May 15: Meeting Syrian FM, Rubio welcomes Damascus calls for peace with Israel

Israel’s Yuval Raphael performs at Eurovision Song Contest semifinal

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael with the song 'New Day Will Rise' performs during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on May 15, 2025. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

Israel’s Yuval Raphael performs her song “New Day Will Rise” at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.

No booing can be heard during the televised event, and Raphael is greeted with loud cheers after a solid performance. There is also no strong visible presence of Palestinian flags in the crowd, despite the Israeli delegation’s fears that there would be after flag rules for the audience were relaxed this year.

Raphael is one of 16 acts tonight vying for the final 10 spots in Saturday night’s grand final. Voters from tonight’s participating countries, plus those in non-Eurovision countries, can cast their votes this evening at www.esc.vote.

A pro-Israel demonstration approved by police was held near the arena today, and a couple of dozen people waving Palestinian flags were also seen nearby. A larger anti-Israel protest is expected Saturday night.

Brother-in-law of govt. hostage point man suspected to be behind X account slandering hostage families, spreading Oct. 7 conspiracies

The brother-in-law of the government’s hostage point man, Gal Hirsch, is suspected to be behind an anonymous X account that frequently features posts insulting the families ot the hostages and engaging in conspiracy theories, Channel 12 reports, sharing the findings of an investigation into the account which it carried out with the Fake Reporter organization.

The investigation, according to the news outlet, revealed that the account @JudeoEspanol is run by Nati Yeni, a history teacher at a Ramat Gan high school and Hirsch’s brother-in-law.

The JudeoEspanol account has more than 14,000 followers, among whom are a number of right-wing lawmakers, including Amichai Chikli and Almog Cohen, as well as the premier’s son, Yair Netanyahu.

The person running the anonymous account, said to be Yeni, frequently publishes insulting remarks about the relatives of the hostages.

In one instance, the account owner referred to Dani Elgarat, whose brother Itzik Elgarat died in Hamas captivity, as an “idiot” and a “scumbag,” and in other they referred to Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, as a “liar” who was “ready to destroy the country.”

The account has also been host to a litany of conspiracy theories regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught, and has accused left-wing Israelis of collaborating with the Gaza terror group in the run-up to the massacre, Channel 12 reported.

In response to the report, Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama Hacohen tells Channel 12 that he has requested that the city’s department of education launch a “factual investigation” into the allegations against Yeni.

He says that if the allegations are proven to be true, “the man does not deserve to pass through the gates of any educational institution.”

PM says he spoke to Witkoff today, credits release of hostages to ‘heroic’ IDF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a video statement that he spoke again today with US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who is currently in Doha for negotiations to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal before the IDF advances its expanded Gaza operation.

לא נישבר, אנחנו נילחם >> pic.twitter.com/FOSRRbpT6D

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 15, 2025

“I spoke with Witkoff again. Last night at 12 a.m. [we spoke], and today in the afternoon,” says Netanyahu, before also addressing his phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio today.

He does not describe the content of either discussion.

Netanyahu adds that returning hostages from Gaza owe their gratitude not to him, but to the Israeli military, whose pressure on Hamas made their release possible.

He says as much in response to a question from his media advisor, Topaz Luk, who asks what the premier thinks about claims in the media that “every hostage needs to thank him.”

“Well, that’s simply absurd fake news — and vile, too,” Netanyahu says. “No one needs to thank me. They need to do only one thing: to recover, and return to as normal a life as possible.”

“But if there’s anyone who deserves thanks, it’s our heroic soldiers. Without their sacrifice, and without the pressure we exert through them, we wouldn’t have managed to free 148 hostages alive — and we also brought back the bodies of fallen [hostages],” the premier continues.

“There are at least 20 more hostages who are definitely alive — we are working to bring them all home — and also to return the other fallen,” he concludes.

UN says it won’t take part in US-backed Gaza aid plan as it isn’t impartial or neutral

The United Nations says it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent.

“This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq tells reporters.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily criticized aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher has described as a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza.

GHF is an organization established earlier this year in close coordination with Israel to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza in a manner that does not allow its diversion by Hamas amid mounting mistrust between Jerusalem and UN-backed aid groups who have been operating in the Strip to date.

While the foundation is backed by the Trump administration, its rollout has been rocky, with many international organizations refusing to cooperate due to the strict conditions Israel is placing on its operations.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the UN “has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip.”

Jacob Magid contributed to this report.

Tens of thousands of Haredi revelers flock to Mount Meron for Lag B’Omer celebrations

Masses of Haredi Jews are kicking off Lag B’Omer festivities at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron tonight.

After the first ceremonial bonfire of the holiday is lit soon after nightfall, tens of thousands of revelers break out into dance, jumping up and down.

The celebrants are dancing to a song — “In Honor of the Holy Tanna” — honoring Bar Yochai, the 2nd-century Jewish sage who is said to have died on Lag B’Omer.

After lighting the bonfire, Rabbi Nachum Dov Brayer, the spiritual leader of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty, stands and claps rhythmically before the exuberant crowd as the flame burns onstage.

The massive crowds that tightly pack the Mount Meron complex have posed a major challenge to authorities year after year.

In 2021, a crowd crush killed 45 people and injured over 100 as they traversed a slippery walkway at the holy site, causing Israel’s deadliest peacetime disaster.

Organizers say police are limiting the number of celebrants allowed at the shrine to 63,000 at once, to prevent another fatal accident.

Haredi revelers dance at the tomb of Shimon Bar Yochai atop Mount Meron to mark the Lag B’Omer holiday on May 15, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Houthi missile debris lands in West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut; No injuries caused

A large chunk of debris from the intercepted Houthi ballistic missile landed in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.

No injuries were caused.

A large chunk of debris from the intercepted Houthi ballistic missile landed in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut.

No injuries were caused. pic.twitter.com/621CLfDYlF

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 15, 2025

Meeting Syrian FM, Rubio welcomes Damascus calls for peace with Israel

During his first-ever meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Hassan al-Shaibani in Turkey earlier today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed what he characterized as “the Syrian government’s calls for peace with Israel,” the State Department says.

Rubio appeared to be referring to comments a senior Syrian official made during an interview with the Kan public broadcaster yesterday where he said that Damascus is open to peace with everyone in the region, without exceptions.

US President Donald Trump said after meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa yesterday that the latter indicated willingness to join the Abraham Accords once they are “straightened out,” adding “they have a lot of work to do” before that happens.

Rubio, during his meeting with Shaibani, “affirmed the United States’ support for sanctions relief to stabilize Syria.”

“He welcomed… efforts to end Iran’s influence in Syria, commitment to ascertaining the fate of US citizens missing or killed in Syria, and elimination of all chemical weapons.”

Rubio also “underscored the critical importance of protecting the human rights of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religion,” the US readout says.

Dueling pro, anti-Israel protests held in Basel, Switzerland ahead of Eurovision semifinal

A pro-Israel demonstrator holds a placard bearing the name of Israeli singer Yuval Raphael outside the St. Jakobshalle arena prior to the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel on May 15, 2025. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

Small dueling pro-Israel and anti-Israel protests are being held in Basel, Switzerland, ahead of Yuval Raphael’s appearance in tonight’s Eurovision semifinal.

A few dozen supporters of Raphael wave Israeli flags and hold signs in support of the singer, as well as sing Hebrew songs about peace. Not far way, a couple of dozen protesters wave Palestinian flags.

