Nov. 26: IDF says reservists to serve significantly less, train more in 2026

IDF confirms killing Palestinian in West Bank after he threw explosive device at troops

Explosive devices found in a car of a Palestinian who hurled a bomb at troops and was then shot dead in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Palestinian who hurled an explosive device at Israeli soldiers during a raid in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya this evening was shot dead, the military says.

The soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit were not hurt by the bomb.

“The troops responded by opening fire and eliminating” the attacker, the military says. Palestinian media identified him as Osama Kumail, 20.

After the suspect was killed, the IDF says the soldiers found several more bombs inside his car, which were then destroyed.

The IDF statement follows a report from the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry, which said Kumail was shot in the stomach near a café in Qabatiya and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Herzog offers condolences after fatal shooting of US guardsmen in Washington

President Isaac Herzog attends a conference in Jerusalem, November 17, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog expresses Israel’s “deep sorrow and heartfelt condolences” over the fatal shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, DC.

“Our deepest sympathies go to their families and loved ones,” he writes on X.

“From Israel, we send a message of friendship and solidarity to [President Donald Trump], and all those serving in and around the White House,” Herzog continues. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our greatest friend and ally, the United States of America.”

Palestinian said killed by IDF in northern West Bank

A 20-year-old Palestinian man was killed by IDF gunfire in Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry says. He is named as Osama Yasser Mohammed Kumail.

Local sources cited by WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, say Kumail was shot in the stomach near a cafe in Qabatiya and taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

The IDF is yet to comment on the incident.

The military and Shin Bet said this morning that they had commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night.

عاجل| وزارة الصحة الفلسطينية:
إرتقاء الشاب أسامة ياسر محمد كميل (20 عامًا) برصاص الاحتـ ـلال في بلدة قباطية pic.twitter.com/7N0zw3nIuF

— قناة القدس (@livequds) November 26, 2025

Far-left US Jewish writer Beinart apologizes for speaking to Israelis in Tel Aviv

The far-left US Jewish writer Peter Beinart says he made a “serious mistake” talking to Israelis in Tel Aviv this week.

Beinart, one of Israel’s most vocal Jewish opponents, drew heavy fire from anti-Zionist activists after he participated in a talk at Tel Aviv University this week.

Beinart is a supporter of the boycott movement against Israel and was criticized for violating that boycott. He had said the speech was an opportunity to communicate his views to Israelis.

“I wanted to say certain things to an Israeli audience. Speaking at Tel Aviv University seemed to offer that chance,” Beinart says on X. “I let my desire for that conversation override my solidarity with Palestinians.”

“It’s embarrassing to admit such a serious mistake,” he says. “I dearly wish I had not made this one, which has caused particular harm because international pressure is crucial to ensuring Palestinian freedom. This was a failure of judgment. I am sorry.”

His apology draws further criticism from prominent anti-Zionist activists.

Nerdeen Kiswani, a leading anti-Zionist activist in New York City, says, “Peter consistently disrespects communities he claims to support, particularly Palestinians, and then apologizes for it.”

It was indeed a serious mistake and one @PeterBeinart really has no excuse for. He has been engaging in debate about the BDS movement for more than a decade and he knows all the arguments and he has heard from Palestinians for years and up to the moment of his visit to the… https://t.co/RnXXUUvpjV

— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) November 26, 2025

Two National Guard members shot near White House have died: official

Streets are blocked after reports of two National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House in Washington, November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The two National Guard members shot a short while ago near the White House have died, says the governor of West Virginia, a state that deployed troops to the US capital on the orders of President Donald Trump.

“It is with great sorrow that we can confirm both members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot earlier today in Washington, DC have passed away from their injuries,” Governor Patrick Morrisey says on X, adding: “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country.”

Teenager killed in shooting in north; police say criminal motive likely

A 15-year-old boy from the northern village of Kafr Yasif has died from gunshot wounds after being rushed in critical condition to Galilee Medical Center, police say.

Medical teams attempted to resuscitate him but were forced to declare his death shortly after arrival.

Police have launched an investigation and a manhunt for suspects, including the use of a police helicopter.

According to Israel Police, the shooting appears to be criminal in nature, though the circumstances remain under investigation.

Two National Guard troops shot, ‘critically wounded’ near White House

Members of the National Guard gather after reports of two National Guard soldiers were shot near the White House in Washington, November 26, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Two National Guardsmen were shot and “critically wounded” in downtown Washington, just blocks from the White House, ABC News reports.

The Metropolitan Police Department says it is on the scene and urges the public to avoid the area while authorities work to secure it.

A DC police official tells ABC that the incident occurred at 2:20 p.m. ET near the Farragut West Metro station and confirmed that the suspect is “down.”

According to additional reports, the White House was briefly placed under lockdown following the incident. President Donald Trump, who is vacationing in Florida ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, has reportedly been briefed on the situation.

IDF says reservists to serve significantly less, train more in 2026

IDF reserve soldiers take part in a surprise military drill in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon and Syria, November 24, 2025. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

With the war winding down, the IDF expects that during 2026, reservists will be called up for up to 60 days of reserve duty in total, according to an updated military chart.

During the first year of the war, combat soldiers served on average 136 days in reserves, and commanders served 168 days. Before the war, reservists would carry out up to 25 days of operational activity every three years.

Today, the IDF’s “combat chart” was distributed to all units after it was approved by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

The chart details all tasks, exercises, means, and resources for all units in 2026. The IDF says the chart was formulated based on the lessons learned from the war and “a new concept of defense, alertness and readiness,” and that it will enable “meeting the many challenges.”

According to the chart, reservists will be called up for around six weeks of operational activity, with additional days in reserve duty for training and organization. In total, they will be on duty for around 60 days throughout the year.

“The deployment plan for reservists in 2026 reflects an increase in training days to strengthen readiness, alongside a reduction in mission days for reservists in order to ease their burden,” the military says.

The IDF says that in the coming year, an effort will be made to conduct basic training as planned, and in addition, all units will undergo “dedicated training to improve readiness, which will last several weeks.”

At least 5 coalition MKs say they won’t back ultra-Orthodox conscription bill — report

Ministers and lawmakers attend a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, in Jerusalem, November 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

At least five Knesset coalition members have announced they will not support the current draft of the government’s controversial bill regulating ultra-Orthodox conscription, Kan news reports.

The report follows a coalition review of whether the draft, set to be submitted tomorrow to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, would have a majority in the plenum.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is reportedly demanding a role in drafting the law and has not yet committed to supporting it.

According to Kan, discussions in the committee are expected to resume next week, with a series of deliberations planned over the coming weeks.

Last night, the broadcaster reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light to advance the law. Shas chairman Aryeh Deri reportedly said that Netanyahu agreed to rabbinic demands for changes to the bill, a likely reference to either reducing sanctions on draft evaders or lowering enlistment goals.

Report: Israel offers trapped Hamas fighters in Rafah chance to surrender and relocate

A combat engineer of the elite Yahalom unit inside a major Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, where the IDF says the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin had been held by the terror group in recent years, November 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel conveyed a proposal to Hamas last week regarding the conditional release of dozens of Hamas fighters believed to be trapped in tunnels in an IDF-controlled area of eastern Rafah, Channel 12 reports, citing an Israeli official.

According to the report, Israel sent the proposal to senior Hamas officials through mediating countries. Under the proposal, the remaining terrorists in the area would be permitted to emerge if they surrender and agree to be transferred to Israeli prisons. They would later be eligible for release and relocation to the Hamas-controlled area of the Gaza Strip, on the condition that they pledge not to return to terrorism and agree to disarm.

Since the proposal was made, the terrorists have not surrendered and have on multiple occasions emerged from tunnels in attempts to flee or attack IDF forces, implying that the offer has not been accepted, the network notes, while adding that it is unclear whether Hamas leaders can even communicate with the trapped fighters.

An Israeli official tells Channel 12: “We gave the terrorists in Rafah the option to live and to leave the tunnels. So far, they have not agreed to meet the conditions we set. It appears they have decided to become martyrs.”

60 Palestinians said detained by Israel amid large operation in northern West Bank

Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in the West Bank town of Tubas, November 26, 2025. (Flash90)

The Palestinian Prisoners Club NGO says Israeli security forces arrested or performed field interrogations on 60 people, including minors, in the West Bank’s northeastern region of Tubas today. It’s unclear if any are still held.

Among those detained this afternoon and later released is Samir Basharat, the mayor of Tammun, a town in the area, according to the Hamas-affiliated Prisoner Affairs Office.

