May 23: Israel says 83 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Friday

Poll: Golan gained more voters than he lost after ‘killing Gazan babies’ comments

The Democrats chair Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on May 19, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

The Democrats chief Yair Golan has gained slightly more potential voters than he has lost following his comments this week that the Israeli government is killing babies in Gaza as a “hobby,” according to a new poll aired this evening on Channel 12.

Just five percent of Israelis said they were planning to vote for Golan and have changed their minds due to his comments.

Seven percent of respondents said that they weren’t planning on voting for his left-wing party and now will do so as a result of his comments.

Eight percent said they planned to vote for his party before and still plan to do so after his comments.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they hadn’t planned to vote for The Democrats and still don’t.

Most Israelis believe PM more interested in staying in power than winning war or freeing hostages — poll

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP)

Most Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more interested in remaining in power than winning the war or freeing hostages, according to a new poll aired this evening on Channel 12.

Asked what Netanyahu believes is his main goal, 55% said staying in power, 36% said returning the hostages, and 9% said they weren’t sure.

When returning the hostages was swapped out for “winning the war,” the responses remained roughly the same.

Asked why there hasn’t been another hostage deal, 53% of respondents said political reasons, while 38% said legitimate reasons, and 9% said they weren’t sure.

Asked whether Netanyahu generally managed to convince them in his press conference this week, 62% of respondents said he did not, 34% said he did, and 4% were unsure.

Asked whether they believed Netanyahu when he said on Thursday that he didn’t know about his top aides work on behalf of Qatar, 58% said they don’t, 30% said they do and 12% said they weren’t sure.

Among coalition voters, 58% said they believe him and 27% said they don’t.

Billy Joel cancels concert dates over brain condition

File: Musician Billy Joel performs during his 100th lifetime performance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, in New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Pop great Billy Joel has canceled a series of global tour dates after being diagnosed with a brain condition that worsened because of recent performances.

“Billy Joel has announced that he will be canceling all scheduled concerts following a recent diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH),” reads a statement on the Piano Man’s website.

The condition arises if cerebrospinal fluid cannot properly flow throughout the brain and spinal cord, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The excess fluid and pressure can cause brain damage.

The institution says on its website that NPH is rare but can cause cognitive impairment, including memory problems, as well as trouble walking.

Joel’s statement says, “This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance.”

Prompt treatment can alleviate the condition if diagnosed early.

Joel’s scrapped dates include several in Britain, as well as a packed schedule crisscrossing the United States from July 2025 up until July 2026 when he was due to round off his ambitious string of dates in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The “We Didn’t Start the Fire” legend, 76, wrote, “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding.”

IDF reservist who refused to show up for duty due to opposition to Gaza war jailed for 20 days

An IDF reservist who refused to show up for reserve duty over the fighting in the Gaza Strip has been jailed for 20 days.

Cpt. (res.) Ron Finer, who serves as a platoon commander in the 228th “Alon” Brigade’s 8207th Battalion, is a member of the Soldiers for Hostages group of reservists who have stated their opposition to the fighting in Gaza and their refusal to continue to serve.

“I was sentenced by my battalion commander to 20 days in prison. As a combat officer who has served 270 days in reserves since October 7, I was in reserve service for many months while constantly risking my life and giving up my civilian life. I am surprised by this unprecedented and disproportionate punishment,” he is cited by Ynet news as saying.

The IDF says that “the reserve officer refused to show up for duty for political reasons, which has no place in the army. Therefore, he was sentenced and punished.”

“The IDF views the refusal to show up for reserve duty with severity, and each case is handled individually by commanders,” the military adds.

The Alon Brigade is subordinate to the 146th Division, which is stationed in northern Israel. The brigade is not expected to be deployed to Gaza amid the ongoing offensive against Hamas.

סרן (במיל') רון פיינר, חבר גרעין שלי בתנועת החלוץ, הבן אדם הכי מסור ומורעל שאני מכיר, שיקריב את עצמו תמיד לכל משימה, פיינר שלפני חצי שנה חטף כדור בקסדה בזמן שפינה פצועים תחת אש בלבנון – נשלח ממש עכשיו ל-20 יום מחבוש. pic.twitter.com/Cc1QagFRSv

— Ben Hoshen (@Benhoshen) May 22, 2025

Former Israeli Air Force chief Nimrod Sheffer joins Golan’s Democrats party

Brig. Gen Nimrod Sheffer, chief of the Israel Defense Forces Planning Directorate, speaks at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference, held at David Citadel hotel in Jerusalem on December 11, 2014. (Miriam Alster /Flash90)

Former Israeli Air Force Chief Nimrod Sheffer announced yesterday that he has decided to join Yair Golan’s left-wing The Democrats party.

“I am joining The Democrats today because it is a party with a backbone and public courage. The party that is leading the most determined struggle against the government and offers a path and real hope for Israel,” Sheffer said in a video announcement.

“Yesterday I heard the prime minister — a corrupt, failed man, who brought upon Israel the worst disaster in its history — declare that he does not accept the High Court of Justice ruling,” he said, referring to the decision that found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to have been “unlawful” and that barred the premier from involvement in selecting Bar’s successor.

In a dramatic denouement of a bitter fight between the government and the judiciary, the High Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that the cabinet’s decision to fire Bar was made “improperly,” “unlawfully,” and while Netanyahu had a conflict of interest due to the ongoing Shin Bet investigations into his close aides.

יאיר, אני איתך. pic.twitter.com/Wk3oUf7XUv

— Nimrod Sheffer – נמרוד שפר (@NimrodSheffer) May 22, 2025

“I heard how the man who built Hamas and is unable to defeat it, incites against an IDF general who demonstrated courage in battle and continues to demonstrate a Zionist and moral backbone in politics. I understood that we must turn the protest into a political struggle,” Sheffer said, referring to Netanyahu’s criticism of Golan, who said Israel’s government was killing babies in Gaza “as a hobby.”

In addition to heading the air force, Sheffer held senior positions in the IDF’s General Staff and was CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries.

Earlier this week, Sheffer posted another video defending Golan, characterizing as “brave and worthy of this moment” the interview The Democrats chief gave to the Kan public broadcaster during which he said, “Israel is on the way to becoming a pariah state, like South Africa was, if we don’t return to acting like a sane country… A sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.”

“The IDF is killing a lot of people in this war. When there is a larger goal and it is required, then it is part of the price of war, as hard and sad as that is,” Sheffer said.

“But when a black flag flies above this war and it doesn’t have aims that are possible to achieve, the price of the deaths of just so many innocent civilians — among them thousands of children — is simply an unacceptable one that we must not be willing to pay,” he added, while noting that Golan shouldn’t have used the word “hobby” and was sure he hadn’t meant to.

