Sept. 17: Fellow Iran proxies line up behind Hezbollah, as Arab states vow aid to Lebanon

WHO chief claims Israeli tanks fired on Gaza aid convoy last weekend

The World Health Organization chief says that Israeli tanks last weekend fired on an aid convoy that had been cleared to travel back from war-ravaged northern Gaza.

“Last Saturday, on the way back from a mission to the northern Gaza and after a WHO-led convoy got clearance and crossed the coast road checkpoint, the convoy encountered two Israeli tanks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says on X, formerly Twitter.

“Shots were fired from the tanks near the convoy. Luckily nobody was hurt,” he says. “This is unacceptable.”

There is no immediate response from the IDF.

Hezbollah announces 7 more deaths at Israel’s hands, following pager blasts

The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of seven more members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli attacks.

Their deaths bring the terror group’s death toll during the ongoing skirmishes with Israel since October to at least 450.

Earlier, Hezbollah named two other operatives killed today.

The announcements come after Israel allegedly caused pagers used by the terror group to explode. The blasts killed at least nine and wounded some 2,750, according to Lebanese officials.

At least six Hezbollah operatives were also reported killed in IDF airstrikes in southern Lebanon today.

Lebanon’s health ministry lowers death toll back to 9, tally of injured down to 2,750

Lebanon’s health ministry denies the widespread reports that the death toll in the country from the Hezbollah pager explosions has risen to 11 and some 4,000 have been injured, lowering the tallies to those that were previously given by the ministry.

The confirmed death toll is thus 9, and the tally of injured is 2,750.

Egypt affirms interest in Lebanon’s security

Egypt affirms its keenness on Lebanon’s security and stability and preventing the violation of its sovereignty from “any outside party,” the country’s foreign ministry says in a statement, hours after deadly pager blasts targeting the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon that killed at least 11 people and injured some 4,000.

Gallant, IDF chief Halevi hold assessment with other top brass

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, center right, holds an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, center left, and other officials at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, September 17, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is currently holding an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior military officials, his office says.

The terse statement from the Defense Ministry does not mention any further details. Israel has not commented on the Hezbollah pagers that exploded in Lebanon earlier today, killing at least 11 and wounding over 4,000.

UN coordinator for Lebanon says pager blasts are ‘extremely concerning escalation’

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert says in a statement that she deplores the attack across Lebanon, warning that it marks “an extremely concerning escalation.”

Pagers used by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah detonated today throughout Lebanon and in Syria, killing at least 11 and leaving thousands wounded.

Hezbollah official: Exploded pagers were a new brand, replaced cellphones at Nasrallah’s order

The pagers that exploded today in Lebanon and Syria were apparently acquired by Hezbollah after the terror group’s leader ordered members in February to stop using cellphones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence.

A Hezbollah official tells The Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declines to say how long they had been in use. The Hezbollah official speaks on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the press.

Experts have said the pager explosions point to a sophisticated, long-planned operation, possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and rigging the pagers with explosives before they were imported to Lebanon. Several reports have indicated that this is the case.

Report: Some 500 Hezbollah members lost eyesight in pager explosions

Around 500 members of the Hezbollah terror group have lost their eyesight following today’s massive attack that caused pagers to explode throughout Lebanon and in Syria, Saudi TV channel Al-Hadath reports.

Lebanese authorities raise death toll in pager blasts to 11, say 4,000 injured

Lebanon’s health ministry updates the death toll in the pager explosions to 11.

Another 4,000 are wounded, including 400 in critical condition, according to ministry numbers cited by Arabic-language media.

Harris says she backs Biden’s withholding of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel

Democratic US presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, seen on a handheld mobile phone, is interviewed at the National Association of Black Journalists at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, September 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

US Vice President Kamala Harris says she supports the May decision made by President Joe Biden to withhold a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs from Israel.

“One of the things that we have done that I’m entirely supportive of is the pause that we’ve put on the 2,000-pound bombs,” Harris says during an onstage interview at a National Association of Black Journalists event during which she was repeatedly pressed on why the US isn’t using more leverage against Israel to end the war in Gaza.

Harris begins her answer by going through what has become somewhat of a stump speech that she gives on the Israel-Hamas war when the issue comes up at campaign events. She stresses the brutal nature of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught; that Israel has a right to defend itself; that how it does so matters; that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed; that the scenes coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking; that the US is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the war as soon as possible; that there should ultimately be a two-state solution to the conflict; and that Iran is not empowered to sow instability.

The Democratic presidential nominee adds that she has been involved in talks with Israeli and Arab leaders regarding the postwar management of Gaza and reiterates that there can be no Israeli reoccupation of the Strip.

GOP senator tells Arab American community leader she ‘should hide her head in a bag’

US Senator John Kennedy, July 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Republican US Senator John Kennedy tells an Arab American community leader that she “should hide [her] head in a bag” during her testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on rising hate crimes in the United States.

Kennedy begins his questioning of Arab American Institute executive director Maya Berry by declaring: “You support Hamas, do you not?”

Visibly taken aback by the question, Berry responds: “Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support, but you asking the executive director of the Arab American institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country.”

Unmoved, the Republican senator proceeds to ask Berry: “You support Hezbollah, don’t you?”

Berry responds that she opposes any organization that uses violence, including Hamas and Hezbollah, and laments the “extraordinarily disappointing” line of questioning that Arab and Muslim Americans face.

Ostensibly unconvinced by her answers, Kennedy declares: “You can’t bring yourself to say you don’t support UNRWA, you don’t support Hamas, you don’t support Hezbollah and you don’t support Iran. You should hide your head in a bag.”

.@SenJohnKennedy: You support Hamas, do you not?@AAIUSA's Maya Berry: Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization that I do not support…You asking the executive director of the Arab American Institute that question very much puts the focus on the issue of hate in our country? pic.twitter.com/h7WU3ePLOu

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 17, 2024

Iraq’s government and an Iraqi militia vow to send aid, fighters to Lebanon

The Iraqi government and an Iran-backed Iraqi militia are promising to send assistance to Lebanon.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has ordered Iraqi medical and emergency service teams to be sent, his office says in a statement.

The Kataeb Hezbollah militia, one of the most powerful among Iraq’s Iranian-backed armed groups, says in a separate statement that it will “put all our capabilities in the hands of the brothers in Lebanon.”

“We are fully prepared to go with them to the end, and to send fighters, equipment and support, whether on the technical or logistical level,” it says.

Jordan says it foiled attempt by drone to cross country’s territory, doesn’t elaborate

Jordanian armed forces thwarted an attempt by a drone to cross the kingdom’s territory, Jordan’s state news agency Petra says, without clarifying the direction from which it was coming.

Air France, Lufthansa others said to nix Israel flights as Hezbollah vow response to pager blasts

An Air France Airbus A320 approaches for landing in Lisbon at sunrise, October 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Airlines have started to cancel flights to Israel, apparently anticipating a potential Hezbollah reprisal after thousands were injured in a series of pager blasts in Lebanon and Syria.

Hebrew media says Air France has called off its Tel Aviv-Paris flights for the next 48 hours.

And Germany’s Lufthansa is said to have immediately halted its flights to Israel.

Also holding off on flights for the next 48 hours are Swiss International Air Lines and Brussels Airlines.

Reports: Mossad rigged pager batteries with explosives, devices were imported 5 months ago

Sky News Arabia quotes sources saying that today’s large-scale pager attack in Lebanon was possible because the Mossad spy agency got hold of Hezbollah’s communication devices before they were handed over to the terror group.

