Sep. 8: Murdered hostages had trouble breathing in tunnel, got little food, IDF said to find

According to Syria’s Sham FM radio, alleged Israeli airstrikes tonight targeted the Masyaf area, west of Hama.

The station says there is no immediate information on the extent of the damage.

The area around Masyaf, which is thought to be used as a base for Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks widely attributed to Israel.

11:44 pm

IDF: Rocket sirens in northern border village of Fassuta were false alarms

The IDF says rocket sirens that sounded a short while ago in the northern border village of Fassuta were false alarms.

11:43 pm

Syrian media: Air defenses engaging alleged Israeli airstrike over Hama, blasts heard across central Syria

Syrian media report that air defenses are engaging an alleged Israeli airstrike over the Hama area.

The pro-government Sham FM radio reports that blasts are heard across central Syria.

11:42 pm

Netanyahu says ministers must clear Temple Mount visits with him, reiterates no change to status quo

At the beginning of this evening’s security cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells ministers that there will be no change in the status quo regarding Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Israel has for decades agreed to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount, whereby Jews are allowed to visit under police guard, but not pray. But the number of Jewish visitors has ballooned over the past few years and authorities have quietly allowed Jewish prayers.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has publicized his visits to the Temple Mount multiple times this year alone, has said repeatedly in recent weeks and months that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer, and has been repeatedly contradicted by Netanyahu, who insists that the decades-old status quo remains in force.

But recent reports have indicated that the police are currently enabling a “de facto change” to the status quo by allowing Jewish prayer, including prostration, at the flashpoint holy site.

Jewish worshipers are seen prostrating themselves while praying at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, August 13, 2024. (Video screenshot)

Israel’s security chiefs have reportedly warned the political leadership that Palestinian anger over overt Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount threatens to trigger a major escalation of violence against Israel in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

“The prime minister repeated his directive that the ministers will not go up to the Temple Mount without his prior approval via his military secretary,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office reads.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, during Tisha B’Av, August 13, 2024. (Screenshot/Otzma Yehudit)

11:25 pm

Rocket sirens sounding in Christian Arab village near Lebanon border

Sirens are sounding again on the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Following a series of attacks on northern communities from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group throughout the day, the alerts are now sounding in Fassuta, a small Christian Arab village less than four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the border.

Rocket Alert [23:19:07] (1):

• Confrontation Line — Fassuta
Population: 3,200 pic.twitter.com/y4a0FK0BVP

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 8, 2024

11:24 pm

Gallant meets visiting CENTCOM chief Kurilla on Middle East situation, cooperation

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met today with CENTCOM chief Gen. Michael Kurilla who is again visiting Israel.

Gallant on X says they discussed “the operational and strategic situation in the region” and “reflected on ways to further strengthen interoperability to achieve our common objectives.”

Discussed the operational and strategic situation in the region with @CENTCOM Commander General Kurilla, and reflected on ways to further strengthen interoperability to achieve our common objectives. Israeli and American troops work closely together to deter common threats posed… pic.twitter.com/xQGJkmameA

— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) September 8, 2024

11:13 pm

Fireworks in Amman as thousands celebrate Allenby Bridge Crossing terror shooting

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Thousands of people are celebrating on the streets of Amman, after a Jordanian truck driver killed three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank this morning, claiming the gunman had avenged the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in the war in Gaza.

Videos posted to social media show fireworks being set off during the demonstration.

People wave Jordanian flags, and there are reports of Israeli flags being burned at the event.

Jordan has said it is investigating this morning’s terror attack, but has not yet condemned the shooting.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and have close security ties. Dozens of trucks cross daily from Jordan, with goods from Jordan and the Gulf that supply both the West Bank and Israeli markets.

Today a Jordanian 🇯🇴 truck driver murdered three Israelis in the Jordan-Israel border crossing.

These are the celebration of the murder in Amman, capital of Jordan 👇

There is already a Palestinian state. It's called Jordan.
pic.twitter.com/AXY8zZ2nNb

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) September 8, 2024

10:58 pm

Videos on social media show armed Palestinians posing in Jenin, just days after IDF wraps up raid

A group of Palestinians poses with weapons at a mourning tent for Islamic Jihad operatives in Jenin, just days after the IDF withdrew from the West Bank city after a 10-day counterterrorism operation.

Videos circulating on social media show dozens of armed men at the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group event, some with face masks, with posts reading “Glory to the resistance.”

The IDF said earlier this week that 14 Palestinian gunmen in Jenin were killed during the West Bank raid, among them the commander of Hamas in the city, while more than 30 wanted Palestinians were detained.

Israel has long said the camp is a hotbed of terror activity, and has moved in to make arrests and dismantle terror infrastructure from time to time.

ימים בודדים אחרי שצה"ל יצא מג'נין: מפגן כוח של הג'יהאד האסלאמי בסוכת האבלים של פעילי ארגון הטרור שנהרגו במבצע@OmerShahar123 pic.twitter.com/dQr0HzLHq1

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 8, 2024

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

10:21 pm

Rocket sirens sound again in northern town near border with Lebanon

Sirens are sounding in the northern community of Misgav Am, near the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alerts follow a series of attacks throughout the day from the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, during border skirmishes ongoing since October 8.

Rocket Alert [22:10:36] (1):

• Confrontation Line — Misgav Am
Population: 673 pic.twitter.com/3U0M7yDiFB

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 8, 2024

10:19 pm

Katz threatens to ‘break and dissolve’ the PA if it proceeds with aggressive measures against Israel in the UN

Foreign Minister Israel Katz waits for the arrival of his British counterpart, David Lammy, and his French counterpart, Stephane Sejourne, at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, August 16, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatens to “break and dissolve” the Palestinian Authority if it moves forward with aggressive measures against the State of Israel in the United Nations, his office tells The Times of Israel, after the PA submitted a draft resolution to the General Assembly demanding that Israel be forced to implement the decisions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Last week, he led a discussion on Israel’s response to the PA’s intention to push for the vote next week, the Foreign Ministry tells The Times of Israel.

The resolution calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories within six months, ending the settlement enterprise and “the return of Palestinians to their land,” enforced sanctions on senior Israeli officials, and blocking weapons sales to Israel if they might be used in Palestinian areas.

Katz orders a set of moves to be coordinated with the US and other Israeli allies to oppose the decision, the Foreign Ministry says. He also instructs the ministry to prepare a set of responses against the PA that will be calibrated to match the severity of the final resolution.

He tells Israeli diplomats, including UN Ambassador Danny Danon, to emphasize to US, European, and UN officials that if the Palestinian proposal passes, Israel will impose “severe sanctions” against the PA, which could include suspending all communication.

“If the Palestinian Authority acts against Israel in complete contradiction to the commitments it undertook in the interim arrangements that were signed, Israel will act in the same way and stop all cooperation with the PA and bring about its dissolution,” warns Katz.

10:15 pm

French celebrities, far-left lawmakers join mass anti-Israel protest in central Paris

French actress Manon Azem (C) holds a Palestinian flag at an anti-Israel rally at Place de la Nation, in Paris, on September 8, 2024. (Thomas Samson/ AFP)

Thousands of people attend an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian rally at Place de la Nation, in Paris, including lawmakers from the far-left New Popular Front (NFP) party.

French far-left leaders Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Jean-Francois Coulomme are among the attendees.

Installations at the protest accuse Israel and the US of killing babies and targeting journalists and aid workers as part of the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, while protesters in keffiyeh scarves wave Palestinian flags.

Israel denies targeting journalists and says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians, blaming the death toll in Gaza on the fact that Hamas fights in densely populated urban areas and embeds itself deliberately among civilians who are used as human shields.

Flags of the far-left New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) are also prevalent at the event.

Clothes bearing targets and fake blood are hung during a rally to support Palestinians and to demand for a cease fire at Place de la Nation, in Paris, France, on September 8, 2024. (Thomas Samson/AFP)

Several protesters are arrested as violent scuffles break out with police, according to posts and videos shared on social media.

