ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 424
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
A rocket warning siren goes off near the Israeli community of Nir Am, close to Gaza’s northern border.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage, or confirmation of a rocket launch.
The alert sounds shortly after Palestinian sources said the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire, after a daylong flare-up.
The IDF releases video showing airstrikes carried out overnight against Hamas terror targets in Gaza.
IDF releases footage of overnight airstrikes against Hamas in Gaza https://t.co/dRWEzPiGTu pic.twitter.com/SGRzUpJhGJ
— Luke Tress (@luketress) May 3, 2023
Israel and Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip agree to a ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports.
The Qatari state media outlet cites a source in one of the Palestinian factions.
The report comes around 24 hours after the Israel Prisons Service announced the death of a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
Khader Adnan died while in Israeli custody on terror charges after an 86-day hunger strike.
His death set off the latest round of hostilities, as Gaza terrorists fired dozens of rockets into Israel, and Israel responded with airstrikes and fire from tanks.
The IDF says warplanes and helicopters have again attacked Hamas targets in response to rockets fired into Israel throughout the day.
The aircraft attacked a site that the Hamas terror group used for training, a weapons storage facility, two military installations, a tunnel and a site used for Hamas’s naval activities, the IDF says.
The IDF says it holds Hamas responsible for Gaza, and that the group will “pay the price” for attacks against Israel.
The airstrikes follow similar attacks against Hamas terror targets earlier tonight.
Rocket sirens sound again in southern Israel.
The warnings go off in areas just north of the Gaza Strip including Ashkelon, Zikim and Karmia.
The IDF says it is investigating.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The latest rocket warning comes minutes after the IDF said it was attacking targets in Gaza, in response to dozens of rockets that Gaza terrorists fired into Israel throughout the day.
The IDF says it is carrying out airstrikes again in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes hit Hamas terror targets in the Palestinian territory earlier tonight, in response to dozens of rockets that were fired from Gaza into Israel throughout the day.
The IDF says it will soon release further details about the latest round of airstrikes.
The latest flare-up was set off when a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group died in an Israeli prison on Tuesday morning, after an 86-day hunger strike.
The Israel Defense Forces says its warplanes targeted a number of sites belonging to the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
The targets included a Hamas training camp; another base that housed a weapons production site, a concrete production plant and a training site; a site belonging to the terror group’s naval commandos; and a tunnel used by Hamas in southern Gaza.
“The strike deals a serious blow to Hamas’s ability to fortify and arm itself,” the IDF says. “The Hamas terror organization is responsible for the Gaza Strip and will pay the price for security violations against the State of Israel.”
Palestinian media outlets report that at least one person is seriously hurt following an Israeli airstrike against a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-run health ministry has yet to confirm the reports.
According to Palestinian media, a civilian was wounded after Israeli jets struck a “site belonging to the resistance” near Gaza City.
Fresh rocket sirens sound in towns close to the northern border with the Gaza Strip.
The warnings go off in the communities of Netiv Ha’asara, Karmia, and Yad Mordechai.
Channel 12 news, broadcasting from Sderot, captures Iron Dome interceptor missiles streaking through the sky during the latest rocket attack.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group issues a threatening message as the Israeli Air Force carries out strikes in the Gaza Strip tonight.
“We haven’t started yet,” the terror group says, attaching a video showing members preparing rockets to be launched.
The IAF is striking in Gaza after at least 37 rockets were launched at southern Israel on Tuesday.
#شاهد.. رسالة سرايا القدس ( لــم نبــدأ بعــد ) pic.twitter.com/rAce0RpKBg
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
The military wing of the Hamas terror group says its members are firing missiles at Israeli aircraft over the Gaza Strip amid strikes being carried out in response to earlier rocket attacks.
The shoulder-launched missiles are not thought to pose a threat to Israeli fighter jets, although they have set off incoming rocket siren alarms in southern Israel in the past.
Fresh rocket sirens sound in southern towns towns around the border with the Gaza Strip.
The rocket attacks come as the Israeli Air Force is carrying out strikes in the Palestinian enclave in response to 37 rockets launched at southern Israel today.
There are no immediate reports of injuries in the rocket attack.