Earlier today, during a live dress rehearsal, a small group of people booed and waved Palestinian flags during Raphael’s performance.

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, which is organizing this year’s events, said in a statement that the group had flags that were outside the size restrictions and that “security personnel were able to quickly identify those involved and escort them out of the hall,” adding that “the organizers are committed to a neutral, safe, inclusive and respectful environment at the ESC.”

IDF says it successfully intercepted ballistic missile from Yemen

A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was successfully intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the military says.

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

Sirens had sounded across central Israel and the Jerusalem area. Preceding the sirens by some three minutes, an early warning was issued to residents, alerting civilians of the long-range missile attack via a push notification on their phones.

Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 34 ballistic missiles and at least 10 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.

IDF publishes photo of Zamir, Shin Bet chief at command center during strike targeting Muhammad Sinwar

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar are seen at a command center on May 13, 2025, during a strike on a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military publishes a photo of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Shin Bet director Ronen Bar at a command center during Tuesday’s strike on a Hamas tunnel under European Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The strike had targeted Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar, though the military has not yet confirmed he was killed in the attack.

The IDF says Zamir and Bar had personally commanded the strike.

Israel said holding talks with Syria on al-Sharaa’s regime joining Abraham Accords

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa as Saudi Crown Prince mohammad Bin Salman looks on, in Riyadh, May 14, 2025. (Saudi Royal Palace)

Israel has been holding secret talks with Syrian officials in recent days, including on the possibility of the new regime joining the Abraham Accords, Channel 12 reports tonight, a day after US President Trump invited new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the accords and normalize ties with Israel.

The talks are being mediated by the United Arab Emirates, Channel 12 says, also referring to unspecified wider regional moves being advanced by the UAE.

One meeting was held in recent days in Azerbaijan, it says, where Israel was represented by the chief of the IDF Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk. He met with representatives from the new Syrian government, with Turkish representatives also present, the report says.

Trump on Wednesday urged al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords, as the two leaders met in Riyadh in the first direct talks between leaders of the countries in 25 years.

Trump later told reporters that Sharaa backs such a move. “I told [Sharaa], I hope you’re going to join [the Abraham Accords] once you’re straightened out, and he said yes,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “But they have a lot of work to do.”

Israel views Trump’s lifting of sanctions on Syria favorably, albeit while maintaining a high level of caution, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of influencing the shaping of the northern border and future relations between the two countries, Channel 12 adds.

This contrasts with Israel’s previous position, it notes, which was to dismiss the prospect of constructive interaction, with Al-Sharaa being branded a terrorist by Jerusalem.

Today, claims Channel 12, Israel does see the possibility of Syria exiting the so-called “axis of evil” overseen by Iran, and even of it coming under the US aegis. And it even views such potential progress as possibly enabling a positive shift in Israel-Turkey ties, the report claims.

Sirens sound across central Israel, Jerusalem following missile launch from Yemen

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

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

IDF says ballistic missile launched from Yemen, sirens may sound in central Israel, Jerusalem area

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

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

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

Otzma Yehudit MK blames IDF Central Command chief for death of Tzeela Gez

MK Limor Son Har-Melech attends the Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech blames IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth for the death of Tzeela Gez, the Israeli mother killed in a terror shooting attack in the West Bank while on her way to the hospital to deliver her fourth child overnight, according to a Channel 12 report.

“A woman was murdered on her way to the delivery room, and it’s all your fault,” Har-Melech says, directly addressing Bluth.

Incoming IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth attends a handover ceremony at Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem on July 8, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

She accuses the IDF general of endangering Israeli lives by reopening checkpoints despite intelligence indicating the presence of a terror cell in the area.

“I gave you a chance. I wanted to believe you would act differently than those who came before you,” she continues. “I won’t stay silent about you anymore.”

Settler leader Yossi Dagan prevented from speaking at Tzeela Gez’s funeral after her sister tells him not to talk politics

Family and friends attend the funeral of Tzeela Gez, who was killed in a terror shooting attack in the northern West Bank, at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery in Jerusalem, May 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

In remarks at the funeral of West Bank terror victim Tzeela Gez this afternoon, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan suggested that the government had failed to act to prevent her murder, and was cut off by Gez’s sister, who told him not to make the funeral political.

“We need to tell the truth,” said Dagan, asserting that the writing had been on the wall for the terror attack. “We warned, and we shouted, and this was the fourth shooting attack on the same route, in the same place.”

“We came to Israel to live here — not to be sitting ducks,” he exclaimed, demanding to know “why the village of murderers, Bruqin (the Palestinian village close to the site of the terror attack), is still standing?”

At this point, Gez’s sister Shaked cut him off.

“I don’t want politics!” she shouted through tears. “I want love for my sister! Let us finish with love for my sister!”

In response, Dagan insists that he is “respecting your sister,” to which Shaked shoots back: “No! No, you’re not.”

She then tells Dagan to “get down off the podium, please.”

‘Troubled’ by Gaza humanitarian situation, Rubio says he spoke with Netanyahu

US Embassy and Turkey officials greet Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Antalya, Turkey, to attend an informal meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs. (Ozan Kose/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells reporters in Antalya that he is “troubled” by the humanitarian situation in Gaza, amid a nearly two and a half month long Israeli aid blockade, adding that he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.

He doesn’t specify, though, whether he raised the issue during the call, and it is not included in a subsequent readout from the State Department.

Rubio insists the US is not immune to the suffering of the people in Gaza, where no humanitarian aid has reached since March 1.

The top US diplomat’s comments didn’t go as far as to expressly criticize Israel, but they seemed to be moving in that direction after Trump officials had long exclusively blamed Hamas for the humanitarian crisis.

Rubio says he is also familiar with the criticism voiced against a new Israeli and US-backed foundation, whose initiative for resuming the distribution of aid in Gaza has been blasted by aid organizations as being wildly insufficient.

He notes that the US is open to other plans in what would appear to mark a blow to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which just yesterday made its inaugural announcement, declaring that it planned to begin operations in the Strip by the end of the month.

It also said Israel had agreed to allow aid into Gaza through existing mechanisms in the interim — something that Jerusalem has yet to confirm.

The US readout on the Netanyahu call regurgitates talking points about the US commitment to Israel’s security and adds that the pair also discussed US President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which came shortly after the former said he would remove Washington’s sanctions on Damascus.

Islamic Jihad confirms five members killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group announces the deaths of five members who were killed by Israeli commandos in the West Bank this morning.

Troops of the Duvdevan unit had encircled a house in Tamun where the gunmen were holed up, and exchanged fire with them, killing five and detaining one, according to the IDF.

Islamic Jihad names its slain terror operatives as Saher Basharat, Ibrahim Odeh, Reza Odeh, Islam Odeh and Wadih Odeh.

IDF says it killed Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon drone strike

The IDF says it killed a Hezbollah operative in a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Arnoun earlier today.

According to the military, the operative was involved in restoring a Hezbollah site in the area.

צה״ל תקף מוקדם יותר היום, באמצעות כלי טיס במרחב ארנון שבדרום לבנון וחיסל מחבל מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שעסק בניסיונות שיקום של תשתיות הטרור של הארגון במרחב pic.twitter.com/6E1vOe2S5x

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 15, 2025

Israeli inflation quickened at faster-than-expected pace during April

Israeli inflation in April quickened at a faster pace than forecast, led by an increase in the costs of foreign travel and entertainment, along with housing and clothing, data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.

