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The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Report: Israeli strike on Iran military site destroyed equipment needed for Iran to develop nuclear weapon
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Parchin military base outside of Tehran, Iran, October 27, 2024. The damaged structures are in the bottom right corner and bottom center of the image. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
The Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear research facility in Parchin destroyed sophisticated equipment that will make it much harder for Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon if it chooses to do so, two Israeli officials tell the Axios news site.
Axios revealed the strike earlier today, though, it has not been confirmed by either side.
“This equipment is a bottleneck. Without it the Iranians are stuck,” a senior Israeli official tells Axios.
“This is equipment the Iranians would need in the future if they want to make progress towards a nuclear bomb. Now they don’t have it anymore and it is not trivial. They will need to find another solution and we will see it,” the official adds.
Iran “conducted scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon. It was a top secret thing. A small part of the Iranian government knew about this, but most of the Iranian government didn’t,” a US official tells Axios.
“The strike was a not so subtle message that the Israelis have significant insight into the Iranian system even when it comes to things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group of people in the Iranian government,” a US official says.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish Democrat, launches bid for New Jersey governor
Rep. Josh Gottheimer speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey congressman, announces that he is running to succeed the state’s Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who is term-limited, in next year’s election.
Gottheimer, 49, is a moderate, pro-Israel Democrat who was just elected to his fifth term representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District, which spans the heavily Jewish Bergen County.
In his campaign announcement, he pledges to make life in the state more affordable and says he would “stand up to Trump,” the president-elect, on issues such as reproductive rights and gun control.
“As governor I’ll take on our affordability challenge and get things done for you,” he says in a campaign video. “I’ve never been afraid to buck conventional wisdom, to fight hard to get things done, to clean things up, and to stand up for Jersey and live up to our Jersey values.”
He also pledges to use law enforcement “against the antisemites who are harassing Jewish or any other communities all over this state.”
During his time in the House, Gottheimer has emphasized bipartisanship: He was one of the founders, and currently co-chairs, the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of representatives that is half-Democrat and half-Republican, and that seeks to work across the aisle. He has criticized members of the progressive wing of his party for opposing Israel, and has emphasized issues like cutting taxes (a conservative priority) along with others like fighting climate change (a liberal one).
Biden says world facing ‘moment of significant political change’
US President Joe Biden warns of an era of political change as he held his last meeting with key allies at an Asia-Pacific summit overshadowed by Donald Trump’s looming return to power.
“We’ve now reached a moment of significant political change,” Biden says as he met the leaders of Japan and South Korea in Lima, adding however that their three-way alliance was “built to last.”
Report: Lebanese officer bars Iranian delegation from leaving the airport in sign of widening rift
The Lebanese army’s head of security at Beirut’s airport directed his officers to search a security team that was accompanying Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International reports.
The Iranian team refused to be searched, citing diplomatic immunity, leading the airport security head to shut down all gates surrounding the VIP lounge where the Iranians were residing, preventing them from leaving the airport, according to the report.
The incident appears to point to growing frustration in Lebanon over Iran’s alleged meddling in its internal affairs through Tehran’s ongoing support for Hezbollah.
Italy protests to Israel over unexploded shell hitting UNIFIL base in Lebanon
Italy says an unexploded artillery shell hit the base of the Italian contingent in the UN observer mission in Lebanon and Israel promised to investigate.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani spoke with Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and protested Israeli attacks against its personnel and infrastructure in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, an Italian statement says.
Tajani says the safety of the soldiers in UNIFIL had to be ensured and stressed “the unacceptability” of the attacks.
The Italian statement says Sa’ar had “guaranteed an immediate investigation” into the shell incident.
UNIFIL says HQ in southwest Lebanon hit by artillery shell
The UN observer force in Lebanon UNIFIL says a 155mm live artillery shell hit its headquarters in the southwestern Lebanese town of Chamaa.
“The shell did not detonate and Italian bomb disposal experts swiftly secured the area, removed the ordnance and conducted a controlled detonation,” UNIFIL says, adding that no one was injured and only minor damages were incurred to the base’s gym.
UNIFIL personnel were in shelters during the strike.
“We strongly remind all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and properties. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are a grave violation of international humanitarian laws and of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” UNIFIL adds.
Senior Israeli official: Those who speak with PM left with impression he believes hostages’ fate sealed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a plenum session at the Knesset, Jerusalem, November 12, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
A senior Israeli official tells the Yedioth Ahronoth daily that those who have spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently, such as top aides to US President Joe Biden, have come away with the impression that the premier believes the fate of the hostages has already been determined.
Netanyahu “emphasizes the dead more than those who are alive,” the senior official says, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Lebanon studying US plan to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict — officials
Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The Lebanese government is reviewing a US truce proposal in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Lebanese officials tell AFP on Friday, more than a month since cross-border clashes escalated into a full-blown war.
A top government official in Beirut, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, says US Ambassador Lisa Johnson discussed with senior Lebanese officials on Thursday a 13-point proposal that includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon will redeploy troops at the border. The official adds that Israel has yet to respond to the plan.
Muslims who voted for Trump upset by his pro-Israel cabinet picks
Voters depart a polling place at McDonald Elementary School, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
US Muslim leaders who supported Republican Donald Trump to protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon have been deeply disappointed by his cabinet picks, they tell Reuters.
“Trump won because of us and we’re not happy with his Secretary of State pick and others,” says Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump. Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins, strategists believe.
Trump picked Republican senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel for Secretary of State. Rubio said earlier this year he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he believed Israel should destroy “every element” of Hamas. “These people are vicious animals,” he adds.
