The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Hezbollah launched several mortars at Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon in two separate incidents in the past few hours, the military says.
According to the IDF, no injuries were caused.
South Korean shipper HMM says that the fire on its vessel in the Strait of Hormuz has been extinguished.
The ship will be towed to a nearby port in Dubai, the company says, adding no casualties have been reported so far.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says on Monday that some meteorological monitoring equipment at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine was damaged in a drone strike.
An IAEA team observed the damage as they visited the plant’s external radiation monitoring laboratory a day after the plant reported a drone attack, the watchdog says.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says today’s events in the Strait of Hormuz show that there is no military solution to the crisis, adding that talks are making progress with Pakistan’s mediation while warning the United States and the United Arab Emirates against being drawn into a “quagmire by ill-wishers.”
Events in Hormuz make clear that there's no military solution to a political crisis.
As talks are making progress with Pakistan's gracious effort, the U.S. should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE.
Project Freedom is Project Deadlock.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 4, 2026
Hezbollah says its forces clashed with Israeli soldiers on Monday in south Lebanon near the border where the troops are still operating, despite a fragile ceasefire since April 17.
The Iran-backed terror group says in a statement that after Israeli troops attempted to advance near the town of Deir Seryan, its fighters “opened fire on the enemy force and engaged in heavy clashes with them.”
Deir Seryan is inside the Israeli-declared “yellow line” running up to 10 kilometers (six miles) deep along the length of the border in south Lebanon, where residents have been told not to return.
The IDF confirmed earlier Monday that there were clashes with Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon during which two of its soldiers were moderately wounded.
The army said that soldiers returned fire, and the Israeli Air Force also struck Hezbollah sites in the area, including buildings used by the terror group and its anti-tank guided missile launch posts.
Hezbollah also claims a series of other attacks on Israeli military targets in south Lebanon that it says were in response to “the Israeli enemy’s violation of the ceasefire.”
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reports Israeli air strikes on more than 20 south Lebanon locations, some of them towns where the Israeli military earlier Monday told residents to evacuate.
Lebanon’s army says that “an officer and a soldier were lightly wounded” in an Israeli strike on the town of Kafra “while they were traveling in a military vehicle between army posts.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will convene leaders from across society on Tuesday to tackle antisemitism in the wake of the stabbing of two Jewish men and a string of other assaults, his office says.
The attacks have left communities fearing for their safety and piled pressure on the governing Labour Party, particularly ahead of local elections on May 7. The leader of the opposition Conservative Party has called antisemitism a “national emergency.”
The government has since raised the national terrorism threat level to “severe” and announced an additional 25 million pounds ($33.80 million) in funding to bolster protection of the country’s estimated 290,000-strong Jewish community.
Starmer, whose wife is Jewish, says in a statement that last week’s stabbings were part of a pattern of rising antisemitism that has left the country’s Jewish communities feeling frightened and angry.
“Make no mistake, this crisis – it is a crisis for all of us. It is a test of our values… It is not enough to simply say we stand with Jewish communities. We must show it,” he adds.
Tuesday’s meeting will bring together representatives from business, civil society, health, culture, higher education and policing to take part in discussions with members of the Jewish community, hosted by ministers.
The government, which has also promised legislation to deal with state-sponsored threats, says the event forms part of its efforts to accelerate work to confront militancy, protect the Jewish community and strengthen cohesion.
The Global Terrorism Index, issued by the Institute for Economics & Peace, has said that while deaths from terrorism fell worldwide in 2025, terrorism-related fatalities in Western countries surged by 280% compared to 2024, largely driven by antisemitism, Islamophobia and political terrorism.
In Britain, government data published last year showed sharp rises in hate crimes against both Jewish and Muslim communities in the months following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
Maersk says the Alliance Fairfax, a US-flagged vehicle carrier operated by its Farrell Lines subsidiary, exited the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by US military assets on Monday.
American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command tweets.
Some 20% of the world’s oil passed through that vital maritime chokepoint prior to its virtual closure following the US and Israeli war with Iran.
“As a first step, 2 US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM says on X, adding that US Navy guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Gulf under a directive called “Project Freedom.”
The Alliance Fairfax is part of the US Maritime Security Program, which provides financial stipends to dozens of US-flagged, private commercial vessels that guarantee transport for the US military during a war or national emergency.
Maersk says the transit of the Alliance Fairfax was completed without incident and that all crew were safe and unharmed.
Maersk bought Virginia-based Farrell Lines in 2007, the US vehicle carrier operator says.
The Alliance Fairfax was among hundreds of ships stranded in the Gulf with the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early March.
At least one other US-flagged vessel remains in the Gulf area.
Despite the ongoing rift between their countries, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed to express his solidarity with Abu Dhabi after the latter was targeted with Iranian strikes on Monday.
Saudi state media says MBS condemned Iran’s attacks on the UAE during the call.
Former US president Barack Obama says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the same arguments to convince US President Donald Trump to launch a war with Iran that the Israeli premier used on him over a decade ago.
Obama tells The New Yorker that he wasn’t convinced that military action against Iran would have actually addressed the threats posed by the regime.
“I think my prognosis was accurate,” he says, as the US, after striking Iran, is still entertaining many of the trade-offs that Trump criticized Obama for making in the 2015 nuclear deal.
In successfully convincing Trump to strike Iran, it may be that Netanyahu has “gotten what he wanted. Whether that’s what is ultimately best for the Israeli people, I would question that,” Obama argues.
“Whether I think it’s what is good for the United States and America, I would question that,” he adds.
“I think there’s an ample record of my differences with Mr. Netanyahu,” Obama notes.
US President Donald Trump stops short of calling Monday’s Iranian missile fire at the United Arab Emirates a ceasefire.
Picking up another cold call from a journalist, Trump is asked by ABC News whether he’d brand the Iranian strikes a violation of the truce struck last month with Iran.
Trump responds by appearing to downplay the Iranian salvos.
“[It was] not heavy firing,” Trump says. “They were shot down for the most part.”
Pressed again, Trump responds, “We’ll let you know… I’m looking into it.”
Trump tells ABC that “Iran “better hope [the ceasefire] remains in effect. The best thing that can happen to them is that we keep it in effect.”
An individual was shot by US law enforcement today near the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, the Secret Service says.
The person’s condition and the circumstances surrounding the shooting around 15th Street and Independence Avenue are not immediately known.
The Secret Service encourages people to avoid the area as emergency crews respond to the shooting not far from the White House, where US President Donald Trump was holding a small business event.
The White House was briefly locked down as authorities investigated the incident. The Secret Service ushered journalists who were outside into the briefing room, and Trump continued his event without interruption.
A man accused of killing one person and injuring a dozen more in a firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza plans to plead guilty this week, according to court documents.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole if a state judge accepts his guilty plea in the June 1, 2025, attack in downtown Boulder, according to the documents filed by his attorneys on Sunday in a related federal case.
Soliman had previously pleaded not guilty after he was accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails during the demonstration at a pedestrian mall. An 82-year-old woman who was injured in the attack later died. A dozen others were also injured.
Soliman is an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the US illegally. Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”
Soliman faces dozens of state charges including murder and attempted murder.
He has pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges. Prosecutors are considering whether to seek the death sentence in that case, according to his attorneys. Soliman’s attorneys said that, last August, he offered to plead guilty in that case and would accept a sentence of life in prison.
The Associated Press left voicemail messages for Soliman’s attorneys in both cases.
Shannon Carbone, with the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment on Soliman’s intention to plead guilty on Thursday, citing public comment restrictions imposed on prosecutors. She says County Attorney Michael Dougherty will address the case following Thursday’s hearing.
State prosecutors have identified 29 victims in the attack. Thirteen were physically injured, and the others were nearby and are considered victims because they could have been hurt. A dog was also injured in the attack, and Soliman has been charged with animal cruelty.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is running to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says the Iranian attacks on the UAE are a declaration that Tehran has renewed its campaign against allies of Israel and the US in the Middle East.
“The United Arab Emirates, our strategic ally, has just been attacked by Iran,” writes Bennett on X. “This is, in effect, a declaration of the renewal of Iran’s war against the allies of the United States and Israel across the region.”
“This regional alliance is vital to our security and to the security of the moderate partners in the Middle East and the Gulf. Iran continues to try to intimidate the region and poses a threat to global security. We stand with our ally,” he adds.
Tomorrow’s hearing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial will run from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., beginning an hour later than planned.
The court agrees to shorten tomorrow’s hearing rather than cancel it, as Netanyahu had requested.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine will observe a ceasefire beginning at midnight between tomorrow and Wednesday.
Zelensky, writing on Telegram, says Russia has not responded to Kyiv’s calls for a ceasefire and that Ukraine is proceeding because it believed that “human life is incomparably more valuable than the ‘celebration’ of any anniversary.” Russia has said it will observe a ceasefire on May 8-9 to allow celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“In this regard, we announce a regime of silence starting from [midnight] on the night of May 5 to May 6,” Zelensky writes.
Zelensky gives no timeframe for the ceasefire but says Ukraine will “act symmetrically from the specified moment.”
The United States and Gulf Arab nations are drafting a UN Security Council resolution designed to condemn Iran for blocking the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz says.
Waltz says negotiations will take place this week on the resolution, which comes after permanent Security Council members Russia and China blocked a resolution last month that Washington hoped would galvanize international efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the waterway, a key pathway for the flow of oil and gas.
The European Union will soon launch a program to support Palestinians facing Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority and the EU office in Jerusalem say.
“In coordination with the government, the European Union will launch a program to support victims of settler terrorism,” Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa says in a statement.
“It’s a project that the EU is developing with local and international NGOs with the aim of documenting attacks on Palestinians by violent Israeli settlers and to support the communities that are victims of such attacks,” the office of the local EU representative tells AFP.
A source at the office adds that the project, led by civil society organizations and supported by the EU, “will provide protective presence and protective equipment such as fences to Palestinian communities facing attacks from settlers.”
The program is expected to be finalized within a few months, and its budget should be “around six million euros,” the source adds.
Settler violence has risen in recent months, with near-daily attacks reported and few arrests.
Watch live as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House, where he is speaking about the war with Iran:
Iran fired 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones at the UAE today, says the Emirati Defense Ministry.
The attacks caused three moderate injuries.
Since the start of the war on February 28, Iran has fired 549 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles, and 2,260 drones at the UAE, which has suffered more Iranian attacks than any other country.
Antisemitic and anti-Israel graffiti have been found on walls in three locations surrounding the train station in Florence, Italy, according to Italian media reports.
Some of the scrawls read: “Jews to the stake,” “May Jews burn alive,” “May Zionists be hanged,” and “Let’s burn Israel,” alongside swastikas. Other graffiti targets local entrepreneur Marco Carrai, who also serves as Israel’s honorary consul in the city, calling for his death.
The graffiti was discovered yesterday and immediately cleaned up.
“The antisemitism resurfacing on the walls of our city is something that is serious and unacceptable,” Florence Mayor Sara Funaro, who is Jewish, writes on X. “These words hurt and have nothing to do with the values of Florence.”
“Florence does not deserve this, and it will not be intimidated, continuing to work for peace and against all forms of injustice and violence against oppressed peoples,” she adds.
L’antisemitismo che riaffiora sui muri della nostra città è qualcosa di grave e inaccettabile.
Oggi ci siamo svegliati con scritte che incitano all’odio, alla violenza e alla morte, riportandoci alla memoria gli anni più bui della nostra storia.
Parole che feriscono e che non… pic.twitter.com/0O9wLSeZ9g
— Sara Funaro (@sarafunaro) May 3, 2026
The day before, eight “stumbling blocks” commemorating victims of the Holocaust were vandalized in the northern city of Turin, the Italian daily La Repubblica reports.
The stumbling blocks were covered in black and pink paint in a square next to the local university.
“A vile and foolish act that offends the memory of the victims of Nazism and fascism,” said Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo regarding that act of vandalism.
The number of antisemitic incidents has increased in Italy, with a watchdog tallying a record 963 episodes in 2025.
Former IDF Druze Battalion commander Col. (res.) Wajdi Sarhan announces the launch of a new Druze political party called Brit Achim, or “Brothers’ Alliance,” the first independent party representing Israel’s Druze minority in decades.
Unveiling the party in the northern Druze-majority town of Maghar before an audience of hundreds of community leaders, religious figures, and reserve officers, Sarhan says that the initiative departs from the longstanding model of Druze politicians running within major parties, which he argues has failed to serve the community’s interests.
“This is not another attempt to merge with an existing list in exchange for a seat — this is a declaration of an independent political force,” he says. But he adds that the goal of the party is to win around two Knesset seats, which indicates that he is looking to run jointly with another faction, as the minimum number of seats a party can win in elections is four.
Another aspiration of the party is to potentially serve as a kingmaker in elections set for October. Sarhan will head the party, though details of the slate have yet to be announced.
The party is already in talks with other political actors about possible alliances, Sarhan says, but stresses it will maintain its independence to ensure Druze interests are represented in the next Knesset.
A close variation on the party’s name (Brit HaAchim) is already used in Israeli political discourse to refer to the alliance between former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Bennett and Lapid recently merged their factions into a new party, called “Together.”
Sarhan, a well-known officer who fought in the Second Lebanon War, has worked for more than two years to establish an independent Druze party, amid longstanding frustration in the community that, despite its contributions to the state, particularly in military service, its needs have not been prioritized.
Male Druze citizens are required to serve in the IDF, and while the community makes up just two percent of the population, the Druze account for 3% of all career soldiers, according to the military.
“Time and again we were given promises that evaporated the day after elections, and representatives became rubber stamps in the name of party discipline, all at the expense of our children and their future,” Sarhan says, adding that after years of “waiting for others to take care of us, now we understand it depends only on us.”
One of the minors suspected in the killing of Yemanu Zelka reportedly admitted during a police interrogation to beating the 21-year-old as he was “just trying to defend himself,” Channel 12 reports.
In a transcript from the interrogation published by the outlet, a police interrogator asks the suspect what he is seen doing in surveillance footage documenting the fatal stabbing, which took place the night of Independence Day in Petah Tikva.
“You are beating him and he is already laid out on the ground. What is he doing at this moment?” the interrogator asks.
“He was just trying to defend himself,” the suspect responds.
Continuing the line of questioning, the interrogator asks: “I don’t get it. Why are you continuing to hit him when he is already completely helpless, on the floor and unable to hurt anybody?”
“What should I do? Should I punch him and stop midway through? Everyone is punching, what, should I stop?” the youth retorts.
“Until when did you plan to beat him? Until he died? You understand that’s what happened. You were hitting him while he was laying in a pool of blood,” the interrogator responds.
At this point, the suspect stops responding and asks to be released.
He is one of 19 adolescents suspected of participating in the killing of Zelka, a Pizza Hut employee, after he told the group not to spray party foam in the restaurant.
After waiting outside for the young man to finish his late-night shift, the youths reportedly ambushed and beat him, and within seconds, one assailant took out a knife and stabbed him, with many others in the group continuing to beat him even after he collapsed to the ground. Zelka died of his wounds a day later.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declares a two-day ceasefire in the conflict with Ukraine on May 8-9 to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, Russia’s Defense Ministry says.
The ministry adds that it counts on the Ukrainian side to follow suit and that Russia will launch a massive retaliatory missile strike on the center of Kyiv if Ukraine attempts to disrupt Victory Day celebrations.
“Despite the capabilities at our disposal, Russia has previously refrained from such actions on humanitarian grounds,” it says in a statement, adding however that it is ready to act if the ceasefire is not respected.
“We are warning the civilian population of Kyiv and staff at foreign diplomatic missions of the need to leave the city in a timely manner,” it says.
The United Arab Emirates on Monday orders all schools to return to remote learning for the rest of the week, the education ministry says, following a spate of attacks targeting the country that it says came from Iran.
“The Ministry of Education announces a decision to shift to a remote learning system starting from Tuesday, May 5, 2026, until Friday, May 8, 2026,” reads the statement posted by the ministry on social media.
An apparent Hezbollah drone was shot down over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are deployed, the military says.
No injuries were caused in the incident, the IDF adds.
Masses of utlra-Orthodox worshipers have breached the barriers meant to keep crowds away from the Mount Meron complex on the holiday of Lag B’Omer, flouting authorities’ attempts to limit the annual festivities at the site for fear of Hezbollah rocket fire.
Crowds are seen streaming into the complex and gathering around the traditional central bonfire lit outside the tomb, as well as jumping up and down in celebration, while some individuals overturn fences enclosing the area.
Authorities yesterday announced they would drastically scale back the revelry that customarily takes place each year at the northern shrine, revered as the gravesite of second century Jewish sage Shimon Bar Yochai.
Police efforts to secure the site appear to have fallen short. Earlier, police said only a “minority” of those who sought to enter had gotten in.
Around 20,000 visitors were estimated to have arrived at Meron and its surrounding area by yesterday, according to Hebrew outlets.
כצפוי – המחסומים הפנימיים בהילולה במירון נפרצו, ההמונים נוהרים למתחם הציון pic.twitter.com/lO1cYyDPqQ
— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) May 4, 2026
Israel’s Iron Dome missile system shot down one of the Iranian missiles fired at the UAE today, a source tells CNN.
The presence of the Iron Dome in the UAE would indicate that IDF forces are stationed there.
Israel sent the battery and the soldiers to operate the system to the UAE at the beginning of the war with Iran, Axios reported.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar says the world should prepare for the energy price and supply crisis stemming from the Iran war to potentially last longer.
Speaking to broadcaster tvnet, Bayraktar adds that Turkey does not have any supply issues at the moment, but that certain developments regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from OPEC last month added to the uncertainties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is contending with disagreements in his inner circle over whether to enter talks at the President’s Residence over a potential plea deal in his long-running corruption trial, Channel 12 reports.
The report comes after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara signaled willingness to participate in the negotiations toward a plea bargain in the trial, in which Netanyahu is accused of bribery and fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu has requested a pardon from President Isaac Herzog, and Herzog’s legal adviser had invited both sides to the negotiations late last month in an effort to resolve the trial.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s legal team, led by attorney Amit Hadad, supports participating in the talks, arguing it serves his legal interests. They reportedly say that even if Herzog ultimately grants a pardon, he would need to demonstrate in court that all other avenues – including mediation efforts – had been exhausted.
However, the report says Netanyahu’s family, including his wife, Sara, and son, Yair, along with other advisers, oppose attending the talks, viewing them as a waste of time. They believe Herzog is using the discussions to avoid directly addressing the pardon request and to deflect public scrutiny.
The May 3 deadline set by Herzog for moving forward has already passed, and Netanyahu has yet to make a decision.
The UAE says it is facing yet another wave of Iranian drone and missile attacks.
Three Indian nationals have been wounded in the attacks in the UAE so far today.
Police say they have arrested all 19 minors suspected of involvement in the killing of pizzeria employee Yemanu Zelka on Independence Day, after two weeks of searches.
“Since the incident, all suspects suspected of taking part in the mass fight have been arrested,” police announce.
Zelka, a 21-year-old Pizza Hut employee in Petah Tikva, was stabbed to death on the night of the holiday in an attack by a group of adolescents after he told them not to spray party foam in the restaurant.
After waiting outside for Zelka to finish his late-night shift, the youths ambushed and beat him, with one assailant taking out a knife and stabbing him. He died of his wounds a day later.
A branch of the Catholic Church expresses deep concern over reports that Israel was demolishing civilian and religious buildings in parts of southern Lebanon under its control, following allegations that a convent had been bulldozed.
The Council of Melkite Greek Catholic Bishops in Lebanon urges the Lebanese government and the United Nations to protect the property of civilians and religious institutions in southern Lebanon, citing in particular the village of Yaroun, where officials said Israeli troops destroyed a Melkite convent earlier this month among other demolitions.
The bishops called the destruction of buildings, after residents of the area had evacuated, a “deep wound in the national and human conscience.”
The Israeli military on Saturday acknowledged it caused some damage to a “residential structure” at the Catholic convent while working to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, but denied claims that it “demolished” the site with bulldozers.
Adib Ajaka, a Christian community leader in Yaroun, tells The Associated Press that the photos posted in the Israeli statement were of another building next to the convent that housed a clinic and archbishopric, and that the Israeli military had bulldozed the convent. He hands over a photograph showing rubble next to the clinic building that he says are the remains of the convent.
The Israeli military does not immediately respond to questions about the convent.
Adib, as well as a municipal official from Yaroun and Gladys Sabbagh, the superior general of the Basilian Salvatorian Sisters who had used the convent, all tell The Associated Press that according to news they received, the convent had been bulldozed while residents were evacuated from the area. The municipal official speaks on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The French Catholic charity L’Oeuvre d’Orient condemns what it calls the “deliberate act of destruction of a place of worship and the systematic destruction of homes in southern Lebanon aimed at preventing the return of civilian populations.”
If Iran attacks any US ships around the Strait of Hormuz, they will “blown off the face of the earth,” US President Donald Trump tells Fox News.
But he says that the Iranians are showing flexibility in talks and are “much more malleable” in the face of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump says that he is continuing to send troops and equipment to the region.
“We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before,” Trump says. “We have the best equipment. We have stuff all over the world. We have these bases all over the world. They’re all stocked up with equipment. We can use all of that stuff, and we will, if we need it.”
Meanwhile, writing on social media, Trump says that Iran “has taken some shots at unrelated Nations,” including a South Korean cargo ship, but no damage has been caused to any other ships. Iran also reportedly fired missiles at the UAE today.
“Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” Trump says, adding that the US has destroyed seven Iranian fast boats.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will hold a new conference tomorrow, he says.
Iran had “no plans” to target the United Arab Emirates, Iranian state television says, after the UAE accused the Islamic Republic of fresh missile attacks.
A senior Iranian military official says “Iran had no plans to target the UAE,” state TV reports.
The US military has destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired by Tehran as the US launches an operation to free up the Strait of Hormuz for shipping, US Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, says.
Cooper says he “strongly advised” Iranian forces to remain clear of US military assets as it launches the operation. He says a US blockade of Iran that prevents ships from going to Iran or departing Iranian territory also remains in effect and was exceeding expectations.
Amid the escalation in the Gulf, an Israeli military official says the IDF is “monitoring the situation and is on alert and at high readiness.”
“Our air defense systems and offensive capabilities are at a high level of readiness, which has not changed since the ceasefire [took effect],” the official says.
The official says there are no changes in the Home Front Command’s guidelines for civilians as of yet, and “any change in the guidelines will be updated accordingly.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks are needed before there would be any meeting between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is sought by Washington.
Aoun’s office says in a statement that the president “reiterated his view that the timing is not appropriate now for a meeting” with Netanyahu.
The statement quotes Aoun as saying: “We must first reach a security agreement and stop the Israeli attacks on us before we raise the issue of a meeting between us.”
Aoun says in a meeting with lawmakers that the third meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington will take place “in the coming days.”
Lebanon, he says, is “ready to accelerate the pace of negotiations,” adding that “there is no turning back from the path of negotiations because there is no other option before us.”
He says national unity must be prioritized right now.
Swastikas are sprayed on multiple synagogues and Jewish sites in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York City, home to a large population of Jews.
The Shmira neighborhood watch group says “multiple swastikas” were sprayed on Jewish targets overnight, including on a home garage and on the Congregation Machane Chodosh synagogue.
The swastika was sprayed on a cornerstone of the congregation’s building that is dedicated to survivors of Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi pogrom against German Jews that is regarded by some as the beginning of the Holocaust.
Other images circulating online show graffiti saying “Heil Hitler” sprayed on the nearby Rego Park Jewish Center, another synagogue.
Tagging a Jewish Center with a PreK with a swastika & “Hitler” is not normal vandalism — it’s a targeted “mark” against NYC Jews & their kids. Unfortunately, this is the reality under @NYCMayor Mamdani who refuses to take the spiking rate of antisemitism seriously. We need more… pic.twitter.com/4VBovAAVHj
— Jean (@queens_parents) May 4, 2026
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin visits the area, saying that multiple homes and synagogues were vandalized.
Multiple synagogues and private homes in Queens were vandalized overnight with swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti. @Lynn4NYC, @PhilWongNYC and I are at one of the sites, Congregation Machane Chodosh, in Forest Hills now.
When rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this… pic.twitter.com/s38TXvFHQt
— Speaker Julie Menin (@SpeakerMenin) May 4, 2026
“When rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this morning, they expected to be met with their usual loving community. When a family woke up, they were prepared to begin an otherwise normal week. Instead, they were met with terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence,” Menin says in a statement.
British police arrest two people in connection with an arson attack on a memorial wall in a north London area that is home to a large Jewish community.
A man, 46, and a woman, 38, are arrested in relation to the incident, which counterterrorism officers are investigating, on suspicion of arson, the police say in a statement.
The wall is dedicated to Israelis killed by the Hamas terror group and Iranians killed by the Islamic Republic.
The incident on April 27, which followed arson attacks on Jewish targets, took place in Golders Green, where ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer emergency service, Hatzola, had been torched.
Police have said they are investigating possible Iranian links to the arson attacks.
The stabbing of two Jewish men in the same area last week has heightened concerns about the community’s safety, prompting the government to raise the national terrorism threat level to “severe” from “substantial.”
Counterterrorism officers in the British capital are working on a number of investigations into incidents that have taken place in northwest London since the ambulance attack in March, police say.
A total of 30 arrests have been made and nine people have been charged since the March incident, in what police described as “the most intensive set of community operations it has ever run,” the statement says.
Jews in New York City were targeted in 60 percent of all confirmed hate crimes last month, according to New York Police Department data.
The police report 30 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes out of 50 total hate crimes recorded in the city.
Jews make up around 10% of the city’s population.
Last month, there were nine incidents targeting black people, one based on gender, three against Hispanic people, two motivated by religion, five based on sexual orientation, and zero targeting Muslims, Asians, white people, or other ethnicities.
The number of antisemitic hate crimes in April marks a decrease from the 43 confirmed incidents targeting Jews one year earlier, in April 2025.
But it is a rise when compared to recent months. In February of this year, there were 21 confirmed antisemitic incidents, and in March, 32.
The monthly total tends to vary based on factors that include news developments, protests, and the weather.
The NYPD had previously reported suspected, but unconfirmed, hate crime incidents. That changed in February, when the police reported confirmed incidents instead.
Then, after coming under criticism, the NYPD began reporting both suspected and confirmed hate crimes in March.
That means that a total for the year is not available, because, for January, there is no data on confirmed incidents, and for February, there is no data on suspected incidents.
After a surge in antisemitic hate crimes after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023 that continued into 2024, the number dropped slightly in 2025, but Jews are still targeted more than all other groups combined every month.
Brent oil prices shoot up more than five percent amid intensifying tensions over the Strait of Hormuz as Emirati authorities said an energy installation had been struck by an Iranian drone.
Near 3:35 p.m. GMT (6:35 p.m. Israel time), Brent oil futures jumped 5.2% to $113.78 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 3.1% to $105.11 a barrel.
The IDF says it razed a Hezbollah tunnel measuring 30 meters (some 100 feet), and discovered a nearby cache of weapons, during recent operations in southern Lebanon.
The tunnel had been used by Hezbollah to advance attacks, according to the military.
Next to the tunnel, the IDF says, troops located a cache that included some three tons of explosives, 43 Claymore-style mines, other mines, and anti-tank guided missile systems.
In addition to the tunnel and explosives cache, the IDF says it struck Hezbollah operatives and some 15 infrastructure sites belonging to the terror group in the western sector of southern Lebanon over the past day.
The UAE is facing a second wave of Iranian drone and missiles within an hour, says the Emirati Defense Ministry.
Sirens are sounding across the country.
Iran has launched 4 cruise missiles at the UAE, says the Emirati Defense Ministry.
Three were intercepted, while one crashed into the sea, says the ministry on X.
The UAE had previously said it was facing drone and missile attacks from Iran.
According to the ministry, the country’s air defenses engaged the incoming projectiles.
Explosions heard across the country are the result of interceptions, says the ministry on X.
A fire has broken out at the Fujairah Oil Industrial Zone, the UAE’s only major port that sits on the Gulf of Oman, and can be reached without transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked.
Earlier this afternoon, the UAE ordered residents to head for shelters, then sent an all-clear message shortly afterward.
Iran fired two drones at an Emirati commercial ship today.
A soldier was lightly injured in a Hezbollah explosive drone attack in southern Lebanon today.
According to the IDF, Hezbollah launched several explosive drones at troops stationed in southern Lebanon today, along with several rockets.
The rocket attacks did not cause any injuries, the military says.
The wounded soldier was taken to a hospital and his family was notified.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied the American military’s report that two US ships transited the Strait of Hormuz despite the Iranian blockade, according to Iran’s Tasnim News.
The IRGC says no commercial vessel or tanker has crossed the strait in the past few hours, and adds that “claims by US officials are baseless and complete lies,” according to the report.
Iran had previously said it fired warning shots at US ships.
The military says the fighter jets and cargo plane seen over the Jerusalem area a short while ago were training for tomorrow’s handover ceremony for the chief of the Israeli Air Force.
Tomorrow afternoon, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar is being replaced by Maj. Gen. Omer Tischler.
The practice flights will take place until tomorrow morning, the IDF says.
“This is routine activity; there is no fear of a security incident,” the military adds.
The military did not warn the public ahead of time.
Contradicting reports that thousands of Jewish pilgrims have snuck up onto Mount Meron today ahead of Lag B’Omer festivites, police claim that only a “minority” have succeeded in skirting their barriers.
“The entry of thousands of people into the Meron area has so far been prevented, and the arrival of hundreds of buses traveling in violation of the [Home Front Command] guidelines has been thwarted,” police say in a statement.
Hundreds of officers are present in the area to block the entry of revelers to Meron, police say, after authorities decided yesterday to drastically pare down planned annual celebrations at the site near the Lebanon border for Lag B’Omer, which begins tonight, amid war-related safety concerns.
Police further deny news reports claiming masses of revelers have reached the site illegally, claiming they are liable to “mislead the public” and insisting only a “minority” have managed to evade law enforcement.
Over the past 24 hours, mostly Haredi pilgrims have been seen hopping over and crossing through weak points in chain-link fences surrounding the site, despite law enforcement’s efforts to secure the area.
Before police closed the site and roads leading to it yesterday morning, an estimated 20,000 people had already arrived in the town of Meron for the holiday, according to several Hebrew outlets.
Fighter jets and a C-130 transport plane are seen flying low over the Jerusalem area a short while ago.
The reason for the flyby is not immediately clear.
Fighter jets and a C-130 transport plane are seen flying low over the Jerusalem area a short while ago.
The reason for the flyby is not immediately clear. pic.twitter.com/csmJ6Un9Qm
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 4, 2026
The IDF issues evacuation warnings for six more villages in southern Lebanon ahead of airstrikes targeting the Hezbollah terror group.
Residents of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Mayfadoun, Qalaouiyah, Burj Qalaouiyah, al-Majadel, and Srifa are instructed to evacuate at least a kilometer (roughly 0.6 miles) away.
“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force and does not intend to harm you,” warns army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee.
Earlier, the IDF issued evacuation warnings for four villages in southern Lebanon.
Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who have been detained in Israeli prison are facing psychological abuse, death threats and poor detention conditions, a rights group representing them says.
“Thiago Avila reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours. Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be ‘killed’ or ‘spend 100 years in jail,'” rights group Adalah, whose attorneys visited both activists today, says in a statement.
Adalah adds that a court will decide tomorrow whether to further extend Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Avila’s detention.
The Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The activists were among more than 170 detained by Israel last week when the flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza was intercepted by the Navy in international waters. The remainder were all freed Friday in Greece.
Israel says that Abu Keshek and Avila are affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which has been accused by the US Treasury of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Hamas.
In the early days of the US-Israel war on Iran, 68 percent of “connected” American Jews — those with ties to American Jewish institutions — supported the war, according to a poll from the Jewish People Policy Institute.
That proportion fell to 60% just after a ceasefire began in the war on April 8, the same survey found, according to results published Sunday. The poll does not survey US Jews as a whole or claim to reflect overall American Jewish opinion.
The decline was sharpest among “connected” Jews who identified as “leaning liberal,” 42% of whom are supportive of the war, down from 57% in early March.
At the same time, opposition among “connected” Jews has risen sharply, with about a third saying they oppose the war, up from 26% just after the war’s start. And only 14% of respondents said they believed the war had achieved “major success.”
The survey of 806 “connected” American Jews, taken April 15-19, drew from a panel that JPPI maintains and surveys regularly. The institute says its polls reflect the sentiments of “connected” Jews because its panel includes fewer intermarried Jews, more Jews who are affiliated with denominations and more Jews who have lived in Israel than demographic data suggests is representative of US Jewry overall.
Two polls taken weeks into the war, before the ceasefire, found that most American Jews overall opposed the US military campaign against Iran.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
South Korea said it was verifying intelligence that a South Korean-flagged vessel was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, Korea’s Yonhap News reports.
A spokesperson for South Korean shipper HMM 011200.KS tells Reuters that a fire broke out in the engine room of one of its bulk carriers in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.
He says there were no reports of casualties or injuries.
The US military said two US Navy guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf to break an Iranian blockade and that two US ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian navy fired cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near US destroyers crossing the Strait of Hormuz today, state television claims.
It says the navy had identified US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz and fired multiple warning shots, adding, “following the Zionist American destroyers’ disregard for the initial warning, the Navy issued a warning shot by firing cruise missiles, rockets, and combat drones around the aggressor enemy vessels.”
The US military said two guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf and that they had not been hit.
IDF troops raided a Hezbollah rocket-launching site in southern Lebanon earlier today, capturing a cache of weapons in the process.
The military says troops of the Givati Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit located dozens of rockets and other weapons at the site, including assault rifles, RPGs and other equipment.
The troops also located primed rocket launchers in the area, which the IDF says were aimed at troops stationed in southern Lebanon and at Israel.
The mayor of Sydney, Australia, has canceled a controversial forum promoting the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” citing concerns that it could inflame tensions and threaten public safety.
The event was titled, “Why it is right to say Globalise the Intifida,” and intended to defend the phrase against efforts to ban it.
The phrase has become a flashpoint in public debate, with Jewish groups and others viewing it as a call to antisemitic violence because the first and second intifadas were violent Palestinian uprisings that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians. Defenders of the slogan say it is a legitimate expression of political speech, and accuse critics of suppressing pro-Palestinian advocacy.
The event, scheduled for tomorrow at the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre, had drawn strong criticism from politicians and Jewish leaders. It was set to coincide with a national Royal Commission hearing about rising incidents of antisemitism across Australia months after the deadly terror shooting targeting a Hanukkah celebration at the city’s Bondi Beach in December, which killed 15.
In a statement on social media, Mayor Clover Moore says the forum risked “contributing to hostility and fear.” She blamed local media, specifically outlets owned by publishing magnate Rupert Murdoch, for amplifying tensions over the event.
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies welcomes the decision, saying the event would have endangered public safety and harmed social cohesion.
“We are pleased that this toxic event will no longer take place at a council venue and reiterate our calls for this phrase to be proscribed as swiftly as possible,” it writes on social media.
After the Bondi Beach attack, Australian lawmakers proposed tougher laws against hate speech, including a proposed ban on the “Globalize the intifada” slogan in NSW.
After issuing a missile alert, Emirati authorities send a second message to cellphone saying that the danger has passed and normal activities can resume.
The reason for the alert remains unclear.
The United Arab Emirates sends an emergency alert to residents ahead of a potential missile attack, according to multiple reports.
Residents are told to immediately seek shelter and await further instructions.
These are the first warnings issued since the April 8 ceasefire between the US and Iran.
Earlier today, Iran launched two drones at an Emirati ship, according to the UAE.
Two soldiers were moderately wounded during an exchange of fire with Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon this morning, the military says.
The IDF says the troops were airlifted to a hospital and their families were notified.
The incident took place at around 11 a.m., when troops of the Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit encountered several Hezbollah gunmen.
The Hezbollah gunmen fired at the troops, wounding two of them moderately. The soldiers returned fire, and the Israeli Air Force also struck Hezbollah sites in the area, including buildings used by the terror group and its anti-tank guided missile launch posts.
The military says it is continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate the operatives.
US President Donald Trump rejected a more aggressive plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in favor of the current operation being conducted by the American military, Axios reports.
Trump was frustrated with the stalemate in which there was no war but no agreement to end the fighting, according to the report.
On Thursday night, US CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper presented a plan to open the passage being blocked by Iran by force, says a US official. The US would have sent Navy vessels through the strait, would have struck any missiles or boats launched by Iran, and would have returned to war if Iran attacked Gulf countries.
At the last minute, however, Trump chose a more careful plan: a “humanitarian” mission to help extract ships trapped in the strait. The current operation does not include naval escorts of those ships. Instead, US ships, aircraft and 15,000 troops are in the area and ready to assist if Iran attacks.
Today, two US ships transited through the strait, CENTCOM said.
Still, concedes a source close to Trump, the operation is the “beginning of a process that could lead to a confrontation with the Iranians.”
“If the Iranians do something, they will be the bad guys and we will have the legitimacy to act,” says the source.
At the same time, diplomatic attempts to find a deal continue behind the scenes.
“There are talks,” says a senior US official. “There are offers. We don’t like theirs. They don’t like ours. We still don’t know the status of [Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei]. And they’re carrying messages by hand to caves or wherever he or whoever is hiding. It slows the process down.”
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is pushing Trump to keep pursuing a diplomatic solution and is bullish about the chances for a deal, according to several US officials.
“It’s either we’re looking at the real contours of an achievable deal soon,” says the senior US official, “or he’s going to bomb the hell out of them.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she would not support any decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw US troops from Italy.
“It is a decision that doesn’t depend on me and one that I personally would not agree with,” Meloni tells reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, on the sidelines of a European Political Community summit.
Asked whether Washington would consider pulling its troops out of Italy and Spain, Trump last week answered “probably.” The US recently decided to withdraw troops from Germany.
Meloni added she would likely meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is due to travel to Rome later this week for talks, including a meeting with Pope Leo.
In a first in Israel, Hadassah Medical Center surgeons used a 3D printer to lengthen and replace the leg bone of a woman, 24, who suffered from Gorham-Stout disease, or vanishing bone disease, an extremely rare condition that causes bone tissue to be abnormally reabsorbed in the body and vanish, the hospital says.
The woman had one leg that was significantly shorter than the other and walked on crutches for most of her life.
Doctors designed a 3D-printed reconstruction of her missing pelvic bone and hip joint, and another custom implant designed to replace her missing femur, or thigh bone.
After an extensive operation, her leg was lengthened by a total of eight centimeters (3.2 inches), followed by an intensive rehabilitation period. Today, her leg has nearly returned to its original length, and she walks without crutches.
“This case is unusual not only because of the rarity of the disease, but also because of the innovative solution found,” says Dr. Omer Or, an orthopedic oncologist and specialist in metabolic bone diseases at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
Two young Jewish men, one of them armed, were filmed last night in Jaffa tearing down posters of Palestinian women and children killed during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
In footage shared by Tel Aviv-Yafo councilman Amir Badran, the pair are seen removing the posters from a wall in the city’s Arab-majority Ajami neighborhood.
“What are you doing?” the person filming the video asks. “Nothing,” replies one of the men as the other continues to rip down the posters.
The man behind the camera then approaches the pair and asks the armed individual whether he is an active soldier, to which he replies in the affirmative.
“Complete lie, a complete lie here,” says the other man, who then points a finger at others outside the video frame, presumably Arab residents: “You killed us on October 7, you killed us. You are evildoers, you support October 7.”
The army is looking into the incident, an IDF spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.
שני יהודים, אחד מהם חמוש בנשק ארוך, הגיעו אמש סמוך לחצות לכיכר ביפו שבה נתלו תמונות ילדים שנהרגו בעזה, והורידו אותן מעל הקיר במקום. תושבים שביקשו מהם לחדול, נתקלו במטח האשמות ובשירת ״אל תירא ישראל״. גם בינואר תועדו כמה צעירים מורידים תמונות מהאנדרטה העממית – שחודשה לאחר מכן pic.twitter.com/VfidmIfbsz
— Yair Foldes (@Yair_Foldes) May 4, 2026
City councilman Badran, an Arab resident of Jaffa, writes a strongly worded Facebook post against the act in which he calls the two young men “thugs.”
“They think they can erase pain, but Jaffa is not silent,” he writes. “The sea is the same sea, the language is the same language, and the pain is one. They will tear them down, [but we] will hang dozens of pictures in their place.”
Jaffa, home to both Arabs and Jews, has seen heightened ethnic tensions in recent years, partly due to the growth of the local Garin Torani, a loose group of religious Zionist families who strategically relocate to areas with large non-Jewish or non-religious populations.
In December, a group of young Jewish men were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a pregnant Arab woman in the city’s Ajami neighborhood.
The American military says two US-flagged merchant vessels transited through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iran’s blockade of the waterway.
“US Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom,” US Central Command says.
CENTCOM says its forces “are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping.”
“As a first step, 2 US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey,” CENTCOM adds.
Iran’s threat “to the security and stability of the region continues and cannot be ignored,” says a senior UAE official after Iran targeted an Emirati commercial ship with drones in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Iranian aggression continues unabated, with acts of maritime piracy,” writes presidential adviser Anwar Gargash on X.
“The UAE’s stance remains steadfast in rejecting aggression and upholding freedom of navigation in this vital international passage.”
Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was taken from jail to hospital last week, requires urgent specialized medical care to treat a life-threatening heart condition, her brother says.
Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while in prison for her campaign to advance women’s rights and abolish the death penalty in Iran. She suffered a suspected heart attack in late March and was taken to a hospital in northwestern Iran on May 1 in rapidly deteriorating health, her family has said.
“She is suffering from terrible headaches, nausea and chest pain. That is what we are very worried about, her heart,” her brother Hamidreza Mohammadi says in an interview from his home in Norway.
The provincial hospital where she is being treated cannot provide her adequate care, he says.
Experts “all believe that her life is in danger and she needs at least one month away from prison conditions to be treated properly,” he says. “She needs her own doctors who have performed the operations before and know exactly what is wrong with her.”
Both Mohammadi’s family and the Norwegian Nobel Committee have appealed to the Iranian authorities to transfer her to her dedicated medical team in Tehran for treatment.
There are no signs of increased vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a day after President Donald Trump said the US would begin efforts to free up shipping.
Only one tanker, a sanctioned, handy-sized LPG carrier, along with a few cargo ships and a cable-laying vessel passed into the Gulf of Oman today, MarineTraffic data showed.
No tankers or other commercial vessels are seen lining up to transit and German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd says transit for its vessels remains impossible due to a lack of clarity over secure passage procedures.
The United Arab Emirates accuses Iran of attacking an empty crude oil tanker belonging to the Abu Dhabi state oil firm ADNOC with drones as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
ADNOC’s maritime energy logistics unit says the Barakah was empty when it was attacked by two drones, and no injuries were reported.
“The UAE further stressed the need for Iran to halt these unprovoked attacks, ensure its full commitment to an immediate cessation of all hostilities, and the complete and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” the foreign ministry adds.
Avigdor Liberman’s right-wing opposition Yisrael Beytenu party announces that Sharon Sharabi, brother of slain hostage Yossi Sharabi and former hostage Eli Sharabi, is joining the party ahead of upcoming elections.
Sharabi emerged as a prominent advocate for the release of the hostages abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 7,2023 attack, including his brothers, Yossi and Eli, who were kidnapped from their homes on Kibbutz Beeri. Yossi was later murdered in captivity, while Eli was released 16 months later in February 2025. Eli’s wife, Lianne, and their teen daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed on October 7.
Liberman welcomes the move, saying Sharabi brings “civic leadership” and “represents values of responsibility, mutual solidarity and strengthening Israeli society’s resilience.”
Sharabi, who is religiously observant despite Yisrael Beytenu’s largely secular character, says he is joining the party out of “a deep responsibility toward Israeli society as a whole,” adding that as a member of the religious Zionist community and a resident of the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe, he will work to “strengthen Jewish settlement, security and mutual responsibility in Israeli society.”
While he “grew up” with the ruling Likud, Sharabi says that the party has since abandoned its traditional “national, statesmanlike and security-focused” values.
“Today, ‘the Likud of the past’ is Yisrael Beytenu,” Sharabi says, calling Liberman “a true right-wing leader” and the only one who wasn’t part of the ‘conceptzia,’ referring to the pre-October 7 belief among the country’s leadership that Hamas was deterred, adding that Liberman had warned of the massacre and called for Hamas’s elimination.
The hawkish leader has previously said that his plans to assassinate Hamas leadership as defense minister were repeatedly overruled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Liberman resigned as defense minister in 2018, bringing down Netanyahu’s government, over a ceasefire reached in the wake of an unprecedentedly fierce two-day barrage of over 400 rockets fired by Hamas and other terror groups at Israel.
Four Arab Israelis are charged with smuggling firearms into the West Bank from Jordan.
Two of the suspects were caught redhanded while trying to smuggle 10 Glock pistols and compatible magazines from Jordan via a drone, the police, army and Shin Bet say in a joint statement.
After interrogating the pair, investigators found they were operating as part of a network allegedly responsible for smuggling “some 44 handguns into Israeli territory and about 120 kilograms [265 lbs] of hashish into Jordan.”
The four defendants also allegedly sold M16 assault rifles to an arms dealer in the West Bank, and from there the firearms were spread throughout the territory.
The suspects, all residents of the Negev, are indicted today by the State Attorney’s Office in the Beersheba District Court following a months-long investigation.
Jewish pilgrims to Mount Meron are continuing to skirt police checkpoints meant to block entry to the site, after authorities drastically scaled back annual Lag B’Omer festivities set to be held this evening at the northern shrine due to war-related gathering restrictions.
Police are gearing up for clashes after they pared down customary festivities at the site, in accordance with the army’s tightened public gathering restrictions in the region amid the threat of Hezbollah rocket fire.
This year, the celebration is authorized to consist of three small bonfire lighting ceremonies, attended by 200 people each. Last year, by contrast, drew some 100,000 mostly Haredi revelers to the site.
Police are trying to apprehend people as they try to sneak in through surrounding forests and fields, but many have already managed to evade the cops, Channel 12 reports.
Late last night, ultra-Orthodox men were seen climbing fences and sneaking into the ostensibly blocked-off area in hopes of reaching the shrine.
Thousands of revelers had arrived at Meron before police closed the roads yesterday morning, meaning there are already far more people at the site than the army allows for.
תיעוד נוסף: צעירים מטפסים על הגדרות ונכנסים להר מירון בקלות. pic.twitter.com/W8joL2Ihel
— זירת החדשות (@ZiratNews) May 3, 2026
The American military denies that any of its Navy ships were hit by Iranian missiles in the Strait of Hormuz.
“No US Navy ships have been struck,” US Central Command says. “US forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.”
While denying that any ships were hit, CENTCOM does not mention whether any US Navy vessels came under fire but weren’t struck.
???? CLAIM: Iranian state media claims that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a U.S. warship with two missiles.
✅ TRUTH: No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports. pic.twitter.com/VFxovxLU6G
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 4, 2026
Earlier, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that two missiles hit a US Navy vessel attempting to pass through the strait.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asked for an urgent meeting with new Civil Service Commissioner Doron Cohen in order to push for approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s embattled former chief of staff as Israel’s next envoy to London, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Cohen’s tenure begins tomorrow.
Tzachi Braverman was appointed as Israel’s next ambassador to the UK in September, but is under investigation for interfering with an investigation into another Netanyahu aide, Eli Feldstein, over his alleged leak of a classified document to the German newspaper Bild.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is reportedly expected to announce her decision to file an indictment against Braverman in the coming weeks.
Braverman is currently suspended from serving in a public capacity. A judicial order banning him from leaving the country has been annulled, but he would be required to return should the police request that he do so.
Sa’ar’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
A US official denies the Iranian report that Iran fired two missiles at a US Navy vessel after it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The denial from an unnamed official is made to Axios and Channel 12 reporter Barak Ravid.
There is no formal comment from the US on the incident, which apparently took place today.
Iran had warned US forces not to enter the strategic waterway after US President Donald Trump said the United States would “guide out” ships stranded in the strait.
Iran fired two missiles at a US Navy vessel after it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the semiofficial Fars news agency reports.
Fars says that the US vessel was “targeted in a missile attack after ignoring a warning from the naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Citing local sources, Fars reports that the vessel was hit by the missiles and it was “unable to continue its course following the strikes and was forced to retreat and flee the area.”
There is no immediate comment from the US on the incident, which apparently took place today.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said the American military would guide trapped ships through the blockaded waterway and respond “forcefully” to any interference in the operation.
A Hamas operative behind rocket attacks on Israel during the war was killed by troops in the Gaza Strip yesterday, and another terror operative was killed today, the military says.
The IDF says a terror operative was identified approaching troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade in the Strip’s north on Sunday. The soldiers then killed him “to remove the threat,” the army says.
“Following intelligence analysis, it was determined that the terrorist launched rockets toward Israel throughout the war,” the military says.
In another incident this morning, a terror operative was identified approaching troops of the 188th Armored Brigade in the Strip’s south. The IDF says the troops “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat.”
An interceptor missile was launched at an apparent Hezbollah drone detected over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are deployed, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in the border community of Misgav Am during the incident, though the IDF says the “suspicious aerial target” did not cross the border.
The results of the interception are under review, the military says.
In another incident, the IDF says another apparent Hezbollah drone was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over southern Lebanon.
A meeting between Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be a “loss or concession” for Lebanon, says US envoy to Beirut Michel Issa.
“Is Netanyahu some kind of bogeyman? He is just another negotiating party,” he tells reporters, according to Lebanese media.
With Lebanese leaders at odds over the prospect of talks, the US embassy has been pushing hard to convince Aoun to accept a meeting with Netanyahu in Washington, arguing that it could restore government sovereignty to the entire country.
Issa argues that a trip by Aoun to the White House would give him the opportunity to present Lebanon’s demands, especially that “every inch of Lebanon remains and returns to Lebanon.”
Snow is falling on Mount Hermon, the first time in 15 years that the peak has seen flurries during May.
Saturday saw a heatwave across much of the country, before temperatures plunged yesterday.
לראשונה זה 15 שנה: שלג במפלס העליון בחרמון בחודש מאי pic.twitter.com/5y3BEx9UNj
— כל החדשות בזמן אמת (@Saher_News_24_7) May 4, 2026
Sparking outrage during a Knesset meeting on surging violence among Israeli youth, Likud party activist and convicted felon Rafi Kedoshim claims the teens who ambushed and fatally stabbed Yemanu Zelka “didn’t mean to kill him, just to stab him.”
“I also believe that the youths who stabbed the youth that was murdered, believe me, didn’t mean to kill him, just meant to stab him,” he says during an emergency session of the Special Committee for the Rights of the Child.
The remark prompts immediate condemnation from Yesh Atid MK Pnina Tamano-Shata.
“Absolutely not, take it back. Those kids planned his murder. I am absolutely not ready to accept that statement. It’s a scandalous, trivializing statement,” she says.
Zelka, a 21-year-old pizzeria employee, was stabbed to death last month on Independence Day eve by a group of youths in Petah Tikva. So far, 16 suspects have been nabbed on suspicion of ambushing Zelka after his shift, after he told them to stop spraying party foam in the restaurant.
Kedoshim, who has served four prison sentences for acts of violence, kidnapping and extortion, is now a member of the Herzliya city council.
His presence at the meeting, held after two deadly stabbings involving minors in recent weeks, prompted criticism from opposition lawmakers.
“Four months ago the son of Rafi Kedoshim, activist in the mafia organization called Likud, was arrested for vandalizing the Otello ice cream parlor in Herzliya,” writes MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) after the fact on X. “Today, he is invited as a guest to a Knesset discussion on youth violence.”
Her fellow partymember, MK Gilad Kariv, left the discussion due to Kedoshim’s presence.
“Violent criminals at the minister’s birthday party are responsible for the police. Violent criminals are in a discussion on the murderous violence among youth. Criminal government. Criminal coalition,” he writes, referring to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s recent celebration.
During the discussion, representatives of the Knesset Research and Information Center presented worrying data detailing a sharp rise in juvenile delinquency from 2024 to 2025.
According to the data, last year saw a 26% increase in the number of underage criminal suspects investigated by police. One-fifth of the cases involving youth concerned suspected violent offenses.
Israeli Eurovision contestant Noam Bettan’s huge “diamond” stage prop is revealed for the first time as organizers publish photos of yesterday’s onstage rehearsal at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna.
In the images, Bettan can be seen performing dressed in all black with five backup dancers in front of an enormous glittering diamond.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Bettan will begin singing “Michelle” with one of the dancers from inside the diamond, which is lined with “infinite internal mirrors” to mimic the sea of “Michelles” seen in the official music video.
Kan says the “diamond” is the largest stage prop being used by any of the 35 contestants this year.
“What a dayyy!” Bettan wrote on social media last night after wrapping up his first onstage rehearsal. “Can’t wait for you to see what we’ve prepared for you.”
Bettan will have another rehearsal Wednesday before he takes the stage next Tuesday night during the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest, aiming to qualify for the grand final on May 16.
Yair Golan’s left-wing Democrats party announces that protest leader and women’s rights advocate Moran Zer Katzenstein is joining the faction ahead of upcoming elections.
Zer Katzenstein will run in the as yet unscheduled internal party primaries for a position on the slate.
Zer Katzenstein is best known as the founder of Bonot Alternativa or “building an alternative,” a woman-led protest movement that rose to prominence during the 2023 demonstrations against the government’s contentious judicial overhaul. The group drew particular attention for its “handmaid protests,” donning red robes and white caps dressed as characters from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to protest violence against women and attacks on women’s rights.
A former Shin Bet officer and marketing executive at companies including Google and Playtika, Zer Katzenstein was inspired to form the group following the 2020 gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Eilat.
Golan welcomes the move, saying Zer Katzenstein is joining the party “at a moment when the struggle for women’s equality is a struggle over Israel’s security and identity” and calling her “one of the most prominent voices” speaking out against increasing extremism.
He says that as part of a future governing coalition, the Democrats will seek to anchor gender equality in a Basic Law, advance civil marriage, curb the powers of rabbinical courts, and establish a national authority to combat gender-based violence.
Zer Katzenstein says she is proud to join “the most values-driven, fighting and democratic party,” especially as the current government seeks to “dismantle and shatter the entire liberal value system.”
The High Court gives Justice Minister Yariv Levin until Thursday to announce a schedule for convening the committee for selecting judges, with an emphasis on the district courts, Hebrew-language media reports.
“After the justice minister’s announcement is received,” the court says, according to Channel 13 news, “a decision will be made regarding the continuation of handling the petition.”
The announcement comes after the judges of the High Court of Justice told Levin’s lawyer in court yesterday that “crime is rampant” and that there is “an acute lack of judges” on numerous magistrates’ and district courts, during a hearing on petitions relating to Levin’s refusal to fill dozens of vacancies on judicial benches around the country.
Levin lacks a majority in the committee to ensure his candidates can get elected.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says that the United States must reduce its demands on the Islamic Republic, with negotiations stalled over ending the two-month-long Middle East war.
“At this stage, our priority is to end the war,” he says in a briefing broadcast by state television. “The other side must commit to a reasonable approach and abandon its excessive demands regarding Iran.”
Around 20 Palestinians from the village of Turmus Ayya, near Ramallah, were unable to plow land this morning after their activities were disrupted by settlers, despite having coordinated the agricultural work with Israeli authorities.
The group arrived this morning to plow land in Area C near the village, but extremist settlers arrived on the scene and were documented attempting to chase the Palestinians’ tractors.
Calls had circulated online yesterday urging settlers to come to the site and disrupt the plowing.
The land is privately owned by village residents, but because it is in Area C and located near the settlements of Shvut Rachel and Shilo, the work had been coordinated in advance with Israel’s Civil Administration. In Area C of the West Bank, both security and civilian authority lie with Israel.
According to the Palestinians, Civil Administration officials were present.
However, amid the disturbances, the permission was canceled after a closed military zone order was issued.
The decision to halt the plowing was made by the IDF, not the Civil Administration, in what appeared to be an unusual case of permission being canceled due to the actions of settlers.
The IDF has not responded to a request for comment.
من سهل ترمسعيا الآن حيث تحاول مليشيات المستوطنين منع الأهالي والمزارعين من حراثة أراضيهم pic.twitter.com/topF0EGS4a
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 4, 2026
متابعة| جيش الاحتلال يطرد المزارعين من سهل ترمسعيا شمال رام الله عقب اعتداءات للمستوطنين، ويُعلن المنطقة "عسكرية مغلقة". pic.twitter.com/hONzs0ft7Z
— قناة عودة الفضائية (@AwdehTV) May 4, 2026
Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu are holding talks on a possible merger ahead of the upcoming elections, Hebrew media reports, citing sources close to the two leaders.
Discussions are reportedly still at an early stage, with no details yet on who would head a joint slate or how seats would be allocated. Eisenkot and Liberman are expected to meet later this week.
Neither side is commenting on the reports.
Yashar has been polling at roughly 15 seats, making it the second-largest opposition party after Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s new joint slate called “Together-Led by Bennett,” which is polling at 26 seats.
While Bennett and Lapid invited Eisenkot to join their slate after announcing it last week, he has so far ruled this out, suggesting that the union may struggle to draw votes away from the pro-Netanyahu right.
Polls show Together overtaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud as the largest party in the Knesset, but failing to shift the overall balance between blocs, even if Eisenkot were to join.
Meanwhile, a union between Yashar and Liberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beytenu — which currently holds six seats in the Knesset but has been consistently polling at about 10 seats — could yield a combined 25 seats, bringing it neck-and-neck with the Together slate and potentially drawing away votes from the coalition.
Hezbollah fired an anti-tank guided missile at Israeli forces stationed in southern Lebanon overnight, the military says.
The IDF says no injuries were caused in the attack, and shortly after, troops struck the launch site and the Israeli Air Force hit other terror infrastructure in the area where members of the terror group were operating.
Separately, the IDF says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade killed at least 10 Hezbollah gunmen in their area of operations in the past two days.
A primed rocket launcher and a weapon storage site were also demolished by soldiers of the elite Multi-Domain Unit during recent operations in southern Lebanon, the army adds.
ביומיים האחרונים: כוחות צוות הקרב החטיבתי 7 חיסלו 10 מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שהיוו איום על כוחותינו
במהלך פעילות של כוחות צוות הקרב החטיבתי 7 בפיקוד אוגדה 36 לאורך הימים האחרונים, זוהו במספר אירועים שונים, עשרה מחבלים חמושים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה שפעלו בסמוך לכוחות. בסגירות… pic.twitter.com/hXe6SMkcVj
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 4, 2026
The Board of Peace’s lead envoy for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, is in Israel for talks with top Israeli officials after meeting with Hamas in Cairo, according to Army Radio.
Mladenov is expected to ask for Israel to lift some restrictions on the entry of humanitarian items into Gaza, and to limit its military operations, according to the report.
Mladenov has been holding talks with Hamas leaders for weeks, and had given the group until April 11 to accept the Board of Peace’s proposal for it to gradually hand over all of its arms.
Hamas has largely bucked the demands to give up all of its weapons.
Instead, the terror group submitted a counter-offer to the Board of Peace, insisting that the issue of its weapons only be addressed as part of a framework culminating in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The first of six new Boeing KC-46 refueling planes that Israel has ordered completed a first flight test in the United States, the Defense Ministry announces, ahead of its delivery next month.
The KC-46 aircraft are to replace the Israeli Air Force’s current fleet of aging Boeing 707s refueling planes, which played a key role in Israel’s wars against Iran.
The ministry says the tankers will be “equipped with Israeli systems and adapted to the operational requirements of the Air Force, enabling it to extend flight range and maintain air superiority across all arenas.”
The United States kicks off an effort to “guide” stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, as it tries to counter economic disruptions that outlasted the peak of fighting with no peace deal in sight.
A day after US President Donald Trump announced what he called “Project Freedom,” the Joint Maritime Information Center says that the US has set up an “enhanced security area” south of typical shipping routes and urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities “due to anticipated high traffic volume.”
The strait sits between Iranian and Omani territory.
The center warns that passing close to the usual routes, known as the traffic separation scheme, “should be considered extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”
The US-led maritime task force’s announcement marks the start of the effort to revive traffic and restore confidence among commercial vessels transiting the strait. It risked unraveling the fragile ceasefire that has held even without progress on the issues that sparked the war.
It is unclear whether any vessels had accepted the US offer.
French President Emmanuel Macron urges the United States and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a “coordinated” way, as the US military pressed ahead with a mission to escort ships out of the waterway.
“What we want above all is a coordinated reopening by the United States and Iran — that is the only solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Macron says at a meeting of European leaders in Armenia.
“We are not going to take part in any military operation in a framework that to me seems unclear,” says the French leader, whose country has with Britain led efforts to assemble a coalition to reopen the strait once peace is secured.
The US has evacuated 22 crew members held aboard an Iranian container vessel to Pakistan and will hand them over to Iranian authorities today, Pakistan’s foreign ministry says, calling the move a “confidence-building measure.”
“The Iranian ship will also be backloaded to Pakistani territorial waters for return to its original owners after necessary repairs,” the ministry says in a statement.
The IDF says it has launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure sites in several areas of southern Lebanon.
No further details are immediately given by the military.
Earlier, the IDF issued evacuation warnings for four villages in southern Lebanon.
European nations have “gotten the message” from US President Donald Trump and are now ensuring that agreements on the use of military bases are being implemented, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says.
Trump has accused some NATO nations of not doing enough to support the United States in the Iran war.
“Yes, there has been some disappointment from the US side, but Europeans have listened,” Rutte tells reporters at a European Political Community summit in Armenia.
Iran warns the US Navy against entering the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement from the unified command of Iran’s armed forces reported by state media, after the US announced it would start an effort today to free ships stranded in the waterway.
“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” the Iranian statement adds.
However, it has been reported that the Hormuz initiative will not necessarily include US Navy ships escorting commercial ships.
US Navy ships will be “in the vicinity” in the event they need to prevent Iran’s military from attacking commercial ships moving through the strait, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X, echoing reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
A small group of activists block a major Tel Aviv route in a call for the Shin Bet to investigate the disappearance of Haymanut Kasau, who was 9 when she went missing in Safed over two years ago.
The group from coexistence organization “Standing Together” hold signs on Rokach Boulevard calling for the security agency to take a role in the probe into the child’s disappearance.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has given her approval for the intelligence agency to join the search for Kasau, but there has been little to no progress in the case since then.
Kasau was last seen on February 25, 2024, in Safed on security camera footage at 7:45 p.m., handing out municipal election leaflets with her friends outside the Jewish Agency absorption center where she had lived since her family arrived in Israel from Ethiopia three years earlier.
כ-20 פעילי ״עומדים ביחד״, חסמו עתה את דרך רוקח מערב, בקריאה לשב״כ להתערב בחקירת היעלמות היימנוט קסאו, שנעדרת מזה כשנתיים וחודשיים. בנוסף לחסימת הכביש, הפעילים נתלים באמצעות סנפלינג מהגשר הסמוך, אוחזים בשלט גדול ועליו הכיתוב ״אין חגיגה בלי היימנוט״ – תזכורת ליום הולדתה שחל באחרונה pic.twitter.com/Ftv996o9Wm
— Yair Foldes (@Yair_Foldes) May 4, 2026
Pakistan says Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi last night, where both parties discussed the regional situation and Pakistan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reports that Hamas members in the Gaza Strip have completed voting in internal elections and have elected Khaled Mashaal as overall leader of the movement — also known as head of its political bureau.
Khalil al-Hayya was elected Hamas leader in Gaza and Zaher Jabareen was picked the group’s head in the West Bank, the report says.
Al-Hayya and Jabareen were already serving in those roles without elections being held — they assumed the positions in the wake of Israel’s targeted killings of Yahya Sinwar and Saleh al-Arouri, respectively.
However, the report by the pro-Hezbollah daily notes that the results only reflect the Gaza vote.
It does not mention whether voting has already taken place in the other arenas that are also part of the overall decision-making process —- the West Bank and abroad.
The terror group has not yet issued an official statement on the matter.
Hamas generally holds leadership elections every four years, but the latest vote, initially scheduled for 2025, was delayed by the war sparked by the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre. During the war, Israel assassinated most of the group’s senior political and military commanders.
Read more: As Hamas prepares to choose 1st leader since Sinwar, postwar Gaza’s fate hangs in the balance
The IDF issues evacuation warnings for four villages in southern Lebanon ahead of airstrikes targeting the Hezbollah terror group.
Residents of Qana, Debaal, Qaaqaait al-Jisr, and Srifa are instructed to evacuate at least a kilometer away.
“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violations of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is forced to act against it with force and does not intend to harm you,” warns army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations says, on behalf of the Joint Maritime Information Centre, that the maritime security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz remains critical due to ongoing regional military operations.
UKMTO says mariners are advised to coordinate with Omani authorities via VHF channel 16 and should consider routing via Oman territorial waters south of the traffic separation scheme, where the US has established an enhanced security area.
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the United States would begin an effort today to “guide” stranded ships out of the waterway.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial is cancelled after the court received a message overnight from the premier’s defense team, Hebrew-language media reports.
The hearing “will not take place today following an update received from Attorney Amit Hadad during the night,” the court administration says in a statement.
“At this stage, there are no additional details we can provide,” the court says.
Netanyahu had been expected in court this morning.
Iran has executed three men involved in anti-government protests that took place nationwide in January, local media reports.
The new Hormuz Strait initiative will not necessarily include US Navy ships escorting commercial ships, Axios reporter Barak Ravid says in a post on X, echoing reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
US Navy ships will be “in the vicinity” in the event they need to prevent Iran’s military from attacking commercial ships moving through the strait, Ravid says.
The IDF says incoming rocket sirens that sounded a short while ago in Lebanon border towns were triggered by a “false identification.”
No further details are given.
Incoming rocket sirens sound in two Lebanon border towns in the Galilee.
The IDF says the details are being reviewed.
An Australian inquiry opens public hearings into an antisemitic shooting that killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
“The sharp spike of antisemitism that we have witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,” inquiry chief Virginia Bell says in opening remarks.
“It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility towards Jewish Australians simply because they are Jews.”
A tanker has reported being hit by unknown projectiles while transiting about 78 nautical miles north of the city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency says.
All crew are reported safe, UKMTO says.
US Central Command says it will be launching “Project Freedom” on Monday to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The mission, directed by the president will support merchant vessels seeking to freely transit through the essential international trade corridor,” CENTCOM says in a statement after Trump announced the planned operation earlier to escort ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” says CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper in a statement, pointing out that a quarter of the world’s oil trade at sea and significant volumes of fuel and fertilizer products are transported through Hormuz.
The latest operation will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members, CENTCOM says.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalized and is in “critical but stable condition,” his spokesperson says.
The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, does not immediately provide more details about Giuliani’s condition or how long he has been hospitalized.
“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same strength now,” Goodman says in a statement. “We do ask that you join us in prayer for America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”
Giuliani, 81, garnered acclaim for his response to the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attack on New York City, earning the nickname “America’s Mayor.”
Giuliani worked as an attorney for US President Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, an effort that led to criminal charges against Giuliani in two US states and a defamation lawsuit from election workers. Giuliani has denied wrongdoing in the criminal cases.
He was previously hospitalized last year following a car crash in New Hampshire.
A senior Iranian official warns that Tehran would consider any US attempt to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz a breach of the ceasefire.
“Any American interference in the new maritime regime of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the ceasefire,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, posts on X.
The comment comes after US President Donald Trump announced a plan for American forces to escort ships through the blocked Strait of Hormuz beginning Monday.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says she is willing to hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense team in his corruption trial for a potential plea bargain, if there are no preconditions and if the court proceedings aren’t affected in the meantime.
Last week, President Isaac Herzog’s legal adviser invited the attorney general and Netanyahu’s lawyer to the President’s Residence to begin discussions to reach “agreements” over the premier’s ongoing criminal trial, meaning a plea bargain.
A letter signed by Baharav-Miara’s assistant says the attorney general and State Attorney Amit Aisman appreciate Herzog’s efforts to mediate a deal in the case, adding that prosecutors are “willing to hold discussions with the defense to devise a worthy plea bargain, if there are no preconditions to the talks and without harming the trial’s progress.”
The letter declines to go into further details of the potential talks.
Netanyahu’s lawyers have not yet given their response to Herzog’s invitation.
An apparent Hezbollah drone launched from Lebanon was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago.
The “suspicious aerial target,” which triggered sirens in the border community of Yiron, was shot down before crossing the border, according to the IDF.
In another incident, the IDF says it launched interceptor missiles at two more apparent drones over an area of southern Lebanon where troops are deployed. The results of the interception are under review, the military adds.