Annual inflation over the past 12 months accelerated to 3.6 percent, up from 3.3% in March, and 3.4% in February. The government’s annual target range of inflation is between 1% to 3%.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, increased by 1.1% in April, above analysts’ expectations of about 0.6% to 0.7%. That’s after the CPI monthly figure in March rose by 0.5%.

In April, fast increases were seen in the costs of transportation, which were up 4.9%, culture and entertainment edged up 1.6%, and clothing and fresh fruit each jumped 1.5%, according to the statistics bureau. The cost of foreign and domestic travel in April soared 15.9%. Housing prices rose 0.6%.

These were offset by notable declines in the price of fresh vegetables, which fell 1%. Furniture and home equipment prices were down 0.5%.

Rents on renewal of contracts rose 2.7% in April, and rents on contracts for new tenants went up 4.7%.

Senior Hamas official claims terror group holding direct talks with US on ending Gaza war

Basem Naim, a Hamas leader who is a former Gaza health minister, speaks during a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, November 29, 2023. (Rodger Bosch / AFP)

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim claims to Sky News that the terror group is holding direct talks with the US to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza.

The US has previously denied similar reports that it is engaging in direct talks with Hamas.

Naim also claims that Hamas is prepared to step back from governing the Gaza Strip should a permanent ceasefire be reached.

“We have also told the Americans, we are ready, again, to hand over the government immediately if we reach the end of this war,” he says.

Mother of Hadar Goldin calls for UN Security Council to uphold 2019 resolution on return of missing persons

Leah Goldin, the mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held in Gaza since 2014, delivers a statement to the press at the UN Security Council, accompanied by Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on May 15, 2025. (Screenshot, UN Web TV)

Leah Goldin, the mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and captured by Hamas terrorists in Gaza on August 1, 2014, delivers a press briefing at the UN Security Council and urges it to uphold its commitment to returning missing persons to their loved ones.

She is introduced by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, and is accompanied by her son, Menachem Goldin.

Goldin begins by noting that her son was killed during a UN and US-brokered 72-hour truce.

“For nearly 11 years, my son’s body has been held in Gaza by a terrorist organization that exploits humanitarian frameworks for political gain, and for nearly 11 years, the international community has looked away,” she says.

She recalls that in 2019, the UNSC adopted Resolution 2474, which calls on parties to armed conflict and UN member states to “take all appropriate measures” to search for missing persons and return their remains to their loved ones.”

“The words of the resolution were powerful,” Goldin says, “but words alone do not bring our children home.”

“In the years since its adoption, Resolution 2474 has been forgotten, its principles ignored, its enforcement non-existent,” she says. The very organization that brokered the ceasefire under which Hadar was taken has yet to uphold its own responsibility.

“That is not just a diplomatic failure, it is a moral one,” continues Goldin. “This is not about politics, this is not about negotiations, this is about the right of a mother to bury her son.”

“When the UN passes a resolution, it must mean something. It must be backed by will, by consistency, by action. Instead, we have silence, and in that silence justice has been denied.”

She urges the UN to “enforce Resolution 2474, not selectively, not symbolically, but seriously.

“Demand the return of the missing. Demand accountability. Demand the dignity that every human being deserves in life and in death.”

Iran’s IRGC chief tells Trump that country views him as ‘murderer’ of Soleimani

The top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, tells US President Donald Trump that the Iranian nation considers him the “murderer” of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force. He was killed in Iraq in a drone strike on January 3, 2020, ordered by Trump during his first term in office.

Trump had said earlier that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Tehran.

IDF, Shin Bet say Hamas operative responsible for raising funds for terror group killed in recent strike

A Hamas operative responsible for raising funds for the terror group’s military wing was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.

According to the military, Jasser Hussein Ali Shamieh “was responsible for the transfer of tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s military wing.”

“These funds were used for the force build-up of the military wing, the payment of Hamas terrorist salaries, and the funding of the terror organization,” the IDF says, adding that the money also “enabled the continuation of fighting and the sustainability of Hamas’s brigades in northern Gaza.”

Shamieh himself previously served as a battalion commander in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, the military says.

Meanwhile, the IDF says it struck over 130 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours.

The targets included rocket launchers, cells of operatives, and buildings used by terror groups to plan attacks on forces, the military says.

Ground troops also killed several operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure in both northern and southern Gaza, the IDF adds.

Lapid after meeting with PM: ‘We are one cabinet decision away from hostage deal’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid delivers a video statement following a security briefing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on May 15, 2025. (Screenshot, X)

After receiving a security update from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the government is “one security cabinet decision away” from reaching a hostage release deal.

“What I can say is that a hostage deal is possible,” Lapid says in a video statement following the meeting.

“We are one cabinet decision away from an agreement. I told the prime minister: ‘You don’t have any political problem – I will give you a full political safety net for a hostage deal. Bring them home, for God’s sake.”

אפשר לעשות עסקת חטופים. אנחנו מרחק החלטת קבינט אחת מעסקה. הזכרתי לנתניהו – אין לך שום בעיה פוליטית. אתן לך רשת ביטחון פוליטית מלאה עבור עסקת חטופים. תחזיר אותם הביתה – עכשיו pic.twitter.com/qty4dMoNEw

— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) May 15, 2025

Israel under Netanyahu has lost its military edge, become passive, Bennett charges

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and former prime minister Naftali Bennett (right) attend the funeral of Rabbi Haim Drukman, at Merkaz Shapira, near Kiryat Malachi, on December 26, 2022. (Gil Cohen-Magen/ AFP)

Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has become passive and lost its qualitative military edge, former premier Naftali Bennett alleges.

“The Middle East is undergoing tectonic changes before our eyes. Our enemies are getting stronger, and Netanyahu, Smotrich and their gang are paralyzed, passive, as if they don’t exist,” Bennett writes in a lengthy post on X.

“Qatar, the capital of Hamas terror, signs a trillion-dollar agreement with the US, upgrades its strategic military position… Erdogan’s Turkey receives a shot of legitimacy and F-35 jets from the US… Syria… is released from all sanctions without giving up anything… [and] Saudi Arabia receives approval for a nuclear program, and Israel loses the qualitative military advantage we had for 50 years, which is one of the essential assets for our existence,” he asserts.

This week, US President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani that will “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion,” as well as a mammoth arms deal worth nearly $142 billion with Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia and the United States are discussing a deal to cooperate on the kingdom’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear industry.

Trump has also lifted sanctions on Syria and is reportedly considering selling advanced fighter aircraft to Turkey.

“As a former defense minister and prime minister, I cannot overstate the severity of the long-term damage to Israel,” Bennett continues.

While “Iran is at the weakest moment in its history, devoid of air defenses, with an old leadership, disconnected and hated by its people,” Israel has failed to harness the US “for political and economic action to overthrow the regime,” he declares.

Last month, The New York Times reported that Trump quashed Israeli proposals for a series of joint strikes next month on Iranian nuclear facilities, opting instead to try for a diplomatic solution to the problem of Tehran’s nuclear program.

Turning to the Israeli army’s current manpower shortage, Bennett accuses the government of failing to mobilize the Haredim, charging that it is “only hindering the necessary change, and throwing all the burden on reservists who have already given their all.”

“The only place where you see ‘initiatives’ from the government is in posts, TikToks, and unnecessary trolling laws that only fuel internal hatred,” he writes.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Supreme Court asks Levin to begin process for new judicial appointments

The three most senior judges on the Supreme Court write to Justice Minister Yariv Levin asking him to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and begin the process of filling over two dozen vacant positions on courts around the country.