The IDF and Shin Bet said this morning that they had commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night.

Hong Kong housing estate fire kills at least 36; over 200 missing

Bystanders look on as thick smoke and flames rise during a major fire at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on November 26, 2025. (Peter Parks/AFP)

A huge fire that engulfed a Hong Kong residential estate has killed at least 36 people and left more than 200 unaccounted for in the city’s worst blaze in decades.

The fire, which started yesterday afternoon and was still burning in the early hours of this morning, shocked the Chinese financial hub, which has some of the world’s most densely populated and tallest apartment blocks.

Huge flames first took hold on bamboo scaffolding on several apartment blocks of Wang Fuk Court, which contains nearly 2,000 flats in eight towers in the northern district of Tai Po and was reportedly undergoing estate-wide maintenance.

City leader John Lee last updated the death toll to 36 and said that 279 people were unaccounted for.

Twenty-nine people were hospitalized, with seven in critical condition.

Shas and UTJ file police complaint over incitement by Jerusalem Faction leader

Ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) file a complaint with the Israel Police against Zvi Roth, a senior official in the hardline Haredi Jerusalem Faction, accusing him of incitement to murder and calls for violence against public representatives.

According to the complaint, Roth used the faction’s telephone hotlines, which connect to thousands of citizens, to make extremist statements, including comparisons between Haredi leaders and Nazis, and even encouragement to harm them directly.

“They remind me very much of the Germans in World War II… these hands are stained with the blood of Jews,” Roth said of Shas and UTJ lawmakers.

“The Jews in the extermination camps said to themselves: If I had the chance — I would now slaughter those cursed Germans, in accordance with the principle of ‘If someone comes to kill you, rise and kill him first,” he added.

In their complaint, the two parties say, “This is serious and shocking incitement that permits the blood of Haredi representatives. Only recently, we saw how this kind of incitement led to a grave lynching attempt, attacks and break-ins at the homes of Shas chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri, UTJ chairman Rabbi Moshe Gafni, MK Rabbi Yoav Ben-Tzur, MK Rabbi Yinon Azulai, MK Rabbi Uri Maklev, and MK Rabbi Ya’akov Asher.”

The ministers were reported to have been attacked in separate incidents over their cooperation in advancing legislation to regulate military conscription for yeshiva students, even though that legislation is expected to exempt most Haredim.

“We demand that law enforcement authorities act with the full force of the law against the sources of this incitement and violence before blood is shed here,” Shas and UTJ add.

Jewish lawmaker Julie Menin announces win in NYC Council speaker race

Julie Menin, a moderate, Jewish New York City council member, says she has won the race to become the next speaker of the city council.

The speaker plays an influential role in city government, and Menin announces her win as centrist Jews fret over the incoming mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

The official vote on the speakership is in January, so some votes could change before then, but Menin says she has a wide margin of support.

If confirmed, Menin, a Democrat, will become the first Jewish head of the council.

Menin says in a public statement that she has enough backing from council members to secure “supermajority support to become the body’s next Speaker.”

“The coalition supporting Menin reflects the depth and diversity of the city,” she says.

I’m honored to have the support of a supermajority of my colleagues to be the next Speaker of the @NYCCouncil. pic.twitter.com/RXFvbnKGwl

— Julie Menin (@JulieMenin) November 26, 2025

Menin represents the city’s District 5, covering the East Side of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island. She is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, a supporter of Jewish community issues, and one of five members of the council’s Jewish Caucus.

The City Council, with 51 members, is the legislative body covering New York City, akin to Congress at the federal level. The council handles local legislation, negotiates the city’s budget with the mayor, monitors city agencies, and reviews land use.

The council is a separate governmental branch from the mayor’s administration, but interacts with the mayor and serves as a check on City Hall on issues like legislation.

The speaker is elected by council members and heads the legislative body in setting priorities, passing laws, and handling public funds.

Menin says she has the support of at least 34 current and incoming councilmembers, more than the 26 needed to secure a majority. Menin will succeed Speaker Adrienne Adams, who also had warm ties with centrist Jewish communities.

Red Crescent: Israeli troops in northern West Bank beat 85-year-old man

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says its medics are treating an 85-year-old man who was beaten by IDF soldiers in the Palestinian town of Tubas, in the northeast of the West Bank. He is being taken to a hospital, the ambulance service says.

The Palestinian Authority’s public broadcaster Palestine TV publishes on the Telegram app what it says is footage of the attack on the man. The blurry and unverified video shows a man walking on a street in front of soldiers, one of whom then kicks him forcefully, causing him to fall.

Some outlets publish the footage without specifying whether the person being attacked is an elderly man.

جنود الاحتلال يعتدون على رجل مُسن، وينكلون به في مدينة طوباس. pic.twitter.com/zIWZYgAyai

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 26, 2025

Meanwhile, the ambulance service also reports that in nearby Tammun, Israeli forces arrested a man after ambushing him from inside an ambulance.

The IDF does not respond to a request for comment on either incident.

The IDF and Shin Bet said this morning that they commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night and “won’t allow terror to become established in the area.”

IDF thwarts weapons smuggling from Jordan using drone, recovers 10 pistols

Weapons and a drone seized by IDF troops following an attempted smuggling on the Jordanian border, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons from Jordan into Israel using a drone.

The drone was identified yesterday crossing the border by the Israeli Air Force’s air traffic control array. The device was then downed.

According to the IDF, troops of the Yoav Regional Brigade scanned the area today and located the drone, which was found to be ferrying 10 pistols.

The weapons were handed over to the police for further investigation.

In the past year, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egyptian border using drones. Smuggling attempts are also frequent on the Jordanian border, although less commonly with drones.

Report: Mossad thwarts IRGC plot to attack Israeli targets in Senegal and Uganda

Israel’s Mossad, with assistance from African security services, thwarted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plot to carry out attacks against Israeli diplomatic targets in Senegal and Uganda, the Iranian opposition network Iran International reports.

According to the outlet, the scheme was orchestrated by the IRGC’s Quds Force, which operated a proxy network of Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals based in Iran, alongside local African recruits enlisted through social media.

The operatives were instructed to surveil Israeli embassies, photograph potential targets, purchase Western-made pistols and hand grenades, and eventually execute the attacks — all in exchange for only a few hundred dollars.

At the center of the network was Zahid Jawad, a Pakistani national living in Iran, who was handled by three Quds Force officers, the report says. Jawad and an accomplice handled dozens of recruits across multiple African countries, the report says. Several of the local operatives were later detained and admitted to acting on behalf of Iranian elements.

The network was uncovered through joint intelligence monitoring, it says, leading to arrests and the dismantling of the cell before it could carry out the planned attacks.

The incident mirrors previous failed attempts by the Quds Force in Africa, including plots disrupted in Congo in 2022 and South Africa in 2020. Israeli and African security officials say Iran continues to invest heavily in efforts to target Israelis abroad, with Africa emerging as a key arena — but claim such attempts have been consistently intercepted at early stages.

Imported iPhone 17s, including gold-plated versions, selling for record sums in Gaza — report

Channel 12 reports that iPhone 17 devices — including gold-plated models — are being sold in the Gaza Strip “at exorbitant prices,” after retailers managed to import the newest Apple smartphone through recently opened border crossings.

According to the report, some Gazan merchants received shipments of the phones before the model was even released in Israel. Prices in the Strip are currently listed at between NIS 6,500 and 7,500 ($2,000-2,300), though they reportedly reached NIS 10,000 ($3,000) when the devices first arrived. By comparison, the iPhone 17 sells for NIS 3,000 to 5,200 ($900-1,600) in Israel.

Videos circulating online show Gazan businesses promoting their new stock of iPhones to local consumers.

Available in the Gaza Strip today 25 Nov 2025 – gold plated iPhone 17 Pro Max, with diamond beads. Comes with a gold smart watch!
Sold by Yosif Phone, Khan Younes Mawasi, South Gaza Strip.
Timestamp: 9 hours ago#TheGazaYouDontSee
Link to Instagram links in 1st comment pic.twitter.com/nNGKMy4UBs

— Imshin (@imshin) November 25, 2025

The images stand in sharp contrast to conditions in much of the Strip, where many Palestinians continue to live in tents, more than two years into the war. But the report notes that a wealthier segment of Gazan society remains able to purchase high-end luxury goods.

Herzliya teen in critical condition after falling from height

First responders at the scene in Herzliya, where a 15-year-old boy was critically injured after falling from a height, November 26, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after falling from a height in Herzliya, Magen David Adom says.

