Oct. 14: UNIFIL says peacekeepers to remain in southern Lebanon as pressure on Israel mounts

UN Security Council voices concerns over fire on peacekeeper positions in Lebanon

The United Nations Security Council has voiced “strong concerns” over incidents in which UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have been injured amid Israel’s military offensive against the Hezbollah terror group.

“Against the backdrop of ongoing hostilities along the Blue Line, the members of the Security Council expressed their strong concerns after several UNIFIL positions came under fire in the past days. Several peacekeepers have been wounded,” says the council’s rotating presidency, currently Switzerland’s UN ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl.

In the statement, which does not single out Israel, the 15 council members “urged all parties to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises. They recalled that UN peacekeepers and UN premises must never be the target of an attack.”

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah members near peacekeeper positions, insisting that the Blue Helmets temporarily seek shelter away from the fighting. The force has said it will remain across southern Lebanon.

The council’s statement follows two closed-door meetings on the deteriorating situation in Lebanon.

Defying Israel, UNIFIL chief says peacekeepers to ‘stay in all positions’ in Lebanon

Illustrative: A general view of a base of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at the Lebanese-Israeli border, in the southern village of Markaba, on April 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

United Nations peacekeepers will stay in all positions in Lebanon despite Israeli calls for them to move, given intensifying fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and five blue helmets suffering injuries, the UN peacekeeping chief says.

“The decision was made that UNIFIL would currently stay in all its positions in spite of the calls that were made by the Israel Defense Forces to vacate the positions that are in the vicinity of the Blue Line,” says UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made repeated calls in recent days to UNIFIL to evacuate from active combat zones, arguing that Hezbollah has been using its positions as human shields.

Biden denounces anti-Arab hate on anniversary of Palestinian-American boy’s murder

Wadea Al Fayoume's father, Oday Al Fayoume, looks at a photo of his son during a vigil at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Illinois, October 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

US President Joe Biden issues a statement commemorating the one-year anniversary of the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American in an alleged hate crime.

Authorities allege Joseph Czuba, 71, targeted Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother Hanaan Shahin, on October 14, 2023, because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Czuba pleaded not guilty to hate crime and murder charges, and proceedings against him are ongoing.

The attack renewed fears of anti-Islamic hate in the Chicago area’s large Palestinian community.

“One year later, we continue to think about them. We are grateful for Hanaan’s recovery and her powerful voice for peace. But we know the hole in their heart that remains without their beloved son. Days like this are hard because it brings it all back. We keep them in our hearts,” Biden says in a statement.

“On this day, let us all take steps that honor Wadea’s memory and reaffirm together that there is no place for hate in America, including hatred of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. We can all reject hatred and expose misinformation and disinformation that is cynically aimed at turning us against one another.”

“We can all reach across divides of background and belief to create greater understanding and unity in our country. No one in this country should be subjected to violence or hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric simply because of who they are. No one of any background in this country should be made to feel unsafe in America,” he adds.

“Together, we must work to end acts of senseless violence and stand united in support of all of our fellow Americans, no matter their race, ethnicity, or creed. May we summon the courage and the strength to do so,” Biden says.

‘I told you so’: Ukrainian envoy laments past Israeli refusal to collaborate on countering Iran-made drones

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk speaks during a conference in Jaffa, June 7, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni‎‏/Flash90)

Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel laments that Israel did not take up past offers by Kyiv to collaborate on countering Iran-made drones, a day after a Hezbollah UAV crashed into an IDF base, killing four and injuring dozens.

“I don’t want to say now, ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” Yevgen Korniychuk tells the Ynet news site. “It has long been clear to me that we are fighting the same enemy. I can say that after the attack on Israel that happened on October 7, [2023], Israel woke up, but there is much more do to.”

He says that in the past six months, Ukraine’s drone interception rate has been between 80 percent and 90%.

Israel has struggled to deal with the drone threat throughout the current war. It was Hamas drones that first crossed from Gaza on the morning of October 7, 2023, to disable electronic monitoring systems and pave the way for the massive cross-border onslaught. And the situation has gotten worse with Hezbollah drones, which periodically manage to evade Israel’s air defenses.

Figures released today show that over the course of the war, some 1,200 drones have been fired at Israel by Iran-backed terror groups, and 221 have gotten through Israel’s defenses.

Ukraine, which since Russia’s invasion in early 2022 has itself been dealing with Iran-made drones, offered Israel military and technological cooperation in February 2023, with Korniychuk even bringing drone shards to senior Israeli officials as part of his extensive attempts to convince the Jewish state to take a much stronger stance in favor of Kyiv and against Moscow, but Israel rebuffed these overtures, Hebrew media reported at the time.

In June 2023, Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak told The Times of Israel that “nobody but Israel can provide equipment to combat attacks by Iranian drones.”

At the time, Korniychuk told Channel 12 news, “Tomorrow, you may experience the same Iranian drone attack here.” In October 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the network: “We are fighting against Iran each day, 400 attacks of Iranian drones on our people, civilians, infrastructure. We gave information to Israel and we said ‘help us with air defenses’… We can join against this evil on air defense.”

Smotrich slams AG’s procedural criticism of decision to place bomb shelters in illegal settlements

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slams Attorney General Gali Baharv-Miara for criticizing a cabinet decision regarding the placement of mobile bomb shelters in illegal West Bank outposts, which she said was the result of an improper decision-making process.

“We will continue to fix, regulate, and create de facto sovereignty, and the attorney general will continue to interfere,” Smotrich tweets, saying that West Bank settlers also have “the right to life.”

Thanking “the cabinet ministers for voting unanimously in favor of the decision,” Smotrich says that “we are continuing together and with all our strength for the sake of settlement and security.”

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general said that the resolution was not put on the cabinet’s agenda, did not receive professional scrutiny from the security services, and had not been presented to the cabinet ministers with the budget impact assessment and legal position paper necessary for such decisions.

She insisted that such decisions are in the purview of professional officials in the IDF, “as determined by a broad view of the array of risks in relation to all the country’s citizens, and the extent [of those risks],” and asserted that only the defense minister is responsible for such decisions.

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) accused Baharav-Miara of making a “series of claims disconnected from reality,” and insisted that the decision-making process was lawful, saying that the proposal was debated in the cabinet back on October 1.

US protests to Israel over strike on hospital that sparked ‘horrifying’ fire in Gaza tent camp

Fire after an Israeli strike, which the military said targeted a terror command center, allegedly hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (Abdel Kareem Hana/ AP)

The White House says it has protested to Israel over last night’s IDF strike on a hospital compound in central Gaza that led to “horrifying” images of displaced Palestinians being burned alive when their nearby tent camp caught fire.

“The images and video of what appear to be displaced civilians burning alive following an Israeli airstrike are deeply disturbing, and we have made our concerns clear to the Israeli government,” a White House National Security spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.

“Israel has a responsibility to do more to avoid civilian casualties — and what happened here is horrifying, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields,” the spokesperson adds in a statement.

The IDF confirmed earlier today that it struck the Al-Aqsa Hospital compound in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, where it said terrorists were operating a command center. Three people were killed and 40 were injured, according to Palestinian media.

Netanyahu slams claims Israel targeting UNIFIL, says peacekeepers refusing requests to evacuate

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message from his office on October 14, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly denies that IDF forces have purposely targeted UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

“The charge that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL personnel is completely false,” he says in an English-language video.

“It’s exactly the opposite. Israel repeatedly asked UNIFIL to get out of harm’s way. It repeatedly asked them to temporarily leave the combat zone, which is right next to Israel’s border with Lebanon.”

UNIFIL and European countries with troops in the 10,000-strong force say the IDF has struck outposts several times, lightly hurting five soldiers.