Trump also nominated Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and staunch pro-Israel conservative who backs Israeli occupation of the West Bank and has called a two-state solution “unworkable,” as the next ambassador to Israel.
He has picked Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who called the UN a “cesspool of antisemitism” for its condemnation of deaths in Gaza, to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations.
Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN), says Muslim voters had hoped Trump would choose cabinet officials who work toward peace, and there was no sign of that.
“We are very disappointed,” he said. “It seems like this administration has been packed entirely with neoconservatives and extremely pro-Israel, pro-war people, which is a failure on the side of President Trump, to the pro-peace and anti-war movement.”
Nazarko says the community would continue pressing to make its voices heard after rallying votes to help Trump win. “At least we’re on the map.”
Rola Makki, the Lebanese American, Muslim vice chair for outreach of the Michigan Republican Party, shrugs off the criticism.
“I don’t think everyone’s going to be happy with every appointment Trump makes, but the outcome is what matters,” she says. “I do know that Trump wants peace, and what people need to realize is that there’s 50,000 dead Palestinians and 3,000 dead Lebanese, and that’s happened during the current administration.”
Kushner said expected to play key role in Trump’s Mideast policy
File: Jared Kushner waves as he arrives at the Office of the United States Trade Representative for talks on trade with Canada, Aug. 29, 2018, in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is reportedly expected to play a key role in the crafting and implementation of his father-in-law’s Mideast policy over the next four years, even though he won’t be formally part of the administration.
CNN cites several regional diplomats and Trump allies who voice this expectation.
“No one on the incoming team has what Jared has, and that is trust. Jared earned it, he didn’t have it at the beginning. He earned it. That takes time to build,” says a regional diplomat.
“Friendships are forever in this region,” an Israeli source who dealt with the first Trump administration tells CNN. “My assumption is that his role is much more in his hands than anybody else’s.”
Report: Another top Netanyahu adviser questioned under caution
Likud spokesman Jonathan Urich speaks at a Central Elections Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 3, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Another top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been questioned by police under caution in one of several investigations into the conduct of the premier’s office.
Channel 12 says that one of Netanyahu’s spokespeople and advisers, Jonathan Urich, was questioned yesterday in the probe into the alleged leak of stolen classified intelligence to the German Bild daily earlier this year.
Bucking Netanyahu, 69% of Israeli public backs hostage deal that would end Gaza war
Israelis protest calling for a deal to release hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, November 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
A poll aired on Channel 12 shows 69 percent of the public supports a hostage deal that would end the war in Gaza, compared to 20% who support continuing the war.
Eleven percent of respondents said they weren’t sure which scenario they preferred.
Even among Likud voters, a plurality supports a war-ending hostage deal, with 46% in favor compared to 26% who prefer continuing the war. Another 18% said they were unsure.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recorded late last month telling Likud lawmakers that Israel could not accept Hamas’s demand to end the war in exchange for the hostages, ostensibly over concerns that a deal would allow Hamas to remain in Gaza in some form.
IDF says it completed third wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut
The IDF says it has completed a third wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs in the past few hours.
The targets hit by fighter jets in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh included command centers, according to the military.
Before the strikes were carried out, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
בשעות האחרונות, מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר, בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, יצאו לגל התקיפות השלישי היום במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות. בין המטרות שהותקפו מספר מפקדות טרור של חיזבאללה.
טרם התקיפה ננקטו צעדים רבים על מנת לצמצם את הסיכוי לפגיעה באזרחים, הכוללים איסוף מודיעין מקדים, חוזי מדוייק… pic.twitter.com/Dc6uKqQfKV
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 15, 2024
The IDF in recent days appears to have ramped up strikes against Hezbollah in Beirut.
Separately, the IDF says fighter jets struck a cache of rockets and some 15 launchers in southern Lebanon today. Some of the launchers were primed for attacks on Israel, and others were used in previous attacks, the military says.
A launcher used to fire rockets at Tel Aviv on Wednesday was destroyed in one of the strikes, the IDF adds.
Lebanese health ministry: 59 killed in IDF strikes Thursday, raising war toll to 3,445
Fifty-nine people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Thursday, bringing the total killed since October last year to at least 3,445, with 14,599 wounded, the Lebanese health ministry says in a statement.
The figures don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel is targeting the Hezbollah terror group, which began launching near-daily, unprovoked cross-border attacks against Israel on October 8, 2023.
Ukraine slams Scholz-Putin call as ‘attempt at appeasement’
Ukraine condemns Germany’s Olaf Scholz call to Russia’s Vladimir Putin as an “attempt at appeasement” that does not advance efforts for peace, three years into the Russian invasion.
“Talk only gives Putin hope of easing his international isolation,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry says. “What is needed are concrete, strong actions that will force him to peace, not persuasion and attempts at appeasement, which he sees as a sign of weakness and uses to his advantage.”
Dutch government could fall over handling of violence against Israeli fans, media report
In this image taken from video, people march with Palestinian flags near the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam, November 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
The Dutch cabinet met in emergency session earlier today amid reports the coalition could implode over the government’s handling of violence by Arab and Muslim mobs targeting visiting Israeli soccer fans last week.
Nora Achahbar, junior finance minister in the coalition led by anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders’ PVV, had earlier resigned over remarks by ministers on Monday about the attacks, several media reported, citing sources in the ongoing cabinet session.
Achahbar’s resignation led to the crisis cabinet meeting this afternoon in which other cabinet members of her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit, broadcasters NOS and RTL says, citing government sources.
Achahbar felt several cabinet members had crossed a line with hurtful and possibly racist comments against Arab and Muslim, Dutch paper De Volkskrant reported.
