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The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
Netanyahu denies dissing Israeli media after avoiding interviews since Oct. 7
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interviewed on CNN on May 21, 2024. (Screen capture/X)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressed during his CNN interview why he has refused interviews on Israeli media networks since October 7.
He has given 22 interviews since October 7 — all of them with foreign media outlets.
“That’s the tendentious reporting of a lot of the Israeli media. I can tell you, what they’re not telling you is, I have done… two dozen or 20 or 15 press conferences with Israeli media. They can ask anything they want, and they do.”
The last press conference he held, though, was two months ago. CNN’s question was also regarding interviews, not press conferences where Netanyahu has more control over the format and questioning.
היה לנו חשוב ב-CNN לקבל תשובה גם על זה pic.twitter.com/TZxtgkeCSP
— Ami Kaufman (@AmiKaufman) May 21, 2024
PM reiterates opposition to re-establishing Gaza settlements: ‘Some of my constituents aren’t happy about it’
Thousands of people turn out for an ultra-nationalist march and rally in Sderot to call for the rebuilding of Jewish settlements in Gaza, May 14, 2024. (Courtesy Nachala Settlement Movement)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterates that he opposes re-establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip.
“If you mean resettling Gaza… it was never in the cards, and I said so openly. Some of my constituents are not happy about it, but that’s my position,” Netanyahu tells CNN.
Pressed for his plan for the post-war management of Gaza, Netanyahu again stresses that his priority is defeating Hamas, including its remaining battalions in Rafah.
Once Hamas is defeated, what we have to do is have sustained demilitarization of Gaza,” he tells CNN. Netanyahu says the IDF is the only security force capable of ensuring that there isn’t a resurgence of terrorism from Gaza for the forseeable future, asserting that the Israeli army will maintain the freedom to operate in Gaza after the war.
“At the same time, I want a civilian administration that is run by Gazans who are neither Hamas nor committed to our destruction,” Netanyahu says.
“The third thing that I would do is have a reconstruction of Gaza, if possible, done by the moderate Arab states and the international community,” he adds.
Arab states have repeatedly asserted that they will not assist in the rehabilitation of Gaza unless Israel agrees to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian state — something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.
“That is a realistic plan, and I have said so. Some people are not happy with it. Maybe they want to put in the Palestinian Authority that still teaches its children to seek the destruction of Israel. That’s not my position. I want a different future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Netanyahu claims.
US House leader moves toward inviting Netanyahu to address Congress
Rep Jim Jordan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rep. Mike Johnson in Jerusalem on February 19, 2020. (Mike Johnson's office)
The Republican leader of the US House of Representatives says he is close to inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address lawmakers, even if the Senate’s Democratic leader did not go along.
House Speaker Mike Johnson tells reporters at the Capitol he had given Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer until Tuesday to sign a letter inviting Netanyahu to address a joint meeting.
“If not, we’re going to proceed and invite Netanyahu just to the House,” Johnson says.
Schumer confirmed that he was talking to Johnson. “I’m discussing that now with the speaker of the House and, as I’ve always said, our relationship with Israel is ironclad. It transcends any one prime minister or president,” Schumer tells reporters at his weekly news conference.
New routes planned for halted Gaza aid from US-built pier
Palestinians carry boxes of humanitarian aid after rushing the trucks transporting the international aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
The United Nations has planned new routes within the Gaza Strip to transport aid from a US-built floating pier after crowds of desperate Palestinians intercepted 11 trucks, causing a halt to deliveries that continued for a third day on Tuesday.
The temporary pier was anchored to a Gaza beach last Thursday as Israel comes under growing global pressure to allow more supplies into the besieged coastal enclave, where it is at war with Hamas and famine looms.
Operations began on Friday and 10 aid trucks were driven by UN contractors to a World Food Program warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza. But on Saturday, only five trucks made it to the warehouse after 11 others were intercepted.
“Crowds had stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was … what I think I would refer to as self-distribution,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York today.
“These trucks were traveling through areas where there’d been no aid. I think people feared that they would never see aid. They grabbed what they could,” he said.
Distribution was paused as the UN planned new routes and coordination of deliveries in a bid to prevent more aid being intercepted, said Abeer Etefa, a WFP spokesperson in Cairo.
“The missions were planned for today using the new routes to avoid the crowds,” she said. Dujarric later said there had been no transportation of aid from the pier since Saturday.
US officials have said that once up and running the pier would initially handle 90 trucks a day, but that number could go to 150 trucks. The UN has said at least 500 trucks a day are needed to enter Gaza.
Report: Ireland to announce recognition of Palestinian state on Wednesday
Illustrative: An Ireland supporter holds a Palestinian flag on the stands during the Euro 2024 group B qualifying soccer match between Gibraltar and Ireland at the Argarve Stadium, outside Faro, Portugal, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP/Joao Matos)
The Irish government is to announce the recognition of a Palestinian state on Wednesday, a move strongly opposed by Israel, a source familiar with the matter tells Reuters.
European Union members Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta have indicated in recent weeks that they plan to make the recognition, possibly in a coordinated announcement, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israel’s offensive to rout Hamas prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region.
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.
The Irish government has said recognition would complement peace efforts and support a two-state solution.
Israel’s foreign ministry warned against the move, saying in a post on social media platform X that recognition would “lead to more terrorism, instability in the region and jeopardize any prospects for peace.”
“Don’t be a pawn in the hands of Hamas,” the ministry said earlier today.
The Irish government on Tuesday evening said the prime minister and foreign minister would speak to the media on Wednesday morning but did not say what the topic would be.
China to continue to strengthen ties with Iran, state media says
Visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, February 14, 2023. (Yan Yan/Xinhua via AP)
China will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with Iran, safeguard common interests, and make endeavors for regional and world peace, Chinese state media reports, citing comments from Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang made the remarks in talks today with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari, while attending a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
“Iran has lost outstanding leaders and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang, according to Xinhua news. “In this difficult time, China firmly stands by Iranian friends,” he says, referring to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Omani channel has been ‘useful’ in preventing escalation with Iran, US official says
Illustrative: Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq meets with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at al-Alam palace in the capital Muscat, February 21, 2020. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
A senior US official confirms the indirect negotiations White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk held with Iranian counterparts in Oman last week.
“The Omanis recommend their facilitation for an exchange between senior officials with Iran and the United States,” the official says in a briefing with reporters.
“It’s a forum for us to make very clear some of the consequences of various courses of action of Iranian behavior and policies. We’ve done it a number of times through this forum quite effectively, managing escalations, particularly since October 7,” the official says, adding that the US uses the channel to raise its concerns regarding Tehran’s regional proxies and its nuclear weapons program.
“It’s a useful forum because without being able to have some exchange, the risk of miscalculation, misunderstanding can be quite high,” the official adds.
US official: Nuclear component of near-final Saudi deal ‘very much in our interests’
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan (R) receives US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)
The component of the near-final bilateral agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia that will allow Riyadh to establish a civil nuclear program will advance Washington’s interests, a senior Biden administration official tells reporters in a briefing.
“There is a civil nuclear cooperation element, which we believe is very much in our interests [due to] the way this has been structured. It has been done by our non-proliferation experts… in a very rigorous way,” the senior official says.
The civil nuclear cooperation is one of several bilateral elements, along with a security component and an economic component to the broader diplomatic initiative that the US is looking to sign with Saudi Arabia, the official says.
The bilateral package is “very focused on a convergence of the interests that we want to see secured for a very long-term basis,” the official says, noting that the Defense, Energy and State Departments were closely involved in crafting those agreements.
While the bilateral agreements were all but finalized over the weekend, the entire deal hinges on a Palestinian component — the establishment of a pathway to a two-state solution, the official acknowledges.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly made clear that he is not interested in making such concessions to the Palestinians, even if it is in exchange for Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, May 6, 2024. (Amir Cohen / POOL / AFP)
But this has not stopped the US from trying to advance the initiative. It was a top agenda item during US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s nearly four-hour meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday. Afterward, Riyadh issued a statement saying a near-final set of bilateral arrangements had been reached with Washington.
Sullivan briefed Netanyahu on those developments when he arrived in Israel on Sunday. “The Israeli officials took that on board, and we’ll continue to consult with them,” the senior US official says.
Some Biden officials have suggested that the US is running out of time to secure a deal before the 2024 presidential election and that the administration is nearing a point where it will simply choose to publicly present the diplomatic initiative and force Netanyahu to make a decision.
But the senior official briefing reporters says that wasn’t the approach during Sullivan’s recent meetings. “There was no ultimatum or ‘last chance or it can’t be done.'”
Displaced Palestinians line up to receive food in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip, on May 19, 2024 (Photo by AFP)
As for Saudi Arabia, the official suggested that Riyadh is no less interested in a deal than Washington is.
“We are very realistic about this. In fact, we are not pushing it. We are basically facilitating it. The Saudis… remain very interested in this possibility, but with the emphasis that there has to be a credible pathway for the Palestinians. That is a fundamental component of the deal,” the senior official says.
The official asserts that Riyadh is “prepared to do an awful lot with tremendous benefit for the Palestinians,” including assistance in the post-war stabilization of Gaza.
Stressing that a deal with Saudi Arabia requires the war in Gaza to wind down, the senior US official said Sullivan during his meetings in Israel this week discussed the need to pursue interim political arrangements that transition to a “stabilization phase” in the Strip.
“That conversation is very much ongoing. There are disagreements within the Israeli system on this, which I think are very natural,” the senior US official says, apparently referring to criticism of Netanyahu by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz over the premier’s refusal to advance a viable alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza.
Updated Israeli operations to squeeze Hamas in Rafah could help restore hostage talks — US official
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)
Israel’s tailored operations in Rafah and the military pressure that the IDF has been exerting on Hamas in the southern Gaza city might lead to “some opportunities for getting the hostage deal back on track,” a senior Biden administration official says in a briefing with reporters.
Israeli leaders have repeatedly maintained that military pressure, particularly in Hamas’s last main stronghold of Rafah, is essential in coaxing Hamas to agree to a hostage deal. The US has not refuted that stance outright but has said that a major military operation in Rafah would actually embolden Hamas in the hostage talks.
Israel has taken some of its recommendations regarding Rafah planning into account, the US official says, indicating that this is what allowed Israel to potentially improve its standing in the negotiations, rather than harm the effort.
Breaking the current impasse in the hostage negotiations was a topic of conversation that came up in every one of US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s meetings in Saudi Arabia and Israel over the weekend, the official says.
“We think we might have some openings to do that. We have a decent plan,” the official adds, without elaborating.
The senior Biden official notes that much of Washington’s broader regional agenda hinges on first securing a hostage deal that would produce an initial weeks-long pause in the fighting that the US aims to turn into something more enduring.
US issues rare criticism of Egypt for withholding UN aid from Gaza
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid which Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) agency says entered Gaza on Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Courtesy COGAT)
A senior Biden administration official briefing reporters offers very rare criticism of Egypt over what they said was Cairo’s withholding of UN humanitarian assistance from Gaza.
What should be going into Kerem Shalom is the UN assistance, which is now in Egypt. Egypt is holding that back until the Rafah crossing situation settles out,” the senior administration official says.
“We do not believe that aid should be held back for any reason whatsoever. Kerem Shalom is open. The Israelis have it open. And that aid should be going through Kerem Shalom,” the official adds.
Aid has piled up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing after it was shuttered earlier this month due to Israel’s operation to take over the Gaza side of the crossing from Hamas
Egypt and Israel have traded blame for why Rafah has remained closed.
A second US official speaking to The Times of Israel earlier Tuesday said that Egypt warned Israel it would close the crossing if Israel did not fully coordinate its military operations at the gate with Cairo, which Jerusalem failed to do.
The US official said that Egypt is unwilling to reopen the crossing so long as it is the IDF that is the IDF that is securing the other side, not wanting to be seen as complicit with Israel’s occupation of the gate.
Egypt could be willing to reopen the Rafah Crossing if the Palestinian Authority or an international organization replaced the IDF there, the official said, adding that the PA rejected an Israeli offer to manage the gate.
Israel conditioned PA involvement on its officers not identifying themselves as being from the PA due to fears of pushback from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners. Ramallah also demanded that its involvement at Rafah be part of a broader diplomatic initiative aimed at an eventual two-state solution — a non-starter for Israel.
In the meantime, the US has sought to convince Cairo to at least allow the aid that is building up in Egypt to be transferred to Gaza through Israel’s Kerem Shalom Crossing.
But this effort has been rejected by Cairo, which still views such a move as cooperation with Israel’s takeover of the Rafah Crossing, the second US official said.
Meanwhile today, the UN says that it was no longer able to distribute food aid in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to lack of supplies and insecurity.
The senior US official notes that Israel has agreed to implement a series of requests made by the US in recent days to improve the amount of aid getting into Gaza.
One of those steps is allowing aid scanned in Cyprus to be sent directly to Israel’s Ashdod Port where it can then be transferred to Gaza without having to undergo an additional security step, the US official says.
Israel tailoring plans for Rafah in manner seen as initially satisfactory to US — top Biden official
Troops of the Givati Brigade operate in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published May 13, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel has been updating its plans for a military offensive in Rafah in a manner that has been initially satisfactory to the US, a senior Biden administration official says in a briefing with reporters.
Earlier this month, Israel launched operations in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and at the city’s border crossing — operations that the US says have not crossed its red line for what would warrant a withholding of weapons transfers.
Asked whether Israel could carry out an offensive in Rafah that is kept in line with the concerns of the Biden administration, the senior official says that Jerusalem is on the right path for doing so.
“It’s fair to say that the Israelis have updated their plans. They’ve incorporated many of the concerns that we have expressed,” the official says, while stopping short of fully green-lighting the IDF plans.
The US has for months come out against a major military offensive in Rafah, warning that there was no way to pull one off in a manner that accounted for the nearly 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there.
But in recent weeks, Israel began issuing evacuation orders for large parts of Gaza’s southernmost city, leading nearly two-thirds of the population to flee to humanitarian zones to the south and west. While the US remains concerned that Israel doesn’t have the humanitarian systems in place to care for so many people who are now sheltering in areas flattened by bombings, as opposed to the slightly more infrastructurally sound Rafah, the senior Biden official was less critical of the latest Israeli efforts.
“I have to say after coming out of Israel these past couple of days… it is pretty clear that the Israelis are taking those concerns seriously,” the senior US official says.
He also notes that the situation in Rafah has changed dramatically over the past several weeks, given the mass evacuation of Palestinians.
Rocket warning sirens sound in northern Israel after false alarm
Rocket warning sirens are sounding in northern Israel.
Sirens go off in the communities of Dafna and Ma’ayan Baruch in the Galilee Panhandle.
The IDF later says the sirens were a false alarm.
Red Alert [23:39:51] – 2 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Ma'ayan Baruch, Dafna#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/djNpoKM809
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 21, 2024
Biden on Trump’s ‘unified Reich’ post: ‘This is Hitler’s language, not America’s’
US President Joe Biden adjusts his sunglasses as he arrives on Air Force One at Boston-Logan International Airport, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in East Boston, Mass. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Joe Biden says former president Donald Trump’s “unified reich” post on social media is “Hitler’s language.”
“This is Hitler’s language, not America’s,” Biden says during a fundraiser in Boston on Tuesday.
Trump has taken down a video posted to his Truth Social account that included reference to a “unified Reich” after Biden’s campaign and others criticized the use of language often associated with the Nazi regime.
Fearing pilgrims will flock to warzone, IDF declares Mount Meron closed military area ahead of Lag B’Omer
Smoke rises after rockets fired from Lebanon hit an open area in mount Meron, northern Israel, May 15, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
The chief of the IDF Home Front Command has declared the Mount Meron area a closed zone amid Lag B’Omer celebrations, starting 11 p.m. tonight and until Monday, May 27, at noon.
Hezbollah has attacked Mount Meron, which is located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, repeatedly amid the ongoing war, launching large barrages of rockets at the mountain, as well as guided missiles at the Israeli air traffic control base that sits atop it.
Normally, tens of thousands of observant Jews visit the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the mountain during Lag B’Omer.
Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, chief of the Home Front Command, signed the order to close off Mount Meron in coordination with relevant authorities at the Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Ministry as well as security officials.
The Home Front Command says that it “stresses that entering the Meron area is strictly prohibited” during this time.
Police have been asked to enforce the closed zone.
Blinken says some countries may play instrumental role in post-war Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2025 for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on May 21, 2024. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a number of countries could play an instrumental role, “at least on an interim basis,” if needed in helping provide security for post-war Gaza.
Speaking at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Blinken makes the comments when asked if he thought that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had the capability or the will to run the Gaza Strip.
Trump campaign deletes ‘unified reich’ video amid White House ire
Former US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP)
Donald Trump’s social media account removes a video showing fake headlines about a “unified reich” if he wins the 2024 presidential election, as the White House strongly condemns the post.
Trump’s campaign blamed an inattentive staffer for reposting the 30-second clip, which flashed a series of fictitious news stories painting a picture of American prosperity, with one including the term normally associated with Nazi Germany.
US Vice President Kamala Harris lashes out at the video, saying it was “appalling.”
“This kind of rhetoric is unsurprising coming from the former president, and it is appalling. And we’ve got to tell him who we are,” Harris says in a speech to union members in Philadelphia.
“Once again it shows that our freedom and our very democracy are at stake.”
The White House says it was “abhorrent, sickening and disgraceful for anyone to promote content associated with Germany’s Nazi government under Adolf Hitler.”
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says President Joe Biden was expected to comment on the video later today during a campaign trip to Boston.
The video was posted Monday afternoon and was removed around 19 hours later.
“What happens after Donald Trump wins? What’s next for America?” a voiceover asks in the clip as the hypothetical headlines are shown.
Amid headlines including “Economy booms!” and “Border is closed,” one mentions “the creation of a unified reich.”
WATCH: Israeli teams set soccer world record with 56 penalty kick shootout
Israel’s SC Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv set a world record for the longest ever penalty shootout with 56 kicks.
Their semi-final promotion playoff in the third tier finishes 2-2 after extra time, leading to penalties.
Dimona wins the shootout 23-22 after each side took 28 penalties in the city of Dimona in the Negev desert.
The previous record of 54 penalty kicks was set in March 2022 in England when Washington beat Bedlington 25-24 during a first-round tie in the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup.
A new world record was set tonight in Israel. M.S. Dimona beat Shimshon Tel Aviv 23:22 in a penalty shootout in the third league playoff semifinal. In the historic duel, 56 penalties were kicked, more than the 54 penalties kicked in March 2022, when Washington beat Bedlington in… pic.twitter.com/U2v7DikKT6
— Sport5 (@sport5il) May 21, 2024
In Paris, FM Katz urges France to condemn ICC actions against Israel
Foreign Minister Israel Katz speaks at an event in Paris on May 21, 2024 (Israeli Embassy in France)
At a Paris event attended by his French counterpart, Foreign Minister Israel Katz asked Stéphane Séjourné “to announce loud and clear that the decision of the Chief Prosecutor is unacceptable to you and the French government – regardless of the authority of the court.”
“This is what our friends around the world did, and this is what I expect from our friend, the French government.”
Katz makes his remarks at an event marking 75 years of relations between Israel and France.
“France recognizes the independence of the ICC, it’s a principle,” Séjourné said earlier in the day.
“It will now be up to the judges at the ICC to decide on whether these warrants will be granted.”
He also urged people not to draw an “equivalence” between the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s arrest warrant requests for Israeli and Hamas leaders.
Jets hit Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon
Fighter jets carried out a wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in four different areas of southern Lebanon, the military says.
The targets included a Hezbollah cell in Odaisseh, a rocket launcher in Halta, and buildings used by the terror group in Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras, and Ayta ash-Shab, according to the IDF.
The IDF says it also shelled with artillery rocket launch sites in south Lebanon used in attacks on northern Israel today. The rockets caused no injuries.
Fighter jets carried out a wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in four different areas of southern Lebanon, the military says.
The targets included a Hezbollah cell in Odaisseh, a rocket launcher in Halta, and buildings used by the terror group in Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras,… pic.twitter.com/ghbxOYV3TS
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 21, 2024
Amid outcry, communications minister backtracks, orders seized equipment returned to AP
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi attends a hearing of the Knesset Economy Committee, November 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi backtracks on his order to confiscate equipment from The Associated Press news agency that was broadcasting a live feed of northern Gaza, and says the cameras will be returned.
The ministry said the equipment was taken because AP had ignored warnings to stop supplying the feed to the banned Al Jazeera network. The ministry later said the feed of northern Gaza exposed troop movements.
“The Communications Ministry acted today to confiscate equipment that, despite repeated warnings, transmitted to Al Jazeera about the positions of our forces in the northern Gaza Strip while putting them at risk — in accordance with security opinions and the government’s decision,” Karhi says in a late night statement.
“Since the Ministry of Defense wishes to examine the matter of the broadcasts from these locations in Sderot regarding the risk to our forces, I have now ordered a cancellation of the operation and return the equipment to AP, until a different decision is made by the Ministry of Defense,” Karhi says.
The decision to confiscate the equipment sparked an outcry, including from the White House, which said it was engaging directly with Israel to ask that its actions be reversed.
UN food agency warns that the new US sea route for Gaza aid may fail unless conditions improve
Palestinians carry boxes of humanitarian aid after rushing the trucks transporting the international aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
The UN World Food Programme says that the new US $320 million pier project for delivering aid to Gaza may fail unless Israel starts providing the conditions the humanitarian groups need to operate safely, after a chaotic launch ended with much of the aid looted by Palestinians and one Palestinian man dead.
Deliveries from the pier were stopped Sunday after Saturday’s aid convoy was unable to reach warehouses within Gaza as intended, the WFP said. The first 10 trucks had entered through the pier on Friday.
Ten trucks entered through the US-made pier on Friday and were taken to its warehouse in central Gaza. But a delivery Saturday of 11 trucks was stopped by crowds of Palestinians who took supplies, and only five trucks made it to the warehouse.
The UN agency is now reevaluating logistics and security measures and looking for alternate routes within Gaza, says spokesperson Abeer Etefa.
The WFP is working with the US Agency for International Development to coordinate delivery of food from the new US route.
Biden’s approval rating falls to lowest level in nearly two years — poll
US President Joe Biden, left, arrives on Air Force One, Monday, May 20, 2024, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
US President Joe Biden’s public approval rating this month fell to its lowest level in almost two years, tying the lowest reading of his presidency in a warning sign for his reelection effort, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
The four-day poll, which closed on Monday, showed just 36% of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance as president, down from 38% in April.
It was a return to the lowest approval rating of his presidency, last seen in July 2022.
While this month’s drop was within the poll’s 3 percentage point margin of error, it could bode poorly for Biden as he faces off with Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Halevi tells troops in Jabaliya IDF willing to carry out risky missions to retrieve bodies of slain hostages
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi meets with troops in northern Gaza's Jabaliya, May 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Speaking to officers in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is willing to carry out risky missions to recover the bodies of slain hostages.
“The mission… is to kill as many [Hamas] commanders as possible, as many terrorists as possible, to destroy the infrastructure. This pressure… will also help us to bring hostages alive and we are ready to carry out dangerous and complicated operations to bring the bodies of our hostages back to be buried in Israel,” Halevi says.
The bodies of four hostages killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 were recently recovered from a tunnel in Jabaliya. A paratrooper officer was killed during fighting above ground in the area of the operation.
UN says its halted all food distribution in Rafah after running out of supplies
Displaced Palestinians line up to receive food in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip, on May 19, 2024 (Photo by AFP)
The United Nations says it has suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to lack of supplies and insecurity. It also said no aid trucks entered in the past two days via a floating pier set up by the US for sea deliveries.
The UN has not specified how many people remain in Rafah after the Israeli military launched an intensified assault there on May 6, but there appears to be several hundred thousand people. Israel says more than 1 million have evacuated.
Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Program, warns that “humanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse.” If food and other supplies don’t resume entering Gaza “in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread,” she says.
Etefa said the WFP had also stopped distribution in Rafah after exhausting its stocks. It continues passing out hot meals in central Gaza.
Israel has opened crossing allowing in aid to northern Gaza.
ICC prosecutor says he’s seen no evidence Israeli courts are genuinely probing Gaza crimes
File - International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan poses during an interview with AFP at the Cour d'Honneur of the Palais Royal in Paris on February 7, 2024. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan tells Israel’s Channel 12 news that he recommended issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant because he had not seen compelling evidence that Israeli courts were probing alleged violations in Gaza.
Khan was responding to a question from the channel as to why he would take the step when the court, by virtue of its charter, cannot hold trials for nationals of countries that have independent judiciaries and that are able and willing to conduct investigations and legal proceedings themselves into the purported crimes the ICC is concerned with.
“Despite significant efforts by the prosecutor’s office, he did not receive information from Israel that proves genuine legal processes are taking place to check or investigate the stated crimes,” his office tells the TV station.
Khan was also asked why he canceled a scheduled trip to Israel ahead of his announcement and tells the channel he is willing to continue negotiations and dialogue with Israel as the process goes forward.
Channel 12 also reports that one of the three judges assigned to decide if the court will agree to Khan’s recommendation has recused herself.
Maria del Socorro Flores Liera of Mexico declined to take part in the hearings as her husband, a senior Mexican diplomat has taken part in formulating accusations against Israel, the report says.
She will be replaced by French judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut who will join Iulia Motoc of Romania and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin.
Channel 12 says Israeli officials are wary of the French judge given France’s failure to condemn Khan like Israel’s other Western allies have.
“France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations,” the foreign ministry said yesterday.
“As far as Israel is concerned, it will be up to the court’s pre-trial chamber to decide whether to issue these warrants, after examining the evidence put forward by the prosecutor,” the ministry said.
Report: Netanyahu blocked Gallant from call ahead of ICC decision
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Oct. 28, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from a call with top military and legal officials ahead of a call by the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor to recommend arrest warrants against the two, Channel 12 reports.
According to the report, when Gallant realized he was not invited to the call, he ordered all the IDF generals involved to get off the line, which they did.
The report quotes one general calling the incident “embarrassing.”
The Prime Minister’s Office tells Channel 12 Gallant was invited to the call.
Gallant’s office declines to comment.
Biden officials said to urge Netanyahu to reverse decision to seize AP equipment
Biden administration officials speak with officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, urging him reverse a decision to confiscate equipment from the US news agency The Associated Press, the Walla news site reports.
Officials in Netanyahu’s office tell the Ynet news site that the prime minister was not briefed ahead of the move by the communications ministry.
Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to AP in southern Israel, accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to the banned Al Jazeera.
Dutch parliament passes motion calling ‘From the River to the Sea’ criminal incitement
A demonstrator holds a 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' sign outside the United Nations' highest court, rear, during historic hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 21, 2024 (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Dutch parliament adopts by a wafer-thin majority a motion that says that chanting “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free” is a criminal act of incitement to violence.
The motion, which is not binding, passes thanks to a single vote in a 74-73 split in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, which has 150 seats. The motion’s author is Maikel Boon, a lawmaker for the Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders, which was the largest in the 2023 elections and recently announced that it has put together a ruling coalition under its leadership.
Wilders, an anti-Islam, far-right politician, in a vocal supporter of Israel and a self-described promoter of what he calls Judeo-Christian values. The slogan “comes right off the Hamas charter and is therefore a call for violence against all Jews worldwide,” the motion states. The slogan, which references the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, has emerged in recent months a common feature of anti-Israel protests.
Although the motion is not binding on the prosecution service or judges, it is nonetheless the strongest official document on the subject to date in the Netherlands.
Knesset passes law canceling this year’s Lag B’Omer pilgrimage in Meron
Ultra orthodox Jews attend Lag Baomer celebrations, in Meron on May 18, 2022. (David Cohen/Flash90)
The Knesset passes a law that makes it illegal to hold the annual Lag B’Omer celebrations in Meron in the Galilee this year, an event that normally attracts more than 100,000 revelers and is considered the world’s largest pilgrimage by Jews.
The law, based on a bill defined as a temporary measure in connection with rocket and missile attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel, limits the presence of people at the Meron compound to 30 at any given time.
The law permits three bonfires, one on the mountain at the gravesite of second-century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, with participation capped at 10 approved guests, and two more at the nearby Bnei Akiva yeshiva.
“One needs to understand what led us to this situation,” Meir Porush, minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage of the United Torah Judaism party, says in the lead-up to the vote. “Unlimited access would mean tens of thousands of people arriving and a terrible catastrophe could happen if the place is targeted with rockets. We mustn’t take such risks with human lives.”
He adds: “I am weeping in pain for the people of Meron, for whom not going to the place on Lag B’Omer in unimaginable.”
Separately, the government cancels a commemorative event planned to take place in Jerusalem on Lag B’Omer, which this year falls on May 26, in memory of the 45 fatalities of a 2021 stampede at the Meron compound. That event, which was supposed to be for the families of the deceased, is also canceled due to the security situation.
Blinken: Israel may not be willing to accept Saudi normalization if it requires pathway to Palestinian state
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a Joint Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-US Strategic Partnership discussing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat in Riyadh on April 29, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledges for the first time that Israel might not be willing to embrace a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia if it means agreeing to clear progress toward a Palestinian state.
“The Saudis demand a ceasefire in Gaza and a pathway to a Palestinian state, and it may well be that Israel isn’t able, willing to proceed down this pathway,” Blinken says in testimony before Congress.
“It must decide if it wants to take advantage of this opportunity to achieve something sought from its founding,” Blinken says.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated again Sunday that he would not accept a Palestinian state, even if one came with a Saudi normalization deal. Riyadh and Washington have been clear that movement toward statehood is needed to reach an agreement.
Communications Ministry says AP was warned last week to stop providing footage to Al Jazeera
Illustrative: Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi heads into a cabinet meeting in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s staff warned the Associated Press last week that they were not legally allowed to provide material to Al Jazeera, his office says in an statement after officials confiscated a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to AP in southern Israel.
Karhi’s ministry says that the AP was trying to track IDF troop movements, and transferred the footage to Al Jazeera.
“The Communications Ministry will continue to carry out enforcement actions to the extent necessary to limit broadcasts that harm the security of the state,” says the statement.
The AP says it complies with Israel’s military censorship rules, which prohibit broadcasts of details like troops movements that could endanger soldiers. The live shot has generally shown smoke rising over the territory.
Bipartisan group of US Senators pledges action against ICC
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland attends a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
A bipartisan group of US Senators are pledging to take action against the International Criminal Court after its chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants be issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“We will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to strenuously object to the ICC’s actions against our ally, Israel, and take appropriate steps to help Israel and protect American personnel from future ICC action,” says a joint statement from Democrats Ben Cardin (Foreign Relations Committee chair), Richard Blumenthal, Jeanne Shaheen and John Fetterman along with Republicans Lindsey Graham, Jim Risch, Katie Britt and John Thune.
House Republicans are working to pass legislation that would sanction ICC officials involved in the targeting of Israel. It is likely to pass, but faces a more difficult path in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The Biden administration opposed the targeting of the ICC that was done during former president Donald Trump’s tenure. However, US President Joe Biden has come out aggressively against The Hague’s effort against Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during congressional testimony earlier today that the administration is prepared to work with Congress “on a bipartisan basis to find an appropriate response” to the ICC effort against Israel.
IAF reestablishes air defense battalion to operate additional Iron Dome batteries
A ceremony is held to inaugurate the 139th Air Defense Battalion at an Israeli Air Force base, May 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli Air Force has reestablished the 139th Air Defense Battalion, which will now operate the short-range Iron Dome system, the military says.
In 2022, the 139th Battalion, which had operated the Patriot system (and before it the Hawk), was shuttered after some 53 years, as the IAF moved to mothball the American-made system.
Yesterday, a ceremony was held to reestablish the unit as an Iron Dome battalion.
The military says that as part of lessons learned amid the war, the IAF decided to open additional Iron Dome batteries. In recent weeks it has also moved to close the last remaining Patriot batteries for good.
The Iron Dome is the lowest layer of Israel’s multi-tiered air defense system, and it has downed tens of thousands of rockets, mortars, and drones launched at Israel since 2011.
The 139th Battalion is now Israel’s third Iron Dome battalion, after the 137th and 947th. Israel’s Navy also has a version of the Iron Dome aboard its four Sa’ar-6 class corvettes.
In Congress, hecklers call Blinken a war criminal; US secretary of state says ICC decision harms chances for Gaza truce deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that a Gaza ceasefire deal was still possible but he charged that an International Criminal Court arrest bid for Israeli leaders was setting back efforts.
Blinken was opening two days of testimony before Congress that were immediately disrupted by protesters, with two demonstrators shouting that the top US diplomat was a “war criminal” over support to Israel as they were escorted out by police.
NOW: @SecBlinken continues to be disrupted during his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"Blinken is a war criminal! He is a war criminal! The blood of 40,000 Palestinians is on his hands!" pic.twitter.com/bmx0CTfkrJ
— CODEPINK (@codepink) May 21, 2024
Blinken credited Qatar and Egypt with assisting the “extensive effort” to secure a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in return for the release of hostages.
But CIA Director Bill Burns, the US point man in the talks, left the region empty-handed some 10 days ago.
“I think we’ve come very, very close on a couple of occasions,” Blinken tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“We remain at it every single day. I think that there’s still a possibility,” Blinken says.
“But it’s challenged by a number of events and I have to say, yes the extremely wrongheaded decision by the ICC prosecutor yesterday — the shameful equivalence implied between Hamas and the leadership of Israel — I think that only complicates the prospects for getting such an agreement,” Blinken says.
Blinken says White House to work with US Congress to respond to ICC move
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the administration would be happy to work with US Congress to formulate “an appropriate response” to the International Criminal Court prosecutor seeking to issue arrest warrants on Israeli leaders over the Gaza war.
Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Blinken called the move “a profoundly wrong-headed” decision which would complicate the prospects of reaching a deal on negotiations to achieve a hostage deal and a ceasefire.
Netanyahu says ICC prosecutor ‘out to demonize the one and only Jewish state’
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (Courtesy: ICC)
In an interview with MSNBC, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan “a rogue prosecutor who’s out to demonize the one and only Jewish state.”
“It’s totally absurd. It’s a travesty of justice,” says Netanyahu of the ostensible parallel between Israel’s elected leaders and the heads of Hamas.
Netanyahu also accuses Khan of being misinformed about Israel’s humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
“The whole thing of a deliberate starvation policy is ridiculous. It’s put forward by a guy who doesn’t check his facts. He’s receiving it from the UNRWA and other anti-Israeli agencies and from Palestinian sources.”
The premier also says that the money given to Hamas over the years with Israel’s consent was to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
Defense rests its case without Trump testifying in his hush money trial
Former President Donald Trump sits in a courtroom next to his lawyer Todd Blanche before the start of the day's proceedings in the Manhattan Criminal court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in New York. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
The defense rests its case in Donald Trump’s hush money trial this morning without the former president taking the witness stand to testify, bringing proceedings one step closer to closing arguments.
After more than four weeks of testimony, jurors are sent home with Judge Juan M. Merchan telling them they wouldn’t be needed in court until closing arguments next Tuesday. Merchan suggests the court session may run late that day to accommodate summations from both sides — the defense and prosecution. Merchan told jurors he then expects his instructions to them will take about an hour.
Jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Prosecutors have accused Trump of a scheme to bury negative and often salacious stories that might have torpedoed his 2016 presidential campaign and then falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments associated with the alleged scheme. He has denied the allegations.
White House says Israel shutting AP’s Gaza video is ‘concerning’
The White House expresses concern after the US news agency The Associated Press said that Israel had shut down its live video feed of war-torn Gaza.
“Obviously this is concerning and we want to look into it,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tells reporters on US President Joe Biden’s plane as he traveled to New Hampshire.
Jean-Pierre says the White House believes journalists have the ability and right to do their jobs.
AP says the move came after Israeli authorities accused it of violating a new ban on Al Jazeera.
AP says authorities had also seized its camera and broadcasting equipment.
White House slams ‘sickening’ Nazi content after Trump ‘reich’ video
Former US president Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court in New York, May 20, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/ New York Post via AP, Pool)
The White House blasts the “sickening” promotion of Nazi content after a video posted by Donald Trump’s Truth Social account referred to a “unified reich” if he wins the 2024 presidential election.
“It is abhorrent, sickening and disgraceful for anyone to promote content associated with Germany’s Nazi government under Adolf Hitler,” says Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, adding that she expected Biden to comment on the issue later Tuesday.
Lapid slams ‘act of madness’ in seizing AP equipment, says Karhi determined to have Israel ‘ostracized all over the world’
AP video equipment is laid on the floor of an apartment building in Sderot, southern Israel, shortly before it was seized by Israeli officials, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Josphat Kasire)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi after officials confiscated a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel, calling the seizure “an act of madness.”
Karhi accused the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera. The AP denounced the move, saying that the Qatari satellite channel is among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the US news agency.
“The confiscation of the equipment of AP, the largest news agency in the world, by Shlomo Karhi’s men, is an act of madness. This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes,” Lapid says.
“This government behaves as if it has decided to make sure, at any cost, that Israel will be ostracized all over the world.”
Responding to Lapid, Karhi tweets that his men are “dedicated professionals” who uphold the law.
“By the way,” he responds, “even if you decide to become a freelancer for a terrorist channel that endangers our fighters and broadcast the locations of our forces to them with your camera, I will make sure that the Communications Ministry inspectors reach you. Shame.”
The so-called Al Jazeera law, which gives the government temporary powers to prevent foreign news networks from operating in Israel if they are deemed to be harming national security, passed its second and third readings in the Knesset plenum last month — paving the way for raids on its Jerusalem and Nazareth offices.
France says no ‘equivalence’ between Israel and Hamas
France's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne leaves the weekly cabinet meeting at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 21, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne urges people not to draw an “equivalence” between the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s arrest warrant requests for Israeli and Hamas leaders.
“These simultaneous requests for arrest warrants should not create an equivalence between Hamas and Israel,” Sejourne tells lawmakers in parliament.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said yesterday that he requested arrest warrants for top Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohamed Deif, as well as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Sejourne says that Hamas was “a terrorist group that celebrated the October 7 attacks” that killed some 1,200 people and took another 252 hostages.
Israel, meanwhile, is “a democratic state that must respect international law in the conduct of a war that it did not itself start,” Sejourne says.
“France recognizes the independence of the ICC, it’s a principle,” Sejourne says.
“It will now be up to the judges at the ICC to decide on whether these warrants will be granted. They will do it in an independent way,” he adds.
Insisting on France’s “solidarity towards both Israelis and Palestinians,” Sejourne says Paris “is committed to finding a political solution” to the conflict.
Two rockets fired from Gaza at Ashkelon, no injuries
Two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at Ashkelon a short while ago, setting off sirens in the southern coastal city.
One rocket was downed by the Iron Dome, while the second fell short inside Gaza, according to the IDF.
There are no reports of damage or injuries.
Red Alert [16:59:43] – 2 Alerts:
• Gaza Envelope — Zikim
• Western Lakhish — Ashkelon Southern Industrial Zone#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/d650qd5YNQ— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) May 21, 2024
Troops detain 3 armed men emerging from tunnel in southern Gaza
Troops of the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion captured three armed operatives who came out of a tunnel shaft in southern Gaza’s Rafah, the military says.
The three were detained and taken for further questioning.
The IDF says Givati troops over the past day killed some 20 gunmen and seized weapons, including assault rifles and RPGs.
Comparing Israeli PM to Hamas leaders is unacceptable, says Polish PM
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addresses participants during the opening session of XVI European Economic Congress (EEC) in Katowice, Poland, on May 7, 2024.(Photo by Wojtek Radwanski / AFP)
Portraying the prime minister of Israel as equivalent to the leaders of Hamas is unacceptable, Poland’s prime minister says, after the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders.
“An attempt to show that the prime minister of Israel and the leaders of a terrorist organization are the same, and the involvement of international institutions in this, is unacceptable,” Donald Tusk tells a news conference.
Ben Gvir says he ‘expects’ Netanyahu to give him a war cabinet seat
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir leads an Otzma Yehudit faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on March 18, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Several days after war cabinet minister Benny Gantz threatened to resign from the coalition, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says that he “expects” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint him to the narrow decision-making body.
Speaking with ultra-Orthodox news site Kikar Hashabbat, Ben Gvir says, “I have no doubt that Netanyahu will bring me in.”
“I think that Netanyahu understands very well what I want from him. We have private conversations and in private conversations I allow myself to tell him many things.”
In a televised statement on Saturday, Gantz, whose National Unity party joined the government in the wake of October 7, issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless the premier commits to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict by June 8.
The war cabinet currently has three voting members: Netanyahu, Gantz, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Ben Gvir last week called on Netanyahu to immediately terminate Gallant after he challenged the government’s postwar thinking for the Gaza Strip in a televised address.
Troops demolish West Bank home of terrorist behind deadly Hermesh shooting attack
Amid the IDF’s ongoing raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, troops demolished the home of Ahmed Barakat, a Palestinian terrorist involved in the killing of Meir Tamari in a shooting attack near the settlement of Hermesh in May 2023, the military says.
Barakat was killed in a drone strike in March.
Troops are clashing with gunmen amid the Jenin operation, which the IDF says began this morning following “intelligence information from the Shin Bet indicating the activity of armed terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organizations, and the presence of many terror infrastructures in the area.”
Palestinian health officials say seven people have been killed by the Israeli army amid the raid.
כוחות צה"ל מג"ב ושב"כ פתחו הבוקר במבצע לסיכול טרור במרחב ג'נין, זאת בעקבות מידע מודיעיני של שב״כ המעיד על פעילות מחבלים חמושים המזוהים עם ארגוני הטרור חמאס וגא"פ והימצאות תשתיות טרור רבות במרחב>> pic.twitter.com/FXC2GzPQo3
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 21, 2024
Israel seizes AP equipment, accuses news organization of providing services to banned Al Jazeera
Illustrative: An employee of Al Jazeera walks past the channel's logo at its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. (AP/ Kamran Jebreili, File)
Israeli officials seize a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel, accusing the news organization of violating a new media law by providing images to Al Jazeera.
“In accordance with the government decision and the instruction of the communications minister, the Communications Ministry will continue to take whatever enforcement action is required to limit broadcasts that harm the security of the state,” the Communications Ministry says in a statement.
The AP denounced the move, saying that the Qatari satellite channel is among thousands of clients that receive live video feeds from the US news agency.
“The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment,” says Lauren Easton, vice president of corporate communications at the news organization.
“The shutdown was not based on the content of the feed but rather an abusive use by the Israeli government of the country’s new foreign broadcaster law. We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.”
Officials from the Communications Ministry arrived at the AP location in the southern town of Sderot and seized the equipment. They handed AP a document signed by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi alleging it was violating the country’s foreign broadcaster law, AP says.
Shortly before the equipment was seized, it was broadcasting a general view of northern Gaza. The AP complies with Israel’s military censorship rules, which prohibit broadcasts of details like troops movements that could endanger soldiers. The live shot has generally shown smoke rising over the territory.
A screenshot taken from AP video showing a general view of northern Gaza as seen from southern Israel, before the camera was seized by Israeli officials on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (AP Photo)
The seizure followed a verbal order Thursday to cease the live transmission — which the news organization refused to do, AP says.
Israeli officials used the law to close down the offices of the Qatar-based al Jazeera broadcaster on May 5 as well as confiscating the channel’s equipment, banning its broadcasts, and blocking its websites.
Netanyahu says ‘absurd’ ICC accusations risk turning institution into ‘kangaroo court’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a Likud party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses accusations from the International Criminal Court that Israel is deliberately denying Gaza food and water as “absurd” and warned the actions of the chief prosecutor in targeting Israeli leaders are turning the institution into a “kangaroo court.”
“This is absurd, it is beyond outrageous,” Netanyahu says in an interview with ABC, reacting to the charges and calling them a “totally false accusation.”
“We are supplying now nearly half of the water of Gaza, we supplied only 7 percent before the war,” Netanyahu says. “We have supplied over half a million tons of food and medicine with 20,000 trucks.”
Netanyahu slams ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan. “This guy is out to demonize Israel. He’s doing a hit job and creating a false symmetry between the democratically elected leaders of Israel and the terror chieftains,” Netanyahu says.
“He’s also pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are spreading around the world. He is attacking the one and only Jewish state and trying to handcuff us,” Netanyahu says, adding that accusations like these will deny democracies the ability to defend themselves from terrorists hiding among civilian populations, even when they adhere to the laws of war.
Netanyahu also accuses Khan of undermining the global status of the ICC: “He is creating false symmetry and false facts and doing a grave injustice to the international court.”
Asked if he was concerned about traveling internationally after the recommendations, Netanyahu said he was not.
“I’m not concerned at all about our status. I think the prosecutor should be concerned about his status because he is really turning the ICC into a pariah institution. People are just not going to take it seriously,” Netanyahu says.
“They see it as a politicized thing. I hope the judges don’t confirm what he says, because they will make them into a kangaroo court,” Netanyahu says.
A plan by an International Criminal Court prosecutor to apply for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders is “absurd” and casting a “terrible stain” on the court, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on @GMA on Tuesday.
Read more: https://t.co/JVFSgiWBVH pic.twitter.com/JcgXssff5Q
— ABC News (@ABC) May 21, 2024
Ben Gvir says he would be happy to live in Gaza after war, calls for mass settlement
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a terror attack in Ramle, April 26, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he would be “very happy to live in Gaza” following the war, musing that a mass exodus of Palestinians could create room for a significant influx of Israeli settlers.
In an interview with Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat, Ben Gvir says that he would like to see the war prosecuted throughout the southern city of Rafah, followed by a complete Israeli occupation in which Jerusalem would rule the coastal territory “unequivocally.”
This would entail the reestablishment of Jewish settlements — “but that’s not enough,” he continues, reiterating his call to encourage the “voluntary emigration” of Gazans, although he stipulated that he was “not saying everyone” should leave.
Not only should Israelis return to the settlements evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza, Ben Gvir says, but if “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians leave the Strip “we will be able to bring in more and more people.”
“I would be very happy to live in Gaza,” he says.
Germany: ICC asking for arrest warrants for Hamas leaders is logical, not so for Israel
A request by the International Criminal Court for arrest warrants for Hamas leaders is logical and no comparisons can be made with Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, for whom warrants are also being sought, a German government spokesperson says.
“The accusations of the chief prosecutor are serious and must be substantiated,” says the spokesperson. He adds that Germany assumes Israel’s democratic system and rule of law with a strong, independent judiciary will be taken into account by judges deciding whether to issue the warrants.
Qatar says Gaza truce, hostage release talks remain ‘close to stalemate’
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari says the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas remain “close to a stalemate.”
Asked about the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against some Israeli and Hamas leaders, Al-Ansari says it is too early for Qatar to comment directly on that but that all states and organizations should be “held responsible for the killing of civilians.”
Police break up pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Michigan
This photo provided by Sarah Hubbard shows pro-Palestinian protesters in Okemos, Michigan, demonstrating outside the home of Sarah Hubbard, the chair of the University of Michigan's governing board, on May 15, 2024 (Sarah Hubbard via AP)
Police break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Michigan, less than a week after demonstrators showed up at the home of a school official and placed fake body bags on her lawn.
Video posted online by Detroit-area TV stations showd police moving people away from the camp on the Diag, a common site for campus protests. The encampment had been set up in late April near the end of the school year.
President Santa Ono says in a statement that the encampment had become a threat to safety, with overloaded power sources and open flames. Organizers refused to comply with requests to make changes following an inspection by a fire marshal, he says.
“The disregard for safety directives was only the latest in a series of troubling events,” Ono says.
Protesters have demanded that the school’s endowment stop investing in companies with ties to Israel. But the university insists it has no direct investments and less than $15 million placed with funds that might include companies in Israel. That’s less than 0.1% of the total endowment.
“There’s nothing to talk about. That issue is settled,” Sarah Hubbard, chair of the Board of Regents, said last week.
A group of 30 protesters showed up at her house before dawn last week and placed stuffed, red-stained sheets on her lawn to resemble body bags. They banged a drum and chanted slogans over a bullhorn.
Masked protesters also posted demands at the doors of other board members.
Iranian President Raisi’s memorial muted amid public discontent
Mourners carrying a portrait of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei walk in a funeral procession for the late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage in the northwestern city of Tabriz on May 21, 2024 (ATA DADASHI / MOJ News Agency / AFP)
Though state TV says a large crowd appeared in Tabriz today to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi after he was killed in a helicopter crash, some insiders see a stark contrast in public grief compared with past commemorations for the deaths of other senior figures.
While Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi, there was little of the emotional rhetoric that accompanied the death of Qasem Soleimani, a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards killed by a US missile in 2020 in Iraq, whose funeral drew huge crowds of mourners, weeping with sorrow and rage.
The death of the president came at a time of deepening crisis between the clerical leadership and society at large over issues from tightening social and political controls to economic hardship. Iranians still have painful memories of the handling of nationwide unrest sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in 2022, which was quelled by a violent state crackdown involving mass detentions and executions.
Widespread public anger at worsening living standards and pervasive graft may also keep many Iranians at home.
Some analysts say that millions have lost hope that Iran’s ruling clerics can resolve an economic crisis fomented by a combination of US sanctions, mismanagement and corruption.
Ex-BBC chief: Network’s Arabic service rife with anti-Israel bias, support for terror
The BBC Headquarters in London, October 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The former director of BBC television accuses the network of “egregious” anti-Israel bias, particularly in BBC Arabic.
Noting the network has been forced to issue some 80 corrections to its reporting since October 7, Danny Cohen, who led the TV department in 2013-2015, writes in The Telegraph, “Something is going badly wrong. Mistakes don’t happen 80 times.”
Among other things, he says numerous BBC Arabic reporters have repeatedly shown affinity for Hamas and support for its October 7 massacre in Israel and have reported on terrorism while omitting key facts, and that a program broadcast on the channel doubted that some of the October killings happened at all.
Reporters have repeatedly employed “the language you would hear from a Hamas spokesman,” he says. “Our licence fees are paying the wages of people who celebrated the rape and slaughter of men, women and children.”
But the British broadcaster “seems to be impervious to its problems, unwilling to recognise and address the management failures that are poisoning one of Britain’s great institutions,” he laments.
Alleged leaders of a suspected German far-right coup plot go on trial
German police officers stand under barbed wire securing a temporary courtroom that was built for a trial starting on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government are among nine suspects going on trial in Frankfurt Tuesday (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The alleged leaders of a suspected far-right plot to topple the German government went on trial today, opening the most prominent proceedings in a case that shocked the country in late 2022.
Nine defendants faced judges at a special warehouse-like courthouse built on the outskirts of Frankfurt to accommodate the large number of defendants, lawyers and media dealing with the case. About 260 witnesses are expected at a trial that the Frankfurt state court expects to extend well into 2025, one of three related trials that in total involve more than two dozen suspects.
The defendants include the highest-profile suspects in the alleged plot, among them Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, whom the group allegedly planned to install as Germany’s provisional new leader; Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former lawmaker with the far-right Alternative for Germany party; and former German military officers.
Most of them are charged with belonging to a terrorist organization that was founded in July 2021 with the aim of “doing away by force with the existing state order in Germany,” and also with “preparation of high treasonous undertaking.” Reuss and Rüdiger von Pescatore, a former paratrooper, are alleged to have been the group’s ringleaders.
Prosecutors have said that the accused believed in a “conglomerate of conspiracy myths,” including Reich Citizens and QAnon ideology, and were convinced that Germany is ruled by a so-called “deep state.” Adherents of the Reich Citizens movement reject Germany’s postwar constitution and have called for bringing down the government, while QAnon is a global conspiracy theory with roots in the United States.
The group planned to storm into the parliament building in Berlin and arrest lawmakers, according to prosecutors. It allegedly intended to negotiate a post-coup order primarily with Russia, as one of the allied victors of World War II.
Blinken to testify to US Congress under shadow of Israel policy divides
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks at the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Sedona, Arizona, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jake Bacon)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to make his case for President Joe Biden’s $64 billion foreign affairs budget request in four congressional hearings this week, amid deep divides with Republicans over spending priorities and Israel policy.
Blinken testifies on Tuesday in the Democratic-controlled Senate to the Foreign Relations Committee and to the appropriations subcommittee that oversees diplomatic and foreign aid spending.
He returns to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for two more rounds of testimony at hearings of the Republican-led House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and a House appropriations subcommittee.
The hearings are expected to focus on Israel policy, after Biden earlier this month said he would delay a shipment of bombs to Israel and consider withholding others if Israeli forces launched a major invasion of Rafah, a refugee-packed city in southern Gaza.
The developments prompted angry denunciations from Republicans, some of whom have accused Biden of abandoning Israel.
But Biden has also faced criticism from many of his fellow Democrats, who want him to do more — including putting conditions on arms exports — to push Netanyahu’s government to protect Palestinian civilians.
Graphic video shows troops using drones to kill Palestinian gunmen in West Bank in April
A graphic leaked video shows Israeli troops using drones to track and kill a group of Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem, amid a raid there last month.
At least 14 gunmen were killed amid the 50-hour-long raid between April 18 and 21.
The leaked footage shows a small drone scanning an alley in Nur Shams and identifying four gunmen. The Palestinians are seen attempting to knock down the drone.
Another drone is sent up into the air to observe the gunmen from above, before dropping an explosive charge on them.
The bomb apparently manages to kill three of the four gunmen, before the drone drops a second munition to kill the fourth.
At the end of the clip, the small drone is seen being sent back into the alley to inspect the aftermath of the incident.
Warning: Graphic
Iran sets presidential elections for June 28 after Raisi’s death
Tehran has announced that presidential elections will be held on June 28, Iranian state news agency IRNA reports.
Candidates will be able to register between May 30 and June 3, and the election campaign will be held on June 12-27.
Under the Iranian constitution, the country’s executive affairs will be managed by a council for a period of 50 days in preparation for presidential elections.
The announcement comes two days after the death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in the north east of the country. Foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six other passengers and crew also perished in the accident.
IDF says troops found rocket launchers inside north Gaza mosque
A rocket launcher found by troops in a mosque on the outskirts of Jabaliya, in an image published by the military on May 21, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the 460th Armored Brigade, operating on the outskirts of northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, located a cache of rockets and launchers in a mosque, the military says.
The IDF launched a new offensive in Jabaliya earlier this month after identifying Hamas operatives regrouping there.
Lapid: ICC unlikely to prosecute Netanyahu if he advances Saudi normalization
Opposition leader and Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on April 1, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should pursue normalization with Saudi Arabia as proposed by Washington by agreeing to a pathway to a future Palestinian state.
He also argues that doing so would undercut efforts to prosecute the premier at the International Court of Justice.
“Netanyahu should announce that he has entered into negotiations with the Saudis, including the Palestinian component,” Lapid tells Army Radio.
“In The Hague they will not prosecute a prime minister who is in the middle of a historic peace process. This will solve the Hague [problem] for us and the [issue of] the day-after in Gaza‚ and it will help us mobilize the Saudis to apply pressure regarding the issue of the hostages,” he says.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Netanyahu on Sunday there is an opportunity currently available for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia if Jerusalem agrees to a pathway to a future Palestinian state. Netanyahu has said he would not accept a Palestinian state, even one that came with a Saudi normalization deal.
Iranians pay last respects to president killed in helicopter crash
Tens of thousands of Iranians have gathered to mourn president Ebrahim Raisi and seven members of his entourage who were killed in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountainside in the northwest.
Waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late president, mourners set off from a central square in the northwestern city of Tabriz, where Raisi was headed when his helicopter crashed on Sunday.
They walk behind a vehicle carrying the coffins of Raisi and his seven aides.
The first funeral has started in Tabrizpic.twitter.com/mzk20ClkzF
— Soureh 2 ???????????????????? (@Soureh_design2) May 21, 2024
AOC backs NY state bill to hit nonprofits that support Israeli settlements
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has voiced her support for a New York state bill that could remove tax-exempt status from nonprofit groups that back Israeli settlements.
“It is more important now than ever to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for endorsing and, in fact, supporting some of this settler violence that prevents a lasting peace,” Ocasio-Cortez says. She says the bill aims to ensure that “the ongoing atrocities that we see happening in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the ongoing enabling of armed militias to terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank, do not benefit from New York State charitable tax exemptions.”
The bill is seen as unlikely to pass in the New York legislature.
China hopes ICC will be ‘objective’ after warrants sought for Israel, Hamas leaders
China says it hopes the International Criminal Court will uphold an “objective” position after its prosecutor requested arrest warrants for leaders from Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamas.
“It is hoped that the ICC will uphold its objective and impartial position and exercise its powers in accordance with the law,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin says, while calling for an end to the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Italy says ‘unacceptable’ and ‘absurd’ of ICC to put Israel, Hamas on same level
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani attends the G7 foreign ministers meeting on Capri island, April 18, 2024. (Remo Casilli /POOL/AFP)
Italy’s foreign minister says it is “unacceptable” and “absurd” to compare Israel and Hamas after the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor applied for arrest warrants for leaders on both sides.
“It is completely unacceptable that Hamas and Israel are put on the same level,” Antonio Tajani says in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper, adding: “Be careful not to legitimize anti-Israeli positions that can fuel antisemitic phenomena.”
Herzog: Saudi normalization would be a victory, should be seriously considered
President Isaac Herzog speaks during an opening ceremony for a Mobileye campus in Jerusalem on March 26, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
President Isaac Herzog calls for Israel to seriously consider normalization with Saudi Arabia, calling such a move a “game-changer” after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared to reject any deal requiring a commitment to Palestinian statehood.
“Two days ago, I met with the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and heard from him what was officially announced yesterday — that there is an option for normalization with Saudi Arabia,” Herzog says at a conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute.
“This is a move that could bring about tremendous change, a historic ‘game-changer’ that constitutes a victory over the empire of evil. I very much hope that this possibility is being seriously considered, as the empire of evil sought on October 7 to destroy the chance for normalization,” he declares.
“Our struggle, in the end, is not only a fight against Hamas. It is a wider, strategic, global, and historic battle, and we must do everything to integrate into the grand vision of normalization.”
Sullivan told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday there is an opportunity currently available for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia if Jerusalem agrees to a pathway to a future Palestinian state. Netanyahu reiterated that he would not accept a Palestinian state, even one that came with a Saudi normalization deal.
PA says 7 dead in IDF operation in Jenin, 9 more wounded
The Palestinian Authority health ministry updates the death toll from the IDF’s ongoing raid in the West Bank city of Jenin to seven.
The ministry says another nine are wounded, including three in serious condition.
The IDF says it shot several gunmen in the area.
UPDATE:
The Palestinian Authority now reports that five people have been killed and ten wounded, including three in serious condition in Jenin in the West Bank.
The death toll is expected to rise.
The IDF says it has shot several gunmen during an early-morning raid in the area. pic.twitter.com/RktUqPVlS2— FlashFeed (@FlashFeed365) May 21, 2024
IDF says it struck over 70 terror targets in Gaza in past day
The Israeli Air Force struck more than 70 targets across the Gaza Strip in the past day, the military says.
According to the IDF, the targets included weapon depots, rocket launchers, observation posts, and buildings belonging to terror groups, as well as operatives.
Meanwhile, IDF operations continue in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, in Rafah in the Strip’s south, and the Netzarim Corridor in the center of the territory.
Ukraine says it downed 28 out of 29 drones launched by Russia overnight
Ukrainian forces shot down 28 out of 29 drones used by Russian forces in an overnight attack on seven regions, Ukraine’s air force says in a statement.
The drone attack damaged four private residences, 25 trucks and buses in Kharkiv, injuring five people, according to the region’s governor Oleh Syniehubov and Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry’s statements on the Telegram messaging app.
A missile attack later in the morning targeted transport infrastructure and injured two more people in the city, the governor adds.
After crash death, activists lament ‘impunity’ of Iran’s Raisi
Handout picture of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi chairing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on April 2, 2024. (Iranian Presidency/AFP)
Human rights groups and emigre opposition factions have expressed regret that Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi’s death meant he never saw justice for crimes they say he committed during decades as a leading figure in the Islamic Republic.
“Ebrahim Raisi was a symbol of judicial impunity for criminals and the entrenched lack of accountability within the Islamic Republic’s system,” Mahmood-Amiry Moghaddam, director of Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, says in a statement to AFP.
He “should have been prosecuted for crimes against humanity and held accountable in a fair trial for the countless atrocities he committed over these four decades,” Moghaddam adds.
Shadi Sadr, co-founder of the Justice for Iran group, which campaigns for accountability for Iranian rights violations, condemns the condolences offered by some Western figures, including EU Council President Charles Michel, for the deaths of Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
“Such actions are perceived as a betrayal by the countless victims of human rights abuses, deepening the disappointment among the Iranian population towards the international community,” she tells AFP.
Israel says Hezbollah’s coastal rocket commander killed in strike
The commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit in the terror group’s coastal division was killed in an airstrike, the IDF announces.
Qassem Saqlawi was targeted in a drone strike in the Tyre area yesterday. Hezbollah announced his death following the strike, but did not refer to him as a commander.
The IDF says Saqlawi was responsible for planning and carrying out “many” rocket and anti-tank guided missile attacks on Israel amid the war, from the coastal region in south Lebanon.
אמש, צה״ל תקף וחיסל באמצעות כלי טיס של חיל האוויר במרחב צור שבלבנון את המחבל, קאסם סקלאווי, מפקד מערך הרקטות והטילים בגזרת החוף בארגון הטרור.
המחבל סקלאווי היה אחראי בתפקידו על תכנון והוצאה לפועל של מתווי ירי רקטות רבים לעבר העורף הישראלי>> pic.twitter.com/g2knaqKNQm
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 21, 2024
It also says fighter jets hit a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Ramyeh.
Meanwhile, several rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee overnight. The IDF says the projectiles hit open areas.
France backs ICC after prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu
France backs the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the ‘fight against impunity,’ its foreign ministry says, after the court’s prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes, alongside Hamas leaders.
“France supports the International Criminal Court, its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations,” the foreign ministry says in a statement.
“As far as Israel is concerned, it will be up to the court’s pre-trial chamber to decide whether to issue these warrants, after examining the evidence put forward by the prosecutor,” the ministry says.
Palestinians say 3 killed, 8 wounded by IDF in Jenin
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reports three Palestinian killed and eight wounded, including two in serious condition, amid clashes with IDF troops in Jenin.
The IDF says it is carrying out a raid in the area, and that troops shot several gunmen.
IDF launches Jenin operation, says several gunmen shot
The military says it has launched a counter-terrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
Several gunmen have been shot by troops, the IDF adds.
It says it will provide additional details soon.
Report: Israel moves to more limited Rafah assault plan, US will not object
Displaced Palestinians queue to buy water from a truck next to their temporary camp in Rafah on May 17, 2024 (AFP)
Washington Post analyst David Ignatius reports that Israel has decided to shelve plans for a major offensive in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, and will act in a more limited manner, after discussions with the US on the matter.
Ignatius says, based on conversations with unidentified officials with knowledge of the matter, that a previous plan to send two divisions into the city will not move forward, and operations will be more restrained.
Washington believes the new plans will result in less civilian casualties and thus is not expected to oppose them, he writes.
Ignatius says defense leaders want a moderate Palestinian security force to govern Gaza after Hamas, backed by Arab states. There is disagreement over whether that force would be tied to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu objecting, he says.
He also says Saudi Arabia has softened its demands for normalization with Israel but that it still demands a “credible pathway” to a Palestinian state.
Two troops seriously injured in southern Gaza fighting — IDF
Two soldiers are hospitalized in serious condition after being injured Monday during battles in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces says.
Neither of the injured reserve troops are named.
One is serving with the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion, while the other is part of a logistics crew that normally works with the 98th Paratrooper’s Division, the army says, without providing other details.
Trump video appears to tout ‘unified Reich’ if he wins presidency
A still from a campaign ad posted by Donald Trump on his Truth Social social media network, May 20, 2024. (Screen capture)
A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network includes references to a “unified Reich” among hypothetical news headlines if he wins the election in November.
The headline appears among messages flashing across the screen such as “Trump wins!!” and “Economy booms!” Other headlines appear to be references to World War I.
“Industrial strength increased significantly [ineligible] by the creation of a unified Reich,” the headline reads.
The word “Reich” is often largely associated with Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, though the references in the video Trump shared appear to be a reference to the formation of the modern pan-German nation, unifying smaller states into a single Reich, or empire, in 1871.
NEW
A video posted to Donald Trump’s account on his social media network included references to a “unified Reich”, among hypothetical news headlines if he wins the election in November.
I did Nazi this coming. pic.twitter.com/h8dYbnLVyL
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 21, 2024
The 30-second video appears on Trump’s account at a time when the presumptive Republican nominee for president, while seeking to portray President Joe Biden as soft on antisemitism, has himself repeatedly faced criticism for using language and rhetoric associated with Nazi Germany.
It was posted and shared on the former president’s Truth Social account while he was on a lunch break from his Manhattan hush money trial.
“This was not a campaign video, it was created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the President was in court,” Karoline Leavitt, the campaign press secretary, says in a statement.
US says 569 tons of aid brought to Gaza via pier so far
Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the United States Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before entering the beach in Gaza, May 17, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Malcolm Cohens-Ashley/US Army Central via AP)
The US military says over 569 metric tons of relief have been delivered to Gaza via a temporary pier which began operations just days ago.
The aid was donated by the US, UK, UAE, EU and others, the US Central command says in a tweeted statement.
“The pier is a temporary solution to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza to meet the urgent needs of the Palestinian people,” Centcom says.
To date, over 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered across the temporary pier to Gaza for further distribution by humanitarian partners. The United States, United Kingdom, UAE, European Union, and many other partners have donated this humanitarian… pic.twitter.com/KbgXwFbfzD
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 21, 2024
The volume of aid, which still must be distributed, is equal to approximately 25 truckfuls, based on previous freight loads of assistance brought into the Strip.
New School inks deal with anti-Israel protesters to vote on divestment
Student activists and their allies protest in front of the New School in support of an encampment for pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters on April 21, 2024 in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP)
The New School in New York says it has reached a deal with anti-Israel protesters to hold a vote on divestment, in exchange for a Gaza solidarity encampment being dismantled.
According to a statement from the school, an investment board will hold a vote on June 14 to end any investments in companies in line with calls made by anti-Israel student protesters and a slew of faculty members who launched their own demonstrations following a police crackdown.
“They call for complete divestment from industries implicated in military and police violence in Gaza and the West Bank, and all global militarized conflict such as companies or subsidiaries involved in weapons manufacturing, military supplies and equipment, military communication, and public surveillance technology,” the statement reads.
The agreement also gives those involved in protests amnesty.
The statement coincides with one by the school announcing that Joel Towers will take over as school president.
Towers previously headed the Parsons School of Design, whose faculty has been involved in the anti-Israel protests.
“We will continue to strengthen our commitment to academic excellence and freedom, and foster openness and mutual respect,” he says in a statement.
Hezbollah claims 2:30 a.m. attack on north
The Hezbollah terror group has claimed responsibility for shooting a rocket at northern Israel about an hour ago.
The Iran-backed group says it targeted a group of soldiers with missiles and artillery. The claims cannot be verified.
There is no comment from the Israeli military.
Yale students stage graduation walkout to protest Gaza war
Scores of graduating students have staged a walkout from Yale University’s commencement exercises, protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, Yale’s financial ties to weapons makers and its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Ivy League campus.
The walkout began as Yale President Peter Salovey started to announce the traditional college-by-college presentation of candidates for degrees on the grounds of Yale’s Old Campus, filled with thousands of graduates in their caps and gowns.
At least 150 students seated near the front of the audience stood up together, turned their backs to the stage and paraded out of the ceremony through Phelps Gate, retracing their steps during the processional into the yard.
Many of the protesters carried small banners with such slogans as “Books not bombs” and “Divest from war.” Some wore red-colored latex gloves symbolizing bloodied hands.
BREAKING: Bloody Hands and Banners as a huge amount of Yale Students, Faculty, and Parents walk out of graduation. pic.twitter.com/1Kgz60LqxD
— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 20, 2024
Other signs read: “Drop the charges” and “Protect free speech” in reference to 45 people arrested in a police crackdown last month on demonstrations in and around the New Haven, Connecticut, campus.
The walkout draws a chorus of cheers from fellow students in the crowd, but is otherwise peaceful, without disruption. No mention of it is made from the stage.
Knesset committee okays rules curtailing Meron Lag B’Omer pilgrimage
Ultra-Orthodox Jews covered with prayer shawls gather next to fire as they take part in prayers next to the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai during Lag B'Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, early Thursday, May 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A Knesset committee has given the go-ahead to a set of emergency regulations meant to largely shut this year’s Lag B’Omer gathering on Mount Meron in northern Israel over security concerns.
Under the regulations green-lit by the Knesset National Security Committee, a single traditional bonfire will be lit on the mountain at the gravesite of second century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, with participation capped at 10 approved guests.
Two more bonfires will also be permitted at a Bnei Akiva yeshiva on the site, with 10 more guests each, pending the approval of Heritage Minister Meir Porush.
Porush will also have the power to approve permits for representatives of families of those killed in a deadly crush at the site in 2021 to attend a memorial prayer, along with residents of the adjacent town of Meron.
Smoke rises after rockets fired from Lebanon hit an open area on Mount Meron, May 15, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)
The annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage regularly draws hundreds of thousands of participants to Meron, largely from the ultra-Orthodox community. The minor Jewish holiday begins Saturday night.
The mountain is home to a key military air control station that has been targeted several times by Hezbollah missiles launched from Lebanon, leading officials to call for the pilgrimage to be canceled this year.
The emergency measures must be passed in two more Knesset readings to become law.
Rocket sirens sound in north
Rocket sirens have sounded in four communities near the border with Lebanon.
Residents of the largely evacuated towns of Shtula, Even Menahem, Shomra and Netuah are told to take shelter.
University of California graduate students call strike over arrests of protesters
UC Santa Cruz workers who are union members of UAW 4811, which is part of the United Auto Workers, and pro-Palestinian protesters carry signs as they demonstrate in front of the UC Santa Cruz campus on May 20, 2024 in Santa Cruz, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)
Graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz have walked off their jobs called a strike, the first campus to do so as part of a systemwide protest against a public university they say has violated the speech rights of pro-Palestinian advocates.
United Auto Workers Local 4811 represents 48,000 graduate students who work as teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and other academic employees on the 10-campus UC system. Organizers say the campuses will not strike all at once, opting instead for rolling strikes, to protest the arrests and forcible ejection by police of union members who participated in demonstrations calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
Rebecca Gross, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student in literature and union leader, says at least 1,500 people were on strike Monday and had no plans to return to work until the union reaches a deal with the university. Students and researchers are not teaching, grading or working in their labs, and they are withholding data, she says.
“Police were unleashed and given the go-ahead to arrest protesters,” at the Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine campuses, she says.
University officials say the strike is unlawful and in violation of the union’s contract, which prohibits work stoppages. Both sides have filed unfair labor practice complaints with the California Public Employment Relations Board.
Biden: Gaza not a genocide; US wants Hamas beaten, is working with Israel to make that happen
US President Joe Biden speaks at a celebration for Jewish American Heritage Month celebration in Washington, DC on May 20, 2024. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)
US President Joe Biden says his administration “stand[s] with Israel to take out Sinwar and the rest of the butchers of Hamas.”
“We want Hamas defeated, and we’re working with Israel to make that happen,” Biden says at a White House event marking Jewish American Heritage Month.
“Contrary to allegations made against Israel in the International Court of Justice, what’s happening is not genocide,” Biden says.
“I’ll always ensure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself against Hamas, and all its enemies,” Biden says.
He adds that he is working to boost humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza but stresses that the crisis is Hamas’s doing.
“In America, we respect and protect fundamental rights of free speech, protest peacefully. That’s America,” he also says. “But there’s no place in any campus in America, any place in America for antisemitism for hate speech that threatens violence of any kind against Jews or anyone else.”
Biden notes that American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents Rachel and Jon are in the audience and pledges to not cease in his efforts to bring their son home.
Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin also address the JDCA event. Polin urges those attending to help keep all the hostages still in Gaza at the front of the American mind. “We all need to be fighting every day all day to bring them home,” he says.
Also addressing the event is Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who laments the antisemitism Jewish students are facing on college campuses amid the wave of anti-Israel protests.
Emhoff, who is Jewish, stresses that the Biden administration has the backs of Jewish students amid the escalation of hate and is working to combat it.
JTA contributed to this article.
Italy rejects ICC equivalency between Israel and Hamas
Italy foreign minister says it is “unacceptable” to equate the Israeli democratic government with the Hamas terror group.
The comments are Antonio Tajani’s first on the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for the leaders of Israel and Hamas.
“It seems to me truly singular, I would say unacceptable, to equate a government legitimately elected by the people in a democracy with a terrorist organization that is the cause of everything that is happening in the Middle East,” Tajani tells a TV show.
Three suspected drones heading toward Israel downed by fighter jets, warship — IDF
Israeli fighter jets shot down a “suspicious aerial target,” thought to be a drone, that was heading toward Israel from the direction of Syria, the military says.
The apparent drone was downed outside of Israeli airspace, according to the IDF, and alerts were activated in open areas in the Golan Heights.
Separately, fighter jets and one of the Navy’s Sa’ar 4.5-class missile ships shot down two more targets heading toward Israel from the “eastern direction,” the IDF adds.
The announcement comes as a twin drone attack on Eilat is been claimed by the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
The apparent drones did enter Israeli airspace and no sirens sounded, the IDF says.
Amid the incident, people in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat reported seeing interceptions.
Interception in Eilat a short while ago. Likely another drone fired by Iraqi militias. pic.twitter.com/atqz6JSx6A
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 20, 2024
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