Nov. 13: IDF denies Lebanon strike, says blast caused by Hezbollah weapons smuggling attempt

The IDF denies carrying out an airstrike against a car in southern Lebanon earlier today, saying that the blast was actually caused by an attempt by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.

“Earlier today, false Lebanese reports were published about an Israeli airstrike in the area of the village of Toul in southern Lebanon. After examining the reports, it was found that the car explosion resulted from a failed attempt by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons,” says Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.

He says that Hezbollah “continues to violate the understandings [between Israel and Lebanon], as its operatives move under civilian cover and endanger the residents of Lebanon.”

11:42 pm

Deceased hostage returned by Hamas identified as Meny Godard, from Kibbutz Be’eri

Meny Godard. (Courtesy)

Military representatives have notified the family of Meny Godard that his body was returned to Israel by Hamas tonight, after forensic experts completed their identification.

Godard, 73, was murdered by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, alongside his wife Ayelet, 63, and his body was abducted to Gaza by the Hamas-allied terror group.

The couple is survived by their children, Mor, Gal, Bar, and Goni, a number of grandchildren, and several siblings.

In March, troops recovered findings belonging to Godard at an Islamic Jihad post in southern Gaza’s Rafah. The findings found at the post were taken to Israel and identified as belonging to Godard, but his body remained held in Gaza.

IDF troops salute the casket containing the body of hostage Meny Godard after it was returned by Hamas, during a short ceremony led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Krim (right) in the Gaza Strip, November 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Hamas, in a joint statement with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said that the body had been located in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza earlier today.

The bodies of three slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — two Israelis and one Thai national: Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Godard family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

The PMO says that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back the remaining three slain hostages for burial, adding that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”

11:40 pm

Ramallah says Palestinians whom IDF killed, claiming they were en route to ‘carry out terror attack,’ were both teenagers

By AFP

Two Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank earlier today were both 15 years old, the Palestinian Authority says, after the Israeli military said it had killed two terrorists “on their way to carry out a terror attack.”

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority health ministry announces without further details “the martyrdom of Bilal Bahaa Ali Baaran (15 years old) and Muhammad Mahmud Abu Ayash (15 years old), killed by bullets from the occupation this afternoon, Thursday, near Beit Omar, north of Hebron.”

The IDF said earlier today that troops killed two Palestinians who were “on their way to carry out a terror attack” near the West Bank settlement of Karmei Zur.

The military did not elaborate on what the two suspects were planning.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

11:31 pm

Man found dead in south Tel Aviv; woman shot and killed near Kafr Qasim

A man was found lifeless in southern Tel Aviv tonight, paramedics say, adding that he was discovered with signs of violence on his body.

Police forces are currently at the scene where the body was found.

Earlier tonight, a woman in her 30s was shot and killed near Kafr Qasim, an Arab city in central Israel.

Paramedics arrived to find the victim unconscious and in critical condition.

They attempted to resuscitate her while taking her to a nearby hospital, but she soon succumbed to her wounds, Ynet reports.

11:26 pm

US calls on Security Council to back its proposal creating international force for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council holds a meeting on Iran at UN headquarters on September 19, 2025, in New York. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

The US publicly calls on fellow members of the UN Security Council to back Washington’s resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force to help secure postwar Gaza.

A statement from the US Mission to the UN says that the Trump administration has been working on the resolution for the past month, with input from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE.

Last week, the US mission began negotiations on a draft with fellow Security Council members in order to provide an international mandate for the ISF that would “begin a stable, secure, peaceful and prosperous future for Palestinians in Gaza, free of Hamas,” the US statement says.

“We urge the Security Council to seize this historic moment to pave a path towards enduring peace in the Middle East by supporting this resolution,” the US says.

“Attempts to sow discord now – when agreement on this resolution is under active negotiation – has grave, tangible, and entirely avoidable consequences for Palestinians in Gaza. The ceasefire is fragile and we urge the council to unite and move forward to secure the peace that is desperately needed,” the statement adds.

The US doesn’t elaborate on why the statement was issued, but the text indicates that Washington is facing mounting pushback to the effort.

Countries have yet to publicly announce decisions to contribute troops to the ISF amid fears the force will be tasked not just with securing Gaza’s borders, the distribution of humanitarian aid and day-to-day security functions, but also with entering into combat in order to disarm Hamas, which has shown no appetite for willingly giving up its arms as envisioned by US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war.

The Times of Israel obtained and verified a copy of the US resolution’s text on Wednesday, and a Western diplomat said Washington is hoping to bring the matter to a vote in the coming days.

11:15 pm

US Reform movement demands ‘decisive’ action against settler violence

By Luke Tress

A Palestinian man inspects parts of a burnt house after an Israeli settlers attack in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank on November 11, 2025. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

The US Reform movement demands that the Israeli government take action to rein in settler violence in the West Bank.

“It is past time for decisive, public, and consistent action from the Israeli government and from allies committed to ending attacks that violate Palestinians’ human rights and endanger the prospects for peaceful coexistence,” the statement says.

“Ever-larger groups of settlers in the West Bank have attacked Palestinian olive groves, businesses, and homes with horrific violence and seeming impunity. These assaults devastate individuals, destroy livelihoods, and desecrate the land itself,” the group says. “When government officials claim these attacks are carried out by a small group of extremists whose actions tarnish the reputation of the broader settler community, we ask: if the group is truly small, why has the violence grown in both frequency and severity in recent months?”

“We again call upon the IDF and Israeli police to take immediate and effective measures to locate the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” says the statement from the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the American Conference of Cantors.

10:56 pm

BBC investigating possible second instance of editing Trump clips in misleading way

By AFP

The BBC says it is investigating a possible second instance in which a speech by US President Donald Trump was edited in a misleading way.

On Monday, the BBC apologized for giving the impression that Trump had directly urged “violent action” just before the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters in 2021 in a documentary that aired in October last year.

Trump’s lawyers wrote a letter to the BBC, giving it until Friday to “appropriately compensate” the president for “harm caused” by the edit, or face a $1 billion legal case.

The BBC director-general and the organization’s top news executive resigned Sunday over the controversy.

On Thursday The Telegraph said the broadcaster also aired another report, in June, 2022 on its “Newsnight” program, in which phrases spoken at different points in a speech by Trump from January 6, 2021 — the day of the riots — were edited together to make it appear as if the outgoing president was urging his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”

A BBC spokesperson says: “This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”

The editing row comes at a politically sensitive time for the BBC, which is due to renegotiate the Royal Charter that outlines the corporation’s governance. Its current charter will end in 2027.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government have been performing a tightrope act, backing the broadcaster’s independence while avoiding taking sides against Trump.

10:46 pm

Manny Binyamin, head of police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit, named as senior officer suspected of breach of trust, abuse of authority

Manny Binyamin, the chief of police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit, is the senior officer who was detained for questioning last night on suspicion of breach of trust and abuse of authority.

Binyamin, who holds the rank of deputy commissioner, was detained and questioned under caution by the Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) on suspicion that he intervened in a classified investigation in which he had a conflict of interest.

He was interrogated for seven hours by investigators, who seized his phone before releasing him on restrictive conditions, which include a nine-day ban from entering police facilities and a prohibition on contacting anyone involved in the case.

The suspect is one of the highest-ranking police officers in the country and has been promoted in rank twice under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s time in office.

He assumed his most recent position helming Lahav in September 2024, where it is his job to oversee high-profile investigations, many involving politicians and other public figures.

10:00 pm

Poll: 42% of Israelis prefer Netanyahu over Bennett for PM; 32% think he should take plea deal and retire

Left: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, October 22, 2025; right: Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, October 15, 2025. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL; Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Forty-two percent of Israelis believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more suited to lead the country than former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who is preferred by 35% of Israelis, according to a new poll published by Channel 12.

Eighteen percent of Israelis thought neither Netanyahu nor Bennett is up to the task, and 5% said they didn’t know who they preferred.

The poll finds that the public believes Netanyahu is more suited to the role than Opposition Leader Yair Lapid by a margin of 47% to 21%, although 29% of people don’t want either of them as prime minister and 3% said they didn’t know who they preferred.

