Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Rocket alerts sound in towns near Gaza
Sirens sound once more in Israeli communities near Gaza.
There is no immediate word on impacts.
Head of Knesset defense panel reprimands PM over home front management
Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein arrives for a meeting of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem on March 16, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
MK Yuli Edelstein, head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not designating a single body to oversee the home front amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Noting that he’d asked last week that Netanyahu name the National Security Council as the body to oversee the home front’s “security, finance, education, welfare, etcetera,” Edelstein said earlier that no progress had been made on the matter.
“Given this situation, I find it difficult to see how I can continue to approve the ‘special situation’ in the home front without receiving clear answers, and without understanding who is responsible for managing the entire economic-civil aspect of the war.”
Biden turns 81 as voters show concern about age
US President Joe Biden speaks at a welcome reception for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative leaders at the Exploratorium, in San Francisco, November 15, 2023. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Joe Biden will turn 81 on Monday with the traditional pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkeys at the White House, but don’t expect him to mention the issue that has US voters in a flap.
His birthday will turn an unwelcome spotlight on the fact that the Democrat is the oldest president in American history — and that if he wins a second term next year he will be 86 by the time he leaves.
Biden sometimes jokes about it and aides point to a vigorous schedule that would floor far younger people, but poll after poll shows that the president’s age is the single greatest concern for American voters.
That has been reinforced by a series of trips, slips and stumbles, from losing his balance on the steps of Air Force One to giving occasionally rambling answers during press conferences.
Despite a series of his own recent gaffes, former president Donald Trump, whom Biden is likely to face next year, does not yet cause the same concerns among voters despite the fact that he’s 77.
Iran’s former IRGC chief: New war fronts could open against Israel
Iran's Mohsen Rezaee (Courtesy)
The former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps has warned that “new war fronts” could open if Israel continues its offensive in Gaza.
Mohsen Rezaee, now the head of the Supreme Council for Economic Coordination, told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen: “The axis of resistance will play a bigger role in the future and the Zionist regime will definitely lose in this war.”
He said he believed the war will cause the downfall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “in the coming years we will witness the downfall of the Zionist regime.”
Rezaee argued that the deeper Israel goes into Gaza, the deeper it will sink into a quagmire.
Sirens wail in Israeli communities near Gaza
Rocket sirens are activated in Gaza periphery communities — most of which have been emptied since the start of the war.
There are no immediate reports of rocket impacts.
Palestinians report Israeli strikes in northern Gaza
Palestinians report Israeli strikes in northern Gaza, including the area of the Indonesian Hospital.
Israeli officials said to deny report of Gaza war pause starting tomorrow morning
Israeli officials have reportedly denied an Egyptian report that a pause in fighting in Gaza is slated to come into effect at 11a.m. as part of an overall hostage release deal.
The report from the Al-Ghad Egyptian news outlet cited a “Hamas source” but did not elaborate on any other terms of the purported deal.
Governmental and military officials have repeatedly told the Israeli public not to believe unverified reports on such deals, stressing that if there is something to report, the public will be updated.
Netanyahu, Gallant, Gantz to meet with families of hostages tomorrow
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks at posters of the Gaza hostages on November 14, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Members of the war cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are slated to meet tomorrow evening with family members of the some 240 people held hostage by terror groups in Gaza.
It is not clear how many family members will join the meeting, as the Prime Minister’s Office says that “representatives” of the families will take part.
In addition to Netanyahu, the war cabinet is staffed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz. Observers on the cabinet include ministers Ron Dermer and Gadi Eisenkot and Shas chief MK Aryeh Deri.
Gantz and Eisenkot met with family members yesterday after they had demanded to meet with Gallant and Netanyahu as well, though neither figure showed up.
Many family members have been heavily critical of Netanyahu and his failure to bring their loved ones home after 44 days.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96
In this image from video, former president Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, seen in a photo as they speak on audio only, during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2020. (Democratic National Convention via AP)
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Jimmy Carter during his one term as US president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at age 96.
The Carter Center says she died today after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health.
The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a “full partnership.” Unlike many previous first ladies, Rosalynn sat in on cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to president Carter sometimes referred to her — privately — as “co-president.”
“Rosalynn is my best friend… the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life,” Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from 1977-1981.
Macron also speaks to PA’s Abbas, urges him to condemn Hamas’s October 7 assault
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, is welcomed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP)
In addition to speaking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, French President Emmanuel Macron also speaks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In their conversation, Macron condemns violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, the French presidency says.
Macron also tells Abbas of “the need for the Palestinian Authority and all countries in the region to unequivocally and with the greatest firmness condemn the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly pointed to Abbas’s refusal to condemn the assault as the reason the PA cannot be entrusted with ruling the Gaza Strip following the war.
The French presidency says that Macron told Netanyahu there are “too many civilian losses” in Gaza.
Macron, whose country is a firm ally of Israel, reminded Netanyahu of the “absolute necessity to distinguish terrorists from the population” and “the importance of achieving an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire.”
The French leader also tells Netanyahu of his “great concern over the escalation in violence against Palestinian civilians” in the West Bank and called for calm.
Bomb squad called to synagogue in Lakewood, NJ after grenade found nearby
A bomb squad is called to a Satmar Hassidic synagogue in Lakewood, New Jersey after a grenade was found strapped to a utility pole nearby, according to local reports.
According to NBC Philadelphia, the state bomb squad arrived and “the device was found to be inert and nonexplosive. There is no danger to the public and this remains an active and ongoing investigation,” according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
UPDATE ON GRENADE IN LAKEWOOD:
– Police were notified shortly before 8:00 AM about a grenade strapped to a utility pole across the street from a synagogue in Lakewood
– Upon arrival, police determined the grenade appeared real, and called for bomb squad
– The NJSP removed the… pic.twitter.com/r2fw7UxUub
— The Lakewood Scoop (@LakewoodScoop) November 19, 2023
The Anti-Defamation League says that “at a time when communities are already experiencing a rise in hate, a grenade outside of a synagogue stokes fear in Lakewood, NJ, a hub of American Jewish religious life. We urge law enforcement to thoroughly investigate this threat, and as a community, we will stay vigilant but we must not be intimidated.”
Likud minister suggests world should promote ‘voluntary resettlement’ of Gazans
Then-environmental protection minister Gila Gamliel at the annual Jerusalem Conference of the 'Besheva' group in Jerusalem, on March 15, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Likud Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel says the international community should promote the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians in Gaza to sites around the globe.
Writing in The Jerusalem Post, she says that one “option” after the war would be “to promote the voluntary resettlement of Palestinians in Gaza, for humanitarian reasons, outside of the Strip.”
“Instead of funnelling money to rebuild Gaza or to the failed UNRWA, the international community can assist in the costs of resettlement, helping the people of Gaza build new lives in their new host countries,” she continues.
“Gaza has long been thought of as a problem without an answer,” Gamliel writes. “We must try something new, and we call on the international community to help make it a reality.”
“It could be a win-win solution: a win for those civilians of Gaza who seek a better life and a win for Israel after this devastating tragedy,” she adds.
Any suggestion of Palestinian dispersal is highly controversial in the Arab world, and Egypt, which borders the Gaza Strip, has steadfastly refused to entertain even the temporary resettlement of Gazan refugees in its territory during the war, saying they must stay in the Strip.
