Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Saturday’s events as they happened.
After Levin calls to resume judicial overhaul, Gantz warns previous attempt ‘brought disaster to Israel’
National Unity leader Benny Gantz slams Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s call for the government to resume its contentious judicial overhaul program, and warns that the last time the process was attempted it “brought disaster to the State of Israel.”
The government’s attempts to make drastic changes to the judicial system were halted in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror onslaught, but Levin called for it to be put back on the agenda after flares were fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence on Saturday evening.
Gantz, in a post on X, warns that the “coup d’état led by Yariv Levin brought disaster to the State of Israel, tore us apart from the inside and was a large part of how we reached October 7.”
“The fact that he brings up the idea of returning to it while the entirety of Israeli society is mobilized amid a difficult war proves that not only has he not learned his lesson — he is also an irresponsible person,” Gantz continues.
He calls for Netanyahu and the governing coalition to dismiss attempts to revitalize the controversial legislation.
Levin calls for resuming judicial overhaul as response to launching of flares at PM’s house
Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a Knesset plenum session on November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)
The firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea constitutes only the latest “link in a chain of violent and anarchistic actions, the purpose of which is to bring about the assassination of the prime minister and the overthrow of the elected government by means of a violent coup,” claims Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
The Likud deputy premier charges such behavior has gone on for two years “under the auspices of the law enforcement authorities’ selective enforcement,” which he accuses the High Court of Justice of having sanctioned.
“Since the establishment of the government, I have been fighting to fundamentally change things,” including the composition of the Supreme Court, Levin continues, referring to the government’s since-halted judicial overhaul program, which he says must be revived.
“The time has come for all the members of the coalition, all the factions and all the members of the Knesset, to announce, as one man, their unequivocal support for the moves I led and were stopped, and for any other move necessary to change the situation,” he says.
“The time has come to lend full support to rehabilitating the justice and law enforcement systems, and to put an end to anarchy, chaos, insubordination and attempts to harm the prime minister.”
IDF says some 50 targets in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold struck in past week
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beiruts southern suburbs on November 16, 2024. (Ibrahim Amro/AFP)
The IDF says it has completed a fourth wave of airstrikes today on Hezbollah targets in the terror group’s southern Beirut stronghold.
The targets included command centers, according to the military.
In the past week, the IDF says it has struck some 50 Hezbollah sites in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Before the strikes were carried out, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
IDF’s former top intel analyst: Oct. 7 was strategic, multi-year failure, won’t be fixed by replacing people
Brigadier General (res.) Itai Brun speaks to Channel 12 news, November 16, 2024 (Channel 12 screenshot)
Brigadier General (res.) Itai Brun, the former head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence research and analysis division, warns in an interview that Israel’s inability to recognize that Hamas was preparing to invade shows a far-reaching systemic failure that cannot be fixed simply by replacing key officers and officials.
Rather, says Brun, it requires a fundamental change in the approach and culture of intelligence gathering, the processing of intelligence by the security establishment, and the interaction with the political leadership.
Brun, who left the IDF in 2015, was asked to return on October 8, 2023, and speaks to Channel 12 having now returned to civilian life.
He says the IDF intelligence community he encountered on October 8 understood it had failed — “an entire network of understandings had collapsed in seconds,” he says.
But while it recognized that it had refused to even consider that Hamas could and would burst through the border fence, and “they realized that they needed to rethink” as regards Gaza, some fundamentally false conceptions continued to be held even after the invasion and slaughter.
Israeli intelligence had failed to recognize that the Iran-led axis believed it could destroy Israel, he specifies. “They didn’t understand this change.”
He says Israeli intelligence had so much data, all indicating that Hamas was deterred and was not seeking a war, that there was a refusal to so much as countenance the possibility that this conception was erroneous — not even when the IDF obtained documentation such as the Jericho Wall material showing Hamas’s attack plans.
The conception held that Israel was strong and Hamas was weak, and thus there could be no logic for Hamas to attack, he notes. The whole network “was not listening, because it was convinced it knew… It could not accept the possibility that it was wrong.”
Brun says Hamas came to be dominated by people who believed they should carry out an October 7-style attack from about 2017, and that by 2021 there was a growing belief in the Iran-led axis that they could destroy the Israeli army. Israeli intelligence, however, continued to believe “that they thought we were undefeatable.”
The growing confidence among Israel’s enemies was a “historic change” that Israeli intelligence missed. It was born of several factors, says Brun, including Hezbollah’s much-improved rocket and missile capabilities, a greater unity of purpose within the axis, an assessment that the US was not as strong as previously believed, and a recognition that they could do more harm to Israel than they’d previously thought.
Brun decries what he says was “a lack of trust” among the Israeli political and military leadership that prevented leaders “sitting in a room and clarifying” the intelligence community’s assessments of the enemies’ intentions.
But the “central lesson” of the October 7 tragedy, says Brun, is that it was not a failure of “one night, one front, one group of people…It’s much wider.”
“The even more significant thing is the gulf [between assessment and reality] in the years before,” he elaborates. “We were blind for years before that night.”
Brun says he won’t answer questions about political culpability, but stresses: “The entire Israeli apparatus was part of that misconception that Hamas was deterred.”
He distinguishes between the immense recent successes against Hezbollah, including locating and eliminating its leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the failures exposed by October 7, citing “two very different [sets of] capabilities.”
October 7 showed a strategic, multi-year failure as regards factors such as “the skill to understand strategies… and recognize changes in the other sides’ views and understandings.”
“Specific people could have functioned better,” he notes, “but I’m describing something deeper… The notion that we’ll replace the people and the problem will be solved is not correct.”
“Some of them are no longer in their positions and have acknowledged their responsibilities, but the idea that switching them fixes it — no… The problem is in the culture and the problem is in the system.”
