Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
IDF fighter jet carries out rare strike on target in West Bank city of Jenin
The IDF in a rare statement says a fighter jet struck a target in the West Bank city of Jenin a short while ago.
It says it will provide further details soon.
تغطية صحفية: لحظة قصف طائرات الاحتلال لموقع بمحيط حارة الدمج بمخيم جنين. pic.twitter.com/Ki9ATtJdLm
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) May 17, 2024
Sullivan will push Netanyahu on avoiding full-scale Rafah op in Sunday meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Tel Aviv, December 14, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershon/GPO)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will stress in his talks with the Israelis the need to go after Hamas fighters in Gaza in a targeted way, not with a full-scale assault on the southern city of Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters.
Sullivan will visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday and arrive in Israel on Sunday.
Kirby says Sullivan in his talks with the Saudis will discuss “bilateral and regional matters including the war in Gaza of course and ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region.”
Kirby says Sullivan’s talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials will include Rafah. Israel has threatened a broad offensive in Rafah but the operation is opposed by the United States out of concern for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled there to get out of the way of fighting elsewhere in Gaza.
Kirby says Sullivan will argue for a more targeted approach against Hamas militants in Rafah. He also says Sullivan will discuss recent stalled efforts to reach a deal with Hamas on the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages held since the militants seized hostages in southern Israel on October 7.
BBC apologizes after reporter suggests Tel Aviv is Israel’s capital
File: A view shows the skyline of Tel Aviv covered by a cloud of dust, on March 23, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP)
The BBC has apologized after one of its correspondents suggested Tel Aviv was the capital of Israel, instead of Jerusalem.
“The events of the weekend, with the close military cooperation involved, have served to bring Washington and Tel Aviv closer together,” Gary O’Donoghue said during an interview for BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program in April.
“Our reference to Tel Aviv in this news bulletin was an error, for which we apologize. We would like to assure you that this wasn’t indicative of any form of bias,” a BBC spokesperson says in a statement. “The point has been raised with senior editors at BBC News, who have reminded our journalists to use language which adheres to the BBC style guide.”
US evacuates 17 US citizen doctors from Gaza, officials say
IDF troops and tanks on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The United States on Friday evacuated out of Gaza 17 American doctors who had been stuck since an Israeli takeover of the Rafah Crossing closed the border with Egypt, official sources say.
US diplomats arranged for the 17 doctors to leave through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Israel.
“Some of the US citizen doctors who had been stuck in Gaza have now safely departed and made their way to safety with assistance from the US embassy in Jerusalem,” a State Department spokesperson says.
“We have been in close contact with the groups that these US doctors are part of, and we have been in contact with the families of these US citizens,” he says.
A source familiar with the operation said that three other US citizen doctors who were part of the volunteer medical mission chose to stay despite the uncertainty on when they will again have a chance to leave.
IDF confirms strike on vehicle in east Lebanon, says target was Hamas-linked operative
The Israeli military confirms carrying out an airstrike in eastern Lebanon’s Majdal Anjar, close to the border with Syria, killing a top al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya operative who worked alongside Hamas.
The IDF says the drone strike targeted and killed Sharhabil Sayed. Hamas has claimed Sayed as a member, rather than an affiliate.
Sayed, according to the IDF, was a senior member of al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya who “led and advanced numerous terror attacks from Lebanese territory against Israel in [Lebanon’s] eastern region in the recent period… in cooperation with the Lebanon branch of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
Hamas in an official statement claimed Sayed as a commander in the terror group.
The IDF says the strike was aimed at “causing a blow to the organization’s abilities to advance and carry out terror operations that it had planned in the recent period and in the near future against the State of Israel on the northern border.”
It publishes footage of the strike.
צה"ל תקף וחיסל מוקדם יותר היום באמצעות כלי טיס של חיל האוויר במרחב מג'דל ענג'ר את המחבל שרחביל עלי אלסיד, בכיר בארגון הטרור הג'מאעה האסלאמית בלבנון >> pic.twitter.com/dVcwRVSpgb
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 17, 2024
Far-right minister said to have wished ministers ‘happy holiday,’ in first cabinet meeting after Oct. 7
Settlements Minister Orit Strock arrives to a government conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on December 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Haaretz reports that in the cabinet meeting held hours after Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, far-right Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock began her remarks by saying, “First of all, happy holiday.”
While some participants withheld their discomfort, Prim Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded, “a happy holiday this will not be.”
Some 1,200 people were brutally murdered by Hamas-led terrorists in an attack launched on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. Another 252 were taken hostage.
‘We’ve heard enough from you generals’: Ben Gvir, Eisenkot spar in security cabinet meeting
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (L) and National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot. (Chaim Goldberg, Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
During last night’s security cabinet meeting, an argument broke out between National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot, according to the Walla news site.
Eisenkot was in the midst of addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lamenting that the government has avoided taking strategic decisions in the war for months. He began offering steps that he thought the government should take when he was interrupted by Ben Gvir.
“We’ve heard enough from you generals,” Ben Gvir said, accusing the former IDF chief Eisenkot of having been responsible for the policies that led to Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
“Stop interrupting me,” Eisenkot shot back. “Remove your sandals,” he added, quoting a verse from the biblical book of Exodus, which ends “…for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” The remark appeared to urge Ben Gvir to show some respect to Eisenkot’s life of military service. Eisenkot also lost his son fighting in Gaza earlier on in the war.
The National Unity minister also took a swipe at Ben Gvir’s lack of military service, calling him a “draft-dodger.”
The far-right minister was barred from service due to his involvement in terror activity as a far-right activist.
Official heading Hamas ops in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley said killed in IDF strike
A reported Israeli strike on Majdal Anjar, on Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria earlier, killed Sharhabil al-Sayed, a member of Hamas who was in charge of the terror group’s operations in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, two security sources tell Reuters.
The strike also killed another Palestinian Hamas member, the sources add.
Report of another targeted counterattack in Lebanon: A senior #Hamas official, Sharhabil al-Sayed, was killed in an attack on his vehicle on the #Lebanon – #Syria border. pic.twitter.com/82PGIn1rx6
— Ronen (@RonenStauber) May 17, 2024
IDF strike in Lebanon seems to reveal Hezbollah possesses advanced Iranian anti-aircraft missiles
Footage circulating on social media apparently shows the remains of an Iranian Sayyad-2 surface-to-air missile following one of the IDF strikes in Lebanon on May 17, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
An Israeli airstrike earlier today in southern Lebanon seems to reveal that Hezbollah is in possession of advanced Iranian anti-aircraft missiles.
The IDF said earlier that it had targeted Hezbollah compounds in Najjarieh, south of Sidon, used by the terror group’s air defense unit.
The sites had “posed a threat to Israeli aircraft,” the military said.
