Nov. 25: Netanyahu vows to resolve spat between Zamir and Katz ‘in the best way possible’

Police reportedly probing whether senior cop tried to promote in-law

Commander of Lahav 433 Maj. Gen. Manny Binyamin attends a ceremony at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, April 20, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

As investigators continue a criminal probe into Deputy Commissioner Manny Binyamin, head of police’s major crimes unit, a new suspicion against him has reportedly arisen — that the high-ranking cop tried to promote an in-law to a senior position under his command.

Earlier this month, the Lahav 433 chief was detained for questioning on suspicion that he illicitly interfered in an investigation being conducted by his unit involving a businessman with whom he maintained close ties.

Binyamin was then interrogated a second time and swiftly went on temporary leave from his post. According to Ynet, investigators questioning Binyamin for a second time did so on suspicion that he sought to appoint Cdr. Tomer Strauss, his wife’s cousin, to command the investigations branch of Lahav’s unit focusing on international crime.

As part of the probe, investigators in the Department for Internal Police Investigations collected testimony from the current commander of the international crime unit, Cdr. Assaf Tzur, as well as police’s head of investigations and intelligence, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt. Neither are suspects at the moment.

Despite the hopes of many high-ranking officers — including Commissioner Danny Levy — that Binyamin would retake the helm of Lahav 433, a senior police official now tells Ynet that the suspected officer’s chances of returning to his post are very low.

Trump says envoy Witkoff will meet Putin in Moscow

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) greets US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff prior to their talks in Moscow on August 6, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov / POOL / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says he is sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Moscow to iron out “a few” remaining differences over a deal to end the Ukraine war.

“In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow,” Trump writes on his Truth Social platform, saying there are “only a few remaining points of disagreement.”

He also expresses hope to meet “soon” with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump adds.

pic.twitter.com/FGTDOWzLKl

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) November 25, 2025

In Buenos Aires, Milei tells Sa’ar he will open Jerusalem embassy this spring

Argentine President Javier Milei (L) and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar in Buenos Aires on November 25, 2025. (Office of the President of Argentina)

Argentine President Javier Milei tells Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that he intends to open Argentina’s new embassy in Jerusalem this spring, Sa’ar’s office says in a statement following a meeting between the officials in Buenos Aires.

The statement says their meeting focused on ways to deepen bilateral relations and expand economic cooperation, adding that Sa’ar encouraged Milei to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Milei — an adamantly pro-Israel Judeophile — wore a kippah during the meeting as Sa’ar recited a blessing congratulating him on his recent victory in Argentina’s parliamentary elections, Sa’ar’s office adds. The president also showed the minister a mezuzah affixed to the entrance of his office.

Argentina’s move would make it the eighth country to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after Fiji, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.

Zelensky says Ukraine ready to advance peace plan, will discuss disputed points with Trump

President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to advance a US-backed framework for ending the war with Russia and discuss disputed points with US President Donald Trump in talks he said should include European allies.

In a speech to what are known as the coalition of the willing allies, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Zelensky urges European leaders to hash out a framework for deploying a “reassurance force” to Ukraine and to keep backing Kyiv for as long as Moscow shows no inclination to end its war.

US and Ukrainian officials have been trying to narrow the gaps between them over Trump’s plan to end Europe’s deadliest and most devastating conflict since World War Two, with Ukraine wary of being strong-armed into accepting a deal largely on Russian terms, including territorial concessions.

“We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe … Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work,” Zelensky says, according to his speech text.

“That framework is on the table, and we’re ready to move forward together – with the USA, with the personal engagement of President Trump,” he adds.

A Ukrainian diplomat cautions that territorial concessions remained a major sticking point, meaning a final deal was far from certain despite accords on various specific points. “These are really tough questions for us,” the diplomat says.

Underlining the high stakes for Ukraine, its capital Kyiv was hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones overnight in a Russian attack that killed seven people and again disrupted power and heating systems. Residents were sheltering underground, wearing winter jackets, some in tents.

Syrian interior ministry: Security officer killed, 2 wounded in attack by proscribed group on Sweida checkpoint

An officer from the Syrian security forces was killed and two others wounded in a “criminal assault” on a checkpoint between the Sweida and Daraa governorates in southern Syria by members of what it says are illegal organizations.

The predominantly Druze region of Sweida was the site of deadly sectarian violence in July, with Israel, home to 150,000 Druze, aiding the Syrian Druze as they clashed with Bedouin groups and government-aligned security forces. The fighting ended with a fragile ceasefire.

Amid report he’s weighing replacing Katz, PM says he’ll solve feud between defense minister, Zamir ‘responsibly’

From L-R: IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Israel Katz attend a Rosh Hashanah toast, in Tel Aviv, September 22, 2025. (GPO/Haim Zach)

Amid open tensions between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir — and after an Israel Hayom report that the premier is considering replacing Katz with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar — Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman says that the prime minister will responsibly solve the issue.

“It is best not to listen to briefings to journalists by interested parties,” says Netanyahu’s office. “The prime minister is determined to solve the issues, and will solve them in the best way possible.”

Katz and Zamir are fighting openly over the minister’s decision to re-investigate the military’s review of its internal probes into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack. Zamir also accused Katz in a statement on Monday of harming the military’s preparedness by freezing promotions he had made for 30 days.

The fighting has angered Netanyahu. According to the Kan public broadcaster, the prime minister asked the two to cease the public statements against one another, and was particularly irked by Zamir’s long press release about Katz yesterday.

IDF says troops shot dead Palestinian who crossed Gaza Yellow Line, ‘posed threat’

The IDF says troops shot dead a terror operative who crossed the Yellow Line demarcating the military’s withdrawal in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today.

The operative was identified approaching troops of the 188th Armored Brigade “in a way that posed an immediate threat,” the military says.

The soldiers opened fire and “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the IDF adds.

Casket containing apparent remains of hostage arrives at forensic institute for ID

The casket containing the apparent remains of a dead hostage has arrived at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, the Health Ministry says.

The identification process may take up to two days.

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not provide the identity of the hostage they handed over.

Trump says US close to a deal to end Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey Gobble during the 78th annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation in the Rose Garden of the White House on November 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images/AFP)

US President Donald Trump says that Washington is “very close” to striking a deal with Ukraine and Russia to end their nearly four-year war.

“We’re going to get there,” Trump says at a pre-Thanksgiving event at the White House. “So I think we’re getting very close to a deal.”

IDF says it killed 5 gunmen in Rafah area where dozens of Hamas operatives holed up in tunnels

Weapons the military says were found on Palestinian gunmen who were killed by IDF troops in southern Gaza's Rafah, November 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military says it killed five gunmen in eastern Rafah, an IDF-held area in the southern Gaza Strip where dozens of Hamas operatives are believed to be trapped in tunnels.

Troops of the Nahal Brigade, during scans of the area, spotted the five armed operatives and killed them a short while later, the army says, publishing images of their firearms.

The military says it believes that the gunmen had emerged from tunnels in the area, where several dozen Hamas operatives remain holed up.

A week ago, IDF troops spotted and shot dead four operatives who emerged from a tunnel in the area. In an incident over the weekend, 17 gunmen emerged from tunnels and were either killed or captured.

The IDF has vowed to kill or capture all the remaining operatives on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line, separating Gaza in accordance with the October ceasefire agreement.