אני תומך ביאיר גולן. דגל שחור מתנוסס מעל המלחמה הזאת. pic.twitter.com/DaDERkvBNu

— Nimrod Sheffer – נמרוד שפר (@NimrodSheffer) May 20, 2025

Trump signs orders to boost US nuclear energy

US President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders to boost nuclear energy in the United States, including by rolling back regulatory processes on a still divisive technology.

“We’re signing tremendous executive orders today that really will make us the real power in this industry,” Trump tells reporters as he penned the four orders in the Oval Office.

Israel says 83 trucks of aid entered Gaza on Friday

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces that 83 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip today.

Israel resumed daily aid deliveries to Gaza on Monday, after a pause since March 2.

COGAT says the aid delivery comes “following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon.”

Today’s trucks include flour, food, pharmaceutical drugs, and medical equipment, COGAT says.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Aid groups have faced significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting, and coordination issues with Israeli authorities, UN officials say.

Moldova extradites ‘Commander Butcher’ neo-Nazi to US for planning mass killings of New York Jews

A neo-Nazi known as “Commander Butcher” is extradited from Moldova to the US for planning mass casualty attacks against Jewish New Yorkers.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old Georgian national, was arrested in July 2024 and charged with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence. Chkhikvishvili is a leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international, violent extremist group, the US Department of Justice says.

Chkhikvishvili promotes neo-Nazi white supremacist ideology and instructed others to commit violence for ethnic cleansing, including an undercover FBI agent, leading to his arrest.

Chkhikvishvili instructed the agent to use arson, explosives, poison and beatings against “low race targets,” including Jews. One of his schemes involved having an assailant dress up as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to racial minorities.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, aka "Butcher" has finally been extradited from Moldova to the US to face charges. Butcher was the de facto leader of the Ukraine-based Satanic terrorist group, Maniac Murder Cult (MKU). He was plotting a terror attack involving handing out poisoned candy… https://t.co/aKSH9kHFx1 pic.twitter.com/24u9oZ2MLc

— Bx (@bx_on_x) May 23, 2025

Earlier this year, Chkhikvishvili told the undercover agent to poison Jewish schools and Jewish children in Brooklyn. He sent the agent step-by-step instructions about creating poisons and gases.

In 2024, a man wearing Nazi symbols stabbed five people at a mosque in Turkey, after issuing a manifesto that referenced Chkhikvishvili.

Chkhikvishvili will be indicted in a federal court in New York today.

Senior US official: Progress made in 5th round of Iran talks, but still work to be done

A senior Trump administration official says that the fifth round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran earlier today in Rome were “constructive.”

“We made further progress, but there is still work to be done,” the official tells reporters in a statement, adding that both sides agreed to meet again “in the near future.”

The US was represented in the talks by special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff and State Department policy planning director Michael Anton.

The talks lasted over two hours, the official says, adding that they once again had direct and indirect components, which were mediated by Oman.

Auschwitz museum warns against fake AI images of victims

The Auschwitz museum warns against Facebook posts with “harmful” AI-generated fictional images of victims of the Nazi German death camp, condemning them for “falsifying history.”

The museum at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp has long used its own social media accounts to publish authentic victim photos, names and information to raise Holocaust awareness.

Now the museum has discovered that at least a couple of Facebook pages were producing similar victim bios but with fictional information or photos.

“People have started to notice that there are pages, including one called ’90’s History,’ where there are short bios of the victims as well as photos that were clearly made by artificial intelligence,” says museum deputy spokesman Pawel Sawicki.

“Producing artificial images of real people, or what is even more troubling, producing false identities of victims, is certainly troubling and also very harmful for the memory of those who died at Auschwitz,” he tells AFP.

Such posts were harmful because “producing artificial information, last names, is falsifying history,” says Sawicki.

This sort of disinformation could even lead to Holocaust denial, he adds.

“There is, of course, a danger that if we have these fake people, then perhaps someone could claim that the whole thing is made up,” says Sawicki.

He says the museum was in touch with US tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook, in the hopes that it could look into the matter.

12 injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station

Emergency services work at the scene where several people were stabbed, at the main train station in Hamburg, Germany, May 23, 2025. (René Schröder / NEWS5 / AFP)

A knife attack at the main station in the German city of Hamburg left at least 12 people injured, with some of them in a life-threatening condition, local emergency services say.

“According to initial information, a person injured several people with a knife at the main train station,” Hamburg police says in a post on X. “The suspect was apprehended by the responding forces.”

A spokesman for the Hamburg fire department tells AFP that 12 people had been injured in the attack.

Among them were “six people with life-threatening injuries”, the spokesman says.

Some of the victims were being treated on trains, according to the German daily Bild.

Germany has been rocked by a series of violent attacks in recent months.

On Sunday, four people were injured in a stabbing at a bar in the city of Bielefeld.

The investigation into the attack had been handed over to federal prosecutors after the suspect in the attack told the police officers who arrested him that he had jihadist beliefs.

French FM accuses Netanyahu of slander after PM called out leaders of France, UK, Canada in connection to DC shooting

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of slander after the Israeli premier claimed that the leaders of France, the UK, and Canada are “on the wrong side of history,” for issuing a joint statement calling on Israel to end its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, let aid into the Strip, and allow a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

“Everyone knows that France is unwaveringly committed to Israel’s security and has already demonstrated this through its actions,” Barrot tweets.

“By mobilizing its military resources when Israel was targeted by Iranian ballistic missile attacks. By firmly opposing Iran’s access to nuclear weapons,” he says.

“France is determined to combat antisemitism wherever it exists. It is determined to ensure that Hamas, a terrorist movement, is disarmed and permanently excluded from the political future in Gaza.”

“Accusing anyone who advocates the two-state solution of encouraging anti-Semitism or Hamas is absurd and slanderous,” Barrot adds.

Netanyahu had called out the French, British and Canadian leaders again after a far-left extremist shot dead two Israeli embassy staffers outside of an American Jewish Committee event in Washington.

The prime minister said the global movement calling to “Free Palestine” — which is what the alleged shooter shouted during his arrest — “doesn’t want a Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state [and] annihilate the Jewish people.”

“I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others,” the prime minister charged. The three leaders “are now proposing to establish a Palestinian state and reward these murderers with the ultimate prize.”

He then said the French, British, and Canadian leaders “have bought into Hamas propaganda that says Israel is starving Palestinian children,” an apparent reference to the leaders’ call for Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

Report: PM’s only conversation with Zini about Shin Bet post was during brief car chat 2 weeks ago

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini at the Tzeelim training base in southern Israel, May 8, 2025. (GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only held one brief conversation with IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini before appointing him to be the next Shin Bet chief yesterday, Channel 12 reports.

The conversation came on May 8 during a visit Netanyahu made to the Tzeelim military base where an IDF exercise was taking place.

At the end of the drill, Netanyahu pulled Zini aside for a brief walk during which they discussed the issue of Haredi enlistment, since Zini is one of the IDF’s point people on the issue.