Netanyahu and Macron speak via phone following diplomatic dustup
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L) as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just wrapped up a phone call with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron to discuss the war in Gaza, the Israeli premier’s office says.
Macron came under fire in Jerusalem last week for criticizing the IDF’s military campaign, saying it is “de facto” killing “ladies and babies” in Gaza.
Paris has since sought to soften its criticism while still calling for a ceasefire.
IDF strikes Hezbollah military sites in Lebanon following missile attacks on Israel
Smoke billows following an Israeli air strike in the al-Labouneh area near Lebanon's southern border with Israel on November 18, 2023. (AFP)
IDF says it struck several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to the rocket and missile attacks on the border today.
It says the targets included a Hezbollah military compound, an observation post and other infrastructure.
Earlier, several anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from Lebanon at different areas along the northern border. All landed in open areas.
The IDF says it is responding with artillery shelling at the sources of the fire.
An interceptor missile was also fired at a “suspicious target” in northern Israel a short while ago, the IDF adds.
IDF says Noa Marciano was murdered by Hamas inside Shifa Hospital, not killed by Israeli airstrike
Cpl. Noa Marciano (IDF)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says Cpl. Noa Marciano, 19, who was held hostage in a hideout apartment near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, was killed by Hamas, and not an Israeli airstrike.
Citing a pathology report and intelligence information, he says Marciano was wounded by an IDF strike, and later taken to Shifa, where she was murdered.
“Noa was kidnapped to an apartment next to Shifa Hospital. During the IDF strikes in Gaza, a Hamas terrorist who was holding her, was killed,” Hagari says.
An IDF infographic showing where the bodies of Israeli hostages Yehudit Weiss and Noa Marciano were found near the Shifa Hospital complex. (IDF)
“The pathology report states that Noa was injured by the strike, but not in a life-threatening way, and this is contrary to the lies published by Hamas according to which Noa was killed by IDF strikes,” he says.
“According to intelligence information, Noa was taken inside the walls of Shifa Hospital, where she was murdered by a Hamas terrorist,” he says.
Surveillance footage shows Hamas bringing hostages into Shifa Hospital on Oct. 7
Hamas terrorists bring a hostage into Shifa Hospital, as seen on surveillance footage from October 7, 2023. (IDF)
The Israel Defense Forces releases surveillance camera footage from Shifa Hospital showing Hamas terrorists bringing a Nepali and Thai citizen who were abducted from Israel on October 7 to the medical center.
One of the hostages is visibly wounded in his arm and is brought on a hospital bed, while the second is forcefully dragged into the hospital.
“These findings prove that the Hamas terror organization used Shifa Hospital on the day of the massacre itself as terror infrastructure,” the IDF says.
In an evening press conference, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the two wounded hostages were later taken by Hamas to hideouts, and that the Red Cross was unable to visit them. He says their locations are currently unknown.
IDF releases surveillance camera footage from Shifa Hospital showing Hamas terrorists bringing a Nepali and Thai citizen who were abducted from Israel on October 7. pic.twitter.com/nmjlzkEdHw
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 19, 2023
The IDF says it has notified “relevant authorities” about the footage.
Further images released by the IDF from the surveillance cameras at Shifa show Hamas terrorists inside the hospital, and outside the rooms of the hostages, as well as stolen IDF vehicles brought to the medical center.
The IDF also releases an infographic showing the locations near the Shifa complex where the bodies of hostages Yehudit Weiss and Cpl. Noa Marciano were found several days ago.
France says its floating hospital has set sail for Egypt to aid wounded Gazans
The Dixmude sets sail for Gaza on November 18, 2023. (Sébastien Lecornu/X)
France Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announces that a helicopter carrier dispatched by Paris set sail for Egypt earlier today to provide medical support for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The ship will serve as a floating hospital complete with two operation rooms, 40 beds, an X-ray scanner and a lab and will largely be used to treat Palestinian children in need of emergency care, Lecornu says.
The helicopter carrier will allow medical workers to evacuate wounded Palestinians from the Gaza border and airlift them back onto the ship for treatment.
Israeli officials had said the ship was supposed to arrive last week, but they appeared to have jumped the gun.
The ship was ready to depart last week but was delayed since Israeli, Egyptian and French officials needed additional time to iron out logistical details regarding how the ship would function, a French diplomatic source tells The Times of Israel.
Israel is looking to promote alternative hospitals to the ones in Gaza for treating Palestinian patients, arguing that Hamas is operating within and underneath them.
While Israeli officials have previously proposed establishing floating hospitals off the coast of Gaza, the port has been too damaged from IDF bombing and is not deep enough to allow for large ships to dock there.
Hamas claims the death toll in Gaza has passed 13,000 people
This picture taken from southern Israel shows smoke rising above buildings during an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2023. (Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
Hamas claims that the death toll from fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has reached 13,000 since war began on October 7.
The terror group claims that more than 5,500 children were among the dead, alongside 3,500 women, with 30,000 more people wounded. Its health ministry has previously said it can no longer give exact tolls as intense fighting has prevented bodies from being recovered.
The figures provided by the terror group cannot be independently verified and do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas operatives, and also do not distinguish those killed by Israeli airstrikes and those killed by failed Palestinian rocket launches.
Gallant says Hezbollah has fired more than 1,000 missiles at Israel since start of war
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks at a televised press conference on November 18, 2023. (GPO Screenshot)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a briefing with reporters today comments on the fighting in northern Israel and attempts by Iran-backed proxies to carry out attacks from other arenas.
“Iran is the root of hostility and aggression against the State of Israel. The war is multifront, even though its intensity is focused on Gaza,” Gallant says.
“Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has fired more than 1,000 munitions at Israeli targets, but suffers far more significant harm. We thwart [missile and rocket] squads and hit military assets and targets, Hezbollah pays a heavy price every day,” he says.
He says that in the West Bank, “there are many attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis that are thwarted every day by the IDF and the Shin Bet.”
“In recent days, the defense establishment has identified a growing trend of Iran working to intensify attacks by the militias against Israel through its proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. We are following, and will know how to act at the appropriate time, place and strength,” Gallant adds.
IDF, Shin Bet say they have arrested over 100 Hamas operatives in Gaza in recent days
IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo distributed on November 17, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Shin Bet security agency and the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 — which specializes in HUMINT (human intelligence) — arrested more than 100 terror operatives in the Gaza Strip in recent days, including members of Hamas’s Nukhba forces who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
A joint Shin Bet and IDF statement says forces have been carrying out interrogations of suspects in Gaza, and have taken more than 100 operatives for questioning in Israel.
It says members of Hamas’s Nukhba forces, rocket array, sniper array, explosive experts and logistics officers were arrested, and in their interrogation, they provided information on the locations of the terror group’s tunnels and weapons caches.
The Shin Bet and IDF say that the detainees also provided information on Hamas’s operating methods.
“The information from the interrogations of the terror operatives serves the forces operating on the ground and from the air in the Gaza Strip and is used to [provide them with] high-quality and up-to-date intelligence, which helps the continuation of the ground maneuver and fighting efforts,” it says.
Netanyahu slams ‘preposterous’ Palestinian Authority claim Israel carried out Oct. 7 massacre
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 11, 2023. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slams the Palestinian Authority for issuing a claim accusing Israel of massacring its own civilians on October 7.