According to Channel 12, these are the widest margins by which Netanyahu is the preferred candidate since the last elections in November 2022.

Regarding Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, Channel 12 also asked respondents how they felt about US President Donald Trump’s letter to President Isaac Herzog this week, asking him to pardon the premier.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said that they opposed Trump’s request, of whom 36% said they “strongly opposed” the move. On the other side, 44% of people said they supported Trump’s involvement, of whom 23% said they “strongly supported” it. Eight percent of people said they didn’t know how they felt about it.

As for Netanyahu’s trial itself, respondents were asked what they thought the ideal outcome would be.

In response, 32% of people said they believed Netanyahu should accept a plea deal that would see him retire from politics for good. Another 27% said the trial should be canceled, and 23% said the trial should continue until the judges reach a verdict.

Finally, just 9% of respondents said that Netanyahu should accept a plea deal that would allow him to continue his political career, and another 9% said they didn’t know what would be best.

As for the makeup of the 120-seat Knesset if elections were to be held today, the poll found that neither side would be able to form a government.

The largest party would be Netanyahu’s Likud, with 27 seats, followed by Bennett’s party with 22 seats.

The left-wing Democrats, headed by Yair Golan, would come in third with 10 seats.

The centrist Yesh Atid, ultra-Orthodox Shas, hawkish Yisrael Beytenu, and ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit parties would receive nine seats each, the poll shows.

Gadi Eisenkot’s “Yashar!” party would win eight seats and ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism would receive seven.

The Islamist Ra’am party and Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al would receive five seats each.

Finance Minister Bezal Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party would not pass the required 3.25% voter threshold to enter the Knesset, nor would Palestinian nationalist party Balad or Yoaz Hendel’s HaMiluimnikim.

The right-wing and Haredi parties that make up the current coalition would fall short of the 60 seats needed to form a government, with just 52 seats.

The Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc would be larger, but would also come up short, with 58 seats.

This means that anyone seeking to form a government would need to rely on Ra’am or Hadash-Ta’al, and it is not clear if any party is willing to do so, nor if Ra’am or Hadash-Ta’al themselves would want to.

The poll was conducted on November 13 with 501 participants and has a margin of error of 4.4%.

9:55 pm

UK university bans lecturer who taught students antisemitic blood libel

By Luke Tress

University College London, a prominent UK university, launches an investigation and bans a researcher who shared an antisemitic blood libel with students.

The researcher, Dr. Samar Maqusi, shared the blood libel with the campus branch of Students for Justice in Palestine.

The blood libel is a medieval anti-Jewish myth that falsely says Jews murder non-Jews to bake their blood into Passover matzah. The libel is one of the most notorious antisemitic falsehoods and has caused repeated violence to Jews in Europe and elsewhere.

Maqusi’s lesson centered on the Damascus Affair, an incident in Syria in 1840 during which a monk disappeared and the Jewish community was falsely accused of murdering him to use his blood for Passover. Eight leading members of the Jewish community were tortured into confessing.

Maqusi said the monk had disappeared during a “Jewish feast.”

“During this feast, they make these special pancakes, or bread, and part of the holy ceremony is that drops of blood from someone who’s not Jewish, which the term is ‘gentile,’ has to be mixed in that bread,” Maqusi said, according to an audio recording shared by the advocacy group StandWithUs.

“The story is that a certain investigation was undergoing to find out where Father Thomas is. He was found murdered and a group of Jews who lived in Syria said that, admitted to kidnapping him and murdering him to get drops of blood for making the holy bread,” she said.

????Antisemitism at UCL Event With University Research Fellow ????

A StandWithUs UK student shared this recording with us, exposing awful comments made by a UCL academic during a lecture at University College London.

During a lecture titled “The Birth of Zionism”, delivered by Dr… pic.twitter.com/0RF9Ooz3d6

— StandWithUsUK (@StandWithUsUK) November 13, 2025

The campus branch of Students for Justice in Palestine had advertised the Tuesday event as part of a lecture series called “Palestine: From existence to resistance.” Maqusi’s talk was called “The Birth of Zionism.”

The advertisement for the event said Maqusi was a researcher at the university and a former employee of UNRWA, the UN agency for the Palestinians.

The university president and provost, Dr. Michael Spence, says: “I am utterly appalled by these heinous antisemitic comments.”
“Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our university, and I want to express my unequivocal apology to all Jewish students, staff, alumni, and the wider community that these words were uttered at UCL,” Spence says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

Spence says the researcher is not a current university staffer, that the university reported the incident to police, and that the lecturer is banned from campus.

The university has launched a “full investigation into how this happened and have banned the student group which hosted it from holding any further events on campus pending the outcome of this.”

“Regrettably, like many UK universities, we continue to confront incidents of antisemitism and are committing to banishing this from our campus,” Spence says, adding that the university has initiated disciplinary proceedings against some students for antisemitism and reported incidents to police “where appropriate.”

“Freedom of speech and academic freedom are fundamental to university life, but they can never be misused as a shield for hatred. UCL remains steadfast in our commitment to ensure our campus is a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for everyone,” Spence says.

9:16 pm

IDF troops cross into Israel with casket containing apparent body of hostage

The casket containing the apparent remains of a dead hostage has been brought out of the Gaza Strip by troops, the military says.

The body is now escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process which officials have said may take up to two days.

Footage aired by Al Jazeera of the supposed recovery of the remains showed Hamas members placing the photo of one of the hostages — who had been murdered and abducted by the Islamic Jihad on October 7 — on the body bag.

If the body is confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that the remains of three hostages are still held in Gaza.

9:03 pm

IDF trainee dies on base after suffering apparent allergic reaction

Cpl. Ermias Bahata. (Israel Defense Forces)

An IDF trainee collapsed and died due to an apparent allergic reaction while at his base earlier today, the military announces.

The soldier is named as Cpl. Ermias Bahata, 18, from Ma’ale Adumim. He was posthumously promoted from private to corporal.

Bahata was a trainee at the Logistics Corps training base in southern Israel, where he collapsed and his death was declared a short while later.

It is suspected that the soldier died of an allergic reaction.

The IDF says the circumstances of his death are under investigation, and a medical investigation is underway.

The Military Police has also launched an investigation into the incident, the findings of which will be submitted to the Military Advocate General for review.

Additionally, the chief of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Rami Abudraham has appointed a team of experts headed by a colonel to investigate the incident.

8:58 pm

IDF receives casket containing apparent body of hostage from the Red Cross in Gaza

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip have received a casket, with the apparent body of a dead hostage, from the Red Cross a short while ago.

The casket had been collected by the Red Cross from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in southern Gaza.

The IDF is set to inspect the casket before draping it in an Israeli flag and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.

The remains will then be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

8:46 pm

Police said to stage fake raid during Ben Gvir’s ‘governance tour’ in mixed city

While touring Lod and Ramle alongside police last night, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was filmed walking between several men who appeared to have been detained. However, Haaretz reports that it is doubtful that any of those pictured were actually arrested.

The far-right minister visited the two mixed cities in a “governance tour” with officers and Border Police fighters as they carried out enforcement operations in Arab neighborhoods. He was accompanied by Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni and outgoing Lod station commander Kobi Yagen during part of his visit.

Outside a home in Lod’s Rakevet neighborhood, Ben Gvir walks alongside Yagen, who tells the minister that police had just raided the building, which belongs to the Abu Zkika family.

Ben Gvir is then filmed walking between men lying on the ground, face down with their hands covering their heads — giving the impression that officers had arrested them. Speaking to the camera, the minister says the police’s Yamam unit employed “large forces and work in order to defeat this phenomenon of shootings and weapons.”

However, Haaretz reports that the men pictured on the ground were not actually detained criminals. They were supposedly set free after Ben Gvir left, with the exception of one person who was detained for questioning in relation to a different case and released afterwards.

Two police sources speaking to the outlet say that no suspicious items were found in the compound, with one claiming that the operation was “all one big show in the minister’s honor.”