Netanyahu then told Zini to come inside his car. After five more minutes of chatting, Bibi asked Zini how he’d feel about being appointed Shin Bet chief.

Zini responded that he’d prefer remaining a major general in the army but that if Netanyahu was going to insist, he’d agree to head the Shin Bet.

That night, Zini updated the IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s aide that he had a conversation with Netanyahu, without elaborating on what was said.

Three days later, Zini called Zamir and noted that Netanyahu during their conversation had thrown out the idea of him serving as Shin Bet chief, but Zini didn’t lead Zamir to think that it was a serious offer.

Still, Zamir criticized Zini for speaking with the political echelon without authorization, as is required.

Almost two weeks passed, and Zamir received a call from Netanyahu yesterday evening during which the premier informed him that he had decided to appoint Zini as the next Shin Bet chief.

Zamir expressed his concern about Zini’s qualifications, given that he doesn’t come from the Shin Bet or intelligence world, and also about how the appointment was made, Channel 12 reports.

Zamir then called Zini and raised those concerns directly as well. The two agreed to meet this morning, during which Zamir told Zini he wouldn’t be able to remain in the IDF as long as the appointment stands, while leaving open the door to a return if it doesn’t move forward.

Zini is slated to replace current Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar next month, unless the High Court of Justice intervenes.

Channel 12 notes that Zini told Zamir that he didn’t have any other conversations with Netanyahu about being appointed Shin Bet chief other than the brief one in the premier’s car.

Netanyahu’s Shin Bet chief appointee said to have told colleagues he’s against hostage deals

Maj. Gen. David Zini visits families of fallen Israeli soldiers during Memorial Day at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on April 30, 2025 (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini, who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed yesterday to become the next Shin Bet chief reportedly told colleagues during a recent military consultation that he is principally against hostage deals with Hamas.

“I’m against hostage deals. This is an eternal war,” Channel 12 quotes him as having said.

Haaretz reported that Netanyahu decided against promoting Zini last year to become his military secretary, telling confidants he thought Zini was “too messianic.”

Zini is a member of the national religious community.

Judge temporarily halts Trump block on foreign students at Harvard

A judge has temporarily suspended the Trump administration’s move to block Harvard from enrolling and hosting foreign students after the prestigious university sued, calling the action unconstitutional.

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.

But Harvard sued, and a Massachusetts district judge, Allison Burroughs, ordered that “The Trump administration is hereby enjoined from implementing… the revocation of Plaintiff’s SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification.”

There will be an injunction hearing on May 29, a court filing shows.

US President Donald Trump is furious at Harvard — which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners — for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of antisemitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

His administration has already threatened to put $9 billion of government funding to Harvard under review, gone on to freeze a first tranche of $2.2 billion of grants and $60 million of official contracts, as well as targeted a Harvard Medical School researcher for deportation.

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” says the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.

The lawsuit calls for a judge to “stop the government’s arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional action.”

The loss of foreign nationals — more than a quarter of its student body — could prove costly to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.

Witkoff met Dermer and Barnea before 5th round of Iran nuclear talks in Rome — report

US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea this morning in Rome shortly before the start of the fifth round of nuclear talks with Iran, Hebrew media reports.

Eisenkot urges Zini to tell PM he won’t accept Shin Bet chief appointment

National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot attends a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on March 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Unity MK and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot calls on Maj. Gen. David Zini to turn down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointment for him to serve as the next Shin Bet chief.

In an open letter to Zini, Eisenkot says he was put in a similar situation in 2011 when Netanyahu offered him to become the next IDF chief. Eisenkot turned the premier down because he wasn’t a deputy chief of staff at the time and that he wanted to wait until he was more senior. Eisenkot was appointed to the position in 2015.

Eisenkot goes on to sharply criticize Netanyahu’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, saying that he has undermined the war aim of returning the hostages and undermining the achievements made on the battlefield at a very heavy price “by waging a continuous, unfocused war, with outdated goals.”

“Zini, I commanded you for most of your military service. I appreciate your operational capabilities and your courage,” Eisenkot writes. “I know that you have the wisdom to choose the right thing to do,” Eisenkot adds.

Eisenkot calls on Zini do what’s right “for the State of Israel, even at a personal cost” and suggests that he “inform the prime minister that the right thing to do at this time is to wait for the attorney general’s interpretation of the High Court ruling and then allow the selection of a more experienced candidate for wartime.”

According to Eisenkot, the appointment of the head of the Shin Bet should be done “in a manner that creates broad national consensus,” especially during this period of war, one of the “longest and most difficult in Israel’s history.”

Directly defying an order from the attorney general, Netanyahu announced on Thursday evening that he was appointing Zini as the next Shin Bet chief.

The announcement came a day after the High Court of Justice issued a ruling that Netanyahu’s firing of outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was made “improperly” and “unlawfully,” and that he had a conflict of interest. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara then informed Netanyahu on Wednesday that he was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief while she worked out the implications of the ruling.

Baharav-Miara responded to the appointment of Zini Thursday evening by lambasting Netanyahu for acting “in contravention of legal instructions.” The attorney general said that there is “heavy concern that he acted while having a conflict of interest, and that the appointments process is flawed.”

Footage shows hundreds of Gazans thronging bakery distributing bread amid slightly eased Israeli blockade

Gazans flood a bakery in Nuseirat refugee camp during a distribution of bread amid a slightly eased Israeli aid blockade on May 23, 2025. (Screen capture/X)

Footage published in Arabic media shows hundreds of Palestinians crowding around a bakery in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp as bread is being distributed for the first time in weeks after Israel began easing an aid blockade over the Strip after 78 days.

The scenes point to the limited food security throughout the Strip, where US President Donald Trump has said people have been starving for weeks amid the Israeli blockade, which has been aimed at squeezing Hamas to release hostages but has come at a steep cost to the civilian population. Yesterday, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority health minister said that 29 children and elderly people have died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more are at risk. Israeli authorities claim that there is not currently a food shortage in Gaza.

Israel has allowed in several hundred trucks of aid this week, and the assistance included flour for bakeries that have allowed some of them to begin operating again.

The World Food Program, which operates some of those bakeries, confirmed earlier this week that some of their sites in central and southern Gaza have reopened.

توزيع الخبز في غزة pic.twitter.com/OpuB4HOTu0

— 🇵🇸🇵🇸منير الجاغوب 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@MonirAljaghoub) May 23, 2025

US tightens security after murder of Israeli embassy staff

Police have beefed up security at schools and religious buildings across Washington, as the US Capitol reeled from the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum.

The 31-year-old Chicago man accused of Wednesday’s attack shouted “Free Palestine” as he was taken away by police — exacerbating fears over rising antisemitism since Israel’s invasion of Gaza following the unprecedented Hamas attack.

“Around DC, you will see an increased presence of law enforcement officers around the community, you will find us around our faith-based organizations,” Metropolitan Police (MPD) Chief Pamela A. Smith tells reporters.

