Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Friday’s events as they happened.
Israeli envoy condemns burning of Quran in Sweden by agitator wrapped in Israeli flag
Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden Ziv Nevo Kulman condemns the burning of a Quran earlier today in Malmö by a pair of agitators, one of whom was wrapped in an Israeli flag.
“Burning the holy book of Koran while waving the Israeli flag is a disgusting act of disrespect, not only towards the 20% of Israeli citizens of the Muslim faith but also against the values of tolerance and mutual respect. I condemn this cowardly act in the strongest words. Malmö should be united by music the coming week, not hate!,” Kulman tweets.
Burning the holy book of Koran while waving the Israeli flag is a disgusting act of disrespect, not only towards the 20% of Israeli citizens of the Muslim faith but also against the values of tolerance and mutual respect. I condemn this cowardly act in the strongest words. Malmö… https://t.co/5dBw89WnyH
— Ziv Nevo Kulman ????????????️ (@zivnk) May 3, 2024
Israel yet to hear Hamas willing to retreat from maximalist demands, despite mediators’ optimism, official tells ToI
Protesters block Begin Road in front of the Kirya IDF Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, urging a deal for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, April 30, 2024 (Danor Aharon / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
A senior Israeli official lowers expectations that a hostage deal is imminent.
“Even though the mediators are speaking optimistically, Israel has yet to hear that Hamas has agreed to retreat from its maximalist positions,” the senior official tells The Times of Israel.
Moments ago, Hamas issued a statement saying that it is sending a delegation to Cairo tomorrow in a “positive spirit” aimed at reaching a deal. The terror group has yet to provide its official response to the latest proposal green-lit by Israel earlier this week.
Earlier today, CIA chief Bill Burns arrived in Cairo, and a US official said there had been some progress in the talks. The Biden administration has said Hamas is the only party standing in the way of a deal that would see some of the hostages released an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks.
Hamas says it’s going to Cairo with ‘positive spirit’ to reach agreement
Hamas emphasizes its “positive spirit” toward the hostage deal proposal it recently received and says it will go to Cairo with the same spirit to reach an agreement.
“We are determined to secure an agreement in a way that fulfills Palestinians’ demands,” the terror group says in a statement.
Rafah assault ‘could lead to a bloodbath’ — WHO chief
Palestinians line up for a meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, December 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
An Israeli military ground assault into Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where humanitarian aid groups estimate 1.2 million Palestinians are sheltering, could end in a “bloodbath”, the WHO warms.
The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns of possible dire implications.
“WHO is deeply concerned that a full-scale military operation in Rafah, Gaza, could lead to a bloodbath, and further weaken an already broken health system,” Tedros tweets.
In a statement, the WHO says a Rafah incursion would substantially increase mortality and morbidity.
“A new wave of displacement would exacerbate overcrowding, further limiting access to food, water, health and sanitation services, leading to increased disease outbreaks, worsening levels of hunger, and additional loss of lives,” the UN health agency says.
“The broken health system would not be able to cope with a surge in casualties and deaths that a Rafah incursion would cause.”
It says the three hospitals currently partially operational in Rafah would become unsafe to be reached by patients, staff, ambulances, and humanitarians when hostilities intensify in their vicinity and as a result quickly become non-functional.
“WHO calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the removal of the obstacles to the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza, at the scale that is required,” it says.
Earlier today, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, said the United Nations had warned that a military operation in Rafah “could lead to a slaughter.”
“For agencies already struggling to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow,” he told a media briefing.
“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death.”
Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah to meet next week in Washington
US President Joe Biden arrives with Jordan's King Abdullah II to speak in the Cross Hall of the White House, February 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
US President Joe Biden will have a private White House meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah next week, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says.
US official says there’s been some progress in hostage talks
The US believes there has been some progress in hostage talks in Cairo but are still waiting to hear more, a US official tells Reuters.
US President Joe Biden also dispatched CIA chief Bill Burns to Cairo today for the talks and a Hamas delegation will arrive tomorrow.
Report: Israeli officials believe Hamas may agree to release some hostages even without Israeli pledge to end war
Hostages' families and their supporters calling for an immediate deal to release their loved ones block Begin Street in Tel Aviv, May 2, 2024. (Yael Gadot/Pro-Democracy Movement)
Contradicting Hebrew media outlets that have said Israel is expecting Hamas to snub the latest hostage deal proposal, the Axios news site cites senior Israeli officials who say they see early indications that Hamas could agree to the first stage of the Egyptian-crafted proposal for a deal even without an Israeli commitment to end the war — but with fewer hostages to be freed in exchange for more Palestinian security prisoners.
“At the same time, they added, Hamas is expected to set stricter requirements that could lower the number of hostages it will agree to release on humanitarian grounds and increase the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in return,” Axios reports.
Israel is seeking the release of 33 female, elderly and sick hostages during the six-week first stage of the truce, but Hamas may only agree to release 20 hostages in those categories, Axios says.
Ex-IDF ops chief: Rafah invasion PM readying to approve would be worst decision made since war’s outbreak
Retired general Israel Ziv talks to CNN's Erin Burnett. (Screenshot used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Israel Ziv, a retired general and former IDF operations chief, speaks out against a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah during Channel 12’s Friday night news panel.
Ziv asserts that the remaining Hamas battalions in the southernmost city of Gaza do not pose an existential threat to Israel, whereas the hostage deal Israel risks forgoing by entering Rafah would amount to an existential threat to the lives of the Israeli hostages.
Ziv argues that even in the best case scenario where Israel enters Rafah, manages to find and kill Hamas leader Sinwar and recover the hostages, there will be no “total victory,” as promised by Netanyahu.