The protest reportedly erupted after an anti-government protest against new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

At a counter-protest at nearby Place Colette, meanwhile, pro-Israel demonstrators hold signs with photos of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7.

Manifestation de soutien à Israel
Place Colette devant la comédie française à Paris
🙌🙌
Enfin du réconfort…
Depuis TLV 🇮🇱 🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/VRdSS5S3N0

— Cathy AscMuf (@CathyAscen) September 8, 2024

10:10 pm

Prospects of a phased deal based on Israel’s May proposal ‘close to zero’ – report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) holds a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, July 13, 2024 (Dudu Bachar/POOL/Flash90); Hamas's leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar attends a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in Gaza City, April 14, 2023. (Mohammed Abed / AFP)

The chances of a phased hostage-ceasefire agreement being achieved on the basis of Israel’s May proposal are “close to zero,” Channel 12 reports, citing unnamed sources in the Israeli security establishment.

It says there is “very broad pessimism” among the Israeli negotiators.

The US, which had indicated it was planning to present a new bridging proposal in the next two or three days, is now regarded as unlikely to do so, it adds.

The report cites immense frustration among Israel’s negotiators who, it says, had believed it was possible to at least reach an agreement between Israel and the mediators that would then be conveyed to Hamas.

But, says the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Hebrew press conference last Monday, at which he insisted repeatedly on maintaining IDF control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border — a stance that was not specified in the Netanyahu-approved May proposal — “buried” the chances of such an agreement. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar then hardened his positions, the report says.

The prospects of progress were further dented when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an interview last night that Philadelphi was not his only “red line,” and that he also opposed an IDF withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor and the release of Palestinian security prisoners serving terms for murder. Essentially, says the report, the position set out by Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party that is a crucial element in Netanyahu’s coalition, “wiped out” Israel’s May proposal.

Channel 12 quotes a source familiar with the negotiations saying: “It appears that the current proposal will not come to fruition at this time. There is no prospect of a phased deal.”

The report elaborates that it will thus not be possible to soon free the approximately 30 living hostages who were to be freed in the first phase — so-called “humanitarian” hostages including children, female soldiers, women, the elderly and the sick.

It quotes sources in the defense establishment calling the current situation “fateful,” too, as regards the north, in that the absence of a deal could also mean an escalation in hostilities with Hezbollah, which some had assessed might agree to halt its attacks if an Israel-Hamas deal was reached.

Channel 12 adds that families of hostages with dual Israeli-American citizenship are also hearing that the Biden Administration is less optimistic than it was a week ago, when they were told it was working hard and fast on a new proposal.

That effort is ongoing, but the US mediators do not want to present a new proposal unless or until they see signs of potential progress. For now, they are urging fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt to see “what Hamas’s limits are,” the report says.

9:20 pm

IDF: At least 2 rockets launched at Asheklon from Gaza; one intercepted, one lands in sea

At least two rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern coastal city of Ashkelon a short while ago.

One was intercepted by air defenses, while the second landed in the sea, according to initial IDF assessments.

9:20 pm

Security cabinet meets in Tel Aviv as anti-government activists protest outside IDF headquarters

The security cabinet is meeting in Tel Aviv, as anti-government activists and relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Tel Aviv protest outside the IDF’s Kirya headquarters.

The meeting comes amid reports of skepticism in progress in talks to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal and after an attack this morning in which a Jordanian killed three Israelis at the Allenby Crossing at the Israel-Jordan border.

The protesters are demanding that the cabinet work to “secure a deal to bring back all hostages – the living for rehabilitation, and the murdered and fallen for proper burial.”

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Protesters gather on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street near the IDF headquarters to call for a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, September 8, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Danor Aharon)

9:09 pm

Murdered hostages had trouble breathing in tunnel, struggled with their killers, IDF probe said to find

This combination of six undated photos shows hostages, from top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi; from bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)

Several of the six Israeli hostages who were executed by their Hamas captors in Gaza some 10 days ago attempted to fight off their killers, their families have reportedly been told by the IDF.

Channel 12 News reports that IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari has briefed some of the families of the six — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat — on the conditions in which they were held and the circumstances of their murders.

Hagari, who reportedly met with the families over the past day or so, shared what are reported to be the initial findings of the IDF’s investigation into the incident, detailing the harsh conditions in which the six were held, and showing the families evidence from inside the tunnel where they were killed.

The IDF believes they were murdered about 10 days ago — a day or so before the IDF got to the tunnel, the report says.

“Several of the six are assessed to have defended themselves and struggled with those who shot them,” it adds.

Channel 13 cites “forensic” findings that show “Hersh, Ori, Alex and Almog defended Eden and Carmel.”

The six were held in a small and very narrow tunnel, barely two-people wide and too low for them to stand fully upright, the Channel 12 report says.

There were no air vents, and the hostages had difficulty breathing, the families were reportedly told.

There were no toilets or showers in the tunnel. The hostages washed with water from the bottles they drank from.

Protein bars were found in the tunnel but the hostages had very little food — and lost weight to the point where Yerushalmi weighed just 36 kilos (80 pounds).

There was a generator and a small torch that didn’t always work, a chess set, writing implements and notepads. The IDF has given the notepads to the respective families, the Channel 12 report says.

Members of one family, who were not named, told Channel 12 that the hostages “did everything to survive in impossible circumstances… and in the end Hamas murdered them… Their only demand was that the government save them, and the government failed in its mission.”

The bodies of the six were recovered by the IDF overnight August 31-September 1. An initial autopsy on September 1 found they had been shot multiple times at close range two to three days earlier. Last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that their Hamas murderers shot them dead “in cold blood. They riddled them with bullets… They shot them in the back of the head.”

9:06 pm

Rocket alert sirens sounding in southern city of Ashkelon during attack from Gaza

Rocket sirens sound in Ashkelon’s southern industrial zone during an attack from the Gaza Strip.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

It is the first time that sirens sound in the area in nearly a month.

צבע אדום (08/09/2024 21:01): אזור תעשייה הדרומי אשקלון pic.twitter.com/6tMcr4PN2i

— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) September 8, 2024

8:58 pm

Rally in Tel Aviv marks 10 years since Israeli Avera Mengistu was taken captive by Hamas in Gaza

Relatives of Avera Mengistu mark 10 years since he was kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza, at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, September 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Hostages Families Forum in Tel Aviv pays tribute to Avera Mengistu, who was taken captive by Hamas 10 years ago, when he crossed into Gaza.

“Ten years have now passed since Avera Mengistu was taken captive by Hamas. That’s 10 years, 3,650 days, and 3,650 nights. His family has not stopped appealing to the government, world leaders, and humanitarian organizations to do everything possible to secure his release from his cruel captors,” the Hostages Forum says in a statement.

כיכר החטופים.
10 שנים ויום שאברה שבוי בידי החמאס.#עד_מתי_אברה_מנגיסטו ????? pic.twitter.com/vEYB88FQPj

— Amit Gal – עמית גל – أميت غال🎗 (@GalAmit) September 8, 2024

Mengistu’s parents and brother take part in the event at the so-called Hostages Square, along with Tzur Goldin, the sister of Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014, and Sha’ban al-Sayed, whose son Hisham al-Sayed is also held by the terror group.

Both al-Sayed and Mengistu have a history of mental illness. The two Israeli citizens crossed the Gaza boundary voluntarily between 2014 and 2015 and have since been held prisoner by Hamas.

8:25 pm

Israel’s crossings with Jordan to reopen tomorrow after deadly terror attack at Allenby terminal today

Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a deadly terror attack near the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)

Israel’s crossings with Jordan will open for pedestrians tomorrow after they were closed this morning following a deadly terror attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, authorities say.

The Israel Airports Authority — responsible for the land terminals — says that the Rabin Crossing near Eilat and Jordan River Crossing near Beit Shean will open tomorrow morning for passenger transit only, and not cargo.

