Nov. 29: Hostages’ Tent in Jerusalem dismantled after almost two years of struggle

Jerusalem Hostages’ Tent dismantled after almost two years

Activists dismantle the Hostages' Tent that has been set up outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem for almost two years, on November 29, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Hostages’ Tent at the corner of Jerusalem’s Aza Road and Balfour, close to the Prime Minister’s Residence, was dismantled earlier tonight, almost two years after it was set up in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre.

The tent was dismantled following a farewell event.

Two deceased hostages, Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak, have yet to be returned from Gaza, but the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has begun the process of greatly narrowing its activities, saying that they don’t serve the current situation any longer.

PA news agency: Israeli forces withdrew from Tubas, in northern West Bank, after 4-day op

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

The IDF and Shin Bet have withdrawn from the city of Tubas after a four-day operation in the West Bank’s eponymous northeastern governorate, according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency.

According to WAFA, Israeli forces withdrew tonight from the city of Tubas as well as the villages of Aqaba to its north and Tayasir to its east. The forces had already withdrawn last night from the village of Tammun and from the Far’a refugee camp, WAFA says.

During the operation, Israeli forces arrested or carried out field interrogations of about 200 Palestinians, ten of whom remain in Israeli custody, WAFA says, citing Kaman Bani ‘Awda, the Palestinian Prisoners Club NGO director in Tubas.

Nidal ‘Awda, regional chief of ambulance services, is cited as saying 204 people required medical treatment, including 69 people who had to be taken to a hospital, following assaults by Israeli troops.

The IDF and Shin Bet said Wednesday that they had commenced a large-scale counter-terror operation in the area the night before.

This evening, the IDF said that as part of the operation, troops searched hundreds of buildings in Tammun and the al-Faraa camp, and detained some 10 “terrorists,” including arms dealers and operatives who had advanced attacks on troops. Dozens more suspects were taken in for questioning, the military says.

The army said that troops “continue to operate proactively to prevent the establishment of terror infrastructure in the area and to thwart any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Knesset to discuss establishing special panel to advance Karhi’s controversial media regulation bill

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, flanked by coalition ministers, attends a Knesset session in Jerusalem on October 22, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Knesset House Committee will discuss on Monday the establishment of a special committee meant to advance a controversial media regulation bill spearheaded by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.

Karhi is trying to establish the committee in order to sidestep Likud MK David Bitan, who has expressed opposition to the bill in its current form and happens to head the Economic Affairs Committee, which usually deals with media-related legislation.

The committee, if it becomes a reality, is set to be headed by Likud MK Galit Distal-Atbaryan.

Bitan says his fellow Likud legislator’s attempt to bypass his committee is an affront to the democratic process.

“There are some ministers who want a committee that is convenient for them; this is a cheapening of democracy,” he tells Channel 12 in an interview.

Karhi’s bill would give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites and other media by establishing a new regulatory council, with a majority of members chosen by the communications minister that would be granted vast authorities, including the ability to issue hefty fines.

In a video published tonight hinting at the committee’s pending establishment, Karhi boasts that he is “changing the media in Israel.”

“I closed Al Jazeera, I stopped the government funding to the Haaretz newspaper. I brought Channel 14 and a variety of channels to Idan Plus,” he says, referring to the free-of-charge broadcast distribution platform. The minister adds that he also helped “advance the closure of Army Radio.”

Report: Hamas operative surrendered to Israeli forces in Gaza

A Hamas operative surrendered to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip today, a US official tells CBS News.

According to the report, the operative crossed the Yellow Line demarcating the military’s withdrawal, and told troops that he was recently recruited by Hamas but now regretted his choice.

The military confirms to The Times of Israel that troops detained a “suspect” who crossed the Yellow Line in southern Gaza earlier today, before transferring him for further questioning.

NEWS: A Hamas fighter surrendered to Israeli forces today, a US official told @CBSNews. He crossed Gaza's yellow line, the ceasefire line that took effect Oct. 10, and told IDF that Hamas had recently recruited him but he now regretted his choice, the official said.
IDF said it… pic.twitter.com/SAhIFaDOKh

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 29, 2025

Gallant: Haredi conscription bill is ‘new low’ for Likud, and a ‘grave departure’ from Zionist path

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant arrives to the Likud court for a discussion on the proposal to remove him from the party. September 29, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant lambasts the government over its support of a bill to regulate Haredi enlistment, saying the legislation is a “grave departure from Israel’s Zionist path.”

“No less grave is that the person who is spearheading it is from the main Zionist party, the Likud movement, which has reached a new low in this matter,” he tells Channel 12 in an interview.

