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The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Israel stuns Belgium with 1-0 victory in Nation’s League soccer
Israel's Yarden Shua, right, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the UEFA Nations League Group A2 soccer match between Israel and Belgium at the Bozsik Arena stadium in Budapest, Hungary, November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/ Denes Erdos)
Israel scored a stunning 1-0 win over Belgium in the Nation’s League soccer tournament.
Israel’s Yarden Shua scored an 86th-minute goal to break the stalemate and surprise the highly ranked Belgium team that had dominated the game with almost 70 percent possession.
The game was played in foggy conditions in Budapest, where Israel has hosted its “home” games since the start of the war.
Despite the win, Israel finished bottom of the group that also included international heavyweights France and Italy.
IDF confirms killing Hezbollah media chief in Beirut strike: Involved in ‘psychological terror’
Spokesman for Lebanon's Hezbollah group Mohammad Afif addresses a press conference in Beirut, in front of a portrait of the group's slain chief Hassan Nasrallah, on November 11, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
After the terror group announced his death, the IDF confirms that it killed Hezbollah’s top spokesman Mohammad Afif in an airstrike in Beirut earlier today.
Afif was in charge of Hezbollah’s media relations. The IDF calls him Hezbollah’s chief propagandist and spokesperson.
He joined Hezbollah in the 1980s, and “wielded significant influence over Hezbollah’s military operations,” the IDF says in a statement.
The IDF says Afif “was in contact with senior officials and directly involved in advancing and executing Hezbollah’s terrorist activities against Israel.”
“Moreover, Afif directed Hezbollah operatives to gather footage from the field, to be used for Hezbollah’s propaganda and psychological terror” the statement continues.
The IDF says Afif also received instructions from senior Hezbollah commanders regarding taking responsibility for a drone attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea last month.
“Afif’s impact on the terrorist organization proves that he was directly involved in Hezbollah’s terrorist activity against the State of Israel,” the military says.
“Messages broadcast by Afif to the Lebanese media glorified and incited terrorist activities against the State of Israel, and he was responsible for numerous psychological terror operations against the Israeli public,” the IDF adds.
Lebanon’s health ministry said four people were killed in the strike and 14 wounded, raising an earlier toll of one dead and three wounded.
Senior Hamas leaders left Qatar for Turkey last week, Arab diplomat says
Senior Hamas official Khaled Meshaal (L) and Ziyad al-Nakhalah, (C) Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, during the funeral of the slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in the Qatari capital Doha on August 2, 2024. (Mahmud Hams / AFP)
Senior members of Hamas’s abroad leadership left Qatar last week for Turkey, an Arab diplomat tells The Times of Israel.
The Arab diplomat confirms this development, first reported by the Kan public broadcaster, but stresses that Hamas’s abroad leadership spends much of its time in Turkey anyway when there are not meetings in Doha.
On November 8, the US revealed that it had asked Qatar to oust Hamas officials from Doha, which has hosted an office for the terror group since 2012. Washington said it made the request after Hamas had rejected repeated hostage deal proposals and had executed six captives, including an American citizen.
The next day, Qatar confirmed that it had halted its mediation efforts and a diplomat familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that Doha had asked Hamas leaders in late November to leave the country.
No timeline was given, however, for when the Hamas officials were to leave.
Turkey offers a practical option for Hamas, given that relatives of many of the terror group’s abroad leadership live there. However, hosting them formally risks tensions with the Biden administration that said earlier this month that none of its allies should be hosting Hamas. US President-elect Donald Trump is not expected to take a softer line on the matter either.
Hezbollah confirms death of top spokesman Mohammad Afif in Beirut strike
A Hezbollah notice confirming the death of top spokesman Mohammad Afif in an IDF strike in Beirut on November 17, 2024. (Hezbollah)
The Hezbollah terror group confirms the death of its top spokesman in an IDF strike in Beirut earlier today.
Mohammad Afif was the chief of Hezbollah’s media relations.
He was killed in a strike on the headquarters of the Syrian Ba’ath Party in central Beirut, not in the terror group’s Dahiyeh stronghold in the southern suburbs of the capital.
Israel has not commented on the strike.
Rocket warning sirens sound in Hula Valley
An anti-missile system fires interceptors at incoming rockets fired from Lebanon near the border, November 17, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/ Flash90)
Rocket warning sirens are sounding in the Hula Valley in northern Israel.
The sirens sound in several towns and communities in the area.
🚨 Rocket Alert [23:07:06] – 4 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Lev Ha-Hula, Ramot Naftali, Iftach, Mevuot Hermon Regional Council
Population: 2,300 pic.twitter.com/w9yuQl7zck
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 17, 2024
Lebanon said to respond positively to US ceasefire proposal
US Envoy Amos Hochstein (L) meets with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut on October 21, 2024. (AFP)
Lebanon has submitted its response to a US ceasefire proposal to the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon’s LBC network reports, saying that the response was “positive.”
Last week, the US ambassador to Lebanon handed a draft for a proposed truce in Lebanon to the country’s speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally and the typical conduit for diplomacy with the group.
The LBC report says that Lebanon is now waiting for US special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein to arrive in the region to finalize the details.
The report said Hochstein would be in Lebanon on Tuesday.
Ex-Netanyahu aide said to have put PMO officials in touch with German paper, refusing to return to Israel
Yisrael Einhorn (l) seen with Jonatan Urich (c) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2019. (Courtesy)
Yisrael Einhorn, a former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is suspected of liaising between officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and Germany’s Bild newspaper to leak a secret document, Channel 13 reports.
Einhorn, who is currently overseas, put Eli Feldstein, a spokesperson for Netanyahu and a central suspect in the affair, in touch with Bild.
Einhorn is refraining from returning to Israel, knowing that he will likely be arrested and questioned on his arrival, Channel 13 reports.
According to details revealed today, Feldstein leaked the secret IDF document to Bild in order to change the public discourse over the fate of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza; have Hamas leader Sinwar blamed for the impasse in hostage release negotiations; and imply that protests demanding the release the hostages were playing into Hamas’s hands.
Einhorn and another former Netanyahu aid, Jonatan Urich, who has also been questioned in the case, have been involved in several controversies in the past, including allegedly harassing a state’s witness in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
Lebanon says Beirut area schools to close for 2 days due to Israeli strikes
Residents and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a building in central Beirut's Ras el-Nabaa neighborhood, Lebanon, November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Lebanon’s Education Minister Abbas Halabi announces that schools and higher educational institutions in Beirut and surrounding areas would close for two days, after Israeli strikes hit the city center.