“Today, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah said something utterly preposterous. It denied that it was Hamas that carried out the horrible massacre at the nature festival near Gaza,” Netanyahu says in a video statement released in Hebrew and English. “It actually accused Israel of carrying out that massacre. This is a complete reversal of truth.”
Netanyahu issues harsh criticism of the Palestinian Authority after it circulates a document accusing Israel of massacring its own civilians on October 7.
He reiterates the Israeli refusal to allow such a body to control Gaza after the war. pic.twitter.com/ecCDUL34FU
— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) November 19, 2023
Netanyahu says that PA President Mahmoud Abbas, “who in the past has denied the existence of the Holocaust, today is denying the existence of the Hamas massacre and that’s unacceptable.”
The US and others have pushed the idea that the PA will rule the Gaza Strip following the Israel-Hamas war, something Netanyahu has pushed back against strongly, a sentiment he now reiterates.
“My goal is that the day after we destroy Hamas, any future civil administration in Gaza does not deny the massacre, does not educate its children to become terrorists, does not pay for terrorists and does not tell its children that their ultimate goal in life is to see the destruction and dissolution of the State of Israel,” he says. “That’s not acceptable and that is not the way to achieve peace.”
Palestinian Authority claims Israel fabricated evidence of October 7 to justify its attack on Gaza
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman, Jordan, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
The Palestinian Authority circulates a document falsely claiming that a preliminary investigation by the Israel Police revealed that Israel “fabricated” media material to justify its attack on Gaza.
In a statement by its foreign ministry, the PA asserts that Israeli helicopters bombed Israeli civilians on October 7 during the Supernova music festival. The statement casts doubts on Israeli accounts of the atrocities on that day and on the visual material documenting the destruction and fires that affected the area near the Gaza border, and calls on all media outlets, UN officials and country leaders to follow-up on and review what the Hebrew media publishes.
The statement comes just a day after US President Joe Biden said that a “revitalized” PA should rule the Gaza Strip following the war, something Israel has repeatedly rejected, pointing to its refusal to condemn the October 7 onslaught.
The assertion that an IDF helicopter that arrived at the site of the festival near Re’im on October 7 may have killed some Israeli civilians was first made in Haaretz yesterday based on an unnamed Israeli Police source, and was widely picked up in the Arab press and shared on social media, taken widely out of context.
A police statement issued in response to the claim says that its investigation focused only and solely on police activity, and not any IDF activity, and therefore did not provide “any indication about the harm of civilians due to aerial activity there.”
The IDF did not comment on the report. The military has previously said it would investigate the October 7 attacks after the war.
Elements of the Haaretz article were taken widely out of context on social media and used to blame Israel for hundreds of civilian deaths on October 7, none of which has any basis in fact and in extensive reporting about the massacre.
New IDF footage reveals part of Hamas’s tunnel network under Shifa Hospital in Gaza
These images taken from an IDF video published November 19, 2023, show a Hamas tunnel found under Gaza City's Shifa Hospital. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency release new footage showing part of Hamas’s tunnel network underneath Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, where the terror group is believed to have a main command center.
Clips are published from two separate devices that were lowered into a tunnel entrance discovered by the IDF on Thursday in the Shifa complex.
The tunnel shaft had been located on the hospital grounds under a canopy, where IDF troops had also found a Hamas pickup truck with weapons in it, similar to those used by the terror group in the October 7 attacks.
The IDF and Shin Bet security agency release new footage showing part of Hamas’s tunnel network underneath Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, where the terror group is believed to have a main command center.
Clips are published from two separate devices that were lowered into a tunnel… pic.twitter.com/vJFXmI4Sl8
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 19, 2023
The new videos show that the tunnel shaft has a winding staircase from around three meters deep, continuing down for another seven meters until it reaches part of the tunnel network. The tunnel continues for five meters, before turning to the right and continuing for another 50 meters.
At the end of the tunnel, the footage reveals a blast door with what the IDF says is a gunhole for Hamas to shoot through.
“This type of door is used by the Hamas terror organization to block the ability of our forces to enter the organization’s headquarters and underground assets,” the IDF says.
“The findings prove beyond all doubt that buildings in the hospital complex are used as infrastructure for the Hamas terror organization, for terror activity. This is further proof of the cynical use that the Hamas terror organization makes of the residents of the Gaza Strip as a human shield for its murderous terror activities,” the IDF adds.
The IDF and Shin Bet say they are continuing to operate at Shifa to expose Hamas’s tunnel network in the area.
IDF confirms death of 2 soldiers in Gaza, bringing ground op death toll to 63
Left: Staff Sgt. Gal Mishaelof, right: Cpt. (res.) Adir Portugal, killed in the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2023. (Courtesy)
IDF announces the deaths of two soldiers during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 63.
They are:
Cpt. (res.) Adir Portugal, 23, an officer of the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Mazkeret Batya
Staff Sgt. Gal Mishaelof, 21, a soldier of the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion, from Modiin
Home Front Command says schools in Tel Aviv, central area should return to normal
View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike of the National Student and Youth Council, on September 12, 2023. (Flash90)
The Home Front Command issues new regulations saying that schooling in Tel Aviv and other towns in the Dan area of the center can return to fully normal operations starting tomorrow.
This means that schools can operate even if they don’t have access for all students to a protected area in the case of rocket fire.
It remains to be seen if the Tel Aviv Municipality will go along with the new regulations or refuse to restart a full schedule.
Rocket fire from Gaza has lessened significantly over the past couple weeks compared to the early weeks of the war, although there is still sporadic fire toward the center of the country.
IDF chief approves plans for continuation of ground invasion in Gaza Strip
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) is seen at the Southern Command in Beersheba, November 18, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has approved plans for the continuation of Israel’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, the military says.
The plans were approved last night following an assessment Halevi held at the IDF Southern Command in Beersheba with top military officials.
The IDF is currently operating on the ground in northern Gaza, but is expected to also operate in the Strip’s south in the future stages of the war.
France says it is sending warship to provide medical aid to Gaza this week
IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip's Rimal neighborhood in a handout photo distributed on November 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
France is preparing to send its Dixmude helicopter carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to offer medical assistance in Gaza, the office of the French president says.
The Dixmude will set sail “at the start of the week and arrive in Egypt in the coming days,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office says. A charter flight carrying more than 10 tons of medical supplies is also planned for the start of the week.
“France will also contribute to the European effort with medical equipment on board European flights on November 23 and 30,” the presidential office says.
It adds that “France is mobilizing all its available means to contribute to the evacuation of wounded and sick children requiring emergency care from the Gaza Strip to its hospitals.”
Israel Police slams ‘Haaretz’ claim IDF helicopter may have harmed civilians on Oct. 7
An aerial picture shows the abandoned site of the weekend assault by Hamas terrorists on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert, southern Israel, October 10, 2023. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The Israel Police issues a statement reacting to a claim in Haaretz that an IDF helicopter that arrived at the site of the Supernova festival near Re’im on October 7 may have killed some Israeli civilians.
The Haaretz article in Hebrew cites an unnamed Israel Police official saying that its investigation of the incident found that an IDF helicopter at the site that was firing at terrorists “apparently harmed a few partygoers who were in the area.”
A police statement says that its investigation focused only and solely on police activity, and not any IDF activity, and therefore did not provide “any indication about the harm of civilians due to aerial activity there.”