The Israeli spy agency placed a quantity of PETN, a highly explosive material, on the batteries of the devices, and detonated them by raising the temperature of the batteries from afar, the source says.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that some Hezbollah members felt their pagers heating up and disposed of them before the series of explosions that killed at least nine and injured about 2,800 people.

Al Jazeera quotes a Lebanese security source saying that the weight of the explosive placed in each device was below 20 grams, and that the pagers that were blown up were imported five months ago. An investigation is being conducted into how the explosive charge was activated, the source adds.

Biden, Harris ‘never encouraged violence’ against Trump — White House

The White House rejects accusations by Donald Trump that rhetoric used by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is to blame for him being targeted in a second apparent assassination attempt.

“The president and the vice president have always forcefully condemned violence in all forms,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tells a briefing when asked about Trump’s comments.

“We certainly have never encouraged violence in any way.”

Hezbollah announces identities of 2 members killed by Israel

The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli attacks.

They are named as Hassan Muhammad, from the village of Habchit in Lebanon’s northern Akkar District, and Youssef Alwa, from the town of al-Hafir in the Beqaa Valley.

Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll in Israeli strikes since October to at least 443.

The announcement comes after Israel allegedly caused pagers used by the terror group to explode. The blasts killed nine and wounded some 2,800 others, according to Lebanese officials.

It is unclear if they were killed in the pager explosions. Several IDF strikes in southern Lebanon today reportedly killed six members of the terror group.

Hamas: Lebanon pager blasts are ‘Zionist terrorist aggression’ that will lead Israel to defeat

Palestinian terror group Hamas condemns a deadly wave of pager blasts that hit its Lebanese ally Hezbollah today, calling it a “Zionist terrorist aggression.”

“We… strongly condemn the Zionist terrorist aggression that targeted Lebanese citizens by detonating communication devices in various areas of Lebanese territory,” Hamas says in a statement, claiming this was an escalation that will only lead Israel to “failure and defeat.”

The Palestinian terror group claims that the attack did not distinguish “between resistance fighters and civilians.” Hamas fighters systematically slaughtered civilians in their homes on October 7, and have fired tens of thousands of rockets at Israeli cities over the years.

Knesset speaker, visiting Paraguay, says Israel has reached the point of ‘no more’ regarding Lebanon

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana holds up a picture of murdered hostage Ori Danino while addressing the Paraguayan parliament in Asuncion, September 17, 2024. (Knesset Spokesman)

Addressing the Paraguayan parliament, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana holds up a picture of murdered hostage Ori Danino, 25, and calls on the world to pressure Hamas to return the rest of those in captivity in Gaza.

“These are everyone’s children,” he says. “For almost a year, tens of thousands of Israeli citizens have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel. Hezbollah shoots at them and destroys their houses. No citizen in Asuncion, Paris or New York would accept such a reality [and] neither do we.”

Speaking on the day that Hezbollah fighters’ pagers exploded in a vast attack across Lebanon, he adds to loud applause: “We have gone above and beyond in our efforts to seek a non-military solution. But we have reached the point where we have to say: No more.”

Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack; Israel has not officially commented.

Ohana is accompanied by Ori’s father Elhanan Danino and Avi Hasidim, the father of Naor Hasidim, 23, who was murdered on October 7. He is also joined by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and Evgeny Sova (Yisrael Beytenu).

“Mr. Speaker, when you return to your country with your delegation, give a message from us to the parents of the victims and the hostages: You are not alone,” says Ohana’s Paraguayan counterpart, Raúl Luís Latorre Martinez.

“We support you. Even if we are the only ones to support you, we will support you and stand by our brother — Israel.”

The two parliaments sign a memorandum of understanding for cooperation and exchange of knowledge, and Martinez gives Ohana Paraguay’s top Congressional award.

Report says Netanyahu excluded Ben Gvir, Regev from security discussions; PM’s office pushes back

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Transportation Minister Miri Regev were excluded from security discussions last night, Channel 13 reports, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to respond.

Channel 13 argues that their exclusion, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s inclusion, is further evidence that “Ben Gvir is seen [by Netanyahu] as a troll, while Smotrich is seen as someone with a different approach with whom one can have a conversation.”

After the report is aired, the Prime Minister’s Office claims “there is no truth” to the story, but goes on to hint the details are accurate yet meaningless.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu regularly holds security meetings, to which different ministers are specifically invited each time,” says the PMO.

The PMO has also denied reports that a new decision-making forum for the war excludes Ben Gvir.

US says it wasn’t told in advance about pager attack on Hezbollah, is gathering info

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller largely avoids commenting on today’s detonation of pagers belonging to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, stressing that Washington was not involved and not tipped off in advance about the operation — which the terror group is blaming on Israel — and is still gathering information on what unfolded.

“The US was not involved in it. The US was not aware of this incident in advance, and at this point, we’re gathering information,” Miller says during a press briefing.

“We’re collecting information in the same way that journalists are across the world to gather the facts about what might have happened,” he adds.

Miller reiterates the longstanding US stance in favor of a diplomatic resolution to the Israel-Hezbollah tensions, while again urging Iran “not to take advantage of any incident to add further instability.”

Lebanese schools, universities to be closed tomorrow following pager attack

Lebanon’s Education Minister Abbas Halabi announces the closure of all public and private schools and universities throughout the country tomorrow, Lebanese news outlets report.

Halabi says that the decision was made in “protest” of the large-scale pager attack earlier today, in which at least nine people were killed and thousands were injured. The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah appears to have been the target of the coordinated explosions.

Halabi chastises Israel for its “unprecedented massacre against the Lebanese people.” Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility for the operation.

Iran condemns pager explosions targeting Hezbollah

Iran’s foreign minister has strongly condemned what he and other officials say was an Israeli attack in which hundreds of pagers exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reports that Abbas Araghchi makes the comments in a phone conversation with his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah, as well as in Syria.

IRNA reports that during the phone call, Araghchi offered condolences and expressed solidarity with the Lebanese government and nation. He also says Iran is ready to provide treatment for the injured people or their transfer to Tehran.

Israel has not commented.

3 Hezbollah members said killed in IDF airstrike in southern Lebanon

The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya outlet reports that three Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Majdel Selm this evening.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

مقتل 3 من عناصر مليشيا حزب الله بغارة للاحتلال الإسرائيلي على مجدل سلم في #جنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/YrogX90FZi

— HORRYA PRESS – حرية برس (@horryapress) September 17, 2024

Palestinian Authority President Abbas to visit Spain on Thursday — source

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Spain on September 19, a Spanish government source tells Reuters.

The visit comes several months after Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized a Palestinian state, and days after Spain hosted a high-level meeting of several Muslim and European countries on ways to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

IDF chief says top brass discussing readiness ‘for attack and defense,’ without mentioning pager attack

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi meets with senior officers at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, September 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment this evening with the military’s top brass, “with an emphasis on readiness for attack and defense in all arenas,” the IDF says in a terse statement.

The IDF also says that at this stage, there are no changes to guidelines for civilians, and the public should remain vigilant.

“We will update immediately on any change to [Home Front Command guidelines],” the military adds.

Israel is still remaining silent regarding the coordinated attack in which electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded, causing thousands of casualties.

