official state ceremony marking the country’s 76th Independence Day.

“Seventy-six years ago, in the War of Independence, we stood alone. Few against many. Five Arab armies invaded our territory to eliminate the country that had just been born. We were poor in weapons, almost without means. But we had one secret weapon: the spirit of the ages, the life force of an ancient people that refuses to die,” he states.

“Thanks to this spirit, we defeated our enemies and secured our existence. Today we are infinitely stronger. But the desire to destroy us has not gone away; it is still here. We saw it this year on October 7. This is no ordinary Independence Day. The war is still going on. It was imposed on us on a black day of a terrible massacre.”

Noting that many Israelis are still held hostage in Gaza and that thousands of residents of the north and south are still unable to return home, Netanyahu claims that, despite everything that has happened, “many” of the families of the fallen have told him that “our heroes did not fall in vain” and called on him to “continue to the end, continue until the Hamas monsters are eliminated.”

“Although this is not a normal Independence Day, it is a special opportunity to understand the meaning of our independence. The independence to be a free people in our country. The independence to protect ourselves on our own. The independence to realize the decree of the generations: never again,” he adds.

???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/2DJky3PLql

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 13, 2024

Some families of hostages held in Gaza since October 7 mark Independence Day with alternative ceremony

Holding up signs that read, “No hostages, no independence,” more than 1,000 people attend an alternative Independence Day ceremony at a Roman amphitheater near Binyamina.

The event, co-organized by a relative of a man who is presumed to be held hostage in Gaza, is meant to serve as an alternative to the annual, government-organized Independence Day ceremony held in Jerusalem.

שוני מלא וגדוש.
גיל לוין. pic.twitter.com/k0EmXTE21k

— Ben Caspit בן כספית (@BenCaspit) May 13, 2024

“While the government holds an ostentatious parade that is cowardly, contemptuous, disconnected and without audience, families of the hostages and concerned citizens hold a dignified and appropriate ceremony that is plugged into the public sentiment,” reads a statement by co-organizer Noam Dan, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon was abducted to Gaza on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

The event features a ceremonial extinguishing of torches, a negative image of the traditional lighting of torches at the Jerusalem ceremony. The torches signify “abandonment, neglect, disregard, and desertion,” the organizers say.

But some relatives of hostages criticized the extinguishing as inappropriate and contrarian.

“It’s a shocking gesture,” says Yaron Or, whose son Avinatan Or is also presumed to be held hostages. “If illuminating torches celebrates the successes, then extinguishing is the opposite message. We don’t extinguish torches. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” Yaron tells The Times of Israel, in response for a request for a comment.

Nasrallah: Israel faces ‘historic dilemma’ in Gaza war — either defeat or the abyss

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah says that Israel is facing a “historical dilemma” in Gaza — “if it halts the war, it will be a major defeat, and it will move into an abyss if it continues the military battle,” according to the Lebanon-based terror group’s al-Manar TV

In a televised address, Nasrallah says that Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel was “a chance to revitalize the Palestinian cause.”

He also says that the “steadfastness of women, children and resistance fighters in Gaza” have helped to reverse processes of normalization between Israel and moderate Arab countries, without naming them.

“Nowadays, Palestine and the Palestinian rights are being highlighted all over the world,” Nasrallah is quoted as saying.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.

IDF footage shows rocket flying from launcher targeted by fighter jets in southern Lebanon

Footage released by the IDF shows a rocket flying from a launcher targeted by fighter jets in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab a short while ago.

Another rocket launcher was hit in the same area, the military says.

The IDF says it identified secondary blasts and rockets flying out of the site following the strike, indicating that the launchers were primed for attacks on Israel.

Several rockets were also launched at northern Israel in the past hour, setting off sirens in the Upper Galilee.

The IDF says there are no injuries in the attack.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר שני משגרים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון.
כתוצאה מהתקיפה, זוהו מהמשגר שיגורים ופיצוצי משנה אשר העידו על הימצאות אמל"ח במשגר שהיה מוכן לשיגור>> pic.twitter.com/3VJwJC3sPa

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 13, 2024

UN spokesman defends reduction of Gaza death toll: Figures ‘can vary based on Hamas verification process’

People inspect an impact crater at the site of a building that was hit by Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 8, 2024. (AFP)

A United Nations spokesman defends a recent revision to the death toll breakdown cited the organization’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which reduced by almost half the number of women and children it had previously said were killed during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Farhan Aziz Haq, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, tells Fox News Digital that the figures were based on data provided by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, and that the breakdowns “can vary based on their own verification process that they undertake.”

“The United Nations teams on the ground in Gaza are unable to independently verify those figures, given the prevailing situation on the ground and the sheer volume of fatalities,” the spokesman adds.

An infographic issued by OCHA on Wednesday placed the total broader Gaza war toll at 34,844 with 7,797 (32%) of the casualties being children and 4,959 (20%) of them being women. In an infographic released two days earlier, the broader death toll was 34,735 with over 14,500 (42%) of them being children and over 9,500 (27%) women.

The Fox report notes that the UN uses the unverified death tolls “to formulate its policies and agenda.”

Israeli officials say that an estimated 15,000 terror operatives have been killed in Gaza amid the war.

WATCH: Independence Day broadcast begins with torch lighting in communities attacked on Oct. 7

The annual Independence Day ceremony broadcast begins with the lighting of torches in southern communities Kfar Aza, Hof Zikim, Sderot, Nahal Oz, and other locations affected on October 7.

One of the torches is lit in Moshav Tekuma, next to a giant stack of burned cars destroyed on the highway during the Hamas attack.

This year, most of the ceremony was prerecorded.

Israel transitions from Memorial Day to Independence Day, with muted celebrations planned

The ceremony to mark the transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day begins at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, with a muted tone, after the October 7 massacre and the ongoing war in Gaza.

The ceremony was filmed in advance without a live audience.

The traditional torch-lighting by notable individuals, which usually takes place at the ceremony on Mount Herzl, is instead being held inside Gaza border communities attacked on October 7, as well as on Israel Defense Forces bases that were targeted in the Hamas attack and suffered heavy losses.

This is being done in order to reflect “the overall public atmosphere of bereavement, loss and deep pain of the people of Israel,” according to an official statement.