“You will see an increased presence around our schools and places like the DC Jewish Community Center. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish community.”

Authorities in Washington say they are investigating the shooting “as an act of terrorism and as a hate crime” ahead of a preliminary court hearing set for the alleged killer, Elias Rodriguez, on June 18.

The victims of Wednesday’s attack, Israeli citizen Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, a US employee of the embassy, had been planning to marry.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser gathered her interfaith council, local Jewish leaders, city councillors, and law enforcement officials on Thursday to coordinate the community response.

“We have a long history, and a lot of practice in our city, of working with Jewish organizations around safety and around protection,” she tells a news conference.

“And we watch global events, national events and local events, and our organizations work directly with MPD, and MPD responds with additional resources.”

IDF says it has completed multi-front war simulation exercise

The IDF completed a multi-front war simulation exercise this week, the military says.

The IDF says it practiced the “continuous functioning of the military” and actions to defend “critical components” during military activity.

“The exercise was intended to make coordination between the various arms and bodies in an emergency more accurate, with the aim of improving the rate and quality of rapid responses to the various scenarios during sudden events,” a statement says.

The drill was held at the General Staff level, the top command of the IDF.

Omani mediator: ‘Some, but not conclusive progress’ made during 5th round of Iran nuclear talks

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi says “some but not conclusive progress” was made during the fifth round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran in Rome today.

“We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement,” says al-Busaidi, who has been mediating between the two countries.

IDF says it struck 15 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon last night

The IDF says it struck 15 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon last night, including in the south of the country and the eastern Beqaa Valley.

Ahead of one of the strikes, in the village of Toul, the military issued an evacuation warning.

It issues footage of the strikes.

אמש, צה"ל תקף באמצעות כלי טיס 15 מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/xxkrwbJ5jq

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2025

Fifth round of Iran nuclear talks said to wrap up in Rome after three hours

The fifth round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran has concluded in Rome after three hours, Axios reports.

Swiss NGO asks authorities to investigate Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

A Swiss-based NGO has asked authorities to investigate the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US and Israeli-backed organization that plans to oversee a new model of aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave that the UN opposes.

The United Nations has said the GHF’s aid plan is not impartial or neutral, and forces further displacement and exposes thousands of people to harm, and that it will not be involved.

The GHF, which has said it hopes to start work in Gaza by the end of May, told Reuters it “strictly adheres” to humanitarian principles, and that it would not support any form of forced relocation of civilians.

Israel has allowed limited aid deliveries to resume this week after having stopped all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2.

TRIAL International, a Switzerland-based NGO, on Friday said it had filed two legal submissions asking Swiss authorities to investigate GHF, which is registered in Geneva.

A May 20 submission to the Swiss Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations, and one on May 21 to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), requested an investigation into whether the GHF complies with Swiss law and international humanitarian law.

The Swiss FDFA and the Federal Department of Home Affairs were not immediately available for comment.

“We’re asking Switzerland to exercise their own obligation under the Geneva Conventions to respect international humanitarian law…there are very grave issues at stake,” Philip Grant the Executive Director of TRIAL International told Reuters.

TRIAL International said it asked the Swiss FDFA to explain if the GHF had submitted a declaration, in accordance with Swiss law, to use private security companies to distribute aid, and if it had been approved by Swiss authorities.

The GHF told Reuters that though using private security firms represents a change from prior aid delivery frameworks, it would ensure aid is not diverted to Hamas or criminal organizations.

UN chief denounces ‘cruelest phase’ of Gaza conflict

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Friday says, “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict” as Israel ramps up its military offensive.

“For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid,” he says in a statement. “The entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.”

While Israel allowed several hundred trucks into Gaza this week after loosening its blockade, Guterres says, “all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required.”

“The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.”

“Today, 80 percent of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarized zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave.”

“Without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die – and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound,” Guterres tells reporters.

One rocket from Gaza intercepted by Israeli air defenses — IDF

One rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago was intercepted by air defenses, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in the border community of Mefalsim.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

Rocket sirens triggered in Gaza border town of Mefalsim; IDF says it’s investigating

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Gaza border community of Mefalsim.

The IDF says it is investigating.

Ukraine confirms start of large-scale prisoner swap with Russia

Ukraine and Russia have carried out the first stage of a large-scale prisoner exchange agreed in Istanbul last week, swapping 390 people each on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky says.

“The first stage of the ‘1000-for-1000’ exchange agreement has been carried out. Today — 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the exchange to continue,” Zelensky says in a post on X.

We are bringing our people home. The first stage of the “1000-for-1000” exchange agreement has been carried out. This agreement was reached during the meeting in Türkiye, and it is crucial to implement it in full.

Today – 390 people. On Saturday and Sunday, we expect the… pic.twitter.com/OPIXycWcbA

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 23, 2025

IDF says airstrikes last night in Gaza City targeted currency exchange company funding Hamas, PIJ

An Israeli airstrike last night in Gaza City targeted the offices of a currency exchange company, which the IDF says was funding the military wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“Al-Cairo” had changed its name from “Dubai” in 2022, after the company was declared by the defense minister to be “aiding terror organizations due to its involvement in transferring funds to such groups,” the military says.

The IDF says the offices targeted last night were used in recent years to funnel millions of dollars to Hamas and Islamic Jihad for the terror groups’ military activity.

“Throughout the war, the workers of the currency exchange office continued to aid and fund the activity of Hamas terrorists and transferred millions of dollars to operatives of Hamas’s military wing for military activity purposes, thereby enabling the continuation of Hamas’s terror activity,” the IDF says.

In August 2024, the IDF says it killed one of the employees of the company, Tahseen Al-Nadiyya, over his involvement in funding Hamas.

IDF strikes on Hamas tunnel nearly killed Edan Alexander in his last month of captivity — report

Released hostage soldier Staff Sgt. Edan Alexander, center, arrives at an IDF base near Re'im, May 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A series of Israeli airstrikes nearly killed American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander in what was his last month of captivity since he was taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Ynet reveals.

The incident highlights the fears of hostages’ families that Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza are risking the fate of their loved ones, particularly given that several dozen hostages have already been killed since being taken into captivity, including in Israeli airstrikes.

The IDF has insisted that it does not carry out operations that it knows might risk the hostages, while acknowledging that its intelligence on their exact whereabouts isn’t 100 percent certain.

On April 14, Ynet published remarks IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir made to a group of reservists in which he insisted that “the operation in Gaza does not endanger the hostages. Every move was made with the approval of Maj Gen. Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s hostage pointman.”

That very same day, Israeli Air Force bombs were dropped on a Hamas compound that secured the tunnel where Alexander was being held. The force of the blast caused part of the tunnel shaft to collapse. The quick action of one of the Hamas guards to activate the ejection doors to prevent the entry of toxic gases saved the lives of Alexander and other terrorists with him, Ynet says, adding that one of the captors was killed in the incident.