In a statement, Halabi announces “the closure of official and private educational institutions and private higher education institutions” in Beirut and several nearby areas on Monday and Tuesday in favor of remote learning, and urged principals and directors to “exercise caution.”
Iran publishes picture of Supreme Leader Khamenei after unsourced reports he was in coma
A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office on November 17, 2024, shows him (R) talking to Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani who was injured in Beirut in Israel's September pager attacks, in Tehran on November 17, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
Iran publishes a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei today after widespread unsourced reports on social media that he was either in a coma or had died.
The image shows him in his office talking to Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in Beirut in Israel’s September pager attacks against the Hezbollah terror group.
Multiple reports on social media claimed in recent days that Khamenei was in a coma. Other reports claimed that he had died or that he had nominated his son as his successor in a recent secret meeting.
There are currently many unsourced reports claiming Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader of Iran, is in a coma.
Accompanying these reports are "leaked" or "unconfirmed" images – Used to give the unsourced reports credibility.These images aren't recent – They are from 2014 pic.twitter.com/kT5iXRApD6
— Tal Hagin (@talhagin) November 16, 2024
Lebanon says 2 killed in reported IDF strike in Beirut; al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya denies it was target
Lebanese firefighters douse the flames at the site of an alleged Israeli strike that targeted a building in Beirut's Mar Elias Street on November 17, 2024. (Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says two people were killed in a strike on the Mar Elias street in Beirut that was blamed on Israel.
The identities of the victims were not released.
Meanwhile, a lawmaker from Lebanon’s al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group denies a report on official media that the Islamist group aligned to Hamas and Hezbollah was the target of the strike.
Imad Hout tells AFP that “no center or institution affiliated with the group is located in the area targeted by the strike, and no member of the group was targeted.”
A Lebanese security source tells AFP that the strike hit an electronics store in the Mar Elias district, a commercial and residential area.
IDF says five drones from Lebanon, Iraq shot down today
The Israeli Air Force shot down five drones launched at Israel today, from Lebanon and Iraq, according to the military.
The IDF releases footage showing one of the interceptions.
The Israeli Air Force shot down five drones launched at Israel today, from Lebanon and Iraq, according to the military.
The IDF releases footage showing one of the interceptions. pic.twitter.com/RWJ9m31FXM
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 17, 2024
In first, Biden said to allow Ukraine to use US arms to strike inside Russia
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian rocket attack in Poltava region, Ukraine, November 17, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
US President Joe Biden’s administration will allow Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, three sources familiar with the matter say, in a significant change to Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
The White House declines to comment.
The move by the United States two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20 follows months of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to allow Ukraine’s military to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
The change follows Russia’s deployment of North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces, a development that has caused alarm in Washington and Kyiv.
The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306 kilometers), according to the sources.
Lebanese media says target of Beirut strike is center of Islamist group al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya
Lebanese emergency services arrive as a fire burns at the site of an Israeli strike that targeted a building in Beirut's Mar Elias street on November 17, 2024. (Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
Lebanon’s official National News Agency says an Israeli strike this evening hit a center of Islamist group al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group, in central Beirut.
“Israeli warplanes launched a strike on the Mar Elias area of the capital Beirut,” the NNA says, adding that it “targeted a Jamaa Islamiya center,” referring to a Sunni Muslim group allied to Palestinian terror group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Katz holds assessment with security chiefs on hostages, reportedly briefed on grim conditions
Defense Minister Israel Katz meets with security chiefs to discuss the hostages held in Gaza on November 17, 2023. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz is currently holding an assessment with defense officials on the subject of the hostages held by the Hamas terror group, his office says.
Earlier today, the Shin Bet says a joint meeting was held between the head of the security agency Ronen Bar, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Mossad Director David Barnea, and the IDF’s hostage pointman Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon.
The meeting focused on “advancing the efforts to return the hostages,” a terse statement from the Shin Bet says.
Channel 12 reported that the security chiefs gave Katz a very grim assessment of the condition of the hostages who have been held for more than 400 days.
The officials were then set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Channel 2 report also said that Alon, Bar, and Barnea were expected to tell Netanyahu that even after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the terror group was still demanding end of war and IDF withdrawal — and there is no other way to get the hostages out.
Lebanese media report IDF strike without evacuation warning in western Beirut
Lebanese emergency services arrive as a fire burns at the site of an Israeli strike that targeted a building in Beirut's Mar Elias street on November 17, 2024. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike in Beirut without an evacuation warning.
The strike is reported on Mar Elias Street in the western part of the Lebanese capital.
غارة إسرائيلية على شارع مار الياس بالعاصمة بيروت pic.twitter.com/ogvDx3hqB3
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) November 17, 2024
The IDF issues evacuation orders for civilians ahead of most strikes in Beirut. An earlier unannounced strike reportedly killed Hezbollah media chief Mohammed Afif.
Houthis claim to launch several drones at Israel, IDF unaware
Supporters of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis march in the capital Sana'a on March 15, 2024, in support of Palestinians, during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. (Mohammed Huwais/ AFP)
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed to have launched several drones at Israel today.
In a statement, the terror group says it targeted “military and vital targets” in the Tel Aviv and Ashkelon area with several drones.
This morning, the IDF said it downed a drone launched at Israel “from the east” — thought to be from Iraq — near Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv.
The military is unaware of any drones launched from Yemen that reached Israel today.
Jets carry out another round of Beirut strikes on Hezbollah sites
Residents, rescuers and journalists gather in front of a building targeted by an Israeli strike in Beirut's Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood on November 17, 2024 (Fadel ITANI / AFP)
The IDF says it carried out another wave of airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs today, targeting six Hezbollah sites.
The sites hit by fighter jets 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.
Israeli envoy rejects pope’s call to examine if ‘genocide’ occurring in Gaza
Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/ Alessandra Tarantino)
Israel’s ambassador to the Vatican rejects Pope Francis suggesting the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people, saying that the only act of genocide was Hamas’s massacre of Israelis.
In excerpts published on Sunday from a forthcoming book, the pontiff said some international experts say that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
“Following today’s report in Vatican News: There was a genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023 of Israeli citizens, and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens,” says Yaron Sideman, ambassador to the Holy See.
“Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish state,” he posts on social media.
Three drones from Lebanon shot down over northern Israel
Three drones launched from Lebanon were shot down by air defenses over the Western Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says.
Sirens sounded in Rosh Hanikra due to the possibility of falling shrapnel following the interceptions.