The statement calls on news outlets to “take responsibility for their publications and only base stories on official sources.”
Elements of the Haaretz article were taken widely out of context on social media and used to blame Israel for hundreds of civilian deaths on October 7, none of which has any basis in fact and in extensive reporting about the massacre.
State comptroller slams lawyers charging exorbitant fees to wounded soldiers, civilians
Illustrative: President Isaac Herzog visits wounded soldiers at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv on November 8, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman calls on the justice, defense, finance and social welfare ministers to cap the fees of lawyers representing wounded IDF soldiers and those wounded in terror attacks, after reports that some of them are being exploited by unscrupulous legal practitioners.
Englman tells the ministers in a letter that in recent weeks some lawyers have been turning up in hospitals and signing up injured soldiers and civilians as clients, ostensibly to represent them in legal proceedings to obtain compensation and welfare payments and charging them exorbitant fees to do so.
In most cases, such people do not even need legal representation and receive such payments automatically, but even when that is not the case lawyers engaging in these practices have been heavily overcharging, the state comptroller charges.
“Ever since October 7… there have been thousands of injured soldiers and civilians, and that number is growing as the war continues,” writes Englman.
“This tough reality requires a swift solution… which will stop further harm to those injured people who have contributed their bodies and souls for the sake of the country, and allow to receive their full rights without needing to give over a considerable portion of the money owed to them, paid from the state treasury, to other parties, some of whom seek to take advantage of their plight,” he continues.
The state comptroller calls on the ministers in question to regulate this field, in particular by establishing a specific, supervised fee for legal services for such clients.
Knesset to host family members of Gaza hostages for conference tomorrow
Family and supporters of the estimated 240 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza complete the final leg of a five-day solidarity rally calling for their return, from Tel Aviv to the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Nov. 18, 2023. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)
The Knesset will host families of hostages held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip for a special conference tomorrow, marking the first formal Knesset-sponsored event featuring hostages’ families since they were kidnapped six weeks earlier.
The conference was arranged by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, opposition coordinator MK Merav Ben Ari and coalition whip Ofir Katz, and is open to all lawmakers.
In first, IDF sends mixed-gender search-and-rescue battalion to operate in Gaza Strip
Lt. Col. Yarden, commander of the 498th "Shahar" Search and Rescue Battalion (center) is seen with other search and rescue troops in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout image published November 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
For the first time, one of the IDF Home Front Command’s search-and rescue-battalions, made up of male and female combat soldiers, is operating in the Gaza Strip, the military says.
Troops of the 498th “Shahar” Search and Rescue Battalion, led by Lt. Col. Yarden (whose last name is withheld for security concerns), join the ground forces of the 162nd Division during the offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The IDF says the search and rescue soldiers have most recently been operating in Gaza City’s Shati camp with troops of the 460th Brigade.
The soldiers of the mixed-gender unit have been carrying out tasks “according to their expertise,” the IDF says, including searches for Hamas weaponry.
“The main unique skills are rescue and assistance if a structure collapses on our forces, and breaches. Our rescue equipment serves the maneuvering forces, certainly in built-up and dense areas,” says the commander of the Search And Rescue Brigade, Col. Elad Edri.
For the first time, one of the IDF Home Front Command’s search and rescue battalions, made up of male and female combat soldiers, is operating in the Gaza Strip.
The soldiers of the mixed-gender unit have been carrying out tasks “according to their expertise,” the IDF says,… pic.twitter.com/cWQQht6uwq
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 19, 2023
He says dozens of soldiers from the unit are operating in the Gaza Strip, and around 40% of them are women. “They do all the tasks that the men do,” Edri says.
During a recent raid by the Commando Brigade in a hotel in Gaza, where Hamas operatives were holed up, the 498th Battalion soldiers carried out a breach into an underground site, and discovered inside Hamas weaponry and intelligence materials.
In Shati, the search and rescue soldiers have been fighting alongside the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion.
Yarden, the battalion commander, says the soldiers aided Nahal troops by breaching buildings to enable quicker progress through the camp. “We have tools that the troops don’t have,” she says.
The 498th Battalion also includes engineers who have been advising ground forces on whether or not a damaged building is safe to enter.
Tens of thousands in Pakistan call for jihad against Israel
Supporters of right-wing religious Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party take part in a march to express their solidarity with Palestinians, in Lahore, Pakistan, on November 19, 2023. (Arif ALI / AFP)
Tens of thousands of supporters from Pakistan’s main religious political party rally in the eastern city of Lahore against Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza and what it says is the world’s failure to protect Gazans.
Amid anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans, the emotionally charged crowd also calls for jihad, or holy war.
Earlier this month, Jamaat-e-Islami held massive rallies in the port city of Karachi and the capital, Islamabad.
Supporters, including women and children, march for several kilometers to reach the location of the rally, holding banners and posters with slogans opposing Israel and the United States and in support of the Palestinians.
Senator Sirajul Haq, the JI chief, says the ongoing rallies in support of Palestinians around the world awaken world governments and give a voice to the innocent.
He says the resolutions and words issued by the Organization for Islamic Cooperation will not work, and that Muslim rulers have to rise and to stop the hand of the aggressor.
West Bank highway collapses due to heavy rainstorm
A portion of the West Bank’s Route 449 collapsed under pressure from an intense rainstorm that is causing extreme weather across Israel, said the Israel Police.
The road is currently closed between the Israeli West Bank settlements of Rimonim and Mevo’ot Yeriho.
US official says sides ‘closer than we have been’ to hostage deal, but gaps remain
Two placards of children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are displayed on a window during a gathering outside the office of the NGO Save The Children International, in London, November 17, 2023. (Daniel LEAL / AFP)
US deputy national security adviser Jon Finer tells NBC’s “Meet The Press” that “we are closer than we have been” to a deal securing the release of hostages in Gaza but there are still several outstanding issues.
He tells CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “gaps have narrowed” in recent days in the talks.
Israel slams ‘Iranian terrorism’ as responsible for hijacking of ship by Houthis
The Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement responding to the hijacking of a ship in the Red Sea, blaming Iran for the incident.
The PMO says the vessel is a British ship, being operated by a Japanese company that was “hijacked with Iranian guidance by the Houthi militia in Yemen.”
The statement says there were 25 crew members on board from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Mexico, but no Israelis on the ship.
“This is another act of Iranian terrorism which expresses a leap forward in Iranian aggression against citizens of the free world, and creates international implications when it comes to the security of global shipping routes,” the statement adds.
IDF confirms Houthis hijacked ship in Red Sea, says it is not an Israeli vessel
The Bahaman-flagged 'Galaxy Leader' ship purportedly hijacked by the Yemen-based Houthis on November 19, 2023. (William J Leach Jr/VesselFinder used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
The Israel Defense Forces says the hijacking of a shipping vessel in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen is a “very serious incident on the global scale.”
It says the ship was sailing from Turkey to India with an international civilian crew, without any Israelis aboard.
“This is not an Israeli ship,” the IDF adds.
The military directly blames the Houthis for the hijacking.
#SONDAKİKA
El Arabiya: "Yemen'deki Husiler, Kızıldeniz'de 22 İsrailli mürettebatın bulunduğu bir İsrail gemisini ele geçirdi."▪️İsrailli hesaplar, ele geçirilen geminin Galaxy Leader isimli gemi olduğunu aktarıyor. pic.twitter.com/8eKOSMrbFN
— EHA MEDYA (@eha_medya) November 19, 2023
There are no Israelis among the crew aboard the Galaxy Leader ship. Arabic-language media outlets say there are 52 crew members aboard the vessel.
