Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.
IDF says warplanes hit more than 100 loaded Hezbollah rocket launchers
Israeli fighter jets take off at an undisclosed airbase for airstrikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, September 19, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli fighter jets in the last several hours struck over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for immediate attacks on Israel, the military says.
The IDF says that in total, the launchers included around 1,000 launch barrels.
The strikes began this afternoon and were carried out in several waves.
“The IDF continues to damage and degrade the terror capabilities and military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terror organization,” the military adds.
Israeli fighter jets in the last several hours struck over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for immediate attacks on Israel, the military says.
The IDF says that in total, the launchers included around 1,000 launch barrels.
The strikes began… pic.twitter.com/nHoxC7nRQs
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 19, 2024
Democrat VP candidate Walz meets families of US hostages held in Gaza
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)
US Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz met earlier today with relatives of the seven remaining American hostages in Gaza for the first time.
The Minnesota governor “listened to the stories and perspectives of the families and emphasized that Vice President Harris, alongside President Biden, will continue doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members and all the hostages, including the remains of those who have been tragically confirmed to be deceased,” a campaign spokesperson says in a statement.
“Walz expressed his solidarity with the families and told them he stands with them as they continue to advocate for the release of their loved ones,” the statement continues.
“Walz stated that the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. He condemned the brutality against both Americans and Israelis and reaffirmed his and Vice President Harris’s commitment to Israel’s security.”
“The group discussed the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to end the war and ensure Israel is secure, all hostages are released, and the suffering in Gaza ends,” the statement adds.
Today I met with the loved ones of Americans held hostage by Hamas to hear their heartbreaking stories – something no family should have to endure.
President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue doing everything possible to bring them home. pic.twitter.com/OxDxsvkeBx
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 19, 2024
IDF tells residents of several cities and communities in north to remain close to bomb shelters
An Israeli soldier stands atop an armoured vehicle in the Golan Heights on September 19, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
After intensive Israel airstrikes in southern Lebanon, the IDF publishes a list of guidelines for civilians in several communities and cities in northern Israel, telling them to remain close to bomb shelters.
The guidelines apply to civilians in the Merom HaGalil Regional Council, Upper Galilee Regional Council, Mevo’ot HaHermon Regional Council, Yesud HaMa’ala, Hatzor, Rosh Pina, Safed, Metula, and towns in the Golan Heights from Katzrin and northward.
The IDF calls on civilians in those areas to reduce movement outside of homes, avoid large gatherings, guard the entrances to the communities, and remain close to bomb shelters.
The guidelines are until further notice, the IDF says.
Britain calls for immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah
(From L) Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, France's outgoing Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Germany's General Director of Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry Gunter Sautter pose during a meeting at the Quai d'Orsay (French Foreign Affairs Ministry), in Paris, on September 19, 2024. (Alain Jocard/Pool/AFP)
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group after a week of escalation that has brought both sides to the brink of war.
“Tonight I’m calling for an immediate ceasefire from both sides,” Lammy tells Reuters after meeting his French, American and Italian counterparts for talks in Paris.
“We are all very, very clear that we want to see a negotiated political settlement so that Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel and indeed Lebanese to return to their homes.”
Delta suspends Tel Aviv-New York flights until end of the year
Delta planes sit at their gates on June 13, 2022, at Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Delta announces that it will pause its flights between New York and Tel Aviv through December 31.
The US carrier is the latest to extend its halt to flights to the Middle East amid concerns over a wider conflict in the region.
Earlier today, Air France said it was suspending services from the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport to Beirut and Tel Aviv up to and including September 19, while Lufthansa Group said it is suspending all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran and will bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including September 19.
Explosives implanted in devices before they arrived in Lebanon, Lebanon’s UN mission says
A man holds a walkie-talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in an alleged Israeli attack on Hezbollah across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP)
A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities into the communications devices that exploded in Lebanon this week found that they were implanted with explosives before arriving in Lebanon, according to a letter by the Lebanese mission to the United Nations that was seen by Reuters.
The authorities also determined the devices, which included pagers and hand-held radios, were detonated by sending electronic messages to the devices, says the letter, sent to the UN Security Council.
Israel has been blamed for the attack on the Hezbollah devices, but has not taken responsibility.
Polls show Harris and Trump tied nationally, tight race in Pennsylvania
US Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Leadership Conference, at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
US Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump remain deadlocked less than seven weeks before the November 5 US presidential election, according to new polls released today that also show a tight race in the key state of Pennsylvania.
While the surveys found likely and registered voters gave higher marks to Democrat Harris in last week’s debate with her Republican opponent, they showed the race — particularly in the battleground state — remains close, in line with other polling.
In the national poll, Harris and Trump were tied at 47% among the 2,437 likely voters polled September 11-16, according to a survey by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
In Pennsylvania, one of seven critical battleground states, Harris maintained her 4-point advantage, leading 50% to 46% with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, according to the Times poll.
Separate findings by The Washington Post also found a tight race between the candidates in the state, which is among those along with Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin that are seen as likely to determine November’s outcome.
Among 1,003 Pennsylvania likely and registered voters surveyed September 12 -16, 48% said they would vote for Harris while 47% said they would cast their ballot for Trump — a 1-point difference that falls within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
The majority of those polled told the Post they were “extremely motivated” to vote and that protecting American democracy was “extremely important.” But voters were split on which candidate would best protect the nation’s freedoms, with 48% choosing Harris and 45% choosing Trump.
Lebanese sources say waves of Israeli strikes among most intense since start of war
Smoke and fire rise from the site of an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese border village of Mahmoudiyeh on September 19, 2024. (Rabih Daher/AFP)
Israel carries out dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon, three Lebanese security sources tell Reuters, saying it was some of the most intense bombing since the start of the war in October.
#Israel #Lebanon The Israeli Air Force strikes over 70 targets in Lebanon.
Unprecedented Intensity of Israeli strikes on Lebanon is being reported.#Israel #Palestine#Gaza#Hamas#Lebanon #Hezbollah#IDF#Hezbollah#Houthis #Yemen#Iran pic.twitter.com/SeFajAvRPw
— Politics World Wide Web (@PoliticsWWWeb) September 19, 2024
IDF presenting Netanyahu with operational plans for northern front; no change to home front guidelines
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and IDF chief Herzi Halevi at the start of a security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv, November 16, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Israeli military officials will be presenting the political echelon, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with various plans for the northern front during a meeting this evening, amid heightened tensions with Hezbollah.
IDF sources say the military seeks to achieve Israel’s war goals in the north, returning the displaced Israelis back to their homes, but without causing the conflict to expand to a regional multi-front war.
The IDF has been on heightened alert following the recent events in Lebanon, and expects that the coming days may also be intense.
Israel has not taken responsibility for the Hezbollah communication devices that exploded in Lebanon in the past two days, killing 37 people, the vast majority of them terror operatives.
In the past 2-3 days, the IDF has been holding continuous assessments, and presenting plans to the political echelon. Earlier this evening, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved new battle plans.
So far, there have been no changes to guidelines for civilians, though the IDF has said it would update the public immediately if there are any developments.
US: If Hezbollah ended cross-border terror attacks, we’d tell Israel to halt counter-strikes
A wounded man who was injured when a missile hit the Ramim Cliff area, arrives at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed, September 19, 2024. (David Cohen/Flahs90)
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says that the US would urge Israel to halt strikes on Hezbollah if the terror group stopped launching attacks against the Jewish state first.
“Nasrallah could stop the terrorist attacks across Israel, and I guarantee you, if he did that, we would be impressing upon Israel the need to maintain calm on their end,” Miller says, in a somewhat uncharacteristically frank statement for a State Department spokesperson.
