May 23: IDF says Hamas battalion commander killed by Israeli forces in tunnel in northern Gaza

Pro-Israel crowd gathers at London cinema after it was defaced ahead of ‘Supernova’ documentary screening

Pro-Israel supporters line the streets near a north London cinema after it was defaced ahead of a screening of a documentary about the Supernova festival near Kibbutz Re’im, which was rampaged by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

Videos posted to social media show dozens of people waving Israeli flags and holding signs with photos of hostages held by terror groups in Gaza since the deadly massacre.

Israel supporters turn up to protect a cinema in Finchley, London after anti-Israel activists attempted to stop a screening of a Nova Festival film.

The documentary features videos filmed by Oct 7th victims and survivors from the music festival.

pic.twitter.com/XJyjddRGBA

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 23, 2024

Anti-Israel activists vandalized the Phoenix cinema with red paint last night ahead of today’s screening of “Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre.”

“Terrorist supporters off our streets,” the protesters can be heard chanting.

A screening tonight at Phoenix Cinema in North London (my lovely local indie) of a documentary about Nova music festival massacre on October 7th is desecrated.
How can a film about innocent young people butchered, raped and abducted be “Art Washing”?#PeaceforAll #Nova pic.twitter.com/jvVSb5ktWs

— Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller) May 23, 2024

Just under an hour in length, “Supernova” conveys the terror of the massacre at the rave, which came as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists launched a widespread onslaught into southern Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 252 more, while committing horrific acts of brutality including rape, torture, dismemberment and mutilation.

The rampage at the festival left 360 dead, with over 40 taken hostage.

Rocket sirens sounding again in northern border towns

Rocket alert sirens are sounding again in northern towns on the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The sirens in largely evacuated communities including Sassa, Baram, Zivon and Dovev follow a series of attacks from Hezbollah throughout the day amid ongoing cross-border tensions.

Red Alert [23:35:57] – 4 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Sassa, Baram, Zivon, Dovev#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/LiKaulJzkl

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

Sydney bakery comes under fire for making custom-made Hamas birthday cakes for 4-year-old boy

Cupcakes made by a Sydney bakery for a child's birthday party featuring a Hamas spokesman and the Palestinian flag. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

An Australian bakery comes under fire after it shared images earlier this week of cakes it made for a four-year-old boy’s birthday featuring the Palestinian flag on a map of Israel and a picture of a Hamas official.

Photos of the custom-made cakes, along with a picture of the child dressed as Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida, who is featured on the cakes, were shared on the Sydney-based Oven Bakery by Fu Fu’s Instagram account.

The Australian Jewish Association shares photos of the bakery’s social media posts, sparking an outcry and prompting the business to take down its social media accounts.

Australia, we have a problem.

Omar is 4 years old.

This bakery is located in Sydney. pic.twitter.com/ruhJxCTLEJ

— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) May 21, 2024

“Dressing a child up as a terrorist, including with what appears to be a Hamas headband is reprehensible and a form of child abuse,” Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory tells the Australian Daily Telegraph.

“Islamic extremism and radicalization of youth is not just a problem for the Jewish community. It’s a threat to all Australians,” he adds.

Over 1,000 northern residents block traffic near Kibbutz Amiad, demanding to return to their homes

Israelis evacuated from northern communities near the Lebanese border due to ongoing cross-border tensions, stand amid tents with a national flag during a rally near Amiad, demanding to return to their homes, May 23, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)

On the backdrop of a series of attacks on northern communities from Lebanon throughout the day, over 1,000 residents erect a protest encampment dubbed “Displaced people of the Galilee.”

The protesters are calling on the government to take action — either military or diplomatic — to bring an end to Hezbollah attacks on northern communities in recent months that have left them displaced from their homes.

Some mayors of northern communities attend the protest, along with MKs from both sides of the aisle, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.

Protesters block the entrance to Kibbutz Amiad, located some 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the Sea of Galilee.

כ-1,200 מתושבי הצפון השתתפו בפתיחת "מחנה פליטים עקורי הגליל" בכניסה לקיבוץ עמיעד בגליל העליון. כמה פעילים חסמו את צומת עמיעד. ראש מועצת מטולה: "הגיע הזמן לחסום את הצמתים ולנתק את הגליל ממדינת ישראל עד שתיקח אחריות"@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/xMdv4ulNou

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 23, 2024

The IDF said that dozens of projectiles were fired from Lebanon at northern towns throughout the day, with one barrage that came hours after a senior Hezbollah member, who was said to have procured “strategic and unique weapons” for the terror group, was killed in an Israeli strike.

Some 60,000 northern residents have been evacuated since Hezbollah-led forces began attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis on October 8, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 312 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 61 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Police use water cannons to disperse Haredi protest against IDF draft in Jerusalem; 2 arrested

Ultra-Orthodox activists clash with police during a protest against the drafting of Haredi Jews to the IDF, in Jerusalem, May 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Over a hundred ultra-Orthodox protesters rally against conscription to the military, blocking light rail traffic in Jerusalem.

Two protesters are arrested during the demonstration.

Ynet news reports that protesters threw objects at police officers and called them “Nazis.”

Photos from the protests show clashes between protesters and police, including mounted officers. Water cannons are also seen being used to disperse the crowds.

Haredi protesters clash with police during a protest against the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Jews to the IDF, in Jerusalem, May 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The protests come after the High Court of Justice ruled last month that there is no legal basis for the government to continue exempting Haredi men from conscription to the Israel Defense Forces.

IDF: 2 rockets fired from Gaza strike open areas near southern city of Ofakim; none hurt

Two rockets were fired from the central Gaza Strip at communities in southern Israel near the city of Ofakim, some 20 kilometers from the border.

According to the IDF, both rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.

Sirens had sounded in the towns of Bitkha, Tidhar, Brosh and Ta’ashur.

It marks the first attack on that area since mid-January.

Red Alert [21:03:52] – 4 Alerts:

• Western Negev — Brosh, Ta'ashur, Tidhar, Bitha#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/hFpHFOTm9d

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

Iran-backed militia in Iraq claims attempted drone attack on ‘vital target’ in Eilat

Shortly after the Israeli military said fighter jets downed two suspected drones heading toward Eilat from the eastern direction, an Iran-backed militia in Iraq takes credit for the attack.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims to have launched two drones at a “vital target” in Israel’s southernmost city.

The Iran-backed group has claimed numerous drone attacks amid the ongoing war, with the IDF reporting downing many of them.

UNRWA chief claims Israel prioritizing private sector goods to Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing

A truck carrying humanitarian aid arrives for processing at the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza on April 15, 2024. (AFP)

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claims that Israeli authorities are prioritizing the private commercial sector at the main crossing point for goods entering Gaza.

“When it comes to the crossing in Kerem Shalom, the private sector for the time being is being prioritized,” Lazzarini tells AFP, adding that the development had occurred over the past two weeks.

He says the prioritization took place at the inspections level, with private sector trucks inspected “before any other trucks.”

While private goods are “welcome in the Gaza Strip,” Lazzarini says most Gazans are desperate after seven months of war and cannot afford goods at the current market prices.

“We need a combination of both humanitarian aid and market” in Gaza, Lazzarini says.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini at a press conference on the situation in Gaza at the United Nations offices in Geneva, April 30, 2024. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

Following the discovery that at least 12 UNRWA staffers directly took part in the October 7 massacre – which saw 1,200 people killed, mostly civilians, and 252 taken hostage – and at least another 30 provided assistance, Israel has repeatedly called for Lazzarini to resign.

Israel has long accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by extending refugee status to millions of descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced out of homes in today’s Israel at the time of the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, rather than limiting such a status only to the original refugees, as is the norm with most refugee populations worldwide.

Israel and other groups have also long argued that UNRWA school materials glorify terrorism and anti-Israel incitement.

Head of UCLA says school should have removed anti-Israel encampment before violence erupted

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testifies during a hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding anti-Israel protests on college campuses on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

WASHINGTON – The head of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) tells a US House panel that the school should have been ready to immediately remove an anti-Israel encampment that became the site of a violent clash with counter-protesters last month.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is one of three US university leaders testifying at a hearing of the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives’ Education Committee into the wave of protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza that has unfolded on American campuses over the past two months.

“With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk,” Block tells the panel.

UCLA was the site of an April 30 overnight mob attack on anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activists that was one of the most violent scenes of the recent protests.

Counter-protesters clash with anti-Israel protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. (Etienne Laurent/AFP)

Yesterday, the university removed the head of its campus police for its handling of the protests, which included inaction during the attack and the arrests by state and local police of 210 people the next night.

“The recent images from UCLA are appalling. What is more appalling is that it was completely preventable,” says Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman on the panel. “You, the UCLA leadership and law enforcement stood by for hours as the mob of agitators gathered near the encampment with the clear intention to cause violence.”

Block disputes that assertion.