Rights groups petition High Court to resume family visits to Palestinian prisoners after 2 years

Israeli security forces on guard at Ofer Prison, outside of Jerusalem, February 8, 2025. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israeli human rights organizations are petitioning the High Court to resume family visits for Palestinian security prisoners, after the practice was banned at the outset of the Gaza war.

The petition, filed by HaMoked, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture, calls the ban on family visits discriminatory and a form of collective punishment, amid reports of increasingly dire conditions for security inmates over the past two years.

“Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, the State of Israel has almost completely cut off Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the outside world,” says Daniel Shenhar, a lawyer for HaMoked who submitted the petition.

“Parents have had no contact with their children, children with their parents, and siblings with one another. Despite the end of active hostilities and an agreement to bring home all the hostages, the authorities do not appear to believe there is any need to alter this policy of isolation,” he continues.

Family visits were banned by the Prisons Service chief Kobi Yaakobi in a temporary order, which instructs for all “routine activities” normally conducted in prisons to be “minimized or cancelled entirely.”

Since then, Palestinian inmates have been unable to contact their relatives through both phone calls and in-person visits. The order has been extended several times since it was initially handed down, and is set to expire on July 31, 2026. Prison officials also forbid visits by the Red Cross, and stopped passing information about Palestinian inmates to the humanitarian group.

Inmates’ only contact with the outside world has been through visits by their attorneys, which are subject to harsh restrictions, the groups say. Meanwhile, conditions in prisons have deteriorated, with inmates claiming they are subjected to routine humiliation and abuse, face restricted access to medical care and severe overcrowding.

The group notes that dozens of Palestinian security prisoners have died in custody since October 7, echoing a report from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which has documented 98 prisoner deaths since the start of the war.

As of November 2, the Israel Prison Service holds 9,206 Palestinians suspected or convicted of what Israel classifies as security offenses — crimes ranging from terror attacks to publishing incitement online.

Among the Palestinian security detainees are 3,368 administrative detainees, as well as 3,389 inmates awaiting trial who have not yet been convicted. The detainees include 350 children and 48 women, the rights groups say.

Netanyahu, wife cast ballots for Likud Central Committee election

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara cast their ballots in an internal Likud election to choose the members of the ruling party’s powerful Central Committee.

“As we came in here, we met some longtime Likud members and some younger Likud members, and it warms the heart to see the turnout, the enthusiasm. This is the only truly democratic party… Maybe there’s one more, barely a small one, but this is democracy at its best, and this is the Likud at its best,” Netanyahu tells reporters.

The prime minister declines to answer questions from the press.

Addressing the press after casting his vote for the Likud central committee, Bibi says that Likud is the "only truly democratic party" left in Israel. pic.twitter.com/73rkplgofE

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) November 25, 2025

IDF wraps up two-day snap drill testing implementation of Gaza war lessons

L-R: Depth Corps chief Maj. Gen. Dan Goldfus, Ground Forces chief Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan, Navy chief Vice Adm. David Sa'ar Salama, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, chief of staff's office manager Lt. Col. Tomer Sayag, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen, are seen at the military's underground command center at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, during a major drill, November 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has wrapped up a two-day snap drill that tested the functioning of all of the military’s top-level headquarters.

The exercise, led by the Operations Directorate, comes as part of efforts by the army to increase the readiness of troops and implement lessons learned from the war and the failures of October 7, according to the military.

All of the IDF’s directorates, wings and commands participated in the drill.

The exercise began Monday morning with a surprise examination by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir of the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division’s response to a “sudden scenario.” The division is responsible for the border with Syria in the Golan Heights and the Mount Dov area on the border with Lebanon.

The military says that troops drilled various “intensive scenarios,” which tested the functioning of the military’s top headquarters, the defensive and offensive orders given, the conduct of situation assessments at all levels, the activation of standby forces, and the immediate response to emerging threats.

Some of the scenarios included a ground invasion at numerous locations; rocket, missile and drone attacks across multiple fronts; and internal security threats, including suicide bombers and violent riots.

The IDF says logistical and medical scenarios were also drilled.

During the drill, the IDF noted strong performance in implementing new operational plans, as well as improved cooperation with defense bodies and between the military and civilian sectors.

However, the IDF also found that it needs to improve how it conveys the situational picture across different command levels during sudden events, as well as how it manages manpower challenges when facing a high number of casualties.

“In light of the lessons of the war, the IDF is expected to increase the pace of exercises in the near future, as part of improving readiness and alertness,” the army adds.

Israeli companies create $2.3 billion in revenue in Virginia, report says

Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks at a post-election news conference in Richmond, Virginia, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Israeli-founded companies generate billions in revenue and thousands of jobs for the US state of Virginia, says a report from the United States-Israel Business Alliance, a group that works to foster economic ties between the US and Israel.

The report is the first to measure the impact of Israeli companies in the state.

There are 119 Israeli-founded companies, or a firm with at least one Israeli-born founder, in Virginia.

In 2024, those companies created 3,767 jobs and $2.3 billion in gross economic output, adding $998 million in value to Virginia’s economy, the report says.

The average earnings for employees across the companies is $77,408.

The companies also indirectly created thousands more jobs, the report said.

“Israeli-founded companies are driving innovation, investment and jobs across the Commonwealth – from defense and life science sectors to agriculture and advanced manufacturing,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin says in a statement.

“We will continue strengthening our economic partnership with Israel to create even more opportunities for Virginians,” Youngkin says.

Israeli companies that open operations in the US tend to focus on New York, the West Coast and Florida, but the report highlights Virginia as a promising alternative due to its location on the East Coast that is closer to Israel in distance and time zone, its high concentration of educated tech workers, universities and low corporate taxes, among other factors.

Northern Virginia also borders Washington, DC, drawing in defense and aerospace companies, a strong suit for Israel, the report says.

Agriculture and life sciences are also fertile ground for Israeli companies in Virginia, the report says.

“We believe that the Virginia-Israel commercial relationship is just getting started,” says Aaron Kaplowitz, the head of the United States-Israel Business Alliance.

District court ruling paves way for Qatargate suspect Urich to resume work with Likud

Jonatan Urich, who was arrested in the so-called Qatargate investigation, arrives for a court hearing in Lod, August 19, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/ Flash90)

The Lod District Court rejects the police’s appeal against allowing central Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich to meet with a senior figure in Likud, effectively allowing him to resume his work for the ruling party, Hebrew outlets report.

Urich, who is suspected of doing paid PR work for Qatar while in the prime minister’s employ, was barred by the court in September from working in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and speaking with other employees. No mention was made of Likud party officials, according to Haaretz.

Police tried earlier this month to keep Urich from contacting Likud’s acting executive director David Sharan, on the basis of his ban from the Prime Minister’s Office, after Sharan reached out to the suspect over a professional matter. But the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court rejected law enforcement’s attempt to bar contact.

The Lod District Court now upholds the lower court’s decision. In his ruling, Judge Amit Michles rejects the police’s argument that a prospective meeting between Urich and Sharan could lead to a “blurring of boundaries” between the Likud and the Prime Minister’s Office, Channel 12 reports.

Urich, along with Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli Feldstein, is suspected of contact with a foreign agent and breach of trust after allegedly spearheading a pro-Qatari public relations campaign to cast the Gulf state in a positive light.