Asked whether what happened in 1973 and again in 2023 can happen again, Brun says: “The conclusion is yes, it can happen to us again — and that has to be the fundamental assumption… We need to change the culture and the entire approach, in order to ensure that it won’t happen again.”
Asked whether he believes this fundamental change in approach will indeed now take place, he says, “I do yes.”
Opposition leaders among politicians condemning firing of flares at Netanyahu’s home
The firing of a pair of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea draws condemnations from across the political spectrum.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid and National Unity chairman Benny Gantz both issue statements condemning the incident and calling for law enforcement to “bring the guilty to justice.”
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, meanwhile, declares that “the incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crosses all boundaries” and that this evening’s incident “crosses another red line.”
“Today it’s a flare and tomorrow it’s live fire,” he says, calling for a halt to “the incitement against Netanyahu and his family.”
The Shin Bet and police say that a pair of flares fired at Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea landed in the house’s yard. No damage was caused and a joint statement from the security bodies stresses Netanyahu and his family weren’t home at the time.
Echoing Ben Gvir, Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf states that the incident “is a direct result of the wild incitement against the Israeli government and its leader, which has been sweeping the country in recent months” while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insists that “violence is eroding the foundation of Israeli democracy.”
“The law enforcement authorities and the security establishment must come to their senses and act before it is too late,” Smotrich tweets.
“The writing was on the walls, on the roads, in inflammatory posts and in demonstrations,” weighs in Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.
“The shooting at the Prime Minister’s house tonight is a direct result of a policy that for the past few years has ignored the escalation in words and deeds,” Ohana declares — accusing the attorney general and justice system of having “accustomed us to the fact that there are those for whom things are permitted and those for whom they are prohibited.”
“If they don’t wake up now, immediately, it may already be too late,” he says.
IDF says fighter jets completed wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in Tyre
This picture taken from the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Qlayleh on November 16, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
The IDF announces that it has completed a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre earlier today.
According to the military, the sites hit by fighter jets included command centers, weapon depots, buildings used by Hezbollah, and numerous other assets belonging to the terror group.
Many of the sites belonged to Hezbollah’s Aziz regional division, responsible for rocket fire on Israel from the western sector of southern Lebanon.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
Shin Bet, police say 2 flares landed in yard of PM’s Caesarea home: ‘A dangerous escalation’
The Shin Bet and police say that a pair of flares fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea landed in the house’s yard.
No damage was caused and a joint statement from the security bodies stresses Netanyahu and his family weren’t home at the time.
Police and the Shin Bet also say they’ve opened an investigation and denounce “the grave incident, which marks a dangerous escalation.”
Military says it targeted Hamas operatives at former Gaza school after 10 said killed in strike
Israeli fighter jets struck a group of Hamas operatives at a former school in Gaza City’s Shati camp earlier this evening, the military says.
According to health officials and media reports in Gaza, the strike on the Abu Assi school, which was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killed at least 10 people.
The IDF says that the Hamas operatives had set up a command center within the former UN-run school, and were using it to plan “imminent” attacks against troops operating in Gaza.
To mitigate civilian harm, the IDF says it used a “precision munition,” aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
“The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as human shields for terror activity,” the IDF says, adding that it will continue to operate against terror operatives who use civilian sites.
IDF imposes closed military zone around Lebanon border towns of Metula and Kfar Yuval
The IDF has imposed a new closed military zone on the Lebanon border, in the areas of the communities of Metula and Kfar Yuval.
The military says the move follows a fresh assessment amid ground operations inside southern Lebanon.
The order prohibits civilians from areas where the Israeli military is operating, including in Israel across the border from Lebanese villages where fighting may be taking place.
It is valid until tomorrow night.
This map issued by the IDF on November 16, 2024, shows a closed military zone on the Lebanon border. (Israel Defense Forces)
Families highlight plight of child captives during rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum’s weekly rally at Hostages Square highlights the plight of parents and children in Hamas captivity, ahead of International Children’s Day this coming Wednesday.
“Let me tell you about my children and their rights,” says Bat Sheva Yahalomi, the wife of hostage Ohad Yahalomi and mother of former captive Eitan Yahalomi. Both hostages were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.
Eitan, 12, was “held alone for 16 days, surrounded by armed terrorists, who told him that the State of Israel and Nir Oz are no longer,” recounts the boy’s mother.
She says that since Eitan was released after 52 days in captivity, he has suffered from nightmares and hair loss.
“We’ll get over it, but that can happen only after his father and the rest of the hostages come back,” she adds.
“The last image Eitan and his two sisters have of their father is the image of him strewn on the floor, injured and bleeding, after he left the safe room to protect them,” Bat Sheva Yahalomi continues.
“What about their right to a father?” she asks. “What about their right to just be a child, their father’s child?”
Alon Nimrodi, father of captive soldier Tamir Nimrodi — “I’m proud of Tamir, not proud of the new title” — says he has trouble with one line of Hatikva, the national anthem: “to be a free nation in our land.”
“We’re not a free nation in our land,” he says. “A 101 hostages are there there in the gutter — how are we free, how?”
He says that this week, the family marked Tamir’s 20th birthday — his second in captivity — by donating care packages to the needy, the homeless, at-risk youth and wounded soldiers.
Alon Nimrodi says such charitableness aligns with his son’s values.
“These valued are absent among our decision-makers,” says the father. “They have given up on the hostages.”
The rally also features speeches from Ofri Bibas, whose brother Yarden, sister-in-law Shiri, nephews 5-year-old Ariel and 1 year-old Kfir are still in Gaza; Avital Dekel-Chen, wife of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen; and Meital Weiss, daughter of hostage Ilan Weiss.
At least two clauses in US-pushed Lebanese ceasefire plan said unacceptable to Hezbollah
The past few days’ expanded Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon were decided upon by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and new Defense Minister Israel Katz at the beginning of the week, and are aimed at showing Hezbollah that Israel will continue to expand its campaign if the terror group does not accept a ceasefire plan brokered by US envoy Amos Hochstein, Channel 12 reports.
