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The Times of Israel liveblogged Wednesday’s events as they happened.
Strike hits Beirut’s southern suburbs after IDF issues evacuation order for area
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on a neighborhood in southern Beirut on November 13, 2024. (Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — A strike hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to an AFP videographer, after a series of three attacks on the Hezbollah stronghold in less than 24 hours.
AFP footage shows smoke rising from an area subject to a call to evacuate from the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee around an hour beforehand.
IDF says it intercepted drone ‘from the east’ over Syrian airspace
The IDF says it downed a drone “from the east” — a term the military uses for Iraq — over the skies of Syria as it headed toward Israel.
Dozens detained in Amsterdam as pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters again defy ban on demonstrations
Police officers detain a protestor during an unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstration on Dam Square in Amsterdam on November 13, 2024. (Nick Gammon/AFP)
Dutch police detain dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters in Amsterdam, after several hundred again defied a demonstration ban put in place after violence against Israeli soccer fans last week.
Dozens of demonstrators chant anti-Israel slogans including “Amsterdam is saying no to genocide.” Israel has emphatically denied all accusations of genocide.
Large numbers of police, including some on horseback, detained most of the protesters after they refused to leave, escorting them mostly peacefully into buses and driving them away from the square.
The latest protests followed a similar demonstration on Sunday.
The demonstrations come as the Netherlands is still dealing with the fallout from last week’s violence in Amsterdam when fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted by men on scooters in several parts of the Dutch capital.
Israeli officials said 10 people were injured in the Thursday night violence carried out by local Arab and Muslim gangs against Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans. Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found, as the Israeli tourists were ambushed by gangs of masked assailants who shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans while they hunted, beat and harassed them.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof termed the attacks an incident of “unadulterated antisemitism.” Police said the attackers were mobilized by calls on social media to target Jewish people.
IDF: Rocket launcher positioned in southern Gaza humanitarian zone destroyed in airstrike
An IDF-provided graphic showing the location of a rocket launcher positioned in the Israeli-designated 'humanitarian zone' in the southern Gaza Strip that was hit in an airstrike on November 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
A rocket launcher positioned in the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the southern Gaza Strip was destroyed in an airstrike earlier today, the IDF says.
The launcher was loaded and primed for an imminent attack on Israel, according to the military.
Before carrying out the strike in the humanitarian zone, where the vast majority of the Palestinian population in Gaza is currently residing, the IDF says it carried out steps to mitigate civilian harm.
The steps included issuing warnings to civilians in the area to evacuate, as well as using a precision munition and aerial surveillance, the military says.
The IDF says secondary blasts were seen following the strike, indicating that weapons were stored there.
Palestinian media published footage of a strike in the humanitarian zone earlier today, which appears to have been the strike on the launcher.
لحظة استهداف الطائرات الإسرائيلية خيام النازحين في المنطقة الإنسانية الآمنة بغرب خان يونس، جنوب قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/FMdTTehG9N
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) November 13, 2024
Trump taps loyalist Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general
Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
US President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general, putting a loyalist in the role of the nation’s top prosecutor.
In selecting the congressman, Trump is passing over some of the more established attorneys whose names had been mentioned as being contenders for the job.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump says in a statement.
Trump’s inner circle has described the attorney general as the most important member of the administration after Trump himself, key to his plans to carry out mass deportations, pardon January 6 rioters and seek retribution against those who prosecuted him over the past four years.
During his first term, Trump was infuriated by what he called an obstructive Justice Department, including attorneys general Jeff Sessions, who allowed a probe into alleged contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, and Bill Barr, who publicly refuted his false claims his 2020 election loss was the result of fraud.
IDF names 6th soldier killed earlier today in battle with Hezbollah in south Lebanon
Sgt. Yoav Daniel, 19, from Nahariya, killed in south Lebanon on November 13, 2024. (Courtesy)
The IDF names the sixth soldier killed in a battle with Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon this morning.
Sgt. Yoav Daniel, 19, from Nahariya, was killed alongside five other soldiers of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, whose names were announced earlier.
IDF says Palestinian suspected of earlier West Bank car-ramming has been detained
A Palestinian man suspected of carrying out a car-ramming attack in the West Bank earlier this evening has been detained, the IDF says.
The suspect had hit two soldiers with his car at a checkpoint at the entrance to the town of Dayr Qadis, before fleeing the scene. The servicewomen were lightly hurt.
The suspect was later detained as troops encircled the town, the IDF says.
IDF says it struck Lebanon-Syria land crossings used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons
The IDF says it carried out airstrikes earlier today against land crossings between Lebanon and Syria, which were being used by Hezbollah to bring weapons into the country.
Israeli fighter jets struck several routes in Syria that the IDF says were in use by Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is tasked with delivering weapons from Iran to Lebanon.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing a military source, says the strikes caused “significant damage” to several bridges on the Orontes River and other roads on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the al-Qusayr area.
According to the IDF, the strikes are a major blow to the capabilities of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400.
The IDF in recent months has ramped up strikes against attempts by Hezbollah to bring in weapons, including by targeting border crossings with Syria as well as the shipments themselves.
Trump taps former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence
Tulsi Gabbard arrives before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at PPG Paints Arena, Nov. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President-elect Donald Trump chooses Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as director of national intelligence, continuing to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities complimentary to his own, rather than long-term professionals in their requisite fields.
“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” Trump says in a statement. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”
Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider, compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.
Gabbard hasn’t worked directly in the intelligence community, outside of House committees, including two years on the Homeland Security Committee. Like others Trump has selected for his agency leadership, she has been among his most popular political surrogates, often drawing thunderous responses from crowds as she stumped for him in the campaign’s closing months.
Trump names pro-Israel Sen. Marco Rubio as his nominee for secretary of state
Sen. Marco Rubio speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
US President-elect Donald Trump names Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state, setting up a onetime critic who evolved into one of the president-elect’s fiercest defenders to become the nation’s top diplomat.
The conservative lawmaker is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate this summer. He is a staunch supporter of Israel.
On Capitol Hill, Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has pushed for taking a harder line against China and has targeted social media app TikTok because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers contend that Beijing could demand access to the data of users whenever it wants.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump says of Rubio in a statement.
Over the last several years Rubio has softened some of his stances to align with Trump’s more isolationist views, but remains a staunch supporter of Israel.
He has also accused US President Joe Biden of insufficient support for Israel as it wages war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which started with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted; Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones at Israel the next day. In April, after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, Rubio said the Biden administration was working to prevent an Israeli response because it was “still catering to its anti-Israel, antisemitic base.”
IDF: Drone that triggered Eilat sirens was launched from Iraq, shot down by navy missile boat
A drone launched toward Israel from Iraq was shot down by an Israeli Navy missile boat a short while ago, the military says.
Sirens sounded in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat amid the incident.