The range of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip appears to increase, as sirens sound in the town of Talmei Bilu, northeast of Netivot, some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the Palestinian enclave.
Throughout Tuesday, the rocket attacks were concentrated on Sderot and other towns close to the border with Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces says it is carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in response to 37 rockets launched at southern Israel today.
Palestinian media outlets are reporting explosions heard in the northern part of Gaza.
There are no immediate reports of injuries in the Strip.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An explosion this evening struck a base in Iran belonging to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, according to reports on state media. No casualties or damages are reported.
The state-run IRNA news agency says the blast occurred during a “movement of ammunition” at the Guard base on the outskirts of the city of Damghan, in northern Semnan province.
The report offers no other details about the source of the explosion. IRNA adds that the incident is under investigation.
The Guard, whose expeditionary forces operate across the wider Middle East and aid Iranian-allied terror groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, and Iran’s military have been targeted before, raising tensions in the region.
In February, satellite photos showed damage to what Iran at the time described as a military workshop targeted by Israeli drones, the latest such assault amid a shadow war between the two countries. Iran offered no explanation of what the workshop manufactured.
International concerns have mounted over Tehran enriching uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, with experts warning the Islamic Republic has enough fuel to build “several” atomic bombs if it chooses.
The Israel Defense Forces says four rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot in the last barrage.
One of the rockets is intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system and the other three landed in open areas, without causing any injuries.
Surveillance camera footage shows an Iron Dome interception over Sderot a short while ago. pic.twitter.com/fI045rJ65j
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 2, 2023
Sderot’s Sapir College says it will hold classes online tomorrow due to the ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
“We’ll continue to update as needed,” the college writes on its Facebook page, adding that it hopes for “a quiet night.”
Following a security assessment held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, unnamed senior officials tell Hebrew media outlets to expect a significant response to the rocket fire by terror groups in the Gaza Strip.
According to the reports, Egypt is mediating efforts to end the fighting.
Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon says it treated 12 people over the course of the day for rocket-related trauma.
Three foreign nationals injured at a building were brought to the hospital with shrapnel wounds, with one listed in moderate condition and the rest in light condition.
The remainder of those brought to the hospital, for nervous shock or injuries sustained while running for shelter, are also listed in light condition.
Fresh rocket sirens sound in Sderot and other towns close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
Residents of the area report hearing explosions, indicating possible Iron Dome interceptions or rocket impacts.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Greece’s Supreme Court has banned a party linked to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group from contesting the May 21 general election, a legal source says.
The far-right Hellenes party of Ilias Kasidiaris, a convicted leader of the now disbanded Golden Dawn party, will not be able to field candidates, the court rules.
The small nationalist party Hellenes was formed in 2020 by Kasidiaris, a former spokesman and lawmaker of Golden Dawn, a few months before he was sent to prison.
Kasidiaris was among several top Golden Dawn members handed heavy prison sentences in October 2020 by a court that labeled the neo-Nazi party a criminal organization.
But this has not stopped him from preaching to his supporters through voice messages from prison and running a YouTube channel with more than 120,000 followers.
Seemingly putting a strained personal relationship behind them, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell meet in Brussels, with Cohen inviting the Spanish diplomat to Israel after Israel made it clear in recent weeks that he would not be welcomed.
According to Cohen, the two agree to hold the annual Association Council meeting between EU foreign ministers and Cohen in Jerusalem. However, the EU readout – which came out simultaneously with the Israeli, another sign of accord – only says that Borrell is “hoping for another meeting of the Association Council this year.”
The 27 EU member states still have to approve the Association Council taking place, but since it happened last year, there is unlikely to be much pushback.
Borrell also condemns recent rocket and terrorist attacks against Israel and reiterates Israel’s right to defend itself, while reminding Israel that “any response must be proportionate and in line with international law.”
Borrell, seen by Israel as one of the more adversarial figures at the top of the EU institutions, stresses the EU’s call for Israel to stop “measures that could heighten the already high level of tension and jeopardize the very possibility of a future just and sustainable peace based on the two State solution“ and the importance of respecting the status quo in Jerusalem.
Cohen says that Israel is “opening a new page in its relations with the EU.”
He also demands that Borrell issue a clear denunciation of the Palestinian Authority paying the salaries of terrorists. He also calls for renewed EU sanctions on Iran.
