Sep. 15: Haredi draft bill said unlikely to be ready by High Holidays despite PM&#8217;s promise

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is safe after an incident on Sunday in which two people exchanged gunfire outside his Florida golf club, the New York Post says, citing law enforcement sources.

Trump’s campaign had earlier said he was safe following gunshots in his vicinity but gave no details.

“Sources said that Trump was never in danger,” the newspaper says.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

9:40 pm

Trump safe after shots fired near him, campaign says

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raises a fist on stage during a campaign rally at the Expo World Market Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 13, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity, his campaign says in a statement. It says no further details were available.

Reuters cannot immediately determine where Trump was located when the campaign issued the statement.

Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13.

9:27 pm

Police footage shows stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City earlier

Surveillance camera footage published by police shows the moment of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City this evening.

One Border Police officer was lightly hurt, and the assailant was shot.

Surveillance camera footage published by police shows the moment of the stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City this evening.

One Border Police officer was lightly hurt, and the assailant was shot. https://t.co/4SIV0oom17 pic.twitter.com/uYG8857lnW

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 15, 2024

9:23 pm

Several soldiers lightly wounded in Hezbollah drone attack on Golan

Several IDF soldiers were lightly hurt in a Hezbollah drone attack in the northern Golan Heights earlier this evening, the military says.

Two explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon in the attack.

The IDF says the soldiers sustained minor injuries as a result of the blast and were treated at the scene by military medics. None of the soldiers required hospitalization.

9:12 pm

Four top columnists quit UK’s Jewish Chronicle after writer accused of fabrications about Gaza war

The Jewish Chronicle newspaper logo.

Four prominent columnists of The Jewish Chronicle announce their resignation as the British newspaper deals with a scandal involving a freelance writer alleged to have fabricated claims relating to the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas.

David Baddiel, Jonathan Freedland, David Aaronovitch and Hadley Freeman say they will no longer write for the Jewish outlet, according to statements and posts on X.

The British newspaper launched an investigation after publishing an article by freelancer Elon Perry this month in which he alleged a document had been uncovered in the Gaza Strip proving that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and from there to Iran.

However, the Israel Defense Forces said it was unaware of any such document actually existing, and as the claim was similar to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent talking points, some have speculated that false information was being distributed as part of a disinformation campaign.

The Jewish Chronicle’s initial announcement last week that it was investigating Perry came days after the IDF said it was launching an internal probe after documents recovered from Gaza were recently leaked to foreign press in an apparent attempt to influence public opinion on the hostage negotiations.

Perry has also faced questions about his biography, including his claims to have served as a commando soldier during Operation Entebbe and that he was a professor at Tel Aviv University for 15 years.

“While we understand he did serve in the Israel Defense Forces, we were not satisfied with some of his claims,” the Jewish Chronicle said Friday, without further elaborating. “We have therefore removed his stories from our website and ended any association with Mr. Perry.”

9:06 pm

Edelstein’s synagogue denies calling police on women who distributed hostage flyers, calls arrests ‘insane’

Three women who were later arrested for trespassing are seen placing flyers urging the release of hostages held by Hamas, at a synagogue in Herzliya, September 13, 2024. (X screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The warden of the Herzliya synagogue where three women on Thursday distributed flyers on behalf of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and were arrested a day later for alleged breaking and entering, says there was no break-in at the synagogue and that the arrests were “insane.”

Speaking to Channel 12 news, Itai Mauda, the warden (gabbai) of the Ohel Moshe synagogue, denies that the synagogue filed a complaint or called the police over the incident.

Earlier today, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee who prays at the synagogue, backed the police arrests and said he “completely understood” why “the people of my synagogue filed a complaint with police after they discovered the break-in that took place apparently in the evening hours or at night.” Edelstein is a former Prisoner of Zion in the Soviet Union.

Asked whether the synagogue had called the police, Mauda says, “We absolutely did not.” Mauda appears to indicate, without elaboration, that the Shin Bet’s VIP bodyguard unit may have filed the complaint.

Mauda says that the synagogue, which he calls “the most open in the world,” holds “prayers every Shabbat and every day for the release of the hostages and the recovery of the injured.”

Asked whether the synagogue had any objection to the distribution of the leaflets — which the three women placed one at a time on congregants’ seats — Mauda says, “Absolutely no problem.”

Flyers urging the release of hostages held by Hamas that were distributed at a synagogue in Herzliya, September 13, 2024 (Screenshot via X; used in accordance of clause 27a of the copyright law).

He says he considers the fact that the women were arrested for their actions to be “insane, absolutely out of proportion.”

Channel 12 also quotes Mauda stressing there was no break-in and no desecration, and saying that the flyers have since been placed prominently in the synagogue because congregants are deeply concerned for the hostages.

Protesters surround MK Yuli Edelstein as he walks to synagogue in Herzliya the day after three women were arrested for placing hostage flyers in the house of worship, September 14, 2024 (Yair Palti/Pro-Democracy Protest groups)

The three women were arrested on Friday. One of them, Idit Alexandrovich, said she was cuffed at her home and taken away in front of her young children. The three were released some eight hours later under restrictive conditions. They have not been charged.

Idit Alexandrovich, one of three women detained after placing flyers calling for a hostage deal on seats in a Herzliya synagogue attended by Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, speaks to Channel 12, September 14, 2024. (Channel 12 screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Justice Ministry’s Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) announced Saturday that it had launched a probe into the incident.

8:43 pm

New police chief told visitor to office that seeing two men kissing ‘disgusts’ him — TV report

New Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy speaks at a ceremony in Jerusalem marking his entry into the role on August 25, 2024. (Israel Police)

Channel 12 news reports recently appointed Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy, then chief of the Coastal District, made homophobic comments over the tight jeans worn by a visitor in his office earlier this year.

Also present was Israel Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron, then the Coastal District spokesperson, who invited the visitor into Levy’s office, Channel 12 reports.

“Hi, how are you? What are those tight jeans? Don’t tell me you are part of the [LGBT] community now?” he said, grinning, according to the quotes.

“I am not,” the visitor reportedly replied.

“Are you sure? Not that I care, I don’t have anything personal against them but it disgusts me,” Levy replied.

“I don’t understand, what is disgusting?” the visitor asked.

“Those that do it in public,” Doron chimed in.

“I can’t look at two boys together in the street holding hands or two men kissing outside, it’s disgusting,” Levy says.

Additionally, a former officer in the Coastal District tells Channel 12 that Doron would use the phrase “you homo” in every other sentence when speaking to other cops.

“That’s the guy, that’s his style and with time you get used to it because he was backed up by the district chief [Levy],” the officer says.