There are no injuries or damage.
The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for the drone, claiming to have targeted Eilat.
Footage shows the interception of a drone launched from Iraq by an Israeli Navy vessel near Eilat this evening. https://t.co/Ye3PFxg6Gb pic.twitter.com/jjGPLzHIfR
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 13, 2024
Trump reportedly says he and Biden ‘talked very much about the Middle East’
US President Joe Biden meets with US President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, November 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President-elect Donald Trump says he and US President Joe Biden “talked very much about the Middle East” in their conversation earlier today at the White House, according to the New York Post.
“I wanted to know his views on where we are and what what he thinks. And he gave them to me, he was very gracious,” the Post quotes Trump as saying.
Report: Russia received sign of life from hostage Sasha Trufanov some 10 days ago
Hostage Sasha Trufanov in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024. (Screengrab)
Russia’s ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told Israeli political officials yesterday that Moscow had received a sign of life from hostage Sasha Trufanov ten days ago, Channel 12 news reports.
The report says that Trufanov’s mother Lena had been updated on the matter.
According to the report, Viktorov told officials that Moscow has channels for receiving updates on the two hostages with Russian citizenship, Trufanov and Maxim Harkin.
The outlet notes that last month, the Hamas terror group said Trufanov and Herkin, will be among the first to be released during an eventual hostage deal, and that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly visited Moscow last week.
Earlier today, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group released a video of Trufanov.
It is unclear when the clip was filmed, but was the third video the terror group has released of Trufanov.
Trufanov was taken hostage along with three members of his family — grandmother Irena Tati, mother Yelena (Lena) Trufanova and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen — from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 Hamas massacre in the Gaza border town.
Trufanova and Tati were released by Hamas on November 29 at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen was released on November 30 as part of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Sasha Trufanov is an engineer employed at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli microelectronics company purchased by Amazon.
Sirens in Eilat warn of suspected drone attack
Sirens in the southern resort city of Eilat warn of a suspected drone attack.
UNRWA chief: Agency’s collapse would sow ‘seeds for extremism’ by denying Gaza children an education
School girls watch as UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Pierre Krahenbuhl, gives a press conference to launch a global campaign to support UNRWA, at the UNRWA Rimal Girls Preparatory School in Gaza City, January 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
An entire generation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will “be denied the right to education” if the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA collapses in the enclave under legislation recently passed by the Knesset, the head of UNRWA warns.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini says the legislation’s implementation “will have catastrophic consequences.”
“In Gaza, dismantling UNRWA will collapse the United Nations humanitarian response, which relies heavily on the agency’s infrastructure,” he tells a UN General Assembly committee. “Glaringly absent from discussions about Gaza without UNRWA, is education.”
“In the absence of a capable public administration or state, only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 660,000 girls and boys across Gaza. In the absence of UNRWA, an entire generation will be denied the right to education,” he says, warning that this would sow “the seeds for marginalization and extremism.”
Lazzarini again pushes UN member states to act on the matter.
Last month, two bills overwhelmingly passed through final votes in the Knesset to ban UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and bar Israeli authorities from any contact with the agency. The legislation will shutter UNRWA’s operations in East Jerusalem where it provides education, health and civil services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It will also severely curtail UNRWA activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank where the agency relies on coordination with Israel to provide humanitarian aid and other services.
Israel has long had a combative relationship with UNRWA, which it argues has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee crisis by allowing the status to be passed down through generations. Frustration with UNRWA in Jerusalem has picked up over the past decade as Israel has found the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group embedded within the agency’s infrastructure.
That anger has peaked since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which a number of UNRWA staffers were found to have participated. Israel has gone on to claim that 10 percent of the UN agency’s staff have ties to Hamas, a charge the agency has denied. Israel has also accused Hamas of using UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza for terror activities, and the UN agency of turning a blind eye to the matter.
White House: Biden raised issue of US hostages held in Gaza during meeting with Trump
US President Joe Biden meets with US President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
US President Joe Biden raised the issue of the American hostages in Gaza during his Oval Office meeting earlier today with President-elect Donald Trump, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says.
The current administration has also sent a “signal” to the Trump transition team that it is prepared to collaborate in order to secure a hostage deal, Sullivan says during a press briefing.
The top Biden aide says the American hostage families urged such collaboration when he met with them yesterday, adding that his answer to them was an “emphatic yes,” adding that the current administration will use every day it has left in order to return the hostages home to their loved ones.
Asked whether the US has found Israel to be as receptive to its requests following Trump’s election win last week, Sullivan says constructive discussions have continued, including one he held yesterday with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. The pair discussed boosting the amount of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza given to alleviate “the suffering of the innocent civilians there who are trapped amidst the crossfire between the IDF and the terrorist group Hamas,” along with efforts to secure ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
Sullivan says the US secured additional commitments from the Israeli side over the course of the past several days regarding additional steps to increase Gaza aid and will be watching closely to ensure follow-through.
Pressed on the most pressing national security issue facing the US, Sullivan names the threat posed by Iran and its proxies behind Washington’s competition with China.
National Security Council removes severe travel warning for Sri Lanka
A police commando stands guard in front of a restaurant in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Wasantha Chandrapala)
The National Security Council removes the severe travel warning for Sri Lanka, after last month calling on Israelis to leave the Arugam Bay area and other beaches in the island’s south and west immediately, citing terrorism threats.
The NSC says the threat level is being updated from level 4 (high) in the southwest of the country and level 3 (moderate) in the rest of Sri Lanka, to level 2 (an occasional threat) for the entire country.
The NSC says Israeli travelers should alert local security forces if there are any hostilities toward Jews or Israelis, and cautions against wearing Jewish or Israeli symbols.
Last month, the NSC called on Israelis to leave Sri Lanka’s south and west, and said Israelis should postpone travel to the rest of the country. They also urged nationals to hide signs that indicate they are Israelis and avoid gathering in large numbers.
Three people were later arrested over terror threats against Israelis.
Pro-Palestinian protesters again defy Amsterdam ban
A protestor waves a Palestinian flag during an unauthorised pro-Palestinian demonstration on Dam Square in Amsterdam on November 13, 2024. (Nick Gammon/AFP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in central Amsterdam, defying a ban imposed after violence stemming from a football match between Ajax and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Dozens of demonstrators, some with Palestinian flags, chant “Amsterdam is saying no to genocide” and “Free Palestine.”
Police with expanded stop-and-search powers in the Dutch capital have detained or removed hundreds of demonstrators since last week’s clashes under emergency measures imposed until Thursday.
IDF announces 6 soldiers killed in fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Soldiers killed in southern Lebanon on November 13, 2024: (L-R) Sgt. Shalev Itzhak Sagron, Staff Sgt. Dror Hen, Cpt. Itay Marcovich, Staff Sgt. Nir Gofer, Staff Sgt. Sraya Elboim. (Israel Defense Forces)
Six Israeli soldiers were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon earlier today, the IDF announces.