The heads of Northwestern University in Illinois and Rutgers University of New Jersey also testify at the sixth event the committee and its subcommittees have held on schools’ responses to tensions that have flared since Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

House Education Committee Chair Virginia Foxx says that each university had failed to enforce its own rules, preserve campus safety and protect Jewish students.

“Today’s hearing is the beginning, not the end, of the committee’s investigation of your institutions,” Foxx tells the university presidents.

Some of the most contentious questioning is aimed at Michael Schill, the president of Northwestern, which reached an agreement with protesters to end their demonstration. The Anti-Defamation League, a group dedicated to fighting antisemitism, has criticized the university for that agreement.

Northwestern University President Michael Schill testifies during a hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

“President Schill, we’ve heard accounts of horrific violence and harassment of Jewish students on your campus, but you admitted you have not suspended a single student since October 7 for antisemitic conduct,” says Foxx. “You’ve refused to answer basic questions on topics.”

CIA director set to meet with Mossad chief in Europe to try to revive hostage talks

Israelis call for the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza since Hamas's October 7 massacre, outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem on May 22, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

CIA director William Burns is traveling to Europe to meet with Mossad chief David Barnea in an effort to revive talks for the release of hostages held by Hamas, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

While it is unclear whether Qatari or Egyptian officials will also be present for the meeting both mediating countries continue to be involved in the efforts to secure a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli official says.

Israel’s war cabinet approved the resumption of indirect talks with Hamas for the release of hostages early this morning, with a source telling Hebrew media that the negotiating team was handed new guidelines to try and make an elusive breakthrough.

Talks have revolved around the format of a staged hostage release in return for a temporary truce and the release of at least several hundred Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel. The largest stumbling block has been Hamas’s insistence on ending the war, a condition Israel has repeatedly rejected.

It is believed that 124 of 252 hostages abducted during Hamas’s October 7 massacre remain in Gaza — not all of them alive. Hamas terrorists also murdered around 1,200 people on October 7, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Germany says it would arrest Netanyahu if ICC issues warrant; Israel: ‘Check your moral compass’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before a press conference in Jerusalem, March 17, 2024. (GPO)

Israel slams a statement from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that his country would arrest and deport Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the International Criminal Court implements a warrant for his arrest, Fox News reports.

“I am old enough to remember the German leader coming here days after October 7, and stating that Hamas are the new Nazis. They seek a genocide against the Jews. Many in the world need to check their moral compass and be on the right side of history,” Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Avi Hyman tells Fox.

When asked yesterday if Berlin would execute a potential ICC arrest order, German spokesman Steffen Hebestreit responded, “Of course. Yes, we abide by the law,” according to the report.

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, also decried the statement yesterday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“This is outrageous!” he posted. “The public statement that Israel has the right to self-defense loses credibility if our hands are tied as soon as we defend ourselves.”

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan announced earlier this week that he is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders.

IDF: Fighter jets downed two ‘suspicious aerial targets’ heading toward Eilat

Two “suspicious aerial targets” — thought to be drones — that were heading toward Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat from the eastern direction were downed by fighter jets, the military says.

No sirens sounded, as the suspected drones were downed outside of Israeli airspace.

Israel expects ICJ to order end to Gaza war, increased humanitarian aid in tomorrow’s ruling – reports

Troops of the Nahal Brigade operate in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout image published May 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel expects that the International Court of Justice will rule against it tomorrow when it announces its response to South Africa’s request to order a halt to the Israel Defense Force offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, according to Hebrew media reports.

Last week, South Africa asked the ICJ to order a halt to the entire IDF operation in Gaza, and in Rafah in particular, alleging that the current campaign will make life in the Strip untenable and therefore violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The request was South Africa’s fourth application to the court since Israel declared war against Hamas following the terror group’s brutal onslaught on October 7.

Channel 12 cites unnamed officials as saying that while Israel believes that the ICJ will order a halt to the war against Hamas in Gaza in tomorrow’s hearing, Jerusalem does not intend to uphold the ruling.

The report adds that if the court rules in favor of South Africa’s request, the order will be taken to the UN Security Council, where Israel expects that the United States will use its veto power.

In another unsourced report, the Ynet news site assesses that there is a high chance the court will issue additional orders to increase humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Ynet also says that there is a low chance the ICJ will reject South Africa’s request for a cessation of hostilities, a medium chance that the court will accept South Africa’s original demand to halt the war in Gaza and a medium-to-high chance that it will focus its ceasefire order on Rafah.

The demand for the emergency measure is part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. Israel has denounced the claims.

A government spokesman, speaking in Jerusalem ahead of the decision, says: “No power on Earth will stop Israel from protecting its citizens and going after Hamas in Gaza.”

South Africa asked for additional emergency measures to protect Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have been sheltering. It also asked the panel of 15 permanent judges and one ad hoc Israeli judge to order Israel to allow unimpeded access to Gaza for UN officials, organizations providing humanitarian aid, journalists and investigators.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report. 

Reports of interceptor missile fired over Eilat; no rocket sirens sound

People in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat report seeing an interceptor missile launch in the area.

No sirens sounded.

The IDF has no immediate comment.

Reports of an interceptor missile launch over Eilat. No sirens sounded. pic.twitter.com/nO4Ti8omP2

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 23, 2024

‘How did this happen?’: IDF spokesman vows military will answer questions raised by Nahal Oz abduction video

A still from footage showing the capture and abduction of Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy at the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023. (The Hostages Families Forum)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari vows that the military will provide answers to questions raised following the publication of a video showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

“Daniella, Karina, Liri, Agam and Naama, it is impossible to stand here tonight without commenting on the video that all of Israel and the world saw,” he says, opening a press conference.

“We failed to protect you and your friends, soldiers and many civilians,” Hagari says. “We are responsible and obligated to bring you home.”

“I know that the video raises tough and sharp questions, including how did something like this happen,” he says.

“We in the IDF have the responsibility to provide in-depth answers to these questions first to the families and then to the public,” Hagari says.

“On October 7, the IDF failed to defend. Now we have the responsibility to investigate in-depth and correct,” he continues.

He says the meaning of “correcting” the IDF’s mistakes is to “ensure that another October 7 won’t be carried out on any of our borders.”

Far-right activists loot another truck in West Bank; unclear whether it was actually carrying aid to Gaza

For the second time in hours, extremist Israelis in the West Bank have blocked and looted a truck being driven by a Palestinian driver who they thought was delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The latest incident takes place near the illegal Givat Asaf outpost.

It is not immediately clear whether the truck was actually carrying aid for Gaza, and activists have on several occasions targeted trucks that were simply carrying commercial goods, assaulting the drivers in the process.

As with earlier today, there are no reports of arrests, as attacks by violent settlers are rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities, leading the US and other Western countries to begin issuing sanctions against the extremists earlier this year.

צומת גבעת אסף בבנימין: פעילי "מטה לא נשכח" חסמו ופירקו תכולת משאית פלסטינית, בטענה שמדובר במשאית סיוע לעזה. כוחות צבא במקום, לא ידוע על עצורים pic.twitter.com/Jn5th6E6kG

— הוד בראל Hod Barel (@hod_barel) May 23, 2024

IDF: Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion commander killed by Israeli forces in a tunnel in northern Gaza

The commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion was killed by Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabaliya area in northern Gaza, the military says.

Hussein Fiad was responsible for “many anti-tank missile attacks launched at Israel during the war, and well as launching many mortars at [northern Gaza border] communities,” the IDF says in a statement.

The IDF announces on May 23, 2024 that Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion commander, Hussein Fiad, was killed by Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabaliya area. (Israel Defense Forces

The IDF says Fiad was killed in a tunnel in a joint operation carried out by the 98th Division and special forces of the Air Force and the elite Yahalom Combat Engineering unit.

His killing is “part of the 98th Division’s fighting effort above and below ground, to find and destroy tunnel networks and eliminate the terrorists hiding inside,” the military adds.

Greek-owned ship targeted by missile off Yemen – maritime security firms

DUBAI – A missile attack targeted a Greek-owned cargo vessel off Yemen a short while ago without causing any casualties or damage, according to maritime security agencies.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility, but Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign of attacks against Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November in a show of support for Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The Joint Maritime Information Centre, which is run by a Western-led naval task force in the region, identifies the vessel targeted in the latest attack as the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier Yannis.

Global tracking service MarineTraffic says the ship was en route from Russia to Kenya and identifies its owner and operator as Greek shipping firm Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited.

Maritime security firm Ambrey says the vessel was likely targeted “due to its listed operator’s ongoing trade with Israel” and that the attempted attack on the Yannis occurred 68 nautical miles off the rebel-controlled Yemeni port city of Hodeida.

“The vessel had undergone what she described as a ‘missile attack’ at the location,” it says, adding that “no injuries or damage were reported.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, run by the Royal Navy, reports “a missile impacting the water in close proximity” to the ship, adding that the “vessel and all crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call.”