Opposition war monitor claims 14 wounded in Syria in Hezbollah pager blasts

Fourteen people were wounded in Syria when pagers used by Hezbollah exploded, a Britain-based opposition-aligned war monitor claims, adding to a toll of at least eight dead and 2,750 wounded in Lebanon, plus a reported death toll of seven in Syria.

“Fourteen people whose nationalities are unknown have been wounded in Damascus and its countryside after pagers used by Hezbollah exploded,” says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a problematic history of misreporting.

A source close to Hezbollah tells AFP that some of its members have been wounded in pager blasts in Syria, without specifying how many.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad confident Hezbollah will ‘absorb the blow’ of pager attack, ‘respond quickly’

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group strongly condemns the large-scale explosion of pagers held by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and in Syria today, which the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have attributed to Israel, describing it as an “obvious war crime” as civilians were injured, even though the Lebanese terror group appears to have been the target.

Israel “resorting to this option, in the framework of its psychological warfare, is an indicator of its level of frustration and the scarcity of options at its disposal after the blows it received from multiple fronts supporting the Palestinian people,” the terror group claims in a statement.

“We are fully confident that the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and Syria will be capable of absorbing this vicious blow, contain its consequences rapidly, and respond to the enemy proportionately to the scale of the crime and the targeting of civilians inside their homes, especially the families of resistance fighters,” PIJ writes.

Likud minister welcomes Sa’ar potentially joining government, urges Liberman to follow suit

Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem speaks at a meeting of Agudath Israel's Shlomei Emunim faction, September 17, 2024. (Moshe Goldstein/Shlomei Emunim Conference)

Addressing a meeting of Agudath Israel’s Shlomei Emunim faction, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem (Likud) welcomes New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar’s potential inclusion in the government and calls on Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman to join as well.

Amsalem’s comments follow reports that talks to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with Sa’ar have been postponed due to security consultations amid the massive pager explosion attack targeting Hezbollah.

“Yoav Gallant is a personal friend of mine, I love him — but in the end, the prime minister is in the lead. As soon as there is a disagreement on a matter of principle, and we cannot manage [it], the junior makes way for the senior. Regardless of the distribution of portfolios, Gideon Sa’ar can enter the government and stay until the end of its term,” he says.

“There will be enough time to fight later — now we need to unite. We also call on Liberman to enter the government, until we achieve the goals of the war.”

Stating that “we made a commitment and we will keep it,” Amsalem promises to advance legislation to regulate Haredi enlistment and calls upon the leading Haredi rabbinic figures to come together to coordinate their positions. He complains about judicial intervention in the issue, asserting that Israel “is not a democratic country.”

“Even if the right-wing bloc gets eighty Knesset seats and we decide to exempt Torah students from conscription, [Supreme Court Chief] Justice [Yitzhak] Amit…will come and say that he does not approve,” he says, adding that if it were up to him he would fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

“We cannot fire the attorney general, because at that moment the High Court of Justice will order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recuse himself,” he continues. “Otherwise, we would have fired her a long time ago.”

UN says Lebanon developments ‘extremely concerning’

Developments in Lebanon are extremely concerning, especially given the “extremely volatile” context, says UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, after hundreds of electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah members detonated, causing thousands of casualties.

Dujarric adds that the UN deplores any civilian casualties.

Lebanon says it’s preparing UN Security Council complaint over pager attack

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry says it “has begun preparing a complaint to submit to the United Nations Security Council” after thousands were injured when pagers blew up across the country.

Lebanon and Hezbollah both blame Israel, which remains silent on the matter.

Hezbollah chief Nasrallah was not harmed in blasts, senior source in terror group says

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was not harmed in the spate of pager blasts across Lebanon, a senior Hezbollah source tells Reuters.

Hezbollah holds Israel ‘fully responsible’ for pager explosions, vows retaliation

Hezbollah says it holds Israel “fully responsible” for the coordinated detonation of hundreds of pagers throughout Lebanon. The terror group says it has come to this conclusion after a probe of the facts and the available information.

In a statement, the terror group vows retribution for the “criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” and says its “martyrs and wounded” were sacrificed in the name of its jihad “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term usually applied to operatives targeted in Israeli strikes.

The terror group vows that its response will come “from where the enemy expects it and from where it does not expect it.”

Media says death toll in Lebanon from pager detonations rises to 9

The death toll in the pager explosions in Lebanon has risen to nine, according to Lebanese media outlets.

Another 2,800 were wounded, Lebanon’s health minister said earlier.

Iran’s Lebanon ambassador injured in pager explosion said to be in good condition

Mojtaba Amani, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon who was injured in the explosion of a pager this afternoon, is in “good general condition” and his injuries are only superficial, the Saudi-owned Alhadath news channel reports, quoting Tehran’s embassy in Beirut.

Amani is fully conscious, according to Iranian media sources quoted by Alhadath.

Lebanese information minister becomes first to point finger at Israel over pager blasts

Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary says his country condemns the “Israeli aggression” after pagers exploded across the country, leaving thousands hurt, including many Hezbollah fighters.

Makary is the first Lebanese official to directly blame Israel.

According to Al Manar, Makary also says he has been in touch with the UN to “hold the culprit accountable.”

Report: Pager explosion attack killed 7 in Syria

Seven people have been killed in Syria as Hezbollah members’ electronic pagers exploded in a coordinated attack, according to Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Saberin News.

The fatalities were reportedly in the Damascus neighborhood of Seyedah Zeinab, a Shiite stronghold.

Lebanon’s health minister has said eight people were killed and some 2,800 injured in Lebanon.

Lebanese minister: 8 killed, 2,800 injured in pager blast attack

People gather outside a hospital in Beirut as Hezbollah members are brought for treatment after pager devices exploded across Lebanon on September 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)

Lebanon’s health minister says eight were killed and some 2,800 were wounded, including 200 seriously, in the pager blasts in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has said that two members are among the dead. A young girl, the daughter of a Hezbollah member, was also reported killed after a pager exploded in her parents’ home.

Health Minister Firas Abiad says hospitals continue to receive the wounded and that most injuries are in the hand and face.

Meanwhile, a large Red Cross convoy is on its way to southern Lebanon, according to Al Arabiya. Footage shows dozens of white-and-red jeeps and ambulances lined up by the side of a road near a church.

In 1st statement, Hezbollah says it’s probing pager blasts that killed 3, doesn’t blame Israel

A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded, at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, September 17, 2024. (AP/Hussein Malla)

Hezbollah issues its first statement after the coordinated detonation of hundreds of pagers used by its members — in which over 1,000 were reportedly injured — saying two men and a girl have been killed.

The terror group says it’s carrying out a wide-ranging investigation into the attack, and notably does not point the finger at Israel.

It calls on people to be aware of “rumors and false and misleading information” that could serve the “psychological warfare” conducted by the “Zionist enemy,” in light of Israel’s threats to launch a large-scale offensive in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah further says that “a large number of people” were wounded and are being treated in hospitals in various parts of Lebanon, and that two “brothers” — meaning members of the terror group — and a girl were killed in one of the detonations. Lebanese media and the family have named the latter victim as 9-year-old Fatima Jaafar Abdullah.

PM, top defense officials said huddling at Defense Ministry HQ ahead of possible escalation

Hebrew media reports say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other security chiefs have been huddling at the Defense Ministry headquarters at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv.

The reports say top defense officials have been summoned for an emergency discussion with government officials to discuss how to deal with a potential escalation with Hezbollah following the massive coordinated attack that detonated members’ pagers, causing over 1,000 casualties.