In response to the report, police tell Channel 12 Levy had “friendly and excellent relations with the LGBT community and its leaders, and worked a lot to strengthen the police’s ties with them.”

8:17 pm

Border Police officer lightly hurt in stabbing attack at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate

A sharp object used in a stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City, September 15, 2024. (Israel Police)

A Border Police officer was lightly wounded in the stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City this evening, police say.

According to police, the assailant attacked the officer with a sharp object, before attempting to flee into the Old City.

Other Border Police officers then shot the assailant.

7:59 pm

One hurt in suspected stabbing attack in Jerusalem Old City

At least one person is wounded in a suspected stabbing attack at the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are treating a man in his 20s who is lightly injured.

The assailant was “neutralized” according to media reports.

7:57 pm

Environment Ministry says mosquitoes carrying West Nile fever found in northern areas; 904 diagnosed in outbreak

By Diana Bletter

The Ministry of Environmental Protection reports that mosquitoes carrying West Nile fever were found in Shefaram, and in the Mateh Asher and Mateh Yehuda regional councils.

The ministry has instructed these local authorities to further expand their monitoring and pest control systems in their areas.

According to the latest figures from the Health Ministry, the number of patients diagnosed with the West Nile virus rose to 904.

A total of 69 people who were diagnosed with the virus have died since the outbreak began in June.

Infected mosquitoes transmit the West Nile virus to humans. The virus does not spread from person to person.

About 80% of people infected with West Nile virus show no symptoms at all. About 20% may experience varying degrees of symptoms, including fever, headaches, and body aches.

Less than 1% of those infected will have possible rare complications such as acute inflammation of the brain or meningitis.

The risk of significant illness is higher among the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

7:47 pm

Israeli jets strike 20 Hezbollah rocket launchers; 2 drones hit northern Golan

Some 20 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other infrastructure were struck by Israeli fighter jets in southern Lebanon’s Jarmaq a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military says the launchers “posed an immediate threat to Israeli civilians.”

Meanwhile, two drones launched from Lebanon impacted the northern Golan Heights. The IDF says the drones did not hit any towns.

Some 20 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other infrastructure were struck by Israeli fighter jets in southern Lebanon's Jarmaq a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military says the launchers "posed an immediate threat to Israeli civilians."

Meanwhile, two drones launched from… https://t.co/RFAi6WYFBm pic.twitter.com/NhXjLk2lZz

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 15, 2024

7:21 pm

Rocket sirens sound in northern community

Incoming rocket sirens activate in the northern community of Ramot Naftali.

צבע אדום (15/09/2024 19:13): רמות נפתלי pic.twitter.com/4SwEpLOTdc

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) September 15, 2024

7:19 pm

Interceptor caused Houthi missile to break up in air; IAF finds it was not hypersonic as claimed by rebels

Police at the site where part of a ballistic missile fired from Yemen hit an open area near Moshav Kfar Daniel, September 15, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen at central Israel this morning was hit by an interceptor missile, although it did not manage to completely destroy the target, according to an Israeli Air Force probe.

The missile had been identified upon launch from northwestern Yemen early this morning, and the Arrow long-range defense system was activated to intercept it. Several interceptor missiles were launched at the target in attempts to down it.

At least one of the Arrow interceptors hit the missile, but did not destroy it completely, the probe finds. Instead, the interceptor caused the Houthi missile to break apart in the air, and the warhead, as well as other pieces, fell to the ground.

The missile shrapnel impacted open areas in the Ben Shemen forest, close to Kfar Daniel, sparking a fire. Shrapnel from the interceptors also hit a train station near Modiin, causing slight damage.

The IAF found that the missile, which had a straight trajectory, was not a hypersonic projectile, as the Houthis claimed.

7:10 pm

Despite PM’s reported promise, Haredi draft bill will not be ready by High Holidays

An ultra-Orthodox Jew protesting against the drafting of Haredim to the Israeli army holds a sign reading, "We won't draft to an enemy army," outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, in central Israel, September 2, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Legislation to regulate yeshiva students’ military service will not be completed by the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holiday despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly promising last week to expedite a planned law facilitating sweeping exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community from mandatory military service.

According to national broadcaster Kan, senior coalition officials dismissed a report in the ultra-Orthodox Hamodia newspaper that United Torah Judaism has demanded the bill be finished by the start of High Holidays, stating that such legislation will take time to complete.

“The responsibility to bring about a conscription law rests on the shoulders of the prime minister,” UTJ leader and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf’s office tells Kan in a statement.

The High Court mandated an end to broad exemptions for members of the Haredi community earlier this year after the government failed to legislate a law to regulate the matter.

Efforts to pass such a bill have become broadly unpopular since the start of the war in Gaza, with the army facing persistent manpower shortages and reservists being called up repeatedly. Multiple members of Netanyahu’s coalition including in his Likud party have warned they will not back any overly sweeping proposal.

According to Hebrew press reports, Netanyahu reportedly told Goldknopf that he would push to fast-track the exemption when the Knesset reconvenes from its current recess. Goldknopf has threatened to vote against the upcoming budget several months from now if the law does not advance, which could force elections.

Goldknopf told Netanyahu that his party would have quit the coalition long ago over the end of blanket military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men if it were not for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, Kan reported.

Responding to these reports last week, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid stated that “the rational” members of the coalition, including from Netanyahu’s Likud party, will refuse to support a new draft exemption bill.

6:49 pm

Footage shows Hezbollah drone flying over north

A Hezbollah drone is seen flying over northern Israel, as sirens sounded in several communities in the Upper Galilee.

The Home Front Command says the incident is over, without elaborating.

A Hezbollah drone is seen flying over northern Israel, as sirens sounded in several communities in the Upper Galilee.

The Home Front Command says the incident is over, without elaborating. pic.twitter.com/d7ngaJFWpD

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 15, 2024

There are no immediate reports of injuries in the attack.

6:47 pm

August inflation rate increases faster than expected, data shows

By Sharon Wrobel

View of the Givatayim mall, September 12, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israeli inflation in August quickened at a faster pace than forecast, led by an increase in the costs of fresh vegetables, transportation and housing, data by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows.

Annual inflation over the past 12 months accelerated to 3.6 percent up from 3.2% in July, and 2.9% in June, and is for the second month 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, rose by 0.9% in August, above the average range of analysts’ expectations of between 0.5% and 0.6%.

In August, price increases were seen in the costs of fresh vegetables, which jumped 13.2%, transportation was up 2.8%, housing rose 0.6%, and culture and entertainment edged up 0.5%, according to the statistics bureau. These were offset by price declines of 4.1% in the cost of clothing products and a 5.9% drop in refined petroleum products.