Wilders has repeatedly said Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans, although police have given no details about the background of suspects.
Neither Wilders nor Achahbar, who was born in Morocco and served as public prosecutor before she joined the government in July, were available to comment as the cabinet meeting was ongoing on Friday afternoon.
Party leaders have been summoned to join another cabinet meeting later this evening, media said. Achahbar’s office and government spokespeople could not be immediately reached by Reuters.
If the NSC party pulls out, the other three coalition members would either have to go ahead as a minority coalition or call early elections.
Israeli and Dutch politicians have denounced the attacks against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans as antisemitic and claimed that they recalled persecution of Jews during World War II.
Blinken urges further boosts to Gaza humanitarian aid in first call with new FM Sa’ar
The US State Department confirms the call that took place yesterday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and new Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
The US readout says that Blinken raised the need to expand humanitarian aid into Gaza after the US announced earlier this week that Israel made enough progress on this issue to remain in compliance with US law.
Last month, the US gave Israel 30 days to take a series of steps to alleviate the Gaza humanitarian crisis in order to avoid violating US law, which bars the US from transferring offensive weapons to countries that block aid from civilians.
While Israel failed to meet several of the demands listed in the latter, the US appeared to give Jerusalem a pass after the administration saw its leverage dissipate due to Donald Trump’s election victory, given that the president-elect would have surely reversed any move to withhold weapons from Israel upon returning to the White House.
During yesterday’s call, the pair also discussed efforts to secure ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.
IDF says it shot down suspected drone from Lebanon over Upper Galilee
A suspected drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by Israeli air defenses over the Upper Galilee an hour ago, the IDF says.
Since this morning, three drones launched from Lebanon have been intercepted. The other two drones were shot down before entering Israeli airspace, according to the military.
בפעם השלישית היום, יירוט מטרה אווירית שעשתה את דרכה מלבנון:
בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו ב-17:12-17:10 בעקבות חדירת כלי טיס עוין במרחב הגליל העליון, חיל-האוויר יירט מטרה אווירית חשודה שחצתה מלבנון לשטח הארץ.
בנוסף, משעות הבוקר חיל-האוויר יירט שתי מטרות אוויריות חשודות שעשו את דרכן… pic.twitter.com/cTPkdTmekx
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 15, 2024
UN: There is escalation in human toll of Israeli strikes across Lebanon
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Lebanon says that there is an alarming escalation in the human toll from Israeli airstrikes in the densely populated areas across Lebanon.
Israel is targeting Hezbollah operatives throughout Lebanon over the terror group’s repeated attacks on Israeli border towns over the past year.
Israeli forces rescue civilian from Palestinian town of Abu Dis
Israeli security forces rescued a civilian from the Palestinian town of Abu Dis outside Jerusalem.
Circumstances of the situation aren’t immediately clear.
Footage posted by locals on social media shows the Jewish man taunting the Palestinian residents.
Other photos show that his car was torched, ostensibly by local Palestinians.
Hebrew media reports that Palestinian authorities reached out to their Israeli counterparts to come and rescue the man.
مستوطن هدد بهدم جامع الفاروق في ابوديس..
الشباب ولعوا سيارته بعدها 🔥.. pic.twitter.com/CINb5Q1nv8— JAFRA (@Jafra____) November 15, 2024
Putin tells Scholz: Any deal on Ukraine should take into account Moscow’s security interests
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that possible agreements to end the Ukraine conflict should take into account Russian security interests, be based on “new territorial realities” and address the root causes of the conflict, the Kremlin says in a readout.
Lufthansa further extends suspension of Tel Aviv flights to December 31
A Lufthansa Airbus A380 lands in Frankfurt, Germany, February 14, 2019. (AP/Michael Probst)
Lufthansa Airlines announces that it has extended its suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv to December 31.
The airline had just extended the suspension to December 15 earlier this week.
Scholz, Putin hold first call since 2022
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone earlier today for the first time in almost two years, a German government source tells AFP.
Scholz stayed on the line with the Russian leader “for an hour,” the source says, without revealing the content of the conversation.
It was the first time the two have spoken since December 2022, which was the last known phone call between the Kremlin chief and the leader of a major Western country.
Putin has not spoken to most NATO and Western leaders since 2022, when the EU and the US imposed massive sanctions on Russia for launching its shock Ukraine offensive.
Within the NATO bloc, Putin maintains contact with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — who is critical of Western policy on Russia — and with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The call between the German and Russian leaders comes at a critical juncture in Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv’s forces are under increasing pressure as the war, which was launched by Russia in February 2022, heads into its third winter.
Germany has been one of Ukraine’s biggest military supporters, second only to the United States in the aid it has sent to Kyiv.
But the election of Donald Trump to the White House, who criticized aid to Ukraine on the campaign trail, has cast doubt over Washington’s continued support.
Report: Iran provided US written assurance last month that it wouldn’t assassinate Trump
The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran provided a written assurance to the Biden administration last month that it would not seek to assassinate then-GOP nominee Donald Trump.
The October 14 message was aimed at easing tensions between Tehran and Washington ahead of Trump’s potential return.
The message was in response to a written warning that the US sent Iran in September that Washington would consider an attempt on Trump’s life as an act of war.
Last week, US prosecutors announced charges in an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump and a prominent dissident Iranian-American journalist.
Italian hotel manager rejects Israeli couple’s reservation, accusing Israeli people of ‘genocide’
The manager of a small hotel in northern Italy refused a reservation made by an Israeli couple, accusing Israeli people of being “responsible for genocide.” Jewish groups decried the incident as an example of antisemitism.
