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The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they unfolded.
Jury reaches decision in Trump hush money trial, will announce verdict shortly
Former US president Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom as the jury in his criminal trial continues to deliberate at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)
The jury that will decide Donald Trump’s fate in his criminal hush money trial has reached a verdict, the New York judge says on Thursday.
Court officials did not say whether the jury had found Trump guilty or not guilty of falsifying business documents to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
The jury is expected to announce its verdict shortly.
Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty and denies having had the alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Daniels.
Biden lifts restrictions on Ukraine using US weapons to strike Russian targets
US President Joe Biden has lifted restrictions on Ukraine using weapons supplied by the US against targets on Russian territory, but only to defend the under-fire Kharkiv region, a senior US official says.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” the official says on condition of anonymity.
Slovak prime minister discharged from hospital two weeks after assassination attempt
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was released from a hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica, where he had been recovering from an assassination attempt, and taken to his apartment in Bratislava, Slovak media reports.
The hospital and the government office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The hospital says Fico underwent further follow-up examinations earlier in the day, which confirmed the positive development of his health condition, and that he has started rehabilitation.
An attacker hit Fico with four bullets at short range when the prime minister greeted supporters at a government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova on May 15.
Fico, 59, was hit in the abdomen and was taken to a hospital in Banska Bystrica in serious condition. He immediately underwent a more than five-hour operation and followed by a second one two days later.
The attacker, identified as 71-year-old Juraj C., was detained at the scene and charged with attempted premeditated murder.
Six arrested as police forcibly disperse anti-war protest in Haifa
A protester is held to the ground by a police officer during a protest against the war in Gaza, in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, May 30, 2024. (Flash90)
Israel Police forces forcibly dispersed an anti-war protest in Haifa earlier this evening after declaring it an illegal gathering.
In video footage taken by a Walla news correspondent, police and border police officers can be seen rushing into a crowd of protesters and pushing them forward, causing several people to be knocked onto the ground.
The protest was billed as an anti-war demonstration and a show of solidarity with civilians in Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas.
In a statement, the police say that six people were arrested “for disturbing public order, calling for Israel’s destruction and singing the praises of terrorists.” The statement goes on to again stress that the protesters were chanting “in Arabic for the destruction of Israel.”
Haifa is a mixed city and some 10 percent of its residents are Arab Israelis.
Two police officers were wounded in the skirmishes with protesters and received medical treatment, the statement adds.
שדרות בן גוריון חיפה. כמה עשרות ערבים קוראים קריאות. ללא שלטים. ללא דגלים. אבל המשטרה הגיעה באפס סבלנות. יסמ מגב פרשים מכתזית. הודיעה ״היום לא יתקיים כאן כלום״. כרזה שההפגנה לא חוקית ומפזרת בכוח. יש מעצרים. העימותים נמשכים @WallaNews pic.twitter.com/AP85GOqoqH
— יואב איתיאל מדווח כי (@yoavetiel) May 30, 2024
Israel won’t end the war for a deal to free all the hostages, top Netanyahu aide said to tell families
National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi speaks to Channel 12, May 4, 2024. (Screen capture: Channel 12; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi today told relatives of several hostages held in Gaza that the current government will not agree to end the war in exchange for Hamas releasing all the hostages it has been holding since October 7, according to quotations published by Channel 12 tonight.
Hanegbi told the families at the meeting earlier today, however, that he did think the government would be able to achieve a “stage one” deal for the return of hostages in the so-called humanitarian category in the near future, according to the report.
The national security adviser, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rebuked and insulted the relatives, the report also said, and one female relative left the meeting in tears.
Hamas has repeatedly demanded that Israel end the war as a core element of any further hostage deal.
Channel 12 quoted Hanegbi telling the families that, “The first stage of the deal, the humanitarian phase, we will be able to achieve within a few short months. It won’t take many months and not years.”
But, he reportedly added, “I don’t believe that this government will succeed in completing the entire deal. This government will not take a decision on stopping the war for the return of all the hostages.
“We have to keep fighting in order that there won’t be another October 7 in October 2027,” he reportedly said.
“If the hostages don’t return within weeks or a few short months, we have no alternate plan,” Hangebi reportedly acknowledged. “We will continue to fight in Gaza and in the north, and only then will we reassess.”
In response, one of the participants reportedly said, “Well, then we’re lost.”
Hanegbi reportedly replied. “Correct.”
One of the female participants reportedly protested that money should not be made available in the course of a war for people to build a swimming pool, a comment that Channel 12 said was aimed at Netanyahu.
Hanegebi reportedly responded: “He can build 10 pools with his money. Those are abhorrent things to say.” He reportedly said this was not an appropriate issue for such discussions, and that she should not be exuding such hatred and pain.
The relative reportedly responded: “I have every right to feel pain and hate, because I was in the safe room for 15 hours [during the Hamas onslaught]. I fled from the terrorists and stepped on dead bodies, and you didn’t.”
To which Hanegbi reportedly responded, “Okay, go ahead. Curse me.”
At this point, she left the room in tears, Channel 12 reported. Another female participant then reportedly headed angrily to the door, and Hanegbi said, “You’re also going to make drama, and close the door after you?”
The Channel 12 reporter said he had cross-checked the quotes with members of five different families, and that Hangebi had not denied them.
Hanegbi issued the following response, Channel 12 said: “The National Security Adviser has met with the families of all hostages who seek to meet with him since the beginning of the war. He does not record these conversations and does not disseminate their contents. That is the appropriate way to hold an open dialog between the political echelon and the families in pain.
“I won’t change that practice, even in the wake of today’s meeting. Israel is obligated to achieve the release of all the hostages, and will do so.”
Hamas says it will only discuss hostage deal if Israel ceases all fighting in Gaza
Hamas says it has informed mediators that it will only return to negotiations for a hostage deal if Israel ceases all its operations in the Gaza Strip at the start of the talks.
In a statement, the terror group says it is ready to reach “a complete agreement” with Israel, including for the release of all the hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners, but will only do so if Israel “stops its war and aggression against people in Gaza.”
IDF says fighter jets struck two buildings used by Hezbollah in south Lebanon
Israeli fighter jets struck two buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Houla and Maroun al-Ras a short while ago, where the military says terror operatives were gathered.
Several rockets were also launched from Lebanon at the Zar’it area in northern Israel, a short while ago, causing no injuries, the IDF adds.
מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר שני מבנים צבאיים בהם שהו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים חולא ומרון א-ראס שבדרום לבנון.
מוקדם יותר היום כוחות צה"ל ירו להסרת איום במספר מרחבים שונים בדרום לבנון.
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו במרחב זרעית, זוהו מספר שיגורים שחצו מלבנון, אין נפגעים pic.twitter.com/Jtk8bxci5u
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 30, 2024
Gazan traders given green-light to purchase food from Israel, West Bank for first time since Oct. 7
Palestinians from around the Gaza Strip shopping at a market in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on May 23, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
The Israeli military has lifted a ban on the sale of food to Gaza from Israel and the West Bank as its battlefield offensive chokes international aid, according to Palestinian officials, businessmen and international aid workers.