Judge Menachem Mizrahi, who is overseeing the case in the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, has frequently rejected police requests to impose restrictions on Urich. Many, but not all, of Mizrahi’s decisions have been overturned by Michles, more inclined to believe there is reasonable suspicion that Urich has committed criminal offenses.

Gaza ceasefire mediators meet in Cairo to discuss deal’s second phase

Delegations from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — the mediators of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip along with the United States — met today in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the deal, Egyptian state-linked media reports.

Al-Qahera News, which has ties to Egyptian intelligence, says the meeting included the Egyptian and Turkish intelligence chiefs with the prime minister of Qatar, and the delegates discussed working with the US “to ensure the successful implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.

Police escorting casket with body of apparent hostage to forensic institute for ID

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

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

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad did not provide the identity of the hostage they handed over.

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

Netanya toddler who spent minutes underwater begins kindergarten after months of recovery

Noya Sabag (L) with her parents after recovering from nearly drowning in June, speaking in a television interview on November 25, 2025 (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Noya Haya Sabag, 3, who nearly drowned in a hotel pool in Netanya during the 12-day Israel-Iran War and was unconscious for seven minutes, has started kindergarten after a long and complex recovery process, the Ynet news outlet reports.

Noya had just eaten ice cream and vanished from the side of her mother, Maayan, who eventually found her at the bottom of the pool. She jumped in to rescue her and pulled her out of the water, unconscious. At the same time, there was a siren warning of incoming rockets from Iran, increasing the panic.

Maayan’s husband, Michael Sabag, a volunteer medic with United Hatzalah, received a dispatcher call about a nearly drowned child in a Netanya hotel, unaware that it was his own daughter. He understood he was headed to treat Noya only after a relative’s phone call. When he arrived, rescue teams were already performing CPR. They stabilized her and took her to Laniado Hospital in Netanya.

After a stay there and then at Rambam Medical Center’s fortified underground hospital, she was transferred to Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center, where she underwent intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, emotional support, medication management, and age-appropriate educational activities.

Dr. Sharon Shaklai, director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Department at Loewenstein, says that Noya’s brain injury was of moderate severity. “The most common injury after near-drowning is an anoxic brain injury, caused by a complete lack of oxygen, which leads to widespread damage to brain cells,” she explains. The symptoms may include significant cognitive difficulties, unclear speech, vision problems, and a risk of paralysis in the limbs.

In early September, Noya was discharged and began attending kindergarten independently. She can now walk, climb stairs, and play like a child her age, though she still needs help with speech and long-term cognitive monitoring. Loewenstein staff say her progress is remarkable, especially compared to many other children who suffered severe brain injuries after nearly drowning.

The doctor urges parents to remember that young children are at the highest risk near water and that constant supervision is essential.

IDF receives casket from Red Cross in Gaza, apparently holding body of hostage

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip have received a casket apparently containing the body of a hostage from the Red Cross a short while ago.

The casket had been picked up by the Red Cross from Hamas and fellow terror group the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in central Gaza.

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

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

White House says ‘a few delicate, but not insurmountable details’ stand in way of Russia-Ukraine deal

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the US has made “tremendous progress” toward a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war by bringing both sides to the table.

“There are a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States,” Leavitt tweets.

Bipartisan bill in Congress would create ‘Jewish Refugee Day’

US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, speaks during a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee hearing in the US Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images via JTA

The United States would recognize November 30 as “Jewish Refugee Day” under a bipartisan resolution sponsored by two Jewish members of Congress.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat, and Texas Republican Craig Goldman submitted the resolution on Friday, saying that the day would be known by both its English name and the Hebrew translation, Yom HaPlitim.

“I was proud to introduce a bipartisan resolution with Rep. Craig Goldman to honor Yom Haplitim and Jewish communities forced out of North African and Middle Eastern countries where they lived for millennia after Israel became a country,” Wasserman Schultz says in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Their resilience is inspiring and a testament to the improbable survival of Jewish people throughout history.”

Wasserman Schultz, who was the first Jewish woman elected to represent Florida in Congress, initially introduced a similar resolution in 2024, but it expired before the start of the new Congress. She was the sole sponsor of that resolution.

The holiday, which was first adopted by Israel in 2014, commemorates the departure and expulsion of roughly 900,000 Jews from Arab countries following the founding of the state of Israel.

The date November 30 was selected by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, because it follows the date on November 29, 1947, when the United Nations approved the partition plan for the Palestine Mandate and the creation of Israel, which spurred hostility toward Jews in Arab nations.

The resolution states that Congress “continues to support the security of the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world.” It also calls for “educational efforts throughout the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa to teach the history of the forced displacement and exile of the Jewish people.”

“Recognizing Jewish Refugee Day helps to ensure that Congress continues to bring awareness to the history of antisemitism and stand with the Jewish community around the world,” says Wasserman Schultz.

The resolution was referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary, Education and Workforce and Foreign Affairs for consideration.

Rabbis and other Jewish NYers join Mamdani’s 400-member mayoral transition committees

Rabbi Rachel Timoner delivers an invocation before Mayor Eric Adams delivers State of the City address at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, April 26, 2022. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images via JTA)

Five local rabbis are among the more than 400 New Yorkers tapped for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition committees, the teams tasked with preparing his administration ahead of his Jan. 1 swearing-in.

They include Abby Stein, who appeared in “Jews for Zohran” campaigns and shares the mayor-elect’s anti-Zionist outlook, on the health committee; Ellen Lippman, who recently retired from Kolot Chayeinu, the Brooklyn congregation where Mamdani attended Rosh Hashanah services, on the social services committee; and Rachel Timoner, whose Park Slope synagogue Congregation Beth Elohim hosted Mamdani for a meeting with congregants, and Jason Klein, who helms the LGBTQ synagogue Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, on the immigrant justice committee.

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, sits on the emergency response transition committee. He is the only Jewish clergy member to join the transition committees of both Mamdani and Mayor Eric Adams, whom Mamdani unseated.

Adams’s 700-member transition team had a clergy committee with 16 rabbis from across denominations, including several from the city’s Modern and Haredi Orthodox communities. Mamdani does not have a clergy committee and there are no Orthodox rabbis on any of his committees; during the campaign, he drew criticism from a wide array of rabbis over his stances on Israel, and received little support from Orthodox voters.

The transition committees advise on policies, vet personnel and broker relationships between the incoming administration and New Yorkers. Mamdani’s appointees range from traditional leaders, such as Kathryn Wylde, the longtime head of the city’s fundraising nonprofit, to those who traditionally have lacked power in the city — including representatives of the Democratic Socialists of America, the left-wing movement where Mamdani cut his teeth and which is vying to sustain influence as he assumes the mayorship. Mamdani has two committees, on worker justice and community organizing, that have not before been part of a mayoral transition.

Other notable Jews on the transition committees include Jonah Boyarin, a member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice who helped craft city antisemitism trainings, on the community safety committee; Ruth Messinger, the former leader of American Jewish World Service, on the immigrant justice committee; Masha Pearl of the Blue Card, which supports needy Holocaust survivors, on the social services committee; and Mamdani’s high school teacher Marc Kagan on the transportation committee.

Also on the committees are a number of prominent New Yorkers who are Jewish but who have not made their Jewish identity a primary feature of their public personas.

After coming under fire for initial response, Mamdani offers more criticism of synagogue protest

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in New York, November 10, 2025. (AP/Richard Drew)

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani offers more criticism of a caustic protest outside a synagogue last week, after coming under fire from Jewish groups for his initial response.

Anti-Zionist demonstrators chanted “Death to the IDF,” called for an intifada in New York, and hurled racist abuse at Jews during the demonstration in Manhattan.

“We will protect New Yorkers’ First Amendment rights while making clear that nothing can justify language calling for ‘death to’ anyone,” Mamdani tells The New York Times. “It is unacceptable, full stop.”

The protest focused on an event hosted by Nefesh B’nefesh, a group that helps Jews immigrate to Israel, and provides some information for those seeking to move to West Bank settlements.

In Mamdani’s first comment on the protest last week, his spokesperson said, “The Mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so.”

“He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law,” the spokesperson said.

Mamdani’s implication that the synagogue invited protest by violating international law ignited a firestorm of criticism from Jewish leaders.

The group that organized the protest, PAL-Awda, announces another demonstration next week in Manhattan, without providing a specific location.

Floods swamp homeless Palestinians’ tents in Gaza as winter looms

Palestinians walk through a flooded street next to a temporary tent camp after heavy rainfall in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Heavy rain is causing flooding in the Gaza Strip, swamping the tents of thousands of homeless Palestinians facing the prospect of harsh winter storms without sturdy shelter.

The large majority of Gaza’s 2 million people were forced from their homes during Israel’s two-year ground and air war in the small, crowded enclave triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack, with many now living in tents and other rudimentary shelters.

A ceasefire has broadly held since mid-October but the war demolished much of heavily built-up Gaza, including basic infrastructure, leaving grim living conditions for most people.

“This suffering, this rain – and the low-pressure weather systems haven’t even started yet. It’s only the beginning of winter, and we’re already flooded and humiliated,” Um Ahmed Aowdah says outside her tent as rain pelted down on Tuesday. “We haven’t received new tents or tarps. Our tarp is two years old and our tent is two years old – they’re completely worn out.”

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, says there was an urgent need for at least 300,000 new tents to house the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced from their homes.

The Palestinian Civil Defense Service says thousands of tents housing displaced families had been inundated by rainwater or damaged by torrential rainstorms over the past week.

Some tents completely washed away as floodwaters rose 40 to 50 centimeters (15-20 inches) above ground level in some areas of the coastal enclave, while a field hospital had to suspend operations due to flooding, medics and witnesses say.

Syrian security forces use gunfire to disperse rival protests in Alawite heartland

Syrian security forces use gunfire to break up two rival groups of demonstrators in the coastal town of Latakia, heartland of the country’s Alawite minority, witnesses and officials say.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who hails from the Muslim Alawite minority, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a Sunni-led government.

Witnesses say hundreds of Alawite protesters had gathered to demand a decentralized political system in Syria and the release of men they say were unjustly detained by the country’s new authorities. Supporters of the government then gathered and began shouting insults at the Alawites.

About an hour into the Alawites’ rally, gunshots were heard in Agriculture Square, one of two town squares where the protesters had gathered, according to two witnesses and videos verified by Reuters. One of the verified videos showed a man lying motionless on the ground with a wound to the head.

There was no immediate official word on casualties.

Noureddine el-Brimo, the head of media relations in Latakia province, tells Reuters security forces had fired into the air to disperse the rival protesters, and added that unknown assailants had also fired on civilians and on the security forces.

He gave no further details but witnesses said both protests had broken up by the afternoon.

Iran to raise fuel prices, seeking to control increasing demand without triggering public anger

Iran will raise the price of its heavily subsidized fuel under certain limited circumstances, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reports, as the OPEC member seeks to control increasing fuel demand without triggering public anger.

“With the government’s decision, starting in December, refueling vehicles with emergency fuel cards will be charged at a rate of 50,000 Iranian rials per liter ($0.44 per the free market rate),” Tasnim reports, adding that the new rate represented 10% of what it costs the state to buy one liter of fuel from refineries.

Emergency cards can be used at fuel stations if the driver is not in possession of their smart card, introduced in 2007, which allows them to purchase up to 60 liters of fuel at 15,000 rials per liter ($0.14) and up to 100 liter at 30,000 rials per liter ($0.27).

According to Tasnim, domestic fuel production of around 110 million liters per day is surpassed by rising demand, which can go up to 140 million liters per day due to several factors such as inefficient cars, smuggling and summer heat.

Government officials have warned that subsidized fuel prices in Iran are “not rational,” impose a heavy burden on state finances, and incentivize suboptimal consumption as well as force fuel imports.

The introduction of a third pricing rate for fuel in Iran differs from the sudden decision in 2019 to raise fuel prices for all smart cards, which led to widespread protests that were crushed by the state.

Tasnim shares the cabinet decision’s document, which also mentions that private drivers owning several cars will only be able to use smart card quotas for one of their cars, while government-owned vehicles, newly produced cars, and foreign imported cars will have to pay the more expensive rate.

According to the document, further changes such as lower gas quotas for CNG-powered cars, which represent an important share of taxis, are expected in February.

Netanyahu said holding separate meetings with feuding Zamir and Katz

Defense Minister Israel Katz reportedly met alone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a short while ago, after yesterday it was reported that the premier summoned both the defense minister and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir for a meeting to resolve their ongoing public spat.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, Katz and Netanyahu have wrapped up their meeting, and in the coming hour, Zamir will meet separately with the prime minister.

The reports say that a three-way meeting is unlikely to be held.

Katz and Zamir traded barbs yesterday after the former ordered a re-investigation of the military’s external review of its earlier internal probes into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Zamir, meanwhile, accused Katz of political interference and harming the military’s preparedness by freezing senior promotions — which the defense minister must approve — for 30 days.

Hamas transfers body of apparent slain hostage to Red Cross in Gaza

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has picked up a casket  apparently containing the body of a slain hostage from Hamas in central Gaza a short while ago.

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

German foreign minister: Onus is on Putin to get peace in Ukraine

Intense diplomatic efforts are underway to reach an end to the war in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul says, adding, however, that the onus was on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“To bring about peace, it depends on no one other than Putin. He started this war. He must now end it. If he wants peace, he must finally show a willingness to negotiate. We, Ukraine, Europe and the US, are ready. Putin must now decide,” says Wadephul at a press conference with his Jordanian counterpart.

He adds that diplomats were working flat out and that an unofficial EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting would take place on Wednesday.

Red Cross heading to handover site in central Gaza to pick up body of hostage — IDF

Red Cross vehicles are now heading to a handover site in the central Gaza Strip to pick up the apparent remains of a deceased hostage from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the IDF says.

The Islamic Jihad terror group said that the body it had been holding was found in central Gaza’s Nuseirat yesterday.

Pope Francis’s old popemobile refitted as mobile pediatric clinic for Gaza children

The rollout of the Vehicle of Hope in Bethlehem, November 25, 2025 (Caritas Jerusalem)

The international Catholic relief nonprofit organization Caritas unveils in Bethlehem the “Vehicle of Hope” — the late pope Francis’s old popemobile, now refitted as a mobile pediatric clinic for wounded children in Gaza.

“It is my hope that this vehicle will continue to bring healing and compassion to children in conflict zones, particularly in Gaza,” Pope Leo XIV writes in a letter. “Its new mission reflects the love and solidarity embodied in Pope Francis’s legacy.”

However, Israel says it has received no request for the vehicle to enter Gaza. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories tells The Times of Israel: “When we receive a request, we will evaluate it.”

The Mitsubishi’s chassis was reinforced to drive on damaged roads, along with upgraded suspension and high-resistance tires, says Caritas.

“Inside, the clinic provides a medical workspace, including a triage and examination area equipped for trauma stabilization, post-amputation care and emergency pediatric treatment,” according to the nonprofit. “Refrigeration units, compliant with WHO’s vaccine-storage standards, allow safe transport of insulin, vaccines and pediatric antibiotics. The vehicle’s independent power system, supported by a backup battery bank, enables 6–8 hours of off-grid operation.”

Francis personally approved the project before passing away. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas donated the Mitsubishi for the pope’s use during his 2014 papal visit, after which it was given to the Franciscan order. The order passed it along to the Jerusalem branch of Catholic aid organization Caritas Internationalis, which came up with the idea for it to be used by a medical team.

Rothman says he’s smoothed over disagreements with Knesset legal adviser

Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) indicates that he has patched up his relationship with Gur Bligh, the parliamentary panel’s legal adviser, following a public spat on Monday.

Opening a discussion of the coalition’s contentious bill to split the role of the attorney general, Rothman says that “yesterday there was an unfortunate incident in the committee. We are addressing it between ourselves, the legal adviser of the committee and myself. We know how to work things out among ourselves, and I am confident that this is what will happen.”

During remarks from former Likud minister Dan Meridor during yesterday’s committee meeting, Rothman whispered inaudibly to Bligh, who then loudly told the lawmaker: “Don’t threaten me.” It was unclear what Rothman said to Bligh, though after the legal adviser accused him of threats, he said, “I’m sorry?! What are you yelling at me about?”

The discussion was briefly paused during the interaction, after which order was restored and the meeting resumed.

Netherlands becomes latest country to lower Israel travel warning after ceasefire

Following the Gaza ceasefire reached last month, the Dutch Foreign Ministry has significantly downgraded its travel warning for Israel, removing its recommendation to avoid travel in most areas of the country, Israel’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement.

Over two dozen countries have eased or lifted travel warnings for most areas in Israel since June — the majority of them following the ceasefire agreement — including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, and Japan, according to the ministry.

Maersk to return to Red Sea route as soon as conditions allow, CEO says

A Maersk container ship near Sir Abu Nuair island off Dubai on June 4, 2022. (Karim Sahib/AFP)

Shipping company Maersk will take steps to resume navigation through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal as soon as conditions allow, CEO Vincent Clerc says.

Maersk began diverting vessels away from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea toward the southern tip of Africa in January 2024 after an attack on one of its ships by Yemen’s Houthis, who said they were attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The company has been encouraged by the peace process in Gaza, which would establish freedom of navigation in the Bab al-Mandab strait that links the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Clerc added in a joint press conference with Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie in Egypt.

“Given the significant progress in both Gaza and Bab al-Mandab, Maersk will take steps to resume navigation around the East West corridor via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and normalize transit over time,” Clerc says.

Maersk will resume navigating via the Red Sea “as soon as conditions allow, with the safety of our crew as a top priority,” Clerc adds.

Potentially embarrassing coalition, Lapid to submit Knesset motion to adopt Trump’s 20-point plan

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid announces he will bring a motion before the Knesset next week to adopt US President Donald Trump’s 20-point “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.”

“The entire Israeli nation is grateful to President Trump for leading a courageous deal to free the Israeli hostages. We support President Trump and strengthen his hand in the efforts to implement the stages of the plan. I expect all parties to vote in favor of the president’s plan,” Lapid says in a statement.

Beyond outlining a path toward ending the conflict and disarming Hamas, Trump’s plan asserts that “while Gaza re-development advances and when the Palestinian Authority reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people” — though it does not go further into the matter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that “there will not be a Palestinian state.”

Given the plan’s reference to Palestinian statehood, it is likely that the coalition will vote down Lapid’s motion, embarrassing the government vis-a-vis Trump.

Asked if Lapid supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, a spokesman replies that there has been “no change” in his views on the subject. Lapid last year told The Times of Israel that after October 7, statehood was not currently realistic, but “the best that we can do is to maintain the option for the distant future.”

Bennett blasts government for assigning 2 ministers to 7 portfolios: ‘Israel is not being run’

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a tech conference in Ness Ziona, May 5, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett slams the government for appointing two Likud ministers to head five ministries left leaderless since the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties withdrew from the government over the summer.

“The primary thing the citizens of Israel expect from their government is honest, professional, and serious management of the State of Israel… the economy, housing, and the fight against the cost of living,” he tweets, but “none of this exists right now.”

“The State of Israel is not being run. How can the tourism minister also be appointed as the health minister, the construction and housing minister and the welfare minister?” he asks.

The Knesset on Monday evening voted to ratify the government’s nominations of Tourism Minister Haim Katz and Justice Minister Yariv Levin to head the ministries. Levin will take over the labor, religious services, and Jerusalem portfolios, while Katz, who was also appointed as housing minister in September, is to head the health and welfare ministries.

These appointments show “contempt for Israel’s sick, for young couples hoping to one day buy a home, and for the elderly and disabled who need assistance. It is a slap in the face to all citizens of Israel and a blunt statement that ‘We don’t care about you,'” asserts Bennett.

“In the government I will lead, we will return to managing Israel for you. Soon.”

Bennett recently stated that if he comes to power in the next election, he will shutter multiple ministries seen as extraneous.

Reports: Ben Gvir bars police from attending Knesset panel on gender-based violence

MK Meirav Cohen leads a meeting of the Knesset's Committee for the Advancement of Women in Jerusalem on November 25, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly barred representatives in his office, the police and the prison service from attending a Knesset committee meeting called to address gender-based violence, amid a surge in femicide cases since the start of the year.

The committee meeting, headed by Yesh Atid lawmaker Meirav Cohen, was convened to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, just a day after a young Arab woman was shot and killed in central Israel, the 45th homicide of a woman this year.

Representatives from security agencies were invited to attend the meeting in the Knesset’s Committee for the Advancement of Women, to respond to data pointing to an uptick in gender-based violence, but none arrived.

Ynet, Kan and Channel 12 all report that the minister forbade police representatives from attending, for unclear reasons. Meanwhile, the Israel Prison Service and members of Ben Gvir’s office declined to attend, citing a religious women’s tour of the Prison Service’s “Misgav” unit, which Ben Gvir formed to handle domestic violence.

Responding to Ben Gvir’s choice to apparently boycott the meeting, Cohen calls the government the “worst government women have had in the country’s history.”

“To forbid police representatives from appearing or participating in a discussion dedicated to the subject? And what’s more, on the date that the world marks the struggle against violence toward women? This isn’t just criminal negligence, it’s simply malice,” she says.

This year has seen 45 women killed in violent incidents so far, an increase from last year’s figure of 42 female homicide victims in total. Of the 45 killed, 32 women have been murdered due to their gender, referred to as femicide, according to the Israel Observatory on Femicide. Last year, 20 femicide cases were recorded by the watchdog group.

NATO scrambles jets after deepest drone breach yet into Romania

Romanian and German NATO fighter jets were scrambled near Romania’s border with Ukraine to respond to a drone incursion that penetrated deeper than ever into Romanian airspace, in what Bucharest calls a Russian provocation.

Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu says the NATO pilots came close to shooting down a drone that had repeatedly entered the alliance member country’s airspace, but held off over concern about causing damage on the ground.

Drone fragments without an explosive charge were later found on Romanian territory.

“We are dealing with a new Russian provocation against Romania, a drone that the Romanian army and German Eurofighters have tried to shoot down,” Mosteanu says.

Russian drones had struck Ukrainian ports overnight near the border with Romania, which lies across the Danube River.

Tuesday’s breach was the 13th that Romania has reported into its airspace since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition to being the deepest, it was also the first to take place during daylight rather than at night.

UN alleges Israeli strikes have killed at least 127 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Mahmoudiyeh on November 22, 2025. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The UN human rights office says that at least 127 civilians have been killed in Lebanon in strikes by the Israel military since a ceasefire nearly a year ago, and calls for an investigation and for the truce to be respected.

“Almost a year since the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel was agreed, we continue to witness increasing attacks by the Israeli military, resulting in the killing of civilians and destruction of civilian objects in Lebanon, coupled with alarming threats of a wider, intensified offensive,” says Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a Geneva press briefing.

The UN’s methodology for counting the number of civilian deaths is not immediately clear. Israel says it has killed over 350 members of Hezbollah and other terror groups who were violating the truce in strikes since November of last year. Hezbollah members often operate under civilian guises, rather than openly.

Hamas says body of hostage will be handed over to Israel at 4 p.m.

Gunmen from Hamas and Egyptian workers search for the bodies of hostages in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, Nov. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Hamas announces that it and fellow terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad will hand over the body of a hostage to Israel at 4 p.m.

The body was located yesterday in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, according to Islamic Jihad.

The bodies of three slain hostages are still held in the Gaza Strip — Dror Or, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Israel says failure to transfer hostage remains from Gaza ‘another violation’ of truce

After Palestinian Islamic Jihad fails to hand over the body of a hostage a day after the terror group announced it located one in central Gaza, Israel says it “takes a very grave view” of the delay, but does not threaten any specific action.

“In light of Islamic Jihad’s announcement on locating remains of a slain hostage,” says the Prime Minister’s Office, “Israel takes a very grave view of the delay in handing them over immediately.

“This constitutes another violation of the agreement,” it says. “Israel demands the immediate return of the three slain hostages whose bodies are still being held in the Gaza Strip.”

The bodies of two Israelis and one Thai national are still held in Gaza: Dror Or, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Terror groups have claimed difficulties in locating the bodies of the three.

Trust in law enforcement in decline, survey finds

Illustrative: Police officers in Jerusalem on October 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Trust in law enforcement has plummeted among Israelis over the past year, according to a new poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute.

The survey, which took data from 600 Jewish respondents and 150 Arab respondents, found that 65% of Israelis have little to no faith in the Israel Police, as opposed to 33% who say they have a decent amount or great deal of trust in the force.

Among Jews, there has been a seven-point drop in trust in law enforcement, from 42% in October 2024 to 35% this year. Trust in law enforcement also declined among Arabs, from 27% to 19% during the same period.

The sharp decline has occurred over the course of a particularly violent year, as Arab society is caught in an unrelenting deadly crime wave that has claimed 233 lives since the start of 2025.

The poll finds that 80% of Arab Israelis fear that they or a family member will be hurt by violence. Among Jews, only 34% responded that they feel the same.

Violence against women, among both Jewish and Arab Israelis, has also been on the rise, with 45 women killed this year so far, up from 42 in all of 2024 — the last one being a young woman who was fatally shot last night outside a supermarket in Jatt, an Arab village in central Israel.

Year-old unvaccinated infant dies of measles, 11th since May

A one-year-old infant who was not vaccinated against measles and had no underlying conditions died today as a result of complications of the disease at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, the Health Ministry says.

This is the 11th death from measles since the start of the outbreak in May. Most of them were healthy children with no underlying illnesses, and they were not vaccinated against measles.

The ministry stresses in a message to the public that measles is preventable through an effective and safe vaccine.

The areas currently defined as outbreak zones are Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Bnei Brak, Harish, Modiin Illit, Nof HaGalil, Kiryat Gat, Ashdod, Safed, Netivot, Haifa, Tiberias, the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, and the community of Tekoa.

Report: Police have found no evidence AG involved in Sde Teiman leak scandal

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Police sources tell Haaretz no evidence has been found on the phone of former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi to indicate that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had any knowledge of or involvement in the former’s actions now under investigation.

Tomer-Yerushalmi is accused of leaking of a videos from the Sde Teiman holding facility in 2024 showing the alleged abuse of a prisoner, and of then covering up her actions and impeding the investigation into the leak. Her phone was found in the sea on November 7, days after she was found at a Tel Aviv beach after going missing for hour, amid fears she would take her own life. This led to suspicions that Tomer-Yerushalmi had been trying to rid herself of the device due to possible incriminating evidence found on it. Data from the phone has since been extracted.

Many political figures on the right have accused Baharav-Miara of involvement in the Sde Teiman leak, due to her role in overseeing Tomer-Yerushalmi as she carried out an allegedly fraudulent previous investigation into the affair. Baharav-Miara has been forced to recuse herself from the matter, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin is currently seeking to appoint an outside investigator to oversee the probe, though a legal battle on the identity of the overseer is ongoing.

After Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it found hostage’s body, no word yet on transfer to Israel

More than 24 hours have passed since it was reported that the body of a hostage was recovered by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in central Gaza, and Hamas has yet to inform Israel of a planned transfer.

The Islamic Jihad last night confirmed Al Jazeera’s reporting from earlier on Monday that the body of a hostage was found near Nuseirat.

Normally, Hamas announces its intention to return the bodies of hostages, regardless of which allied terror group was holding the remains, but it has yet to issue any statement. The Islamic Jihad also did not announce its intention to return the body.

The bodies of three slain hostages are still held in the Gaza Strip — Dror Or, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian terrorist who murdered Israeli last year

Weapons located by troops in a building where a Palestinian terrorist was holed up, near the West Bank city of Jenin, November 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Palestinian terrorist who killed an Israeli security guard at a West Bank industrial park last year was eliminated by troops this morning, the IDF announces.

On August 18, 2024, the assailant, Sultan al-Ghani, fatally wounded security guard Gidon Peri, 38, at the Bar-On industrial park near Kedumim by attacking him with a hammer, before snatching his handgun and fleeing the scene.

IDF troops and Shin Bet officers operated in an area south of Jenin overnight, during which the forces nabbed five suspected accomplices of al-Ghani, the military says.

This morning, soldiers of the Duvdevan commando unit encircled a building where al-Ghani was holed up and he was killed following an exchange of fire, the IDF says.

The military says that during scans in the building afterwards, the soldiers found several firearms, an explosive device, and ammunition.

The operation came hours after another Palestinian assailant, who killed two soldiers last year and had been on the run since, was killed by Israeli forces in Nablus.

Teen suspected of assaulting Arab bus driver to be brought before judge

A teenager is filmed assaulting a bus driver with a broom outside the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem on November 22, 2025. (Israel Police)

A 16-year-old suspected of brutally beating an Arab bus driver with a broom over the weekend will be brought before a judge today.

The suspect and other teens allegedly assaulted the driver, Abdallah Dwayyat, at around midnight on Saturday after he stopped at a traffic light near Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station.

When Dwayyat heard a loud noise coming from one of the vehicle’s wheels, he exited the bus to check the issue. He was then ambushed by the suspect and his accomplices, who hit him with a broom and a large rock. Dwayyat was hospitalized with injuries to his head and arms.

The suspect was located and arrested last night by Jerusalem police, law enforcement says. Police will bring him today to court with a request to extend his remand.

Gaza ‘survival’ in doubt, will take decades to recover, UN agency warns

A Palestinian woman carries her child as she takes shelter from the rain at a makeshift camp housing displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on November 25, 2025 (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

The war in Gaza has ravaged the Palestinian territory’s economy and is threatening its very survival, the United Nations warns, calling for “immediate and substantial” international intervention.

Rebuilding the Gaza Strip will cost more than $70 billion and could take several decades, the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) says in a new report, warning that war and restrictions have triggered an “unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy.”

“The military operations have significantly undermined every pillar of survival” from food to shelter to healthcare, “and plunged Gaza into a human-made abyss,” it says.

“The sustained, systematic destruction casts significant doubt on the ability of Gaza to reconstitute itself as a liveable space and society.”

Even “in an optimistic scenario of double-digit growth rates facilitated by a significant level of foreign aid, it will take several decades for Gaza to return to pre-October 2023 welfare levels,” it says.

UNCTAD calls for a “comprehensive recovery plan” combining “coordinated international assistance, restoration of fiscal transfers, and measures to ease constraints on trade, movement and investment.”

Iran’s FM to discuss nuclear program during France visit

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on during a meeting with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, September 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

Iran’s foreign minister will discuss the country’s nuclear program and the case of an Iranian citizen held in France during a visit to Paris this week, the Iranian foreign ministry says.

The meeting between Abbas Araghchi and his French counterpart Jean Noel Barrot will come after France backed a resolution calling on Iran to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to key nuclear sites, including those bombed during the 12-day war with Israel in June.

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry says the country’s nuclear program along with “the case of Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, as well as regional and international developments,” will be discussed.

Esfandiari, a 40-year-old Iranian, was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism and later released on bail in October.

Macron says France must not be ‘weak’ in face of Russian ‘threat’

French President Emmanuel Macron says France must not be “weak” faced with the threat from Russia, adding that Moscow is adopting a “much more aggressive stance” than in previous years.

“We would be wrong to show weakness in the face of this threat. If we want to protect ourselves, we French — which is my sole concern — we must demonstrate that we are not weak against the power that threatens us the most,” he tells RTL radio in an interview.

Man reported killed by IDF fire in southern Gaza

In Gaza this morning, one person was killed by IDF gunfire in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis, the southern city’s Nasser Hospital says in a statement.

The IDF does not immediately comment.

Bani Suheila is on the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line.

Rains cause flooding throughout Israel, road closures in south; several people rescued

Following heavy rains overnight and this morning, flooding has been reported in northern and southern Israel, with several roads closed in the south due to rising waters.

הצפות גם בצפון: כך נראים הבוקר הכבישים בקרית מוצקין ושפרעם | תיעוד

(אורלי אלקלעי. צילום: מתוך הרשתות החברתיות, שימוש לפי סעיף 27א בחוק זכויות היוצרים) pic.twitter.com/UKbbQLb1fF

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 25, 2025

First responders have extracted a number of people who became trapped by floodwaters.

In the Negev, a man was rescued from after becoming stranded atop his vehicle.

שיטפונות בנגב: חולץ טנדר שנסחף בנחל יתיר. הנהג הלכוד חולץ במצב טוב והועבר להמשך טיפול צוותי מד"א@Itsik_zuarets (צילום: תיעוד כב"ה מחוז דרום) pic.twitter.com/Ds33bU4e5s

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 25, 2025

Iran publicly executes man convicted of rape

Iran has publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan, the judiciary says. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary’s official outlet Mizan Online reports.

The provincial authority says the man “deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion,” adding that he used “intimidation and threats” to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

The identity of the convict and the date of his sentencing are not immediately disclosed.

Iran usually carries out executions inside prisons, but the punishment came two weeks after the public hanging of a man convicted of murder.

Pollard: When I said I couldn’t imagine a better PM than Netanyahu, I was naive

Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy analyst who spent three decades in prison for spying for Israel, seen in Jerusalem, August 31, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Speaking to Kan radio, former Israeli spy in the US Jonathan Pollard voices criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and says the entire current political leadership needs to go.

Pollard says that on Octover 7, 2023, the entire country was “abandoned and betrayed.” In wake of this, he says, “we need a clean sweep. We need all new people with different perspectives, different views to come in and replace the old guard… left, right, and center.”

Aksed by the interviewer if he meant that all current Knesset members had to go, he answered, “All of them.”

He singled out Netanyahu specifically for what he alleged was his subservience to Washington. Noting the incident at the end of the June war with Iran in which US President Donald Trump forced Israel to turn around fighter jets on their way to a strike, Pollard said: “I’m sorry, a prime minister worthy of the name would have told the president, ‘You know, we’ll get back to you when we finish what we’ve started just now. Until then, I thank you for your opinion, but keep it to yourself.'”

Pollard added: “When I said I couldn’t imagine a better prime minister, unfortunately, I was a bit too naive. Now I can imagine a better prime minister.”

Nine children killed in Pakistani attack in Afghan province, Taliban says

At least nine children and a woman were killed after Pakistani forces bombed the home of a local resident in Afghanistan’s Khost province, Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says.

Mujahid says Pakistan also carried out raids in the provinces of Kunar and Paktika, injuring four civilians.

“Last night at 12 o’clock in the Gerbzwo district of Khawst province, Pakistani invading forces bombed the house of civilian local resident Wilayat Khan, which martyred 9 children (5 boys and 4 girls) and one woman, and destroyed their house,” Mujahid says in a post on X, accompanied by pictures of the dead.

The Pakistan military and foreign ministry could not be reached for comment outside business hours.

The raids come one day after twin suicide bombings killed three paramilitary personnel in Peshawar in Pakistan.

The Pakistani and Afghan militaries clashed in October, killing dozens, in the worst violence since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha in October, but peace talks in Turkey collapsed without a long-term deal due to a disagreement over militant groups hostile to Pakistan that operate inside Afghanistan.

Hezbollah, Hamas said substantially boosting military cooperation in Lebanon

Hezbollah and Hamas have substantially boosted their military cooperation in Lebanon in recent months, according to an unsourced, unconfirmed report on the Kan public broadcaster.

During this time, Hamas has allocated entire companies made up of hundreds of fighters who would be able to join Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in southern Lebanon when an order is given, Kan says.

Hezbollah’s decision to join forces with Hamas comes against the backdrop of its severely weakened stature following its war with Israel that ended last November after roughly two years.

Meanwhile, Hamas managed to strengthen its presence in Lebanon, as Israel focused most of its strikes on Hezbollah during the war.

Hamas, as of late, has focused on raising funds and increasing production of rockets on Lebanese territory, mainly in the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Tripoli.

Last week, Israel carried out a relatively rare strike against a Hamas training center in Sidon that the IDF said killed 13 terror operatives.