Allenby Bridge Crossing, near Jericho in the West Bank, will open at 10 a.m., also only for passenger transit, IAA says.

8:08 pm

IDF: Several drones launched from Lebanon; some shot down, others impacted northern Golan

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

The IDF says some of the drones were shot down by air defenses, and others impacted in the northern Golan Heights.

There are no injuries in the attack.

Sirens sounded in several communities during the attack.

7:52 pm

Report: Top Israeli negotiator told hostages’ families Gaza deal is unlikely anytime soon

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7 say they were told by a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team that a hostage-ceasefire deal is unlikely in the near future, Channel 12 News reports.

“At the moment, it looks like a deal isn’t going to happen. Not even the first phase. The only way forward is to end the war,” the negotiator reportedly told the families.

“Keep acting to get the public behind bringing about an end to the war,” the source adds.

The report comes as a group of hostage families and supporters are protesting on Tel Aviv’s Begin Street outside IDF headquarters, after hundreds of thousands of people attended a mass rally there last night, calling on the government to secure a hostage-ceasefire deal.

שער בגין עכשיו pic.twitter.com/Dw5xLRuaiF

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) September 8, 2024

7:49 pm

Progress made in high school teachers’ strike negotiations; talks continuing — report

By Gavriel Fiske

Education Minister Yoav Kisch speaks at ministry in Jerusalem, in preparation for the start of the school year, August 31, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Negotiations today between the high school teachers’ union and the education and finance ministries have shown some progress, according to a report in The Marker.

A tentative compromise has been reached regarding the issue of individual contracts for teachers, one of the major sticking points in the negotiations, but must still be reviewed further, according to the report.

The negotiations between the parties are expected to continue into the night, a spokesperson for Education Minister Yoav Kisch tells The Times of Israel.

The open-ended high school teachers’ strike began on September 1, the first day of the new school year, and entered its second week today. Since the strike began, each day, union head Ran Erez has sent a notification that the action would continue for another day.

There are some 514,000 high-school students (10-12th grades) in Israel, according to Education Ministry data. Some Jewish religious schools, including yeshivas associated with the Bnei Akiva movement and some boarding schools, have reportedly opened for activities without the striking teachers.

On Wednesday, Erez, who has been head of the Secondary Schools Teachers Association for decades, admitted in a Ynet interview that the strike could continue until after the October Jewish holiday season. His remarks were widely dispersed on Hebrew news and social media sites.

In anticipation of a lengthy strike, last week, Kisch said that the ministry would work with local authorities and youth groups to open “alternative frameworks” to hold non-academic activities for high school students.

That plan has been approved, and various centers around the country are expected to open later in the week if the strike continues, Kisch’s office tells The Times of Israel.

According to a notice from “Teachers Bring Change,” a teachers’ organization that has mobilized against the strike, “hundreds of teachers” returned to work today, in defiance of the union, enabling “thousands of students” to return to school.

The union and the education and finance ministries have been in deadlocked negotiations for weeks. The main sticking point is the government’s push to allow individual contracts for teachers, which they say will allow for more hiring flexibility and provide wages based on results or ability, instead of seniority.

The union has remained steadfast against this move, saying that individual agreements will make teachers into “contract workers” without the benefits or job security that teachers enjoy, allow for the hiring of unqualified teachers, and lead to lower wages, increased staff turnover and reduced quality of education.

The instructors are also demanding retroactive wage increases and other bonuses that were agreed upon before the last school year began, but which were deferred due to Hamas’s October 7 attack and the outbreak of war.

According to reports, the Education Ministry has offered to provide at least some of the wage increases and bonuses the teachers are seeking.

7:46 pm

Report: Biden doesn’t want to reward Hamas with more concessions after hostage executions

US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside of St. Edmond's Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after attending a mass, August 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

US President Joe Biden is hesitant to reward Hamas with further concessions in a potential hostage-ceasefire deal after the terror group murdered six Israel hostages in Gaza late last month, the Walla news site reports, citing American officials.

According to the report by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, the White House has recently been reassessing its strategy for ongoing negotiations to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and a deal for the release of the remaining hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.

The report comes after CIA Director Bill Burns said last week that a new hostage-ceasefire proposal was being finalized and would likely be presented within days, and an Israeli official told The Times of Israel yesterday that it was “absolutely possible” that Israel would soon receive a new US proposal.

But the senior US officials quoted by Walla claim the move is not likely to happen immediately.

Some of Biden’s senior advisers are debating whether there is any point in presenting a new proposal when the gaps between Hamas and Israel appear to be growing, according to US officials quoted in the report.

The officials cite the executions of six Israeli hostages — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27 — and Hamas’s reported demand that terrorists serving life sentences be released for civilian hostages in the first stage of a deal as the reasons for the American skepticism that the negotiations are likely to bear fruit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s press conferences last week, in which he reiterated his demand to maintain full Israeli control along the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border, also stirred frustration in the White House, according to the report.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

7:07 pm

Drone alert sirens sounding in several northern communities near Lebanon border

Sirens are blaring in several northern towns near the border with Lebanon, warning of a drone infiltration.

The alerts are sounding in towns and cities including Kibbutz Dan, Kiryat Shmona, HaGoshrim, Ma’ayan Baruch, Shear Yeshuv, Amir, Beit Hillel, Tel Hai, Sdeh Nechemia, Snir, Kfar Blum, Kfar Yuval and Dafna.

🚨 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion, Rocket Alert [18:57:04] (15):

• Confrontation Line — Kibutz Dan (×2), Kiryat Shmona, HaGoshrim, Ma'ayan Baruch, Shear Yeshuv, Amir, Beit Hillel, Tel Hai, Sdeh Nechemia, Snir (×2), Kfar Blum, Kfar Yuval, Dafna
Population: 34,000 pic.twitter.com/9Qgtr8BypK

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 8, 2024

7:05 pm

Report: Ben Gvir’s security secretary told police not to use force against far-right rioters at IDF base in July

Israeli soldiers and police clash with far-right protesters who broke into the Beit Lid army base over the detention for questioning of military reservists suspected of abusing Palestinian terrorist detainees, in Kfar Yona, July 29, 2024. (Photo by Oren Ziv / AFP)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s security secretary reportedly instructed police to refrain from using force against far-right rioters after they broke into the IDF’s Beit Lid base in late July, telling senior officers to “be sensitive.”

“You can’t say he gave an order not to arrest anyone, but that was the spirit of things,” the Haaretz daily quotes security officials as saying regarding Brig. Gen. Moshe Pinchi.

According to the report, the army was forced to divert hundreds of troops to protect the Sde Teiman and Beit Lid bases after they were stormed by demonstrators — including Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu and MKs Yitzhak Kroizer and Limor Son Har-Melech from Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party — to protest the arrest of servicemen accused of sodomizing a Palestinian security prisoner.

Far-right activists protest against the detention of nine Israeli reserve soldiers suspected of abusing a Hamas terror suspect, at the Sde Teiman military base near Beersheba, July 29, 2024. (Dudu Greenspan/Flash90)

“This didn’t affect core missions, but it does affect the overall system of securing the area when you remove these forces from the West Bank,” a security source tells Haaretz.

No arrests have been made yet and no suspects have been summoned for questioning in connection with the overrunning of the bases.

6:49 pm

Smotrich dismisses High Court ruling on selecting Supreme Court chief as ‘scandalous and aggressive’

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem on September 3, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismisses the High Court of Justice as irresponsible and disconnected and promises that the government will relaunch its frozen judicial overhaul in the wake of the court’s ruling ordering Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee.

Smotrich tweets that he was informed of the “disconnected, scandalous and aggressive” ruling after coming out of a discussion on the state budget with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that “this is exactly the difference between national responsibility and national irresponsibility.”

“While we are waging a war of existence on seven fronts, the court continues to trample democracy and the rule of law,” he continues, arguing that the justices are “unraveling the foundations of society.”

“We support Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who stands on behalf of all of us against the only body in the country that does not recognize the limits of power. The fixes to the legal system are essential for a Jewish and democratic Israel and we will return to them immediately after the war,” he says.