“On the day that Israel began its ground operation next to our border with Lebanon, we asked them specifically, ‘Please leave this area so you’re not harmed,'” Netanyahu continues.

Netanyahu accuses Hezbollah of using UNIFIL positions as cover while it attacks Israel. “These attacks have claimed the lives of many Israelis, including yesterday,” he maintains, referring to a drone strike that killed four IDF soldiers and injured dozens.

“Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah and will continue to do so,” Netanyahu insists, adding that Israel is doing everything it can to prevent harm to UNIFIL soldiers.

“But the best way to assure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s request and to temporarily get out of harm’s way,” he says.

FM Katz: EU sanctions over Russia show world not tolerating Iran’s ‘destabilization of the region’

Israel lauds new sanctions on Iran by the EU and UK over its transfer of missiles and drones to Russia for use against Ukraine.

“These sanctions send a clear message that the international community will not tolerate Iran’s dangerous actions, its support for terrorism, and its destabilization of the region,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz writes in a statement posted on X.

AG scolds Netanyahu for ‘improper’ cabinet decision-making; PM hits back

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, November 2, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issues renewed criticism of what she describes as the government’s improper decision-making process, this time regarding the manner in which a cabinet decision was taken on October 10 regarding the placement of mobile bomb shelters in illegal West Bank outposts.

In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general says that Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs read out the resolution that authorized the finance minister, the settlements and national projects minister, and the Negev, Galilee, and national resilience minister to pool resources in order to fund and erect the mobile shelters in the West Bank outposts, in accordance with recommendations by the IDF Central Command.

Baharav-Miara says the resolution was not put on the cabinet’s agenda, did not received professional scrutiny from the security services, and had not been presented to the cabinet ministers with the budget impact assessment and legal position paper necessary for such decisions.

She adds that the resolution was read out after there was no more time for cabinet deliberations, and that a vote was held in a matter of minutes.

“Because of the errors in the [cabinet] work process, it must be underlined that the determination of if and where the security establishment would erect security components is not a political decision and is not sanctioned by ‘pooling resources,'” the attorney general says, scolding the prime minister.

She insists that such decisions are in the purview of professional officials in the IDF “as determined by a broad view of the array of risks in relation to all the country’s citizens, and the extent [of those risks],” and asserts that only the defense minister is responsible for such decisions.

“This improper behavior in relation to these sensitive issues is likely to harm security needs,” Baharav-Miara adds, calling the resolution “empty” and telling Netanyahu that it should be “filled up” with the relevant professional and legal input in order to “enable its legal implementation.”

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) accuses Baharav-Miara of making a “series of claims disconnected from reality,” and insists that the decision-making process was lawful, saying that the proposal was debated in cabinet back on October 1.

The PMO adds that, following observations made by the defense minister regarding the resolution, Netanyahu gave instructions for the proper “staff work” to be completed by the next cabinet meeting, work which it says was completed.

“We are saddened by the fact that the attorney general chooses to deal with empty claims when lives are at stake,” the statement concludes.

The attorney general has repeatedly accused Fuchs and the cabinet of violating proper procedure to circumvent legal obstacles to decisions it wished to pass, going so far as to state that such practices were part of the government’s judicial overhaul agenda to disregard the necessity of legal approval for government action.

Israeli man who visited Ukraine’s Uman said to have gone missing in Romania

An Israeli citizen who traveled to Uman, Ukraine for the Rosh Hashanah festival, has been missing for almost a week, the Ynet news site reports.

Search and rescue efforts by Aviad Farhi’s insurance company and by the Foreign Ministry, police and consul in Romania have been underway since Thursday, the outlet says.

It adds that Farhi was last seen in the early morning of Wednesday, October 8, in northern Romania’s Suceava.

Hospital says girl, 17, was lightly hurt in Hezbollah barrage on central Israel

Despite officials initially saying the Hezbollah rocket salvo to central Israel earlier did not cause any direct casualties, Wolfson Medical Center in Holon updates that a 17-year-old girl was injured from shrapnel.

The hospital says she is in good condition and undergoing examinations by its staff.

Liberman says planned budget harms public instead of closing ‘superfluous’ ministries

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting in the Knesset, May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former finance minister Avigdor Liberman dismisses the government’s latest budget proposal as harmful to regular taxpayers. He argues that the coalition would do better to close “superfluous” government ministries, and not cut benefits, in an effort to bring down the large budget deficit and fund the ongoing wars with the Hamas terror group in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Citizens of Israel, this government is going to hit you in the savings, everything that you earned and saved up over the years: in the pension, in the advanced study funds,” Liberman declares in a video message posted to X (formerly Twitter).

“They are going to raise the value added tax (VAT). And all of these decrees are coming instead of taking and closing all of the superfluous ministries,” he says, ripping the names of several ministries and departments from a board and throwing them out, including the Heritage Ministry and Settlement and National Missions Ministry.

“They are all a waste of money. Instead of harming citizens, begin cutting in the places that nobody needs,” he says.

Liberman’s comments come after the Finance Ministry presented his year’s Arrangements Law for public comment, ahead of the upcoming Knesset legislative session. The law, which determines how funds will be disbursed, is usually the final precursor to passing the budget.

Despite Netanyahu’s denials, report lays out his Friday order to stop striking in Beirut

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb, on October 6, 2024. (STRINGER / AFP)

Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and anonymous officials issuing repeated denials of reports that the government ordered the IDF to avoid striking Beirut, the Kan public broadcaster says such an order was indeed issued on Friday, without informing security cabinet members.

Israel has not struck the Lebanese capital in the last four days, and Kan says Netanyahu has demanded that any potential strike on Beirut be brought to him for his personal approval beforehand.

This reportedly happened after US President Joe Biden demanded in a call with Netanyahu last Wednesday that the IDF stop striking in “heavily populated areas.”

Kan says cabinet members have been left in the dark about this order and learned about it from the press reports, adding that some have said they will demand an explanation if Israel continues to avoid striking Beirut, which houses the Dahiyeh neighborhood that serves as Hezbollah’s main headquarters.

Netanyahu said today that Israel maintains freedom of operating throughout Lebanon and will strike anywhere needed, including Beirut, echoing denials issued earlier in the name of an anonymous senior Israeli official.

Hamas commander who planned use of drones, paragliders on Oct. 7 has been killed — IDF, Shin Bet

The IDF and Shin Bet announce in a joint statement that the head of Hamas’s air array was killed in a September airstrike.

Samer Abu-Daqa was among the terrorists who planned the infiltration of Israel on October 7 with paragliders and drones, says the statement. He served as head of the air array since October 2023, when his predecessor was eliminated by Israel.

Israel calls him “a key source of knowledge,” who played a central role in establishing Hamas’s drone and paraglider units.

In the past, he served as the head of the drone unit, and was in charge of Hamas weapon production.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר, בהכוונה של אמ"ן, שב"כ וחיל האוויר, תקפו במהלך חודש ספטמבר 2024 וחיסלו את המחבל סאמר אבו-דקה, ראש המערך האווירי של ארגון הטרור חמאס, שהחליף את ראש המערך האווירי הקודם שחוסל בחודש אוקטובר 2023>> pic.twitter.com/B8ZNRmqK0e

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 14, 2024

Israeli attacks on UNIFIL must stop, Italy, Britain, France and Germany say

Israeli attacks on the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, are contrary to international humanitarian law and must stop at once, Italy, Britain, France and Germany say.

In a joint statement, the four nations reaffirm “the essential stabilizing role” played by UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, adding that Israel and other parties have to ensure the safety of the peacekeepers at all times.

The UNIFIL mission, which includes hundreds of European soldiers, has said it has repeatedly come under attack from the Israeli military in recent days. Israel has called on the UN to move troops out of the area as it targets Hezbollah forces.