It says Hochstein is considering a return to the region in the midweek, but will not come unless it is clear that he can close the deal.
The TV report, which is unsourced, says there is pessimism in Lebanon about the prospects of a ceasefire, however, and that at least two clauses in what it says is a 13-point plan are unacceptable to Hezbollah: The clause that gives Israel the “right to self-defense,” which essentially means freedom of action in Lebanon, and the clause relating to the oversight of the agreement.
Channel 12 says 1.6 million Lebanese people have been displaced to date in the war. Some 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel since Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’s invasion and slaughter in southern Israel.
Haifa synagogue building sustains heavy damage from Hezbollah rocket
Medics are seen at the scene of a rocket impact at a synagogue in the northern city of Haifa, November 16, 2024. (United Hatzalah)
A synagogue building in the northern port city of Haifa was heavily damaged by a Hezbollah rocket strike this evening.
The building is part of the Avot Uvanim synagogue complex in Haifa’s Carmel quarter.
There were no injuries as nobody was inside the building at the time of the attack.
Ten rockets were launched from Lebanon in the attack, with the IDF reporting that some were intercepted.
בית הכנסת במרכז הכרמל, ספג פגיעה ישירה. pic.twitter.com/zoybXMTZEr
— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) November 16, 2024
המטח לחיפה: נפילה בבית מדרש ליד בית כנסת. pic.twitter.com/BWNbFiGn9j
— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) November 16, 2024
Iranian FM denies reported meeting between UN ambassador and Elon Musk
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi strongly has denied a reported meeting between Tehran’s United Nations envoy and billionaire Elon Musk, state TV reports.
“This was a fabricated story by American media, and the motives behind this can also be speculated,” Araqchi says.
Smotrich says Israel will not end Gaza war until Hamas ‘wiped out,’ denies this seals hostages’ fate
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visits a home in Nir Oz destroyed in Hamas's October 7, 2023, onslaught, in an image from the visit provided jointly by Smotrich's office and Nir Oz, November 12, 2024. (Courtesy)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will not end the war in Gaza until Hamas is “wiped out” and “no longer in existence,” but denies that this means the hostages will never come home.
Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, on Tuesday paid a first visit to the Hamas-ravaged Kibbutz Nir Oz, and met there with former hostages and the families of hostages still held in Gaza. Interviewed on Channel 12, he thanks the kibbutz for hosting him.
He is immediately asked why the government will not agree on a deal to end the war in return for the release of all the hostages. Israel cannot sign a deal with Hamas to end the war, he says, since “this would mean [Hamas] retains control in Gaza.”
He denies this means the hostages will never come home, and stresses the two goals of the war: to destroy Hamas and bring home the hostages. The first goal must be accomplished, among other reasons, he says, to ensure there can be no repeat of October 7 and to show Israel’s enemies that Israel has won.
He specifies that “I won’t agree to a deal that ends the war” and rejects the idea that, if a ceasefire and hostage deal were agreed, the IDF would be able to resume the fight against Hamas in Gaza later on. Ending the war would not be reversible, he says.
Smotrich then elaborates on what he considers to be fulfilling the goals of the war as regards to Hamas: “We will end this war when Hamas is wiped out, gone, destroyed, no longer in existence… there is no Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip.”
When it is again put to him that this means no return of the hostages, he replies: “When Hamas understands that it’s on its own, and there is no Hezbollah supporting it, and there is no Iran supporting it, and there’s a Trump in the White House who is going to give us absolute freedom of action…”
Smotrich is interrupted by his hosts at this point and does not complete the thought, but he goes on: “If we continue the effort in the Gaza Strip we will create… complete sterilization in northern Gaza, and, finally, alternative governance.”
Smotrich says he believes Israel should and will resume Jewish settlement in Gaza but notes that “settlement is not one of the aims of the war.”
Hundreds rally in Tel Aviv to demand release of captives, highlight plight of child hostages
Hundreds gather on Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and a block away on Begin Road to demand the return of the hostages from Gaza.
The Hostages Square rally is dedicated to the children in captivity, ahead of International Children’s Day on Wednesday. There are currently two child hostages: Ariel Bibas, 5, and Kfir Bibas, 1. Their aunt, Ofri Bibas, is among this evening’s speakers.
On Begin Road, in front of the IDF headquarters, protesters call for an end to the war with Hamas as part of a hostage deal. They set off smoke stacks and beat on drums, chanting: “They [the hostages] are running out of time — a deal is on the table!”
The rally on Begin Road is unaffiliated with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and is frequented by families of captives who are more openly critical of the government.
Before the rally, these families made a statement, pleading with US President-elect Donald Trump to help bring their loved ones.
Toward the end of the statement, a man wearing a shirt reading “Lions of the Right” played music from a loudspeaker and got in a shoving match with Natalie Zangauker, sister of hostage Matan Zangauker, according to footage shared by a Haaretz reporter. It was unclear if the man was apprehended.
אדם עם חולצה של ״אריות הימין״ הגיע מול הצהרת המשפחות בבגין, לקראת סיומה, עם מערכת הגברה והשמיע שירים בהתרסה. כשפעילים ועינב צנגאוקר הגיעו ודרשו מהשוטרים שילך משם. הוא סרב והחלו קללות ודחיפות כולל בינו לבין נטלי צנגאוקר ולפעיל נוסף שהגיע למקום להגן עליה. המשטרה שם, אבל שוטר אחד… pic.twitter.com/P3zvxSsCD6
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) November 16, 2024
IDF says 10 gunmen in Gaza’s Jabalia killed in drone strike
The IDF says a cell of around 10 gunmen was killed in a drone strike in northern Gaza’s Jabalia today.
The terror operatives had been spotted by troops of the 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, who called in the strike.
The military says no soldiers were hurt in the incident.
Building in Haifa damaged by rocket fired from Lebanon
Damage was caused to a building in Haifa by a rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Ten rockets were launched in the attack, with the IDF reporting that some were intercepted.
There are no reports of injuries.
Damage was caused to a building in Haifa by a rocket launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Ten rockets were launched in the attack, with the IDF reporting that some were intercepted.
There are no reports of injuries. https://t.co/IK6kphM8Ne pic.twitter.com/ocH8ZCEyKU
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 16, 2024
Hezbollah claims to confront IDF troops outside village, some 5 kilometers from Israel
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Shama on November 16, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
The Hezbollah terror group claims to have confronted IDF soldiers on the outskirts of Shama, a Lebanese village located some 5 kilometers from the border with Israel.
It would mark the deepest point in Lebanon that the IDF has reached during the ongoing ground offensive.
Hezbollah says it targeted an IDF tank with an anti-tank missile on the eastern outskirts of the village.
IDF says several Lebanon rockets impacted in Haifa; no immediate reports of injuries
A barrage of 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon at Haifa a short while ago.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted and several impacts were also identified.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
Rocket alerts activated in Haifa and surrounding suburbs
Incoming rocket sirens sound in the northern coastal city of Haifa and its surrounding suburbs.
IDF announces Golani soldier Ori Nisanovich killed fighting in southern Lebanon
Sgt. Ori Nisanovich (Israel Defense Forces)
An IDF soldier was killed during fighting in southern Lebanon yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. Ori Nisanovich, 21, of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Jerusalem.
According to an initial IDF probe, Nisanovich was killed during an exchange of fire with a Hezbollah operative in a building in a southern Lebanon village. The operative was killed in the gun battle.
Nisanovich’s death brings the IDF’s toll in the ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and during operations on the border to 44.
Lebanon says 6 killed, 11 hurt in Israeli strike on Baalbek area
BEIRUT — Six people were killed, including three children, and eleven wounded in an Israeli strike on a village in Lebanon’s Baalbek region, the health ministry says in a statement.
IDF says 20 Hezbollah targets in southern Beirut struck this weekend
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, November 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Over the weekend, the Israeli Air Force struck some 20 Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut in eight separate waves, according to the IDF.
In southern Lebanon, the military says the IAF struck dozens of Hezbollah targets as part of support for ground troops, along with 12 rocket launchers primed for attacks on Israel. In Tyre, 10 Hezbollah targets were struck by fighter jets, the IDF says.
Additionally, 12 out of 13 drones launched at Israel over the weekend were intercepted by air defenses, the military adds.
Hostage’s mom urges Trump to push for captives’ release: They won’t survive until your inauguration
The mother of hostage Matan Zangauker appeals to US President-elect Donald Trump to immediately involve himself in the efforts to release the Israeli captives held in Gaza by Hamas.
“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu refuses to end the war,” Einav Zangauker says during the weekly rally outside the Kirya base in Tel Aviv. “Do everything to end the war and bring back the hostages. They won’t survive until your inauguration in January.”
In Lebanon, Halevi vows IDF to battle Hezbollah until northerners can safely go home
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks with officers in southern Lebanon, November 12, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vows that the military will continue to strike Hezbollah until displaced Israelis from the north can return to their homes.
“Hezbollah has [paid] a very high price, a chain of command that has collapsed, many dead operatives, destroyed infrastructure. This organization will continue to shoot, we will continue to fight, we will continue to implement plans, go further, attack in the depth, hit Hezbollah, very, very hard,” Halevi is quoted as saying in remarks released by the IDF from his visit to the Lebanese border village of Kafr Kila earlier this week.
“We will stop when we know that we are bringing the residents [back] safely,” he adds.
Hundreds attend pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally in Rio ahead of G20 summit
Members of social movements march in support of the Palestinian people and against Israel at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 16, 2024, ahead of the G20 Summit. (Luis Robayo/AFP)
Hundreds of protesters march in support of Palestinians and against Israel in Rio, in a demonstration aimed at world leaders about to converge on the Brazilian city for a G20 summit.
The march, held peacefully under constant rain along Copacabana Beach, is watched by dozens of police and soldiers deployed as security for the summit, which will be held on Monday and Tuesday.
The meeting will see heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, discuss coordination on international issues.
The Rio protesters, a few wearing Arabic keffiyeh scarves, hold aloft the Palestinian flag and banners, including one reading “Break Brazil-Israel Relations” and demands that Israeli allies stop financing its military offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“We’re here to make a contrast with the G20 summit,” says Tania Arantes, 60, from one of the Brazilian unions organizing the protest.
She says the march embraces a number of other leftist issues too, such as climate change, the fight against poverty and a demand to tax the super-rich, because the leaders at the summit “have economic control over nations they believe are subordinate in this globalized world.”
One marcher, Giancarlo Pereira, a 43-year-old veterinarian, says the multiple leftist issues converged with the Palestinian cause “because the big companies fueling the war (being conducted by Israel in Gaza) are the billionaires of the world.”
Herzog’s planned trip to UN climate confab in Baku canceled due to ‘security considerations’
A sign for COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, goes on display in Baku, Azerbaijan, September 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
The President’s office announces that Isaac Herzog is canceling his planned visit to the UN’s COP29 climate conference, which is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, through November 22. He cites “security considerations” that followed a situational assessment.
IDF says it intercepted 2 Gaza rockets fired at Sderot
Two rockets launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the Israeli border city of Sderot were intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
Sirens had sounded in Sderot and nearby towns amid the attack.
There are no reports of injuries.
IDF issues fresh evacuation orders for Beirut suburbs before fourth wave of strikes today
The IDF has issued evacuation orders for three more buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs ahead of a fourth wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah assets.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.
#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
🔸حدث بيروت
🔸حارة حريك
🔸برج البراجنة⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى… pic.twitter.com/MI9KpGQRRQ
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 16, 2024
The IDF in recent days has ramped up strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Rocket sirens activated in Sderot and several other Gaza border communities
In a now fairly rare occurrence, incoming rocket sirens are activated in the southern town of Sderot and several other communities near the Gaza Strip.