Levin has refused for months to hold a vote on a new court president owing to his desire to have the strongly conservative Yosef Elron appointed president, or alternatively, have one of two hardline conservative academics appointed to one of the two empty seats on the Supreme Court.

6:47 pm

IDF launches probe into documents from Gaza leaked to foreign press, says Sinwar ‘hostage strategy’ not new

Gaza's Hamas ruler Yahya Sinwar (C) addresses supporters during a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, in Gaza City, on April 14, 2023. (Mohammed ABED / AFP)

The IDF has launched an internal investigation after documents recovered from the Gaza Strip were recently leaked to foreign press in an apparent attempt to influence public opinion on the hostage negotiations.

Over the weekend, a report by the German newspaper Bild claimed that a Hamas document found on the computer of leader Yahya Sinwar showed the terror group’s tactics to pressure Israel and stall the hostage talks.

The document’s alleged contents, which claimed that Hamas is seeking to sow division in the Israeli public and that the terror group is not looking to reach a deal quickly, were nearly identical to points made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent interviews and press conferences.

The IDF says that the document cited by Bild was found in Gaza some five months ago, and was not written by Sinwar himself, but rather was a recommendation paper drawn up by a mid-level Hamas officer.

“The information in the document joins other identical documents that we had in the past; it did not constitute new information,” the IDF says.

The military says the leak “constitutes a serious offense and will be investigated.”

Separately, supposed documents found in Gaza cited by UK newspaper The Jewish Chronicle claimed that Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and other leaders from the terror group, along with some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and thence to Iran.

This claim too was similar to Netanyahu’s recent talking points regarding the hostage deal and the premier’s insistence on the IDF remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor.

However, unlike the document cited by Bild, in the case of the Jewish Chronicle the IDF is unaware of any such document actually existing.

6:29 pm

Qatar Red Crescent signs $4.5m deal with UNRWA to aid Gazans stuck in West Bank since October 7

By Agencies and ToI Staff

The Qatar Red Crescent and the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) sign an agreement with $4.5 million from a Qatari state development fund to aid more than 4,400 stranded Palestinian workers and patients from Gaza in the West Bank.

“[The] cash assistance will represent vital support for those displaced who have not been able to return to the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip last October,” a statement from Qatar’s state news agency says.

“Thousands of Palestine refugees from Gaza remain trapped in the West Bank, trapped in this crisis situation, stranded from their loved ones and livelihoods,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini adds.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

6:18 pm

Police said set to charge Tel Aviv woman with assaulting public servant for allegedly throwing wet sand at Ben Gvir

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir talks to beachgoers at Tel Aviv's Geula beach, September 6, 2024. (Screen capture: X/Josh Breiner, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A Tel Aviv woman who was arrested for allegedly assaulting National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir with wet sand will reportedly be charged tomorrow.

Noa Goldenberg, 27, is expected to be charged with assaulting a public servant, according to Hebrew media reports.

The hearing will take place tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, according to the suspect’s lawyer.

Goldenberg was arrested on Friday and held overnight at Neve Tirtza Women’s Prison in Ramle. She has acknowledged being at the beach during the minister’s visit but denied the allegations against her.

6:02 pm

Liberman rejects calls to revive judicial overhaul: ‘Now is not the time for Jewish wars’

MK Avigdor Liberman attends a hearing of the civil investigative committee on the October 7 massacre, in Tel Aviv, August 18, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

In an apparent response to ministers’ threat to revive the government’s judicial overhaul, Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman insists that the government must not allow itself to become distracted from the war.

“Now is not the time for Jewish wars,” he tweets, arguing that the government is currently obliged to do only two things: defeat Israel’s enemies and bring home the hostages.

Only after these two goals have been achieved should other issues be advanced, he argues, stating that while the judicial system does need changes, “the only reform that is necessary and has been delayed since the establishment of the state is the establishment of a constitution and the establishment of a constitutional court.”

5:58 pm

Palestinian UN delegation submits motion demanding Israel withdraw from West Bank, East Jerusalem

Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, at the UN headquarters in New York on March 25, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

The Palestinian UN delegation submits a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly that is expected to come up for a vote next week demanding that Israel implement the decisions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Israel’s UN mission says.

The draft also calls for no more embassies to Israel to be established in Jerusalem.

UN Ambassador Danny Danon says that if passed, the draft will be “a reward for terrorism and a message to the world that the barbaric massacre of children, the rape of women and the kidnapping of innocent civilians is a profitable move.”

“Let it be clear,” he says, “nothing will stop nor deter Israel in its mission to bring back all the hostages and defeat Hamas.”

5:35 pm

IDF: Suspected drone from Lebanon shot down over Malkia

A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over Malkia earlier today, the IDF says.

Separately, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon’s Rihan, the military adds.

5:31 pm

Sa’ar says High Court verdict that Levin must convene judicial panel ‘must be respected’

MK Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the conservative New Hope opposition party, calls on Justice Minister Yariv Levin to obey a court order to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and elect a new president for the Supreme Court.

He tweets that it’s a shame that it became necessary for the High Court of Justice to weigh in on the matter but “after a year in which the committee chaired by the justice minister refrained from doing so, there is no escaping it,” declaring “the verdict must be respected.”

Sa’ar, who has advocated for judicial reform but opposed the government’s overhaul as going too far, adds that tensions between the executive and judiciary are “against the national interest,” especially during a time of war.

5:31 pm

Karhi tells Levin to ignore High Court order on Judicial Selection Committee, says it’s ‘against the law’

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi speaks to journalists in Jerusalem, July 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi decries Israel’s “judicial dictatorship” and calls for noncompliance after the High Court of Justice orders Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and elect a new president for the Supreme Court.

“The law states that the authority rests with the justice minister. Any attempt to take away this authority from him by force is illegal and must be annulled,” he tweets.

“The honorable judges will want to break the law, let them do it themselves and not force law-abiding citizens to do it. After all, they can determine in a judgment who is the president of the Supreme Court, who is the president of the state and who is the prime minister,” he argues, insisting that “it is forbidden to cooperate” with the court.

“This is against the law! Stop the judicial dictatorship,” he adds.

5:27 pm

Ben Gvir urges restarting frozen judicial overhaul after High Court order on electing Supreme Court president

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a ceremony for the incoming police commissioner at the National Security Ministry in Jerusalem, August 25, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls for restarting the government’s frozen judicial overhaul after the High Court of Justice orders Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and select a new president for the Supreme Court.

Arguing that the unanimous decision constitutes “a serious conflict of interest” by the justices, Ben Gvir declares that the only conclusion that can be drawn from the ruling is that “there is an urgent need to restore the legal reform as soon as possible.”

5:23 pm

Four senior intelligence officers believed involved in Oct. 7 failures recently promoted – report

Gazans celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the broken Israel-Gaza border fence, east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP/Yousef Masoud)

Four senior intelligence officers who are believed to have been involved in the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught were recently promoted, Army Radio reports.

The four, lieutenant colonels, are heads of departments in the IDF Southern Command’s intelligence, and part of their roles was to provide an intelligence picture of Gaza.

Army Radio says that the head of the terrorism department in the Southern Command intelligence was promoted to be the intelligence officer of the West Bank division; the head of the digital department and the deputy to the head of the Southern Command intelligence was promoted to be a senior officer in a classified intelligence unit; the head of the targets department was promoted to head a unit in the Military Intelligence Directorate headquarters that handles terror funds; and the head of the so-called field department was promoted to a senior position in Unit 9900, the IDF’s visual intelligence unit.

The report comes days after it was revealed that the former commander of the Southern Command intelligence, who was removed from his role in March over an illicit relationship with a subordinate, was not fired from the military, but instead sent to be the IDF’s representative in the National Cyber Directorate.

The IDF responds to the report by saying that at the end of the investigations into the October 7 onslaught, “decisions will be made regarding the officers as needed.”