“The bottom line is, he hasn’t stopped those terrorist attacks, and so as long as Hezbollah is launching terrorist attacks across the border, of course, Israel is going to launch military action to defend itself as any country would,” he adds.
“What we continue to push to all the parties is not to escalate the conflict, not to let it spiral out of control into a war that we don’t think serves either side’s interests, and to ultimately try to get to a ceasefire in Gaza that would help bring calm across the Blue Line,” Miller says.
Sa’ar slams Lapid for criticism of plot to appoint him defense minister
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks with New Hope chairman Gideon Sa'ar during a vote on the state budget at the assembly hall of the Knesset, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition party New Hope chief Gideon Sa’ar launches a scathing diatribe against Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
Earlier today, Lapid expressed his outrage over a plot being hatched in the government to try and replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with Sa’ar, saying that appointing someone with no security experience in the middle of a war “means that our politics has lost its sanity.”
Sa’ar responds with a long post on X, where he questions Lapid’s lack of security experience and boasts about his many years in the security cabinet and top security committees.
“What I understand about national security issues, Lapid has no chance of knowing even if he was an eager student — and he’s not,” Sa’ar writes, adding that most of Lapid’s experience comes from his time as a television presenter.
“Anyone who heard what Lapid had and has to say in the last year during the most serious war in Israel’s history was shocked. Zero insights, zero depth, zero strategic understanding. He doesn’t even understand what it means to understand security,” Sa’ar says.
IDF launches a fresh wave of strikes in south Lebanon; MDA station reported hit in rocket barrage on north
Lebanese media report that the IDF has launched a new wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, in the Mahmoudiyeh area.
The reports say more than 50 sites had been hit.
The reports come amid a heavy barrage of rockets on the north.
Eli Bin, head of the Magen David Adom rescue service tells Ynet that he has recieved reports that an MDA station in Metulla suffered a direct hit.
There are no injuries reported, he says.
غارات عديدة تستـ هدف اطراف منطقتي المحمودية و الوردية جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/r8CiV6YyMh
— Ali Bk (@Bk_Hanas) September 19, 2024
Netanyahu holding security coordination at IDF headquarters, Israel said still looking for diplomatic solution with Hezbollah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security consultation with senior ministers, and defense and security chiefs at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv as tensions with Lebanon soar.
Channel 12 reports that while Israel is clearly preparing for war with Hezbollah in a bid to return Israeli residents to their homes in the north, there are still hopes that a full-scale conflict can be avoided.
Quoting senior officials, the report says Israel believes that recent shows of force from Israel could push Hezbollah into accepting a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
However, one senior official says that “Israelis must be prepared for dramatic days in the north.”
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 22 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 478 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 79 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
Top negotiator said to tell hostage families he’s not familiar with new plan to end war, free all captives
Israelis protest calling for the release of hostages held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza outside the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, September 19, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
The Israeli military’s envoy to negotiations aimed at freeing hostages held in Gaza, Nitzan Alon, is said to have told family members of the captives that he and the rest of the negotiating team were unfamiliar with a reported new Israeli offer.
Israel has put a proposal on the table that would end fighting in the Gaza Strip and give the head of Hamas safe passage out of the enclave in exchange for the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza, the demilitarization of the Strip and the establishment of an alternative governing power there, Kan news reported earlier.
An Israeli official confirmed the outlines of the report to The Times of Israel and said Gal Hirsch, the government point man on the hostages, had presented the plan to American officials, who were expected to pass it on to unspecified Arab officials.
Hirsch told families of hostages that the proposal had been presented last week in a meeting with US officials from the White House and State Department, Kan said.
However, Alon reportedly tells family members he is unaware of such a proposal.
“Gal Hirsch’s offer that was sent to the US is not known to the negotiating team,” Channel 12 quotes Alon as telling the families. “Hirsch was never a part of the negotiating team.”
Channel 12 says Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also unaware of the new proposal and it had not been discussed by the government.
The channel quotes family members as decrying the new offer as government spin.
“It seems that it is spin from the government to show that they are supposedly on the way to a deal,” the family member says.
Jets hit 30 Hezbollah rocket launchers in south Lebanon site
Israeli fighter jets struck some 30 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon this evening, the IDF says.
According to the military, the launchers included some 150 launch barrels that were primed for an immediate attack on Israel.
Additionally, several buildings and a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah were struck in several areas of southern Lebanon, the military adds.
The IDF releases footage of the strikes.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר בהכוונה מודיעינית תקפו כ-30 משגרים ותשתיות צבאיות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, אשר הכילו כ-150 קני שיגור שנועדו לשיגור מיידי לעבר שטח הארץ>> pic.twitter.com/mW5hxTVnLi
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 19, 2024
‘Moral bankruptcy’: Lapid slams plot to oust Defense Minister Gallant
Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on September 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid slams efforts to oust Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in favor of New Hope chief Gideon Sa’ar, calling out the leaders of the Knesset for their “moral bankruptcy.”
“Politics has become the country’s biggest problem,” Lapid declares at the Social Justice for the Rehabilitation of Israel conference.
If Shas leader “Aryeh Deri is capable, in the middle of a war, to try to replace a defense minister, to remove an experienced security professional like Yoav Gallant, and replace him with a defense minister who has no experience in the field, this means that our politics has lost its sanity,” he states.
“The fact that Deri and [United Torah Judaism leader Yitzchak] Goldknopf imagine that they can replace a defense minister during a war that their constituents are avoiding, while we already have ten thousand wounded and seven hundred dead, just so that Gideon Sa’ar will help them pass an evasion law, is moral bankruptcy. This is a complete breach of trust.”
Sa’ar has denied reports that he is in touch with Haredi leaders to find a compromise on the enlistment issue.
Talks to bring him into the government appear to have been put on hold during the recent escalation in the north.
IDF says it carried out drone strike against Palestinian gunmen in West Bank
The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a group of Palestinian gunmen in a vehicle in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, near Jenin, a short while ago.
The military says it will provide further details on the strike soon.
Earlier today, IDF troops killed four Palestinian gunmen during clashes in Qabatiya.
1.6m euros passed through Bulgaria to fund pagers used in Lebanon attack — TV report
People walk past a building where the Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd., is headquartered, at boulevard Vitosha in Sofia downtown, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgarian broadcaster bTV reports that 1.6 million euros connected to the deadly exploding pagers attack in Lebanon passed through Bulgaria and were transferred on to Hungary. It cites sources at the State Agency for National Security.
Bulgarian authorities said that their interior ministry and state security services had opened an investigation into a company’s possible ties. They did not name the company they were investigating. Local media reports say Sofia-based Norta Global Ltd had facilitated the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah.
Austin said to postpone trip to Israel amid escalating Mideast tensions
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, listen to the playing of the Israeli National Anthem during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is postponing a planned visit to Israel next week due to escalations in the region, the Walla news site reports.
The report, citing two Israeli officials, says that the postponement comes due to the events in Lebanon and on the border in recent days.
AG tells Netanyahu she won’t represent him in efforts to block Oct. 7 state commission of inquiry
Left: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at her welcome ceremony in Jerusalem on February 8, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that she opposes his position not to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failings leading up to Hamas’s devastating October 7 invasion and atrocities until after the current war ends.
She says therefore that her office will not represent the government in petitions to the High Court of Justice that have asked the court to order the government to establish such a commission, and authorizes the cabinet to take independent counsel to present its position.