In the real estate market, rents on renewal of contracts rose 2.6% and rents on contracts for new tenants increased 5.3%.

6:29 pm

Lebanese media report large Israeli strikes 10 km north of border town

Lebanese media report a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Mahmoudiyeh area, located about 10 kilometers north of Metula.

Footage shows the large strikes.

٧ غارات على منطقة المحمودية #جنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/USZEMJoLrd

— Jamal Chaiito (@Jamalchaiito1) September 15, 2024

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

6:19 pm

Sirens warn of hostile drone infiltration in Upper Galilee communities

Sirens warning of a hostile drone infiltration activate in the Upper Galilee communities of Ghajar, Dafna, She’ar Yashuv, Kfar Szold, Kibbutz Dan, Sde Nehemia, Shamir and Amir.

חדירת כלי טיס עוין (15/09/2024 18:11-18:15): ע'ג'ר, דפנה, שאר ישוב, כפר סאלד, קיבוץ דן, שדה נחמיה, שמיר, עמיר

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) September 15, 2024

6:14 pm

34 Iranian women prisoners go on hunger strike to mark two years since mass protests

By AFP

This UGC image posted on Twitter reportedly on October 26, 2022 shows an unveiled woman standing on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Mahsa Amini's home town in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, to mark 40 days since her death. (Photo by UGC / AFP)

PARIS, France — Thirty-four women prisoners went on hunger strike in an Iranian prison Sunday to mark two years since protests erupted against clerical authorities, the foundation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi says.

“Today, on the 15th of September 2024, 34 female political prisoners in Evin Prison have gone on a hunger strike in commemoration of the second anniversary of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and the killing of Mahsa (Jina) Amini,” it says, referring to the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman whose death in custody sparked the demonstrations.

Mohammadi, 52, has been jailed since November 2021 in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. She has spent much of the past decade in and out of prison and has been on repeated hunger strikes.

6:07 pm

Rocket sirens sound in Western Galilee

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the Western Galilee communities of Betzet, Metzuba and Shlomi.

צבע אדום (15/09/2024 18:00): בצת, מצובה, שלומי pic.twitter.com/ODJE8uhHjr

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) September 15, 2024

6:00 pm

Mother of hostage killed in IDF strike struggles to understand how army didn’t know son was held near Hamas commander

Nik Beizer, a soldier who was taken captive from his army base near the Erez checkpoint at Gaza, by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

Katy, mother of Cpl. Nik Beizer, tells the Walla news site she finds it difficult to believe that the military didn’t know her son and two other hostages were near a senior Hamas commander when the army launched an airstrike against him in November, killing the captives as well.

“It’s amazing they didn’t have intelligence, that they didn’t think there were hostages next to [Ahmed] Gandour,” she says, referring to the senior Hamas commander targeted and killed in the strike.

“It is difficult to understand and believe this, that they didn’t think that next to someone important like him there wouldn’t be hostages” being used as human shields.

She says she is very angry over the handling of the events of October 7, and the fact that her son, who was not a combat soldier, was kidnapped from a base, adding that he should have been evacuated before terrorists had a chance to abduct him.

5:28 pm

Edelstein gives ‘full backing’ to police for arresting women who placed hostage flyers in his synagogue

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein says he supports the police after officers arrested three women for placing leaflets on seats at his synagogue calling for the release of the hostages held in Gaza.

Edelstein says in a video statement he understands people at the Herzliya synagogue who complained to the police over the “break-in.” Security footage of the incident showed that the synagogue was open when the three entered to place the leaflets on congregants’ seats.

“They discovered a break-in after they came to pray in the morning. I give my full backing to Israel Police and and many words of thanks for the fact that, in addition to all their tasks, they have come and guard me and the synagogue, against all kinds of rioters and allow prayers to take place,” he says.

He adds: “We are on a slippery slope. If we don’t set very clear boundaries for what is a demonstration and what is a protest — we will end up in bad places. I firmly ask that we all remember that in the end there is one country and one nation.”

The Justice Ministry’s Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) announced Saturday that it had launched a probe into the incident.

ח״כ יולי אדלשטיין מגבה את המשטרה והגבאים שהתלוננו נגד הנשים שהניחו פלאיירים למען החטופים (כשהמפכ״ל עצמו כבר הודיע שהוא בודק את התנהלות המשטרה ) pic.twitter.com/ua0HYadS8h

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) September 15, 2024

5:25 pm

IDF strikes several Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon

Several Hezbollah rocket launchers, including one primed for an attack, were struck in southern Lebanon’s Rachaya al-Foukhar a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military releases footage of the strikes, which show secondary blasts.

לפני זמן קצר, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מספר משגרים ביניהם משגר טעון ומוכן לשיגור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב רשיא אל פוחר שבדרום לבנון.
לאחר תקיפת המשגר, זוהו פיצוצי משנה המעידים על הימצאות של רקטות במשגר שהותקף.

במהלך היום צה"ל תקף בארטילריה במספר מרחבים בדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/prlzIBjQQ2

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 15, 2024

5:13 pm

Senior Hamas official says group able to keep fighting, even after 11 months of war

By AFP

Hamas political official Osama Hamdan speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Doha, Qatar, August 13, 2024. (AP/Malak Harb)

A senior Hamas official tells AFP that the terror group has ample resources to continue fighting Israel despite losses sustained over more than 11 months of war in Gaza.

“The resistance has a high ability to continue,” Osama Hamdan tells AFP during an interview in Istanbul. “There were martyrs and there were sacrifices… but in return, there was an accumulation of experiences and the recruitment of new generations into the resistance.”

Hamdan says that Hamas wants “joint Palestinian rule” in Gaza once the war ends in the besieged territory.

“Clearly we said that the next day must be Palestinian… the day after the battle is a Palestinian day,” he says.

He adds that the United States is not doing enough to force concessions from Israel that could lead to a truce in the war in Gaza.

“The American administration does not exert sufficient or appropriate pressure on the Israeli side,” says Hamdan. “Rather it is trying to justify the Israeli side’s evasion of any commitment.”

He also says that today’s Houthi missile attack targeting central Israel showed the limits of Israel’s ability to defend itself.

“It is a message to the entire region that Israel is not an immune entity,” Hamdan says.

“Even Israeli capabilities have limits, and the possibility of developing resistance action against the Zionist entity is a serious and real possibility, not a fantasy.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

4:56 pm

Houthi leader warns Israel of ‘greater’ attacks after morning missile attack

Houthi rebels leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi warns in a speech his forces will launch larger attacks on Israel, after it fired a hypersonic missile at the country this morning.

“The operation our forces carried out today with an advanced Yemeni missile is part of the fifth stage of the escalation. What is to come will be greater,” he says.

“Our operations will continue as long as Israel keeps up attacks and its siege on Gaza. We will continue to coordinate with the resistance in Gaza,” he says, in reference to Hamas.

4:49 pm

Marking 4 years since Abraham Accords, FM Katz says Israel ‘committed to expanding the circle of peace’

By Lazar Berman

From left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-US president Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, sit during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, September 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

On the four-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, Foreign Minister Israel Katz says that the country “is committed to expanding the circle of peace with other countries in the region.”

“Today we mark 4 years since the Abraham Accords, historic agreements that express a shared destiny that changed the Middle East for the better politically, in security, economically, socially and educationally,” Katz writes on X.

He says that the normalization agreements “made peace in the region a reality, shattered the historical illusion that peace and prosperity in the region are only possible under certain conditions, and proved that a shared vision and cooperation are the ways forward for a better future for the region.”

Despite the challenges, says Katz, “Israel will always be committed to continuing to work with its partners in the region in the hope of realizing the values of the Abraham Accords — and expanding the circle of peace with other countries in the region.”

4:35 pm

IDF says it struck former Gaza school used as Hamas hideout, base for rocket attacks

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a group of Hamas operatives at a command room embedded within a former school in the northern Gaza Strip a short while ago.

According to the military, Hamas was using the Ghazi Al-Shawa School in Beit Hanoun as a hideout and to prepare rocket attacks in recent weeks.

The school has been serving as a shelter for displaced Gazans, according to Palestinian media.

The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, and accuses Hamas of “systematically” using civilian sites for terror.

???? متابعة صفا| لحظة تدمير طائرات الاحتلال مدرسة غازي الشوا التي تؤوي النازحين في بيت حانون شمالي قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/YEKtgeX0CB

— وكالة صفا (@SafaPs) September 15, 2024

4:29 pm

Oct. 7 survivor hands letter to UNICEF official urging him to help free hostages, address needs of Israeli children

By Sue Surkes

File: UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban (C) leaves the runway upon landing at the airport in Port Sudan on July 23, 2023. (AFP)

UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban meets with 17-year-old Rotem Matias, whose parents Deborah (Shahar) and Shlomi Matias were murdered in front of him by Hamas gunmen on October 7 at the family home in Kibbutz Holit.

During the meeting in Jerusalem, Rotem handed over a letter on behalf of his uncle, Prof. Aron Troen, and Prof. Hagai Levine, the head of the health team for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The letter urges UNICEF to uphold the principles of neutrality and impartiality, to take immediate action without discrimination for the release of all hostages, including Kfir and Ariel Bibas, aged nine months and four years, respectively, when they were kidnapped to Gaza on October 7, and to address the needs and human rights of all children, in accordance with UNICEFs mission of protecting all children everywhere.

It emphasizes that UNICEF must acknowledge the vast number of Israeli children suffering from the effects of war since October 7. The letter points out that over three million Israeli children are experiencing direct and indirect trauma as a result of the ongoing conflict.

Deborah Matias, 50, an American-Israeli citizen, and her husband Shlomi, 49, both musicians, were killed as they protected Rotem with their bodies.

Rotem was shot but survived, while his sisters, Shaked and Shir, were hiding out elsewhere and were unharmed.

4:24 pm

9 months after bodies recovered, IDF confirms three hostages killed as ‘byproduct’ of airstrike

Left to right: Elia Toledano, Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. Their bodies were recovered by the IDF and returned to Israel on December 15, 2023. (Courtesy)

Nine months after their bodies were recovered, the IDF says that its investigation has found that former hostages Sgt. Ron Sherman, Cpl. Nik Beizer, and civilian Elia Toledano were killed as a result of a “byproduct” of an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, although the exact cause of death is still unknown.

On November 10, 2024, the IDF carried out an airstrike near the location where the bodies were later found, targeting the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade, Ahmed Ghandour, who was hiding in a tunnel in Jabaliya.

“The findings of the investigation suggest that the three, with high probability, were killed by a byproduct of an IDF airstrike, during the assassination” of Ghandour, the IDF says.

“This is a highly probable estimate given all the data, but it is not possible to determine with certainty the circumstances of their death,” the military says.

The IDF says it was able to determine that they were likely indirectly killed by the strike on Ghandour based on the locations where the bodies were found in relation to the site of the airstrike, an investigation of the airstrike, intelligence findings, pathology reports, and findings made by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.

According to the IDF’s investigation, the three were held in a tunnel complex where Ghandour operated, though when the strike was carried out, the military had no information on hostages being held in the area.

The IDF probe found that at the time, it had information on another location where it thought the hostages were being held, and therefore the tunnel complex was not listed as an area where Israeli abductees could be.

Amid the war, the IDF has said it does not strike in areas where it has information of the presence of hostages, but in some cases hostages have been harmed in Israeli strikes due to a lack of intelligence.

On December 14, the bodies of Sherman, Beizer, and Toledano were found in the tunnel network in Jabaliya and brought back to Israel for burial.

Sherman and Beizer were both kidnapped from an IDF base near the Gaza border on October 7, while Toledano was abducted from the Supernova rave near Kibbutz Re’im. Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, while committing acts of brutality and sexual assault.

4:13 pm

Rocket sirens sound in northern community

Incoming rocket sirens are activated in the northern community of She’ar Yashuv.

צבע אדום (15/09/2024 16:03): שאר ישוב pic.twitter.com/RtiF07u5ht

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) September 15, 2024

4:06 pm

Houthis publish video of missile fired at Tel Aviv this morning

The Houthi rebels release footage of the launch of a hypersonic missile from Yemen toward Tel Aviv this morning.

The missile attack set off sirens across central Israel at around 6:30 a.m., with alerts heard from the east of Tel Aviv to Modiin.

The IDF said the ballistic missile fell apart in the air over Israel, citing an initial probe.

???? ????ÚLTIMAS NOTÍCIAS – Os Houthis divulgaram imagens mostrando o lançamento do míssil em direção a Tel Aviv.

????BREAKING – Houthi's have released visuals showing the launch of the missile towards Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/igzO1bwJsH

— ???????????????????????????? ????????????✨????♟️????️???? (@livinhafrota) September 15, 2024

3:58 pm

Ministers pepper deputy AG over alleged bias, push for response to hostage slayings

Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet urged the firing of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, complained about incitement against the premier, and argued that Israel has not reacted “strongly enough” to the deaths of hostages at the hands of Hamas at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, according to Hebrew language media reports.

During the meeting, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi railed against “incitement against the prime minister and the government,” slamming a since-deleted tweet by prominent government critic Ilan Shiloah, who compared Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to Adolf Hitler and SS chief Heinrich Himmler, according to the leaked comments.

After Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon told ministers that he was unaware of the tweet, Netanyahu expressed consternation, stating that “hundreds” of people had reached out to him about it. Despite Limon’s contention that the post may not rise to the level of a criminal violation, both Ben Gvir and Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock insisted that double standards are being used, and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs ordered Limon to provide an update within a week regarding whether or not an investigation has been opened into the matter, the reports detail.

Strock also asked why the government needs to listen to Baharav-Miara’s recent order to cut daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, inviting a fresh pile-on, transcripts show.

“The attorney general and Gil Limon should have been fired on the first day of the government, and if not then on the second,” declared Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem.

“If it was Arabs or Bedouins and not Haredim, we know exactly what your position would be,” Ben Gvir told Limon. “When Arabs or Bedouins build illegal outposts in the Negev, they said that they must be connected to the water because there are children. If it’s Arab or Bedouin children, that’s fine and you come to their defense, but if it’s Haredi children, then no.”

The attorney general “wants to bring down the government,” claimed Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur.

The meeting also saw Ben Gvir and others press Netanyahu on the lack of a military response to the slaying of six Israeli hostages in Gaza, reports say.

“Ben Gvir is right. Every day that goes by and we don’t react means that we are coming to terms with the horror,” said Education Minister Yoav Kisch, calling for part of Gaza’s territory to be taken in response to the killings.

“There is a feeling that we are talking a lot and not reacting strongly enough,” added Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.

3:49 pm

Hamas vows Israel ‘will not enjoy security,’ lauds Houthi missile launch

By AFP

Hamas vows that Israel “will not enjoy security” unless it ends its offensive in Gaza, as the terror group praised Yemen’s Houthi rebels for firing a ballistic missile at Israel.

Hamas considers the missile attack a “natural response to the Zionist entity’s aggression against our Palestinian people… We affirm that the Zionist enemy will not enjoy security unless it ceases its brutal aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip,” the terror group says in a statement.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

3:16 pm

IDF reportedly tells families it accidentally killed three hostages last year

Left to right: Elia Toledano, Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. Their bodies were recovered by the IDF and returned to Israel on December 15, 2023. (Courtesy)

Three hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza in December were killed by Israeli fire, according to Hebrew media reports citing families informed of the findings.

The families of Sgt. Ron Sherman and Cpl. Nik Beizer, both 19, and civilian Elia Toledano, 28, were told by Israel Defense Forces officials that IDF fire was responsible for their deaths, following an investigation, according to the reports.

The trio, all of whom were kidnapped on October 7, were recovered from a Hamas tunnel in Jabaliya on December 14.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

In January, the IDF denied Hamas claims that the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike, saying a pathology report showed their bodies had no signs of trauma or gunfire, indicating that they were not killed directly by an airstrike or other IDF action.

Sherman’s mother, Dr. Maayan Sherman, a veterinarian, claimed that the results of that report suggested he was murdered by poison gas allegedly used by the IDF in the tunnels, accusing the government of knowingly putting the hostages at risk.

“Not by Hamas, think more in the direction of Auschwitz and the showers but without Nazis and without Hamas. Not by accidental fire, not by friendly fire, but premeditated murder: bombs with poison gas,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

In November, the IDF carried out an airstrike near the location where the bodies were found, targeting the commander of Hamas’s Northern Gaza Brigade, Ahmed Ghandour, who was hiding in a tunnel.

The IDF’s investigation at the time found that the military was not aware of hostages being held in the area at the time.

2:59 pm

Pope Francis says he is praying for six slain hostages, calls for rest to be freed

By AFP

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, September 15, 2024. (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Pope Francis says he met the mother of slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin last year, expressing his closeness with relatives of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza earlier this month after they were apparently executed in a Hamas tunnel.

“I think of the Middle East. So many innocent victims. I think of the mothers who have lost sons to war. How many young lives cut short,” Francis says at the end of the Angelus prayer. “I think of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, found dead in early September with five other hostages in Gaza.”

People walk next to a mural of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin in central Jerusalem, September 15, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“In November last year, I met his mother, Rachel, whose humanity struck me. I accompany her at this time. I pray for the victims and continue to be close to all the families of the hostages,” he adds.

“Let the conflict in Palestine and Israel cease. Let the violence cease. Let the hatred cease. Let the hostages be released. Let negotiations continue. And may solutions for peace be found,” Francis adds.

2:54 pm

Helicopter makes emergency landing in north

An Israeli Air Force helicopter made an emergency landing in the Upper Galilee a short while ago, the Israel Defense Forces says.

The IDF says the landing was made due to a technical fault, and is not related to fighting near the Lebanon border.

The incident is under further investigation, the military adds.

2:36 pm

Culture minister left off guest list for toned down film awards, says he’d skip it anyway

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on December 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Culture Minister Miki Zohar says he was not invited to Israel’s version of the Oscars, which is being toned down this year in deference to the hostage situation, but would not have attended anyway.

This will be the second year in a row that Zohar will not attend the Israeli Academy of Film and Television’s Ophir Awards ceremony, amid anger from members of the film industry over proposed reforms.

“Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar did not intend to participate in the Ophir Awards this year at all due to the situation in the country. Minister Zohar believes that while the hostages are still languishing in Hamas captivity and the heroic IDF soldiers are risking their lives on various fronts it is inappropriate for him to participate in such a festive ceremony,” his office says, following inquiries from Hebrew media.

“The minister also was not invited to the ceremony,” it adds.

Organizers said earlier this month they would cancel some celebrations and move to a more modest format after six hostages were killed in Gaza and brought back to Israel.

In a statement to the Ynet website today, the Israeli Academy of Film and Television says that the Ophir Awards “will be held in a limited and informal format and will not even be broadcast live on television. For the same reason, the Academy also decided not to award a Lifetime Achievement Award for the first time in 32 years.”

The organization expresses hope that it will be able to return to a “normal” format in 2025.

The film community has protested Zohar’s plans for changes pushing government money toward commercially oriented movies rather than artistic films and documentaries that shed light on Israel’s periphery and minorities, with financing going to films based on audience numbers and ticket sales.

It is seen by professionals as an effort by Israel’s right-wing government to silence liberal voices and limit the opportunities to hear non-mainstream perspectives.

2:32 pm

Netanyahu to make five-day trip to New York for UN speech

By Lazar Berman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara exit the official Wing of Zion plane in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a five-day trip to the US later this month to deliver an address to the United Nations, his office says.

The prime minister is expected to deliver his address to the General Assembly on Friday afternoon, September 27, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

He is slated to leave early on Tuesday September 24 and arrive back Sunday afternoon September 29, marking the 6th time the prime minister has remained abroad over Shabbat at taxpayer expense since returning to office at the end of 2022.

His office says he will meet with a range of world leaders on the sidelines of the event, but does not provide details.

2:18 pm

Rogue IDF commander dropped leaflets telling Lebanese villagers to flee — sources

Flyers dropped in southern Lebanon calling on civilians to flee were distributed by a brigade commander without approval from senior officers, military sources say, as the IDF distances itself from the move.

The army says there are no evacuation orders for civilians in southern Lebanon. It has launched an investigation into the incident.

The flyers, dropped in the Wazzani area, had called on Lebanese civilians in highlighted zones close to the border to evacuate before 4 p.m. because of Hezbollah activity in the area.

The area that was highlighted has been used by Hezbollah to launch numerous attacks at northern Israel in recent months, according to Israel.

Lebanese media report that the Israeli army dropped flyers in the southern Lebanon border village of Wazzani, calling on civilians in the area to evacuate.

The flyers call on people in the highlighted areas on the border, close to Ghajar, to evacuate before 4 p.m. because of… pic.twitter.com/Ld3DEtCPla

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 15, 2024

According to military sources, the move was carried out by the commander of the 769th “Hiram” Regional Brigade, Col. Avi Marciano, but without receiving permission from the head of the Northern Command or other senior officers.

A small drone operated by the brigade was used to drop the flyers, not the Israeli Air Force, a military source says.

2:13 pm

Cabinet okays NIS 1 billion to expand help for people affected by October 7

The cabinet votes to approve NIS 1 billion ($269 million) in additional grants and therapeutic assistance for victims of October 7 and their families.

Under the plan, which was recommended by a committee established by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and chaired by Prof. Aviad HaCohen, additional funds will go to bereaved families, the families of the hostages, and those who were in the southern town of Ofakim and communities along the Gaza border on October 7.

People who attended the Nova rave on October 7 and people who were present in towns that suffered “significant damage” on October 7 but are not entitled to disability payments will be eligible for a one-time grant of between NIS 7,180 ($1,935) and 28,720 ($7,743) for an adult and NIS 1,436 ($387) and 5,744 ($1,548) for a child. They will also be eligible for a rehabilitation and treatment valued at between NIS 7,300 ($1,968) and 30,000 ($8,089) per person.

In addition, family members of those killed or kidnapped on October 7 over the age of 14 will be eligible for NIS 14,360 ($3,871) as well as treatment and rehabilitation services intended for the siblings of hostages. Hostages’ children over the age of 30 will be eligible for NIS 15,000 ($4,044) per person.

Announcing the program’s approval, Smotrich states that “we will work to restore the rope of revival and restore security to all citizens of Israel.”

Ofakim resident Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen thanks Smotrich for including the city — which had not been part of the government’s broader rehabilitation plan for affected communities — in the assistance package. He says his current place of residence “is a city of heroes.”

The financial grants constitute recognition for the “extraordinary acts of heroism” shown by locals who fought against Hamas last October, he says.

The cabinet’s approval of the plan comes as the coalition is working to pass legislation to increase the 2024 state budget by almost NIS 3.4 billion ($924 million) in order to help fund displaced civilians and reserve soldier duty until the end of the year.

1:19 pm

Netanyahu points to Israel’s July strike on Hodeida, threatening Houthis after missile attack

By Lazar Berman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on September 15, 2024. (screen capture: GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues a threat to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis after a ballistic missile is launched from Yemen at central Israel.

“The Houthis should have known by now that we exact a heavy price for any attempt to harm us,” he says at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting. “Those who need a reminder are welcome to visit the port of Hodeida.”

Israel launched an attack on the main harbor controlled by the Houthis on July 20 after a drone launched by the group struck Tel Aviv, killing a man and injuring four others.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for this morning’s ballistic missile attack.

“Anyone who attacks us will not escape our reach,” says Netanyahu. “Hamas is already learning this” he adds, vowing that the Gazan terror group will be destroyed and will free the hostages it holds.

Answering angry calls from residents of northern Israel over the deteriorating security situation there as Hezbollah carries out daily attacks, Netanyahu insists that “the status quo will not continue.”

He calls for a “change in the balance of power” along the border, and pledges to do “everything necessary” to allow Israelis from the north region to return to their homes.

Amid a widespread protest movement that takes to the streets to denounce his handling of the war, Netanyahu calls for unity, saying that victory will come “as a united nation that stood up against our enemies to secure our future.”

1:08 pm

IDF says Houthi missile disintegrated in air after several attempts to down it

The military made several attempts to intercept a ballistic missile fired from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis at central Israel this morning, the IDF says, though the results of the attempts are still being investigated.

The army says the missile fell apart in the air, citing an initial probe.

“From a preliminary examination, it appears that the missile apparently disintegrated in the air,” the IDF says.

The missile was launched at around 6:21 a.m., and sirens sounded across central Israel at 6:32 a.m. According to the Houthis, the missile reached hypersonic speeds and reached Israel in 11 minutes. Some have questioned more warning time was not given.

The military attempted to shoot down the missile using both the long-range Arrow defense system and the Iron Dome, which is usually used for shorter-range attacks, the IDF says.

Shrapnel from the missile and the interceptors impacted open areas in the Ben Shemen forest, close to Kfar Daniel, as well as at a train station near Modiin. No serious injuries were reported.

12:58 pm

Jordanian premier quits after vote boosts Islamists

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh (C) visits the site of a toxic gas explosion at the Red Sea port of Aqaba on June 28, 2022. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP)

Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh has submitted his resignation, officials familiar with the matter say, less than a week after a parliamentary election that saw some gains for the Islamist opposition in the US-allied kingdom.

US-educated Jaafar Hassan, now head of King Abdullah’s office and a former planning minister, is expected to replace Khasawneh, a veteran diplomat and former palace adviser who was appointed nearly four years ago, the officials say.

Hassan will face the challenges of mitigating the impact of the Gaza war on the kingdom’s economy, hard hit by curbs to investment and a sharp drop in tourism.

The Muslim Brotherhood opposition and ideological allies of Palestinian terror group Hamas made significant gains in Tuesday’s election, boosted by anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.

The new composition of the 138 member parliament retains a pro-government majority, but a more vocal Islamist-led opposition could challenge IMF-led free-market reforms and foreign policy.

12:55 pm

Iranian president to meet Putin in Russia

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian will attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia, state media cites Tehran’s ambassador in Moscow as saying, amid tensions with the West over military cooperation between the two countries.

Iran’s ambassador in Russia Kazem Jalali confirms that Pezeshkian will attend the summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies, scheduled to be held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24, according to Iran’s state media.

Pezeshkian will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin there, Jalali said.

Iran and Russia are set to sign a bilateral comprehensive cooperation agreement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran and was likely to use them in Ukraine within weeks. Cooperation between Moscow and Tehran threatened wider European security, he said.

Iran denies supplying missiles to Russia.

12:51 pm

Sirens sound in north for third time in hour

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Galilee Panhandle community of Kfar Yuval on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

The warning is the third within an hour, after alarms were previously activated in Arab al-Aramshe and Dovev, two other communities further west along the frontier.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or damage.

12:51 pm

Cops uncover missile, grenades and more in gang crackdown

Police say they uncovered a cache of weapons, including a shoulder-mounted missile, in a hidey hole in a town near the northern city of Nazareth, among various explosives captured by police in raids around the country targeting organized crime in the Arab community.

Police say they found a LAW missile, which is used as a light anti-armor weapon, in a small pit in the community of Yafia, along with a Carlo-style submachine gun, and ammunition.

המשטרה: ביישוב יפיע שסמוך לנצרת, אותרה מכולה ובה מצבור אמל"ח רב שכלל ארבעה אקדחים ומחסניות ותחמושת נוספת. בשטח פתוח סמוך ליישוב אותרה מנהרה עם סולם ובה טיל לאו, קרלו ומחסניות.
צילום: דוברות המשטרה pic.twitter.com/7IrLayTtyo

— יוני בן מנחם yoni ben menachem (@yonibmen) September 15, 2024

Inside Nazareth, they say, a cache of guns and ammunition were captured, and two suspects arrested.

A raid in Abu Snan, another majority-Arab city in the north, nets nine explosive detonation mechanisms hidden in an IDF ammo storage box, police say.

In Rahat in southern Israel, police say, they found 15 grenades and arrested four people.

The crackdown comes as law enforcement authorities have come under pressure following a massive car bombing in Ramle last week that left four people dead, two of them children.

11:51 am

Private spacewalker splashes down off Florida after historic SpaceX flight

By AP

Jewish billionaire Jared Isaacman has returned to Earth with his crew, after a five-day trip that saw the first-ever private spacewalk and lifted the group higher than anyone has traveled since NASA’s moonwalkers.

SpaceX’s capsule splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying Isaacman, a billionaire tech entrepreneur, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.

“We are mission complete,” Isaacman radios as the capsule bobbed in the water, awaiting the recovery team.

They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope. Their spacecraft hit a peak altitude of 875 miles (1,408 kilometers) following Tuesday’s liftoff.

Splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth, @rookisaacman, @kiddpoteet, @Gillis_SarahE, @annawmenon pic.twitter.com/nILpMQh2sR

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 15, 2024

Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk since the former Soviet Union scored the first in 1965, and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis then became the 265th. Until now, all spacewalks were done by professional astronauts.

This was Isaacman’s second chartered flight with SpaceX, with two more still ahead under his personally financed space exploration program named Polaris after the North Star. He paid an undisclosed sum for his first spaceflight in 2021, taking along contest winners and a pediatric cancer survivor while raising more than $250 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

11:50 am

Claiming attack, Houthis say Tel Aviv targeted with hypersonic missile

By Gianluca Pacchiani

In a short televised speech, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claims responsibility for this morning’s ballistic missile attack on central Israel.

Saree says a hypersonic missile was launched at an unspecified military target in the Tel Aviv area, boasting that the projectile eluded the gauntlet of American and Israeli aerial defense systems, and caused “fear and panic” in Israel.

“It forced more than two million Zionists to run to shelters for the first time in the enemy’s history,” he says, after the missile and interception attempts put Tel Aviv and a wide swath of the crowded metropolitan conurbation under warning.

He threatens that Israelis can expect more attacks and “quality operations” in the lead-up to the anniversary of the October 7 attack, including a response to Israel’s July bombing of the Hodeidah port in Yemen, a lifeline for the terror group, and in order to perform the Houthis’ “religious and moral duty” to support Palestinians, he says.

11:29 am

Houthi official: 20 Israeli interceptors failed to hit missile

Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the media office for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, says in a post on X that a missile fired from Yemen reached Israel after “20 missiles failed to intercept” it, describing the attack as the “beginning.”

The IDF says it is investigating the outcome of its attempted interception of the missile.

11:18 am

Lebanese media claims IDF dropped flyers warning villagers to flee

Lebanese media reports that the Israeli army dropped flyers in the southern Lebanon border village of Wazzani, calling on civilians in the area to evacuate.

The flyers call on people in the highlighted areas on the border, close to Ghajar, to evacuate before 4 p.m. because of Hezbollah activity in the area.

منشورات إسرائيليّة تدعو سكان الوزاني إلى إخلائها!

ألقى الجيش الإسرائيلي منشورات فوق الوزاني تدعو الموجودين في هذه المنطقة وجوارها الى إخلائها.#الوزاني #منشورات_إسرائيلية #لبنان #إسرائيل #حنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/dVpC5TZzzB

— Lebanos (@lebanosnews) September 15, 2024

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the flyers.

10:58 am

Houthis say they will make announcement on ‘quality operation’ against Israel

The spokesperson for the military wing of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels says it will announce a “quality military operation targeting the depths of the Zionist entity” at 11:30 a.m. Sana’a time (the same as Israel local time).

The statement likely refers to a ballistic missile attack on the Tel Aviv area early this morning.

Meanwhile, Houthi official Hezama al-Asad tweets in Hebrew for a second time, this time threatening “more surprises are coming.”

10:45 am

Firefighters trying to contain spreading flames from rocket attacks in central Golan

A fire in the Golan Heights on September 15, 2024. (Courtesy: Fire and Rescue Service North)

Firefighters are battling blazes near Ramat Trump in the central Golan Heights sparked by a volley of rockets fired over an hour ago, the Fire and Rescue Service says.

No towns in the area are under threat for now, it says, but the fires are continuing to spread.

Meanwhile, the firefighting service says a fire at the Nesher cement plant near Ramle has been put out. Some pro-Palestinian accounts online had attributed the fire to falling shrapnel following a ballistic missile attack from Yemen, though authorities have not attributed it to the attack.

9:57 am

Hezbollah claims Metula suicide drone attack

Hezbollah is claiming responsibility for launching a kamikaze drone at Metula, saying it targeted a group of soldiers.

