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The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Blinken calls Dermer to discuss Gaza humanitarian situation, with 12 days left for Israel to drastically improve crisis
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) hosts Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, August 17, 2023. (Secretary of State Blinken, via Twitter)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call earlier today with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer during which the pair reviewed the steps Israel has taken to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the top Biden aide urged further actions to surge aid to civilians in the Strip, according to a State Department readout.
The call comes 12 days before a deadline set by the US for Israel to drastically improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on October 13, warning that failure to address the humanitarian crisis within 30 days could have legal implications for continued US offensive weapons shipments to Israel because recipients of such aid are legally barred from blocking humanitarian assistance.
Israel says it is not blocking aid from civilians, but the past two months have seen the least amount of aid transferred into Gaza since the start of the war, with northern Gaza seeing particularly low amounts of aid reaching civilians there.
Blinken and Dermer also discussed necessary steps for broader regional de-escalation, including ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, the US readout says. They also discussed plans for the post-war management of Gaza.
Mossad chief said to tell hostage families Hamas hasn’t rejected Egyptian proposal for 12-day deal; will respond early next week
Demonstrators protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip and for early elections, near the Knesset in Jerusalem, October 28, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
Mossad chief David Barnea tells the families of hostages in Gaza during a meeting earlier today that reports that Hamas rejected a recent Egyptian proposal for a 12-day ceasefire are incorrect and that the terror group is expected to submit its formal response to the offer at the beginning of next week, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The Egyptian proposal would begin with an initial 48-hour ceasefire during which Hamas would prepare for the release of four Israeli hostages over the next 10 days, officials involved tell The Times of Israel.
The four hostages would fall under the so-called humanitarian category, meaning they would be either women, the elderly, or the sick.
In exchange, Israel would release roughly 100 Palestinian security prisoners, the officials said.
During the 12-day deal, Israel and Hamas would hold talks about a more long-lasting ceasefire.
A source present at the meeting with the hostage families tells Kan that Barnea understands that Israel has failed for over a year in trying to bring back their loved ones and that talks need to be done differently in order to reach a deal.
Pentagon bolsters the US presence in the Middle East with bomber aircraft and warships
In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge sail in formation as part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian M. Wilbur, U.S. Navy via AP, File)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending additional bomber aircraft and Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster the US presence in the region as an aircraft carrier and its warships are preparing to leave, US officials say.
Austin ordered several B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, tanker aircraft and Navy destroyers to deploy to the Middle East, according to four US and defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.
The moves come at a critical time as Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon rage, even as officials press for a cease-fire. The US has repeatedly said it will defend Israel and continue to protect American and allied presence in the region, including from Yemen-based Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea.
The long-range nuclear-capable B-52 bomber has been repeatedly deployed to the Middle East in pointed warnings to Iran and it is the second time this month that strategic US bombers will be used to bolster US defenses in the region. Earlier this month, B-2 stealth bombers were used to strike underground Houthi targets in Yemen.
Officials do not provide specific number of aircraft and ships that will move into the region. There have been as many as 43,000 US forces in the region recently.
According to a US official, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and the three Navy destroyers in its strike group are scheduled to leave the Middle East by mid-month and return to their home port in San Diego.
The Lincoln and two of its destroyers are now in the Gulf of Oman, and the third destroyer is with two other warships in the Red Sea.
UN rights office warns of threat to UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lebanon’s Baalbek
Smoke rises from the site of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the outskirts of the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa valley on October 31, 2024. (Sam Skaineh/AFP)
The UN Human Rights Office expresses alarm over “the continuing grave impact” of Israeli military operations on civilians and civilian targets in Lebanon, including the destruction of places of worship and risks posed to invaluable archaeological sites.
The office says that since Israel’s air force ordered the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek evacuated, airstrikes that followed have “come perilously close” to the ancient Roman-era temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The destruction of cultural heritage “depletes the historical and cultural identity of the communities it represents,” it says.
The sites destroyed or severely damaged so far include mosques in the southern villages of Yaroun, Maroun el-Ras, Blida, and Kfar Tibnit, the agency said, adding that a Melkite Greek Catholic church in the port city of Tyre was also damaged in early October.
Civilian objects, buildings dedicated to religion and other sites of cultural significance are protected from attack under international humanitarian law unless they become military objectives, the office says.
It stresses that should the sites lose their protection, any attacks upon them must still comply with the principles of proportionality and precaution, and that all parties to the conflict should take special care to avoid damage to buildings dedicated to religion or other sites of cultural or historical significance.
Israel is being attacked daily by one-way drones from Iraq, two US officials say
Iranian-backed militias are launching one-way attack drones against Israel from inside Iraq, which US and partner forces have had to intercept, two officials tell The Associated Press.