Hezbollah member, son of terror group MP, said killed in pager explosion; girl also killed

A Hezbollah member, the son of a Hezbollah parliament member, has been killed by an exploding pager, two security sources tell Reuters.

Reports name the MP as Ali Ammar.

Separately, a young girl was killed in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek District, according to Lebanese media.

The reports name her as 9-year-old Fatima Jaafar Abdullah, daughter of a Hezbollah member.

According to Lebanese media, the pager had exploded in her parents’ home, in the village of Saraain.

“A 10-year-old girl was martyred in the Bekaa Valley after her father’s pager exploded while he was next to her,” her relatives tell AFP.

الشهيدة فاطمة جعفر عبدالله 9 سنوات
من بلدة سرعين pic.twitter.com/b3tX8tJZo1

— news-online (@newsonline010) September 17, 2024

Top Hezbollah leaders reportedly injured in coordinated attack

The Saudi-owned Alhadath news channel quotes unnamed sources saying that top Hezbollah leaders and their advisers were injured in the detonation of hundreds of pagers this afternoon in Lebanon.

The report does not elaborate.

Home Front Command said warning local councils of escalation; no guildeline change for now

The IDF’s Home Front Command has told local authorities there is a possibility of an escalation following the series of Hezbollah pager explosions in Lebanon, Hebrew media outlets report.

However, there is reportedly no current change to civilian guidelines.

Several Hezbollah members in Syria injured in pager explosions and hospitalized — report

A number of Lebanese Hezbollah members have been taken to hospitals in and around the Syrian capital Damascus following the explosions of their pagers, which happened at the same time as the coordinated explosions in Lebanon, the Saudi-owned Alhadath reports.

Hezbollah official: Israel behind coordinated attack; pagers’ lithium batteries apparently exploded

People gather outside a hospital in Beirut as Hezbollah members are brought for treatment after pager devices exploded across Lebanon on September 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)

A Hezbollah official blames Israel for the coordinated detonation of pagers used by the terror group that reportedly injured over 1,000.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, says the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.”

“The enemy [Israel] stands behind this security incident,” the official says, without elaborating.

He adds that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying have lithium batteries that apparently exploded.

Report: Some Hezbollah members felt their pagers heating up, tossed them away before blasts

Some Hezbollah members felt their pagers heating up and disposed of them before the series of explosions that injured over 1,000 people, an unnamed Hezbollah official is quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.

The official reportedly adds that hundreds of fighters had these communication devices, speculating that they may have heated up and detonated due to malware.

Nationwide campaign falls short of recruiting 3,000 police officers this year, only 1,300 hired

Illustrative: Israeli police patrol while Muslim worshippers arrive for Friday Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem's Old City, March 29, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Despite a nationwide recruitment campaign, only 1,300 new police officers were hired over the past year, far less than the 3,000 authorized by the Finance Ministry, a ministry representative tells the Knesset Finance Committee.

“At the end of May 2024, the permanent police force stood at 27,300 policemen, while during the corresponding period of the previous year (May 2023) it stood at 26,000 policemen,” a ministry representative says during a hearing. “The Finance Ministry budgeted for 3,000 positions but the employment rate was lower than that.”

The ministry says that salary expenditures were lowered and the money saved was used for procurement and other needs related to the ongoing war.

Haredi minister says replacing defense minister with Sa’ar won’t guarantee draft exemptions

Jerusalem and Heritage Minister Meir Porush in Jerusalem, on September 17, 2024. (Moshe Goldstein)

Addressing reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar if the latter enters the coalition, Jerusalem and Heritage Minister Meir Porush says that there is no guarantee that such a change would benefit Haredim fighting to preserve their longstanding exemptions from military service.

“It’s no secret that I’ve known Gideon Sa’ar for many years, since our days together at the Education Ministry, and I’ve also recently been in conversation with him about matters on the agenda,” the senior United Torah Judaism politician says, only a day after New Hope denied media reports that Sa’ar has been negotiating with the Knesset’s Haredi parties in order to reach a compromise on the conscription issue.

“I don’t know exactly where he stands on the fateful question of regulating the status of yeshiva students, but I can say that I heard clear statements from him regarding the need to settle the matter via a proper and respectful discourse and that there is no place in this period for the inciting voices that are unfortunately once again being heard against Torah students,” he says.

Porush notes that even though Gallant had not been marked out as an opponent on the issue previously, he has since opposed efforts to pass legislation without broad agreement, angering the ultra-Orthodox. Porush says that “even if Gallant is replaced by Sa’ar, and I am not giving advice here as to whether it is the right thing to do or not, we have no guarantee how Sa’ar will behave and it has already been proven in the past that he is also sometimes unpredictable.”

The Haredim’s “real problem” is with the attorney general, he continues, accusing her of “working systematically to thwart any possibility of regulating the status of yeshiva students.”

“I am afraid that salvation will not come from coalition changes,” Porush continues.

Exploding pagers were latest model acquired by Hezbollah months ago — sources

The Hezbollah communication devices that exploded throughout Lebanon and in Syria were the latest model, brought in by the terror group in recent months, three security sources tells Reuters.

Over 1,000 people have been injured in what a Hezbollah source has called the biggest security breach in almost a year of skirmishes with Israel.

Israel is yet to comment officially, though an associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted Jerusalem is behind the attack. The premier’s office was quick to distance itself from that remark.

Lebanese hospitals on high alert, ministry calls for blood donations

Lebanese media report that Beirut’s health ministry is calling for blood donations.

The ministry tells hospitals in various regions of Lebanon with high numbers of injuries to be on high alert and to coordinate with the ministry to distribute them to other areas.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon injured in pager explosions — report

Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani is among the over 1,000 people injured in the series of pager explosions across Lebanon and in Syria, Iran’s Mehr news outlet reports.

Some 1,000 said wounded in coordinated Hezbollah pager detonation; no deaths reported

A video shows a man, left, just before he was injured by an explosion in Beirut on September 17, 2024. (Screen capture: X)

Lebanese media report that the explosive pagers in Lebanon have wounded some 1,000 people.

Israel allegedly hacked the communication devices used by Hezbollah, causing them to explode.

According to the reports, among the 1,000 are at least five critically wounded. There are no deaths, Lebanese media outlets say.

#بالفيديو… هكذا بدا أحد المنازل في #لبنان بعد انفجار جهاز اتصال لاسلكي "بيجر" في داخله.#لبنان #الميادين_لبنان #الضاحية_الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/u0ZWN1P1Wo

— الميادين لبنان (@mayadeenlebanon) September 17, 2024

Netanyahu’s office distances itself from close aide who hinted Israel behind Lebanon blasts

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office distances itself from a close associate and longtime spokesman for the premier who hinted on social media that Israel is behind the apparent major coordinated attack in which Hezbollah members’ pagers exploded, hurting hundreds.

“This didn’t age well,” Topaz Luk commented on an X post that claimed Netanyahu wouldn’t make any major move in Lebanon before his trip to New York next week. Luk deleted the comment a short while later.

“Topaz Luk hasn’t been serving as the prime minister’s spokesman for a few months now, and isn’t in the close circle of discussion,” the Prime Minister’s Office says.

Hebrew media also reports that Netanyahu’s office has ordered all ministers not to give interviews at this time.