5:15 pm

Rothman backs Levin, says order for justice minister to convene panel on new Supreme Court chief not legal

File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with the architects of the proposed judicial overhaul, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and MK Simcha Rothman (standing) in the Knesset on February 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

MK Simcha Rothman, the chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and one of the architects of the government’s shelved judicial overhaul agenda, argues that the High Court of Justice is acting in violation of the law with its order to Justice Minister Yariv Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and select a new president for the Supreme Court.

In order “to make sure that the control of the process of appointing judges is in the hands of the public and its elected officials, the law stipulates that the control of the committee’s agenda is in the hands of the justice minister,” he tweets. “This is the legislative mandate and in a country of law, everyone must obey the law, including the court.”

5:09 pm

Gallant vows that Israel will kill Sinwar brothers, Yahya and Muhammad

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits the Netzarim Corridor of central Gaza, September 8, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vows that Israel will kill the Sinwar brothers, Yahya and Muhammad, during a visit to the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip today.

“We will reach Muhammad Sinwar and also Yahya Sinwar. Anyone who thinks otherwise should look at Marwan Issa [and] Muhammad Deif: They also thought they were immune, they are not with us today, they made their mistake. [Sinwar] will also make his mistake, [and] we will carry out our mission,” Gallant says.

Yahya Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and was recently appointed as the head of the terror group following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Muhammad Sinwar is a senior commander in Hamas’s military wing.

A leaflet apparently airdropped by the IDF in Gaza offers monetary rewards for information on Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, his brother Muhammad Sinwar, Rafaa Salameh and Muhammad Deif, December 14, 2024. (Screenshot from X used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

5:05 pm

After High Court order on judicial selection panel, Gantz says Levin must either comply or resign

Following the High Court of Justice’s ruling ordering Yariv Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and elect a new president for the Supreme Court, former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz demands that the justice minister either comply or resign.

“The responsibility for not dragging the State of Israel into a constitutional crisis in general, and during times of war in particular, rests with the prime minister and he must make sure that the law is respected and the High Court ruling is followed,” states the opposition National Unity party leader.

“If [Levin] believes this is the time for wars over the seniority system instead of against Hamas, it indicates that he has poor priorities and that he and the prime minister have learned nothing from the low place we reached on the eve of the war,” he adds — calling on Levin to follow the court’s ruling or “put down the keys and resign.”

5:04 pm

Smotrich, health minister announce plans to build new hospital in Beersheba

By Diana Bletter

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Health Minister Uriel Buso have signed permits for the building of a new hospital in Beersheba.

The hospital, slated to open by 2028, is a joint project of the Meuhedet and Leumit health maintenance organizations and Sheba Medical Center. The HMOs will own the hospital, while Sheba will run it.

The new hospital is expected to have approximately 600 beds and offer a wide range of medical services to the residents of the country’s south.

The ministers also sign a permit for the HMOs to form a joint company to begin the planning and construction of the hospital.

“Establishing the new, second hospital in the Negev is a significant milestone,” says Buso. The hospital will “lessen the gap between the periphery and the center of the country and grant “equal rights to advanced and professional healthcare services to every citizen in Israel, regardless of place of residence, community affiliation, or economic status.”

5:02 pm

Lapid charges Levin’s judicial overhaul process led to Oct. 7 massacre: ‘Without the rule of law, we will not have a state’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on September 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Claiming that Yariv Levin’s push to overhaul the judiciary led to Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demands that the justice minister convene the Judicial Selection Committee at once.

“Yariv Levin’s coup d’état led the country to the disaster of October 7. He must convene the committee immediately. Without the rule of law, we will not have a state,” Lapid declares in a statement shortly after the High Court of Justice orders Levin to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and select a new president for the Supreme Court.

Levin slammed the court’s ruling, declaring that he would boycott the next president of the Supreme Court because, he contends, the next president will be elected in an “illegal manner.”

4:56 pm

Woman arrested on suspicion of throwing wet sand at Ben Gvir questioned again by police in Tel Aviv

Noa Goldenberg, suspected of throwing sand at National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on the beach in Tel Aviv, is seen after a police investigation in Tel Aviv, September 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A Tel Aviv woman who was released to house arrest last night after she was arrested and held overnight for allegedly assaulting National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir with wet sand has been questioned again by police.

Noa Goldenberg, 27, has acknowledged being at the beach during the minister’s visit on Friday but denied the allegations against her.

Speaking to reporters outside the Tel Aviv police station, Goldenberg’s husband Tomer says that his wife is not connected to anti-government protests.

Noa Goldenberg, suspected of throwing sand at National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on the beach in Tel Aviv, is seen with her husband Noam after a police investigation in Tel Aviv, September 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

“Noa did not want all this fuss around her. She is not well. We hope it will pass and end as soon as possible,” he is quoted as saying by the Ynet News site.

During her remand hearing last night, a few hundred activists gathered outside the court to protest Goldenberg’s arrest. Her detention and the subsequent decision to hold her in custody while leaving her family in the dark had sparked accusations of police overreach and abuse of power by Ben Gvir, who oversees the force.

4:21 pm

Justice minister slams High Court order, says he’ll boycott next Supreme Court president

By Jeremy Sharon

Justice Minister Yariv Levin in the Knesset, July 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says that he will boycott the next president of the Supreme Court because, he contends, the next president will be elected in an “illegal manner” after the High Court ordered him today to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and choose a new leader of Israel’s top court.

“A president of the Supreme Court who is appointed in a coercive and invalid manner brings the declining trust in the court to an even deeper low,” fumes Levin.

“I will not be able to work with a president who was illegally appointed by his friends, and who is illegitimate in the eyes of a vast [section of the] public. The irresponsible order tramples on democracy and the road to agreements that was paved in recent months, and sets Israel back.”

Levin has refused for months to hold a vote on a new president owing to his desire to have the strongly conservative Yosef Elron appointed president, or alternatively, have one of two hardline conservative academics appointed to one of the two empty seats on the Supreme Court.

Levin fumes in his response that the High Court’s ruling “has no comparison in a Western democracy” and says it violates “an explicit law,” adding that it constitutes a “hostile takeover of the Judicial Selection Committee and the assumption of the authorities of the minister in violation of the law.”

He notes that “illegitimate appointments” in the legal system were why he embarked last year on the judicial overhaul agenda, which would have given the government greater control over the judiciary, and says that the High Court has abused his decision to halt that agenda following the October 7 attacks.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which petitioned the High Court against Levin’s refusal to appoint a new president, describes it as “the most significant victory for Israeli democracy and the separation of powers.”

Tomer Naor, an attorney for the organization, accuses Levin of having violated the law by refusing to appoint a new president “in order to turn himself into a veto-wielding player with limitless power.”

3:40 pm

Gantz: Attack at Allenby Crossing this morning is ‘another sign’ Israel needs to bolster defenses

Benny Gantz speaks at the Israeli Bar Association's annual conference in Tel Aviv, September 3, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

This morning’s deadly attack at the Allenby Crossing “requires a thorough investigation” and highlights the need to bolster Israeli defenses, declares National Unity leader Benny Gantz.

The attack serves as “another sign” that Israel needs to bolster the “defensive line on the eastern flank of the State of Israel – the Jordan Valley,” he tweets.

Three Israeli men were killed in a terrorist shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank earlier this morning.

3:29 pm

Herzog tells US envoy Lew that Israel will uphold Temple Mount religious status quo

Religious Jews are escorted by Israeli police as they tour the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, September 24, 2018. (Sliman Khader/Flash90)

In a meeting with US Ambassador Jack Lew in Jerusalem, President Isaac Herzog stresses that Israel will uphold the religious status quo on the Temple Mount, an official at The President’s Residence tells The Times of Israel.

Herzog emphasizes “Israel’s unequivocal commitment to preserving the status quo at the holy site – in accordance with political agreements laid down since 1967, and in the spirit of the rulings by leading rabbis and religious figures over the last 100 years.”