No injuries were reported in the attack just before 8 a.m. The IDF said the explosive drone did not cause damage when it hit an uninhabited area.

The group also says it launched a drone at 6:45 a.m. at another military site near the border.

No sirens were activated at that time in the area, and there were no reports of an attack in Israeli media.

9:33 am

Houthi official taunts Israelis with Hebrew tweet

A senior Houthi official posts on X in Hebrew saying the group’s leader will deliver an address later today.

The Hebrew-language tweet from Hezam al-Asad, a member of the Iran-backed group’s politburo, taunts Israelis with an apparent reference to a ballistic attack Israel says was launched from Yemen this morning, but which has yet to be claimed by any group.

“Whether in your underground shelters or outside of them, it would behoove you to listen with close attention this afternoon to what is said by” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, he writes above a picture of his boss.

"בין אם אתם במקלטים תת-קרקעיים או מחוצה להם, עליכם להקשיב היום בשעות אחר הצהריים בקשב רב למה שיאמר המנהיג הדגול הזה, דובר אמת ופועל ביושר." pic.twitter.com/3FvOoaEaTw

— حزام الأسد (@hezamalasad) September 15, 2024

9:13 am

Man injured in car explosion near Haifa

The scene of a suspected car bombing on Route 22, September 15, 2024. (Courtesy: MDA)

Police say they are investigating after a vehicle exploded on a highway north of Haifa, injuring a man.

The Magen David Adom rescue service says it evacuated a middle-aged man to Rambam Hospital with light to moderate injuries.

The explosion occurred on Route 22 — also known as the Krayot Bypass — near the Bialik interchange.

Drivers are asked to avoid the area.

9:07 am

Army says no damage in Metula drone attack

The IDF confirms that an explosive-laden drone launched from Lebanon impacted near the northern border community of Metula this morning.

No damage was caused to the community in the attack, and there are no injuries, the military says.

The IDF also says it carried out a drone strike overnight in southern Lebanon’s Shebaa, targeting a cell of what it calls terror operatives.

9:06 am

Around 40 rockets fired at Galilee, Golan; no injuries — IDF

The IDF says a barrage of some 40 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle and Golan Heights, after sirens sounded in the area.

Some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and the rest struck open areas, the military says. Some of the rocket impacts in open areas sparked fires.

There are no injuries reported in the attack, which is claimed by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese terror group says it bombarded an Israeli military base with dozens of Katyusha rockets in response to recent IDF airstrikes in Lebanon, including an alleged drone strike yesterday on a motorcycle in the coastal village of Sarafand, south of Sidon.

8:38 am

Reports claim several missiles fired at Golan, Galilee

Unconfirmed reports in Hebrew media indicate a large number of rockets were fired at northern Israel and the Golan Heights in an attack moments ago.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The apparent attack, which follows an unconfirmed drone impact in Metula, comes after the IDF said Saturday night that it attacked several Hezbollah arms depots, including some deep inside Lebanon.

8:29 am

Sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona area, Golan Heights

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, in quick succession, according to the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command.

The sirens are heard in a swath of communities from Kiryat Shmona to Trump Heights in the central Golan.

#BREAKING: Sirens sounding in northern Israel minutes after a
Hezbollah attack drone explodes in Metula. pic.twitter.com/a9FjaI9zm2

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) September 15, 2024

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces’ Home Front Command says an incident involving a drone infiltration in the north has ended, after sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Metula and other areas nearby.

8:12 am

Nine injured while running to shelters — MDA

The Magen David Adom rescue service says it treated nine people injured while scrambling to reach shelters during an early-morning missile attack that activated sirens in central Israel.

The nine people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries, the service says.

8:05 am

Drone said to explode in Metula

Hebrew-language media sources report that a drone launched from Lebanon exploded in the northern border town of Metula.

The Israel Defense Forces says it is checking into the reports.

There are no injuries, but there is some damage, according to initial accounts.

Some reports suggest that the drone exploded before sirens were activated.

7:57 am

Drone alert sounds in north

A drone infiltration alarm is sounding in Kiryat Shmona and other cities near the border with Lebanon, the Home Front Command says.

Much of the rest of the Galilee panhandle in the eastern Galilee are also under warning, include Metula, Tel Hai and Manara.

The alarm comes shortly after local authorities reportedly told residents that loud explosions they were hearing were caused by Israel Defense Forces fire.

7:43 am

Footage shows damage from missile attack, interception attempt

Damage from missile shrapnel at the Paatei Modiin train station on September 15, 2024. (Israel Police)

Videos and pictures posted online show smoke rising from scrubland near the Route 1 highway near central Israel, apparently from shrapnel after the Israel Defense Forces attempted to shoot down a ballistic missile launched from Yemen.

A picture shows damage to an escalator at a train station on the outskirts of Modiin, some 25 kilometers (18 miles) east of Tel Aviv.

Police say they are searching for shrapnel in the Judean lowlands area east of Tel Aviv.

The IDF said earlier that the missile landed in an open area, after sirens were activated in areas stretching from Tel Aviv east to Modiin. It said it was investigating the interception attempts.

Footage showing what appears to be several attempted Interceptions by the Israeli Air Defense Array, of the Medium-Range Ballistic Missile launched from Yemen against Central Israel. pic.twitter.com/7GgEQgGSmr

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 15, 2024

According to reports, an initial interception attempt may have failed to hit its target before reaching Israeli airspace, which would explain why shrapnel fell inside Israel.

הטיל לעבר המרכז נפל בשטח פתוח באזור כביש 1, ליד כפר דניאל@galdjerassi @Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/K1mgpIcLxm

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 15, 2024

זירת נפילה בשטח פתוח באזור בן שמן, במקום פרצה שריפה
(אורלי אלקלעי) pic.twitter.com/icX2tUCaq4

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 15, 2024

7:08 am

No change to guidelines for civilians following Yemen missile attack, IDF says

There are no changes to guidelines for civilians, following this morning’s ballistic missile attack from Yemen, the military says.

Sirens had sounded across central Israel as interceptors were launched at the missile, apparently fired by the Iran-backed Houthis.

It is unclear if the missile was intercepted, though the IDF reported an impact in an open area in its initial statement on the incident.

6:54 am

IDF says ballistic missile was fired from Yemen, interceptor missiles were launched

The IDF says the ballistic missile fired at Israel this morning, setting off sirens across central Israel, was launched from Yemen.

Interceptor missiles were launched amid the incident. The military says the results of the interceptions are under investigation.

6:45 am

IDF: Surface-to-surface missile launched from ‘eastern direction’ activated sirens across central Israel