Medics found the teen unconscious and without a pulse, and are taking him to the hospital while attempting to resuscitate him.

He is suffering from multisystem trauma and bleeding as a result of the fall, paramedics add. The circumstances of how the teen fell remain unclear.

Coalition blocks bill for immediate financial aid to released hostages, bereaved families

A view of the plenum hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on November 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The coalition has voted down a bill proposing immediate financial assistance for released hostages and families of murdered hostages. The proposal by opposition MK Pnina Tamano-Shata of Blue and White fails 50-40.

The bill would grant an NIS 4 million ($1.2 million) aid package to released hostages and their families, several of whom have reached out to the public to ask for donations to supplement the state-funded stipends and grants that each abductee returned from Gaza receives to cover their rehabilitation.

After the vote, Tamano-Shata criticizes the coalition, saying it “turned its back on the released hostages and the families of the fallen.

“They have already endured unimaginable suffering,” she says in a post on X. “The government refuses to give them the protection and economic security they need and leaves them to depend on the goodwill of the public. I will continue to act in every way until the hostages and their families receive the full support they deserve.”

IDF chief: Israel needs bold leadership that recognizes failure, doesn’t ‘frighten, evade’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir salutes over the grave of David Ben-Gurion at Midreshet Ben-Gurion next to Sde Boker in southern Israel, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says Israel needs “courageous, transformative” leadership that does not “evade” responsibility, in remarks that appear to be thinly veiled criticism of the government, amid his public spat with Defense Minister Israel Katz over the military’s October 7 investigations and senior appointments in the IDF.

“Today, it is clear to us beyond any doubt… What is needed is courageous, purposeful, transformative leadership. Leadership that both recognizes failure and dares to drive change,” he says during a ceremony commemorating the 52nd anniversary of the death of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, at Midreshet Ben-Gurion next to Sde Boker in southern Israel.

“Not leadership that frightens and stifles, but leadership that uplifts — leadership with inspiration. Not leadership that evades, but one that looks truth in the eye and sets a new direction,” he says.

“Command responsibility is to rebuild. That is the core essence of leadership,” he says.

Katz and Zamir traded barbs on Monday 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.

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

Foreign worker arrested on suspicion of trying to stab man in his care

Police have arrested a foreign worker on suspicion of abusing and attempting to stab a man under his care with scissors in the latter’s Beit Shemesh home.

Officers came to the victim’s house late last night after being summoned by a medical team who were called to the house, but received no response after knocking on the door. Police found the victim trembling and terrified, law enforcement says.

According to the man’s testimony, the assault took place after he had asked his caregiver to help him take a shower. The caregiver, apparently under the influence of alcohol, initially refused, saying he had already helped him shower in the morning. He eventually agreed to the request and reluctantly took the victim to the bathroom.

The caregiver later returned him to his bed, wet and naked. When the victim requested a towel, the caregiver took scissors and tried to strike the victim in his lower body, police say. The victim fell to the floor in an attempt to dodge the scissors, injuring himself.

The suspect had left the apartment by the time police and paramedics arrived. The victim was swiftly taken to the hospital, police say.

Officers later detained the suspect, who resisted and tried to attack police during the arrest, police add. He was taken to court this morning, where his remand was extended until tomorrow.

IDF says it killed 2 terror operatives who crossed Yellow Line in Gaza, in separate incidents

IDF troops operate on the eastern side of the Yellow Line in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, in a handout photo issued on November 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Two Palestinian terror operatives were killed in separate incidents in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the IDF says.

In the first incident, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad was spotted by troops of the Kfir Brigade on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line.

The operative “posed an immediate threat” to the soldiers, and a short while later, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed him to “remove the threat,” the IDF says.

In the second incident, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted a terror operative who crossed the Yellow Line and approached troops stationed in the Strip’s south, according to the military.

The IDF says soldiers of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade then “eliminated the terrorist.”

Arab Israeli woman indicted for Facebook posts apparently praising Hamas after Oct. 7

The Facebook logo is seen on a cell phone in Boston, October 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

State prosecutors indict a young Arab Israeli woman on charges of incitement and support for a terrorist organization, after she wrote several posts on Facebook appearing to laud Hamas.

The defendant, 22-year-old Maryam Halaika from Kafr Qasim, posted four times on Facebook in support of Hamas in the days following its October 7, 2023, attacks, prosecutors say.

Halaika is accused of posting incitement 10 days after the invasion alongside a green heart emoji, apparently in reference to the Hamas flag and emblem.

“O God, add to the Jews’ humiliation and sorrow. O God, disperse them and dissolve their unity, and place fear within their hearts. O God, help the Muslims and be with them… and give us a near opening for victory,” she wrote, according to prosecutors.

An hour later she posted again, saying that “it will be written in history that a small piece of land called the Gaza Strip stood against every occupying force and fought alone the cancer of the world called ‘Israel.’ By the hands of its men it did miracles, and paid a heavy price in its children’s blood for the sake of freedom.”

The posts she made received likes and supportive comments, and she declined to delete most of them until she was indicted.

She was charged in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court with incitement to terrorism and expressing support for a terrorist organization, prosecutors say.

Two said killed in IDF strike on Beit Lahiya in north Gaza

Two people were killed and several were injured by an IDF strike in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, Palestinian media reports, citing field medics.

Beit Lahiya lies on the northern end of the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line.

Unverified footage circulating on Arabic media shows a group of people putting a sheet over what appears to be human remains beside an unfinished building as other people rush to the scene.

The IDF said earlier that it had struck a Hamas operative in northern Gaza who was planning an imminent sniper attack on troops. The statement did not specify the location of the strike.

Israeli Medical Association: Physicians must not aid in death penalty for terrorists

In response to the Knesset National Security Committee’s discussion on the proposed death penalty for terrorists, the chairman of the Israeli Medical Association’s Ethics Committee, Dr. Yossi Walfisch, issues a statement saying that the IMA strictly “prohibits any participation of physicians in determining, preparing for, or carrying out the death penalty.”

“A physician is meant to heal,” he writes. “Accordingly, there is an absolute prohibition on Israeli physicians taking part, whether actively or passively, in executions, including evaluating fitness, participating in the administration of substances, monitoring vital signs, or providing technical consultation.

“Using medical knowledge for purposes other than promoting health and well-being undermines the ethical foundations of medicine,” Walfisch writes.

Turkish firms sign $6.5 billion contracts to reinforce ‘Steel Dome’ defense system

A Turkish army soldier stands guard on one of two military ships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, heading from the port of Mersin, Turkey, to the port of Beirut to deliver aid and evacuate Turkish citizens from Lebanon, Wednesday, October 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

ANKARA — Turkish defense companies signed $6.5 billion worth of contracts to reinforce and develop Turkey’s integrated, multi-layered “Steel Dome” air defense system, the Turkish Defence Industries Presidency (SSB) says.

NATO member Turkey, which in recent years has significantly ramped up its defense industry production and reduced dependence on external suppliers, first announced plans to build its “Steel Dome” — similar to Israel’s Iron Dome system — in July 2024.

The project comprised 47 components, including radars, missiles, electro-optical sensors, command and control centers and air defense elements with different ranges.

Strikes by Israel — the Middle East’s most advanced military with hundreds of US-supplied F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighters — on Turkey’s neighbors Iran and Syria, as well as on Lebanon and Qatar, unnerved Ankara in the last year and pushed it to ramp up air power and air defense to counter any possible threats.

Turkey has also become a leading manufacturer and exporter of armed drones, with these being used in conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and across Africa.

In a statement, SSB Chairman Haluk Gorgun says the contracts include combat systems and their advanced versions, which would be developed by Turkish manufacturer Roketsan, adding that the “Steel Dome” would be made of fully domestic systems. Gorgun says the contracts would help increase Turkey’s deterrence, while also contributing to efforts to increase the range and scope of its combat systems.

IDF says it killed Hamas operative planning ‘imminent’ sniper attack in northern Gaza

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike that killed a Hamas operative in the northern Gaza Strip who was planning to carry out an “imminent” sniper attack against Israeli troops.

“The terrorist was struck in order to remove the threat to IDF troops deployed in the northern Gaza Strip in accordance with the [ceasefire] agreement,” the army says.

The military publishes a video showing the strike.

צה"ל תקף להסרת איום מיידי מחבל מארגון הטרור חמאס אשר תכנן לבצע מתווה טרור נגד כוחות צה"ל

לפני זמן קצר, צה"ל בהובלת פיקוד הדרום ובאמצעות חיל האוויר תקף מחבל מארגון הטרור חמאס אשר תכנן לבצע מתווה צליפה נגד כוחות צה"ל בצפון רצועת עזה בטווח הזמן המיידי.