The couple had booked two nights for the beginning of November at the Hotel Garni Ongaro in Selva di Cadore, a mountain village surrounded by the Dolomites, using the Booking.com online reservation platform.
A day before their departure, they received a message from the hotel’s staff: “Good morning. We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure.”
The hotel manager then invited the tourists to cancel their reservation, adding they “would be happy to grant free cancellation.” The manager has since closed his Facebook profile, and he wasn’t immediately available for comment.
“I feel infinite sadness for the ignorance shown by certain people,” Dario Calimani, the president of the Jewish Community of Venice, says. “When you don’t agree with what Israel does, you spread hatred against all Israelis.”
The incident caught the attention of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which has confirmed they were investigating the matter.
Booking.com says Friday that it has removed the hotel from its platform.
Hotel Garni Ongaro in Italy has informed Israeli guests they are unwelcome simply because they are Israeli.
I can only imagine the pain and sense of injustice I would feel if a hotel denied me a place to stay simply because of my identity, being Palestinian.
This is… pic.twitter.com/RkZVru9dJQ
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) November 14, 2024
French anti-terrorism prosecutor to appeal against Lebanese militant’s release
The office of France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor says it will appeal against a French court’s decision to grant the release of a Lebanese militant jailed for attacks on US and Israeli diplomats in France in the early 1980s.
PNAT says Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade, would be released on December 6 under the court’s decision on condition that he leave France and not return.
Abdallah was given a life sentence in 1987 for his role in the murders of US diplomat Charles Ray in Paris and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in 1982, and in the attempted murder of US Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.
French court orders release of Lebanese militant behind 1982 murders of US, Israeli diplomats
A French court has ordered the release of Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years after being convicted over the killing of two foreign diplomats, prosecutors say.
The court says Abdallah, first detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over “complicity in the assassinations” of US military attaché Lt. Col. Charles R. Ray and Israeli diplomat Yaacov Bar-Simantov in 1982, will be released on December 6 on the condition that he leaves France, French anti-terror prosecutors say in a statement to AFP, adding that they will appeal.
Ben Gvir says Israel should withhold aid from civilians in Gaza until hostages are released
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tells Israel National News that he is opposed to any form of humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war with Hamas.
“I believe that as long as we have hostages in Gaza, we must not give any concessions to the Strip, not even to the civilian population,” he says.
He denounces the “bad decision” taken by the security cabinet earlier this week to boost the delivery of aid into the Palestinian enclave, telling the news outlet that he was “the only one who voted against it.”
‘It’s either her or me’: Ben Gvir signals he’ll demand firing of attorney general
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he may soon issue an ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding his ongoing grievances against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with whom he has frequently clashed, he tells Israel National News in an interview.
“We’re getting close to the moment when I will have no choice but to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu,” he says. “It’s either her or me. Only one of us can stay in our jobs. She should have gone home a long time ago.”
Baharav-Miara told Netanyahu on Thursday that he must reevaluate Ben Gvir’s tenure, in light of the far-right lawmaker’s repeated and and ongoing interventions into operational police matters and his politicization of police promotions.
The warning had been expected for some time. Ben Gvir termed the move “an attempted coup,” and called for Baharav-Miara’s firing, as he has done numerous times in the past.
IDF says fighter jets carried out two waves of strikes in Beirut, and on Lebanon-Syria border
Israeli fighter jets carried out two waves of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier today, as well as a strike on the Lebanese-Syrian border last night, the IDF says.
The targets in Beirut included weapon depots, command centers and other infrastructure used by Hezbollah, according to the military.
Before the strikes were carried out the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area. The IDF accuses Hezbollah of placing its assets inside and under civilian buildings.
Separately, Israeli fighter jets hit several land crossing roads in Syria last night, which the IDF says were being used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from Iran.
Several routes and border crossings between Lebanon and Syria have been struck by the IDF in recent weeks, amid efforts to counter Hezbollah’s weapon smuggling attempts.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, יצאו במהלך הבוקר לשני גלי תקיפות כחלק ממאמץ נרחב להשמיד את מטרות הטרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה המוסתרות בלב אוכלוסיה אזרחית בדאחייה שבביירות >> pic.twitter.com/iP6eSw8K25
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 15, 2024
Syrian state media reports Israeli airstrike in upscale Damascus district
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reports an Israeli airstrike in the upscale Mezzeh district of the capital Damascus.
No further details are given.
Israel targeted active nuclear weapons research facility in Iran strikes last month — report
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Parchin military base outside of Tehran, Iran, October 27, 2024. The damaged structures are in the bottom right corner and bottom center of the image. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
The Israeli strikes on Iranian military facilities last month destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in the Parchin military complex, outside of Tehran, Axios reports, citing three US officials, an Israeli official and a former Israeli official.
According to the report, the strike significantly damaged Iran’s efforts to resume nuclear weapons research.
Speaking to Axios on the condition of anonymity, a US official says that the Iranian government was using the facility for “scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon.”
The research was said to have been carried out in a way that would allow it to be passed off as research for civilian purposes.
The research facility, once used to test explosives needed for setting off a nuclear device, was believed to be inactive following the official shutdown of Iran’s nuclear program in 2003, but US and Israeli intelligence began to detect activity at the site earlier this year, Axios reports.
The report cites a US official as saying that “there was concern across the board” regarding the Parchin facility.
In an hours-long operation on October 26, dozens of Israeli aircraft targeted strategic military sites across Iran — specifically drone and ballistic missile manufacturing and launch sites, as well as air defense batteries — with explosions reported in the areas of Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Shiraz.
Iran has pledged to retaliate, while Israel has threatened major consequences against Tehran if it does.