Army authorities gave Gazan traders the green light to resume their purchases from Israeli and Palestinian suppliers of food such as fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy goods this month, days after Israeli forces launched an offensive against Hamas’s remaining battalions in the enclave’s southernmost city of Rafah, the people say.
“Israel phoned Gazan distributors who had been purchasing goods from the West Bank and Israel before the war,” says Ayed Abu Ramadan, chair of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce. “It told them it was ready to coordinate the pick-up of goods.”
Reuters, which interviewed more than a dozen people familiar with the development, is the first news outlet to report on the details and impact of this resumption of commercial food deliveries bound for sale in Gazan markets and stores.
The shift marks the first time any goods produced inside Israel or the West Bank have been allowed into Gaza since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian officials, traders and residents.
Asked by Reuters about the resumption of deliveries, COGAT, the branch of the Israeli military responsible for aid transfers, says it is looking at ways to boost humanitarian aid and increase the amount of food for sale in Gaza.
“Allowing for the private sector to bring some food into the Gaza Strip is part of those efforts to increase the amount of food that’s coming in,” spokesperson Shimon Freedman adds.
The food coming in is also expensive, however. Three Gazan residents interviewed say that while they have seen Hebrew-labelled produce in markets, including watermelons from an Israeli settlement, it was often being sold at prices too high for cash-strapped and displaced families.
“I bought two eggs for 16 shekels [$5], just because my kid, three years old, cried for eggs,” says Abed Abu Mustafa, a father-of-five in Gaza City.
“Normally, I could have bought 30 eggs for less.”
Daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger takes the stage at Jerusalem Pride
Hostage family member Ayala Metzger speaks to crowd at Jerusalem pride parade in Independence Park on May 30, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Ayala Metzger, the daughter-in-law of Hamas captive Yoram Metzger, is speaking to a large crowd at Jerusalem’s annual pride march.
Metzger says she has not seen any “vision of a better future outside of violence” from the government and calls on Israeli leaders and calls on the cabinet to “stop this stupidity and bring everyone back home, as fast as possible.”
“Go out on the streets, bring more people with you, everyone that wants to live in an equal state needs to understand that we are in a war for its [the country’s] face, and that we need each and every one of you.”
Metzger speaks as the names and faces of Hamas hostages flash on the screen. She mentions that last year, her daughter completed a year of national service with Israel Gay Youth, Israel’s LGBTQ youth movement, to cheers from the crowd.
A group of hostage families led the thousands of marchers through the city’s downtown, and are now taking center stage during concluding speeches in Independence Park.
The crowd, sitting on the grass, is chanting “All of them, now!” and cheering Metzger between pauses in her speech.
Israel, Egypt said to agree to reopen Rafah Crossing following US pressure
Israeli forces operating on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces/AFP)
Israel and Egypt have agreed to reopen the Rafah Border Crossing in southern Gaza to humanitarian aid for the first time since the IDF took control of the Gazan side of the crossing in early May, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The agreement was reached as a result of US pressure on both sides, the report adds.
The crossing has been closed since the IDF took control of the Gazan side on May 7, as Egypt said it would refuse to reopen it until it was back under Palestinian control, in order to avoid being seen as complicit with Israel’s military operation in the southernmost Gaza city.
According to the report, Israel agreed to remove its troops from the crossing to allow for it to be reopened and has instead attempted to find an international body to take responsibility for it.
However, as a body has not yet been found, Israel has reportedly agreed to temporarily allow the border crossing to be controlled by Palestinians in Gaza who have been proven to have no ties to Hamas or other terror groups.
In a statement, the office of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirms that the issue of the Rafah Crossing was discussed in a call between Gallant and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday night.
Gallan stressed to Austin that Israel is not opposed to reopening the crossing but will not agree to transfer responsibility to elements with ties to Hamas or other terror groups, his office adds.
IDF says it demolished Hamas tunnel network in Jabaliya from which bodies of 7 hostages were recovered
The IDF says it has demolished a Hamas tunnel network in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, from which the bodies of seven hostages were recovered earlier this month.
The bodies of Ron Benjamin, Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila and Shani Louk were recovered on May 17, and the bodies of Orión Hernández Radoux, Hanan Yablonka and Michel Nisenbaum were recovered on May 23. All seven were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and their bodies were kidnapped to Gaza, according to the IDF.
The tunnel was demolished using engineering vehicles, mines, and other “technological means” by the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, after the IDF ruled out the possibility of any more hostages being held in the area, the military adds.
Roadwork on Ayalon Highway causes kilometers-long traffic jam after Haredi lawmakers refused to allow construction on Shabbat
Heavy traffic as the Ayalon South highway at Moshe Dayan Interchange is closed for 26 hours to allow for the construction of a new pedestrian bridge, May 30, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Large portions of one of Israel’s busiest roads are closed to traffic, causing heavy congestion across central Israel, as construction work that would normally be done over the weekend was moved to Thursday evening due to pressure from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers.
The southern lanes of Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway were closed earlier on Thursday afternoon and cars were diverted to a single lane, causing a traffic jam that stretched for several kilometers, Hebrew media outlets report.
Starting from 8 p.m. this evening, large portions of the road’s northbound lanes will also be closed, and train stations along the affected route will be closed.
The work will continue until Friday evening at 7 p.m., as construction is underway on a new pedestrian bridge.
The Transportation Ministry’s decision to do the heavy road work on Thursday, rather than over the weekend when trains don’t run and the roads are quieter, was made in light of pressure from the ultra-Orthodox members of the government.
Gallant meets with Netanyahu for first time since criticizing PM’s lack of strategy for post-war Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) delivers a recorded statement on the war with Hamas in Gaza (Screenshot/GPO); Defense Minister Yoav Gallant delivers a statement to the press, May 15, 2024. (Screenshot)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting in person with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for the first time since Gallant publicly called for Netanyahu to make “tough decisions” on post-war Gaza two weeks ago, Ynet reports.
The two are meeting at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv ahead of scheduled war cabinet and security cabinet meetings.
The meeting also comes after Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity party submitted a bill to dissolve the Knesset, ahead of his party’s expected departure from the emergency coalition it joined at the start of the war with Hamas.
Netanyahu, Gantz and Gallant are the only three voting members of the war cabinet.
IDF drone mistakenly shot down by Israeli air defenses over northern town of Shlomi
Earlier today, Israeli air defenses mistakenly shot down an IDF drone over the northern border community of Shlomi.
The IDF says it is investigating the incident.
Sirens had sounded in Shlomi due to fears of falling shrapnel.
Katz denounces Slovenian government’s decision to recognize Palestinian state
Israel’s foreign minister denounces the Slovenian government’s decision on Thursday to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the decision, which requires Slovenian parliamentary approval, rewards Hamas for “murder, rape [and] mutilation of bodies,” a reference to the terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
In a statement, Katz says the move also strengthens Israel’s arch-enemy Iran and damages “the close friendship between the Slovenian and Israeli people.” He adds: “I hope the Slovenian parliament rejects this recommendation.”