Both a US defense official and a regional security official say the one-way drones have been an issue since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and aren’t a retaliation from Iran for Israel’s strikes last week.
However, drone attacks have increased in recent weeks. There’s been an average of about five launches a day from within Iraq targeting Israel by Iranian-aligned militia groups, and within the last week, eight UAVs were fired in one 24-hour period, the regional security officer says.
The US and partner forces have been intercepting the attack drones, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public on the Iraq-launched drone attacks.
The ongoing launches have increased the chance that Israel will respond directly to those attacks, the regional security official says.
Trump, in battleground Michigan, says we have to get Lebanon conflict over with
Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaking to an audience including Arab Americans in the battleground state of Michigan, says it is time to get the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon over with.
“I know many people from Lebanon and we have to get this whole thing over with,” he said.
New York Mayor Eric Adams corruption trial set for April 21, 2025
New York City mayor Eric Adams speaks to members of the press at a news conference in New York, Monday, September 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will go on trial on corruption charges starting April 21, 2025, a US judge rules, as the embattled Democrat prepares for a bruising reelection campaign.
US District Judge Dale Ho set the trial date at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.
Adams, 64, pleaded not guilty last month to federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals in exchange for pressuring city officials to allow Turkey’s new 36-story consulate to open despite safety concerns.
A former police officer who rose to the rank of captain, Adams is the first of the city’s 110 mayors to be charged with a federal crime while in office. At least seven senior officials in his administration have resigned in recent months as multiple federal corruption probes engulf City Hall.
Adams, who took office in January 2022, has declined to resign despite calls to do so from several senior Democrats in the largest US city, including US Representative Jerry Nadler. Adams has pledged to run for reelection next year, and is expected to face a competitive Democratic primary in the left-leaning city.
Adams’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, has told reporters the case rests on the assertions of a staffer who falsely implicated Adams. He has also minimized the severity of the charges, calling the case the “airline upgrade corruption case.”
Turkey’s foreign ministry has said Ankara was following the proceedings in Adams’s case closely and that its diplomats adhered to protocol.
Adams last month received an unlikely message of support from former US President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president in Tuesday’s upcoming election, who is facing federal charges over efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in that case, also was convicted of 34 felony counts in state court in New York City.
“Good luck with everything, they went after you,” Trump says in a light-hearted speech at a charity gala in New York on October 17. “I don’t like what they do.”
Adams has not been as critical of Trump as other Democrats. Asked earlier this week if he believed Trump was a “fascist,” as Vice President Kamala Harris has asserted, Adams said no.
Lebanon death toll from Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah rises to 2,897, ministry says
Israeli strikes against Hezbollah have killed at least 2,897 people and injured 13,150 in Lebanon, with 30 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, Lebanon’s health ministry says, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.
Hezbollah began launching near-daily cross-border attacks against Israel on October 8. Israel dramatically intensified its counter-strikes against Hezbollah last month, including with a limited ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Report: Israel ups protection of sensitive security facility amid fears of Iran reprisal
The Kan public broadcaster reports that amid fears of a potential Iran retaliatory attack, Israel has upped its security measures at a sensitive security facility.
The network doesn’t specify which facility it is referring to.
Trump draws outrage after saying Cheney should have guns ‘trained on her face’
Congresswoman Liz Cheney gives a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, June 29, 2022, in Simi Valley, California. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Donald Trump suggested former US lawmaker Liz Cheney should face combat with guns trained on her, comments his campaign said intended to criticize her as a warmonger and which critics condemned as evidence he would target his enemies if he wins the presidential election.
“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there, with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said at a campaign event in Arizona on Thursday.
Trump also criticized others in Washington who support US involvement in foreign conflicts.
“They’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building, saying, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy,'” he said.
Cheney, a former top Republican in the US House of Representatives, is one of the most prominent Republicans to turn against Trump during his third consecutive bid for the presidency.
She has endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election and has campaigned with her.
“This is how dictators destroy free nations,” Cheney said on social media on Friday, in response to Trump’s remarks. “They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”
“Donald Trump is so all-consumed by his grievances. The people who he disagrees with, and who he sees as opposing him politically, he treats as enemies,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams said on MSNBC. “And now he’s going after Liz Cheney with this dangerous, violent rhetoric.”
Trump’s campaign said his remark had been misinterpreted.
“President Trump is 100% correct that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight them, rather than go into combat themselves,” spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “This is the continuation of the latest fake media outrage days before the election in a blatant attempt to interfere on behalf of Kamala Harris.”