The Bahaman-flagged vessel is registered under a British company, which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar, who goes by Rami. The vessel was leased out to a Japanese company at the time of the hijacking.
The Iran-backed Houthis have vowed to target Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea.
Iran’s Khamenei claims it is a ‘fact’ Israel has failed in its war against Hamas
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei listens to a speaker in a meeting in Tehran, Oct. 17, 2023. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel has suffered a “defeat” in its war against Hamas, and that it was “a fact.”
In a speech at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force center in Tehran, Khamenei says “the defeat of the Zionist regime [Israel] in Gaza is a fact.”
“Advancing and entering hospitals or people’s homes is not a victory, because victory means defeating the other side,” he says.
Khamenei charges that Israel “has so far failed” in achieving its declared goal of destroying Hamas “despite the massive bombings” of Gaza. “This incapacity reflects the inability of the United States and Western countries” that back Israel, he adds.
Iran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the terror group’s murderous October 7 onslaught as a “success” but denied any direct involvement.
Hamas publishes video showing terror operatives storming Gaza’s Rantisi Hospital
This screenshot from a Hamas video published November 19, 2023, shows terror operatives storming Gaza's Rantisi Hospital. (Screenshot: X)
A video published by Hamas shows three armed terror operatives running into Gaza City’s Rantisi Hospital after apparently spotting Israeli forces there.
Hamas describes the trio as “martyrdom fighters,” possibly indicating they had suicide vests.
The video shows two blasts, the first apparently following an RPG fired by Hamas at the hospital building, while the origin of the second is unclear.
The IDF has previously shown evidence of Hamas suicide vests found in the Gaza Strip.
Israel accuses Hamas of using Gaza’s hospitals for terror purposes, including Rantisi.
התיעוד מאל-ג'זירה של פעילי חמאס שועטים לתוך בית החולים א-רנתיסי בצפון עזה https://t.co/6IPbj9jfdH pic.twitter.com/KxLCFhU31L
— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) November 19, 2023
China hosting foreign ministers from Palestinian Authority, 4 Muslim nations
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, front left, attends a signing ceremony with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, front right, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rear left, and China's President Xi Jinping applaud at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Jade Gao/Pool Photo via AP)
Top foreign policy officials from the Palestinian Authority and four Muslim-majority countries will visit China on Monday and Tuesday, Beijing announces.
Officials will include the foreign ministers of the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, as well as the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
“During the visit, China will have in-depth communication and coordination with the joint delegation of foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries to promote a de-escalation of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, protecting civilians, and justly resolving the Palestinian issue,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning says in a statement.
Two rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon, no injuries
Two rockets were fired from Lebanon at the area near the northern communities of Margaliot and Kfar Giladi, close to the northern border, the Israel Defense Forces says.
Both projectiles landed in open areas, causing no injuries.
The IDF says it is responding with artillery shelling at the source of the fire.
Lapid slams cabinet for not holding in-person meetings: ‘Go to work’
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, October 26, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid criticizes the political leadership for again canceling today’s weekly in-person cabinet meeting, as most of its wartime votes have become remote and decision-making has shifted to the smaller war and security cabinets.
“Unlike the security cabinet,” Lapid writes, “the government is supposed to handle all civil issues — health, welfare, transportation, [care for] evacuees, families of the kidnapped. All that is the civil sphere of the war.”
The opposition leader, who last week made his first call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down, said that the broader cabinet is not meeting because most ministers are not functioning.
“They don’t convene the government because they don’t work, they only know how to keep their coalition funds and the funds they transfer to themselves,” Lapid writes in a statement.
“Bring in the government and go to work.”
Judiciary slams Levin for claiming High Court tightened IDF open-fire rules at Gaza border
Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (left) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin attend the opening of the Magistrate's Court in the northern city of Safed, on September 27, 2023. (David Cohen/Flash90)
A statement put out in the name of “the judiciary” describes as “baseless” and “unfounded” the claims made by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and others that High Court of Justice decisions led to a tightening of the IDF’s open-fire regulations at the Gaza border.
The press release is issued by the spokesperson’s division of the Judicial Authority, which is responsible for communications for the High Court of Justice, the lower courts, and the Israel Court’s Administration, but is not signed by any official other than the spokesperson.
The statement alludes to comments made by Levin in an interview on November 9 when asked about continuing with his judicial overhaul agenda. He said, “There is a need to change the approach and to change the perspective of the justice system, including in connection with the IDF. So that someone who is approaching the border fence, it’s unthinkable that soldiers should be scared to shoot at him. When there is a building providing cover for terrorists to carry out an attack, it can’t be that it is impossible to destroy it.”
Similar claims were also made recently by Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his Telegram channel.
The judiciary points out in its statement that in response to a petition calling for stricter IDF open-fire regulations in 2018 during mass Palestinian riots on the Israel-Gaza border, the High Court rejected the petition saying it had very little authority to intervene.
The judiciary’s statement also rejects unsubstantiated allegations that the High Court held secret meetings on the issue of open-fire regulations outside of the court’s halls.
“The judges of the High Court of Justice deliberate on petitions filed to the court in the court alone, and do not hold meetings with this or that party on matters relating to petitions in any other framework, neither before nor after a ruling is issued,” read the judiciary’s statement.
Pro-Palestinian pitch invader disrupts Cricket World Cup final in India
A pro-Palestinian protester in India breaks through security cordons to invade the pitch at the Cricket World Cup final, stopping play briefly while he hugged superstar batsman Virat Kohli.
Wearing a face mask in the colors of the Palestinian flag, and a T-shirt with the slogan “Stop Bombing Palestine,” the man ran onto the pitch in the 132,000-seat mega-stadium in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
He is escorted off the pitch by security officers, and play swiftly resumed.
A pitch invader at #INDvsAUS cricket World Cup final with a message on his T-shirt ‘Stop Bombing Palestine’ in Ahmedabad, India. #gaza
Photos: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images. pic.twitter.com/EjJXqGN3xf
— Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) November 19, 2023
Herzog speaks of hope in message to Jewish communities around the world
President Isaac Herzog releases a message to Jewish communities around the world in the midst of Israel’s war on Hamas, which has been accompanied by a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents.
“This is not only a war between Israel and Hamas. Israel may be fighting on the ground, but it is fighting the battle of the entire civilized world. We are determined to stand up to this evil,” Herzog says.
“In the wake of the massacres, we have seen a terrifying surge of antisemitism throughout the world. This fact has exposed the close link between antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment,” he says.
But he offers a message of hope.
“Sisters and brothers, outside my window here in Jerusalem, I see an Israel that is thriving in spite of it all. As I speak, our sons and daughters in uniform are on the frontlines fighting to protect us. Israelis of every background are showing up for each other in remarkable ways. Jewish communities across the world are mobilizing with unprecedented energy. I receive offers of support and solidarity from every corner of the globe,” he says.
As Israel continues to remember those murdered and the fallen, and as we continue to fight to uproot Hamas and release the hostages, I wish to send a special message of hope and unity to Jewish communities all around the world. pic.twitter.com/rFlGXyh6e9
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) November 19, 2023
IDF says it carried out two major raids in West Bank
Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus in the West Bank on November 19, 2023 (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
The Israel Defense Forces carried out what it says are two “brigade-level” raids in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp and Balata refugee camp, detaining suspects and seizing weapons.