PMO leaker to remain in custody over the weekend after appeal delays release to house arrest
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the central suspect in the PMO security documents leak scandal, will remain in custody over the weekend, Hebrew media reports.
Feldstein was expected to be released to house arrest today following a ruling by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, but his release was pushed off until Sunday following appeals filed by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet.
The appeals were rejected by the Lod District Court, but the delay in proceedings means that Feldstein can only be released at the start of next week.
According to reports, an indictment against Feldstein and another suspect in the case is expected in the coming days.
IDF planning to re-demolish home of terrorist involved in deadly West Bank attack after it was rebuilt
IDF troops measure the home of Abdelqader Qawasmeh, a Hamas terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack, ahead of its planned demolition, early November 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
In a rare move, the IDF is planning to demolish the home of a Palestinian gunman who killed an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint near Jerusalem last year, after the home was rebuilt following its first demolition earlier this year.
Overnight, IDF troops operated in the West Bank city of Hebron to measure the home of Abdelqader Qawasmeh ahead of its demolition.
Qawasmeh was one of three members of the Hamas terror group who attacked the “tunnels” checkpoint on the West Bank’s Route 60, south of Jerusalem in November 2023, killing Cpl. Avraham Fetena, a Military Police soldier.
The IDF says the home was mapped out “ahead of the demolition of the house after it was rebuilt after its previous demolition.”
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks. Rarely does Israel re-demolish homes that are rebuilt.
Hamas official urges Trump to ‘pressure’ Israel into ending Gaza war
A senior Hamas official says that the terror group is “ready for a ceasefire” in Gaza and urges US President-elect Donald Trump to “pressure” Israel to “end the aggression.”
“Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire proposal is presented and on the condition that it is respected” by Israel, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim tells AFP. “We call on the US administration and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression.”
The Gaza terror group has said it will not accept any ceasefire deal that does not entail a complete and permanent Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and has previously rejected several ceasefire proposals that it deemed insufficient in that regard.
Dutch government ‘needs more time’ to flesh out antisemitism policy, justice minister says
The Dutch government needs “more time” to flesh out a strategy to fight antisemitism after last week’s violence between Israeli football fans and locals, the justice minister says.
“Because of the terrible events of November 7 and 8 and because I want to promote a fruitful debate in parliament, I have decided to take more time to get a strategy ready,” Justice Minister David van Weel says.
“The strategy will soon be sent to parliament,” he says in a letter to MPs, published late on Thursday.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof promised “far-reaching measures” earlier this week.
He said they would be announced after a cabinet meeting on Friday but this now seems to be postponed.
The discussions follow violence against Israeli soccer fans following a Europa League match between Dutch giants Ajax and Maccabi on November 7.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
California man to be sentenced Friday for hate crime in the 2018 murder of Blaze Bernstein
Samuel Woodward testifies in Orange County Superior Court, June 13, 2024, in Santa Ana, California (Leonard Orti/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool, File)
AP — A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay, Jewish university student in an act of hate is expected to be sentenced Friday to life in prison.
Samuel Woodward, who is now 27, is scheduled to be sentenced in a Southern California courtroom for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. There is no question about the sentence Woodward will receive because the jury’s verdict carries a life sentence without parole, says Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s office.
Defense attorney Ken Morrison previously said he would appeal the verdict.
Woodward was convicted this year of first-degree murder with an enhancement for a hate crime for killing Bernstein, a gay, Jewish college sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania.
Bernstein, 19, disappeared in January 2018 after he went out at night with Woodward to a park in Lake Forest, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. After Bernstein missed a dentist appointment the next day, his parents found his glasses, wallet and credit cards in his bedroom and tried to reach him, but he didn’t respond.
Authorities launched an exhaustive search and said Bernstein’s family scoured his social media and saw he had communicated with Woodward on Snapchat. Authorities said Woodward told the family that Bernstein had gone to meet a friend in the park that night and didn’t come back.
Days later Bernstein’s body was found in a shallow grave in the park. He had been repeatedly stabbed in the face and neck.
The question during Woodward’s monthslong trial was not whether he killed Bernstein but why and the circumstances under which it happened.
Prosecutors said Woodward was affiliated with the violent anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group Atomwaffen Division, while Morrison said his client didn’t plan to kill anyone or hate Bernstein and faced challenging personal relationships due to a long-undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder.
This undated file photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department shows 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Blaze Bernstein. (Orange County Sheriff’s Department via AP, file)
Police say 40 arrests made at tense France-Israel soccer match in Paris
Stadium security intervene next to supporters holding Israeli flags during the UEFA Nations League League A, Group A2 soccer match between France and Israel at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, on the northern outskirts of Paris, on November 14, 2024. (FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Police made 40 arrests at a tense soccer match between France and Israel in Paris but the city’s police chief says on Friday that the huge security operation had “worked very well.”
The Nations League game at the Stade de France on Thursday took place under intense security after fans of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked in Amsterdam last week.
Around 4,000 police and members of the French security forces patrolled inside and outside the stadium, assisted by 1,600 civilian security personnel.
Stewards had to intervene at one point to stop fans of both nations from clashing in the stands, an AFP reporter saw.
Videos posted on the X social media platform showed fans, some with Israeli flags, running along the rows of seats at the stadium while other supporters whistled and booed before members of the security team separated them.
“A fight broke out which was immediately contained by the stewards,” Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told France 2 television.
“The match went very well from a security point of view.”
A security source said one person was arrested immediately after the brief skirmish in the stands and another was detained after being identified from CCTV images.
Just 16,611 people watched the game in the 80,000-capacity stadium, the lowest attendance for a match involving the French men’s national team since the stadium was built in the late 1990s.