Report: Classified intel leaked by PM’s aides harmed efforts to secure a hostage deal
Demonstrators call for the release of hostages held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, outside the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, October 24, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Channel 12 reports that the partially lifted court gag order revealing the probe into the leak of classified intelligence that harmed Israel’s war aims is referring specifically to efforts to release the hostages.
The network says that suspects in the case selectively leaked and twisted Hamas documents obtained by the IDF regarding Hamas’s strategy in the hostage talks.
The leak led to two reports in the German newspaper Bild and the British outlet The Jewish Chronicle regarding Hamas’s strategy nearly identical to points made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in interviews and press conferences shortly beforehand. It includes a claim that Hamas sought to smuggle Israeli hostages out of Gaza through the Philadelphi Corridor.
Netanyahu in July added conditions to an earlier Israeli hostage proposal, demanding that Israel maintain its forces along the Egypt-Gaza border stretch, in what critics claimed was an effort to thwart an agreement with Hamas. While Israel’s security establishment argued against this new demand, the premier was backed by his far-right coalition partners who had threatened to topple the government if the original Israeli proposal was seen through.
In a statement earlier this evening, Netanyahu’s office accused authorities of selective enforcement, noting that leaks to the press by other members of the war cabinet and their aides from meetings about the hostage negotiations have not been investigated.
The statement all but appeared to acknowledge that a leak had in fact taken place, even if Netanyahu’s office has insisted that the suspects currently being probed are not among its employees.
Instead, they appear to have been aides to Netanyahu who were not formally working for his office.
Army vehicle carrying Northern and Central Command heads flips over, lightly injuring one of them
Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin (right) speaks with officers during a drill simulating a ground offensive in Lebanon, September 24, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
During a tour of southern Lebanon earlier today, an army vehicle with the chief of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and chief of the Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, overturned.
Gordin was slightly hurt in the incident, and after a brief visit to a hospital, returned to work, the IDF says.
Associate of suspect arrested in leaked intel case blasts PM for throwing close aide under the bus
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of his address on the opening day of the winter session at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on October 28, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
A close associate of the main suspect arrested as part of the probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office over the leak of classified intelligence is fuming at the premier after the latter issued a statement declaring that the suspects in custody did not work for him.
“He worked for Netanyahu and was a consultant for the last year and a half. He devoted his whole life to the prime minister and was prepared to risk his life for him,” the associate tells Channel 12.
“Suddenly in one moment this scandal blew open and Netanyahu has thrown him under the bus and lies by saying he didn’t work for him.
“Not only did he work for Bibi. He was in [Netanyahu’s] office every day, sat in on security consultations and traveled with the prime minister’s convoy. It’s ridiculous that a trusted person is thrown to the dogs in a matter of seconds. Netanyahu would call him personally every day, send him on missions and consult with him.
It appears that the suspects weren’t formally employed by the Prime Minister’s Office, but did work for Netanyahu.
2 of Netanyahu’s aides said in touch with his personal attorney amid probe into leak of classified intel
Against the backdrop of the investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office over the leak of classified intelligence regarding the war in Gaza to media outlets abroad, two of the premier’s aides have begun consulting with lawyers, Channel 12 reports.
The two aides are using the services of Amit Hadad, one of Netanyahu’s personal attorneys.
The two aides in question are Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman and spokesperson Jonathan Urich.
IDF says it killed one of last remaining members of Hamas’s politburo still in Gaza
Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab. (IDF)
Top Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab was killed in an airstrike earlier today in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet announce.
Kasab was one of the last remaining members of Hamas’s political bureau, where he served as head of national relations.
According to the military, he was responsible for coordination between Hamas and the other terror groups in Gaza.
“Kassab was a significant source of power and, by virtue of his role, was responsible for the organization’s strategic and military relations with other factions in the Gaza Strip. He held the authority to direct the execution of terror attacks against the State of Israel,” the IDF says in a statement.
According to the IDF, Kassab’s assistant, Ayman Ayesh, was also killed in the strike.
The military releases footage of the strike, which took place in the Khan Younis area.
PM’s office says none of its staff has been arrested in probe over leak of classified intel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issues a statement asserting that no one on its staff has been arrested as part of the joint Shin Bet-IDF-Israel Police investigation into the leak of classified intelligence.
A Rishon Lezion court has partially lifted a gag order over the investigation, saying that several suspects have been arrested but did not specify whether any of them were Netanyahu’s aides.
Some reporters are pointing out on social media that Netanyahu has aides working for him who aren’t formally employed by his office.
Several suspects arrested amid probe of PM’s office over leak of classified intel
A handout photo released by his office on October 26, 2024, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF commanders in the bunker below the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. (Avi Ohayun/GPO)
A Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court judge has partially lifted a gag order regarding an ongoing investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office over the leak of classified intelligence.
