The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
After sirens, IDF says 2 drones from Lebanon impacted in north; no injuries reported
The military says a pair of drones from Lebanon impacted in northern Israel, after sirens sounded in a pair of northern towns near the border.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces says the impacts didn’t result in injuries.
The IDF also says sirens were triggered in the town of Ya’ara shortly before midnight due to concerns of falling shrapnel from an interceptor missile fired at what turned out to be a falsely identified “suspected aerial target.”
Sirens sound in pair of Lebanon border towns due to suspected drone
Warning sirens have been activated in a pair of northern communities near the Lebanon border due to a suspected hostile aircraft, according to the IDF’s Home Front Command.
At least 43 illegal outposts established throughout West Bank in year since Oct. 7 onslaught
At least 43 illegal outposts have been established by Israeli settlers throughout the West Bank in the year since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, according to a new report from the Peace Now settlement watchdog.
“Most of the outposts are agricultural ‘farms’ focused on land takeover and the systematic expulsion of Palestinians from the area,” Peace Now says.
From 1996 until early 2023, fewer than seven outposts were established per year on average.
Sukkah built aboard US aircraft carrier deployed in Mideast
A sukkah has been erected on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which is currently deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean to deter Iranian aggression against Israel.
Chabad-Lubavitch representative and chaplain Lieutenant Yehoshua Rubin, who is the chaplain for Carrier Air Wing Nine, arranged for the construction of the sukkah, the Chabad movement says in a tweet.
As the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln continues its mission in the Arabian Sea defending Israel and deterring Iranian aggression, it will have a symbol of G-d’s protection aboard ship as well. Chabad-Lubavitch representative and chaplain Lieutenant Yehoshua Rubin, who is… pic.twitter.com/rA6RPfxVBP
— Chabad Lubavitch HQ (@Lubavitch) October 15, 2024
IDF says it intercepted suspicious drone near Sea of Galilee after it entered Israel from Lebanon
The IDF says the Air Force intercepted a suspicious aerial aircraft near the Sea of Galilee after it entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
Israeli security forces say they thwarted pair of terror attacks in northern West Bank
The IDF, Israel Police and Shin Bet issue a joint statement saying they have thwarted a pair of terror attacks in the West Bank.
In one incident, a suspect with a pistol and a rifle was arrested near the northern West Bank settlement of Reihan.
In the second, Israeli forces operating in the Palestinian city of Jenin exchanged fire with a suspect who the army says was planning on carrying out an imminent terror attack.
No Israeli troops were injured in either incident, the army adds.
Herzog responds to Hezbollah deputy chief: ‘I presume his day will come as well’
President Isaac Herzog reacts to Naim Qassem’s speech during which the Hezbollah deputy chief declared that the terror group had adopted “a new calculation” to inflict pain on Israel, even as he called for a ceasefire.
“I heard Naim Qassem’s speech — he is wrong just like his predecessors and those who came before them,” Herzog says while visiting the Haifa area and visiting hospitalized soldiers injured in Hezbollah’s drone strike.
“Not only is he wrong — I presume his day will come as well.”
“He’s not only wrong in his disrespect to the State of Israel and its citizens,” Herzog adds. “He is trying to make people forget the bitter truth — he and his friends have brought disaster upon Lebanon.”
US: We told Israel we opposed their near-daily strikes in densely-populated Beirut
The United States has raised concerns with Israel over its bombing campaign in Beirut in past weeks, the State Department says, adding that strikes have diminished in recent days and Washington would continue to watch very carefully.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says while there are strikes the US would consider appropriate for Israel to carry out, Washington made clear to the government of Israel it had concerns with the nature of the bombing campaign seen in the past few weeks, largely due to the civilian toll.
“We’ve told Israel very directly that we oppose their near-daily strikes here in densely populated areas in Beirut,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says in a separate briefing.
“We understand that they’re conducting targeted operations designed to go after Hezbollah infrastructure, and we recognize that they have a right to do that, but they also have a commensurate responsibility to do it in a way that doesn’t threaten the lives of civilians, UN peacekeepers or members of the Lebanese armed forces who have suffered some casualties here,” Kirby says. “It’s unacceptable, and we’ve pressed the Israelis for more details about that.”
White House says no hostage talks taking place, blames Sinwar
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says there are no negotiations for a hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire ongoing, blaming Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for the deadlock.
“I wish I could tell you that there are fresh negotiations at hand. There aren’t, but that’s because Mr. Sinwar has shown absolutely zero interest in continuing that discussion,” Kirby says during a press briefing.
“We’re going to keep at it. We’re still working on it… and we’re not going to give up on those efforts,” he says.
Israeli military says it intercepted drone that approached Israel from the east
The Israeli military says it intercepted a drone that approached Israel from the east, adding it was intercepted before crossing into the country.
IDF chief says Hezbollah hiding how many of its fighters have been killed
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi says during a security meeting Hezbollah is hiding the number of fighters that Israel has killed.
“This indicates that it is in distress and that we need to intensify our efforts against the terror group,” Halevi says in a statement issued by the IDF.
Relatedly, the IDF releases a graphic showing how it has eliminated almost all of Hezbollah’s top brass.
מצורף עץ חיסולי הפורום הבכיר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, שהוצג במהלך ראיון של דובר צה״ל, תא״ל דניאל הגרי, לערוץ אלחורה pic.twitter.com/vQdDUx02OJ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 15, 2024
About 3,000 French citizens have left Lebanon since start of hostilities, says minister
About 3,000 French citizens have left Lebanon since fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, says French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
Barrot also tells the French parliament’s foreign affairs committee that no decision had been taken regarding evacuations from Lebanon.
Overall, there were about 24,000 French citizens in Lebanon.
US confirms letter to Israel threatening security aid if steps not taken to alleviate Gaza humanitarian crisis
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirms that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter earlier this week warning Israel that continued US security assistance will be at risk if significant changes aren’t made to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in 30 days.
Miller says the letter was a private correspondence that the US wasn’t planning to publicize but that he was willing to confirm and contextualize the letter now that it has been leaked, hinting that Israeli officials were behind its publication.
Miller tells reporters at a regular news briefing that the US knows it is possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that bureaucratic and logistical obstacles can be surmounted.
“We need to see further changes by the government of Israel,” Miller says, adding that there are implications under US law and Washington hopes that Israel will make the changes outlined in the letter.
Report: PM decides against far-right calls for IDF to distribute Gaza aid
The Kan public broadcaster reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “effectively” decided against calls from far-right ministers in his government to have the IDF be tasked with distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The call was issued amid claims that Hamas has managed to maintain control over aid distribution.
The security establishment has pushed back against the far-right proposal, fearing that it would endanger troops and lead to the army indefinitely occupying Gaza.
Kan says Israel will instead look into hiring a private security contractor, though analysts have long dismissed the idea as unrealistic.
The international community has pushed for Israel to allow the Palestinian Authority to take over such operations, but Netanyahu has rejected the idea outright.
IDF says it arrested three Hezbollah operatives during operations in south Lebanon
The IDF says it has arrested three members of the Hezbollah terror group’s elite Radwan force.
The three Radwan members were found in a shaft underneath a building, the IDF says.
The three were interrogated in the field after surrendering and were subsequently transferred to a prison facility in Israel.
The IDF separately publishes a video clip of the interrogation of a Hezbollah operative who claims that Radwan fighters ran away following Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.
It’s unclear whether the suspect is one of the three that the IDF said it arrested.
The footage is similar to what the IDF has released from interrogations of Hamas fighters it arrested in Gaza.
Arrests of Hezbollah forces have not been common, even since Israel began ground raids into south Lebanon last month.
Netanyahu, Macron trade public barbs after phone call on Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron trade public barbs after holding a phone call earlier today to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN,” Macron tells the weekly French cabinet meeting, referring to the resolution adopted in November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly on the plan to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
“Therefore this is not the time to disregard the decisions of the UN,” he adds, as Israel wages a ground offensive against the Iran-backed Shiite terror group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where the UN peacekeepers are deployed.
Macron’s comments from the closed door meeting at the Elysee Palace are quoted by a participant who spoke to AFP and asked not to be named.
“A reminder to the president of France: It was not the UN resolution that established the State of Israel, but rather the victory achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors – including from the Vichy regime in France,” reads a subsequent statement from Netanyahu’s office.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 states that only the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL should be deployed in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu on Sunday called on the UN to move the 10,000 strong peacekeeping force, who include 700 French troops, deployed in south Lebanon out of “harm’s way,” saying Hezbollah was using them as “human shields.”
In an earlier readout on their call, Netanyahu’s office said he told Macron that Israel is opposed to agreeing to a “unilateral ceasefire” in Lebanon.
“The prime minister said in the conversation that he is opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” Netanyahu said, according to the statement.
Tensions have increased between Netanyahu and Macron with the French leader last week insisting that stopping the export of weapons used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon was the only way to stop the conflicts.
‘Sham’ charity for PFLP: US, Canada sanction anti-Israel Samidoun group
The US and Canada announce that they are jointly sanctioning the anti-Israel Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
The State Department describes Samidoun as “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.”
“The PFLP uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europe and North America. We are also designating Khaled Barakat, a member of the PFLP’s leadership,” the State Department announcement adds.
IDF says troops raided UNRWA clinic in north Gaza being used by terrorists to store weapons
The IDF says that its forces operating in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza have raided an UNRWA clinic that was being used by terrorists to store weapons.
The army says it carried out an airstrike that eliminated a squad of terrorists who fired on troops from the clinic. Secondary explosions after the strike indicate that it was being used as a weapons warehouse, it adds.
Israel asks its defense sector to help foil drone attacks
Israel’s government has turned to industry to bolster the military’s ability to intercept aerial drones launched by Iran or Hezbollah.
The Defense Ministry says it has launched a competition among eight large and small companies.
“After analyzing the trial results, the Defense Ministry will select several technologies to enter an accelerated development and production process. This aims to deploy new operational capabilities within months,” it says.
In addition to missiles, Iran, Hezbollah and others have used drones in attacks on Israel.
“The UAV threat is a multi-arena threat originating from Iran, which supplies UAVs to Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, and even launches them itself,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“We must concentrate the national effort… to produce operational solutions quickly.”
The ministry’s director general, Eyal Zamir, says it has already invested hundreds of millions of shekels in such capabilities.
Those participating include Israel’s top defense firms, Elbit Systems, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries.
Italy’s Meloni to visit Lebanon, says UNIFIL mission should not be withdrawn
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announces a visit to Lebanon later this week, and says heeding Israel’s unilateral demand for UN peacekeepers to be withdrawn from the country would be a “grave mistake.”
Speaking in the lower house of parliament, Meloni says she expects to be in Lebanon on Friday and says a withdrawal of the UNIFIL mission “would be a grave mistake and undermine the credibility” of the United Nations.
High Court urges government to rethink allowing Netanyahu to hand-pick next civil service commissioner
The High Court of Justice instructs the government to decide by October 28 if it is willing to change the resolution it passed in August allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to essentially hand pick the next civil service commissioner, following a hearing over petitions against that cabinet decision.
The court’s directive comes following suggestions by the independent counsel representing the government that it would consider alternatives to the process it approved in August, which was strongly criticized from several quarters on the grounds that it would politicize the Civil Service Commission.
Attorney David Peter representing the government proposed that the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee examine not only a candidate’s suitability for the position but also their qualifications. Alternatively, Peter suggested that the same appointments committee that approved the current commissioner review Netanyahu’s proposed candidate for the incoming commissioner.
In September, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara expressed her opposition to the government resolution in her response to the High Court petitions, saying it would allow the prime minister to appoint someone to the key post “who [does] not have to meet minimum professional threshold conditions of experience, skills or suitability.”
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioning organizations, said following Tuesday’s hearing that it was critical for a professional party to evaluate both the suitability and the qualifications of a candidate. Without such a review, the new civil service commissioner would be a political appointment, and all his appointments within the service would similarly be tainted by politics, the organization contends.
Israel’s inflation rate unexpectedly falls in September
Israeli inflation in September takes a surprise downward turn, led by a decline in the costs of fresh fruit, transportation and foreign travel, data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.
Annual inflation over the past 12 months stood at 3.5 percent, down from 3.6% in August after accelerating from 3.2% in July and 2.9% in June.
However, Israel’s annual inflation rate is still above the government’s target range of 1% to 3%.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation that tracks the average cost of household goods, fell by 0.2% in September, compared with analysts’ expectations of a print of between 0% and 0.1%.
In September, price declines were seen in the costs of transportation, which fell 2.6%. Foreign travel dropped 16.7%, culture and entertainment was down by 1.3%, clothing and footwear decreased by 1.2%, and fresh fruit by 1.1%, according to the statistics bureau. These were offset by price increases in the costs of fresh vegetables, which rose by 6.7%. Educational services edged up by 1.3%, and furniture and home equipment rose by 0.6%.
In the real estate market, rents on renewal of contracts rose by 2.4% and rents on contracts for new tenants jumped by 4.1%.
National religious rabbis endorse Smotrich’s pick for next Ashkenazi chief rabbi
Ahead of the second round of voting for Israel’s next Ashkenazi chief rabbi on October 31, more than 70 prominent national religious rabbis release a public letter calling on members of the Chief Rabbi Election Assembly to vote for candidate Micha Halevi, the chief rabbi of Petah Tikva.
Halevi is a hardline candidate who is backed by both Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism party and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. He recently received negative publicity due to a scandal involving kosher supervision in Petah Tikva. He has also been slammed for seeking the position after previously promising not to run.
He is competing against Kalman Bar, the chief rabbi of Netanya, who, despite roots in the national religious camp, has received the backing of Degel HaTorah, an ultra-Orthodox party.
Smotrich aims to break the long-time hold by the ultra-Orthodox community on the Ashkenazi chief rabbi post by electing a figure from his national religious camp.
Among the signatories to the letter are prominent hardline settler rabbis and educators, including Rabbis Shlomo Aviner and Elyakim Levanon.
MKs pan IDF for failing to provide reservists with proper equipment
Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee accuse the army of failing to provide reservists with necessary equipment.
“There has recently been a wave of inquiries from reservists who pointed out deficiencies. This is a situation that cannot continue,” committee chair Yuli Edelstein says during a hearing.
“We in the committee have a major responsibility for the issue. We approve emergency call-ups each time, but we cannot continue to do so while receiving inquiries about the lack of basic equipment,” he says.
Even though the October 7 attack left the “IDF unprepared to properly equip the reserve soldiers, a year after the start of the war there are still no satisfactory solutions for soldiers” who receive emergency call-up orders, states Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz. Reservists’ “blood is no less red” than those in mandatory service, he says.
Brigadier General Moti Mizrahi, who heads the IDF’s logistics division, tells the committee “we are learning, we are improving” and the army’s approach to this issue “is always evolving.”
“The common denominator for all of us is that we agree that the reservists deserve everything,” he says. “When there is a large amount of recruits, there will always be the few who do not receive [everything], but we address every request that we receive. We also opened a hotline that you can contact and receive an answer to any issue.”
No soldier out on maneuvers will go without ceramic body armor, another IDF representative adds.
Testifying before the committee, one reserve officer states that his troops have been fighting with the same protective gear that the IDF used in the First Lebanon War in 1982. “Comfort is treated as a privilege, but when you wear a helmet for four months, it is not a privilege,” he says.
Bennett-hired HR expert reportedly vetting potential candidates for new party

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett has begun the process of vetting potential candidates for a new party, enlisting the help of a senior human resources expert from the private sector, Channel 12 reports.
Bennett’s HR hire is said to have begun interviewing people as part of a preliminary effort to avoid repeating past mistakes. During the short-lived Bennett-Lapid government, MK Amichai Chikli of Bennett’s Yamina party deserted, followed by coalition whip Idit Silman, whose exit destroyed the coalition’s majority.
Last month, Channel 12 reported that Bennett has been in the process of forming a new political party, with organizers beginning to reach out to his old voter base to inquire about support and find activists willing to volunteer in the field as the party finds its footing.
According to a poll by the network published two weeks ago, if the former prime minister returned to politics and ran in the next election, Likud would remain the largest party at 23 seats, with Bennett’s party coming in at 20 and Gantz’s at 13.
US warns Israel that weapon supply at risk if Gaza aid crisis not addressed in 30 days

The Biden administration warned Israel on Sunday that it has one month to implement significant improvements to the humanitarian situation in Gaza or risk the continued supply of US weapons.
In a letter to Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer obtained by The Times of Israel on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin say the past several months have seen a significant deterioration in the amount of aid entering Gaza.
The top US officials explain that such developments call into question Israel’s commitment not to restrict the entry of aid into Gaza and that it is using US weapons in line with international law.
That written commitment was provided last March in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by US President Joe Biden in February. The memo applies to all recipients of US security assistance.
While Israel implemented a series of provisions to improve the flow of aid into Gaza after promising to do so in the spring, “the amount of aid delivered has dropped by more than 50 percent,” Blinken and Austin write, adding that the amount of aid that entered Gaza in September was the lowest of any month during the past year.
“To reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory and consistent with its assurances to us, Israel must — starting now and within 30 days — act on the following concrete measures,” they write, referring to several recommendations laid out later on in the letter.
“Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law,” the letter states.
The demands from Blinken and Austin focus on three categories: Increasing the supply of humanitarian aid by the start of winter; facilitating the aid delivery route through Jordan; and ending the “isolation” of northern Gaza.
Wizz Air suspends flights to Israel until mid-January
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air announces that it will be temporarily suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv until at least January 14, 2025, due to “the ongoing situation in the region.”
UK sanctions Amana settlement development group over illegal outposts
Britain has sanctioned organizations involved in the construction of Israeli settler outposts in the West Bank, a government update shows.
The sanctions target seven settler outposts and organizations and are taken under Britain’s global human rights sanctions regime, the notice shows.
Those sanctioned include Amana, the settlement movement’s development arm, which Britain says is “involved in the construction of illegal settler outposts and providing funding and other economic resources for Israeli settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.”
Amana was sanctioned by Canada in June and US officials have told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration is considering the step as well.
Amana is the most prominent Israeli development organization in the West Bank and settler leaders have been urgently lobbying the Israeli government to try to thwart international sanctions in recent months.
While the international community considers all settlements illegal, Israel differentiates between settlement homes built and permitted by the Defense Ministry on land owned by the state, and illegal outposts built without the necessary permits, often on private Palestinian land.
Outpost residents have often been cited as perpetrators of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, which are very rarely prosecuted by Israel and have led to sanctions by Western countries over the past year.
Israel’s demining near Golan signals wider front against Hezbollah, sources say
In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering defenses, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts say.
The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon’s border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoiter the terror group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.
While demining activity has been reported, sources who spoke to Reuters — including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a UN peacekeeping official — reveal additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ toward the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area.
Military action involving raids from the Israeli Golan and possibly from the demilitarized zone that separates it from Syrian territory could widen the conflict pitting Israel against Hezbollah and its terror group ally Hamas that has already drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the US.
‘We’ve reached limit of words’: Turkish FM calls for sanctions against Israel
Turkey’s foreign minister calls for sanctions against Israel, urging the international community to cut all support over the conflict in the Middle East.
“We have reached the limit of words, diplomacy and international politics. We must start with sanctions,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan tells ruling party delegates at a meeting about Palestine, adding: “Israel needs to be boycotted.”
While Turkey has been one of Israel’s biggest critics throughout the war and even announced a trade ban, it has reportedly maintained economic ties with Jerusalem through a series of covert maneuvers.
UN decries ‘worst restrictions’ on Gaza aid since start of war
Conflict-ravaged Gaza appears to be facing the worst restrictions on aid since the Israel-Hamas war began over a year ago, the UN says, lamenting the especially devastating impact on children.
“Day after day, the situation for children becomes worse than the day before,” says James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
Despite a desperate need to increase the amount of aid going in, Elder says, aid access was worsening.
“August was the lowest amount of humanitarian aid that came into the Gaza Strip of any full month since the war broke out,” he says.
There had been “several days in the last week (where) no commercial trucks whatsoever were allowed to come in,” Elder adds.
“We see now what is probably the worst restrictions we’ve seen on humanitarian aid, ever.”
Earlier in the year, amid warnings that the UN could declare a full-fledged famine in Gaza, Elder says there had been “a real push to have new routes and access points open.”
But now, “we have seen an absolute reversal of that,” he warns, adding that since May, “we’ve seen consistent entry points blocked.”
Northern Gaza meanwhile “hasn’t had food, any food aid at all coming in all of October,” he adds.
The dire lack of aid, coupled with the relentless strikes and the fact that around 85 percent of the Gaza Strip has been hit with some form of evacuation order, has made the territory “essentially unlivable,” Elder says.
Israel allowed 30 aid trucks into northern Gaza yesterday amid growing international alarm.
Hezbollah deputy chief: Only solution is a ceasefire because we won’t be defeated

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem warns Israelis in a speech that the only solution to the current war is a ceasefire, saying his Iran-backed terror group would not be defeated.
“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, “whether the center, the north or the south,” Qassem says.
“I am telling the Israeli home front: The solution is a ceasefire… the resistance (Hezbollah) will not be defeated because this is its land,” he adds.
Qassem says the terror group has adopted a new calculation so that Israel feels “pain.”
Advance team of US military personnel, initial THAAD components arrived in Israel — Pentagon

An advance team of US military personnel and initial components necessary to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery arrived in Israel yesterday, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder says in a statement.
Additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel over the coming days, Ryder says.
The air defense battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but an exact timeline will not be discussed due to security concerns, Ryder adds.
“The deployment of the THAAD battery to Israel underscores the United States’ commitment to the defense of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” he says.
Afghan media in some provinces told to stop showing images of living beings

Media have stopped showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws, an official confirms.
In August, the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws regulating aspects of everyday life like public transportation, shaving, the media and celebrations reflecting authorities’ interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings, sparking concerns about the consequences for Afghan media and press freedom.
A spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry, Saif ul Islam Khyber, says government media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak and Kandahar have been advised not to air or show images of anything with a soul — meaning people and animals.
Hujjatullah Mujadidi, the director of the Afghan Independent Journalists Union, says that Vice and Virtue Ministry officials initially told state media to stop running pictures and videos of living beings. This request was later extended to all media in those provinces.
“Last night, independent local media [in some provinces] also stopped running these videos and images and are instead broadcasting nature videos,” Mujadidi says.
Lebanese PM: US ‘guarantees’ Israeli strikes in Beirut will be reduced

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati tells Al Jazeera he has “received American guarantees” that Israeli strikes in Beirut will be reduced.
Hebrew media reported in recent days that US pressure had led Israel to cut back on strikes on Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital. This was rejected by Israeli officials who insist Jerusalem retains the freedom to operate as needed.
Mikati adds that his government wants a ceasefire and “the implementation of UN Resolution 1701,” which would require ending Hezbollah’s presence south of the Litani river.
Gallant: Response to Iran coming soon, will be ‘precise and deadly’

Meeting with members of the right-wing Gvura Forum (Heroism Forum) of hostages’ families, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Israel “will soon respond” to Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack two weeks ago.
“It will be a precise and deadly response,” he adds.
Some 20 rockets launched at Galilee and Haifa areas
Some 20 rockets were launched at the Galilee and Haifa areas a short time ago, the army says.
Several rockets were intercepted. There are no reports of casualties.
IDF says it eliminated a senior Hezbollah drone commander

The IDF says it eliminated a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial unit who was responsible for launching drones at Israel for both intelligence-gathering and attack purposes.
A strike several days ago in Nabatieh took out Khader Al-Abed Bahja, head of the northern Litani region of the aerial unit, the army says.
The news comes two days after a drone struck an IDF training base, killed four soldiers and injured dozens more.
The IDF does not say whether Bahja’s unit was tied to that attack.
Latest round of Gaza polio campaign started well, WHO says
The World Health Organization says it has been able to start the second round of its polio campaign in central Gaza and vaccinate tens of thousands of children, in coordination with Israel, despite Israeli strikes in the designated protected zone hours before.
Israel has agreed to localized humanitarian pauses in the fighting to enable vaccines to reach hundreds of thousands of children.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević tells a Geneva press briefing that over 92,000 children, or around half of the children targeted for polio vaccines in the central area, were inoculated on Monday.
“What we have received from colleagues is that the vaccination went without a major issue yesterday, and we hope it will continue the same way,” he said.
Terror attack fatality was policeman; civilian shot and killed terrorist

The victim in the shooting attack near Ashdod was a policeman aged around 30.
Reports say the terrorist arrived at the highway on foot and began walking along the road near an intersection. It is unclear if he arrived at a stopped police car and then opened fire, or whether the police car stopped by him to investigate.
He then opened fire with a handgun, critically injuring the officer who later died of his wounds. He then began firing at civilians in cars in the vicinity.
The terrorist was neutralized by an armed civilian who stopped his car and shot him dead.
The civilian, a volunteer paramedic, told news networks: “I was driving and saw an armed man standing on the road. At first I thought it was a policeman but then shots were fired at me. I ducked, then jumped out of the vehicle, pulled out my gun and shot him.”
Oil price drops 5% on easing Mideast fears
The price of key US oil contract West Texas Intermediate tumbles more than five percent after a report Israel is not looking to strike Iran’s crude facilities.
WTI falls as low as $70.10 a barrel, while European benchmark Brent North Sea crude slumps close to five percent to $73.69, also owing to expectations of lower demand from China’s struggling economy, according to analysts.
UN rights office: Many victims of Israeli strike in north Lebanon were women and kids
The UN human rights office says it has received reports that more than half of the 22 victims of an Israeli airstrike on a building in northern Lebanon were women and children.
“What we are hearing is that amongst the 22 people killed were 12 women and two children,” UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence tells a Geneva press briefing in response to a question about a strike on Aitou on Monday.
“We understand it was a four-story residential building that was struck. With these factors in mind, we have real concerns with respect to International Humanitarian Law, so the laws of war, and the principles of distinction proportion and proportionality,” he says, calling for an investigation.
UN agencies urge more funds for ‘increasing’ Lebanon needs
Two United Nations agencies call for more funding to address “increasing” needs in Lebanon, where the war between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
“We are preparing for the reality that the needs are increasing,” say UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban and World Food Programme deputy executive director Carl Skau in a joint statement, adding: “We need additional funding, without conditionalities.”
Ben Gvir, Tibi trade insults at hearing on bill to strip relatives of terrorists of citizenship
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi trade insults in the Knesset House Committee while debating a bill that would allow the government to strip relatives of terrorists of their citizenship and expel them from the country.
“You are a disgrace. You are a failed national security minister,” Tibi declares, followed by reciprocal accusations of supporting terrorism.
“There are no Jewish terrorists,” interjects MK Almog Cohen, a member of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.
“You are behaving like children in a kindergarten,” shouts a family member of a hostage, who is attending the hearing.
According to the proposal, the interior minister will be granted the authority, following a hearing, to order the deportation of a relative of a terrorist who knew of their family member’s plans in advance and expressed sympathy and encouragement for such a course of action. If approved by the committee, the bill will go to the Knesset plenum for the second and third readings necessary to become law.
אחות החטופה העירה לח"כים בוועדה: "אתם מתנהגים כמו ילדים בגן". השר בן גביר בתגובה: "כן, כן". ח"כ סון הר מלך: "אל תחנכי אותנו"
צפו בדיון הסוער על החוק לגירוש משפחות מחבלים ובעימות בין השר איתמר בן גביר לח"כ אחמד טיבי: "אחמד, החוק חל עליך"@itamarbengvir @Ahmad_tibi… pic.twitter.com/YLDwHMImVh
— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) October 15, 2024
Addressing the possibility that, if passed, the law could be struck down by the High Court of Justice, Ben Gvir states that the court’s justices are also vulnerable to terrorism: they “also walk in the streets, they also go to the supermarket, they also go shopping, they are also exposed to the same scum of the earth.”
Members of the Hadash-Ta’al party have come under public criticism for statements seen as supportive of terror. Party chief Ayman Odeh has praised Latifa Abu-Hamid, the mother of several convicted terrorists, as a “heroine, the mother of heroes,” while MK Aida Touma-Sliman has called members of the Lion’s Den Palestinian terror group “martyrs.”
Ben Gvir was convicted years ago of incitement to violence and supporting a terror group for backing the racist Kach party.
Man shot dead in Kafr Qara in front of his kids, 184th Arab Israeli homicide this year
A 38-year-old man was shot dead this morning in Kafr Qara in northern Israel in front of his children.
Ala Abu Ata was shot outside a school in the Arab town as he was taking his kids there in the morning.
Police are investigating the murder, the latest in the ongoing spate of killings in the Arab community.
Abu Ata is the 184th victim of violence in the Arab community since the start of 2024, according to the Abraham Initiatives coexistence group.
Man dies after being critically hurt in shooting on Route 4
A man who was critically wounded in the shooting attack on the Route 4 highway died of his injuries on the way to the hospital, medical officials say.
Four more people were hurt in the attack that took place near the Yavne Interchange, north of Ashdod — one moderately and the others lightly. One of those lightly hurt is a doctor who stopped his car to treat the injured and was hit by another car.
Police are scanning the area to rule out the presence of a second attacker.
Shooter apparently opened fired in two locations
The shooter apparently fired on people in two separate locations along the highway between Ashdod and Yavne.
Traffic has been stopped at the scene.
חמ״ל אשדוד:
בוקר טוב,
דיווח ראשוני על אירוע ירי באזור ניר גלים / כביש 4 גן יבנה
כביש 4 מחלף יבנה,
יתכן ומדובר באותו זירה,
בבדיקה על אירוע מתגלגל,
ככל הנראה יש 2 פצועים מפגע וככל הנראה גם שוטר,
בבדיקה על פח"ע. pic.twitter.com/uiDbRNMSv1— אַזהָרָה (@azhrh297606) October 15, 2024
Two men wounded, one critically, in apparent shooting attack near Ashdod
A man is critically hurt and another is in moderate condition in a suspected shooting attack on Route 4 near Ashdod.
Preliminary reports indicate a shooter fired at a cop before being shot dead.
Eight face charges in Tel Aviv suicide bombing attempt; were directed by Hamas in Turkey

Police and the Shin Bet say they have completed their investigation into the failed suicide bombing attempt in Tel Aviv in August, saying it was planned by Hamas’s Turkey headquarters.
The bomber in the August 18 incident died when his backpack exploded, apparently prematurely, in south Tel Aviv. A passerby was injured.
Charges are to be filed today against eight suspected terrorists involved in the plot, after the investigation uncovered infrastructure for attacks in Nablus and security forces seized two bombs ready for use in further attacks.
Authorities say the operatives in Nablus were in contact with Abada Bilal, a senior official in Hamas’s headquarters in Turkey who directed the plot.
They add: “The findings of this investigation clearly indicate the establishment of Hamas headquarters in Turkey and their extensive efforts abroad to incite violence and carry out bombings in Israel.”
Qatar’s emir: Israel chose to expand ‘aggression’ to West Bank, Lebanon

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, says Israel deliberately chose to expand what he calls its “aggression” to implement preplanned schemes in the West Bank and Lebanon.
At the opening of the Qatari Shura Council in Doha, Al-Thani says, “The easiest and safest way to stop the escalation on the border with Lebanon is to stop the war” in Gaza.
He adds: “Destruction will not work with the steadfast Palestinian people who are clinging to their legitimate rights.”
Qatar has been serving as a key mediator in efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.
Report: Israel faces potential shortage of interceptor missiles

Israel is facing a potential shortage of rocket and missile interceptors in its air defense array amid the yearlong war in Gaza and Lebanon, and as it prepares for a possible escalating conflict with Iran, the Financial Times reports.
Citing experts and former military officials, the paper says Washington is assisting the Jewish state in addressing the matter, but Jerusalem could increasingly find itself needing to decide which targets it wants to prioritize defending.
“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” says Dana Stroul, an ex-US defense official. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel air defenses will be stretched.”
Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries which produces missile interceptors, adds: “Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations.”
Palestinians say 15 people killed in Gaza strikes, including women and children
Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, according to Palestinian officials in the Hamas-run Strip who do not differentiate between combatants and civilians.
Israel says it is hitting terror sites in the enclave.
Man killed, 5 others hurt in crash on Route 443 near Jerusalem
A man has been killed and five others injured in a crash between several cars and a truck on Route 443 north of Jerusalem.
The victim is reported to be around 60 years old. One person, aged around 20, was moderately hurt and four others were lightly injured, medics say.
The crash led to heavy traffic in the area.
There are no immediate details on the circumstances of the crash.
Rocket sirens sound in Haifa and numerous towns to its south
Rocket sirens are sounding in Haifa, Zikhron Ya’akov, Pardes Hanna, Caesarea, Yokneam and many other towns in the areas south of Haifa.
The IDF says it identified only two rocket launches, though they sparked sirens in a widespread area.
There are no reports of casualties.
IDF says it hit 230 targets in Gaza and Lebanon in past day, eliminated gunmen
The IDF says it has struck some 230 terror targets in Gaza and Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
It says over 200 Hezbollah targets, including rocket launchers and anti-tank positions, were attacked in Lebanon. Dozens of Hezbollah gunmen were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
In northern Gaza, forces continued to operate in Jabaliya, where several terror operatives including were killed, including a cell that fired an anti-tank missile at troops.
Operations are also ongoing in central and southern Gaza, where additional gunmen and terror infrastructure have been eliminated, the army says.
כוחות צה"ל ממשיכים לפעול באופן ממוקד נגד תשתיות טרור ומחבלי חיזבאללה בדרום לבנון.
הכוחות חיסלו עשרות מחבלים בהיתקלויות פנים אל פנים ובהכוונת תקיפות של חיל האוויר, השמידו תשתיות טרור של חיזבאללה ואיתרו אמצעי לחימה רבים>> pic.twitter.com/zdIVbd8lq8— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 15, 2024
White House warns Iran over threats to Trump
The White House says the United States has been closely tracking Iranian threats against former President Donald Trump for years and warns of “severe consequences” if Tehran attacks any US citizen.
“We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats.
Should Iran attack any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences,” says White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
Rocket alarms blare in Kiryat Shmona area
Rocket sirens are sounding in the northern towns of Kfar Giladi and Misgav Am in the Galilee panhandle near the border with Lebanon.
The apparent attack comes about 25 minutes after sirens were activated in nearby Kiryat Shmona and several surrounding areas.
There are no immediate reports of impacts or casualties.
Iranian TV appears to show ‘missing’ Quds Force head Qaani at memorial
Iran’s state TV has shown a person who appears to be Esmail Qaani, the top commander of Iran’s Quds Force, is seen in footage aired on Iranian state TV attending a memorial ceremony for a senior Revolutionary Guards commander killed in Lebanon.
Reports and rumors regarding Qaani’s fate had spread in recent days after he disappeared from public view. Some reported Qaani may have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon targeting top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, while other claims suggested may have had a heart attack or was being interrogated by Iran as a suspected spy.
Video on Iranian television of IRGC Quds Force commander Ismail Qaani at memorial for deceased Abbas Niloforoshan killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon.
This is amid recent rumors and ostensible reporting that he’d been either killed, arrested, or had a heart attack. pic.twitter.com/qiL5EbfyUy
— Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) October 15, 2024
The footage shows Qaani at a funeral service in the Iraqi city of Karbala for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in an Israeli air strike alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.
Arab American group refuses to endorse Trump or Harris, citing Israel support

The Arab American Political Action Committee says it will not endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, citing what it calls their “blind support” for Israel.
The November 5 election will mark the first time AAPAC has chosen not to endorse a candidate since the group’s 1998 inception. It usually endorses Democrats.

“Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” AAPAC says in a statement. “We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government.”
Netanyahu’s office says Israeli interests will determine response to Iran after report suggests US vote a factor
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says a decision on its plans to retaliate against Iran for the October 1 ballistic missile attack will be made based on Israel’s needs.
The middle-of-the-night statement comes in response to a Washington Post report that Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden Israel would not attack Iranian oil or nuclear sites.
According to an unnamed official quoted by the broadsheet, Israel’s plans are being calibrated to avoid having an impact on the upcoming US elections.
“We listen to the American government’s thoughts, but will make our final decisions based on Israel’s national security needs,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement says.
Israeli strikes reported in Baalbek region deep inside Lebanon
Lebanese media report Israeli airstrikes in Baalbek and the Beqaa Valley region of northeast Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes targeted Douris, Shaath, and Ali al-Nahri in the Beqaa.#Lebanon #Israel pic.twitter.com/4TEh2Ov80S
— Khaled Iskef خالد اسكيف (@khalediskef) October 14, 2024
According to MTV Lebanon, at least 10 strikes have been reported in Baalbek and surrounding towns since 1 a.m. The station publishes footage from the town of Douris, south Baalbek, that shows a building on fire.
غارات ليلية عنيفة… البقاع تحت القصفhttps://t.co/gxIhIs1w05 pic.twitter.com/yFnhnKQzcg
— MTV Lebanon News (@MTVLebanonNews) October 14, 2024
The raids are also reported by the pro-Hezbollah al-Meyadeen news outlet.
Baalbek, identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Israeli border, near the frontier with Syria.
The area has been targeted several times since Israel launched its intensified offensive against Hezbollah late last month.
Hundreds of Jewish activists, allies arrested at New York anti-Israel protest
Police say they arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who staged a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange to demand an end to US support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The protesters, many of them from activist groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted “let Gaza live” and “stop funding genocide” in front of the exchange’s iconic building near Wall Street, in lower Manhattan.
None of the protesters got inside the stock exchange but dozens crossed a police security fence set up outside its main building on Broad Street.
HAPPENING NOW: OVER 500 JEWS AND ALLIES SHUT DOWN THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE FOR GAZA. “GAZA BOMBED, WALL STREET BOOMS. FUND HEALTHCARE, HOUSING, FEMA, NOT GENOCIDE.” @jvplive @jvpliveNY pic.twitter.com/ztCcZPZam8
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) October 14, 2024
A police spokesperson says 206 arrests were made, without providing details. Jewish groups involved with the protests say around 500 demonstrators attended. The stock exchange has no immediate comment.
The protesters directed anger at American defense contractors and weapons manufacturers. Others chanted slogans against Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where Israel says it is waging war against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
NYPD ESU & SRG have been arresting @jvpliveNY for the past half hour and are about a third of the way through protestors in the interior gates outside the New York Stock Exchange.
Many are going limp instead of walking out, which seems to be slowing the arrest process. https://t.co/8juNbhjMuv pic.twitter.com/no2T4TVkUm
— Talia Jane ❤️🔥 (@taliaotg) October 14, 2024
“(Hundreds) of Jews and friends are shutting down the New York Stock Exchange to demand the U.S. stop arming Israel and profiting from genocide,” Jewish Voice for Peace says on X. Israel denies genocide allegations at the World Court, and says its military operations in Gaza targets Hamas terrorists.
There were also a much smaller number of pro-Israel counter-protesters at the site carrying Israeli flags.
Hezbollah claims late night rocket fire
Hezbollah takes responsibility for rockets fired into Israel minutes ago, saying it targeted soldiers near the Lebanese border.
There have been no reports of injuries or damage from the attacks.
Rocket sirens sound in northern towns
Rocket sirens are sounding in the northern town of Shtula near the western Galilee.
The alert comes minutes after a rocket alarm sounded in Margaliyot near Kiryat Shmona in the eastern Galilee Panhandle.
There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.
Australia tells citizens to avoid Israel, leave while they can
Australia is warning its citizens not to travel to Israel and urging Australians there to leave the country while commercial flights remain available.
“The Australian government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories could deteriorate rapidly,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong says in a post on X late Monday.
There continues to be a high threat of military and terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli interests across the region, the Australian government’s travel advisory says.
Wong also announces sanctions on five Iranians linked to its missile program in reply to Tehran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
“Iran’s missile program poses a material threat to regional and international security,” she says in a statement, calling the attack a “dangerous escalation.”
Netanyahu told Biden he won’t attack Iranian oil, nuclear sites — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the United States that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil facilities, the Washington Post reports, citing two officials familiar with the matter.
Netanyahu made the comment to Biden when the two spoke by phone last week to discuss Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for its October 1 ballistic missile attack, which the US has sought to temper.
One official is quoted telling the paper that the Israeli premier had agreed to plot the attack in a way that won’t impact the upcoming US election; an attack on energy facilities could send oil prices soaring, hurting Vice President Kamala Harris’s chances with voters unhappy about higher prices at the gasoline pump.
According to the official, an Israeli retaliatory action will come before the November 5 election to avoid the perception of weakness.
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