On the other hand, such an invasion will be very bloody, further isolate Jerusalem diplomatically and leave Israel without anyone to turn over Gaza to once the operation is over, Ziv says.
Arguing that Netanyahu is beholden to far-right coalition partners who are demanding a Rafah offensive, Ziv laments that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the verge of making the worst decision since the start of the war by launching the invasion.
Hamas official says terror group will send delegation to Cairo Saturday
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and flags during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Reuters cites an unnamed Hamas official who says the terror group will send a delegation to Cairo Saturday for hostage talks.
The delegation is expected to come with Hamas’s official response to the latest proposal on the table.
CIA chief Bill Burns arrived in Cairo earlier today.
Channel 12 cites an Israeli official who expresses frustration with Burns’s decision to arrive before Hamas has even responded to the deal, again raising expectations that a deal is close when one might not be. However, the network acknowledges that the US is pushing hard for a deal and has likely sent Burns to Cairo to exert as much pressure as possible on the parties.
Israel, Hezbollah said nearing deal to end northern border tensions, but it’ll still require hostage deal first
An Israeli airstrike between the towns of Ayta ash-Shab and Ramyeh on Lebanon's southern border with Israel on April 24, 2024. (Screen capture, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Channel 12 reports that Israel and Hezbollah are close to reaching an agreement that would see the terror group retreat away from Israel’s northern border and allow Israeli civilians to return to their homes in northern communities that have been evacuated since October.
The deal on the table has been brokered by the US and is similar to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and stipulated that the terror group must retreat from the border with Israel to the north of the Litani River. Hezbollah has increasingly violated those terms over the years.
The deal brokered by US envoy Amos Hochstein will first require a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas that restores calm in Gaza, Channel 12 says.
The network cites Israeli officials who say that the US deal is the only game in town and that efforts by France to broker its own deal are harmful and motivated by Paris’s effort to demonstrate diplomatic relevance.
Houthi rebels threaten to widen ship attacks to Mediterranean
A Houthi anti-Israel and anti-US rally in Sanaa, Yemen, April 19, 2024. (Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo)
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have threatened to extend their attacks on Israel-bound shipping to the Mediterranean after months of strikes on vessels in the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who say they are acting in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war, said the escalation would take effect “immediately.”
It involves “the targeting of all ships that violate the ban (on) Israeli navigation and that head to the ports of occupied Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea in any reachable area within our ample zone”, military spokesman Yahya Saree says in a statement.
The Houthis, who control large swathes of Yemen including much of its Red Sea coast, have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping since November.
Their campaign has prompted US and British reprisal attacks and the formation of an international naval coalition to protect the vital trade route.
With Israel’s Mediterranean ports lying about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from northern Yemen, it is unclear how much of a threat the Houthis will pose.
The Houthi arsenal includes ballistic missiles with a range of 1,600 to 1,900 km, and Iranian Shahed-136 drones that can travel up to 2,000 km, experts say.
The rebels previously threatened to extend their attacks to the Indian Ocean and to vessels taking the detour around southern Africa to avoid the Yemeni coast. But their main focus has remained the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Israeli jets strike four Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon
Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah positions in four different areas in southern Lebanon a short while ago, the military says.
The targets included buildings used by the terror group in Kafr Kila and Maroun al-Ras, alongside additional infrastructure in Bint Jbeil and Aitaroun, according to the IDF.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו לפני זמן קצר מטרות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. ביניהן מבנים צבאיים של הארגון במרחבים כפר כילא ומרון א-ראס, לצד תשתיות טרור של הארגון במרחבים בינת ג'בל ועיתרון שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/UBNiJFOsc6
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 3, 2024
Erdogan: Israel trade freeze aimed at forcing Gaza truce
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad on April 22, 2024. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / POOL / AFP)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey’s move to halt trade with Israel was designed to force the country to a ceasefire over Gaza.
The decision, announced on Thursday, is the latest indication of deteriorating relations between the two countries.
“We have taken some measures to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid to enter” Gaza, Erdogan tells a group of businessmen in Istanbul.
“We will oversee the consequences of this step we have taken in coordination and consultation with our business world.”
Already in April Turkey, one of the few Muslim-majority nations to recognize Israel, announced it was restricting exports to Israel, covering 54 products from iron and steel to jet fuel.
“We do not run after hostility or conflict in our region,” says Erdogan. “We do not want to see conflict, blood or tears in our geography.
“We know now that we did the right thing.”
Smotrich accuses PM of hiding Turkey’s participation in hostage talks
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has penned a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of hiding Turkey’s participation in the ongoing hostage talks.
Smotrich says he has received “reliable information” revealing that “representatives of the president of Turkey, Israel’s antisemitic enemy Erdogan” are at the negotiating table.
Netanyahu’s office has not responded publicly to the letter.
Knesset speaker fumes after being informed he won’t speak at Independence Day ceremony
Likud MK Amir Ohana in Beit El, in the West Bank, July 12, 2022 (Sraya Diamant/Flash90) and (R) MK Miri Regev in Jerusalem, May 29, 2022 (Arie Leib Abrams/FLASH90)
Transportation Minister Miri Regev reportedly informed Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana that he won’t be given the traditional honor of speaking at this year’s Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony as major changes are made to the event in light of October 7.
The news infuriated Ohana who instructed the Knesset Guard not to cooperate with preparations for the ceremony, Channel 12 reports, which said that the confab will still include a pre-recorded speech from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
CIA director arrives in Cairo for hostage talks, Egyptian sources say
File: CIA Director William Burns speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 8, 2023. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)
CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo earlier today for hostage negotiations, an Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo’s airport say.
Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been leading efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas to broker a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.
PMO reportedly weighing likely dead-on-arrival post-war plan for Israel-Arab alliance to manage Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right, leads a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on April 17, 2024. (Maayan Toaf / GPO)
Officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office are weighing a likely dead-on-arrival plan for post-war Gaza that would see Israel share oversight of the Strip with an alliance of Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reports.
The vague plan is likely to be rejected by Israel’s envisioned Arab partners as it doesn’t include an explicit pathway to a Palestinian state. It is also likely to be snubbed by Netanyahu’s far-right partners because it doesn’t explicitly rule out the Palestinian Authority’s return to Gaza or the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Under the proposal, the Arab-Israeli alliance, working with the United States, would appoint Gazan leaders to redevelop the devastated territory, overhaul its education system and maintain order. After between seven and 10 years, the alliance would allow Gazans to vote on whether to be absorbed into a united Palestinian administration that would govern in both Gaza and the West Bank, according to the proposal. In the meantime, the plan suggests, the Israeli military could continue to operate inside Gaza,” NYT reports. “The proposal does not explicitly say whether that united administration would constitute a sovereign Palestinian state, or if it would include the Palestinian Authority.”
The plan was crafted in November by a group of unnamed businessmen, some of whom are close to Netanyahu, the report says. It has been shown to former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is in contact with senior Saudi officials. A Palestinian businessman has also been involved in promoting the idea to US officials.
US army says inclement weather has hampered construction of temporary pier for Gaza
A maritime pier being built by the US military off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in an image released on April 29, 2024. (CENTCOM)
US Central Command says that inclement weather has hampered its construction of the temporary pier for Gaza.
“Forecasted high winds and high sea swells caused unsafe conditions for soldiers working on the surface of the partially constructed pier,” CENTCOM tweets, adding that the partially built structure and military vessels involved in its construction were transferred to Israel’s Ashdod Port.
Assembly of the pier will be completed at Ashdod before being transferred to its intended location off the Gaza coast, the statement says.
Israel said to give Hamas week ultimatum to choose between hostage deal, Rafah invasion
IDF soldiers operate in Gaza as the military says it remains on high alert ahead of Passover holiday, April 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel has given Hamas one week to agree to the hostage deal on the table or it will launch its long-pledged offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The report doesn’t specify when the ultimatum was given, but cites Egyptian officials speaking today, meaning Hamas would have until next Friday to agree to the deal.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening to enter Rafah for months, claiming repeatedly during that period that an invasion was imminent.
The Journal says Hamas’s political leadership abroad was handed the latest proposal green-lit by Israel last weekend and is expected to arrive in Cairo in the coming days to discuss it further. However, the terror group’s preeminent leaders in Gaza — namely Yahya Sinwar — have yet to respond to the proposal, and it was unclear whether they’ve even seen it, as they hide in tunnels underneath Gaza.
Hamas’s leadership abroad has offered mixed signals regarding the latest offer, and unnamed Egyptian officials tell WSJ that the terror group is chafing at what it says is the proposal’s vague details regarding the length of the truce. Hamas wants a long-term ceasefire bolstered by US guarantees that Israel will respect its terms and fears the current proposal will allow Israel to resume fighting within a short period of time.
According to the report, the offer would include a first phase lasting up to 40 days in which up to 33 Israeli hostages would be released. Around this time, the sides would begin negotiations for a more permanent ceasefire. The second phase would last for at least six weeks and see the sides agree to a larger hostage release and commit to a further pause in fighting that could last up to a year.
WSJ says Hamas and Israel also remain at odds on the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, though the US has said Israel has agreed to the unrestricted return of Gaza civilians to areas cleared by the IDF. As for swapping Israeli hostages for Palestinian security prisoners, the sides have been largely in line with one another.
WSJ says Hamas will likely respond to the latest proposal with an updated offer of its own, rather than rejecting it outright.
IDF: Body of Elyakim Libman — presumed hostage since Oct. 7 — found in Israel
Elyakim Libman, security guard at the Supernova desert rave who was thought to be taken captive on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
Elyakim Libman, who was thought to have been abducted by Hamas on October 7, has been declared dead after his body was found in Israel.
The IDF says military representatives, along with members of the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Health Ministry, notified Libman’s family of the findings today.
His death was based on “findings that were identified following a complex investigation” carried out by the IDF, police, Institute of Forensic Medicine and Health Ministry, the military says.
Libman was working as a security guard at the Supernova desert rave on October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched an assault at the party, killing and kidnapping partygoers.
According to his family, Libman stayed behind for hours treating other wounded people until he was killed.
He was initially thought to have been taken hostage, as his body was not found. According to Hebrew-language media reports, his remains had been buried alongside another victim from the Nova festival, in an error.
The development lowers the number of hostages taken on October 7 from 253 to 252.
IDF strikes building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Markaba a short while ago, the military says.
Troops also shelled areas near Aalma ash-Shab with artillery to “remove threats,” the IDF says.
The strikes come following a barrage of rockets on Mount Meron in northern Israel, which according to the IDF caused no injuries or damage.
Overnight, another two buildings used by Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab were struck, the military adds.
לפני זמן קצר מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנה צבאי של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב מרכבא שבדרום לבנון.
כמו כן, כוחות צה"ל ביצעו ירי להסרת איום באמצעות ארטילריה במרחב עלמא א-שעב.במהלך הלילה נתקפו שני מבנים צבאיים של הארגון במרחב עייתא א-שעב שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/IHqGR6W8O5
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 3, 2024
In statement marking World Press Freedom Day, Biden says ‘far too many’ journalists have been killed in Gaza war
US President Joe Biden says “far too many” journalists have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war in his statement marking World Press Freedom Day.