Judge Menachem Mizrahi confirms that over the past week, the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the IDF began the “open phase” of their joint investigation into a suspected breach of national security caused by the leak of classified information.
Authorities suspect that the leak harmed the achievement of Israel’s war aims, Mizrahi says.
“Several suspects were arrested for questioning, and the investigation is ongoing,” he adds.
20-year-old shot to death in northern Arab town; police open investigation
A 20-year-old man was shot to death in his car near a gas station at the entrance of the northern Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye.
His body was discovered this morning, and police have opened an investigation.
North Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’: UN agency chiefs
A woman walks above the rubble of a building following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on October 28, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
The unfolding situation in the northern Gaza Strip is “apocalyptic,” the heads of the major UN agencies say, warning that its entire population was at “imminent risk” of death.
“The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic… the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence,” says the joint statement from heads of organizations that form the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
Lebanon says at least 10 killed in Israeli strikes in east
Lebanon’s health ministry says 10 people have been killed in an initial toll for Israeli strikes in the country’s east today, most of them in a single village.
“Ten martyrs and 26 wounded in a preliminary toll for today’s Israeli enemy strikes on the Baalbek-Hermel region,” the ministry says, adding eight were killed in the village of Amhaz.
The figures didn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel had not issued evacuation calls for Lebanon’s east on Friday.
IDF footage shows interceptions of 7 drones from Iraq and Lebanon last night
The IDF releases footage of some of the seven drones launched at Israel that were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force overnight.
Five of the drones were launched from Iraq, and two were launched from Lebanon.
The military says the drones were shot down using fighter jets, attack helicopters and ground-based air defense systems.
Throughout October alone, more than 100 drones were launched at Israel.
חיל-האוויר יירט במהלך הלילה שבעה כטב״מים שכוונו לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל
במהלך הלילה שוגרו שבעה כטב״מים לעבר מדינת ישראל ממספר זירות, חיל האוויר באמצעות מטוסי ומסוקי קרב, ומערכות ההגנה האווירית יירט את כלל האיומים.
לאורך חודש אוקטובר יורטו יותר מ-100 כטב״מים.
צה״ל ימשיך לפעול… pic.twitter.com/lDhAJ63W82
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 1, 2024
Khamenei aide: Iran likely to up range of missile program, could change nuclear doctrine
Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, tells pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen that changing the country’s nuclear doctrine is on the table if Tehran is exposed to an “existential threat.”
“We now have the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons… Only the supreme leader’s fatwa currently prohibits it,” Kharrazi says.
Khamenei banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa in the early 2000s, reiterating his stance in 2019 by saying: “Building and stockpiling nuclear bombs is wrong and using it is haram (religiously forbidden)… Although we have nuclear technology, Iran has firmly avoided it.”
Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to upend the country’s nuclear doctrine in recent years.
Kharrazi reiterates that Iran will respond to Israel’s retaliatory strike at the appropriate time and manner.
He adds that Iran is also likely to increase the range of its ballistic missiles.
COGAT confirms polio vaccine drive in northern Gaza after approval from political echelon
Israel’s COGAT military body that facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza confirms announcements by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF that a second round of child polio vaccinations in northern Gaza will begin on Saturday after IDF bombing in the area halted the drive last month.
COGAT says the move was approved by the political echelon and that hundreds of thousands of children will be vaccinated from November 2 to 4 between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The vaccine drive will be coordinated with the IDF’s Southern Command operating in Gaza in order to ensure that recipients can safely reach medical centers where the vaccines will be administered, COGAT says.
Lapid, Gantz on censored leaked documents scandal: PM responsible for what happens in his office
Opposition chairman Yair Lapid weighs in on the leaked documents scandal involving the Prime Minister’s Office, whose details have been barred from publication.
“Netanyahu is already trying, as usual, to distance himself from the affair and to place responsibility on others, but the facts show the opposite: he is personally responsible for every paper, word, or piece of information that comes out of his office,” Lapid tweets.
“We have tough enemies abroad, but the danger from within and at the most sensitive decision-making centers shakes the foundations of the confidence of the citizens of Israel in the prosecution of the war, and in handling the most sensitive and explosive security issues,” he adds.
National Unity chair Benny Gantz also chimes in, tweeting, “Without going into the details of the case under investigation concerning activity in the Prime Minister’s Office, it is important to emphasize one thing: the Prime Minister is the one responsible for what is done in his office. For better or for worse.”
Netanyahu’s office hits back, insisting that there have been no leaks from his office, while there were dozens of leaks published in the media about the hostage negotiations, which were harmful to the premier, and none of those were investigated.
“It was not for nothing that Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded the immediate removal of the gag order over the investigation. The ongoing obfuscation is intended to tarnish his office.”
A court hearing on petitions against the gag order over the probe into the leaked document scandal is scheduled for Sunday.
Released hostage Erez Calderon marks bar mitzvah, as father Ofer remains in captivity
Former hostage Erez Calderon at his October 31, 2024 bar mitzvah in Kiryat Gat. (Courtesy)
Hostage families mark different life cycle events this week, as former hostage Erez Calderon, 13, celebrated his bar mitzvah in Kiryat Gat, where his community, Kibbutz Nir Oz, has been living for several months. Calderon read from the Torah at a local synagogue.
Calderon was released with his older sister, Sahar, 17, after 52 days in captivity. Their father, Ofer Calderon, remains in Gaza.
In Herzliya, the family of hostage Omer Shem Tov marked his 22nd birthday, his second birthday in captivity.
The crowd of hundreds walked with the family through the streets of Herzliya, holding yellow and white balloons.
“You all want to meet him,” says his mother, Shelly Shem Tov, to the crowd, which then sang Happy Birthday.
“He’ll be here soon,” says Shem Tov.
The commemoration was attended by former hostages and siblings Itay and Maya Regev, who were taken captive alongside Shem Tov from the Nova music festival and later released during November’s hostage deal.
Former hostages Maya Regev (far right) and Itay Regev (far left) at a birthday celebration on October 31, 2024, in Herzliya for hostage Omer Shem Tov, still held in Gaza. (Dana Reany)
Otzma Yehudit MK ‘opens parliamentary office’ while on reserve duty in Lebanon
Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer (center) with fellow soldiers in a house in southern Lebanon on November 1, 2024. THe Hebrew graffiti reads: Office of MK Kroizer. (Courtesy)
A photo disseminated on social media shows Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, serving in the IDF reserves, in a home in south Lebanon surrounded by soldiers from his unit.
“Office of MK Kroizer” is spray-painted on one of the walls behind them.
Man moderately hurt by rocket hit in northern Arab town
A 37-year-old man was moderately wounded in a rocket impact in the northern Arab town of Sha’ab in the Hezbollah barrage an hour ago, hospital officials say.
Galilee Medical Center in Nahriya says the man is suffering from shrapnel wounds, but he is in a stable condition.
Lapid, Gantz pan government over ‘reckless’ 2025 state budget
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the government has passed a “reckless budget” that will raise costs for Israeli families by NIS 20,000 ($5,000) annually.
“[The budget] hands billions of shekels to 10 unnecessary government ministries. They’ve lost their shame,” he writes on X, referring to the cabinet’s approval of the 2025 state budget.
National Unity chair Benny Gantz accuses the government of authorizing NIS 4 billion for themselves, instead of for the welfare of Israeli citizens.
“Coalition funds, as they are called, intended to uphold Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition. Anyone who supported this budget — the mark of Cain will accompany them for the rest of their life. Shame,” Gantz writes on X.
WHO says 2nd round of polio vaccine drive to begin in north Gaza Saturday
A child receives a vaccination for polio at a make-shift camp for people displaced by conflict in a school run by the UNRWA in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 5, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization says that a second round of child polio vaccinations in northern Gaza would begin on Saturday after Israeli bombing in the area halted the drive.
“Polio vaccination in northern Gaza is ready to resume tomorrow,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says on X, adding: “We are assured of the necessary humanitarian pause in Gaza City to conduct the campaign.”
Smotrich says ‘Israelis will profit’ from 2025 state budget
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich thanks ministers who approved the 2025 state budget, adding that it reaches the government’s goals of a 4.3 percent deficit, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Smotrich expresses hope that the budget will allow Israel to emerge from the ongoing war with accelerated economic growth, adding that “Israelis will profit from this.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks the work of ministers and officials on the budget.
“We are bringing an important, difficult, but necessary budget in a year of war,” he says.
Medics respond to reports of injuries in Hezbollah barrage; some 30 rockets fired, IDF says
Medics are responding to initial reports of casualties in the latest Hezbollah rocket barrage on the Galilee.
Sirens sounded in Sakhnin, Deir al-Asad, Karmiel, Ma’alot-Tarshiha and other nearby towns in the attacks.
According to the IDF, some 30 rockets were launched in the attack.
The military says some of the rockets were intercepted, and impacts were also identified.
Rocket sirens sound in north
Incoming rocket sirens are triggered in the Central and Upper Galilee regions as well as northern border communities.
צבע אדום (01/11/2024 13:35-13:37): אזורים מרכז הגליל, גליל עליון, קו העימות pic.twitter.com/MwZSEVQ2vs
— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) November 1, 2024
Cabinet approves 2025 state budget
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, November 1, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Cabinet ministers vote to approve the 2025 state budget, sending it to the Knesset to complete the legislative process.
The government has until the end of March to get it through the Knesset. It includes a massive increase to the Defense Ministry’s budget, which will clock in at NIS 102 billion ($27.2 billion) — although it could potentially rise to up to NIS 150 billion ($40.1 billion) pending talks between the Defense Ministry and Finance Ministry officials, Calcalist reported yesterday.
Germany urges citizens to leave Iran due to risk of hostage taking
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, at the time facing a death sentence in Iran, and with the lettering 'Free Jamshid' during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, July 31, 2023. (Ina Fassbender/AFP)
BERLIN, Germany — Germany has long had a travel warning for Iran and asked nationals to leave because, as seen from the execution of a German-Iranian national, Tehran takes German citizens hostage, a foreign ministry spokesperson in Berlin says.
“We have long had a travel warning for Iran and a request to Germans in Iran to leave the country because we saw from the Jamshid Sharmahd case that Iran is taking German citizens hostage,” the spokesperson says at a government news conference.
“We want to spare other German citizens this fate.”
PM, Smotrich and Deri agree to cancel proposed stipends freeze in 2025 budget
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to an agreement with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and MK Aryeh Deri to cancel a plan to freeze government allowances ahead of an expected vote on the new 2025 state budget.
As part of the agreement, benefits paid to the elderly, people with disabilities, Holocaust survivors, and families of fallen soldiers, will not be frozen as was proposed, apart from child allowances. Instead, National Insurance payments will increase by a corresponding amount, the PMO statement reads without providing further details.
“The decision was taken to uphold fiscal framework and the confidence of the markets, without harming the disabled, the elderly, bereaved families and weak population,” the statement reads.
Netanyahu’s cabinet convened on Thursday to discuss and approve the 2025 budget by ministers last night or by Friday morning, but it has not been voted on yet due to disagreements.
As part of the 2025 budget, the Finance Ministry proposes to significantly increase defense spending and calls for steep spending cuts and tax rises to finance the growing war costs and fill a fiscal hole of NIS 40 billion ($10.7 billion).
PM to hold security cabinet meeting Sunday night amid Iranian threats, Lebanon ceasefire push
File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a security cabinet meeting on July 28, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his national security cabinet on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. in Tel Aviv, one of the minister’s offices tell The Times of Israel.
The meeting comes as Iran threatens to strike Israel again, and as the US pushes for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Lebanese media reports Israeli strikes in Baalbek
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The official National News Agency reports an Israeli strike on the eastern city of Baalbek, following heavy air raids on the area in recent days.
Israeli “enemy aircraft launched a raid on the Zahraa neighborhood in the city of Baalbek,” home to ancient Roman ruins designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, NNA says.
Otzma Yehudit says it will vote against state budget, citing harm to security services
Head of the Otzma Yehudit party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on October 28, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party says its members will vote against the 2025 state budget, in the looming cabinet vote and in the Knesset, due to “harm to the functioning of the police, Israel Prison Service, and Fire and Rescue services.”
The National Security Ministry, run by party leader Itamar Ben Gvir, is responsible for the institutions.
“The Finance Ministry announced that they would not budget for the additional expenses of the internal security bodies for 2025. In light of this, the negotiations between the National Security Ministry and the Finance Ministry broke down,” the party says in a statement.
Hebrew media reported earlier that ministers convened to discuss the budget ahead of a vote to approve it.
Hochstein asked Lebanon to declare unilateral ceasefire to help talks, sources say; Beirut denies claim
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A US envoy this week asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire with Israel as part of an effort to help negotiations to reach a resolution for the more than year-long conflict, a senior Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat says.
The sources say the effort was communicated by US Lebanon Envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
But such an announcement was seen as a non-starter in Lebanon, the sources say, where it would likely be equated with a surrender.
In a statement to Reuters, Mikati’s office denies the claim and says the government’s stance was clear on seeking a ceasefire from both sides and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
IDF says jets struck Hezbollah sites in Beirut, Nabatieh overnight
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah sites in Beirut and in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, the IDF says.
In the Lebanese capital, weapon manufacturing plants, command centers, and other infrastructure were struck, according to the military.
In Nabatieh, the IDF says additional command centers and “intelligence infrastructure” were destroyed.
All of the Hezbollah assets were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the military says, accusing the terror group of using human shields.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the areas.
במהלך הלילה מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, אתרים לייצור אמצעי לחימה, מפקדות מרכזיות ותשתיות צבאיות נוספות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב ביירות>> pic.twitter.com/6E61Nr9C05
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 1, 2024
Lebanon’s PM says ‘expansion’ of Israeli strikes signals rejection of ceasefire efforts
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town Al-Ahmadieh on November 1, 2024. (AFP)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticizes Israel’s “expansion” of its attacks on his country, saying they indicated a rejection of efforts to broker a truce after more than a month of war.
“The Israeli enemy’s renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy’s rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire,” Mikati says.
Mikati’s statement comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Lebanon.
The Lebanese premier adds that Israel’s diplomatic behavior suggested it was rejecting a ceasefire.
“Israeli statements and diplomatic signals that Lebanon received confirm Israel’s stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction,” Mikati says in a statement.
On Wednesday, Mikati said US envoy Amos Hochstein had signaled during a phone call that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war was possible before US elections are held on November 5.
The same day, Hezbollah’s new leader said the group would agree to a ceasefire with Israel under acceptable terms, but added that a viable deal has yet to be presented.
IDF soldier wounded in September in Gaza dies of wounds
Cpt. Yarden Zakay, 21, a platoon commander in the Givati Brigade's Shaked Battalion. (Israel Defense Forces)
An IDF soldier wounded during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip in September succumbed to his wounds today, the military announces.
Cpt. Yarden Zakay, 21, a platoon commander in the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Hadera, was seriously wounded on September 17.
In the same incident, four other soldiers — Cpt. Daniel Mimon Toaff, Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, Staff Sgt. Amit Bakri, and Staff Sgt. Dotan Shimon — were killed, and several others were wounded.
According to an IDF probe, the soldiers were hit by weaponry that detonated inside a building in Rafah.
IDF says 3 gunmen killed in airstrike, clashes during day-long West Bank raid
IDF troops operate in the West Bank's Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem, in a handout photo issued on November 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says it has wrapped up a day-long raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem, during which three gunmen were killed in an airstrike and in clashes with troops.
The operation was carried out by the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit, alongside Border Police and Shin Bet forces.
Amid the raid, a drone strike was carried out against two gunmen who were shooting at the troops, the army says, publishing footage of the incident.
Also amid the operation, Haruv soldiers killed another operative who “posed a threat” and wounded several other gunmen in clashes, the IDF says.
Several explosive devices planted under and along roads in Nur Shams were neutralized by Border Police officers and combat engineers during the operation.
The IDF also releases drone footage showing gunmen operating at the entrance to a hospital in Tulkarem. The video shows one gunman handing over an assault rifle to another at the medical center compound.
Over 200 Hezbollah and Hamas targets struck in Lebanon and Gaza over past day
An IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon, in am image released on November 1, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher used in a deadly barrage on the Haifa area yesterday, and the operative who launched the attack was also killed in an airstrike, the IDF says.
Two people, a mother and son, were killed in the rocket attack.
Meanwhile, the IDF says the Air Force struck over 200 Hezbollah and Hamas targets, in Lebanon and Gaza respectively, in the past day.
The strikes come as the 91st and 146th divisions continue to operate against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where the IDF says troops killed gunmen and located weapons in the past day.
In Gaza, the 162nd Division is pressing on with an operation against Hamas in northern Gaza’s Jabalia. The IDF says troops killed dozens of terror operatives in the area in the past day.
Also in Gaza, reservists with the 252nd Division continued operations in the Netzarim Corridor area, and the Gaza Division’s forces battled Hamas in Rafah.
Israel at ‘high level of readiness’ for Iranian attack — report
Women walk past an anti-Israel billboard covering the facade of a building in Tehran on October 26, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Israel is at a “high level of readiness” as it awaits a potential response from Iran to its airstrikes last week, a military source tells CNN.
Iranian leaders have been threatening to carry out a reprisal action after the Israeli Air Force attacked anti-aircraft batteries and radar sites across Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1.
The military source tells CNN that Israel’s strikes “created a dilemma for Tehran” since it diminished its capability to attack and defend against an Israeli response.
Drone shot down overnight; 10 rockets fired from Lebanon at Upper Galilee
File: The Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon, near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Golan Heights, October 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Overnight, yet another drone launched at Israel from Iraq was shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the IDF says.
The drone had been intercepted over Syria, according to the military.
Shortly after midnight, two drones from Iraq were shot down over the Red Sea, and last night, two more drones were intercepted near the Dead Sea.
Meanwhile, the IDF says that a barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee an hour ago, some of which were intercepted and the rest struck open areas.
4 foreign nationals killed in Hezbollah rocket attack identified as Thai citizens
Four Thais were killed in northern Israel by rocket fire from Lebanon, Thailand’s foreign minister says.
The four are named: Kawisak Papanang, Akaphon Vanasay, Thanh Tig’antk and Prayat Philatram.
Maris Sangiampongsa, in a post on social media platform X, says he’s “deeply saddened” by the deaths close to the town of Metula on Thursday, adding another Thai citizen was injured.
The head of the regional council in Metula said late Thursday that five people had been killed in the rocket strike from Lebanon, one local farmer and four foreign farm workers.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Lebanon’s official news agency says at least 10 strikes hit south Beirut
Flame and smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early November 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
At least 10 strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs at dawn, Lebanon’s official news agency says, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for buildings in the area.
AFPTV footage shows explosions followed by clouds of smoke that rang out in the city’s suburbs after the Israeli army ordered several buildings in Hezbollah’s stronghold to evacuate.
“The raids left massive destruction in the targeted areas, as dozens of buildings were leveled to the ground, in addition to the outbreak of fires,” the National News Agency (NNA) says.
Israeli warplanes carried out 10 raids targeting the suburban areas of Ghobeiry and Al-Kafaat, the Sayyed Hadi Highway, the vicinity of the Al-Mujtaba Complex, and the old airport road, it adds.
Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs for first time in days, say witnesses
BEIRUT — Israel is carrying out airstrikes early Friday on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Reuters witnesses say, the first strikes there in nearly a week.
US: Month-long extension of Israeli waiver for cooperation with PA risks ‘another looming crisis’
The US government says Israel’s decision to sign a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks for another month is for a “very short term duration” and will create “another looming crisis” by November 30.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s spokesman said on Thursday he will sign a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks for another month after the cabinet agreed.
IDF issues evacuation orders for Beirut’s southern suburb ahead of strikes on Hezbollah
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman publishes a statement calling on residents of Beirut’s southern suburb to clear away from several buildings in the area, saying the military will soon strike targets in the Hezbollah stronghold for the first time in several days.
#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
????الغبيري
????حارة حريك⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني القريب… pic.twitter.com/TuWhPQFw4b
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 31, 2024
Islamic Resistance of Iraq claims drone attack targeting southern Israel
The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance of Iraq issues a statement claiming responsibility for a drone attack targeting southern Israel, after the military said it intercepted a pair of UAVs over the Red Sea.
IDF denies damaging UNRWA office in West Bank, says terror operatives detonated bomb in area
The IDF issues a statement denying responsibility for damaging UNRWA’s office in the West Bank camp of Nur Shams, saying the damage was caused by Palestinian terror operatives.
“The claim that the UNRWA offices in Nur Shams were destroyed by IDF soldiers is false,” the statement reads.
“Terrorists planted explosives in the proximity of the UNRWA offices that were then detonated in an attempt to harm IDF soldiers. The explosives likely caused damage to the structure,” the IDF statement adds.
Pentagon says Austin discussed ‘regional deescalation opportunities’ with Gallant
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed “opportunities for regional deescalation” with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant during a phone call, the Pentagon says, amid the conflict in the Middle East.
Austin “also reviewed steps Israel is taking and should continue to advance to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and prospects for a hostage release and ceasefire deal,” according to the readout.
Chicago cops add terrorism and hate crimes charges to counts facing man who shot Jew
Screen capture from video of Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi after being shot and injured by police during an exchange of gunfire in Chicago, Michigan, October 26, 2024. (X: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The Chicago Police Department announces that it will add felony terrorism and hate crimes charges to the counts that a man is facing for shooting an Orthodox Jew walking to synagogue in the Midwest city last Shabbat, following criticism from local Jews over the omission of the latter charges.
“We will never tolerate violence that’s rooted in hate and bigotry,” says police chief Larry Snelling during a press conference.
Pushing back on criticism over the force’s handling of the case, Snelling says police wanted to ensure there was sufficient evidence to back up the hate crimes charges against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, which he says “takes time.”
According to Snelling, officers found evidence on Abdallahi’s phone that he “planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith. This evidence allowed us to secure the terrorism and hate crime charges.”
IDF says it downed 2 drones over Red Sea that were launched ‘from the east’
The IDF says that the air force downed a pair of drones over the Red Sea as they headed toward Israeli territory.
According to the military, the drones came “from the east,” a term the IDF uses for attacks launched from Iraq.
UNRWA chief says agency’s office in West Bank camp was damaged by Israeli bulldozers
Damage to an UNRWA office in Nur Shams in the West Bank can be seen in an image captured on October 31, 2024. UNRWA alleged that Israeli bulldozers harmed the building, while the IDF said terrorists had detonated an explosive next to it. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Israeli bulldozers damaged the office of UN aid agency UNRWA in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp on Thursday, the agency’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, says.
Lazzarini says in a post on social media platform X that the office “can no longer be used,” hours after the IDF announced that it was carrying out a counter-terror raid in Nur Shams.
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