In March, after Borrell published an article that Israel said equated Israeli victims of terror with terrorists killed by the IDF, Cohen condemned the comments in a tense phone call with Borrell, and indicated that it would not be a good time for the EU diplomat to visit.
Police have opened an investigation after a package with a bomb inside was found next to the door of a home in Holon, which has been wracked by violent underworld crime in recent days.
The bomb is safely disposed of by police sappers after being discovered.
The package was found next to the door of an apartment belonging to a family not known to have any connections to criminal enterprise, leading officials to guess that the bomb may have been delivered to the wrong address, Channel 12 news reports.
A number of shootings over the past week involving organized crime have taken place in Holon or involved residents of the working-class Tel Aviv suburb.
The Israel Defense Forces says one rocket was launched at the southern town of Kissufim earlier.
The IDF says the rocket landed in an open area, without causing any injuries.
The Iron Dome air defense system was not used as the rocket was heading for an unpopulated area, the IDF adds.
In total, 33 projectiles have been launched at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip Tuesday, according to IDF tallies.
The Israel Defense Forces says six mortars were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel over the past hour.
Several fell short in the Palestinian enclave, while the others landed in Israeli territory, close to the security barrier.
In total, 32 projectiles have been launched at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip Tuesday, according to IDF tallies.
Fresh rocket sirens sound in the southern town of Kissufim, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
President Isaac Herzog’s office says talks aimed at reaching a compromise on the proposed judicial overhaul focused Tuesday on the issue of ministry legal advisers, but gives no hint of any progress.
Talks were held in a “professional and respectful atmosphere,” the President’s Residence says. But it also hints at friction inside the talks, noting that “discussions included disagreements, which are natural.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is seeking to allow ministers to appoint their own legal advisers who will answer to them rather than the Justice Ministry.
Herzog’s office says talks will resume Thursday with discussions focused on the doctrine of reasonability, which has been used to disqualify political appointments.
No other talks are currently planned.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The World Bank warns the Palestinian economy faces a “bleak” outlook as Israel continues its blockade of the Gaza Strip and has increased restrictions on the West Bank.
In a new report, the global lender commended efforts by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to slim its public wage bill but says the economies of the Gaza Strip and West Bank remain heavily dependent on foreign donor support and hindered by Israeli restrictions.
Israeli-imposed “restrictions on movement and access in the West Bank and the restrictions resulting in near-blockade in Gaza remain among the most important obstacles to growth and private sector development in the Palestinian territories,” the report says.
“If not eased or lifted, the Palestinian economy is expected to continue operating well below its potential,” it adds.
Palestinian media reports say three mortars were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago.
The renewed rocket fire sets off alerts in open areas close to the border.
It is not immediately clear if the projectiles managed to cross Israel’s security barrier.
The Israel Defense Forces is looking into why the Iron Dome air defense system appears to have struggled to keep missiles from hitting cities, Ynet reports.
Gazan terrorists fired 22 rockets at Israel during Tuesday’s barrage. Five rockets slammed into populated areas of Sderot and other areas, according to police, while four were shot down by Iron Dome and the rest landed in open areas. The army does not attempt to intercept rockets headed for unpopulated areas.
If confirmed, the apparent success rate of 44% would mark among the worst-ever performances by the highly vaunted system. During a brief but intense flare-up in August 2022, during which the Islamic Jihad terror group shot some 1,100 rockets, the system managed an interception rate of 96%, its highest ever, according to Ynet.
Last month, the system also missed three rockets from a barrage of 34 missiles fired at northern Israel.
A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip sets off an alert in an open area in southern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces is checking if the projectile crossed the security barrier and landed in Israeli territory, or if it landed short in the Palestinian enclave.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says seven people were killed in an alleged Israeli attack on Aleppo’s international airport late Monday.
The dead include four Syrian army officers and “three pro-Iran foreign fighters,” according to the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a vast network of sources on the ground.
Syrian state-run media reported that one soldier was killed, five more were wounded, and two civilians were injured.
The observatory says the strikes “completely destroyed” a munitions depot in the Nayrab airfield area.