Police reject the Haaretz report as “baseless.” Responding to the report, police say the operation was “carried out in accordance with the law and on a judicial order, to thwart violent crime on the Arab street as [is done] every day, and not as a spectacle as is claimed.”

8:41 pm

IDF: Red Cross collected casket from Hamas, heading to IDF troops inside Gaza

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has collected a casket, with the apparent body of a slain hostage, from Hamas in southern Gaza a short while ago.

The Red Cross is now bringing the casket to IDF troops inside the Strip, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, will be held.

8:41 pm

Report: Trump pressing Saudis to move toward peace with Israel

US President Donald Trump, left, arrives with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the group photo with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders during the GCC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

US President Donald Trump is actively pressuring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to move toward normalization with Israel, Channel 12 reports, citing two senior US officials.

In a phone call a month ago after the Sharm El Sheikh peace summit, Trump told the Crown Prince, widely known as MBS, that now that the fighting in Gaza was done, he expects progress on the landmark peace deal, according to the report.

MBS responded that he was willing to work on it with the White House, says a US official.

“Our message to the Saudis is: ‘We did all the things you asked for. Now, there are things President Trump wants, like normalization with Israel. So how are you guys going to move now in this direction?” a senior US official tells the outlet.

The Saudis want firmer promises on a path toward a Palestinian state from Israel, reports Channel 12.

MBS is meeting with Trump at the White House next week.

7:44 pm

Red Cross vehicles heading to collect apparent body of hostage from Hamas in southern Gaza

Hamas operatives accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head to east of Gaza City to search for the bodies of hostages, November 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehand Alshrafi)

Red Cross vehicles are now heading to a handover site in the southern Gaza Strip to collect the apparent remains of a deceased hostage from Hamas, the IDF says.

Hamas, in a joint statement with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said earlier that the body had been located in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.

6:47 pm

Army Radio is ‘critical democratic tool’: Herzog urges Katz to reconsider closure

President Isaac Herzog comes out against Defense Minister Israel Katz’s decision to shutter Army Radio, saying that while improvements to the station are welcome, closing it down entirely would be a mistake.

“To fix yes, to destroy no,” Herzog says in a statement. “By closing a media outlet, and particularly a public media outlet, we are not just shutting down a channel but a window to the public.”

“When voices are erased, we not only lose a frequency but a dialogue as well,” continues the president. “We can make repairs, but we cannot completely erase a critical democratic tool.”

A source close to Katz, in response to Herzog, says that if the president is truly a “radio station enthusiast,” then he is welcome to set one up in the President’s Residence.

“The Israeli government alone will make decisions, in accordance with its authority, regarding the closure of Army Radio,” the source says.

Katz is not the first defense minister to push for the closure of the station. Successive governments, defense ministers, and chiefs of the Israel Defense Forces have for years announced their intentions to remove the broadcaster from under military control and transfer it to civilian oversight, or close it altogether.

5:37 pm

IDF: Troops killed 2 Palestinians en route to ‘carry out terror attack’ near Karmei Zur settlement

The IDF says troops killed two Palestinians who were “on their way to carry out a terror attack” near the West Bank settlement of Karmei Zur this afternoon.

The pair were shot dead by soldiers of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who were waiting in an ambush in the area.

The IDF does not elaborate on what the two suspects were planning.

5:34 pm

Journalist who aired leaked Sde Teiman video hounded by right-wing activists in Tel Aviv

Israeli journalist Guy Peleg arrives for a court hearing in the lawsuit filed against him by MK Simcha Rothman, at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, May 22, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Right-wing activists attacked Channel 12 correspondent Guy Peleg after a speaking gig in Tel Aviv last night and he required a police escort to return to his car safely, his media outlet says.

Peleg, Channel 12’s legal correspondent, has been hounded by right-wing protesters for the past two weeks over his airing of a leaked video depicting the alleged abuse of a Palestinian prisoner in Sde Teiman last year, after receiving the footage from a source in the Military Advocate General Corps.

The footage, and Peleg’s role in publicizing it, has been in the headlines recently after former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi admitted that she had been the one to authorize the leak.

Last night, after Peleg delivered a lecture in Tel Aviv, a group of right-wing activists began following him, taunting him and trying to block him from reaching his car.

Several police officers arrived to escort the journalist safely out of the building.

“Why did you publish footage of IDF soldiers?” one activist, identified as Mordechai David, demands of Peleg in footage of the confrontation.

“Guy Peleg, you will need a police escort wherever you go in the world,” David vows, following after Peleg even as he is escorted down the hallway by police officers.

“It won’t help you, you will be blocked!” says the right-wing activist, who is recording himself on his phone as he speaks. “You will be blocked!”

Following last night’s incident, a large banner was displayed at the entrance to Bnei Brak featuring a doctored image of Peleg behind bars and the demand: “Guy Peleg to prison!”

האיומים נגד גיא פלג הם בלתי נסבלים. כל מי שחושב שמדובר רק בפלג- טועה. זה איום על התקשרות החופשית כולה.
הערוצים המרכזיים ואתרי האינטרנט צריכים להחשיך מסכים ולמחות נגד ההתפתחות המסוכנת הזאת, אחרת כשיבואו לקחת אותם כבר לא יישאר אף אחד. pic.twitter.com/qSYX2N9izQ

— Ksenia Svetlova كسنيا سفطلوفا (@KseniaSvetlova) November 13, 2025

Commenting on the incident in an interview with 103FM today, Peleg says he isn’t worried by David, whom he calls a “criminal,” but rather his ties with senior members of the government.

David, who frequently films himself provoking anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv, has appeared in videos alongside Justice Minister Yariv Levin and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Last week, Haaretz reported that independent journalist Or-ly Barlev had successfully filed for a restraining order against David after he had harassed her at a hearing during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

In a statement condemning the harassment of its correspondent, Channel 12 says that it “is disgusted by the violence and threats that legal correspondent Guy Peleg has been subjected to in recent weeks, which has seriously escalated in recent days.”

“The violence against Guy Peleg, one of Israel’s most senior journalists, has crossed a red line and is a red and worrying warning sign,” it adds.

The outlet reiterates its support for Peleg and his work, and says the violence will not stop him or any other Channel 12 journalists “from continuing their work fearlessly and without bias.”

4:31 pm

IDF says Nir Am siren was triggered by interceptor missile fired at false target

The siren that sounded a short while ago in the Gaza border community of Nir Am was a false alarm, the military reports.

An interceptor missile had been launched at a “target.” However, a short while later it emerged that it was a “false identification,” according to the IDF.

The siren was activated “according to protocol” following the launch of the interceptor missile, the military says.

It is the second false alert and interceptor missile launch near the Gaza border within half an hour.

4:27 pm

After false alarm, rocket siren sounds again in Gaza border community of Nir Am

A rocket siren sounds in the Gaza border community of Nir Am.

The IDF says it is investigating.

4:17 pm

Netanyahu: I’ll judge Sharaa by actions; Israel will retain ultimate security responsibility in Gaza

After Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with US President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will judge the new Syrian leader by “what happens on the ground.”

“Does Syria become a peaceful country?” he says in an interview with Australian TV personality Erin Molan. “Does he weed out the jihadists in his own military? Does he work forward with me to achieve a demilitarized zone in southwest Syria that abuts the Golan Heights?”

“What do we do to secure our Druze brothers, the Syrian Druze brothers of Israel, who were mutilated, massacred, almost as bad as in the October 7th massacre that was conducted by Hamas in Gaza?” he asks.

He says if there is demilitarization of southwest Syria and permanent protection for the Druze there, “we can move on.”

“When I look at Al-Sharaa, I’m going to look at what is actually being done, what is actually being achieved.”

Netanyahu also denies that Washington prevented Israel from finishing the job in the June war against Iran. “We had a very clear set of targets,” he says. “We were absolutely clear. We wanted to target the nuclear sites, the missile production sites, and a few other targets. We made that clear. When that was achieved, the war ended.”

“There was one possible more strike, and that was it,” he says. “It wasn’t something that we were stopped or we didn’t intend to follow our war plans.”