The match ended in a goalless draw but the point earned was enough for France to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Nations League.
Top Khamenei aide says Iran will respect Lebanese government’s decision on Israel-Hezbollah truce
Iran will support any decision taken by the Lebanese government and Lebanon’s “resistance” in current talks on a ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Ali Larijani, senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, says.
“We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems,” Larijani says after meeting Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
Larijani, referring to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah says Iran will support the “resistance” under all circumstances.
Photographer captures moment building in Beirut Hezbollah stronghold hit in Israeli airstrike
Images captured by an Associated Press photographer show what appears to be an 11-story residential building in the Tayouneh area, several kilometers from central Beirut, about to be hit by a bomb in a targeted Israeli airstrike, and then bursting into flames.
There were no immediate reports of casualties but the bomb hit a lower level of the building, turning much of it to rubble.
The Israeli military issued a warning prior to the strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.
A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet hits a building in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, November 15, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
Thick smoke and flames erupt as a result of an Israeli airstrike on Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, November 15, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
A bomb dropped from an Israeli jet prepares to hit a building in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, November 15, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP/Hassan Ammar)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad publishes fourth video of hostage Sasha Trufanov
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group publishes another video of hostage Sasha Trufanov, two days after it released a different clip of him.
The clip is the fourth video that the terror group has released of Trufanov.
It is unclear when the video was made. In the clip Trufanov says that he is aged 28; however, he turned 29 earlier this week, his second birthday in captivity.
In the nearly two-minute-long video, Trufanov — in a statement almost certainly dictated by his captors in the Gaza Strip — asks Shas chairman Aryeh Deri to convince the government to agree to a deal for the hostages’ release, reminding him of the Jewish obligation to free all captives.
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.
Trump’s nominee for defense chief was involved in 2017 sexual assault investigation — CNN
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of defense Pete Hegseth was involved in a police investigation into sexual assault allegations in 2017, CNN reports.
According to the report, Hegseth was involved in an investigation into an alleged assault that took place in October 2017, in a hotel in Monterey, California during a conference run by the California Federation of Republican Women.
Hegseth, a Fox News host and Minnesota National Guard veteran, was a speaker at the conference.
CNN reports that police did not specify Hegseth as an alleged assailant but said that he was involved in the investigation. It adds that the Monterey police department said it would not release the full police report or provide further comments on the investigation in accordance with California’s public records law.
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung told CNN in response that Hegseth “has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed.”
The report about Hegseth comes after Trump’s pick for attorney general, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, has caused controversy due to an investigation into Gaetz on allegations of child sex trafficking.
Evacuated communities to hold municipal elections Tuesday, eight months after the rest of the country
Tens of thousands of Israelis who live in areas close to the Lebanon border and adjacent to the Gaza Strip will head out to vote in municipal elections on Tuesday, more than eight months after the rest of the country.
When municipal and regional elections were held back in February, the Interior Ministry decided to postpone elections until November 19 in areas that were evacuated due to the war with Hamas in Gaza and the near-daily rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In southern Israel, elections on Tuesday will be held in Sderot, the Eshkol Regional Council, Sdot Negev Regional Council, Hof Ashkelon Regional Council and the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, Ynet reports.
The previous head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council Ofir Libstein was killed in battle with Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.
In total, 65,335 people will be eligible to vote at 117 polling stations across southern Israel, Ynet adds.
Residents of areas close to the Lebanon border will not return to their evacuated communities to vote, but will instead choose their representatives at special polling stations for evacuees in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. They will be provided with transport to the polling stations, Ynet reports.
Police, Shin Bet appeal against release of alleged PMO leaker Eli Feldstein to house arrest
The Israel Police and Shin Bet have filed appeals against a court decision to release the central suspect in the PMO security documents leak scandal later today, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked with Netanyahu, is expected to be released to house arrest later today almost three weeks after he was arrested following a ruling by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court.
The appeal against his release will be heard at the Lod district court.
Report: PM’s chief of staff says he corrected time on transcript from Oct. 7 but didn’t change anything else
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman (R) during a weekly cabinet meeting in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on April 30, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman told the police yesterday that while he did change the time on the transcript of a phone call to the prime minister in the first moments of the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, he only did so because he knew for a fact that it was incorrect, Channel 12 reports.
Braverman is suspected of having altered the stated time at which Netanyahu first received an update on the October 7 Hamas invasion via phone call from his military secretary at the time, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, allegedly changing it from 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m.
He was questioned by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit for over five hours on Thursday and denied making any changes to the transcript besides altering the time.
“I know that the first call was received at 6:29 a.m., that’s why I insisted on changing it,” he reportedly told the police during the interrogation.
According to the Haaretz daily, while Gil had phoned Netanyahu at 6:29 a.m., as the Hamas attack began, Netanyahu did not give any instructions, telling him instead to phone again in ten minutes, at 6:40 a.m.
It was only during the second phone call — which Braverman allegedly altered to appear as though it was the first — that Netanyahu ordered Gil to hold a situational assessment regarding the developing Hamas invasion in southern Israel, Haaretz stated.
Braverman was also questioned about allegations that he asked various PMO officials to provide him with transcripts of security meetings held by the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021, as well as transcripts of meetings held by Netanyahu during his previous terms in office.
He reportedly told the police that he had asked for the documents as it is his job “to review government meetings and security talks.” He insisted that he had not made any changes to the protocols, and returned them “as soon as the Attorney General issued a letter that the protocols should be returned and that they should not be removed from where they are kept.”
According to the report, Braverman’s release at the end of the five-hour interrogation hinges on the condition that he does not contact any other suspects involved in the case.