IDF says fighter jets completed third wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut
Israeli fighter jets completed a third wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs today, the IDF says.
The targets included Hezbollah command centers situated “in the heart of the civilian population,” according to the military.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the vicinity of the buildings used by the Lebanese terror group.
בפעם השלישית היום והשביעית מאתמול בבוקר: צה״ל השלים גל תקיפות על מפקדות חיזבאללה בדאחייה.
בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר השלימו לפני זמן קצר גל תקיפות נוסף על מפקדות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות >> pic.twitter.com/9Y3U645ceB
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 16, 2024
Islamic Jihad confirms pair of senior operatives killed in Israeli strike on Syria
Palestinian Islamic Jihad confirms that senior operatives Abdel Aziz Minawi and Rasmi Yusuf Abu Issa were killed by an Israeli strike in Syria alongside “a group of the movement’s cadres.”
TV panelist charges that Netanyahu’s top aide Ron Dermer ‘isn’t deeply Israeli’
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on January 29, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A panelist on Channel 12 news tears into Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is regarded as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most trusted minister, accusing the American-bred official of not being “deeply Israeli.”
After the network aired a segment on Dermer that highlighted how little known he is within Israel despite being Netanyahu’s closest confidant, Amnon Abramovich describes him as “cultured, polite and kind, but he is not deeply Israeli.”
“He came at age 26. Why didn’t he do the army?” Abramovich goes on, during a Friday night studio discussion. “His basic [life] experience is not an Israeli one. I don’t think he knows the difference between [the late iconic Ashkenazi and Sephardi singers] Arik Einstein or Zohar Argov.”
“Ron Dermer doesn’t know where Rafah is, and if you put him in Nir Oz, he doesn’t know how to get home,” Abramovich asserts, referring to Gaza’s southernmost city and a southern kibbutz where Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists committed atrocities on October 7, 2023.
“He’s a good guy, but if I was going to write an article and needed to give it a headline, I’d go with ‘Fiddler on the Roof.'”
Amnon Abramovich at a meeting in Tel Aviv, July 14, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
IDF launches wave of strikes in Lebanon’s Tyre after issuing evacuation orders
A photo taken from the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre shows smoke billowing following an Israeli airstrike on November 16, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
The IDF says it has begun a wave of airstrikes in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre.
Earlier, the military issued evacuation orders for several buildings in the city and nearby towns.
Barrage of 10 rockets from Lebanon launched at Haifa Bay area, Western Galilee; none hurt — IDF
A barrage of 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Haifa Bay area and Western Galilee a short while ago.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted while the rest struck open areas.
There are no reports of injuries.
IDF: Dozens of masked settlers carried out arson attack on Palestinian village near Nablus
Dozens of masked settlers entered the West Bank village of Beit Furik, near Nablus, earlier this morning and set fire to several buildings and a car, according to the military.
The IDF says that before the violence, it received reports that Palestinians had stolen a herd of sheep and attacked an Israeli man.
A short while later, dozens of masked Israelis entered Beit Furik, where a “violent confrontation developed between them and the Palestinians who were there, which included mutual throwing of stones,” the IDF says.
The IDF says troops and Border Police officers were dispatched to the scene and they used riot dispersal means to disperse the sides.
The military says it is unaware of any injuries in the violence. No arrests have been made.
“The IDF condemns events of this type and will continue to act with determination to maintain security and order in the region,” the military adds.
Canadian police raid director of banned pro-Palestinian group’s home, detain her for questioning
Police have raided the Vancouver home of pro-Palestinian activist Charlotte Kates, Canadian media outlets say, after she was released from custody.
The Vancouver Sun quotes police as saying Kates was arrested as part of an “ongoing hate crime investigation,” after she led protesters at an April rally in a chant of “Long live October 7” and called the brutal Hamas massacre “heroic and brave.”
A local resident quoted by the National Post says a flash-bang grenade was used during the raid and that windows of the home were broken.
Samidoun's Charlotte Kates was arrested during an armed raid on her home in Canada.
Charlotte has consistently supported Palestinian prisoners despite the repression the group faces. pic.twitter.com/B0eUbZAQCd
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) November 16, 2024
Kates is one of three directors for Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian activist group that was banned from Germany in November for supporting terrorism, has been sanctioned by financial companies and, according to Israel, is linked to the terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The US State Department describes the group as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”
Kates and her husband, Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, are also banned from entering the European Union.
Rocket sirens sounding again in northern Israel including in Haifa, Acre, Nahariya
Sirens are sounding again throughout northern Israel including the Haifa Bay area, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts, which come amid ongoing attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel throughout the day, can be heard in cities and towns including Haifa, Kiryat Motzkin, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Yam, Acre, Shavei Zion, Nahariya and Kibbutz Kabri.
🔴 Rocket Alert [14:44:39] – 25 Alerts 🔴:
• Menashe — Haifa – Bay, Haifa – Kiryat Haim & Kiryat Shmuel
• Upper Galilee — Kfar Masaryk, Lochamei HaGetaot, Jadeidi-Makr, Ein HaMifratz, Regba, Shomrat, Acre, Netiv HaShayara, Ness Amim, Bustan HaGalil, Mazra'a, Sha'ar Na'aman… pic.twitter.com/7dCldwaL4n— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 16, 2024
Lebanese reports: IDF troops reached deepest point in Lebanon since launching ground op
IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon, in a photo cleared for publication on November 16, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Lebanese state media reports that Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since launching its latest campaign against Hezbollah six weeks ago, before pulling back early this morning after fierce battles with terror operatives.
The state-run National News Agency reports that IDF troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Shamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Israel’s northern border early this morning, before being pushed back.