In their letter, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, and Judge Daphne Erez Barak point out that there are 30 empty positions, with more set to open up over the course of this year and note that the appointments process takes several months.

Sources close to Levin have said that the minister is unlikely to convene the Judicial Selection Committee again during the tenure of the current Knesset, following the far-reaching legislation passed in March changing the judicial appointments process.

The new system gives politicians far more power over the appointments process than they enjoy under the current system, but the legislation only takes effect after the next elections.

There are three open positions on the Supreme Court that Levin has refused to fill since October 2023.

The Supreme Court, in its capacity as the High Court of Justice, ordered Levin to appoint a new Supreme Court president in January this year after petitions were submitted to the court on the issue, due to his refusal to do so following former chief justice Esther Hayut’s retirement in October 2023.

Ongoing refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee now will likely result in new petitions to the High Court by government watchdogs.

Petitions have already been filed against the new judicial selection law, which the High Court will consider.

Defense Ministry security guard lightly hurt after vehicle accelerated at southern West Bank checkpoint

A Defense Ministry security guard was lightly injured after a vehicle accelerated during a security check at the Meitar checkpoint in the southern West Bank.

According to the ministry, a vehicle that arrived from the direction of Beersheba was stopped by a security guard. During the screening, the car accelerated while the guard had his upper body inside the window of the car.

The guard was lightly injured and the car fled back toward Beersheba, it adds.

Melbourne police closing in on Adass Israel arson suspects

A member of the Jewish community reads messages attached to a fence where flowers have been left at the Adass Israel Synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea on December 9, 2024. (Martin KEEP / AFP)

Five months after Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue was firebombed in December, police in the Australian city say they have made a major breakthrough that may help them find and arrest those responsible.

A blue Volkswagen Golf 2020 sedan was identified on camera as the getaway car following that attack, in which two masked men torched a synagogue founded by Holocaust survivors shortly before dawn on December 6.

Police say that the car is a stolen vehicle that had been used in other offenses around the same time, including an arson and shooting that occurred in a Melbourne suburb the same night as the synagogue attack, as well as a fire set at a nightclub in November 2024.

The Golf, which had cloned number plates, was seized by police last year, police say.

On Thursday, police apprehended two suspects accused of the nightclub arson, both of whom had used the car. While there is no indication that the two were involved with the synagogue fire, investigators sense that they are getting closer to finding the suspects, they say.

The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) releases footage of the attack and asked members of the public with knowledge of the crime to come forward.

Israeli food giant Osem-Nestlé set to raise prices by average of 2.2% next month

Osem-Nestlé, one of Israel’s largest food manufacturers, says it will need to hike food prices of some goods by an average of 2.2 percent in response to “significant increases in the costs of raw materials, packaging, and logistics.”

In the announcement to its customers, the food manufacturer says that the price hike, which will come into effect on June 3, is expected to raise the costs of some goods for consumers, such as coffee, snacks, Materna baby formula, instant meals, soup powders, breadcrumbs, and croutons.

IDF surveillance cameras capture moment of yesterday’s deadly West Bank shooting

IDF surveillance camera footage shows the moment of yesterday’s deadly terror shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Bruchin.

The Palestinian gunman opened fire from the side of a road on Israeli motorists, killing Tzeela Gez, 30, and wounding her husband. They had been heading to a hospital for her to give birth.

According to the military, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the terrorist only as he opened fire, and dispatched troops to the area.

The terrorist is seen fleeing the scene immediately after the gunfire, and the IDF is still searching for him.

תיעוד הפיגוע בשומרון: יורה צרור ארוך – ונמלט בריצה לשטח הפתוח@bokeralmog pic.twitter.com/yoIkrl9Hxu

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 15, 2025

Husband of Tzeela Gez says he is ‘broken’ by wife’s murder, but ‘will be strong’

Tzeela Gez, who was killed in a West Bank terror shooting on the night of May 14, 2025 (Facebook, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Hananel Gez, the husband of Tzeela Gez, who was killed last night in a terror attack in the northern West Bank while en route to the hospital to deliver her baby, says that he is “broken” by his wife’s death, but that he “will be strong.”

In a message said by Hebrew media to have been sent to a family WhatsApp group, Hananel writes, “Today is a sad day. Last night, my wife was murdered. We were on our way to the hospital to give birth to our fourth child.”

“Obviously, I am broken,” continues Hananel, who was himself lightly injured in the shooting. “This is natural. But I thank God that I am alive, and I will be strong in order to continue to be a light to the world. Because we will never let them break us.”

“I am very, very sad,” he writes. “But I will continue to fight for the welfare of our people… we will survive, succeed, and prosper.”

Iranian official says US hasn’t submitted new proposal for nuclear deal

Iran has not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve a decades-long nuclear dispute, a senior Iranian official tells Reuters, adding that Tehran will only ship its highly enriched uranium abroad if US sanctions were lifted “verifiably and effectively.”

Earlier today, the Axios news site reported that the US had given Iran a written proposal for a nuclear deal during the fourth round of talks between the countries, which took place earlier this week.

The report cited an unnamed US official and two other sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

IDF believes deadly West Bank shooting was carried out by lone terrorist who fired from side of the road

Israeli soldiers search a Palestinian village next to the West Bank settlement of Bruchin after a Palestinian gunman shooting killed Tzeela Gez, who was on her way to the hospital to give birth, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

The IDF believes that yesterday’s deadly shooting attack in the West Bank was carried out by a sole terrorist, who opened fire from the side of the road on motorists.

Because of this assessment, the IDF says it is reorganizing its deployment near Bruchin and working to defoliate the area from which the gunfire was carried out.

The IDF continues to surround the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and Kafr ad-Dik, amid the manhunt for the terrorist.

France says it will file complaint against Iran at the Hague over citizens’ detention

France will file a legal complaint tomorrow against Iran at the International Court of Justice for violating the right to consular protection, foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine says.

Two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris, have been held in Iran for three years. France is accusing Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran’s Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection.

Iranian officials deny these accusations.

Speaking to reporters, Christophe Lemoine says Paris will file a complaint with the international court, which is based in The Hague.

Iranian state television had aired a video some time after the couple’s arrest in May 2022, with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something categorically denied by Paris.

French officials have toughened their language toward Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear program and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.

Palestinians report heavy Israeli strikes across Gaza, 115 said killed since the morning

Palestinians walk past the damaged Kamal Adwan medical facility (R) while smoke billows in the background during Israeli bombardment east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)

Palestinian media reports heavy Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since this morning.

The strikes killed at least 115 Palestinians, the reports say, citing medical sources. The figures cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

In recent days, the IDF has been gearing up for a planned major offensive in the Gaza Strip, which officials said would be launched if no hostage deal is reached with Hamas by the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region tomorrow.

Convicted sex offender Rabbi Berland to light bonfire at Lag B’Omer Meron ceremony

Rabbi Eliezer Berland arrives for a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, on February 13, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Convicted sex offender Rabbi Eliezer Berland is set to light a bonfire at Mount Meron tonight as part of the Lag B’Omer celebrations organized under the auspices of the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry.

Different groups and communities receive a slot to light a bonfire.

According to the schedule published on the ministry’s website, one of the 3:30 a.m. slots is assigned to Berland’s ultra-Orthodox cult, Shuvu Bonim.

Berland, 87, has served separate prison sentences for sex offenses and fraud, and in 2021, was implicated but not charged in the decades-old murder of a teenager.

Yesterday, the High Court rejected a petition from several rights groups, including the Movement for Quality Government, that sought to prevent Shuvu Bonim from participating in the ceremony.

The court did not rule on the case’s merits, but rather on procedural issues, stating there was not enough time to hold a hearing on the matter.

Trump arrives in UAE on final leg of Mideast visit

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan greets US President Donald Trump at Abu Dhabi International Airport on May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri5

US President Donald Trump arrives in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital, on the final stop of his multi-day Gulf tour.

After visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week, Trump is hoping to secure billions of dollars in business deals with the oil-rich UAE, which seeks to become an artificial intelligence hub.

Oil prices tumble after Trump says Iran nuclear deal may be close

US President Donald Trump attends a breakfast with business leaders in Doha on May 15, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Oil prices tumble as President Donald Trump says the United States is close to making a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, which could pave the way for increased crude supplies.

“Traders focused on the prospect of a US/Iran nuclear deal which could see economic sanctions lifted on the latter and potentially lead to greater supplies of oil,” notes Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Both main crude contracts plunge around 3.5 percent in value on hopes that US sanctions on Iran may be lifted as part of the deal, which could, in turn, increase the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.

Share prices of British energy giants BP and Shell slump in London on signs of progress on a deal.

Report: Witkoff gave Iranians a written US proposal for a nuclear deal

Left: US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Paris, France, April 17, 2025. (Ludovic Marin, Pool Photo via AP); Right: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. (Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool Photo via AP)

The US gave Iran a written proposal for a nuclear deal during the fourth round of talks between the two countries, a US official and two other sources with direct knowledge tell the Axios news site.

The report says that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, gave the proposal to the Iranians in Oman on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has taken the plan back to Tehran for consultations with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian, Axios says.

The report says that in the first round of talks, Araghchi offered Witkoff a document with written proposals, but the US envoy said it was too early in the process and that relations needed to be built first.

Witkoff accepted a document at the third round of talks, Axios says.

After a team of American experts examined the proposal and responded with questions, the Iranians replied and additionally asked questions of their own.

At the same time, the US team readied its own proposal of the limits for a Iranian civilian nuclear program, and its monitoring requirements, the sources tell Axios.

That proposal was then handed over in Oman to the Iranians.

US State Department officials declined to comment to Axios.

Earlier today, Trump said the US is “getting close to maybe doing” a deal with Iran, and that Tehran “sort of” agreed to terms.

IDF says troops killed at least 5 Palestinian gunmen in operation in West Bank’s Tamun

People check the devastation in a house after Israeli troops said they killed five gunmen during an army raid on Tammun in the West Bank on May 15, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

IDF troops killed at least five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Tamun this morning, while Border Police officers detained two prominent terror operatives in the nearby town of Tubas, the military says.

In Tamun, commandos of the Duvdevan unit exchanged fire with a group of gunmen holed up in a building, according to military sources. Five gunmen were killed, and one suspect was detained. The troops also located several assault rifles and other military equipment, the military says.

Meanwhile, in Tubas, police say undercover Border Police officers raided an apartment where the head of a local terror network was hiding, following intelligence of his whereabouts provided by the Shin Bet.

The commander and another prominent operative were detained, police say, adding that the pair worked to arm other operatives and were planning terror attacks.

The officers seized six assault rifles, a handgun, four grenades, and other military equipment during the raid, police add.

German chancellor, president attend funeral of Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer

From left: Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, former German chancellor Angela Merkel, Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer SE, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany attend the funeral of Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who died at the age of 103, at the Weissensee cemetery in Berlin, May 15, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/Pool Photo via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, former chancellor Angela Merkel, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other German officials attend the funeral in Berlin of Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who died last Friday at the age of 103.

Flags are being flown at half-mast in Berlin in honor of Friedländer, who grew up in the city and survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp, according to Berlin’s municipality. Locals are also invited to sign a book of condolences in Berlin’s city hall through Friday.

Other attendees at the funeral include Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, Central Council of Jews in Germany President Josef Schuster, and prominent community members.

The funeral was held at the Jewish cemetery in Weißensee, Berlin.

Friedländer emigrated to the United States after World War II but in 2010, at the age of 89, she returned to Berlin, where she has been an activist campaigning against antisemitism and promoting democracy.

Just two days before her death, Friedlander had spoken at a ceremony in Berlin commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Several weeks earlier, her Margot Friedlander Foundation had opened to receive applications for a 25,000 euro prize to recognize efforts to fight antisemitism and promote democracy.

Friedländer was “a woman of unshakable moral courage, a survivor of unimaginable loss, and a voice of remembrance for generations,” the World Jewish Congress said in a statement after her death. “This is a profound loss for the Jewish people, for Germany, and for all those who believe in memory and moral responsibility.”

Holocaust Survivor Margot Friedlander appears for an event with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)

Anti-Zionist Haredi extremists clash with Ben Gvir in Beit Shemesh, one arrested

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is seen in Beit Shemesh along with several bodyguards, one of whom appears to be sticking his tongue out in the direction of the photographer, on May 15, 2025. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash90)

At least one person has been arrested after Haredi extremists confronted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and his wife Ayala in Beit Shemesh.

According to police, “rioters” surrounded Ben Gvir’s car in the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Bet Shemesh Bet neighborhood, attempting to damage his vehicle and injuring the minister’s wife, “compelling officers to use force to repel” the attackers.

In a statement, Ben Gvir says that he and his wife came under attack by members of the extreme anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect after they parked in the Haredi neighborhood and called the police to report Palestinian flags painted on the side of a building.

According to Ben Gvir’s spokesperson, the extremists screamed anti-enlistment slogans and tried to attack the minister, whom they called a “Zionist” and “murderer,” when his wife Ayala was “violently attacked by a Neturei Karta activist who slapped her” — prompting the minister to pledge that “the police will enforce the law here too.”

“Ayala defended herself and slapped her back,” the spokesman states, adding that police used “stun grenades, batons and other means to take control of the extremist Neturei Karta who were waving PLO flags.”

In a video Ben Gvir recorded at the scene, Haredim can be heard screaming while he stated that it was a “shame and a disgrace” that such flags are painted on walls in an Israeli neighborhood. Beit Shemesh will not become an “extraterritorial” domain outside the bounds of the law, he declares.

תיעוד בית שמש: המאבטחים נראים מנסים להכניס את בן גביר לרכב, הוא בורח מהם והם רודפים אחריו.
איזה אבו עלי. ילד בן 4 בחיי.
פרובוקטור היה פרובוקטור נשאר. https://t.co/qXWNWLLZQz pic.twitter.com/bOJ7WgasgT

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) May 15, 2025

Additional videos published by local outlet Beit Shemesh Hadashot, shows the minister walking back and forth in the street accompanied by police, as a crowd of Haredim hurling insults gather nearby. Ben Gvir can be seen yelling at the demonstrators.

Video also shows the offending graffiti being painted over while local residents jeered.

One clip from the scene showed guards attempting to get Ben Gvir back into his car before the minister slipped past them, running and waving his arms as he rushed to confront the protesters.

“The Israel Police will continue to work to arrest and bring to justice anyone who disrupts public order, causes damage to property and acts violently towards public servants and law enforcement officials,” the police say in a statement.

???? תיעוד מטורף ▪︎ השר בן גביר רודף אחרי הקיצונים ברמה ב' בבית שמש

להצטרפות ל'חדשות העיר' – בית שמש ????https://t.co/mE9hFdGPXU pic.twitter.com/Q9Dnu8dpsX

— חדשות העיר בית שמש (@city_news_bs) May 15, 2025

תיעוד: שוטר זורק רימון לעבר מפגינים קיצוניים שתקפו את השר בן גביר בבית שמש pic.twitter.com/QbFizmNDVu

— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) May 15, 2025

Local official on terror killing of pregnant woman en route to delivery room: ‘They were driving to the happiest moment’

Tzeela Gez, who was killed in a West Bank terror shooting on the night of May 14, 2025 (Facebook, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Meital Ben Yosef, head of the Bruchin settlement’s local council, tells Army Radio that Tzeela Gez, 30, a resident of the community who was killed in a shooting attack yesterday, was “all mother. A mother in her essence.”

A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on Israeli vehicles last night in the northern West Bank, shooting Gez, who was en route to a hospital to deliver her baby, along with her husband.

During efforts to save Gez’s life, doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver her baby. The newborn boy — the couple’s fourth child — is in serious but stable condition.

“A couple of parents were driving to the happiest moment that a parent can experience and the wife is killed on the way. It’s a horrific incident,” Ben Yosef says.

In updated toll, Gaza’s Hamas-run rescue agency says 82 killed Thursday in Israeli strikes

An Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says Israeli strikes and shelling killed 82 people since dawn, in an updated death toll.

“The number of martyrs from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has risen to 82 after the occupation targeted several homes in northern Gaza,” civil defense spokesman Mohammad al-Mughayir tells AFP.

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

IDF says it has determined soldier killed in 1949 was buried in Rehovot grave with comrades

Pvt. Arthur Gasner (Courtesy)

The IDF has determined that a soldier killed in 1949, who until now had been considered missing, was buried in a grave with two of his comrades in Rehovot.

Pvt. Arthur Gasner was killed in action on April 20, 1949, in the Lachish area, during an operation carried out by the Negev Brigade, and was listed as a fallen soldier whose burial site is unknown.

“Following a strenuous investigation led by the missing persons department in the IDF’s casualty division, which lasted over five years, his burial place was found,” the IDF says.

According to the army’s investigation, 12 soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire with Arab infiltrators in the Lachish area, three of whom were initially declared missing: Gasner, Pvt. Gabriel Magnaji, and Pvt. Kalman Chepnik.

It was later revealed that their bodies were taken by Arabs to a cave near the Palestinian town of Idhna, which at the time was in Jordanian territory. On May 6, 1949, IDF troops recovered the bodies of Magnaji and Kalman, while Gasner’s burial place was thought to be unknown.

In 2020, the IDF relaunched its investigation into Gasner’s disappearance and found that his body was buried alongside Magnaji’s and Chepnik’s in Rehovot’s cemetery.

Last week, the IDF notified Gasner’s family that the investigation had concluded. The military says it will soon hold a ceremony to add a headstone with Gasner’s name on it to the burial site.

Gasner was born in the Czech Republic in 1925, and fought in World War II as a partisan. He moved to Israel in 1948.

Military officers meet with relatives of Pvt. Arthur Gasner in a photo released on May 15, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel’s Yuval Raphael says she was moved by audience support at Eurovision rehearsal

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael performs during the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on May 14, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

After completing her first full rehearsal in front of a live audience last night, Israeli Eurovision contestant Yuval Raphael said she was moved by their support.

“The audience moved me in a way that I wanted to cry,” Raphael said in an video shared by the Kan public broadcaster. “I was prepared for tons of boos, and I couldn’t hear a single one, I only heard support, saw Israeli flags.”

Israel had been concerned about the possibility of a repeat of last year, when singer Eden Golan faced loud boos in the crowd while singing in Malmo, Sweden. This year, Swiss organizers relaxed rules on which flags can be brought to the arena, allowing anything legal under Swiss law, which includes the Palestinian flag. Only a handful of such flags could be seen in the audience during the first semifinal on Tuesday night.

Raphael will perform 14th this evening in the Eurovision’s second semifinal, singing “New Day Will Rise” and hoping for enough votes from the public to advance to Saturday’s grand final.

Man and woman killed in collision with truck on Route 60 near Arava Junction

The scene of a deadly collision on Route 90 near the Arava Junction on May 15, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

A man and woman aged around 60 were killed when their car collided with a truck on Route 90 near the Arava Junction, medics say.

Route 90, Israel’s longest highway, runs along the eastern boundary from Metula in the north to Eilat in the south.

Most of the road is decades old and consists of only one lane in each direction, with no divider. Its length and characteristics have made it one of the country’s deadliest routes.

A number of fatal crashes in recent years have sparked calls for significant safety upgrades on the road, which also traverses the West Bank.

Last year, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman issued a report on road safety that found funds have not been transferred for road maintenance amid other deficiencies in improving highways.

The report highlighted the situation on Route 90 among other notorious roads, and pointed to a state comptroller report from 2021 that discussed the dangers on the highway, in particular the section between Arava Junction and Eilat.

The 2021 report noted that the road leaves no room for error on the part of drivers and that any diversion from a lane can cause a deadly collision.

Hostages’ parents, UN envoy to urge return of captive bodies in special Security Council session

Ruby Chen holds a poster of his son, Itay Chen, during a protest near the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

The United Nations Security Council will convene  today for a special briefing on the “Protection of civilians in armed conflict,” and discuss Resolution 2474, which addresses the obligation of returning hostage bodies in armed conflicts, says Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon.

Danon’s office says it is the first-ever discussion by the council on the issue since the October 7, 2023, attack by the Hamas terror group, which currently holds 58 hostages out of the 251 they kidnapped during the onslaught, at least 35 of whom Israel believes are dead. There are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.

In his address to the council, Danon will emphasize that “Hamas has industrialized the kidnapping of bodies — and the world’s silence must end. One cannot demand human rights while accepting the holding of bodies by a terrorist organization. Israel is demanding something basic, moral, and human — to bring everyone home. It is time for the Security Council to move from words to action,” according to his office.

At the opening of the session, Ruby Chen, father of slain American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen, will brief the council’s ambassadors before Danon addresses his counterparts, says the envoy’s office.

Danon will also deliver a media statement ahead of the session alongside Leah Goldin, mother of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed and abducted by Hamas in 2014, during a ceasefire with Israel.

The briefing on will take place at 3 p.m. New York time (10 p.m. Israel time).

Edan Alexander’s father says son was held with bag over his head, was beaten and interrogated

Released hostage Edan Alexander embraces his father Adi at an IDF base near Re'im, May 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The father of US-Israeli Edan Alexander details the harsh conditions his son was held in while hostage in Gaza, saying the soldier was beaten and given meager rations.

Adi Alexander tells The New York Times that at the start of his son’s captivity, he was held with a bag over his head and was handcuffed, beaten and interrogated about his military service, which he had begun some 10 months earlier.

“There was nothing to interrogate him about,” Alexander says. “They knew about the arrangement of the IDF much better than he did.”

He tells the newspaper that at one point a tunnel collapsed around his son, injuring his shoulder, and that he had lost weight due to the meager rations of pita bread, rice, brown beans and black coffee he was given.

“His whole body has bedbug bites,” Alexander says. “His skin is in terrible condition.”

Alexander says his son was moved to a tunnel with better conditions after the election of US President Donald Trump, and received better food around the time of the January ceasefire.

The freed hostage’s father says that while the tunnels were crowded at first, there was more space as hostages died or were freed.

“We never lost hope,” Alexander tells the newspaper. “I could not allow myself to think any other way.”

Lapid to receive security briefing from Netanyahu at 4 p.m.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, left, is briefed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 10, 2023. (GPO)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid is set to receive a security briefing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 4 p.m. at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The leader of the opposition is traditionally briefed once a month by the prime minister on sensitive national security issues, although Netanyahu and Lapid have not kept to this regular schedule. A spokesperson for the opposition leader says the two have not met in over two months.

Lapid has been extremely critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and ties with Washington, saying earlier this week that while the Trump administration praises the government publicly, the “Americans are fed up with Netanyahu.”

Lufthansa group extends suspension of Tel Aviv flights until May 25

Lufthansa aircrafts parked at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, September 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst,file)

The Lufthansa group of carriers extends the suspension of flight services to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport by another week.

The Lufthansa group – whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings – says that following a situation assessment, it has decided to extend flight suspensions to and from Tel Aviv through May 25, from the previously announced date of May 18.

On May 4, the group of carriers joined a list of foreign airlines canceling flight services to Israel, after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck an area of Israel’s main international airport.

Hungary-based low-cost airline Wizz Air resumed flight services to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport today.

IDF chief at site of deadly West Bank terror attack: ‘We will bring the murderers to justice’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left), meets with West Bank division commander Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf (center) and Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, at the scene of a shooting near Bruchim in the West Bank, May 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visits the site of last night’s deadly shooting attack in the West Bank, as forces continue a manhunt for the terrorist and any possible accomplices.

“This is a difficult and painful attack in which an Israeli civilian was killed on her way to a delivery room. I share in the deep sorrow of the family. We are engaged in broad fighting against terror in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), and we will continue,” Zamir says in remarks published by the IDF.

“We will activate all our tools, and we will reach the murderers to bring them to justice,” he adds.

Trump: Oct. 7 was ‘one of the worst days in history of the world’; wants US to ‘take’ Gaza, ‘make it a freedom zone’

US President Donald Trump (C) is flanked with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg (L) and CEO of GE Aerospace Larry Culp during a breakfast with business leaders in Doha on May 15, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Speaking in Qatar, US President Donald Trump says that October 7 was “one of the worst days in the history of the world, not only in this region.”

In comments at a meeting of business leaders in Doha, the US president says the Hamas-led assault on Israel was “one of the worst, most atrocious attacks anyone has ever seen.”

Trump says that Hamas is “going to have to be dealt with.”

He says he wants the United States to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone”: “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” he says. “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.”

“We’re working very hard in Gaza. Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction,” he says.

“I have aerial shots where, I mean, there’s practically no building standing. It’s not like you’re trying to save something. There’s no building. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable,” he says of the Palestinian enclave.

“We are dealing with Hamas and Iran and the Houthis, and that was I think, very successful,” he also says, referring to US strikes on the Iran-backed Yemeni group.

Trump says nobody will break his ties with Qatar: ‘We are going to protect you’

US President Donald Trump attends a breakfast with business leaders in Doha on May 15, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says nobody will be able to break his relationships with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

“We have never had a relationship with Qatar as strong as it is now. And we are going to protect you,” he says, giving no further details, after a meeting with business leaders in Doha.

Hamas-backer Qatar has stirred controversy by offering a $400 million luxury aircraft to serve as a new Air Force One and then go to Trump’s personal use. The move raises major constitutional and ethical questions — as well as security concerns about a foreign power donating the ultra-sensitive US presidential jet.

Trump: US ‘getting close to maybe doing a deal’ with Iran, Tehran ‘sort of’ agreed to terms

US President Donald Trump (C) attends a breakfast with business leaders in Doha on May 15, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that a deal is maybe close on Iran’s nuclear program, voicing optimism at avoiding a military strike on Tehran’s sites.

“We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran,” Trump says after a meeting in Doha with business leaders. “I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this.”

“So we’ll see what happens but we’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” he says.

“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms,” he says. “We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal.”

Gaza’s Hamas-run rescue agency says at least 34 killed Thursday in Israeli strikes

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says at least 34 people were killed in Israeli strikes since dawn across the Palestinian territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal tells AFP that at least 13 people were “recovered from rubble” after a strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, while another 20 were killed in five strikes across the Gaza Strip, and one woman was killed in artillery shelling in southern Gaza.

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

IDF releases dramatic footage of combat medics treating soldiers in Gaza, says injured troops reach hospitals in an hour

The IDF releases dramatic footage of combat medics treating and evacuating wounded soldiers during an exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip, at some point during the war.

The video is released as the Medical Corps provides new data on its activities amid the fighting.

The Medical Corps reports that some 7,400 wounded soldiers have been treated during the ground offensive in Gaza.

On average, according to the Medical Corps, senior medics reach wounded soldiers within four minutes during the fighting.

In terms of how long it takes to bring wounded soldiers from Gaza to hospitals in Israel, the Medical Corps says that via helicopter, it stands at 51 minutes on average, and with ground vehicles, at 61 minutes.

Additionally, the corps says over 1,000 mental health officers have been operating since the beginning of the war, and have entered Gaza and Lebanon 80 times to meet with troops.

This undated video released by the IDF on May 15, 2025, shows combat medics treating wounded soldiers in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense Forces)

Zelensky to meet Erdogan in Ankara, then decide on Russia talks, Ukrainian official says

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kyiv on May 13, 2025 (Genya SAVILOV / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara today, and only then decide what steps to take on peace talks with Russia, a senior official tells AFP.

“The president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will the president decide on the next steps,” the official says, after Russian state media reported that Moscow’s delegation had landed in Istanbul for planned talks.

Iconic Israeli singer Matti Caspi announces he has advanced cancer

Israeli musician Matti Caspi performs in Gush Etzion on December 10, 2015.(Gershon Elinson/Flash 90)

Iconic Israeli singer Matti Caspi announces that he has advanced cancer with metastases throughout his body.

He writes on social media: “Dear friends, I would like to announce that I have advanced cancer with metastases throughout my body. Unfortunately, I must cancel all my performances so that I can focus on treatments as part of the healing process. Yours always, Matti.”

Health Ministry: 5 unvaccinated kids hospitalized in intensive care after contracting measles

The Health Ministry says five unvaccinated children have been hospitalized in intensive care after contracting measles amid a growing outbreak.

The ministry says three of the children remain in critical care units.

Health officials have decided to conduct a widespread vaccination campaign for both children and adults in areas with low coverage, the ministry says.

In addition, due to the widespread morbidity and high infection rate, the ministry says it is updating the recommendations for vaccinating children and recommends bringing forward the second dose of the vaccine to a month or more after the first for people living in areas of the country with an increased risk of morbidity.

IDF troops in exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen in West Bank town of Tamun

IDF troops are exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen during operations in the West Bank town of Tamun, according to a military official and Palestinian media.

Other military operations are being carried out this morning in Tubas and Barta’a, where forces have located weapons, the official says.

The IDF is also searching for the Palestinian terrorist who carried out last night’s deadly shooting attack.

Hospital says newborn baby whose mother was killed in terror attack in serious but stable condition

The scene of a terror shooting attack on Route 446 between the Bruchin and Pedu'el settlements on May 14, 2025. Inset: Tzeela Gez, who was killed in the attack (Magen David Adom; courtesy)

Schneider Children’s Hospital says the newborn baby whose mother was shot and killed in a terror attack is in serious but stable condition after doctors fought for his life overnight.

The baby is in intensive care, the hospital says.

Tzeela Gez, 30, was shot while en route to the delivery room when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire at vehicles in the northern West Bank last night.

During efforts to save her life, doctors performed an emergency C-section. Hours later, the hospital announced the woman’s death.

Trump set to visit US troops in Qatar as he rejects America’s ‘interventionist’ past

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomes US President Donald Trump during an official welcoming ceremony at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump on Thursday will visit a US installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East today as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.

Trump plans to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supported the recent US air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. The president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program.

Trump has also used his trip to announce plans to recognize the government of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and to ease sanctions on the war-torn country. The US has deployed more than 1,000 troops in Syria for years to suppress a return of the Islamic State group.

Trump heaped praise on al-Sharaa — who was tied to al-Qaeda and joined insurgents battling US forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian civil war — after the two met in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The president called al-Sharaa a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

It was a stark contrast from earlier years, when Al-Sharaa was imprisoned by US troops in Iraq. Until December, there was a $10 million US bounty for his arrest.

Georgetown University student, whose father-in-law worked with Hamas authorities in Gaza, released from US immigration detention

Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University scholar from India, speaks after he was released from immigration detention facility, May 14, 2025, in Alvarado, Texas. (AP Photo/Kendria LaFleur)

A Georgetown University scholar from India who was arrested in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students is released from immigration detention after a federal judge’s ruling.

Badar Khan Suri will go home to his family in Virginia while he awaits the outcome of his petition against the Trump administration for wrongful arrest and detention in violation of the First Amendment and other constitutional rights. He is also facing deportation proceedings in an immigration court in Texas.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Khan Suri tells reporters after his release from a detention facility in Alvarado, near Dallas. “It took two months, but I’m extremely thankful that finally I’m free.”

Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17 outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. He was then put on a plane to Louisiana and later to a detention center in Texas.

Khan Suri’s attorneys say he and his wife, Mapheze Saleh, have been targeted because Saleh’s father worked with the Hamas-backed Gazan government for more than a decade, but before terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Trump administration has said that it revoked Khan Suri’s visa because of his social media posts and his wife’s connection to Gaza as a Palestinian American. They accused him of supporting Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization.

According to the US government, Khan Suri has undisputed family ties to the terrorist organization, which he “euphemistically refers to as ‘the government of Gaza.’” But the American Civil Liberties Union has said that Khan Suri hardly knew the father, Ahmed Yousef.

Herzog: ‘Murder of Tseela Gez on her way to the delivery room a criminal act of terror that chills every heart’

Tzeela Gez, who was killed in a West Bank terror shooting on May 15, 2025. (Courtesy)

President Isaac Herzog condemns the killing of Tseela Gez, who was shot by a Palestinian terrorist while en route to hospital to deliver her baby.

“The murder of the late Tseela Gez, on her way to the delivery room, is a criminal act of terror that chills every heart. Precisely at a moment of life – a life was cruelly taken,” Herzog writes on X.

“My heart goes out to the grieving family and to all her loved ones. We are all praying now for the well-being of the baby and the recovery of her injured husband, Hananel,” Herzog writes. “Terrorism will not defeat the Israeli spirit. We will pursue terrorism everywhere, and we will not be silent. May her memory be a blessing!”

Gez was in her ninth month of pregnancy and was heading to a hospital to give birth to her fourth child when she was shot yesterday.

During efforts to save her life, doctors performed an emergency C-section. The newborn is in serious condition and doctors are working to save his life. Gez’s husband, Hananel, who was driving the car, was lightly hurt.

Woman slain in West Bank terror shooting identified as Tzeela Gez

Tzeela Gez, who was killed in a West Bank terror shooting on May 15, 2025. (Courtesy)

The woman slain in last night’s terror shooting attack in the West Bank is named by local authorities as Tzeela Gez.

Her husband, Hananel, was lightly hurt.

Pregnant woman critically hurt in West Bank terror shooting succumbs to wounds

The pregnant woman critically hurt in last night’s terror shooting attack in the West Bank has succumbed to her wounds, Rabin Medical Center says.

The hospital says that during the efforts to save her life, doctors carried out a caesarean delivery of her baby. The newborn was taken to Schneider Children’s Hospital.

A man wounded in the attack, the woman’s husband, is listed in good condition, the hospital adds.

Trump envoys Witkoff and Kellogg to go to Turkey for Russia-Ukraine talks, sources say

US President Donald Trump’s senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will travel to Istanbul for potential talks on Thursday on how to end the war in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the plans say.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

The envoys will attempt to revive Trump’s stalled push to broker peace in the conflict, which he has repeatedly promised to end.

US officials are hoping Russia will agree to a comprehensive 30-day land, air, sea and critical infrastructure ceasefire, a senior US official says, adding that Kyiv has already agreed to abide by such a deal.

Ben & Jerry’s cofounder confronts RFK Jr in Gaza protest at Capitol

Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's, is detained by U.S. Capitol Police for disrupting proceedings during a hearing with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Capitol Hill on May 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/AFP)

Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and longtime progressive activist, was removed from a Senate hearing Wednesday after confronting US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and lawmakers over Washington’s support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Kennedy had been reading prepared remarks about his department’s 2026 budget when activists interrupted the session, chanting “RFK kills people with AIDS.”

Kennedy jumped from his seat in reaction to the outburst.

Cohen then shouted: “Congress pays for bombs to kill children in Gaza,” accusing lawmakers of funding arms by cutting Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income families that Republicans are seeking to slash.

Video posted by anti-war group Codepink showed the 74-year-old in handcuffs as Capitol Police escorted him from the chamber.

“They need to let food into Gaza, they need to let food to starving kids!” Cohen yelled as he was taken away.

A vocal critic of Israeli policy, Cohen last year co-signed an open letter titled A Statement From Jewish Americans Opposing AIPAC, denouncing the pro-Israel lobby’s influence in US politics.

Ben from Ben & Jerry’s confronts RFK Jr. and Congress:
“YOU’RE KILLING POOR KIDS IN GAZA
AND PAYING FOR IT BY CUTTING MEDICAID
FOR KIDS HERE.”
While Congress writes checks for bombs, children are starving. pic.twitter.com/nBxzwGnVf7

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) May 14, 2025

Iranian official says Tehran will agree to deal that caps uranium enrichment

Iran is willing to agree to a deal with the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, an Iranian official tells NBC News in an interview published on Wednesday.

Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says Tehran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.

US officials have offered varying statements regarding whether they’ll accept a deal that allows Iran to maintain a limited enrichment program, though, more recently have asserted that they won’t.

Putin to skip Ukraine talks, Russian team includes seasoned negotiators

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the composition of a delegation of experienced negotiators to conduct direct talks with Ukraine to resolve the ongoing war, though, the talks will not include the Kremlin leader himself.

Speculation on whether Putin would attend the direct talks has hung over the meeting since he had proposed it himself last week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said he would attend the talks if Putin were present.

An order issued by Putin on the Kremlin website said the delegation included two officials who took part in the last set of talks held between the two sides in the first weeks following Russia’s 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor.

Those included presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.

Also named as part of the delegation was Igor Kostyukov, director of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the GRU, Russia’s Foreign Military Intelligence Agency. Kostyukov was identified in the Kremlin announcement as Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin was also named as part of the delegation.

Negotiators held several rounds of talks in 2022 first in Belarus and then in Turkey, but the negotiations eventually broke down.