Nov. 9: Jared Kushner in Israel for talks with Netanyahu on Gaza, source says

Settlers allegedly torch dozens of olive trees in West Bank village

Settlers have torched olive trees in the northern West Bank village of Majdal Bani Fadil, causing a large blaze, according to footage shared online and the official Palestinian Authority news agency, WAFA.

WAFA quotes village council head Rami Nassar as alleging that settlers from a recently formed nearby outpost torched dozens of trees, “under the protection” of the IDF.

There is no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian lands near the entrance of Majdal Bani Fadil village, southeast of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/xI93wKao7W

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 9, 2025

Trump slams ‘corrupt journalists’ as BBC chief quits over speech edit

Donald Trump attacks “corrupt journalists” after the BBC chief resigns from the British broadcaster in a scandal over the editing of a documentary about the US president.

Trump says “corrupt journalists” have been exposed, adding that “these are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election.”

The criticism emerged over clips spliced together from a Trump speech on January 6, 2021, when he was accused of fomenting the mob attack on the US Capitol seeking to keep him in power despite losing his reelection bid.

The BBC has been under mounting pressure after an internal report by a former standards adviser was leaked to the Daily Telegraph newspaper last week that cited failings in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, trans issues, and the speech made by Trump.

The report’s section on the Gaza war documents that BBC Arabic’s story selection and editing largely omitted pieces criticizing Hamas or highlighting the suffering of Israelis, including the hostages kidnapped by the terror group.

Police chief says hospitalized ex-IDF legal chief had attempted suicide: ‘Her life isn’t rosy’

Former IDF military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is released to house arrest outside Neve Tirtza Women’s Prison in Ramla, November 7, 2025. (Flash90)

Police Commissioner Danny Levy confirms that the hospitalization this morning of former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi came after she attempted suicide.

“Her life isn’t rosy,” Levy says of the disgraced prosecutor, who recently resigned over her involvement in the leak of a video apparently showing reservists abusing a Gazan detainee at the Sde Teiman military jail. Reports today said Tomer-Yerushalmi swallowed some 20 sleeping pills.

“If she committed the offense, this affects how the army looks, how soldiers behave. We send our kids to an organization where they should be sure that nobody is leaking things, and that’s why we’re probing it,” he adds.

NYT: Another Israel-Iran war increasingly seen as just a matter of time; Tehran aims to be able to fire 2,000 missiles at once

Middle East officials and experts increasingly believe that the Israel-Iran war in June caused less damage to Tehran’s nuclear program than previously thought, deeming another armed confrontation only a matter of time, according to The New York Times.

“Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, enough to make 11 nuclear weapons, is either buried under rubble, as Iran claims, or has been spirited away to a safe place, as Israeli officials believe,” the report says.

This, coupled with intensive Iranian work on a new enrichment site it refuses to give international inspectors access to, makes many in the Gulf think that another Israeli attack is “almost inevitable,” it adds.

The Times quotes Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, as saying that Tehran has greatly increased its missile production, working around the clock in hopes of being able to “fire 2,000 at once to overwhelm Israeli defenses, not 500 over 12 days,” as happened in the June war, in which 28 Israelis were killed.

“Israel feels the job is unfinished and sees no reason not to resume the conflict, so Iran is doubling down preparedness for the next round,” Vaez adds.

Turkey said to claim it aided Goldin’s return, with Israel denying trapped Hamas members will be spared in return

Turkey helped secure the return of the body of slain hostage Hadar Goldin to Israel today and is seeking the safe evacuation of Hamas operatives trapped in southern Gaza, a senior Turkish official is cited by Israeli media as saying.

“We are pleased to confirm that Turkey has successfully facilitated the return of Hadar Goldin’s remains to Israel after 11 years. This achievement is the outcome of intensive efforts and reflects Hamas’s clear commitment to the ceasefire,” the Turkish official tells Channel 12 news.

The official adds that, “at the same time, we are working to ensure the safe passage of some 200 Gazans currently trapped in the tunnels,” referring to the 100-200 Hamas operatives holed up in a tunnel network on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line in southern Gaza’s Rafah, whose fate remains under negotiation.

But in apparent contrast to the Turkish official’s claim, a separate, unsourced report by Channel 12 alleges that Turkey told Hamas to hold out for the freeing of the terrorists in the tunnels in return for Goldin’s body, but Israel refused to agree to such conditions. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian source tells the Kan public broadcaster that Turkey, with US backing, is exerting the main pressure on Hamas to release the bodies of the remaining four hostages in Gaza.

According to the source, Hamas is facing difficulties in returning some of the four bodies, which mediators understand and accept are beyond the terror group’s control.

The remaining slain hostages are Israeli captives Ran Gvili, Meny Godard and Dror Or, as well as Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai citizen.

BBC top brass resign amid criticism over editing of Trump speech; also faced blowback for Gaza coverage

Then-BBC director-general Tim Davie is pictured in London on April 28, 2022. (HANNAH MCKAY / POOL / AFP)

The director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness, resign amid criticism over the editing of a speech made by US President Donald Trump before rioters stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.

Critics said that the way the speech was edited for a BBC documentary was misleading and cut out a section where Trump said that he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

The announcement comes after excerpts from a report by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, were leaked to The Telegraph last week. The report accused the British broadcaster of “serious and systemic” problems in its coverage of Trump, Gaza, and trans issues.

“This is entirely my decision, and I remain very thankful to the chair and board for their unswerving and unanimous support throughout my entire tenure, including during recent days,” Davie says in a statement, adding that he has had “very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times.”

Turness says that the controversy about the Trump documentary “has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC — an institution that I love. As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me.”

In addition to criticism of the Trump speech, Prescott’s report said that BBC Arabic chose to “minimize Israeli suffering” in the war against Hamas in Gaza so it could “paint Israel as the aggressor.”

It additionally noted that a report submitted to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board charged that allegations against Israel were “raced to air,” claiming that it was either a result of carelessness or “a desire always to believe the worst about Israel.”

Parents of Hadar Goldin thank IDF, ‘and nobody else,’ for bringing son’s body home after 11 years

Simcha and Leah Goldin give a statement about the return of the body of their son, Hadar Goldin, on November 9, 2025, after it was held in Gaza for 11 years. (Alon Gilboa/ Hostages Forum)

Leah and Simcha Goldin stand outside their Kfar Saba home to offer thanks for the release of the body of their son, Hadar Goldin, after it was held by Hamas for 11 years in Gaza.

In an implied criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the political leadership, Simcha Goldin says he credits “the IDF, and no one else,” for bringing the body of his son, a Givati combat soldier who was killed in Gaza in 2014, back home to Israel for burial.

“We have been talking about IDF values for 11 years. That’s what Hadar left us, the value that we don’t leave soldiers in the field, we fight for fighters,” says Goldin’s father.

Leah Goldin notes that they stood in the same location in August 2014, shortly after Hadar was killed, and called on the government and IDF not to leave their son’s body behind in Gaza.

She says it appeared clear to them at the time that the Israeli government would never leave a soldier behind. Instead, they had to fight for the past 11 years to bring him home. “It took us 11 years to get him back, with the help of the IDF and the security services,” she says.

“We went around the world to do the impossible, to demonstrate that we have shared values, no matter the religion or race, that all have the responsibility to bring home a soldier’s body from the battlefield for proper burial,” says Leah Goldin. “These are the values we fought for. We went through so many disappointments.”

She specifies that at the time of the COVID pandemic, “we could have got [Hadar and the three other hostages then held in Gaza] back in return for vaccines” — indicating that Israel could have conditioned supplying vaccines to Gaza on the freeing of the four. But “the decisionmakers here didn’t do it.”

Leah Goldin has previously accused Netanyahu of turning the issue of returning fallen soldiers “into a problem for the families [alone],” and of turning her family “into enemies of the people.”

Leah also said that they were fighting to secure the return of abducted soldiers, and, referring to the Hamas invasion of October 7, asks: “Who thought of civilians being kidnapped?”

The Goldins say that their son is a symbol of what can be done in Israel.

“October 7 was a call and an alarm clock for everyone in Israel,” says Leah Goldin. “So look at us, and come have a coffee with us, and we’ll explain to you that we must fight for our kids because without our kids, we have no continuity.”

“It’s simple and doable, it’s Jewish and Israeli,” adds Simcha Goldin. “We brought back the symbol and now we have to protect it and fight for it.”

Netanyahu welcomes Goldin’s return: ‘We have finally brought him back’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes and takes credit for the return of the body of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin to Israel more than 11 years after he was killed and abducted by the Hamas terror group.

“For 11 years — since Operation Protective Edge — I’ve always had two pictures in my office: of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, of blessed memory,” says Netanyahu in a video posted to social media.

Shaul was also killed in 2014 and his body was held by Hamas in Gaza until Israeli troops recovered him in a clandestine operation earlier this year.

The Goldin family accused Netanyahu over the years of failing to mount sufficient pressure on Hamas to return Hadar’s body, and accused the premier of waging a public campaign to turn them into “public enemies.”

Holding a photo of Goldin, Netanyahu says that he “vowed that we would bring them home” and “never gave up on that for a moment.”

“We took many actions, but naturally, once we entered Gaza, we were able to do much more. And with God’s help, thanks to the heroism of IDF soldiers and the decisions we made, they came home. Today, Hadar Goldin is coming home,” Netanyahu continues.

“I know the suffering his family has endured. I know the yearning for his return that united all the people of Israel — and today we are united in the fact that we have finally brought him back to his parents, his family, and to a Jewish grave in Israel.”

Jared Kushner arrives in Israel for talks with Netanyahu on Gaza, source says

US President Donald Trump’s influential son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has arrived in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on implementing the US plan to end the Gaza war, a source familiar with the matter says.

Kushner is expected to meet with Netanyahu tomorrow, says the source, speaking on condition of anonymity as the meeting has not been formally announced. The White House and Netanyahu’s office do not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

However, Netanyahu’s day of testimony in his corruption trial has been canceled due to diplomatic meetings.

‘A warrior who became a legend’: Politicians hail return of Hadar Goldin

Politicians from across the political spectrum welcome the return of the body of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin to Israel more than 11 years after he was killed and abducted by the Hamas terror group.

“After more than a decade of anticipation and waiting, Hadar has returned to eternal rest in an Israeli grave,” posts Defense Minister Israel Katz on X, calling the return of Goldin, who fell during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, “a moment of deep pain but also of great comfort and closure.”

His return is also welcomed by former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who notes the Goldin family’s “unrelenting struggle” to bring him home over the past 11 years.

“The people of Israel bow their heads and embrace the Goldin family with love in this deeply emotional moment,” says National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “Hadar gave his life for the people of Israel, and in his life and death he embodied supreme heroism.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says that his heart goes out to the entire Goldin family and that “only now, will Hadar find a proper rest.”

Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman promises that “we will do everything so that all our sons return home,” while The Democrats party chief Yair Golan says that, as a senior IDF officer at the time of Goldin’s kidnapping, “we swore not to stop until his body was returned.”

“Today is a significant day for the Goldin family and for the entire people of Israel — the return of the last fallen soldier from Operation Protective Edge — but the struggle is not over; four fallen hostages are still held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip — we will continue to do everything, we will continue to fight, until the last hostage,” says Golan.

“Hadar Goldin, of blessed memory, is home. A whole nation yearned and prayed for more than 11 years for the moment when we could write these words,” tweets former prime minister Naftali Bennett, arguing that the struggle to bring Goldin home “became a moral symbol that highlights a fundamental value in the people of Israel: we don’t leave anyone behind.”

“Hadar Goldin will be remembered in the history of Israel as a warrior who became a legend in his life and a symbol in his death,” writes Bennett.

Posting in English on X, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel calls Goldin “a brave warrior” who “became a national symbol of devotion, courage, and faith.”

“Today, the entire nation stands united with the Goldin family and with all the families of the fallen and the hostages. We will continue to fight until every one of them returns — because this is our moral and national duty,” she writes.

‘Finally, you’ve come home’: Hadar Goldin’s sister rejoices at return of hostage’s body

Ayelet Goldin, Hadar Goldin’s older sister, writes a heartfelt social media post upon the news of the return of her brother’s body to Israel.

“More than anything, he’s my little brother. Time stopped,” she says. “I still feel like he just left and is already coming back. How do I feel? I don’t know yet. But I do know that what strengthens me is that we remained true to our truth — to our Israeli values. Good triumphs, and together we are changing history! This strengthens me greatly. My Hadar — you are my inspiration. And you live in my heart always, and I love you very much. And finally, you’ve come home.”

The Hostages Forum writes that “alongside the grief and the understanding that their hearts will never be whole, Hadar’s return provides some measure of comfort to a family that has lived with agonizing uncertainty and doubt for over 11 years.”

“We will not rest until the last hostage is brought home,” states the Forum.

Herzog welcomes return of body of ‘hero of Israel’ Hadar Goldin

President Isaac Herzog welcomes the return after more than 11 years of the body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin.

Herzog says the repatriation of the “hero of Israel” from Gaza comes “after 11 painful years, too long.”

He says Goldin’s photo was on his desk over the years, “and his character was etched into my heart the entire time.”

The president says he has gotten to know the family well, and that “the nation of Israel embraces them today with deep love and endless appreciation for their tireless and persistent struggle for the return of Hadar, for the unwavering hope, for the respect, for the Zionism, and for their faith.

“May his memory be a blessed one.”

Hadar Goldin’s comrades escorted his body out of Gaza earlier today

Comrades of Lt. Hadar Goldin escort a casket containing his remains out of the Gaza Strip after they were returned by Hamas on November 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF reservists, members of Lt. Hadar Goldin’s company when he was killed and abducted by Hamas in 2014, traveled today to the Gaza Strip in order to escort his body back to Israel after it was returned by the terror group.

The military releases images showing Goldin’s comrades alongside the coffin with his remains, 11 years after he was killed during the 2014 Gaza War.

Ben Gvir assails top police brass for refusing to hand Sde Teiman leak probe to retired judge Kula

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Israel Police chief Danny Levy visit the Bedouin town of Rahat, during a police operation, May 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir slams the police’s senior command after they refused to hand over investigation materials regarding the Sde Teiman video leak to retired judge Asher Kula, Hebrew outlets report.

In an effort to bypass Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Justice Minister Yariv Levin picked Kula to oversee the investigation into former military advocate general Yifar Tomer-Yerushalmi, after she confessed to leaking footage purporting to show troops abusing a Gazan detainee.

Baharav-Miara has argued that Levin is misusing his authority as justice minister, and that he is not permitted to appoint someone to supervise the probe in her place. The High Court is set to issue a ruling in the matter on Tuesday.

In the meantime, coalition lawmakers and government ministers have been pressuring the police to hand over investigation materials to Kula, the state ombudsman for judges, despite the fact that the court has not yet issued a ruling.

Ben Gvir, who oversees law enforcement, met with Police Commissioner Danny Levy and Boaz Blatt, the head of the police’s investigations and intelligence division, and reportedly demanded that they obey the government’s wishes.

“I’m not interfering in the investigation, but the decision of who will supervise and oversee the investigation lies solely with the government. We are not a banana republic,” he reportedly says.

According to Channel 12 news, Blatt told the far-right minister that he had not wanted to attend today’s meeting and even requested not to join.

Ben Gvir responded to Blatt with a veiled threat, saying that he wanted him at the meeting to make it clear that “anyone who transgresses the law and damages an investigation for improper reasons will be punished,” the outlet reports.

After 4,118 days in Gaza, body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin confirmed to be back in Israel

Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in Gaza on August 1, 2014. (Courtesy)

Military representatives have notified the family of Lt. Hadar Goldin that his body was returned to Israel by Hamas today, more than 11 years after he was killed and abducted by the terror group, after forensic experts completed their identification.

This brings to an end to his family’s long struggle to recover Goldin’s remains and bring him home for burial.

At 9:05 a.m. on August 1, 2014, just over an hour after the start of a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire during the 2014 Gaza War, Hamas gunmen emerged from a tunnel in the southeastern part of Rafah and attacked troops of the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, killing three soldiers, including Goldin — whose body was dragged into the tunnel by the terror operatives.

His body was held by Hamas for 4,118 days.

Hamas said yesterday that it retrieved the body from a tunnel in Rafah, in an IDF-held part of the Strip. The body was handed over to the Red Cross earlier today, which brought it to IDF troops in the Strip. It was then taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

The bodies of four slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — three Israelis and one Thai national: Meny Godard, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

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

The PMO says that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back the remaining four 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.”

IDF says forces destroyed 4 Hamas tunnels in Khan Younis

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)

Amid the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza, the IDF says troops deployed to southern Gaza’s Khan Younis — on the eastern side of the Yellow Line, where the IDF is still in control following its partial withdrawal — have destroyed four Hamas tunnels.

The tunnels were located and razed by troops of the 7th Armored Brigade, Golani Infantry Brigade, and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit.

The IDF says the troops also destroyed dozens of buildings used by Hamas for terror activity, “in which many weapons were located.”

The IDF says it remains deployed in Gaza “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”

These videos issued by the IDF on November 9, 2025, shows the inside of a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the demolition of a tunnel, Hamas weapons found by troops, and the demolition of a building used by the terror group. (Israel Defense Forces)

Four charged over disruption of Israel Philharmonic Orchestra concert in France

Protesters interrupt a concert given by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris by lighting flares within the audience, on November 6, 2025. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Four people have been charged over disrupting a Paris concert by Israel’s most prominent orchestra, including by lighting flares, French prosecutors tell AFP.

The three men and one woman were arrested on Thursday following the incident at a concert at the Paris Philharmonic hall.

The visit by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was targeted by pro-Palestinian activists. Several individuals repeatedly interrupted Thursday’s concert, the venue said. The performance ended up going ahead after the disruption.

Videos posted on social media show a protester holding a red flare inside the concert hall with smoke billowing. Other people present were then seen to rush to strike the individual.

“All four individuals involved were formally charged and placed under judicial supervision” after appearing before a judge today, the prosecutor’s office says.

They are suspected of damaging property, endangering others, possession of incendiary materials, organizing a demonstration on public roads without prior notification, refusing to submit to fingerprinting and identification procedures for inclusion in a police database, and violence involving the use or threat of a weapon, prosecutors say.

Police arrest man on terror suspicions, as part of probe of settler attack on Palestinian woman

A Jewish extremist assaults Palestinian olive pickers and civil rights activists close to the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, October 19, 2025. (Courtesy Jasper Nathaniel)

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of beating a Palestinian woman unconscious during an attack last month by settler extremists on Palestinian olive harvesters in the central West Bank.

He is being held on terror suspicions for the assault, which left 52-year-old Afaf Abu ‘Olia with a severe head injury. She was hospitalized for a week as a result of the beating.

The suspect is one of dozens of Jewish extremists who attacked olive pickers near the village of Turmus Ayya on October 19, injuring two Palestinians and a foreign activist.

Footage of the attack shows a masked man taking a wooden club to Abu ‘Olia’s head, causing her to collapse to the ground and remain there motionless.

The suspect’s arrest marks a rare instance of Israeli authorities taking action to curb settler violence against West Bank Palestinians. The filmed attack appeared to shock police’s West Bank District commander Moshe Pinchi, who told an internal police WhatsApp chat that the footage “kept me up at night,” per a Channel 12 news report.

Following a court-issued arrest warrant, police detained the suspect and brought him to court to extend his remand. A judge has ruled that he will remain in custody for at least eight more days until November 16, police say.

The investigation into the incident, conducted jointly by the Israel Police and Shin Bet, is ongoing.

Netanyahu announces sanctions on ministers who skip or are late to cabinet meetings

After growing frustration on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over sparsely attended cabinet meetings, his cabinet secretary, Yossi Fuchs, issues a series of measures to punish latecomers and absentees.

A minister who shows up late or misses a cabinet meeting without being excused will be barred from presenting proposals related to their ministry at the next meeting, Fuchs tells government ministers.

A minister who is late or absent from two meetings without prior approval will not be granted funds for work travel abroad.

The sanctions come at Netanyahu’s instruction, according to Fuchs.

According to the Maariv daily, only nine ministers were present at the start of today’s cabinet meeting. Fewer than 20 of the 30 cabinet ministers showed up at all. Netanyahu was furious, according to the report, and threatened to start publishing attendance records of meetings.

Netanyahu expressed similar frustrations at last week’s cabinet meeting.

IDF says it will hold 3-day drill in West Bank starting tomorrow

The IDF says it will be conducting a three-day military drill in the West Bank and Jordan Valley area starting tomorrow morning.

The military warns that there will be an increased movement of forces and vehicles in the area during the exercise.

IDF drone strike reported on car in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike targeting a car on the outskirts of the southern village of Houmin al-Fawqa.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

من مكان الغارة الإسرائيلية التي استهدفت سيارة عند أطراف حومين الفوقا جنوبي لبنان pic.twitter.com/18wkzfBump

— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) November 9, 2025

Norway Jews fear Kristallnacht commemoration will be used to focus on Gaza

Jews in Oslo are concerned that a ceremony today commemorating the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht will focus on the cause of the Palestinian people instead of the pogrom carried out by the Nazis against German Jews on November 9-10, 1938.

The Norwegian torchlight vigil is organized by the nonprofit Center Against Racism, which has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. The event lists several pro-Palestinian groups among its organizers, and the speakers list includes Yonatan Shapira and Mia Habib, members of Jewish Voices for Just Peace, an organization that is highly critical of Israeli policies.

Center Against Racism director Omar Ashraf has said that the event is not antisemitic, and that Jews are invited to attend. The country’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Oslo Mayor Anne Lindboe are scheduled to speak, after shunning a different event organized by the local Jewish community, local media reports.

Oslo Jewish community Rabbi Joav Melchior told broadcaster NRK last week that using this day to criticize Israel shows “a lack of empathy.” Representatives of the local Jewish community have said in a letter to the Center Against Racism that the strong presence of left-wing and anti-Israel organizations is inappropriate and dangerous.

Ex-US envoy to Israel David Friedman tapped to head embattled spyware firm NSO Group

Former United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks at the international conference on combatting antisemitism in Jerusalem, March 27, 2025. (GPO)

Israeli-founded cyber-hacking firm NSO Group, the maker of the controversial Pegasus software, appoints former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman as its new executive chairman.

The appointment comes as the embattled cyber espionage firm announces that a group of US investors assumed ownership of the group, and its three founders no longer hold any stake in the company. NSO was founded in 2010 by Israelis Shalev Hulio, Omri Lavie and Niv Karmi.

Friedman, who served as US ambassador to Israel during Donald Trump’s first White House term, spoke earlier to NSO employees at the group’s headquarters in Ramat Hasharon, emphasizing the critical role the company’s “technology plays in supporting governments in their efforts to combat terrorism and serious crime.”

“The researchers and engineers of NSO represent some of the most brilliant minds in Israel’s incredible high-tech industry,” Friedman tells NSO employees. “Notwithstanding the adverse attention often directed at the company – most of it unfair — you continue working around the clock to deliver advanced technologies to those whose mission is to protect the public and save lives.”

NSO’s Pegasus spyware software allows its users to remotely activate phones and extract their data. It has reportedly been used by repressive regimes to crack down on dissent, though NSO has been arguing that the spyware is sold only to “authorized governments,” after Israeli Defense Ministry approval, to fight terrorism. In 2021, the company was blacklisted by the US government for facilitating “transnational repression.”

NSO says that it will continue to operate from Israel under the full regulatory authority of the Defense Ministry, as it expands its global footprint and seeks to resume operations in the US.

Ministers back bill to cut electricity, water supplies to UNRWA facilities

MK Yulia Malinovsky sets up a mock parliamentary office inside an UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, May 26, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a bill sponsored by MK Yulia Malinovsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, which would prohibit the provision of electricity or water to facilities owned by or operated on behalf of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Approval by the committee means the government officially supports a bill and will back it in the Knesset, where it would need to pass an initial vote and three additional readings before becoming law.

In October 2024, lawmakers passed a pair of bills, one of them also sponsored by Malinovsky, barring UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and curtailing its activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.

UNRWA continued to operate for some time after the bills’ passage, but its facilities in East Jerusalem were eventually shuttered.

Malinovsky’s new bill states that it aims to clarify that the provision of electrical and water services should be considered “contact” under the law.

The legislation also proposes to allow the government to seize properties in Ma’alot Dafna and Kafr Aqab in Jerusalem, which had been leased to UNRWA by the state and used as the agency’s offices, “without the need to initiate legal or administrative proceedings.”

“This is because entities or individuals continue to own and operate in these complexes in violation of the provisions of the law without any legal right, even though warning letters were delivered by the Israel Lands Authority,” the law’s explanatory notes read.

Israel has previously alleged that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.

In February 2024, the IDF revealed the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and gunmen hiding out in UNRWA schools.

Body allegedly of hostage Hadar Goldin arrives at Israeli forensic institute for identification

Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine near Tel Aviv, November 9, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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

Officials have said the identification process may take up to two days.

Hamas has said that the body belongs to Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by the terror group in the 2014 Gaza War.

If the body is confirmed to belong to Goldin, it would mean that the remains of four hostages are still held in Gaza: Meny Godard, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

The ministry “expresses its deep condolences to the bereaved families and shares in their pain as their loved ones are brought to burial in Israel,” while urging the public and the media to respect the families’ privacy, not spread rumors and “rely solely on official information sources.”

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

IDF razes home of accomplice in West Bank terror shooting that killed pregnant woman and her baby

IDF troops demolish the home of Maher Samarah in the West Bank town of Bruqin, November 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops demolish the home of a Palestinian accused of being an accomplice in a deadly terror shooting attack in the West Bank in May, during which a pregnant woman was killed, forcing doctors to perform an emergency C-section to deliver her son, who died two weeks later.

In the attack on May 14 near the Palestinian village of Bruqin and the Israeli settlement of Bruchin, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire from the side of a road on Israeli motorists, killing Tzeela Gez, 30, and wounding her husband. Gez had been heading to a hospital to give birth. Her baby, named Ravid Haim, was delivered by emergency C-section at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva but died 15 days later.

The gunman, Naael Samarah, a member of Hamas, was shot and killed by IDF troops in the area four days later. Three more Hamas terrorists were later arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack.

Among them was Maher Samarah. The military says troops operated in the West Bank town of Bruqin today to raze Maher Samarah’s home.

Naael Samarah’s home was demolished in September, and the home of another accomplice, Jamil Samarah, was razed last month.

As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.

IDF presents Katz with findings of examination of military’s Oct. 7 probes

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 and Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman have presented Defense Minister Israel Katz with the findings of a panel of former senior officers that was tasked with evaluating the military’s probes into Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, the military says.

The IDF’s October 7 investigations were led by former chief of staff Herzi Halevi. Upon entering the role in March, Zamir appointed the external panel to further examine those probes.

Turgeman, a former head of the Southern Command, headed the panel, which included ex-Navy chief Vice Adm. (res.) Eli Sharvit, ex-IAF chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin and other retired senior officers.

The panel was tasked with evaluating the IDF’s investigations, overseeing implementation of findings, and recommending repeat investigations or additions to probes if necessary.

The military says that the panel will present the findings to the IDF General Staff Forum tomorrow. At a later time, the findings will be made public.

Zamir is set to make “personal decisions” regarding some senior officers based on the findings, potentially including the current chief of the Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, who on October 7 headed the Operations Division. Binder’s appointment to the intel chief role was considered controversial and was met with protests from some lawmakers and the families of some fallen soldiers.

‘No Turkish boots on the ground’: Israel reiterates objection to Ankara sending troops to Gaza

An Israeli government spokesperson says Turkish soldiers will not be deployed to Gaza as part of a multinational force that is meant to take over from the IDF.

“There will be no Turkish boots on the ground,” spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian tells reporters in response to a question.

US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year war calls for a temporary International Stabilization Force to gradually take over security of Gaza.

The force has yet to be established and many countries are calling for it to have a mandate from the UN Security Council.

Asked about Israel’s objections to Turkish forces in Gaza, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said at a Manama security conference earlier this month that Turkey would participate.

US Vice President JD Vance last month said there would be a “constructive role” for Ankara to play, but that Washington wouldn’t force anything on Israel when it comes to foreign troops “on their soil.”

Australian authorities, Jews blast police decision to okay neo-Nazi rally against ‘Jewish lobby’

Australian police are under fire for allowing a neo-Nazi, antisemitic rally to take place yesterday in front of the parliament of the state of New South Wales (NSW).

According to local media, some 60 people took part in the 20-minute rally in central Sydney, during which they waved a banner calling for the “Jewish lobby” to be abolished.

Organizers — a group called “White Australia” — notified police about the protest late last month, and police didn’t object to it, meaning that under local law, the demonstration was deemed authorized, according to public broadcaster ABC.

New footage shows about 70 members of the National Socialist Network protesting outside NSW parliament in Sydney today against the Jewish lobby's influence on Australian politics. pic.twitter.com/FoF4DoFMgW

— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) November 8, 2025

Local police chief Mal Lanyon says he will review the decision not to oppose the protest, claiming that due to an internal communication error, he hadn’t known about the matter.

NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the rally as a “shocking display of hatred and racism and antisemitism,” arguing that it should have been prevented, since “if you give them an inch they’ll take a mile.”

“I want them to be met with a clear and unambiguous message from the government, from political leaders, from civil life, from average New South Wales residents, that we’ve got no interest in neo-Nazis in Sydney.”

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman says the demonstration was “not legitimate free speech but a calculated act of hate,” adding it is a “new low in intimidating and instilling fear in our Jewish community.”

Local Jewish groups have similarly reacted with outrage.

“The chilling images and despicable words of hate which were uttered today should never find a home or be accepted in our society, especially outside the heart of our democracy,” says NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip.

Alex Ryvchin, of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, argues that conspiracy theories about Jews controlling politics are “more prevalent now than at any time in the past 80 years.”

“To defeat this, our law enforcement and security agencies need the right legislative tools to monitor and disrupt violent extremists and to prevent them from menacing or physically harming peaceful Australians,” he says.

Netanyahu to attend opposition-called Knesset debate on Oct. 7 state inquiry tomorrow

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to attend a so-called 40-signature debate in the Knesset tomorrow to discuss the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Such a debate is a Knesset discussion that the opposition can call once a month and that the prime minister is legally obliged to attend. It is usually called to discuss criticism of the government, its policies and legislative agenda.

The debate is an initiative of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and is supported by the other opposition factions in the Knesset.

“765 days since the outbreak of the October Seven War, the Israeli government refuses to establish a state investigation committee that will provide answers to the bereaved families who lost what was most precious to them. We will not stop fighting for them,” Yesh Atid says in a statement.

The government has long resisted establishing a state commission of inquiry, with cabinet ministers first arguing that such an investigation was inappropriate during wartime, and later claiming it would not be impartial because its members would be appointed by the liberal Supreme Court President Isaac Amit.

A previous 40-signature debate discussing this issue was held in October.

Purported casket of Hadar Goldin brought out of Gaza, being taken to forensic center

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

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

Hamas has said that the body belongs to Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by the terror group in the 2014 Gaza War.

If the body is confirmed to belong to Goldin, it would mean that the remains of four hostages are still held in Gaza: Meny Godard, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or, and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Ex-chief justice Barak says ‘time is running out’ for plea bargain in Netanyahu trial

Former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak attends a swearing-in ceremony for 35 new judges at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, April 10, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)

Former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak reasserts his support for a plea bargain in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, but says time is running out on the matter, at a conference marking 30 years since his historic Bank Mizrahi decision in Jerusalem.

“I still think we should go for this. I also said to his representatives who came to speak to me that time is running out for it,” Barak said.

“I am seen in the eyes of the public as an extreme man, but I am a man of compromise, a man of consensus. The moment will come when I, too, will believe that we have progressed so far in the trial, perhaps after the cross-examination, that there will no longer be room for a plea bargain. But as of today, it still needs to be done,” he says.

Barak also expresses concern for the future of Israel’s democracy.

“Unfortunately, we are sliding from the liberal democracy we were in to a rather slippery slope toward an illiberal democracy that will end up as a dictatorship. We are not there; there is still a lot that can be done to stop this, and if it is not stopped, it will be very bad,” he says.

The conference marks the anniversary of the landmark Bank Mizrahi case of 1995, which established the precedent of judicial review over legislation.

IDF receives casket with apparent body of hostage, which Hamas says is Lt. Hadar Goldin

Chemi Goldin, brother of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body is still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, speaks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on October 28, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

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

The casket had been picked up by the Red Cross from Hamas in southern Gaza.

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

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

Hamas has said that the body belongs to Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by the terror group in the 2014 Gaza War.

13-year-old charged for stabbing and seriously injuring a minibus driver in Netanya

State prosecutors file charges today against a 13-year-old who stabbed and seriously injured a minibus driver in Netanya two weeks ago.

The 70-year-old driver is currently sedated and intubated at Laniado Hospital as a result of his injuries. He is still in serious danger of losing his life, prosecutors say.

The stabbing took place on October 28, after a group of teenagers boarded a bus belonging to the Extra company. They soon began to make noise, bang on the driver’s cabin door, and disturb him as he worked his line.

The noise became too much to handle for the driver, so he stopped at a bus station and asked the youths to exit the vehicle. All the teenagers, aside from the defendant, disembarked, but continued to shake and bang on the vehicle from the outside.

With the 13-year-old still on board, the driver quickly left the stop and continued on his route.

Later, just as the defendant was about to get off at his stop, he pulled out a knife and stabbed the driver five times. He disposed of the knife near a trash can at the bus stop, prosecutors write.

The minor, whose name remains barred for publication, is charged with aggravated assault and obstruction of justice. He is indicted in the Central District Court.

Police nab five Israeli settlers who crashed into patrol car while fleeing authorities

Police in the West Bank earlier today detained five Israeli settlers who rammed a patrol car while fleeing the authorities, law enforcement says.

Police, Border Police and IDF forces came this morning “to deal with an incident of extremist violence in an open area adjacent to Geva Binyamin,” law enforcement says.

Palestinian media outlets reported earlier that seven Palestinians were injured by settlers, who also allegedly burned several buildings in the village.

The five were arrested after police and IDF forces were dispatched to the area north of Jerusalem to deal with the incident. Footage from the scene shows smoke billowing from buildings as over a dozen figures gather on stony ground near the fires.

Four of the alleged attackers fled the cops by car and rammed into a patrol vehicle upon reaching a police roadblock. An officer was lightly injured in the accident and taken for medical treatment.

The suspects then exited their car and fled on foot. Officers eventually tracked them down with the help of a police helicopter and detained the four for questioning. Another suspect was arrested by Border Police officers at the scene of the incident, police say.

Red Cross collects apparent remains of hostage, which Hamas says belong to Lt. Hadar Goldin

Red Cross vehicles carrying the bodies of two people believed to be deceased hostages handed over by Hamas make their way toward the Kissufim border crossing with Israel, to be transferred to Israeli authorities, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, October 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has collected a casket, with the apparent body of a slain hostage, from Hamas in southern Gaza a short while ago.

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

Hamas has said that the body belongs to Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by the terror group in the 2014 Gaza War.

PM’s testimony in corruption trial canceled for tomorrow due to ‘urgent diplomatic meetings’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court for a hearing in his corruption trial, October 28, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The Jerusalem District Court accepts a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his scheduled testimony for tomorrow in his trial on corruption charges, Hebrew media reports.

Netanyahu’s lawyers wrote to the court earlier today requesting the session be canceled, citing “urgent diplomatic meetings” the prime minister is scheduled to hold on Monday.

In a final decision in late October, the Jerusalem District Court decided that Netanyahu must testify three times a week in order to increase the pace of the trial, now in its sixth year. Netanyahu is yet to do so, however, and has had numerous requests to cancel hearings approved by the court, mostly due to issues relating to the management of the war and the diplomatic activity surrounding it.

Government approves massive Beersheba investment project

View of Beersheba on January 22, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The cabinet approves a NIS 1.2 billion ($368 million) development plan for Beersheba, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

The plan, which will see more IDF bases moved to the Negev desert, focuses on four main areas, says the PMO: “economic growth, development of transportation infrastructure, improving quality of life and personal security, and education and human capital.”

To support economic growth, around NIS 200 million will be invested in a civilian-military R&D center in cooperation with the Weapons Development and Technology Infrastructure Administration MAFAT, as well as other projects to expand the “ecosystem connecting academia, industry, and the military,” says the PMO.

A light rail system will be planned and built connecting the city with the suburbs and IDF bases in the Negev.

NIS 500 million will go toward a new police station, expanding the IDF Southern Command, and the “development of advanced technological systems for dealing with regional security challenges.”

The number of psychologists and medical professionals will be increased as well.

The Wingate sports institute will open a branch in the city as well.

According to the PMO, some NIS 120 million will go toward education, with a focus on STEM fields.

Netanyahu announces NIS 1.2 billion plan for Beersheba, including light rail, tech investment

Turning to economic matters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that the government will vote on an NIS 1.2 billion ($368 million) plan for Beersheba, which will include a light rail, cyber and R&D investment, and a new building for Soroka hospital.

He also addresses global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s upgrading Israel’s credit rating outlook to stable from negative on Friday.

“There are two reasons for this,” he posits. “We must understand that Israel’s geopolitical standing has significantly strengthened. It is much stronger than it was before October 7. Israel is seen as stronger. The greatest geopolitical and security threat to Israel — Iran — has clearly been downgraded. Iran has suffered a significant blow. Israel’s power has risen; Iran’s power has declined; and the existential threat it posed to us and the region has been greatly pushed back.”

The second reason, says Netanyahu, is that Israel’s economy defied expectations by growing during the ongoing war.

“We will see this growth even more strongly in the coming year,” he predicts. “Unemployment in Israel is at a historic low — less than 4%. Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the Western world — 68%. I want us to understand this — it is a major achievement compared to, for example, the economies of France, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio is lower than theirs, despite the fact that we have just come through a difficult war.”

Netanyahu confirms that Israel is expecting to receive body of Hadar Goldin today

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, November 9, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

Israel is expecting to receive the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms, after Hamas announced it was handing over the remains of the IDF officer who fell in 2014.

Goldin, says Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, “fell in a heroic battle during Operation Protective Edge, 11 years ago. His body was abducted by Hamas, which refused to return it throughout this entire period. During all these years, we in the governments of Israel have made great efforts to bring him home. All this time, his family has endured deep anguish, and now they will be able to lay him to rest in the land of Israel.”

Israel will bring back the five remaining hostage bodies, Netanyahu promises, saying that the country has a legacy of returning soldiers’ remains that goes back to the founding of the state.

“Sometimes it takes a great deal of time, as in the case of the Sultan Yacoub battle more than forty years ago,” he says, referring to a 1982 tank battle in Lebanon after which 5 IDF soldiers were declared missing in action. The two living soldiers were brought home in deals in the 1980s.

“We have returned two of the soldiers who fell there, and there is still one more,'” says Netanyahu of the fallen soldiers from the battle. “This is a great obligation we carry, both to our soldiers and to our security forces.”

Israel is also working to bring back Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy executed by Syria in 1965, says Netanyahu.

Itay Chen’s father demands justice be done ‘with those responsible for Oct. 7 catastrophe,’ denounces coalition’s misdeeds

Ruby Chen eulogizes his son, slain hostage soldier Itay Chen, at his funeral in Tel Aviv, on November 9, 2025. (Uriel Even Sapir/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Ruby Chen speaks at the funeral of his son, Itay Chen, a fallen soldier whose body was brought back from Gaza last week.

Chen refers to Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer, who is present at the funeral as the government’s representative, saying that while Sofer “symbolizes to our family Jewish values that we were raised on,” his colleagues do not.

He says Sofer’s coalition colleagues have pursued honor, power, money, and tricks, have forgotten the true values of Judaism, and have sought “honor in place of humility, power in place of helping others, money and public-purse schemes instead of ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

“I ask you: Bring them here, call me, and we will walk together in this sacred place and visit [Colonel Asaf] Hamami and the other heroes, and set them straight, or we will throw them out, damn them,” says Chen.

Chen says his son was misled by his commanders, who told him the next significant battle would be in the north, not in Gaza.

“Israel’s politicians also gave Hamas motivation to attack because they wouldn’t listen to the army commanders who came and told them there was a danger at the door of the State of Israel and that the lines needed to be united and the temperature of public discourse lowered,” says Chen.

Chen calls out the commanders who stayed behind on October 7 and the politicians “who were supposed to be the responsible adults and the top officials responsible,” he says.

“We will chase them all and will not stop until they are required, under oath, to give every Israeli answers and to take responsibility — all within the framework of a state commission of inquiry,” says Chen. “A whole nation now stands and waits for answers, waiting for justice to be both seen and done with those responsible for the catastrophe.”

He thanks members of the Biden administration for their help, including Jake Sullivan, who served as the US national security advisor, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, and current US Vice President JD Vance.

Chen says that victory in this war begins with the decision to bring back the last of the hostages, toward the start of a better future.

“I pray that there will be enough worthy leaders in this country who will know how to lead us to that right place,” says Chen, to applause as he and Hagit Chen salute the grave of their son.

Red Cross en route to pick up apparent remains of hostage, after Hamas said it would return Lt. Hadar Goldin

Red Cross vehicles are now heading to a handover site in the southern Gaza Strip to collect the apparent remains of a deceased hostage from Hamas, the IDF says.

Hamas said earlier that it would return to Israel the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by the terror group in the 2014 Gaza War.

Israel is unlikely to make a conclusive assessment as to the identity before the body is taken for forensic testing.

Itay Chen’s mother at slain hostage’s funeral: ‘Even though they told me you didn’t survive, I didn’t call you a body’

Hagit Chen eulogizes her son, slain hostage soldier Itay Chen, at his funeral in Tel Aviv, on November 9, 2025. (Dana Reany / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hagit Chen, mother of fallen soldier Itay Chen, eulogizes her son at his Kiryat Shaul funeral after his body was returned to Israel.

“I tried to think of you as alive,” says Hagit Chen, “even though they told me you didn’t survive, I didn’t call you a body. You will always be my beautiful boy, even now.”

Chen says she needed to see her son one more time, to hug his body.

“Yesterday, I was able to finally to do that,” weeps Chen. “I’m sorry you waited so long to come home.”

She speaks about his laughter and his jokes, and that he was returned in his army t-shirt, “as if you knew we needed to be left with no doubt” that it was you.

“I wanted you to be a hero, but without paying with your life,” weeps Chen.

She thanks German Ambassador Stefan Siebert for the German government’s compassion, commitment and tireless effort. In English, Chen thanks US President Donald Trump, envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and “many, so many good people for opening their hearts and doors for us.”

Cabinet okays NIS 3.25 billion in benefits for soldiers

Israeli reserve soldiers seen during military training in the Golan Heights, northern Israel, October 30, 2023. (David Cohen/ Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approves an NIS 3.25 billion ($996 million) financial package for the period of 2025-2029, intended to “strengthen the status of career soldiers.”

Touted as including “a wide range of social and economic measures,” the package covers “compensation for loss of spousal income, a digital wallet, an expanded assistance fund, bonuses, housing benefits, academic studies, and more,” the government announces in a statement.

The joint initiative of Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich “includes new grants and incentives for career soldiers, a financial and emotional assistance fund for them and their families, and a personal digital wallet worth thousands of shekels for fees, welfare, and recreation,” the statement continues.

At the same time, the Israel Land Authority will work on promoting “dedicated housing solutions and benefits for home purchases” for career soldiers and combatants, “with the goal of strengthening the soldiers’ economic security and encouraging continued long-term service.”

Soldiers will also be given academic grants, while career soldiers and conscripts whose studies were interrupted by the war will be provided with special accommodations. Moreover, the government will declare a national day to honor the troops and “introduce priority in receiving services from government ministries for combat soldiers during emergencies.”

In addition, the government says that it will initiate what it describes as “controlled data sharing” with local authorities in order to provide aid and benefits, while “formal recognition of military service will be established in state service tenders.”

“We promised to strengthen the IDF and its servicemen and women — and we are delivering,” Netanyahu boasts, calling career service people “the backbone” of the military.

“Since entering office, I have toured the field dozens of times, and in every visit I hear more from career soldiers and reservists about the personal and professional challenges they face,” says Katz, while IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir insists that “the state is obliged to stand behind those who bear its security on their shoulders.”

“Anyone who places Israel’s security above all else deserves significant recognition — not just in words. This plan is far more than a budgetary line — it’s a moral statement and a powerful expression of the nation’s appreciation for those serving in permanent service, who, together with their spouses and families, bear the burden of Israel’s security,” says Smotrich — adding that “we will continue to act for career soldiers, reservists, and everyone who does everything to protect our home.”

Smotrich recently threatened that his Religious Zionism party will stop voting with the coalition until the Knesset passes legislation providing tax credits for IDF reservists.

Itay Chen’s brothers eulogize slain hostage at funeral, thank public for support

Alon Chen, younger brother of slain hostage soldier Itay Chen, speaks at his funeral, in Tel Aviv, November 9, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Alon Chen, whose bar mitzvah was held in the weeks after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, eulogizes his older brother, Itay Chen.

He speaks about things that remind him of his brother and how much he wishes he could see him again.

Roi Chen, Chen’s older brother, describes how their family’s life changed forever on October 7. He notes the unity, the acts of loyalty and grace, the families who entered deep into their hearts during the more than two years of struggle.

He thanks the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, and those among the public who took to the streets to remind them they weren’t alone.

“You are the reason my family was able to keep going during these long two years,” says Chen.

He says his brother is the last soldier to be brought back from the October 7 battle and names the final five hostages whose bodies are still held in Gaza.

Roi Chen says the bereaved families all deserve an independent commission to investigate what happened on October 7.

Abbas’s deputy: We agreed with Hamas that committee to administer Gaza will be headed by PA minister

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair (L) meets with Palestine Liberation Organization Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh in Jordan on October 12, 2025. (Wafa)

Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, tells Sky News Arabia that Hamas and the PA reached an agreement in Cairo that the temporary committee to manage the Gaza Strip will be headed by a minister representing the Palestinian Authority.

However, al-Sheikh did not elaborate on whether other parties, such as the United States or Israel, have agreed to the arrangement.

Five days ago, Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera that Hamas had agreed with the PA that a minister representing the PA would head the committee.

Media outlets have recently reported that one of the candidates to lead the committee is Majed Abu Ramadan, currently the PA health minister, originally from Gaza and a former mayor of Gaza City.

Al-Sheikh also says in the interview that it was agreed the committee should be composed entirely of Palestinians (and not foreigners), and that further “clarifications” are needed regarding the nature of the international stabilization force expected to be deployed in the Strip — for example, who will make up the force.

7-year-old partially vaccinated boy dies from measles

The Health Ministry reports that a seven-year-old boy from Jerusalem has died from measles.

The boy had a preexisting illness and received the first of two recommended measles vaccination doses, the ministry says. It is unclear which hospital he died in.

The ministry recommends that all children receive one vaccine dose up to the age of one, and then another dose at the age of six. In places with an outbreak, it is recommended to give an additional vaccine to children from age six to 11.

This is the ninth death from measles since the start of an outbreak in May. All were healthy, with no preexisting illnesses who had not been vaccinated against the disease.

There are currently 16 patients hospitalized with the disease; eight are in intensive care.

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

The ministry says it is important to seek medical treatment upon the first appearance of symptoms or suspicion of contracting the disease.

MK Kariv accuses Ben Gvir of purposely ignoring deadly crime wave in Arab society

MK Gilad Kariv at a meeting of the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee, October 20, 2025. (Dani Shem-Tov/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

The Democrats MK Gilad Kariv accuses National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, of deliberately ignoring violent crime in Arab society, after seven people were killed over the weekend.

“This is not failure, it is a deliberate and planned act of neglect. Actual policy,” the lawmaker writes on X.

Since Friday evening, seven Arab Israelis have fallen victim to homicide, marking the latest spate of killings in a larger crime wave that has claimed 223 lives this year so far.

Kariv links law enforcement’s failure to deal with Arab-sector crime to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s roadmap to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

“Smotrich is leading the ‘decisive plan’ against the Palestinians. Ben Gvir is leading the ‘decisive plan’ against the Arab citizens of Israel,” he charges.

In video eulogy, Witkoff hopes his own slain son and Itay Chen have met ‘somewhere beyond this world’

A eulogy for fallen soldier Itay Chen by US special envoy Steve Witkoff is broadcast at the funeral.

Witkoff speaks of Chen’s quiet heroism and true courage, and how he got to know him through his family.

“This journey also brought me to reflect on my own path, on my son Andrew, whose passing reshaped my heart forever,” says Witkoff. “Losing a child is an ache beyond words, and yet it is through that pain that I found myself drawn to families like the Chens. It was as if Andrew, in some divine way, was guiding me toward those who needed a voice, a hand, a friend. And in helping them, I found pieces of healing for my own soul.”

Witkoff says that learning about Itay helped heal a part of his own heart, and that he likes to think that Itay and his son Andrew have found each other “somewhere beyond this world.”

Witkoff shares condolences from Jared Kushner and he recognizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Ron Dermer, speaking of their leadership and dedication.

He also lauds the leadership of US President Donald Trump, which Witkoff says was “driven not by politics, but by humanity, his sense of humanity, and by the simple belief that every life matters, and that no one should ever be forgotten. I am so proud to call him my friend, and to call him my president of the United States.”

Eulogy by Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff at the Funeral of Itay Chen pic.twitter.com/KxSxzVVYgP

— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) November 9, 2025

Witkoff says that the Chen family has shown the world what faith looks like, and has taught him what resilience feels like and that “our purpose on this earth is not merely to exist, but to love one another as if each life were our own.”

German ambassador eulogizes Itay Chen at funeral: ‘Millions of us feel pain and relief’

Mourners attend the funeral of slain IDF officer and hostage Itay Chen at Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, November 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

German ambassador Stefan Seibart eulogizes Itay Chen in Hebrew and speaks of the closeness the German Embassy felt to the family, at the slain hostage’s funeral in Tel Aviv.

“The impossible pain, to know for sure that he died as a hero and will never return, and the moment we hoped would take place, his burial, after we heard he had been killed,” says Seibart. “Next to that pain is the relief — millions of us feel that way, pain and relief.”

Seibert says the Chens were admirable fighters, and “I think you worked even harder with the Americans.”

He mentions the other five families “waiting for what you have now, the ability to mourn as needed —  I hope they will have that as soon as possible.”

Dam reservoirs supplying Iran’s Mashhad dip below 3% amid severe water crisis

TEHRAN, Iran — Water levels at the dam reservoirs supplying Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad plunged below three percent, Iranian media reports, as the country suffers from severe water shortages.

“The water storage in Mashhad’s dams has now fallen to less than three percent,” Hossein Esmaeilian, the chief executive of the water company in Iran’s second largest city by population, tells ISNA news agency.

He adds that “the current situation shows that managing water use is no longer merely a recommendation — it has become a necessity.”

High Court issues provisional orders against all sides in Sde Teiman video leak petitions

Illustrative: A High Court of Justice hearing on petitions against the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, April 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice issues interim injunctions ordering all sides in the petitions relating to who will have oversight authority over the investigation of the Sde Teiman video leak to file responses by today at 8 p.m.

A hearing on the petitions is scheduled for Tuesday before High Court justices Yael Wilner, Alex Stein, and Gila Canfy-Steinitz.

One petition filed by Likud MK Avichay Buaron and the conservative Lavi organization requests that the court order Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to not be involved in the criminal investigation of the former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, since she had ultimate oversight over a previous, flawed internal probe of the leak by the Military Advocate General’s Office.

Another petition filed by the liberal Israel Democracy Guard organization requests that the court annul Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s appointment of State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to oversee the investigation instead of Baharav-Miara and the Attorney General’s Office.

The order is issued in order to expedite the judicial process due to the highly sensitive nature of the situation and the tension between different government agencies and figures who are in parallel claiming authority over the investigation.

Recording of battle fought by Itay Chen on Oct. 7 played at funeral; Herzog praises slain hostage as ‘national symbol’

IDF soldiers carry the flag-draped coffin of slain hostage soldier Itay Chen after his body was returned from Gaza, during his funeral at Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, November 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

At the funeral for Itay Chen, a recording is played of the last minutes of the battle he fought on October 7, in which his voice and the sound of gunshots are heard.

Itay Chen was taken from a tank near Nahal Oz along with his crewmates, Capt. Daniel Perez and Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz, who were both killed, and Matan Angrest, one of the 20 living hostages who were released on October 13 as part of a ceasefire deal.

Leibovitz was buried on October 17, 2023, in the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery. Perez’s initial funeral was held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on March 18, 2024; His family held a second funeral after his body was released by Hamas last month.

President Isaac Herzog offers the first eulogy, calling Itay Chen a “national symbol.”

“We learned your story and learned your sense of purpose, and ask to tell you today, thank you, thank you to Perez’s crew, whose toughest moments of battle we just heard,” says Herzog. He notes how good it was to see Angrest, who is present.

Herzog says that at every funeral and encounter with a bereaved family, he is in awe of “this remarkable generation, your generation, Itay.”

“Look at the hidden light shining from this generation – yours, Itay, your friends’, your peers’. Diamonds, each and every one. Beacons, lighting our path further and further into the distance,” says Herzog.

He notes that the Chen family decided not to sit shiva for their son until his body was returned home from Gaza.

He lauds the family’s strength and the Chens’ “extraordinary, almost impossible campaign, across the world.”

Herzog says in English, “The determined international effort, spearheaded by President Donald Trump, to bring Staff Sergeant Itay Chen and all other hostages home, goes to the heart of the battle between us who seek peace and stability and those who seek terror and radicalization. I repeat here again what I have said throughout: The entire family of nations must stand, here, with humanity and much more. Every last hostage comes home for dignified burial.”

He refers to the Chens’ repeated call for the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, which Herzog said he has echoed time and again over the past two years.

“I repeat it again here, because we all know that only an independent, professional, and comprehensive investigation can yield answers to these questions – the very questions the Chen family and countless Israelis have asked themselves every day since October 7th,” says Herzog.

Herzog to visit DR Congo, make first-ever presidential trip to Zambia this week

President Isaac Herzog speaks at a state memorial ceremony marking 30 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on November 3, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/ Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia this week, becoming the first Israeli president to visit the latter country, his office announces.

“As part of efforts to strengthen Israel’s diplomatic relations with Africa,” Herzog will depart on Monday for a 24-hour trip to both countries, according to a statement from his office.

During his visit, Herzog will hold meetings with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, and other senior officials, focusing “on the international challenges of this time, strengthening Israel’s standing in the international arena, deepening bilateral diplomatic relations, and advancing regional and global cooperation,” the statement adds.

In August, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opened an Israeli embassy in Lusaka, over three decades after Israel and Zambia reestablished ties, as part of ongoing efforts to expand and deepen Israel’s ties with African countries.

Police seeking to bar ex-top IDF legal chief from leaving country — report

Former IDF military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is released to house arrest outside Neve Tirtza Women’s Prison in Ramla, November 7, 2025. (Flash90)

Police are reportedly seeking to confiscate the passport of former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi and bar her from leaving the country

Paramedics took her to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) from her home after receiving a report detailing an overdose on medication, Hebrew outlets report. The ex-IDF official is being investigated for obstructing a probe into the Sde Teiman video leak, to which she owned up after resigning from her post.

She is suspected of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of her office, obstruction of justice, and unlawful disclosure of material, over her role in the leak of footage purporting to show IDF soldiers severely abusing a Gazan detainee at the Sde Teiman facility last year.

A senior police official speaking to Ynet says her hospitalization has raised law enforcement’s worry that she will attempt to further obstruct the investigation into the leak.

Tomer-Yerushalmi went missing on the Tel Aviv coast a week ago and is suspected of having attempted to dispose of evidence on her phone, which she was not found with when police finally located her. At the time, authorities feared for her life and presumed she had attempted suicide.

Slain hostage soldier Itay Chen is buried in Tel Aviv

Hagit (R) and Ruby Chen at the funeral of their son, slain hostage soldier Itay Chen, at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, November 9, 2025. (Shai Hazan/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Thousands gather at Tel Aviv’s Kiryat Shaul cemetery for the funeral of fallen soldier Itay Chen, whose body was released by Hamas after having been held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Ruby Chen and his two other sons, Roi and Alon, recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, Chen’s arms slung over his sons’ shoulders. Each wears a black T-shirt bearing the image of Itay’s face.

Two injured in South Hebron Hills settler attack, village residents tell ToI

Red Crescent medics carry a Palestinian injured in an apparent settler attack, in the West Bank village of Umm al-Kheir, November 9, 2025. (Umm Al-Kheir Village Council)

Khalil al-Adalin, a resident of the village of Umm al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills, tells The Times of Israel that two villagers were injured this morning in an attack by two settlers who came from a nearby outpost.

According to al-Adalin, the settlers entered the village with their flock, and tried to cut down olive trees before attacking two Palestinians with stones and clubs.

Another resident of the village, Eid al-Adalin, tells The Times of Israel that one of the injured — a 26-year-old man — was struck in the head with clubs and taken to a hospital for examination, while the second, a 50-year-old man, sustained an arm injury and was treated at the scene.

Footage shows IDF forces at the scene when the man was taken to a hospital. The IDF has not yet issued a response.

Hamas announces it will return body of Lt. Hadar Goldin at 2 p.m.

Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body is being held in Gaza after he was killed fighting in the Strip on August 1, 2014. (courtesy)

The military wing of Hamas announces that the body of IDF officer Lt. Hadar Goldin, held by the terror organization since 2014, will  be returned to Israel at 2 p.m.

Goldin was killed and his body captured by terrorists during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

Saudi Arabia says two executed for plotting terror attacks on places of worship

Saudi Arabia says that it executed two citizens for joining a terrorist group that planned to carry out attacks on places of worship.

The two men also planned attacks against security facilities and personnel, the Saudi state news agency SPA reports, citing a statement from the interior ministry.

The statement does not indicate when any of the attacks was planned to have taken place.

Israel gearing up for possible release of hostage’s body this afternoon

The five slain hostages whose bodies were still held in Gaza as of November 8, 2025: (Top row from left) Meny Godard, Ran Gvili, Dror Or; (Bottom row) Sudthisak Rinthalak, Hadar Goldin. (Collage by Times of Israel; Photos: Courtesy)

Israel is preparing for the possibility that Hamas may return the body of a hostage to Israel this afternoon, The Times of Israel has learned.

It is not yet fully certain if the handover will take place, and Hamas has yet to announce today that it intends to return any hostages.

Currently, the bodies of five dead hostages remain held in Gaza: Meny Godard, Lt. Hadar Goldin, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Yesterday, a Hamas official said the terror group recovered the body of Goldin — held since the 2014 Gaza War — in an IDF-held area of southern Gaza’s Rafah.

Hamas vows trapped fighters in Rafah won’t surrender to Israel

The military wing of Hamas announces that “the occupation bears full responsibility for the clash with our fighters in Rafah,” and vows that they will not surrender.

The statement comes against the backdrop of reports that completion of the handover of the hostages’ bodies, including the body of IDF officer Hadar Goldin, is linked to the presence of several hundred Hamas fighters in Rafah in an area under Israeli control, who are unable to withdraw into territory not under IDF control.

Hamas adds in the statement that “in the lexicon of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades there is no place for the principle of surrender or handing themselves over to the enemy. The mediators must find a solution that will ensure the continuation of the ceasefire.”

Hamas also says in the statement that the recovery of the remaining hostages’ bodies requires additional teams and technical equipment.

Israeli drone strike reported on vehicle in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle between the southern Lebanon towns of Souaneh and Kherbet Selem.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

مسيرة اسرائيلية معادية تستهدف سيارة بين بلدتي الصوانة وخربة سلم#ملحق pic.twitter.com/LdnPI3ZSPI

— Mulhak – ملحق (@Mulhak) November 9, 2025

7 Palestinians injured in alleged settler attack near Jerusalem — reports

Palestinian media outlets report that seven Palestinians were injured in an alleged settler attack in the area of the West Bank village of Jaba and a nearby Bedouin encampment north of Jerusalem.

Videos from earlier in the morning show burned structures in the area, with reports claiming that settlers set the buildings on fire.

Footage later from the scene shows both sides — apparently Palestinians and settlers — throwing stones at each other.

The IDF has not yet issued a response.

ميلشيات المستوطنين تهاجم تجمعاً بدوياً فلسطينياً في سهل جبع شمال شرق القدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/D9BAknM7s1

— قناة عودة الفضائية (@AwdehTV) November 9, 2025

#فيديو | المستوطنون يضرمون النيران في ممتلكات الأهالي خلال مهاجمة تجمع معازي جبع البدوي شمال شرق القدس pic.twitter.com/FeG7op1bPz

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 9, 2025

Tel Aviv professor who went missing for a week dies, hospital says

Professor Nurit Yaari in an undated photo (Israel Police)

Professor Nurit Yaari, who was hospitalized after being missing for more than a week, has died after her ordeal, Ichilov Medical Center says.

The 78-year-old theater professor was found in serious condition under a bridge at Tel Aviv’s Ayalon River on Monday, according to Hebrew media reports.

According to Hebrew-language media, Yaari had spent days under the bridge after she was last seen on security footage walking in the streets of Tel Aviv, seemingly disoriented.

She is thought not to have eaten or drunk since she went missing from Ichilov Medical Center on October 26 after accompanying her husband, who had fallen and hit his head.

The visually impaired professor had left her home without her glasses and was last seen on security cameras on a street close to the hospital.

Ichilov Medical Center confirms ex-IDF legal chief hospitalized

Ichilov Medical Center confirms that the former IDF military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was hospitalized at their facility.

The hospital says that medical teams are assessing her condition.

Israel views ‘with great severity’ Hamas’s withholding of Hadar Goldin’s body, official says

Israelis gather outside the family home of slain Hamas hostage Lt. Hadar Goldin, in Kfar Saba, November 8, 2025. (Tal Gal/Flash90)

Israel views “with great severity” Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire deal by its delay of the return of the body of IDF officer Hadar Goldin, a diplomatic official says.

“Israel demands his return immediately,” the official says.

Hamas has given no official indication of when the ostensible body of Goldin is to be returned, and Israel has received no indication either. Hamas told Al Jazeera yesterday that it had located the remains of Goldin, whom the terror group killed and abducted amid a ceasefire during the 2014 Gaza war.

Former top IDF lawyer taken to hospital after feeling unwell — reports

Former IDF military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is released to house arrest outside Neve Tirtza Women’s Prison in Ramla, November 7, 2025 (Flash90)

Former IDF military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has been hospitalized after feeling unwell, Hebrew media outlets report.

She is conscious, and is being taken to Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, reports say.

Medics were called to her home in the early hours of the morning.

Tomer-Yerushalmi was released to house arrest on Friday, five days after she went missing on a beach and a week after she resigned from her post and admitted to leaking a classified video to the press last year.

Tomer-Yerushalmi is suspected of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of her office, obstruction of justice, and unlawful disclosure of material over her role in the leak of a video to the media that purported to show IDF soldiers severely abusing a Gazan detainee at the Sde Teiman facility last year.

IDF says it shot dead a Palestinian who was planning to harm troops in northern West Bank

The military says it shot dead a Palestinian “terrorist who was planning on harming IDF soldiers” during a raid in the al-Faraa refugee camp in the northern West Bank this evening.

The soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s reconnaissance unit opened fire on the suspect, killing him, the IDF says, adding that no troops were injured.

The IDF does not elaborate on how the man was attempting to harm the soldiers.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry identifies the slain man as Abd al-Rahman Ahmad Abbas Darawsheh, 26.

قمر مخيم الفارعة جنوبي طوباس الشاب "عبد الرحمن أحمد عباس دراوشة" pic.twitter.com/LkF2BSIc8W

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) November 8, 2025

Syrian leader al-Sharaa arrives in US for official visit

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has arrived in the US for an official visit, the Syrian state news agency reports.

Sharaa is set to meet US President Donald Trump.

After meeting, opposition leaders vow ‘to fight evasion law in the Knesset, streets and legal arena’

Following a meeting this evening, the leaders of the so-called anti-Netanyahu “change bloc” release a joint statement promising to fight against the government’s efforts to pass an “evasion law” regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment “in the Knesset, on the streets and in the legal arena.”

The bloc is an alliance of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties that seek to oust Netanyahu and his hard-right coalition, and have been working to create a mechanism for coordinating their efforts.

It is comprised of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, Yashar! With Eisenkot chief Gadi Eisenkot, Blue and White head Benny Gantz, and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.

In the statement, the opposition politicians welcome recent progress in returning the bodies of the remaining hostages and say that they “discussed advancing the bloc’s strategy for victory in the elections.”

“We intend to fight against the evasion law in the Knesset, on the streets and in the legal arena. Due to the heavy burden on regular troops and reservists – we demand that the army act according to the law and increase efforts to recruit the ultra-Orthodox. The vast majority of the people of Israel want equal recruitment for all and we will fight to make it happen,” they state.

“The continued attempts to undermine the legal system and media laws are a complete repetition of the judicial coup and an attempt to interfere in the election campaign in an election year — we will not allow this and will fight it,” they continue, referring to the coalition’s judicial overhaul program, while pledging to “continue to work with all our might to bring about elections as quickly as possible.”

A bill which would give the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites and other media passed its first reading in the Knesset on Tuesday.  At the same time, lawmakers are advancing a series of government-backed bills intended to significantly weaken the power of the attorney general, effectively depriving the position of all authority and independence.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation also recently approved a bill aimed at hampering Bennett’s electoral run.