המחבל הותקף על מנת להסיר את… pic.twitter.com/KLvt6DGFjN

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 26, 2025

Mayor of Palestinian town said detained in Israeli military op; medics report 10 wounded

Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in the West Bank town of Tubas, November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Samir Basharat, mayor of the Palestinian town of Tammun in the Jordan Valley, has been arrested in the Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, Palestinian media reports.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society says its medics have tended to 10 people wounded amid the operation that began last night. Four of those people were taken to a hospital, the Red Crescent says.

The group accuses Israeli security forces of preventing medical personnel from reaching Tammun and nearby Tubas.

The IDF and Shin Bet said this morning that they had commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night and “won’t allow terror to become established in the area.”

Report: Katz told Knesset committee that settler violence is not terrorism, just ‘public disturbance’

Mohammad Dalal looks at scorched cars in his scrapyard that was set ablaze the night before by people who local residents alleged were Israeli settlers in the town of Huwara near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Defense Minister Israel Katz is reported to have told a closed-door Knesset committee meeting that settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank do not constitute “terrorism” but merely “a disturbance of public order.”

His remarks to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee anger Yesh Atid MKs Elazar Stern and Ram Ben-Barak, who insist that the rioters “are Jewish terrorists, this should be defined as terrorism,” according to Hebrew-language outlets.

Settler attacks have been escalating in recent weeks, prompting security agencies to invest more in fighting the trend.

The opposition lawmakers are said to be pressing Katz to reinstate administrative detention for suspected Jewish assailants, after the minister announced the controversial policy would no longer be used to hold Jewish suspects without charge on security grounds, i24 News reports. Since then, the practice has only been used on Palestinian suspects.

Defending his refusal to implement administrative detention for West Bank settlers, Katz insists there is a difference between a “security disturbance” and “public disturbance,” and claims settler violence falls into the latter category.

He purports that no security agency, including the Shin Bet, defines Jewish nationalist violence as terrorism, despite the fact that police announced this week that terror charges are to be filed against two Jewish suspects in settler attacks.

One of the suspects was detained on November 9 and is set to be charged Friday, after he was filmed beating a Palestinian woman unconscious with a club during an olive harvest in the central West Bank last month. The other was arrested on suspicion of burning property during a rampage by settlers through towns between Tulkarem and Nablus, in the northern part of the territory.

IDF seizes home and car of detained Palestinian activist in Jordan Valley, activists say

A home seized by the IDF in the Jordan Valley today belongs to detained Palestinian activist Ayman Ghraeib, according to the Jordan Valley Activists, an Israeli volunteer group that accompanies Palestinian shepherds in the area.

A spokeswoman for the group says Ghraieb’s home was “turned into a military base,” with his wife and children kicked out and his car confiscated. Neighboring landowners have also been evicted until further notice, says the spokeswoman.

Ghraieb, who documents evictions and other actions by Israeli settlers and security forces, was detained on November 17 in the Palestinian village of Fasayil, near Jericho, and is expected to be held in administrative detention, a tool used by Israeli security forces to hold Palestinians for months without charge.

The IDF and Shin Bet said this morning that they had commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night and “won’t allow terror to become established in the area.”

Zamir taps new IDF Ground Forces chief of staff amid uncertainty as Katz delays appointments of officers to key roles

Ground Forces chief Maj. Gen. Nadav Lotan (right) shakes hands with the incoming Ground Forces chief of staff Brig. Gen. Yair Natans, during a handover ceremony for the chief of the Artillery Corps, in Zichron Yaakov on November 25, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF Ground Forces is in a state of uncertainty as Defense Minister Israel Katz has delayed the appointment of officers to key roles, leading Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to carry out temporary appointments to fill some of the gaps.

In September, Katz refused to approve the appointment of Brig. Gen. Manor Yanai as the chief of staff at the Ground Forces to replace Maj. Gen. Rami Abudraham, who was promoted to chief of the Technological and Logistics Directorate.

Yanai was previously chief of staff at the Southern Command, serving in the role since before the October 7, 2023, attack. But his role is largely administrative and focuses on building up forces, not deploying them.

Katz has said he will not approve the promotion of any senior officer who served in the Southern Command on October 7, despite Zamir recently deciding — based on an external review of the IDF’s October 7 probes — that there is no issue with promoting Yanai.

As a result, the Ground Forces has been without a chief of staff since September, delaying critical planning processes.

Zamir has forgone trying to get Yanai’s promotion approved and instead quietly appointed Brig. Gen. Yair Natans, the chief of the Artillery Corps, to serve as the next Ground Forces chief of staff.

The IDF made no formal announcement of Natans’s appointment, but rather only mentioned it in a press release on the handover of the Artillery Corps chief role, which took place yesterday.

Natans was replaced by Brig. Gen. Ehud Bibi, who, according to the IDF’s announcement, will serve as acting Artillery Corps chief until a permanent appointment is made.

Bibi served as the head of the Ground Forces’ personnel division, which now leaves another critical position vacant.

Natans will enter the role of Ground Forces chief of staff in the coming weeks, the IDF says.

Katz, Zamir to attend security meeting convened by Netanyahu this evening

Defense Minister Israel Katz (left) and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, June 2025. (Ariel Harmoni / Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir will both attend a wider security meeting this evening convened by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

Katz and Zamir have been engaged in a public feud over the military’s October 7 investigations. Netanyahu met separately on Tuesday with Katz and with Zamir in an effort to de-escalate tensions. While reports on Monday said Netanyahu had intended to summon both senior officials for a meeting, he eventually opted to first meet Katz alone, and then sit down alone with Zamir.

At least 22 detained in Israeli operations in northern West Bank, Palestinian group says

Israeli soldiers search an ambulance during a raid in the West Bank village of Tamun, on November 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli forces have detained at least 22 people in the northern West Bank since launching a large-scale operation in the area last night, the Palestinian Authority’s official WAFA news agency reports, citing the Palestinian Prisoners Club organization.

The detainees were arrested during Israeli operations in the Palestinian Jordan Valley, the club’s Tubas Governorate administrators Kamal Bani ‘Awda tells WAFA.

Tubas Mayor Mahmoud Daraghmah says in a statement that the IDF had imposed a curfew and shut down roads leading to the town, and that “Apache helicopters fired toward the population this morning.”

He says Israeli forces have also seized five homes in Tubas and another 10 homes in Tamoun.

Speaking to Arabic media, Tubas Governor Ahmed al-Asaad accuses Israel of cutting off electricity and water lines in Tubas as part of a larger bid to force out Palestinians from the area.

The IDF and Shin Bet said this morning that they had commenced wide-scale operations in the northern West Bank last night and “won’t allow terror to become established in the area.”

Ben Gvir visits Tel Sheva, quarrels with residents, after deadly shooting

Following a deadly shooting in Tel Sheva this morning, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir arrives in the southern Bedouin town flanked by police forces.

He is seen entering the village via its main road, alongside police patrol vehicles and ATVs, then begins to quarrel with residents in the area.

The minister has been visiting southern Bedouin towns in recent days after announcing a new operation to fight violent crime in the Negev.

The visits have aggravated residents, who view the operation and provocative tours in Bedouin towns as a bid to win over voters in southern Jewish locales in the next election.

One resident is filmed accusing Ben Gvir of “playing on Bedouins’ backs” to secure votes, as the minister quarrels with him through the rolled-down window of his car.

עימות בין בן גביר לתושב היישוב הבדואי תל שבע pic.twitter.com/EJfyxR4p69

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) November 26, 2025

“I am playing on the back of whoever breaks the law,” Ben Gvir retorts, adding, “Whoever breaks the law, I will get on his back.”

Meanwhile, the Tel Sheva local council declares a strike after the murder of 40-year-old Bilal Atwa al-Asim, who was shot outside a gas station in the town.

Officers arrested three suspects in the shooting, which took place due to a fight between children from rival families currently embroiled in a blood feud.

All government services are currently shut down, save for schools, says Rafet Srihan, a member of the town’s local council.

Continuing string of "governance tours" in Bedouin towns in the Negev, Ben Gvir arrives in Tel Sheva in wake of deadly shooting, quarrels with residents in their cars, then leaves

Police arrested 3 suspects in the murder this morning, which left a man dead and two others injured pic.twitter.com/mQhOkaKU1D

— charlie summers (@cbsu03) November 26, 2025

Smotrich expands VAT exemption on personal imports from $75 to $150

Illustrative: Amazon packages move along a conveyor at an Amazon warehouse facility in Goodyear, Arizona, December 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

In a move aimed at combating the rising cost of living, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has decided to “dramatically expand the VAT ( Value Added Tax) exemption on personal imports” from $75 to $150, the Finance Ministry announces.