The rebel attacks on shipping along the vital trade route have prompted countermeasures by a Western-led naval task force and reprisal strikes on Houthi targets by British and US warplanes.

UN resumes transporting aid from US-built pier in Gaza after halting for two days due to looting

File: Palestinians carry boxes of humanitarian aid after rushing the trucks transporting the international aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations has resumed transporting humanitarian aid arriving at a US-built pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip after halting deliveries for two days because some truckloads of supplies were intercepted by Palestinians.

Aid deliveries began arriving at a US-built pier on Friday as Israel comes under growing global pressure to allow more supplies into the densely-populated coastal enclave amid the ongoing war with Hamas.

The UN has said at least 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza.

Ten truckloads of aid – driven from the pier site by UN contractors – were received on Friday at a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah. But on Saturday, only five loads made it to the warehouse after 11 others were intercepted.

Palestinians storm trucks loaded with aid brought in through a new US-built pier, in the central Gaza Strip, May 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The UN halted transport for two days while it came up with a new route.

WFP spokesperson Shaza Moghraby says that deliveries resumed on Tuesday with 17 trucks arriving at the warehouse, while yesterday there were 27 trucks.

“All commodities have been accounted for to my knowledge and no incidents were reported,” Moghraby says, adding that some aid is for WFP to distribute, while the rest is for other aid groups operating in Gaza.

A US official says that so far some 800 metric tons of aid have been delivered off the pier to a staging area. USAID says that as of Tuesday more than 307 metric tons of aid have been transported from “to onward points in Gaza.”

The aid offloaded at the pier comes via a maritime corridor from Cyprus, where it is first inspected by Israel.

IDF downs one explosive-laden drone from Lebanon, another lands in Kiryat Shmona area; none hurt

Two explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago. According to the IDF, one of the drones was shot down by a fighter jet, while the second struck the Kiryat Shmona area.

There are no injuries in the attack.

The military also says that fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon a short while ago.

The targets included buildings used by the terror group in Ayta ash-Shab, Rab Thalathine and Markaba, and another building and two observation posts in Odaisseh.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר שורת מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.
בין המטרות שהותקפו, מבנים צבאיים של חיזבאללה במרחבים עייתא א-שעב רב א-תלתין ומרכבא, מבנה צבאי ושתי עמדות תצפית של הארגון במרחב אל-עדייסא שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/5X8gPli7Ji

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2024

Gantz calls for state commission of inquiry into failures that led to October 7 ‘as soon as possible’

File: War cabinet minister Benny Gantz holds a press conference in Ramat Gan, May 18, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

National Unity chair Benny Gantz calls for the opening of a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to October 7 “as soon as possible,” stating that he will personally submit a proposal for its establishment.

“We’ve all seen the difficult video of the kidnapping in Nahal Oz, we’ve all seen the public debate about whether or not warning was given to the prime minister. There is no doubt, the period and the events leading up to October 7, and the continuation of the campaign since then, are a national upheaval that we must learn from,” Gantz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, says in a video message.

The statement comes after the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released harrowing footage yesterday showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

“At this time, it is no longer enough that we take responsibility for what happened. We must take responsibility and act, so that it never happens again,” Gantz continues, insisting that “the only way to do this is through a state commission of inquiry that should be set up as soon as possible.”

“I intend to soon submit a proposed resolution for its establishment, so that the committee can organize itself for the start of work on a date that will be agreed upon,” he says.

Several hours before Gantz’s statement, the IDF stated, in response to a freedom of information request by the Hatzlacha NGO, that over a period of several months last year, the prime minister had received four separate communiques from Military Intelligence warning him about how the country’s enemies were viewing the social upheaval in Israel at the time.

Netanyahu rejected the claim, countering that not only was “there no warning in any of the documents about Hamas’s intentions to attack Israel from Gaza, but they instead give a completely opposite assessment.”

Netanyahu has insisted on waiting for a state commission of inquiry to make determinations regarding the culpability of the government — which he insists cannot take place while the war in Gaza is ongoing.

Last weekend, Gantz threatened to bolt the coalition unless Netanyahu significantly changes his approach to managing the ongoing war in Gaza.

Iran’s Raisi buried after death in helicopter crash, wrapping up days of funeral rites

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on May 23, 2024, shows Iranian mourners attending the funeral of late president Ebrahim Raisi in the city of Mashhad. (Iranian Presidency/AFP)

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi is laid to rest, according to state media, concluding days of funeral rites attended by throngs of mourners after his death in a helicopter crash.

Hundreds of thousands march in his hometown of Mashhad to bid farewell to Raisi ahead of his burial following processions in the cities of Tabriz, Qom, Tehran and Birjand.

The 63-year-old died on Sunday alongside his foreign minister and six others after their helicopter went down in the country’s mountainous northwest while returning from a dam inauguration on the border with Azerbaijan.

Once the five days of public mourning, announced on Monday, have passed, the authorities including acting Iranian President Mohammad Mokhber will focus on organizing an election for a new president set for June 28.

Men and women, who were mainly clad in black chadors and clutching white flowers, crowd the main boulevard of Mashhad, the Islamic Republic’s second city in the northeast where Raisi was born.

Iranian mourners attend the funeral of late president Ebrahim Raisi in the city of Mashhad on May 23, 2024.(Hossein Moameri/Fars News Agency/AFP)

Some hold aloft placards paying tribute to Raisi as the “man of the battlefield” as a large truck carrying his body drove through the sea of mourners.

Posters of Raisi, black flags and Shiite symbols are erected along the streets of Mashhad, particularly around Raisi’s final resting place — the Imam Reza shrine, a key mausoleum visited by millions of pilgrims every year.

Earlier, thousands of people holding images of Raisi and waving flags lined the streets of Birjand, capital of the eastern province of South Khorasan, for the procession of Raisi’s coffin.

Netanyahu on northern border: Israel has ‘detailed, important, even surprising plans’ for Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to IDF Northern Command headquarters, May 23, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Israel has “detailed, important, even surprising plans” to deal with Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says during a visit to IDF Northern Command headquarters.

“But I do not share these plans with the enemy,” he says, adding that the plans have two goals – to restore security to the north and to allow civilians to return home.

“We are determined to achieve both things together,” he says after the visit, which was also attended by the head of the Northern Command, and of Divisions 91, 36 and 146.

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

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in 10 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 14 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 312 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 61 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Report: Antisemitic incidents in Berlin increased by 50%, became more violent since October 7

File: People listen to speeches during a demonstration against antisemitism and to show solidarity with Israel in Berlin, Germany, on October 22, 2023. (Markus Schreiber/AP)

Antisemitic incidents in Berlin increased by almost 50 percent between 2022 and 2023 and are becoming more violent, according to a report cited by German news site DW.

Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) documented 1,270 antisemitic incidents in Berlin in 2023, the report says, adding that over 60% of the events took place after Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

“October 7, 2023, was a watershed moment,” a quote from the report reads. “Since then, antisemitism has been significantly more present in Berlin, with previously existing forms of antisemitism hardening and intensifying.”

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

Hungary says ICC being ‘used as a political tool’, vows not to enforce arrest warrants if issued

File: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban holds a copy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's memoir on November 3, 2022. (Viktor Orban/Twitter)

BUDAPEST – The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “unacceptable” and could not be enforced in Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff says.

Gergely Gulyas tells a news briefing that, although Hungary ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it “was never made part of Hungarian law,” meaning that no measure of the court can be carried out within Hungary.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced earlier this week that he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.

Representatives of both sides slammed Khan’s decision.

“This decision… is not a legal but a political decision, it is unacceptable and it discredits the International Criminal Court,” Gulyas says.

“It is wrong to use a court as a political tool, and it should not be forgotten what led to what is happening in Gaza, and that is a ruthless, dishonest and vile terrorist attack on Israel,” he says.

Netanyahu has long had close relations with the Hungarian prime minister, who has been in power since 2010.

Graduates walk out of Harvard commencement chanting ‘Free, free Palestine’

Harvard University students pass anti-Israel protesters while filing into Harvard Yard for commencement at Harvard University, May 23, 2024, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A group of graduates walks out of the Harvard commencement on chanting “Free, Free Palestine” after weeks of anti-Israel protests on campus.

School officials announced yesterday, the day before graduation, that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates.

Some students chant, “Let them walk, let them walk walk,” during today’s commencement, referring to allowing those 13 students to get their diplomas along with fellow graduates.

Student speaker Shruthi Kumar says “this semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable,” to cheers and applause.

“I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus.”

A student displays the Palestinian flag on his mortar board as graduates take their seats in Harvard Yard during commencement at Harvard University, May 23, 2024, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Over 1,500 students had petitioned, and nearly 500 staff and faculty had spoken up, all over the sanctions, she adds.

The protest encampment was calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for Harvard to divest from companies that support the war.

Drone alert sirens sounding in northern communities near Lebanon border

Drone alert sirens are sounding in a number of northern towns and cities near the border with Lebanon, following multiple alerts through the day.

The sirens can be heard in communities including Shamir, Sdeh Nechemia, Amir, Neot Mordechai, Lehavot HaBashan, Kfar Szold, Kfar Blum, Gonen, Snir, Shear Yeshuv, Dan, Ghajar, HaGoshrim, Dafna, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona, Misgav Am, Margaliot, Ma’ayan Baruch, Manara, Metula, Kfar Yuval , Kfar Giladi and Beit Hillel.

????✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [18:36:27] – 53 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Dishon, Snir, Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, Beit Hillel, Lehavot HaBashan, Ghajar, Amir, Kibutz Dan, Mevuot Hermon Regional Council, Kfar Yuval, Shear Yeshuv, Gonen, Malkia, Ramot Naftali, 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZgtZcjsD6u

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

Far-right activists loot truck in West Bank, thinking it was ferrying aid to Gaza

A group of Israeli extremists looted a truck being driven by a Palestinian in the West Bank, thinking it was ferrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Dozens of bags of sugar were dumped onto the road near the illegal Israeli Evyatar outpost in what has become a recurring scene in the West Bank over the past two months.

There are no reports of arrests, as attacks by violent settlers are rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities, leading the United States and other Western countries to begin issuing sanctions against the extremists earlier this year.

Far-right activists have repeatedly attacked aid trucks, asserting that the assistance is going to Hamas and not Gaza civilians. In a handful of cases — such as today’s — the vehicles targeted weren’t even carrying any aid.

ושוב: דיווחים על כך שפעילי ימין עצרו והשחיתו סחורות ממשאית פלסטינית לאחר שחשדו כי מדובר במשאית סיוע לרצועת עזה.
צה"ל במקום. כמובן שאין עצורים. pic.twitter.com/jxsXUGLSZV

— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) May 23, 2024

Police scuffle with Oxford University students during anti-Israel sit-in; some said arrested

British police arrest about a dozen Oxford University students and scuffle with some during an anti-Israel sit-in at the university premises, according to protesters.

The Oxford Action for Palestine group (OA4P) says university authorities called in police after students began their protest at administration offices, as has been happening on campuses in Britain, the United States and elsewhere amid the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

Thames Valley police say they are aware of the incident and will give information later.

The university has no immediate comment on today’s events, though it has previously said it respects the right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests.

Footage posted on social media by OA4P shows altercations between officers and students sitting in the road blockading a police van which it says was carrying detainees.

Oxford police are continuing their violent assaults and arrests of peaceful protesters, here seen taking away a student on a stretcher. pic.twitter.com/T04edYPfu9

— Oxford Action for Palestine (@OxAct4Pal) May 23, 2024

“Let them go,” the demonstrators chant.

The protesters have been calling for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

“It is evident the administration would rather arrest, silence, and physically assault its own students than confront its enabling of Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” the group says on X.

Speaking at the scene, Oxford politics student Kendall Gardner says police dragged students out of the way. “We’ve been met with extreme violence and hostility,” she tells Reuters.

Haredi minister rejects Palestinian statehood, says Israelis can’t live ‘alongside a state of human animals’

Using inflammatory language unusual for an ultra-Orthodox political leader, Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, head of the United Torah Judaism party, comes out strongly against the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, declaring that Israelis cannot live “alongside a state of human animals.”

“In recent days, voices have been rising that want to recognize a Palestinian state. The shocking video published yesterday is a reminder to the enlightened world to whom they want to give a country,” he says in a video message, referring to footage released yesterday showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

“Brutal terror must be destroyed and certainly not given independent rule. We have no desire to rule over the residents of Gaza, but we cannot live next to a state of human animals.”

Goldknopf has previously come out strongly in favor of reestablishing Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, a stance that is significantly more nationalist than previously seen by ultra-Orthodox political leaders.

בימים האחרונים עולים קולות המבקשים להכיר במדינה פלסטינית. הסרטון המזעזע שפורסם אתמול הוא תזכורת לעולם הנאור, למי הם רוצים לתת מדינה. את הטרור האכזרי צריך להשמיד ובוודאי לא להעניק לו שלטון עצמאי. אין לנו רצון לשלוט על תושבי עזה, אך גם אין לנו יכולת לחיות לצד מדינה של חיות אדם. pic.twitter.com/QN7siC27QO

— השר יצחק גולדקנופף (@DOVRUTGoldknopf) May 23, 2024

Hamas claims to be holding IDF colonel captured on October 7, previously reported dead by Israel

File: Family and friends of Col. Asaf Hamami mourn during his funeral in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, December 4, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Hamas announces that it is holding Col. Asaf Hamami, 41, captured on October 7, who the Israel Defense Forces had previously reported was killed in the attacks that day.

The Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades says Hamami had been wounded during his capture.

The statement supplies no proof, and does not specify whether he is still alive.

Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, was believed to have been killed fighting in the defense of Kibbutz Nirim.

His death was declared by the chief rabbi in December, based on findings obtained by the military in the Gaza Strip, allowing his family to have a funeral according to Jewish law.

Heads of Northwestern, Rutgers, UCLA begin to testify before US House committee on campus tensions

WASHINGTON – The heads of three universities and an academic honor society are testifying to the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce about their universities’ handling of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests.

The hearing is the sixth event the committee and its subcommittees have held on schools’ responses to tensions that have flared since war erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

On dozens of campuses throughout the country, students set up tents and held rallies to call on US President Joe Biden to do more to end the fighting in Gaza and to demand that their universities divest from companies that back Israel.

The presidents of Harvard and University of Pennsylvania resigned after backlash over their congressional testimony in December about antisemitism on campus.

House lawmakers will now hear from the heads of Northwestern University, Rutgers University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

“Each of you refused to enforce your own rules, preserve campus safety and protect Jewish students,” House Education Committee Chair Virginia Foxx says in her opening remarks.

The head of the Phi Beta Kappa Society will testify in his personal capacity, a spokesperson for the organization says.

Interrogation video shows father and son Hamas members admitting to rape, murder at Nir Oz on Oct. 7

A screenshot from an interrogation video, released May 23, 2024, of Hamas terrorist Abdallah Radi confessing to murder and rape during the October 7 attack on Israel. (IDF)

The Daily Mail publishes chilling footage of the interrogations of a father and son, both members of Hamas, who confess to killing and raping Israeli civilians during the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught on Israeli communities.

According to the report, Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, 47, and Abdallah, 18, were captured by Israel Defense Forces troops in March amid the ongoing war in Gaza and questioned about atrocities they committed on October 7.

In the footage, the men can be seen dressed in standard gray tracksuits sitting in front of an Israeli flag while being questioned in Arabic by a Shin Bet interrogator. The video appears similar to footage previously released by Israeli authorities from interrogations carried out by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 — which specializes in HUMINT, or human intelligence.

Radi, a father of seven, describes in the video how he and his son, along with other Hamas terrorists, infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz. Approximately one in four members of the 400-person strong community near the Gaza border were either killed or kidnapped on October 7, when some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel, murdering in total some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

“In each house where we found someone, we either killed them or kidnapped them,” he says.

“In the first house I found a woman and her husband, and we hit them with fire and killed them…they were in their late 40s,” he confesses.

He also directly admits to raping one woman: “She was screaming, she was crying, I did what I did, I raped her… I threatened her with my gun to take her clothes off, I remember she was wearing jean shorts, that’s about it.”

“I don’t know what happened to her, I was there for fifteen minutes and then I left.”

Abdallah Radi says in his investigation that his father had killed the woman: “My father raped her, then I did and then my cousin did and then we left but my father killed the woman after we finished raping her.”

“Before this woman, we had raped another girl as well, I killed two people, I raped two people, and I broke into five houses,” he adds.

IDF reveals new details of discovery of bodies of four hostages in Gaza last week

The entrance to the tunnel in northern Gaza where the bodies of four Israeli hostages – Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Shani Louk – were discovered in May 2023. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

The IDF approves the publication of new details of how the bodies of four Israeli hostages were found last week in northern Gaza.

The Times of Israel was in the Jabaliya refugee camp last night to view the tunnel amid ongoing combat.

As drones buzzed in circles overhead and tanks fired nearby every few minutes, Lt. Col. Almog Rotem stood over an open tunnel shaft in a dark home in the heart of the camp.

The bodies of four Israeli hostages – Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Shani Louk – were discovered in the tunnel by troops from Battalion 202 of the Paratroopers Brigade.

The troops were operating in that section of the refugee camp, which had yet to be conquered by the IDF, because of analysis from the battalion intelligence officer.

The officer “noticed that there were elements that interest us,” said Rotem, “and we understood that is something here.”

A force commanded by Capt. Roy Beit Yaakov entered the booby-trapped house to search it. Even after eight months of constant fighting across the Gaza Strip, the troops went out of their way to check every closet and corner.

Beit Yaakov insisted on pulling up a rug in one of the rooms, and found a square metal door in the middle of the floor.

He reported on the radio that he had found a tunnel shaft, and Rotem secured the area and summoned a force from the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit. The force, Samech 2, was commanded by Captain Aleph, who can only be referred to by his Hebrew initial.

Captain Aleph, of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit, whose troops uncovered a tunnel shaft in which the bodies of four Israeli hostages – Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Shani Louk – were found in May 2024. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

The Yahalom force uncovered a shaft about ten meters (30 feet) deep, with a metal ladder bolted into one of the sides.

It didn’t look different from dozens of other shafts they had found, but Aleph insisted on using all the tools available at this disposal to search for the bodies of hostages in the tunnel.

“We discovered explosives at the entrance of the shaft,” Aleph told The Times of Israel. “We began operating underground, carefully, with determination, using intuition. We found several suspicious areas, which ultimately led us to locate the hostages and to extract them that same night.”

“After we confirmed they were our hostages, there is no greater pride than that,” Aleph continued. “There is no greater privilege. And we want to continue ceaselessly to bring more and more hostages home.”

“There is no one more proud than us that we could bring the bodies of Israelis back for a proper burial in Israel,” said Rotem.

Days later, Beit Yaakov was killed in a friendly fire incident that also took the lives of four of his soldiers.

IDF spokesperson on ‘precise’ Rafah operation: ‘We’re going after Hamas. We’re going to release our hostages’

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in an English-language video statement says the Hamas terror group is holding hostages in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

“Those who may have forgotten how savage and barbaric Hamas received a chilling reminder when they saw the horrifying footage of our girls being held in captivity. Those young girls need to come back home. They need to come back home to their families. We must do everything to fulfill our critical mission of bringing all our hostages home and ensuring an enduring defeat of Hamas,” Hagari says, referring to a recently released video showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

“We’re going after Hamas. We’re going to release our hostages from Hamas,” he says.

“Hamas is in Rafah, Hamas has been holding our hostages in Rafah, which is why our forces are maneuvering in Rafah. We’re doing this in a targeted and precise way,” Hagari adds.

Rocket alert sirens sounding in Kfar Giladi near Lebanon border

Rocket alert sirens are sounding again in the north of the country, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alerts can be heard in the largely evacuated town of Kfar Giladi, after multiple sirens in the area throughout the day.

Red Alert [17:03:50] – 1 Alert:

• Confrontation Line — Kfar Giladi#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/KMt5TNGCvB

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

IDF gives all clear after drone sirens in northern communities

The IDF’s Homefront Command gives the all clear after drone sirens sounded in northern communities near the border with Lebanon a short while ago.

The alerts sounded in towns and cities including Snir, She’ar Yeshuv, Dan, Ghajar, HaGoshrim, Dafna, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shmona, Misgav Am, Margaliot, Ma’ayan Baruch, Manara, Metula, Kfar Yuval, Kfar Giladi and Beit Hillel.

???? Large Red Alert [16:35:10] – 16 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Ghajar, Kibutz Dan, Snir, Kfar Yuval, Misgav Am, Ma'ayan Baruch, Manara, Kiryat Shmona, Metulla, HaGoshrim, Shear Yeshuv, Kfar Giladi, Beit Hillel, Dafna, Margaliot, Tel Hai#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/zRlDtb93yp

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

Netanyahu rejects IDF claim of warnings during 2023 civil unrest, insists intel agencies said Hamas was deterred

File - This handout photo shows anti-overhaul protesters demonstrating near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Caesarea, June 12, 2023. (Brothers in Arms)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to a letter from the Israel Defense Forces that said he had received multiple communiques from Military Intelligence in spring and summer 2023 warning about how the country’s enemies were viewing the social upheaval in Israel at the time.

“Not only is there no warning in any of the documents about Hamas’s intentions to attack Israel from Gaza, but they instead give a completely opposite assessment,” Netanyahu’s office says in a statement.

Some have said the government’s attempts to overhaul the judiciary and the rise of a massive opposition movement had projected Israeli weakness, leading Hamas to launch its brutal onslaught on October 7.

The prime minister adds that the only two references to the Palestinian terror group in the four documents in question “indicate that Hamas did not want to attack Israel from Gaza.”

The Prime Minister’s Office statement argues that the intelligence assessment that Hamas was not interested in an escalation and rather was headed toward an agreement with Israel was “consistently shared by all of the security agencies, who even claimed that Hamas was deterred.”

The PMO statement adds that Netanyahu himself had warned about the impact of the internal unrest on Israel’s enemies multiple times, when Air Force reservists and other military personnel froze their service in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul moves during the widespread protests in 2023.

Netanyahu has consistently refused to take responsibility for Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, which his government failed to foresee or prevent, though he hinted at “failures” during a recent interview with Dr. Phil.

Top defense officials have come out in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre of some 1,200 people and abduction of 252 and have said they bear responsibility for what unfolded. Israel’s Military Intelligence chief became the most senior official to resign last month in a move likely to be followed by other security officials at some point.

Netanyahu has insisted on waiting for a state commission of inquiry to make determinations regarding the culpability of the government — which he insists cannot take place while the war in Gaza is ongoing.

Gallant: Israel deploying more forces to Rafah, working to ‘create conditions’ to bring hostages home

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) and Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa'ar Salama are seen off the coast of the Gaza Strip on a Dvora-class patrol boat, May 23, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Following a tour of the coast of the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel is deploying additional forces to Rafah while working to “create the conditions for the return of the hostages.”

“We are strengthening our effort against Rafah. This operation will go on and increase, more forces on the ground, more forces from the air, and we will reach our goals — to deal a very hard blow to Hamas, to deprive it of its military capabilities, [and] to create the conditions to return the hostages to their homes,” he says aboard a Dvora-class patrol boat.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa’ar Salama, the minister’s military secretary, Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno, and the commander of the Ashdod Naval Base, Cpt. Eitan Paz join Gallant on the tour.

The ministry says Gallant was briefed on “the operational and humanitarian efforts in the maritime arena.”

Drexel University in Philadelphia brings in police to clear out anti-Israel encampment

Protesters leave an anti-Israel encampment at Drexel University, May 23, 2004 in Philadelphia. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

PHILADELPHIA — Protesters pack up their belongings and leave an anti-Israel encampment at Drexel University after the school announces a decision to have police clear the encampment.

University President John Fry says in a statement that he decided to have campus police and public safety officers join Philadelphia police in clearing the encampment as peacefully as possible. News outlets report that police gave protesters a warning to clear the encampment and protesters left. Protesters didn’t immediately comment.

Fry says the university is committed to protecting the community members’ right to assemble peacefully and express their views, but he has the responsibility and authority to regulate campus gatherings to ensure safety and fulfill the mission to educate students.

“An unauthorized encampment that involves large numbers of people unaffiliated with Drexel trespassing on our campus is illegal,” Fry says.

“The language and chants coming from this demonstration, underscored by protestors’ repugnant ‘demands,’ must now come to an end.”

Protesters gather their belongings as dozens of officers on bicycles arrive around 5:20 a.m., but in less than a half hour only a few items remained on the Korman Family Quad where the 35-tent encampment had been, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Drexel University free Palestine camp is over as of five minutes ago. Ultimatum given by Drexel police… Philly police enforce it… most protesters leave voluntarily. No known arrests made. @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/VhZ8vjF6eK

— Hank Flynn (@HankFox29) May 23, 2024

“The campers picked up their belongings for the most part and left by their own free will,” Philadelphia Police Sgt. Eric Gripp says.

A wave of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian tent encampments on college campuses calling on universities to cut financial ties with Israel has led to over 3,000 arrests nationwide amid the ongoing war in Gaza, which began with Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Envoys from countries recognizing Palestinian state shown Nahal Oz footage before tongue-lashing

The ambassadors of Spain, Norway and Ireland have been given a talking to by the Foreign Ministry, as part of Israel’s response protesting their countries’ decisions to recognize a Palestinian state, an Israeli diplomatic official says.

Ana Sálomon Pérez of Spain, Per Egil Selvaag of Norway and Ireland’s Sonya McGuinness were made to watch a video showing five female soldiers from a base on Nahal Oz being taken captive on October 7, which was broadcast to the public for the first time last night.

After the screening, they were dressed down by senior diplomats.

תיעוד מ"העונש" לשגרירי המדינות שהכירו במדינה פלסטינית: שיחת נזיפה – וצפייה בסרט התצפיתניותhttps://t.co/k4E9NYYXGK | @inbartvizer pic.twitter.com/zyNdwf8HWT

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 23, 2024

Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who ordered the three be hauled in for the chewing out and screening, is on a diplomatic trip to France and so was not present.

Journalists were invited to watch the three being shown the video. In footage aired by Channel 12 news, the three are seen silently entering a boardroom together for the viewing, and then watching the video.

Rocket sirens sounding again in northern cities and towns near Lebanon border

Rocket alert sirens are sounding again in northern towns and cities near the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming missile fire.

The sirens can be heard in largely evacuated communities including Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Misgav Am and Tel Hai.

Dozens of rockets have been fired at the north throughout the day, with Hezbollah claiming the most recent attack was launched to avenge an Israeli strike earlier in the day that killed a member of the Iran-backed group responsible for building weapons.

Red Alert [15:37:03] – 5 Alerts:

• Confrontation Line — Misgav Am, Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Margaliot#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/55vY3Br4Kw

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 23, 2024

Hezbollah claims latest rocket attack

The Hezbollah terror group takes credit for the latest rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona and Beit Hillel, claiming it shot dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets at an army position.

Israel said it identified five launches.

Hezbollah claims the attack was launched to avenge an Israeli strike earlier in the day that killed a member of the Iran-backed group responsible for building weapons.

Several fires are being reported as a result of the rocket strikes, including in Beit Hillel and Kiryat Shmona.

IDF says Netanyahu was warned 4 times in 2023 about how enemies viewed internal unrest

The Israel Defense Forces says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received multiple communiques from Military Intelligence in spring and summer 2023 warning him about how the country’s enemies were viewing the social upheaval in Israel at the time.

“During 2023, between March and July, four different warning letters were passed by the intelligence directorate, which showed how Israel’s enemies across theaters viewed the harm to cohesion in the State of Israel and the IDF in particular,” the IDF spokesperson says in a letter to the Hatzlacha NGO.

Hatzlacha says it filed a request for the information seven months prior.

Some have blamed the government’s attempts to overhaul the judiciary and the rise of a massive opposition movement for projecting weakness, leading Hamas to launch its onslaught on October 7.

During the widespread demonstrations, Air Force reservists and other military personnel froze their service in protest of the government’s moves, leading the army to warn at the time of possible impacts to the country’s defense capabilities.

At least five more rockets fired at north, IDF says

A volley of at least five rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Beit Hillel area in northern Israel a short while ago, according to the IDF.

One rocket struck near Maayan Baruch Junction.

There are no reports of injuries, but heavy smoke can be seen in the area.

בעקבות שיגורי הרקטות מלבנון: שריפה פרצה בין ק"ש לבית הלל pic.twitter.com/Ux8hDfukxr

— מעריב אונליין (@MaarivOnline) May 23, 2024

Israel confirms killing ‘prominent’ Hezbollah arms-maker

The Israeli military confirms carrying out an airstrike killing a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon this morning.

According to the IDF, Nasser Farran was a “prominent” member of the terror group, responsible for the manufacturing and procurement of weapons.

Farran was killed in a drone strike in Kafr Dajjal, close to Nabatieh. Hezbollah announced his death earlier, but did not provide information on his role.

The IDF says that Farran was involved in “the production of Hezbollah’s strategic and unique weapons.” Some of the facilities under his command were struck in recent months, it says.

The military says that the killing is part of the IDF’s activity to “cause a blow to the build-up of the Hezbollah terror organization with weapons designed to attack the Israeli home front.”

It publishes footage of the strike.

כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום את המחבל מחמד עלי נאצר פראן, האחראי על תשתית לייצור והצטיידות באמצעי לחימה של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/x08xjc7Ki6

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2024

Rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona

Rocket sirens are sounding in Kiryat Shmona and nearby towns near the Lebanon border, the IDF’s Homefront Command says.

Firefighters in north battling blazes ignited by Hezbollah rockets

Six firefighting crews have been dispatched to try and quell a series of blazes sparked when rockets fired from Lebanon landed in uninhabited areas, setting dry brush alight.

The fires are mostly in northern Israel’s Hula Valley, including near Ayelet Hashahar, the Fire Service says.

“As of now the fire is not under control,” Fire Service Captain Gadi Azoulay says in a statement.

מספר שריפות פרצו באזור עמק החולה לאחר המטח מלבנון@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/jd2nqPocg6

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 23, 2024

Spanish minister condemned after ending speech with ‘river to the sea’ call

A Spanish government minister has drawn allegations of antisemitism after sealing a speech about the war between Hamas and Israel by saying “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.”

Both Israel’s embassy and the Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities condemn Labor and Economy Minister Yolanda Díaz, who also serves as second deputy prime minister in Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government, after she repeated the slogan in a filmed speech Wednesday. The Jewish group also slams fellow lawmaker Sira Rego, who wrote the slogan on X earlier this month.

“Instead of promoting the safety of Spanish Jews, they are encouraging hatred and rejection of them,” the Jewish umbrella group writes.

On X, the Israeli embassy in Madrid writes that it “completely rejects Yolanda Díaz’s statements.”

The slogan “is a clear call for the destruction of Israel, fomenting hate and violence. Antisemitic statements are incompatible with a democratic society and it is unacceptable coming from a deputy prime minister. We hope Spain will live up to its promise” to fight antisemitism, the post says.

In her speech, Diaz had accused Israel of barbarism and called for the European Union to be pressured “to end its agreements and treaties with Israel.”

Díaz and Rego are members of the far-left Sumar and United Left parties, respectively, which are coalition partners of Sanchez’s Socialist Party. Spain is one of three European countries, along with Ireland and Norway, that are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state within days, according to those governments’ announcements this week.

“From the river to the sea,” which references the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, is viewed by many Jews and others as antisemitic as it promotes a reality in which Israel does not exist as a Jewish homeland, leading some to see it as a call for ethnic cleansing or genocide against Israel’s Jews.

Who’s who of Iran-backed terrorists huddle in Tehran to discuss fight against Israel

Leaders of Iran-backed terror groups and militias fighting Israel met on the sidelines of late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral on Wednesday to discuss Gaza and “the continuation of jihad,” state media reports.

Among those attending the Tehran meeting of the so-called “axis of resistance” were Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah deputy Naim Qassem and Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.

Also there were Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the guards, reports say.

Iran’s Fars news agency says representatives of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Iraqi groups were also present at the meeting.

Ismael Haniyeh???????? ( chef politique du Hamas), Mohamed Abdel Salam ???????? ( représentant Houthi) et Naim Qassem ????????( vice secrétaire général du Hezbollah) se sont entretenus avec le chef des gardiens de la révolution à Teheran. pic.twitter.com/wmnQKQ8khz

— كريم (@KarimBecc) May 23, 2024

They discussed “the latest political, social and military situation in Gaza and the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and the role of the resistance front,” state broadcaster IRIB reports.

The meeting stressed “the continuation of jihad and struggle until the complete victory of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza with the participation of all resistance groups and fronts in the region,” IRIB adds.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel also reports on the meeting, broadcasting photos.

Dutch mulling legal action against Booking.com over settlement listings

Dutch prosecutors are looking into a criminal complaint against Booking.com over its listing of rental properties in Israeli settlements, they say.

Dutch nonprofit organization SOMO says it filed the complaint with the Dutch public prosecutor in November, together with three other human rights groups, but has not gone public with it before.

The groups accuse Booking.com of “profiting from war crimes by facilitating the rental of vacation homes on land stolen from the indigenous Palestinian population.”

SOMO said research shows that Booking’s platform offered up to 70 listings for properties in East Jerusalem and the West Bank between 2021 and 2023.

Revenues acquired from renting out those properties are “proceeds of criminal activities,” and that by booking these proceeds in the Netherlands the company is violating Dutch anti-money laundering rules, it argues.

Prosecutors were studying the complaint, but could not give a timeline for a decision on possible further steps, spokesperson Brechje van de Moosdijk says.

Booking rejects the allegations and says there are no laws prohibiting listings in Israeli settlements, while a range of US state laws would prohibit divesting from the region.

“Legal action has been taken against other companies that have tried to withdraw their activities, and we would expect the same to happen in our case,” a spokesperson for the company says.

Ben Gvir courting ultra-Orthodox to join police force

Ultra-Orthodox draftees to Border Police meet with the force's commander Deputy Commissioner Brik Yitzhak, at the Tel Hashomer base, May 9, 2024. (Israel Police)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is calling on the ultra-Orthodox to join the police force, with his office reportedly advancing plans to recruit some 1,200 employees and volunteers from that community.

“I’m happy to announce an important and positive plan that I have initiated: recruiting Haredim to the Israel Police. With the plan, we’ll double the number of Haredim who serve in the police in various positions, in the Border Police, cybersecurity, as detectives, in online and technological policing and more. In frameworks suitable to an observant lifestyle. Haredim, come and join the police force,” writes Ben Gvir on X.

He links to an Israel Hayom article that says the police force currently has 423 Haredim in its ranks, 65 of them women. The new plan seeks to boost the number to 1,200, the article says, though it leaves out how many will be volunteers.

Volunteer training will focus on ultra-Orthodox who had served in the army and will include a 30 hour-course. To accommodate many Haredim’s requirements for segregation between the sexes, Haredi police officers would serve in new sex-segregated workplaces, the article says.

US Treasury chief warns against cutting off Palestinian banks after Smotrich threat

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she is concerned by a threat from Israel to cut off Palestinian banks from their Israeli correspondent banks, a move that would close a critical lifeline for the Palestinian economy.

Yellen says in prepared remarks ahead of a G7 finance ministers meeting in Italy that the US and its partners “need to do everything possible to increase humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, to curtail violence in the West Bank, and to stabilize the West Bank’s economy.”

Finance Minister Belazel Smotrich has indicated that Israel may not renew a waiver that expires on July 1 that allows Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services, and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority.

Yellen says keeping the Israeli-Palestinian banking relationships open is important to allowing battered economies in the West Bank and Gaza to function and help ensure security.

“These banking channels are critical for processing transactions that enable almost $8 billion a year in imports from Israel, including electricity, water, fuel, and food, as well as facilitating almost $2 billion a year in exports on which Palestinian livelihoods depend,” Yellen says.

She adds that Israel’s withholding of revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian authority also threatens the West Bank’s economic stability.

“My team and I have also engaged directly with the Israeli government to urge action that would bolster the Palestinian economy and, I believe, Israel’s own security,” Yellen says.

Minister says AP equipment returned after Defense Ministry refused to back move

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi seen before the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi says seized equipment was returned to the Associated Press earlier this week because the Defense Ministry “got cold feet” about the move.

Speaking to Radio 103, Karhi does little to hide his disdain for Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a fellow Likud member, alleging that “sometimes his leftism slips out.”

Karhi says after his office confiscated AP equipment in Sderot used to provide a live feed of Gaza, which the banned al Jazeera had used, he took the matter to the Defense Ministry to validate the move.

“We went to the Defense Ministry and he said ‘I need to look into it,'” Karhi says, presumably referring to Gallant.

AP video equipment is laid on the floor of an apartment building in Sderot, southern Israel, shortly before it was seized by Israeli officials, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Josphat Kasire)

He appears to criticize the ministry for equivocating.

“It’s serious insofar as it endangers our troops… I saw the security assessments on which the legal opinion underpinning the decision to close Al Jazeera was based,” he says. “The Defense Ministry got cold feet.”

His ministry decided to return the seized equipment “after we understood the Defense Ministry was not prepared to say [the AP feed] was dangerous,” he adds. He notes he does not have the standing to challenge the ministry on the matter, distancing himself from the about-face.

“If they decide it’s dangerous, I’ll confiscate it,” he says.

In a statement carried by the Walla news site, the Defense Ministry says it had nothing to do with the decision to seize or return the AP equipment.

Drone alerts sound again in Kiryat Shmona, Metula after false alarms

Drone sirens are sounding again in cities and towns in the Galilee panhandle, including Kiryat Shmona and Metula.

The warnings follow two previous alerts in the same areas that turned out to be false alarms.

IDF says around 30 projectiles fired from Lebanon, Hezbollah claims attack

The Israeli military says some 30 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at northern towns where sirens had sounded, but did not cause any injuries.

According to the IDF, some of the projectiles were intercepted and others landed in open areas.

The Hezbollah terror group takes responsibility for the attack, saying it fired Katyusha rockets at a military base in northern Israel near Safed.

The IDF says air force jets attacked the launchers used to carry out the attack “quickly closing the circle.”

Drone alerts that went off in Kiryat Shmona and other nearby areas were a false alarm, the army adds, the second such scare this morning.

Footage appears to show multiple interceptions in north

Videos from northern Israel being posted online appear to show several rocket interceptions near the city of Safed and other areas.

יירוטים מעל איילת השחר pic.twitter.com/cWbzafpzwm

— קול הצפון (@AviNimni4) May 23, 2024

בצפת מה שהולך פה… עשרות יירוטים pic.twitter.com/Ys2Ku3AsnP

— אבריימקה אייזנשטיין | avreimke Eisenshtein (@avreimkeinfi) May 23, 2024

Area residents also report hearing loud booms.

The Upper Galilee Regional Council says in a message that no rockets impacted in Ayelet Hashahar after sirens sounded in the kibbutz, which is deeper inside Israel than attacks normally take place.

There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military and no claim of responsibility.

Rocket alarms buzz in several northern towns

Rocket alarms are sounding in several towns in the Galilee, stretching from Yaron and Avivim near the Lebanon border to Ayelet Hashachar, which sits over 10 kilometers (six miles) away from the frontier.

Alarms also go off in several towns in between, including Sde Eliezer, Alma, and Ruheinah, the IDF’s Homefront Command says.

צבע אדום (23/05/2024 11:50-11:51): איילת השחר, עלמה, ריחאנייה, אביבים, יראון, שדה אליעזר pic.twitter.com/4vNDY1rgke

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) May 23, 2024

World Court to issue ruling on latest South Africa Gaza claim Friday

The International Court of Justice says it will rule Friday afternoon on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s Rafah offensive in Gaza.

The court says it will issue the ruling at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. in Israel)

In hearings last week, South Africa had asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to order a halt to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, and in Rafah in particular, to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.

The demand for such an emergency measure is part of a larger case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.

Israel has denounced South Africa’s claim that it is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, saying it makes a mockery of the crime of genocide. The court has previously rejected Israel’s demand to throw out the case and has ordered it to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians.

Drone alarms ring in Kiryat Shmona, surrounding areas

Drone alerts are sounding in towns throughout the Galilee panhandle, including Kiryat Shmona and Metula, the IDF’s Home Front Command says.

Army says missiles, launchers found at Rafah graveyard

Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout image published May 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Troops of the Givati Brigade operating in the eastern part of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip located missiles and rocket launchers belonging to Hamas at a graveyard, the military says.

The Israel Defense Forces says that Givati soldiers also located a number of “significant underground” sites used by terror operatives. It does not provide further details on the tunnels.

An aerial photo graphic released by the IDF on May 23, 2024, showing a Rafah graveyard where it says missiles and rocket launchers belonging to Hamas were found (in white) and nearby areas where Hamas gunmen were killed and weapons found (in red). (Israel Defense Forces)

In the same area this week, the IDF says the Givati troops killed several gunmen who emerged from a tunnel shaft and opened fire. A short while later, another four operatives came out of a nearby building, before the soldiers directed a drone strike against them and the structure, the army says.

Hezbollah says member killed by Israel after reported drone strike

The Hezbollah terror group says a member was killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.

He is named as Muhammad Nasser, from Nabatieh.

The announcement comes after reports of a deadly IDF drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon’s Kfar Dajjal, near Nabatieh.

بمزيد من الفخر والإعتزاز، تزف المقاومة الإسلامية الشهيد المجاهد محمد علي ناصر فران "ناصر" مواليد عام ١٩٨٩ من مدينة النبطية في جنوب لبنان، والذي ارتقى شهيداً على طريق القدس. pic.twitter.com/r39LY0cJrd

— الثانية (@AlthanytA) May 23, 2024

Nasser’s death bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to 312.

The IDF has not commented on the strike.

Troops push further into Rafah, kill terror operatives in airstrikes across Gaza — IDF

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip in an undated picture published on May 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli troops in Rafah killed several Palestinian gunmen in close-quarters combat and airstrikes across Gaza took out a number of terror group operatives, including one who was among the approximately 3,000 to storm into southern Israel on October 7, the Israeli military says.

The Israel Defense Forces says soldiers are advancing through Rafah’s Brazil and Shaboura neighborhoods in the southern Gaza Strip, following “information on terror targets in the area.”

Operations in the southern Gaza city are being carried out in an “precise manner… while preventing harm to the civilian population as much as possible, after the civilians have evacuated the area,” the IDF says in a statement.

In the past day, troops located rocket launchers, and several tunnel shafts in the area, the army says.

An airstrike was carried out against a cell of three mortar-launching operatives in the Rafah area, killing them, it adds.

Airstrikes on buildings used by Hamas in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya killed several terror operatives and destroyed weapons depots, the IDF says.

Troops operating in Jabaliya also found a large number of weapons, the military adds.

The IDF says several airstrikes were also carried out in the central Gaza area over the past day, including one that killed the head of a terror cell in a hideout apartment and another that killed two terror operatives who had opened fire at troops in the area.

A separate strike in central Gaza killed a terrorist who infiltrated into Israel on October 7, the army says.

Forces are continuing to hold the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza and operating in the area.

Ship sailing past Yemen reports missile attack, no injuries

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency says it has received a report of an incident 98 nautical miles south of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah.

UKMTO WARNING INCIDENT 073https://t.co/6mNrG6WD8m#MaritimeSecurity #marSec pic.twitter.com/xuCnKhY4DT

— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) May 23, 2024

Separately, British security firm Ambrey says it received a report that a merchant vessel was suspiciously approached 68 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah and had undergone what it described as “missile attack.”

“No injuries or damages were reported,” Ambrey says.

Iranian president’s casket paraded through hometown before burial

Thousands of black-clad mourners have gathered along a main boulevard in the Iranian city of Birjand to pay final respects to late president Ebrahim Raisi, who grew up in the South Khorasan town near the Afghan border.

Raisi’s casket is carried down the street on a semi-truck as mourners reach out to touch it and toss scarves and other items to be placed against it for a blessing.

A sign on the truck reads: “This is the shrine.”

Massive crowds of mourners throng Birjand streets to take part in late Pres. Raeisi's funeral procession pic.twitter.com/mgYUvzY8Jg

— Press TV ???? (@PressTV) May 23, 2024

The procession comes before Raisi is due to be buried later today at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, some 370 kilometers (230 miles) north, where Shiite Islam’s 8th imam is buried.

Raisi will be the first top politician in the country to be buried at the shrine, which represents a major honor for the cleric.

Raisi was killed Sunday when his helicopter went down in bad weather. Also killed was Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six others.

Palestinians say Israeli troops withdrawing from Jenin after two-day raid

Israeli forces have pulled out of Jenin after a raid lasting over 40 hours in the northern West Bank city, according to Palestinian media reports.

Palestinians say 12 people were killed during the operation in the city and adjacent refugee camp, which began on Tuesday.

There is no confirmation from the Israeli military of a withdrawal from Jenin.

Lebanese reports say one dead in Israeli drone strike on vehicle in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports say at least one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the town of Kfar Dajjal, just south of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

The reports say that several students on a school bus that was passing by were slightly injured by the strike.

Meanwhile, sirens that sounded a short while ago in the northern border community of Metula were a false alarm, the military says.

استشهاد شخص كان داخل السيارة المستهدفة في كفردجال وإصابة عدد من الطلاب الذين صودف مرورهم بباص المدرسة لحظة وقوع الغارة. pic.twitter.com/LNjBrbVUzk

— جريدة الأخبار – Al-Akhbar (@AlakhbarNews) May 23, 2024

IDF conducting raid in north Gaza’s Beit Hanoun to root out remaining terrorists

The Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion and other forces under the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade began a new pinpoint raid in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun in recent days, the military says.

Three soldiers were killed yesterday in two separate incidents in the area.

The IDF has carried out several operations in Beit Hanoun since it was first captured in the initial ground offensive last year.

In the ongoing raid, the military says troops are working to kill remaining gunmen and locate tunnels among other infrastructure used by terror groups.

The Air Force has struck numerous targets in Beit Hanoun in recent days, including anti-tank launch positions, sniper positions, and other buildings used by Hamas.

The military releases footage showing the identification of a gunman opening fire at troops from a building. It says tanks shelled the building and a drone also carried out a strike, killing the gunman. Moments later, another operative began opening fire from the same location, and a short while later a fighter jet took out the building, the IDF says.

גדוד ׳נצח יהודה׳, בפיקוד החטיבה הצפונית החלו בימים האחרונים בפשיטה ממוקדת במרחב בית חאנון לחיסול מחבלים, איתור והשמדת תשתיות טרור וכן תשתיות תת קרקע.

במהלך הפעילות במרחב אתמול, נפלו שלושה לוחמי צה"ל ששמותיהם הותרו לפרסום, צה"ל משתתף בצער המשפחות וימשיך ללוותן>> pic.twitter.com/9i8PW63Lla

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2024

US shoots down four drones in Houthi-controlled Yemen

The United States says it shot down four drones launched in an area of Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Wednesday afternoon.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) says the “uncrewed aerial systems” posed an immediate threat to its forces and merchant ships in the area.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking shipping in the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

May 22 U.S. Central Command Update

At approximately 3:16 p.m. (Sanaa time) on May 22, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully engaged four uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in an Iranian-backed Houthi controlled area of Yemen.  

It was determined these systems… pic.twitter.com/VNNveImpFn

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 22, 2024

Reuters contributed to this report.

Report claims Egypt in contact with Israel, Hamas to restart hostage talks

Arabic newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed reports that Egyptian mediators are testing the waters to see if they can restart indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on reaching a hostage deal.

The report in the London-based pro-Qatari daily cites an Egyptian source close to Cairo saying that contacts are being made with “all active parties.”

The report comes hours after Israel’s war cabinet okayed negotiators to continue talks aimed at reaching a deal, despite a lack of progress in recent weeks and friction between Israel and Egypt.

According to the Egyptian source, an Israeli working delegation has visited Cairo on a weekly basis to discuss security coordination and attempt to get past an impasse over Israel’s control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has led to increasingly vocal mutual recriminations.

The source said discussions had lately also centered around the role of Egyptian mediation.

Egypt threatened to pull out of its mediator role in a statement on Wednesday, alluding to anger over claims by the US and Israel that Cairo had secretly changed the terms of a potential deal Jerusalem had agreed to, scuttling the chances for a deal.

The source claims to al-Jadeed al-Araby that leaks to the media regarding Egypt’s reported subterfuge aided attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to “evade responsibility” for the fact that the sides have been unable to reach an agreement.

Palestinian man dies of wounds in Jenin clashes, bringing death toll to 12 — PA

A Palestinian man shot during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank Wednesday night has died of his wounds, official Palestinian Authority news outlet Wafa reports, citing a local hospital director.

The death of Mustafa Ibrahim Musa Jabareen, 30, brings the toll in two days of fighting in the northern West Bank city to 12 Palestinians, according to Wafa.

عاجل | مصادر طبية: استشهاد الشاب مصطفى إبراهيم جبارين (30 عاماً) من مخيم جنين متأثراً بجراحه التي أصيب بها مساء أمس pic.twitter.com/SJkbZQf66o

— قناة فلسطين اليوم (@Paltodaytv) May 23, 2024

The Israeli military said Wednesday afternoon that its raid in Jenin was ongoing, noting that “forces exchanged fire with gunmen and killed several terrorists, including two terrorists who threw explosives at troops.”

The raid began Tuesday morning.

According to Wafa, the dead include four minors, a teacher and a doctor.

War cabinet said to unanimously approve new guidelines for hostage negotiators

The war cabinet unanimously approved new guidelines for Israeli negotiators in an effort to revive the talks on a hostage-for-truce deal with Hamas, the Walla new site reports, after the high-level forum convened last night.

The report doesn’t give any details on these guidelines, while a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said only that the war cabinet ordered the negotiating team “to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages.”

The meeting was held after the families of hostages released harrowing footage showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, with some of the parents saying their goal in releasing the video is to wake up the country, and especially the leadership, to work more urgently to secure their release.

Pentagon chief tells Gallant that Israel, US have ‘shared interest in enduring defeat of Hamas’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin shake hands while delivering joint statements at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 13, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in a call on Wednesday of the need for an “effective mechanism” to coordinate humanitarian and military operations in Gaza, the Pentagon says.

The American readout says Austin stressed the Biden administration’s “ironclad support for Israel” and “reiterated strong US objections to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s outrageous application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.”

Austin also called for Israel to work to increase the amount of aid entering Gaza and together with Gallant “acknowledged a shared interest in the enduring defeat of Hamas and the urgent release of all hostages.”

“They discussed how best to defeat Hamas’ Rafah remnants while minimizing civilian harm,” the statement adds.

War cabinet orders Israeli negotiators to continue hostage talks — PM’s office

File - The Israeli war cabinet and top security officials meet in Tel Aviv on April 14, hours after Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)

A meeting of the war cabinet has ended, with a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying the high-level forum ordered the Israeli negotiating team “to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages.”

Colombian president orders opening of embassy in Ramallah after cutting ties with Israel

Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks during a popular assembly in Cali, Colombia, on May 10, 2024. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP)

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the South American country’s Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo tells journalists.

At the beginning of this month, Petro, who has heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice, said he would cut diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza amid the war against Hamas.

“President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” Murillo says.

Ramallah serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah-dominated rival of Gaza-ruling Hamas.

For first time, UN says it distributed aid that arrived to Gaza via US pier

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before entering the beach in Gaza, May 17, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/US Army Central via AP)

WASHINGTON — The UN World Food Program says that it has handed out in Gaza in recent days a “limited number” of high-energy biscuits that arrived from a US-built pier, the first aid from the new humanitarian sea route to get into the hands of Palestinians in grave need.

The small number of biscuits came in the first shipments unloaded from the pier Friday, WFP spokesman Steve Taravella says. The US Agency for International Development tells The Associated Press that a total of 41 trucks loaded with aid from the more than $320 million pier have reached humanitarian organizations in Gaza.

“Aid is flowing” from the pier, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday in response to questions about the troubled launch of aid deliveries from the maritime project. “It is not flowing at a rate that any of us are happy with.”

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Tuesday that he did not believe any of the aid from the pier had yet reached people in Gaza. Sullivan said a day later that some aid had been delivered “specifically to the Palestinians who need it.”