Israeli troops are said to have detonated the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Shamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be immediately verified.
In a statement, the IDF said troops “continue their limited, localized, and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon,” without immediately responding to requests for comment on the Lebanese media reports.
The push on the ground came as Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as several other areas in southern Lebanon including the port city of Tyre. The IDF issued evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians ahead of the strikes.
IDF issues more evacuation orders for southern Beirut, amid ramped up strikes on Hezbollah sites
The IDF has issued evacuation orders for two more buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs ahead of airstrikes on sites belonging to Hezbollah.
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 in recent days has ramped up strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
🔸حارة حريك
🔸الغبيري⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني القريب… pic.twitter.com/Ef4gi17eYj
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 16, 2024
Trump said planning to revive ‘maximum pressure’ strategy to ‘bankrupt’ Iran as soon as he takes office
Then-US president Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order to increase sanctions on Iran, in the Oval Office of the White House, June 24, 2019, in Washington. Trump is accompanied by then-treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, left, and then-vice president Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President-elect Donald Trump is planning on reviving his “maximum pressure strategy to bankrupt Iran” as soon as he takes office, according to a report citing a national security expert familiar with the Trump transition.
The Financial Times says that Trump’s transition team is preparing executive orders targeting Iran that could be issued on his first day in office, including sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
In his first term, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers and later re-imposed sanctions on Tehran. He also ordered the killing of Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
Trump said throughout his 2024 presidential election campaign that US President Joe Biden’s policy of not rigorously enforcing oil-export sanctions has weakened Washington and emboldened Tehran.
According to the Financial Times report, the maximum pressure campaign is designed to stop Iran from being able to build up its military and continue to fund its network of proxy groups in the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But the ultimate goal, the report stresses, will be to push Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.
Agencies contributed to this report.
IDF says 2nd wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s today completed
The IDF says it has completed a second wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs a short while ago.
The sites hit by fighter jets in Dahiyeh included a weapon depot, a command center, and other Hezbollah infrastructure, according to the military.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the vicinity of the buildings used by Hezbollah.
בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, מטוסי קרב של חיל-האוויר השלימו לפני זמן קצר סדרת תקיפות נוספות במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות במסגרתה הותקפו מחסן אמצעי לחימה, מפקדה ותשתיות טרור שהיו בשימוש של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה.
כלל המטרות שהותקפו מוקמו על ידי חיזבאללה במכוון בלב האוכלוסייה האזרחית. זו דוגמה… pic.twitter.com/3nkjA9DfbG
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 16, 2024
Two senior Islamic Jihad operatives killed in Israeli strike near Damascus this week – report
A firetruck arrives at the scene of a reported Israeli strike in the Mazzeh district of Damascus on November 14, 2024. (Louai Beshara/AFP)
Two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives were killed in an Israeli strike on Syria on Thursday, according to a source from the terror group which has fought against Israel in Gaza alongside Hamas.
The source tells AFP that Abdel Aziz Minawi, a member of PIJ’s political bureau, and the terror group’s foreign relations chief Rasmi Abu Issa were killed in the strike on Qudsaya, in the Damascus area.
The IDF on Thursday confirmed the strikes on several PIJ buildings and command centers, calling them a “significant blow” to the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian terror group and its operatives.
IDF calls on Lebanese civilians in Tyre to evacuate vicinity of several buildings ahead of airstrikes
The IDF is calling on Lebanese civilians near several buildings in the Tyre area to immediately evacuate ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah assets.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.
#عاجل 2/2 إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة صور وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها
⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم… pic.twitter.com/joO4SBohzd
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 16, 2024
Report: Links between ICC prosecutor, UN watchdog could jeopardize integrity of sexual misconduct probe
Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court looks up prior to a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, July 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Questions have been raised as to the integrity of the International Criminal Court’s external probe into sexual misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor, according to a UK report, citing his ties to the Independent Oversight Mechanism, which is tasked with the investigation.
The Guardian quotes ICC staff as saying that links between the prosecutor, Karim Khan, and the UN watchdog body could jeopardize the impartiality of the investigation into claims that he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship.
The concerns have been raised to the ICC, according to the report, which comes days after the court announced its external probe into the allegations, and US senators apply pressure to not issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.
Several animals killed, buildings, vehicles damaged in rocket impact near Haifa
Police outside a building in an agricultural field heavily damaged by a rocket, near the northern city of Tamra, November 16, 2024. (Israel Police)
Several animals were killed when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an agricultural area near Tamra in northern Israel a short while ago, Israel Police says in a statement.
Buildings and vehicles in the area sustained heavy damage in the attack, the statement adds.
Sirens sounded in nearby Kiryat Bialik and Afek in the Haifa Bay area during the attack earlier today.
Hezbollah has fired at least 55 rockets and four drones at northern Israel since this morning.
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in southern Beirut after IDF evacuation orders
After the IDF’s latest evacuation warnings in Beirut, Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in the area.
The IDF in recent days has ramped up strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
لحظة وقوع #غارة #الشياح! pic.twitter.com/Ffgyln8gNy
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) November 16, 2024
After chase, police apprehend man who stole ambulance from Jerusalem hospital; no injuries reported
A man in his 20s has been arrested after he stole a Magen David Adom ambulance from outside the ER at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem.
Police apprehended the Jerusalem area man after a road chase through the capital, according to a statement.
There are no reports of injuries in the incident, though the ambulance hit a police car during the chase, causing damage.
IDF: Barrage of some 35 rockets fired from Lebanon at Western Galilee, Haifa Bay all struck open areas
A barrage of some 35 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee and Haifa Bay area a short while ago.
According to the IDF, the rockets all struck open areas.
Since this morning, Hezbollah has fired some 55 rockets and four drones at northern Israel.
Meanwhile, the IDF has issued evacuation orders for three more buildings in Beurit’s southern suburbs ahead of airstrikes.
IDF says it has completed another wave of strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Beirut
The IDF says it has completed another wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs a short while ago.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the vicinity of the buildings used by Hezbollah.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, השלימו לפני זמן קצר גל תקיפות נוסף על תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות >> pic.twitter.com/K1iyKlinTo
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 16, 2024
Iran-backed group in Iraq takes responsibility for drone fired at Eilat that crashed before entering Israel
The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for launching a drone this morning at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.
Sirens sounded in Eilat at 6 a.m. after the IDF says it identified a drone “from the east” heading toward Israel. The drone crashed before crossing into Israeli territory, according to the military.
IDF: Barrage of some 20 rockets fired at Western Galilee this morning; some intercepted; no injuries reported
A barrage of some 20 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee earlier this morning.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted.
The statement comes as fresh sirens sound in the Haifa Bay area and Western Galilee.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
IDF says Hezbollah drone that crashed into Nahariya apartment was intercepted, parts of it hit building
Footage posted to social media purports to show damage to a building in Nahariya from a drone fired from Lebanon, November 16, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The IDF says a Hezbollah drone that crashed on an apartment in the northern town of Nahariya was intercepted.
“The drone was intercepted by the Air Force and parts of it hit a building as it fell,” the IDF says.
Slight damage was caused but there are no injuries.
Rocket alert sirens sounding in communities near Haifa
Sirens are blaring in the Haifa Bay area, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The alerts are sounding in the northern communities of Kiryat Bialik and Afek, and come after several rounds of sirens in northern Israel this morning.
🚨 Rocket Alert [10:46:21] – 2 Alerts:
• Upper Galilee — Afek
• HaMifratz — Kiryat BiyalikPopulation: 45,000 pic.twitter.com/Jh7wniqsyl
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 16, 2024
US offer for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire doesn’t give IDF freedom of movement in Lebanon — report
Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden, center, is received ahead of a meeting with Hezbollah-allied Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has received a written proposal from the US for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group that does not include freedom of movement for IDF troops in Lebanon, Asharq al-Awsat reports.
Lebanon will reply to the US offer “very soon” with its reservations, according to the report from the London-based, Saudi-owned paper.
Berri, a Hezbollah ally who often serves as a conduit for diplomacy, is quoted as stressing, “There can be no undermining of our sovereignty.”
He reportedly met with US Ambassador Lisa Johnson last week to receive Washington’s first written proposal in at least several weeks.
The Axios news site reported yesterday that Israel is demanding a side letter from the US that includes guarantees from Washington that Israel will be allowed to take military action in Lebanon against Hezbollah if the terror group tries to re-establish its military presence along the border.
According to Asharq, Berri also voices opposition to the idea of forming a committee to implement UN Resolution 1701, which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 claiming that UNIFIL can do the job.
The 2006 UN resolution has gone largely unenforced since it was passed, allowing Hezbollah to build up a formidable arms cache and defensive capabilities, with neither UNIFIL peacekeepers nor the LAF willing to challenge the Iran-backed terror group.
Israel has repeatedly portrayed its offensive in southern Lebanon as essentially stepping in and doing UNIFIL’s job for it.
Sirens sounding in Nahariya for third time this morning
Sirens are sounding in the northern city of Nahariya for the third time this morning, this time warning of incoming rocket fire.
The fresh alerts are also sounding in the nearby communities including Hanita, Goren, Eilon, Arab al-Aramshe, Metzuba, Ben Ami, Avdon and Ya’ara.
The sirens come after the IDF downed several drones fired at northern Israel this morning, and another reportedly impacted a residential building in Nahariya.
There are no initial reports of injuries amid this morning’s attacks.
🚨 Rocket Alert [09:58:52] – 12 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Hanita (×2), Goren, Nahariya, Idmit, Eilon, Arab al-Aramshe, Metzuba, Ben Ami, Avdon, Ya'ara (×2)
Population: 68,000 pic.twitter.com/yjmnzCKrSm
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 16, 2024
Drone from Lebanon crashes into balcony of unoccupied apartment building in Nahariya; none hurt
A drone fired from Lebanon crashed into a residential building in Nahariya this morning, according to Hebrew media reports, after the IDF said several other UAVs were downed over northern Israel this morning.
According to the reports, the building is not yet occupied, having just been built.
Ynet news cites police as saying the drone landed on the balcony of a second-floor apartment.
There are no reports of injuries in the incident.
Emergency services are scanning the area, according to Hebrew media sites.
Sirens sounded in Nahariya and the surrounding areas amid the incident.
נהריה הבוקר.
•מזל”ט של חיזבאללה פגע בבניין מגורים רב-קומות בעיר.•נגרם נזק קל בלבד, ללא נפגעים.
•חיזבאללה ממשיך לכוון לאזרחים חפים מפשע, בעוד שישראל עושה כל שביכולתה להימנע מפגיעה באזרחים.
תמונות מ: @sentdefender pic.twitter.com/2erGS6ho8a
— DANA RON (@danaron7) November 16, 2024
Footage shows smoke from airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs shortly after IDF evacuation orders
AFPTV footage shows an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut this morning, shortly after the IDF issued a new call for Lebanese civilians to evacuate the vicinity of two buildings in the area.
A plume of smoke can be seen rising over the buildings in the area in unverified footage posted to social media.
Shortly before the strike, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X a call for residents of the Haret Hreik suburb to evacuate.
آثار الغارة الإسرائيلية صباحاً على حارة حريك في الضاحية الجنوبية ل #بيروت pic.twitter.com/qjdp0aWkZ9
— Sawt Beirut International (@SawtBeirut) November 16, 2024
IDF shoots down another two drones launched at northern Israel from Lebanon
The IDF says air defenses have downed two drones fired at northern Israel from Lebanon, a short while after another two UAVs were intercepted in the same area.
Sirens sounded in and around the northern city of Nahariya amid both incidents.
There are no reports of injuries or damage in either incident.