🚨 Rocket Alert [18:42:34] – 2 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Betzet Beach, Rosh HaNikra
Population: 2,700 pic.twitter.com/g1dtpJ2BvA
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 17, 2024
Officer killed in Gaza is nephew of MK Gadi Eisenkot, 3rd close family member to fall in war
National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset on July 31, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Cpt. Yogev Pazy, 22, who was among two soldiers killed in a clash in northern Gaza today is the nephew of former IDF chief of staff and MK Gadi Eisenkot.
Pazy is the third close member of Eisenkot’s family to be killed fighting in Gaza.
Eisenkot’s son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, was killed while fighting in Gaza in early December, followed by his nephew, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, 19, a day later.
Eisenkot, a member of the National Unity party was a minister and observer in the war cabinet until the party pulled out of the government.
Court orders suspects held for 5 days over firing of flares near Netanyahu’s home
Israelis block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as they protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court orders three suspects accused of firing flares toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home held in custody for five days.
The police and Shin Bet had asked for them to be held for 12 days.
A gag order prohibits publishing any details of the investigation or the suspects’ identities for 30 days. However, Hebrew media reports say they are senior members of the anti-government protest movement.
Two soldiers killed, one seriously wounded in fighting in northern Gaza
Staff Sgt. Noam Eitan (left), Cpt. Yogev Pazy (Israel Defense Forces)
Two IDF soldiers were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip this morning, the military announces.
The slain troops are named as:
• Cpt. Yogev Pazy, 22, from Giv’ot Bar
• Staff Sgt. Noam Eitan, 21, from Hadera
Both served with the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion. Pazy was a platoon commander.
Another soldier with the battalion was seriously wounded in the same incident, the IDF adds.
According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with Hamas operatives in the Beit Lahiya area.
Ukraine ambassador welcomes proposal to transfer captured Russian-made arms to Ukraine
Hezbollah weapons seized by paratroopers and commandos during operations in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo published October 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Arguing that Jerusalem and Kyiv face the same enemy, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel praises Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel’s proposal to give any Russian-made weapons seized by the IDF in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip or the West Bank to Ukraine.
“I welcome the proposal and hope that the State of Israel approves it,” says Yevgen Korniychuk in a statement.
“The weapons made in Russia, which are in the hands of the terrorist organizations, prove that Russia supports and encourages Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas and all those who aim to kill Israeli citizens and soldiers,” he continues.
“What else needs to happen in order for the State of Israel to wake up and realize that Russia acts aggressively against Israel behind the scenes, through the partners of the axis of evil, and that Ukraine and Israel are exactly fighting the same enemies.”
Successive Israeli governments have refused to send arms to Ukraine throughout the war and despite Haskel’s proposal there is no indication that policy is going to change.
IDF artillery operating from within Lebanon for first time since launch of ground op
An IDF M109 howitzer is seen operating in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued by the military on November 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
For the first time since Israel launched its ground offensive against Hezbollah, forces from the IDF Artillery Corps have crossed the border and are operating inside southern Lebanon.
In recent days, the IDF says, the 282nd Artillery Regiment’s 411th Battalion crossed the northern border with its self-propelled M-109 howitzers and began to shell Hezbollah targets from within southern Lebanon.
The military says this increases its artillery range and allows better support for the ground troops battling Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Since the start of the ground offensive in late September, the IDF says, the 282nd Regiment has shelled thousands of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including weapon depots, command centers, and rocket launching sites, and has killed hundreds of Hezbollah operatives.
US speaker opposes calls to release ethics report on Trump’s AG pick
US Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
US House speaker Mike Johnson insists that the chamber’s ethics committee should not release a report on alleged sexual improprieties by Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz.
“It should not come out,” Johnson tells CNN. “And why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member. There’s a very important protocol and tradition and rule.”
Gaetz is a deeply polarizing Florida Republican who has been accused of — and adamantly denied — having years earlier paid for sex with a then 17-year-old girl.
He was also being probed for alleged illicit drug use, converting campaign funds for personal use, sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, and other alleged misconduct.
Almost immediately after US President-elect Trump’s stunning nomination of Gaetz to head the powerful Justice Department — a move Democrats saw as brazenly provocative — the Floridian resigned his House seat. This effectively ended the ethics probe against him.
But lawmakers of both parties have called for the report’s release, with even some Republican senators saying their constitutional role in reviewing nominations means they need access to all relevant information.
IDF chief ordered probe into leak of secret documents from military to PM’s office
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to troops in northern Gaza's Jabalia, November 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Further details on the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal that have emerged following the lifting of a gag order reveal that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi ordered an investigation be conducted into the source of the leak of highly sensitive documents to the German Bild tabloid newspaper in September.
Eli Feldstein, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was allegedly behind the leak and has been held in detention since October 27.
The IDF believed that the leak, designed to give the impression that protests demanding the release of hostages from Gaza were strengthening Hamas, was likely to harm war objectives related to the release of the hostages, and even harm security operations against Hamas in Gaza.
After the report was published in Bild, Israeli journalists alerted to the report by Feldstein questioned its authenticity, and so Feldstein then asked the IDF noncommissioned officer who sent him digital versions of the document to provide him with a hard copy.
The officer met with Feldstein and gave him a hard copy of the document, along with two other “highly classified” documents.
Feldstein’s goal in leaking the document to Bild was ostensibly to buttress claims made by Netanyahu about the hostage negotiations, in particular that the intense protests calling for the government to agree to a deal — which intensified greatly in the highly charged days after the murder of six high-profile hostages at the end of August — were strengthening Hamas’s position.
Feldstein also allegedly sought through the leak to have the blame for the failure to reach a hostage release deal placed on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and not on Netanyahu.
12 days of custody sought for suspects detained over firing of flares near PM’s home
Flares are fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in Caesarea, November 16, 2024. (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The police and the Shin Bet have requested that three suspects detained on suspicion of firing flares in the vicinity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea be held for 12 days, Channel 12 reports.
Hebrew media reported that the three people arrested over the incident are prominent members of the anti-government protest movement.
The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit and the Shin Bet are investigating the incident, which came during weekly Saturday evening protests against the government and in support of a deal to free the hostages being held in Gaza by the Hamas terror group.
Video posted to social media by a reporter from the Kan public broadcaster apparently showed that the flares were fired into the air above the premier’s home, rather than toward it. One of the flares appeared to malfunction and fell to the ground near the premier’s home while still lit.
No damage was reported in the incident and a joint statement from the security bodies noted that Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time.