Lebanese ministry tells public to stay away from comms devices after blasts all over country

Lebanon’s health ministry, in a statement carried by local media, asks the public to distance themselves from wireless communication devices after Israel allegedly hacked pagers used by Hezbollah and caused them to explode.

The ministry reports a “large number of injuries” as a result of the explosive pagers, across all of Lebanon.

Some explosions are also reported in Syria.

Clips show moment Hezbollah communication devices exploded in Beirut

Videos circulating on social media purport to show the moment that pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploded in Lebanon.

According to Lebanese media, dozens were injured after Israel allegedly hacked the devices and detonated them.

The Reuters news agency calls it the “biggest security breach yet” since October 7.

????فيديو متداول يظهر لحظة انفجار أجهزة اتصال "بايجر" إثر الهجوم الإلكتروني على مناطق مختلفة في لبنان pic.twitter.com/5Nq3mZToTL

— Sputnik Arabic (@sputnik_ar) September 17, 2024

لحظة انفجار جهاز اتصال pager بأحد العناصر في #لبنان. pic.twitter.com/2bB83t2S03

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) September 17, 2024

Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters said injured in Beirut blasts

There are hundreds of injuries among Hezbollah fighters after portable pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploded in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiyeh, the Reuters news agency reports, citing an unnamed security source.

The security source adds that devices also exploded in the south of Lebanon.

The communication devices detonated allegedly after being hacked by Israel.

There is no comment from Israel on the incident.

Haredi minister says no enlistment law is acceptable to both AG and UTJ party

Jerusalem and Heritage Minister Meir Porush at a government conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, June 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

There is no compromise on the enlistment of yeshiva students which would be acceptable to both Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and United Torah Judaism, UTJ’s Jerusalem and Heritage Minister Meir Porush declares.

In a speech, the senior ultra-Orthodox politician complains that his constituents are facing “the worst situation for ultra-Orthodox Judaism since the establishment of the state” and says that “we must not delude ourselves and the public that we supposedly have the ability to currently advance a law to regulate the status of yeshiva members that we ultra-Orthodox Jews can live with.”

“If there is someone who succeeds in bringing such a law, I will personally award him a gold medal. There are those who boast of their abilities, and there are also those who said that there is a chance in the [Knesset] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to change the law for the better. Unfortunately, this is an illusion. At this time, there is no law that can pass muster with the attorney general that we can live with,” he says.

Although the government is not responsible for the High Court of Justice’s ruling that there is no legal basis for exempting yeshiva students from military service, it is legitimate to ask what is the point of staying in the coalition, he continues — insisting it would be appropriate to stay in the coalition until the government stops taking his concerns into account.

And while the situation is “far from perfect,” some Likud ministers like Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi continue to take ultra-Orthodox interests into account, such as when the coalition passed a recent bill helping Haredi authorities regulate the use of so-called kosher phones, Porush says.

According to a report by the Kan public broadcaster last week, United Torah Judaism chairman and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his party would have quit the government long ago over military draft exemptions for Haredi men if it were not for the war.

Dozens of Hezbollah members said seriously injured in Beirut as devices explode in alleged Israeli op

Several Hezbollah members were injured after communication devices used by the terror group exploded in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, according to several media reports.

Lebanese media outlets and Sky News Arabia report that Israel managed to hack the portable pagers and cause them to explode.

There is no comment from Israel on the incident.

Dozens of Hezbollah members are seriously wounded in the incident, security sources tell Reuters, with a journalist for the news agency seeing 10 Hezbollah members bleeding from wounds.

نقلاً عن "NBN": العدو الإسرائيلي يفجّر بواسطة تقنية عالية نظام الـ pagers المحمول باليد لعناصر من حزب الله في أكثر من مكان في الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت.#بيروت #الضاحية_الجنوبية #لبنان #ليبانوس pic.twitter.com/36CwVoayRE

— Lebanos (@lebanosnews) September 17, 2024

????حدث أمني غامض في بيروت يسبب انفجار الأجهزة اللا سلكية في يد أصحابها

????الإصابات في كل لبنان ???? pic.twitter.com/W5y0oAC0R0

— عٌـِـِِـِـرآقٌـ????????????ـي || Iraqii (@sumeri129) September 17, 2024

Lebanese media reports IDF strike on vehicle 100 km north of Israel border

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the town of Makneh, in the Baalbek District.

No further details are immediately available.

The town is located nearly 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.

Ex-finance minister Kahlon expected to be charged with securities fraud

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, speaks at a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on March 16, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former finance minister Moshe Kahlon is set to be indicted, pending a hearing, on charges of fraud and reporting offenses related to the Securities Law, along with several other senior executives of the Unet Credit company.

Kahlon served as chairman of the board of Unet Credit, a credit company, between June 2021 and June 2022.

According to the State Attorney’s Office, some NIS 5 million ($1.3 million) was embezzled from Unet Credit’s Nazareth branch while irregularities were found regarding other funds in the branch.

The company’s compliance officer Yoav Tsabar allegedly uncovered these problems in late 2020, which were also known to the company owners, but were hidden from the board and the public.

The State Attorney’s Office alleges that Tsabar delayed reporting his findings to Kahlon until the beginning of 2022, and Kahlon instructed him not to disclose the findings to the board “out of a concern of harming the company’s credit rating.”

Tsabar is also facing an indictment on the same charges as Kahlon, pending a hearing.

In a separate case against the controlling owners of Unet Credit, Tzahi Ezer, Shlomo Isaac and Shai Penso, they are suspected of illegally allocating two million shares of Unet Credit, a public company, worth some NIS 50 million ($13 million), to a private company owned by the three controlling owners and two advisers.

Kahlon served as a Likud MK and minister for 10 years, before splitting with the party and forming his Kulanu party and serving as finance minister for five years from 2015 to 2020.

Iran deceiving the world on its nuclear plans, Israeli atomic chief tells IAEA

Moshe Edri, head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, speaks at the 68th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, September 17, 2024. (Courtesy)

Iran continues to make progress on its military nuclear program, says Moshe Edri, head of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission.

“Iran continues to advance this program by gaining relevant technology and knowledge, along with fissile material in alarming amounts,” says Edri, speaking to the 68th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Iran has been conducting covert nuclear activities in undeclared sites for many years,” he continues. “The Agency has found concrete evidence of these activities, including the use of undeclared nuclear material and equipment.”

Edri charges that Iran “has continuously failed to provide technically credible explanations regarding these activities, and continues to deceive the Agency and the international community.”

He also points at Iran’s development of long-range ballistic missiles and support for terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. “A nuclear-armed Iran, equipped with delivery systems, is not an option that Israel, or the world, can or should tolerate,” he says.

Edri singles out Syria as well, saying it has yet to adequately provide information about its clandestine nuclear reactor in Deir al-Zour, destroyed by Israel in 2007.

Netanyahu holding ‘dramatic’ top-level security consultations as Lebanon tensions rise

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon over the Galilee region, near Kiryat Shmona, as seen from the Golan Heights, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding a series of high-level security consultations with the heads of the security forces as tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon rise.

Officials confirm the consultations to The Times of Israel, but give no details.

The Ynet news site calls the meetings “dramatic.”

The meetings come hours after the government updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include the objective of allowing residents of the north to return safely to their homes after being displaced by attacks by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Official say progress made in talks between Netanyahu and Sa’ar

New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar at the Knesset on March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

An Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that “there has been progress on talks” today between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar on his faction joining the government.

The official notes that issue is not yet resolved, amid widespread speculation that Sa’ar will replace current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Several explosive-laden drones from Lebanon impact in northern Israel, no injuries

Several explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago.

The IDF says some of the drones were intercepted and others impacted outside of Ramot Naftali.

There were no injuries in the attack.

Major investors have transferred $40 billion out of Israel since start of war – report

Dollars and shekels. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Institutional investors have transferred a whopping NIS 151 billion ($40 billion) outside of Israel since the outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group on October 7, according to a report by Hebrew financial daily Calcalist.

The ongoing war with Hamas and fears over an escalation of the fighting to the north, alongside a ballooning deficit and slowing economic growth have led to a diversion of capital by large insurance companies and investment funds, which are responsible for managing the long-term savings of Israelis, including pension and provident funds, Calcalist says in the report.

With the outbreak of war in October, local institutions initially started to divert funds to Israel increasing their exposure to the local market. However, since April, the trend reversed due to a loss of confidence in the government’s ability to return the economy to sustainable growth, reduce the growing deficit, and bring down inflation, the report says.

According to an analysis by Calcalist, the average exposure to overseas assets by local institutions managing provident funds increased from 51.7% at the beginning of October 2023 to 56.3% at the end of July. The average exposure to overseas assets by financial institutions managing pension funds rose from 47.6% at the beginning of October to 50% in July.

Ex-IDF chief Eisenkot urges Sa’ar not to take defense minister’s job, says he’s ‘not competent’ to do so amid war

National Unity party leaders (from L) Gadi Eisenkot, Benny Gantz and Gideon Sa'ar meet on November 2, 2022. (National Unity)

Former IDF chief and war cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot pleads with New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar not to go through with a reported deal under which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and appoint Sa’ar to the post.

Eisenkot is a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, which joined the emergency coalition last October and returned to the opposition in June. Sa’ar’s New Hope party was allied with National Unity from July 2022 to March 2024.

“I urge Gideon Sa’ar not to go along with Netanyahu’s cynical move at this difficult hour,” Eisenkot says in an interview on Kan Radio. “It will be remembered as an opportunistic gambit, designed by Netanyahu to solve a political problem [threatening his coalition] and [to legislate] the Draft Law,” he says, referencing Gallant’s refusal to advance legislation demanded by the ultra-Orthodox parties, and backed by Netanyahu, that would largely maintain the current situation in which most ultra-Orthodox men do not perform military or national service.

“It will take Gideon Sa’ar months to understand how the [defense] hierarchies function and how to utilize them. I’m stating that he is not competent to take the baton from Yoav Gallant and to be the defense minister of the IDF and the defense establishment in the current reality,” Eisenkot adds.

Sa’ar has no significant military background and has not held ministerial or Knesset committee posts with significant security responsibilities.

Another former IDF chief, Moshe Ya’alon, who also served as defense minister under Netanyahu and has become a leading critic of him, told Channel 12 earlier today that the move to fire Gallant and appoint Sa’ar is solely a function of Netanyahu’s efforts “to survive” in power.

It should be unthinkable “to switch the defense minister amid this chaotic situation,” Ya’alon said.

Ya’alon also said he opposed a major ground offensive in Lebanon, as currently weighed by the government. He said such an escalation would cost many lives and would end in an agreement that could be reached without resorting to a major offensive.

Knesset committee approves bill to bar foreign countries setting up new consulates in Jerusalem

Illustrative: A road sign shows the way towards the US embassy in Jerusalem on April 19, 2024. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)

A bill prohibiting the establishment of new consulates in Jerusalem has been approved for its second and third readings by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

If passed into law the bill, sponsored by MKs Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope) and Dan Illouz (Likud), stipulates that no new consulates will be established in Jerusalem, while the government will encourage the establishment of foreign embassies in the city.

Most countries do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and base their embassies in Tel Aviv, often opening smaller consulates in Jerusalem.

Currently, five countries, the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and Papua New Guinea, have embassies in Jerusalem.

“The bill came to deal with the pressures exerted on the State of Israel within the framework of the current worldview that does not see Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” says Elkin in a statement.

A source close to the matter explains that the bill is also intended to prevent the establishment of consular offices serving Palestinians in the Israeli capital.

Bennett dismisses ‘completely fake’ reports he’s willing join Netanyahu government

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett arrives at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court for a hearing in a defamation lawsuit he brought, September 11, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett dismisses reports that he could be willing to sit in a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Completely fake,” Bennett writes on X, with a screenshot of a headline saying he is not ruling out joining Netanyahu.

His denial comes amid widespread speculation that Netanyahu is planning to ink a deal to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the opposition New Hope party.

The reports dismissed by Bennett came after he gave an interview to the German newspaper Bild, in which he said he would cut short his break from politics due to the dire situation Israel finds itself in.

“There are only two things that are important to me: my family and my country,” Bennett told Bild. “And if I have to sweep the floor, then I’ll sweep the floor. If I have to be a soldier, I’ll be a soldier. I’ll take any position where I can make a difference.”

Bennett said if he returned to power he would focus on uniting the people of Israel.

“The most important thing for Israel right now is to unite the people,” Bennett told Bild. This could only be achieved with a “broad unity government, left and right, religious and secular, with a focus on rebuilding Israel.”

In the interview, Bennett was critical of Israel’s conduct of the war and said current leaders are putting personal interests first.

“When a nation is at war, it expects all decisions to be made professionally,” Bennett said. “The Israeli public does not feel that this is the case, and I would hope that Israel’s leaders remember why they are there: to defend Israel, not to pursue personal interests.”

Talks to replace Gallant as defense minister said postponed due to security consultations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with Mossad chief David Barnea, April 18, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Negotiations to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the opposition New Hope party, have been postponed due to security consultations, Channel 12 reports.

According to the network, Mossad chief David Barnea recently left an extended meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Responding to the news of the talks’ postponement, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz appeals to Netanyahu in a tweet, stating that “it is not too late to stop the madness.”

“The citizens of Israel and their security are more important than petty politics,” he writes.

Three Hezbollah operatives killed in Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon

Three Hezbollah operatives were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Blida a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military says it spotted a group of Hezbollah operatives at a building known to be used by the terror group in Blida, and a short while later, a fighter jet struck the site.

The IDF releases footage of the strike.

כוחות צה"ל זיהו לפני זמן קצר מספר מחבלים מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה פועלים במבנה צבאי של הארגון במרחב בליידא שבדרום לבנון.

בסגירת מעגל מהאוויר, מטוסי קרב תקפו את המבנה וחיסלו שלושה מחבלים שפעלו בו.

בנוסף, כוחות צה״ל תקפו בארטילריה במספר מרחבים שונים pic.twitter.com/yA7iUMgWO3

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 17, 2024

Shin Bet says it foiled Hezbollah attempt to kill former top Israeli security official

An explosive device that an alleged Hezbollah cell planned to use in an attack against a former senior Israeli security official revealed on September 17, 2024. (Shin Bet)

The Shin Bet foiled an attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior Israeli security official using an explosive device, the security agency announces.

The attack was intended to have been carried out in the coming days, according to the Shin Bet.

The agency says that the Hezbollah network behind the attempted attack was also responsible for a bombing in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park last year.

The Shin Bet says it uncovered a Claymore-type explosive device, known to be in use by Hezbollah, which was intended to have been used to target the former official.

The bomb has a remote detonation system, including a camera and a cellular connection, which would have allowed Hezbollah to activate it from Lebanon.