“On World Press Freedom Day, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of journalists and media workers around the world risking everything in pursuit of truth,” he says.
“This is especially resonant today; 2023 was one of the deadliest years for journalists in recent memory. One reason for that is the war in Gaza, where far too many journalists, the vast majority of them Palestinian, have been killed.”
“Additionally, over 300 journalists were imprisoned around the world last year – the highest number in decades. In Russia, American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva have been imprisoned in connection with their work for the Wall Street Journal and for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. And Austin Tice is still being held hostage in Syria after nearly twelve years,” he adds.
IDF: None hurt as at least 10 rockets from Lebanon strike open areas near Mount Meron
At least 10 rockets fired from Lebanon struck open areas in the Mount Meron area a short while ago, according to the IDF.
The IDF says there are no damage or injuries in the attack.
Sirens had sounded in the nearby community of Zivon.
Hezbollah has attacked Mount Meron, located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, several times amid the ongoing war, launching large barrages of rockets at the mountain, as well as guided missiles at the military base that sits atop it.
UK imposes sanctions for alleged violence against Palestinians on Lehava and Hilltop Youth, 4 settler leaders
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers scuffle with Jewish settlers from the Einav settlement, trying to storm the West Bank town of Deir Sharaf, near Nablus, November 2, 2023. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)
The UK announces new sanctions on extremist groups and individuals accused of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announces the sanctions package, which follows a previous round of sanctions in February on four Israelis believed to have carried out violent attacks on Palestinians.
“Extremist settlers are undermining security and stability and threatening prospects for peace,” Cameron says in a statement.
“This latest package of sanctions targets two groups leading these attacks, and four individuals who are directly responsible for egregious violence against Palestinian civilians,” he adds.
The statement names the groups as Hilltop Youth, which it calls “a hardline nationalist Israeli youth group which establishes illegal settler outposts across the West Bank” and Lehava, which it says is being sanctioned for “facilitating, inciting, and promoting violence against Arab and Palestinian communities.”
Extremist Lehava head Bentzi Gopstein (with microphone) and other far-right activists demonstrate against the annual Pride Parade in Jerusalem, on June 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Lehava, a far-right Jewish supremacist group, has also been sanctioned by the EU, and its leader Benzi Gopstein, a former Knesset candidate for Itamar Ben Gvir’s Oztmah Yehudit party, was sanctioned by the US last month.
The statement lists the individuals targeted as prominent far-right activist Noam Federman, whose son Ely has already been sanctioned by the UK, Neria Ben Pazi and Elisha Yered who have already been sanctioned by the US and Eden Levi.
The new measures “impose financial restrictions on the entities and individuals, and travel restrictions on the individuals,” the statement adds.
Barkat submits complaint to OECD chief over ‘unilateral’ Turkish decision to suspend trade with Israel
Economy Minister Nir Barkat submits a complaint to OECD chief Mathias Cormann over Turkey’s “unilateral decision to stop maritime trade between countries.”
In a meeting with the OECD chief a day after Turkey announced that it has halted all exports and imports to and from Israel in protest of the war in Gaza, Barkat charges that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an “antisemitic dictator” and that the decision “blatantly violates maritime trade laws and harms the continuity of global supply.”
“We expect the OECD to take action against Turkey over Erdogan’s delusional decision that harms the entire European economy,” Barkat says. “Europe must put limits on Erdogan the dictator.”
נפגשתי לפני זמן קצר עם מזכ״ל הארגון לשיתוף פעולה ולפיתוח כלכלי ה-OECD מתיאס קורמן. הגשתי לקורמן תלונה נגד טורקיה לאור החלטתה החד צדדית לעצור את הסחר הימי בין המדינות. ארדואן הוא רודן אנטישמי שפוגע באירופה כולה בהחלטה שמפרה באופן בוטה את חוקי הסחר הימי ומזיקה לרציפות האספקה… pic.twitter.com/baIOjY6lJ6
— ניר ברקת (@NirBarkat) May 3, 2024
Rocket alert sirens sounding in northern border town
Rocket alert sirens are sounding in the northern town of Zivon near the Lebanon border, warning of incoming missile fire.
The sirens sound some two hours after the IDF intercepted a drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
IDF: Snap drill this week simulated ‘various battle scenarios’ with Hezbollah on Lebanon border
Troops of the IDF's 282nd Artillery Regiment are seen in northern Israel, in a handout photo published May 3, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF’s 282nd Artillery Regiment carried out a snap drill this week, simulating war with Hezbollah, the military announces.
The military says the drill included “rapid deployment of howitzers,” and was aimed at simulating “various battle scenarios on the border with Lebanon against the Hezbollah terror group.”
The 282nd Regiment has been deployed to the northern border for the past three months, launching thousands of shells at Hezbollah targets amid the ongoing fighting, the IDF adds.
Weeks after calling for Israeli elections, Schumer set to join invite for Netanyahu to address Congress — report
File - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) departs from the Senate Chambers in the US Capitol Building on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP)
Less than two months after declaring that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be replaced in early elections, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly set to sign off on an invitation for the Israeli premier to address a joint session of Congress.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson announced last month that he would seek Schumer’s buy-in for the invitation in support of Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
The Hill reports that Johnson sent the draft invitation to Schumer last month and quotes the Senate leader’s office as saying that he is now ready to get on board.
“He intends to join the invitation, the timing is being worked out,” Schumer’s office is quoted as saying.
In his March 14 speech on the Senate floor, Schumer had said that Netanyahu has “lost his way, putting himself in coalition with far-right extremists like [Finance Minister] Bezalel Smotrich and [National Security Minister] Itamar Ben Gvir.”
“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. The world has changed – radically – since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past,” Schumer told Senators in his controversial remarks.
UN official says Rafah operation could be ‘incredible blow’ to Gaza aid operation
Illustrative - Local volunteers of the World Central Kitchen cook meals to be distributed to displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 3, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
An Israeli military operation in Rafah would be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations for all of Gaza and put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk, according to the UN humanitarian office.
Israel has warned of an operation to root out the remaining Hamas battalions in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodations amid the ongoing war.
“It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah,” says Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, at a Geneva press briefing.
Aid operations run from Rafah include medical clinics and food distribution points, including centers for malnourished children, he adds.
At the same briefing, a World Health Organization official says that a contingency plan for an incursion had been prepared, which included a new field hospital, but that it would not be enough to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.
“I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid,” says Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza via video link. “It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity posed by a military operation.”
He adds that he is “extremely concerned” that any incursion would close the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt which is currently being used to import medical supplies.
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 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Medics: Woman lightly hurt by shrapnel from drone interception in Upper Galilee
A woman is slightly injured by shrapnel following the interception of a drone in the Upper Galilee, medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance says it is treating a 43-year-old woman in “very light condition” after she was hit by shrapnel in the Yarka area.
The IDF said it downed a hostile drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
Poll: 54% of Israelis believe hostage deal more important than Rafah operation
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold banners and flags during a protest calling for their return, outside a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and families of hostages in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A slim majority of Israelis believe that securing a deal to release over 100 hostages held by terror groups since October 7 is more important than launching a planned IDF operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to a new poll.
The Maariv poll, conducted by Panel4All, finds that 54 percent of Israelis support a hostage deal over the looming Rafah operation (38%).
Breaking down the results, the poll shows that 79% of right-wing voters support the Rafah operation, while 81% of respondents who vote for center-left parties support a hostage deal.
The poll comes as Israel waits for Hamas’s response to its latest offer for a hostage and truce deal and considers starting the long-promised military operation in Rafah, where over one million Palestinians are sheltering amid the ongoing war.
IDF: Air defenses shot down drone launched from Lebanon
A hostile drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses, the IDF says.
Amid the incident, sirens sounded in the Upper Galilee communities of Yanuh-Jat, Klil, Kafr Yasif, Yarka, Abu Snan and Julis.
Shrapnel from the interception landed on a building in Julis, causing minor damage, the military adds.
The incident marks the first rocket or drone alert sirens in the country after an almost 48-hour lull.
צבע אדום (03/05/2024 12:52): ינוח-ג'ת, כליל, כפר יסיף, ירכא, אבו סנאן, ג'וליס pic.twitter.com/nEG8xe4RWx
— צופר – צבע אדום (@tzevaadom_) May 3, 2024
Police enter central Paris university in riot gear amid pro-Palestinian sit-in — witnesses
Members of Palestine Action Committee (Comite Action Palestine) speak to journalists near the entrance of the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris) which has been occupied by pro-Palestinian students, Paris, May 3, 2024.(Migual Medina/AFP)
French police have been seen entering the main building of Sciences Po university in central Paris, after a group of pro-Palestinian students protesting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza staged a sit-in.
A student inside the university confirms to Reuters that police are closing in on the protesters, while videos shared on social media show officers in riot gear entering the building.
Another student tells reporters that around 50 students are still inside the rue Saint-Guillaume site, while television images from the scene suggest the evacuation is passing off peacefully.
BREAKING:
French riot police storm the famous Sciences Po University in Paris in order to end the “Liberated Zone” set up there by anti-Israel students.
???????????????? pic.twitter.com/dWCvoHn5Ge
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 3, 2024
The prestigious university announced yesterday that it would keep its main Paris site closed today due to the fresh occupation of buildings by pro-Palestinian students protesting against Israel.
In a message sent to staff last night, Sciences Po management said the buildings in central Paris “will remain closed tomorrow, Friday May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home.”
IDF to forgo dress uniforms during upcoming ceremonies amid ongoing war in Gaza
File - Israel's 75th anniversary Independence Day ceremony, held at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on April 25, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Israeli military will largely forgo dress uniforms during ceremonies on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day in the coming weeks, amid the ongoing war.
Officers with the rank of captain and above, and non-commissioned officers ranked sergeant first class or higher, will wear their work uniform at ceremonies held outside of army bases, the IDF says.
It cites operational considerations amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip as the reason for the change.
All other troops, and soldiers with ceremonial roles, will wear dress uniforms.
ICC prosecutor slams ‘attempts to intimidate’ court over possible arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials
File - Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, addresses a UN Security Council meeting on July 13, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The office of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor issues a strong statement against reports that Jerusalem has threatened retaliatory measures if the court issues arrest warrants against top Israeli officials.
“The office seeks to engage constructively with all stakeholders whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially,” ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan says in a statement.
“That independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate… should the office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction,” he adds, demanding that “all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials cease immediately.”
The statement follows a report from the Axios news site earlier this morning that a group of Republican and Democratic senators held a virtual meeting with top ICC officials this week, in an attempt to dissuade the court from ordering arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters outside Gantz’s house call for National Unity to leave government if there’s no hostage deal
Protesters outside the home of National Unity chair Benny Gantz call on him to leave the government in the absence of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, May 3, 2024. (Gil Levin/Pro-Democracy Movement)
Anti-government protesters are gathering for the second week in a row outside the home of National Unity chair Benny Gantz, calling on him to leave the government in the absence of a deal to free over 100 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza since October 7.
