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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 529

Lazar Berman

Lazar Berman

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, on March 10, 2025. (SANA via AP)
March 17, 2025, 7:28 pm
US, Israel see Syria as possible home for relocated Gazans, says report
Sources tell CBS that new government in Damascus has been approached as part of Trump’s Gaza plan, alongside Sudan and Somalia; Netanyahu’s office declines to comment
By Lazar Berman
Left: Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); Center: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Reuven Kastro/Pool); Right: Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)
March 16, 2025, 11:35 pm
Netanyahu says he’ll fire Shin Bet chief Bar; AG says he can’t without legal review
PM cites ‘ongoing distrust’ in security agency chief, who says expectation of personal loyalty is ‘fundamentally illegitimate’; timing coincides with Shin Bet probe into PM’s aides
By Lazar Berman, Emanuel Fabian, Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Demonstrators raise placards and and light flares during a protest calling for action to release the remaining Gaza hostages, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on March 15, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)
March 16, 2025, 8:18 pm
After deadlock in Doha hostage talks, Israeli team heads to Cairo in search of results
US envoy Witkoff warns Hamas to ‘get sensible,’ agree to deal that would free 5 living hostages; says he discussed the demilitarization of Gaza with Arab leaders in Doha
By Jacob Magid and Lazar Berman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets then-US president-elect Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, at his office in Jerusalem, January 11, 2025. (Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson)
March 15, 2025, 9:54 pm
Netanyahu instructs Israeli hostage team to prepare for more talks on Witkoff proposal
PM’s office says proposal would see 11 living hostages freed immediately, as well as half the slain captives; Doha talks earlier said to be near collapse
By ToI Staff and Lazar Berman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Tel Aviv Distrcit Court before a hearing in his corruption trial, March 12, 2025. (Yair Sagi/Pool)
March 14, 2025, 9:58 pm
Report: Netanyahu, Dermer worked to stop US-Hamas deal to free only American captives
PM and senior minister said to have leaked Boehler-Hamas talks so Hamas would up the ante; US official says they are ‘afraid it will become clear’ who doesn’t want a hostage deal
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
Edan Alexander was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)
March 14, 2025, 4:21 pm
Israel slams Hamas ‘manipulation’ after it says it will free 1 living, 4 slain hostages
As Hamas agrees to release US-Israeli Edan Alexander and bodies of 4 dual US citizens, Netanyahu says negotiators to return from Doha, ministers to convene Sat. night on next steps
By Emanuel Fabian, Lazar Berman, Jacob Magid and ToI Staff
A man reads a scroll in front of a clock counting the time Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks by Hamas terrorists have spent in captivity, during the reading of the Megillat Esther (Book of Esther) at the start of the festival of Purim at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
March 14, 2025, 11:35 am
Daily Briefing Mar. 14: Day 525 – With Hamas immovable, extended ceasefire prospects dim
US bureau chief Jacob Magid on a new proposal from US Mideast envoy Witkoff and why the Palestinian Authority may turn away from a two-state solution. Stay tuned for the Friday Focus
By Amanda Borschel-Dan, Jacob Magid and Lazar Berman
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 12, 2025, during a meeting with Iranian students in Tehran. (IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER'S WEBSITE / AFP)
March 14, 2025, 8:11 am
Friday Focus with Lazar Berman: Dramatic saga of the temporary Israel-Iran alliance
ToI’s diplomatic reporter talks about the complex historical ties between the two peoples — and why Israel was arming Iran after the Islamic revolution
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman
Avinatan Or, a Nvidia employee, taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from the Supernova desert rave. (Courtesy)
March 12, 2025, 11:54 pm
Freed hostage says he saw Avinatan Or alive in captivity, marking first sign of life
Hostage families petition High Court over Gaza electricity cut, saying it endangers loved ones’ lives; Trump backtracks from plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza
By Lazar Berman, Nava Freiberg, ToI Staff and Agencies
A UN peacekeeping soldier sits on a tank at a road that links to a UNIFIL base where the Lebanese and Israeli delegations meet, in Naqoura town, Lebanon, on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
March 12, 2025, 3:29 pm
New talks with Lebanon aimed at normalizing ties, senior Israeli official says
Working groups established this week will focus on border, IDF presence, and Lebanese detainees, but Jerusalem is said to be aiming for a comprehensive agreement with its northern neighbor
By Lazar Berman
Demonstrators protest for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters, in Tel Aviv, March 11, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
March 11, 2025, 11:51 pm
Witkoff lands in Doha as talks resume with aim of extending fragile Gaza truce
Mediators said to be pushing Hamas to release 10 hostages in exchange for 60-day truce, providing time to reach wider deal
By Lazar Berman and Jacob Magid
A United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) convoy patrols next to Naqoura, in Lebanon near its border with Israel, ahead of negotiations between the two countries in the area, October 13, 2020. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
March 11, 2025, 7:41 pm
Israel to hold talks with Lebanon on land border, frees 5 detainees as goodwill gesture
Amid negotiations in Naqoura that establish 3 joint working groups, Israel agrees to hand back reported terrorist and 4 other Lebanese; IDF strikes Hezbollah operatives
By Lazar Berman, Nava Freiberg and Emanuel Fabian
Illustrative: US President Donald Trump listens as Adam Boehler, CEO of US International Development Finance Corporation, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)
March 11, 2025, 3:17 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 11: Day 522 – Gaza talks proceed as Israel smarts from US-Hamas meetups
As all sides meet in Qatar, diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman unravels the tangled web of direct — and/or indirect? — negotiations that may lead to an extended ceasefire
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman
Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy for the Middle East, accompanied by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks with reporters at the White House, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Alex Brandon)
March 10, 2025, 7:26 pm
Ahead of Doha talks, Witkoff says ‘deadlines’ key for deal on ceasefire’s next phase
Trump envoy says all on the table if Hamas agrees to disarm and leave Gaza; Israeli delegation heads to Doha with Witkoff proposal on the agenda; Hamas says it’s showing ‘flexibility’
By Lazar Berman, Jacob Magid, Agencies and ToI Staff
US President Donald Trump, right, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a news conference in the East Room of the White House, February 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
March 10, 2025, 6:16 pm
After Trump turns against Zelensky and other allies, could Israel be next in line?
Overjoyed by US president’s return to White House, Netanyahu is determined to avoid any daylight between him and country’s ‘best friend,’ but cracks have emerged over hostage talks
By Lazar Berman
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