The former official, who is not named, was notified by the Shin Bet of the incident.

Further details are not immediately permitted for publication.

The Shin Bet says that the bomb was near identical to one that exploded in Yarkon Park on September 15, 2023, in an attempted attack that caused no injuries.

That bomb, also activated by Hezbollah, was intended to harm another senior Israeli official, according to the Shin Bet.

The agency says the same Hezbollah network was behind both incidents. It adds that the network was being tracked for a lengthy period.

Netanyahu asks court to issue gag order on all recordings from his interrogation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Jerusalem District Court for a hearing on his corruption trial, June 26, 2023. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool)

Lawyers for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ask a Tel Aviv court to issue a gag order on the publication in Israel of all recordings taken from his interrogations for his corruption trial.

The request comes following the showing last week of “The Bibi Files,” a nearly two-hour film, that includes never-before-seen leaked footage of Netanyahu’s interrogations at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

It’s not clear why Netanyahu’s lawyers make the request as it is already illegal in Israel to publish recordings from inside the interrogations.

Netanyahu is also demanding that police investigate who leaked the files, the Ynet news site reports.

In 2019, following years of police investigation of suspected criminal malfeasance, Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, all of which he has vehemently denied.

Body of Allenby Bridge attacker returned to Jordan, funeral to be held today

In a terse statement, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that it received the body of Maher al-Jazi, the Jordanian citizen who carried out a shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing on September 8, in which three Israeli citizens were killed.

The statement does not mention that al-Jazi was killed by Israeli security forces after carrying out a deadly terror attack, and merely says that he “passed away recently.”

Al-Jazi’s funeral is due to be held today in the Ma’an governorate, in south-east Jordan.

Jordanian media share images from inside the al-Hussayniya mosque where the ceremony will take place, showing worshipers that have gathered in waiting and chanting a popular slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The ministry’s official spokesperson, Ambassador Sufian Al-Qudah, tells Jordanian state press agency Petra News that Amman is working to secure the release of two Jordanian citizens who were detained at the Allenby bridge crossing following the attack, Musleh Al-Awdat and Hussein Al-Naimat.

Their detention was not reported by Israeli authorities.

"في سبيل الله قمنا.. نبتغي رفع اللواء.. "

جانب من هتافات الأردنيين داخل مسجد الحسينية في محافظة معان قبيل تشييع جثمان الشهيد ماهر الجازي. pic.twitter.com/JifEATtQJc

— أخبار الأردن (@AkhbarOrdon) September 17, 2024

Business leaders warn Netanyahu that firing Gallant will harm Israel’s battered economy

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attends a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on the ultra-Orthodox draft law at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on July 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The Israel Business Forum, which represents most workers in the private sector in the country, urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to go ahead with reported plans to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, warning that it will further harm the already war-battered economy.

The forum of 200 leading businesses, which includes mall chain Big Shopping Centers, the Azrieli Group, and banking institutions, warns that the firing of Gallant will also weaken Israel in the eyes of its enemies and will lead to deeper social divisions among its people.

“It is clear that replacing the defense minister in exchange for a political deal regarding legislation that allows exclusion [of most ultra-Orthodox men] from military service, will exacerbate the gap in equally sharing the burden,” the forum says. It “will dramatically increase the frustration among the public who bear the burden of the [military] service, and the economic burden.”

“The Prime Minister knows better than anyone that all the economic indicators show that Israel is deteriorating into an economic abyss and is sinking into a deep recession,” the forum cautions.

Gantz says Netanyahu plot to fire Gallant ‘endangers Israel’s security’

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz speaks in the Knesset plenum, September 12, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “security recklessness” following reports that he is close to replacing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar.

In remarks at a conference on Tuesday morning, Gantz slams the reported deal between Netanyahu and Sa’ar, alleging that “what Netanyahu is doing at the moment endangers Israel’s security in the most tangible way that I can remember having been done by a prime minister during a war — and in general.”

Swapping out the minister of defense ahead of a possible campaign in the north that has the possibility of spreading into a regional conflagration constitutes “security recklessness” and doing so “in order to promote a law that would enshrine an exemption from conscription is also moral abandonment,” he says — noting that “human lives and the future of the nation are at stake.

“This is the painful dictionary definition of petty politics, at the expense of national security. When we joined the emergency government, we put politics aside for the sake of the war, and now Netanyahu and Sa’ar are putting the war aside, for the sake of politics.”

Gantz also criticizes the government over its announcement that the security cabinet has updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include a fourth objective: “The safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

This move is “half a year late” but “better late than never,” Gantz states.

Defamation trial of firebrand Likud MK repeatedly interrupted by clashes with judge, crowd outbursts

Shikma Bressler (R) and MK Tally Gotliv (C) arrive for a court hearing in Bressler's defamation lawsuit against Gotliv at the District Court in Lod, September 17, 2024. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

The opening day of the trial in a defamation suit filed by activist Shikma Bressler against Likud MK Tally Gotliv gets off to a chaotic start as the firebrand lawmaker repeatedly clashes with the judge and her supporters interrupt proceedings.

Bressler filed a NIS 2.6 million ($715,000) defamation suit against Gotliv, after the controversial lawmaker repeatedly circulated unfounded claims that connected the protest leader with the Hamas terror group and its deadly October 7 onslaught.

Gotliv, who is representing herself, repeatedly interrupts the judge, telling him he has no jurisdiction over her as a lawamker. “Your honor can’t tell me what to do. It’s not logical, your honor doesn’t have the ability of the jurisdiction the define my duties [as an MK],” she says.

Her supporters also frequently interrupt proceedings, chanting that Bressler, a leader of the anti-judicial overhaul protests, is an “enemy of the people.”

The crowd is egged on by Gotliv who calls them “the people of Israel at their finest.”

The judge briefly adjourns the trial due to the disruptions.

The claim focuses on Gotliv’s repeated allegations, first circulated in a social media post in October, that US intelligence agencies had intercepted a conversation between Bressler’s partner, a public servant, and Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. According to the conspiracy theory, Mossad head David Barnea had summoned Bressler for a meeting as a result of the intelligence, days before the October 7 attacks on southern Israel which saw Hamas-led terrorists kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251 to the Gaza Strip.

Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Likud party, and the Mossad spy agency have repeatedly and forcfully denied the claims.

IDF says it killed Islamic Jihad rocket unit commander in Gaza strike

A commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket unit was killed in an Israeli drone strike yesterday in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF says.

Ahmed Ayesh Salama al-Hashash, who commanded Islamic Jihad’s rocket array in Rafah, was killed in the strike in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Khan Younis area.

Al-Hashash was “a significant source of knowledge” in Islamic Jihad’s rocket array, and amid the war was responsible for directing attacks on Israel from the humanitarian zone, the IDF says.

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

Beaches from Tel Aviv to Herzliya shut over pollution fears

Black dirt from surface runoff on the sand at the beach in Tel Aviv, on September 17, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Interior Ministry announces that all beaches from Tel Aviv to Herzliya are closed until further notice for swimming due to pollution fears.

The ministry says that health checks found the water unsafe due to the flow of dirty runoff water into the sea.

The statement warns the public that there will be no lifeguards at these beaches until they reopen and that it is forbidden to swim in areas without guards.

AG tells High Court government spyware commission acting illegally

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a farewell ceremony in honor of outgoing Police Chief Kobi Shabtai, at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, on July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Attorney General’s Office tells the High Court of Justice that a government commission of inquiry established to probe the alleged illicit use of spyware by law enforcement is acting in contravention of the law.