“I thought that was it, I’m dead. I managed to miraculously survive for a year and a half, but now it’s the end. I’m going to suffocate here in the tunnel,” Ynet quotes Alexander having recalled to his father after his release.

At this point, the terrorists tried to lead Alexander to a different tunnel, thought to be more fortified. “We started to run away, and there was some kind of corridor — a very, very long corridor — I don’t know what was there on the other side, probably a connection to another route. We started running in that direction and then, suddenly, another bomb fell right above.”

In the second explosion, part of the collapsed ceiling hit Edan and injured his shoulder — something for which he is still receiving treatment.

“When the second bomb fell, and everything collapsed and we were buried underneath, it was the scariest moment of all time in captivity,” Alexander is quoted as having said, describing the explosions as “earthquakes.”

Amid the darkness, Alexander began to dig his way out using his own hands.

“The injuries to his hands that everyone saw are the result of trying to extricate himself from the scene,” Alexander’s father, Adi, tells Ynet.

“We dug ourselves out of this before everything collapsed on us,” Alexander is quoted as having said.

The story appears to shed light on a statement Hamas issued the next day, claiming to have lost contact with the operatives holding Alexander following an Israeli strike. US President Donald Trump has said several times that Washington thought he had been killed.

Alexander was released on May 12 in what was characterized by Hamas as a goodwill gesture to Trump in the hope that he would coax Israel into subsequently agreeing to a deal to permanently end the war. Things do not appear to be moving in that direction, though, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on only signing onto a temporary ceasefire deal, which Hamas won’t accept.

British Airways extends suspension of Israel flights to end of July

A British Airways flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, September 3, 2014. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

British Airways joins the growing list of companies extending their cancellation of flights to and from Israel following the Houthi missile strike near Ben Gurion Airport at the beginning of the month.

Hebrew media reports that British Airways has extended its suspension until the end of July.

The airline’s website indeed does not allow users to book flights until August.

‘I am done with antisemitism,’ Ye declares morning after Jewish museum shooting

Kanye West attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP)

The morning after a shooter killed two Israeli embassy aides at a Jewish event in Washington, DC, incendiary rapper Ye took to X with an unexpected message: “I am done with antisemitism.”

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has become well known for antisemitic rants and provocations, including a song he debuted earlier this month titled “Heil Hitler.” In February, Ye doubled down on his antisemitic sentiments, declaring in a post on X, “IM NEVER APOLOGIZING FOR MY JEWISH COMMENTS.”

But in a string of posts Thursday morning after the deadly shooting, he appeared to have had a change of heart.

From around 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Ye shared 11 posts with sentiments of repentance, including “God forgive me for the pain I’ve caused” and “GOD CALLS FOR PEACE.” He did not specifically mention the shooting, allegedly carried out by a man who shouted, “Free Palestine,” while being arrested. Ye recently posted pro-Palestinian sentiments as well.

Under Ye’s post disavowing antisemitism, some users decried his earlier antics, connecting them to the Capital Jewish Museum shooting.

“You are complicit in the murder of two people last night who were killed because they were thought to be Jewish,” wrote one user. “You brought hate into this world and lost people believe your sh*t talking.”

At the end of his spree, Ye posted a preview of a new song titled “Alive” with rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again.

It was not the first time that Ye had professed that he had changed his ways. In 2023, he posted on Instagram that Jewish actor Jonah Hill’s 2012 movie “21 Jump Street” made him “like Jewish people again.”

“No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people,” West wrote in an Instagram caption accompanying an image of the movie poster. Less than two years later, he erupted again with an antisemitic spree of posts that led up to the “Heil Hitler” single.

Iran-backed Palestinian faction chiefs leave Syria amid pressure from new regime — sources

Two Palestinian sources tell AFP that the leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions who were close to former Tehran-backed ruler Bashar al-Assad have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities.

The factions, which enjoyed considerable freedom of movement under Assad, have also handed over their weapons, one of the sources said, amid US demands that Syria’s new authorities take steps against Iran-backed Palestinian groups based in the country.

A pro-Iran Palestinian factional leader who left after Assad’s December ouster says on condition of anonymity that “most of the Palestinian factional leadership that received support from Tehran has left Damascus,” while another, still based there, confirmed the development.

“The factions have fully handed over weapons in their headquarters or with their cadres” to the authorities, who also received “lists of names of faction members possessing individual weapons” and demanded that those arms be handed over, the first adds.

A third Palestinian source from a small faction in Damascus confirms the arms handover.

Those who have left include Khaled Jibril, son of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) founder Ahmad Jibril, as well as Palestinian Popular Struggle Front secretary-general Khaled Abdel Majid and Fatah al-Intifada secretary-general Ziad al-Saghir.

Washington, which considers several Palestinian factions to be “terrorist” organizations, last week announced it was lifting sanctions on Syria after earlier saying Damascus needed to respond to demands including suppressing “terrorism” and preventing “Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory.”

According to the White House, during a meeting in Saudi Arabia last week, US President Donald Trump gave the new Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a list of demands that included deporting “Palestinian terrorists.”

The first Palestinian factional leader said the chiefs joined up with groups from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen that are also part of the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.

A number of Iran-backed groups fought alongside Assad’s forces after civil war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Sharaa’s Islamist group led the offensive that ousted Assad, a close ally of Iran, in December.

The factions “did not receive any official request from the authorities to leave Syrian territory” but instead faced restrictions and property confiscations, the first Palestinian factional leader says, noting that some factions “were de facto prohibited from operating” or their members were arrested.

The new authorities have seized property from “private homes, offices, vehicles and military training camps in the Damascus countryside and other provinces,” he says.

Harvard sues Trump over block on foreign students

Harvard has sued the Trump administration over its move to block the prestigious university from enrolling and hosting foreign students in a broadening dispute, a court filing shows.

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” says the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.

Fifth round of nuclear talks between US and Iran kicks off in Rome

Iranian and US negotiators have resumed talks in Rome to resolve a decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iranian media reports, despite Tehran warning that a new deal might not be possible amid mutually exclusive demands.

The stakes are high for both sides. US President Donald Trump wants to curtail Tehran’s potential to produce a nuclear weapon that could trigger a regional nuclear arms race and perhaps threaten Israel. The Islamic Republic, for its part, wants to be rid of devastating sanctions on its oil-based economy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are leading the fifth round of talks, through Omani mediators.

“This round of talks is especially sensitive … we need to see what issues will be raised by the other party … and based on that, we will proceed with our positions,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei tells state TV in Rome.

Both Washington and Tehran have taken a tough stance in public over Iran’s intensifying uranium enrichment program, which could potentially give it scope to build a nuclear warhead, even though Tehran says it has no such ambitions and that the purposes are purely civilian.

Iran insists the talks are indirect, but US officials have said the discussions – including the latest round on May 11 in Oman – have been both “direct and indirect.”

Ahead of talks, Araghchi wrote on X: “Zero nuclear weapons = we Do have a deal. Zero enrichment = we do NOT have a deal. Time to decide.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that Trump believes negotiations with Iran are “moving in the right direction.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington was working to reach an accord that would allow Iran to have a civil nuclear energy program but not enrich uranium, while admitting that this “will not be easy.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on matters of state, rejected demands to stop refining uranium as “excessive and outrageous,” warning that such talks were unlikely to yield results.

Among remaining stumbling blocks is Tehran’s refusal to ship abroad its entire stockpile of highly enriched uranium – possible raw material for nuclear bombs – or engage in discussions over its ballistic missile program, which could carry warheads over long distances.

Iran says it is ready to accept some limits on enrichment, but needs watertight guarantees that Washington would not renege on a future nuclear accord.

Ukrainian official says major prisoner swap with Russia underway

An exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine from their 3-year-old war is underway, a senior Ukrainian official says, in one of the few signs of progress in international efforts to halt the fighting.

The swap has not yet finished, according to the official, who speaks on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.

There is no immediate confirmation from Moscow that the exchange is underway.

Ukraine and Russia agreed to the exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side a week ago in Turkey in their first direct peace talks since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of its neighbor. That meeting lasted only two hours and brought no breakthrough in international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

The Ukrainian comment comes after US President Donald Trump said earlier today that Russia and Ukraine had carried out a large exchange of prisoners.

“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said on the Truth Social platform. He said it would “go into effect shortly,” although it was not clear what that meant.

“This could lead to something big???” Trump added in his post, apparently referring to international diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

White House and National Security Council officials do not immediately respond to requests for further details.

Lebanese government source says state will begin disarming Palestinian refugee camps in June

A Hamas operative, center, holds his weapon, as two boys stand next to him with their toy machine guns, during the funeral procession of a Hamas leader Samer al-Haj who was killed on Friday by an Israeli drone strike, at Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in the southern port city of Sidon, August 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

The disarmament of Palestinian camps in Lebanon will begin next month based on an accord with visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a Lebanese government official tells AFP.

The Lebanese and Palestinian sides have agreed “on starting an implementation plan to remove weapons from the camps, beginning mid-June in the Beirut camps, and other camps will follow,” the source tells AFP, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to brief the media.

Earlier this week, a member of Abbas’s delegation to Beirut told AFP that the issue of extending state authority to the Palestinian refugee camps would be discussed.

By longstanding convention, Lebanon’s army stays out of the Palestinian camps — where Abbas’s Fatah movement, the Hamas terror group, and other armed groups are present — and leaves the factions to handle security.

Body of Yaron Lischinsky to be flown to Israel today

Yaron Lischinsky, 28, an employee of the Israeli Embassy in the US, killed in a shooting in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025, in an undated photo. (Instagram)

The body of Yaron Lischinsky will be brought to Israel later today for burial, the Foreign Ministry says.

Lischinsky was killed alongside his partner, Sarah Lynn Milgrim, in a shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night.

Both were employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

The Foreign Ministry says Lischinsky’s family will receive his body at the airport alongside ministry representatives.

Both the ceremony at the airport and the funeral will be closed to the press and photographers.

After Katz bars him from reserves, Golan says he last wore IDF uniform to rescue civilians from government’s ‘horrific security failure’

Yair Golan, October 14, 2023. (Kan TV screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).

The Democrats chair, Yair Golan, is quick to respond to Defense Minister Israel Katz’s announcement that he will be barred from reserve duty and from wearing his IDF uniform after he said earlier this week that soldiers were being sent to kill babies in Gaza “as a hobby.”

“The last time I wore an IDF uniform was on October 7, [2023] when I went down south to rescue civilians following your government’s horrific security failure,” writes Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff, on X.

“I promise to continue doing everything for Israel and its security, and I’m sure you’ll keep grovelling to Netanyahu and his poison machine,” Golan adds.

Katz says Yair Golan, an ex-deputy chief of staff, to be barred from IDF reserves for ‘blood libel’

The Democrats chair Yair Golan leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on May 19, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz announces that former IDF deputy chief of staff and the chair of the left-wing Democrats party Yair Golan will be permanently barred from reserve duty, wearing an IDF uniform, and entering military bases after Golan said earlier this week that soldiers were being sent to kill babies in Gaza “as a hobby.”

Katz calls the remarks a “blood libel” and warns they could be used by Israel’s enemies to pursue legal action against IDF personnel in international courts.

He also voices support for passing legislation that would allow the defense minister to strip reserve officers of their rank over such conduct.

“There is no place for people like Golan in public life,” Katz declares, urging officials from across the political spectrum to denounce the former lawmaker.

Golan, an often controversial figure, briefly held the respect of lawmakers from across the political spectrum after he went down to the front lines of his own accord on October 7, 2023, to rescue people fleeing the massacre at the Nova music festival.

IDF says chief of staff didn’t dismiss Zini from service, but both ‘agreed he would retire’

The military, in a statement, says that Maj. Gen. David Zini “was not dismissed from the IDF,” after this morning, when Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir decided to end his service after he was appointed to be the next head of the Shin Bet in an uncoordinated move.

“In a conversation this morning between the chief of staff and the general, it was agreed that he would retire from the IDF in light of his appointment as head of the Shin Bet,” the army says.

An earlier statement from the army implied that he was being dismissed because Zini, an active duty general, was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without any consultation with Zamir.

“Maj. Gen. Zini is a respected officer with many merits,” the IDF adds.

Beijing decries ‘politicization’ of education after US bans Harvard from enrolling foreign students

Beijing slams the “politicization” of educational exchanges after the United States revokes the right of Harvard University to enroll foreign students, many of whom come from China.

“The Chinese side has consistently opposed the politicization of educational cooperation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning says at a regular press briefing.

“The relevant action by the US side will only harm the image and international standing of the United States.”

The ban on Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign nationals is the latest escalation by the US administration over Harvard’s refusal to comply with US President Donald Trump’s demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of antisemitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

PM’s office pushes back against conflict of interest concerns over appointment of new Shin Bet chief

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes back against criticism over his decision to name a new Shin Bet head despite concerns of conflict of interest, and insists that his chosen candidate, Maj. Gen. David Zini, will have no role in the ongoing investigation into his staffers’ alleged ties to Qatar.

The statement comes after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara lambasted Netanyahu for acting “in contravention of legal instructions” when he announced last night that Zini would replace Ronen Bar as the head of the security agency come June 15.

There is “heavy concern that he acted while having a conflict of interest, and that the appointments process is flawed,” Baharav-Miara had said.

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office asserts that Netanyahu was required to name a new head of the Shin Bet in a timely manner due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

“A permanent Shin Bet head must be appointed as soon as possible. This is a security need of the highest order, and any delays harm the country’s security and the security of our soldiers,” the PMO says.

Addressing the conflict of interest concerns, the PMO insists that the Shin Bet head has no influence in the agency’s ongoing “Qatargate” probe, which involves allegations against the premier’s close aides.

It says, however, that to prevent “gossip” over the issue, Zini will not be involved in the probe in any form.

Israel says 107 aid trucks carrying food, medical supplies entered Gaza yesterday

A worker unloads cargo from a truck carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip at the offload area of the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that 107 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip yesterday.

Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on Monday, after a pause since March 2.

COGAT says the aid delivery comes “following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon.”

Yesterday’s trucks included flour, food, pharmaceutical drugs, and medical equipment, COGAT says.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Aid groups have faced significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting and coordination issues with Israeli authorities, UN officials say.

PM’s pick for Shin Bet chief dismissed from IDF after going behind Zamir’s back during appointment process

Maj. Gen. David Zini, head of Training Command and General Staff Corps, attends a handover ceremony at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem on July 8, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Maj. Gen. David Zini, who Prime Minister Benjanmin Nentayahu appointed as the next Shin Bet security agency head, has been dismissed from the military after he held talks with the premier behind the back of the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was caught off guard by Netanyahu’s Thursday evening announcement to appoint Zini, an active duty general, to head the Shin Bet. Zamir was not consulted ahead of the appointment and was notified just minutes before the Prime Minister’s Office made the announcement.

This morning, Zamir met with Zini, the military says.

In a statement, the IDF says that Zamir notified Zini that he would end his service in the military in the coming days. This means that Zini would be dismissed from the IDF, regardless of whether his appointment to head the Shin Bet goes ahead or not

“The chief of staff expressed appreciation to Maj. Gen. Zini for a significant and long combat service,” the IDF says.

“The chief of staff clarifies that any dialogue between IDF servicemembers and the political echelon must be with approval of the chief of staff!” the statement adds, confirming that the move was done behind his back.

Zini is currently the head of the IDF Training Command and General Staff Corps. Normally, appointing an active duty general to a role outside the military would require the chief of staff’s input.

IDF chief said meeting with PM’s pick for Shin Bet chief Zini after appointment happened behind his back

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is reportedly meeting with Maj. Gen. David Zini, whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed as the next Shin Bet head yesterday.

Zamir was caught off guard by Netanyahu’s appointment of Zini, and he was not consulted ahead of the announcement.

Zini is currently the head of the IDF Training Command and General Staff Corps. Normally, appointing an active duty general to a role outside the military would have required the chief of staff’s input.

According to Kan news, the meeting between Zamir and Zini this morning is described as a “clarification discussion,” after the Shin Bet nominee and the prime minister apparently held discussions behind the chief of staff’s back.

16 Gazans killed in Israeli strikes since midnight on Friday — Hamas-run civil defense agency

The Hamas-run Gaza civil defense agency says Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people since midnight Friday across the territory, where Israel has ramped up its military offensive in recent days.

Agency official Mohammed al-Mughayyir tells AFP that the strikes, which also wounded dozens of people, mainly targeted the center and south of the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas death tolls are unverified and do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

IDF says over 75 targets struck in Gaza in past day, several terror operatives killed

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo published on May 23, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli Air Force struck over 75 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says.

The IDF says the targets included terror operatives, rocket launchers, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the military says ground troops killed several operatives across Gaza and destroyed other Hamas sites.

Trump administration finds Columbia U. violated civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish students from harassment

Anti-Israel protesters on the steps of Low Memorial Library at Columbia University, January 19, 2024. (Courtesy CJAA)

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights accuses New York’s Columbia University of violating federal civil rights law in its treatment of Jewish students in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

According to HHS, which has been investigating the university, Columbia violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “by acting with deliberate indifference towards student-on-student harassment of Jewish students from October 7, 2023, through the present.”

Over the past 19 months, it says, the school has “continually failed to protect Jewish students.”

Providing examples, HHS says that the university did not have any effective mechanism in place to report and deal with antisemitism until the summer of 2024, and did not abide by its own student misconduct policies when it came to the harassment of Jewish students.

It adds that the university also failed to punish incidents of vandalism, including “the repeated drawing of swastikas and other universally recognized hate images.”

“The findings carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety, and well-being,” says Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS.

“We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students,” he adds.

In response, a Columbia University spokesperson says that the school is “deeply committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination.”

We take these issues seriously and will work with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to address them,” the spokesperson adds.

In March, the Trump administration announced the cancellation of $400 million in grants and contracts with Columbia due to campus antisemitism.

The university then agreed to a series of changes demanded by the administration as a precondition for restoring the federal funding.

8 said injured in overnight settler attack on West Bank village, home of terrorist who killed Tzeela Gez

A car is engulfed in flames amid a settler attack on the Palestinian village of Bruqin, in the northern West Bank, on May 23, 2025. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Palestinian media reports that eight people were injured in fires set by rampaging settlers in the village of Bruqin in the northern West Bank overnight.

Five homes and five vehicles were set ablaze in the attack, Palestinian media reports.

In footage from the village, cars can be seen engulfed in flames and partially burned, as flames lick at nearby homes.

https://twitter.com/HShaqrah/status/1925669177689289112

According to Palestinian reports, eight people are suffering from burn injuries sustained in the attack.

The police have yet to respond to the incident, and an IDF statement quoted by the Haaretz daily says the suspects had “already escaped” by the time Israeli troops arrived.

The village targeted in the attack was home to the terrorist who killed Tzeela Gez as she was headed to the hospital to give birth.

PM’s office publishes excerpt from next Shin Bet chief’s March 2023 report on IDF readiness for shock enemy raid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini at the Tzeelim training base in southern Israel, May 8, 2025. (GPO)

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night that he was appointing IDF Maj. Gen. David Zini as Shin Bet chief, the Prime Minister’s Office publishes an excerpt from Zini’s March 2023 report on the IDF Gaza Division’s readiness for a “complex surprise event.”

The PMO explains that Zini was tasked with writing the report for the Gaza Division to examine its readiness for a “surprise raid” and identify weak areas.

It says Zini’s report “found various deficiencies in the preparations for such an event.”

Parts of the excerpt appear to have been redacted.

“In almost every sector, a surprise raid can be carried out on our forces in such a way that the rule of ‘surprised but not overwhelmed’ does not apply,” it reads. “There are many courses of action for carrying out a surprise raid on our forces.

Zini writes here that he believes an above-ground attack is the “most plausible and easiest” way in which Israel’s enemies could launch a shock raid.

“Everyone talks about the headline ‘surprise raid’ or ‘complex surprise incident,’ but when the threat is laid out in detail, the understanding and implementation is ‘hollow,’ or non-existent,” continues the report, adding that the military has not considered all possible scenarios and is thus “lacking” in its preparations.

“In the absence of detailed scenarios, the forces do not know what to look for and what to prepare for,” Zini writes, identifying this as the most significant weak point of the IDF’s readiness.