In all, 38 wanted Palestinians were arrested in overnight raids, including some 20 in Jenin and Balata, the IDF says.
The IDF says troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen in both camps.
It says that in Balata, troops seized several firearms and explosive devices. In Jenin, troops found and destroyed a cache of explosive devices near a mosque, and three command rooms, and seized several firearms.
Troops also clashed with Palestinian rioters in the West Bank village of Tamun, near Tubas, and in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem.
According to Palestinian media, one Palestinian was killed in Jenin, and a second in Dheisheh.
Weapons seized by Israeli troops in the West Bank’s Balata refugee camp, November 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
Since Oct. 7, the IDF says troops have arrested some 1,800 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,100 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, some 200 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and in some cases settlers, since October 7.
IDF says missiles fired at several suspicious targets that entered Israeli airspace
The IDF says several “suspicious aerial targets” entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon earlier, setting off sirens.
Air defense missiles were fired at the targets, and the IDF says the incident is over.
Separately, several mortars and missiles were fired from Lebanon at areas along the border, causing no injuries, according to the IDF.
It says troops are responding with artillery shelling at the sources of the fire.
International prosecutors in Israel to discuss probing October 7 atrocities
Blood covers the floor of a bedroom of a resident of Be'eri, on October 11, 2023. (Times of Israel/Canaan Lidor)
Senior prosecutors from the US, Germany, France, Argentina, and Austria visit Israel over the weekend to discuss how Hamas terrorists and senior officials responsible for the October 7 atrocities will be investigated and prosecuted.
The delegations all come from countries whose citizens were among those murdered in Hamas’s savage massacres in southern Israel.
They met with Israeli State Attorney Amit Eisman, as well as other senior officials in the Justice Ministry, to discuss the challenges involved in investigating Hamas terrorists and the plans to put them on trial.
“Hamas despicable crimes were directed not only against Israelis but against humanity in its entirety,” says Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares who is participating in the delegation.
“We will do everything in our power to fight this organization and its people everywhere they are.”
Israel is believed to have captured dozens of those who took part in the massacres inside Israel.
Smotrich asks for Treasury input into war cabinet decisions
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a press conference in Jerusalem on October 19, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
The war cabinet and Finance Ministry staff will meet this evening to discuss the effect of ongoing hostilities on the economy, according to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office, which requested the meeting.
Smotrich calls to “establish a joint decision-making mechanism” to take economic matters into account in wartime decision making.
In his November 16 letter to the prime and defense ministers requesting the meeting, Smotrich notes that while “defense and military considerations determine decision-making procedures,” the war cabinet should be apprised of Israel’s economic snapshot and budgetary considerations.
On Friday, Smotrich pushed for his Religious Zionism party, alongside other far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties excluded from the war cabinet, to be given a seat on the small council. The demand came after the war cabinet authorized small humanitarian fuel deliveries to Gaza, a policy that the broader security cabinet approved this morning over Smotrich’s opposition.
“I demand that the composition of the war cabinet be changed and that it include a representative of each party in the coalition,” Smotrich wrote in a Friday statement. “We all bear the same responsibility and we all need to be partners in its realization in decision making and policy making.”
IDF announces deaths of three more soldiers
L-R: Maj. (res.) Chen Yahalom, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Rani Tahan, Master Sgt. (res.) Yakir Biton (Courtesy)
The Israel Defense Forces announces the deaths of three reservists who were killed yesterday.
They are identified as Sgt. Maj. (res.) Rani Tahan, 40, an operations sergeant of the 261st Reserve Brigade’s 8717th Battalion from Sde Nehemia, and Master Sgt. (res.) Yakir Biton, 34, of the 261st Reserve Brigade’s 8717th Battalion, from Jerusalem.
Tahan and Biton died fighting in Gaza, bringing the death toll in the ground operation to 61.
It also announces the death of Maj. (res.) Chen Yahalom, 35, an officer in the Artillery Corps’s 8159th Battalion, from Kfar Azar, who died on November 18. The IDF does not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding his death.
Gaza health ministry says 30 premature babies evacuated from Shifa hospital
File: This photo released by Dr. Marawan Abu Saada shows prematurely born babies in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Nov. 12, 2023. (Dr. Marawan Abu Saada via AP, File)
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says 30 premature babies have been evacuated from Shifa Hospital and will be transferred to hospitals in Egypt.
Earlier it was reported that a World Health Organization team had been dispatched to facilitate the transfer.
The IDF, which has taken control of the hospital, has said it was working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the compound, which it says has been used by Hamas as a command center.
Qatar PM says ‘minor’ challenges remain to Israel-Hamas hostage deal
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, October 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
A deal to free hostages seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack on Israel now hinges on “minor” practical issues, Qatar’s prime minister says, without providing details or a timeline.
Qatar has helped to broker talks aiming to free some of the about 240 hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“The challenges that remain in the negotiations are very minor compared to the bigger challenges, they are more logistical, they are more practical,” Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani tells a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Remains said identified of 12-year-old October 7 victim Liel Hetzroni
Liel (left), Avia (back) and Yanai Hetzroni, from Kibbutz Be'eri. They were killed along with their aunt Ayala Hetzroni in the Hamas assault on Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
The remains of 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni, who was killed in the October 7 Hamas assault on her home in Kibbutz Be’eri have been formally identified, the Ynet news site reports, citing family members.
A ceremony was held last week to bid goodbye to Hetzroni and her aunt Ayala even though there was no official identification for Liel at the time.
In place of the 12-year-old’s body, personal items that belonged to Liel were buried.
However, Ynet reports that forensic archaeologists working at the site have now managed to positively identify Liel’s remains and informed the family yesterday.
Liel and her aunt Ayala were killed along with Liel’s twin, Yanai, and the twins’ grandfather, Avia Hetzroni. Yanai and Avia Hetzroni were buried October 23 in Revivim.
Omri Shifroni, a relative of the family, told Ynet at the time of the ceremony that no one came out alive from the Hetzroni home on October 7.
“As a secular family, we know they were killed and it’s less important to us to have an official stamp,” says Shifroni. “We’re bidding Liel goodbye because the situation is impossible.”
Palestinians say two killed in IDF West Bank raids
Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus in the West Bank on November 19, 2023 (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
At least two Palestinians were killed during Israeli army raids in the West Bank, the Red Crescent says.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, a 45-year-old man was killed in Jenin, a stronghold of terror groups in the northern West Bank, and another person was killed in Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem further south.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment.
Troops raid homes of Hamas officials in Gaza’s upscale Rimal neighborhood
IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip's Rimal neighborhood in a handout photo distributed on November 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli troops have raided the homes of senior Hamas officials in Gaza City’s upscale Rimal neighborhood and battled operatives in the area, the Israel Defense Forces says.
It says soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade, tanks, and combat engineers, with air support, are battling Hamas in Rimal, as well as in the Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood, and are working to locate Hamas infrastructure.
Much of Rimal, once one of the Strip’s toniest neighborhoods, has been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
It says troops have located some 35 tunnel shafts and dozens of weapons in the two neighborhoods, and killed several Hamas operatives. The forces also raided a Hamas military camp in the Rimal area, locating a weapons depot and seven rocket launchers, the IDF says.
Israeli troops have raided the homes of senior Hamas officials in Gaza City’s upscale Rimal neighborhood, and battled operatives in the area, the IDF says.
It says troops of the Paratroopers Brigade, tanks, and combat engineers, with air support, are battling Hamas in Rimal, as… pic.twitter.com/2HaCzrSX8U
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 19, 2023
Security cabinet approves fuel transfer into Gaza
A truck carrying fuel crosses into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 15, 2023. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)
The broader security cabinet approves the daily transfer of a limited amount of fuel into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes, rubberstamping the decision made by the top-level war cabinet, officials tell the Times of Israel.
Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir and Likud Transportation Minister Miri Regev voted against it.
Gideon Sa’ar from Benny Gantz’s National Unity party abstained.
Israel initially refused to allow any fuel into Gaza, saying it could be used by Hamas, but now says it has shifted its stance in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster with the breakdown of the sewage system.
Israel Rape Crisis Center ‘heartbroken’ by Canada org denying sexual assault on Oct. 7
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel says that “our hearts were broken” when the director of the sexual assault center at Canada’s University of Alberta signed an open letter denying Hamas-led terrorists raped women during their devastating October 7 onslaught in southern Israel.
“It is incredible that an organization that is familiar with the mechanism of silencing [rape victims], chooses it and denies victims,” it tweets.
The association notes that the university dismissed Samantha Pearson, the head of its sexual assault center, for her actions.
“It is important, but it is not enough,” the association says. “Denial has to be fought.”
Hamas leader calls for follow-up meeting of Arab-Muslim countries to ‘break siege on Gaza’
In this photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Ebrahim Raisi, right, greets the leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh at the start of their meeting at his office in Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2023. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh calls for a new meeting of Arab and Muslim countries following a summit earlier this month in Riyadh.
According to a Hamas statement, Haniyeh has made several phone calls with regional and international leaders following the evacuation of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, where Israel claims that a Hamas command center was located and has provided evidence that military equipment was stored there.
During his round of calls, Haniyeh “stressed the need to hold an urgent meeting of the follow-up committee endorsed by the Arab and Islamic Summit to implement its decisions to stop the ongoing aggression and break the siege on the Gaza Strip.”
The summit held in the Saudi capital on November 11 saw the participation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a wider association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states to which the Arab League countries belong.
The final declaration of the summit demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression,” and rejected Israeli claims that it is acting in self-defense, but stopped short of adopting punitive economic and political steps against Jerusalem.
WHO effort underway to evacuate babies from Shifa hospital — report
Medical teams at Shifa Hospital unload Israeli aid from trucks in northern Gaza, in this IDF handout photo released on November 18, 2023. (IDF)
A World Health Organization team is heading to Shifa hospital in Gaza City to evacuate the babies, according to Mohammed Zaqout, the Hamas-appointed director of hospitals in Gaza.
An Associated Press reporter saw a convoy of ambulances, escorted by UN vehicles, heading north toward Gaza City.
The WHO has said it hopes to evacuate patients to southern Gaza.
The IDF, which has taken control of the hospital, has said it was working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the compound, which it says has been used by Hamas as a command center.
Anne Frank, Holocaust murals defaced in Milan with ‘Free Gaza’
Two murals designed to combat antisemitism have been defaced in Milan in the space of 24 hours, the UK’s Daily Mail reports.
In one mural that depicts Anne Frank holding an Israeli flag, the teenage Holocaust diarist is painted over with the words “Free Gaza.”
In a second mural, known as the “Warsaw Ghetto boy,” which shows a young child surrendering to the Nazis, the boy is completely painted over.
The report quotes Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini condemning the vandalism, saying Italians “must stand together against hatred.”
Fury in Italy as Anne Frank mural vandalised in #Milan within 24 hours https://t.co/Sp68mcUBbU
????????????????????
— Don’t scare me, #TechnoMechanicus (@Ernestine_Rens) November 19, 2023
IDF downs apparent drone on Lebanese border
The Israel Defense Forces says air defenses intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” — apparently a drone — that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
It says troops are striking Lebanon in response.
The incident set off sirens in the communities of Margaliot and Manara.
Meanwhile, a suspected drone infiltration alarm is sounding in several communities in the Upper Galilee, close to the border with Lebanon.
The alerts are activated in Avivim, Baram, Yir’on, Tzuriel, Peki’in, Zivon, Sdeh Meron School, Hurfeish, Dovev, Jish, Matat, Sassa, Rehaniya, Kerem Ben Zimra, Alma, Dalton, and the Ramat Dalton Industrial Zone.
Incoming rocket sirens also sound in Yir’on and Jish.
The alerts come amid repeated attacks by the Hezbollah terror group and allied Palestinian factions, though there have also been several false alarms.
Bus veers off road in northern Israel, several said lightly wounded
A bus with some 40 passengers on board veers off the road into a drainage ditch near the northern town of Gan Shmuel.
The Magen David Adom rescue service says it has sent several first responders to the scene and they are assessing the situation.
Hebrew media says several people are lightly wounded.
The accident comes as heavy rains lash the country.
אוטובוס עם כ-40 נוסעים סטה לתעלה בצד הדרך, סמוך לגן שמואל. צוותים גדולים של מד"א הוזעקו למקום והעניקו טיפול רפואי לפצועים@OrRavid pic.twitter.com/eCXYV7mRUZ
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) November 19, 2023
IDF steps up strikes in northern Gaza as fighting expands
IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo distributed on November 19, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces says that overnight, fighter jets struck “many” Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip towns of Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood overnight.
The airstrikes come as ground forces begin to maneuver deeper into the northern Gaza Strip, specifically Jabaliya and Zeitoun.
מטוסי קרב של צה"ל השמידו תשתיות טרור רבות של ארגון הטרור חמאס בשכונות ג'באליה, זייתון ובית לאהיא.
ביממה האחרונה, לוחמי חטיבת הנח"ל נלחמו בפאתי שכונת ג'אבליה, נתקלו וחיסלו מחבלים מארגון הטרור חמאס. הכוחות בסיוע טנקים וסיוע אווירי תקפו מטרות מהאוויר >> pic.twitter.com/jfgYMjc3UE
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 19, 2023
Meanwhile, troops of the Nahal Brigade, with tanks and air support, battled Hamas operatives on the outskirts of Jabaliya, the IDF says.
It says that in one of the clashes, troops called in a drone strike on Hamas gunmen on a rooftop. Soldiers also recovered weapons in residential homes in the area.
At the same time, navy missile ships carried out strikes with thousands of munitions on Hamas sites along Gaza’s coast, the IDF says.
The navy also aided ground troops with observation capabilities and firepower, it adds.
במקביל ללחימה היבשתית, לוחמי שייטת 3, שייטת ספינות הטילים תקפו מטרות של ארגון הטרור חמאס לאורך רצועת עזה באמצעות אלפי חימושים מהים וסייעו לכוחות היבשה באש ובתצפית על ידי פתיחת צירים, ליווי באש, סיכול איומים יבשתיים כנגד כוחותינו וחיפוי על משימות יבשתיות מהים >> pic.twitter.com/t9AdN5t1zc
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 19, 2023
Jets hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon; 10 mortar shells fired at Shlomi
Smoke billows following Israeli shelling on the outskirts of Lebanon's southern village of Tair Harfa near the border with Israel on November 18, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
The Israel Defense Forces say warplanes hit and destroyed Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
The military also says that the warning sirens in Shlomi near the border were the result of 10 mortar shells being fired at the town.