In a statement, the ministry says that Smotrich aims to “ease the cost of living” and “remove from monopolies and companies that control the economy the ability to charge Israeli consumers higher prices than in most European countries.”

Market concentration has led to “a high and unjustified price level for all households,” while “the purchasing power of Israeli citizens is lower than that of most European countries, with Israel ranked 22nd out of 38 countries,” the ministry continues.

Along with its statement, the ministry publishes a copy of Smotrich’s order for public comment before it is signed and implemented.

Israel is ranked fourth place in the organization’s list of developed countries with the highest comparable prices, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Last year, the OECD reported that food and beverage prices in Israel were 52 percent higher than the average among developed countries, second only to South Korea.

“The Israeli consumer pays more than their counterparts in Western countries,” says Smotrich. “The main reason for this lies in the fact that entire sectors are held by monopolies and tycoons who exploit the closed economy to charge the Israeli consumer a high and unjustified price. I have decided to increase competition in this sector and thereby reduce the cost of living for households in Israel.”

IDF says four Hamas operatives killed, two captured in thwarted attempt to flee tunnel under Rafah

Weapons the military says were found on Palestinian gunmen who were killed by IDF troops in southern Gaza's Rafah, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

In an update, the IDF says it killed four Palestinian gunmen and captured two other operatives who had emerged from tunnels in eastern Rafah — an IDF-held area in the southern Gaza Strip where dozens of Hamas fighters are believed to be trapped underground.

This morning, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the six operatives after they emerged from tunnels.

The Israeli Air Force then carried out an airstrike against the operatives, and troops of the Nahal Brigade were dispatched to the area to carry out scans.

The IDF says that the Nahal soldiers located in a building an operative who was killed in the airstrike and three other gunmen. The troops opened fire on the armed terror operatives and killed them, the army says.

Two additional terror operatives who were in the building were captured by the soldiers, the IDF adds.

In the past week, the IDF has reported killing over 20 terror operatives and capturing a further eight, after they tried to flee from the tunnels in Rafah.

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

Palestinian gunmen who tried to flee from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah are targeted in an airstrike, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Lapid touts ‘symbolic importance’ of upcoming Knesset vote to endorse Trump’s Gaza plan

Doubling down on his demand that the Knesset adopt US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza conflict, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that there it is symbolically important for “all factions of the house” to back American proposal and thereby say that “we stand behind these steps, behind the idea of ending the war.”

Speaking at a conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, Lapid says the plan had been presented to the Israeli public as solely a hostage deal instead of as “a full and complete outline that puts us on the path toward an arrangement for what happens in Gaza.”

Israel, Hamas, and the Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediators signed an agreement regarding the first phase of the ceasefire, but not Trump’s 20-point plan, which explicitly calls for Hamas to give up its arms and any semblance of rule. The plan also says that the end of hostilities could lead to “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

Lapid announced yesterday that he will bring a motion before the Knesset next week to adopt Trump’s “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.”

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

Addressing the IDI conference, Lapid complains that Hamas is rebuilding its strength and reiterates his call to involve Egypt in the security of the Gaza Strip.

“We know how to cooperate with the Egyptians. After all, for nearly a decade, we’ve been fighting ISIS in Sinai in cooperation with Egypt. Egypt controlled Gaza for 19 years. We have experience working with them, and as mentioned, they are ideological enemies of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the parent movement of Hamas,” he says.

Hamas health ministry confirms bodies of 15 deceased Gazans returned by Israel

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry confirms receiving the bodies of 15 deceased Gazans returned by Israel via the Red Cross.

The bodies are returned after Israel early this morning identified the remains of hostage Dror Or, whose body was handed over from Gaza yesterday.

Katz says he is continuing to work with IDF chief despite public spat over Oct. 7 probes

Defense Minister Israel Katz speaks during a Knesset plenum session, in Jerusalem, on November 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says he will continue to work with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, amid their public spat over the military’s October 7 investigations.

“Regarding the chief of staff, we have worked, are working, and will work together in everything related to the operational arenas of the State of Israel on all fronts. We work together with the prime minister… and we will continue to work, and there is constant dialogue,” Katz says during a Knesset plenum session.

“We scheduled in advance a work meeting tomorrow that we will definitely hold. Yesterday, we participated in a discussion with the prime minister on an important issue regarding Judea and Samaria (West Bank). We are working, working all the time,” he says.

“There is some disagreement regarding the issue of investigations and the need to deepen them in accordance with the recommendations of the Turgeman committee,” Katz says, referring to a panel of former senior officers that reviewed the IDF’s internal October 7 investigations.

Katz says his decision to appoint the defense establishment comptroller to examine the report by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman is necessary so that he can rule on senior appointments in the IDF.

“I have no doubt that I represent a very broad public interest in knowing what happened on October 7. The public also wants to know. The bereaved families also want to know,” he adds.

One said killed by IDF in central Gaza’s Maghazi; no immediate comment from IDF

A Palestinian has been killed by IDF fire at the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reports, citing a source at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah.

The camp lies close to the Gaza ceasefire line, on the Hamas-controlled side.

The IDF does not immediately comment on the report.

Four buses catch fire in Shfaram, northern Israel, overnight in suspected arson attack

Firefighters extinguish a bus that caught fire in Shfaram, an Arab city in northern Israel, November 26, 2025. (Fire and Rescue Service)

Four buses caught fire simultaneously in different locations throughout the city of Shfaram last night, firefighters say, in what appears to be a deliberate act of arson.

Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to the northern Arab city in the early morning and managed to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby buildings. No injuries were reported.

Investigators in the Fire and Rescue Service are still probing the circumstances of the incident.

Three teens arrested on suspicion of attacking, robbing Jerusalem bus driver

A bus door that was shattered after three teenagers threw stones at the vehicle and its driver in Jerusalem on November 25, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police announce that they arrested three teenagers last night on suspicion of attacking and robbing a bus driver in Jerusalem earlier in the evening.

The youths, ages 15-16, assaulted the driver after he told them it was forbidden to vape on the bus, police say. They allegedly beat him, stole his phone, then alighted and began throwing stones at the bus.

The assailants also hurled stones at a bus whose driver tried to help his colleague. Both drivers were injured in the attack. The buses’ windows and glass doors were shattered as a result of the stone-throwing.

Police who arrived at the scene managed to retrieve the driver’s stolen phone, which contained evidence of the attack.

The three suspects were detained for questioning on suspicion of assaulting a public servant, theft and intentional property damage. Police will bring them to court today for an extension on their remand.

Three arrested in connection to fatal shooting in Tel Sheva

Three men detained by police on suspicion of involvement in a deadly shooting, which left one dead in the Negev Bedouin town of Tel Sheva on November 26, 2025. (Israel Police)

Police arrest three men suspected in a fatal shooting that took place this morning in Tel Sheva, a Bedouin town in southern Israel.

The shooting left one man dead and injured two others, police say.

The victim, Bilal Atwa al-Asim, was killed in what began as a fight between children from the rival families, but escalated into a violent conflict between adults.

Officers say they raided a home belonging to the family of the suspected killers, and seized two army-grade firearms thought to have been used in the homicide. The weapons were likely stolen from a nearby IDF base, police add.

Palestinians report one killed, one wounded in IDF strike near Khan Younis

Palestinian media reports that a 20-year-old man has been killed and another person wounded by IDF bombing in Bani Suheila, near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The area lies on the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Yesh Atid MK blocked from establishing replacement health committee after Shas resignations halted regular committee operations

Lawmakers belonging to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party are blocked by Knesset security from entering the Health Committee chamber as they attempt to establish an alternative parliamentary panel.

The Knesset Education and Health committees have not met since late October, when the ultra-Orthodox Shas party resigned all the coalition positions it held in the Knesset, giving up the chairmanships of parliamentary committees to protest the lack of a law regulating the conscription of yeshiva students. No replacements have since been appointed, preventing the committees from continuing normal operations.

Yesh Atid announced this morning it would inaugurate an alternate health committee under the leadership of MK Tatiana Mazarsky, “in the absence of a permanent and functioning committee.”

“While the coalition is neglecting the health of the state’s citizens and choosing petty politics, we will continue to act and care for the people of Israel,” Mazarsky posted on X.

משמר הכנסת חוסם את דרכה של ח״כ טטיאנה מזרסקי (יש עתיד) לחדר הוועדה על מנת לנהל את ועדת הבריאות האלטרנטיבית.
הוועדה הוקמה במחאה על זה ששבועות אין ועדת חינוך או ועדת בריאות מתפקדת בכנסת אחרי ההתפטרות של ראשי הועדות מש״ס.
בכנסת טוענים כי זו הטעיה של הציבור והם מוזמנים להקים שדולה. pic.twitter.com/h8MfwMBzT8

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) November 26, 2025

According to Yesh Atid, the establishment of an alternative health committee would have been “a direct continuation” of the alternative education committee established by MK Moshe Tur-Paz earlier this week.

“Yesh Atid will continue to present a real alternative to the failing government, and while they are busy with political whims, we will take care of the citizens of Israel,” the party stated.

Tur-Paz was unable to establish his committee on Monday because the Education Committee’s chamber was locked. Standing outside the committee room, Lapid accused the Knesset of sending the message: “I don’t care about the children, I’m shutting down the Education Committee.”

“All we are trying to do is bring a discussion on education into the Knesset of Israel. That’s why we’re here. That is the purpose of the alternative Education Committee. If the Knesset has a problem with that, it should reopen the Education Committee and let us address the educational issues that are not being addressed today,” Lapid said at the time.

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) sent The Times of Israel a copy of a letter from Knesset Secretary General Dan Marzouk to Yesh Atid MK Tur-Paz stating that while it is problematic that the Education Committee is currently not meeting and the desire to establish an alternative is understandable, such a course of action circumvents parliamentary rules of procedure and undermines the status of the actual panel.

Instead, Marzouk recommended working through parliamentary lobbies or holding informal conferences featuring “relevant groups from among the public.”

“Therefore, to the extent that you wish to hold informal discussions in the field of education in the Knesset building, you must do so in one of the accepted ways…and not by establishing an ‘alternative education committee,'” he wrote.

IDF to employ AI tool to clamp down on soldiers’ social media posts

In an attempt to crack down on soldiers sharing sensitive content on social media, the IDF is reportedly launching a new system that will monitor and track the public online accounts of standing army troops.

Army Radio reports that the system, dubbed Morpheus, uses artificial intelligence to track all text, photos, and videos posted by standing army soldiers on social media and flag content that may contain sensitive information — such as bases or classified weaponry — for review.

If a soldier posts something that violates the military’s information security rules, they will receive an automatic notification instructing them to delete the post, the report says, adding that if necessary, the soldier will also receive a phone call from an information security officer.

Army Radio says that the system, pending legal approvals, will begin to operate in December.

The system, however, has two main limitations: It can only track public accounts, not private ones, and it cannot be used to track reservists, who are civilians in the legal sense.

According to the report, there are some 170,000 public social media accounts of soldiers in the standing army.

In the past four months, a pilot program ran on the accounts of some 45,000 soldiers, the report says, adding that thousands of cases were flagged by the system, and officers from the Information Security Department contacted the troops and instructed them to delete the posts.

Until recently, the IDF has done little to stop soldiers, especially reservists, from sharing unauthorized content online, with the phenomenon remaining widespread amid the war.

It was recently reported that Hamas spent years collecting sensitive intelligence on IDF bases and equipment, especially tanks and their operations, from soldiers’ social media activity, ahead of the October 7 onslaught.

AG tells High Court that Ben-Hamo is ineligible to lead Sde Teiman leak probe; Levin says he suspects court meddling in investigation

Left: Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks during a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 11, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90); Right: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a conference at the University of Haifa, December 15, 2022. (Shir Torem/ Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin and the Attorney General’s Office submit conflicting opinions to the High Court of Justice regarding the viability of Levin’s pick to lead the investigation into the leak of surveillance footage from the Sde Teiman military facility.

Levin, in his response to the court, says that his choice, retired district court judge Yosef Ben-Hamo, meets the court’s criteria, while the Attorney General’s Office argues that he does not and asks for the appointment to be overruled.

Levin announced Ben-Hamo’s appointment to head the probe last week, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice that allowed him to choose an overseer of the probe provided the appointee was a senior public servant, which Ben-Hamo is not.

A subsequent court ruling temporarily stayed Ben-Hamo’s appointment.

Now, Levin submits a response in which a member of the Civil Service Commission is cited as saying that Ben-Hamo does meet the court’s criteria, which requires the person overseeing the probe to have no political affiliation, be an expert in legal affairs, and have a job closely connected to criminal investigations or prosecutions.

Critics have charged that, in addition to not being a senior public servant, Ben-Hamo is ineligible as he has ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and lacks the requisite criminal law expertise.

Echoing these arguments, the Attorney General’s Office tells the court that there were “fundamental flaws” in the process through which Justice Minister Yariv Levin appointed Ben-Hamo to lead the investigation, and asks that it overturn the appointment.

Ben-Hamo, it says, “does not meet the conditions of the High Court’s ruling and he is not a civil servant.”

Levin, in his response, tells the court that the longer it delays Ben-Hamo’s appointment, the stronger the suspicion grows that it is interfering in the investigation.

“Every passing hour increases the fear that the investigation will be disrupted by those involved in the affair,” the justice minister says, warning of “irreversible evidentiary damage and the endangerment of the ability to investigate the truth.”

“History will judge those who acted to investigate the truth and who acted with a conflict of interest, thwarted, disrupted, postponed, and delayed the investigation of the truth,” he adds.

Man shot and killed in Tel Sheva amid blood feud between two Bedouin families

Bilal Atwa al-Asim, a 40-year-old man who was killed in a shooting in the Negev Bedouin town of Tel Sheva on November 26, 2025. (Facebook)

A man was shot and killed in Tel Sheva this morning, in what police say was part of a blood feud between two Bedouin families in the southern town.

The victim, 40-year-old Bilal Atwa al-Asim, was killed outside a gas station in the village. The shooting also injured a 19-year-old, who was taken to the hospital with light injuries, paramedics say.

Police suspect the dispute was reignited due to a fight between children from the two families, which escalated into a violent conflict between the adults.

Large forces from the Southern District are now operating in the area and searching for suspects in the deadly shooting.

Police have been heavily active in the Negev desert in recent days, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared a new operation, dubbed “New Order,” in the region aimed at combating arms trafficking, violent crime and traffic violations.

IDF says it struck six terror operatives thought to have emerged from tunnel under Rafah

The IDF says it struck six terror operatives who likely emerged from tunnels in eastern Rafah, an IDF-held area in the southern Gaza Strip where dozens of Hamas fighters are believed to be trapped underground.

This morning, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the six operatives in the area, the IDF says, adding that it believes they had emerged from the tunnels.

A short while later, the Israeli Air Force, with information provided by ground forces, struck the six operatives while they attempted to flee, the IDF says.

The military says a “hit was identified,” but it is unknown yet how many of the operatives were killed in the strike. Troops of the Nahal Brigade are conducting scans in the area, the IDF adds.

Yesterday, five gunmen who emerged from the tunnels in Rafah were killed by troops. Over the weekend, 17 operatives emerged from tunnels and were either killed or captured. And a week ago, IDF troops spotted and shot dead four operatives who emerged from a tunnel in the area.

Israel hands over remains of 15 Palestinians to the Red Cross after return of hostage’s body — report

Palestinian media reports that the IDF has handed over the remains of 15 Palestinians to the Red Cross via the Kissufim Border Crossing in the central Gaza Strip, following the return of hostage Dror Or’s remains from Gaza last night.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel is required to return 15 bodies of Palestinians for each slain hostage it receives.

After delays, Knesset defense committee to begin hearings on Haredi conscription bill next week

MK Boaz Bismuth attends a Knesset House Committee meeting, August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

After repeated delays, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud) will launch a new set of hearings next week on the government’s controversial bill regulating ultra-Orthodox conscription after receiving a green light from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to national broadcaster Kan.

Despite Bismuth’s announcement in October that he would soon submit a revised draft of the bill to the committee with the intention of bringing it to a final plenum vote in December, progress has been marked by repeated delays caused by ultra-Orthodox intransigence and internal opposition to the bill within the coalition.

The United Torah Judaism party’s Degel HaTorah faction announced last week that it had received a green light from its senior spiritual leaders to support the bill, while a senior figure in fellow Haredi party Shas told The Times of Israel that it was also in favor.

Kan reports that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri has said that Netanyahu agreed to rabbinic demands for changes to the bill, a likely reference to either reducing sanctions on draft evaders or lowering enlistment goals. The network further indicates that the revised text of the bill could be presented to lawmakers as early as tomorrow, in preparation for next week’s committee discussions.