According to Gallant, the bill unveiled by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth on Thursday would mean that in practice, one in every four Jewish males would not enlist. Taking Haredi demographic growth into account, the ratio would become one in three within just 15 years. “We can’t allow ourselves this from a security perspective,” says the ex-minister.

He claims that the gap between Likud politicians and voters has never been wider due to the right-wing party’s backing of the bill.

“Everyone who votes for Likud, the Likud activists, every one of them has a brother, son, daughter in the IDF. [If the bill passes,] they will do more mandatory service and more reserve service. This thing is inconceivable, especially at this moment,” he says.

He tells the interviewer that he fought tooth and nail over the issue of Haredi enlistment, which was the main reason for his sacking by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I fought over this matter, and also paid with my position, because it is the most important thing,” he says. “That he [Netanyahu] put a narrow political consideration over the country, over the army, is very grave,” he says.

Speaking about this past week’s spat between Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Gallant says that the quarrelling plays into the hands of Israel’s enemy. The two security officials traded barbs publicly, with Zamir accusing the minister of harming the IDF’s preparedness by freezing senior promotions.

“The unified message of the security establishment is a tool for our struggle against our enemies. Our enemies are looking at this split and it weakens us,” Gallant says.

Father of last Israeli hostage says Hamas ‘messing with’ family, not making any progress in search for body; ‘no day after’ until final two bodies returned

Itzik Gvili, the father of slain hostage Ran Gvili, speaks at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, on November 29, 2025. (Uriel Even Sapir/The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Itzik Gvili, whose policeman son Ran is one of the last two deceased hostages in Gaza, says there can be “no next phase” to the Gaza ceasefire, and “no ‘day after’ in Gaza,” until Hamas returns the remains of Ran and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

“Hamas says it’s looking” for the bodies, Gvili says, “but we don’t see any progress. They’re messing with us and it has to stop, now.”

On October 7, 2023, Ran and his fellow officers rushed out to fend off the Hamas invasion, fighting “shoulder to shoulder, as one, out of mutual accountability and unity,” Gvili says. “They didn’t stop to check your background or where you’re from — they valiantly protected anyone who needed help.”

“That was their spirit and that’s the heritage they leave us,” says Gvili. “Together, because that’s our strength and our beauty.”

“Now the goal is to bring our Rani back home,” he says. “Enough with the pain and open wounds — we want to get off this rollercoaster.”

“It’s time to bring Sudthisak and Rani back and achieve closure,” says Gvili.

Irish foreign minister says Herzog Park should keep its name, urges Dublin council to vote against change

Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee criticizes the Dublin City Council over a vote it is due to hold on Monday on a proposal to rename the city’s Herzog Park, named after Israel’s former chief rabbi, Irish-born Chaim Herzog.

McEntee urges council members to vote against the proposal, saying that Herzog was an important figure in Irish history and has nothing to do with the issues Ireland has been “rightly” critical of — namely, Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Renaming a Dublin park in this way — to remove the name of an Irish Jewish man — has nothing to do with this and has no place in our inclusive republic,” she says.

“In my view, this name change should not proceed and I urge Dublin City Councillors to vote against it.”

In veiled criticism of government’s planned Oct. 7 probe, Jon Polin stresses importance of ‘speaking the truth’

Jon Polin, the father of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, speaks at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, on November 29, 2025. (Alon Gilboa/The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Speaking in English at Hostages Square, Jon Polin, father of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, offers veiled criticism of the government’s refusal to establish a state commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

He notes that in next week’s Torah portion, Jacob wrestles with an angel who asks him what his name is, to which the patriarch answers, ‘Jacob’ — contrasting the way he had deceived his father, Isaac, by pretending to be his brother Esau.

“This time, Jacob owns who he is, and he faces the dishonesty of his past,” says Polin.

“Acknowledging our mistakes, speaking the truth — it can be hard. It requires courage and moral strength,” but only in so doing “can we heal our divisions and fulfill the full, tremendous potential of the people of Israel,” he says.

Eyal Eshel, father of slain surveillance soldier Roni Eshel, is more explicit.

Every day that passes with the remains of hostages Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak still in Gaza “is a national disgrace,” says Eshel, adding that “instead of seeing a leadership eager to wrap up this story, we see a leadership determined to run away from it.”

“The government of Israel is doing everything so that a state commission of inquiry is not established,” he says. “It’s not just fear — it’s a manipulation by the authorities.”

The government has voted to establish its own commission of inquiry, arguing that a statutory state commission of inquiry would not enjoy broad public support since it would be convened by the judiciary, which the government seeks to weaken.

The government claims that the new commission would seek as broad public support as possible, despite public opinion polls consistently showing strong majorities in favor of a state commission.

“We demand a state commission — not a political one, not ‘by consensus’ and not by any other name,” says Eshel. “An investigation that will name those responsible and dismantle the mechanisms of debacle.”

Slamming proposed draft law, Yair Golan says no Haredi men should be exempt from military service

Yair Golan derides a government-backed bill to regulate Haredi army enlistment, calling it a bill that allows for draft evasion, rather than a “draft law.”

“It is not a draft law, it is a law that permits draft evasion, a law with no personal sanctions, a law that, in practice, I don’t think will get through the Supreme Court,” he says in an interview with Channel 12. “A new draft law is supposed to create equality, create a process that will lead to equality, and this law doesn’t do that.”

The bill, unveiled Thursday by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, would continue to grant military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students and soften penalties for draft evaders while ostensibly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions.

When asked about his ideal target number of conscripts from the Haredi world, Golan insists that everyone should serve in the military, and that anyone who wants to study in religious institutions can do so afterward.

“Torah students are just like physics students, math students and students of every other profession. They must serve, and afterwards go and learn — what’s the issue?” he says.

Asked whether he thinks all parties in the opposition will be willing to form a government with Arab parties in order to topple the current government, Golan says it is crucial that “not even one of the parties in the current coalition will be in the [next] coalition.”

“It is important for the State of Israel… that the corrupt draft evaders and nationalist extremists will not be in the next government,” he says emphatically. “If you are asking if I prefer to set up this government, that Mansour Abbas be in the government, the answer is yes.”

Ireland’s chief rabbi decries Dublin council’s motion to rename Herzog Park

Ireland’s chief rabbi speaks out against a plan to rename a park in Dublin named after Israel’s Irish-born sixth president, Chaim Herzog.

Following a campaign by anti-Israel groups amid a swell in anti-Israel sentiment in Ireland since the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, Dublin’s city council approved on Monday a motion to vote to rename the park, which was named in Herzog’s honor in a 1995 ceremony.

It is not clear when the city council will vote on the motion or what the new name might be.

Removing the name “would be to erase a central piece of Irish-Jewish history, and send a painful message of isolation to our small community,” says Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder.

“Herzog Park is more than a name on a sign,” Wieder writes. “It’s a place filled with memory, and an important reminder that our community has deep roots in Dublin.”

Wieder continues, “When the park was named in honour of Chaim Herzog in 1995, it was a recognition not just of one man, but a chapter of shared history. That history has not changed, and it cannot be undone by motions or votes.”

IDF chief to appoint panel to probe military’s handling of intel reports outlining Hamas plans for Oct. 7

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) and Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman (right) present Defense Minister Israel Katz (center) with the findings made by a panel of former senior officers tasked with evaluating the military's probes into the October 7 attack, on November 9, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir intends to appoint a panel of experts that will investigate the military’s handling of intelligence reports received since 2018, which outlined Hamas’s intent to launch a wide-scale attack against Israel — a topic not included in the army’s initial October 7 probes.

The decision comes after a team of former senior officers, led by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman conducted a review of the IDF’s internal probes into the failures on October 7.

The team found many of the probes to be inadequate, and also pointed to several topics that were not investigated at all, chief among them was the intelligence reports of Hamas’s attack plan, codenamed in the army “Jericho’s Walls.”

The military had, over the years, dismissed Hamas’s plans as unrealistic and unfeasible, all while the terror group continued its preparations for October 7.

Zamir has not yet announced which officers are set to be part of the team that will dig deeper into the issue.

Turgeman’s report also recommended that the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — a Defense Ministry body that is headed by a military general and responsible for liaison with the Palestinians — also conduct a formal investigation, which it has not until now.

Other topics that had not been investigated included the IDF’s cooperation with the police and Shin Bet, the readiness of the Ground Forces, and the military’s preparedness for a multifront surprise war before October 7.

All of those topics are eventually expected to be investigated by the army, although no formal announcement has been made yet.

Hundreds gather at Hostages Square for what may be the final hostage rally

Families of the two remaining deceased hostages and relatives of former hostages hold images of the two men, Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak, in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, on November 29, 2025. (Dana Reany/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hundreds of people are gathering at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv for what may be the final weekend hostages rally after more than two years.

An emcee leads the crowd in chants of “Until the last hostage,” and “Neither right nor left, the hostages above all else.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said earlier this week that Saturday’s rally may be the last as the organization is greatly narrowing its activities now that only two deceased hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza: Ran Gvili, killed fending off the Hamas invasion at Kibbutz Alumim; and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, who was killed in Kibbutz Be’eri, where he worked in agriculture.

A spokesperson for the Hostages Families Forum said Friday that it hasn’t yet been announced whether there will be future rallies.

Gvili’s father Itzik is expected to speak at tonight’s rally.

Jessica Steinberg contributed to this report.

Hundreds rally in support of AG ahead of High Court hearings on her dismissal

Demonstrators protest against the pending dismissal of Gali Baharav-Miara outside her home in Tel Aviv on November 29, 2025. ( Yair Palti/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hundreds of demonstrators rally in support of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara near her home in Tel Aviv tonight, ahead of a long-awaited Supreme Court hearing on her dismissal.

The government voted in August to fire the top legal official, following a string of confrontations between her and coalition members. However, the Supreme Court froze the move until it could rule on its legality.

Ahead of Monday’s hearing, when the court will hear petitions against Baharav-Miara’s dismissal, protesters gather outside her residence with signs decrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition.

Among the demonstration attendees are former IDF chief Moshe Ya’alon and Democrats MK Naama Lazimi. Protest organizers claim that Baharav-Miara is the last check on the government’s power.

“Masked men are sitting in the High Court and threatening the judges, the police are turning into Ben Gvir’s private militia, crime is running rampant in Israel, [as is] Jewish terror in the West Bank, and the government is advancing a draft evaders law that will dismantle the people’s army,” says an organizer, quoted by Ynet. “If the attorney general is dismissed, there will be no brakes to stop the [government’s] criminal rampage.”

At the request of journalists, Monday’s hearing will be broadcast live from the Supreme Court.

Anan Jazmawi, a mother of three critically wounded by ex-husband last month, succumbs to injuries

Anan Jazmawi, a 46-year-old mother of three, who was critically injured by her ex-husband and succumbed to her wounds three weeks later on November 29, 2025. (Facebook)

Anan Jazmawi, a mother of three, has died of her wounds after her ex-husband threw a Molotov cocktail at her while she was in her car earlier this month in Harish.

Jazmawi’s ex-husband, from the coastal town of Jisr a-Zarqa, had threatened to kill her several times before the incident and had been convicted in the past on domestic violence offenses.

He was charged this week with attempted murder, Hebrew outlets report, and prosecutors are expected to update the charge in light of her death.

Doctors at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer pronounced the 46-year-old dead woman after she was hospitalized with critical injuries as a result of the attack. Paramedics at the time found Jazmawi lying conscious next to her vehicle, suffering from severe burns. She was taken to the hospital, sedated and put on a ventilator.

Jazmawi’s death three weeks after the attack makes her the 237th Arab homicide victim since the start of the year. Though most of the victims are killed in gang-related shootings or blood feuds, over a dozen Arab women have fallen victim to femicide in 2025, alongside 19 Jewish women, according to the Israel Observatory on Femicide. A total of 46 women have been killed over the past year, including 23 Arab citizens.

Mother of last deceased Israeli hostage asks PM not to move ahead with next step of Gaza plan until her son is back

Talik Gvili, the mother of deceased hostage Ran Gvili, says that during her conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, she asked the premier to ensure that Israel does not advance to the next phase of the plan for Gaza until her son is returned to Israel for burial.

With just two slain hostages left in Gaza — Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak — mediators are looking to move ahead with the next step of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

The second stage of the plan will require Israel to withdraw further from the so-called Yellow Line, alongside the establishment of a transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of the multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli military, the disarmament of Hamas and the start of reconstruction.

Gvili says that Netanyahu told her and her husband, Itzik, about the “great efforts” being made to locate and return their son’s body.

“The prime minister promised to return Ran to us,” she says. “I asked the prime minister not to move to phase two (of the plan) until Rani returns.”

As bodies continue to be pulled from the rubble, Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll passed 70,000

Palestinians walk through the destruction in Gaza City, November 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip announces that the number of people killed in the past two years of war with Israel inside the enclave has passed the 70,000 mark.

A total of 301 people have been added to the toll since Thursday, taking it to 70,100, the ministry says. Two died in recent Israeli strikes, the rest were identified from remains buried for some time in the rubble, according to the statement.

The figure does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, and cannot be independently verified.

The reported death toll has continued climbing despite the fragile ceasefire that took hold on October 10, as authorities have been able to take advantage of the relative calm to search for bodies in the wreckage.

In the first months of the war, officials counted bodies that arrived in hospitals and registered names and identity numbers to keep track of the death toll.

In the later stages, Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities said they held off on including thousands of reported deaths in the official tally until forensic, medical, and legal checks can be made.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

PM spoke with family of last slain Israeli hostage Ran Gvili yesterday, his office says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke yesterday with the family of slain hostage Ran Gvili, one of the two deceased captives still in Gaza, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

The premier provided Gvili’s parents, Talik and Itzik, with “details about the efforts Israel is making to bring him home and his determination to bring him back for burial in Israel,” the PMO says in a statement.

Gvili, a member of the Yasam police counter-terror unit, rushed to the frontlines the morning of October 7, heading to besieged Kibbutz Alumim. He fell in battle, and terrorists soon spirited his body into Gaza.

Netanyahu “expressed his deep appreciation for the Gvili family’s steadfastness, national pride and values,” the statement continues.

Netanyahu also spoke with Thailand’s ambassador to Israel, Boonyarit Vichienpuntu, and updated him on efforts to bring home Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai worker and the second slain hostage still held by terrorist organizations in the enclave. Rinthalak was murdered at Kibbutz Be’eri the morning of Hamas’s invasion, and his body was taken into Gaza.

Netanyahu’s conversations with both Gvili’s parents and the Thai ambassador were attended by the government’s hostage point man, Gal Hirsch, the PMO adds.

Herzog says would be ‘regrettable and shameful’ for Dublin to rename park named after his father

Then-president-elect Isaac Herzog visits the grave of his father, former president Chaim Herzog, at Mount Herzl national cemetery in Jerusalem, June 2, 2021. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

As Dublin’s city council prepares to vote to rename a park currently named after Chaim Herzog, Israel’s Irish-born sixth president, the office of his son, current President Isaac Herzog, says it is “following with concern reports about plans to undermine the legacy of …Chaim Herzog, of blessed memory, and the symbols expressing the historic bond between the Irish public and the Jewish people.”

The President’s Residence stresses that the elder Herzog was “one of the heroes of the campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis, a figure who dedicated his life to strengthening the values of freedom, tolerance, and the pursuit of peace.” It notes that Chaim Herzog’s father, Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of the Free State of Ireland, “and left a significant imprint on the life of the Irish nation.”

“Erasing Herzog’s name, should this indeed occur, would be a regrettable and shameful act,” says the President’s Residence. “We expect that the legacy of a man who stood at the forefront of the struggle against antisemitism and tyranny will receive the respect it deserves even today.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who closed Israel’s embassy in Ireland last year, says that “Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world.”

“The Irish antisemitic and anti-Israeli obsession is sickening,” says Sa’ar.

Though Dublin may be removing the name of Chaim Herzog from the park, he writes on X, “what cannot be removed is the disgrace of the Irish antisemitic and anti-Israeli obsession.”

IDF troops uncover explosive devices in Jenin during ongoing West Bank operation

Amid the IDF’s ongoing operation in the northern West Bank, the military says soldiers located several explosive devices in Jenin.

During scans of several buildings in Jenin — that the IDF this week said were to be demolished “for operational purposes” — the military says combat engineers and soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit found an old explosives lab, ammunition, several bombs, and other weapons.

The army publishes a video showing several explosive devices being neutralized during the operations in Jenin.

In addition to the raid in Jenin, the IDF says it continues to operate in several Palestinian towns and villages in the northeast of the West Bank, including Tubas, Tammun, and al-Aqaba.

כוחות סיירת צנחנים איתרו והשמידו מטענים ואמצעי לחימה בג’נין: צה”ל ממשיך בפעילות ההתקפית במרחב צפון השומרון

בהמשך להחלטת מפקד פיקוד המרכז על הריסת מבנים בהתאם לצורך מבצעי מובהק והכרחי, כוחות חטיבת מנשה יחד עם שב”כ, מבצעים פעולות הנדסיות במרחב ג’נין, וזאת כחלק מהפעילות המתמשכת מאז… pic.twitter.com/WqSHIf9Aje

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 29, 2025

Zelensky to meet Macron in Paris Monday, French president’s office says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, Macron’s office says.

The two leaders will discuss “the conditions of a just and durable peace,” following talks in Geneva and the American peace plan, the Elysee Palace says in a statement. Zelensky was last in Paris on November 17.

Israeli kickboxers take home 7 medals, including gold, at World Championships in Abu Dhabi

Israel’s kickboxing team caps off a successful run at the World Kickboxing Championships in Abu Dhabi with seven medals, including one gold, as the tournament hosted by the United Arab Emirates ended earlier today.

Some 2,000 athletes from 85 countries participated in the event.

Yulia Sachkov, a 26-year-old former world and European champion, defeated an athlete from the Czech Republic in yesterday’s final match to win gold for her second world championship.

Fellow Israeli Osaid Goda takes home silver after reaching the final match despite an injury to his right hand, as does Yosef Aybazli.

Israeli athletes also earned four bronze medals.

"המצרייה שהחרימה אותי? החלשים מחפשים תירוצים, בסוף אני האלופה" | אלופת העולם יוליה סצ'קוב בראיון מיוחד >> https://t.co/n61XZfTciD pic.twitter.com/PpfA7Cy0W0

— אורן אהרוני (@Oren_Aharoni) November 29, 2025

Palestinians: Two killed in Gaza strike were children aged 8 and 11; IDF says ‘suspects’ crossed Yellow Line

Juma and Fadi Abu Asi, whom Palestinian media reports said were killed by the IDF in Gaza on November 29, 2025. (X, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Two Palestinian children allegedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today are identified by Palestinian media as brothers Juma, 11, and Fadi, 8, of the Abu Asi family.

According to the military, the two “suspects” were identified by troops crossing the Yellow Line in the Bani Suheila area near Khan Younis, carrying out “suspicious activity in the ground,” and approaching the forces “in a way that posed an immediate threat.”

After the pair were identified, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed them “to remove the threat,” the IDF says.

Family members of the two children are quoted by Palestinian media as saying they went to “gather firewood” for their injured father.

The IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians not to approach Israeli troops still stationed in Gaza amid the ceasefire. The military also began to place physical markers along the Yellow Line, in addition to an online map showing the boundaries.

IDF says it killed 3 Palestinians for crossing Gaza’s Yellow Line in two separate incidents

The IDF says it killed three Palestinians who crossed the Yellow Line demarcating the military’s withdrawal in two separate incidents in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today.

In the first incident, the military says two “suspects” were identified by troops of the Kfir Brigade crossing the line in the Khan Younis area, carrying out “suspicious activity in the ground,” and approaching the forces “in a way that posed an immediate threat.”

After the pair were identified, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed them “to remove the threat,” the IDF says. Palestinian media reported earlier that the two killed in the strike were young children.

In another incident, the IDF says troops of the Nahal Brigade identified a terror operative who crossed the Yellow Line in the Rafah area and approached the forces.

The soldiers “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the army says.

IDF declares ‘closed military zone’ following settler attack that wounded several Palestinians

The IDF has declared an area near the West Bank city of Bethlehem a closed military zone following a settler attack that left several Palestinians wounded.

Soldiers and police officers were dispatched to an area on the outskirts of Bethlehem following reports of a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians, the army says.

The military says it also received reports of stone-throwing between the Israelis and Palestinians, and gunfire directed at the Palestinians.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported that 10 Palestinians were wounded in the attack, including one by gunfire.

The army says troops used riot dispersal means, and in addition, “declared a closed military zone in the area,” a move that is likely to restrict the movement of Palestinians living in the area.

Several Israelis were also wounded, but “refused medical attention,” the IDF says.

The incident is under investigation by the Israel Police.

16-year-old seriously injured in shooting in Arab town near Caesarea, police say

A 16-year-old was seriously injured in a shooting earlier today in the town of Jisr az-Zarqa near Caesarea, police say, in an incident that left two others lightly wounded.

The boy and the two other men were taken to a local hospital for treatment, the Magen David Adom emergency services reports.

Israel Police added that the incident is likely criminal in nature and that an investigation has been opened.

Trump: Venezuelan airspace should be considered ‘closed in its entirety’

US President Donald Trump issues a warning that the airspace above and near Venezuela should be considered closed, amid an escalating standoff with leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” Trump writes on his Truth Social network, “please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

The statement comes as Trump’s administration piles pressure on Venezuela with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier.

Ukrainian source says Kyiv responsible for overnight attacks on 2 Russian tankers in Black Sea

Ukraine was responsible for overnight attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil, a Ukrainian security source says.

The two tankers, the Virat and the Kairos, were rocked by explosions in Turkey’s coast late last night, according to the Turkish transport ministry. One of the two was struck again early this morning, the ministry says.

“Modernized Sea Baby naval drones successfully targeted the vessels,” a source in Ukraine’s SBU security service tells AFP. It shares a video that purported to show sea drones gliding towards the two ships, before sparking explosions.

????????⚓ Ukraine hits Russian tankers KAIROS & VIRAT in the Black Sea
Sea drones struck both vessels north of the Bosphorus. Critical damage reported, ships out of use. Turkish Coast Guard rescued the crews. #UkraineWar #BlackSea #SeaDrones pic.twitter.com/P0EcGu3SqZ

— Conflicthistory and News (@chc_and_news) November 29, 2025

Hezbollah urges Pope Leo to reject Israeli ‘aggression’ in letter ahead of pontiff’s visit to Beirut

Hezbollah says it urges Pope Leo XIV to reject Israeli “injustice and aggression” against Lebanon, in a message to the pontiff who arrives in Beirut this weekend.

“We in Hezbollah take advantage of the occasion of your auspicious visit to our country Lebanon to reaffirm from our side our commitment to coexistence,” reads the Lebanese terror group’s message to the pope, published on the group’s social media channels this morning.

Hezbollah says the message affirmed the group’s commitment to “standing with our army and our people to face any aggression and occupation of our land and our country,” adding that what Israel “is doing in Lebanon is unacceptable ongoing aggression.”

“We rely on your holiness’s stance in rejecting the injustice and aggression our nation of Lebanon is subjected to at the hands of the Zionist invaders and their supporters,” the statement adds.

Hezbollah statement ahead of the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/ldl3RdLUpQ

— Sally Hayden (@sallyhayd) November 29, 2025

After visiting Turkey, Leo is due to arrive in Lebanon tomorrow for a three-day trip that includes an open-air mass at Beirut’s waterfront, which organizers expect to draw 120,000 people, as well as an interreligious meeting in the city center.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Zelensky says Ukrainian negotiators headed to US for talks on plan to end war

A team of Ukrainian negotiators is headed to the United States for talks on Washington’s plan to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says.

“Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and head of the Ukrainian delegation Rustem Umerov, together with the team, is already on the way to the United States,” Zelensky says in a post on X.

Palestinian Red Crescent: 10 wounded in settler attack near Bethlehem, including one by gunfire

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reports ten Palestinians were wounded in a settler attack this morning on the town of Khalayel al-Loz, south of Bethlehem.

According to the first aid service, one of the wounded was hit in the thigh by gunfire, and three suffered bruises after being beaten.

The status of the wounded is unclear.

Footage published by social media showed a group of settlers, clad in white shirts and skullcaps and one of them carrying a semi-automatic rifle, tossing stones from a hill overlooking the village.

مقطع يوثق اعتداءات المستوطنين على الأهالي ومنازلهم وممتلكاتهم في منطقة خلايل اللوز جنوب مدينة بيت لحم. pic.twitter.com/MokjxF81KN

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) November 29, 2025

Ukrainian military says it hit Russian oil refinery in overnight strikes

Ukraine’s military says it hit Russia’s Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region overnight, as well as the Beriev military aviation plant in Rostov region.

In a statement on social media, the military says it recorded explosions and a fire at the refinery.

US ambassador to Lebanon: Israel doesn’t need permission to defend itself, Washington urging Beirut to disarm Hezbollah

A handout photo released by the Lebanese presidency press office shows newly appointed US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa at the presidential palace of Baabda, east of Beirut, on November 17, 2025. (HANDOUT / Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

The US ambassador to Lebanon says Israel doesn’t need US permission to defend itself and that Washington is pressuring Beirut to implement its decision to disarm the Hezbollah terror group.

“Israel assesses its own security needs and will take whatever measures it deems appropriate to protect its citizens. There is no need to obtain permission from the United States to do so,” Michel Issa, who took up the position earlier this month, tells the Haaretz daily.

Issa adds that Washington “urges [the Lebanese government] to implement the historical decision to disarm Hezbollah.”

Israel has escalated strikes in Lebanon in recent weeks, accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding in violation of the ceasefire deal that ended over a year of violence, including two months of open warfare.

Lebanon has faced US and Israeli pressure to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with the ceasefire, which envisions the Lebanese military and international peacekeeping force UNIFIL controlling southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has refused to give up its weapons.

Two minors reportedly killed by IDF in Israeli-controlled area near Khan Younis

Two minors were killed this morning by IDF gunfire in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports, citing a source in Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital.

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

The IDF does not immediately comment on the report.

Iranian media publishes footage of Israeli strikes hitting military posts during war

Iran’s official Student News Network publishes new footage of Israeli strikes during the 12-day war in June.

The footage shows what appears to be an operations room being struck with officers inside, and a radar system being hit.

SNN praises troops seen in the videos, saying they knew they were targets but remained at their posts.

Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Leaked Iranian Footage Reveals Precision of Israeli Strikes in Latest Conflict

Some Iranian circles have leaked videos from the recent Iran-Israel conflict, showing the remarkable accuracy of Israeli strikes. The footage highlights operations reaching deep into Iranian military… pic.twitter.com/gvFynOSvwY

— ME24 – Middle East 24 (@MiddleEast_24) November 28, 2025

Pope Leo visits Blue Mosque on second day of Turkey trip

Pope Leo XIV visits the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque), in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 29, 2025. (Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

Pope Leo XIV starts the second day of his trip to Turkey with a visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque.

Leo follows in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, who all made high-profile visits to the mosque in a gesture of respect to Turkey’s Muslim majority.

This is the pope’s first foreign trip. He will also visit Lebanon.

At the iconic mosque in Istanbul, the head of Turkey’s Diyanet religious affairs directorate shows him the structure’s soaring blue-tiled dome.

The Vatican says Leo would observe a “brief minute of silent prayer,” but it isn’t clear if he did.

Rescuers battle to reach Sumatran flood and landslide victims as death toll hits 248

Rescuers search for victims at a village hit by a landslide in Batu Goading, North Sumatra, Indonesia, in an image published on November 29, 2025. (BASARNAS via AP)

AGAM, Indonesia — Rescue workers in Indonesia struggle to reach victims in several devastated areas that were hit by an earthquake and floods, and authorities fear the confirmed death toll of 248 would rise further.

The areas are largely cut off by damaged roads and downed communications lines, and relief aircraft are delivering aid and supplies to the hard-hit district of Central Tapanuli in North Sumatra province and elsewhere in the region. Rescue efforts are also hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of heavy equipment.

The National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB, says rescuers in West Sumatra’s Agam district recovered more bodies, increasing the death toll to 248 with more than 500 people injured.

Monsoon rains over the past week caused rivers to burst their banks in North Sumatra province. The deluge tore through the mountainside village, swept away people and submerged thousands of houses and buildings, the BNPB says. Nearly 3,000 displaced families fled to government shelters.

Suspect in shooting of National Guard members faces murder charge

People gather for a vigil in honor of National Guard member Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington on Wednesday, in Webster Springs, West Virginia, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)

Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the US attorney for the District of Columbia has announced, while investigators continue to seek a motive.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office has said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, now include one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.

Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of Trump’s crime-fighting mission that federalized the DC police force. The president also has deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges.

Hong Kong mourns victims of apartment blaze that killed 128 and counting

Hong Kong’s leaders oversee a ceremony to mourn the at least 128 people killed in a high-rise apartment complex fire, a toll that is likely to rise further with 200 others still unaccounted for days after the tragedy.

Authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with the city’s worst blaze in nearly 80 years as they investigate possible corruption and the use of unsafe materials during renovations at the Wang Fuk Court complex.

Rescue operations at the site in the district of Tai Po, near the border with mainland China, concluded on Friday, though police say they may find more bodies as they search the burnt-out buildings as part of ongoing investigations.

The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly engulfed seven of the eight 32-storey blocks at the complex, which were wrapped in bamboo scaffolding and green mesh and layered with foam insulation for the renovations.

Authorities have said the fire alarms at the estate, home to more than 4,600 people, had not been working properly.

US halts asylum decisions as troop killing sparks migrant crackdown

A woman walks past a makeshift memorial in honoring the two National Guard service members who were shot near the Farragut West Metro Station in Washington, DC on November 28, 2025 (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

The United States is freezing all asylum decisions, officials say, as President Donald Trump hardens his anti-migrant stance after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members this week in Washington.

Wednesday’s attack on the soldiers — one of whom died from her injuries — has ignited a fresh crackdown on foreigners in the United States, with Trump also pledging to suspend migration from “third world countries.”

Joseph Edlow, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), says his agency has “halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

That follows Trump’s announcement late Thursday of plans to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover.”

Asked which nationalities would be affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — already facing US travel restrictions since June.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the US has temporarily stopped issuing visas to all individuals traveling on Afghan passports.

“The United States has no higher priority than protecting our nation and our people,” he says.

Russian drone strike on Kyiv wounds seven people — city officials

A Russian drone attack has targeted the Ukrainian capital, wounding seven people, authorities in Kyiv say.

Loud explosions were heard in the city around midnight, according to AFP journalists.

“Enemy drones are over the city, with air defense responding. There are multiple targets on the capital’s outskirts,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, says on Telegram.

Mayor Vitaly Klitschko warns people to remain in shelters during the attack.

“There are currently seven injured in the capital. Four of them have been hospitalized by medics,” Klitschko says, also on Telegram.

Earlier, he posted that a 13-year-old child was among the wounded.

Residential buildings in several districts of the city and cars were damaged, the mayor says.