In blow to Trump, US judge tosses cases against ex-FBI chief Comey, New York AG James

This file photo taken on January 22, 2017 shows US Vice President Mike Pence, 2nd left, shaking hands with then FBI Director James Comey, right, watched by Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy, left, and US President Donald Trump, 3rd right, during the reception for law enforcement officers and first responders in the Blue Room of the White House. (AFP/ MANDEL NGAN)

WASHINGTON – A federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against two adversaries of President Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling the US attorney he hand-picked to prosecute them was unlawfully appointed.

The ruling throws out two cases Trump had publicly called for as he pressured Justice Department leaders to move against high-profile figures who had criticized him and led investigations into his conduct.

Lindsey Halligan, a former personal lawyer to Trump, was named interim US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in September to take over both investigations despite having no previous prosecutorial experience.

The findings by US District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie came after both Comey and James accused the Trump Justice Department of violating the US Constitution’s Appointments Clause and federal law by appointing Halligan in September.

Currie found that Halligan “had no legal authority” to bring indictments against either Comey or James. But Currie dismissed the cases “without prejudice,” giving the Justice Department an opportunity to seek new indictments with a different prosecutor at the helm.

“All actions flowing from Ms. Halligan’s defective appointment,” Currie wrote, were “unlawful exercises of executive power and are hereby set aside.”

After the decision, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters the Justice Department would “be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct.”

Bondi said that because Halligan was made a special US attorney, she can continue to prosecute cases. “She can fight in court just like she was and we believe we will be successful on appeal,” Bondi said.

James and Comey separately said they were grateful for the ruling. James’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, said she would “continue to challenge any further politically motivated charges through every lawful means available.”

In an Instagram video, Comey said the case against him “was a prosecution based on malevolence and incompetence and a reflection of what the Department of Justice has become under Donald Trump.”

Both Comey and James have been longtime targets of Trump’s ire. Comey as FBI director oversaw an investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 election campaign and the Russian government and later called Trump unfit for office.

US withholding visa from far-right coalition MK over extremist past

MK Zvi Sukkot attends a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, October 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot was denied a visa to the US earlier this month after he was flagged for his previous extremist activity, Channel 12 reports.

Sukkot was supposed to travel to the US two weeks ago, but when he filled out his Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application, he acknowledged having been under a police investigation before entering politics for alleged involvement in settler violence against Palestinians and Israeli troops. He had administrative orders issued against him temporarily banning him from the West Bank, but Sukkot was never convicted of a crime.

After receiving his ESTA application, US consular authorities reached out to him to ask when the last time he was questioned by the police over alleged involvement in a crime. Sukkot responded: “yesterday,” referring to the questioning he underwent over his 2024 illegal break-in into a military base to protest the detention of reservists accused of brutally assaulting a Palestinian detainee.

The response raised alarm bells with the consular officials who decided to hold off on granting Sukkot a visa. In the meantime, Sukkot missed his planned flight to the US, Channel 12 says, without revealing the reason for the trip. Sukkot’s wife and parents are US citizens.

Two weeks have passed and Sukkot has still not been granted a visa, but Channel 12 says that the issue may soon be resolved.

The State Department does not respond to a request for comment on the matter but doesn’t typically weigh in on individual consular matters.

Troops killed Palestinian who perpetrated 2024 ramming attack, police confirm

This composite image shows Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj and Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel the Kfir Brigade's Nahshon Battalion, who were killed in a car-ramming attack outside the West Bank city of Nablus on May 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Police confirm that members of the Yamam counterterror unit, alongside IDF troops and the Shin Bet, killed a Palestinian assailant who carried out a deadly car-ramming attack in May 2024.

On May 29, 2024, Abdel-Raouf Shatyeh rammed his vehicle into an IDF post just outside Nablus, killing two soldiers: Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel and Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj, both 20-year-old infantrymen in the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion.

After the attack, Shatyeh fled into Nablus and initially turned himself in, to the Palestinian Authority’s security forces. However, instead of being handed over to Israel, the suspect was freed from the PA’s custody.

During a raid this evening, Yamam officers closed in on a building in eastern Nablus where Shatyeh was holed up. After it emerged that he was armed, the troops opened fire on the building, and later, using a drone, identified that he had been killed, police say.

The IDF and Shin Bet say that they have been working to track down Shatyeh since he fled the scene of the attack in 2024.

In addition, several “accomplices” who were working with Shatyeh were detained by IDF soldiers this evening in Nablus, the military adds.

White House reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself after IDF strike on Hezbollah army chief

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, November 24, 2025. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

The White House expresses its support for Israel’s right to defend itself following an IDF strike over the weekend that killed Hezbollah chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

Asked during a Fox News interview whether US President Donald Trump supports yesterday’s assassination, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says she has not spoken to him specifically about the strike.

“But of course, the president supports Israel’s right to defend itself and to take out terrorist threats,” Leavitt adds.

Trump signs order to weigh whether Muslim Brotherhood chapters should be designated terror groups

US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, November 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

US President Donald Trump has just signed an executive order directing the US secretaries of state and treasury to consider whether certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as terror organizations, the White House announces.

The announcement stops short of an actual designation, as some anticipated, and indicates that the process will be more complicated and take time, as the Muslim Brotherhood is not a centralized organization with an international headquarters. Rather, chapters vary in ideology and politics depending on the country in which they are based.

The executive order directs US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to submit a report within 30 days on whether to designate chapters such as the ones in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).

If the reports conclude that such designations are warranted, the two secretaries will have 45 days to comply, the executive order says.

“The order’s ultimate aim is to eliminate the designated chapters’ capabilities and operations, deprive them of resources, and end any threat such chapters pose to US nationals and the national security of the United States,” reads a statement from the White House.

???? President Donald J. Trump just signed an Executive Order directing @SecRubio and @SecScottBessent to begin the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Here is the text of…

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 24, 2025

The White House claims that the Lebanese wing of the Muslim Brotherhood helped terror groups launch multiple rocket attacks targeting Israel, while a senior member of the Egypt wing encouraged attacks against US allies in the Middle East hours after Hamas’s October 7 attack. Hamas began as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The White House asserts that the Jordanian wing of the Brotherhood has also long provided support to the military wing of Hamas, which the US has already designated as an FTO.

Notably, the executive order makes no mention of Qatar and Turkey, which both have had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, but have also become close allies of the administration. Both countries have hosted exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders, albeit with the knowledge and sometimes urging of the US.

A wide rang of Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations and charities operate in Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party shares ideological affinities with the Brotherhood, even though the latter remains formally separate.

Qatar has also historically been seen as a major backer of Muslim Brotherhood ideology via its diplomatic efforts and the media outlets that the government funds. However, there is no formal Muslim Brotherhood chapter in Qatar and the organization’s members have faced limitations in recent years inside the country.

It’s unclear how stridently the order will be upheld, even if specific chapters are designated.

In February, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court over its efforts to prosecute Israeli and US officials. However, only three Palestinian human rights organizations were sanctioned for cooperating with those cases against Jerusalem and Washington, even though a wide range of organizations across the globe are believed to have assisted in the same effort.

Regardless, the sanctioning of the Muslim Brotherhood will likely have a chilling effect on any organization considering doing business with local chapters around the globe who will think twice about the legal ramifications of such cooperation.