US to meet with Egyptian, Israeli officials in Cairo next week over Gaza border issues – report
The US will hold a trilateral meeting with Egyptian and Israeli officials in Cairo next week on issues surrounding the Gaza-Egypt border and the Rafah Crossing, which has remained shuttered since the IDF took control of the Gazan side on May 7, Axios reports.
According to the report, the main goal of the meeting will be to find a solution to allow for the Rafah Crossing to be reopened for humanitarian aid, after Egypt said it would not agree to do so until the Gazan side was back under Palestinian control. At the same time, Axios adds, it will also focus on ensuring that Hamas can no longer smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip from Egypt.
Maintaining the tenuous peace between Israel and Egypt is a top priority for US President Joe Biden, the report adds, as his administration sees Egypt as a key player in any plans for post-war Gaza.
Thousands march in Jerusalem’s Pride Parade, with hostage families leading the way
Marchers in Jerusalem Pride Parade begin procession from Liberty Bell Park on May 30, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Thousands of people are marching in Jerusalem’s annual Pride Parade, which this year is led by family members of the hostages.
The crowd is chanting, “All of them, now!” and calling for a hostage deal that will free the captives held by Hamas in Gaza.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks to the audience before the march begins, telling attendees that he came to remind them that “love will win, hope will win and pride will win.”
“No group has ever attained their rights without a struggle, not women, not black people, not Jews and not LGBT people,” he continues.
As the march prepares to set out to Independence Park, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir interrupts the event to the boos of the crowd.
The minister walks a few blocks as the parade begins, then tells reporters that he “came to see that the public order is being kept.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir interrupts the beginning of the Jerusalem Pride Parade on May 30, 2024. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad publishes second propaganda video of Sasha Trufanov, apparently filmed within past month
Screenshot from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad propaganda video showing hostage Sasha Trufanov released on May 30, 2024. (Screenshot)
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has released a second propaganda video showing hostage Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov in the Gaza Strip, this time providing apparent proof that the footage was filmed recently.
In the nearly three-minute-long video, Trufanov — whose statement was almost certainly dictated by his captors — refers to Israel’s decision to pull the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news channel off the air on May 5, indicating that the footage was filmed within the last month.
The new video comes after the terror group published a nearly 30-second-long video of Trufanov on Tuesday, which did not contain any information indicating when it was filmed.
Islamic Jihad and Hamas have both previously issued similar videos of hostages the terror groups are holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare. Most Israeli media do not carry the video clips themselves.
Trufanov was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his mother, Yelena, grandmother, Tati, and girlfriend, Sapir Cohen — all of whom were released in a hostage deal in late November. His father, Vitaly Trufanov, was murdered in the Hamas onslaught.
AG says government acting in contradiction to the law regarding Haredi conscription to the IDF
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara addresses the Israel Bar Association's annual conference in Eilat, May 27, 2024. (Courtesy Israel Bar Association)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says that the government is acting “without authority,” “violating express rules of the court,” and “undermining the rule of law” in the manner it is addressing the new legal situation regarding ultra-Orthodox men who are eligible for military conscription.
The attorney general made her comments in the state’s response to petitions to the High Court of Justice demanding the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students following the expiration of all legal frameworks allowing for blanket military service exemptions.
Her anger with the government stems from cabinet resolution 1724 passed in April which overturned her determination that only the government, and not the Defense Ministry and IDF, could have private legal counsel for the High Court petitions.
“Under the guise of a dispute apparently concerning the scope of separate [legal] representation allowed, the government sought to create an unprecedented situation in which it determines for itself the interpretation of the law, contrary to the binding opinion of the attorney general.”
In short, Baharav-Miara explains, despite the fact that she had determined that failing to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the army in the current legal circumstances was illegal, and the fact that the court had not ruled otherwise, the government wanted to bring about a situation in which the attorney general’s position was not binding on the Defense Ministry and the IDF, despite this being the legal reality in Israel for decades.
“The government – through a private attorney that it had hired – [would be the one] to determine the interpretation of the law for itself and for state institutions, that they [the institutions] would receive legal instructions from that private attorney,” Baharav-Miara wrote.
A hearing for the petitions demanding immediate Haredi conscription in front of a nine-justice panel is scheduled for Sunday morning.
Slovenian government approves decision to recognize Palestinian state alongside Israel
The Slovenian government has approved a decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state, Prime Minister Robert Golob says, following in the steps of Spain, Ireland and Norway.
“Today the government has decided to recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state,” he says at a news conference in Ljubljana.
The parliament of the European Union member country must also approve the government’s decision in the coming days.
The move is part of a wider effort by countries to coordinate pressure on Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which began following the October 7 massacre carried out by the terror group in southern Israel.
Gallant briefed US counterpart on IDF takeover of Philadelphi Corridor, offices say
File: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2023. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant briefed US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a call last night on the IDF’s successful operation to take over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, their offices say.
The Pentagon says Austin stressed the “need to sustain increased deliveries of humanitarian assistance” and reopen the Rafah Crossing, which Egypt has refused to open since Israel took over the Gaza side earlier this month.
“Our humanitarian partners working in Gaza tell us that conditions are worse now than ever before. Israeli military operations and closed crossings are making it extremely difficult to distribute aid,” US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power wrote on X last night.
“The parties also discussed force build-up efforts in light of the ongoing visit to Washington by Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir on behalf of Israel’s defense establishment,” the Israeli readout says.
Sweden: Iran used criminal groups for ‘security-threatening activities’
Iran has conducted “security-threatening activities in and against Sweden for several years,” says a statement released by Sweden’s Säpo security service.
The agency adds that Iran is targeting enemies of the regime, including Israeli and Jewish targets, and Iranian opposition figures.
“Iran has previously used violence in other countries in Europe with the aim of silencing critical voices and perceived threats to its own regime,” says Säpo. “To carry out these security-threatening activities, the Iranian regime has on occasion made use of criminal networks.”
Earlier today, the Mossad said that Iran was using Swedish gangs to attack Israeli and Jewish sites, including the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
“The security police can confirm that this also happens in Sweden,” says the Säpo statement. “In Sweden, the Security Police has in recent years dealt with several concrete cases where assassination plans linked to Iranian security services were averted, where, among other things, criminal networks were used as proxies.”
“Sweden must not be a platform for the security-threatening activities of Iran or other states,” says the agency.
Sweden’s security chief confirms Iran using Swedish criminal gangs as proxy
Daniel Stenling, head of counterintelligence at Sweden’s Säpo security service, says in a press conference that Iran is using Swedish criminal gangs as proxies in the country.
The press conference comes after the Mossad revealed that Iran was using organized crime networks to attack Israeli targets in Europe, including in Stockholm.
Poll: Half of Jewish Israelis support occupying Gaza after the war
Illustrative: IDF tanks are positioned in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 9, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
Fifty percent of Jewish Israelis support occupying the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas ends, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Asked who should govern Gaza after the war, 50% of Jewish respondents said Israel; 15 percent said they didn’t know; 10 percent said the Palestinian Authority, but without its President Mahmoud Abbas; eight percent said people who live in Gaza should decide; seven percent said other, five percent said the PA with Abbas; four percent said the United Nations; and zero percent said Hamas.
Among Arab Israeli respondents, 37% said people who live there should decide, 18% said the PA without Abbas, 16% said they didn’t know, 11% said the PA with Abbas, nine percent said Hamas, 5% said the United Nations, 3% said Israel and 2% said other.
Among all Israeli respondents, 40% said Israel, 16% said they didn’t know, 14% said people who live there should decide, 12% said the PA without Abbas, 6% said the PA with Abbas, 6% said other, 4% said the UN and 2% said Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out against the idea of Israel governing Palestinians in Gaza after the war — a prospect vehemently rejected by the international community. Only far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir have come out in support of Israel permanently occupying the Gaza Strip and re-establishing settlements there, but the Pew survey indicates support for their stance may be more widespread among Jewish Israelis than thought.
Pew also found that the share of Israeli Jews who believe an Israeli and a Palestinian state can peacefully coexist has plummeted since October 7.
The figure of 19% was the lowest since Pew started surveying Israelis in 2013. It is down from 32% in a survey released just weeks before the war broke out.
In 2013, according to Pew, nearly half of Israeli Jews — and a majority of Israelis overall — supported a two-state solution. In 2005, another polling firm found that most Israeli Jews supported the establishment of a Palestinian state.
One thousand and one Israeli adults participated in the in-person survey, which included a representative population of Jews and Arabs.
It had a margin of error of four percentage points.
The major caveat of the survey was that it was conducted between March 3 and April 4, finishing nearly two months ago, likely making many of the other results outdated.
JTA contributed to this report.
US mission to UN confirms it will boycott tribute event for Iran’s Raisi
The US Mission to the United Nations confirms that it will be boycotting a UN tribute event for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month.
“The UN should be standing with the people of Iran. Raisi was involved in numerous horrific human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. Some of the worst human rights abuses on record took place during his tenure,” says the US mission spokesperson Nate Evans in a statement.
The UN Security Council observed a minute of silence on May 20 to remember the victims of the helicopter crash. Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood stood with his 14 counterparts.
The United States expressed its “official condolences” for Raisi’s death, the State Department said on May 20. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also said that day: “No question this was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands.”
Gantz’s National Unity party submits bill to dissolve the Knesset; Likud dismisses the call
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz at a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, October 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Following Minister Benny Gantz’s demand in April for early elections, National Unity MK Pnina Tamano-Shata submits a bill to dissolve the Knesset.
“October 7 is a a disaster that requires us to go back and receive the people’s trust, to establish a broad and stable unity government that can lead us safely in the face of the enormous challenges in security, the economy and above all — in Israeli society,” Tamano-Shata says in a statement. “Submitting the bill now will allow us to bring it up in the current legislative session.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party dismisses the call as unnecessarily disharmonious and damaging to the war effort. Netanyahu’s Likud heads a 64-strong coalition bloc in the 120-member Knesset — without Gantz’s party, which joined the coalition after October 7 — and is therefore unlikely to be felled by the bill.
“In the midst of a war, Israel needs unity, not division. The dissolution of the unity government is a reward for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, a surrender to international pressures and a fatal blow to the efforts to free our abductees,” the ruling party says in a statement.
Hitting back, National Unity says that it was Netanyahu, “who time and again chooses personal interest over the national interest,” who was responsible for dismantling the government.
“Netanyahu, it is not too late to come to your senses either ‘together we will win’ or you will continue alone with the ‘divide and conquer,’ method,” National Unity states, referring to a wartime slogan promoted by the government.
Tensions have been growing between Gantz and Netanyahu since the former joined the government in the wake of October 7.
On April 3, Gantz called for Israel to hold early elections by September, amid growing dissatisfaction over how the war against Hamas was being waged and the failure to bring home the hostages.
Just over six weeks later, Gantz went on television to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless the premier commits to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict by June 8.
Speaking with The Times of Israel at the time, MK Tamano-Shata explained that she and her colleagues “don’t want to leave the government, but if [Netanyahu] pushes us to that we will leave.”
Not long after, Gantz challenged Netanyahu by demanding the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to Hamas’s devastating onslaught of October 7.
And yesterday, war cabinet observer MK Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Gantz’s party, accused Netanyahu of having failed Israel on matters of both security and economy — asserting that it was “clear that this government needs to be replaced as soon as possible.”
Eisenkot suggested a vote be held sometime between September and December “to build the nation.”
Netanyahu’s Likud heads a 64-strong coalition bloc in the 120-member Knesset, without Gantz’s party, and is therefore unlikely to be felled by the bill.
Sweden expected to confirm Mossad revelation that Iran is behind attacks on Israeli embassies
The Swedish Security Service, or SÄPO, and the Swedish government will hold a press conference at 3:45 p.m. local time, or 4:45 p.m. Israel time, to discuss the Mossad revelation that Iran is behind a string of attacks on Israeli embassies in Europe, including in Stockholm.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer will make a statement alongside Daniel Stenling, head of counterintelligence at the Security Police, and Hampus Nygårds, deputy head of the National Operative Department, according to a Swedish government announcement.
A local source tells The Times of Israel that Sweden is expected to confirm the Israeli account.
France says Israel yet to respond to proposal aimed at bringing about truce with Lebanon
Israel has not given a response to France on Paris’ proposals to reduce tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, France’s foreign ministry spokesperson says.
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 against Hamas there.
France has historical ties with Lebanon and has presented written proposals to both sides that would see Hezbollah withdraw its forces 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Israeli border and cease its rocket, drone and missile attacks, while Israel would halt strikes in southern Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne went to both Lebanon and Israel in April to push France’s efforts, and Israel’s foreign minister was in Paris earlier this month. Lebanon’s foreign minister was in Paris for talks yesterday.
“We have had a relatively positive response from the Lebanese, but I think we have not had any return from Israel at this point,” Christophe Lemoine tells reporters in a daily briefing.
The written proposal also looks at long-term border issues and had been discussed with partners including the United States, which has made its own efforts to ease tensions and exerts the most influence on Israel.
Syria’s Assad meets with Khamenei in Tehran, Iranian media reports
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier today in Tehran, Iran’s Student News Network (SNN) says.
It says that Assad expressed condolences over the recent death of Iranian resident Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
Palestinians report clashes between gunmen, IDF near hospital in Jenin refugee camp
Palestinian media reports an exchange of fire between Israel Defense Force troops and Palestinian gunmen in Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
According to reports, the IDF is operating close to a local hospital.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reports six people have been injured in the clashes, all of whom are in mild to moderate condition.
The IDF did not immediately comment on the reports.
⚡️Violet clashes now in Jenin pic.twitter.com/fydIMNJyla
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 30, 2024
Wayne State University encampment dismantled by Detroit police
An anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian encampment is seen May 28, 2024, on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)
Police have dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment Thursday at Wayne State University in Detroit, two days after the school suspended in-person classes and encouraged staff to work remotely to avoid any problems with the protesters’ encampment.