UN chief condemns ‘large number’ of civilian casualties in Gaza’s north

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the “large number of civilian casualties in the intensifying Israeli campaign in northern Gaza,” his spokesperson says.

“He strongly urges all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and emphasizes that civilians must be respected and protected at all times,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric tells reporters.

Meanwhile, medics in the Hamas-run Strip claim to Reuters that an Israeli airstrike has killed at least eight people and wounded many others in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

Head of drone-targeted Golani Brigade says its fighters have killed 15 terrorists in Lebanon in past day

The commander of the Golani Brigade, whose soldiers were hit in yesterday’s deadly drone strike on a training base near Binyamina, says the brigade will remember its four fallen troops and continue fighting in their memory.

Col. Adi Ganon adds that Golani forces have been fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon for the past few weeks, killing 15 terror operatives in the last day, finding weapons and destroying Hezbollah infrastructure.

IDF takes over tunnel under Lebanese village meant for elite Hezbollah forces to use in invasion

IDF troops inside a Hezbollah tunnel found in southern Lebanon for use by its elite Radwan force on way to invasion into Israel, in a photo released by the military on October 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF forces from the 8th Reserve Brigade, operating on the eastern side of southern Lebanon, have taken over an underground complex belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the IDF says.

The complex, which includes 800 meters of tunnels, is situated under a civilian village, says the army. The tunnels include a bedroom and a fully stocked kitchen.

A fully equipped kitchen inside a Hezbollah tunnel found in southern Lebanon for use by its elite Radwan force on way to invasion into Israel, in a photo released by the military on October 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

According to IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, the complex was designed for a Radwan battalion to arrive, suit up, then head into Israel on foot and on motorbikes.

IDF forces captured the complex late last week and found anti-helicopter missiles, mortar shells, rifles and other munitions.

One of the operatives was holed up in the bunker, and was killed by the Air Force.

IDF soldiers from the 8th Brigade move through an 800-meter-long underground Hezbollah complex, stocked with food, weapons, and motorbikes. pic.twitter.com/oKD9OOWAFb

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 14, 2024

IDF says 15 rockets fired at north, some intercepted, others fall in open areas

The IDF says some 15 rocket were fired from Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee region in the north an hour ago.

It adds that some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas.

Netanyahu visits base hit by Hezbollah drone, says IDF will continue to strike in Beirut

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, visits a Golani training base targeted by a deadly Hezbollah drone strike a day earlier, October 14, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Visiting the Golani training base at which a Hezbollah drone killed four soldiers last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to continue striking the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group, including in Beirut.

“We are fighting a tough campaign against Iran’s axis of evil that wants to totally destroy us,” says Netanyahu. “They won’t make it. We keep fighting. We pay painful prices, but we have tremendous achievements — and we will continue to achieve them.”

“I want to make it clear: we will continue to hit Hezbollah mercilessly in all parts of Lebanon — also in Beirut,” he says, after Hebrew media reports indicated that he had instructed the IDF to refrain from hitting the Lebanese capital at Washington’s behest.

Netanyahu visits the dining hall that was hit by the UAV, and talks about the incident with survivors.

He also visits soldiers injured in the attack at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.

IDF says Sgt. Koren Bitan killed in battle in southern Gaza

IDF soldier Sgt. Koren Bitan (19) has been killed in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF announces.

He was operating with Battalion 450, part of the Bislamach Brigade (School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders). Bitan had started his service in the Kfir Brigade.

His family has been notified.

Israel lets food enter northern Gaza, in first since launching renewed offensive

Troops operate in the Gaza Strip in a photo released for publication on October 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli authorities say humanitarian aid has been allowed into northern Gaza today, in what appears to be the first time since the IDF launched a renewed offensive there that has drawn warnings from the UN and the US of an impending humanitarian disaster.

Thirty trucks carrying flour and food from the UN World Food Programme were transferred today from Ashdod Port through the Erez West crossing into the northern Gaza Strip, says the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

“We emphasize that all humanitarian aid was transferred following thorough security inspections,” says the IDF, adding that it will “continue to act in accordance with international law to facilitate and support the humanitarian response to the Gaza Strip.”

30 @WFP trucks carrying flour and other food pass through the Erez West crossing to the northern Gaza Strip, says @cogatonline pic.twitter.com/F6zJIP02Lp

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 14, 2024

US Embassy in Lebanon strongly encourages citizens to leave the country

The US Embassy in Lebanon says its citizens are strongly encouraged to leave the country “now,” adding that additional flights the embassy organized for its citizens traveling out of Beirut will not continue indefinitely.

FM Katz tells Chinese counterpart Iran is threat to entire world, urges ‘balanced position’ on conflict

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference at the Borsig villa in Berlin on April 26, 2017. (AFP Photo/Tobias Schwarz)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Iran is a threat to the Middle East and the entire world, his office says.

Katz tells Wang during a phone call that Israel will respond to the Iranian missile attack. They discuss fighting against Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, says Katz’s office.

It is the first phone call between Katz and Wang, who last spoke to an Israeli top diplomat — Eli Cohen — in October 2023.

“We expect that China will express a balanced and fair position in relation to the war that was imposed on Israel,” says the Israeli readout, “which accurately reflects who are terrorist elements in our region and who is the state that protects itself against attacks by those terrorists.”

They discuss the importance of economic cooperation, and Katz notes the 20,000 Chinese workers who remained in Israel during the war.

“We agreed to continue the relationship and work together to strengthen the ties between the countries based on the long-standing friendship between the Jewish people and the Chinese people,” says Katz’s office.

Meanwhile, Chinese state media presented its readout from the call, according to which Wang told Katz that “humanitarian disasters” in Gaza should end.

“Humanitarian disasters in Gaza should not continue and… countering violence with violence cannot truly address the legitimate concerns of all parties,” Wang told Katz, the official Xinhua news agency says.

“The Chinese side believes that renewed conflict and turmoil in the region serves the interests of no one,” Wang adds.

Beijing also “hopes that all parties will act cautiously to avoid falling into a vicious circle amid tension between Israel and Iran,” Xinhua quotes Wang as saying.

He calls for “immediate, complete and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages.”

Lapid, Liberman slam Deri for signaling yeshiva studies more important than war efforts

Then-finance minister Yair Lapid, left, talks to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri at the Knesset in March 2013. (Isaac Harari/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri, after the ultra-Orthodox politician appeared to present yeshiva students’ studies as more valuable to the war effort than soldiers’ activities on the frontlines.

“Aryeh Deri should look the thousands of IDF wounded and the bereaved families in the eye, and tell them that while they were wounded in battles to defend the homeland, while their children were killed, he is proud that he is promoting a [draft] evasion law which will ensure that ultra-Orthodox youth remain safe in yeshivas and will learn without interruption,” Lapid declares.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman joins in the criticism, tweeting that while Israel’s regular service and reserve troops “are sacrificing their lives for the security of all of us in the north and south, the Israeli government continues with division and promotes an evasion law.”

In an interview with Shas party mouthpiece HaDerech, Deri stated that he hopes legislation can be passed to enable yeshiva students “to sit and study without interruption” and without cuts to their subsidies.

“You have to understand, if you look at the budget, each day of battle costs us more than the entire annual budget of the entire Torah world,” he stated. “We believe that every day of study prevents more days of battle.”

Netanyahu to convene security meeting tonight amid preparations for strike in Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a security meeting at 8:30 p.m. at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the office of one of the participating ministers attending tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting comes as Israel continues to insist that it will strike back against Iran for its ballistic missile attack two weeks ago.

After New York Times says IDF uses Gazans as human shields, army says its orders forbid this

Responding to a New York Times article that claims IDF soldiers in Gaza regularly use civilians as human shields, the military tells The Times of Israel that “the orders and instructions of the IDF forbid using civilians in Gaza who were arrested in the field for military missions.”

It adds: “The orders and instructions are made clear regularly to soldiers in the field during the war.”

Hostage deal talks likely off until after US elections — report

After a reported meeting between Shin Bet director Ronen Bar and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in Cairo yesterday ended without a breakthrough, hostage deal talks are only likely to resume after the US elections on November 5, according to the Qatari-owned al-Araby al-Jadeed paper.

Two top intelligence officials concur that at the current time, it will be difficult to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza or a hostage and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Bar and Kamel also reportedly talked about security arrangements on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, to be implemented should a hostage deal be reached. The paper reports that they discussed the possible deployment of international or Arab forces along the Netzarim and the Philadelphi axes, including Egypt’s participation in the latter, but Cairo insists that Israel withdraw from the Gazan side of the Egypt-Gaza border area.

Bar also reportedly asked Kamel to convey a message to Iranian leaders, in light of improving ties between Cairo and Tehran. The message included “hints” to the Israeli response to Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack, and a warning against an Iranian counter-response, al-Araby al-Jadeed writes.

The paper mentions that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Cairo in the coming days and will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and with Kamel, to discuss developments in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and the Red Sea, as well as a proposal by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to deescalate tensions in the region.

Treasury advances budget-related law presenting massive cuts to fund war

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset, on September 16, 2024.(Sindel/Flash90)

The Finance Ministry presents this year’s Arrangements Law for public comment, ahead of the upcoming Knesset legislative session. The law, which determines how funds will be disbursed, is usually the final precursor to passing the budget.

The period for public comment on the massive bill, which runs over 240 pages, will run through Sunday.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presented an initial state budget framework for 2025 based on a deficit target of up to 4% of gross domestic product.

To offset the increased military and civil costs of the war, the government will need to implement tough spending cuts and introduce tax changes to increase state income and deal with a fiscal hole in 2025 of an estimated NIS 30-40 billion ($8-11 billion).

The draft Arrangements Law released today stipulates a number of measures to deal with this challenge, including freezing minimum wage hikes and salary raises for senior public sector workers and updates to benefits paid out by the National Insurance Institute for terror victims and Holocaust survivors.

It also includes the freezing and lifting of benefits for pension savings and advanced study funds, as it seeks to bring down the large budget deficit and finance the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In addition, the bill calls for negotiations with the Bank of Israel regarding a tax on bank profits, additional taxes on capital gains and real estate and the cancelation of tax exemptions for duty-free cigarettes. Some diplomatic missions abroad would be closed under the legislation and the Port of Ashdod privatized.

Moreover, if passed, the Arrangements Law would increase mandatory health insurance and National Insurance Institute payments, establishing minimums of NIS 127 ($33) and NIS 223 ($59), respectively.

Responding to the bill, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer tweets that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Smotrich “prefer to put their hands in your pocket and take the last of your available shekels” rather than confront the ultra-Orthodox parties over nixing funds to coalition party priorities.

“Bibi prefers a fat government and a hungry public,” he declares.

IDF says 3 rockets fired at central Israel, Air Force attacked launchers used in attack

The IDF says it identified three rocket launches from Lebanon at central Israel.

The projectiles were intercepted since they were heading toward populated areas, the military says.

There are no known injuries, the IDF says.

Air Force jets have subsequently hit the launcher used in the attack, the military adds.

IDF attempts to down several Hezbollah rockets fired at central Israel; no reports of injuries

The IDF says it has attempted to intercept several projectiles fired from Lebanon at central Israel.

The military says further details will be provided shortly, and urges the public to adhere to Home Front Command safety instructions.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for the barrage.

Meanwhile, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says it has received no reports of impact sites or injuries, except for one person hurt while heading to a bomb shelter.

Rocket barrage from Lebanon triggers widespread sirens across central Israel

Alarms sound in Tel Aviv and in over 180 communities across central Israel, in what the IDF says is a rocket barrage from Lebanon.

The military says details are being checked.

Netanyahu aide denies report that Israel is weighing total siege on northern Gaza

After the Associated Press reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to give Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip before imposing a total siege, a top Netanyahu adviser tells The Times of Israel that the report is false.

Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri denies the report entirely, and calls it “fake news.”

Iran slams US obstruction of Security Council measures against Israel as ‘disaster’

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi slams as “a disaster” what he calls US obstruction of United Nations Security Council measures in relation to Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

In a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Araghchi welcomes efforts by China, a permanent member of the council, to “stop the warmongering and the crimes of the Zionist regime” in Gaza and Lebanon and describes the “inaction of the UN Security Council due to the obstruction of the United States as a disaster.”

After deadly drone strike, Israel aims to wipe out Hezbollah’s UAV unit, changes siren protocols

A view of the damage to a dining hall at an IDF base that was attacked by a Hezbollah drone on October 13, 2024, killing four soldiers and wounding over 50 others. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

In the wake of the deadly strike on a Golani training base last night, the Israeli Air Force has set a goal of completely eliminating Hezbollah’s Unit 127, responsible for its UAV production, maintenance and operation, The Times of Israel has learned. The effort to kill every member of the unit will now take priority in terms of intelligence collection and airstrikes.

The drone that killed four soldiers and injured dozens last night was part of a multi-pronged aerial attack. There were short-range rockets fired at the north, three precision rockets fired toward Haifa, and three drones. One of the drones was shot down by the navy, another by Iron Dome.

The third was pursued by Israeli jets and helicopters, who fired at it twice. Electronic warfare measures also failed to force the UAV to lose its bearings. It dropped off of radars 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Acre. It was assumed that it had crashed.

The IAF investigation into the incident has found that the drone appeared back on radars for another minute in the half-hour between its dropping off of screens and the strike, but forces did not identify it as a drone at the time. There are hundreds of objects flying in Israeli airspace just above buildings at any given time, including birds, adding to the challenge of identifying a drone that appears in an unexpected location.

In addition, police told the IAF of reports of a suspicious aircraft near Yokne’am, which could have been the drone.

Over the course of the war, some 1,200 drones have been fired at Israel, and 221 have gotten through Israel’s defenses.

In light of the incident, the Air Force is expanding the areas of warning, meaning there will be more sirens and more false alarms. It will also assume a drone is still flying when it disappears, and will determine that it has crashed only when evidence is found.

Deri says past year brought ‘miracles and wonders,’ hints chances for hostage deal rising

Chairman of the Shas party, MK Aryeh Deri, speaks during an interview at his home in Jerusalem, on April 15, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri hints that the return of the hostages may once again be a possibility despite little recent progress on stalled efforts to reach a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, and also argues that the past year has been a time of “miracles and wonders.”

In an interview with party mouthpiece HaDerech, Deri states that “there is a space of opportunity that has been created over the past month, in light of all the events, to bring them home, and I will not expand any further than that.”

“This is the mitzvah of redeeming prisoners, the greatest mitzvah, and we need to pray with all our might” that God “will show us great miracles, and we will get to see the hostages soon,” he continues.

He adds that “we are beginning to understand the magnitude of the miracles and wonders of this difficult year.”

According to the Walla news site, Shin Bet security service director Ronen Bar met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in Cairo in an effort to jumpstart talks, but the talks did not reach any breakthrough.

Turning to the issue of the ultra-Orthodox draft, Deri states that he hopes the issue can be settled “in the coming weeks.”

Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, reportedly threatened last week to block the passage of the 2025 budget unless a Haredi army exemption bill is passed in the next three weeks. Failure to pass a budget would bring down the government.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have promised to advance a bill facilitating sweeping exemptions for Haredi men from military service by the end of the month.

Speaking with HaDerech, Deri does not hinge his party’s support for the government on the legislation, but says he hopes legislation can be passed to enable yeshiva students “to sit and study without interruption” and without cuts to their subsidies.

“You have to understand, if you look at the budget, each day of battle costs us more than the entire annual budget of the entire Torah world,” he states. “We believe that every day of study prevents more days of battle.”

Israeli, British pointmen on Gaza hostages meet in Tel Aviv

Government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, left, meets his British counterpart Sir Charles Hay in Tel Aviv, October 14, 2024, in a handout image provided by the Prime Minister's Office. (Courtesy)

Government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch meets his British counterpart Sir Charles Hay in Tel Aviv.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the two discuss efforts to release the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and cooperation between the two countries.

They will also take part in a memorial ceremony at the British ambassador’s house in Ramat Gan.

UK sanctions Iranian military organizations and figures following attack on Israel

Britain has imposed sanctions against Iranian individuals and organizations following Iran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1, Britain’s Foreign Office says.

The sanctions target senior figures in Iran’s army, air force and organizations linked to Iran’s ballistic and cruise missile development.

Police order hostage’s sister to stay away from ‘illegal protests’ for 15 days

Natalie Zangauker, sister of hostage Matan Zangauker, at the end of an anti-government, pro-hostage deal rally on Begin Road in Tel Aviv, September 14, 2024. (Gil Levin/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Police order Natalie Zangauker, sister of Hamas hostage Matan Zangauker, to stay away from “illegal protests” for 15 days, Hebrew media reports say.

Zangauker has been questioned by police on suspicion of disturbing public order and disturbing a police officer’s work due to what has been deemed dangerous use of fire during a recent demonstration calling on the government to sign a deal that returns the hostages from Gaza.

Lebanese Red Cross: At least 18 killed in Israeli strike in northern Lebanon

The Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon has killed at least 18 people.

The strike hit a small apartment building in the village of Aitou, in one of the northernmost strikes since Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon.

The Hezbollah terror group is mainly present in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut. However, reports say Israel may have targeted a senior Hezbollah leader.

Israel said to hit north Lebanon region of Aitou for first time, reports say senior Hezbollah leader targeted

An Israeli strike hit the north Lebanon region of Aitou, residents and Lebanese broadcasters say, the first time the Christian-majority area has been targeted by Israel in a year of hostilities.

Reports say Israel may have targeted a senior Hezbollah leader.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen says there are “martyrs” in the attack.

Footage reveals widespread devastation following an Israeli airstrike on Aitou in Zgharta District in #Lebanon. #AlMayadeen's correspondent reported that the aggression resulted in martyrs.

This marks the first time Israeli forces have targeted this area. pic.twitter.com/U8xWFnivFB

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 14, 2024

Gallant briefs Austin on Hezbollah drone strike, vows ‘forceful response’

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, listen to the playing of the Israeli National Anthem during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, June 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last night briefed his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the lethal Hezbollah drone attack, says Gallant’s office.

Gallant “highlighted the severity of the attack and the forceful response that would be taken against Hezbollah,” says the Defense Ministry.

Gallant also stresses the measures the IDF is taking to coordinate with UNIFIL and avoid harming them.

He also thanks Austin for deciding to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel “in the coming days.”

Medics say so far no injuries found in Karmiel rocket strikes, IDF says 15 rockets fired

The Magen David Adom rescue service says that so far its medics have not found any injured people after several rocket impacts were reported in the northern town of Karmiel.

Earlier police said they had reports there may have been injuries.

Reports said a rocket hit a parked vehicle, setting it on fire.

Fifteen rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon in this barrage, says the IDF.

Sirens sounded in the central and northern Galilee regions. Most were intercepted, says the army, but some struck near Karmiel.

כרמיאל pic.twitter.com/S1XtxGsv58

— מביע דעה (@mabiadah) October 14, 2024

Spain’s Sanchez urges other EU members to suspend free trade agreement with Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez embrace after a joint statement at the Moncloa palace in Madrid, Spain, September 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urges other members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland’s request to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

For months, Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries that want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement’s human rights clause.

Police say investigating reports of injuries, damage in rocket barrage on Karmiel area

Police say they are investigating reports of injuries and damage caused after a rocket barrage was fired at the northern town of Karmiel and surrounding areas.

Police say there are several reported impacts in the area.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

???? Rocket Alert [14:32:49] – 26 Alerts ????:

• Upper Galilee — Lavon (×2), Kishor, Carmiel Industrial Zone, Majd al-Krum (×2), Nachaf, Karmiel (×2), Bi'ina (×2), Tuval, Gita, Lapidot (×2), Deir al-Asad (×2), Pelekh
• Center Galilee — Eshchar, Shorashim, Yuvalim, Sakhnin, Misgav… pic.twitter.com/4qgQultVGd

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) October 14, 2024

Iran says it halted indirect talks with US in Oman as it waits for Israeli retaliation

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein (not in picture) during his visit to Baghdad, Iraq, October 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Iran has stopped indirect talks with the United States in Oman as tensions remain high over a possible Israeli retaliatory strike on the Islamic Republic over its missile attack two weeks ago, Tehran’s foreign minister says.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the comment to Iranian state media while in Muscat, Oman. The sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula has long been an interlocutor between Iran and the US, particularly in the secret talks that birthed Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

“For the time being, the Muscat process is stopped because of special situation in the region,” Araghchi says, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “We do not see any ground for the talks until we can pass the current crisis.”

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran under new President Masoud Pezeshkian has been signaling it wants to negotiate with the US for sanctions relief. Since then-president Donald Trump pulled America out of the nuclear accord, Tehran has begun enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and increasing the size of its stockpile. However, US intelligence agencies and officials insist Iran has not begun an effort to build a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened a major retaliatory strike over Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month, the second-such direct assault on Israel by Iran since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

EU sanctions top Iran officials, airlines for supplying drones and missiles to Russia

In this image released by the Iranian army on Jan. 23, 2024, army commander Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, left, and Defense Minister Gen. Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani talk in a ceremony to deliver the domestically built drones to the army, Iran. (Iranian Army via AP)

The European Union imposes sanctions on Iran’s deputy defense minister, senior members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and three airlines over allegations that they supplied drones, missiles and other equipment to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.

Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari is one of seven senior officials now banned from traveling in Europe whose assets in the bloc were frozen. The EU said he “is involved in the development of Iran’s (drone) and missile program,” given his high-level defense role.

Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines had their assets frozen. The EU says their planes were “used repeatedly to transfer Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles and related technologies to Russia, which have been used in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

EU foreign ministers endorse the sanctions at a meeting in Luxembourg.

In March, the bloc had warned that “were Iran to transfer ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia for use against Ukraine, the EU would be prepared to respond swiftly, including with new and significant restrictive measures.”

EU member countries, with the exception of Hungary, have been supplying weapons and ammunition as well as economic and other support to Ukraine worth some 118 billion euros ($129 billion) since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

IDF says it killed head of elite Hezbollah anti-tank missile array

Israel’s air force has killed the head of the anti-tank missile array of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, according to the IDF.

Muhammad Kamel Naim was targeted in Nabatiyeh, the army says. Naim was responsible for anti-tank missile fire into Israel, the IDF says.

The IDF publishes footage of the strike.

כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב נבטיה שבלבנון, וחיסל את המחבל מחמד כאמל נעים, מפקד מערך טילי הנ"ט ביחידת רדואן של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה >> pic.twitter.com/ikeTmhjwxG

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 14, 2024

Earlier today, Hezbollah fired rockets at northern and central Israel. Some were intercepted, says Israel, while others fell in open areas. The IAF attacked the launchers from which the rockets were launched, says the IDF.

Israeli mining magnate held in Greece on Romanian arrest warrant

French-Israeli diamond magnate Beny Steinmetz (L) arrives with his lawyers for his trial in Geneva on January 11, 2020. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has been detained in Athens on an arrest warrant issued by Romania, police and legal sources say.

The 68-year-old was detained yesterday, hours after arriving on a private aircraft at Athens International Airport, police sources say.

The European arrest warrant was issued on behalf of Romania on accusations related to participation in a criminal organization, a police official says on condition of anonymity.

Steinmetz is expected to appear before a prosecutor today.

Steinmetz’s lawyer says the decision to arrest him stemmed from “a blatant abuse of procedure by the Romanian authorities.”

“It is unprecedented for the rule of law in Greece, or any other respected country, for such an administrative act to overturn a decision of the Greek judiciary, which had definitively and irrevocably ruled against his extradition to Romania, recognizing his right to travel freely,” the attorney, Stavros Togias, says in a press release.

Environment Ministry allocates NIS 4 million for Gaza border upcycling project

A picture shows the inside of a destroyed house in Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on September 12, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

The Environmental Protection Ministry announces that it will invest NIS 4 million ($1 million) in the creation of two Gaza border centers in Israel which will employ locals to renovate old furniture, including objects damaged during Hamas’s terror rampage on October 7 last year.

The initiative, in partnership with the Tekuma Administration, which the government set up to rehabilitate the region, aims to combine sustainability and upcycling (creating attractive and usable objects out of old ones rather than buying new ones) with providing jobs and helping communal and mental rehabilitation.

“The renewal centers are not only a green and innovative solution for reuse and a circular economy, they are also a way to restore and create community social resilience,” said Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman.

The centers will operate for five years.

On Tuesday, Silman and ministry staff will meet with Gaza border local authority representatives to explain the project and the criteria for funding.

IDF says Hamas beating civilians, blocking them from evacuating to humanitarian zones

Hamas is beating residents of Jabaliya and preventing them from fleeing fighting in northern Gaza, according to a recording that the IDF says is between a Gazan man and an Israeli soldier from Unit 504, responsible for human intelligence on the battlefield.

“The problem is that we listen to the army’s instructions and want to leave to the Muwasi [humanitarian zone], but there are people who come out against us and start hitting us with sticks,” the man allegedly says.

“We want to leave,” he continues. “We took our things and we want to leave now and they are hitting us and telling us to return home. What can we do?”

The man says the attackers are from Hamas.

The IDF does not say when the conversation took place.

The 162nd Division began operating in Jabaliya last week and called for residents to evacuate southward for their safety.

Israel is trying to evacuate Palestinian civilians to safety. Hamas is stopping them. pic.twitter.com/ff1LMldf0v

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) October 14, 2024

Israeli rights groups warn IDF might be implementing controversial plan to besiege northern Gaza

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike targeting Hamas operatives hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli rights groups call on the international community to prevent Israel from carrying out a controversial plan to subdue and besiege northern Gaza.

Israel has ordered the entire remaining population of the northern third of Gaza, estimated at around 400,000 people, to evacuate to the south and has reportedly blocked aid entering the area since the start of the month.

That has raised fears among Palestinians that Israel intends to implement a plan devised by former generals in which it would order all civilians out of northern Gaza and label anyone remaining there a combatant — a surrender-or-starve strategy that rights groups say would violate international law.

The plan has been presented to the Israeli government, but it’s unclear whether it has been adopted. The military says it has not received such orders.

A statement by Israeli rights groups say there are “alarming signs” that Israel is beginning to implement it.

The statement, signed by B’Tselem, Gisha, Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, warns that states “have an obligation to prevent the crimes of starvation and forcible transfer.”

Air Force says it shot down two drones launched from Syria

The Israeli Air Force shoots down two drones flying toward Israel from Syria, says the IDF.

The drones were intercepted before they crossed into Israel, according to the army.

Nobel economics prize is awarded to 3 experts for research into differences in prosperity between nations

Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson won the 2024 Nobel economics prize “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday.

The prestigious award, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the final prize to be given out this year and is worth 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million).

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” said Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

Acemoglu is a Turkish-American, and Johnson and Robinson are British-Americans.

The economics award is not one of the original prizes for science, literature and peace created in the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901, but a later addition established and funded by Sweden’s central bank in 1968.

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”… pic.twitter.com/tuwIIgk393

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 14, 2024

Heavy security in Italian city ahead of Israel soccer game

Italy's Alessandro Buongiorno, left, challenges for the ball with Israel's Manor Solomon during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Israel and Italy, at Bozsik Arena, in Budapest, Hungary, September 9, 2024. (AP/Denes Erdos)

The city of Udine is on high alert as Italy prepares to host Israel in a competitive soccer match on Monday.

It is the first match Israel has played outside neutral Hungary this year. After the Israel-Hamas war started following the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 last year, the national soccer team played in Kosovo and Andorra last November.

All Israel matches since then have been played in Hungary, including last month’s away game against Belgium in the Nations League after the Belgian soccer federation refused to host the game for security reasons.

“We are going to play this match with the hope of convincing ever more people of the wrongness of war,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti says. “There are many Israelis who don’t want it and we must convince ever more people that this is something that has to stop.”

Fewer than 12,000 tickets have been sold for Monday’s match — less than half the capacity of the 25,000-seater Stadio Friuli — amid stringent security measures.

Areas around the stadium were blocked off 48 hours before kickoff and declared a “Red Zone” and only fans with tickets can pass through the tall metal barriers. Supporters have been strongly advised to arrive early because of rigorous checks.

Hundreds of extra police officers have also been called up from surrounding areas.

There is a demonstration against the Israeli team planned for 5 p.m. local time in the city center — just under four hours before the match kicks off — with organizers expecting around 4,000 people to attend.

Lapid pans government decision to hold 2nd day of mourning for Oct. 7 massacre

MK Yair Lapid attends an event for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and to mark one year since the October 7 Massacre, in Tel Aviv, October 13, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid pans the government’s decision to hold a second national day of mourning for the October 7 massacre — this one in accordance with the Hebrew calendar and marked with two state ceremonies organized by Transportation Minister Miri Regev.

“I don’t understand why we need this ceremony,” he tells reporters ahead of a meeting of his Yesh Atid party’s lawmakers in Tel Aviv. “We had one already.”

Instead, the country requires a “government that functions” and will advance a hostage deal to bring back the remaining Israelis held captive in Gaza, he declares.

Asked by The Times of Israel if, now that the New Hope party has joined the coalition, he still stands by his previous prediction that the government will fall by the end of the year, he replies in the affirmative.

“Yes. Both because of the enlistment law [of Haredim into the military] and because of the budget. They don’t have the money that they promised to distribute to everybody. So it could be that I’m mistaken but I think” it will fall, he says.

South African Jews protest plan to name street in front of US Consulate in Johannesburg after notorious Palestinian terrorist

PFLP terrorist Leila Khaled in a Palestinian refugee camp, November 14, 1970. (AP Photo/Harry Koundakjian)

The South African Zionist Federation says it has lodged a protest with the South African government over plans to rename a street in Johannesburg that houses the US Consulate after a notorious Palestinian terrorist.

The SAZF says that plans to rename Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive violate South African law that calls to protect diplomatic sites and prevent the impairment of their dignity.

“This proposal, which would force the American Consulate to change its address to that of an individual classified as a terrorist, is a diplomatic insult that could have far-reaching consequences for South Africa’s international relations and investment,” the statement says.

Leila Khaled was part of a team that hijacked TWA Flight 840 on its way from Rome to Tel Aviv in August 1969. A year later she participated in the attempted hijacking of an El Al flight from Amsterdam to New York City as part of the Dawson’s Field hijackings, a series of simultaneous hijackings carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Khaled was arrested in London, where the El Al pilot diverted the plane, and later released in exchange for hostages from another hijacking. She lives in Amman, Jordan.

IDF says it killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives in fighting, airstrikes

IDF troops seen in southern Lebanon in an undated picture released on October 14, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

Over the past day, IDF ground forces and the Israeli Air Force have killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives in close combat and in airstrikes, says the army.

The IAF struck 200 targets in the past 24 hours, including rocket launchers, anti-tank missile positions, military outposts, and weapons caches, according to the IDF.

Footage of IAF strikes in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/ILGAWXhsA2

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 14, 2024

IDF says it eliminated a Hamas anti-tank missile force in Gaza fighting

The 162nd, 252nd, and Gaza Divisions killed terrorists in close-quarter firefights and airstrikes in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, says the IDF.

In one of the attacks, a Hamas squad fired an anti-tank missile at a force from the Gaza Division, which called in an airstrike that eliminated the Hamas operatives, says the army.

The IDF does not say where the clashes took place.

IDF says it intercepted all the rockets from barrage fired at central Israel

The IDF says that it incepted all the rockets that were fired in a barrage on central Israel.

The rockets set off sirens in the Netanya and Wadi Ara areas.

There are no reports of injuries.

Second round of polio vaccinations begins in Gaza

A Palestinian medic administers polio vaccines to children at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says it has launched the second round of a polio vaccination campaign in the war-ravaged territory.

It says that a second dose of the vaccine will be administered to children under 10 in the central part of the territory over the next three days before the campaign is expanded to the north and south.

The campaign began last month after the territory registered its first polio case in Gaza in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in one leg.

Health workers succeeded in administering the first dose of the vaccine to around 560,000 children despite myriad challenges, including ongoing fighting, the breakdown of law and order and widespread damage to roads and infrastructure.

The World Health Organization says humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign last month were largely observed.

Two Israelis arrested for acts of sabotage, plotting assassination for Iran

Cars that were set alight near Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park, allegedly at the behest of Iranian agents, in an undated photo. (Israel Police)

Two Israelis have been arrested for carrying out a series of acts of sabotage for Iran and plotting to kill a senior Israeli figure, the Shin Bet and Israel Police announce in a joint statement.

According to the statement, an Israeli citizen identified as Vladislav Viktorson, 30, from Ramat Gan was approached by an Iranian identified as “Mari Hossi.”

Viktorson then recruited his 18-year-old partner Anna Bernstein. The two carried out various acts of sabotage and vandalism — including spraying provocative graffiti and putting up posters, setting fire to cars near Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, and acts of arson in local forests — at the behest of Hossi, who gave them instructions in Hebrew, the statement says.

The two filmed some of the acts and were paid $5,000.

They were then asked to kill a prominent Israeli by throwing a hand grenade into his house, the statement said, adding that the two agreed to do so and had been trying to purchase weapons.

The target was not named.

The Shin Bet in recent months has announced a series of alleged Iranian plots, in which Iran had tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions for Tehran, including a scheme uncovered in January in which Israelis were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.

Rockets from Lebanon trigger sirens in central Israel

Rockets fired from Lebanon triggered sirens in central Israel, the IDF says.

Sirens go off in the city of Netanya and dozens of surrounding communities.

The IDF says it is investigating.

???? Rocket Alert [11:19:25] – 83 Alerts ????:

• Sharon — Kfar Yedidia, Herev Le'Et, Gan Yoshia, Nordia, Zemer, Avihail, Ein HaHoresh, Kfar Netter, Hofit, Kfar Yona Industrial Zone, Ruppin Academic Center, Be'erotaim, Kfar Haim, Tel Mond, Tnuvot, Givat Shapira, Mikhmoret, Beit… pic.twitter.com/TvZJApzCxz

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) October 14, 2024

Iranian FM meets top Houthi official

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets in Muscat with Mohammed Abdelsalam, a senior official from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement, according to his office.

The foreign ministry releases pictures of the pair holding talks during Araghchi’s visit to the Omani capital, the latest in a series of diplomatic trips in the region following Israel’s vow to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack.

The Houthis have fired dozens of missiles and drones at Israel over the past year and attacked regional shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Gaza.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met and held talks with Yemen's Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam, in the Omani capital Muscat

Follow us on Telegram: https://t.co/B3zXG73Jym pic.twitter.com/3DylLmnzmB

— Press TV ???? (@PressTV) October 14, 2024

In visit to targeted base, Gallant says protecting against drones is national priority

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits a Golani base in Binyamina that was hit by a Hezbollah drone strike the previous day, on October 14, 2024 (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Israel will learn the lessons from the Hezbollah drone strike last night, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows as he visits the Golani Brigade training base and views the dining hall where the impact occurred.

“This is a difficult event with painful results,” he says to Golani officers who were present at the strike. “We must investigate it, study the details and assimilate the lessons in a quick and professional manner.”

“Faced with the threat of UAVs, we are concentrating a national effort and are engaged in developing solutions that will help deal with the threat,” he declares.

Israeli official denies IDF is limiting strikes on Beirut, says could hit targets there soon

People gather in front of buildings hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Bilal Hussein/AP)

After reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF to stop striking targets in Beirut last week at the request of the Biden administration, a senior official says that Israel could strike in Beirut again soon.

“Israel attacks everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. We proved this recently, and we will prove it again in the coming days, in accordance with operational considerations,” says the senior official.

An Israeli official issued a similar denial of the reports yesterday.

Netanyahu accepts findings of committee on bolstering funds for military, arms production

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with members of the Nagel Committee in Jerusalem on October 13, 2024 (Prime Minister's Office) Spokesman)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened in Jerusalem last night the “Nagel Committee” designed to examine defense spending and IDF military force design for the future, his office says.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu accepted all of the committee’s interim recommendations, and instructed the task force to move ahead immediately.

The interim recommendations focus on six areas: procurement and production to expand the available munitions and the air defense system; capabilities needed for ground maneuver; naval superiority; manpower; new ways for developing and producing weapon systems; and border protection.

The committee, chaired by Brigadier General (Res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel, comprises representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Ministry, Defense Ministry and IDF, and is tasked with determining the directions of Israel’s military force design for the next decade, the budgetary implications, and the economic impact.

So far, says the PMO, the committee held discussions with the Defense Ministry Budget Division, the Accountant General, the Bank of Israel, the Finance Ministry, and members of the defense system. These discussions examined the future scenario that will guide planning, the IDF multi-year plan that was in place before October 7, and the lessons of the war on budgets and planning.

The final recommendation will include a new concept of operations, goals for military force design, and the budgetary implications for the coming years.

The committee will also submit recommendations on transparency and supervision of the budgetary and spending process.

In May, following an extended fight with the defense establishment, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that he had reached an agreement with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to establish the committee.

EU condemns ‘all attacks against UN missions,’ urges Israel to investigate wounding of peacekeepers in southern Lebanon

Spanish peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) coordinate their patrol with the Lebanese Military Police, in Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (AFP)

The European Union condemns all attacks against United Nations missions, the union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says in a response to the alleged targeting of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, by the Israel Defense Forces.

“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable. These attacks must stop immediately,” Borrell says in a statement on behalf of the EU.

“The EU condemns all attacks against UN missions,” Borrell says.

“It expresses particularly grave concern regarding the attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces against UNIFIL, which left several peacekeepers wounded.”

Israel has disputed UN accounts of incidents involving UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they were providing “human shields” for Hezbollah terrorists during fighting.

In his statement, Borrell said “all actors” in the conflict have the obligation to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property.

“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of South Lebanon,” he said.

41 soldiers wounded in drone strike still hospitalized, 8 in serious condition

A military helicopter is seen after evacuating wounded soldiers from the drone attack on an army base in Binyamina, at Rambam hospital, in the northern city of Haifa, October 13, 2024. (Flash90)

Forty-one soldiers wounded in a Hezbollah drone strike on an army training base last night remain hospitalized, with eight in serious or critical condition, medical officials say.

Four soldiers were killed and 58 wounded in the attack on the Golani base in Binyamina.

The Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera says 30 patients are still being treated. Of these, four are in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and the others are lightly wounded.

There are six injured patients at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan; of these, three are in critical condition and three are in moderate condition, the hospital says.

The Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva says it is treating three wounded patients. One is in serious but stable condition, one is moderately wounded, and one is lightly wounded.

There are two moderately injured patients being treated at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, the hospital says.

IDF says 10 rockets fired at Haifa area, most intercepted

The IDF says that some 10 rockets were fired at the Haifa area from Lebanon.

The military says most of them were intercepted and some fell in open areas.

???? The interception of the rockets on Haifa from a few minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/18z71G2OE8

— Monika (@Monika_is_His) October 14, 2024

Rocket warning sirens sounding in Haifa

Rocket warning sirens are sounding in the northern city of Haifa.

This is the second time this morning warnings have gone off in the city, after a rocket was fired earlier from Lebanon.

???? Rocket Alert [09:31:45] – 2 Alerts:

• Menashe — Haifa – Carmel, Hadar and Downtown Lower City, Haifa – West

Population: 571,000 pic.twitter.com/96ToL2ZYof

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) October 14, 2024

IDF chief visits base hit in ‘serious and painful’ drone strike

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi talks to soldiers at a Golani base in northern Israel after a deadly Hezbollah drone attack on October 14, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi visits the Golani base that was hit in a deadly Hezbollah drone strike.

The general praises troops for how they handled the attack in which four soldiers were killed and another 58 wounded.

“We are at war and an attack on a training base in the rear is serious with painful results,” says Halevi. “You acted properly in treating and evacuating the wounded and the victims.”

“We continue to fight and train for upcoming [battles],” he says.

IDF announces names of 4 soldiers killed in drone attack on base

Four IDF soldiers killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on a a Golani base on October 13, 2024 seen in undated pictures: (Clockwise from top left): Sgt. Alon Amitay, Sgt. Omri Tamari, Sgt. Yosef Hieb, and Sgt. Yoav Agmon (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces announces the names of the four soldiers killed in last night’s Hezbollah drone attack on a Golani base.

Sgt. Omri Tamari, 19, from Mazkeret Batya.

Sgt. Omri Tamari (Israel Defense Forces)

Sgt. Yosef Hieb, 19, from Tuba Zangariya.

Sgt. Yosef Hieb (Israel Defense Forces)

Sgt. Yoav Agmon, 19, from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada.

Sgt. Yoav Agmon (Israel Defense Forces)

Sgt. Alon Amitay, 19, from Ramot Naftali.

Sgt. Alon Amitay (Israel Defense Forces)

In addition, the IDF announces that a reservist soldier was seriously injured in fighting yesterday in southern Lebanon.

Another soldier was seriously wounded in fighting in southern Gaza, the army says.

They were evacuated for treatment and their families notified.

Hezbollah says it shelled Israeli troops crossing border

Hezbollah says it fired artillery rounds at Israeli troops attempting an “infiltration” into south Lebanon, while also targeting soldiers elsewhere.

“During an enemy infantry force’s attempted infiltration into Lebanese territory” near the border village of Markaba, Hezbollah fighters targeted the force “with artillery shells,” a statement says, adding that the group also targeted soldiers elsewhere with rockets, including in south Lebanon’s Labbouneh area.

Rocket fired at Haifa from Lebanon, no injuries

The IDF says warning sirens that sounded in Haifa were triggered by a single rocket fired from Lebanon that fell in an open area.

Medics say there are no reports of injuries.

Rocket warning sirens sound in Haifa

Rocket warning sirens are sounding in the northern port city of Haifa.

???? Rocket Alert [07:08:41] – 2 Alerts:

• Menashe — Haifa – Carmel, Hadar and Downtown Lower City, Haifa – West

Population: 571,000 pic.twitter.com/wQ8lMQ4Uw8

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) October 14, 2024

Shin Bet head met with Egyptian intelligence chief in Cairo to discuss stalled ceasefire talks — report

Shin Bet director Ronen Bar met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in a meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid states on X, citing “a source familiar with the visit.”

According to Ravid, the two discussed the stalled negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal but did not reach any breakthroughs.

One of the sticking points discussed by the two intelligence officials was the matter of the Rafah Border Crossing, the report states, which has been shuttered since May, when the IDF launched its offensive in the southern Gaza city.

The Shin Bet declines to comment on the report.

????????????????????The director of the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency Ronen Bar secretly visited Cairo on Sunday and met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel for talks that dealt, among other things, with the impasse in the negotiations on the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal,…

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 13, 2024

Palestinians report several dead in strike on hospital compound in Deir Al-Balah

A Palestinian man reacts to a fire said to have been caused by an Israeli strike in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, October 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians in Gaza report several people were killed and dozens more were wounded in an Israeli strike that hit tents of displaced Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah.

Footage circulated on social media, which could not immediately be verified, shows several tents were set ablaze as some Palestinians tried helplessly to put out the fire.

The IDF says that it struck terrorists operating from a command center inside the compound and accused Hamas of hiding among civilians and using facilities such as hospitals for terror operations.

US defense chief sounds alarm over ‘dire humanitarian situation’ in northern Gaza

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joins Vice President Kamala Harris in sounding the alarm over the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza where the UN says no humanitarian assistance has entered for nearly two weeks.

During a call earlier Sunday with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Austin “raised the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken to address it,” the Pentagon says in its readout.

Austin also expressed his condolences over the four Israeli soldiers killed hours earlier in a drone strike on an IDF base, the Pentagon says.

The defense secretary reiterated yesterday’s call for Israel to ensure the safety of troops from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army who have come under IDF fire in recent days.

Austin also stresses the need “to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” the US readout says.

“I reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering, enduring, and ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” it adds.

Man with shotgun and loaded handgun arrested near Trump rally in California on Saturday

A man arrested at a security checkpoint near Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s California rally on Saturday faces gun charges after he was found in possession of loaded firearms, multiple passports and a fake license plate, the local sheriff says on Sunday.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says he believes his department halted an assassination attempt, though he acknowledges that was “speculation.” The suspect was released on bail on Saturday, jail records show.

A federal official says that a federal investigation is underway.

“What we do know is he showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with a fake license plate and loaded firearms,” the sheriff says at a news conference. “I truly do believe that we prevented another assassination attempt.”

The 49-year-old man, identified as Las Vegas resident Vem Miller, was stopped in a black SUV by sheriff’s deputies around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday and taken into custody without incident, according to the sheriff’s office. Trump had not yet taken the stage.

Jail records show Miller was released on $5,000 bail on Saturday after being charged with possession of a loaded firearm and a high-capacity magazine, both misdemeanors. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

“The incident did not impact the safety of former President Trump or attendees of the event,” the sheriff’s office says. in a press release.

The US Attorney’s Los Angeles office, in a statement on its website on Sunday, also says Trump was not in danger, citing the US Secret Service. The statement adds that while no federal arrest has been made, an investigation is ongoing.

Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. In September, another man was charged with trying to assassinate Trump after Secret Service agents discovered him hiding with a rifle near Trump’s Palm Beach golf course. He pleaded not guilty. Those attempts raised questions about Secret Service security planning and response.

Trump’s rally on Saturday took place in the Coachella Valley, an area known for its annual music and arts festival.

VP Harris urges Israel to do more to facilitate flow of aid into northern Gaza

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris calls on Israel to do more to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza amid reports from the UN’s World Food Program that no assistance has entered that part of the Strip in nearly two weeks.

“Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected,” Harris tweets from her VP account.