In Tel Aviv, said Mayor Ron Huldai, there will be no fireworks and fewer events, most of them focused within neighborhoods, instead of large central gatherings.

Muted celebrations are also expected in numerous other towns.

Jerusalem will not have any fireworks this year, said a municipality spokesperson, although the city’s Cinematheque theater announced it will continue its cinematic tradition of singalongs and an Israeli cinema quiz on Tuesday afternoon, an event co-sponsored by the municipality.

Erdogan: Over 1,000 Hamas members being treated in hospitals in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis upon his arrival prior to a meeting in Ankara, May 13, 2024. (Photo by Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says that more than 1,000 members of the Palestinian terror group Hamas are being treated in hospitals across Turkey, reiterating his stance that Hamas is a “resistance movement.”

Speaking at a press conference after talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Ankara, Erdogan also says he was saddened by the Greek view of Hamas a terrorist organization.

Hamas has had an office in Turkey since 2011 when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the terror group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Iran-backed group is designated as a terrorist organization by a host of countries including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada along with the European Union.

Report: Junior Israeli diplomats are back in Turkey despite deterioration in ties

Israel has reportedly sent several junior diplomats back to Turkey, amid a deterioration in ties between Jerusalem and Ankara over the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Ynet news site reports that Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, Irit Lillian, has not returned to Ankara.

“There is indeed a diplomatic presence that remains there,” a diplomatic source tells The Times of Israel.

Blinken congratulates Israel on eve of Independence Day: ‘America was the first country to recognize Israel in 1948’

On the eve of Independence Day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is among the first world leaders to congratulate Israel.

“In this solemn moment of immense suffering from all those affected by the current conflict, mourning and intense longing for the return of Israel’s hostages, we remain committed to advancing a vision for peace, security, and prosperity for Israel and the region,” he says in a statement.

“The US was the first country to recognize Israeli statehood when Israel declared independence in 1948. Our history of shared democratic values, trade, deep cultural ties, and commitment to regional security has provided the basis for our countries’ strong partnership and friendship,” Blinken adds.

“Please accept our congratulations on the 76th anniversary of the State of Israel. Yom Atzmaut Sameach!”

Activists hang fake death notices outside ministers’ homes, blaming them for deaths of 620 soldiers

In a Memorial Day protest, mothers of Israel Defense Forces soldiers hang imitation death notices outside the homes of multiple politicians, blaming them for the deaths of 620 soldiers during and since Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

“Every one of the fallen soldiers, and those that will be added to the list, every family that becomes a mourning family, every death, every grave, every one of them is on you,” the sign reads.

“It turns out, the combination of fear and rage is a maternal engine for action,” the group “Awake Moms” says in a post on Facebook.

Photos on social media show the signs hung near the homes of lawmakers including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, and Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis, along with a number of MKs.

אמהות ללוחמים מתנועת "אמא ערה" תלו "מודעות אבל" על דלתות בתיהם של חברי ממשלה: "אתם אחראים על 620 קברי החללים, זה במשמרת שלכם" pic.twitter.com/SPwUMIpV3g

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) May 12, 2024

High Court rejects petition to halt state comptroller probe into October 7 failings

File- State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman at the Federation of Local Authorities conference in Tel Aviv, December 7, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice decides not to issue a temporary order prohibiting State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman from proceeding with his investigation of the multiple failings of October 7.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed a petition to the court in February asking that it order the state comptroller to freeze his investigation until after the war, arguing it would harm the war effort by distracting IDF commanders from managing the current war, and interfere with a future state commission of enquiry into the military, intelligence, and policy disaster of the Hamas attack.

High Court Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz tells the State Comptroller’s Office, the IDF chief of staff, and the head of the Shin Bet to respond to the petition by June 8.

“I did not see [a reason], at this stage, to provide temporary relief,” she says of the request to have the state comptroller halt his probe.

Canfy-Steinitz does, however, tell the IDF chief of staff and the head of the Shin Bet to provide the state comptroller with the classified information that they have said demonstrates that the investigation requested by Englman would harm state security, by May 20.

Said Englman’s office in response: “The state comptroller expects that the chief of staff and all other officials under review to instruct their people to fulfill the obligation incumbent upon them under Basic Law: The State Comptroller and cooperate fully with the representatives of the State Comptroller’s Office, just as other security agencies have done.”

Police in riot gear move in to end anti-Israel protest at Amsterdam university

Police move in to end an anti-Israel demonstration at the University of Amsterdam after protesters occupied university buildings in various Dutch cities to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza, ANP news agency reports.

Videos posted on X, formerly Twitter, show a row of police officers in riot gear with K-9 dogs forcing a crowd of protesters down a street next to an Amsterdam canal.

Vegen in #Amsterdam. Er vallen rake klappen. Menigte is meerdere keren gevraagd om te vertrekken, maar gaf hier geen gehoor aan. #UvA #walkout #ontruiming. #Roeterseiland. pic.twitter.com/XYL83lVVUu

— Owen (@_owenobrien_) May 13, 2024

In a post on social media site X, Amsterdam police say the university has filed a police report against the protesters for acts of vandalism.

Police are making sure no one can enter the university buildings and will ask protesters to leave the premises voluntarily, the post adds.

A spokesperson for the University of Amsterdam (UvA) confirms the occupation and says it advised people not affiliated with the protest to leave the building.

Earlier today, a Dutch protest group said it had occupied university buildings in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Groningen and Eindhoven.

IDF: Five soldiers, Defense Ministry contractor seriously wounded in separate Gaza incidents

Two soldiers of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit were seriously wounded by mortars launched by Hamas in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier today, the military says.

Another six troops were moderately hurt in the same incident.

A Defense Ministry contractor was seriously hurt and another two employees were lightly hurt in another incident in southern Gaza, the military adds.

The IDF also reports that last night, a soldier of the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion was seriously wounded during a gun battle with operatives in the northern Gaza Strip.

Separately on Tuesday, the IDF says two troops of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion were seriously wounded in an “operational accident” on the Gaza border, near the border community of Nir Am. The troops had been hurt during IDF strikes in the area.

Security volunteer shouts at elderly man protesting Ben Gvir at Memorial Day ceremony in Ashdod

A volunteer providing security at a Memorial Day ceremony in Ashdod screams at an elderly protester objecting to the presence of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

The armed volunteer, who is dressed in green fatigues and wearing a police cap, confronts the protester, who complains that the controversial cabinet member is a follower of the late ultranationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane.

“I’m a Kahanist,” the policeman yells at the protester, slapping himself on the chest.

A video of the incident filmed by the Times of Israel has been viewed more than 111,000 times, generating harsh criticism of the police.

Outside the cemetery in Ashdod, a policeman responds to a protester angry at the presence of Kahanist minister Ben Gvir. The policeman yells that he is also a Kahanist pic.twitter.com/kAvJakbj7y

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) May 13, 2024

“This filth will certainly be promoted, certainly not suspended,” tweets far-left Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif. “And then they will say that the police are not a Nazi militia. The Israeli SS is already under construction.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, Yisrael Beytenu MK Evgeny Sova — whose party recently attempted to impeach Cassif — tells The Times of Israel that “it is especially sad and worrying when someone dressed in the policeman’s uniform with a cap identifying him as a policeman prides himself on belonging to a racist and messianic ideology.”

Ben Gvir is a follower of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the now- banned Kach party, which advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians and Arab-Israelis.

Ben Gvir has previously been convicted for incitement to violence and supporting a terror group for distributing stickers that read “Expel the Arab enemy” and “Kahane was right.” He was not accepted for compulsory service in the IDF because of far-right activism in his youth.

Until several years ago, he hung a photograph of Jewish mass murderer Baruch Goldstein, perpetrator of a 1994 massacre of 29 Muslim worshipers at Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs, on the wall of his home.

Asked for comment. the Israel Police release the following statement:

“During [today’s] Memorial Day events, the police acted with great sensitivity in the face of every attempt at provocations and deliberate disturbances. This is due to the great importance of the events to the bereaved families and to the citizens of Israel in general across the country and in Ashdod in particular.”

“The event is not shown in its entirety and the video shows a part of it, in that the citizen tried several times to provoke the police including the volunteer member of the standby squad… On a day charged with emotions everyone is expected to behave with tolerance. This case will be examined and lessons will be drawn accordingly.”

A spokesman for Ben Gvir did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

Drone alert sirens sound in northern towns near Lebanon border

Drone alert sirens sound in northern towns near the border with Lebanon, warning of a suspected hostile aircraft intrusion.

The alarms are heard in communities including Fassuta, Alkosh, Abirim and Netua.

Red Alert [16:58:11] – 4 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Fassuta, Alkosh, Abirim, Netua#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/gSEorU9Pcg

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 13, 2024

Netanyahu: Ratio of Hamas combatants to Gazan civilians killed in ongoing war is about 1:1

Netanyahu says the ratio of Hamas combatants to Gazan civilians killed in the ongoing war is about one to one.

“Fourteen thousand have been killed, combatants, and, probably around sixteen thousand civilians have been killed,” he tells Dan Senor on the Call Me Back podcast.

He says that condemnation of Israel’s conduct of the war is incompatible with supporting Israel’s right to go after Hamas: “You cannot say that you support the right of Israel to defend itself and then condemn it when it seeks to exercise that right.”

Netanyahu says that Israel will operate in Gaza for a long time to prevent Hamas from reemerging.

“You don’t have to reoccupy it. You just have to demilitarize it actively. And you know, the distances are so small. So you go in, you go out. Or you remain where you have to be.”

The next stage is to find another civil administration in Gaza and his hope, says Netanyahu, is to use locals unaffiliated with Hamas with the support of Arab states.

But none of that will happen, argues Netanyahu, until Hamas is defeated.

“No one’s going to come in, until they know that you either destroyed Hamas, or you’re about to destroy Hamas. And that’s a certainty. Because, because if they think Hamas is going to emerge from the rubble and retake Gaza, they’re not going to commit suicide.”

Netanyahu has come under criticism for being unwilling to articulate and advance a clear plan for an alternative government to Hamas in Gaza.

Once Hamas is eliminated, says Netanyahu, new opportunities will present themselves, including the expansion of the Abraham Accords.

“That is not when every last Hamas fighter disappears, but when we vanquish them, destroy their organized battalions, and mop up the remaining places, and that’s going to take some time, but we can do it,” he pledges.

“We’re actually quite close to achieving that. We’re very close to achieving the destruction of the remaining Hamas battalions.”

Netanyahu: Perception of tension in US-Israel ties harms hostage deal talks; war would be over if Hamas surrenders, returns the hostages

The perception of tension in the US-Israel relationship is making it harder for Israel to reach a hostage deal with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a podcast episode released last night.

“That perception certainly doesn’t help the hostage situation, certainly doesn’t help stabilize the Middle East,” he tells Dan Senor on the Call Me Back podcast. “It gives succor to Iran and its henchmen. But it means that we have to apply the pressure even more.”

US President Joe Biden said last week that he had stopped sending certain munitions to Israel that could be used for an operation in the heart of Rafah. Israeli troops are expanding their limited incursion into Gaza’s southern border area.

“What do you do when you’re faced with such international pressure?” Netanyahu asks rhetorically. “I can say that in Israel’s history when faced with this kind of pressure then leaders did what they had to do. ”

Repeating a position he has expressed several times in recent days, Netanyahu says he deeply appreciates the support Israel has received from Biden – “but if we have to stand alone, we will do so because I’m the prime minister of Israel, the one and only Jewish state, and we will not go down.”

Netanyahu says that the fate of the free world depends on the direction America takes — whether anti-Israel protesters influence US policy, or whether Washington sticks with Israel.

“Where does America go?” he asks. “Does it succumb to this madness, to this mobocracy in those campuses, to this flagrant antisemitism that is sweeping the globe?”

“The fate of the world depends on where America goes,” Netanyahu stresses. “I think for the sake of humanity, for the sake of our common future, our common values, our civilization, it is very important that America retains its dominant position as the supreme global power. ”

Netanyahu says that America’s global position is being tested as part of the onslaught against Israel.

“These crowds, mobs in American universities. They burn the Israeli flag and they burn the American flag. They chant: ‘Death to Israel, death to America.’ So we’re fighting a common battle, a battle between civilization and barbarism.”

Netanyahu indicates that Israel is open to Hamas leaders going into exile after they surrender. “This war could be over tomorrow. If Hamas lays down its arms, surrenders, returns the hostages, the war is over.” Netanyahu says. “It’s up to them.”

He adds: “The idea of exile is there. We can always discuss it. But I think the most important thing is surrender.”

Netanyahu insists that it is “patent nonsense” that he has not prioritized hostage negotiations. “The charge is malicious. It’s false.”

Yisrael Beytenu MK eulogizes those who died trying to reach Israel

Speaking at the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum in Haifa, Yisrael Beytenu MK Evgeny Sova eulogizes those who died trying to reach the land of Israel and those who fell facilitating their immigration.

“Even before the establishment of the state, we already had heroes who sacrificed their lives for all of us. Those who fell on their way to the land of Israel, those who did everything for the immigration project and for the security of the land of Israel,” he says.

“Seventy-six years ago we declared our independence, but the war for independence continues to this very day,” he says. “The war imposed on us by the murderous terrorist organization Hamas on October 7 reminded us all that the independence of the State of Israel is not something to be taken for granted.”

“This day is hard for me. I accompanied bereaved families for many years as a journalist, I have been accompanying bereaved families for five years as a member of the Knesset, and I will continue to accompany you,” he continues.

“Unfortunately, in the last seven months it has not ended,” he adds, declaring that it is “our moral duty to do everything we can” to bring home the hostages.

“There is no victory without” them, he says. “As long as the hostages are in Gaza — this damned war will not end.”

UN vehicle comes under fire in Rafah, killing Palestinian driver and wounding aid worker — reports

A United Nations vehicle came under fire in southern Gaza’s Rafah, Palestinian media and Israel’s Kan public broadcaster report.

According to Palestinian media, a Palestinian driver was killed and a UN worker was wounded. Kan says the UN worker is in serious condition.

Kan reports that the incident occurred near the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, of which the Palestinian side is currently under Israeli control.

It is unclear if Israeli forces or terror operatives opened fire at the UN car. The IDF has no immediate comment.

Also today, Hamas claimed to have launched mortars at Israeli forces in the Rafah Crossing area.

#شاهد| الاحتلال يستهدف مركبة للأمم المتحدة في رفح، ما أدى إلى استشهاد السائق الفلسطيني وإصابة موظفة تحمل جنسية أجنبية pic.twitter.com/dUqC4PTnG4

— شبكة فلسطين للحوار (@paldf) May 13, 2024

IDF: Air Force hit over 120 targets in Gaza in past day, troops battle Hamas in eastern Rafah

IDF troops operate in the Rafah area in a photo cleared for publication on May 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli Air Force struck more than 120 targets across Gaza over the past day, as ground forces operate at three locations in the Strip, the military says.

The 162nd Division is battling Hamas in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, including on the Palestinian side of the border crossing with Egypt.

The IDF says the division’s Givati Infantry Brigade raided Hamas sites in the area, killing gunmen and locating weapons and rocket launchers in the process; and the 401st Armored Brigade raided and destroyed additional sites, and seized weapons found at a school.

The 98th Division is operating in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, after the IDF identified Hamas regrouping there.

An IDF tank operates in the Jabaliya area in the Gaza Strip in a photo cleared for publication on May 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The division’s 7th Armored Brigade and 460th Armored Brigade killed several gunmen during battles in the area, while the Air Force struck several Hamas targets, including underground sites and a building where operatives were gathered, the IDF says.

The 99th Division is meanwhile operating in Gaza City’s Zeitoun, similarly after the IDF identified Hamas regrouping there.

The IDF says the division’s Multi-Domain Unit raided a weapons depot at the home of a Hamas operative in Zeitoun, and directed an airstrike against a sniper in the area.

Anti-Israel protesters occupy university buildings in Dutch cities

Anti-Israel protesters have occupied university buildings in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Groningen and Eindhoven, condemning the ongoing war in Gaza, the Dutch protest group behind the action says in a statement.

A spokesperson for the University of Amsterdam (UvA) confirms the occupation and says it advised people who are not affiliated with the protest to leave the building.

Videos posted on social media show students wearing keffiyeh scarves and holding anti-Israel signs, with some masked students barricading doors with furniture.

De boel wordt gebarricadeerd. #uvaprotest #uvabezet pic.twitter.com/ACSw5rnh4J

— Robert Vinkenborg (@RVinkenborg) May 13, 2024

The Eindhoven University of Technology confirms that there are “dozens of students peacefully protesting outside next to ten to 15 tents.”

The University of Groningen does not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Students in the Netherlands have been protesting since last week against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacre.

Dutch riot police have previously clashed with protesters at the University of Amsterdam.

The European protests join a wave of unrest on American university campuses, where students set up anti-Israel protest encampments and called for their schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it.

Egypt’s Shoukry tells Blinken: IDF operations in Rafah pose ‘grave security risks’

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry tells US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that continued Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza, and especially in the southern city of Rafah, which sits on the border with Egypt, have “grave security risks.”

In his phone call with Blinken, Shoukry also stressed the need to restart aid deliveries to Gaza after the two diplomats discussed the IDF seizure of the Palestinian side of the Rafah Border Crossing last week, the Egyptian foreign ministry says in a statement.

Currently, the Kerem Shalom Crossing is being used for humanitarian aid deliveries to southern Gaza, while the Nitzana Crossing with Egypt is being used to inspect some of the trucks.

The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the Strip’s main entrance for humanitarian aid since the war began, is currently closed during IDF operations in the area, making additional openings into Gaza critical, especially in the event of a full-scale offensive on Rafah, which Israel says is essential for dismantling Hamas.

In addition, three crossings are currently being used to transfer humanitarian aid from Israel to Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip: Western Erez, opened yesterday; Eastern Erez, opened earlier this month adjacent to the existing Erez Crossing; and Gate 96, the military’s entrance to central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, used for the first time for aid deliveries in March.

Israel flogs Vatican after Nobel laureate alleges genocide at church event

Israel’s embassy to the Holy See is protesting after a Yemeni Nobel Prize winner accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza during an event hosted by the Vatican.

The embassy says it felt “indignation and shock” over the comments from rights activist Tawakkol Karman made on Saturday evening during a conference organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation created by Pope Francis.

Karman, who won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in the Arab Spring protests, told an audience in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica: “The world is silent in front of the genocide and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

In an open letter posted on X on Monday, the Israeli embassy rejects Karman’s accusations as “lies.”

“The site was contaminated by a flagrantly anti-Semitic speech,” it says.

“We regret that such a speech was pronounced without anyone feeling the moral duty to intervene to stop this disgrace,” it adds.

After mentioning Gaza, Karman got a loud round of applause from the audience, which was made up of fellow Nobel prize laureates, politicians and church officials. The pope himself was not present.

Right-wing activists block aid shipment heading to Gaza

The right-wing Honenu legal aid organization says four activists, including at least one minor, have been arrested as part of a protest aimed at stopping aid headed for Gaza via Jordan from reaching the Strip.

The Tzav 9 activist group, which seeks to end transfers of humanitarian supplies into Gaza as long as Israelis are held hostage there, claims credit for blocking a shipment as it traversed the Turkumiya checkpoint between the southern West Bank and Israel.

Footage from the scene shows over a dozen activists standing in a road as a truck idles in the background. A picture shows dozens of sacks of sugar being thrown out of a truck, some of them opened with sugar spilling out.

פעילי צו 9 חסמו משאיות סיוע הומניטרי לעזה במעבר תרקומיא סמוך לחברון pic.twitter.com/vatwKELeud

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 13, 2024

The group threatens in a statement that it will remain as long as necessary to keep the trucks from entering Gaza.

“It’s absurd craziness that on a day when we remember our fallen killed by the Nukhba terrorists, the State of Israel continues in whatever way it can to transfer aid to those same terrorists,” the statement reads.

פעילי ימין חסמו היום משאיות סיוע לעזה במחסום תרקומיא. ככה זה נראה: pic.twitter.com/9s18fHke4Z

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 13, 2024

Drone warning triggered near Lebanon border

Drone alerts are sounding in several communities in the Galilee Panhandle near the border with Lebanon.

The affected communities are Hagoshrim, Dafna, Snir, She’ar Yashuv, Kibbutz Dan and A’jaar.

חדירת כלי טיס עוין (13/05/2024 14:47): דפנה, הגושרים, ע'ג'ר, קיבוץ דן, שאר ישוב, שניר pic.twitter.com/pWxrC7zQZT

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) May 13, 2024

Gallant says Rafah offensive a ‘precise operation’ in call with Blinken

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel was undertaking a pinpoint operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, while indicating that Jerusalem would not be dissuaded from completing its war goals of returning the hostages and eliminating Hamas “as military and governing authority,” Gallant’s office says in a statement on the Sunday night call.

The readout says Gallant discussed “developments in Gaza, including IDF operations across the Strip in the face of terror hotspots, and the precise operation in the Rafah area against remaining Hamas battalions, while securing the crossing,” referring to the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, which Israeli troops have taken control of on the Gaza side.

In the call, Blinken had again warned Gallant against a major Israeli offensive in southern Gaza’s Rafah, according to an earlier statement issued by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“The minister expressed his appreciation to Secretary Blinken for the ongoing support provided by the US administration for Israel’s security,” Gallant’s office adds.

Without return of hostages Israel can never be whole — Herzog

Israel will only be able to heal from October 7 once the hostages kidnapped that day are freed from captivity, President Isaac Herzog says after laying a wreath at the annual state memorial ceremony for terror victims at Mount Herzl.

“This recovery, necessary for all of us — as a nation and as a country — is not only about looking to the future and our building, but also about fixing the present,” he says. “And our present will not be whole, and our wound will not heal, until all the hostages return — our beloved brothers and sisters, who are in distress and captivity.”

October 7 was the “most heinous terrorist attack” in the history of the State of Israel, in which “entire families were cruelly taken from us,” he says. “The attack of 7 October was an assault on our rights and sovereignty in our homeland, in our one and only state — Israel.”

Addressing the families of victims, Herzog says that “no one one can truly understand the magnitude of the void that has opened in your lives.”

“Our role, the role of the entire people of Israel, is to support you,” Herzog says. “This of course also applies to the deep moral obligation toward the survivors of acts of hostility and terror, and to all those affected by them physically and mentally, in need of support, assistance, accompaniment, resources, knowledge, and care from all of us in order to try to recover and return to life.”

Small protests bookend Netanyahu speech at ceremony for terror victims

A speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Mount Herzl ceremony for Israeli victims of terror is delivered largely unimpeded, but yelling can be heard from someone in the crowd as his speech ends.

In one video, a person can be heard yelling “garbage,” while in another an older man appears to yell that “he took my kids.”

"לקחת את הילדים שלי ושל כולנו" – אדם מהקהל בסיום נאומו של רה"מ נתניהו pic.twitter.com/hn1bL2qzOd

— הוד בראל Hod Barel (@hod_barel) May 13, 2024

The start of the speech was also marked by a protest, as an attendee stood up and held aloft an Israeli flag with “7.10” written on it, alluding to the date of Hamas’s October 7 attack.

עם תחילת נאומו של ראש הממשלה בהר הרצל, אחד המשתתפים מניף את דגל המדינה עליו נכתב באדום 7/10 pic.twitter.com/aONy8tSugf

— אברהם פריינד (@avrahamFriend) May 13, 2024

During the speech Netanyahu vows that his government is working to bring home the hostages held in Gaza.

“We are working nonstop to bring everyone back — both those living and those killed,” he says. “We already brought back half of them, and we will bring them all back.”

360,000 flee Rafah, Gazan authorities claim health system ‘hours’ from collapse

Some 360,000 Gazans have fled the southern city of Rafah since Israel began ordering evacuations from a section of the city last week, reports UNRWA, the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the Palestinian territory’s health system is “hours away” from collapse, after fighting has blocked fuel shipments through key crossings.

“We are just hours away from the collapse of the health system in the Gaza Strip due to the lack of the necessary fuel to operate generators in hospitals, ambulances, and (for vehicles to) transport staff,” the ministry says in a statement.

Israel’s Defense Ministry said Sunday night that it had transferred 266,000 liters (70,000 gallons) of fuel for use in hospitals or other humanitarian needs.

Druze protest law fast-tracking construction permit enforcement at Isfiya ceremony

A memorial event in the northern Israeli Druze town of Isfiya goes smoothly, despite tensions over laws passed in recent years that the Druze community regards as discriminatory.

At the event, Likud MK and Economy and Industry Ministry Nir Barkat takes responsibility on behalf of the government for the events of October 7.

“The government of Israel carries full responsibility for everything that happens in the state,” he says.

Last year, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel (also Likud) was prevented from entering the military cemetery in the town partly because of her support for a law that enshrined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Activists demonstrate peacefully outside the cemetery against another law — a 2017 amendment to a planning law fast-tracking enforcement action against illegal building, removing the need to go through the courts.

Building permits are difficult to secure in the Arab community, and illegal building flourishes as a result.

Addressing the ceremony, Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Ṭarīf says the government must “stop the talk,” honor the “covenant of blood” between the Druze and the Jewish people, which sees all Druze men drafted into the IDF, and take steps to allow young Druze to build legally on their land — allocating land for the living, and not just for the dead.

Rocket warning sounds in northern towns

Fresh rocket sirens have sounded in the northern towns of Fassuta, Netua, Matat and Elkosh in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon.

צבע אדום (13/05/2024 13:00): נטועה, אלקוש, פסוטה, מתת pic.twitter.com/jzdJGkI4K3

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) May 13, 2024

Mother of hostage confronts Smotrich outside Memorial Day ceremony

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, confronts Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich outside a ceremony at a military cemetery in the southern city of Ofakim, pressing him to end his opposition to a deal with Hamas to return those held in Gaza.

“At least make a monumental effort for those who are still alive, for those who can still be saved,” she tells him calmly as he looks past her.

Smotrich tells her that the government is working to bring back her son.

“I’m giving you a big hug. We are obligated to bring him back and we are working toward that end,” he says.

עינב, אימו של מתן צנגאוקר החטוף בעזה, פנתה לשר סמוטריץ' בבית העלמין באופקים: "הוא ילד, תצילו את מי שחי, תעשו מאמצים"@Itsik_zuarets pic.twitter.com/pSR99qfXCL

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 13, 2024

Matan Zangauker, 24, and his partner Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, were abducted from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7 as Hamas terrorists massacred residents of the kibbutz during the group’s terror onslaught in southern Israel. Zangauker remains in captivity while Gritzewsky was released in November.

In recent weeks, Einav Zangauker has become a leading voice in the anti-government protest movement.

During his address at the event, Smotrich takes responsibility for the failures of October 7, stating that “the leadership of the state and the security system failed in the task of protecting the citizens of Israel, and I, as a member of the government, take responsibility for what has been and will be.”

Four troops injured in Hezbollah missile attack

Four soldiers were wounded in northern Israel by anti-tank guided missile fire from Lebanon, the military and medical officials say.

Ziv Hospital in Safed says four troops were brought to the medical center after being wounded in the attack near Kibbutz Yiftah.

The IDF says it identified two anti-tank missiles launched at the Yiftah area, resulting in the injury of four soldiers.

The hospital and the IDF say that three of the soldiers are lightly hurt and the fourth is in moderate condition.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for the missile fire, saying it targeted a military position near Yiftah.

Sirens had sounded in Yiftah amid the attack.

Meanwhile, another drone launched from Lebanon struck an area near Zar’it, causing no injuries, the IDF adds.

Ministers heckled at ceremonies across country

Aside from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, other cabinet members are heckled at Memorial Day ceremonies around Israel.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, appearing at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, is met with a silent protest by three people holding signs, one of which reads “Their blood is on your hands.” One person also yells at him to quit, according to an activist posting on social media.

In Netanya, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel speaks as a woman in the crowd yells at her to go home. The protester briefly argues with a man in a military uniform who appears to be providing security, as others in the crowd try to tell her to be quiet.

צעקות גם למשת״פית גילה גמליאל בנתניה pic.twitter.com/yfkvL0cNFV

— ש????ולי ????️????️‍???? Sh????uLi (@Shaulirena) May 13, 2024

In Rehovot’s military cemetery, protesters yell “shame” and other chants at Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf as he speaks. Others try to quiet the demonstrators, leading to arguments, including some which turn physical, according to a local report.

In Holon, an older woman is seen yelling angrily at Transportation Minister Miri Regev as a ceremony ends, calling her a “piece of shit,” among other things.

בבית העלמין בחולון, שם שרת התחבורה מירי רגב ייצגה את הממשלה, עימותים דומים הסתיימו באלימות בין בני משפחות הנופלים pic.twitter.com/FJ3MO6fAjL

— המקום הכי חם בגיהנום (@ha_makom) May 13, 2024

Gantz vows to pay ‘heavy price’ for hostages, as Ben Gvir fails to mention them

Marking Memorial Day at a cemetery in his hometown of Rosh Ha’ayin, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz indicates Israel is willing to make far-reaching concessions to get its hostages back.

“We will return to Be’eri and Metula, strong but smarting,” he says referring to badly hit communities near the Gaza and Lebanon borders. “We’ll have quieter and better days again. We will see our hostages again, for whom we all pray, and who we are committed to bring back even if the price is extremely painful.”

In contrast, the 132 hostages held in Gaza are completely absent from a speech by National Security Minister Ben Gvir, who says Israel has to keep fighting in memory of those who were killed.

“Our brothers’ blood cries out from the ground and commands us to keep on and remember, to keep on and fight. With shield and sword, until victory. And it is coming,” he says, according to a transcript sent out by his office.

Ben Gvir has publicly opposed reaching a deal to free the hostages, which would likely involve a pause in the fighting.

Heated arguments, fights break out in crowd after Ben Gvir is jeered at cemetery

Fisticuffs erupted between attendees at a memorial ceremony in Ashdod, video shows, as some were angered by heckling aimed at National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir disturbing the solemn event.

The fighting has continued outside the cemetery following the short event as participants get into heated arguments over the protests.

"תגידו קדיש על ישראל, תראו מה קורה לנו": עימותים בזמן נאום בן גביר בבית העלמין באשדוד בין משתתפים בטקס@yonatanraveh11 @shelleytap pic.twitter.com/LanQaCsM6J

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 13, 2024

“Say Kaddish for Israel! Look what has happened to us,” one man yells at an anti-government protester as cops try to separate the two. “Why disturb us? Fuck off. Look what you’ve come to.”

The protester is surrounded by a phalanx of security officers as others also yell at him while he moves through the crowded parking lot.

Hezbollah claims twin drone attack near Beit Hillel

The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for launching explosive-laden drones at northern Israel this morning.

Hezbollah claims to have directly hit a military position near the community of Beit Hillel in the attack at 6:30 a.m.

The IDF reported that the two explosive drones struck an area near Beit Hillel, causing a small fire that was extinguished.

There were no injuries in the attack.

הכטב"מים ליד בית הלל: הכלים התפוצצו סמוך לחיילים ובמקום פרצה שריפה. אין נפגעים. צה"ל מתחקר את האירוע@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/DKqlHejBC9

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 13, 2024

Pictures show the remains of the UAV.

It’s us or the monsters of Hamas, Netanyahu says at Memorial Day event

“It is us, Israel, or them, the monsters of Hamas,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the state’s main Memorial Day event at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem.

The campaign in Gaza, he says, is a choice between freedom and prosperity, versus despair, murder, and violence.

“We are determined to win in this struggle,” says Netanyahu to a crowd of senior ministers, chief rabbis, the IDF chief of staff, diplomats, and bereaved families.

“We will achieve the goals of victory, first and foremost, bringing all of our hostages home,” pledges Netanyahu.

He says that unity is key in the war, which has says is a continuation of Israel’s War of Independence.

“Only together we will win,” he says.

‘We could have prevented it’: Shin Bet chief highlights agency’s October 7 failures in Memorial Day address

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at a Memorial Day ceremony at the agency's headquarters in Tel Aviv, May 13, 2024. (Screenshot: Shin Bet)

At a Memorial Day ceremony for slain members of the Shin Bet, agency chief Ronen Bar vows that the security service will learn from its failures in the lead-up to Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

“It’s a difficult day for every bereaved family, it’s a difficult day for every citizen, it’s a difficult day for every Shin Bet employee, it’s also a difficult day for me personally,” Bar says.

Ten members and veterans of the Shin Bet were killed since last Memorial Day, all in the October 7 attack.

Bar says the Shin Bet failed to provide its vaunted security umbrella for the nation on October 7.

“We all feel the loss, the feeling that we could have prevented it, and as the head of the agency and responsible for the agency’s activities, I feel it perhaps more than anyone,” Bar continues.

He says the Shin Bet is undertaking an “in-depth” investigation of its role in the October 7 failures.

“A painful and significant investigation. We will learn from this and correct what is required. This is our duty to the people of Israel and this is our duty to the fallen. Without the public’s trust in the state institutions and us, we have no right to exist,” Bar says.

Bar says that the agency’s role in the war “is not over yet.”

“We will not rest until we return all 128 hostages home, and the four who were there before. Those who are alive and those who are not. All of them. Because this is the real difference between us and them: We will sacrifice our lives for the citizens, they will sacrifice the lives of citizens for themselves,” he adds.

Ben Gvir heckled at Ashdod ceremony, sparking tiff between attendees

National Security Minister Itamar ben Gvir is heckled by a small group at a memorial ceremony at the Ashdod military cemetery, triggering tensions within the crowd.

“Get out of here, criminal,” someone yells as Ben Gvir walks on stage.

In a video shared on social media, an older woman can be seen yelling at Ben Gvir repeatedly, as a police officer tries to keep the crowd away from her.

“Traitor, throw her out,” a man yells toward the woman and the cop, as another person yells, “Don’t throw her out.”

קריאות ועימותים קולניים בבית העלמין הצבאי באשדוד עם כניסתו של בן גביר: "לך מפה עבריין"
מנגד אחרים שהשתיקו אותם. "שמאלנית, בוגדת"
אחת הנשים שצעקו: "אני משפחה שכולה"
אחר: "גם אני, תתביישי לך".
העמותים נמשכו ממש עד לצפירה pic.twitter.com/JWsLOgnZtb

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) May 13, 2024

Others around her also start arguing, some identifying themselves as bereaved families.

Memorial Day siren brings Israel to standstill

Bereaved families, friends and Israeli soldiers visit the graves of fallen soldier during Memorial Day at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv on May 13, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The nation comes to a standstill as a two-minute siren rings out to mark Memorial Day for soldiers and other members of security services killed in the line of duty, as well as the victims of terror attacks.

The siren marks the start of most major memorial ceremonies at cemeteries and memorial sites around the country. On Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the main ceremony begins with a flyover by jet fighters as President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look on.

Heavy fighting reported as tanks push into Jabaliya in northern Gaza

Israeli tanks, under cover of heavy fire from air and ground, have pushed further into Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, residents and Hamas media say.

Tanks are advancing toward the heart of the camp, the biggest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, locals say. Residents say tank shells landed at the center of the camp and that airstrikes destroyed clusters of houses.

The military yesterday said it had launched a new offensive against Hamas in Jabaliya, after identifying terror operatives regrouping there.

A day earlier, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for Jabaliya, where it estimated 100,000-150,000 Palestinians were sheltering.

Residents and medics claim several people were killed and wounded in a series of airstrikes on the camp overnight. The death tolls reported by Hamas officials are unable to be verified.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, residents report heavy shelling and airstrikes on the eastern part of the city.

The IDF has been operating in the eastern part of Rafah since last week.

Bomb drones spark small fire in north — IDF

Two explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon struck an area near the northern community of Beit Hillel earlier this morning, the military confirms.

The IDF says the blasts sparked a fire that was extinguished a short while later.

There are no injuries in the attack.

No sirens had sounded in towns amid the incident, which the IDF says is under investigation.

Gaza war will shape Israeli lives for decades, defense minister says

Bereaved families visit the graves of fallen soldier during Memorial Dayat Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on May 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel’s war in Gaza will not end until Israelis are once again living happily, noting that the fighting’s effects will ripple for years to come.

“This is a war of no choice, a war that will shape our lives for decades to come,” he says at a Mount Herzl Memorial Day ceremony.

The war will continue, he adds, “until all hostages are freed, we dismantle Hamas’s rule and its military capabilities, and we bring back prosperity and creativity to the State of Israel and a smile to the faces of its citizens.”

Explosive drones strike near northern towns — reports

Two apparent explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon struck an area near the northern community of Beit Hillel, according to Hebrew-language media.

There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Sirens did not sound in any towns amid the attack.

Hezbollah has launched dozens of explosive drones at northern Israel in recent months, although it does not immediately claim the latest attack.

The IDF has no immediate comment.

Body of Israeli hiker missing in Peru found

The Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. (Jesse Leake / iStock by Getty Images)

Peru’s national police force says the body of an Israeli hiker who disappeared nearly a month ago has been located high in the Andes.

Rescue teams, including an Israeli crew that flew to the South American country, had conducted wide searches for Oren Zamir for several weeks until he was found Sunday.

Tras ardua labor de búsqueda, agentes del Departamento de Alta Montaña Áncash localizaron el cuerpo sin vida del ciudadano israelí, desaparecido en el corredor del nevado de Huayhuash. Enviamos nuestras condolencias a sus seres queridos en este momento de dolor. pic.twitter.com/wA5nJx6HU6

— Policía Nacional del Perú (@PoliciaPeru) May 12, 2024

Zamir had been hiking in the Huayhuash mountain range north of Lima when he went missing in mid-April.

According to national broadcaster RPP, Zamir’s body was found near Lake Mitucocha, an area some 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) up, and there were suspicions he may have fallen from a height of around 100 meters while climbing through the rugged region.

An autopsy is set to be performed before his body is transferred to his family for burial, presumably in Israel, RPP reports.

IDF confirms rockets fired at southern communities

Two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago, according to the military.

One was fired at the border community of Mefalsim, while the second at Netiv Ha’asara. Sirens had sounded in both communities.

Both rockets struck open areas, and there are no reports of injuries or damage.

Rocket sirens sound in Netiv Ha’asara, Mefalsim near the Gaza border

Rocket alert sirens sound in Netiv Ha’asara and Mefalsim, close to the Gaza border, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Red Alert [08:55:43] – 1 Alert:

• Gaza Envelope — Netiv HaAssara#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/pmOJE0YcPy

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 13, 2024

WATCH: Names of Israel’s fallen soldiers recited at Mount Herzl’s National Memorial Hall

The names of Israel’s fallen soldiers, police, prison guards and first responders are being recited at a ceremony in the National Memorial Hall for Fallen Soldiers at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

The ceremony is the first state ceremony of Memorial Day, after last night’s ceremony at the Western Wall.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in attendance, along with Defense Ministry director-general Eyal Zamir, IDF Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor and officials from the Israel Police and Israel Prison Service.

The ceremony can be viewed live in Hebrew:

Johns Hopkins protesters pack up, but graduation demonstrations persist elsewhere

Pro-Palestinian protests at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have dismantled a tent encampment, joining other demonstrators in decamping the campsites as campuses empty out for summer break.

In a statement Sunday, the Hopkins Justice Collective said it had agreed to take down the protest enclosure as part of a deal in which the school agreed to expedite hearings over the possibility of divestment from Israel, and to grant all protesters amnesty.

The encampment is gone but we're still here. We aren't giving up, @JohnsHopkins. pic.twitter.com/nuAYUxpHYs

— Hopkins Justice Collective (@hopkins4justice) May 13, 2024

Up the seaboard in Boston, Emerson College’s graduation Sunday night was beset with repeated pro-Palestinian protests, including chants that interrupted several speakers’ addresses, video shows. Some displayed messages for a camera situated on stage, but the livestream quickly shifted to a different view, preventing them from being seen for long. Chants during some of the speeches were difficult to decipher.

As students marched past administrators for their degrees, some students took off their graduation robes and left them on stage. Others emblazoned “free Palestine” on their mortar boards.

One woman, staring at a camera broadcasting a livestream to the public, unzipped her robe to show a kaffiyeh, the black and white checkered scarf commonly worn by Palestinians, and flashed a watermelon painted on her hand.

At one point the protest had to be halted for several minutes as a graduate with hands dyed red attempted to shake hands with school president Jay Bernhardt, who initially refused, the Boston Globe reports.

IDF gives all-clear after drone alert in northern towns

The all-clear has been given by the IDF’s Homefront Command in the northern border communities of Avivim, Yaron and Baram, after alerts went off in the small towns warning of a drone attack from Lebanon.

In a statement, the military says the alert was triggered by a false alarm, without providing details.

Memorial Day events to continue today, with siren and nationwide ceremonies at 11 a.m.

An IDF soldier places flowers and flags on graves of fallen soldiers at the Kiryat Shmona military cemetery, on May 12, 2024, ahead of Memorial Day. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

More Memorial Day events are scheduled for today starting at 11 a.m., when a two-minute siren will blare across the country to comemmorate its fallen soldiers and terror victims, this year overshadowed by the Hamas massacre of October 7 and the ensuing months-long war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend the main state ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem at 11 a.m., followed by another event in memory of victims of terror at 1 p.m.

Other ministers will attend ceremonies at 11 a.m. around the country, despite some bereaved families urging them to stay away.

Politicians from across the spectrum have urged keeping the deep political divisions and heated discourse out of the Memorial Day ceremonies, hoping to solemnly unite ahead of the abrupt switch in the evening to Independence Day events.

Palestinian media reports overnight IDF strikes, including on Hamas police in Rafah

Palestinian media outlets report Israeli airstrikes on the eastern neighborhoods of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

The IDF reportedly uses drones to target Hamas police vehicles in Rafah.

Overnight airstrikes are also reported in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City in the northern Strip, allegedly causing at least one fatality and more casualties.

Blinken calls Gallant to urge protection of Gazan civilians, more aid to territory

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken outside the Kirya military HQ in Tel Aviv, January 9, 2024. (Elad Malka/ Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks on the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the situation in Gaza, with the American top diplomat reiterating recent warnings against a major offensive in the city of Rafah.

According to a statement issued by State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, Blinken “underscored the urgent need to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza,” urging Gallant to “ensure assistance can move into Gaza and help address distribution challenges inside of Gaza as Israel pursues Hamas targets.”

Blinken also “affirmed the ironclad US commitment to Israel’s security and the shared objective of the defeat of Hamas,” the statement says.

There is no immediate readout from Gallant’s office.

Clip shows hundreds of IDF soldiers singing the national anthem inside Gaza

Many Israeli soldiers currently stationed in the Gaza Strip are filmed singing the national anthem “Hatikva” at the start of Memorial Day.

A clip posted by the Kan public broadcaster shows hundreds of troops singing in front of an Israeli flag in the so-called Netzarim Corridor in the Strip’s center, which separates Gaza’s north from the south.

לזכרם: כשמולם מונף דגל ישראל – לוחמים שרו את "התקווה" במסדרון נצרים@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/C3puzNF8zS

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 12, 2024