Lapid welcomes Katz’s decision to move forward with new Haredi draft orders
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes Defense Minister Israel Katz’s decision to approve sending 7,000 new draft orders to eligible ultra-Orthodox men.
“I said in the Knesset that if you send the 7,000 draft orders to the ultra-Orthodox, soldiers and reservists will know that you are there for them,” Lapid writes on X. “You did it without blinking.”
השר כץ, אמרתי בכנסת שאם תשלח את 7,000
הצווים לחרדים הלוחמים והמילואימניקים יידעו שאתה שם למענם. עשית את זה בלי למצמץ. כבוד.— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) November 15, 2024
Medics say three lightly wounded during recent rocket fire from Lebanon
Medics say that three men were lightly wounded during a recent rocket barrage launched from Lebanon at the Haifa area and the Western Galilee.
The wounded men are foreign workers in their 40s, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says. All three are conscious and aware of their surroundings and were taken to Rambam Medical Center for treatment, the statement adds.
Lebanese media reports new Israeli strikes in Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold
Smoke rises between buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, November 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese media report new Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.
The strikes come after the IDF issued evacuation warnings for two more buildings in Dahiyeh around half an hour ago.
لحظة تنفيذ #الجيش الإسرائيلي للغارة على #الطيونة منذ قليل pic.twitter.com/hmoSO7WMFC
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) November 15, 2024
Katz approves issuance of 7K draft orders to Haredim, first 1,000 will be sent on Sunday
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the draft outside the IDF Recruitment Center in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved sending out 7,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox Israelis starting next week.
The decision had already been made by former defense minister Yoav Gallant, a day before he was fired. Katz did not cancel it, and the military said earlier this week that it was going ahead with the move.
The first 1,000 will be sent out on Sunday, and all 7,000 will be sent out within the coming months.
The ministry says that Katz “intends to hold an in-depth dialogue with all the parties to try and advance an agreed solution, which will allow a true integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF to ease the burden on the conscript, career and reserve soldiers.”
Katz adds that “the IDF will do everything to allow the ultra-Orthodox [soldiers] a supportive environment that will ensure their ability to fulfill their tasks in the IDF, alongside maintaining their religious lifestyle.”
The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.
Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have pushed for the passage of a law regulating military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal.
The Haredi United Torah Judaism and Shas parties have accused both Gallant and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of being the main obstacles to a bill enshrining the decades-long Haredi draft exemption.
Following Katz’s decision to forge ahead with issuing the draft orders to Haredim, a senior UTJ official says “It turns out it’s not the attorney general or Gallant — the Likud has decided to declare war on the ultra-Orthodox.”
IDF says five rockets launched at Haifa Bay area, one hit construction site
The IDF says five rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Haifa Bay area a short while ago.
Some of the rockets were intercepted, and one struck a construction site, lightly wounding a man.
Medics say man lightly wounded amid latest rocket barrage on Haifa Bay area
A man in his 30s was lightly wounded amid the latest rocket barrage from Lebanon on the Haifa Bay area, medics say.
Magen David Adom does not immediately detail the circumstances of his injury.
IDF: Several Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives killed in Gaza City airstrike
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo cleared for publication on November 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Several Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror operatives were killed, including a senior commander, in a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, the IDF says.
According to the military and Shin Bet, the airstrike killed Alkaman Abd as-Salam Khalil Anbar, who was responsible for Islamic Jihad’s rocket firing array in Gaza City.
The IDF says Anbar was responsible for rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza City, as well as being a “significant figure” in the terror group’s weapons manufacturing processes.
Other Islamic Jihad members, involved in rocket fire on Israel and troops in Gaza, were killed in the strike, according to the military.
Meanwhile, the IDF says it is continuing to battle Hamas operatives during an operation in the Strip’s northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun. Troops with the 162nd Division also located numerous weapons during the operation, the military says.
In southern Gaza’s Rafah, troops with the Gaza Division directed drone strikes against several gunmen who were trying to attack the forces, the IDF adds.
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר, בהכוונה מודיעינית של שב"כ ובהובלת מרכז האש של אוגדת עזה, תקפו וחיסלו את המחבל עלקמאן עבד אלסלאם ח'ליל ענבר, אחראי סיוע האש בחטיבת העיר עזה של ארגון הטרור הג׳יהאד האיסלאמי פלסטיני>> pic.twitter.com/ol9VnuIHjv
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 15, 2024
Trump signed off on Lebanon ceasefire plan during meeting with Dermer last week — Wall Street Journal
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer walks into the Executive Office Building next to the White House in Washington, DC on December 26, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)
US president-elect Donald Trump signed off on a proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon during a meeting with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at Mar-a-Lago last Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the report, Trump green-lit the proposal following a briefing from Dermer, and expressed hope that it would be implemented before he takes office on January 20, 2025.
Dermer also met with Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is not slated to play a role in the next administration, before departing for Washington for scheduled meetings with senior officials in the outgoing Biden administration.
The report comes after the US ambassador to Lebanon was said to have submitted a draft proposal for a ceasefire agreement to Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday.
IDF says fighter jets struck Radwan Force command centers in southern Lebanon overnight
IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon in a handout photo cleared for publication on November 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli fighter jets last night struck several buildings and command centers belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, the IDF says.
בתקיפות ממוקדות אתמול במרחב נבטיה, מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר, בהכוונת פיקוד הצפון, תקפו מבנים צבאיים ומפקדות של כוח רדואן בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
בין המטרות שהותקפו: מבנה צבאי ששימש את יחידת ״באדר״ בחיזבאללה לקידום מתווי טרור נגד עורף מדינת ישראל וכוחות צה״ל.ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה… pic.twitter.com/H5uuxupKoL
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 15, 2024
Additionally, in the past day, the military says it struck over 120 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including weapon depots, command centers, cells of operatives, and numerous rocket launchers, including those used in an attack on Haifa yesterday.