Despite opposition from AG, cabinet approves forced retirement for government legal advisers
Attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)
Despite opposition by the Attorney General’s Office, the cabinet approves a proposal to force the retirement within the next 90 days of ministerial legal advisers who have served more than seven years.
According to national broadcaster Kan, the move would pave the way for the ouster of seven ministerial advisers, especially Finance Ministry Legal Adviser Asi Messing, who has clashed with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
In a legal opinion this morning, the Attorney General’s Office stated that the government’s move was concerning because it could mean that it intends to remove officials who act as “gatekeepers.”
During a heated debate, cabinet members slam the advisers as having allegedly acted in “breach of trust for 15 years” by not complying with a 2009 government decision, in line with the findings of the inter-ministerial Abramovich Commission, to limit their terms to seven years. The decision was never implemented.
Mother of hostage slams PMO after gag order lifted on leaks case: ‘providing aid to the enemy’
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan, speaks at a press conference outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 31, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage after it was revealed that one of his spokesmen is accused of leaking a classified IDF document to the foreign press in a bid to bypass the military censor and influence public opinion against a deal to free them.
“Netanyahu’s gang ran a criminal operation against the hostage release deal and the families, while providing aid to the enemy and endangering the security of the state,” she says.
Her comments come after a Rishon Letzion court lifts a gag order on details of the case.
One person injured as barrage of 15 rockets fired at northern Israel from Lebanon
One person was lightly wounded by the blast of a rocket impact in the Upper Galilee a short while ago.
Magen David Adom says the person is fully conscious. Another two people are being treated for acute anxiety, MDA adds.
According to the IDF, some 15 rockets were launched from Lebanon in the attack.
The military says some of the rockets were intercepted while the rest struck open areas.
🚨 Rocket Alert [16:21:45] – 13 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Matat (×2), Hurfeish (×3), Fassuta (×2), Netua (×2), Alkosh (×3)
• Upper Galilee — Kisra-SumeiPopulation: 63,000 pic.twitter.com/iMYZyos0CB
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 17, 2024
Netanyahu to hold assessment on hostages with talks on deal stalled
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, November 16, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a meeting this evening on the hostages in Gaza, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The meeting, which will be held at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, comes as attempts to find a way forward on a deal to free the hostage are stalled.
Gag order on PMO leaks lifted: Key suspect said to have given classified info to ‘Bild’ to bypass censor; aimed to skew public opinion on hostage deal
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation launched in late October 2024 of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material. (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Eli Feldstein, the central suspect in the security documents scandal in the Prime Minister’s Office, is suspected of having sought to influence public opinion regarding hostage negotiations by leaking a sensitive document to the Bild German newspaper in the wake of the murder by Hamas of six high-profile hostages in Gaza.
More details of the case can now be published following the lifting of a gag order on the case by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court.
Investigators believe that a non-commissioned office in the reserves unlawfully transferred a highly classified IDF intelligence document to Feldstein, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in June this year.
Following the murder of the hostages at the end of August, and major demonstrations pressing the government to try to seal a hostage-ceasefire deal, Feldstein then sought to have the document published in the Israeli press in September and leaked it to several Israeli journalists.
When the military censor blocked the publication of their reports due to the sensitivity of the material and its source, Feldstein sought to get it published in the foreign press, and updated Israeli journalists once it was published in the Bild in order to get them to write follow-up pieces.
It is reportedly suspected that Feldstein was seeking to influence political debate regarding the hostages by leaking the material to Bild ostensibly showing Hamas as unwilling to reach a hostage release deal in Gaza, aiming to have the Israeli public blame Hamas and its leader Yahya Sinwar, rather than Netanyahu, for the failure to secure a deal.
It is believed that the leak included extremely sensitive material, the publication of which was thought to potentially do severe damage to Israel’s security and the state.
Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case.
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators blocking main highway to protest draft orders
Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox men protest against the military draft on Route 4 outside Bnei Brak, July 16, 2024 (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators are blocking the Route 4 highway in both directions near the city of Bnei Brak, police say.
The protests come after new Defense Minister Israel Katz approved on Friday the issuance of 7,000 enlistment orders to ultra-Orthodox Israelis.
The decision was already made by former defense minister Yoav Gallant a day before he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month. Katz did not cancel it, as some expected, and the Israel Defense Forces said earlier this week that it was going ahead with the move.
The first 1,000 orders were sent out on today, and the rest will be sent out within the coming months.
Lebanese army says soldier killed in Israeli strike on post
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfarshuba on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP)
One Lebanese soldier was killed and three wounded, including one in critical condition, after Israel attacked an army post in a southern Lebanese town, the Lebanese army says on X.
Israel says it has tried to avoid hitting Lebanese army positions as it battles the Hezbollah terror group.
Ministers debate bill to force retirement of several government legal advisers, calling them ‘gangsters’
Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem addresses the Knesset plenum, November 4, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government attack the government’s legal advisers as “gangsters” who are guilty of breaching the public trust for years during their cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The attacks come as the cabinet is discussing a proposal to regulate the advisers’ retirement packages and compel those who have served more than seven years to retire before the end of 2024.
According to national broadcaster Kan, the move would pave the way for the ouster of seven ministerial advisers, especially Finance Ministry Legal Adviser Asi Messing, who has clashed with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
In a legal opinion on Sunday morning, the Attorney General’s Office stated that the government’s move was concerning because it could mean that it intends to remove officials who act “as gatekeepers” due to “foreign” considerations.
Per the Ynet news site, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem accuses the government’s legal advisers of acting “like gangsters” while Justice Minister Yariv Levin claims that they have acted in “breach of trust for 15 years” by not complying with a 2009 government decision, in line with the findings of the inter-ministerial Abramovich Commission, to limit their terms to seven years — but which was never implemented.
While “there is no doubt that this is illegal conduct,” focusing on it misses the main point, which is that the legal advisers have “declared war on the government,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly states.
Earlier this month, Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, who falls under the purview of Ben Gvir’s ministry, backed down from the process he initiated to dismiss the Israel Police’s top legal adviser after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told him last week that his actions were illegal.
The coalition stated last year that, as part of its since-frozen judicial overhaul plan, it intended to reclassify ministry legal advisers from independent authorities to politically selected counsel whose opinions are explicitly non-binding upon the government and its ministers.
Currently, each ministry’s legal adviser falls under the aegis of the attorney general to preserve their independence from political influence, and their advice is binding upon ministries.