Five of the slain troops are named as:
- Cpt. Itay Marcovich, 22, from Kohav Ya’ir.
- Staff Sgt. Sraya Elboim, 21, from Mehola.
- Staff Sgt. Dror Hen, 20, from Gan Haim.
- Staff Sgt. Nir Gofer, 20, from Dimona.
- Sgt. Shalev Itzhak Sagron, 21, from Sderot.
They all served in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion.
The name of the sixth soldier will be published later, the military adds.
According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with at least four Hezbollah operatives inside a building in a village in southern Lebanon.
At least one other soldier was moderately wounded in the incident.
Report: Israeli hostage envoy tells ministers ‘time is short, conditions deteriorating’
Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon attends a ceremony at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem on July 8, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
The Israeli military’s envoy to negotiations aimed at freeing hostages held in Gaza, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, has warned cabinet ministers that “time is short and conditions are deteriorating” for the captives, Channel 13 reports.
According to the network, Alon said “stagnation” could not be accepted on the issue. He noted that Hamas has “taken a beating everywhere” in Gaza, that “winter is arriving and conditions of the hostages are deteriorating.”
The general is quoted saying the IDF’s achievements have created conditions for a deal.
Israeli attack targets Syria’s Homs countryside, Syrian state media says
An Israeli attack targets the area of Al-Qusayr in the southern countryside of Homs province in central Syria, Syria’s state media says.
Israel says it has been carrying out strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which it says has spread to the town of Al-Qusayr, near the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Syrian media says air defenses intercepted “hostile” targets over the Homs countryside, though it often falsely claims such interceptions.
The Israeli military does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
IDF issues new evacuation orders for two buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs
The IDF has issued new evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians in the vicinity of two buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah assets.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.
#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
????حارة حريك
????برج البراجنة⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني… pic.twitter.com/BtVAp5Z4LQ
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 13, 2024
UN nuclear watchdog chief Grossi arrives in Iran for talks
This handout photo released by Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation shows its spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi (R) meeting with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi upon his arrival in Tehran on November 13, 2024. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran/AFP)
UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi arrives in Iran for talks, a day after he appealed to Iran’s leadership to take steps to resolve longstanding issues with his agency over its nuclear program.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA carries a video showing Grossi meeting the spokesperson for Tehran’s state atomic energy agency, Behrouz Kamalvandi, after his arrival.
The International Atomic Energy Agency head has for months sought progress with Iran on issues including a push for more monitoring cooperation at nuclear sites and an explanation of uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
But little has come from Grossi’s efforts and with the return of US President-elect Donald Trump, who is widely expected to restore a maximum-pressure policy on Iran, Grossi’s trip should provide indications of how Iran wants to proceed in the coming months.
2 Israelis said lightly hurt in suspected West Bank car-ramming attack
The IDF reports that a suspected car-ramming attack was carried out near the West Bank town of Dayr Qadis a short while ago.
First responders say two Israelis are lightly hurt in the incident.
Counter-terrorism forces exchange fire with gunmen in West Bank’s Tulkarem
Officers of police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit are carrying out an operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, a military source says.
The troops are exchanging fire with gunmen in the area. There are no injuries to the Israeli forces so far.
Bill obliging formulation of national security strategy passes preliminary reading
A bill obliging every Israeli government to formulate a national security strategy passes a preliminary reading 49-0 in the Knesset plenum.
The bipartisan bill — sponsored by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) — would require the National Security Council to formulate a national security strategy in consultation with the ministries of foreign affairs and defense, intelligence agencies and other relevant government bureaus.
The proposed strategy document — which would have to be approved by the government within 150 days of its formulation and be updated regularly — would identify Israel’s national security challenges and establish its strategic goals, and provide a “critical assessment” of the country’s existing national security strategy.
“The law obliges every government, upon its establishment, to determine and institutionalize the principles and rules of Israel’s national security. In this way, both the Knesset’s ability to supervise the government, and the government’s responsibility and commitment to its citizens in security matters will be expanded,” the National Unity party tweets following the vote.
“After more than a year of strenuous fighting and under tremendous security challenges, the importance of this arrangement, for national security and resilience, is clearer than ever.”
IDF reveals Navy has carried out dozens of missile strikes in Lebanon amid fighting
The Israeli Navy has carried out dozens of missile strikes in Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah, including the assassinations of a top commander in the terror group’s drone unit and a senior Hamas member, the military reveals.
On October 5, a Navy Sa’ar 6-class corvette launched a missile at an apartment in the Beddawi Palestinian camp near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing Saeed Atallah Ali.
Another missile strike carried out by a Navy corvette, on November 3, killed Ali Barakat, a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, which is responsible for drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel.
A video released by the IDF on November 13, 2024, shows a Navy missile strike in Lebanon on November 3, 2024, killing Ali Barakat, a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial forces. (Israel Defense Forces)
Navy corvettes and missile boats have launched dozens more strikes in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah sites and assets, including rocket launchers and weapon depots, in addition to supporting ground troops operating in the south of the country.
The military says that Navy vessels are used for certain strikes in Lebanon, instead of the traditional fighter jets or drones, due to their constant availability at sea and because the attacks can be launched more discreetly.
A video released by the IDF on November 13, 2024, shows Navy missile strikes in Lebanon amid the fighting against Hezbollah. (Israel Defense Forces)
Navy submarines have also been used for their observational capabilities amid the fighting in Lebanon.
The corvettes and missile boats have also been used to intercept projectiles launched at Israel, mostly drones but also some rockets, using the ship-mounted version of the Iron Dome, known as C-Dome.
Separately, the IDF releases footage of a recent strike carried out by fighter jets in Beirut, targeting Hezbollah’s main naval base.
A video released by the IDF on November 13, 2024, shows airstrikes against Hezbollah’s main naval base in Beirut. (Israel Defense Forces)
According to the military, the base was used by Hezbollah to store fast boats, carry out tests, and train its naval forces.
Trump arrives at the White House to meet with Biden
US President Joe Biden welcomes President-elect Donald Trump to the White House for an Oval Office visit that’s a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power — a ritual Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
Meanwhile, House control remains in the balance with a dozen races left to be called.
Biden greets Trump with a handshake in the Oval Office, each pledging a smooth transition from Democrat to Republican.
Biden congratulates Trump. Trump says “politics is tough” and not always a nice world “but it is a nice world today.”
WATCH: President Donald J. Trump and President Biden meet in the Oval Office pic.twitter.com/ZD9xPt4nyo
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 13, 2024
In 1974 recording, Rabin says only diplomacy, leaning on military might, can bring peace
Yitzhak Rabin, head of the Israeli Labor party, speaks to reporters on Friday, June 26, 1992 in Tel Aviv, as official results confirmed his election victory over Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
The Defense Ministry’s IDF archive has released a never-before-heard recording of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin from a 1974 discussion with top military leaders.
It does so on the occasion of the national Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day, on the Hebrew date of his assassination in November 1995.
Rabin was at the time prime minister in his first term in office (1974-1977). In the recording, he is heard speaking about Israel’s various conflicts.
“In the Arab-Israeli conflict, I do not see a possibility of reaching a solution through military means… If there’s any chance — and I’m not certain there is one — to reach a solution, it’s only through diplomatic negotiations,” he says.
At the same time, Rabin says such negotiations “must lean on military might, as without military might there will be no diplomacy.”
Court extends remand of alleged PMO leaker Eli Feldstein by one day
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation launched in late October 2024 of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material. (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
A court has extended the remand of a spokesman working with the Prime Minister’s Office by one day, following his arrest last month for the alleged leak of army intelligence documents.
Eli Feldstein, a Netanyahu aide who previously served in the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit, is suspected of having worked with four intelligence soldiers to steal top-secret intelligence and leak it to the foreign press in a distorted manner that would dovetail with the premier’s talking points against a hostage deal with Hamas. He has been held in detention since October 27. Three of the four soldiers are also understood to still be held, while one has been released. A gag order covers some aspects of the case.
IDF says some five rockets launched from Lebanon
The military says some five rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the Haifa area and central Israel.
It says some of the rockets were intercepted while others impacted.
There are no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Sirens sound in northern and central Israel
Sirens sound in northern and central Israel, amid reports that rockets were launched at the regions from Lebanon.
National Security Council denies getting suspicious intel on Hamas hours before attack
A car destroyed in an attack by Palestinian terrorists is seen in Sderot, Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
The National Security Council denies a report that the IDF investigation into the hours leading up to the Hamas invasion on October 7 found that the council received alerts on suspicious Hamas activities that night.
According to the report by Yedioth Ahronoth, at 2 a.m. on the morning of October 7, the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate sent updates to the chief of staff and to the Prime Minister’s Office intelligence officer about Hamas operatives activating Israeli phone SIMs, a sign they could be set to attack. At the same time, IDF intelligence noted that Hamas had done the same thing during an exercise the year before.
An hour later, the report said, intelligence officers updated the NSC situation room about the worrying signs from Gaza, including an unspecified “meaningful indication.” It said that at 3:55 a.m., the NSC received another update that Hamas seemed to be moving into emergency mode.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment at 4:00 a.m. about the developments in Gaza. The PMO received the main findings.
The NSC rejects the report. “Contrary to Ronen Bergman’s false publication in Yedioth Ahronoth,” it says in a statement, “no warning was given to the NSC in the early morning of October 7.”
The report and the denial come as the PMO is being investigated over alleged attempts to falsify the records of conversations in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office ahead of the Hamas attack, including blackmailing the aforementioned intelligence officer to coerce him to change the minutes of phone calls.
Students occupy Italian defense firm Leonardo’s HQ to protest Gaza war
Around a hundred students have occupied Leonardo’s Turin headquarters to denounce what they say is the Italian defense group’s complicity in Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
The students, who unfurled a Palestinian flag from the roof of Leonardo’s offices, says the company is supporting Israel by providing remote technical assistance and spare parts to Israel’s air force.
Leonardo declines to comment.
Images released by the students show them in Leonardo’s offices waving Palestinian flags and carrying spray cans. Outside they hung banners on the buildings saying ‘no arms to Israel’ and accusing the group of complicity in genocide.
Visiting north, Defense Minister Katz promises to keep fighting until goals achieved
Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) during a visit to Northern Command with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (2R) on November 13, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
As efforts continue in Washington and Beirut to find a negotiated end to combat between Israel and Hezbollah, new Defense Minister Israel Katz promises that the IDF will keep fighting until all of Israel’s goals are achieved.
“We will not make any ceasefire, we will not take our foot off the gas, and we will not allow any arrangement that does not include the achievement of the war’s goals,” says Katz during a visit to IDF Northern Command with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. He lists the aims as disarming Hezbollah, pushing it beyond the Litani River, and allowing for the residents of northern Israel to return safely to their homes.
The disarming of Hezbollah has not been included in Israel’s war aims in Lebanon to this stage. It is unclear if the statement was a slip of the tongue by Katz.
Katz stresses that Israel will continue to insist on its “right to enforce [any deal] on its own and to act against any terrorist activity and organization.”
“Now we need to continue to hit Hezbollah with all our strength,” he says.
Opposition slams ‘illegitimate vote’ on bill to expand police surveillance powers
Opposition parties slam what they call an “illegitimate vote” after a bill allowing police to spy on suspects’ computers using secret warrants clears its preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum 58-1.
Writing to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik, senior lawmakers representing opposition factions complain that the controversial bill was returned to the Knesset agenda “without the knowledge and consent of the opposition” after being previously removed.
Accusing Ohana and Afik of facilitating the “trampling of the stature of the Knesset,” the lawmakers describe the vote, which they boycotted, as “an illegal and illegitimate legislative process.”
If passed into law, the Otzma Yehudit-backed bill would empower district court judges to issue secret warrants for the intrusion into computer systems belonging to suspects in cases relating to serious crimes in which “the purpose of the search will be frustrated if the search is conducted openly.” The orders, which would last 30 days, would only be granted if the offense in question is punishable by 10 or more years in prison — effectively preventing it from applying to cases of suspected corruption by politicians.
Police can currently wiretap phones and listen in to data in transit, including phone calls and text messages, but cannot extract preexisting, or “at-rest,” data out of computers or mobile devices.
Celebrating the bill’s advancement, sponsor Zvika Fogel declares that “we will not allow criminal organizations to take advantage of digital freedom to harm public security.”
Hezbollah claims it targeted IDF’s Tel Aviv HQ with drones; no such indications
File: The Kirya, IDF Headquarters, buildings seen from the Sarona Market in central Tel Aviv, on march 21, 2018. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
Hezbollah claims it launched a drone attack targeting Israel’s military headquarters and Defense Ministry in central Tel Aviv this afternoon.
In a statement, the Lebanese terror group says it conducted an “aerial attack with a squadron of exploding drones” on the site housing Israel’s main defense institutions.
The Israeli military said earlier it had intercepted two drones from Lebanon in northern Israel.
There is currently no indication that any drones reached central Israel or came near army headquarters.
1,500 years old: Earliest inscribed tablet of Ten Commandments to be auctioned
Auction house Sotheby’s New York plans to auction the oldest inscribed tablet of the Ten Commandments next month.
The marble tablet, weighing 115 pounds (52 kilograms) and standing two feet tall, is believed to be around 1,500 years old and features Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions.
“We recognized the object’s powerful significance and are thrilled to offer it for public sale,” Sharon Liberman Mintz, Sotheby’s international Judaica specialist, tells ARTnews.
The tablet was discovered in 1913 during railway construction on Israel’s southern coast but was initially ignored. At one point, it was used as a paving stone outside a home, before its significance became clear, the outlet reports.
Estimated to fetch between $1-2 million, it will be presented on December 18.
Sotheby's Will Auction Oldest Inscribed Tablet of Ten Commandments
“It is rare for there to be exceptionally important pieces from the Holy Land, which have left Israel before 1978,” Mintz said in reference to the year Israel passed its antiquities law. https://t.co/tseqzB76Ke
— Chasing Aphrodite (@ChasingAphrodit) November 13, 2024
Biden to meet with families of 7 American-Israeli hostages held in Gaza
US President Joe Biden will meet later this afternoon at the White House with the families of the seven remaining American-Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, a National Security Council spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.
The families met yesterday with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and urged the Biden administration to work with Donald Trump’s transition team to secure a hostage deal before the president-elect enters office in just over two months.
Biden is also slated to host Trump later today and will reportedly raise the issue with him.
Israel questions ICC judge’s impartiality in Netanyahu arrest case
Undated photo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands. (Oliver de la Haye/iStock)
Israel has questioned the impartiality of an International Criminal Court judge appointed to a panel deciding whether an arrest warrant should be issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The move could further delay a decision in the case, in which the ICC chief prosecutor filed a request in May for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Israel’s then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders over the Gaza war.
The request requires the approval of ICC judges but their decision has been delayed, partly because of several rounds of legal filings by Israel challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
In a further delay, Romanian magistrate Iulia Motoc, citing health grounds, asked last month to leave the three-judge panel that is reviewing the request for arrest warrants. She has been replaced by ICC Judge Beti Hohler, who is Slovenian.
The Office of the Attorney-General of Israel says in a statement that Hohler had worked for the Office of the Prosecutor before she was elected as an ICC judge last December.
“Israel respectfully requests that judge Beti Hohler provide information to clarify whether there are [or are not] grounds to reasonably doubt her impartiality,” it says.
“Israel does not suggest that judge Hohler’s previous employment with the OTP necessarily or automatically gives rise to a reasonable apprehension of a lack of impartiality,” it says. “However, judges of this Court have acknowledged that previous duties within the OTP may, depending on the circumstances, give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.”
Israel touts potential contributions on climate change at UN climate conference
Israeli government figures, among them Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman (3rd left) and Foreign Office Climate Envoy Gideon Behar (3rd right) pose after cutting a ribbon to open the Israel Pavilion at the UN climate conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 13, 2024. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
Israel’s pavilion at the UN climate conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, is officially opened by Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, the Foreign Office special climate envoy Gideon Behar, and other senior figures.
Speakers emphasize that while Israel is a small country, it can contribute substantially to the global fight against climate change through technical innovation.
“Israel is a small country, but its spirit of innovation is anything but small,” says Silman, who failed to get a climate law passed in Israel in time for the international confab. “We are here as a partner ready to share our technology.”
Behar warns that if the world continues with business as usual, annual average temperatures will rise by 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, “which would be a disaster” for the world.
“Israel has a mission,” he declares, “and this is our time. This [climate change] is the most pressing crisis facing humanity since humans were created. We have a calling and we have the solutions. We have so much intelligence and dedication that we can make a difference globally.”
The Israeli pavilion is running 35 events and is hosting 20 climate tech companies, ten each week until November 22.
Netanyahu meets with Reservists’ Wives Forum, says he’ll seek to lighten load
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in the Knesset with the Reservists' Wives Forum, November 13, 2024 (Courtesy)
After meeting in the Knesset with the Reservists’ Wives Forum, which represents the spouses of IDF reservists, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a series of instructions to lighten the burden on soldiers’ families.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu orders directors-general of ministries at the meeting to look into creating a body in the Defense Ministry dedicated to helping spouses; increasing direct economic aid; giving precedence for children of reservists in psychological care and in day care; and expanding vouchers for professional training.
“You and the reservists represent a key part of achieving the goals of the [war], and of breaking the axis of evil that surrounded us,” says Netanyahu. “Israel will remain strong thanks to those serving and thanks to you.”
US federal worker charged in leak of classified docs on Israeli plans to strike Iran
Illustrative: An F-35 at Hatzerim Air Base in the Negev desert, June 29, 2023. (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)
A man who worked for the US government has been charged with leaking classified information assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran prior to the retaliatory strike late last month, according to court papers filed today.
The man, identified as Asif William Rahman, was arrested by the FBI this week in Cambodia and is due to make his first court appearance in Guam.
It is not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer or which federal agency employed him.
The New York Times was first to report his arrest.
IAF fighter jets strike Hezbollah assets in Beirut
Israeli fighter jets carried out another series of strikes against Hezbollah assets in Beirut a short while ago, the IDF says.
The military says the targets included weapons depots and a command center.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation orders for civilians in the area.
Israeli fighter jets carried out another series of strikes against Hezbollah assets in Beirut a short while ago, the IDF says.
The military says the targets included weapons depots and a command center.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation orders for civilians in the… pic.twitter.com/WGC8DC1sXY
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 13, 2024
IDF shoots down two drones from Lebanon in north
Sirens warning of a drone infiltration sounded in the Western Galilee a short time ago. The IDF says it shot down two drones that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
There are no reports of injuries.
Blinken calls on Israel for ‘extended pauses’ in Gaza war
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a press conference during the 44th and 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Vientiane on October 11, 2024. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY / POOL / AFP)
US top diplomat Antony Blinken calls on Israel to implement “real and extended pauses” in fighting in Gaza to allow for aid deliveries, after a US-imposed deadline to improve conditions in the territory expired.
Blinken says Israel took multiple steps to address the humanitarian crisis ahead of the deadline set by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration — but that more is needed.
“We need to see real and extended pauses in large areas of Gaza, pauses in any fighting, any combat, so that the assistance can effectively get to people who need it,” Blinken tells reporters during a visit to Brussels.
He says Israel has moved to implement 12 of the 15 steps the US urged action on, but “three big issues” still need to be addressed.
Enacting extended pauses in fighting is one. The other two are allowing commercial trucks into the Palestinian territory and rescinding evacuation orders so that people can return to an area after Israel completed operations there, he says.
“Short of ending the war, which we believe now is the time to move to that, we have to see these humanitarian steps fully implemented,” Blinken says.
France pans Smotrich’s call for Israeli annexation of West Bank
France condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.
“These remarks are contrary to international law and undermine efforts to de-escalate regional tensions,” says the French Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
“France reiterates its commitment to the implementation of the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, as the only viable prospect for a just and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
UK’s Guardian stops posting on X due to ‘disturbing content’ on platform
Britain’s The Guardian newspaper announces it will no longer post content from its official accounts on Elon Musk’s X, citing “the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform.”
“We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the left-wing newspaper, which has nearly 11 million followers on X, says.
Court rejects Netanyahu’s request to delay testimony in his trial by 10 weeks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Jerusalem District Court rejects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a 10-week delay to the start of his testimony in his criminal trial, saying that he has already had five months to prepare.
Netanyahu’s defense team had said the prime minister was unable to prepare due to the time pressures of managing the multifront war.
The court says that it gave Netanyahu a long period for testimony preparation when it set the date of December 2 back in July, and “we were not convinced that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred which would justify a change to the date we set in our [original] decision.”
Netanyahu will therefore be called to the stand in just under three weeks.
Iran says communication channels with US ‘still exist’
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a press conference in Kuwait City, Kuwait, on October 22, 2024. (Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP)
Iran’s top diplomat says communication channels with the United States are still open, a week after Donald Trump was elected president.
“The communication channels between us and the Americans still exist,” Abbas Araghchi says on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet meeting.
“We have differences with the Americans, which are sometimes very fundamental and central and may not be resolved, but we must manage them to reduce their costs and decrease the tensions,” he adds.
Some 20 rockets fired from Lebanon at the Galilee
A barrage of some 20 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee a short while ago.
The IDF says most of the rockets were intercepted, but several struck inside Israel.
Mother of hostage Sasha Trufanov: ‘Very worried about his wellbeing’ after new video
Hostage Sasha Trufanov in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024. (Screengrab)
The family of hostage Sasha Trufanov authorizes the publication of the video of him released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, as his mother says she is concerned by his words.
“I am happy to see that my son is alive and that he is able to survive the horrific conditions in captivity,” says Lena Trufanov, who was also taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, but was released last November. “However, the desperation and hopelessness on his face are very troubling, and I am very worried about his physical and mental health.
“My beloved son, I ask you to keep being strong and hold on. Do not lose hope, we will not stop fighting for your release until you are here with us, at home,” she adds.
“I urge that every effort be made to secure his immediate release and that of all other hostages. They have no time left,” she says.
In the video, Sasha Trufanov says: “I’ve been in captivity for a year, there’s been a shortage of food, water, electricity and now even the basic products have run out.”
Trufanov also asks the citizens of Israel to keep protesting and to remember the hostages, expressing concern that the government has moved on and has “forgotten” those held in Gaza while fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Hostages Families Forum says that the “horrific” video show the urgent need for a deal.
The video “highlights the urgency of returning the 101 hostages – and now, with winter approaching, these hostages, who have been subjected to horrific conditions of abuse, starvation, and darkness for over a year, face an increasing risk of losing their lives,” the forum says.
The video of Trufanov was released more than 13 months after Palestinian terrorists rampaged through Kibbutz Nir Oz, killing or kidnapping 117 out of its 400 residents.
משפחתו של סשה טרופנוב אישרה לפרסם את הסרטון שלו מהשבי: "בבקשה תפעלו ותעשו כל מה שאפשר כדי שתוכלו להחזיר אותנו בריאים ושלמים הביתה, אני מתגעגע למשפחה, לחברים – ולחופש"@galdjerassi pic.twitter.com/I4h6f4Nqv8
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) November 13, 2024
Rocket sirens sound in Upper Galilee, northern border towns
Rocket sirens sound in multiple towns along the northern border and in the Upper Galilee as the area comes under rocket fire from Lebanon.
Prosecution opposes Netanyahu’s request to delay testimony, says PM can’t dictate schedule of trial
Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh arrives for a court hearing in the trial against premier at the Jerusalem District Court on November 13, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Yehudit Tirosh, representing the State Attorney’s Office, tells the Jerusalem District Court that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be allowed to “dictate the schedule” of his trial, in response to the prime minister’s request to postpone his testimony.
Responding to the request by Netanyahu’s defense team for a two-and-a-half-month delay to the start of his testimony in court, Tirosh points out that the court in July gave the prime minister five months to prepare for his testimony.
“We were at war in July in Gaza and with attacks from the north, and we’re at war now,” says Tirosh.
“The prime minister can’t dictate the schedule for his trial and testimony. We don’t know what will be in another 10 weeks, either.”
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman asks Netanyahu’s defense attorney whether Netanyahu will be ready by March 2025, when he has requested his testimony begin, to which the lawyer says he cannot know.
PM’s attorney: Netanyahu not ready to testify because he puts country’s needs ahead of his own
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyer Amit Hadad arrives for a court hearing in the trial against premier at the Jerusalem District Court on November 13, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorney in his corruption trial, Amit Hadad, says in a hearing at the Jerusalem District Court that the premier is unable to prepare properly for giving testimony on December 2, the date set by the court, because he has put the needs of the country above his personal legal interests during the current war.
“Netanyahu is managing the entire war, and there are weeks when we can’t meet with him. How can this be ignored?” demands Hadad, adding, “Do we not want a PM whose head is entirely in managing the war?”
Adds Hadad: “We’ve done so much to prepare for this testimony. Meetings have been canceled or postponed when other things come first.”
Hadad rejects the prosecution’s claim that further delaying the trial, now approaching the end of its fourth year, would damage the principle of equality before the law, and says the prime minister should not have to testify without being properly prepared.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Jerusalem District Court to listen to video testimony from businessman Arnon Milchan in the prime minister’s corruption trial, June 27, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon / Flash90)
UK police officer arrested on suspicion of supporting Hamas
A British police officer has been arrested on suspicion of supporting the Hamas terror group, the BBC reports.
The officer, who is not named but is said to be in his 30s, has been detained over suspected support for Hamas that “relates to activity online.”
Gloucestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson says two properties and a vehicle were searched as part of the investigation, with the aim of finding digital devices to send for analysis.
“The arrest of a serving officer on suspicion of such a serious offense will no doubt cause our communities concern, as it does everyone who works for Gloucestershire Police,” Mathieson tells the BBC.
“The arrest has been made to allow for a prompt and effective investigation to take place and we must not draw any conclusions at this stage,” he says.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group releases third video of hostage Sasha Trufanov
Hostage Sasha Trufanov in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024. (Screengrab)
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group releases a video of hostage Sasha Trufanov.
It is unclear when the video was made. In the clip Trufanov says that he is aged 28; however, the video is released two days after he turned 29, his second birthday in captivity.
It is the third video the terror group has released of Trufanov.
Terror groups have previously issued similar videos of hostages in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.
Most Israeli media do not carry the video clips.
Trufanov was taken hostage along with three members of his family — grandmother Irena Tati, mother Yelena (Lena) Trufanova and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen — from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 Hamas massacre in the Gaza border town.
Trufanova and Tati were released by Hamas on November 29 at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen was released on November 30 as part of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Sasha Trufanov is an engineer employed at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli microelectronics company purchased by Amazon.
He and Cohen had recently moved in together in a Ramat Gan apartment, so when the Gaza border communities were attacked by Hamas terrorists in what became a massacre of hundreds, his friends didn’t know at first that he was visiting his family there.
Last month, the Hamas terror group said Trufanov and another hostage with Russian citizenship, Maxim Herkin, will be among the first to be released during an eventual hostage deal.
Several Hezbollah field commanders were killed in recent Lebanon airstrikes, IDF says
Several Hezbollah field commanders were killed in recent airstrikes in southern Lebanon, the military says.
According to the IDF, in early October, a strike carried out by fighter jets killed Muhammad Musa Salah, who is identified as the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the Khiam region of southern Lebanon. (Another Hezbollah commander responsible specifically for the town of Khiam was killed earlier this month).
Salah was responsible for over 2,500 rocket launches at the Golan Heights, Upper Galilee and Galilee Panhandle during the war, as well as attacks on IDF troops in south Lebanon, the military says.
Another strike on Sunday killed Ayman Muhammad Nabulsi, who the IDF identifies as the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit in the Hajjar regional unit, which is responsible for attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge region. (Another commander of the anti-tank unit was killed late last month in a separate strike).
Separate strikes killed Hajj Ali Yussef Salah, the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the village of Kfar Tebnit, and another unnamed commander responsible for the Ghajar area, the military adds.
Sirens in northern border towns warn of rocket fire, suspected drone attack
Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the northern border with Lebanon, warning of both rocket fire and a suspected drone attack.
The alerts are heard in Shlomi and Rosh Hanikra, as well as a number of nearby villages.
IDF: Drone launched from Lebanon intercepted before entering Israeli airspace
A drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the IDF says.
According to the military, the drone was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.
It marks the fourth drone shot down by Israeli air defenses since last night. At least one of the drones was launched from Iraq.
Lebanon says at least 6 killed in airstrike south of Beirut
Residents walk past damaged cars in front of an apartment destroyed in an Israeli strike on Hezbollah in the Dawhet Aramoun area, south of Beirut, on November 13, 2024 (AFP)
Lebanon’s health ministry says an Israeli strike killed at least six people in a densely packed area south of the capital Beirut, outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.
The ministry does not say if those killed were members of the terror group.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Aramoun killed six people” and wounded 15, the ministry says, giving a preliminary toll, adding that “body parts were recovered from the site and their identities are being verified.”
IDF issues evacuation warning for 6 Beirut buildings ahead of strikes against Hezbollah
The IDF has issued new evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians in the vicinity of six buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah assets.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.
#عاجل 2/2 إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في منطقة الغبيري
⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم… pic.twitter.com/Fo01wgx2bY
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 13, 2024
Huckabee says he’s not in charge of policy, but West Bank annexation ‘of course’ a possibility during Trump’s 2nd term
Mike Huckabee takes questions from the media, prior to laying a brick at a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, Aug. 1, 2018. US president-elect Donald Trump will nominate the former Arkansas governor as ambassador to Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)
In an interview with Army Radio, US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the position of ambassador to Israel says that “of course” annexation of the West Bank is a possibility, but notes that he is not the one who sets policy.
“Well I have been as you know, a frequent visitor to Judea and Samaria,” Mike Huckabee says, using the Biblical term for the West Bank favored by those on the right wing.
“I also very much believe that the people of Israel deserve a secure and safe country and anything I can do that will help accommodate that is going to be a great privilege for me,” he says.
The anchors say they then pushed Huckabee again on whether West Bank annexation is a possibility during Trump’s second term. The outlet did not broadcast the reporters asking him the question.
“Well of course. I won’t make the policy, I will carry out the policy of the president, but he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel — from the moving of the embassy, recognition of the Golan Heights, and Jerusalem as the capital, no one has done more than president Trump and I fully expect that will continue,” Huckabee says.
When asked about the possibility of rebuilding Israeli settlements in Gaza, Huckabee says “well I haven’t had time to process that” and repeats that it’s not his job to set policy, but instead to to carry it out.
Huckabee also says that he is “incredibly honored” that Trump asked him to take the role.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to be able to represent my country to a land that I have loved since I first visited there in July 1973,” he says.
“And with dozens and dozens of trips that I have made to Israel and having taken tens of thousands of Americans there to see the land, I cannot tell you what a joy it is to be able to serve in this capacity,” he says.
Huckabee, 69, has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent supporters of Israel. He is the first non-Jew nominated for the post since James Cunningham was tapped by then-US president George W. Bush in 2008.
He has called Israel’s claim to the West Bank stronger than American ties to Manhattan and laid bricks in 2018 as ground was broken on a new housing complex in the settlement of Efrat.
However, at least two officials in Trump’s previous administration have warned senior Israeli ministers not to assume that the president-elect will support Israel annexing the West Bank in his second term, three sources familiar with the conversations told The Times of Israel.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
Hezbollah weapon depots and command centers hit in Beirut overnight strikes, IDF says
Thick smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Hezbollah in a neighborhood in Beirut southern suburbs on November 13, 2024 (IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah weapon depots and command centers in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the IDF says.
The Hezbollah sites 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 area.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונת אגף המודיעין תקפו במהלך הלילה מחסני אמצעי לחימה ומפקדות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות >> pic.twitter.com/09WhABaGab
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 13, 2024
Ahead of Iran trip, UN nuke watchdog chief says ‘imperative’ to reach diplomatic solution
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks during an interview with AFP in Baku on November 12, 2024, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29). (Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi is set to visit Tehran today for crucial talks on Iran’s nuclear program, warning just ahead of his trip that room for maneuver is narrowing.
His visit comes only two days after Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Islamic Republic is “more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities.”
Israel has long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.
“The margins for maneuver are beginning to shrink,” Grossi says in an interview with AFP ahead of his visit, adding that “it is imperative to find ways to reach diplomatic solutions.”
While the IAEA is allowed to carry out inspections in Iran, Grossi stresses the need for “more visibility” into Iran’s nuclear program, given its scale and ambition.
“They have a lot of nuclear materials that could be used eventually to make a nuclear weapon, the IAEA chief tells CNN, adding: “They do not have a nuclear weapon at this point.”
IDF: Terrorist who participated in Oct. 7 onslaught killed in recent Gaza City strike
Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released for publication by the military on November 13, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
A terrorist who participated in the October 7 onslaught was killed in a recent IDF drone strike in Gaza City.
The military says that it had targeted and eliminated a cell of gunmen spotted operating in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
Among the dead was Yasser Ghandi, who according to the IDF infiltrated into Israel and participated in the attacks on October 7.
IDF: ‘New Hezbollah targets’ reached in expanded south Lebanon ground operation
Troops operating in south Lebanon in an undated photo released for publication by the military on November 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF has further expanded its ground operation in southern Lebanon, with the 91st Division reaching “new targets” belonging to Hezbollah.
The IDF says commandos operating with the division raided several new areas, as other brigades continue “defensive and offensive activities in the area.”
Yesterday, the IDF said that the 36th Division has also expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Separately, the IDF says it struck dozens of rocket launchers in Lebanon, including the ones used in a deadly attack on Nahariya and long-range fire on central Israel yesterday.
IDF says air defenses downed drone launched from Lebanon
The IDF says it downed a drone launched from Lebanon that triggered warning sirens in northern border towns.
There are no reports of injuries or damage from the drone or its interception.
IDF to test rocket sirens in Rameh today
The military says it will carry out a test of rocket sirens in a northern town today.
Alerts will be heard in Rameh at 10:05 a.m.
In the case of an actual attack, the sirens will sound twice, according to the IDF.
Trump names Musk to lead top advisory group on US government efficiency
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump announces that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, will lead a new US government efficiency group tasked with cutting federal waste, as the Republican president-elect adds a series of seasoned figures and hardliners to his incoming administration.
Musk became a key ally to Trump during his campaign, reportedly spending over $100 million to help the Republican win and repeatedly boosting Trump’s candidacy on X, the platform he owns.
Trump says Musk and another stalwart ally, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead a “Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’)” a tongue-in-cheek reference to an internet meme and cryptocurrency.
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump says in a statement.
He says the department “will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government,” a move that could allow Musk to avoid disclosing his financial holdings.
In a post on X, Musk says the department’s actions will be published online “for maximum transparency” and will include a “leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars.”
“This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining,” Musk writes.
Sirens warn of suspected drone attack on northern border town; IDF says earlier UAV intercepted
Sirens sound in towns close to the Lebanon border, warning of a suspected incoming drone attack.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces says that earlier sirens in the Western Galilee were caused by a drone that was intercepted by air defenses. There were no injuries reported.
Suspected drone alerts sound in Western Galilee towns near Lebanon border
Suspected drone sirens are activated in Western Galilee towns near the border with Lebanon.
US hostage families urge Biden-Trump cooperation to reach deal before inauguration
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, center, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, along with other families of hostages in Gaza, speaks with reporters following their meeting with US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)
The families of American-Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged top Biden officials during meetings in Washington on Tuesday to work with their counterparts in the incoming administration in order to secure a hostage deal before President-elect Donald Trump enters office in two months.
“Our requests… of both administrations right now is they work together, not to prepare the Trump administration for taking office in late January, but rather to get this done now in this unique moment,” hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen’s father Jonathan tells The Times of Israel after he and the relatives of six other American-Israeli hostages met at the White House with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk and other top Biden officials.
If the sides wait until Trump enters office on January 20 to strike a deal, “there’s a very real possibility that none of the hostages will remain alive, and it will be nearly impossible to retrieve the remains of those who have been murdered,” Dekel-Chen warns.
While he faults the Israeli government for “abandoning” the hostages for more than 400 days, Dekel-Chen asserts that the Biden administration has done “everything in its power” to negotiate a deal, amid pushback from both Israel and Hamas.
The families of the American-Israeli hostages will remain in the US for several more days and are working to secure meetings with some of Trump’s recently announced appointees along with Republican lawmakers who will likely be in control of both houses of Congress next year.
US military says it struck Syria weapons depot that belongs to Iran-backed militia
The US military says it has conducted strikes against an Iranian-backed militia group’s weapons storage facility in Syria.
“These strikes were in response to a rocket attack on US personnel at Patrol Base Shaddadi. There was no damage to US facilities and no injuries to US or partner forces during the attack,” the US military says in a statement.
For Pentagon chief, Trump taps Fox News host who said US must ‘stand by strong ally’ Israel
FILE - Pete Hegseth walks to an elevator for a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, December 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
US President-elect Donald Trump says that he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.
Hegseth deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Minnesota in 2012 before joining Fox News.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump says in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”
Hegseth has been an advocate of Israel in his coverage, which over the past year has included the series “Battle in the Holy Land: Israel at War” about the ongoing Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s terror onslaught on October 7, 2023, and an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This is not some mystical land that can be dismissed,” Hegseth said in a 2016 interview with the Jewish Press when asked about seeing biblical and historical sites in Israel. “It’s the story of God’s chosen people. That story didn’t end in 1776 or in 1948 or with the founding of the UN. All of these things still resonate and matter today.”
He also said at the time that he had never met a Jew until going to college.
“My parents come from a small town in Minnesota where I grew up as a Baptist. I never met a Jewish person until I went to college. When I did, the first thing I said to him was, ‘I read about you in the Bible!’ It was from there and beyond that I gained a true understanding of Jews. Growing up an evangelical, I obviously had an enormous amount of respect and understanding of the historical resonance of Abraham and religions and how they’re intertwined.”
“I have come to really appreciate the Jewish heritage and the Jewish state. I understand how geopolitically we are linked and how critical it is that we stand by such a strong ally.”
IDF intercepts drone ‘from the east’ that set off sirens in southern Golan
The IDF says it downed “a suspicious aerial object launched from the east” that triggered warning sirens in the southern Golan Heights, using a term to refer to attacks from Iraq.
There are no reports of injuries or damage and the military stresses the drone never entered Israeli territory.
Strike hits southern suburb of Beirut following Israeli evacuation order
A strike hit a southern Beirut suburb after an Israeli order to locals to evacuate, AFPTV shows early Wednesday, airing images of fires and smoke in the area.
The evacuation order posted on X by Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee warned people living in houses close to buildings “linked to Hezbollah” to move out, warning of imminent heavy strikes.
Trump nominates former national intelligence director to be CIA chief
FILE - Former US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, testifies before a hearing April 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — US President-elect Donald Trump announces that he is nominating former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
A former Republican congressman from Texas, Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the US government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump says in a statement. “He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
Trump announces real estate investor Steven Witkoff will be his special envoy to Mideast
Steve Witkoff arrives at a campaign rally for Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, October 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
US President-elect Donald Trump announces the appointment of real estate investor Steven Witkoff to be his special envoy to the Middle East.
Witkoff has been Trump’s regular golf partner and was seen as a conduit to the Jewish business community during his winning presidential campaign.
“Steve is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy, who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous. Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud,” Trump says in a statement.
Witkoff will fill a role that did not exist in the current administration, as US President Joe Biden believing that the conditions weren’t in place for another high-stakes Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative and instead sought to prioritize other foreign policy issues.
Witkoff is not known to have any experience diplomacy or the Middle East, but those have not been criteria for previous Trump appointments. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who similarly lacked such experience, managed to broker the Abraham Accords during the Republican politician’s first term as president.
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