IDF condemns Haredi rioters who overturned a Military Police car in Ramat Gan

The IDF issues a condemnation after Haredi rioters flipped a Military Police vehicle during the attempted arrest of a draft dodger in Ramat Gan last night.

The military says that during the attempted arrest, “a large number of rioters gathered at the scene, disrupted the proper conduct of the operation, and at one point attacked a Military Police patrol car and overturned it.”

No injuries were caused, but the Military Police car was damaged, the IDF says.

The IDF also confirms that the attempted arrest failed, “as the draft evader was not at home at the time.”

Israel Police officers were dispatched to the scene, dispersed the rioters, and detained two suspects involved in overturning the military car, the IDF says.

“The IDF strongly condemns any attempt to harm IDF soldiers performing their duties lawfully and will continue to enforce in accordance with its authority and the law,” the military adds.

רמת גן: מפגינים חרדים הפכו ניידת משטרתית וחסמו כוח משטרה שהגיע לעצור עריק חרדי. המוחים נהרו למקום והחלו להתעמת עם הכוחות. העריק כלל לא היה בבית, אלא בישיבה.
3 נעצרו.

(שילה פריד, וינט) pic.twitter.com/GTUo8Yraiv

— חדר מלחמה (@waroomisrael) November 26, 2025

Netanyahu tells court it is ‘almost impossible’ for him to testify three times a week

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the judges of the Jerusalem District Court at the start of this morning’s hearing that it is “almost impossible” for him to testify three times a week in his long-running corruption trial.

The premier tells the judges that he has “made very great efforts to hold three hearings a week, efforts which required postponing critical discussions on issues that the public does not know about.”

“I am not exaggerating in the slightest — it is simply almost impossible,” he says.

Last month, the court said that Netanyahu would be required to testify three times a week, up from twice a week, in an effort to speed up the trial, which started in 2020 and is not expected to end before 2027.

Since then, the premier’s defense team has submitted multiple requests for hearings to be shortened or canceled entirely, citing ill health, security meetings, or diplomatic visits.

Channel 12 reported last week that there has not been a single week in which the premier has testified three times.

Kibbutz Be’eri mourns its final hostage to return from Gaza, ‘devoted father’ Dror Or

Kibbutz Be’eri mourns “devoted father” Dror Or upon confirmation that his body was returned to Israel from Gaza last night.

“Dror was a devoted father of three children — Yaheli, Noam and Alma, a loving husband to the late Yonat, a son to Dorit and Yuval, and a brother to Elad and Dana, who worked constantly for his release,” the kibbutz says.

It notes that “for the first time since October 7, there are no hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri in captivity.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum remembers Or as “an active and involved father and a loving and supportive husband.”

“Dror was a wonderful cheesemaker — according to his friends, co-workers, and those who had the pleasure of tasting his handmade cheeses,” the forum says of Or, who was one of three cheesemakers behind the boutique Be’eri Dairy.

“Dror has been returned to Israel for burial in the earth of Be’eri that he loved so much,” it adds.

Kremlin confirms Witkoff will visit Moscow next week amid push to end Ukraine war

The Kremlin confirms that US envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Washington presses negotiations on a plan to end the Ukraine conflict.

“A preliminary agreement has been reached on (Witkoff’s) visit to Moscow next week,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov says on Russian TV, adding that several other officials from President Donald Trump’s administration would accompany him.

Report: Hamas examining proposal to disband armed wing, transition solely to politics

Heavily armed Hamas fighters line up at the site of the handing over of Israeli hostages in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on February 22, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Hamas leaders both inside and outside the Gaza Strip are debating what the terror group’s future should look like, and are potentially open to discussing disarmament, the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reports.

According to the report, which cites unnamed sources within Hamas, one proposal being examined by the group’s leadership suggests dissolving its armed wing and reinventing itself as solely a political organization “capable of taking part in political, economic, social and general public life.”

The proposal also calls for Hamas to become a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, chaired by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the source says.

The source adds that joining the PLO would allow Hamas to become “an important political actor” alongside other Palestinian political parties, thus reviving the political process in the Palestinian territories.

Becoming a legitimate political party in the eyes of the Palestinian public would also ensure Hamas’s “survival away from its weapons,” the source tells Asharq Al-Awsat, acknowledging that the terror group has lost much of its internal support after two years of war and the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The source acknowledges that Hamas leaders have already been discussing the possibility of disarming with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and says that the matter has been broached indirectly with the United States.

But the source says that should Hamas decide to lay down its weapons, it would only do so “through a Palestinian national agreement” and would not allow Israel or the United Nations to get involved.

The United Nations voted this month to adopt a US-sponsored resolution authorizing the establishment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to secure the Gaza Strip.

Under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, the ISF could be tasked with taking part in the demilitarization of Gaza.

However, the Hamas source tells Asharq Al-Awsat that the terror group will not allow the ISF to “impose itself by force to disarm,” and warns of “an undesirable and dangerous state of chaos” if it does so.

The source adds that the proposal to disband Hamas’s armed wing in favor of pursuing politics has been submitted to the terror group’s politburo leaders, the Shura Council and other relevant bodies within Hamas.

Body of hostage returned from Gaza last night identified as Dror Or

Dror Or (Courtesy)

Military representatives have notified the family of Dror Or that his body was returned to Israel by Palestinian terror groups last night, after forensic experts completed identification efforts.

Or was murdered by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists and abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023.

Or’s body was “found” by Palestinian Islamic Jihad in central Gaza’s Nuseirat on Monday. Islamic Jihad and Hamas handed over the body to the Red Cross on Tuesday afternoon, who then brought it to the IDF.

The bodies of two slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Or family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

The PMO says that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back the remaining two slain hostages for burial, adding that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”

Or’s wife, Yonat, was also murdered during the onslaught in Be’eri, and their younger children, Noam and Alma, were abducted alive and later returned in a ceasefire deal two years ago, on November 25, 2023.

Three detained after Haredi rioters block attempted arrest of draft dodger overnight

Chaos broke out in Ramat Gan, central Israel, overnight after Military Police tried to arrest an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student found to be evading the draft.

Dozens of Haredi protesters met the Military Police officers at the site of the attempted arrest and surrounded the police vehicle, footage published by Ynet shows. Several protesters could be seen in the footage sitting directly in front of the car, blocking the law enforcement members from moving through the crowd.

A group of protesters then flipped the police car over.

Footage taken later in the night, after the protesters had been pushed back, shows police officers returning the vehicle upright, with no visible damage done to it.

Three of the protesters were arrested, Ynet reports, although the draft dodger himself was not arrested, as he was not at home.

An Army Radio correspondent reports that the draft dodger had been home when police arrived, but managed to slip away and fled to his yeshiva amid the unrest outside.

אירוע אלימות חסר תקדים בבני ברק: המשטרה הצבאית ניסתה לעצור הלילה צעיר חרדי עריק בגבול בני ברק רמת גן. בקווי ההתרעות של הפלג הירושלמי הזעיקו למקום מאות מפגינים שהתעמתו באלימות עם המשטרה ואף הפכו והשחיתו את ניידות המשטרה הצבאית ובהמשך גם גנבו ציוד צבאי ואזיקים מהרכבים, כשלבסוף… pic.twitter.com/wswNFdgvJM

— דניאל גרובייס Daniel Grovais (@daniel_grovais) November 26, 2025

Citing a source from within the Military Police, the Army Radio correspondent reports that rioters stole handcuffs and equipment from the Military Police vehicle.

IDF and Shin Bet announce start of broad counterterror op in northern West Bank

The IDF and Shin Bet announce they launched a wide-scale counterterror operation in the northern West Bank last night.

“The IDF and Shin Bet won’t allow terror to become established in the area and are working actively to thwart it,” they say in a joint statement.

US said proposing ‘alternative safe communities’ for Gazans in Israeli-controlled Strip

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stand amid the destruction resulting from the Israel-Hamas war, north of Gaza City, November 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The Trump administration is advocating for the swift construction of residential compounds in areas of Israeli-controlled Gaza that would provide housing to Palestinians in the enclave, the New York Times reports.

Citing over 20 officials it interviewed, the US newspaper says the compounds would be known as “Alternative Safe Communities,” with each housing between 20,000 and 25,000 Gazans. The compounds, which will be composed of temporary structures, will also include medical clinics and educational facilities.