Shin Bet chief: Firing flares at PM’s home is ‘very serious incident that is far from legitimate protest’
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar attends a farewell ceremony in honor of then-police chief Kobi Shabtai at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, on July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar says that the firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea is a “very serious incident that is far from a legitimate protest.”
“This is a dangerous escalation,” says Bar in a statement at the conclusion of an assessment in the wake of the incident. “The Shin Bet is obligated by law to protect the symbols of the government of the State of Israel.”
Bar says the Shin Bet worked alongside Israel Police to quickly locate and arrest the suspects.
“We will not accept violent activity against symbols of government. Each case will be treated with the utmost seriousness,” he says.
Three people were arrested in the early hours of the morning after a pair of flares were fired at Netanyahu’s residence. According to reports, the three suspects were anti-government protesters.
No damage was reported in the incident and a joint statement from the security bodies noted that Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time.
Prosecutors intend to indict Feldstein and 2nd suspect in PMO leak scandal, ask to extend detention
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation launched in late October 2024 of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material. (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
The State Attorney’s Office says it intends to file an indictment against Eli Feldstein, a central suspect in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal, and one other suspect in the affair.
As such, the State Attorney’s Office files a declaration of prosecution to the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court asking to extend the detention of the two suspects by another five days until it is able to file an indictment.
The office also says that when filing the indictment it will seek to keep the two suspects in prison until the end of legal proceedings against them.
This morning, the Supreme Court accepted an appeal by the state against a decision to release Feldstein and the second suspect to house arrest, stating that “considerations of public security” justified keeping them in detention “given the danger posed by the respondents at this stage.”
Feldstein, a Netanyahu aide who had previously served in the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit, is suspected of having worked with four intelligence soldiers to steal classified material from the IDF. He is reportedly suspected of leaking material from one document to the German publication Bild, whose publication is said to have harmed efforts to free hostages held in Gaza and exposed Israeli intelligence sources.
Pope Francis calls for probe to determine if Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute ‘genocide’
Pope Francis delivers his speech during a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
ROME — Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide,” according to excerpts released today from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year.
It’s the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.
Israel has strenuously denied all allegations of genocide.
The book, by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world.” It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope’s 2025 jubilee.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope says in excerpts published by the Italian daily La Stampa.
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he adds.
Israeli economy grew at faster pace July-September, data shows
People shop in a supermarket at the Mahaneh Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, on October 14, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Israel’s economy grew at a faster pace in the July to September period, preliminary data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.
Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 3.8 percent in the July to September period, according to an initial estimate by the statistics bureau after expanding at a mere 0.3% in the previous three months. Business growth increased 5.4% during the third quarter.
Consumer spending, one of the main drivers of economic activity, increased 8.6% in the third quarter, and investment in fixed assets soared 21.8%, while exports of goods and services rose 5.2%. Meanwhile, government spending dropped 10.8%.
The economy bounced back at the start of the year, following a 20.8% contraction in the last quarter of 2023, as the outbreak of war against Hamas in Gaza on October 7 last year sharply curtailed consumer spending, trade and investment.
Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammed Afif said killed in central Beirut strike
Hezbollah's chief spokesman Mohammed Afif speaks during a press conference in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
An Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut killed Hezbollah’s media relations chief Mohammed Afif, two Lebanese security sources tell Reuters.
The strike was carried out in the Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood in the central part of the Lebanese capital, and not in the Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs.
The IDF did not issue any evacuation warning before the unusual strike.
Cabinet approves Prime Minister’s Office director Yossi Shelley as new ambassador to UAE
Yossi Shelley, director-general of the Prime Minister's Office, at a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset on June 5, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The cabinet unanimously approves the appointment of Yossi Shelley, currently director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, to fill the vacant ambassador post to the United Arab Emirates.
Since the normalization of ties in 2020, the UAE has become a key ally for Israel in the region, and is one of the diplomatic posts filled by political appointees.
“Yossi served as a very, very effective ambassador in Brazil,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He made connections there not only with the president of Brazil, but also with the Brazilian media and did a wonderful job there. He also did important and difficult work in the Prime Minister’s Office during this period.”
The cabinet also unanimously approves Eden Bar Tal as the Foreign Ministry’s new director-general. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that Bar Tal will head the ministry’s efforts to fight for Israel’s image abroad.
Lebanese media reports unusual Israeli airstrike in central Beirut
Lebanese media reports an unusual Israeli airstrike in central Beirut.
The strike was carried out in the Ras al-Naba’a neighborhood in the central part of the Lebanese capital, and not in the Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs.
The IDF also did not issue any evacuation warning before the strike.
Some reports claim that the building housed the offices of the Syrian Ba’ath Party.
الغارة على على بيروت لم تكن ضمن التحذيرات واستـ هدفت مبنى في محيط منطقة رأس النبع المكتظة بالسكان https://t.co/ncPmJbtEqb pic.twitter.com/D2wbqJFLPD
— Ali Bk (@Bk_Hanas) November 17, 2024
IDF: Apartment that belonged to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah hit in Beirut strike yesterday
Workers hang billboards bearing a portrait of slain Lebanese Hezbollah terror group leader Hassan Nasrallah along the airport highway in Beirut on October 4, 2024. (Fadel ITANI / AFP)
One of the targets struck by Israeli fighter jets in Beirut yesterday was an apartment formerly belonging to assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to the IDF.
The military says Nasrallah was targeted at the home during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and it was later rebuilt.
The apartment today was being used by Hezbollah for its activities, the IDF says, and it was demolished yesterday in an airstrike.
In the past week, some 50 Hezbollah targets were struck in Beirut.
Katz: Bringing hostages home is most important war goal
Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) meets with Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon and Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav (Poly) Mordechai at the IDF's hostages' headquarters, November 17, 2024. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Israel Katz says returning the kidnapped is the most important goal of the war.
“As I defined from my first day in the role, returning the hostages home is our most valuable goal. There never have been, and never will be, political considerations on the matter,” Katz says during a meeting with officials at the IDF’s command center for the efforts to free the hostages held by Hamas.
“Every meeting with the families of the hostages and those involved in the mission to return them fills me with more motivation, and I pledge to work together with the defense establishment in every possible way to return them home,” Katz adds.
Gaza’s Hamas authorities say dozens killed or injured in Beit Lahiya strike; no comment from IDF
People search for victims amid the rubble inside a building hit in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on November 17, 2024 (AFP)
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured in an Israeli strike on a multi-story residential building in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya.
Hamas-controlled authorities do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their updates.
There is no comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
The Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend that it was continuing operations in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, which have been the targets of an intense offensive since early October.
