May 16: Katz threatens to eliminate Houthi leader ‘as we did with the Sinwars’

US reportedly developing plan to move 1 million Palestinians to Libya

The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate as much as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, NBC News reports, citing five people with knowledge of the matter.

The plan is under serious enough consideration that the US has discussed it with Libya’s leadership, the report says.

In exchange for resettling the Palestinians, the administration would release to Libya billions of dollars of funds the US froze more than a decade ago, NBC adds.

US considering reality TV competition for citizenship

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering taking part in a reality TV show in which immigrants would compete for American citizenship, the department confirmed on Friday.

Asked about the reported idea, DHS responds with a statement that says the pitch “has not received approval or rejection by staff,” and that “each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval.”

“We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin says in the statement.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the proposed show — which was pitched by a Canadian American named Rob Worsoff — would see contestants face off to prove they are the most American.

“This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,” the newspaper quotes Worsoff as saying — a reference to a dystopian novel and subsequent movie about children forced to kill each other in a televised competition for survival.

“This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country,'” he says.

The Journal reviewed a 36-page slide deck from Worsoff’s team about the proposed program, which would see contestants compete in one-hour episodes.

This could include a gold rush competition to see who can retrieve the most precious metal from a mine, or one in which contestants would work in teams to assemble the chassis of a Model T car, according to the newspaper.

The show would start with an arrival at Ellis Island — the traditional entrance point for immigrants to the United States — and would see one contestant eliminated per episode.

7 European governments call on Israel to reverse aid blockade responsible for Gaza ‘humanitarian catastrophe’

Displaced Palestinians seen near their tents in in Bureij camp in Deir al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, May 11, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)

The leaders of seven European governments have issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s ongoing aid blockade in Gaza that has been in place since March 2.

Israel argues that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas has been stealing much of that aid. In recent weeks, though, officials in the Israel Defense Forces have begun warning the political echelon that the enclave is on the brink of starvation.

“We will not be silent in front of the man-made humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place before our eyes in Gaza. More than 50.000 men, women, and children have lost their lives. Many more could starve to death in the coming days and weeks unless immediate action is taken,” the leaders of Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia and Spain say in their joint statement.

“We call upon the government of Israel to immediately reverse its current policy, refrain from further military operations and fully lift the blockade, ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian aid to be distributed throughout the Gaza Strip by international humanitarian actors and according to humanitarian principles.”

Joint statement on Palestine pic.twitter.com/zXvviObthS

— MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) May 16, 2025

Religious Zionism MK appears to revel in public indifference toward ‘100 Gazans killed last night’

Former MK Zvi Sukkot arrives to the Department of Internal Police Investigations, in Jerusalem, February 6, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

During a debate on Channel 12 with panelist Chaim Levinson, Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot argues that Israel’s security forces have been able to operate in multiple sectors with a level of force that he couldn’t have dreamed of when the government was formed over two years ago.

“Last night, almost 100 Gazans were killed. And the question you asked me just now had nothing to do with Gaza. Do you know why? Because it doesn’t interest anyone. Everyone has gotten used to [the fact] that [we can] kill 100 Gazans in one night during a war and nobody cares in the world,” Sukkot says, apparently arguing that the lack of outcry from within Israel and abroad to war developments, which once would have sparked major uproar.

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday killed at least 94 people, according to Hamas authorities in the Strip. The IDF said it struck 150 “terror targets.”

https://twitter.com/gabay_official/status/1923410360310313402

Texts indicate Qatargate suspect was still working for PM after spokesman claimed he had stopped

Eli Feldstein arrives for a court hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court on March 11, 2025. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson Omer Dostri claimed last month that Qatargate suspect Eli Feldstein stopped working for the premier’s office after he failed his security clearance in April 2024, Channel 12 publishes what it says is a texting conversation between Feldstein and another Netanyahu aide and Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich.

Feldstein reached out to Urich to inform him that Netanyahu is looking to speak to him about National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir after the latter stormed out of a cabinet meeting due to disagreements with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar regarding the prosecution of the war in Gaza.

Both Feldstein and Urich are suspected of receiving funds for boosting Qatar’s public image while working for Netanyahu.

"לא עבד בלשכת ראש הממשלה"
באוגוסט 2024 ראש הממשלה מנהל דיון ביטחוני רגיש בקריה. בן גביר, לאחר שכעס על רונן בר, כי אמר שהוא מסוכן –
מתפוצץ, עוזב בזעם את הדיון, ואומר לרהמ: תפטר אותי.
נתניהו מנסה להשיג את אוריך, אוריך לא עונה לו, ואז, הוא לא פונה לדוסטרי, אלא למי? לפלדשטיין. pic.twitter.com/sB9raN69fk

— listein (@Lihistein) May 16, 2025

Trump domestic agenda hangs in balance as key vote fails

Republican fiscal hawks have sunk a key vote on advancing the mega-bill that is the centerpiece of Donald Trump’s domestic agenda, in a significant setback for the US president’s tax and spending policies.

Trump is pushing to usher into law his so-called One Big, Beautiful Bill, pairing an extension of his first-term tax cuts with savings that will see millions of the poorest Americans lose their health care coverage.

But a congressional Republican Party riven with divisions and competing in its rank-and-file has complicated the process, raising serious doubts that the sprawling package can pass a vote of the full House of Representatives next week.

Despite a social media post by Trump calling holdouts in his party “grandstanders,” five conservatives in the Republican-led House Budget Committee have joined Democrats to reject the legislation.

“This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to the deficit. We are writing checks we cannot cash and our children are going to pay the price,” says Texas conservative Chip Roy.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to spend the weekend seeking a compromise with his party’s rebels.

But it will be a fraught balancing act, as any concession he makes to the debt hawks could cause a chain reaction of defections from the moderates.

Republican senators meanwhile, have made no secret of their intention to make major changes when the package reaches the upper chamber.

“We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things we agree on… But there’ll be changes in a number of areas,” John Hoeven of North Dakota tells NBC.

World Bank says Saudi Arabia and Qatar have paid off Syria’s outstanding debt

The World Bank says that the $15.5 million Syria owed it has been paid off by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, clearing Damascus to take out new loans.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar had announced plans last month to clear Syria’s outstanding debts, a move that Syria hailed as paving the way for recovery and reconstruction after a 14-year conflict that killed half a million people and caused wide destruction in the country.

The debt was owed to the World Bank’s International Development Association, a fund that provides zero- or low-interest loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries.

“We are pleased that the clearance of Syria’s arrears will allow the World Bank Group to reengage with the country and address the development needs of the Syrian people,” the World Bank says in a statement.

It adds that “the first project in our reengagement with Syria is centered on access to electricity.”

Months after a lightning insurgency unseated former Syrian President Bashar Assad and ended the civil war that decimated much of the country’s infrastructure, severe electricity shortages continue to plague the country.

The United Nations estimates that 90% of Syrians live in poverty and state-supplied electricity comes as little as two hours every day. Millions of Syrians cannot afford to pay hefty fees for private generator services or install solar panels to supplement the meagre supply.

In March, Qatar began supplying Syria with natural gas through Jordan to ease the long hours of electricity cuts.

However, Western sanctions imposed on the country during the Assad dynasty’s rule have posed an obstacle to development and reconstruction projects.

Earlier this week, during a regional tour during which he met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump said he would move to lift the sanctions, clearing the way for investments in Syria.

Police say officer was victim of stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City; assailant shot

Police say an officer was stabbed and wounded in the suspected attack in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The assailant was shot by officers in the area, police add.

According to medics, the 25-year-old officer is listed in moderate condition.

25-year-old man wounded in stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City — medics

A 25-year-old man was wounded in a suspected stabbing attack near the Chain Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, medics say.

According to Magen David Adom, the assailant was “neutralized.”

There is no immediate comment from the police.

Swedish PM says jailed reporter on his way home from Turkey

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was jailed in March in Turkey on terrorism and insult charges, is on his way home, Sweden’s Prime Minister said on Friday.

“Hard work in relative silence has paid off,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says on X, adding that Medin would land in Sweden in a few hours.

Kristersson thanks the foreign office and European colleagues for helping secure Medin’s release.

Medin, who was in Turkey to cover protests against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s arrest, was charged with “insulting the president” and “membership of a terrorist organization and jailed pending trial.

Turkish authorities said Medin was among 15 suspects identified for organizing, promoting, or being linked to a demonstration in Stockholm in 2023, where a mannequin resembling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hung outside the city hall.

Macron: Gaza humanitarian situation ‘intolerable;’ hopes to discuss it with Netanyahu and Trump

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterates that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “intolerable,” adding that he hopes to discuss the matter soon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

Captors said to have hidden Edan Alexander in a donkey-pulled cart while moving him

Former American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander relaxes at home with his siblings on May 16, 2025. (Alexander family)

Former American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander’s family posts a photo of him relaxing at home with his two siblings in what is his first weekend since he was released from captivity on Monday.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 reveals new details about his captivity, citing what Alexander has shared with family members since his return.

“The first year was hell,” Alexander has said. He has also reportedly told relatives that his conditions improved when Donald Trump was elected president, as his captors recognized that he was “worth” more.

But before that, he at one point lost roughly 44 pounds.

He was moved repeatedly throughout his captivity, spending time in tunnels, apartments, mosques and tents for displaced Gazans. In the latter, conditions were particularly bad and he drank sea water and dirty bread.

His captors once moved him by hiding him in a donkey-pulled cart. His face was covered and his captor was dressed as a woman, Channel 12 reports.

IDF confirms allowing fuel into Gaza in recent weeks to run field hospitals

The IDF confirms fuel entered Gaza in recent weeks, but not for the Palestinian population, following denials that any such supplies were allowed into the Strip.

According to the military, the fuel was destined for field hospitals run by foreign countries, and the move was approved by the political echelon. The fuel did not reach any Palestinians, it says.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) had previously denied that any fuel entered Gaza.

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

Houthi official says group will continue targeting Israeli leaders over ‘Gaza massacre’

Responding to the latest Israeli threats, senior Houthi official Nasr al-Din Amer says in a statement that the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen will continue pursuing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders over their responsibility for the “massacre in Gaza.”

He claims that the Houthis recently targeted Ben Gurion Airport while Netanyahu was inside.

Source: Israeli team in Doha trying to derail talks to justify expanding Gaza war

Relatives and supporters of the Gaza hostages call for the US to intervene for their release, at a protest in front of the US embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, on May 13, 2025, (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israel’s hostage negotiating team will remain in Doha until at least Saturday night, the Axios news site reports, adding that there has been no progress in the talks.

The team recommended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they stay in Qatar for the weekend because there is still a chance for a breakthrough, Axios says, citing an unnamed Israeli official.

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff left the country earlier today, though.

A foreign source familiar with the talks said that Qatari mediators are incredibly frustrated with the Israeli negotiating team’s conduct in the negotiations over the past few days.

“So far, this has been the worst round of negotiations. Nothing has been achieved. The impression has been that the Israelis came to Doha to derail the talks and find justification for [expanding] the war in Gaza,” the source tells Axios.

Former hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel host pancake popup at Israeli-owned NYC restaurant

Freed hostage Keith Siegel hosts a pancake pop-up in New York Soho neighborhood on May 16, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Freed hostage Keith Siegel and his wife, former captive Aviva Siegel, host a pancake popup at 12 Chairs, an Israeli-owned restaurant in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.

Half of the proceeds will go to 12 Chairs and the other half will go to the Hostage Families Forum.

Siegel, who hosted a similar event recently in Tel Aviv in order to bring attention to the hostages and harkening to his own love of pancakes, walks up and down the block, speaking to the long line of supporters who began lining up at 9 a.m.

Siegel says that when he met US President Donald Trump recently in Washington, DC, he had a sense that the issue of the hostages is very important to the president.

“No one deserves to suffer,” says Siegel. “We need to bring an end to the suffering on both sides.”

New Yorkers wait in line for pancakes from freed hostage Keith Siegel in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood on May 16, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Siegel, who says that he still believes in a lasting peace, adds that he doesn’t know how to bring the current situation to a close, but “we seem to have the opportunity now,” referring to Trump’s recent trip to Qatar.

Siegel and his wife, Aviva, who was helping make the pancakes in the restaurant kitchen, are in New York for the Israel Day Parade on Sunday, along with other released hostages and hostage families.

Kate Amrani, an Israeli currently living in New York who works for the restaurant that serves popular Israeli foods in its two locations, says the restaurant has been hosting pop-ups since October 7.

“This is a really emotional morning,” she says. “We’re building a community, not just a restaurant. Everyone can feel at home here.”

Iran says it has not received proposal from US over nuclear deal

Iran has not received any written proposals from the United States over a possible nuclear deal, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi Friday, a few hours after US President Donald Trump said Iran had a proposal.

Araqchi says on X there were no proposals “whether directly or indirectly.”

Iran has not received any written proposal from the United States, whether directly or indirectly.

In the meantime, the messaging we—and the world—continue to receive is confusing and contradictory. Iran nonetheless remains determined and straightforward: Respect our rights and…

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 16, 2025

IDF confirms outgoing Operations Directorate chief traveled to Azerbaijan for talks on Syria

Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, chief of the IDF Operations Directorate, attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, July 18, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The outgoing chief of the IDF Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, visited Azerbaijan this week to coordinate security matters with Turkey regarding Syria, the military confirms.

According to the IDF, Basiuk did not meet with any Syrian officials in Baku, rather only Turkish ones, contrary to reports in Hebrew-language media.

US President Donald Trump this week invited Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa to normalize ties with Israel.

Sharaa confirmed last week that security-related talks were being held through mediators, though he did not comment on potential diplomatic relations.

IDF claims it will take Houthis a month to restore Houthi ports after today’s strikes

The Israeli military estimates it will take the Houthis about a month to restore the ports in western Yemen targeted by the Israeli Air Force today, an attack that comes in response to the Iran-backed group’s missile and drone attacks on Israel.

Fifteen fighter jets were involved in the operation, dropping some 35 munitions on the Hodeidah and Salif ports. IAF refuelers and spy planes also participated in the operation.

The military says the goal was to “neutralize” the ports, to prevent the Houthis from bringing in more Iranian weapons, and to harm the group economically.

Counter-terror police, helicopters, drones to secure Sunday’s Israel parade in New York

Family members of Israeli hostages march during the annual Israel Day Parade on Fifth Avenue on June 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The NYPD will deploy an array of security measures to protect Sunday’s annual pro-Israel parade in New York City, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says at a press briefing.

Tisch, who comes from a prominent Jewish family, says there are no specific or credible threats to the march. During the annual parade, tens of thousands march down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

The NYPD will deploy uniformed officers at the parade and in its vicinity, and use special units like mounted officers and canine units.

Counter-terror teams, a bomb squad and “hostile surveillance” officers will also be on hand. Helicopters and drones will monitor the event from above and police personnel will watch video from security cameras in the area, Tisch says.

Intelligence teams will scan for potential threats posted online and police response units will be posted around the city to respond quickly if a threat is detected.

“We remain vigilant and the public can expect to see a robust and visible police presence throughout the area,” Tisch says. “As always, there will be assets you will see and others you will not see.”

Assailant who stabbed author Salman Rushdie sentenced to 25 years

Hadi Matar, charged with severely injuring author Salman Rushdie in a 2022 knife attack, listens to his defense team in Chautauqua County court in Mayville, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

The man who stabbed and partially blinded novelist Salman Rushdie onstage at a Western New York arts institute in 2022 was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Friday for an attack that also wounded a second man, the district attorney says.

Rushdie, 77, has faced death threats since the 1988 publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, denounced as blasphemous, leading to a call for Rushdie’s death, an edict known as a fatwa.

Hadi Matar, 27, a US citizen from Fairview, New Jersey, was found guilty of attacking the author in the Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, New York, in February. He faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on the attempted murder charge.

Video that captured the assault shows Matar rushing the Chautauqua Institution’s stage as Rushdie was being introduced to the audience for a talk about keeping writers safe from harm. Some of the video was shown to the jury during the seven days of testimony.

“He’s traumatized. He has nightmares about what he experienced,” Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt says after the sentencing hearing, referring to what Rushdie suffered.

Indian-British novelist Salman Rushdie reacts on stage prior to a lecture from his book ‘Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder’, in Berlin on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

“Obviously this is a major setback for an individual who was starting to emerge in his very later years of life into society after going into hiding after the fatwa.”

Also hurt in the attack was Henry Reese, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, a nonprofit that helps exiled writers. He was conducting the talk with Rushdie that morning.

Schmidt said Matar was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the second degree attempted murder charge stemming from the attack against Rushdie and seven years for a second degree assault charged for the stabbing of Reese. The sentences will run concurrently.

Rushdie, an atheist born into a Muslim Kashmiri family in India, was stabbed with a knife multiple times in the head, neck, torso and left hand. The attack blinded his right eye and damaged his liver and intestines, requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery.

Matar did not testify at his trial. His defense lawyers told jurors that the prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the necessary criminal intent to kill needed for a conviction of attempted murder, and argued that he should have been charged with assault.

Matar’s attorney Nathaniel Barone said his client will file an appeal.

“I know if he had the opportunity, he would not be sitting where he’s sitting today. And if he could change things, he would,” Barone said.

Matar also faces federal charges brought by prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Western New York, accusing him of attempting to murder Rushdie as an act of terrorism. Prosecutors accuse him of providing material support to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, which the US. has designated as a terrorist organization.

Matar is due to face those charges at a separate trial in Buffalo.

IDF confirms Yemen airstrikes, saying it destroyed infrastructure at Houthi-controlled ports

The IDF in a statement confirms carrying out a wave of airstrikes in Yemen a short while ago, saying it destroyed infrastructure at the Houthi-controlled ports of Hodeidah and Salif, in response to the Iran-backed group’s missile and drone attacks on Israel.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the strikes, including fighter jets, refuelers and spy planes.

“These ports are used for the transfer of weapons and are another example of the cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure by the Houthi terror regime to advance terror,” the military says.

The ports have been targeted by the Israeli Air Force before, as has Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport. The IDF says the strikes are intended to “deepen the damage to the Houthis’ terror capabilities.”

Earlier this week, the IDF warned civilians to evacuate the two ports in western Yemen, along with a third port, Ras Isa, which was not targeted today.

“In light of the Houthi terror regime’s use of these ports for terror purposes, the IDF reiterates its warning to those present at the ports to distance themselves and evacuate the area,” the military says.

Israel waited until the end of US President Trump’s visit to the region before launching its reprisal strikes on the Houthis, a defense source tells Army Radio. Since the IDF’s last strike on Yemen, on May 6, the Houthis launched at least seven missiles and two drones at Israel.

Katz threatens to eliminate Houthi leader ‘as we did with the Sinwars’

Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens to eliminate Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, if the Iran-backed group continues to fire on Israel.

“The IDF now struck and severely damaged the ports in Yemen that are under the control of the Houthi terror group. The airport in Sanaa also remains destroyed,” Katz says on X.

“As we said, if the Houthis continue to fire missiles on Israel, they will suffer painful blows, and we will also strike the heads of terror just as we did to Deif and the Sinwars in Gaza, to Nasrallah in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran,” he says, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah Israel has assassinated and attempted to kill.

Hamas Gaza leader Muhammad Sinwar has not been confirmed dead.

“We will hunt down and eliminate Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in Yemen as well. We will defend ourselves by our own strength against any enemy,” Katz adds.

Netanyahu, Katz and Zamir huddle at Israeli Air Force underground command center during strikes on Houthis

L-R: Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir are seen at the IAF's underground command center at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, during strikes in Yemen, May 16, 2025. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir are huddled in the Israeli Air Force underground command center during the strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Katz’s office issues images.

According to reports from Yemen, Israeli jets struck the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah and Salif ports. The strikes come in response to several Houthi missile and drone attacks on Israel this week.

L-R: Defense Minister Israel Katz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir are seen at the IAF’s underground command center at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, during strikes in Yemen, May 16, 2025. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)

Turkey says Ukrainian, Russian negotiators agreed in principle to meet again

Ukrainian and Russian officials who held direct talks in Istanbul on Friday agreed in principle to meet again for negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says.

Fidan, who chaired the talks between negotiators from Russia and Ukraine, said in a post on X after the two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each that the move was intended as a confidence-building measure. He said the two sides would also share in writing their conditions for a ceasefire.

NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani declines to sign resolutions recognizing Israel, condemning Holocaust

New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani participates in a District Council 37 New York City mayoral forum, February 26, 2025, in New York. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, one of the leading candidates in New York City’s mayoral race, has declined to sign onto resolutions recognizing Israel and condemning the Holocaust, Politico reports.

Mamdani is polling in second place ahead of next month’s Democratic Party mayoral primary. The vote will likely determine the city’s next mayor in the mostly Democratic city. The general election is in November.

Mamdani has drawn the ire of Jewish voters due to his harsh anti-Israel rhetoric, such as a statement condemning Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attack. His party, the Democratic Socialists of America, backed a widely criticized anti-Israel rally the same day and has made anti-Israel activism one of its central planks. Mamdani has said that, if elected mayor, he would have Netanyahu arrested if he visits New York City.

Mamdani declined to sign onto the state assembly resolution recognizing Israel this week and didn’t sign the resolution condemning the Holocaust several months ago, Politico reports. Only five lawmakers in the assembly of 150 did not sign at least one of the resolutions this year, the report says.

A Mamdani spokesperson tells Politico the candidate did not sign the Holocaust resolution due to his mayoral campaign, but does not know why Mamdani did not sign onto the resolution last year, before his mayoral campaign.

Mamdani objected to language in the Israel resolution, saying that Israel “continues to strive for peace” due to the actions of the Israeli government, his spokesperson says.

Candidates in the primary race have been vying for Jewish voters, including Mamadani, who takes fire from Jewish legislators for not signing the resolutions.

“When they say ‘he’s a very careful legislator,’ they mean not supporting a resolution to condemn the Holocaust was a calculated choice,” Jewish state assembly member Sam Berger says on X.

Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi-controlled sites in Yemen, local media says

Israeli airstrikes have hit the Houthi-controlled Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif ports on the western coast of Yemen, according to local media.

The IDF warned to evacuate the three ports twice earlier this week, following Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel.

Since the IDF’s last strike on Yemen, on May 6, the Houthis launched at least seven missiles and two drones at Israel.

Witkoff says most Israelis back hostage deal, recognizing split between Netanyahu gov’t and public

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff visits Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, May 13, 2025. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff says more than half of Israelis back securing the release of hostages through a negotiated settlement with Hamas.

“If you look at the public opinion in Israel, it’s split more than down the middle on behalf of getting the hostages out and having a negotiated settlement to this thing,” he is quoted as having told The Atlantic for a profile piece done by the magazine.

Repeated polls have indicated that a large majority of Israelis back ending the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of the remaining 58 hostages — a trade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected, arguing that it leaves Hamas in power. But the premier also faces pressure from his far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse his government if he ends the war.

In this week’s profile, Witkoff defends Netanyahu, asserting that Hamas’s conduct throughout the war “has been so poor that Bibi in certain circumstances has felt that he has no alternative.”

He adds that any long-term solution to the conflict must involve the “total demilitarization” of Hamas. The terror group has rejected the demand to date, while offering to enter a yearslong truce that includes security guarantees, such as a halt on weapons production and tunnel digging, two sources familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last month.

IDF reportedly carrying out strikes in Yemen after Houthi attacks

The Israeli Air Force is carrying out strikes in the Hodeidah area of Yemen, according to local media reports.

The Israeli military has not yet commented.

The IDF warned twice this week to evacuate the Houthi-controlled Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif ports on the western coast of Yemen, following several ballistic missile and drone attacks on Israel by the Iran-backed group.

الله يستر ٨ ضربات على الحديده الظاهر انها في الميناء pic.twitter.com/n8du2X3juZ

— محمد الاهدل (@AlahdlMhmd34225) May 16, 2025

Trump says he did not consult with Israel on Syria

US President Donald Trump says he did not consult ally Israel about the US decision to recognize Syria’s new government, despite deep Israeli suspicion of Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s administration.

“I didn’t ask them about that. I thought it was the right thing to do. I’ve been given a lot of credit for doing it. Look, we want Syria to succeed,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One, shortly after departing Abu Dhabi at the close of a four-day Middle East trip.

Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria, a major policy shift before meeting Sharaa.

Zelensky and European leaders hold phone call with Trump

The leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain and Poland held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky’s spokesperson says, after talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul concluded.

“President Zelensky, President Macron, Chancellor Merz, PM Starmer and PM Tusk had a phone conversation with Donald Trump,” Sergiy Nykyforov says in a message to reporters.

ICC prosecutor Khan on leave amid sexual misconduct probe — sources

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during a press conference at the San Carlos Palace in Bogota, Colombia, April 25, 2024. (Luis Acosta / AFP)

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, has stepped down temporarily as a probe into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators nears its end, court sources tell Reuters.

A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, one source in the prosecutor’s office says.

Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal said last week, in a report that questioned whether the allegations may have prompted his decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.

More Russia-Ukraine talks on Friday ‘possible’ but ‘not planned’ — Ukraine official

Another round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul on Friday is “possible,” a senior Ukrainian official tells AFP, but adds that one hasn’t yet been planned.

“If they receive other instructions from Moscow, then it is possible that something will happen today,” the source says after negotiations end, adding “so far it is not planned.”

Condition of baby delivered after mother shot in West Bank terror attack stabilizes — hospital

Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikva says that the condition of the baby boy who was delivered through an emergency C-section after his mother Tzeela Gez was shot in a West Bank terror attack late Wednesday night has stabilized.

The hospital says there has been a slight improvement in the baby’s condition, which it is now classifying as serious, but stable.

Gez was pronounced dead shortly after the baby’s delivery.

Fire services puts out two West Bank blazes it says were caused by arson

The Fire and Rescue service says two blazes sparked in the West Bank today were arson.

One of the fires was next to an army post, while the second was next to the settlement of Har Bracha.

Both fires were extinguished, the service says, as were several fires near Jerusalem.

Trump: Iran wants to trade with US, I’m using trade to make peace

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says that Iran wants to trade with the United States, according to excerpts from an interview with Fox News.

“Iran wants to trade with us, OK? If you can believe that I’m OK with that. I’m using trade to settle scores and to make peace,” Trump says in the interview conducted before he left Abu Dhabi after a four-day Middle East trip.

“But I’ve told Iran, we make a deal. You’re going to be really — you’re going to be very happy,” says Trump, who has been pushing Iran on a nuclear deal.

"I'm using trade … to make peace": President Trump outlines how he is approaching a deal with Iran in an interview with @BretBaier pic.twitter.com/0k4T37vYKa

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) May 16, 2025

Ukraine and Russia hold first peace talks in three years; Kyiv says Moscow’s demands ‘detached from reality’

Ukrainian (L) and Russian (R) delegations attending a meeting at the Turkish presidential office Dolmabahce, in Istanbul, May 16, 2025. (Handout / UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP)

The first direct talks on halting Russia’s war on Ukraine in more than three years started Friday in Istanbul, with expectations low that the two sides would agree to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Kyiv is seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” in the fighting that has killed tens of thousands, destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.

Moscow says it wants to address the “root causes” of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source says Russia’s demands are “detached from reality and go far beyond anything previously discussed,” describing the talks.

“They include ultimatums for Ukraine to withdraw from its territory for a ceasefire and other non-starters and non-constructive conditions,” the source tells Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“Ukraine is ready for a real ceasefire and further genuine peace process without any preconditions.”

Syria to print new currency without Assad’s face in UAE and Germany instead of Russia — sources

An employee at a currency exchange shop stacks Syrian bills at a shop in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria plans to print a newly designed currency in the UAE and Germany instead of Russia, three sources say, reflecting rapidly improving ties with Gulf Arab and Western states as a move to loosen US sanctions offers Damascus new opportunities.

In another sign of deepening ties between Syria’s new rulers and the UAE, Damascus on Thursday signed an $800 million initial deal with the UAE’s DP World to develop Tartus port — the first such deal since US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Tuesday that US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.

Syrian authorities began exploring the possibility of printing currency in Germany and the UAE earlier this year, and the efforts gained steam after the European Union eased some of its sanctions on Damascus in February.

The redesign will remove former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad’s face from one of the Syrian pound’s purple-hued denominations that remain in circulation.

Syria’s new rulers are trying to move quickly to revamp an economy in tatters after 13 years of war. It has recently been further hampered by a banknote shortage.

One of Assad’s key backers, Russia, printed Syria’s currency during more than a decade of civil war after the EU imposed sanctions that led to the termination of a contract with a European firm.

16-year-old Israeli arrested for carrying out tasks on behalf of Iranian agents

A flier reading, "Where is the next target," written by a 16-year-old Israeli suspected of working for Iranian agents, in an image released May 16, 2025. (Israel Police and Shin Bet)

The police and Shin Bet security service say they arrested a 16-year-old boy this month for allegedly carrying out activities harming Israel’s security for Iran in exchange for money.

Authorities say in a statement that the boy, a resident of the Judean foothills area, was asked by his Iranian handlers to purchase a new phone and download an application where they could communicate.

The suspect carried out tasks including hiding money, photographing certain locations, printing fliers and burning pages with writings condemning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to the statement, the suspect continued his activities even after informing the authorities he was in contact with the Iranian agents.

Police say that when the suspect went on a trip abroad, the agents suggested holding a meeting, but they do not confirm if such a meeting took place.

Iran has managed to recruit several Israelis over the past year to conduct various activities, including printing flyers, arson, and even the attempted assassination of senior officials.

Eurovision entry Yuval Raphael takes photo at balcony where Herzl posed in 1901

Theodor Herzl on a balcony in Basel in 1901; Yuval Raphael recreating the image on May 16, 2025. (Bettman Archive; Nitzan Livnat/Kan)

Ahead of her performance in the Eurovision grand final tomorrow night, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael takes a photo on the famed balcony in Basel, Switzerland, where Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl posed in 1901.

The original photo was believed to have been taken at the Hotel Les Trois Rois in the Swiss city during a meeting of the Fifth Zionist Congress, although accounts have varied.

Israel Eurovision organizers said that the balcony on the two-story chandelier during Raphael’s performance of “New Day Will Rise” is meant to be a “symbolic nod” to the famed image of Herzl.

President Isaac Herzog did a similar recreation when he visited the Swiss city in 2022.

IDF says 150 ‘terror targets’ hit in Gaza over past day

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo published on May 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes on over 150 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip over the past day.

The targets included anti-tank missile launch posts, cells of operatives and buildings used by terror groups to carry out attacks on forces, the army says.

Amid ground operations, the IDF says the 252nd Division killed several operatives who were at an observation post in northern Gaza; the Gaza Division destroyed several tunnel shafts and other infrastructure and killed several operatives in Rafah; and the 36th Division destroyed additional Hamas infrastructure and killed operatives trying to plant a bomb in the Morag Corridor area.

Palestinian media reports that over 75 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip since this morning. The figures cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Trump: Recognizing Sharaa’s Syrian government ‘right thing to do,’ lifting sanctions gives them chance

A cropped handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows US President Donald Trump (R) shaking hands with Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. (Bandar AL-JALOUD / Saudi Royal Palace / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says recognizing Syria’s new government under Ahmed al-Sharaa and ending sanctions on the country was “the right thing to do.”

He adds he doesn’t know if Israel didn’t want him to hold back on recognition, and did not consult with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the matter.

“Look, we want Syria to succeed. It’s been a mess for 10 years,” he says. “These were very biting. When you look at the sanctions, these were really brutal, and they would have, I would say, zero chance of success. And this way, they have a chance, and their leader is a strong person, but young, and a lot of energy and wants to do a good job.”

Trump: ‘I don’t know’ if Netanyahu can get hostages out, ‘some are in better shape than others’

US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media accompanying him aboard Air Force One, after leaving Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, at the end of his Middle East tour on May 16, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says he doesn’t know if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is capable of inking a hostage deal, while speaking to the press on Air Force One.

“Do you think the Israelis and Bibi Netanyahu can get his hostages out?” a reporter asks Trump, using the prime minister’s nickname.

“I don’t know. We’re going to find out pretty soon. We’re going to know pretty soon. They’re not in good shape,” Trump says.

“Some of them are in better shape than others. A little bit depends on the place where they are, but we’ll be working with them to get them,” he adds.

Trump confirms US has handed Iran a proposed nuclear deal, says Tehran must decide quickly or ‘something bad will happen’

US delegates leave the Omani Embassy in Rome after closed-door meeting with an Iranian delegation to discuss Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran should make a quick decision on an American proposal for a nuclear deal or “something bad will happen.”

Speaking on Air Force One as he left Abu Dhabi and headed back to Washington, Trump said his administration had handed Iran a proposal for an agreement.

“They have a proposal,” he said, adding: “They know they have to move quickly or something bad is gonna happen.”

Iranian diplomat says nuclear talks with US discussed with European powers in Turkey

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian senior diplomat Kazem Gharibabadi says that the latest status of the Iran-US negotiations was discussed during talks with European powers in Istanbul.

“We exchanged views and discussed the latest state of the indirect nuclear negotiations and the lifting of sanctions,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi writes in a post on X, adding that “if necessary, we will meet again to continue the talks.”

UN peacekeepers report ‘unacceptable’ confrontation with south Lebanon locals

United Nations peacekeepers drive in vehicles of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) past destroyed buildings while patroling in Lebanon's southern village of Kfar Kila close to the border with Israel on April 6, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — United Nations peacekeepers report an “unacceptable” confrontation with locals in south Lebanon and called on Lebanese authorities to ensure their freedom of movement “without threats.”

A spokesperson for the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says that troops were confronted by a “large group of individuals” during a routine patrol, calling the incident “unacceptable” and calling on Lebanon to “ensure that UNIFIL peacekeepers can carry out their mandated tasks without threats or obstruction.”

15-year-old pulled from light plane crash in Bat Yam in critical condition

Medics at the scene of a light plane crash on the beach in Bat Yam, May 16, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after being pulled from a light plane that crashed into the water near the Bat Yam shore.

The boy is being taken to Wolfson Medical Center as medics try to resuscitate him, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

A man in his 60s is being treated for light injuries at the scene.

Police say they have closed the beach and appeal to the public not to approach the area.

Trump leaves the UAE onboard Air Force One, ending Middle East trip

US President Donald Trump waves goodbye as he prepares to board Air Force One in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on May 16, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump departs the United Arab Emirates on Air Force One, ending his Middle East tour.

Trump secured billion-dollar deals with Washington’s Gulf allies, but did not visit Israel on the trip.

Trump asserted Wednesday that the tour was “very good for Israel” and that Jerusalem was not being sidelined by his decision to skip the Jewish state on his visit to the region.

Light plane crashes near Bat Yam shore; person trapped inside, another comes out of water

A light plane has crashed near the shore in Bat Yam, Hebrew media outlets report.

A person is trapped inside the plane, which has sunk into the water, while another man has emerged from the water with light injuries, reports say.

בת ים: מטוס קל התרסק למים סמוך לחוף טאיו העיר. דיווחים על שני נוסעים על המטוס, פעולות חילוץ במקום @N12News pic.twitter.com/vcAKqP44y8

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) May 16, 2025

Trump visits interfaith Abrahamic Family House, including synagogue, as he wraps up Middle East tour

US President Donald Trump tours the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue at the Abrahamic Family House, May 16, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump visits the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, at the tail end of his Middle East tour.

Trump, along with UAE Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, visits the three houses of worship — a mosque, a synagogue, and a church.

“Amazing,” Trump says, as he exits the synagogue.

President @realDonaldTrump standing in the Synagogue at Abrahamic Family House ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/8bg0CQqQ5g

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) May 16, 2025

As he signs the guest book, Trump is asked if he has a message for the people of the UAE.

“Just a message of unity. When you look at what we’ve just seen, it’s great unity, great faith. They’re incredible people with a tremendous leader. He’s a friend of mine,” he responds.

Freed hostage Edan Alexander released from hospital

Edan Alexander (center) reunites with his family after his release from Hamas captivity, May 12, 2025. (IDF Spokesman)

Freed US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander is released from hospital after completing required tests, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center says in a statement.

Alexander arrived at the hospital on Monday after he was freed after 584 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Channel 12 reported earlier in the week that Alexander had returned with injuries sustained from torture at the hands of his captors, as well as flea bites.

His father said yesterday he was beaten and given meager rations during his captivity.

Firefighters battling blaze near Jerusalem’s Route 9

The Fire and Rescue Service says its forces are fighting a wildfire near Route 9 in Jerusalem.

There are currently 10 teams of firefighters working to extinguish the flames, alongside a squadron of four firefighting planes.

The blazes are now in their containment phase, says a spokeswoman. They broke out around an hour ago, spreading quickly near Jerusalem’s Ramat Eshkol neighborhood.

השריפה בירושלים: מטוסי כיבוי החלו לפעול בזירה@VeredPelman
קרדיט: סעיף 27א https://t.co/j8n1XuRfCZ pic.twitter.com/jnjLXT3mYn

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 16, 2025

Hawkish hostage families say Gaza strikes ‘right direction,’ demand military pressure to free captives

The hawkish Tikva Forum of hostage families says reports of widespread airstikes in Gaza mean the war is heading in the “right direction,” urging more military pressure to secure the release of their loved ones.

“The justification for the military activity is solely for the release of all our abductees together, without selection and without stages,” the forum says, urging the complete defeat of Hamas.

The statement is contrary to the comments put out by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which supports a deal to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages.

The forum this morning expressed concern over the intensification of strikes in Gaza, and added that Israel risks missing historic, diplomatic opportunities made possible by US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region if it continues the war.

Einav Zangauker says freed hostage Edan Alexander gave proof her captive son is still alive

Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, speaks during a rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, March 29, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, says that she received proof that her son is still alive in Gaza from Edan Alexander, who was freed from captivity this week.

Speaking at a “Shishi Tarbut” event, Zangauker says, “Matan is still alive. We received this information due to the return of Edan Alexander.”

Zangauker says that the good news may be for nothing if her son is eventually killed by the “military pressure implemented since Edan returned.”

Palestinian media: Settlers set fire to 15 Palestinian vehicles overnight in West Bank

Palestinian media outlets report that around 15 Palestinian vehicles were set on fire near the settlement of Ariel in the western West Bank.

The cars belonged to Palestinian workers employed in the area. No injuries were reported.

According to the reports, settlers were responsible for the arson.

Israel Police have yet to issue a response.

???? “مليشيات للمستوطنين “ تشعل النار بعدد من المركبات الفلسطينية في محيط مستوطنة "أريئيل" المقامة على أراضي سلفيت، فجر اليوم.#غزة_تُباد #اسبانيول_برشلونة #القمة_السعودية_الأمريكية @qudsn pic.twitter.com/tSgfTuW50U

— الإعلامية إيمان طوالبه (@Emantawalbeh333) May 16, 2025

Trump: Must get Gaza taken care of, a lot of people are starving, a lot of bad things going on’

US President Donald Trump attends a business forum at the Ritz Carlton in Abu Dhabi on May 16, 2025 (Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says “a lot of people are starving” in Gaza, and that the situation needs to get “taken care of,” in remarks to the press at an Abu Dhabi business forum.

“We’re looking at Gaza, and we got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There’s a lot of bad things going on.”

Asked whether he supported Israeli plans to expand the war in Gaza, Reuters said Trump told reporters: “I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see. We have to help also out the Palestinians. You know, a lot of people are starving on Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”

Aid hasn’t entered Gaza since March 1, with Israel arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas has been stealing much of that aid. In recent weeks, though, officials in the Israel Defense Forces have begun warning the political echelon that the enclave is on the brink of starvation.

In an attempt to get around the terror group, Israeli officials were closely involved in the establishment of a new organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), advancing a new initiative where aid will only be distributed from a small number of sites in southern Gaza that are secured by American contractors. Only pre-approved representatives will be allowed to pick up food once every other week from the distribution sites before carrying the boxes to a separate part of a newly established humanitarian zone surrounding the flattened city of Rafah.

Trump: Iran nuclear issue will be solved ‘one way or another’

US President Donald Trump (C) attends a business forum in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on May 16, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says Iran’s nuclear program will be dealt with “one way or another,” in remarks to the press in Abu Dhabi.

Visiting the US-UAE Business Council, he says a solution to the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program will be “done nicely” — through an agreement — “or not nicely” — apparently referring to potential military action.

“We are talking to them, I think they’ve come a long way,” he adds.

Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action.

Iran, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction, has ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60 percent purity, which has no peaceful application, and has obstructed international inspectors from examining its nuclear facilities.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that their red lines include reducing the amount of highly enriched uranium stockpile to a level below what was agreed under Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, which Trump ditched in 2018.

Tehran denies it has ever sought to build a nuclear weapon, but Western intelligence services mistrust such claims, and Iranian officials have increasingly suggested the country could seek nukes in the face of international pressure.

Hamas-run civil defense agency says 50 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since midnight

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency says that 50 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory since midnight.

“The number of martyrs killed in Israeli shelling targeting civilian homes in the northern Gaza Strip between midnight and early this morning has risen to 50… Our teams are still working in those areas,” civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir tells AFP.

The figures, which are not independently verified, do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The military has yet to comment on the strikes.

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

Trump has breakfast with UAE business leaders, will visit interfaith complex named for Abraham Accords

US President Donald Trump (L) signs the guest book as his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan looks on, at Qasr Al-Watan (Palace of the Nation) in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on May 15, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump wraps up a Mideast tour in the United Arab Emirates with breakfast for business leaders and will later visit an interfaith place of worship named for the Abraham Accords he negotiated.

As part of the accords, the UAE and some other countries in the Middle East recognized Israel. Trump departs Abu Dhabi after his visit to the Abrahamic Family House.

Hostage Families Forum: Israel hours away from ‘lost opportunity of the century’ as Trump visit draws to close

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says Israel is hours away from the “lost opportunity of the century” as it intensifies operations in the Gaza Strip instead of reaching a deal to return hostages and joining diplomatic initiatives led by US President Donald Trump.

“Hostage families awoke this morning with a heavy heart and great fear over the reports of intensified attacks in the Strip and the approaching end of President Trump’s visit to the region,” the forum says in a statement.

“The missed historic opportunity — a resounding Israeli failure. The effort to stall the proposals that are on the table will be remembered for a lifetime,” the statement says.

“These are critical hours, hours that will determine the future of our loved ones, the future of Israeli society, and the future of the Middle East. We urge the prime minister and the president of the United States to reach a breakthrough,” the forum says, warning that time was running out.

Trump is not visiting Israel on his trip to the Middle East.

Government critics say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unwillingness to make compromises on ending the war in Gaza and releasing hostages has left Israel on the sidelines while the US president has signed multi-billion-dollar agreements with his Gulf allies.

France sues Iran at ICJ over two citizens taken ‘hostage’ by regime

Relatives rally in Paris in support of French nationals being held by Iran Cecile Kohler, Jacques Paris and Olivier Grondeau on February 1, 2025. (Sébastien Dupuy/AFP)

PARIS, France — Paris has filed a case against Tehran at the top UN court over two French citizens who have been held in Iran for three years, the French foreign minister says.

In its case at the International Court of Justice, France accuses Iran “of violating its obligation to provide consular protection” to Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris and holding them “hostage” under “appalling conditions that amount to torture,” Jean-Noel Barrot tells France 2 television.

Anti-Israel activists splash paint across office building in Jewish neighborhood in Manchester

Red paint was splashed across an office block in a Manchester neighborhood, home to a large Jewish community, with the words “Happy Nakba Day” painted on the building yesterday morning, the Manchester Evening News reports.

The anti-Israel Palestine Action protest group claims that the landlords of the office building, Rico House, are from the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.

Greater Manchester Police are investigating the incident, the Manchester Evening News says.

After a targeted campaign, Somerset Council "relinquished" their ties to Israel's biggest weapons firm by selling off Elbit's Bristol HQ.

The new landlords of the Israeli weapons epicentre were just targeted in Manchester by Palestine Action. pic.twitter.com/eOWFSM0rwt

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 15, 2025

UAE foreign minister appears to prioritize hostages for end to war in Gaza

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed appears to prioritize the release of hostages held by Hamas as the first step to a solution to the war in Gaza, in an interview with Fox News.

“First, getting the hostages out, we need calm in Gaza, and we need an authority that’s not Hamas that controls Gaza,” he says.

He says that 42 percent of the aid that has gone into Gaza since the war began has been funded by the UAE, adding that without the Abraham Accords, he believes Abu Dhabi would not have been able to fund as much aid into Gaza.

UAE Foreign Minister discusses the significance of @realdonaldtrump's visit, trade deals and more on ‘Special Report' with @BretBaier. pic.twitter.com/HaOuZQ38DW

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 15, 2025

Reports of widespread, heavy north Gaza strikes as tanks push forward in Beit Lahiya

People inspect the damage amid the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 15, 2025. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Extensive, powerful Israeli airstrikes took place in north Gaza overnight, reports say.

The Saudi Al-Hadath news channel reports that 28 people in the northern Gaza Strip were killed, citing an unnamed medical source.

According to the network, tanks advanced in the area of Beit Lahiya.

Residents in central Israel reported hearing loud blasts overnight, possibly due to the strikes.

33 people hospitalized with light injuries at Mount Meron Lag B’omer festivities

Thirty-three people were admitted to hospitals in northern Israel with light injuries during last night’s Lag B’Omer festivities on Mount Meron, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

An additional 125 people were treated by medics stationed at the site, MDA added.

Harvard settles with Jewish student who sued school for ignoring campus antisemitism

Shabbos Kestenbaum speaks during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

Harvard University has settled a high-profile lawsuit by an Orthodox Jewish student who accused the Ivy League school of ignoring antisemitism on campus.

Alexander Kestenbaum, who is known as Shabbos, and Harvard jointly agreed to end the case, according to a dismissal notice filed on Thursday in Boston federal court.

“Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum acknowledge each other’s steadfast and important efforts to combat antisemitism at Harvard and elsewhere,” the university says in a statement. “Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum are pleased to have resolved the litigation.”

Settlement terms are not disclosed. Lawyers for Kestenbaum do not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The settlement came four months after Harvard promised additional protection for Jewish students, as it resolved two lawsuits claiming it was a hotbed of rampant antisemitism.

Both lawsuits were among many accusing universities of encouraging antisemitism after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, terror onslaught in southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing Gaza war and led to pro-Palestinian protests on many American campuses.

Jewish students say Harvard tolerated their being maligned as “murderers” and subjected to viral attacks, and accused the university of hiring professors who promoted anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.

The lawsuits were brought by Students Against Antisemitism, and by Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Kestenbaum was a plaintiff in the Students Against Antisemitism lawsuit, but did not settle at the time.

He graduated from Harvard Divinity School last year and has become a growing voice in a Republican-led campaign to root out antisemitism in major American universities.

Harvard is one of the chief targets of that campaign, and US President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen or terminated more than $2.6 billion of the university’s federal grants and contracts in recent weeks.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school is suing the Trump administration over grant cutoffs, mainly in medical sciences, calling them an unconstitutional attempt to curtail academic freedom and free speech.

Another Ivy League school, Columbia University, is also a prime White House target over antisemitism.

Joined by hostages’ parents, UN envoy urges Security Council to act on missing persons mandate

During a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon urges the council to implement Resolution 2474, which calls on parties to armed conflict and UN member states to search for and return missing persons to their loved ones.

Danon opens by thanking Ruby Chen  and Leah Goldin—the parents of slain hostages Itay Chen and Hadar Goldin, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and August 1, 2014, respectively—for joining him at the UNSC to urge members to uphold their commitment to returning missing persons.

Resolution 2474, adopted by the council in 2019, “called on all parties in armed conflict to account for a missing person, to return the remains of the dead, to provide information, to allow families to grieve, and to recognize that these acts are not gifts,” Danon says.

“Hamas has violated every letter of that resolution, repeatedly and openly. Where is the response? Where is the demand for compliance? Where the basic moral outrage?” he asks.

“We call on the Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] to fulfill his mandate under Resolution 2474 by including a dedicated section in his next report on the protection of civilians,” says Danon.

“That section must document the full extent of this ongoing atrocity. Every hostage still held by Hamas, every stolen body, every Israeli missing since October 7, and every fallen soldier whose remains have yet to be returned from past wars,” he explains.

“We will not forget our dead. We will not leave them behind. We will not allow Hamas to turn memory into a weapon. That is our duty, and it will be fulfilled,” the ambassador concludes.

Lag B’Omer revelers at Mount Meron deter firefighters from putting out illegal bonfire

During Lag B’Omer festivities on Mount Meron, Haredi revelers shout at firefighters trying to extinguish an illegal bonfire at the site.

“Get out of here!” shouts a young man as a group crowds around the three firemen, one carrying an extinguisher.

The three eventually backed down from the crowd, giving up on efforts to put out the illegal fire and resorting to watching the flames from a distance.

“Nothing can be done,” says one of the firefighters to The Times of Israel following the brief spat. “Even though we want to put it out, we can’t.”

He laments that police are not enforcing the fire chief’s ban on bonfires announced last week.

Though police can be seen on the perimeter of the tomb complex, they are nowhere to be found in the crowded inner areas.

Ahead of the holiday and a week after massive wildfires wreaked havoc on the outskirts of Jerusalem, the Fire and Rescue Service ordered a nationwide ban on lighting fires in most open areas. The order lasts until May 18.

Yuval Raphael advances to Eurovision final after performing ‘New Day Will Rise’

Israeli singer Yuval Raphael performs 'New Day Will Rise' 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 advances to the grand final of the 2025 Eurovision following her performance in Thursday night’s semifinal.

While those in the arena said a smattering of boos could be heard during her performance, only cheers could be heard on the live TV broadcast. There were also only a small number of Palestinian flags visible in the audience, despite fears of a strong presence.

Raphael, a survivor of the October 7 Nova festival massacre, will sing “New Day Will Rise” again during Saturday night’s grand final against 25 other acts.

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— כאן (@kann) May 15, 2025

The full results of the semifinals — which are based solely on a public vote — are only released by producers after the grand final.

Unlike the semifinals, the results of the grand final will be based on a 50/50 mix of the televote and the jury vote — in which professional juries from all 37 participating countries pick their favorites.

Small dueling pro-Israel and anti-Israel protests were held in Basel earlier this evening. A larger anti-Israel protest is slated for Saturday night.

Father of slain hostage urges UN Security Council to condemn Hamas, uphold missing persons resolution

Ruby Chen, the father of slain hostage Itay Chen, speaks in New York before the United Nations Security Council, May 15, 2025 (UN webtv screenshot)

Ruby Chen, the father of slain hostage Itay Chen, speaks in New York before the United Nations Security Council, urging the implementation of UN Resolution 2474, which addresses the obligation of returning hostage bodies in armed conflicts.

Chen explains that his son, an IDF soldier who holds US, German, and Israeli citizenship, was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and declared dead in March 2024 based on intelligence gathered by the Israeli military.

However, Hamas has not been willing to acknowledge that Itay is in their possession or confirm that he is dead, Chen tells the Security Council, saying, “I think this is the lowest form of terrorist psychological warfare imaginable.”

“Resolution 2474 obligates parties, state and non-state actors, such as Hamas, in armed conflict to search for and account for the missing. Hamas, by refusing to provide information or access to hostages, even to peace-making entities such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, are in clear violation of this resolution and of international law,” Chen says.

His son’s “physical status, whatever it might be, does not make him any less of a hostage,” he adds.

Chen asserts that Resolution 2474 “must not remain symbolic. It must become enforceable,” and that it “gives the UN and members a legal, but even more so, a moral framework to condemn Hamas for its actions and to sanction its backers, such as Iran.”

He also asks the UN to establish a dedicated special envoy for hostage affairs, saying that without one, the international body “leaves families like ours without a vocal point, without guidance, and without adequate representation.”

Lastly, Chen says that in light of the ongoing negotiations in Doha to reach a potential hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza, “we also cannot allow a reality where there will be a new UN resolution declaring an end of violence in Gaza without the release of the last hostage.”

“Bring them home now,” he concludes.

Earlier this evening, Leah Goldin, the mother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and captured by Hamas on August 1, 2014, delivered a press briefing at the UNSC, similarly urging council members to uphold their commitment to returning missing persons.

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, is also slated to address the Council during the session.