The strikes come as the IDF’s 36th, 91st and 146th divisions operate in new areas of southern Lebanon.
The military says the ground forces located Hezbollah rocket launchers and other weapons, as well as demolished a tunnel during recent operations.
Lebanese media reports Israeli strikes in Beirut after new evacuation warning
Lebanese media outlets report Israeli airstrikes in Beirut.
The reports come shortly after the IDF issued evacuation orders for civilians in the vicinity of two buildings in the city’s southern suburbs ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah assets.
The IDF has carried out dozens of airstrikes in Beirut in recent days.
Air defenses intercept two rockets launched from Lebanon at Haifa Bay area
Two rockets launched from Lebanon at the Haifa Bay area were successfully intercepted by air defenses, the IDF says.
Sirens sounded in Acre and several towns near Haifa amid the attack.
There are no reports of injuries.
Rocket sirens activated in Haifa suburbs and nearby communities
Rocket warning sirens are triggered in Haifa’s so-called Krayot suburbs and numerous other northern Israeli communities.
IDF issues 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.
The IDF has carried out dozens of airstrikes in Beirut in recent days.
#عاجل 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/hgTdxTczGw
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 15, 2024
UNSC draft resolution demands ‘immediate, unconditional’ Gaza ceasefire, release of hostages
Illustrative: A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on New York City on September 21, 2023. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP)
The UN Security Council’s 10 elected members have circulated another draft resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza along with the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
The Council’s 10 elected members — Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia — circulated the draft after reaching the agreement.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the Security Council adopts the resolution. The four other permanent members — Russia, China, Britain and France — are expected to support it or abstain.
In an interview with The Times of Israel last week, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon criticized an earlier draft that has since been lightly edited in a bid to gain American support.
The earlier draft split the two demands for a ceasefire and hostage release into separate paragraphs, which were merged into one in the updated version. That was enough to convince the US to abstain on a similar resolution adopted by the Security Council in March, which called for an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan.
In June, the Council adopted another resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire based on the parameters that were being negotiated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, which envisioned a three-staged hostage release deal that would bring an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
NEW: Revised version of E10-led #UNSC draft #Gaza ceasefire resolution has been circulated to the P5. Major change in OP1 due to US opposition to language which would have seen the council determine that the situation in the Gaza Strip and the regional escalation constitute a… https://t.co/0NzgzkRgQa pic.twitter.com/JcVxGA8jok
— Rami Ayari (@Raminho) November 14, 2024
But talks on this framework have all but fallen apart since then. The US and Egypt are still working to negotiate a hostage deal, and Washington is hoping that Qatar’s decision to ask Hamas officials to leave Doha will spark a breakthrough in negotiations. So far, though, none has come to fruition.
Accordingly, Security Council members are once again working on their own ceasefire resolution. Such initiatives have not made an impact on the ground in the past, but members hope that they will add pressure to the warring parties to end the conflict.
Danon told The Times of Israel last week that his office opposed the draft resolution because it doesn’t explicitly condition ending the war on the release of the hostages. The US argued in March that merging the two demands into the same sentence was enough for it to interpret the text as a conditional relationship between the ceasefire and the hostage release.
The draft also demands immediate access for Gaza’s civilian population to humanitarian aid and services essential for their survival.
Additionally, it “underscores” that UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees, “remains the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza.”
Israel’s parliament passed two laws last month banning UNRWA’s operations in the Palestinian territories, which take effect in 90 days.
The draft resolution would also express the council’s “deep alarm over the ongoing catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza including the lack of adequate healthcare services and the state of food insecurity creating a risk of famine notably in the north.”
Israeli official denies report that Jerusalem seeking Lebanon truce as ‘gift’ to Trump
Former US president Donald Trump (left) hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Florida, July 26, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
An Israeli official denies a report in The Washington Post claiming that Israel is working to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon as a “gift” to the incoming Trump administration.
“There has been an ongoing dialogue with the Biden administration to reach a ceasefire and diplomatic resolution that will translate Israel’s military degradation of Hezbollah into a sustainable calm that will allow civilians to return to their homes,” says the Israeli official in a statement to reporters. “The negotiations are unrelated to the transition and any suggestion to the contrary is false.”
New GOP Senate leader says he spoke with Netanyahu, stressed US support for Israel
New Republican Senate Leader John Thune says he held a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after winning a race among GOP senators to be the next majority leader.
On X, Thune says he “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to standing with Israel, our closest friend and ally.”
There is no statement on the call from Netanyahu’s office.
Top Biden aide says Israel sent formal response to US letter on Gaza aid demands
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, November 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reveals that Israel has submitted a formal response to a letter sent by the Biden administration on October 13 urging Jerusalem to take a series of steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or risk being found in violation of US law, which bars the transfer of offensive weapons to countries that block aid from reaching civilians.
As the deadline expired on Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that Israel made sufficient progress in addressing many of the demands outlined in the letter, keeping it in compliance with US law.
Sullivan, however, is the first to reveal — during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route with US President Joe Biden to Peru — that Israel sent a formal response to the letter, which ostensibly laid out the steps Israel has taken and plans to take. The response will likely be used by the Biden administration to adjudicate Israel’s compliance with US law moving forward.
Rocket alerts sound in Nahariya and surrounding towns
Incoming rocket sirens are activated in the northern coastal city of Nahariya and a number of nearby communities.
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