One protester waves an Israeli flag with two red stripes and a red Star of David instead of blue and others hold “Exit” signs, representing their demand for Gantz to quit the government.
Another sign raised at the protest shows US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz, with the respective titles “The Good, the Bad and the Nada.”
Protesters outside the home of National Unity chair Benny Gantz call on him to leave the government in the absence of a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, May 3, 2024. (Gil Levin/Pro-Democracy Movement)
According to a statement from the Israeli Pro-Democracy Movement, the demonstrators accuse the government of “a series of failures – starting with the kidnapping of IDF soldiers and civilians by Hamas on October 7.”
They also accuse the government of neglecting Israelis displaced in the north and the south of the country, and “the lack of a decisive strategy against Hamas despite the heavy cost in human lives and damage to the Israeli home front.”
The protesters reiterate their call for Gantz and his National Unity party to withdraw from the wartime government “led by Netanyahu and [far-right minister Itamar] Ben Gvir” in the absence of a deal to free the hostages.
It is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
Officer accidentally fired gun while clearing Columbia building seizure — NYPD
Using a tactical vehicle, New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus in New York, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters earlier in the day. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
The New York Police Department has disclosed that an officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building earlier this week while clearing out anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters camped inside.
No one was injured by the officer’s mistake late Tuesday inside Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus, the NYPD says in a statement released late last night, asserting that he was trying to use the flashlight attached to his gun at the time and instead fired a single round that struck a frame on the wall.
There were other officers but no students in the immediate vicinity, officials say. Body camera footage shows when the officer’s gun went off, but the district attorney’s office is conducting a review, a standard practice.
More than 100 people were taken into custody during the Columbia crackdown, just a fraction of the total arrests stemming from recent campus protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which began following the October 7 massacre carried out by the Hamas terror group in southern Israel.
Turkey says trade halt with Israel will continue until permanent Gaza ceasefire
Turkey’s trade minister says a trade halt with Israel, announced yesterday, will continue until a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is secured as well as unhindered humanitarian aid flow to the region.
In a speech in Istanbul this morning announcing April trade figures, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat says Israel’s “uncompromising attitude” and the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted Turkey to halt trade yesterday.
The Turkish Trade Ministry said yesterday that the step was the “second phase” of measures against Israel, in protest of the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.
Turkey has been one of the harshest critics of Israel during the war against Hamas, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan branding Israel a “terrorist state.”
The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion in 2023.
Shin Bet detains settler on suspicion of involvement in murder of Palestinian man in West Bank last month
A Palestinian inspects the damage to his belongings in the village of Mughayir near Ramallah in the West Bank on April 13, 2024, after an alleged attack by Israeli settlers on the village. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP)
A 35-year-old resident of the West Bank settlement of Beit El has been detained by the Shin Bet on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a Palestinian man killed last month during reprisal attacks by Jewish extremists following the recent slaying of an Israeli teenager.
The arrest is announced in a statement from Honenu, a far-right group providing legal representation to the suspect, which says that the Israeli man was arrested last night after he “refused to cooperate” with the Shin Bet during an interrogation that took place yesterday.
The statement adds that the suspect will appear in the Jerusalem District Court this morning for a remand hearing.
“This is a wrongful arrest of an innocent person,” the lawyers say, while vowing, “We will do everything in our power so that he is home for Shabbat.”
The arrest follows the announcement earlier this week of administrative detention warrants for five settlers suspected of taking part in the violence against Palestinians that erupted after the body of 14-year-old Benjamin Achimeir was discovered on April 13, with security forces saying he was killed in a terror attack.
Father of soldier killed on October 7 says he’ll petition ‘scandalous’ appointment of new IDF intel chief
Cpt. Ori Mordechay Shani, a Golani commander killed at the Kissufim post, October 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The father of a soldier killed during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught says he will petition the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Brig. Gen. Shlomi Binder to the next head of the Military Intelligence Directorate.
In a post on the X social media site, Yehoshua Shani, the father of Cpt. Ori Mordechay Shani, who was killed battling Hamas terrorists, says he will petition the “scandalous” appointment of Binder with other families of fallen soldiers.
“My holy son, Cpt. Ori Mordechay Shani, a platoon commander in Golani’s 51st Battalion, fell in a heroic battle at the Kissufim post,” he writes.
“He and his troops fought the terrorists for long hours and eliminated many of them, without the senior IDF officers, including Brig. Gen. Shlomi Binder, the head of the Operations Division who is responsible for preparing IDF troops for such situations, being in sight,” Shani says.
Shani says Binder should not be allowed to enter the role “before his part in the failures is revealed, through a state commission on inquiry.”
Yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced the promotions of five generals, including Binder.
Binder is to replace Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, who announced his resignation over his role in the failures in the lead-up to the Hamas attack.
Friedman in NYT: Saudi normalization requires path to Palestinian statehood, IDF leaving Gaza, settlement freeze
A US-Saudi deal said to be close to completion would require a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, along with a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip and a freeze on settlement construction, according to an op-ed by Thomas Friedman published in the New York Times.
Friedman writes that the deal includes the normalization of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, according to certain conditions.
“That will happen only if Israel agrees to Riyadh’s terms: get out of Gaza, freeze the building of settlements in the West Bank and embark on a three- to five-year “pathway” to establish a Palestinian state in the occupied territories,” he writes.
Friedman adds that the establishment of a Palestinian state “would also be conditioned on the Palestinian Authority undertaking reforms to make it a governing body that Palestinians trust and see as legitimate and Israelis see as effective.”