Israel has for decades agreed to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount, whereby Jews are allowed to visit under police guard but not pray. The number of Jewish visitors has ballooned over the past few years and authorities have quietly allowed Jewish prayers.

The meeting comes after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir expressed support two weeks ago for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount. It also comes in the lead-up to the Jewish high holidays, a time for potential escalation in Jerusalem, and a month ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

According to the official, Lew raises the death of American-Turkish citizen Aysenur Eygi, who was shot and killed, allegedly by IDF troops, during a protest near Nablus in the northern West Bank on Saturday. Herzog expresses his sorrow over her death, and adds that the issue is currently under investigation by the IDF.

Herzog says he is “deeply saddened by the horrific murder of Yuri Birnbaum, Yohanan Shchori, and a third Israeli this morning in the abhorrent terror attack at the Allenby Crossing. I send a warm embrace and my heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims. May they know no more sorrow.

“The peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors are a cornerstone of stability in the region,” he continues without mentioning Jordan by name, “and we trust all parties will thoroughly investigate the incident and work to prevent future attacks.”

Herzog also stresses his appreciation for US efforts toward the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

3:28 pm

High Court unanimously orders Levin to convene panel to appoint Supreme Court president

By Jeremy Sharon

High Court Justice Yael Wilner (C) presides over a hearing on a petition requesting the Judicial Selection Committee be convened to appoint a new Supreme Court president and justices, July 18, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The High Court of Justice rules unanimously that Justice Minister Yariv Levin must convene the Judicial Selection Committee and elect a new president for the Supreme Court, thwarting a key strategy of Levin’s to exert greater governmental control over the judiciary.

The court orders Levin to publish the names of the candidates for the position in the official state gazette within 14 days, and convene the committee, which he chairs, “shortly after” the mandatory 45-day waiting period after the candidates’ names are published.

The decision means that Justice Isaac Amit, a liberal, will almost certainly be elected the next president of the court since he is the most senior justice on the court and the liberal camp on the court has a majority on the nine-member committee. The appointment of a president only requires a simple majority.

The timing of the decision means that current Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman will retire before a new president is chosen. Vogelman will hit the age of retirement on October 6, and Amit as the next most senior justice on the court will become acting president until a vote is held in the Judicial Selection Committee some time in November, according to the High Court’s schedule.

Presiding justices Yael Wilner, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein decline, however, to order Levin to hold votes on the appointment of new justices to the Supreme Court as the petitioning organization, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, had also sought.

Levin had sought to have highly conservative justice Yosef Elron appointed president of the court in contravention of the system of seniority that has been in place since the court was established, but was strongly opposed by Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman. Those opposed to scrapping the seniority system expressed concern that it would politicize Israel’s top court.

3:19 pm

Government approves NIS 320 million to document, commemorate October 7

Family members visit the site of the Nova music festival massacre, six month after, in Re'im forest, near the Israeli-Gaza border, April 7, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The government approves the allocation of NIS 320 million ($85.8 million) in funding to document and commemorate the events of October 7.

All such “documentation, commemoration, memory and heritage activities” are to fall under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office and be carried out by the Tekuma Administration — which was established last year to rehabilitate Israel’s southern Gaza border communities — and “embodies the State of Israel’s commitment to a proper and meaningful commemoration,” according to the PMO.

Per the decision, the money will be split into two tranches of NIS 190 million and NIS 130 million “intended for the development and preservation of heritage infrastructure in the years 2024-2028,” part of which will go toward the establishment of a “national commemoration site.”

A full action plan is currently being promoted in the Knesset, the PMO says.

3:04 pm

Police asked arrested protesters if they were connected to Ehud Barak, had been paid to demonstrate

People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for a deal for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas terror group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Echoing a conspiracy theory, five protesters arrested at last night’s demonstration calling for a hostage deal were asked by police intelligence investigators if they had been paid to attend and whether they were connected to former prime minister Ehud Barak, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“At the end of the investigation, they put me in a room with a man in civilian clothes, and he started asking me questions about how I was connected to the protest,” one of the unnamed protesters tells the outlet.

“When I answered ‘there are WhatsApp groups,’ he asked me which ones,” he says.

“He asked me if I was being paid to come to the demonstrations. I said ‘if anything, I pay — I invest time and sometimes money too.’ So he brought up Ehud Barak’s name as someone who contributes to the protests. He was trying to understand what I know about donations from all kinds of people, including whether there are people funding the protests,” he says.

All five of the detainees were released overnight.

Barak, who has become a harsh critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent years, has been a vocal figure in protests in recent years and previously urged civil disobedience, leading to fiery denunciations by coalition figures. Some called for him to be jailed, while a member of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party said last year that “in other countries, such a person would be up for hanging.”

Former prime minister Ehud Barak speaks at a protest in Tel Aviv against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, February 25, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/ Flash90)

3:03 pm

3rd victim killed in crossing terror attack named as Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer from Ariel

Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer (Courtesy)

The third victim of the shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing is named as Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, from the West Bank settlement city of Ariel.

2:31 pm

Rocket sirens sound in Zarit

Sirens sound in Zarit, close to the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The IDF said that some 50 rockets had been fired toward Israel overnight, causing some damage.

2:28 pm

Terrorist who killed 3 at West Bank crossing was Jordanian national

The terrorist who carried out the shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing is confirmed by Israeli security sources to be a Jordanian.

He is named as Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi, 39, from the southern Jordan town of Udhruh, east of Petra.

2:25 pm

Sappers say truck driven by terrorist in crossing attack was not rigged with explosives

Sappers have ruled out the possibility that the truck driven by the terrorist who carried out the deadly attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing was rigged with explosives.

2:24 pm

Senior Hamas rocket commander killed in Gaza drone strike last week, IDF says

Troops operating in the Gaza Strip in an undated photo released by the military on September 8, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

A senior Hamas rocket commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces.

According to the IDF, the strike on Tuesday killed Raaif Abu Shab, head of the rocket unit in Hamas’s East Khan Younis Battalion.

The IDF says he was responsible for rocket barrages from the Khan Younis area at southern and central Israel during the war.

Meanwhile, over the past day, Israeli fighter jets and drones struck more than 25 Hamas targets across Gaza, including buildings used by the terror group and cells of operatives, the IDF says.

The strikes come as the IDF’s 162nd Division continues to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah, and the 252nd battles Hamas in the Netzarim Corridor in the Strip’s center.

2:14 pm

Hostage forum calls on Red Cross, WHO to condemn murder of 6 captives last month

By Diana Bletter

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum along with Israeli medical and academic leaders appeal to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists to publicly acknowledge and condemn Hamas’s recent execution-style murder of six Israeli hostages.

One of the murdered hostages, Carmel Gat, was an occupational therapist. Two other healthcare workers — American-Israeli Keith Siegel, an occupational therapist, and Bar Kuperstein, a volunteer paramedic — are among the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza.

The letter calls on the organizations to “work for the release of all hostages and to treat this atrocity with the same seriousness applied to all violations against healthcare workers in conflict zones.”

“The silence of international health organizations regarding the murder of the hostages is disappointing and painful,” says public health professor Hagai Levine, head of the health team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The international health organizations have not issued statements.

The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Gat, were recovered from a tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah last week.

An autopsy carried out by Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found that all six hostages were shot multiple times at close range, indicating they were executed.

2:06 pm

Hamas welcomes deadly Allenby Crossing terror attack

By Gianluca Pacchiani

Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a deadly terror attack near the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)

Hamas hails the attacker who killed three Israelis in a a shooting near the Allenby Bridge crossing, describing him a “one of Jordan’s brave men.”

In a statement, Hamas says that the attack is a “natural response to the holocaust carried out by the Nazi Zionist enemy against our people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and its plans for the Judaization of the Al Aqsa mosque.”

The terror group further calls on people in Arab and Muslim countries to rise up in support of Palestinians.

2:03 pm

Finance Ministry lowers growth outlook for 2024/2025 amid sharper-than-expected slowdown

By Sharon Wrobel

Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market stands largely empty, on August 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Finance Ministry lowers its growth outlook for this year and next year, citing the sharper-than-expected slowdown in the war-battered economy in the second quarter of the year.

The Finance Ministry’s chief economist revises the Treasury’s growth projections ahead of the preparations and discussions of the 2025 state budget. The Treasury says it now expects the economy to expand by 1.1 percent in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025. That is down from a previous growth forecast of 1.9% for 2024 and 4.6% for 2025.

In July, the Bank of Israel cut its growth forecast to 1.5% in 2024, and 4.2% in 2025. That was down from a previous growth forecast in April of 2% in 2024 and 5% in 2025.

Figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics in August showed that the economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter of the year, falling short of economists’ forecasts, as the fallout from the war hit exports and investments. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized 1.2% in the April to June period from the previous three months and was down 1.4% in comparison to the corresponding quarter last year.

1:58 pm

Report: Hamas demanding release of terrorists serving life sentences in return for civilian hostages

Hamas is making attempts to reach a hostage deal even more difficult by introducing a “poison pill” in the form of demands that terrorists serving life sentences be released for civilian hostages in the first stage, The Washington Post reports.

Citing “officials involved in the details” of the talks, Kan News reports, furthermore, that the US is holding up presenting its new formula for a deal because of the new Hamas demand.

Until now, the formula was that hardened terrorists would only be released for kidnapped IDF soldiers, including 150 life-term murderers to be released from Israeli jails during the first phase in return for the five female surveillance soldiers held hostage.

Last Thursday, Channel 12 reported that Hamas had increased the number of Palestinian security prisoners serving life terms for murder that it is demanding be released in the earliest days of the first 42-day phase of a deal.

1:41 pm

2nd terror attack victim named as Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from Na’ama

The second victim of the shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge crossing is named as Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from the West Bank settlement of Na’ama.

He is one of three Israelis working at the crossing who were killed in the terror attack.

גם יורי בירנבאום בן ה-65, עובד במעבר אלנבי, נרצח בפיגוע הירי. יהי זכרו ברוךhttps://t.co/Wz4HS0FPlv pic.twitter.com/O7GwleFfdJ

— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) September 8, 2024

1:39 pm

Cabinet approves extending civil service head’s term amid storm over selection of replacement

Daniel Hershkowitz, head of the Civil Service Commission at the Health Ministry, Jerusalem, January 12, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The cabinet approves a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the tenure of Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz until December 12 or until another permanent commissioner is appointed, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

Hershkowitz is set to complete his term in October. Despite the opposition of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the government last month approved a measure allowing Netanyahu to directly nominate the next civil service commissioner, rather than using a search committee.

She argued that the person who fills the role of civil service commissioner, which involves supervising civil servants, must be approved by a search committee headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, citing a 2018 government decision that was made to ensure the position’s independence. However, this process is not enshrined in legislation.

Responding at the time, Netanyahu’s office asserted that the responsibility to choose a civil service commissioner lay with “the nation,” represented by the elected government, and argued there was no reason to grant civil service professionals a say in the matter.

On Friday, Baharav-Miara told the High Court of Justice that Netanyahu’s plan is illegal and “creates a new situation whereby the prime minister will be able to choose a person he wishes to be appointed to the position who does not have to meet minimum professional threshold conditions of experience, skills or suitability.”

1:27 pm

One of 3 victims from terror attack named as Yohanan Shchori, 61, from Ma’ale Efraim

One of the three victims of the terror shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing this morning is named as Yohanan Shchori, 61, from the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim.

Shchori is a father of six, according to Hebrew media.

אחד הנרצחים בפיגוע במעבר אלנבי: יוחנן שחורי, בן 61 ממעלה אפרים, אב לשישה@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/un1RLifHq4

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 8, 2024

1:18 pm

Ben Gvir: Defeating West Bank terror should be included in Israel’s war aims

National Security Itamar Ben Gvir attends a conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 24, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to include defeating terrorism in the West Bank among Israel’s war aims following this morning’s shooting at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

“The war we are in is not only against Gaza and Hezbollah, it is also in Judea and Samaria,” the far-right cabinet member says in a statement offering his condolences to the victims’ families and friends.

“Just last week I asked the prime minister to also include victory in Judea and Samaria among the goals of the war. I will continue to fight for this to happen.”

12:59 pm

Terrorist used handgun to kill 3 Israelis at West Bank crossing to Jordan

The handgun used by the terrorist who carried out a shooting attack near the Allenby Bridge Crossing in the West Bank on September 8, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The terrorist who killed three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan used a handgun, according to a handout image provided by the IDF.

Footage circulating online purported to show the moment of the attack.

תיעוד | פיגוע הירי במעבר אלנבי@bokeralmog

צילום: סעיף 27 א' לחוק זכויות יוצרים pic.twitter.com/9KW4WUsXZx

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 8, 2024

12:51 pm

Palestinian Islamic Jihad praises deadly Allenby Crossing terror attack

By Gianluca Pacchiani

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group praises the attacker who carried out the deadly shooting near the Allenby Bridge crossing that killed three Israelis.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the PIJ describes the attacker who arrived at the crossing from Jordan as a “hero,” and said the assault is an “expression of the sentiments of the Jordanian people and the Arab and Muslim peoples towards the brutal massacres committed by the enemy.”

“This heroic attack and similar ones are the only response that the American administration understands,” the statement adds, accusing the United States of being an “accomplice” to Israel.

12:48 pm

Israel shuts all land crossings with Jordan after deadly terror attack

Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a deadly terror attack near the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)

The Israel Airports Authority says all the land crossings with Jordan have been closed until further notice, following the deadly shooting terror attack at Allenby Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan.

In addition to the closure of Allenby Bridge Crossing, the IAA says the Rabin crossing near Eilat and the Jordan River crossing near Beit She’an are closed at the request of security authorities.

12:40 pm

In apparent swipe at hostage deal protests, PM says Hamas aiming to sow discord

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, September 8, 2024. (Screen grab/GPO)

Calling today “a difficult day,” at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sends his condolences to the families of the three Israelis killed in a shooting terror attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil,” says Netanyahu. “In recent days, despicable terrorists have murdered six of our hostages in cold blood and three Israeli police officers. The murderers do not distinguish between us, they want to murder us all, until the very last one — right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews.”

Referencing an article in a German tabloid that said it revealed a document approved by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar aiming to exploit domestic political tensions in Israel, the prime minister calls for unity: “When we stand together our enemies cannot overcome us, so their main goal is to divide us, to sow division within us.”

“Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that reveals its plan of action: to sow division within us, to wage psychological warfare on the families of the abductees, to exert internal and external political pressure on the Israeli government, to tear us apart from the inside, and to continue the war until further notice.”

Netanyahu claims that “the vast majority of Israeli citizens” are committed to Israel’s war aims — “to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel and to safely return our residents in the north and south to their homes.”

The final goal has been added by Netanyahu in recent days amid criticism from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leaders.

“There are those who ask,” he concludes, “‘Will we always live by the sword?’ In the Middle East, without the sword there is no future.”

12:21 pm

Far-right MK visits Temple Mount despite warning Jewish prayer could trigger upsurge in violence

Despite the security services reportedly warning that Palestinian anger over overt Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount threatens to trigger a major escalation of violence, MK Yitzchak Kroizer ascends to .the flashpoint religious site to pray.

According to Israel Nation News, the lawmaker, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far right Otzma Yehudit party, is accompanied by Rabbi Shimshon Elboim, the leader of the Temple Mount Administration activist movement.

Over the weekend, Channel 12 reported that the security establishment is concerned that Jewish prayer is now routinely tolerated by police despite the status quo that prohibits it.

Ben Gvir has said repeatedly in recent weeks and months that his policy is to formally allow Jewish prayer, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the decades-old status quo remains in force.

למרות האזהרות של מערכת הביטחון, יו"ר סיעת עוצמה יהודית, ח"כ יצחק קרויזר עלה להתפלל בהר הבית, עם ראש מינהלת הר הבית הרב שמשון אלבוים ומפקד הר הבית רפ"ק גיא טל pic.twitter.com/hFCyDxkwRd

— חזקי ברוך (@HezkeiB) September 8, 2024

12:10 pm

Security cabinet to meet this evening

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a security cabinet meeting on July 28, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Israel’s security cabinet will meet tonight at 7 p.m. local time, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting comes as the US works on a new formula to try to make progress in hostage talks, and after an attack in which a Jordanian killed three Israelis at the Allenby Crossing at the Israel-Jordan border.

11:41 am

Israel, Jordan announce Allenby Bridge crossing closed until further notice after deadly terror attack

By Emanuel Fabian and Reuters

Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a terror attack near the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024 (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli and Jordanian authorities both announce that the Allenby Bridge crossing has been closed until further notice following the deadly shooting attack there this morning.

A Jordanian official tells Reuters that the crossing, also known as the King Hussein bridge, has been shut as authorities begin an investigation into the attack in which three Israelis were killed.

11:35 am

Jordan opens probe into West Bank crossing terror attack in which 3 Israelis were killed

By Reuters and ToI Staff

Jordanian authorities have begun investigating a shooting on the West Bank side of the King Hussein crossing, also known as the Allenby Bridge, the interior ministry says.

Three Israeli civilians were killed this morning when a truck driver from Jordan opened fire at the crossing. The IDF is checking the possibility that his truck was rigged with explosives.

11:31 am

Kayaker Talia Eilat reaches final of women’s 200m KL2 at Paris Paralympics

By Amy Spiro

Israeli kayaker Talia Eilat competes in the heats of the women's 200m single's race at the 2024 Paris Paralympics on September 6, 2024. (Lilach Weiss Rosenberg)

Israeli kayaker Talia Eilat advances to the final of the women’s 200m KL2 at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Eilat, 26, finishes third in her heat and fifth overall and will join seven other finalists in the medal race later this morning.

Today is the last day of the Paralympic Games, with Israel winning 10 medals so far, its best showing in 20 years. Eilat’s final is the last event for Israeli athletes at the Games.

11:00 am

IDF: Truck driven by terrorist from Jordan to West Bank crossing possibly rigged with explosives

The IDF suspects that the truck in which a terrorist arrived at the Allenby Bridge crossing to carry out a shooting attack is possibly rigged with explosives.

Sappers have been dispatched to the scene to investigate the truck, the military says.

According to the IDF, the terrorist arrived in a truck from Jordan and opened fire at workers at the crossing — between Jordan and the West Bank — killing three.

He was then shot dead by security forces, the military adds.

10:37 am

3 Israelis killed in terror attack at Allenby crossing between West Bank, Jordan

Three Israeli men in their 50s who were shot by a terrorist at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank are declared dead, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it treated the men at the scene, before being forced to declare their deaths.

The assailant, reportedly a truck driver from Jordan, arrived at the terminal and opened fire at the crossing’s employees.

10:30 am

3 critically wounded in Allenby crossing shooting attack, medics say

The scene of a shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

The toll of wounded in the shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge crossing in the Jordan Valley rises to three, medics say.

According to initial reports, the assailant was a truck driver who arrived from Jordan. He opened fire at Israeli workers at the crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

The three are listed in critical condition, and the assailant has been “neutralized.”

10:15 am

IDF: At least 2 seriously wounded in terror attack at crossing between West Bank, Jordan

The scene of a shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on September 8, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

The IDF describes the shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing in the Jordan Valley as a terror attack.

At least two people are seriously wounded in the attack at the crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, medics say.

Police say the assailant was “neutralized.”

10:09 am

Reports of shooting attack near Allenby Bridge Crossing

Medics are responding to reports of a shooting near the Allenby Bridge crossing in the Jordan Valley.

Two people are listed in serious condition, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

9:29 am

Man charged in bottle attack on Jewish students in Pittsburgh accused of earlier assault

By AP

The Cathedral of Learning towers over the University of Pittsburgh campus in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, July 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

A man accused of having assaulted two Jewish students with a glass bottle on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh is now accused of throwing a bottle at two people associated with another university the day before.

Jarrett Buba, 52, was charged earlier with felony aggravated assault in the Aug. 30 attack on the students who were walking near Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.

A day earlier, two people associated with Carnegie Mellon University told university police that a man threw a glass bottle at them in the Oakland neighborhood. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that a police complaint did not say why the two individuals were targeted. The bottle hit a vehicle and neither person was injured, officials say.

Buba is also charged with simple assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and harassment in the alleged University of Pittsburgh attack. Prosecutors allege that he was sitting at a table across the street from the students and then ran across the street and hit them from behind with the bottle.

The students, who were wearing traditional Jewish yarmulke head coverings, were treated at the scene, university police said. One had cuts on his face and the other was bleeding from cuts on his neck, which police said may have been inflicted when the bottle broke.

Buba, who police said has no known affiliation with the school, was wearing a kaffiyeh, a traditional checkered scarf worn in the Middle East and increasingly displayed as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The university called it an “appalling incident” and said leaders were in contact with the Hillel University Center as well as the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Agents from the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office were also sent to the scene to investigate the possibility of a hate crime, police said.

9:16 am

Rocket sirens sound in Kerem Shalom near Gaza border

Sirens sound in Kerem Shalom warning of incoming rocket fire.

It is the first time sirens have sounded in a Gaza border community since Thursday.

The military later says it was a false alarm.

8:31 am

Law firm report: BBC breached editorial guidelines 1,500 times with Israel-Hamas war coverage

Protesters hold placards and Israeli flags outside the headquarters of the BBC in London on October 16, 2023, to appeal to the corporation to call Hamas 'terrorists.' (Daniel Leal / AFP)

A report has found that the BBC breached its own editorial guidelines on some 1,500 occasions with its coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas.

According to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, the research project led by UK lawyer Trevor Asserson and his firm found that Israel was associated with “genocide” over 14 times more than the Hamas terror group in the British national broadcaster’s coverage of the war.

The report also says the broadcaster downplayed Hamas’s terrorism.

A team of around 20 lawyers and 20 data scientists were involved in the research using AI to analyze some nine million words of BBC content, the newspaper reports.

“The findings reveal a deeply worrying pattern of bias and multiple breaches by the BBC of its own editorial guidelines on impartiality, fairness and establishing the truth,” the report says.

The report also singles out a number of individual reporters for criticism, as well as BBC Arabic.

In response, the BBC said that while it would carefully consider the report’s findings, there were “serious questions” about the methodology, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

8:04 am

Man shot and killed in Rahat

A man was shot and killed in the southern town of Rahat overnight, police say.

According to coexistence watchdog the Abraham Initiatives, the man was aged 30.

The deadly shooting brings the total number of Arabs killed in 2024 thus far to 156, the organization says.

In its 2023 year-end report, the Abraham Initiatives pinned much of the blame for the surging violence on far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who the organization said had gutted a plan put in place by his predecessor, in cooperation with Arab municipal leaders, to stem the tide of crime in the Arab community.

7:36 am

Blinken to travel to UK for meetings on Middle East, Ukraine

By Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a press conference at the end of his one-day visit to Haiti, at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 5, 2024. (Roberto Schmidt/Pool photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to travel to the United Kingdom on Monday, the State Department says, a week after Britain suspended some arms export licenses with Israel over equipment that could be used in the war in Gaza.

In the trip slated to go through Tuesday, Blinken will open the US-UK Strategic Dialogue, “reaffirming our special relationship,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, says.

Blinken will also meet with senior government officials to discuss issues including the Indo-Pacific, the AUKUS defense pact between the US, Australia, Britain and the Middle East, and collective efforts to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Britain said on Sept. 2 it was immediately suspending 30 of its 350 arms export licenses with Israel, saying there was a risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Israel’s war with Hamas in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

6:57 am

IDF says over 50 rockets fired at north overnight