An Israel Defense Forces reservist was killed during fighting in Beit Lahiya yesterday.
בתקיפה של צה"ל הבוקר בבית לאהיה בצפון הרצועה, הופצץ בניין מגורים בן חמש קומות. רופאים ואזרחים פלסטינים אמרו לרויטרס כי כתוצאה מההפצצה נהרגו עשרות בני אדם בהם נשים וילדים. רשות החירום האזרחית בעזה דיווחה על יותר מ 70 הרוגים. אין אימות למספר הזה מגורם אחר. אבל בעולם רואים תמונות… pic.twitter.com/cpl6qPwZgd
— Moav Vardi (@MoavVardi) November 17, 2024
IDF footage shows destruction of Hezbollah weapons cache, tunnel ‘prepared for an invasion’ of Israel
A Hezbollah weapons depot and tunnel found by troops in southern Lebanon, in images distributed by the IDF on November 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF releases footage showing a Hezbollah weapons cache and tunnel being demolished by combat engineers in southern Lebanon.
The site had been discovered by troops of the Kfir Brigade’s Haruv reconnaissance unit, who are operating in Lebanon under the Alon Reserve Brigade. It marks the first time in the unit’s history that it is operating in Lebanon.
According to the IDF, during a raid in a southern Lebanon village, the troops found a tunnel shaft that led to underground infrastructure.
Next to the shaft was a weapons depot, ammunition, and a motorcycle, which the IDF says “were prepared for an invasion” of Israel.
A Hezbollah weapons depot and tunnel are blown up in southern Lebanon, in a video distributed by the IDF on November 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Communications minister calls for AG to be fired, invoking Jewish law associated with attempted murder
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) and (R) Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024 (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)
In an incendiary post on X, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi calls for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to be fired, while invoking principles of Jewish law associated with attempted murder to justify his position.
Karhi was speaking against the background of an incident in which flares were fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea last night.
Accusing the embattled attorney general of failing to tackle violence and incitement from anti-government protesters, Karhi alleges that Baharav-Miara is “sitting with her arms crossed, granting them legitimacy and refusing to stop this dangerous deterioration.”
He adds that what he describes as her failure to act “is bringing us closer with great strides to a catastrophe – to the murder of the prime minister.”
Three people suspected over the flares incident were arrested in the early hours of this morning.
“The attorney general must go home today. A person who gets up to kill you — including through weakness and agreement through silence — rise up and fire him,” continued Karhi, paraphrasing a line from the Talmud about self-defense.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid in response accuses Karhi of “openly inciting murder against the attorney general,” and calls for him to be fired.
First 1,000 of 7,000 new ultra-Orthodox draft orders sent out
Ultra-Orthodox men protest against the conscription of Haredim to the IDF in Jerusalem on October 31, 2024. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
The first 1,000 of 7,000 new draft orders to male members of the ultra-Orthodox community are being sent out by the military today.
The orders, which constitute the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for recruits ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year, come after a landmark High Court ruling in June that said there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service.
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.
The decision to issue the draft orders was made by former defense minister Yoav Gallant a day before he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month. Newly appointed Defense Minister Israel Katz did not cancel it, as some expected.
IDF says it hit Hezbollah command rooms, infrastructure in Beirut strikes
Thick smoke rises from an explosion during an Israeli airstrike that targeted Hezbollah in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 17, 2024 (AFP)
The IDF says it has completed a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in the terror group’s stronghold of southern Beirut.
The targets hit by fighter jets included command rooms and other infrastructure, according to the military.
Before the strikes were carried out, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונת אגף המודיעין, השלימו לפני זמן קצר גל תקיפות של מפקדות צבאיות ותשתיות טרור נוספות של חיזבאללה במרחב הדאחייה שבביירות>> pic.twitter.com/fxfVbVbpgH
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 17, 2024
Russia fires 120 missiles, launches 90 drones at Ukraine in largest attack in months
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian rocket attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Nov. 17, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest over the past months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
The attack comes as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the cold winter.
President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he says, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian defenses shot down 140 air targets, Zelensky says in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
“The enemy’s target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris. In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children,” Zelensky says.
Two others were killed in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted power and water supplies, says local Gov. Oleh Kiper.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration Serhii Popko.
2 convicted of negligent manslaughter over deaths of 10 teens in 2018 Tzafit flood disaster
A composite photo of the 10 victims of a flash flood in southern Israel on April 27, 2018. Top row, left to right: Romi Cohen, Ilan Bar Shalom, Shani Shamir, Adi Raanan, Agam Levy. Bottom row, left to right: Yael Sadan, Maayan Barhum, Tzur Alfi, Gali Balali, Ella Or. (Courtesy/Facebook)
The Beersheba District Court convicts two defendants in the Tzafit riverbed flash flood disaster, Yuval Kahan and Aviv Bardichev, of negligent manslaughter and determines that they were responsible for the deaths of 10 high school students hiking in a riverbed in 2018.
Kahan was the principal of the Bnei Zion premilitary academy while Bardichev was the educational director at the academy’s Tel Aviv branch and the leader of the hike in the Tzafit riverbed.
The nine girls and one boy, high school students on a field trip organized by Bnei Zion, were swept away in a torrential flood while hiking in the riverbed on April 26, 2018.
It had begun to rain lightly before the group entered the Tzafit canyon. Half an hour later, with the group having reached a deep gorge, a flash flood crashed down on them, killing the 10 students and injuring two others.
Kahan and Bardichev should have changed the route of their hike because of the poor weather and weather warnings from the day before, the court notes.
The court finds that Kahan personally exerted pressure for the hike to go ahead despite severe weather warnings and attempts to have him cancel the hike. Kahan was not physically present with the group during the hike and failed to stay in touch with them.
The court also finds that the Kahan and Bardichev should have been aware of the danger, and that they took unreasonable risks that led to the disaster.
Yuval Kahan, who was the head of the Bnei Zion pre-military academy school at the time of the Tzafit riverbed hiking disaster, arrives for a hearing at the Beersheba District Court, September 13, 2022. (Flash90)
IDF says barrage of some 20 rockets fired at Haifa area this morning; no injuries
A barrage of some 20 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee and Haifa Bay area an hour ago.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while the rest struck open areas, causing no injuries.
The military releases footage showing some of the interceptions.
A barrage of some 20 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee and Haifa Bay area an hour ago.
According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while the rest struck open areas, causing no injuries.
The military releases footage showing… pic.twitter.com/4X97aHaFU9
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 17, 2024
15 minors arrested on suspicion of rape of 15-year-old girl
Police say 15 minors have been arrested on suspicion of the rape of a 15-year-old girl in a number of incidents.
Officers in the north received a complaint on the matter around a month ago and opened an undercover investigation, police say.
Some of the suspects are expected to appear at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court today for a hearing on their detention.
IDF said to remove roadblocks near northern border ahead of possible return of displaced residents
File: Officers guard at a police checkpoint on Highway 90 not far from the border with Lebanon, October 11, 2024 (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
The IDF has reportedly removed roadblocks on the northern border which were to prevent civilians from driving on roads that were exposed to anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon.
According to a report by Army Radio, all of the military roadblocks on the Lebanon border were removed in recent days, ahead of a possible return of the displaced residents of the north to their homes.
“The reality in the north has changed,” IDF officials are cited by the radio station as saying.
“There are no longer places you can’t drive. Bypass roads are no longer needed, and citizens can also drive on these roads,” the officials are cited as saying, adding that this freedom of movement is due to the IDF having taken control of areas in south Lebanon, thereby reducing the threat.
דיווחנו אצל @efitriger:
לקראת חזרת תושבי הצפון לבתיהם? צה״ל מסיר את המרכיבים הצבאיים במרחב גבול הצפון:
צה״ל מתכוון בקרוב להוציא את כלל החיילים מתוך שטחי היישובים בצפון – ולהחזירם למוצבים ולבסיסים. ביישובים יישארו רק מרכיבי הביטחון ה״אזרחיים״ – כיתות הכוננות, הרבש״צים, ויתר… pic.twitter.com/fSIjUzAmke
— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) November 17, 2024
Rocket sirens sound in Acre and Upper Galilee towns
Sirens sound in Acre and towns in the north amid incoming rocket fire.
IDF says drone launched ‘from the east’ intercepted over southern Israel
The IDF says a drone launched at Israel “from the east,” usually code for Iraq, was intercepted by air defenses over southern Israel.
Footage posted to social media showed a cloud of smoke above a Bezeq antenna farm near Rehovot, apparently following the interception.
There are no reports of injuries or major damage.
Gantz: Firing flares near PM’s home is ‘terrorism’; Likud’s Zohar: Judicial overhaul must be revived
Leader of the National Unity Party MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on November 11, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Following media reports that the suspects detained for firing flares near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea were members of the anti-government protest movement, National Unity chief Benny Gantz declares: “This is not a protest – this is terrorism.”
“Although I deeply disagree with Netanyahu and often criticize him… Netanyahu is not a murderer and is not an enemy. One should demonstrate against him and the government only according to the law,” Gantz tweets.
“This is the position of the absolute majority of those who oppose this government. And this is the only correct position. In view of the recent events, every public leader, including the leaders of protests against the government, must say this out loud today,” he adds.
Responding to the news, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar says that yesterday’s incident serves as proof that the government must complete its controversial judicial overhaul.
“The criminals who committed the heinous act and the tailwind they receive from the [justice] system remind us all of the duty to complete the legal reform in order to save Israeli democracy,” he says.
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar attends a ceremony for the Israeli Olympic and Paralympic delegation competing at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on June 19, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
IDF issues evacuation warnings for 4 more Beirut buildings ahead of strikes on Hezbollah targets
The IDF has issued evacuation orders for four more buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs ahead of a second 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.
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 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/UdITEU6TWW
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 17, 2024
Drone appears to explode at antenna farm near Rehovot; unclear where it was launched from
A drone that set off sirens in southern Israel appears to have exploded at a Bezeq antenna farm near Rehovot.
There are no reports of injuries.
It is not immediately clear where the drone was launched from.
Sirens had sounded in Yavne, Ness Ziona, and several other towns as the IDF said it identified a target that entered Israeli airspace.
The drone that set off sirens in southern Israel appears to have exploded at a Bezeq antenna farm near Rehovot.
There are no reports of injuries.
It is not immediately clear where the drone was launched from. pic.twitter.com/rlpurjAxxF
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 17, 2024
Sirens in Yavne, Ness Ziona warn of suspected drone attack
Suspected drone infiltration sirens are sounding in a number of communities in southern and central Israel, including Yavne and Ness Ziona.
The IDF is looking into the details.
Lapid says Justice Minister Levin should resign over call for revival of contentious judicial overhaul
(L) Opposition Leader Yair Lapid at a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset on November 11, 2024 and (R) Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset on November 6, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Responding to Yariv Levin’s call for the revival of the government’s shelved judicial overhaul, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on the justice minister to resign, warning that his proposed legislative program would destroy Israeli democracy.
Levin “should go home because of his huge part in the failure of October 7 and not talk about legal ‘reform,’” Lapid declares.
“He needs to go home along with this whole irresponsible government that brought upon us the greatest disaster in the history of the State of Israel. We will not allow him to turn the State of Israel into a non-democratic state,” Lapid says.
Following the firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on Saturday evening, Levin railed against what he described as selective law enforcement and insisted that “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.”
3 arrested over flares fired near PM’s Caesarea home are anti-government activists – reports
Flares are fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea, November 16, 2024.(Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The three people arrested after a pair of flares were fired in the vicinity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea are anti-government protesters, Hebrew-language media reports.
According to reports, one of those detained serves as a senior officer in the military reserves.
Lawyer Gonen Ben Itzhak says the three have been prevented from meeting with an attorney.
Video posted to social media by a reporter from the Kan public broadcaster apparently showed that the flares were fired into the air above the premier’s home, rather than toward it. One of the flares appeared to misfunction, and fell to the ground while still lit.
בלעדי: אירוע הזיקוק בקיסריה סמוך לבית ראש הממשלה. בתיעוד הזה שמתפרסם כאן לראשונה ניתן לראות שני זיקוקים ימיים שנורו לשמים בשעה שבע וחצי בערב מאיזור הדיונה היכן שמתקיימות ההפגנות מול בית ראש הממשלה בקיסריה. הדיונה חסומה בגדר ומרוחקת מהבית ומהרחוב שנמצא בצד השני. כפי שרואים בסרטון… pic.twitter.com/OTtU0P6B7h
— בר שם-אור Bar Shem-Ur (@Bar_ShemUr) November 16, 2024
No damage was reported in the Saturday night incident and a joint statement from the security bodies stressed that Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time.
The incident drew condemnation from across the political spectrum.
8th murder in Arab community within 48 hours takes year’s toll to 213
A man is shot dead in Deir Hanna — the eighth apparent murder of an Arab within a 48 hour period — as the crime wave in the community continued to spiral, according to police and data from a watchdog.