Footage circulating on social media apparently shows the remains of an Iranian Sayyad-2 surface-to-air missile following one of the IDF strikes.
The missile is identified by Tal Inbar, an expert on missiles and drones, in a post on X.
It is apparently the first public evidence suggesting that Hezbollah has such missiles.
Earlier today the IDF announced the targeting of an Hezbollah Air Defense Unit – footage circulating social media appears to show the remains of an Iranian Sayyad-2 surface to air, air defense missile. pic.twitter.com/j92UAojscL
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) May 17, 2024
First evidence of Iranian SAYYAD-2 SAM in Hezbollah's hands – Short video taken in Lebanon near Zahrani river (as claimed in social media) shows the motor segment of the missile. pic.twitter.com/vp8t5IbKvy
— Tal Inbar (@inbarspace) May 17, 2024
Senior official in Israeli truce negotiating team: Expanding Rafah op will put hostages at risk
Demonstrators protest calling for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside Hakirya Base in Tel Aviv, May 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Channel 12 quotes a senior member of Israel’s hostage negotiating team who says that a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to further expand the IDF’s operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah will put the lives of the hostages at risk.
Such warnings have been made by foreign officials, but this is the first time that they are being echoed — albeit anonymously — by a senior member of Israel’s own negotiating team, which is led by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and IDF general Nitzan Alon.
Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government have insisted that military pressure, such as the operation in Rafah, is what will coax Hamas into agreeing to a hostage deal.
The senior Israeli hostage negotiator argues that further expanding the Rafah operation will lead Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to double down in his current refusal to compromise, harming efforts to reach a deal in the near future.
The official says that the only strategy that will work at this point in convincing Sinwar to come down from his demands will be if Israel advances a viable alternative to Hamas’s rule in Gaza.
Netanyahu has argued that such conversations regarding the post-war management of Gaza before Hamas has been dismantled are futile because no one will agree to take up the reins so long as Hamas remains in the picture.
Israeli fighter jets strike Hezbollah rocket launcher used for barrage at Golan
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Deir Seryan earlier, which the military says was used in a barrage on the Golan Heights earlier today.
Another building and additional infrastructure belonging to the terror group in Kfarhamam and Odaisseh were also struck a short while ago, the IDF adds.
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon's Deir Seryan earlier, which the military says was used in a barrage on the Golan Heights earlier today.
Another building and additional infrastructure belonging to the terror group in Kfarhamam and… pic.twitter.com/cTwimZKXDg
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 17, 2024
Shani Louk’s father: We long awaited today’s announcement because we knew she had been killed on Oct. 7
Shani Louk, a German and Israeli citizen who was abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy Shani Louk Instagram)
Shani Louk’s father Nissim tells Channel 12 while today’s announcement that the IDF has recovered her body was difficult to receive, it was also news that he had been waiting for. The family was notified on October 30 that she had been killed on October 7.
Nissim says military representatives showed him a picture of Shani’s body when they provided the news this morning that her body had been recovered from Gaza.
Nissim Louk speaks to Channel 12 news, May 17, 2024. (Channel 12 screenshot
He praises the “brave soldiers” who recovered her body.
And he urges the public to come to her funeral, which will take place on Sunday. “She was light in her life and in her death,” he says. “This light will accompany the people of Israel.”
IDF says Sgt. Ben Avishay was killed fighting in Gaza, bringing army toll to 280
Ben Avishay. (Courtesy)
The military announces the death of a soldier killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip today.
He is named as Sgt. Ben Avishay 20, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s signals company, from Nahariya.
His death brings the toll of slain troops during the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and amid operations on the border to 280.
The death is not tied to the operation last night to recover the bodies of three hostages.
Lebanese media says Israeli drone strikes vehicle near Lebanon-Syria border
Lebanese media outlets report an alleged Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near Majdal Aanjar, on the Lebanon-Syria border.
No further details are immediately available.
السيارة المستهدفة على طريق عام مجدل عنجر – المصنع pic.twitter.com/Kx6YZlSVSZ
— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) May 17, 2024
PM pledges to return remaining hostages after bodies of three recovered
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is “heartbroken” by the news that the IDF recovered the bodies of hostages Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Shani Louk who were slain during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
“My wife Sara and I grieve with the families,” he says in a statement.
“We will return all of our hostages — living and deceased alike.”
“I congratulate our brave forces who, with determined action, returned our sons and daughters home,” he says.
IDF recovers bodies of hostages Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Shani Louk, all slain on Oct. 7
(L-R) Shani Louk, Itzhak Gelerenter and Amit Buskila. (Courtesy)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press statement says the military has recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip.
He names them as Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, and Shani Louk.
Hagari says the bodies were recovered in an overnight operation carried out by the military and Shin Bet.
The three were at the Supernova music festival near Re’im on the morning of October 7, where they then fled to the Mefalsim area.
Hagari says they were killed there by Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were then kidnapped to Gaza.
IDF spokesperson to address media in 10 minutes
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari delivers an English-language video statement, March 24, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari will issue a press statement in ten minutes (6:15 p.m. local time), the military says.
Sweden boosts security for Israeli interests after gunfire near Israel’s embassy — police
Officers stand near the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 31, 2024. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
Sweden is strengthening security measures for Israeli and Jewish interests in the country after gunfire near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, police say.
“Due to suspected shots near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm, the police are taking security measures [to protect] Israeli and Jewish property and interests across the country,” the police department announces on its official website.
Gallant tells troops on northern border to be patient as Israel aims to strike deal to restore calm
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets troops on the northern border, May 17, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells troops on the northern border to be patient, as Israel will still attempt to reach an agreement with Hezbollah to stop the terror group’s attacks on the north.
“I came here for a reason. We have to prepare and take into account that anything can happen,” he says to artillery forces after holding an assessment at the Northern Command in Safed and a tour of the border city of Kiryat Shmona.
“As I told the troops before we entered Gaza, and they didn’t believe me, I also tell you: Wait, we will [act],” Gallant says.
“We will reach a situation where we return our residents safely, we want to exhaust every chance to do it by an agreement because we know that war has a price and we prefer to avoid it, but you have to take into account that [war] could happen,” he says.
“I understand the amount of damage [in Israel], but on the other side, the damage and the number of terrorists who were killed are of completely different orders of magnitude,” Gallant adds.
Jewish father, daughter attacked by mob at Belgium train station for reportedly removing anti-Israel sticker
A suspect attacks a Jewish man at a train station in Bruges, Belgium on May 17, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
Channel 12 reports that a Jewish father and his daughter were attacked by a group after he removed an anti-Israel sticker at a train station in Brugge, Belgium.
The two managed to briefly escape before another attacker is filmed shoving the father, 64-year-old Amnon, to the ground and twisting his leg.
His daughter, 29-year-old Shira, is the one filming the altercation.
Channel 12 says Amnon has been hospitalized with a broken jaw.
The family appears to be Israeli.
Video: Jewish father and daughter violently attacked in Brugge, Belgium.
An anti Israeli mob attacked Amnon (64) and Shira (29) after they removed an anti Israeli sticker in a train station. When the two escaped, one of the attacker chased them and continued the assault. Amnon… pic.twitter.com/sp2bTFUu9a— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) May 17, 2024
In a statement about the incident, European Jewish Association director Mencahem Margolin warns that the assault is part of an escalation of antisemitic violence that, unless curbed, may likely lead to loss of life.
“It is no longer just verbal violence or spitting but real physical attacks that can end in disaster,” Margolin says, calling on police to arrest the suspects, charge them with an antisemitic hate crime and punish them to the full extent of the law.
Iran arrests 3 Europeans at ‘Satanist’ gathering along with 260 others — state news agency
Iranian security forces have arrested more than 260 people, including three European nationals, at a “Satanist” gathering west of the capital Tehran, the semi-official new agency Tasnim report.
“Satanist network broken up in Tehran, arrests of three European nationals,” Tasnim wrote, adding that those detained comprised 146 men and 115 women and that alcohol — banned under Iran’s Islamic laws — and psychedelic drugs were seized.
The report does not give the nationality of the Europeans.
IDF to probe how half-ton bomb fell off fighter jet onto southern border town
The Israeli Air Force says it will carry out an “in-depth” investigation after a half-ton bomb fell off a fighter jet and landed in a Gaza border community this morning.
“This morning, during an attack by a fighter jet in the Rafah area, a munition fell in the community of Yated. The munition did not explode,” the military says in a statement.
The IDF describes the incident as “unusual,” the circumstances of which “will be examined in depth.”
The strike in Rafah was carried out moments later, the military says.
“Air Force technical teams arrived at the scene and began an in-depth investigation of the incident,” the statement continues, adding that the investigation will be presented to IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.
The unexploded ordnance was collected by Israeli forces.
תקרית חריגה בעוטף: חימוש ממטוס חיל האוויר נפל במושב יתד, בצה"ל מתחקריםhttps://t.co/7mdbfu9m5M@OrHeller | @bokeralmog pic.twitter.com/WoAPCoEnEs
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) May 17, 2024
Britain delivers aid to Gaza via floating pier for first time
The image provided by US Central Command shows US Army soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), US Navy sailors assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Israel Defense Forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (US Central Command via AP)
Britain says it had delivered aid to Gaza via a floating pier for the first time, using the temporary pier installed by the United States to transport shelter kits into the enclave.
“UK aid is now being delivered to people through the temporary pier off Gaza,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says in a statement.
“More aid will follow in the coming weeks, but we know the maritime route is not the only answer. We need to see more land routes open.”
Moroccan asylum seeker jailed for life in UK for random murder of elderly man in ‘revenge’ for Israel’s response to Oct. 7
Ahmed Alid, a Moroccan asylum seeker who stabbed an elderly man to death, in Hartlepool, northeast England, October 15, 2023. (Counter Terrorism Policing North East)
A Moroccan asylum seeker has been sentenced to life in prison for randomly stabbing a British man to death in revenge for Israel’s response to the October 7 attacks.
Ahmed Alid, 45, murdered “innocent” victim Terence Carney, 70, in the streets of the northeastern English town of Hartlepool, eight days after Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel last October.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Alid he had “attacked and murdered… in a terrorist act,” and said he would spend a minimum of 44 years behind bars.
She says he had “hoped to frighten the people of Britain and undermine the freedoms they enjoy” in actions “intended as revenge” for Israel’s response to the Hamas attack.
Minutes before killing Carney, Alid had also attempted to murder his housemate, Christian convert Javed Nouri, by breaking into his bedroom and hacking at him while he slept.
Alid shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) during the attack at the government-approved asylum seekers’ accommodation before fleeing into the street, still armed with a knife.
That attack on Nouri had been “an attempt to punish him for converting to Christianity,” the judge said, adding that he had shown “no genuine remorse or pity” for his victims.
Alid admitted to police that Carney was “innocent,” but justified killing him by saying Britain had created the “Zionist entity” of Israel and should make them leave, adding: “They killed children and I killed an old man.”
He had denied murder, attempted murder and assaulting two police officers.
He was unanimously found guilty of all four charges by a jury at Teesside Crown Court in Middlesbrough last month.
Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of counter terrorism policing in northeast England who led the investigation, welcomed the lengthy sentence.
“Nothing can justify the actions of the defendant that day…. Today’s sentence reflects the shocking and horrendous nature of the crimes this man has committed,” he says.
French synagogue attack ‘act of anti-Semitism’ – minister
France's Minister for Interior and Overseas Gerald Darmanin (2nd R) is welcomed by Rabbin Chmouel Lubecki as he arrives at the synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen on May 17, 2024, where French police shot dead earlier a man armed with a knife and a crowbar who was setting fire to the building. (Lou Benoist/AFP)
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says that an attack on a synagogue was an “act of anti-Semitism” and denounced the “despicable” violence against France’s Jewish population.
Darmanin says an attempt to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen was an “anti-Semitic act against a place that is sacred to the Republic,” adding he regretted the “unacceptable, despicable” violence against Jewish people in France.
Cooling expectations, Spanish PM says Madrid will only recognize Palestine in joint move
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center, meets with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, and Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in the West Bank city Ramallah, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool via AP)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says Madrid would only recognize a Palestinian state in a joint action with other countries.
In an interview with TV channel La Sexta, Sanchez also denied reports that the recognition would occur on May 21.
IDF drone crashes in northern town due to technical issue – army
A small Israeli military drone crashed in the northern town of Majdal Shams earlier today, the IDF says.
The drone, a Skylark model, was on a reconnaissance mission when it fell out of the sky due to a technical fault, according to the military.
According to the IDF, there is no fear of information leaking from the aircraft, and it was collected by troops.
The “sky rider,” as it’s known in Hebrew, is a tactical surveillance drone created by Elbit Systems and operated by the IDF’s Artillery Corps.
The miniature UAV can be launched by one or two people, depending on the model, and once airborne provides a live video feed to soldiers on the ground.
Many such comparatively inexpensive UAVs have crashed, often in hostile territory, over the years.
דובר צה״ל:
כלי טיס מסוג "רוכב שמיים" נחת מוקדם יותר היום במרחב מג'דל שמס שבצפון הארץ בעקבות תקלה טכנית, הכלי נאסף, אין חשש לאירוע בטחוני, אין חשש לדלף מידע והאירוע מתוחקר pic.twitter.com/btGTABeSIi
— ????or keren (@Wq0oQJmUSfZunt5) May 17, 2024
UN agency says it has been able to double aid operations in north Gaza with new crossings
An Israeli military vehicle leads a truck in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip during an operation to deliver humanitarian aid delivered from Jordan to the coastal territory through the Erez Crossing, on May 1, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
The UN’s World Food Program says the opening of new land routes has allowed it to double its aid operations in northern Gaza, where it says a famine is underway.
But Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the UN agency, says that Israel’s incursion into the southern city of Rafah was a “significant setback” that raises fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel opened a second crossing into the north and took other steps to facilitate aid under heavy pressure from the United States after an Israeli strike killed seven workers with the World Central Kitchen charity last month.
Etefa says the situation in the north has improved, with four bakeries now operating to provide essential bread, but that prices remain high in local markets.
“To roll back six months of near starvation conditions and avert a famine requires steady flows of food supplies, every day, every week, through multiple entry points,” she says.
Renewed sirens sound in north, including Metula, Kiryat Shemona
A fresh wave of sirens sound in the north, including in the cities of Metula and Kiryat Shemona.
Earlier the IDF says Hezbollah fired a barrage of around 75 rockets at Israel.
Hezbollah fires barrage of around 75 rockets at Israel, says IDF; 2 lightly wounded
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system over the Golan Heights on May 16, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
A barrage of some 75 rockets was launched from Lebanon at northern Israel a short while ago, the military says.
According to the IDF, dozens of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it treated two people in good condition after they were wounded by one of the rocket impacts in the Upper Galilee. The pair, men in their 60s, were taken to Ziv Hospital in Safed, MDA says.
בהמשך להתרעות לפני זמן קצר בצפון הארץ, זוהו כ-75 שיגורים משטח לבנון לעבר שטח הארץ, עשרות מהם יורטו.
בנוסף, מוקדם יותר היום כוחות צה"ל זיהו משגר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב יראון שהיה מוכן לבצע שיגורים לעבר שטח ישראל >> pic.twitter.com/G6UG6hSxLC
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 17, 2024
The barrage is one of the largest carried out by Hezbollah on northern Israel amid the war.
Sirens had sounded in Katzrin in the central Golan Heights and several towns near the Lebanon border.
Earlier today, the IDF says it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun that was primed for an attack on Israel.
Troops demolished a Hamas tunnel in central Gaza this week, says IDF
Troops of the 99th Division operate in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighborhood, in a handout image published May 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The military says it demolished a tunnel in the central Gaza Strip this week, amid an operation in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.
The week-long operation, carried out by the Nahal and Carmeli brigades, was wrapped up yesterday.
The IDF says troops demolished Hamas sites, including attack tunnels, weapon manufacturing sites, rocket launchers and command rooms amid the pinpoint raid.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that some 150 terror operatives were killed in Zeitoun.
13 countries – including UK, Germany, Canada – urge Israel not to launch ‘full-scale’ Rafah op
Israeli troops operate in eastern Rafah in the Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published May 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Thirteen Western countries, including many traditionally supportive of Israel, appeal to it not to launch a large-scale offensive on Rafah.
“We reiterate our opposition to a full-scale military operation in Rafah that would have catastrophic consequences on the civilian population,” reads the appeal, sent by the countries’ foreign ministers to their Israeli counterpart Israel Katz and made public.
The signatories are Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and EU member states Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The ministers welcome recent measures adopted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to improve the flow of international aid into Gaza, but call for “further steps.”
“We urge the Government of Israel to let the humanitarian aid enter into the Gaza Strip through all relevant crossing points, including the one in Rafah,” they say.
Several Iron Dome interceptions reported in north after wave of rockets from Lebanon
Smoke rises from the side of a road after rockets fired from Lebanon hit an open area in the Golan Heights, May 16, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Numerous Iron Dome interceptions are reported in northern Israel, after sirens sounded in the central Golan Heights community of Katzrin and several towns closer to the Lebanon border.
Katzrin is more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Lebanon border.
There are no immediate reports of injuries in what appears to be a major barrage carried out by Hezbollah.
Numerous Iron Dome interceptions reported over northern Israel, following sirens in Katzrin in the central Golan Heights and several towns near the Lebanon border https://t.co/liB9YemGSC pic.twitter.com/fooc0foj41
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 17, 2024
Air raid sirens sound in several Lebanon border towns
Air raid sirens sound in several Lebanon border towns in the Upper Galilee, including Kibbutz Dan and Kibbutz Gadot.
Sirens also sound in Katzrin in the Golan Heights.
Officials say French synagogue interior seriously damaged in arson attack
Police patrol outside a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen where French police killed an armed man who was trying to set fire to the building on May 17, 2024. (Lou Benoist/AFP)
A synagogue that was targeted in an arson attack early this morning in Rouen, France, suffered extensive damage from the fire, but no one else was harmed, says city Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.
Mayer-Rossignol says the Normandy town is “battered and shocked” by the incident, adding that “an armed man somehow climbed up the synagogue and threw an object, a sort of molotov cocktail, into the main praying room.”
The synagogue’s rabbi, Chmouel Lubecki, says his wife was there at the time of the attack.
“We had a great fright,” he says. His wife “heard gunshots and screams… and then she saw smoke coming from the synagogue, so she immediately went down, she helped the firefighters get in the synagogue.”
“We expected [attacks], unfortunately,” he says, because of a rise in antisemitism. “We had this fear inside of us, but when it actually happens, it’s still shocking.”
Natacha Ben Haim, president of Normandy’s Jewish community says the walls, and a lot of the furniture, are blackened by the fire and smoke.
“It’s catastrophic. Yes, I’m upset, I’m very upset,” she tells reporters.
IDF confirms strike on Lebanon’s Najjarieh, which killed Hezbollah official
Smoke billows during Israeli bombing over the Lebanese village of Najjariyeh on May 17, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
The Israeli military confirms carrying out strikes against facilities in southern Lebanon’s Najjarieh, which it says were used by Hezbollah air defense unit.
According to the IDF, several Hezbollah operatives were gathered at the sites in the coastal town, south of Sidon.
“These compounds were used by Hezbollah’s air defense array, and posed a threat to Israeli aircraft,” the IDF says in a statement.
לפני מספר שעות תקף חיל האוויר תשתית בה פעלו מחבלים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, הכוללת מספר מתחמים בכפר א-נג׳רגיה שבדרום לבנון.
מתחמים אלו משמשים את מערך ההגנה האווירית של חיזבאללה והיוו איום על כלי טיס ישראליים >> pic.twitter.com/VMQ5cynkYa— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 17, 2024
The IDF says Hezbollah’s air defenses are located within “a civilian environment, while risking the lives of civilians in southern Lebanon.”
“The IDF will not tolerate a violation of aerial operational freedom and will operate to defend against any threat. We warn the citizens of Lebanon to refrain from cooperation with the Hezbollah terrorist organization and emphasize that in doing so, they endanger themselves and their surroundings,” the military adds.
Hezbollah announced the death of one member following the strike, named as Hussein Khader Mahdi, from Najjarieh. Sources said two Syrians were also killed in the strikes.
Hezbollah member Hussein Khader Mahdi. (Hezbollah)
French source says synagogue attacker was subject to expulsion order
Police patrol outside a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen where French police killed an armed man who was trying to set fire to the building on May 17, 2024. (Lou Benoist/AFP)
A man suspected of seeking to set fire earlier today to a French synagogue was subject to an expulsion order, but authorities were not able to execute the measure pending an appeal, a source close to the case says.
The man, who was killed by police in the northern city of Rouen, had been subject to this measure for “less than a year,” but it could not be carried out because he had filed an appeal to contest the order, the source adds.
Lebanese officials say 2 Syrians among 3 killed in drone strikes on coastal village
Smoke billows during purported Israeli bombing over the Lebanese village of Najjariyeh on May 17, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
Three separate drone strikes on a coastal village in southern Lebanon Friday killed three people, including two Syrian citizens, security officials say.
The strikes on the village of Najariyeh, about 40 kilometers (28 miles) north of the Israeli border, came a day after an especially intense exchange of cross-border strikes between Hezbollah and Israel.
The strikes hit a vehicle, a field and a small brick factory where two Syrian workers were killed, the officials say, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The Lebanese man was identified as Hussein Mahdi, a Hezbollah supporter who was the owner of the factory.
Sirens sound in towns across Galilee
Air raid sirens sound in a number of towns across the Galilee, including Dalton, Kadita and Rehaniya.
After ICJ hearing, Israel says ‘no force’ will stop its self-defense against Hamas
Foreign Minister Israel Katz in Jerusalem, February 19, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Following the second day of hearings at the International Court of Justice, Foreign Minister Israel Katz says that nothing will stop Israel from defending itself.
“I commend our Israeli legal team for representing us with honor and pride at the International Court of Justice in The Hague against South Africa’s display of hypocrisy,” says Katz in a statement.
“As our representatives told the South African legal team, who serve as the legal arm of Hamas murderers and rapists — repeating a lie a thousand times does not make it true,” he adds.
“No force will prevent Israel from exercising its right to self-defense. We will continue to fight on the legal, political, and military fronts until all 132 of our hostages return to their loved ones.”
Wrapping up defense, Israel lays out details of its efforts to provide aid to Gaza
Israeli attorneys Gilad Noam, left, Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, center, and Avigail Frisch Ben Avraham, right, wait for the start of hearings at the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Wrapping up its defense at the International Court of Justice, Israel’s legal team provides a detailed account of the country’s efforts to provide Palestinian civilians in Gaza with humanitarian aid.
Foreign Ministry legal adviser Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman points out that South Africa falsely accused Israel of cutting off Gaza from the outside world and humanitarian aid in recent days, and in particular with closing the Kerem Shalom crossing in its application to the court and its oral arguments yesterday.
In contradiction to Pretoria’s claims, she notes that humanitarian aid and fuel continue to enter Gaza through Israel, including 365 trucks of aid which entered yesterday, 330 of which went through Kerem Shalom itself.
She also notes that Israel has opened three new land crossings into Gaza from Israeli territory, expanded capacity of the existing crossings, and spent $52 million on expanding infrastructure and road capacity to all crossings.
“Is this what a hermetic closure looks like?” she demands, while glaring at the South African legal team.
“It is not difficult to see that Israel has been making additional efforts to increase the provision of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza. South Africa’s complete disregard of this reality and truth is as telling as it is alarming,” says Kaplan Tourgeman.
“A state intent on committing genocide would not make the humanitarian efforts Israel is doing to mitigate harm to civilians,” Israeli attorney Gilad Noam says when addressing the same issues.
“It would not delay a military operation for weeks and sacrifice operational advantage by urging civilians to evacuate,” he adds, in reference to the lengthy delay in the IDF’s ground invasion of Gaza at the beginning of the war.
Rocket fired from Gaza at Sderot intercepted by Iron Dome, says IDF
Rockets launched from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Ashkelon on May 14, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
One rocket fired from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot was intercepted by the Iron Dome, according to the IDF.
Palestinian terrorists have been repeatedly attacking Sderot in recent days, as the IDF pushes into northern Gaza’s Jabaliya.
יירוט מעל שדרות כעת pic.twitter.com/S92uSbArZm
— כל החדשות בזמן אמת ???? (@Saher95755738) May 17, 2024
Current fighting in Jabaliya is among the war’s ‘most violent,’ says IDF
Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade operate in northern Gaza's Jabaliya, in a handout image published May 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Recent fighting in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya is being described by officers as some of the most intense amid the ongoing war, as Hamas operatives are launching massive numbers of RPGs at tanks and armored vehicles.
Late Saturday, Israeli tanks of the 7th Armored Brigade rolled into Jabaliya, an area that the military had previously operated in and claimed to have dismantled Hamas’s battalions. The latest operation, however, is focused on areas deep in the Jabaliya refugee camp, which the IDF did not reach during the initial ground offensive.
The IDF has so far reported killing more than 200 gunmen in the area — at least 60 of whom were killed by the 7th Brigade — and it estimates there may be several hundred more.
The fighting is being described as “intense” and the “most violent” amid the war, with many engagements, both above ground and by operatives using tunnels. The Jabaliya camp also has many narrow alleys, making it challenging for tanks to operate there.
The operatives are mostly launching RPGs at tanks, but also setting up explosive devices. The 7th Brigade’s Merkava tanks, with the TROPHY active defense system, are largely managing to withstand the RPG attacks, with only a few cases of troops being injured, according to the military.
Hamas operatives have also been launching attacks from within or near humanitarian shelters in Jabaliya, according to the army. The shelters have since been evacuated of civilians.
A cache of rockets is found by IDF troops in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, in a handout image released May 17, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF says troops of the 101st Paratroopers Battalion, operating alongside the tank forces, located a rocket depot adjacent to one of the shelters. Dozens of long-range rockets and rocket parts were found at the site, it says.
At the adjacent shelter, some 20 suspected terror operatives were detained by troops, the IDF adds.
ICJ hearing briefly interrupted by protester shouting ‘liars’ at Israeli lawyer
Court president Joan Donoghue (C) and associate judges arrive to hear South African arguments to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel's Rafah offensive at The Hague, on May 16, 2024. (Nick Gammon / AFP)
Hearings at the International Court of Justice are briefly interrupted by a protester who calls out “liars” as an Israeli official was presenting arguments.
A woman shouting “liars” could be heard on the feed from the court, which then went down for less than a minute before restarting, as the lawyer for Israel, Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, was concluding her remarks.
A woman was seen being removed by court security guards.
"שקרנים": מפגינה הפריעה לסיכום דבריה של נציגת ישראל בהאג@RamEliBrandts pic.twitter.com/FAajO7LRIi
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 17, 2024
Belgium’s Ghent university severs ties with three Israeli institutions
Posters and banners line the entrance to an encampment, set up by pro-Palestinian students and activists at Ghent University, in Ghent, Belgium, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Belgium’s University of Ghent (UGent) is severing ties with three Israeli educational or research institutions which it says no longer align with UGent’s human rights policy, its rector says.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Ghent have been protesting against Israel’s operations in Gaza and have been occupying parts of the university since early this month.
The university’s rector, Rik Van de Walle, says in a statement that ties are being cut with the Holon Institute of Technology, MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and the Volcani Center, which carries out agricultural research.
“We currently assess these three partners as problematic according to the Ghent University human rights test, in contrast to the positive evaluation we gave these partners at the start of our collaboration,” Van de Walle says.
Partnerships with MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and the Volcani Center “were no longer desirable” due to their affiliation with Israeli ministries, an investigation by the University of Ghent found, and collaboration with the Holon Institute “was problematic” because it provided material support to the army for actions in Gaza, the university claims.
The three Israeli institutions did not immediately comment.
Unexploded Israeli Air Force bomb discovered in border community of Yated
An Israel Air Force F-15 fighter jet, at the Tel Nof air force base, January 1, 2024. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
An unexploded Israeli Air Force bomb was found this morning in the Gaza border community of Yated, authorities say.
The bomb apparently fell off of a fighter jet amid operations over Gaza. The military says the munition will be safely removed by troops.
Images show that the bomb landed very close to homes.
אירוע חריג בעוטף: חימוש נפל הלילה מכלי טיס של חיל האוויר במהלך פעילות של צה"ל ברצועת עזה. לא היו נפגעים, אין חשש לאירוע ביטחוני. בחיל האוויר מתחקרים את האירוע@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/VPw0W0XapR
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 17, 2024
IDF soldier seriously wounded in northern Gaza this morning, says military
IDF soldiers are seen operating in Gaza in this handout photo cleared for publication on May 17, 2024. (IDF)
An Israeli soldier of the 460th Armored Brigade’s 9227th Battalion was seriously wounded during a battle with terror operatives in the northern Gaza Strip this morning, the military says.
He was taken to a hospital in Israel.
There is a ‘tragic war going on, but no genocide,’ Israel tells ICJ hearing
Israeli attorneys Gilad Noam, left, Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman, center, and Avigail Frisch Ben Avraham, right, wait for the start of hearings at the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Israel argues in front of the International Court of Justice in the Hague that while there is a “tragic war” ongoing in Gaza, “there is no genocide.”
“By exploiting the genocide convention, South Africa is suggesting a convoluted reading of international law, under which any conflict can be brought to this court,” Israeli attorney Gilad Noam tells the justices.
“There is a tragic war going on, but there is no genocide,” he says. “There is a danger that the court will find itself engaged in micromanagement of an armed conflict — which is what South Africa wants it to do.”
Noam suggests that South Africa is allied with Hamas, “which it does not wish to see defeated.”
He points to the South African foreign minister meeting with a Hamas delegation in Johannesburg earlier this year, and says she “did not urge Hamas to release hostages, cease using human shields, cease operating in UN hospitals, other protected sites.”
South Africa, Noam says, “is not interested in truth, law or justice.”
Israel tells ICJ: IDF has not launched widescale operation in Rafah over concern about civilians
A rocket launcher after it was destroyed by troops in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout image published May 16, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Addressing the International Court of Justice, Israeli attorney Gilad Noam says that while South Africa told the court that “if Rafah falls, so too does Gaza,” the opposite is true.
“Only by bringing down Hamas’s military control in Rafah will Gaza be liberated from the murderous Hamas regime and the road to prosperity and peace be paved,” says Noam, speaking to the justices on the second day of hearings in South Africa’s appeal to urge the court to halt the fighting.
Noam says that Israel has “worked diligently to protect civilians” in Gaza, and does the same for its own citizens.
“To deny Israel this right, would be to deny the right afforded to all states withheld from one,” he says. “This would tell Israeli citizens and hostages that they are not deserving of protection and of life itself.”
By contrast, he says, Hamas uses its civilians as human shields, “that is why its battalions, rockets, hostages are there.”
“We do not wish harm to these civilians as Hamas does, which is why we are taking steps to address the complexity of the situation,” Noam adds. “This is why there has not been widescale operation in Rafah, and why there are preparations to deal with the challenges.”
Beginning rebuttal, Israel calls South Africa’s genocide case ‘totally divorced’ from facts
South Africa's agents Vusimuzi Madonsela, seated right, and Cornelius Scholtz, seated second left, talk prior to the start of hearings at the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Israel lashes out at South Africa’s case before the UN’s top court, describing it as “totally divorced” from reality.
“South Africa presents the court for the fourth time with a picture that is completely divorced from the facts and circumstances,” top lawyer Gilad Noam tells the International Court of Justice at the start of the second day of hearings.
Yesterday, judges heard a litany of allegations against Israel from lawyers representing Pretoria, including mass graves, torture and deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.
Noam tells the court that the case makes “a mockery” of the charge of genocide, and notes that Israel did not want this war, and is “under attack and fighting to defend itself and its citizens.”
He notes that Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city which is the focal point of the hearing, is a hub of “ongoing terrorist activity,” including the holding of hostages.
IDF says it has expanded its ‘operational control’ over Jabaliya
IDF soldiers are seen operating in Gaza in this handout photo cleared for publication on May 17, 2024. (IDF)
The Israeli military says its 98th Division has pushed deeper into northern Gaza’s Jabaliya and expanded its “operational control” in the area over the past day.
Amid the operation in Jabaliya, the IDF says fighter jets and drones struck a weapons depot and killed several gunmen who had launched mortars at troops in the area.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza’s Rafah, the 162nd Division’s 401st Armored Brigade located and destroyed a rocket launching position. The IDF says the site was used to fire long-range rockets at Israel.
Also over the past day, the Air Force hit some 60 targets across Gaza, including buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, anti-tank launch posts and other infrastructure, as well as gunmen, according to the IDF.
Houthis claim to down US drone over Yemen
A plume of smoke rises after a reported airstrike in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 22, 2024. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis say they downed a US MQ9 drone last night over the southeastern province of Maareb, the group’s military spokesman says.
The Houthis say they will release images and videos to support their claim and add that they had targeted the drone using a locally made surface to air missile.
Report: Hezbollah official killed in Israeli airstrike along Lebanese coast
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment over the Lebanese village of Alma al-Shaab on May 14, 2024, in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel. (AFP)
A Hezbollah official was killed in a reported Israeli airstrike near the Lebanese coastal town of Najjarieh this morning, the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya outlet reports.
Citing unidentified sources, al-Arabiya says the official killed in the strike is Khader Mahdi.
Neither the terror group nor the Israeli military have commented on the strike.
WATCH: Israel responds to South African allegations at ICJ hearing in Hague
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the UN, hears South Africa's oral arguments asking the court to order Israel to halt its military campaign against Hamas, May 16, 2024. (International Court of Justice)
Israel’s legal team begins its response to South Africa’s fourth attempt to have the International Court of Justice halt the IDF’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, in a second day of hearings in the Hague.
South Africa alleged yesterday that Israel’s current offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah is Jerusalem’s “end game” in its effort to commit genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza by destroying what the South African team described as the last habitable area of the coastal enclave.
Israel will likely point to the delivery of humanitarian aid through various crossings into Gaza which it facilitates as proof that it has no wish to harm the Palestinian civilian population, as well as its assistance in setting up field hospitals in Gaza, and other humanitarian efforts.
Israel’s team will need to rebut South African claims that recent inflammatory comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich about destroying Rafah and other Gazan cities, and a video played by the South African team in court yesterday showing IDF soldiers singing that they will “dismantle Rafah,” constitute genocidal intent by Israel towards Palestinians.
Sirens sound in Israeli towns north of Gaza
Air raid sirens sound in communities next to the northern Gaza Strip, including Yad Mordechai and Netiv Ha’asara.
Spain says it won’t allow ships carrying weapons for Israel to use its ports
In this photo provided by Manuel Hernandez Lafuente, the CMA CGM Symi is seen at port in Valencia, Spain, Oct. 22, 2023. (Manuel Hernandez Lafuente via AP)
Spain will not authorize ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares says Friday, after the country refused to let a ship call at the southeastern port of Cartagena.
The ship was the first to be denied access to a Spanish port, Albares says, adding that the refusal was consistent with the government’s decision not to grant weapon export licenses to Israel since October 7, as Spain doesn’t “want to contribute to war.”
Israel reportedly strikes site along coast of Lebanon
A smoke plume rises over athe southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila during Israeli bombardment on May 16, 2024. (Rabih Daher/AFP)
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike near the coastal town of Najjarieh, just south of Sidon.
Footage posted to social media shows smoke rising from a targeted site on the coast.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
The strikes come after several drones were launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee this morning.
غارة إسرائيلية على النجارية في صيدا https://t.co/irnfBBMDYp pic.twitter.com/0dsGpA1zzy
— Ali Bk (@Bk_Hanas) May 17, 2024
Report: Gallant’s plan for post-war Gaza includes arming local Palestinians
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant delivers a statement to the press at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv, May 15, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s plan for the “day after” in Gaza includes providing weapons to local figures tied to the Palestinian Authority with international oversight, according to a report in Israel Hayom.
In an explosive speech on Wednesday, Gallant stated that he will not consent to Israeli civil or military governance of Gaza, and that governance by non-Hamas Palestinian entities, accompanied by international actors, is in Israel’s interest.
The newspaper report claims that Gallant’s plan, backed by the defense establishment, is to provide such groups with guns, which will be electronically monitored by Israel to prevent them being used by Hamas, and will be part of an overall international effort to help govern the Strip led by Arab nations and backed by the US.
Police kill armed man trying to set fire to synagogue in France, says minister
Illustrative: French police officer guards the synagogue of Biarritz, southwestern France, January 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
French police have killed an armed man who was trying to set fire to a synagogue in the northern city of Rouen, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin says.
“National police in Rouen neutralized early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Darmanin writes on X. A source close to the case tells AFP the man was wielding a knife and an iron bar before he was shot by police.
Trucks carrying aid for Gaza begin entering via new US floating pier
Soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) and sailors attached to the MV Roy P. Benavidez assemble the Roll-On, Roll-Off Distribution Facility (RRDF), or floating pier, off the shore of Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea on April 26, 2024. (US Army via AP)
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza roll across a newly built US floating pier into the Strip for the first time this morning.
The shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day entering the Strip. The US military acknowledges the aid movement in a statement this morning.
But the US and aid groups also warn that the pier project is not considered a substitute for land deliveries that could bring in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered Gaza on an average day.
Slovakian PM hangs ‘between life and death’ after shooting, says Hungarian leader
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, center, speaks with people before the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, May 15, 2024. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is hovering between life and death two days after an assassination attempt that sent shock waves across Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tells public radio.
“We are praying for the prime minister and rooting for Slovakia,” Orban says. “We wish him a speedy recovery and return to work.”
Shooting reported next to Israeli Embassy in Stockholm
Officers stand near the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 31, 2024. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
The Israeli Embassy in Stockholm has been sealed off after a shooting early this morning, according to local media reports.
Police press officer Per Fahlström tells newspaper Expressen that a police patrol heard loud bangs, suspected to be from a firearm. The area was cordoned off shortly after 2 a.m., and at 6:30 a.m. the police wrote that their investigations indicated there was a shooting in the area.
Police are posted at the Israeli Embassy, where they are searching for traces of gunfire. Fahlström does not comment on whether the embassy was the target of the suspected shooting.
A preliminary investigation into serious weapons crime has been launched. Fahlström has told media that several people have been detained, without elaborating further.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry says the incident is being probed by Swedish authorities and there are no further details available.
Palestinian Football Association calls for Israel to be suspended from FIFA
Head of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub after his speech at the FIFA congress in Moscow, June 13, 2018. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
The Palestinian football association calls for the “immediate” suspension of Israel from FIFA, football’s world governing body.
“The ball is in your court,” Palestine Football Association head Jibril Rajoub tells FIFA president Gianni Infantino at its meeting in Bangkok.
Israel immediately rejects the call as “cynical.”
“The proposal submitted by the PFA has nothing to do with the IFA and its activity,” IFA chief Shino Moshe Zuares tells the FIFA meeting.
Infantino says FIFA will hold an extraordinary session of its ruling council before July 20 to review the legal analysis and decide how to proceed.
IDF says several drones launched from Lebanon at Western Galilee, at least one downed over sea
Several drones were launched from Lebanon at the Western Galilee earlier this morning, setting off sirens in numerous communities.
According to the IDF, at least one of the drones was downed by air defenses over the sea and a second drone crashed near the northern community of Ga’aton.
A short while ago, renewed suspected drone sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee.
The latest sirens were a false alarm, the IDF says.
Warning sirens now activated in communities along Lebanon border
Sirens have now been activated in a number of communities near the Lebanon border, with the Home Front Command telling anyone there to take shelter from a suspected hostile aircraft.
Images from Nahariya show interceptor missiles launched
The IDF’s Home Front Command says the “incident” that triggered air raid sirens in Nahariya and surrounding communities for around 15 minutes is now over.
Images from Nahariya, located six miles south of the border with Lebanon, show interceptor missiles were launched due to what the IDF earlier said was a suspected hostile aircraft.
רצף התרעות על חדירת כלי טיס עוין וירי רקטות בגליל המערבי, הדי פיצוצים נשמעו באזור נהריה | עדכונים שוטפים >>> https://t.co/pD9QflyDQb@CBeyar
(אנו עושים מאמץ לאתר את בעלי הזכויות בצילומים. השימוש ביצירות שבעל הזכויות בהן לא ידוע או לא אותר נעשה לפי סעיף 27א לחוק זכויות יוצרים.… pic.twitter.com/3JiyNeFFve
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 17, 2024
Sirens sound in northern city of Nahariya, surrounding towns due to suspected hostile aircraft
Air raid sirens sound in the northern coastal city of Nahariya and numerous surrounding communities, due to what the IDF’s Home Front Command says is a suspected hostile aircraft.
Israeli military gov’t in Gaza would cost NIS 20 billion annually, require 5 divisions — report
An Israeli tank is seen near the border with the Gaza Strip as smoke rises above the coastal enclave on May 15, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Senior security officials recently requested an assessment on the cost of having an Israeli military government in Gaza after the war against Hamas, with the price tag coming out to an estimated NIS 20 billion per year, according to the Ynet news site.
Citing a copy of the document, the report says that in addition to the cost of standing up a military government, Israel would have to shell out a yet-to-be-determined amount on rebuilding and repairing infrastructure in the enclave.
The report also says 400 people will be needed to staff the military government and that five IDF divisions would have to remain in Gaza, requiring Israel to shrink the number of troops on the northern border and in the West Bank as well as necessitate a significant increase in the deployment of reservists on operational duty.
In first, UN Security Council holds meeting solely focused on hostages held by Hamas
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks with freed hostage Shoshan Haran during a Security Council meeting on the Hamas terror group's taking of hostages during the Oct. 7 attack, May 16, 2024. (Twitter screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
UNITED NATIONS — Shoshan Haran, her daughter and two grandchildren were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7. Now, Haran is recalling the effects of 50 days in captivity on her three-year-old granddaughter when they were finally released.
“Three weeks after we were released, Yahel only whispers, too afraid to make a noise. She hid from everyone, too afraid to go outside. She wet the bed and had nightmares, too afraid she may be captured again,” Haran tells an informal UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, convened by the United States.
Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 252 hostages.
The US meeting focused on “condemning the hostage-taking in Israel on October 7 as a psychological tool of terrorism.”
Ayelet Samerano, whose son was killed on October 7 and his body taken by Hamas, and Gili Roman, whose sister was taken hostage and released in November, also address the gathering.
In three resolutions, the UN Security Council has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
“Yet Hamas and other terrorist groups have not relented. So today, let us again demand Hamas release all remaining hostages,” says US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “To put it simply: It would save lives on all sides.”
In awe of the courage of Dr. Shoshan Haran, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th – and Ayelet Samerano and Gili Roman, whose family members remain in the hands of Hamas.
Today, they came to the @UN to demand the release of all hostages being held by Hamas and other… pic.twitter.com/lvbUnNxjX7
— Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) May 16, 2024
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan tells the meeting that 132 hostages taken on October 7 are still being held in Gaza and that this is the “first meeting being held by any UN body to focus on their suffering and ways to release them.”
“The hostages are the most urgent and critical humanitarian issue that the council must focus on,” Erdan says.
“Has the council condemned Hamas and demanded they permit the Red Cross to check on the hostages? Have you imposed sanctions on Hamas leadership until they release the hostages? What action has been taken?” he adds.
Pentagon chief says Israel must ensure uninterrupted aid flow to Gaza before Rafah op
File: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (L) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2023. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a phone call with Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, reinforces the “unquestionable necessity” of protecting civilians and ensuring the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid before any potential military operation in Rafah, the Pentagon says.
IDF says settlers hurt 3 soldiers in West Bank after torching truck, assaulting driver
Settlers assaulted a group of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank who came to protect the driver of a vehicle that the settlers had set on fire, according to the military.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces says the settlers attacked the Israeli driver of the truck at a junction outside the Kochav Hashahar settlement, before setting the vehicle ablaze. Troops called to the scene provided medical treatment to the driver while working to distance the dozens of assailants, who the IDF says responded by using force toward the soldiers.
The settlers lightly wounded two officers and another soldier, according to the IDF, who says they were treated at the scene.
The statement adds that the military condemns attacks on soldiers, calling on those responsible to be brought to justice, adding that troops are operating around Kochav Hashahar “to protect the residents and maintain law and order.”
Far-left staffers hold protest on Capitol Hill urging Biden to end US support for Israel
Far-left staffers for Democratic members of Congress are holding a protest on Capitol Hill urging US President Joe Biden to “stop funding Israel’s war against Palestinian civilians.”
Roughly two dozen staffers are participating, many wearing masks to hide their identities.
From photos of the event posted online, there appear to be nearly as many reporters covering the protest as demonstrators.
Happening now: https://t.co/BvHV9PtXTt pic.twitter.com/O8owZldsTg
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) May 16, 2024
US ‘exploring limited sanctions relief’ for Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler
Dan Gertler (Screen capture: YouTube)
WASHINGTON — The US Treasury Department is exploring a limited easing of US sanctions on Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler to facilitate his exit from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a US official says.
The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Gertler and more than 30 of his businesses in December 2017 and June 2018, accusing him of leveraging his friendship with former Congo president Joseph Kabila, to secure lucrative mining deals.
“We are working to support the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo … as it endeavors to remove corrupt actors from its mining sector,” the official says.
“As part of these efforts, we have indicated that we are open to exploring limited sanctions relief as a conduit to the complete removal of Daniel Gertler and his business operations from the DRC.”
Gertler has denied any wrongdoing.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Thursday that the Biden administration and Congo’s government had proposed reducing sanctions on Gertler in exchange for his permanent exit from the country and said the Congolese government presented the plan to Gertler earlier this week and is awaiting his response.
The official says Washington’s goal is to facilitate the removal of significant assets from Gertler’s control and that any potential sanctions relief would need to be subject to strict guardrails, including provisions that would facilitate the snapback of the measures.
The official makes clear that Gertler remains under sanctions “for his corrupt actions” and that his assets remain blocked.
The US official says the US is seeking to support Congo’s efforts to improve transparency and economic opportunity in its mining sector and diversify critical supply chains to increase global security and prosperity.
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