Turning to the future of Gaza, Netanyahu says that Israel “will retain overriding security responsibility, because we don’t farm out our security to anyone else, not in Gaza or not in any other front.”

4:09 pm

Netanyahu says he won’t accept pardon in corruption trial if it means admitting guilt

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court before the start of his testimony in the criminal trial against him, June 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for being “so forthright” in his letter to President Isaac Herzog yesterday requesting a pardon for the premier.

“This trial is so absurd,” Netanyahu says in an interview with Australian TV host Erin Molan. “I spent three days a week, can you imagine this, running a war and now seeking to expand the peace. I spent three days a week in a court talking about why my son Yair… when he was five years old, received a Bugs Bunny doll. That’s a terrible bribe! Or how I received some cigars from a friend. I mean, the whole thing’s ridiculous…”

“It hurts both American and Israeli interests, which is also what [Trump] said,” Netanyahu says of his corruption trial and his time in court. “My time has to be free to pursue the things that will determine Israel’s future and the future of peace in the Middle East.”

Netanyahu is charged with one count of bribery, as well as three counts each of fraud and breach of trust, in three separate cases relating to corruption allegations against him. His trial began in 2020 and is still far from over.

Asked if he would accept a pardon if one was offered to him, Netanyahu says, “I’ll think about it.”

He stresses, however, that he will not accept a pardon if it means admitting guilt: “That’s not going to happen. Nobody suggests that that’s what I’ll do, and I certainly won’t do that.”

Asked about New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s threats to arrest him if he visits the city, Netanyahu says, “Am I afraid of going there? Hell, no. Of course not.”

He says he would be open to speaking with Mamdani if he educates himself. “It’s good to be a young leader, but it’s not good to be a young, uneducated leader in the sense of not knowing economics, not knowing what antisemitism is, not knowing who the bad guys are. I think you should brush up on that. Then we might have a conversation.”

4:07 pm

IDF says sirens in Gaza border communities were false alarm

The sirens that sounded a short while ago in Sderot and nearby communities close to the border with the Gaza Strip were false alarms, the military updates.

An interceptor missile had been launched at a “target.” However, a short while later it emerged that it was a “false identification,” according to the IDF.

The sirens were activated “according to protocol” following the launch of the interceptor missile, the military says.

4:02 pm

Amsterdam Royal Concert Hall reverses ban on Hanukkah concert featuring IDF cantor

By Zev Stub

Shai Abramson attends a memorial ceremony for the 1956 Suez (Kadesh) military operation, at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, November 28, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall has rescinded its decision not to allow a Hanukkah concert featuring the IDF’s chief cantor, Shai Abramson.

Last week, the Royal Concert Hall, or Concertgebouw, said in a statement that it had canceled the December 14 performance because organizers had not removed Abramson, a retired IDF lieutenant colonel, from the program.

That caused an international uproar, and the Chanukkah Concert Foundation threatened to pursue legal action against the Concertgebouw.

Concertgebouw says today it has reached a compromise agreement with the Chanukkah Concert Foundation. The original concert, scheduled for that Sunday afternoon, will be held without Abramson’s presence. Later in the evening, Abramson will perform as the cantor at two private concerts exclusively for invited guests.

“The Concertgebouw remains of the opinion that – in the current polarized climate – the cantor, who is also Chief Cantor of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), cannot perform at the Concertgebouw. This is due to his symbolic role in the IDF, which is involved in a war that divides our society,” it notes in a statement.

Proceeds from the latter events will be donated to a charity that promotes social cohesion in the city, Concertgebouw adds.

3:59 pm

Rocket sirens sound in Sderot, Gaza border communities

Rocket sirens sound in Sderot and other communities near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says it is investigating.

3:45 pm

Tally Gotliv doubles down after appearing to violate law against revealing name of cop under investigation

Likud MK Tally Gotliv doubles down on her social media post publicly revealing the identity of a senior police officer under criminal investigation, citing a gag order imposed on the case that allows for the publication of the suspect’s name.

“To all the morons and the sheep in the herd, I’m happy to attach Judge Erlich’s decision at the explicit request of the Department of Internal Police Investigations not to forbid the publication of the name of the deputy commissioner…” she writes on X, in a post that once again identifies the suspect.

Though it does not violate the gag order, Gotliv’s post appears to infringe on a law that prohibits identifying a suspect within 48 hours of the start of their initial interrogation, so long as they have not yet appeared in court.

If a suspect is brought to court within the first 48 hours after their interrogation, their identity can be made public at the conclusion of the hearing.

The police officer has not yet appeared before a judge, since he was released home after his initial interrogation last night.

The officer is suspected of breach of trust and abusing his authority, and investigators believe he interfered in a classified police investigation in which he had a conflict of interest. He is one of the highest-ranking police officers in the country.

3:43 pm

Israel seeking 20-year ‘America-first’ security agreement with US — report

US President Donald Trump (R) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Israel is angling for a 20-year security agreement with the US with “America first” elements, Axios reports, citing Israeli and US officials.

The current 10-year memorandum of understanding between the two countries — the third such agreement signed — expires in 2028. It includes around $4 billion of aid to Israel.

With growing skepticism around foreign aid, including to Israel, in the Republican Party, the next MOU faces challenges that the previous ones did not.

Discussions on the next MOU began in recent weeks, according to the report, after a long delay because of the war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel proposed a 20-year deal that would end on the country’s centennial in 2048, and the use of some of the funds for joint R&D, according to Axios.

“This is out-of-the-box thinking,” an Israeli official tells Axios. “We want to change the way we handled past agreements and put more emphasis on US-Israel cooperation. The Americans like this idea.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies the report in an interview with Australian TV host Erin Molan. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. My direction is the exact opposite,” he insists.

“I think it’s time to ensure that Israel is independent,” he continues. “Understand that our military aid is like a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of what the US spent in Afghanistan or spent in the Middle East. It’s tiny. But I think that we have a very strong economy. We have a very strong arms industry. It’s true that even though we get what we get, which we appreciate, 80% of that is spent in the United States. It produces jobs in the United States. But nevertheless, I’d like to see a much more independent Israeli, an even more independent Israeli defense industry.”

Trump has referred publicly to the billions in aid given to Israel in both of his terms. In 2018, he dismissed concerns that pulling US troops out of Syria could endanger Israel. “You know, we give Israel $4.5 billion a year. And they’re doing very well defending themselves, if you take a look,” he said.

During a rocky White House visit in April, Trump brought it up again as Netanyahu listened beside him: “Don’t forget, we help Israel a lot. We give Israel $4 billion a year, that’s a lot.”

3:39 pm

State Attorney’s Office floats retired Supreme Court judge to oversee Sde Teiman probe, rejecting Levin’s proposal

By Jeremy Sharon

State Prosecutor Amit Aisman attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee hearing at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 18, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The State Attorney’s Office proposes to the High Court of Justice that it appoint a retired Supreme Court judge to oversee the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak scandal.

The proposal also calls on the court to annul Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s decision to appoint State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula, insisting that there can be no involvement of political officials, including Levin, in appointing an official to oversee a criminal investigation.

According to the State Attorney’s Office proposal, the retired judge appointed by the court would oversee the criminal investigation and would be granted all relevant authorities and access to documents.

Officials from the State Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office would have any involvement in any aspect of the investigation that deals with the role of officials from those agencies.

The police would be entitled to consult with the State Attorney’s Office Cyber Department, if the police deem it necessary.

The police would be able to consult with the appointed judge without needing to go through any intermediary, and vice versa.

The High Court told both the Attorney General’s Office and Levin’s representatives on Tuesday that if they did not come to an agreement it would issue a final ruling, which is now expected to be issued on Sunday as a result of the failure of the two sides to come to a compromise.

3:27 pm

Former Likud minister Limor Livnat convicted in hit-and-run

Limor Livnat speaking in the Knesset on July 28, 2014. (photo credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Limor Livnat, a former Likud lawmaker and education minister, is convicted of a hit-and-run after confessing to the incident, according to Hebrew media.