Baharav-Miara says that the events of October 7 were unprecedented in Israel’s history from the perspective of the severe consequences of Hamas’s attack, and its far-reaching impact on the country and the general public, as well as its strategic repercussions.
“My professional opinion… is that because of the extreme circumstances it is critically important that the investigation of the events of the war and learning its lessons should be carried out with total professional independence, through the best and only mechanism available under the law, and totally disconnected from any external influence on the manner in which the investigation is conducted, and it’s results,” the attorney general tells Netanyahu.
She insists that a state commission of inquiry is the only appropriate framework for such an investigation.
The attorney general adds that such a commission would also protect Israel from proceedings against it and senior government officials in international courts.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes he alleges have been committed in Gaza during Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. The court has yet to decide whether or not to issue the warrants.
State commissions of inquiry can either be established by a government resolution or the Knesset’s State Control Committee, and are independent panels whose members are selected by the Supreme Court president from among serving or retired Supreme Court or district court judges.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners, describes the attorney general’s decision as “dramatic and unprecedented,” and that it “expresses clear proof to the fact that the government’s [decision to] refrain from establishing a commission of inquiry contravenes the public interest and the principles of law and proper administration.”
Netanyahu has said probes into October 7 failures need to wait until the end of the war and has refused to commit to a state commission of inquiry.
Blinken warns against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast, says it could jeopardize Gaza deal
France's outgoing Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne (R) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Quai d'Orsay (French Foreign Affairs Ministry), in Paris, on September 19, 2024. (Alain Jocard/Pool/AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urges against “escalatory actions by any party” in the Middle East, following the explosions of devices of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
“France and the United States are united in calling for restraint and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general and when it comes to Lebanon in particular,” Blinken says after talks in Paris with French counterpart Stephane Sejourne.
“We don’t want to see any escalatory actions by any party” that would endanger the goal of a ceasefire to the Gaza conflict, he adds.
Gallant sees ‘significant opportunities, but also heavy risks’ as war focus turns to Hezbollah
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with military and security officials on September 19, 2024. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that there are “significant opportunities, but also heavy risks” as Israel enters a new phase of the war.
“This is a new phase in the war, it has significant opportunities, but also heavy risks. Hezbollah is feeling chased and the sequence of our military operations will continue,” Gallant says during a meeting with the IDF’s top brass and other defense officials.
“Our goal is to return the residents of the north to their homes safely. As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price,” he says.
“At the same time, we will continue and carry out the effort to return the hostages and dismantle Hamas,” Gallant adds.
Macron speaks to Lebanese leaders, urges restraint; plans to call Netanyahu
French President Emmanuel Macron waits for Lebanese Prime Minister's arrival before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on April 19, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed “deepest concern” that unprecedented bombings in Lebanon, which detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, will contribute to “a dangerous escalation of tensions in the region,” according to a statement from the French presidency.
Macron’s comments come after the French leader, who aims to keep France as an important diplomatic player in Lebanon, spoke on the phone with the country’s top political and military officials.
The French president urged them to “act responsibly in order to avoid an escalation.” He also asked them to “send messages of restraint to all Lebanese parties, starting with Hezbollah,” the statement adds.
Macron will speak about the dangers of an escalation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the statement also says, adding that, “All parties must act to avoid war.”
WHO says Lebanon’s fragile health system disrupted by casualties from pager attacks
People gather around an ambulance carrying wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, at the emergency entrance of the American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 17, 2024, after an attack, blamed on Israel, targeting Hezbollah fighters. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Casualties caused by explosions in booby-trapped radios and pagers in Lebanon this week seriously disrupted its fragile health sector, the World Health Organization chief said on Thursday.
The UN health agency cited Lebanese health authorities’ toll that 37 people had been killed and more than 3,000 injured in the pager blasts that detonated in areas considered strongholds of the Hezbollah terror group.
“These events have seriously disrupted Lebanon’s already fragile health system,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a press conference, adding that the global body had distributed blood supplies and trauma kits in the country.
“The whole health system came under immense pressure very, very quickly,” says WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan at the same briefing.
Iran tells Hezbollah chief Israel will face ‘crushing response from axis of resistance’
Head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami speaking at the funeral of Razi Mousavi, a senior commander in Iran's Quds Force who was killed on December 25 in an alleged Israeli strike in Syria, in Tehran, December 28, 2023. (Atta Kenare /AFP)
Israel will face “a crushing response from the axis of resistance,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami tells Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday according to state media, after attacks on Lebanese Hezbollah’s communication devices blamed on Israel.
“Such terrorist acts are undoubtedly the result of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) despair and successive failures. This will soon be met with a crushing response from the axis of resistance and we will witness the destruction of this bloodthirsty and criminal regime,” Salami says in his message to Nasrallah.
Iran is Hezbollah’s main sponsor and the axis of resistance refers to Tehran’s terror proxies across the region that are aligned against Israel.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured when Hezbollah pagers exploded on Tuesday.
IDF announces two soldiers killed in Hezbollah attacks on northern border
Maj. (res.) Nael Fwarsy, 43, left, and Sgt. Tomer Keren, 20 who were killed in Hezbollah strikes on the northern border on September 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and several others were wounded in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks on northern Israel today, the IDF announces.
The slain soldiers are named as:
Maj. (res.) Nael Fwarsy, 43, a logistics company commander in the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade’s 299th Battalion, from Maghar.
Sgt. Tomer Keren, 20, of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Haifa.
Fwarsy was killed and another soldier was lightly wounded after an explosive-laden drone launched by Hezbollah struck an area outside Ya’ara in the Western Galilee.
Keren was killed and eight other soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, after two anti-tank missiles launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon struck a position in the Ramim Ridge area on the border in the Galilee Panhandle.
Nasrallah vows Israel will not be able to return residents to their homes in the north
Members of the Hezbollah salute during the funeral of a comrade who was killed the previous day by the explosion of a communication device, in Adloun south of Tyre in southern Lebanon on September 19, 2024. Israel has been blamed for the attacks. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
In a televised address, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vows that the terror group will prevent Israel from realizing the recently-added war objective to return Israeli citizens displaced from the border area in the north to their homes.
“The goal of the resistance is to prevent the enemy from realizing its goals. Its latest objective is to return the settlers to their homes in the north of occupied Palestine,” he says.
“Let me tell the Israeli government, the Israeli army and the Israeli people: You will not manage. I tell Prime Minister Netanyahu: You can do what you want, you will not manage. The only solution is to halt the aggression against the people of Gaza. No military escalation, no killings, no total war will return your settlers to the border area. You know it,” he says.
Nasrallah further derides the idea recently put forward by IDF Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon earlier this week, calling Gordin an “imbecile.”
Nasrallah says he hopes Israeli forces will enter southern Lebanon, because “what they see as a threat we see as an opportunity.”
He says Hezbollah is using all means to seek out Israeli soldiers and tanks, and this task will be easier “if they come out toward us. Welcome.”
The Shiite terror leader further vows retaliation for the unprecedented attack against communications devices held by Hezbollah members. “There will be a just punishment. I will not say when, where or how. You will know when the time comes.”
As usual, Nasrallah was speaking from an unknown location.
Israeli warplanes buzz Beirut, break sound barrier as Nasrallah gives speech
Israeli fighter jets are reportedly flying over Beirut as Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gives his speech.
State media said the jets were breaking the sound barrier over the Lebanese capital.
Videos posted on social media showed Israeli warplanes flying low and shooting flares.
Over Beirut Now https://t.co/Dzcd5Xz5ws pic.twitter.com/YkflrFEw4k
— ???????????????????????????????????????????? (@MarioLeb79) September 19, 2024
مشاهد توثق إطلاق طائرات الاحتلال البالونات الحرارية على بيروت تزامناً مع كلمة الأمين العام لحزب الله. pic.twitter.com/GBYiPt7lwR
— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) September 19, 2024
Nasrallah concedes Hezbollah suffered ‘unprecedented’ blow, vows to keep fighting until Gaza war ends
People watch the speech of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as they sit in a cafe in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In a televised address, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah concedes that the terror group has suffered a “major and unprecedented blow in the history of the Lebanese resistance,” but vows it will recover and keep on fighting.
“The Israeli effort has largely been thwarted,” Nasrallah says. “We will probe what happened,” he adds, adding that an investigation committee has been established.
“We will not fall, and we will come out stronger. We are preparing to face even worse attacks.”
“Shortly, we will celebrate the one-year anniversary of the blessed Al-Aqsa flood operation,” Nasrallah says, referencing the savage October 7 onslaught by Hamas on southern Israel.
“There is no doubt that Hezbollah, since it joined the fight, has registered impressive achievements in the north of Israel,” he adds, claiming that the “criminal” attacks against Hezbollah’s portable devices were conducted by Israel to cover up its incapacity to achieve a military breakthrough against Hezbollah in the north, where it is “embroiled in a war of attrition.”
“We tell [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and the Israeli people: We will not stop our attacks as long as the enemy does not halt its war in Gaza.”
“We said it on October 8, and now it’s almost a year later and we still say it,” he notes.
Nasrallah says pager blasts violated ‘all red lines,’ was attempt to carry out ‘massacre’
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address on September 19, 2024, following a wave of explosions in the terror group's communications devices that was blamed on Israel (Screen capture)
In a public address, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blames Israel for the coordinated pager and walkie-talkie attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, saying the attack “violated all red lines.”
In his first comments since the coordinated attacks that were blamed on Israel, Nasrallah called the attacks “an unprecedented massacre.”
“A declaration of war? You can call it anything,” he says.
“On Tuesday, Israel intended to kill 4,000 people in one minute by detonating the pagers. Many of them were civilians,” the terror leader claims, even though the devices appear to have been distributed only to Hezbollah operatives. “The following day, 1,000 more in one minute. In two minutes, Israel intended to kill 5,000.”
“We have suffered a heavy blow. This is war, this is conflict. We know the enemy, not only Israel but also the US and NATO, has technological superiority,” he says.
IDF says it killed two Lebanese gunmen trying to plant a bomb on border
Weapons seized from two Lebanese gunmen who were killed while attempted bombing attack on the border on September 16, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF announces that on Monday it foiled an attempted bombing attack against troops on the Lebanon border.
The military releases footage from a GoPro camera found on the body of one of the gunmen.
According to the military, troops of the Golani Brigade and other commandos were stationed in an ambush near the so-called Tziporen Post in Upper Galilee.
On Monday, surveillance soldiers of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted two suspects approaching the border, and the Golani soldiers and commandos opened fire and directed artillery shelling and a drone strike against the gunmen, killing both.
According to the IDF, the gunmen planned to plant a bomb in the area.
IDF chief approves battle plans for northern front
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (R) at an assessment where he approved battle plans for the northern front on September 19, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment and approved battle plans for the northern front a short while ago, the military says.
The statement comes amid soaring tensions with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
IDF says it’s carrying out strikes to destroy Hezbollah capabilities in south Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on September 19, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
The IDF announces that it is carrying out a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, aimed at taking away the terror group’s capabilities.
“The Hezbollah terror organization has turned southern Lebanon into a war zone, and for decades armed the homes of the citizens with weapons, dug tunnels under them and used them as human shields,” the IDF says.
“The IDF is working to create security in the north that will allow the residents to return to their homes, and to achieve all the other war goals,” the military adds.
Lebanese media report large Israeli airstrikes near Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in the Tyre district.
غارة تستهدف اطراف بلدة دير قانون النهر في قضاء صور pic.twitter.com/U8usxJCsob
— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) September 19, 2024
Spanish PM meets with Abbas, calls for restraint in Mideast
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, left and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez embrace after a joint statement at the Moncloa palace in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calls for restraint following the wave of explosives attacks in the Middle East, after he received Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Madrid.
“Today the risk of escalation has again dangerously increased. President Abbas and I have been talking about it in Lebanon, so we have to make a new and strong call for restraint, for de-escalation, for peaceful coexistence between countries. In short, to peace,” says Sánchez after a 45-minute meeting with Abbas.
This was the first meeting between the leaders since Spain recognized Palestine as a state on May 28 in a coordinated action with Ireland and Norway. Sanchez mentioned the strong importance that his government gave to the advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice, which said Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was illegal.
Abbas, for his part, called for a Middle East Peace Conference to be held in Madrid, like one that took place 33 years ago in the Spanish capital.
UN committee says Israel violated global child rights treaty in Gaza
Illustrative: Palestinian children wait with family members at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 24, 2024. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A UN committee accuses Israel of severe breaches of a global treaty protecting children’s rights, saying its military actions in Gaza had a catastrophic impact on them and are among the worst violations in recent history.
Hamas-run health authorities say 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign. These figures cannot be verified and do not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 terror operatives.
Israel launched the war in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel in which terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Hamas figures claim that of those killed in Gaza, at least 11,355 are children, and thousands more are injured.
“The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history,” Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chair of the Committee, tells reporters.
“I don’t think we have seen before a violation that is so massive as we’ve seen in Gaza. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see,” he says.
Israel, which ratified the treaty in 1991, sent a large delegation to the UN hearings in Geneva on September 3-4.
They argued that the treaty did not apply in Gaza or the West Bank and said that Israel was committed to respecting international humanitarian law.
Israel says its military campaign in Gaza is aimed at eliminating the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers and that it does not target civilians but that the terrorists are deeply embedded among them, operating in tunnels under residential area, and from within hospitals and schools.
The Committee praised Israel for attending but says it “deeply regrets the State party’s repeated denial of its legal obligations.”
The 18-member UN Committee monitors countries’ compliance with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child — a widely adopted treaty that protects children from violence and other abuses.
In its conclusions, it called on Israel to provide urgent assistance to thousands of children maimed or injured by the war, provide support for orphans, and allow more medical evacuations from Gaza.
Lebanon says death toll over 2 days of explosions has risen to 37, with 2,931 wounded
Hezbollah members carry the coffins of two of their comrades who were killed on Wednesday when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. Israel has been blamed for the attacks. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad says 37 people were killed and 2,931 wounded in a new toll after handheld devices used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon, in attacks blamed on Israel.
Abiad says 25 people were killed on Wednesday and 12 on Tuesday, updating an earlier toll of 32 dead overall.
Families of American hostages held in Gaza meet top US official
Family members of US-Israeli hostages held by Hamas speak to the press outside the White House in Washington, December 13, 2023, after a meeting with US President Joe Biden. (Jim WATSON / AFP)
Relatives of the seven American hostages still held in Gaza met yesterday with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington for the 13th time since October 7.
“The families shared a number of ideas with Sullivan to help bring the hostage crisis to an end and also discussed intensifying efforts with Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and other regional powers to press Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement,” according to a statement issued by the families.
“The families expressed frustration with the lack of tangible progress and stressed that everyone needs to play a larger role in reaching an agreement that ensures the hostages’ safe return,” the statement adds.
“Sullivan stressed the administration’s unwavering commitment to bringing the Americans home and reiterated that resolving this crisis is a top priority for President Biden,” the readout says.
Lufthansa extends suspension of Tel Aviv, Beirut and Tehran flights again
A Lufthansa Airbus A380 lands in Frankfurt, Germany, February 14, 2019. (AP/Michael Probst)
German airline group Lufthansa says it is extending its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Tehran and Beirut, as regional tensions soared following deadly explosions in Lebanon this week.
“Flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran will be canceled until September 24,” Lufthansa says. “Flights to Beirut will be suspended until October 26,” it adds.
Ben Gvir boycotts meeting on fighting Arab crime, drawing rebuke from Netanyahu
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a deadly explosion, believed to be connected to an ongoing feud between crime families, in the central Israel city of Ramle, September 12, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir boycotts a meeting of a subcommittee on combating crime in Arab society convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the Ynet news site, officials in Ben Gvir’s ministry say that they declined to attend the meeting after Maj.-Gen. Yoram Sofer was uninvited. This comes even though Ben-Gvir has declined to speak to Sofer for the past year. Last week Sofer was demoted from his position overseeing the fight against Arab crime.
“It is amazing that today of all days, the minister decided to blow up a discussion that is at the core of his ministry’s area of activity with the excuse that a person with whom he refuses to meet or speak had not been invited to the limited discussion,” sources tell Ynet.
At the start of the discussion, Netanyahu said, according to Ynet: “I am not impressed by these boycotts. We will deal with them separately.”
Crime in the Arab community has skyrocketed in recent years, with more Arabs killed in homicides in 2023 than in any previous year, according to the Abraham Initiatives, a coexistence organization that tracks crime statistics.
‘Uncommitted’ protest group says it won’t endorse Harris amid anger over Gaza war
Abbas Alwieh, a Michigan uncommitted delegate, participates in a press conference outside the United Center before the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Leaders of a Democratic protest vote movement against the Israel-Hamas war say that they will not endorse US Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential bid but strongly urged their supporters to vote against Donald Trump in November.
The “Uncommitted” movement drew hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries earlier this year in protest of US President Joe Biden ’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The group’s leaders urged the administration to change its policy on the conflict, warning that some Democratic voters might otherwise abstain from voting in November, particularly in swing state Michigan.
Despite months of discussions with top Democratic officials, discontent within the protest-vote ranks only grew after the Democratic National Convention when they were denied a speaker on stage and other demands weren’t met.
Harris’s “unwillingness to shift on unconditional weapons policy or to even make a clear campaign statement in support of upholding existing US and international human rights law has made it impossible for us to endorse her,” movement leaders say in a statement.
Group leaders also made clear in their statement that they strongly opposed supporters voting for Trump or a third-party candidate who “could help inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency.” Instead, they urged voters to register “anti-Trump votes and vote up and down the ballot.”
“In our assessment, our movement’s best hope for change lies in growing our anti-war organizing power, and that power would be severely undermined by a Trump administration,” the leaders say.
After the DNC failed to include a Palestinian American speaker as requested, the group asked Harris’s campaign to respond by Sept. 15 to its request for the vice president to meet with Palestinian American families in Michigan and to discuss their demands for halting arms sales to Israel and securing a permanent ceasefire. The group claims these demands were not met.
The movement began in Michigan when over 100,000 voters marked “Uncommitted,” in the state’s Democratic primary. The state is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, making them an important electoral group as each presidential candidate attempts to win the crucial battleground state.
Both nominees have been actively trying to win over leaders in metro Detroit’s large Arab American community. Last month, Harris met with the mayor of Dearborn, the nation’s largest Arab American community, while on Tuesday, Trump sat down with the mayor of Hamtramck, a majority-Muslim city in metro Detroit, seeking his endorsement.
Lebanon bans pagers and walkie-talkies from flights after wave of explosions
This picture shows Lebanese army forces preparing to destroy in a controlled explosion a communication device found on the ground in southern Lebanon, between the villages of Burj al Muluk and Klayaa, on September 19, 2024. Thousands of Hezbollah devices exploded in attacks blamed on Israel. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanese authorities ban walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reports, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
The Lebanese civilian aviation directorate asks airlines operating from Beirut to tell passengers that walkie-talkies and pagers are banned until further notice. Such devices were also banned from being shipped by air, the Lebanese state news agency reports.
At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 wounded when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded in two waves of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel carried out the attack.
Israel has not claimed responsibility.
The Lebanese army says it was blowing up pagers and suspicious telecom devices in controlled blasts in different areas. It calls on citizens to report any suspicious devices.
Hezbollah started attacking Israel with missiles and drones the day after its ally, the Hamas terror group, carried out a massacre in southern Israel on October 7.
Troops demolish Hamas long-range rocket cache in Rafah
IDF troops with the 162nd Division are seen operating in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in this handout photo published on September 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF releases a video showing a Hamas rocket cache being demolished by troops in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of southern Gaza’s Rafah.
According to the military, the depot was used by Hamas to store long-range rockets. Other weapon caches were located in the area.
The IDF releases a video showing a Hamas rocket cache being demolished by troops in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of southern Gaza's Rafah.
According to the military, the depot was used by Hamas to store long-range rockets. Other weapon caches were located in the area.
In Tel… pic.twitter.com/uGKXHFgCZH
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 19, 2024
In Tel Sultan, the IDF says troops with the 162nd Division have killed more than 300 terror operatives, including the local Hamas battalion’s leadership, in recent weeks.
Government to examine scrapping NIS 200 bill in bid to combat tax evasion, money laundering
Two hundred shekel bills, February 7, 2016 (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructs government ministries and the Bank of Israel to examine the possibility of abolishing Israel’s NIS 200 notes as a measure to combat “black money” and money laundering.
Netanyahu asks the Finance Ministry, the governor of the Bank of Israel, the director general of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Israel Tax Authority, and the headquarters for fighting crime in Arab society in the Prime Minister’s Office to convene and hold discussions on the proposed measure.
The move comes after a group of businesspeople and former senior government officials earlier this month submitted a proposal to remove Israel’s largest bill from circulation in an effort to restrict the use of cash and help in the battle against tax evasion and money laundering, according to reports in the Hebrew press.
Israeli official confirms deal proposal would see all hostages released, end of war
Protesters call for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and the end of the war, outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, September 19, 2024 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
An Israeli official confirms to The Times of Israel the outline reported by Kan of a proposal for a potential deal that would see the release of all the hostages and the end of fighting in Gaza.
The official says Israel’s point man on the hostage deal, Gal Hirsch, presented the plan to the Americans, who were expected to pass it on to unspecified Arab officials.
The official says the deal would represent the end of the war if the conditions were met.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israel has proposed a framework for a deal with Hamas that would see all the hostages released at once and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with safe passage out of the enclave for Sinwar and his associates. The proposed plan would also see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given.
At least 4 Palestinian gunmen said killed by IDF troops during raid in West Bank’s Qabatiya
Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances and Israeli army vehicles during an Israeli military raid in Qabatiyah in the north of the West Bank, on September 19, 2024. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
At least four Palestinian gunmen were killed by Israeli troops during a raid in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, near Jenin, according to military sources.
Troops of the Duvdevan commando unit have surrounded a building in the area where a wanted Palestinian is holed up.
The commandos have been exchanging fire with gunmen in the area, and using a tactic known as “pressure cooker” that involves escalating the volume of fire directed at a building to force a suspect to come out.
No Israeli troops have been hurt in the operation so far.
Lebanon health minister says death toll in Hezbollah walkie-talkie blasts at 25
This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was detonated inside a house in an attack on Hezbollah members widely blamed on Israel, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, September 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
The death toll from yesterday’s blasts in Lebanon rose to 25, the country’s health minister Firass Abiad says during a press conference, echoing the number given by the Hezbollah terror group of the number of members killed in the attack.
Handheld radios used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon yesterday. The previous day, at least 12 were killed and 2,800 wounded when their pagers spontaneously exploded in a coordinated assault widely blamed on Israel.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Palestinians in Gaza amid Israel’s war against Hamas.
Lebanon PM: UN must take firm stance over Israel’s ‘technological war’ after Hezbollah device blasts
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrives to meet Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (not pictured) in Beirut on June 25, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati calls for the United Nations to oppose Israel’s “technological war” on his country ahead of a Security Council meeting on exploding devices used by the Hezbollah terror group that killed at least 32 people.
Mikati says in a statement the UN Security Council meeting on Friday should “take a firm stance to stop the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and the technological war it is waging.”
A fresh wave of explosions ripped across Lebanon yesterday, appearing to mainly target handheld radios used by Hezbollah members, a day after thousands were wounded when their pagers spontaneously exploded in a coordinated assault widely blamed on Israel after months of Hezbollah attacks with rocket, missile and drone fire.
Sirens warn of rocket fire at northern border community
Sirens sound in Zarit close to the northern border, warning of incoming rocket fire.
Hezbollah announces deaths of 5 more members in device blasts, IDF strikes
The Hezbollah terror group announces the deaths of five 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 478.
The announcements come after Israel allegedly caused walkie-talkies used by the terror group to explode across Lebanon yesterday, which according to Lebanese health officials killed 20 and wounded 450 others.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah named 12 members killed by Israel, including some who died after pagers used by the terror group exploded.
Several Hezbollah operatives have also been killed in IDF strikes in southern Lebanon in recent days.
In all, Hezbollah has admitted to the deaths of 37 members in the past two days.
Bulgaria to probe company linked to Hezbollah pagers that exploded in Lebanon
A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. The pagers were used by Hezbollah and the attack has been blamed on Israel. (AFP)
Bulgaria will investigate a company linked to the sale of pagers to Lebanon’s terror group Hezbollah that exploded this week in a coordinated attack, the state security agency says.
Bulgaria’s state security agency, DANS, says in a statement that it is working with the interior ministry to probe the role of a company registered in Bulgaria, without naming it.
Bulgarian media reports allege that a Sofia-based company called Norta Global Ltd had facilitated the sale of the pagers, which exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 2,800.
The pagers had been distributed by Hezbollah to its members, and they exploded in a coordinated attack allegedly carried out by Israel.
Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the link to Norta. Company officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A lawyer that registered the company at an apartment block in Sofia did not respond to Reuters questions.
Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format consistent with pagers made by Taiwan’s Gold Apollo.
Gold Apollo said yesterday that the pagers were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, and the New York Times reported that BAC Consulting was in fact a front company set up by Israeli intelligence officers.
But Hungarian news site Telex reported that the sale was actually facilitated by Norta, citing sources.
The Bulgarian state security agency says that it did not detect any shipments of the suspected pagers on Bulgarian territory.
Several Palestinian gunmen killed in clashes with IDF in West Bank’s Qabatiya – reports
Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances and Israeli army vehicles during an Israeli military raid in Qabatiyah in the north of the West Bank, on September 19, 2024. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)
Several Palestinian gunmen are reported killed and wounded during clashes with IDF troops in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, near Jenin.
Footage posted online by Palestinian media outlets shows a gunman running on a rooftop, and another clip shows heavy gunfire in the area.
اشتباكات مسلحة مع قوات الاحتلال في بلدة قباطية جنوب جنين pic.twitter.com/z6eKn7M84g
— Ultra Palestine – الترا فلسطين (@palestineultra) September 19, 2024
#متابعة | اشتباكات مسلحة مع قوات الاحتلال في بلدة قباطية جنوب جنين pic.twitter.com/AyMlSeUSgR
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 19, 2024
There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the raid.
Hostage forum: Government should resoundingly support its ‘one-shot’ hostage deal proposal
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum calls on the government to express full-throated support of its reported proposal that would see all the hostages released at once in return for an end to the fighting in Gaza and safe passage out of the Strip for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“We welcome [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s new outline: a one-shot deal and the end of the fighting,” the forum says in a statement.
“A one-shot deal that includes all 101 hostages is the wish of all Israeli citizens and the families of the hostages. The proposal strengthens security in Israel and makes it possible to reach a comprehensive regional settlement,” the forum says.
The statement adds that the proposal was “presented in Washington in front of leaders from Arab countries and received a positive response.”
The forum calls on all members of the government to publicly support the proposal.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israel has proposed a framework for a deal with Hamas that would see all the hostages released at once and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with safe passage out of the enclave for Sinwar and his associates. The proposed plan would also see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given.
Several explosive-laden drones hit northern Israel, causing injuries and sparking fire
Several explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon struck northern Israel a short while ago.
According to the IDF, one of the drones impacted outside of the northern community of Ya’ara in the Western Galilee. Several people were reportedly wounded by the impact.
Several more drones struck outside the northern community of Beit Hillel near Kiryat Shmona, the IDF says.
The IDF says the drone impacts near Beit Hillel sparked fires but caused no injuries.
Several injured as projectile strikes near Ya’ara, close to northern border
Several people are reported injured by a projectile impact near the northern community of Ya’ara a short while ago.
No sirens had sounded amid the incident. It is unclear if the projectile was a drone or a missile.
The IDF has not yet commented.
Suspect in Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli officials named as 73-year-old Moti Maman
An Israeli man arrested for being recruited by Iran to advance a plot to assassinate Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet, is named as 73-year-old Moti Maman.
Maman, from the southern city of Ashkelon, was indicted this morning over the plot.
מוטי ממן, בן 73 מאשקלון, הוא הנאשם שגויס ע"י איראן – מעצרו הוארך ב-21 ימים @ShaniRami pic.twitter.com/aAOg2JxQ2z
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) September 19, 2024
Lawyer for Israeli recruited by Iran to kill Netanyahu, Gallant or Bar: ‘He made an error of judgment’
A lawyer for the Israeli man arrested over an Iranian plot to assassinate top officials says his client made “an error of judgment” and is fully cooperating with authorities in the investigation.
“We have not yet seen the investigative materials, so at this stage it is difficult to go into the details of the case,” says the attorney, Eyal Besserglick, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
“It can already be said that this is a person who has greatly assisted the security services of the State of Israel, whose children serve in the security forces, and who made an error in judgment in the context of his business,” Besserglick says, adding that his client has “cooperated, and continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.”
The unnamed Israeli civilian was arrested last month over the alleged plot to kill Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
The suspect, identified in media reports as a 73-year-old resident of Ashkelon, was indicted today.
The Shin Bet and Police said in a joint statement that the suspect had been smuggled into Iran twice and received payment to carry out the missions.
Germany denies it put hold on new exports of war weapons to Israel
IDF troops carry out a drill in northern Israel, in a handout photo published September 18, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Germany’s federal government denies yesterday’s Reuters report that Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges.
“There is no approval stop for arms exports to Israel, and there will be no stop,” an Economy Ministry spokesman tells the German Press Agency.
“There is no German arms export boycott of any kind to Israel,” another government spokesman tells the agency.
“The Federal Government decides on the granting of licenses for arms exports in individual cases and in the light of the respective situation after careful examination, taking into account foreign and security policy considerations in accordance with the legal and political requirements,” says the Economy Ministry.
“In this individual case analysis, the current situation is always taken into account, including the attacks on Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the course of the operation in Gaza.”
Reuters reported yesterday that a hold had been put on the exports, basing the claim on an analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry.
Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5 million), including military equipment and war weapons, a tenfold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licenses.
However, approvals have dropped this year, with only 14.5 million euros’ ($16.1 million) worth granted from January to August 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question. Of this, the “weapons of war” category accounted for only 32,449 euros.
France calls for Israel to exercise maximum restraint in north, Hezbollah to stop attacks
An IDF tank seen on top of a truck in traffic, on their way to the northern border with Lebanon, September 18, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
France calls for calm between Israel and Hezbollah, as Israeli leaders appear to suggest that a significant escalation in the country’s fight against the Iran-backed terror group is in the works.
“France is aware of the recent statements by the Israeli authorities regarding military operations in Lebanon, and calls on them to exercise maximum restraint,” says the French Foreign Ministry, responding to statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF chief Herzi Halevi and other officials yesterday.
“It reiterates its demand from Hezbollah to immediately stop its attacks on Israeli territory. France believes that maintaining peace and security in Lebanon requires all Lebanese parties to prioritize the national interest and avoid involvement in the open conflicts in the region,” continues the statement.
Gallant said yesterday that “the center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north.” In a very brief video statement Netanyahu stated: “I’ve already said we will return [the displaced] residents of the north safely to their homes, and that is exactly what we will do.”
Report: Israel proposes deal in which all hostages freed at once, end to fighting in Gaza, safe passage for Sinwar
Protesters call for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, September 19, 2024 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Israel has proposed a framework for a deal with Hamas that would see all the hostages released at once and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, along with safe passage out of the enclave for Yahya Sinwar and his associates, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
The proposed plan would see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given.
According to the report, Gal Hirsch, the government point man on the hostages, told the families of hostages that the proposal was presented last week in a meeting with US officials from the White House and State Department.
Sources who met with Hirsch say the proposal is called the “safe passage deal.”
An unnamed Israeli official tells Kan that the plan has been proposed as a “Plan B.”
“In light of the difficulties in the negotiations and the ticking clock on the lives of the hostages, we would like to propose a secondary plan that would shorten the stages, and allow for a faster deal,” the official says. “This will happen if Sinwar leaves [Gaza] and brings about an end to the war. This will allow us to to meet the goals of the war, and for the leadership of Hamas in Gaza to leave to a safe place.”
It is not the first time a proposal has been touted that would see all the hostages released in one go in return for the end of the war, sparked by Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack.
Hezbollah announces deaths of 13 more members in walkie-talkie blasts, IDF strikes
Overnight, Hezbollah announced the deaths of 13 more members, bringing its toll yesterday in the walkie-talkie explosions and IDF strikes in southern Lebanon to 20.
Since October, Hezbollah has named 473 members killed by Israel amid the ongoing fighting.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 20 people were killed yesterday after walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah named 12 members it said were killed by Israel — some who were killed after pagers used by the terror group exploded, and others in strikes in southern Lebanon.
In all, Hezbollah has admitted to the deaths of 32 members in the past two days.
At least 8 wounded in earlier anti-tank guided missile attack from Lebanon
Israeli soldiers evacuate the injured after an anti-tank guided missile attack from Lebanon toward northern Israel, September 19, 2024 (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
At least eight people are wounded in an anti-tank guided missile attack on the Lebanon border earlier today, according to hospital officials.
Rambam Hospital in Haifa and Ziv Hospital in Safed say the medical centers have admitted eight people, including two in moderate-to-serious condition. The rest are lightly hurt, according to the hospitals.
The Hezbollah attack from Lebanon struck the Ramim Ridge area. The terror group claims to have targeted an IDF position.
Israeli recruited by Iran in plot to assassinate PM, defense minister or Shin Bet head, authorities say
An Israeli civilian was arrested last month for allegedly being recruited by Iran to assassinate Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet.
The Shin Bet and Police say in a joint statement that the suspect was smuggled into Iran twice and received payment to carry out the missions.
The suspect, who was not named, was indicted today.
According to the Shin Bet and police investigation, the Jewish Israeli civilian was a businessman who lived for lengthy periods in Turkey, where he had business and social relations with Turkish and Iranian nationals.
In April 2024, the suspect agreed, through the mediation of two Turkish people, Andrey Farouk Aslan and Junayd Aslan, to meet with a rich businessman living in Iran named Eddy, to advance business activity, the Shin Bet says.
The suspect traveled to the Turkish city of Samandag, close to Syria, and met with two representatives sent by the Iranian businessman, according to the Shin Bet. In Samandag, the Israeli suspect and the Iranian held a phone call, after the latter was unable to leave Iran.
In May 2024, the Shin Bet says that the suspect traveled to Turkey to meet with Andrey, Junayd, and Eddy’s two representatives.
After the Iranian businessman was apparently again unable to leave Iran and travel to Turkey, the Israeli man was smuggled into Iran via a land crossing near the eastern Turkish city of Van, the security agency says.
Inside Iran, the Israeli man met with Eddy and another person called Khwaja, who presented himself as a member of Iran’s security forces. The Israeli suspect also presented himself as an Israeli citizen during a meeting at Eddy’s house in Iran, according to the investigation.
During that meeting, Eddy suggested to the Israeli suspect that they carry out various missions in Israel for the Iranian regime, including sending money or a handgun to specified locations, taking photos of crowded public areas, and threatening Israeli civilians who are also operating on behalf of Iran and did not carry out their missions, the Shin Bet found.
The Israeli suspect said he would look into it, and in August 2024, returned to Iran. He was smuggled into Iran via a land crossing, hidden inside a truck, according to the investigation.
The security agency says that at Eddy’s house, the Israeli man met with Iranian intelligence officials, who asked him to “advance assassination attacks” on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, or Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.
The Iranian intelligence officials also looked into the possibility of assassinating other senior officials, including former prime minister Naftali Bennett, according to the investigation.
The Shin Bet says the assassination plans were seen by the Iranian officials as revenge for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which has been attributed to Israel.
According to the investigation, the Israeli man asked for $1 million upfront before carrying out any of the tasks.
The following day, the Israeli suspect met again with the Iranian intelligence officials, where they again discussed the assassination plans of senior Israeli officials, the Shin Bet says.
During that meeting, according to the investigation, it was also suggested that the Israeli man place money at various locations in Israel for others who are being operated by Iran. Other plans suggested in the meeting were for the Israeli man to locate Russian or Americans and task them with assassinating Iranian dissidents in Europe and the US, and to recruit a Mossad member as a double agent.
Also in this meeting, the Israeli man demanded a million dollars in advance, but the Iranian intelligence agents denied his request and said they would contact him in the future, the Shin Bet says.
According to the investigation, before leaving Iran for the second time, the Israeli man was given 5,000 euros by one of the Iranian intelligence agents for participating in the meetings.
Oct. 7 ceremony organizers say all 40,000 tickets claimed in 8 hours, hope police will allow them to release more
Organizers of an October 7 ceremony say that all 40,000 tickets were reserved by members of the public within eight hours of them being released.
While the ceremony is free, police said it needed to be a ticketed event to prevent overcrowding.
Ceremony organizer Yonatan Shamriz tells Channel 12 that they hope authorities will allow them to increase capacity for the event at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park.
Shamriz, whose brother Alon was mistakenly killed by IDF troops in Gaza along with two other hostages Yotam Haim and Samar Talalka, says that while the ceremony will be sad, emotional and respectful, “we want people to leave with hope.”
Shamriz emphasizes that the ceremony is a grassroots initiative and will feature people from across the religious and political spectrum.
Speeches will be made by bereaved families, former hostages, and residents of border towns. There will also be films shown and top Israeli artists will perform.
The alternative October 7 memorial ceremony is being held in addition to the state one, which has been largely boycotted by the families of hostages and residents of the Gaza border communities.
Families of hostages and other victims of October 7 have fumed at the government’s decision to charge Transportation Minister Miri Regev with organizing the state event. Regev dismissed the criticism as “noise.”
IDF: Jets hit Hezbollah targets in overnight south Lebanon strikes
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Chihine, Taybeh, Blida, Mays al-Jabal Aitaroun, and Kafr Kila, the IDF says.
A Hezbollah weapons depot was also struck by a drone in Khiam, the military adds.
The IDF releases footage of the strikes.
במהלך הלילה, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים שיחין, א-טייבה, בליידא, מיס אל ג'בל, עיתרון וכפר כילא שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/wz1P9veyfi
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 19, 2024
Meanwhile, the IDF is returning fire after an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon hit the Ramim Ridge area.
Reports: A number of people injured in anti-tank missile attack on north
A number of people were wounded in an anti-tank missile attack on an area close to Manara in the Upper Galilee, Hebrew-language media reports say.
The injured were reportedly treated on the scene before being taken to a hospital.
At least two anti-tank missiles were fired from south Lebanon.
Israeli intel officers used front companies to hide link to pager company, began shipping devices in 2022 – NYT
This shows a sing featuring the names of several companies on the door of a house where a Hungarian company that allegedly manufactured pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an attack blamed on Israel, is headquartered in Budapest, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
BAC Consulting, which reportedly manufactured and supplied thousands of pagers that exploded in an attack on Hezbollah members on Tuesday, is an Israeli front company, the New York Times reports.
Three intelligence officers briefed on the operation tell the newspaper that at least two other shell companies were created to obscure the fact that the manufacturers of the pagers were Israeli intelligence officers. Some earlier reports have suggested that Israel could have tampered with pagers that had already been manufactured.
According to the NYT report, the pagers began to be shipped to Lebanon in 2022, but supply was increased when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denounced the use of cellphones as operationally unsafe.
Thousands were distributed to officers in the terror group, as well as their allies, the Times reports.
While Israel has not admitted that it was behind the attack in which at least 12 were killed and hundreds injured when the small explosive charges stashed inside the pagers were triggered, 12 current and former defense and intelligence officials who were briefed on the attack tell the New York Times that Israel was responsible.
A day later, walkie-talkies used by the terror group’s members also exploded, in an apparent second wave of the attack.
This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was detonated inside a house in an attack on Hezbollah members widely blamed on Israel, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
2 anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon hit Upper Galilee area – reports
Two anti-tank guided missiles launched from Lebanon struck an area in the Upper Galilee, Hebrew-language media reports.
According to reports, Israeli troops responded with fire toward the launch site.
Nasrallah championed use of pagers for Hezbollah members amid hacking fears – NYT
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks in a remote address on August 6, 2024. (Screen capture; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had for years championed the terror group using pagers to communicate rather than phones, the New York Times reports.
The report says US intelligence estimated that Nasrallah believed it was a safer form of communication as pagers do not reveal the user’s location.
The terror chief was additionally concerned by messages received from unnamed allies that Israel had improved its capabilities to hack into phones, US intelligence officials tell the newspaper.
Nasrallah therefore banned cellphones from Hezbollah meetings, and ordered that the terror group’s plans never be communicated via phone, including encrypted messaging apps, the report says.
Nasrallah is expected to give a speech at 5 p.m.
Japanese firm says devices reportedly in Hezbollah blasts ‘discontinued about 10 years ago’
This photo shows a general view of the offices of Japanese walkie-talkie maker Icom in the city of Osaka on September 19, 2024 (Atish PATEL / AFP)
Japanese firm Icom says that it had stopped producing the model of radios reportedly used in recent blasts in Lebanon around 10 years ago.
“The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” Icom says in a statement.
Icom also notes that the devices in question appeared not to have an anti-counterfeit hologram sticker, which all authentic Icom products should be carrying.
Company executive Yoshiki Enomoto tells Japanese television NTV he was “surprised” by the news. He says the company could not confirm if the unit in question was Icom-made.
“This specific device had a lot of fake copies out in the market,” he says, adding that company officials could only determine its authenticity if they see its circuits.
A fresh wave of explosions ripped across Lebanon yesterday afternoon, appearing to mainly target hand-held radios used by Hezbollah members, a day after thousands were wounded when their pagers spontaneously exploded in a coordinated attack widely blamed on Israel after months of cross-border fire.
This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was detonated inside a house in an attack on Hezbollah members widely blamed on Israel, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
Japanese radio maker probing walkie-talkies with its logo that exploded in Lebanon
A man holds a walkie-talkie device with the logo of Japanese firm Icom, after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when pagers distributed to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in an attack blamed on Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP)
TOKYO — Japanese radio equipment maker Icom says that it’s investigating the facts regarding news reports that two-way radio devices bearing its logo have exploded in Lebanon.
Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon’s south, after similar explosions of the group’s pagers the day before. Images of the exploded walkie-talkies showed labels with “ICOM” and “made in Japan.”
Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Icom says in a statement that it will release updated information on the matter as it becomes available on its website.
US says Austin spoke with Gallant, stressed support for Israel amid Iranian and Hezbollah threats
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, left, listen to the playing of the Israeli National Anthem during an arrival ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The Pentagon says US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant “to review regional security developments and reiterate unwavering US support for Israel in the face of threats from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iran’s other regional partners.”
“The secretary emphasized the US commitment to deterring regional adversaries and efforts to deescalate tensions across the region,” adds the readout on the call, which was held after the mass explosion of Hezbollah mobile devices in Lebanon for the second time in as many days.
The statement says Austin also “reaffirmed the priority of achieving a Gaza ceasefire deal that will bring home hostages held by Hamas, and an enduring diplomatic resolution to the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that will allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes.”
Netanyahu hits out at UK’s Starmer in interview with British newspaper
Britain's Prime Minster Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to go to the House of Commons for his weekly Prime Minister's Questions in London, Wednesday, September 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hits out at his British counterpart Keir Starmer, telling the Daily Mail newspaper that his “misguided” government was “sending a horrible message” to Hamas with the recent decision to suspend dozens of arm export licenses to Israel.
“After the October 7 Hamas massacre, the previous British government was clear in its support,” says Netanyahu, referring to then-premier Rishi Sunak’s Tory government. “Unfortunately, the current government is sending mixed messages.”
Netanyahu adds: “They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but they undermine our ability to exercise that right both by reversing Britain’s position on the absurd allegations made by the ICC prosecutor against Israel and by blocking weapons sales to Israel as we fight against the genocidal terrorist organization that carried out the October 7 massacre.”
Thousands of Israelis receive false text messages telling them to enter bomb shelters
Israeli authorities are looking into whether “emergency warning” text messages instructing thousands of Israelis to immediately enter their bomb shelters were sent by Iranian-linked actors, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
The IDF meanwhile clarifies that it didn’t send out the messages, which misspell the Hebrew term for a safe room and include a suspicious hyperlink.
US says Iran tried to influence election by sending material from Trump campaign to Biden’s camp
Iranian cyber actors sent messages during the summer to people involved in US President Joe Biden’s then re-election campaign containing non-public material from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign as part of efforts to influence the November 5 election, US agencies says.
“Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to US media organizations,” the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence say in a joint statement.
Iran denies interfering in US elections. Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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