Television footage shows campus police and Detroit police officers in riot gear tearing down fencing before they remove the protesters and start breaking down tents erected last week on green space near Wayne State’s undergraduate library.
Police handcuff and arrest an individual that had been in one of the tents at the encampment here at Wayne State pic.twitter.com/mpQiGEvEV7
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) May 30, 2024
Protesters on site chanted “There’s no riot here, why are you in riot gear?” and marched on Wayne State’s campus; some appeared to clash with officers, WXYZ-TV reports.
Wayne State president Kimberly Andrews Espy said in a statement that university police told people in the encampment about 5:30 a.m. to gather their belongings and leave, The Detroit News reports.
“The encampment at Wayne State University was removed this morning,” Espy is quoted saying. “After ongoing consultation with the Board of Governors, university leadership, and leaders in the community — and after many good-faith efforts to reach a different conclusion — this was the right time to take this necessary step.”
Tunnel shaft where troops were killed was in Rafah clinic, arms found in UNRWA school — IDF
A handout photo released by the IDF on May 30, 2024 appearing to show a Rafah tunnel it says was booby-trapped, leading to the deaths of three soldiers. (Israel Defense Forces)
A booby-trapped tunnel shaft that killed three soldiers in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Tuesday was located inside a medical clinic, the military says.
The IDF says that forces had come under anti-tank missile fire from an UNRWA school in Rafah, and in response launched a raid against the building and an adjacent mosque and clinic.
During searches in the area, a booby-trapped tunnel was discovered inside the clinic, which then exploded, killing three soldiers of the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion.
The IDF says troops also found a cache of weapons, as well as additional tunnel shafts, inside the school complex, including within the classrooms.
War to cost Israel over NIS 250 billion, central bank chief says
The ongoing war with the Hamas terror group is slated to cost Israel NIS 253 billion ($67 billion) in defense outlays, expenditures for civilian needs and lost tax income in the years 2023 to 2025, Israel’s central bank governor Amir Yaron estimates.
Speaking at a conference, Yaron cautions that the security and civilian war costs are “significant” and present a budgetary burden. In addition, the future security budget is expected to grow permanently and have a macroeconomic impact, he adds, warning against giving the military a “blank check.”
“A prosperous economy requires security, and security requires a prosperous economy. Therefore, the war should not bring with it a blank check for permanent defense expenditures, and proper balances have to be found,” Yaron says at a conference at the College of Management Academic Studies.
A breakdown of the latest war cost estimate shows that almost half of the war expenditure, or NIS 118 billion, will be needed to meet the country’s defense needs, and NIS 38 billion for civilian spending up until 2025, including the cost of evacuating civilians and providing housing for evacuees, as well as other damages. The central bank anticipates another NIS 35 billion in lost tax revenue due to the war and NIS 23 billion to compensate for direct war damages.
Another NIS 9 billion in expected expenses are from interest payments as the government debt level increases and borrowing costs rise.
The NIS 253 billion figure is higher than a previous estimate of around NIS 200 billion provided near the start of the war.
Fresh rocket sirens ring in western Galilee towns
Rocket sirens are going off in the northern towns of Shlomi and Betzet in the western Galilee.
The Hezbollah terror group takes responsibility for an attack near the border community of Matot nearly two hours ago.
Golan blames right-wing ‘poison machine’ for criticism, police deny opening probe over comments
Labor chief Yair Golan says a flurry of right-wing criticism aimed in his direction is the product of a smear campaign by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his backers, after Channel 14 airs a clip in which he cited desertion by IDF reservists as a form of civil disobedience that could be used to bring down the government.
“Over the last day, I have been attacked by Netanyahu and the Bibi-ist poison machine and its agents on Channel 14, on the radio stations, on the networks, and everywhere they inject their poison of divisiveness and incitement,” Golan tweets.
“We are not afraid! Not afraid of the poison machine, not afraid of the threats and incitement, not afraid of the illegal political use of the Ben Gvir police,” he continues, referring to a report that the police, who report to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have opened a probe into the possibility that his remarks constituted incitement.
Police say Golan is not being probed.
Politicians across the right have attacked the newly elected Labor leader following the release of footage yesterday in which he said that civil disobedience could mean that “until this government is replaced, we don’t do reserve duty.”
He went on to qualify that he was “not discussing now about if this is the best step.” However, in the clip published by Channel 14, seemingly taken by a participant, the word “if” is inaudible, leaving the impression that he said “I am not discussing now, this is the best step.” He can be heard saying the “if” in other recordings of his statement.
Golan has called the Channel 14 clip “nothing less than cheap manipulation.”
Ship struck by Houthi missiles was carrying grain to Iran
A Greek-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier that came under attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels earlier this week had a cargo of grain bound for Iran, the group’s main benefactor, authorities say.
Initially after the attack, the Laax had listed its destination as Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. On Thursday, however, its listed destination instead appeared to be Bandar Khomeini, Iran.
A statement released by French naval forces based in the UAE that patrol the Middle East also identifies the vessel’s grain shipment as being bound for Iran. It says a team from Djibouti had inspected the damage caused by the attack, which it said involved both drones and missiles, and found no remaining dangerous explosives onboard the ship.
Images released by the French navy show damage both at the waterline of the vessel and on its deck.
Après l’attaque du cargo Laax, une équipe de démineurs des @FFDJ_Officiel est intervenue ce matin à bord du cargo Laax pour garantir la sécurité de l’équipage.
L’action permanente de la France dans la zone contribue à la sûreté maritime, à la liberté de navigation et vise à faire… https://t.co/M2nNqQzqYE pic.twitter.com/PDgboCBKLX— 🇨🇵 🇩🇯Forces Françaises stationnées à Djibouti (@FFDJ_Officiel) May 29, 2024
Tuesday’s attack saw five missiles hit the Laax during the hourslong assault, the private security firm LSS-SAPU tells The Associated Press. LSS-SAPU, which earlier helped evacuate mariners from the Houthi-attacked Rubymar that later sank, says there had been no prior warning by radio from the Houthis.
This is the second time that the Houthis have hit a ship bound for Iran after a similar incident in February. At the time, the rebel group was seen as trying to broadcast its independence from Tehran.
Iran behind attacks on Israeli embassies in Europe, Mossad charges
Officers stand near the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 31, 2024. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
Iran is behind a string of terror attacks on Israeli embassies by criminal networks in Europe since October 7, a Mossad intelligence agency official says.
The agency opened up an investigation alongside European counterparts after an explosive device, said to be a hand grenade, was found inside the grounds of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in January and destroyed by the Swedish national bomb squad.
After interrogating the suspects and examining forensic evidence, the investigators concluded that the Foxtrot organized crime ring in Sweden was behind the attack, at Iran’s behest, according to the Mossad.
Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid — known as “the Kurdish Fox” — has been working with Iran for months, Israel alleges. He was recruited by Iranian agents after he fled to Iran from Turkey in September of last year, pursued by international law enforcement and Iraqi security forces.
He was arrested by Iran and recruited to plan a string of attacks in Europe against Jewish and Israeli targets, according to the Mossad.
There have been dozens of Iran-backed terror plots against Jewish and Israeli targets uncovered in recent months, says the Israeli agency, many of which used local criminal networks.
On May 17, Swedish police heard gunshots late at night near the Israeli embassy. They detained a 14-year-old boy in connection to the shooting and made known that the Israeli embassy was the target.
That shooting was carried out by the Rumba crime group, said the Mossad, headed by Majid’s rival Ismail Abdo and also directed by Iran.
“Iran operates many criminal organizations in Sweden and Europe in general, while taking advantage of the relative advantage of each and sometimes the rivalry between them,” says the Israeli official.
Foxtrot and Rumba receive funding and direction directly from Iran, the Mossad alleged, and are closely monitored by European intelligence.
The spy agency also accuses Iran of trying to take advantage of rising antisemitism in Europe while avoiding direct responsibility for attacks.
Aid still sailing from Cyprus to Gaza even as US pier awaits fix — official
A ship transporting international humanitarian aid is moored at the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 21, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group. (Photo by AFP)
Humanitarian aid for Gaza is continuing to depart Cyprus by sea and will be held in floating storage off the coast of the enclave until a US-built military pier is repaired, a Cypriot government official says.
Cyprus Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis says the offloading of aid has slowed down, but the sea corridor has not ceased operating since part of the pier broke off over the weekend.
“The mechanism surrounding how the floating pier works allows for the possibility of floating storage off Gaza, with offloading to resume when conditions allow,” he says, blaming the problem on rough seas.
Letymbiotis says the the pier could “possibly” resume operations by the middle of next week.
Eleven ship-shuttles of aid had left Cyprus since the operation started, with enough aid already disbursed to “provide food to tens of thousands of noncombatants for a month,” Letymbiotis claims.
“The aim of offering humanitarian aid to 500,000 people a month is possible,” he adds.
‘Suspicious target’ from Lebanon shot down, two other alerts false alarms — IDF
The military says two of the three drone alerts to sound in the Kiryat Shmona area over the last hour were false alarms.
The first alert was apparently related to a “suspicious target” that the army says was shot down after crossing into Israeli territory from Lebanon.
A rocket alert that sounded in Kfar Giladi was due to fear of falling shrapnel from the interception.
The IDF says there are no injuries or damage from the incident.
French MP defiant after Palestinian flag display draws sanctions
French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) MP Sebastien Delogu waves a Palestinian national flag during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on May 28, 2024. (Miguel Medina/AFP)
A hard-left French lawmaker sanctioned for raising a Palestinian flag in parliament on Tuesday says he would “rather be on the right side of history than stick to the rules of the National Assembly.”
The lower house of parliament voted to suspend Sebastien Delogu, a deputy for the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party, for 15 days and to halve his pay as a lawmaker over two months, the harshest sanction possible.
“It’s the first time that a foreign flag has been raised in the assembly, but it’s appropriate given what’s at stake, when you have people, who are like us, on the other side of the Mediterranean being massacred,” Delogu tells Reuters at a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris.
Unlike other parties, LFI has not described the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as a “terrorist” act. Some critics of LFI have accused it of antisemitism, which the party says is not true.
Delogu raised the flag during a session of questions to the government, while another LFI deputy questioned a minister about the situation in Gaza.
National Assembly rules forbid lawmakers from brandishing flags during session.
Another LFI MP, David Guiraud, called a Jewish colleague a “pig” and a “pork” during a heated exchange shortly after the flag-waving incident. That MP, Meyer Habib, has said he would file a complaint for antisemitism.
IRGC commander claims Israel offered Tehran compromise on Gaza to avoid missile attack
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force claims Israel sent messages to Tehran via Egypt that it would “compromise” in Gaza to avert an Iranian response to an attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.
Iran launched some 300 explosive drones and missiles at Israel in April in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, a retaliatory strike for what it said was an Israeli strike on its Damascus mission in which seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed.
Nearly all off the projectiles were shot down, but Amirali Hajizadeh nonetheless claims that Iran’s attack “destroyed” targeted Israeli military bases.
He also claims Israel struck the IRGC officers in Damascus because it was looking for an easy win after the failures of October 7 and did not think it would trigger a direct response from Tehran.
Rocket alarm rings in northern community
Rocket sirens are sounding in the small community of Matat in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon, the fifth time sirens have gone off in northern Israel in the past hour.
Drone alarm sounds yet again in Kiryat Shmona
Drone alarms are sounding yet again in Kiryat Shmona and surrounding areas, for the third time in under 30 minutes.
An all-clear is given within minutes.
There is no immediate comment from the military on the successive alarms.
Right rides new Labor chief Golan after potentially misleading comments on refusing reserve duty air
File: Yair Golan speaks during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv, March 2, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Politicians across the right are accusing newly elected Labor leader Yair Golan of calling on IDF reservists to refuse to serve in order to bring down the government.
The claims come after the publication of a video by the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 of an event earlier this month in which Golan can be heard recalling how elite reservists stopped showing up for volunteer duty last year in protest of the government’s plans to upend the judicial system.
“The smallest threat of civil disobedience puts Netanyahu under intense pressure,” he can be heard saying. “Why don’t we make much wider use of this?”
Asked for an example, Golan responds that civil disobedience could mean that “until this government is replaced, we don’t do reserve duty.”
Golan goes on to qualify that “I am not discussing now about if this is the best step.” However, in the clip published by Channel 14, seemingly taken by a participant, the word “if” is inaudible, leaving the impression that he said “I am not discussing now, this is the best step.” He can be heard saying the “if” in other recordings of his statement.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls upon Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to open a criminal investigation into Golan for “openly inciting insubordination and disobedience among reservists while the State of Israel is at war.”
“We were shocked to hear the inciting and irresponsible words of the new head of the Labor Party,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party says in a statement accusing Golan of seeking to “encourage refusal during wartime.”
Such a call “harms the chances of bringing back the hostages and harms the security of the country,” Likud says. “All this for the opportunity to topple the government. There is no end to hatred.”
Golan won the Labor primary with 95 percent of the vote this week and has promised to unite the left in order to “build a ruling party.”
Channel 14’s report comes less than a week after Netanyahu’s son Yair shared a clip on social media of an armed and masked infantryman vowing to refuse Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s orders and asserting that soldiers will only listen to the prime minister.
Twin drone alerts, rocket siren sound in Galilee panhandle
The IDF gives the all clear after fresh drone alerts sound twice within minutes of each other in the Galilee panhandle, including the city of Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns.
In Kfar Giladi, north of Kiryat Shmona, the drone alerts are sandwiched by a rocket siren.
The warnings come after Israel said it shot down a cruise missile launched at the Golan, which had set off drone alerts earlier this morning.
It also comes after the army said it downed a suspicious object that set off alarms in Margaliot, one of the places that also came under drone threat now.
Swedish police clear out pro-Palestinian tent protest at university
Swedish police have cleared out a tent camp outside a southern Sweden university occupied by pro-Palestinian students since May 16.
Police say that some 40 people are suspected of disobeying law enforcement during the early morning action and video shows police carrying away people who refused to leave the area outside Lund University.
Sweden again – This time is at Lund University and Lund City encampment!!! The students had been forced to wake up from sleep at 5am and the policeforces cleaned up their tent. See if this is moral.Swedish had been known as a calm people compared to to Denmark. But due to Zionism… pic.twitter.com/IV9H5IBg2k
— an_vitarelli (@an_anv) May 30, 2024
Swedish broadcaster SVT says there had been about 100 people in the camp.
In a statement, police say everything went smoothly.
Army confirms shooting down cruise missile
The Israel Defense Forces says it shot down a cruise missile “launched from the east,” appearing to confirm reports that the projectile was fired from Iraq.
The army has described attacks from Iraq in the past as “from the east.”
The military also says a “suspicious aerial target” that crossed from Lebanon was shot down by the Iron Dome air defense system a short while ago, after alarms sounded in the northern town of Margaliot.
There are no injuries or damage caused in the attack.
South Africa’s ANC set to lose majority for first time since end of apartheid
South Africa’s African National Congress appears on course to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years, partial results from Wednesday’s national election show, in what would be the most dramatic political shift since the end of apartheid.
With results in from 13.9 percent of polling stations, the ANC’s share of the vote in Wednesday’s election stands at 42.6%, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) at 25.8% and the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on 8.5%, data from the electoral commission shows.
If the final results were to resemble the early picture, the ANC would be forced to make a deal with one or more other parties to govern — a situation that could lead to unprecedented political volatility in the coming weeks or months.
An alliance with the DA could temper the ANC’s vehement anti-Israel stance in Pretoria, which has spearheaded attempts to charge Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice. On the other hand, a deal with EFF, which supports arming the Hamas terror group, could have the opposite effect.
“There will be checks and balances on the ANC power, but the ultimate risk is that the infighting could make governance ineffective,” says Simon Harvey, head of foreign exchange analysis at Monex Europe.
The ANC has won national elections held every five years since the landmark 1994 election, which marked the end of apartheid and the ascent of Nelson Mandela as president.
But since those heady days the ANC’s support has declined because of disillusionment over issues such as high unemployment and crime, frequent power blackouts and corruption.
Based on the early results, the ANC is projected to have roughly 42% of the vote when the count is over, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which was providing projections to the state broadcaster SABC.
Possible cruise missile fired from Iraq set off drone alarms in Golan — reports
Reports in Hebrew press claim a projectile that set off drone infiltration alarms across the southern Golan earlier this morning was shot down after being fired from Iraq.
According to the Ynet news site, the alarms were triggered by a cruise missile and not a UAV, as initially suspected.
There is no claim of responsibility from Iran-backed militias in Iraq, which have claimed a number of drone attacks on Eilat in the last several months.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson declines to comment on the report or provide any update regarding the apparent attack.
Over 50 sites in Gaza bombed over past day, IDF says
An arms cache uncovered by troops in Gaza, in a handout photo published by the Israeli military on May 30, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel carried out over 50 airstrikes throughout Gaza over the past day, the Israel Defense Forces says, including a deadly attack on two terrorists seen leaving a building in northern Gaza where shells had been launched toward Israeli troops.
The army says troops are continuing to operate in the heart of Jabaliya in the north of the Strip, where they are finding weapons and engaging Gazan fighters who attack them. Troops are also operating in central Gaza and engaged in fighting in the southern city of Rafah, where an airstrike was called in on three terrorists who opened fire on troops.
Residents in Rafah report intense artillery shelling and gunfire.
Over the past day, soldiers in the southern Gaza city uncovered tunnel shafts, an ammunition depot, anti-tank missile launchers, explosives and other unspecified arms, the IDF says. Troops in central Gaza also found an arms cache.
An AFP correspondent reports artillery and gunfire in Gaza City’s southern neighborhood of Zeitoun, in the territory’s north, where witnesses say thick plumes of smoke are rising over Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya.
Two protesters reported arrested outside home of Miri Regev
Police have arrested two protesters taking part in a demonstration outside the home of Transportation Minister Miri Regev, according to Hebrew language media reports citing anti-government activists.
According to the Walla news site, police say the pair violated orders regarding the protest.
In posts online, the Brothers in Arms anti-government protest group asks supporters to show up at the Rosh Ha’ayin police station to demonstrate for the pair to be released.
Regev, a Likud stalwart, has come under increased pressure since a pair of reports in the last week detailed her attempts to politicize her office and alleged that she sought to parlay the October 7 massacre into enhanced public standing for political gain.
Ramming attack unfolded in seconds as troops inspected cars — report
Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, left, at the scene of a West Bank ramming attack on May 30, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
An initial investigation into a ramming attack at a West Bank checkpoint that killed two troops has found that the incident unfolded in a matter of seconds and that soldiers did not have time to open fire to attempt to stop the attack, the Ynet news site reports.
According to the outlet, troops had been performing random spot checks on Palestinian cars leaving Nablus, causing a short line to form.
Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel and Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj were checking a car at the front of the line when a vehicle further back went around the queue and sped at the two troops, hitting them, Ynet reports.
This composite image shows Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj and Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, who were killed in a car-ramming attack outside the West Bank city of Nablus on May 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The car then made a U-turn and sped back toward Nablus. According to reports, the driver turned themselves in to Palestinian authorities.
The military says IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited the scene of the suspected attack last night to launch a preliminary investigation and perform a situational assessment.
This morning, Maj. Gen Yehuda Fox, who heads the IDF’s Central Command, also visited the scene to assess the situation along with soldiers and commanders operating there.
East Jerusalem man accused of trying to join ISIS
An East Jerusalem man is set to be charged with attempting to join the Islamic State terror group in hopes of carrying out an attack, police and the Shin Bet say in a joint statement.
The suspect, 22, was arrested at his home in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sawahera in May 6, and has been ordered to remain in custody until June 2 at the earliest.
According to law enforcement, during interrogation, “it emerged that the suspect supports ISIS [and] recently tried to join the terror group’s ranks.” Authorities say the suspect was in contact with ISIS representatives abroad, traveled to Turkey and Africa, and hoped to receive training and guidance on carrying out an attack.
An indictment is set to be filed in the coming days, the statement says.
Montreal Jewish school hit with gunfire days after suspect arrested over November attack
Police say they are investigating after a Jewish school in Montreal was fired on this week, days after a suspect was arrested for shooting another nearby Jewish school.
Police say at least one bullet hit the Yeshiva Ketana, which serves children in the city’s Belz community, but there were no injuries, the CBC reports.
According to Yeshiva World News, the gunman was captured on surveillance footage, though his vehicle was not. Authorities believe the shooting took place Tuesday night or Wednesday, according to reports.
In a statement, Jewish community leaders express exasperation with the latest attack.
“Yet another Jewish school was shot at in the middle of the night – in Canada,” say Federation CJA president Yair Szlak and Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs vice president in Quebec Eta Yudin in a statement. “Thankfully no one was inside the building, but this violent hatred must no longer be tolerated.”
They call on Mayor Valérie Plante to take “decisive action … to finally put an end to the atmosphere of permissiveness towards antisemitism that is now rampant in our city.”
Police say they will up their presence at all Jewish schools in Montreal, the pair report.
On May 22, police arrested a suspect over a pair of shootings that targeted the city’s Yeshiva Gedola, about a block away, in November.
Golan towns given all-clear after drone scare
The IDF’s Homefront Command gives the all-clear following drone sirens that sounded in the southern Golan Heights.
“The incident has concluded,” the Homefront Command says, without providing details.
A number of drone alerts in the north over the past week have been declared false alarms.
Drone alert triggered in Golan
Drone infiltration warnings are sounding in several communities across the southern Golan Heights, east of the Sea of Galilee, the IDF’s Home Front Command says.
There are no immediate details about the alarm.
Khamenei welcomes US student protesters into ‘Resistance Front’ terror alliance
Iran’s supreme leader is offering praise to students roiling US university campuses with anti-Israel protests, while also trafficking in some old-fashioned antisemitism.
In an open letter to US university students, Ali Khamenei says the students have “now formed a branch of the Resistance Front,” referring to a loose alliance of Iran-backed terror groups and militias around the Middle East seeking to destroy Israel and kill American troops, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, Iraq’s Islamic Resistance and of course the Hamas terror group.
I assure you that today the circumstances are changing. The people's conscience has awakened on a global scale & truth is coming to light. Besides you students from dozens of universities in U.S., there have also been uprisings in other countries among academics & general public.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 30, 2024
“The greater Resistance Front which shares the same understandings and feelings that you have today, has been engaged in the same struggle for many years in a place far from you,” he says.
Along the way, he also notes that “The global Zionist elite … owns most US and European media corporations or influences them through funding and bribery,” hitching a ride on the age-old antisemitic trope that Jews control the media.
Rocket siren rings near Gaza border
Rocket sirens have been triggered in Nirim near the Gaza border.
The alarm is the first to sound in southern Israel since a Tuesday night alert in Mefalsim.
Army radio reports that a single projectile was launched from Khan Younis and landed in an uninhabited area.
In China, Sissi calls for international community to end ‘Israeli siege’ on Gaza
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 30, 2024. (Jade Gao/AFP)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, in Beijing for a meeting of Arab leaders and Chinese officials, says the international community must end an “Israeli siege” on the Gaza Strip, after the IDF said it had gained control over the entirety of Gaza’s border with Egypt.
“I… call on the international community to immediately provide for long-term humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip and to end the Israeli siege,” Sissi says.
He also urged the international community to “stop any attempt at forcing Palestinians to forcibly flee their land.”
Sissi adds there is “no pathway to peace and stability in the region” without a “comprehensive approach to the Palestinian cause.”
He calls for a “serious and immediate commitment to the two-state solution and a recognition of the Palestinians’ legitimate right to an independent state.”
IDF says 2 troops hurt in West Bank ramming died of wounds; soldier killed fighting in Gaza
This composite image shows Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel, Staff Sgt. Yedidya Azugi and Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj whose deaths the IDF announced on May 30, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces announces that two soldiers seriously wounded in a car-ramming attack outside Nablus last night have died of their wounds.
They are named as Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel, 20, from Tel Zion, and Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj, 20, from Tel Aviv. Both were infantrymen in the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion.
Separately, the military says that Staff Sgt. Yedidya Azugi, 21, of the Paratrooper Brigade’s 101st Battalion, was killed while fighting Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip.
The death of Azugi raises the toll in Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas to 292.
US to boycott UN meeting paying tribute to Iran’s Raisi
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi holds up a Quran as he addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, September 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
UNITED NATIONS — The United States will boycott a United Nations tribute on Thursday to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed earlier this month in a helicopter crash, a US official says.
The 193-member UN General Assembly traditionally meets to pay tribute to any world leader who was a sitting head of state at the time of their death. The tribute will feature speeches about Raisi.
“We won’t attend this event in any capacity,” a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells Reuters. The US boycott has not previously been reported.
Raisi, a hardliner who had been seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed when his helicopter came down in poor weather in mountains near the Azerbaijan border on May 19.
“The United Nations should be standing with the people of Iran, not memorializing their decades-long oppressor,” says the US official. “Raisi was involved in numerous, horrific human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.”
“Some of the worst human rights abuses on record, especially against the women and girls of Iran, took place during his tenure,” the official says.
The UN Security Council stood at the beginning of an unrelated meeting for a moment of silence on May 20 to remember the victims of the helicopter crash. Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood reluctantly stood with his 14 counterparts.
The United States expressed its “official condolences” for Raisi’s death, the State Department said on May 20. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby also said that day: “No question this was a man who had a lot of blood on his hands.”
US President Joe Biden’s administration was strongly criticized by some Republican members of Congress for offering condolences to Iran.
Raisi, 63, was elected president in 2021 and in office ordered a tightening of morality laws, oversaw a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world powers.
US indicates Israeli takeover of Philadelphi Corridor in line with limited op it’s willing to support
IDF soldiers under the Givati Brigade stand atop a tank in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout picture released on May 10, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
White House national security spokesman John Kirby indicates Israel’s recently announced capture of the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt does not cross the Biden administration’s red line regarding a major military offensive in Rafah.
“When [Israel] briefed us on their plans for Rafah, it did include moving along that corridor and out of the city proper to put pressure on Hamas in the city,” Kirby tells reporters in a briefing.
He declines to confirm if Israel has indeed seized all of the Philadelphi Corridor, saying, “It’s not our op.”
However, he says the move is consistent with the “limited” ground operation that Israeli officials briefed the US on ahead of time.
US President Joe Biden warned earlier this month that he would halt certain offensive weapons shipments to Israel if the IDF launched a major military offensive in populated parts of Gaza’s southernmost city.
Israel Land Authority orders UNRWA to evacuate Jerusalem premises within 30 days for lease violations
Activists protest outside the UNRWA office in Jerusalem on March 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Israel Land Authority has informed UNRWA that it must vacate its East Jerusalem premises in Ma’alot Dafna within 30 days, following the approval of a demand from Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf to evict the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from any state land it is currently occupying.
In a letter to UNRWA, the ILA writes that it owes them a sum of NIS 27,125,280 ($7,326,711.19) for operating on land belonging to Israel without consent for the last seven years.
In addition, it instructs UNRWA that it is “required to immediately stop any illegal use, destroy everything you have built in violation of the law, vacate the land of any people or items and return it to the Authority within 30 days from the date of this letter.”
Ynet reports that for several years, the ILA has turned a blind eye to UNRWA’s violation of the terms under which the land was leased to it, but has now decided to enforce the terms of the lease in light of tensions over the war in Gaza and the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas in southern Israel.
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