The incident took place some two years ago. She is convicted of a range of offenses related to unsafe driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Prosecutors are seeking a 14-month suspension of her driver’s license, damages, and probation.

Livnat, who served in the Knesset for decades as a Likud member, is now an outspoken critic of the party.

3:22 pm

Pro-Palestinian activists hang ‘genocide’ banner from Brandenburg Gate, six detained

By Joshua Schultheis

Berlin police detain six activists who illegally scaled the Brandenburg Gate, an iconic city landmark, to display a banner reading “Never again genocide. Freedom for Palestine” and wave Palestinian flags. Video from the scene shows the activists chanting “Yalla, yalla, intifada.”

The pro-Palestinian activists reached the top of the monument using a cherry picker. Police announce this afternoon that 75 officers were deployed, and rescue climbers were utilized to detain the protesters.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany sharply condemns the action.

“The banner on the Brandenburg Gate, shortly after the commemoration day for Pogrom Night [Kristallnacht], abuses the phrase ‘Never again’ and directs it against the only Jewish state,” the group writes on X. “This action was accompanied by ‘intifada’ calls, which call for worldwide violence against Jews.”

Central Council President Josef Schuster says, “The fact that something like this is happening in Germany in 2025 is a perversion of history.”

UNGLAUBLICH, WAS HIER ABGEHT!
Mehrere Palästina-Flaggen auf dem Brandenburger Tor! Hochgezogen von vermutlich linken Aktivisten.
Berlin erlebte heute den nächsten Protest-Wahnsinn #b1311 pic.twitter.com/AddTfzNdJ0

— Iman Sefati (@ISefati) November 13, 2025

2:20 pm

Lebanese media reports Israeli airstrike in south

Lebanese media reports an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese town of Toul.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

2:19 pm

‘Unjustifiable and intolerable’: IDF commander in West Bank condemns extremist settler attacks

A man inspects burned trucks and cars following an attack by Israeli settlers in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, in the West Bank, on November 12, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

The commander of the IDF’s regional brigade in the northern West Bank, in a missive to troops, condemns the recent attacks carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

“In recent times, we have witnessed a sharp and significant increase in the number and severity of nationalist violent incidents in the brigade’s sector and throughout Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] in general,” says Col. Ariel Gonen, commander of the Samaria Regional Brigade.

“This is a grave, developing, and dangerous phenomenon that includes harm to uninvolved Palestinians, and at times even to the security forces themselves,” he writes.

“A fringe group of criminals and anarchists is taking the law into its own hands; these acts are unjustifiable and intolerable. This violence undermines the region’s security stability,” Gonen continues.

“The directive to soldiers and commanders is clear: Do not stand by. Every soldier and commander is required to act as much as possible to prevent acts of violence and nationalist crime,” he adds.

Yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth condemned the settler attacks. No condemnations have been issued from senior government officials, including the prime minister or defense minister.

2:18 pm

Elkin visits Ukraine ahead of reopening of Israeli immigration offices; Kyiv’s deputy PM to visit Israel

New Hope MK Ze'ev Elkin attends a conference at Tel Aviv University on May 7, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Lawmaker Ze’ev Elkin wraps up a multi-day trip to Ukraine, which he made in his capacity as minister in charge of Nativ, the government office tasked with assessing citizenship eligibility for people from the former Soviet Union.

Elkin, who spoke with The Times of Israel briefly from Dnipro in the country’s east, made the trip with Nativ chairman Alon Shoham. The two decided to order the reopening of the Nativ offices in Dnipro — a city that had tens of thousands of Jewish residents before the war, and that is home the largest Jewish community center in Europe — and in the southern city of Odesa, according to an Israeli diplomatic source. They were accompanied by Dnipro’s Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky and Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.

A Nativ office is open in Kyiv, while the Kharkiv office remains shuttered.

Elkin met with Ukrainian parliament chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Oleksii Kuleba, the minister responsible for rebuilding damaged areas in Ukraine. Elkin leads the rebuilding of Israel’s northern and Gaza Envelope regions, which were devastated in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and the subsequent wars with Hamas and Hezbollah.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka is expected to lead a delegation to Israel on December 4-5 to convene the first meeting of the Israel–Ukraine Intergovernmental Economic Commission since 2021, as well as discuss the full range of diplomatic and political issues between the sides, according to Ukraine’s embassy.

1:51 pm

Hamas, Islamic Jihad say they will transfer body of a deceased hostage at 8 p.m.

By Nurit Yohanan

Hamas and Islamic Jihad issue a joint statement saying they will transfer the body of a deceased hostage to Israel this evening at 8 p.m. The terror groups say the body was found today north of Khan Younis.

The identity of the hostage was not specified. Four deceased hostages remain held in Gaza.

1:49 pm

US, UAE arms firms to co-develop AI-powered drones

By AFP

A US high-tech arms company is to design and produce AI-powered drones in the United Arab Emirates under a joint venture, the two parties say, strengthening close defense ties.

America’s Anduril and the UAE’s state-owned defense conglomerate, EDGE Group, will jointly develop the Omen drone at a new, 50,000 square feet (4,645 square meters) research center in Abu Dhabi, a statement says.

The UAE will acquire the first 50 units, officials say. A publicity photo showed the Omen carrying the UAE air force’s insignia.

The lightweight, long-distance, autonomous drone takes off and lands like a helicopter and flies like a plane, allowing it to be deployed from within war zones and disaster areas.

“This is… about disrupting current maritime patrol, special mission aircraft, much bigger systems. That’s what we’re going after,” Anduril senior vice-president Shane Arnott says in a media call.

Omen is intended to be the “first of many” products from the joint venture, which builds on decades of US-UAE defense ties, the statement says.

During President Donald Trump’s visit to Abu Dhabi in May, the US and UAE announced plans for a new defense partnership that would include “joint capability development.”

The UAE, nicknamed “Little Sparta” by former US defense secretary James Mattis, has deployed its military to conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen.

The oil-rich desert monarchy, which has diplomatic relations with Israel, hosts the US Air Force at its Al Dhafra base.

1:48 pm

Qatar’s prime minister speaks with Iran’s foreign minister about Gaza ceasefire

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, August 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani speaks by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi about the Gaza Strip, according to the Qatari readout of the conversation.

The two discuss “developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories in light of the ceasefire agreement in the Strip, in addition to a number of issues of mutual interest,” says the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Al-Thani, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, stresses “the importance of concerted regional and international efforts to ensure the full implementation of the agreement, paving the way toward achieving sustainable peace and the desired stability in the region.”

Qatar is a US ally and has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas throughout the two years of war in Gaza, including by acting as a broker of the current ceasefire. It has also hosted Hamas’s leadership. Iran is Israel’s chief regional adversary. Israel and Iran fought a 12-day air war in June, with the US joining Israel’s campaign at the end of the war.

12:58 pm

Likud MK Tally Gotliv appears to violate law prohibiting revealing name of cop under investigation

Likud MK Tally Gotliv arrives to a court hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Likud MK Tally Gotliv appears to violate a law prohibiting revealing the name of the high-ranking police officer who is being investigated, identifying the suspect in a social media post.

The officer, who bears the rank of deputy commissioner, was detained by and questioned by investigators in the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) for hours last night on suspicions of breach of trust and abuse of authority.

In a post on X, Gotliv derides DIPI head Keren Bar-Menachem and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara as “criminals” for their role in the probe, which she alleges is being conducted without solid evidence or suspicions.

In a later post, she writes that the investigation constitutes “scary and dangerous corruption,” and alleges that the suspect is being punished for standing up to improprieties in the Sde Teiman video leak investigation.

Gotliv was tapped last month to join the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which frequently deals with sensitive matters.

Her apparent violation of the law draws criticism from Democrats MK Naama Lazimi, who refers to an earlier incident in which Gotliv allegedly broke the law by revealing the name of a Shin Bet agent.

“Tally Gotliv again breaks a gag order and reveals the identity of the suspected officer in a video she posted,” Lazimi writes on X. “She cannot be allowed access to classified material.”

12:18 pm

Iran reportedly arrests two men after they posed in military uniform and flew shah’s flag

By AFP and ToI Staff

Iranian authorities arrested two men after a video went viral showing them dressed in military uniforms while carrying the flag used during the rule of the shah prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, local media reported on Thursday.

The video, filmed inside a Tehran metro station, showed the two men brandishing a flag carrying the “lion and sun” emblem associated with Iran’s former monarchy.

It was circulated widely on social media in Iran, according to the Fars news agency.

Fars said that an investigation determined that the two men were not members of the Iranian armed forces, but did not specify their identity.

“The two men were arrested for abusing the military uniforms,” said Fars, with other media also reporting the incident.

Iran’s national flag — green, white, and red — was changed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and replaced him with the current theocracy.

The “lion and sun” emblem was replaced with the current red insignia representing the word Allah, designed in the form of a tulip.

????New from Iran ????

In a remarkable act of defiance against Ali Khamenei and the Islamic regime, two uniformed soldiers in the Iranian army have raised the pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag in the middle of one of Tehran's major metro stations. pic.twitter.com/b7E0AbId8s

— National Union for Democracy in Iran (@NUFDIran) November 12, 2025

12:16 pm

Israeli forces detain 40 members of Hamas network in West Bank said to be planning attacks

Some 40 members of a Hamas network in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank were detained in a series of recent operations, the Shin Bet announces, saying they were planning to carry out imminent shooting attacks.

The security agency says that in cooperation with the IDF and police, it detained the members of the Hamas network in recent weeks during 15 or so separate arrest raids. Several weapons used by the Hamas operatives, including an assault rifle, were also captured, the agency’s statement says.

According to the Shin Bet, the suspects’ interrogations revealed that the leaders of the Hamas network recruited and set up terror cells, procured weapons, and planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians.

“One of the terror cells was at an advanced stage of readiness to carry out attacks in the immediate term,” the agency says.

The Shin Bet says the arrests of the Hamas operatives “prevented major shooting and bombing attacks that could have resulted in significant [casualties]” among troops and civilians.

The investigation materials have been handed over to Military Prosecution to charge the suspects, the Shin Bet adds.

12:10 pm

Turkey: International Stabilization Force in Gaza must guarantee lasting ceasefire

By Reuters and ToI Staff

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) attends a joint press conference with German Chancellor at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on October 30, 2025. (Adem ALTAN / AFP)

Turkey’s main expectation from a planned International Stabilization Force in Gaza is for it to provide guarantees that the fragile ceasefire will last, Ankara’s Defense Ministry says.

NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s two-year war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza, calling it a genocide. Relations between the two countries have since collapsed. It has emerged as a critical player and mediator in ceasefire efforts, voicing a desire to join the stabilization force despite Israel’s repeated objections.

The International Stabilization Force taking over security control in Gaza is part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war.

At a briefing in Ankara, the ministry also said Turkey believed the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) must ensure unhindered humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza in line with international law.

11:57 am

Police want to release model and 3 other murder suspects to house arrest, say investigation compromised

Screen capture from video of Israeli model Leen Peer, 2021. (YouTube)

Police are requesting to release four people to house arrest after they were suspected of killing a man in Petah Tikva last month, saying that the investigation is now compromised due to leaks violating a gag order on the case.

The case was announced last month after officers arrested model Leen Peer and three others on suspicion of killing Shalom Nissim, who arrived at Peer’s apartment for a meet-up and was later found dead.

Peer was arrested alongside David Kricheli, Maor Elisha and Bar Outmezgine on suspicion of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit a crime.

A police representative now tells the court that violations of the gag order “compromised the investigation” after classified evidence was leaked to the media, Hebrew outlets report.

Police, with the consent of the State Attorney’s Office, plan to release the suspects to house arrest for another 15 days. The four will be banned for 30 days from setting foot in Petah Tikva and are forbidden from contacting each other, Hebrew outlets report.

11:44 am

Teen suspected of killing classmate hit with murder, weapons charges

Muhammad Marazqa, a 17-year-old who was stabbed to death by his classmate in Kafr Qara on October 27, 2025. (Courtesy)

Prosecutors have filed charges against a high school student accused of fatally stabbing his classmate last month in Kafr Qara, an Arab city in central Israel.

The teen is indicted on charges of murder with reckless indifference and possession of a knife for an illicit purpose after he stabbed Muhammad Marazqa during a fight between the two on school grounds.

The defendant began studying at the school the month of the stabbing, prosecutors write. He regularly carried a pocket knife with him to class.

Prosecutors say that the defendant had no prior acquaintance with his victim, and that the fight broke out on October 27 after the suspect made an offensive remark to the victim. During the fight, he stabbed the victim twice in the chest, and the victim collapsed to the floor.

The stabbing was one of several violent incidents to take place on school grounds in Arab municipalities in recent weeks, as community leaders voice fear that rampant crime has begun to spill over into educational institutions.

“We are dealing with a deadly incident that took place inside a school, a stronghold for children and the place where they are supposed to feel safe,” writes Anan Ghanem, a lawyer in the State Attorney’s Office, saying the incident points to a “harsh reality” that “endangers our children in their second home, where they spend most of their waking hours.”

Last month, a school security guard was shot dead in Kafr Yasif, a town in northern Israel, as he was on duty outside the building.

11:25 am

No agreement on Sde Teiman leak probe, Levin says, telling court AG rejected his proposal

By Jeremy Sharon

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara (center) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin (right) at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court president Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin tells the High Court of Justice that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has rejected his proposal to reach an agreement over who will oversee the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak affair.

Because Baharav-Miara previously oversaw an internal probe of the leak by the Military Advocate General’s Office, Levin says she has a conflict of interest over the matter. He appointed State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to have ultimate authority over the investigation in her stead.

The attorney general has resisted that appointment, and liberal government watchdog groups petitioned the High Court against it, insisting that State Attorney Amit Aisman, Baharav-Miara’s choice, be in charge.

Levin, in an update to the court, says he proposed that another public official be chosen by the court to work alongside Kula to oversee the criminal investigation, and that they share authority over the probe.

The justice minister also proposed workarounds to a clause in the law barring the state ombudsman for judges from having any other role, which ostensibly would black Kula.

Levin says that the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office did not accept the proposal. He calls on the court to reject the petitions against his decision and allow Kula to oversee the investigation.

“Any other result would be a cover-up of the truth and an irreparable loss of public trust in the law enforcement system,” says Levin.

Baharav-Miara has yet to file her response to the court.

11:12 am

Histadrut chief’s detention in corruption probe extended again, to tomorrow at noon

By ToI Staff and Charlie Summers

Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David speaks at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, June 23, 2025. (Ben Hakoon/FLASH90)

The detention of Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David was extended until Friday at noon, Hebrew media reported, as the powerful labor leader is investigated in a far-reaching corruption probe.

After leaving custody, Bar-David will be under house arrest for 20 days and will need to remain separate from his wife, who is also under investigation, according to Ynet.

Bar-David was arrested last week with his wife when police went public with the investigation, which was launched over two years ago. At the center of the probe is Bar-David’s insurance agent, Ezra Gabay, who was also arrested and is suspected of operating a massive bribery network.

Gabay allegedly exploited his close connections to the Histadrut chairman and Likud party officials to obtain jobs for his associates.

Police suspect that Gabay, through Bar-David, handed out senior positions in government-owned corporations and local authorities in exchange for insurance contracts signed with his agency.

10:51 am

Ben Gvir reportedly holding off on naming replacement for senior cop under investigation

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks at a Knesset faction meeting in the Knesset on October 20, 2025 (Sam Sokol/ Times of Israel)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is reportedly declining to name an acting replacement for a senior cop under criminal investigation until it becomes clear to him the probe is legitimate.

Sources close to Ben Gvir tell the Kan public broadcaster that the minister has “no faith in the Department of Internal Police Investigations” conducting the probe “in light of its transformation into the attorney general’s private police.”

The DIPI, which operates under the State Prosecutor’s Office to investigate police suspected of criminal offenses, has come under fire from Ben Gvir and other coalition lawmakers, who are trying to pass a bill to dissolve the agency and re-establish a similar body under the direct control of the Justice Ministry.

Ben Gvir and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara have clashed over numerous issues throughout his term in office.

The unnamed officer under investigation, who bears the rank of deputy commissioner and is one of the highest-ranking cops in the country, is suspected of breach of trust and abuse of authority.

He was detained last night for questioning under caution and released after an hours-long interrogation session.

Investigators are holding onto his phone and have forbidden him from approaching police facilities and interacting with others involved in the affair.

Ben Gvir reportedly spoke to the suspected officer’s wife this morning to make it clear he presumes her husband’s innocence, Kan reports.

10:13 am

IDF says it’s demolishing terror infrastructure in Gaza as explosions reported

The Israeli military says it is demolishing terror infrastructure in IDF-held areas of the southern Gaza Strip this morning.

Palestinian media reported several large explosions east of Khan Younis, on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line demarcating where the IDF is stationed in Gaza.

The IDF confirms that it is conducting routine operations in the area, saying it is demolishing Hamas tunnels and sites.

طيران الاحتـ'لال يستهدف منطقة جنوب مدينة خانيونس. pic.twitter.com/RkdMaqgUhj

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) November 13, 2025

10:13 am

Bennett says Gaza is ‘Oslo on steroids,’ demands to know pledges made ‘behind the backs’ of Israelis

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett donates blood in memory of Sgt. First Class Yona Brief, March 27, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/ FLASH90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett slams the ceasefire arrangements in Gaza, referring to them as “Oslo on steroids” and demanding the disclosure of concessions Israel made as part of the truce deal.

Bennett, who briefly unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2021, is considered his most credible challenger in elections slated to be held next year.

For much of his career in the Knesset, Bennett was a right-wing ally of Netanyahu and a staunch opponent of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords, which established the Palestinian Authority and gave it day-to-day control over Palestinian population centers in the West Bank.

“Transferring control over our fate to Qatar, which funds Hamas, is Oslo on steroids,” Bennett says in a statement reported by Hebrew media, referring to Qatar’s role as a key broker of last month’s deal, which is meant to end the war in Gaza. The US, which is an ally of Qatar, has stationed personnel at a ceasefire coordination center in Kiryat Gat.

“How did we get to a situation in which our troops need to OK Israeli movements with the American command in Kiryat Gat?” Bennett says. “Israel isn’t a client state. I demand the immediate publication of all commitments and concessions that were made behind the backs of Israeli citizens.”

Netanyahu and US officials have denied that Israel is acting as a client state.

9:35 am

France honors the victims of a night of terror in Paris, 10 years on

By AP

The Eiffel Tower is lit in the colors of the French national flag in Paris, November 12, 2025, to honor the victims of the terror attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, cafes, and the national stadium 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Paris is marking the anniversary of a 2015 terror attack that killed more than 100 people with a sequence of tributes led by President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo at each attack site: the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, then the cafés and restaurants in the 10th and 11th arrondissements, and finally the Bataclan, with a minute of silence before each memorial plaque.

Parents, partners and friends of victims will stand closest to the plaques, officials said.

At Place de la République, Parisians are invited to leave candles, flowers and notes at the foot of the statue of national symbol Marianne, as in 2015, and to follow the ceremonies on a giant screen.

Children are expected to come with parents to light candles and lay flowers — small, familiar gestures that turn the square into a place of shared memory.

The commemorations will culminate with the Jardin du 13-Novembre, a new memorial garden opposite City Hall. Conceived with victims’ associations, it bears the 132 names of those killed on granite stelae, with plantings that echo the attack sites and benches for reflection.

Designers added small signs of life — bird baths, nesting boxes, shade — for children at the request of families.

The Eiffel Tower was lit yesterday in the colors of the French flag after nightfall. The French soccer federation also observed a minute of silence and other tributes at France’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine at the Parc des Princes.

On November 13, 2015, nine Islamic State group gunmen and suicide bombers struck within minutes of one another. Suicide bombers detonated outside the Stade de France; gunmen sprayed bullets across café terraces; and three attackers stormed the Bataclan at 9:47 p.m., killing 90 people before police ended the siege. Two survivors who later died by suicide have since been recognized among the victims.

9:04 am

IDF says it struck Hezbollah weapons depot, underground site in Lebanon

The IDF says it carried out airstrikes against a Hezbollah weapons depot and an adjacent underground site belonging to the terror group in southern Lebanon earlier this morning.

The infrastructure was located next to a public sports and leisure center, “serving as yet another example of Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese civilians as human shields for its operations conducted from within civilian areas,” the military says.

Another Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon was also targeted in an airstrike this morning, the IDF adds.

The military says Hezbollah is continuing its efforts to restore its infrastructure in Lebanon, and the presence of such sites and the terror group’s activity in the area “constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

מוקדם יותר הבוקר, חיל-האוויר תקף, מחסן אמצעי לחימה ותשתית טרור תת קרקעית אשר שימשו את חיזבאללה במרחב דרום לבנון.

תשתיות הטרור שהותקפו מוקמו בסמוך לאוכלוסיה אזרחית, ומהוות דוגמה נוספת לשימוש הציני שעושה חיזבאללה באזרחי לבנון כמגן אנושי לפעולות הארגון מתוך נכסים אזרחים>>> pic.twitter.com/IRbTKVgpNt

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 13, 2025

8:53 am

Likud MK Saada slams Vaturi’s praise of Kahane: ‘Kahane was not a democrat, was racist’

Likud MK Moshe Saada attends a discussion in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense committee, January 22, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Likud MK Moshe Saada criticizes his fellow lawmaker, Nissim Vaturi, for praising the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane from the Knesset podium yesterday.

Vaturi, a firebrand Likud MK, said yesterday that Kahane was “right about many things” and would have deserved the Israel Prize. Vaturi also criticized the policy of Likud in the 1980s, when Kahane served one term in the Knesset, to walk out on his speeches. Then-Likud prime minister Yizhak Shamir opposed Kahane at the time.

Saada slams Vaturi’s remarks in an interview on Army Radio.

“Shamir was right, [former prime minister Menachem] Begin was right in the way they handled Kahane,” Saada says. “When he spoke, they left the plenum, because Kahane was not a democrat, was racist, and so he was the exact opposite of Likud’s values.”

Saada quips, “If I had to choose between Shamir and Menachem Begin, and Vaturi, could you help me? It’s clear.”

Kahane, who served in the Knesset before his party was banned for racism, advocated expelling all Arabs from Israel.

8:21 am

US envoy aims for ‘redefining Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations,’ says Damascus will help confront Hamas, Hezbollah

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (L) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a press conference in Damascus on September 16, 2025. (Louai Beshara/AFP)

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, writes in a lengthy social media post following Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s White House visit that the next steps after the meeting include a new stage in relations between Israel, Turkey and Syria.

Barrack writes that among the topics discussed at a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani were “redefining Turkish-Syrian-Israeli relations, and advancing the alignment that underpins the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, as well as various Lebanese border issues.”

He also calls on the US Congress to lift sanctions on Syria. And he says Syria will assist the US in “confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks.” The IRGC is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Barrack, who has reserved harsh criticism for Lebanon in the past, has pushed Middle Eastern countries to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel. Israeli-Turkish ties are likewise at something of a nadir after collapsing during the Gaza war.

After his meeting on Monday with US President Donald Trump at the White House, the first ever by a Syrian leader, Sharaa threw cold water on the prospect of Syria normalizing ties with Israel.

7:57 am

Report: Settlers set fire to a mosque in a West Bank village, no injuries reported

By Nurit Yohanan

Palestinian media outlets report that settlers set fire overnight to a mosque in the village of Deir Istiya in the northern West Bank.

According to the footage, the fire caused damage inside the building and Hebrew graffiti was sprayed on the walls. Some of the graffiti reads, “We’re not afraid of Avi Bluth,” who heads the IDF Central Command, and “Muhammad is a pig.”