IDF issues fresh evacuation orders for 2 buildings in southern Beirut ahead of strikes on Hezbollah
The IDF issues fresh 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 calls on civilians to immediately distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.
#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في حارة حريك
⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة… pic.twitter.com/tu7wW9UdYj
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 16, 2024
Drone sirens sounding again in Nahariya area near Lebanon border
Sirens are sounding again in the Nahariya area amid another suspected drone infiltration.
The alerts come a short while after the IDF said two drones fired at northern Israel from Lebanon had been shot down by air defenses.
🚨 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion, Rocket Alert [08:17:45] – 14 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Betzet Beach (×2), Lehman (×2), Rosh HaNikra (×2), Milouot Industrial Zone North (×2), Gesher HaZiv (×2), Sa'ar, Nahariya (×3)
Population: 190,000 pic.twitter.com/9bu9DioTCO
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 16, 2024
Iran sought covert Musk meeting to calm tensions with Trump — US official
This combination of file pictures created on November 14, 2024, shows Elon Musk (L) and Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani. (Mandel Ngan and Bryan R. Smith/AFP)
WASHINGTON — Iran successfully sought a meeting with Elon Musk, a US official says, in one of a series of steps apparently aimed at easing tensions with President-elect Donald Trump.
Briefed on the meeting by a foreign colleague, the US official says Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani met with Musk — a Trump ally named this week to advise his administration on ways to cut the federal government — on Monday in New York.
The official adds that the discussion covered a variety of topics, most notably Iran’s nuclear program, its support for anti-Israel groups throughout the Middle East and prospects for improved relations with the United States.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a non-US governmental meeting, says no immediate decisions were taken by either side. The official adds that the Iranians sought the meeting with Musk and that it did not take place at the Iranian mission to the UN.
The Trump transition team neither confirms nor denies the meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times, and Iran’s UN mission declines to comment.
Intelligence officials have said Iran opposed Trump’s second term, seeing him as more likely to increase tension between Washington and Tehran.
IDF shoots down two drones launched at northern Israel from Lebanon; none hurt
Air defenses shot down two drones launched from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago, the IDF says.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Sirens sounded in the northern city of Nahariya and surrounding areas amid the incident.
Drone sirens sounding in Nahariya, nearby northern communties
Sirens are sounding in the northern city of Nahariya and surrounding areas, warning of a suspected drone infiltration.
The alerts are sounding in communities including Lehman, Gesher HaZiv, Milouot Industrial Zone North, Betzet Beach, Rosh HaNikra and Sa’ar amid the incident.
🚨 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [07:05:37] – 2 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Nahariya, Milouot Industrial Zone North
Population: 60,000 pic.twitter.com/cWVwxKJoxN
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 16, 2024
IDF says projectile ‘from the east’ triggered sirens in Eilat area
The IDF says that a projectile launched “from the east,” a term it usually uses for Iraq, set off rocket warning sirens in the Eilat area around 6 a.m.
A statement from the military stresses the projectile didn’t enter Israeli territory without specifying if it was downed.
Red alert sirens activated in Eilat and nearby area
Red alert sirens are activated in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat and the surrounding area.
There is no immediate word from the army on what triggered the alerts.
Poland condemns vandalism of monument to Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
A worker cleans the red-black paint stain on a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw, Poland, on November 15, 2024. (Sergei Gapon/AFP)
WARSAW — The Polish foreign ministry condemns “an act of vandalism” after a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was sprayed with paint, an incident that drew protest from the Israeli ambassador.
“Such acts are an attack on history and the values that unite us as a society,” the foreign ministry says on social media platform X.
Israel’s ambassador to Warsaw, Yacov Livne, posted a picture on social media showing a patch of red paint on the memorial, which was erected to commemorate the Jewish fighters who revolted against Nazi Germany in 1943.
An AFP photographer present at the scene saw cleaners removing the rectangle of paint about 50 centimeters (20-inches) long. Police were also at the site.
The 11-meter (36-foot) memorial is located at the site of several of the uprising’s armed clashes and is outside the popular Polin Museum established to commemorate the history of Polish Jews.
Livne urges Polish authorities to “find the culprits” behind the incident “and bring them to justice.”
“This isn’t the first act of antisemitic vandalism here. Only determined action will put an end to it,” he says on X.
Trump says his campaign spokeswoman will be White House press secretary
Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's campaign press secretary, speaks to the news media across the street from Trump's criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
WASHINGTON — US President-elect Donald Trump announces that campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt will serve as his White House press secretary.
Leavitt, 27, “is smart, tough and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People,” Trump says in a statement.
Dutch PM says deal reached to defuse government crisis after junior minister resigns
Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof delivers a press statement at an EU meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on November 8, 2024. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP)
A government crisis in the Netherlands has been avoided following a tense emergency meeting, as a cabinet member resigned over comments by the head of a hard-right coalition party about the assailants who attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last week.
Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit on Friday as junior finance minister, triggering an emergency meeting in which other cabinet members of her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit.
But Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof later announces his cabinet has reached an agreement, resulting in only the resignation of Achahbar but not of others.
The Moroccan-born Achahbar quit the government after Geert Wilders blamed Moroccans for the violent attacks, saying “we saw Muslims hunting Jews” and added they were fueled by ”Moroccans who want to destroy Jews.” He said those convicted of involvement should be deported if they have dual nationality.
Zelensky says Ukraine war will end ‘sooner’ with Trump in office
Then-US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the InterContinental Barclay New York hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, September 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia’s war against his country will “end sooner” than it otherwise would have done once Donald Trump becomes US president next year.
“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens,” Zelensky says in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.
IDF says it carried out fourth wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut
The IDF says it carried out a fourth wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs this evening.
The targets included Hezbollah command rooms and weapon depots, according to the military.
The Hezbollah sites were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the IDF says, accusing the terror group of using human shields.
Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
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