Israeli missiles also slammed into Syrian air force factories in the Safireh area of Aleppo province, “causing extensive material damage,” it said, adding that the sites were used by pro-Iran fighters.
The pro-opposition monitor has been accused of inflating casualty counts in the past.
Military officials decided to wait until the afternoon to shell Gaza in response to rocket fire early Tuesday morning so that children could get in a normal day of school, Channel 12 news reports.
According to the channel, the military made the decision to hold off after sharing intelligence on the expected response from Gaza with local officials in areas outside the Strip. The decision was made to hold off until later, to allow kids to attend school while affording residents some normalcy before the flare-up.
The army began shelling positions in Gaza shortly after 3 p.m., when most schools would have already gotten out, though many kindergartens run later. Starting at around 3:30 p.m., Gazans fired a volley of 22 rockets at Sderot and other areas.
Earlier, Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen accused Gazan terrorists of timing their barrage to coincide with pick-up from kindergarten.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is conducting a situation assessment in Camp Dayan north of Tel Aviv, his office reports.
Joining him are Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Military Secretary Avi Gil, as well as the deputy commander of the Shin Bet, head of the IDF Southern Command, commanders of the IDF’s Operations and Research divisions, and the heads of the IDF’s Intelligence and Operations directorates.
The Kan broadcaster reports that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has responsibility over the police, demanded to be included in the meeting, but has remained on the outside so far.
The Brothers-in-Arms anti-government protest group has canceled a planned demonstration outside the Ashkelon home of Likud minister Avi Dichter following rocket fire on southern Israel.
“We will join up to defend our homeland, as we have done until now, so terror groups will internalize that they were mistaken in gauging the resilience of the Israeli people and that we would fold,” says the group of reserves soldiers, which has been a leading voice in efforts to oppose plans to overhaul the judiciary.
A Brothers-in-Arms protest slated to take place outside the Herzliya home of Likud MK Yuli Edelstein tonight has not been canceled.
Speaking at a cadet graduation ceremony in southern Israel, deputy IDF chief Maj. Gen. Amir Baram vows the army will respond to the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
“Even at this very hour, we are busy with security challenges. Following the rocket fire that was just carried out toward Sderot and [towns] surrounding Gaza, I assure you that the IDF will respond and act in a determined and significant manner, in order to restore peace to Israeli residents,” Baram says.
A fire is spreading near the southern Israeli town of Ibim, apparently as a result of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip earlier.
There is no immediate comment from Israeli authorities on the fire.
Blaze spreading near Ibim as a result of one of the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel. pic.twitter.com/KBNvtNZ7lt
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 2, 2023
Ibim is located adjacent to Sderot, which absorbed much of today’s barrage.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid is offering rare support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government following a rocket attack on southern Israel.
“The opposition will back the government in any military action that will bring quiet and security to residents of the south,” Lapid tweets.
The statement comes less than 15 minutes after the Yesh Atid head tweeted that southern residents “deserve a government that will take care of their security.”
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi expresses frustration with the government following a rocket attack on his city, accusing the nation’s leaders of being all talk but letting Gaza’s terror groups dictate the security situation in the south.
“Enough with the lip service. There are two terror groups ruling Gaza. They shoot when they want. We need to assassinate them,” he tells Channel 13 news, standing in the construction site where three people were injured in a rocket strike.
He says the army should launch a thought-out offensive operation against Gaza, but also says he trusts the army to do the right thing.
“If we don’t take care of this now, and put it at the top of the agenda, before any other thing the government wants to do, bringing down prices or not, the safety of residents of the south and of Sderot must come before everything else,” he says.
Elsewhere, former defense minister Benny Gantz warns that Gazans “will pay a price for shooting at the south,” in Hebrew and Arabic tweets.
Far-right MK Almog Cohen, a resident of nearby Ofakim, accuses the Gazan terrorists of timing the barrage to coincide with pickup time for Israeli kindergartens.
“The response needs to be deadly and painful,” he tells Israel National News.
The so-called “Joint Operations Room” of various Palestinian terror factions in the Gaza Strip takes responsibility for the rocket fire on southern Israel.
In a statement, the collective, which includes both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, says the attack comes as a response to the death of Khader Adnan, a hunger-striking member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who died in an Israeli jail overnight.
The Joint Operations Room add that the rocket barrage was just “an initial response to this heinous crime,” while calling the death of Adnan a “Zionist assassination.”
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen is slated to fly to India next week for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Indian PM Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
He will take off in the evening on Monday for New Delhi, where he lands on Tuesday morning.
He heads to Mumbai on Wednesday, and lands back in Israel Thursday night.
Cohen will be bringing Israeli business leaders with him, and will sign a series of agreements, including a consular agreement to bring Indian workers to Israel to work in construction.
The Israel Defense Forces has lifted restrictions imposed on communities close to the border with the Gaza Strip amid rocket fire.
Shortly before the rocket barrage, the IDF instructed residents to remain near bomb shelters.
Residents now no longer need to remain close to bomb shelters, the IDF’s Home Front Command says, though the situation could change.
“Upon receiving an alert, enter a protected space and stay there for 10 minutes,” the IDF adds in a message to residents.
The IDF says there are currently no special instructions for residents.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wraps up a snap assessment with military chief Herzi Halevi following the rocket fire on southern Israel, his office says.
“Anyone who attempts to harm the citizens of Israel will be sorry,” Gallant says in remarks provided by his office.
Two foreign nationals were lightly hurt in a rocket impact at a construction site in Sderot, in addition to a man who was seriously hurt by shrapnel, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The service says all three are being taken to a hospital in Ashkelon.
“The injured man was lying on the ground floor of the construction site, unconscious and suffering from shrapnel injuries to his body,” says MDA medic Matanel Iluz of the seriously injured man, 25.
“Two other workers who were slightly injured by shrapnel were treated at the scene and taken to the hospital by an MDA ambulance,” he adds.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is receiving updates on the situation in Gaza from his Military Secretary Avi Gil, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
He will lead a situation assessment this afternoon.
The Israel Defense Forces says Palestinians launched 22 rockets from the Gaza Strip.
The IDF says four of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, and 16 landed in open areas.
However, police say they are dealing with five separate rocket impact sites in urban areas.
One of the rockets hit a construction site in the city of Sderot, seriously wounding a man, according to medics.
Footage circulating online shows another rocket impact site on a street in Sderot.
Footage shows a rocket impact in Sderot pic.twitter.com/wXpBO9K3xw
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 2, 2023
A 25-year-old foreign national has been seriously wounded as a result of a rocket attack in the southern city of Sderot, medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is taking the man to Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon in serious condition.
The service says the man was hit by shrapnel while working at a construction site.
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in additional towns close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
The sirens are activated in Sufa, Nir Itzhak, and Sdeh Avraham.
Residents of the area report hearing explosions amid the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip and the Iron Dome air defense system working to intercept the projectiles.
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the southern city of Sderot and the adjacent towns of Ibim, Nir Am and Erez.
Local residents report explosions and trails of smoke, indicating Iron Dome interceptor missiles were fired at rockets launched from the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces says further details are still under review.
Interceptions over the Sderot area (Pics: חמ"ל דרום) pic.twitter.com/vyPHt4iQN9
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 2, 2023
The Israel Defense Forces says it has carried out tank strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip following the rocket fire this morning on southern Israel.
The IDF adds that it has instructed residents of towns close to the border with the Palestinian enclave to remain close to bomb shelters or safe areas until further notice.
This morning, Palestinian terrorists launched four projectiles at southern Israel, following the death of hunger-striking Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan while in Israeli custody.
Senior Haredi lawmaker Meir Porush says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should leave office if he cannot shepherd through laws that will exempt the Haredi community from mandatory military or civilian service.
Porush, a minister from the United Torah Judaism party, accuses Netanyahu of not standing by various coalition agreements, including extra funding for Haredi schools and making sure the Haredi community got its get-out-of-serving-your-country-free card before dealing with passing a national budget.
“Why did we sign coalition agreements? So they won’t happen?” he asks in an interview with Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat. “I don’t get Netanyahu. How long does he want to look ridiculous?”
“Why did I bother helping create this coalition, to hear the same excuses from Treasury officials we got in the Bennett-Lapid era? Why did we bother having elections?”
The comments marked one of the first cracks in Netanyahu’s largely disciplined far-right, religious coalition.
Porush also appears to deny reports that Netanyahu recently requested that the draft exemption effort be pushed off until after the government manages to pass a budget, and says the premier has no choice but to come through.
“When won’t we need to be afraid [of complying with laws regarding mandatory service]? And if we must be afraid, then Netanyahu must say he cannot be prime minister because ‘I cannot give you what you need.’ He should say that,” Porush says.
“Netanyahu can’t say ‘I can’t.’ You can’t? So don’t be prime minister. What is this you can’t? Go home. What, you can’t?”
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen says Europe is finally coming around to Israel’s side on Iran, after holding meetings in Brussels with senior European Union officials as Jerusalem seeks to push EU policy against Iran in a more assertive direction.
The Foreign Ministry says Cohen spoke with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola of Malta about Iranian attempts to target Jews and Israelis on European soil.
They also discuss the importance of the EU designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. In January, the EU parliament called on the EU’s European Council and member states to list the IRGC as a terrorist group and to ban all business with them.
“European countries understand today more than ever the danger from Iran, and see eye-to-eye with Israel regarding the need to confront terror that comes from and is funded by the Iranian regime,” says Cohen after the meeting.
Earlier, Cohen met with Oliver Varhelyi of Hungary, commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, to discuss an EU research project into antisemitism in Palestinian Authority textbooks. They also talk about a potential EU-Israel demining project in Ukraine, and EU support for expanding the Abraham Accords.
According to Israel, Varhelyi promises that no EU funding will reach terror groups, even indirectly.
The EU has yet to release information about the meetings.
The Israel Defense Forces says troops detained 13 wanted Palestinians during overnight arrest raids across the West Bank.
The IDF says that during operations in the Bethlehem area, troops seized several firearms, weapons parts, and other military equipment.
There are no reports of clashes during the raids.
The 13 suspects are handed over to the Shin Bet security agency for further questioning, the IDF adds.
The fighting in Sudan has caused more than 330,000 people to flee their homes within the country, with over 100,000 others escaping over the borders, the United Nations says.
UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, is estimating that more than 800,000 people could potentially flee to neighboring countries as the conflict continues in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group.
The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said an estimated 334,000 people had been internally displaced by the fighting, which broke out on April 15.
“Over 100,000 refugees are estimated to be among those who have now fled Sudan to neighboring countries, including Sudanese refugees, South Sudanese returning home prematurely, and others who were themselves refugees in Sudan,” UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado tells reporters in Geneva.
The IOM says in a situation report that “the total estimate of displaced individuals across Sudan has reached 334,053.”
“About 72 percent, roughly 240,000 of these new internal displacements were reported in West and South Darfur alone,” spokesman Paul Dillon tells reporters.
President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal will formally represent Israel at the coronation of King Charles III in London on Saturday, his office announces.
The pair will stay near Westminster Abbey so that they can walk to the ceremony without violating Shabbat, the President’s Residence says in a statement.
The Herzogs will fly to London on Thursday evening, and on Friday will attend a reception hosted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in honor of all the heads of state and royals who have flown in for the occasion.
The Herzogs also represented Israel at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last year.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev says she has informed the government-run company building Tel Aviv’s new subway and light rail systems that the project will be moved to another body due to excessive delays, Hebrew media outlets report.
The inaugural Red Line of the Tel Aviv light rail, which will travel from Petah Tikva to Bat Yam via Tel Aviv, was slated to open last week. But reports now indicate that the opening, already delayed by several years, may be pushed to July.
According to the reports, Regev will move ask the government on Sunday to approve stripping the National Transportation Authority, better known as NETA, of responsibility over the system, which will include three metro subway lines and three light rail routes.
Instead, she may hand the reins to Netivei Israel — The National Transport Infrastructure Company, which has traditionally focused on highway building.
Among the reasons given for seeking the switch several years into the project are the delays and what Regev says are cost overruns of NIS 3 billion ($828 million).
Regev has railed against the state’s support for a subway system in Israel’s economic center, where traffic congestion is a constant and growing struggle. She has said she will seek to cut funding for the project or kill it altogether, preferring to spend money on linking peripheral areas of the country to the center, and proposing that the city make do with bike lanes and a light rail.