No injuries have been reported.

???? متابعة | مليشيات المستوطنين تحرق مسجد الحاجة حميدة بين بلدتي ديراستيا وكفل حارس غرب سلفيت وتخط شعارات عدوانية على جدرانه. pic.twitter.com/J9oF6SyfXk

— فلسطين أون لايـن (@F24online) November 13, 2025

7:43 am

Trump signs bill ending US government shutdown after a record 43 days

By AP

As Congressional leaders applaud, US President Donald Trump signs the funding bill to reopen the government, in the Oval Office of the White House, November 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

US President Donald Trump signs a government funding bill, ending a record 43-day shutdown of the US government that caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks.

The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.

Upon signing the bill late Wednesday night, US time, the Republican president blames the situation on Democrats and suggests voters shouldn’t reward the party during next year’s midterm elections.

“So I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this,” Trump says. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”

The signing ceremony comes just hours after the US House passed the measure on a mostly party-line vote of 222-209. The US Senate had already passed the measure Monday.

Democrats wanted to extend an enhanced tax credit expiring at the end of the year that lowers the cost of health coverage obtained through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. They refused to go along with a short-term spending bill that did not include that priority. But Republicans said that was a separate policy fight to be held at another time.

7:20 am

Senior cop under probe for breach of trust released after 7 hours of interrogation

By ToI Staff and Charlie Summers

A senior police officer who is being investigated for breach of trust and abuse of authority was released overnight after a 7-hour interrogation, Hebrew outlets report.

The suspected officer bears the rank of deputy commissioner. His name has been barred from publication.

The Department for Internal Police Investigations issued a statement yesterday saying that the officer in question allegedly “interfered in a matter in which he had a conflict of interest, without reporting it, and even acted in various ways to influence how the matter was handled in his unit.”

The case reportedly involves a businessman whom the officer knows.

He is released under restrictive conditions and is barred from police facilities for nine days. He is also barred from contacting those involved in the case in question.

Police Chief Danny Levy is expected to name Assistant Commissioner Eli Macmel to temporarily replace him.

4:31 am

US denies Trump’s request for Netanyahu to receive pardon linked to broader diplomatic initiative

US President Donald Trump talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, October 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

US President Donald Trump’s letter to President Isaac Herzog requesting a pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not part of a broader initiative tied to the Gaza ceasefire or the Abraham Accords, a US official tells The Times of Israel.

Confirming reporting by the Axios news site, the US official dismisses speculation that Trump is pushing to have Netanyahu pardoned in exchange for the Israeli premier making concessions regarding the Palestinians in order to sustain the ceasefire or expand the Abraham Accords.

1:15 am

Palestinian man reportedly shot during settler attack on West Bank village

A young Palestinian man was shot during a settler attack on the West Bank village of Sinjil north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news site and Al Jazeera report.

The victim was hit in the foot and his injuries have been characterized as minor, Wafa says.

Settlers fired several rounds of live ammunition at members of the village’s civilian guard, Wafa says.

“This crime is part of an escalating spate of attacks by settlers who are supported by the occupation army,” the Sinjil Municipality says in a statement.

1:14 am

Rubio says ‘there’s some concern’ settler violence ‘could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza’

A Palestinian man uses a mobile phone to record a burning truck after an Israeli settler attack in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, West Bank, on November 11, 2025. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there’s “some concern” about events in the West Bank undermining efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza, in his first remarks on the latest spate of settler violence.

“Certainly there’s some concern about events in the West Bank spilling over and creating an effect that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza,” Rubio tells reporters before clarifying that he hopes that the hopes the violence doesn’t undermine the ceasefire and does not expect it too either.

Rubio then goes on to tout the condemnations that were issued by President Isaac Herzog and senior commanders in the IDF against the settler attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the rest of his coalition have been mum on the phenomenon, as critics accuse the government of tacitly backing the attacks, which have been taking place on a near-daily basis.

Rubio’s comments mark a rare instance of US President Donald Trump’s administration weighing in on the issue of settler violence.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order ending the sanctions regime established a year earlier by then-president Joe Biden against extremist settler individuals and entities.

1:05 am

Rubio says Gaza ISF ‘shouldn’t be a fighting force,’ reports ‘good progress’ on UN resolution

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to traveling journalists at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on November 12, 2025, after the G7 foreign ministers meeting. (Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington is “optimistic” about the chances for standing up an International Stabilization Force in Gaza and is working on advancing a new draft through the UN Security Council to establish the unit.

“We’re making good progress on the language of the resolution, and hopefully we’ll have action on it very soon. We don’t want to lose momentum on this,” Rubio tells reporters in Canada where he attended a G7 summit.

The US is looking to bring the resolution creating the international mandate for establishing the ISF to a vote in the coming days, a Western diplomat told The Times of Israel.

Whether or not the US can convince countries to contribute troops to the force will be a separate endeavor, with many privately indicating that they don’t want to send soldiers into a war zone where they’d be expected to use kinetic force to disarm Hamas.

The latest draft of the resolution obtained by The Times of Israel on Wednesday indicates that the ISF could be tasked with such operations.

The force will “stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” the draft resolution states.

Asked whether the ISF will be a peace enforcer, rather than just a peace keeping force, Rubio says, “It shouldn’t be a fighting force.”

He claims that the “agreement that was signed and that all parties agreed to calls for the demilitarization of Hamas,” apparently referring to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war. Except that agreement was not signed by any country. Dozens of countries did indeed prevent varying levels of verbal support, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu verbally accepted it in September.

However, the deal actually signed by Israel and Hamas on October 9 only dealt with an initial ceasefire, IDF pullback, hostage-prisoner swap, and humanitarian aid provisions.

US officials have claimed that Hamas leaders pledged to disarm during a meeting they held with Trump’s top aides on the eve of the ceasefire signing. For its part, Hamas has publicly and repeatedly rejected the notion that it will disarm.

“As far as demilitarization is concerned. That’s a commitment Hamas made. That’s a commitment all of our partners on this deal made, and we expect that those countries… bring about pressure on Hamas to live up to that commitment,” Rubio says.

“The question is, who’s going to be standing on that line and beyond it to provide security? Because you’re going to need security if you want to really flood Gaza [with aid], particularly in that red area that’s not in Israeli control. If you really want to see a huge uptick, not just in humanitarian assistance but redevelopment, you’re going to need to have security, and that can’t be Hamas,” Rubio says.

The secretary of state is then asked whether the ISF will be deployed on the side of the western side of the Yellow Line currently controlled by Hamas. Rubio says the goal is for there eventually to be no Yellow Line, meaning that Israel withdraws from the entire Strip and that Hamas is no longer in control of any of it.

“Eventually, none of it should be under Hamas control. There should be a civilian Palestinian organization that runs Gaza, and the goal is to stand that organization up, give it capacity, allow it to grow in both capability and credibility, and ultimately, it will govern Gaza,” he continues.

“The Israelis don’t want to govern Gaza, we don’t want to govern Gaza, and no country in the Middle East wants to govern Gaza. But it’ll take some time to build up that capability, and in the interim, someone has to provide security,” Rubio says, referring to the ISF.

12:49 am

Rubio: US will ‘have some good agreements to sign’ with the Saudis next week

By Reuters

HAMILTON, Ontario — The United States will have some good deals to sign when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Washington next week and meets President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.

“We’ll have some good agreements to sign with them … I feel good about where it’s at. There’s still a few things that need to be tightened up and finalized, and we’re going to have a good meeting next week,” he tells reporters.

Rubio doesn’t give details.

12:10 am

G7 condemns ‘escalation of violence’ in Sudan

By AFP

The G7 condemns surging violence in Sudan, saying the conflict between the African nation’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has triggered “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

“We strongly condemned the recent escalation of violence,” Group of Seven foreign ministers say in a joint statement as they conclude a meeting in Canada, raising specific concern about acts of sexual violence in war-ravaged Sudan.

11:35 pm

Police chief expected to name assistant commissioner to replace top officer under probe