The IDF says they landed in open areas.
In response, IDF artillery shelled the sources of the fire.
Rocket warning sirens in northern Israel
Rocket warning sirens sound in northern Israel in the town of Shlomi.
Witnesses tell Hebrew media that several rockets exploded in open areas near the town.
There are no immediate reports of injuries.
The rocket fire comes amid reports that the IDF was striking targets in Lebanon.
Clashes, riots in jail after Palestinian security prisoner dies
Illustrative: The Ktziot Detention Camp on September 13, 2022. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)
A 38-year-old Palestinian security prisoner died in Ketziot Prison, the Prison Service announces.
He is identified as Tair Abu Asab, a member of the Fatah movement, who had been jailed since 2005 on charges of attempted murder relating to a terror attack.
The circumstances of his death were being investigated, the service says.
In a separate announcement, the service says that a short while later riots broke out in Ohalei Keidar Prison in Beersheba, leading to an emergency being declared in the jail.
Prisoners set their mattresses and clothes on fire.
Wardens managed to put out the fires and take control of the wards, the service says, noting that one guard was lightly injured by smoke inhalation.
California Democrats cancel events for ‘safety’ amid pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wrestle with security personnel as they carry a banner during a protest at SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)
Demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war prompt California Democratic Party officials to cancel evening events during their state convention “for the safety and security of our delegates.”
California Democrats have been meeting in Sacramento this weekend to consider candidate endorsements ahead of the March primary. That includes the state’s competitive US Senate race featuring four Democrats, including three sitting US House members.
The convention was disrupted multiple times Saturday afternoon by pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. Party officials had increased security for the weekend convention, requiring participants to be scanned and have their bags searched before entering the convention hall.
Following the afternoon session, a large crowd of demonstrators gathered at the hall. Sacramento police closed some roads near the convention center but soon reopened them.
Shortly after voting ended party endorsements, Democratic Party spokesperson Shery Yang said the evening’s events had been canceled.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, and for the safety and security of our delegates and convention participants, we are cancelling tonight’s caucus meetings, hospitality suites and VoteFest taking place at the convention center,” Yang says.
IDF announces names of 2 soldiers killed in Gaza; ground op death toll climbs to 58
Sergeant Binyamin Meir Airley, 21, left, and Captain (res.) Roey Biber, 28, right, were killed in battle in northern Gaza on November 18, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF announces the deaths of two soldiers killed during fighting in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, bringing the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 58.
They are:
Cpt. (res.) Roey Biber, 28, a team commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ Yahalom unit, from Tzur Moshe.
Sgt. Binyamin Meir Airley, 21, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 101st Battalion, from Beit Shemesh.
In addition, a soldier of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit was seriously wounded in battle in northern Gaza.
Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital a ‘death zone,’ says WHO
Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, has become a “death zone,” the World Health Organization says, announcing plans to evacuate the facility, as Israel’s army said it was expanding operations to destroy Hamas.
The assessment came after a visit by WHO and other UN officials to the hospital, which Israeli troops raided earlier this week. The Israeli military has been operating around the hospital over the past week, uncovering what it has said is evidence of Hamas’s use of the site for terrorist activities.
Israel says Hamas’s main command center is under the hospital in an underground network and its findings revealed tunnels shafts, weapons caches, and evidence that hostages were held there.
The military also recovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas during their October 7 massacre, from the area of Shifa Hospital this week.
As the military secures its control over Gaza City, it has begun warning residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to evacuate, indicating that the ground operation will likely expand to southern areas of the strip in the days and weeks to come.
Report: Deal ‘close’ on release of dozens of women, kids held hostage in Gaza
Israel, the United States and Hamas are “close” to an agreement via Qatari intermediators that would free dozens of women and children hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza, in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, the Washington Post reports.
The publication cites a “detailed, six-page agreement,” that says Israel and Hamas will freeze all hostilities for at least five days while an “initial 50 or more” of some 240 hostages taken from Israel during Hamas’s shock October 7 assault “are released in batches every 24 hours.”
The reported deal will also include a “significant increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance, including fuel” that will enter the Gaza Strip.
In response to the report, a spokesperson for the United States National Security Council said: “We have not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal.”
“We’ve made some progress recently and have been working hard to advance this, but it remains a volatile situation,” a Biden administration official is quoted as saying on condition of anonymity.
In its report, the Washington Post cites Arab and other diplomats who said the deal has been in the works during weeks of talks in Doha, Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts toward a ceasefire and release of the hostages.
The outline of the deal was reported earlier this week. On Saturday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Israel wants families — parents and children — to be released together, and has been insisting on that in the talks.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday dismissed “a lot of incorrect reports” in recent days about imminent agreements to free at least some of the hostages and said there was no deal yet “as of now.”
In his briefing Saturday, Netanyahu was asked if Israel had passed up a serious deal first reported on Wednesday for the release of some 50 hostages, and if he was insisting that all the hostages be released.
He responded that “there was no deal on the table” and he could not elaborate further.
Canadian university fires head of sexual assault center who signed letter denying Oct. 7 rapes
The University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada indicates in a statement that it fired the head of the campus sexual assault center who had signed onto an open letter denying Hamas-led terrorists raped women during their devastating October 7 onslaught in southern Israel.
Samantha Pearson signed the letter, titled “Stand with Palestine: Call on Political Leaders to End Their Complicity in Genocide,” which slammed center-left New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh for repeating “the unverified accusation that Palestinians were guilty of sexual violence,” among other critiques of the lawmaker on the issue.
The letter was authored by Susan Kim, a city councilor in Victoria, and Sarah Jama, a member of Ontario’s provincial parliament who was booted from the NDP over remarks only three days after the October 7 massacre calling Israel an “apartheid” state while ignoring Hamas’s atrocities.
In a letter posted to X, the University of Alberta says “the recent improper and unauthorized use of the name of the [university]’s Sexual Assault Centre in endorsing an open letter has raised understandable concerns from members of our community and the public.”
“Effective immediately, the director of the centre is no longer employed by the university, the letter reads. A new interim director was appointed to head the campus sexual assault center, the university says.
“I want to be clear that the former employee’s personal views and opinions do not in any way represent those of the University of Alberta,” writes university president Bill Flanagan. “The University of Alberta stands firmly and unequivocally against discrimination and hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and other protected categories. We recognize the historical and ongoing harms of antisemitism and commit to doing all we can as a university to advance a world free of prejudice and discrimination.”
Flanagan says the event has been “profoundly hurtful and may have compromised the trust of individuals in our community” and also negatively impacted the critical nature of the assault center’s work.
“On behalf of the university, I apologize for the hurt and distress this issue has caused members of our community and beyond,” he says.
Israeli police have begun building several sexual assault cases against terrorists, citing eyewitnesses, video evidence, testimony from terrorists and photographs of victims’ bodies that all point toward such offenses.
The police confirmed a Times of Israel investigation that found physical evidence of sexual assault was broadly not collected from October 7 victims, amid the still ongoing need to identify bodies and complications posed by an active warzone.
read more: