Haaretz english edition (Friday)
Israel prepares for U.S. strike on Iran, but when?
The Israel Defense Forces has completed in the past few days most of its preparations for a potential U.S. attack on Iran. The air force, the Home Front Command, intelligence units and others are on high alert, although the level of uncertainty also...
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3 arrested after settlers torch Palestinian cars
Masked Israeli settlers set vehicles on fire and attacked Palestinians in the northern West Bank on Wednesday. According to the Red Crescent, three Palestinians aged 64, 50 and 48 were wounded, one of them in serious condition. The Israel Defense...
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The Bibi-ists rang in the new year but they’re keeping their same old habits
What joy rightist Bibi-ist groups felt at the end of 2025. After an organized and obsessive campaign to dig into the past of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit – a task that employed organizations as well as private individuals – a blemish was found in...
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The Qatargate co-conspirators quarrel but Netanyahu stays cool
The three-part interview with the criminal defendant Eli Feldstein that Kan public television broadcast this week and a series of new disclosure in other media outlets returned the Qatar affair to headlines. What the public is seeing is a falling-out...
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As peace processes stall, all fronts open
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit to Washington at the end of the month could have critical implications for Israel’s regional situation at the end of the war – assuming that it has actually ended for now. It’s already clear that...
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In Gaza and north, Trump is restraining PM’s warmongering
“Everyone is apprehensive about Hamas – and Netanyahu is afraid of Trump,” a senior defense official on Thursday said to sum up the situation in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that the names of the members of the Board...
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Body of Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, murdered on October 7, returned to Israel
The body Hamas returned to Israel on Wednesday is Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday, after the forensic identification process was completed. Rinthalak was one of the two...
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Balance of power shifts – in Lebanon, in Israel and vis-a-vis Trump administration
The main photograph on the front page of many Israeli and some foreign newspapers Monday is not of Ali Tabatabai, the Hezbollah military chief who was assassinated in Beirut on Sunday. It shows a Hezbollah militant in a camouflage uniform and a red...
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One front closes for Israel as another opens
More than a month into the cease-fire that ostensibly ended the war in Gaza, Israel’s regional situation resembles a web browser with all the tabs left open. Despite the arrangement that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on Israel and Hamas, and...
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Under pressure, AG expected to hand off probe of prisoner abuse video leak
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was expected late Thursday to transfer the investigation into the leak of a video allegedly showing soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee over to the State Prosecutor’s Office, judicial sources tell...
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Mass ultra-Orthodox protest against arrests of draft dodgers; teen dies in fall from height
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators joined a massive protest, dubbed the “million man rally,” in Jerusalem on Thursday against the arrests of yeshiva students accused of evading the mandatory military service, organized by the leading factions of...
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Rubio latest U.S. official to ‘Bibi-sit’; U.S. demands advance strike notice
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Thursday evening – the latest senior U.S. official to fly in to personally monitor Israel’s adherence to the fragile Gaza cease-fire. Rubio is the fourth figure from U.S. President...
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Israel confirms return of bodies of two Israeli hostages by Hamas
Two bodies of deceased hostages transferred to Israel by Hamas were confirmed on Thursday as the remains of Inbar Hayman, a civilian, and Sgt. Major Muhammad al-Atrash, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Hayman, 27 at the time of her death, was a...
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After 734 days of war, Israel and Hamas agree to Trump’s Gaza cease-fire deal
The government on Thursday was expected to approve the agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The vote, which took place after press time, followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday night that Israel and Hamas had agreed to...
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Two killed in car ramming and stabbing at Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur
Two people were killed and three others were seriously wounded in a car ramming and stabbing attack outside a Manchester, U.K. synagogue on Thursday, British police said, as Jews gathered to mark Yom Kippur. Officers shot and killed the suspect,...
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IDF: Soldier, reservist killed by Gaza aid truck driver at Jordan border crossing
Two Israeli men were killed on Thursday after a man opened fire at the Allenby border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, which is administered by Israel. They were identified as Lt. Col. (res.) Yitzhak Harosh, 68 from Jerusalem, who was an...
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Failed Doha strike bursts illusion that Israel can use all force it wants
Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t like the word “strategy.” In deliberations with the heads of the security branches, he has a habit of showing open contempt for the very existence of the term, quoting his father, the late historian Benzion Netanyahu, who...
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Ex-mediator: U.S. proposing end to war
Palestinian American businessman Bishara Bahbah, who has been involved in the contacts for a new hostage deal, said on Thursday that he has passed on an American proposal to Hamas to end the war in return for the release of all the Israeli...
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Gaza reality far from illusions PM is selling Trump
Reports abound about high-level political consultations, a negotiating team about to depart for a new exotic destination, or new proposals that mediators might convey in the talks to strike a hostage deal. They are unimportant because, as far as is...
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Netanyahu announces immediate renewal of hostage, cease-fire talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message delivered during a visit to the IDF Southern Command’s Gaza Division on Thursday that he was there “to approve the [Israel Defense Forces] plans for taking control of Gaza City and defeating...
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IDF chief Zamir is next official in PM’s crosshairs
Does a bridge too far exist? It looks like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to seriously look into this question. His latest move against the Israel Defense Forces chief Eyal Zamir is intended to push him into a corner, on the brink of...
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Talks stuck, world turning against Israel and IDF is at wit’s end
This was the week when everything came unglued. Last week, American and Israeli sources were still talking, with a modicum of enthusiasm, about a possible approaching deal for the release of half of the Hamas-held hostages. Those hopes, which seemed...
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UN: Sharp rise in number of Gaza children suffering malnutrition
The UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has published a new report that found that the rate of child malnutrition has risen to 8.8 percent, as the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that 111 Palestinians have died from hunger...
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Trump softening up PM in hope of sealing deal
With the approach of the weekend, like on previous weekends, we are being inundated with reports and headlines proclaiming new progress in the negotiations for a hostage deal. True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump promises good news from the Middle...
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Medical sources: 16 Gazans, including 10 children, killed by IDF while waiting for aid
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that 16 Palestinians, including 10 children and three women, were killed while waiting in line to receive nutritional supplements for children in Deir alBalah in central Gaza on Thursday. The Hamas-run Gaza...
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Netanyahu is dragging out hostage deal to survive another day
For the first time in a long while, the direction of things is clear and intentions are no longer obscured by contradictory declarations. U.S. President Donald Trump is aiming to leverage what he describes as the great victory over Iran to impose a new...
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Watching the world move on from Gaza war
While Israel and Iran entered into and ended a war of their own, the war in Gaza, for Palestinians, not only has persisted, but also intensified. As the global media turns its gaze away and regional powers claim deescalation, Palestinians are losing...
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76 wounded in Iranian missile attacks on Israel; Soroka hospital suffers direct hit
Seventy-six people were wounded in three sites in central Israel after Iran launched a missile barrage on Thursday morning, which also significantly damaged a hospital in southern Israel. The missiles fired at central Israel caused injuries and...
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PM keeps coalition intact albeit bruised
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emerged from a failed vote to dissolve the Knesset overnight Thursday with several tactical wins. The proposal failed to pass, with 61 lawmakers voting against it and 53 in favor. This came after the opposition...
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Gov’t still at risk over Haredi draft crisis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a representative of his coalition’s ultra-Orthodox parties but didn’t report any progress in resolving the political crisis that has erupted over the delay in pushing through a bill that would exempt Haredim...
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U.S.: Israel accepts proposal for Gaza truce
Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya reported Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. However, denials from Israeli and Hamas sources suggest that no final agreement has been...
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Two Israeli embassy workers killed outside D.C. Jewish Museum
WASHINGTON – Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed Wednesday night outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., in what authorities are treating as a targeted act of antisemitic violence. The victims, a couple, were leaving an...
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Netanyahu, and Israel, have no role in Trump’s new Middle East
These are dramatic days in the Middle East, both in terms of the developments and in the pace at which they are being made known. The region appears to be experiencing the most far-reaching changes since the 2003 Iraq War. The United States is...
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In President Trump’s Middle East show, Israelis are part of a captive audience
Donald Trump has been building the tension for two days. The U.S. president, who’s struggling to score genuine foreign policy achievements, is still recovering from the damage his singular tariff policy is wreaking on the American economy and is...
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Fire service: Wildfires have been contained
Israel Fire and Rescue Services announced on Thursday evening that it has managed to contain the fire that broke out in the Jerusalem area on Wednesday. Fire Commissioner Eyal Casspi announced that a few firefighting crews will remain in the area to...
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Gaza food crisis: ‘I eat one date at 1 P.M., one at 6’
“It’s very hard – so hard that I can’t concentrate,” says H., a journalist from the Gaza Strip describing his efforts to cope with the shortage of food and clean water. He sounds exhausted. “I feel weak,” he says. “I eat one date at 1 P.M. and another...
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Report: Trump blocked Israeli strike on Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly blocked an Israeli plan to strike Iranian nuclear sites as early as next month, instead pushing for renewed negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program, the New York Times reported Wednesday. Citing...
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I’m not asking for much, just my boy
On October 7 I found myself in my worst nightmare. I was with my two daughters in Ofakim and Matan, my eldest, my heart, was in Nir Oz. When it all started I wrote to him, “don’t go out of the safe room, okay? The most important thing is not to step...
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Allegations are swirling around Netanyahu, who remains untainted – for now
Wherever you look, it looks like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a conflict of interest within a conflict of interest. It’s not only the obvious – the Qatargate affair – in which the Prime Minister’s Office is entangled up to its neck, while he...
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Gov’t passes bill to politicize new judge picks
The Knesset passed a bill Thursday morning to change the composition of the Judicial Appointments Committee and place the panel under the control of politicians, in what is widely regarded as a blow to democratic due process. This is the first time in...
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Bucking AG’s demand, cabinet set to fire Bar
The cabinet was expected late Thursday night to vote on the dismissal of Shin Bet security service head Ronen Bar, despite the attorney general saying the move requires the approval of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee. The meeting ended after...
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Herzog tried to influence the AG to end PM’s case
President Isaac Herzog tried to influence Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over the past two years on matters related to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial. According to information obtained by Haaretz, Herzog attempted twice to...
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PM’s revived coup returns with a vengeance
Israel’s government has been waiting for its chance to oust Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for a long time, not patiently but methodically. For most of its term and all of the war, some minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has ranted about...
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Army’s inquiry reveals tragedy with no catharsis
This has been one of the most difficult weeks Israeli society has endured since the war began. The return of the hostages’ bodies, following the moving images of hostages who came back alive reuniting with their families in the previous weeks, seemed...
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After weeks of hope, grief sweeps over Hostage Square
Yuli Halamish arrived at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square with orange nail polish, matching cap, and three orange and yellow balloons. Her bright attire stood out between the people starting to gather. The numerous photographers, hungry for anything, rushed...
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A war of emancipation and destruction in Gaza
The quasi-ultimatum that U.S. President Donald Trump gave Hamas – release all the hostages held in Gaza by Saturday at noon – adds another touch of drama to the weekly release. Trump’s declaration was made a day after the terrorist organization stated...
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After bombshells, Trump likely to use Biden’s plan
Throughout the war with Hamas, the Biden administration repeatedly asked to visit the Gaza Strip to assess the damage the Israeli military was wreaking there and the difficulties in supplying humanitarian aid. The destruction in Gaza, Israeli security...
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Eight hostages freed after 482 days in captivity
Israeli hostages Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Moses, IDF spotter Agam Berger and five Thai hostages were released from captivity on Thursday after 482 days in Gaza, in two separate locations in the Gaza Strip. Agam Berger was transferred from Hamas to the Red...
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Arbel Yehoud expected to be among four hostages released Saturday
The second phase of the Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal is scheduled for Saturday, during which Hamas is expected to release four Israeli women. Israeli officials expect that Arbel Yehoud, who was abducted to Gaza from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7,...
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Ben-Gvir vows to bolt over hostage deal
The national security minister and leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has announced he and his party will resign from the Knesset if the ceasefire and hostage release deal is approved. “If the war against Hamas resumes with...
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Hostage found killed in Gaza laid to rest
backing, the coalition has the 64 Knesset members needed to pass the proposed change. Political analysts suggest that Sa’ar may aim to rejoin the Likud Party in the future – as judicial overhaul is a key issue for Likud voters – and supporting a...
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Total victory gained in Gaza – not by Israel, but by its radical right
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday revealed extensive details about a hair-raising operation of the air force’s Shaldag reconnaissance unit in northern Syria last September, when it blew up a factory that manufactured advanced missiles which Iran...
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AG orders police to investigate Sara Netanyahu
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara informed police on Thursday evening that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, must be investigated on suspicion of harassing a witness and obstruction of justice. The decision comes a week after a report...
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IDF hits Yemen as Ramat Gan school wrecked in Houthi strike
and the government won’t be able to withstand the pressure that will be brought on it, both externally and from the Israeli public. However, the concern that the hostages’ families are starting to express publicly with mounting intensity is that in...
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Boy killed in shooting attack; Terrorist caught
A 12-year-old boy was killed in a shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday night, and three other people were wounded. The victim, who was initially reported to be in critical condition, was later identified as Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia...
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Residents return north. Will they feel safe staying?
On its 10th day, the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel seems to be relatively successful, at least for now. Israel, not Hezbollah, is the one exercising great force against what it perceives as violations, or a potential for a violation of the...
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Despite hostages, PM in no rush for Gaza deal
At the beginning of the week, before the cease-fire agreement with Lebanon was achieved, Hamas issued a statement from the Gaza Strip. The organization claimed that one of the female captives it was holding had been killed recently by Israeli bombing....
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ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which was...
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Netanyahu’s noexit strategy
What’s still being whispered in the corridors of the defense establishment will soon be understood by the majority of the public. Most of the military threat posed to the communities of the western Negev by Hamas personnel in the Gaza Strip has been...
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Gallant’s ouster tested the waters, successfully, for additional firings
In the brief statement Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made to the media after he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he enumerated three issues that were at the center of the tension between the two: Gallant’s call to promote a hostage deal,...
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Seven civilians killed in Hezbollah rocket barrages on northern Israel
Rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday killed seven civilians in northern Israel and wounded several more. An Israeli and four Thai nationals were killed in the first incident, which took place in Metula along the Israel-Lebanon border. A mother and...
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IDF delivers victory pics, but gov’t eyes Iran
Israel should have been able to portray the series of recent, successful military operations as victory pictures and prepare the ground for an exit strategy from the regional war. The systematic blows to Hezbollah, the killing of most of Hezbollah’s...
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IDF: Oct. 7 mastermind Sinwar killed in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in the Gaza Strip. The IDF added that there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area in which Sinwar was killed. Hamas sources told Reuters that...
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Reservists get first impression from Lebanon
success, despite his responsibility – which he refuses to accept – for the catastrophic failure of October 7. His political milieu stabilized following the co-optation of Gideon Sa’ar and his party into the coalition. And Netanyahu has abundant time...
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Slight respite in north may not bring a truce
For almost 24 hours, from Wednesday evening until Thursday afternoon, there was a falloff in the intensity of the firing on both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon. The slight respite was broken by another Israeli air attack on the Dahiyeh...
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On the edge of a war like we’ve never known
This was the week when the main thrust of the war shifted, apparently permanently, from the south to the north, after a year of inconclusive combat. For a few months, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the High Command of the Israel Defense Forces have...
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