The op-ed notes that the current Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be unlikely to agree to such conditions, and as such the deal maybe finalized “with the stated proviso that Saudi Arabia will normalize relations with Israel the minute Israel has a government ready to meet the Saudi-US terms.”
The deal would also provide Saudi Arabia with security assurances from Washington while moving it away from US rivals.
‘Stop hate mate’: Australian Jews protest antisemitism next to pro-Palestinian encampment at top university
A member of the Australian Jewish community holds up a sign against anti-Israel sentiment seen at a pro-Palestinian protests, University of Sydney, May 3, 2024. (Ayush Kumar/AFP)
Hundreds of people are protesting the Gaza war at the University of Sydney, demanding it divest from companies with ties to Israel, as a pro-Israel counterprotest nearby calls for an end to hate speech at demonstrations inspired by anti-Israel encampments sweeping US campuses.
Videos shared on social media shows a group of hooded men waving what appear to be Taliban flags inscribed with the Muslim ‘shahada’, or declaration of faith, chanting in Arabic as they march through one of Australia’s top universities.
The University of Sydney is unrecognisable. pic.twitter.com/y8VdARIJar
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) May 3, 2024
Several hundred meters away from the Sydney university protest and separated by lines of security guards, hundreds gather under Australian and Israeli flags under the banner “Stop Hate Mate,” to hear speakers talk about how anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests have made Jewish students and staff feel unsafe on campus.
“There’s no space for anybody else, walking through campus chanting ‘Intifada’ and ‘from the river to the sea’ it does something, it’s scary,” says Sarah, an academic who declined to give her name for fear of repercussions.
The Australian Jewish Association posts on X, formerly Twitter, that Jews walking past the pro-Palestinian protest holding Australian and Israeli flags are attacked by an “antisemitic mob.”
Australian Israeli flags ripped from the hands of a Zionist counter protestor testing the limits of the Sydney university Palestinian encampment. https://t.co/0y1io7d2MC pic.twitter.com/Ffsy6aFZLJ
— Chriscoveries (@Chriscoveries) May 3, 2024
The pro-Israel protesters hold signs reading “Israelis are humans too” and “Intifada is a call to violence,” in a protest against anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment seen at anti-Israel student protests on US campuses and around the world.
University of Sydney vice chancellor Mark Scott told local media yesterday that the pro-Palestinian encampment could stay on campus in part because there was not the violence seen in the US.
While several police cars are parked at the entrance to the university, no police are present at either protest.
Pro-Palestinian activists set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at University of Sydney, one of Australia’s largest tertiary institutions.
Similar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.
Unlike in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges, protest sites in Australia have been peaceful with scant police presence.
Report: Bipartisan group of senators trying to convince ICC not to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials
A group of Republican and Democratic senators reportedly held a virtual meeting with top officials from the International Criminal Court this week in an attempt to dissuade the court from issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Axios news site quotes sources with “knowledge of the meeting” as saying that the senators — whose identities are not disclosed in the report — used the Wednesday meeting to “voice concerns about how the ICC investigation regarding the war in Gaza is being conducted.”
Israel has also told the US in recent weeks that Palestinian Authority officials may be pushing the ICC to issue warrants against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, according to the report.
The report adds that Israel has warned the US it will retaliate against the PA if the court issues the arrest warrants.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that US Congress members from both parties had warned the ICC that Washington would retaliate against the court if it issues the potential arrest warrants, amid fears that such a move could sink a hostages-for-truce agreement in the works between Israel and Hamas.
The office of the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan has also been investigating Hamas for its October 7 attack on Israel, as well as Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza since then.
An Israeli team has been working for weeks to try to prevent the ICC from issuing arrest warrants, with Netanyahu charging earlier this week that they would be an “unprecedented antisemitic hate crime.”
Iran says crew of Israel-linked ship released in ‘humanitarian act’; vessel still seized
This image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on April 13, 2024, shows Iran's Revolutionary Guards rappelling down onto a container ship, MSC Aries, near the Strait of Hormuz. (Video screenshot)
Iran has released the crew of a seized Portuguese-flagged ship linked to Israel, but remains in control of the vessel itself, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian announces.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the container ship MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route.
“The seized ship, which turned off its radar in Iran’s territorial waters and jeopardized the security of navigation, is under judicial detention,” Amirabdollahian says, according to a foreign ministry post on X, formerly Twitter, late last night.
He says the release of the crew was a humanitarian act and they could return to their countries along with the ship’s captain.
Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier said the Aries was seized for “violating maritime laws” and that there was no doubt it was linked to Israel.
MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Recent attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis, claiming solidarity with Palestinians during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, have affected global shipping.
Poll: Gantz boosts lead over Netanyahu again as Israel waits on hostage deal, Rafah operation
File - War cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (standing), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, at a press conference at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, November 22, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Unity chair Benny Gantz is holding and even slightly strengthening his lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a new poll taken as Israel waits for Hamas’s answer to the latest offer for a hostage and truce deal and amid a looming Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.
If elections were held today, Gantz’s National Unity party would get 31 seats — up two from last week’s survey and significantly higher than its current 12 seats, the Maariv poll finds.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party is down two seats to 19 in this week’s poll, higher than earlier in the war against Hamas in Gaza but still much lower than the 32 Knesset seats it currently holds.
The Maariv poll also shows the gap between the two leaders widening in the past week; 47 percent prefer Gantz as prime minister while 33% believe Netanyahu is more suitable to lead the country. The gap widened from 9% last week to 14% this week, Maariv notes.
The poll finds that the split between camps has widened slightly over the past week, with the right-wing bloc staying stable at 50 mandates and the opposition gaining 4 seats to a total of 65, with five seats to Arab parties, in the 120-member Knesset.