Ashraf Hassin, aged around 50, was shot and killed in the northern town.
Since the beginning of 2024, 213 Arabs have been killed in criminal incidents, according to the Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence watchdog that tracks crime statistics.
Of those killed, 177 died as a result of shootings.
California man sentenced to life for hate crime in killing of Jewish, gay student Blaze Bernstein
FILE - 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)
A California man convicted of stabbing to death a gay, Jewish University of Pennsylvania student in an act of hate is sentenced to life without parole in prison.
Samuel Woodward, 27, is sentenced in a Southern California courtroom at the end of an all-day hearing for the murder of Blaze Bernstein nearly seven years ago. Woodward, who did did not appear in court due to illness, was convicted this year of first-degree murder with an enhancement for a hate crime for killing Bernstein, a gay, Jewish college sophomore.
Dozens of Bernstein ‘s relatives and friends sat in the courtroom. Many wore T-shirts reading “Blaze it Forward,” a slogan for a campaign to commit acts of kindness in his name following his death.
“Let’s be clear: This was a hate crime,” Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, tells the court. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”
She says she takes solace in Woodward never getting out of custody and that while he “rots in prison, we will be here on the outside, celebrating the life of Blaze.”
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 Woodward’s lawyer 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.
Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, parents of Blaze Bernstein, speak during a press conference after Samuel Woodward was sentenced to life without parole at Orange County Superior Court on Nov. 15, 2024, in Santa Ana, California, for the fatal stabbing of his former classmate, Blaze Bernstein, in Jan. 2018. (Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP, Pool)
Strikes reported in Beirut after IDF evacuation warnings for 3 buildings in Hezbollah stronghold
After the IDF issued evacuation warnings for three buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs this morning, Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in the Hezbollah stronghold.
The IDF has ramped up strikes in Beirut recently, with over 50 Hezbollah sites hit in the past week.
لحظة استهداف منطقة الحدث منذ قليل#ملحق pic.twitter.com/QFAO5ehAzO
— Mulhak – ملحق (@Mulhak) November 17, 2024
Lawyer for Trump’s Pentagon pick Hegseth says he paid accuser but denies sexual assault
Pete Hegseth hosts the Fox Nation's Patriot Awards, Nov. 16, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault, but says that the relations were consensual, The Washington Post reports.
Pete Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017, according to police. No charges were filed in the case, but shocked Trump transition team officials are nonetheless reportedly weighing next steps for the Fox News host, whose nomination took many in Washington by surprise.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, tells the Post that his client was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, and he paid the woman due to concerns that if the story became known, it “would result in his immediate termination from Fox.”
The newspaper says a “detailed memo” was sent to Trump’s team by a woman who said she was a friend of the accuser.
The newspaper says it has seen a copy of the memo, which alleges Hegseth raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his California hotel room. Hegseth was in Monterey to speak at a California Federation of Republican Women conference.
The newspaper says that the day after the alleged sexual assault, the woman went to the emergency room for a rape-kit examination that “was positive for semen” and she gave a statement to authorities.
AFP contributed to this report.
IDF issues fresh evacuation orders for three buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee announces fresh evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians near three buildings in separate areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.
Adraee warns that IDF strikes will soon target the buildings, which he says are Hezbollah facilities and assets, and warns 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
🔸برج البراجنة
🔸الشياح⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى… pic.twitter.com/52GOiwu9z9
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 17, 2024
Reservist killed during fighting in northern Gaza Strip, IDF announces
Sgt. First Class (res.) Idan Keinan (Israel Defense Forces)
An IDF reservist was killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Idan Kenan, 21, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from Ramat Gan.
According to an initial IDF probe, Kenan was killed by sniper fire in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya.
His death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas and during operations on the border to 376.
Three arrested in connection with firing of flares at PM’s Caesarea home
Three people have been arrested in connection with the firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on Saturday night, the Israel Police say.
The investigation into the incident is being conducted by the Shin Bet and the Lahav 433 major crimes unit, the statement adds.
Drone infiltration sirens sound in Golan Heights; IDF: incident has ended
Following drone infiltration sirens in the southern Golan Heights, the IDF’s Home Front Command says the incident “has ended,” without elaborating further.
Supreme Court extends custody of alleged PMO leaker Feldstein until 6 p.m. Sunday
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman with the Prime Minister's Office named as a suspect in an investigation of an alleged leak of sensitive information. (Social media / used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Supreme Court judge Yosef Elron rules that Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the central suspect in the PMO security documents theft and leak scandal, will remain in custody until 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.
Feldstein and a second suspect in the case had been expected to be released to house arrest on Friday following a ruling by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, but their release was pushed off until Sunday after an appeal against the decision was filed at the Lod District Court by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet.
The appeal was rejected by the court, at which point the Supreme Court agreed to hear it on Saturday night.
Ahead of the hearing, Elron had warned that there would need to be a compelling reason for the Supreme Court to overturn the decisions taken by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court and the Lod District Court.
In his decision, Elron writes that custody would be extended due to the “very unusual circumstances” surrounding the case.
IDF tally shows Hezbollah fired some 80 rockets into Israel on Saturday
Hezbollah fired some 80 rockets from Lebanon that crossed into Israel today, according to an IDF tally.
In the past week, the IDF has seen a decrease in the number of rockets fired by Hezbollah.
Herzog warns ‘against increase in violence in the public sphere’
The firing of flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home is also “strongly” condemned by President Isaac Herzog, who states that he has spoken with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and emphasized “the urgent need to investigate and deal with those responsible for the incident as soon as possible.”
According to Herzog, Bar informed him that the incident was a “dangerous escalation” and was being treated with the utmost seriousness.
“These flames must not be allowed to escalate. I am again warning against an increase in violence in the public sphere,” Herzog tweets.
Opposition Yisrael Beytenu party leader similarly decries the “serious” incident, saying it “signifies a step up in the attempt to harm the democratic institutions of the State of Israel.”
“Full backing must be given to the Shin Bet and the Israel Police in the investigation and those involved must be brought to justice,” Liberman adds.
Iran’s foreign minister claims ‘limited opportunity’ for nuclear talks
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sits for a meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency director in Tehran on November 14, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s foreign minister says that an opportunity exists for nuclear negotiations with the West, but it is “limited,” state media reports.
“There is still an opportunity for diplomacy, although this opportunity is not much, it is a limited opportunity,” Abbas Araghchi says of Iran’s nuclear program in an interview with state television.
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