Zini is expected to replace outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar when he steps down on June 15. However, government watchdogs have said they will petition the High Court of Justice against his appointment, arguing that the premier has a conflict of interest.

IDF maps homes of two alleged accomplices of terrorist who killed Tzeela Gez

The IDF says troops mapped two homes in the West Bank village of Bruqin belonging to a pair of Palestinians suspected of aiding the terrorist who killed Tzeela Gez last week while she was heading to a hospital to give birth.

A statement from the military identifies the two suspects as Maher Samarah and Jamil Samarah, adding that soldiers mapped the homes overnight ahead of their potential demolition.

כוחות צה״ל מיפו את בתיהם של שני המחבלים שסייעו ברצח של צאלה גז ז״ל בפיגוע סמוך לברוכין ב-14 למאי 2025

כוחות הנדסה ולוחמי צה״ל מחטיבת אפרים פעלו בכפר ברוקין למיפוי בתיהם של המחבלים מאהר סמארה וג׳מיל סמארה, אשר סייעו למחבל נאאל סמארה להוציא לפועל את פיגוע הירי ב-14 במאי 2025,… pic.twitter.com/zXSeGnq3K2

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 23, 2025

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday confirmed it killed Naael Samarah, who carried out the deadly attack.

Microsoft fires employee for interrupting CEO’s speech to protest AI tech for IDF

FILE - Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, and 50th Anniversary celebration at Microsoft headquarters, in Redmond, Washington, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)

SEATTLE — Microsoft has fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella to protest the company’s work supplying the Israeli military with technology used for the war in Gaza.

Software engineer Joe Lopez could be heard shouting at Nadella in the opening minutes Monday of the tech giant’s annual Build developer conference in Seattle before getting escorted out of the room. Lopez later sent a mass email to colleagues disputing the company’s claims about how its Azure cloud computing platform is used in Gaza.

Lopez’s outburst was the first of several pro-Palestinian disruptions at the event that drew thousands of software developers to the Seattle Convention Center. At least three talks by executives were disrupted, the company even briefly cut the audio of one livestreamed event. Protesters also gathered outside the venue.

Microsoft has previously fired employees who protested company events over its work in Israel, including at its 50th anniversary party in April.

IDF says it intercepted Yemen missile; no reports of injuries

The military announces that a ballistic missile fired from Yemen was downed by air defenses.

The Magen David Adom ambulance says that is has yet to receive any reports of injuries.

תיעוד: חץ 3 יוצא ליירט את הטיל ששוגר מתימן@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/63gErPsFYt

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 23, 2025

Yemen missile attack triggers sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel

Warnings sirens are activated in Tel Aviv and other communities across central Israel and surrounding areas, due to a ballistic missile fired from Yemen.

The Israel Defense Forces says air defenses are “working to intercept the threat.”

Hundreds mourn at vigil for Washington shooting victims outside White House

Hundreds gather outside the White House to mourn Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the victims of the shooting yesterday in Washington, DC.

The crowd lights candles arrayed in front of two portraits of the victims. Some attendees embrace and others wear Israeli and American flags draped over their shoulders.

The White House, brightly lit with its flags at half mast, looms behind the portraits.

The crowd sings songs in Hebrew including Israel’s anthem, “Hatikvah,” or the “The Hope,” and “Jerusalem of Gold.”

“All the world’s a narrow bridge,” they sing, “and the essential thing is to not be afraid at all.”

Hundreds mourn at vigil for Washington shooting victims outside of White House pic.twitter.com/R2q8lUOlnd

— Luke Tress (@luketress) May 23, 2025

Settlers attack West Bank village where terrorist who killed Tzeela Gez hailed from

A group of several dozen Israeli settlers burned cars in Bruqin, according to Hebrew and Palestinian media reports, a week after a terrorist from the West Bank village killed Tzeela Gez as she was headed to give birth.

Security sources quoted by Hebrew outlets say some 40 settlers took part in the attack, and deny reports that they also burned homes in Bruqin.

There are no immediate reports of arrests, which rarely occur after settler violence. An IDF statement quoted by the Haaretz daily says the suspects “already escaped” by the time Israeli troops arrived.

עשרות פורעים יהודים נכנסו לכפר ברוקין, ממנו יצא המחבל שרצח בשבוע שעבר את צאלה גז ז"ל, והחלו להצית רכבים פלסטיניים; כוחות הביטחון שהוקפצו לשטח השיגו שליטה על האירוע – אין עצורים במקום@shlomoraichman pic.twitter.com/lSStxATWbE

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) May 22, 2025

Washington shooter told police, ‘I did it for Gaza,’ court documents say

Law enforcement work the scene after two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Elias Rodriguez, the man who allegedly killed two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, last night approached police on the scene after the shooting and told them, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to court documents.

As police escorted him from the building, Rodriguez shouted, “Free Palestine,” an affidavit filed by FBI investigators says.

The document says police reviewed security footage showing Rodriguez walked past the victims outside the museum, then turned, pulled a firearm from his waistband, and shot them in the back.

After the victims fell to the ground, he approached them and fired several more times, as one of the victims, Sarah Milgrim, attempted to crawl away from him. Milgrim then sat up while Rodriguez reloaded, and he shot her again, the video shows, according to the affidavit.

Investigators recovered 21 empty shell cases and a 9mm handgun from the scene taht matched a firearm Rodriguez purchased in Illinois in 2020. He flew from Chicago to Virginia with the firearm in his checked baggage, the affidavit says.

Rodriguez late told detectives that he admired Aaron Bushnell, an anti-Israel activist who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy last year, calling Bushnell a “martyr.” Rodriguez also said he had bought a ticket to the event at the museum three hours before it started.

Jordan condemns DC shooting of Israeli embassy staffers

Jordan issues a statement condemning yesterday’s shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers.

“The government of Jordan has always stood firmly against violence targeting civilians, and we will continue to condemn such acts. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to peace and the protection of civilians,” says the statement from Jordan’s embassy in Washington.

Suspect in Israeli embassy aides shooting charged with first-degree murder

The US Justice Department has charged the lone suspect in the fatal shooting of a pair of Israeli embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, according to a court filing.

WSJ: IDF targeted meeting of Hamas’s highest-ranking operatives in strike that killed Muhammad Sinwar

A picture shows a house being hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on May 13, 2023. (Majdi Fathi/AFP)

Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar was killed in a May 13 IDF airstrike targeting a meeting of the terror group’s highest-ranking operatives, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Among the other top operatives killed was Mohammad Shabana, the commander of the group’s Rafah brigade, WSJ says.

The Hamas leaders had been gathering in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to discuss their approach to ceasefire talks with Israel when they were hit, WSJ reports.

The meeting went against Hamas’s wartime security protocols, creating an opening for Israel to target a group of high-level operatives at once, WSJ says.

The IDF has yet to confirm that Sinwar was killed in the strike.