According to the poll (current number of seats in parentheses), Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party would get 13 seats (24), hawkish MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu (6) would strengthen to 12 seats, Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit (7) would rise to 10 seats, Shas (11) would drop to 9 seats, United Torah Judaism would stay stable at 7, Hadash-Taal and Ra’am would remain stable at 5 each, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism (4) would get 5 seats and Meretz (0) would just pass the electoral threshold to get 4 seats.
The Arab Balad party, the center-left Labor party and Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope would fall below the threshold to enter the Knesset.
The poll was conducted on May 1-2 by Panel4All and sampled 500 people over the age of 18 with a margin error of 4.4%.
Cabinet to vote Sunday on law allowing government to close Al Jazeera in Israel — report
Illustrative: An employee of Al Jazeera walks past the channel's logo at its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. (AP/ Kamran Jebreili, File)
The security cabinet reportedly does not hold a scheduled vote during last night’s meeting to approve a law allowing the government to close the Al Jazeera news station in Israel, despite getting the green light from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to do so yesterday.
Ynet news reports that the vote will instead be held during Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
The Knesset approved the so-called Al Jazeera law on April 1, giving the government temporary powers to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed by security services to be harming national security.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who spearheaded the effort to pass the law, vowed immediately after the final vote that the Qatari-funded channel’s operations in Israel would be closed down “in the coming days,” saying “there won’t be freedom of expression for Hamas mouthpieces in Israel.”
The Kan broadcaster reported yesterday that the attorney general had raised the issue that Al Jazeera has not been given the right to a hearing, but said that the law could still be legally brought to a vote in the security cabinet.
Israeli officials have long complained about Al Jazeera’s coverage, which they say is heavily influenced by Hamas and endangers IDF troops in the Gaza Strip amid the fighting ongoing since the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
In the past they stopped short of taking action, mindful of Qatar’s bankrolling of Palestinian construction projects in Gaza, which were seen by all sides as a means of staving off conflict.
Pentagon chief says no signs Hamas planning to attack US troops, as Gaza aid pier built
A maritime pier being built by the US military off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in an image released on April 29, 2024. (CENTCOM)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he does not see any indication Hamas is planning an attack on US troops in Gaza but adds adequate measures are being put in place for the safety of military personnel.
“I don’t discuss intelligence information at the podium. But I don’t see any indications currently that there is an active intent to do that,” Austin says during a press briefing.
“Having said that … this is a combat zone and a number of things can happen, and a number of things will happen.”
A maritime pier constructed by the US military to speed the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza should be open within a matter of days, despite poor weather hampering preparations, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
Dozens of students set up anti-Israel encampment at Mexico’s largest university
Activists from the Interuniversity and Popular Assembly in Solidarity with the People of Palestine erect a tent in front of the rectory building of the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) as part of a camp to protest Israel, in Mexico City on May 2, 2024. (Yuri Cortez/AFP)
MEXICO CITY — Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico’s largest university camp in solidarity with similar protests against Israel that have swept colleges in the United States.
Mounting flags and chanting “Long live free Palestine,” the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.
The students call on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.
“We are here to support Palestine, the people who are in Palestine, and the student camps in the United States,” says Valentino Pino, a 19-year-old philosophy student.
Jimena Rosas, 21, says she hopes the protest will have a domino effect and spread to other universities in the country.
“Once people see that UNAM is beginning to mobilize, other universities should start as well,” she says.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Quebec premier calls for anti-Israel encampment at McGill to be dismantled
Pro-Palestinian students and activists protest at an anti-Israel encampment on the campus at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, on April 29, 2024. (Graham Hughes/AFP)
TORONTO — Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the encampment at Montreal’s McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestinian camps across some of Canada’s largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.
While McGill had requested police intervention, law enforcement has not stepped in to clear the encampment and does not respond to news agency Reuters’ questions about their plans. Students also set up encampments at Canadian schools including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa.
“We want the camp to be dismantled. We trust the police, let them do their job,” a spokesperson for Legault says.
There was also a pro-Israel counter-protest in Montreal on Thursday. The two sides were kept separate.
On Thursday morning, students at the University of Toronto set up an encampment in a fenced-off grassy space at the school’s downtown campus where some 100 protesters gathered with dozens of tents.
According to a statement from organizers, the encampment will stay until the university discloses its investments, divests from any that “sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine” and ends partnerships with some Israeli academic institutions.
A university spokesperson tells Reuters it’s “in dialogue with the protesters” and that, as of midday, the encampment was “not disruptive to normal university activities.”
Syria says 8 soldiers hurt in alleged Israeli strike that caused ‘material losses’
Eight Syrian soldiers were wounded and “material losses” were caused in an alleged Israeli airstrike on Damascus this evening, Syria’s state-run SANA broadcaster reports, citing a military source.
SANA says Israeli warplanes launched their missiles from over the Golan Heights at a site in the area of the capital.
Earlier, a security source told Reuters that the strike hit a building operated by Syrian security forces on the outskirts of Damascus.
Prestigious French university closes main Paris site due to anti-Israel occupation
Illustrative: Protesters hold posters of the Palestinian flag as they demonstrate near the entrance of the Institute of Political Studies, Sciences Po Paris, occupied by students, in Paris, France on April 26, 2024. (Julien De Rosa/AFP)
PARIS — France’s prestigious Sciences Po university says it will close its main Paris site on Friday due to a fresh occupation of buildings by pro-Palestinian students protesting against Israel.
In a message sent to staff on Thursday evening, its management says the buildings in central Paris “will remain closed tomorrow, Friday May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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