“There’s a practical issue: How do we get people into safe housing as soon as humanly possible?” senior Trump administration official Aryeh Lightstone, who is in charge of the effort, tells the Times. “This is the easiest way to do that.”

The report notes that it’s unclear how many Palestinians are able or would want to live in the compounds, which if constructed, would only have sufficient space for a small number of the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2 million residents, and how the project would be funded.

Officials quoted in the report also cite concerns over whether Palestinians who move to the compounds would be able to leave and whether Israel could block some potential residents after vetting them.

The report’s core details were first revealed by The Times of Israel at the beginning of November when Arab diplomats relayed that one of the main proposals presented to potential Gulf donor countries envisioned the construction of roughly half a dozen residential regions on the eastern half of the Strip, which is currently under Israeli control.

The diplomats said that “new Gaza” was the term frequently used by US officials to describe the project that will take place on the eastern side of the Yellow Line — the newly created boundary to which the IDF withdrew on October 10 at the start of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Report: Witkoff coached Putin aide on how Russian leader should pitch Trump on Ukraine peace plan

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, left, and US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff attend talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 11, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s chief interlocutor with the Russian government last month advised a senior aide to Vladimir Putin on how the Russian leader should go about pitching the US president on a peace plan aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a transcript of the call published by Bloomberg News.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, according to a transcript of the October 14 call published by the news service, advised Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov that Putin should call Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza peace deal, say Russia had supported it and that he respects the president as a man of peace.

“From that, it’s going to be a really good call,” Witkoff said according to the transcript.

The Bloomberg report comes as Trump says a proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and announces he’s sending Witkoff to meet with Putin.

The White House doesn’t dispute the veracity of the transcript, and Trump describes Witkoff’s reported approach to the Russians in the call as “standard” negotiating procedure.

“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One as he flies to his home in Florida. “That’s what a dealmaker does.”

But US Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican who has been critical of Trump’s approach to Ukraine, says the transcript shows Witkoff favors the Russians. “He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired,” Bacon says on social media.

Bloomberg says it reviewed a recording of the call, but doesn’t say how it obtained access to the recording. The Associated Press hasn’t independently verified the transcript.

The Witkoff-Ushakov call happened a day after Trump made a triumphant visit to Israel and Egypt to celebrate sealing the Gaza ceasefire.

Senior IDF officers said to call for Israeli plan to demilitarize Gaza as Hamas gains strength

Hamas terrorists guard an area where they are searching for the bodies of hostages with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City on November 3, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Security officials warned cabinet ministers in recent days that Hamas has asserted almost total control over parts of Gaza it rules, according to a Channel 13 news report.

The network says ministers were told that 13 of 25 Hamas-controlled municipalities have resumed full operations, police are again manning checkpoints and the terror group is working to repair damaged infrastructure and improve its image among Palestinians.

Senior IDF officers are quoted in the report as calling for Israel to develop its own plans to demilitarize Gaza, saying the US proposal for doing so is insufficient.

NY prosecutors to retry suspect in 1979 disappearance of Jewish boy Etan Patz

This May 28, 2012 file photo shows a newspaper with a photograph of Etan Patz at a makeshift memorial in the SoHo neighborhood of New York where Patz lived before his disappearance on May 25, 1979. (AP/Mark Lennihan)

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office says it will retry a suspect in the case of Etan Patz, a 6-year-old Jewish boy who as kidnapped and murdered in 1979.

The suspect, Pedro Hernandez, was convicted in 2017, but his conviction was overturned earlier this year when a court of appeals said the jury had received improper instructions.

The conviction was Hernandez’s second trial in the case.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office had been given a December 1 deadline to make a determination about retrying Hernandez.

The district attorney’s office says in a letter to the court that, “The District Attorney has determined that the available, admissible evidence supports prosecuting defendant on the charges of Murder in the Second Degree and
Kidnapping in the First Degree in this matter, and the People are prepared to proceed.”

Patz went missing in May 1979 on the first day that he was allowed by his mother to walk alone to his school bus stop in New York City. He was one of the first missing children whose picture was placed on milk cartons to seek the public’s help in finding him. Despite extensive searches, he was never found.

Another man who was declared responsible for Patz’s disappearance in a civil court was released in 2012 after Hernandez was charged with Patz’s murder.

US Space Force awards contracts to develop Golden Dome missile defense prototypes

Posters for the proposed Golden Dome for America missile defense shield are displayed before an event with US President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, May 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

WASHINGTON — The US Space Force has awarded about a half dozen small Golden Dome contracts to build competing missile defense prototypes, kicking off a race for future deals worth tens of billions of dollars, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

The awards went to several companies including Northrop Grumman, True Anomaly, Lockheed Martin and Anduril, the sources say.

The contracts mark a significant step forward in the Pentagon’s efforts to track and destroy enemy missiles, and include prototypes of space-based interceptors and related systems. While Reuters cannot determine the size of the contracts, a July Pentagon presentation seen by Reuters suggested awards for interceptor contracts would be about $120,000 each.

The contracts have not yet been publicly announced, though a Space Force spokesperson confirms the awards, declining to name the contractors. The spokesperson says that contracts under $9 million do not need to be publicly disclosed.

Winners of these initial awards will compete for final production contracts that could be worth tens of billions of dollars.

The contracts will fund the development of competing prototypes for phase interceptors that will shoot down a missile as it enters space, and the fire control stations to coordinate the signals from satellites and help interceptors launch and find their targets.

The Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman and Anduril contracts valued at $10 million, according to values printed in the July Pentagon presentation, the sources say.

Names of the companies that won contracts in both these award pools have not previously been reported.

The government had asked contractors to develop four different versions of interceptors to address threats at various altitudes and speeds that have yet to be awarded.

A third source says the four interceptor pools may be consolidated into three.

A Northrop spokesperson declines to comment. Anduril, Lockheed and True Anomaly don’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

UN Security Council envoys to visit Syria and Lebanon amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions

The UN Security Council will visit Syria and Lebanon next week, the Slovenian mission says, as it looks to chair the council starting in December.

The ambassadors for 15 member states are set to visit Damascus on December 4, a few days before the first anniversary of the ouster of Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The diplomats are expected to meet new authorities there, including President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the mission tells reporters.

As the United Nations works to reestablish itself in Syria, the Security Council recently lifted sanctions against al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, calling oh him to effect an inclusive transition.

Security Council officials will then travel to Beirut on December 5, heading south the next day to meet peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is set to leave the country by the end of 2027 after serving as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel since 1978.

The visit comes as Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024 — which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah — by continuing its strikes and maintaining forces inside its territory.

NYC mayor announces new Holocaust memorial in Queens

New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends an event at the NYPD's 40th precinct on February 20, 2025, in the Bronx borough of New York. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announces plans for a new Holocaust memorial in the borough of Queens.

The city and the office of the Queens borough president have allocated $3 million to develop the memorial, the mayor’s office says in a statement.

“It is not enough to say ‘never again’ — we have to live it with our actions too,” Adams says. “By preserving the stories of both victims and survivors, by creating a permanent space for remembrance and reflection, by promoting understanding and solidarity across generations, this memorial will live out the meaning of ‘never again.'”

The city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services will oversee the development process, which will include selecting an artist and designing a “commemorative garden and public artwork,” the mayor’s office says.

The Queens Jewish Community Council proposed the memorial and will help fundraise and support the project.

The site will be the first significant Holocaust memorial in the borough and, when completed, will host remembrance ceremonies, educational programs and community gatherings.

The memorial will be located at the Queens Borough Hall.

MBS’s pushback on Israel normalization reportedly irked Trump

US President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)

US President Donald Trump was left “disappointed and angry” after a “tense” exchange with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over normalization with Israel during their White House meeting last week, Channel 12 reports, citing two senior American officials and an additional source familiar with the conversation.

According to the unconfirmed report, Trump was the one to raise the issue, urging the crown prince to move forward immediately with normalization. In response, Bin Salman pushed back, saying that while he isn’t against normalization in principle, widespread anti-Israel sentiment in Saudi Arabia following the war in Gaza doesn’t allow for the move at this time.

While the conversation remained polite, a senior US official tells the Hebrew network that Trump was “disappointed and angry” over the crown prince’s refusal.

The official adds that “bin Salman did not say ‘never’ in the meeting regarding normalization with Israel. He left the door open to doing it in the future — but the issue of a two-state solution is a major problem” — a condition bin Salman stated publicly at the White House.

The Saudi embassy in Washington did not provide Channel 12 with a response to the report, while the White House responded only that “President Trump calls on all Middle Eastern countries to join the Abraham Accords.”