“The government is forbidden from interfering in criminal trials, disrupting them or delaying them, including through the means of a one-sided committee,” the Attorney General’s Office tells the High Court.

The commission was formed in August 2023 to examine alleged illicit use of spyware by law enforcement bodies against Israeli citizens.

Petitions were filed against the commission’s establishment by the Black Robes anti-judicial overhaul protest group on the grounds that it could interfere with, and unduly influence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara herself strongly objected to the possibility that the commission will review police and State Attorney Office activities relating to the criminal investigation into Netanyahu.

In March, Baharav-Miara asked the court to issue an interim order against the committee, noting that it had requested from her office details of specific cases either under investigation or currently before the courts.

The commission is tasked with examining the conduct of police and the State Attorney’s Office regarding the procurement of, surveillance with, and data collection through cyber tools, such as the Pegasus software.

In 2022, the Calcalist newspaper reported that the police used spyware tools to spy on dozens of high-profile Israeli figures, including family members and associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without any judicial oversight. An investigation by the police and an interim report by Deputy Attorney General Amit Marari found Calcalist’s reporting to have been largely incorrect, however.

Reports say Netanyahu and Sa’ar will choose new IDF chief of staff

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi holds an assessment at the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv, September 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Reports on an emerging deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar say the two have agreed to jointly choose a new IDF chief of staff.

Sa’ar is expected to be appointed defense minister if Netanyahu fires current defense chief Yoav Gallant.

Both the Haaretz daily and Ynet say that replacing Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi is part of the agreement. However, Haaretz reports that it is not yet clear if they intend to wait for Halevi to resign as IDF chief of staff or force him out.

Under emerging deal to join government, Sa’ar to get veto over judicial overhaul — report

New Hope chair Gideon Sa'ar leads a faction meeting, at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 22, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Under an emerging deal to bring the New Hope party into the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely give party chairman Gideon Sa’ar a veto over moves related to the controversial judicial overhaul, the Walla news site reports.

The unsourced report does not give further details and comes amid a flurry of reports that Netanyahu is preparing to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is considering appointing Sa’ar as his replacement.

Sa’ar, a former justice minister, has expressed opposition to large parts of the judicial reform that critics said was undermining Israel’s democracy. The reform was largely suspended amid mass protests and the outbreak of the war.

If the post of defense minister does not pan out, Sa’ar may receive the foreign minister role while Israel Katz takes over for Gallant, Channel 12 reported. It also claimed that New Hope MKs Ze’ev Elkin and Sharren Haskel may be offered ministerial portfolios.

The Prime Minister’s Office denied negotiations with Sa’ar, and a spokesman for Sa’ar claimed there was “nothing new” on the matter.

Iran releases Austrian citizen jailed for unspecified crime

Iranian authorities have released Austrian citizen Christian Weber, detained for alleged crimes committed in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, to Austria’s ambassador in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reports.

Austria had said in 2022 one of its citizens was arrested in Iran for charges not related to protests that broke out in the country after the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, in custody.

The news agency says the Austrian citizen was freed in consideration of Islamic mercy. He was handed over to his country’s ambassador to arrange his exit, the agency says.

Mizan did not specify the crime for which Weber was jailed. Calls to the Austrian embassy before regular office hours went unanswered.

The death of 22-year-old Amini in September 2022 while in custody for allegedly flouting Iran’s Islamic dress code unleashed months of protests in the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic’s clerical leaders in decades.

Lapid meets Obama during US visit

Former US president Barack Obama meets with Opposition chair Yair Lapid in his Washington office on September 16, 2024. (Shahar Azran)

In a rare meeting with an Israeli lawmaker since leaving the White House, former US president Barack Obama hosted visiting Opposition chair Yair Lapid in his Washington office on Monday.

Lapid discloses the meeting in a post on X, saying he used the opportunity to thank Obama “for his public support and efforts for the return of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.”

“I told him that we should all work together to secure a deal that will bring the abductees home,” Lapid adds.

IDF reservist seriously wounded while fighting in southern Gaza

An Israeli reservist with the Givati Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit was seriously wounded last night during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF says.

The soldier’s family was informed and he was taken to a hospital for treatment, it adds.

Meta bans RT, other Russian state media networks from its platforms

Facebook owner Meta META says it is banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets have used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.

The ban marks a sharp escalation in actions by the world’s biggest social media company against Russian state media, after it spent years taking more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity,” the social media company says in a written statement.

Enforcement of the ban will roll out over the coming days, it says. In addition to Facebook, Meta’s apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

The Russian embassy does not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The White House declines to comment.

Meta’s move came after the United States filed money-laundering charges earlier this month against two RT employees for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat the activities of Russian state broadcaster RT as they do covert intelligence operations.

RT has mocked the US actions and accused the United States of trying to prevent the broadcaster from operating as a journalistic organization.

In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.

Security cabinet makes return of residents to the north an official war goal

The Prime Minister’s Office announces that the security cabinet has updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include a fourth objective: “The safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”

“Israel will continue to act to achieve this goal,” it says.

The motion comes more than eleven months after tens of thousands of northern residents were displaced from their homes following Hamas’s October 7 attack, when Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel on a near-daily basis.

Israel has increasingly threatened to launch a major operation to push back Hezbollah from the border, and the change to the stated war goals comes as US special envoy Amos Hochstein visits Israel in an attempt to reach a diplomatic solution and avoid further escalation.

Until now, the official war goals have been the elimination of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, the return of all the hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

US Secret Service: Suspected Trump gunman didn’t fire his weapon

The man arrested on suspicion of seeking to assassinate Donald Trump in Florida had no clear line of sight on the former president and did not fire his weapon, the US Secret Service says.

“He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Secret Service acting director Ronald Rowe tells reporters, referring to suspect Ryan Routh who has been charged with illegal firearms possession in the case.

Burning oil tanker safely towed away from Yemen after Houthi attacks, EU says

This photo released by the European Union's Operation Aspides naval force shows the oil tanker Sounion burning in the Red Sea, following a series of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, on September 14, 2024. (European Union's Operation Aspides via AP)

Salvagers have successfully towed a Greek-flagged oil tanker ablaze for weeks after attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to a safe area without any oil spill, a European Union naval mission says.

The Sounion reached waters away from Yemen as the Houthis meanwhile claimed that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground.

The two events show the challenges still looming for the world as it tries to mitigate a months-long campaign by the rebels over the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip. While the rebels allowed the Sounion to be moved, they continue to threaten ships moving through the Red Sea, a waterway that once saw $1 trillion in goods move through it a year.

The EU naval mission, known as Operation Aspides, issued a statement via the social platform X announcing the ship had been moved.

The Sounion “has been successfully towed to a safe area without any oil spill,” the EU mission said. “While private stakeholders complete the salvage operation, Aspides will continue to monitor the situation.”

The Houthis had no immediate comment and it was not clear where the vessel was, though it likely was taken north away from Yemen. Salvagers still need to offload some 1 million barrels of crude oil aboard the Sounion, which officials feared could leak into the Red Sea, killing marine life and damaging corals in the waterway.

Security cabinet begins meeting amid tensions with Hezbollah, reports of Gallant’s looming ouster

The security cabinet has begun its meeting in Tel Aviv, against the backdrop of growing tensions with Hezbollah and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s potential replacement of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar.